A.  Bigot,  fct 


THE 


.PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 


OF    THE 


WAR    OF    1812;  . 

• 

OR, 

ILLUSTRATIONS,  BY  PEN  AND  PENCIL,  OF  THE  HISTORY,  BIOG 
RAPHY,  SCENERY,  RELICS,  AND  TRADITIONS  OF  THE 
LAST  WAR  FOR  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE, 


BY  BENSON  J.  LOSSIM. 


WITH  SEVERAL  HUNDRED  ENGRAVINGS  ON  WOOD,  BY  LOSSING  AND  BARRITT, 
CHIEFLY  PROM    ORIGINAL   SKETCHES   BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


benson  J. 

NEW    YORK: 
HARPER    &   BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN    SQUARE. 

1868. 

v 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


\HE  author  of  this  volume  said  to  the  readers  of  his  PICTORIAL 
FIELD-BOOK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION,  at  the  close  of  that  work, 
"  Should  time  deal  gently  with  us,  we  may  again  go  out  with 
staff  and  scrip  together  upon  the  great  highway  of  our  coun 
try's  progress,  to  note  the  march  of  events  there."  The  im 
plied  promise  has  been  fulfilled.  The  author  has  traveled 
more  than  ten  thousand  miles  in  this  country  and  in  the  Canadas,  with  note-book 
and  pencil  in  hand,  visiting  places  of  historic  interest  connected  with  the  War  of 
1812,  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  gathering  up,  recording,  and 
delineating  every  thing  of  special  value,  not  found  in  books,  illustrative  of  the  sub 
ject,  and  making  himself  familiar  with  the  topography  and  incidents  of  the  battle 
fields  of  that  war.  Access  to  the  archives  of  governments,  state  and  national,  and 
to  private  collections,  was  freely  given  him ;  and  from  the  lips  of  actors  in  the 
events  of  that  struggle  he  received  the  most  interesting  information  concerning  it, 
which  might  have  perished  with  them. 

The  results  of  the  author's  researches  and  labors  are  given  in  this  volume. 
The  narrative  of  historic  events  is  resumed  where  his  work  on  the  Revolution 
left  it.  An  account  is  given  of  the  perils  of  the  country  immediately  succeeding 
the  Revolution ;  the  struggles  of  the  new  nation  with  the  allied  powers  of  British 
and  Indians  in  the  Northwest ;  the  origin  and  growth  of  political  parties  in  the 
United  States,  and  their  relations  to  the  War  of  1812 ;  the  influence  of  the  French 
Revolution  and  French  politics  in  giving  complexion  to  parties  in  this  country; 
the  first  war  with  the  Barbary  Powers ;  the  effects  of  the  wars  of  Napoleon  on  the 
public  policy  of  the  United  States ;  the  Embargo  and  kindred  acts,  and  the  kin 
dling  of  the  war  in  1812. 

The  events  of  the  war  are  given  in  greater  detail  than  in  any  work  hitherto 
published,  and  the  narrative  brings  to  view  actors  in  the  scenes  whose  deeds  have 
been  overlooked  by  the  historian.  The  work  is  a  continuation  of  the  history  of 
our  country  from  the  close  of  the  Revolution  in  1783  to  the  end  of  the  Second 
War  with  Great  Britain  in  1815. 


POUGHKEEPSIE,  NEW  YORK,  JULY,  1868. 


A 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  DAYS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

The  Close  of  the  Revolution ;  the  States  free,  but  not  independent,  18  ;  Why  ?  Articles  of  Confederation,  19 ; 
the  Public  Debt,  20  ;  Attitude  of  the  States,  21  ;  British  Opinion  concerning  them,  22  ;  Public  Dangers, 
23  ;  Dissolution  of  the  Republic  threatened,  24  ;  Washington's  Forebodings ;  his  Proposition  for  a  Con 
vention  to  reorganize  Government,  25  ;  Meeting  of  the  Convention,  2G  ;  Proceedings  of  the  Convention 
to  form  a  National  Constitution,  27-32  ;  Ratification  of  the  Constitution ;  its  Opponents,  33 ;  the  Estab 
lishment  of  a  Nation,  34. 

CHAPTER  II. 

EVENTS    IN    THE    NORTHWESTERN   TERRITORY. 

Foundations  of  Government  in  the  Wilderness,  35  ;  the  Northwestern  Territory ;  Settlements  there,  36-37 ; 
the  Indians  and  their  British  Allies,  38 ;  Councils  with  the  Indians,  39 ;  British  Intrigues  and  Indian 
Hostilities,  40;  Expedition  against  the  Indians  in  the  Ohio  Country,  41 ;  Battle  on  the  Maumee,  42; 
Visit  to  the  Place  of  Conflict,  43-44  ;  Expeditions  of  Scott  and  Wilkinson,  45  ;  Forts  built  in  the  Wil 
derness,  4G  ;  St.  Glair's  Expedition,  47  ;  his  Battle  with  the  Indians  and  Defeat,  48  ;  how  Washington  re 
ceived  the  News  of  St.  Glair's  Defeat,  49;  his  Justice  and  Generosity;  Wayne's  Expedition,  50;  Inter 
ference  of  British  Officials,  51  ;  the  British  and  Indians  in  armed  Alliance,  52;  Wayne's  Expedition 
down  the  Maumee,  53,  54  ;  Defeat  of  the  Indians  and  treaty  of  Greenville,  55,  5G. 

CHAPTER  III. 

ESTABLISHMENT    OF    THE    NATIONAL    GOVERNMENT. 

The  national  Policy  and  Power  indicated,  58  ;  Relations  with  France  and  England,  59 ;  revolutionary 
Movements  in  France,  (!0,  (!1  ;  diplomatic  Intercourse  with  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  62  ;  Discourtesy  of 
the  British  Government ;  mistaken  Views  concerning  the  American  Government,  63 ;  Acts  in  relation  to 
the  Public  Debt,  64  ;  Hamilton's  financial  Scheme  ;  Currency,  G5  ;  Jefferson's  Disappointment  and  Sus 
picions,  G6  ;  Progress  of  the  French  Revolution,  G7  ;  the  political  and  religious  Views  of  Jefferson  and 
Adams,  68  ;  Democracy  in  England,  69  ;  Adams's  Scheme  of  Government ;  Jefferson's  Disgust  and  un 
generous  Suspicions,  70;  Paine's  Rights  of  Man  ;  a  Newspaper  War,  71  ;  the  Federal  and  Republican 
Parties  formed,  72  ;  Sympathy  with  the  French  Revolutionists,  73  ;  Lafayette,  74 ;  Monarchy  in  France 
overthrown,  75  ;  the  National  Convention  ;  Execution  of  the  King,  7G  ;  Minister  from  the  French  Re 
public,  77  ;  Washington's  Proclamation  of  Neutrality,  78. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

FOREIGN    RELATIONS    AND    DOMESTIC    POLITICS. 

"  Citizen  Genet"  and  his  Reception  by  his  political  Admirers,  79 ;  his  first  Interview  with  Washington ; 
Enthusiasm  of  the  Republicans,  80  ;  the  American  and  the  French  Revolution  compared,  81 ;  Genet  de 
fies  the  American  Government,  82  ;  he  is  recalled ;  his  Successor,  83 ;  British  "  Rules"  and  "  Orders  in 
Council;"  Armed  Neutrality,  84;  British  Impressment  of  American  Seamen,  85;  Jay's  Treaty  with 
Great  Britain,  86  ;  Opposition  to  the  Treaty,  87 ;  the  Whisky  Insurrection  ;  Democratic  Societies,  88 ; 
Difficulties  with  Algiers,  89  ;  an  American  Navy  recommended,  90 ;  Construction  of  a  Navy ;  Unfriend 
liness  of  the  French  Directory,  91  ;  Struggle  between  the  Republicans  and  Federalists  for  political  Power ; 
Adams  elected  President,  92  ;  open  Rupture  between  France  and  the  United  States  threatened,  93 ;  Mad 
ness  of  Partisans,  94;  Aggressions  of  the  French  Directory,  95 ;  Preparations  for  War  with  France; 
Action  in  New  York,  96;  History  of  the  Songs  "Hail,  Columbia!"  and  "Adams  and  Liberty,"  97. 

CHAPTER  V. 

WAR    ON   THE    OCEAN. — POLITICAL    STRUGGLES. 

Washington  appointed  to  the  Command  of  the  Army ;  Hamilton  acting  General-in-chief,  98 ;  Envoys  ex 
traordinary  sent  to  France,  99;  Bonaparte  in  Power;  American  War-vessels  afloat,  100;  British  Out 
rages  ;  Obsequiousness  of  the  American  Government,  102  ;  naval  Engagements,  103  ;  American  Cruisers 
in  the  West  Indies,  104  ;  Truxtun's  Victory ;  Honors  to  the  Victor,  105  ;  Peace ;  Divisions  in  the  Fed 
eral  Party,  106  ;  Intrigues  against  Adams ;  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws ;  Nullification  Doctrines  put  forth, 
107;  State  Supremacy  asserted;  Jefferson  elected  President,  108 ;  Mortification  of  the  Federalists; 
Death  of  Washington,  109  ;  a  public  Funeral,  110 ;  Washington's  Person  and  Character,  111. 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DIFFICULTIES  WITH    THE    BARBARY   POWERS. ENGLAND    AND   FRANCE    AT    WAR. 

Bonaparte's  Career  and  Influence,  112;  Obsequiousness  of  Englishmen,  113  ;  Beginning  of  Jefferson's  Ad 
ministration  ;  the  National  Capital,  114  ;  Jefferson's  Policy;  political  Proscription,  115  ;  the  Navy  re 
duced,  116  ;  Captain  Bainbridge,  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  and  the  Sultan,  117  ;  Insolence  and  Exactions  of 
the  Barbary  Rulers,  118;  American  Navy  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea  and  its  Operations,  119-120 ;  Bom 
bardment  of  Tripoli,  121 ;  Destruction  of  the  P/ii/adelji/iia,  122  ;  Destruction  of  the  Intrepid ;  Honors  to 
Commodore  Preble,  123  ;  Commodore  Barren's  Squadron  in  the  Mediterranean,  124  ;  Eaton's  Expedi 
tion  in  Northern  Africa ;  Respect  of  the  Barbary  Powers  for  the  American  Flag,  125  ;  Bonaparte  and  his 
Relations  with  England,  12(5;  a  French  Invasion  of  England  threatened,  127;  a  Struggle  for  political 
Supremacy ;  Bonaparte  proclaimed  Emperor,  128  ;  Napoleon's  Berlin  Decree,  129. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

EVENTS   WEST    OF   THE    ALLEGHANIES. SEARCH   AND   IMPRESSMENT. 

Organization  of  new  States,  130;  Americans  disturbed  by  the  Retrocession  of  Louisiana  to  France,  131  ; 
the  secret  Designs  of  the  latter,  132;  Jefferson's  Letter  and  Bonaparte's  Necessity;  Purchase  of  Louisi 
ana,  1 33 ;  Events  connected  with  the  Purchase  of  Louisiana,  1 34  ;  the  Duel  of  Hamilton  and  Burr ;  the 
Acts  of  Burr's  political  Associates,  135;  his  ambitious  Schemes ;  Blennerhassett  and  Wilkinson,  136; 
Burr's  Operations,  Trial  for  Treason,  and  Exile,  1 37  ;  American  commercial  Thrift  and  British  Jealousy, 
138 ;  British  Perfidy  defended  by  British  Writers,  139 ;  Unpleasant  foreign  Relations,  140 ;  Memorial 
of  Merchants  concerning  British  Depredations,  141  ;  Impressment  of  American  Seamen  and  Right  of 
Search,  142;  diplomatic  Correspondence  on  the  Subject,  143;  cruel  Treatment  of  American  Seamen, 
144 ;  farther  diplomatic  Action,  145, 146  ;  national  Independence  and  Honor  in  Peril,  147 ;  Minister  ex 
traordinary  sent  to  England,  148. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

SEARCH   AND    IMPRESSMENT. — EMBARGO. PARTY    SPIRIT. 

Negotiations  concerning  the  Impressment  of  American  Seamen,  149  ;  a  Treaty  agreed  to,  but  not  ratified; 
War  on  the  Administration,  1 50, 151;  The  Continental  System  of  Napoleon,  1 52  ;  Aggressions  on  Amer 
ican  Commerce  and  Neutrality  by  France  and  England,  1 53 ;  Napoleon's  Milan  Decree  and  its  Effects, 
154  ;  the  Navy  and  the  Gun-boat  Policy,  155  ;  British  Cruisers  in  American  Waters,  15G  ;  the  Affair  of 
the  Chesapeake,  157 ;  the  Outrage  resented,  158  ;  Action  of  the  American  Government,  159  ;  Action  of 
the  British  Government,  1GO;  fruitless  Mission  of  a  British  Envoy,  1G1  ;  political  Complexion  of  the 
Tenth  Congress ;  an  Embargo  established,  1 G2 ;  its  Effects ;  Party  Spirit  violently  aroused,  1 G3  ;  the 
Embargo  vehemently  denounced,  1G4  ;  the  British  exact  Tribute  from  neutral  Nations,  165  ;  Dangers  of 
national  Vanity,  166. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

WAR   BETWEEN   THE    UNITED    STATES    AND    GREAT   BRITAIN    THREATENED. 

Provisions  for  strengthening  the  American  Navy,  1 67  ;  Gun-boats  ;  Opposition  to  a  Navy,  1 68 ;  British  op 
position  to  the  Orders  in  Council,  169 ;  Napoleon's  Blow  at  American  Commerce ;  Modification  of  the 
Orders  in  Council,  170  ;  Actions  concerning  the  Embargo,  171  ;  Disunionists  in  New  England,  172,  173  ; 
Embargo  or  War  the  proclaimed  Alternative,  1 74 ;  Cotton  supposed  to  be  the  King  of  Commerce,  1 75  ; 
Just  Arrangements  for  settling  the  Difficulties  with  Great  Britain,  176  ;  the  British  Government  repudi 
ates  the  Acts  of  its  Agent,  1 77 ;  an  offensive  British  Minister  sent  to  America,  278  ;  the  French  Decrees 
and  British  Orders  in  Council,  179 ;  England  and  France  refuse  to  be  just,  180 ;  Outrage  by  a  British 
Cruiser,  181  ;  Method  of  signaling,  182, 183  ;  Action  between  the  President  and  Little  Jlelt,  184  ;  Tes 
timony  concerning  the  Affair,  185  ;  Commodore  Rodgers  assailed  and  vindicated,  186. 

CHAPTER  X. 

HOSTILITIES    OF   THE    INDIANS    IN    THE    NORTHWEST. 

The  Indiana  Territory  and  Governor  Harrison,  187 ;  British  Emissaries  among  the  Indians,  188  ;  Tecum- 
tha  and  his  Brother  the  Prophet,  1 89  ;  Indian  Confederation  proposed ;  Harrison  denounces  the  Prophet. 
190;  the  Mission  of  Joseph  Barron,  191  ;  Tecumtha  before  Harrison  at  Vincennes,  192;  roving  Plun 
derers;  Tecumtha  alarmed,  193;  Preparations  for  fighting  the  Indians,  194  ;  Harrison  marches  up  the 
Wabash  with  Troops ;  Deputation  of  friendly  Indians,  1 95  ;  Visit  of  the  Author  to  the  Region  of  threat 
ened  Hostilities,  196-200;  Harrison  approaches  the  Prophet's  Town;  the  Indians  alarmed,  201  ;  Har 
rison's  Encampment  near  the  Tippecanoe,  202  ;  the  Prophet's  Teaching,  203  ;  Battle  of  Tippecanoe,  204, 
205  ;  The  Prophet  disgraced,  206  ;  Actors  in  the  Battle  of  Tippecanoe,  207 ;  Author's  Visit  to  the  Bat 
tie-ground,  208,  209. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

A   WAR    SPIRIT    AROUSED. DECLARATION    OF    WAR    AGAINST    GREAT   BRITAIN. 

The  Twelfth  Congress  and  its  Composition,  210  ;  the  President's  feeble  War-trumpet,  211 ;  Charges  against 
Great  Britain,  212;  Action  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  213;  Alarm  on  Account  of  the 
Slaves,  214;  Randolph  and  Calhoun  in  Congress,  215;  Policy  of  the  Federalists,  216;  Patriotism  of 


of  Congn 

on  the  Subject,  227 ;  Declaration  of  War,  228 ;  Protest  of  the  Minority  in  Congress  against  the  Meas 
ure,  229  ;  Organization  of  a  Peace  Party,  230 ;  Measures  for  carrying  on  the  War,  231 ;  public  Acts  in 
opposition  to  the  War,  232. 


CONTENTS.  v 

CHAPTER  XII. 

BEGINNING    OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 

The  British  Regency — Political  Affairs  in  Europe,  233 ;  the  Troops  and  Fortifications  on  the  Northern 
Frontier,  234  ;  Sea-coast  Defenses  of  the  United  States,  235-238 ;  Fulton's  Torpedoes  and  their  Uses, 
238-240 ;  Fulton's  Anticipations,  241 ;  Effects  of  a  Fear  of  Torpedoes,  242  ;  the  Action  of  State  Gov 
ernments  concerning  the  War,  243  ;  public  Feeling  in  Canada,  244  ;  Signs  of  Pacification,  24/5 ;  condi 
tional  Revocation  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  246 ;  haughty  Assumptions  of  the  British  Government  on 
the  Subject  of  Search  and  Imprisonment,  247 ;  War  inevitable  and  justifiable,  248  ;  Choice  of  military 
Leaders,  249,  250. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

HULL'S    CAMPAIGN    AGAINST    CANADA. 

Canada  to  be  invaded — Object  of  the  Invasion,  251 ;  Organization  of  an  Army  in  Ohio — an  active  Frontiers 
man,  253  ;  Author's  Journey  through  Ohio,  254  ;  General  Hull  takes  Command  of  Ohio  Volunteers,  255 ; 
regular  and  volunteer  Troops  in  the  Wilderness,  25G ;  Hull's  March  to  Detroit,  257;  his  Baggage  and 
Papers  captured,  258  ;  how  the  British  in  Canada  were  informed  of  the  Declaration  of  War,  259  ;  Detroit 
in  1812,  2CO;  Hull  invades  Canada,  261,  262;  Reconnoissance  toward  Maiden,  263;  first  Battle  of  the 
War,  264,  265  ;  Distrust  of  General  Hull,  266  ;  first  Blood  shed  in  the  War,  267 ;  early  Scenes  at  Mack 
inaw,  268,  269  ;  Events  at  Mackinaw  in  1812,  270 ;  Employment  of  the  Indians  by  the  British,  271. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

CAMPAIGN   ON   THE    DETROIT   FRONTIER. 

Alarming  Facts  and  Rumors,  272 ;  Preparations  in  Canada  for  resisting  Invasion,  273  ,-  Alarm  caused  by  the 
Invasion,  274  ;  Symptoms  of  Disloyalty — General  Brock's  Influence,  275 ;  Defeat  of  Americans  under  Van 
Home  at  Brownstown,  276  ;  mutinous  Spirit  evinced  in  Hull's  Army,  277;  Expedition  to  succor  a  Supply- 
train,  278  ;  the  March  toward  the  River  Raisin,  279  ;  Battle  of  Maguaga,  280,  281  ;  Disappointment  and 
Disaffection  of  the  American  Troops,  282  ;  Brock  goes  to  Maiden  with  Troops,  283  ;  Preparations  for  at 
tacking  Detroit,  284 ;  Hull  deceived — an  Effort  to  reach  a  Supply-train,  285 ;  Hull  summoned  to  sur 
render,  and  refuses,  286  ;  the  British  proceed  to  attack  Detroit,  287;  Scenes  within  the  Fort,  288  ;  Hull 
surrenders  the  Fort,  Garrison,  and  Territory,  289  ;  Feeling  of  the  Troops — Result  of  the  Surrender,  290 ; 
Incidents  of  the  Surrender,  291  ;  British  Occupation  of  Detroit  and  Michigan,  292  ;  Account  of  the  Sur 
render,  and  public  Indignation,  293  ;  Hull  tried  by  a  Court-martial,  294  ;  a  Consideration  of  Hull's  public 
Character,  295  ;  the  Government  more  to  blame  than  Hull,  296. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

MILITARY    EVENTS    IN    THE    THEN    FAR    NORTHWEST. 

The  Author's  Journey  from  Chicago  to  Detroit,  297;  a  Ride  from  Windsor  to  Amherstburg,  298  ;  Histori 
cal  Localities  at  Amherstburg  or  Maiden,  299;  Windsor  and  "Windsor  Castle, "300;  Pontiac's  Siege 
of  Detroit,  301 ;  Chicago,  its  Name,  Settlement,  and  Position,  302  ;  Trading-house  and  Fort  at  Chicago, 
303  ;  an  Indian  Raid,  304  ;  Troubles  at  Chicago,  305  ;  Treachery  of  the  Indians — a  Warning,  306  ;  Mu 
nitions  of  War  and  Liquor  destroyed,  307 ;  Massacre  at  Chicago,  308  ;  Incident  of  the  Conflict  with  the 
Savages — Bravery  of  Women,  309  ;  Cruelties  of  the  Indians — their  British  Allies,  310;  Survivors  of  the 
Massacre.  311 ;  Mrs.  Kenzie  and  the  Growth  of  Chicago,  312  ;  Designs  against  Fort  Wayne,  313  ;  Attack 
on  Fort  Wayne,  314 ;  Ravages  of  the  Indians — Little  Turtle,  315  ;  Treachery  of  Indians  at  Fort  Wayne. 
316 ;  Fort  Harrison  besieged,  317  ;  brave  Deeds  at  Fort  Harrison,  318  ;  Attack  on  Fort  Madison,  319. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

WAR   WITH    THE    BRITISH   AND    INDIANS    IN    THE    NORTHWEST. 

The  Nation  aroused — Enthusiasm  of  the  People,  320  ;  Harrison  and  the  Kentuckians,  321  ;  Harrison  at  the 
Head  of  Kentucky  Volunteers,  322  ;  Departure  for  the  Wilderness,  323 ;  Volunteers  flock  to  Harrison's 
Standard,  324 ;  Fort  Wayne  relieved — Destruction  of  Indian  Villages,  325  ;  Harrison's  Popularity — he 
commands  the  Northwestern  Army,  326  ;  Winchester  met  by  British  and  Indians  in  the  Wilderness,  327 ; 
Re-enforcements  gathering,  328 ;  Harrison's  proposed  autumn  Campaign,  329  ;  reported  Movement 
through  the  Wilderness,  330 ;  Erection  of  Forts,  331 ;  the  Indians  alarmed  and  humbled,  332  ;  the  Au 
thor's  Visit  to  the  Theatre  of  War,  333 ;  Preparations  for  further  Warfare,  334  ;  Expedition  against  the 
Indians  in  the  Illinois  Country,  335  ;  Expedition  to  the  Wabash  Region,  336  ;  Sufferings  of  the  Kentucky 
Soldiers,  337. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

WAR   WITH   THE    BRITISH    AND    INDIANS    IN    THE    NORTHWEST. 

Harrison  cheerfully  meets  Difficulties,  338;  Difficulties  of  a  winter  Campaign,  339;  Organization  of  the 
Army — the  Western  Reserve,  340  ;  Preparations  in  Ohio  against  Invasion,  341 ;  Energy  and  Patriotism 
of  Colonel  Wadsworth,  342  ;  an  Expedition  to  the  Maumee,  343  ;  stirring  Events  at  the  Maumee  Rapids. 
344 ;  Services  of  friendly  Indians,  345 ;  Campbell's  Expedition  into  the  Wabash  Region,  346  ;  a  Battle 
near  the  Mississiniwa,  347 ;  Sufferings  and  Difficulties  of  Harrison's  Army,  348,  349  ;  Advance  toward 
the  Maumee  Rapids,  350  ;  Frenchtown  on  the  Raisin  River  threatened,  35 1 ;  Battle  at  Frenchtown,  352  ; 
Winchester  arrives  with  Re-enforcements,  353  ;  he  disregards  Warnings  of  Danger,  354  ;  Massacre  at 
Frenchtown,  355 ;  Winchester  compelled  to  surrender  his  Army,  356 ;  Perfidy,  Cowardice,  and  Inhu 
manity  of  the  British  Commander,  357  ;  Massacre  and  Scalping  allowed  by  him,  358 ;  Incidents  of  the 
Massacre,  359  ;  Author's  Visit  to  Frenchtown,  360 ;  historical  Localities  and  Survivors  of  the  War  there, 
361, 362  ;  Harrison  unjustly  censured,  363;  his  Army  at  the  Maumee  Rapids,  364. 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

EVENTS    ON   THE    NORTHERN    AND    NIAGARA   FRONTIERS    IN    1812. 

First  warlike  Measures  on  the  Northern  Frontier,  3Gf> ;  the  Militia  of  the  State  of  New  York,  366  ;  Events 
on  Lake  Ontario  and  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  307  ;  a  hostile  British  Squadron  off  Sackett's  Harbor,  368  ;  a 
Skirmish  and  a  Repulse  of  the  British— Vessels  of  War  on  Lake  Ontario,  369  ;  Operations  on  the  St. 
Lawrence  Frontier,  370  ;  hostile  Squadrons  on  Lake  Ontario,  370 ;  Operations  near  Kingston— Commo 
dore  Chauncey,  372  ;  General  Brown  sent  to  Ogdensburg,  373 ;  the  British  attack  Ogdensburg,  374  ;  St. 
Regis  its  capture  by  the  Americans,  375 ;  Honors  to  the  Victors  at  Albany,  376  ;  Eleazer  Williams,  or 
"  The  Lost  Prince,"  377 ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  St.  Regis,  378  ;  Buffalo  in  1812,  379  ;  the  Niagara  Fron 
tier,  380  ;  American  Troops  on  the  Niagara  Frontier,  381 ;  an  Armistice  and  its  Effects,  383  ;  Prepara 
tions  for  an  Invasion  of  Canada,  384  ;  Expeditions  for  capturing  British  Vessels,  385  ;  Capture  of  the 
Adams  and  Caledonia  near  Fort  Erie,  386  ;  Incidents  of  the  Exploit,  387 ;  Feelings  of  the  Americans  and 
British,  388. 

,  CHAPTER  XIX. 

EVENTS    ON    THE    NIAGARA   FRONTIER    IN    1812. 

Conduct  of  General 
Niagara  Frontie 

393  ;  Passage  of  the  Niagara  Ri 

Rensselaer  wounded  and  Captain  Wool  in  command,  396  ;  the  Americans  scale  Queenston  Heights,  397; 
Battle  on  Queenston  Heights  and  Death  of  General  Brock,  398 ;  Passage  of  the  River  by  Re-enforce 
ments, '399  ;  Events  on  Queenston  Heights,  400  ;  another  Battle — Wool  wounded,  401 ;  bad  Conduct  of 
the  New  York  Militia,  Colonel  Scott  in  Command,  402 ;  Heroes  and  Cowards  made  Prisoners  of  War,  403; 
Surrender  of  the  American  Army,  404 ;  a  triumphal  and  funeral  Procession,  405 ;  Honors  to  General 
Brock,  406 ;  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  407 ;  Events  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Niagara  River,  408 ; 
Protection  for  American  Prisoners  of  War,  409  ;  General  Smyth's  injurious  Pride  and  Folly,  410 ;  his 
silly  Proclamations  ridiculed,  411. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

EVENTS    ON    THE   NIAGARA   FRONTIER   AND    VICINITY    IN    1812. 

The  Author's  Visit  to  the  Niagara  Frontier,  412;  Lewiston,  Queenston,  and  Queenston  Heights,  413;  Brock's 
Monument,  414  ;  an  Evening  on  Queenston  Heights,  415  ;  Interview  with  the  Chief  of  the  Six  Nations, 
416  ;  Journey  from  Queenston  to  Niagara,  417  ;  Fort  George  and  its  Appurtenances,  418  ;  Fort  Missis- 
saga — Return  to  Niagara  Falls,  419 ;  Journey  from  Niagara  Falls  to  the  Settlement  of  the  Six  Nations  on 
the  Grand  River,  420 ;  a  Morning  with  the  Chief  of  the  Six  Nations,  421 ;  Indian  Relics  and  Customs, 
422 ;  the  Mohawk  Church  and  Brant's  Tomb,  423,  424  ;  the  Mohawk  Institute— Communion-plate  from 
Queen  Anne,  425  ;  British  attack  Black  Rock,  426  ;  Preparations  for  another  Invasion  of  Canada,  427  ; 
the  British  forewarned — Passage  of  the  Niagara  River,  428 ;  Incidents  of  the  attempted  Invasion,  42!) ; 
Smyth's  Incompetence  and  Folly,  430  ;  the  Invasion  of  Canada  abandoned,  431  ;  a  Duel,  and  what  came 
of  it — exit  Smyth,  432. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

NAVAL    OPERATIONS    IN    1812. 

Acknowledged  naval  Superiority  of  Great  Britain,  433  ;  Character,  Distribution,  and  Condition  of  the  Amer 
ican  War  Marine,  434  ;  Commodore  Rodgers's  Squadron — first  Shot  in  the  War,  435  ;  Rodgers  in  Euro 
pean  waters — British  Squadron  at  Halifax,  436 ;  Cruise  of  the  Constitution,  437 ;  how  she  eluded  her 
Pursuers,  438  ;  the  Essex  goes  on  a  Cruise,  439  ;  Cruise  of  the  Essex,  440  ;  how  a  Challenge  was  accepted 
by  Commodore  Porter,  441 ;  the  Constitution  off  the  Eastern  Coast,  442  ;  Battle  between  the  Constitution 
and  Guerriere,  443,  444  ;  Destruction  of  the  Gue.rriere — Effects  of  the  Victory,  445  ;  Honors  to  Commo 
dore  Hull,  446  ;  Effect  of  the  Victory  on  the  British  Mind,  447  ;  Hull's  Generosity,  448  ;  Cruise  of  the 
Wasp,  449  ;  Fight  between  the  Wasp  and  the  Frolic,  450 ;  both  Vessels  captured  by  the  Poictiers,  451 ; 
Honors  to  Captain  Jones,  452 ;  Lieutenant  Biddle  honored  and  rewarded,  453. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

NAVAL    OPERATIONS    AND    CIVIL   AFFAIRS    IN    1812. 

Commodore  Rodgers's  second  Cruise,  454  ;  Battle  between  the  United  States  and  Macedonian,  455  ;  Cap 
ture  of  the  Macedonian — Decatur  takes  her  to  New  York,  456  ;  Honors  to  Decatur,  457 ;  Bainbridge  in 
Command  of  a  Squadron,  458 ;  his  Cruise  on  the  Coast  of  Brazil,  459 ;  Battle  between  the  Constitution  and 
Java,  460;  Loss  of  the  Java — Incidents  of  the  Battle,  461  ;  Honors  to  Bainbridge,  462  ;  Effects  of  the 
naval  Battles  in  Great  Britain,  463  ;  meeting  of  the  Twelfth  Congress,  464  ;  Madison  re-elected — his  Ad 
ministration  sustained,  465 ;  Quincy's  Denunciations  and  Clay's  Response,  466 ;  Measures  for  strengthen 
ing  the  Army  and  Navy,  467  ;  Retaliation — Report  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  468  ;  Mani 
festo  of  the  Prince  Regent  and  its  Charges,  469 ;  Mediation  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia  proposed,  470 ;  Re 
joicings  over  Napoleon's  Misfortunes — Peace  Commissioners,  471 ;  Cabinet  Changes,  472. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

EVENTS    ON   THE    MAUMEE    RIVER. 

Contemplated  Expedition  against  Maiden,  473 ;  American  Camp  at  the  Maumee  Rapids,  474 ;  Interference 
of  the  Secretary  of  War  with  General  Harrison,  475  ;  General  Clay's  march  to  the  Maumee,  476  ;  Harri 
son  assumes  grave  Responsibilities,  477 ;  British  and  Indian  Expedition  against  Fort  Meigs,  478  ;  the 
Mission  of  Captain  Oliver,  479 ;  Leslie  Combs  volunteers  for  perilous  Duty,  480 ;  Incidents  of  his  Voyage 
down  the  Maumee,  481 ;  Preparations  for  an  Assault  on  Fort  Meigs,  482 ;  Attack  on  Fort  Meigs,  483 ; 


CONTENTS.  vii 

critical  Situation  of  the  Fort  and  Garrison,  484 ;  Harrison's  Plans  against  the  Besiegers,  48.") ;  Dudley's 
Defeat  and  sad  Results,  486;  Arrival  of  Re-enforcements  for  Fort  Meigs,  487;  Effect  of  a  Sortie  from 
Fort  Meigs,  488 ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  the  Maumee  Valley,  490-493. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE    WAR    IN   NORTHERN    OHIO — CONSTRUCTION    OF    PERRY'S   FLEET. 

Harrison's  Provision  for  the  Frontier  Defenses,  494  ;  Kentuckians  under  Colonel  R.  M.  Johnson,  495  ;  Te- 
cumtha  anxious  for  hostile  Action,  490  ;  Johnson's  Troops  at  Fort  Stephenson,  497 ;  unsuccessful  Attempt 
to  capture  Fort  Meigs,  498 ;  Fort  Stephenson  menaced,  499 ;  Croghan  determines  to  hold  it,  500 ;  it  is 
summoned  to  surrender,  501 ;  a  Siege,  502  ;  Fort  Stephenson  stormed,  and  the  Assailants  repulsed,  503 ; 
Incidents  of  the  Night  succeeding  the  Struggle — Honors  to  Croghan,  504 ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  Sandusky, 
505,  506 ;  also  to  Fremont  and  Site  of  Fort  Stephenson,  507 ;  Journey  to  Toledo — Harrison's  Character 
assailed  and  vindicated,  508  ;  Captain  Perry  sent  to  Lake  Erie,  509 ;  Harbor  of  Erie  or  Presq'  Isle,  510; 
Construction  of  a  Lake  Fleet  begun  there,  511  ;  Perry's  Services  with  Chauncey  and  in  securing  American 
Vessels,  512 ;  Perry's  earnest  Call  for  Men,  513  ;  Erie  menaced,  514 ;  first  Cruise  of  Perry's  Fleet,  515  ; 
Harrison  visits  Perry,  516  ;  Perry's  second  Cruise,  517. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE    BATTLE    OF    LAKE    ERIE. 

Perry  prepares  for  Battle,  518  ;  his  final  Instructions — British  Squadron  in  sight,  519  ;  Names  and  Char 
acter  of  the  opposing  Squadrons,  520;  Change  in  the  Order  of  Battle,  521  ;  relative  Position  of  the 
Squadrons — Opening  of  the  Battle,  522  ;  first  Position  of  the  Vessels  in  the  Fight,  523  ;  the  Battle — 
Scenes  on  board  the  Lawrence,  524,  525  ;  sad  Condition  of  the  Lawrence,  526  ;  Perry  goes  from  the  Law 
rence  to  the  Niagara,  527 ;  Perry  breaks  the  British  Line,  528  ;  his  Victory — British  Ships  vainly  at 
tempt  to  Escape,  529  ;  Perry's  famous  Dispatch,  530 ;  Surrender  of  the  British  Officers — Burial  of  the 
Dead,  531  ;  sad  Effects  of  the  Battle,  532  ;  Importance  of  Perry's  Victory,  533  ;  public  Celebrations  by 
the  exultant  Americans,  534  ;  Honors  to  Elliott  and  his  Subordinates,  535  ;  a  Plea  for  a  British-Indian 
Alliance — Prediction  by  Washington  Irving,  536  ;  Author's  Visit  to  Erie  and  Cleveland,  537  ;  Prepara 
tions  for  unveiling  a  Statue  of  Perry  at  Cleveland,  538  ;  surviving  Soldiers  of  the  War  of  1812,  539  ;  the 
Statue  unveiled — a  remarkable  Dinner-party,  540  ;  a  sham  naval  Battle — early  Residents  of  Cleveland, 
541 ;  Perry  and  his  Captives,  542  ;  Reception  of  Perry  and  Harrison  at  Erie,  543. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

HARRISON'S  INVASION  OF  CANADA — HIS  HOME. 

Arrangements  for  invading  Canada,  544  ;  Army  of  the  Northwest  in  Motion,  545  ;  it  crosses  Lake  Erie, 
546  ;  Proctor,  frightened,  flees  from  Maiden — Tecumtha's  scornful  Rebuke,  547;  vigorous  Pursuit  of  the 
British,  548  ;  the  Armies  in  the  River  Thames,  549  ;  Destruction  of  Property,  550  ;  the  British  and  In 
dians  make  a  Stand  for  Battle,  551  ;  the  Armies  in  battle  Array,  552  ;  Battfe  of  the  Thames,  553,  554  ; 
British  defeated — Death  of  Tecumtha — who  killed  him,  555  ;  Gallantry  of  Colonel  Johnson,  556  ;  Harri 
son  and  Proctor  properly  rewarded,  557,  558  ;  Returns  to  Detroit — Effect  of  the  Victory,  559  ;  the  Au 
thor's  Visit  to  the  Thames  Battle-ground,  560,  561 ;  Harrison  on  the  Northern  Frontier,  562;  Harrison 
leaves  the  Army — Author's  Journey  in  Ohio,  563 ;  Antiquities  at  Newark,  564,  565  ;  Columbus  and  the 
Scioto  Valley,  566 ;  Chillicothe  and  its  Vicinity,  567,  568 ;  Governor  Worthington's  Residence,  569 ; 
Visit  to  Batavia  and  North  Bend,  570  ;  North  Bend  and  its  early  Associations,  571 ;  Courtship  and  Mar 
riage  of  Captain  Harrison  and  Anna  Symmes,  572  ;  Harrison's  Tomb  and  Dwelling,  573,  574. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

EVENTS  ON  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  FRONTIER  AND  UPPER  CANADA. 

The  Energies  of  Great  Britain  displayed,  575  ;  Operations  in  the  St.  Lawrence  Region,  576 ;  Attack  on 
Elizabethtown — Retaliation,  577  ;  Attack  on  Ogdensburg,  578  ;  Defense  of  the  Town,  579  ;  Ogdensburg 
captured,  580 ;  the  Village  plundered  and  Citizens  carried  off,  58 1  ;  Author's  Visit  to  Ogdensburg  and 
Prescott,  582  ;  the  Canadian  Rebellion,  583  ;  another  Invasion  of  Canada  contemplated,  584  ;  Prepara 
tions  for  it,  585  ;  Expedition  against  Little  York,  586,  587 ;  Americans  land  and  drive  the  British  to  Lit 
tle  York,  588  ;  Explosion  of  a  Powder-magazine  and  Death  of  General  Pike,  589  ;  Capture  of  York  and 
Escape  of  the  British,  590  ;  York  abandoned — a  Scalp  as  an  Ornament,  591 ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  To 
ronto,  formerly  Little  York,  592  ;  an  Adventure  among  the  Fortifications,  593  ;  notable  Men  and  Places 
at  Toronto,  594  ;  Passage  across  Lake  Ontario — Journey  to  Niagara  Falls,  595 ;  Expedition  against  Fort 
George — the  respective  Forces,  596  ;  Cannonade  between  Forts  George  and  Niagara,  597 ;  the  American 
Squadron  and  the  landing  of  Troops,  598 ;  a  severe  Battle — Capture  of  Fort  George,  599  ;  the  British 
retreat  to  the  Beaver  Dams  and  Burlington  Heights,  600 ;  British  Property  on  the  Niagara  Frontier  de 
stroyed  by  themselves — Expedition  toward  Burlington  Heights,  601  ;  the  Americans  at  Stony  Creek,  602; 
Battle  at  Stony  Creek,  603 ;  Capture  of  Generals  Chandler  and  Winder,  604  ;  the  Americans  flee  and 
are  pursued,  605  ;  Destruction  of  Property  at  Sodus — British  Fleet  off  Oswego,  606. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

EVENTS    AT    SACKETT's    HARBOR    AND    ON    THE    NIAGARA    FRONTIER    IN    1813. 

British  Designs  on  Sackett's  Harbor — its  Defenses,  607 ;  General  Brown  in  Command  at  Sackett's  Harbor, 
608  ;  Assembling  of  the  Militia — Approach  of  the  British,  609  ;  Position  of  the  Militia — a  Panic  and  Flight, 
610;  a  Conflict — Destruction  of  Public  Stores,  611 ;  the  British  retreat,  612  ;  Sackett's  Harbor  and  its 
Defenses,  614;  the  Author's  Visit  there — the  Frigate  New  Orleans — a  neglected  Monument,  616;  his 
torical  Localities  around  Sackett's  Harbor — a  Visit  to  Watertown  and  Brownsville,  617;  the  Story  of 
Whittlesey  and  his  Wife,  618  ;  Movements  on  the  Niagara  Frontier,  619  ;  Expedition  against  the  British 
at  the  Beaver  Dams.  620 ;  Services  of  a  patriotic  Woman.  621 ;  Defeat  and  Surrender  of  the  Americans 
— Fort  George  invested,  622  ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  the  Beaver  Dams  Region,  623 ;  a  veteran  Canadian 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Soldier,  624 ;  Visit  to  Stony  Creek  and  Hamilton,  625  ;  British  and  Indian  Raids  on  the  Niagara  Fron 
tier,  626 ;  Battle  at  Black  Kock,  627  ;  Expedition  to  Burlington  Heights  and  York,  628  ;  Dearborn  suc 
ceeded  by  Wilkinson,  629  ;  Relations  between  Wilkinson,  Armstrong,  and  Hampton,  630  ;  Affairs  on  the 
Niagara  Frontier,  631 ;  Fort  George  menaced  and  Newark  burnt,  632 ;  just  Indignation  of  the  British — 
Retaliation  proposed,  633  ;  Fort  Niagara  captured — Desolation  of  that  Frontier,  634  ;  N.Y.  Militia  at  Buf 
falo,  635  ;  Battle  near  Black  Rock  and  Destruction  of  Buffalo,  636  ;  Horrors  of  retaliatory  Warfare,  637. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

EVENTS    ON   THE  NORTHERN    FRONTIER   IN    1813. 

Wilkinson  concentrates  his  Forces,  638  ;  General  Dearborn  moves  into  Canada,  639  ;  Repulse  of  the  British 
at  La  Colle — Colonel  Carr,  640  ;  Preparations  for  War  on  Lake  Champlain,  641  ;  Movements  of  Hamp 
ton  in  Northern  New  York,  G42  ;  Chauncey  tries  to  engage  Sir  James  Yeo  on  Lake  Ontario,  643  ;  a  Bat 
tle  at  last,  644 ;  Chauncey  again  searching  for  his  Foe,  645  ;  an  Expedition  for  the  St.  Lawrence  against 
Montreal — Disasters,  646  ;  Hampton's  Operations  in  the  Chateaugay  Region,  647 ;  Wilkinson's  Expedi 
tion  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  648  ;  Battle  off  French  Creek — the  Expedition  moves  down  the  St.  Lawrence, 
649  ;  the  Flotilla  passes  Prescott,  650 ;  General  Brown  invades  Canada — Wilkinson  in  Peril,  651 ;  Prep 
arations  for  a  Battle,  652 ;  Battle  of  Chrysler's  Field,  653  ;  the  Americans  go  down  the  St.  Lawrence, 
654 ;  Character  of  some  of  the  chief  Leaders,  655  ;  the  Army  in  winter  Quarters  at  French  Mills,  656  ; 
its  Sufferings  there  and  Release,  657 ;  Attempt  to  seduce  American  Soldiers  from  their  Allegiance,  658  ; 
the  Author's  Visit  to  the  St.  Lawrence  Region — Carleton  Island,  659,  660 ;  William  Johnson  of  the  Thou 
sand  Islands,  661 ;  his  Exploits,  Arrest,  and  Imprisonment,  662  ;  his  Sen-ices  in  the  War  of  1812,  663  ; 
a  Visit  to  French  Mills  and  Vicinity,  664  ;  Rouse's  Point — La  Colle,  665  ;  a  Visit  to  Chrysler's  Farm, 
Prescott,  and  Ogdensburg,  666. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

PREDATORY   WARFARE    OF    THE    BRITISH    ON   THE    COAST. 

Blockade  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Bays  declared,  667 ;  Operations  of  Blockaders  in  Chesapeake  Bay, 
668 ;  Attack  on  Lewiston  —  Cockburn,  the  Marauder,  669 ;  Capture  of  Frenchtown,  670 ;  Attack  on 
Havre  de  Grace,  671  ;  the  Town  plundered  and  fired,  672 ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  Havre  de  Grace — John 
O'Neill,  673  ;  Cockburn  plunders  and  destroys  other  Villages,  674  ;  stirring  Scenes  in  Hampton  Roads, 
675 ;  a  British  Fleet  enters  the  Roads,  676 ;  Craney  Island  and  its  Defenders,  677 ;  Preparations  for 
Battle,  678  ;  the  British  attack,  aie  repulsed,  and  withdraw,  679  ;  they  turn  upon  Hampton,  680  ;  they 
land  and  menace  it,  681 ;  a  Struggle  for  the  Possession  of  Hampton,  682  ;  Americans  driven  out,  and  the 
Village  given  up  to  Rapine  and  Plunder,  683 ;  the  Author  visits  Craney  Island  and  Norfolk,  684,  685 ; 
the  Fortifications  on  Craney  Island,  686 ;  a  Visit  to  Hampton,  687 ;  a  Daughter  of  Commodore  Barren 
— a  Veteran  of  1812 — Hampton  destroyed  by  Virginia  Rebels,  688  ;  Cockburn  in  the  Potomac  and  on  the 
Coasts  of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  689 ;  Secret  Organizations  among  the  Slaves,  690 ;  Decatur  runs 
the  Blockade  at  New  Yorkf  691  ;  blockading  Squadron  off  New  London,  692  ;  Alarm  produced  by  Tor 
pedo  Vessels,  693  ;  the  Coast  of  Connecticut  blockaded — the  local  Militia,  694  ;  Decatur  in  the  Thames, 
695 ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  New  London  and  its  Vicinity,  696,  697. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

WAR    ON    THE    OCEAN    IN    1813. 

Battle  between  the  Hornet  and  Peacock,  698  ;  Victory  of  the  Hornet — Prowess  of  the  Americans  respected, 
699  ;  Honors  to  Captain  Lawrence  and  his  Men,  700 ;  Cruise  of  the  Chesapeake — her  Character,  701 ; 
Lawrence's  last  official  Letter,  702 ;  Brake's  Challenge,  703 ;  the  Chesapeake  and  her  Crew,  704 ;  the 
Chesapeake  goes  out  to  fight,  705  ;  Battle  between  the  Chesapeake  and  Shannon — Death  of  Lawrence, 
706 ;  Treachery — Capture  of  the  Chesapeake — she  is  taken  to  Halifax,  708 ;  Exultation  of  the  British, 
709  ;  Honors  to  Captain  Broke,  710 ;  Respect  paid  to  the  Remains  of  Lawrence  and  his  Lieutenant,  Lud- 
low,  711 ;  funeral  Ceremonies  at  Salem,  712  ;  funeral  Ceremonies  at  New  York — Monuments,  713;  stir 
ring  Scenes  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  714  ;  Cruise  of  the  Argus  in  British  Waters,  715  ;  Battle  between  the 
An/us  and  Pelican,  716  ;  Battle  between  the  Enterprise  and  Boxer,  71 7  ;  Funeral  of  the  Commander  of 
each  at  Portland,  718  ;  Honors  to  Burrows  and  M'Call,  719  ;  last  Cruise  of  the  Enterprise,  720. 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

CRUISE    OF    THE    ESSEX. 

Weakness  of  the  American  Navy,  721  ;  the  Essex  starts  on  a  long  Cruise — a  Search  for  Bainbridge,  722  ; 
she  sails  for  the  Pacific  Ocean,  723 ;  her  Search  for  British  whaling  Vessels,  724  ;  by  capturing  and  arm 
ing  British  whaling  Vessels,  Porter  creates  a  Squadron,  725  ;  successful  Cruise  among  the  Gallapagos  Isl 
ands,  726 ;  Porter  sails  for  the  Marquesas  Islands,  727 ;  civil  War  in  Nooaheevah,  728  ;  Porter  engages 
in  the  War,  729  ;  the  Women  of  Nooaheevah,  730  ;  Incidents  in  the  Harbor  of  Valparaiso,  731  ;  Battle 
between  the  Essex  and  two  British  Ships,  732  ;  the  Essex  captured — Porter  returns  Home,  733  ;  Honors 
to  Commodore  Porter — his  subsequent  Career,  734;  Rodgers's  long  Cruise  in  1813 — his  Services  to  his 
Country,  735,  736 ;  he  makes  another  Cruise  in  the  President — Honors  to  Rodgers,  737. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

WAR   AGAINST   THE    CREEK    INDIANS. 

Insurrectionary  Movements  in  Louisiana,  738  ;  military  Movements  in  West  Florida,  739 ;  Louisiana  made 
a  State — Insurrection  in  East  Florida,  740 ;  Action  of  United  States  Officials  there — Expedition,  741  • 
Surrender  of  Mobile  to  the  Americans,  742  ;  Tennessee  Volunteers  on  the  Mississippi,  743  ;  they  return 
to  Nashville,  744  ;  Tecumtha  in  the  Creek  Country — he  exhorts  the  Creeks  to  make  War  on  the  White 
People,  746  ;  the  Creek  Nation  and  their  Position,  747 ;  Civil  War  among  the  Creeks — White  People  in 
Peril,  748 ;  the  Militia  in  the  Field — Battle  of  Burnt  Corn  Creek,  749 ;  Preparations  for  Defense  in  Lower 
Alabama,  750  ;  Fort  Minis  and  its  Occupants,  751  ;  Rumors  of  impending  Hostilities,  752  ;  Fort  Mims 


CONTENTS.  ix 

crowded  with  Refugees,  753 ;  gathering  of  hostile  Savages  near,  754 ;  furious  Assault  on  Fort  Mims,  755 ; 
Massacre  at  Fort  Mims,  756;  Horrors  of  the  Massacre,  757;  Response  of  the  Tennesseeans  to  a  Cry  for 
Help,  758 ;  General  Andrew  Jackson  in  the  Field — Mobile  threatened,  but  saved,  759. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

WAR   AGAINST   THE    CREEK    INDIANS. 

Jackson  heeds  a  Cry  for  Help  from  the  Coosa,  7GO ;  the  Army  threatened  with  Famine — Affairs  in  the 
lower  Creek  Country,  761  ;  Choctaw  Allies — Expedition  against  Tallasehatche,  762;  Battle  of  Talla- 
sehatche,  763 ;  Jackson  hastens  to  the  Relief  of  threatened  Posts,  764 ;  Battle  at  Talladega,  765  ;  the  dis 
pirited  Indians  sue  for  Peace,  7G6 ;  Destruction  of  the  Hillabee  Towns,  7G7  ;  the  Creek  Country  invaded 
from  Georgia  —  Battle  of  Auttose,  768  ;  Expedition  under  Captain  Dale,  769  ;  Dale's  terrible  Canoe 
Fight,  770;  Fort  Claiborne  at  Randon's  Landing,  771 ;  Battle  of  Econochaco,  772;  Dissolution  of  the 
Armies  in  the  Creek  Country — new  Volunteers,  773  ;  Battle  of  Emucfau,  774 ;  Battle  on  Enotochopco 
Creek,  775 ;  Battle  on  the  Calebee  River,  776 ;  East  Tennesseeans  and  Choctaw  Allies  on  the  Way  to  the 
Creek  Country,  777;  Battle  of  the  Horseshoe,  779  ;  the  Power  of  the  Creek  Nation  broken  there,  780; 
the  subdued  Indians  sue  for  Peace — Weathersford  in  Jackson's  Tent,  781 ;  the  Creek  Nation  ruined,  782. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

CIVIL   AFFAIRS   IN    1813 — EVENTS    ON   THE    NORTHERN  FRONTIER   IN   1814. 

Political  Composition  of  Congress — Peace  Commissioners,  783  ;  illicit  Traffic — Change  in  public  Sentiment 
— Peace  Party,  784  ;  revolutionary  Proposition — new  Embargo  Act,  785  ;  Rumors  of  Peace — Embargo 
Act  repealed," 786  ;  Provisions  for  the  increase  of  the  Army,  787  ;  Prisoners  of  War — retaliatory  Meas 
ures  proposed,  788  ;  Campaign  on  the  Northern  Frontier  and  Lake  Champlain,  789;  Wilkinson  marches 
on  La  Colle  Mill,  in  Canada,  790 ;  Battle  of  La  Colle  Mill,  79 1 ;  end  of  Wilkinson's  military  Career,  792 ; 
Brown,  moving  toward  the  Niagara  Frontier,  perplexed  by  Orders  from  the  War  Department,  793 ;  Naval 
Forces  on  Lake  Ontario,  794  ;  the  British  attack  Oswego,  795  ;  they  capture  Oswego,  7i>6 ;  Survivors  of 
the  War  in  Oswego,  797 ;  Sackett's  Harbor  blockaded,  798 ;  Woolsey  at  Big  Sandy  Creek  with  Stores 
for  Sackett's  Harbor,  799  ;  Battle  at  Big  Sandy  Creek,  800 ;  a  great  Cable  carried  to  Sackett's  Harbor — 
Author's  Visit  to  Big  Sandy  Creek,  801 ;  the  Army  on  the  Niagara  Frontier — Red  Jacket,  802  ;  Fort  Erie 
and  the  Invasion  of  Canada,  803  ;  an  Invasion  of  Canada  from  Black  Rock,  804  ;  Capture  of  Fort  Erie, 
805;  Scott  prepares  for  battle  at  Street's  Creek,  806 ;  preliminary  Fighting,  807;  Scott  advances — the 
British  Force,  808;  the  Battle  of  Chippewa,  809,  810;  the  British  driven  from  Chippewa — Indians  dis 
heartened,  81 1  ;  the  Armies  inspirited  by  the  Victory,  812;  Preparations  to  cross  the  Chippewa  Creek, 
813 ;  the  British  retreat — Brown  marches  for  Fort  Georgo,  814 — he  falls  back  to  Chippewa,  815. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

WAR    ON   THE    NIAGARA    FRONTIER    IN   1814. 

The  British,  re-enforced,  advance  toward  Chippewa,  816;  Scott  discovers  ^:hem  near  Niagara  Falls,  817; 
the  British  attack  Scott,  818;  Brown  advances  from  Chippewa,  819 ;  Colonel  Miller  captures  a  British 
Battery,  820;  Appreciation  of  his  Exploit,  821 ;  desperate  Struggle  in  the  darkness — Victory  for  the 
Americans,  822  ;  close  of  the  Battle  of  Niagara  Falls,  823  ;  the  Battle  and  the  Victory  considered,  824 ; 
Scott,  wounded,  proceeds  to  Washington,  825 ;  Honors  awarded  him,  826 ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  the 
Battle-grounds  of  Chippewa  and  Niagara  Falls,  827,  828 ;  the  Army  falls  back  and  is  ordered  to  Fort 
Erie,  829  ;  the  British  again  attack  Black  Rock,  830  ;  Brown  wounded — Gaines  takes  Command  of  the 
Army,  831 ;  the  American  Troops  at  Fort  Erie,  832  ;  the  British  assail  the  Fort,  833 ;  Battle  of  Fort 
Erie,  834,  835  ;  Brown  resumes  Command,  836  ;  a  Sortie,  837 ;  brilliant  Success  of  General  Porter,  838 ; 
Triumph  of  Miller  and  Upham,  839  ;  the  British  abandon  the  Siege,  840  ;  Honors  awarded  to  General 
Brown,  841 ;  Honors  to  Generals  Porter  and  Ripley,  842 ;  two  remarkable  Survivors  of  the  Battle  of  Fort 
Erie,  843  ;  General  Izard  sends  Troops  to  the  Niagara  Frontier,  844 ;  he  takes  Command  there,  845  ;  the 
American  Troops  withdraw  from  Canada,  846  ;  the  Author  visits  Fort  Erie  and  its  Vicinity,  847,  848  ; 
Holmes's  Expedition  into  Canada — Battle  of  the  Long  Woods,  849  ;  Expedition  to  the  upper  Lakes,  850 ; 
Operations  in  that  Region,  851 ;  M 'Arthur's  Raid  in  Canada,  852 — his  Bravery  and  Generosity,  853. 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

EVENTS    ON   LAKE    CHAMPLAIN    IN    1814. 

The  Downfall  of  Napoleon,  854  ;  English  Troops  released  for  Service  in  America,  855  ;  Struggle  for  the 
Control  of  Lake  Champlain,  856 ;  Operations  on  the  Canada  Border,  857;  alarming  Order  from  the  War 
Department,  858 ;  Concentration  of  Troops  at  Plattsburg,  859  ;  Position  of  American  Works  there,  860 ; 
the  British  advanco  on  Plattsburg,  861 ;  a  Skirmish  at  Beekmantown,  862 ;  another  near  Plattsburg, 
863 ;  the  British  checked  at  the  Saranac  Bridge,  864  ;  British  land — our  naval  Forces  in  motion,  865 ; 
Opening  of  naval  Battle  off  Plattsburg,  866  ;  Battle  of  Lake  Champlain,  867-870  ;  Victory  for  the  Amer 
icans  complete,  87L;  Casualties,  872  ;  Movements  of  the  land  Troops  —  Battle  of  Plattsburg,  873 ;  the 
British  ahvrmed,  874 ;  their  hasty  Flight  into  Canada,  875  ;  Rejoicings  because  of  Victory,  876  ;  Honors 
to  General  Macomb,  877 ;  Honors  to  Commodore  Macdonough,  878 ;  Effect  of  the  Victory  at  Plattsburg, 
879  ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  the  Scene  of  War  on  and  near  Lake  Champlain,  880-884 ;  Operations  on  Lake 
Ontario,  885;  a  heavy  British  Ship  on  the  Lake,  886;  close  of  Hostilities  on  the  Northern  Frontier,  887. 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

THE   WAR   ON   THE    NEW   ENGLAND    COAST    IN    1814. 

The  Blockade  of  New  London,  888 ;  amphibious  Warfare  on  the  New  England  Coast,  889  ;  New  England 
sea-port  Towns  blockaded,  890;  Portsmouth  and  Boston  menaced,  891 ;  Preparations  for  the  Defense  of 
Boston,  892;  the  British  Squadron  attacks  Stonington,  893;  Captain  Holmes  and  his  Gun,  894;  a  Dep 
utation  sent  to  the  British  Commander,  895  ;  the  British  repulsed — impotency  of  the  Attack,  896 ;  a 


x  CONTENTS. 

British  Force  on  the  Coast  of  Maine,  897;  Operations  in  Penohscot  Bay  and  River,  898;  Preparations 
at  Hampden  to  oppose  the  British  Invasion,  899 ;  Panic  and  Flight  of  the  Militia,  900 ;  the  British  at 
Bangor,  901 ;  Treatment  of  General  Blake,  902 ;  the  British  at  Castine,  903  ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  Places 
on  the  New  England  Coast — Observations  at  Boston,  904 ;  at  Salem  and  Marblehead,  905-907 ;  Journey 
to  the  Penobscot,  908  ;  Observations  at  Castine,  909  ;  Voyage  up  the  Penobscot,  910  ;  Hampden,  911; 
Observations  at  Bangor,  912  ;  Visit  to  New  Bedford  and  Providence,  913 ;  Stonington  and  Mystic,  914  ; 
Story  of  a  faithful  Daughter,  915. 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

THE    CAPTURE    OF    WASHINGTON    CITY. 

Apathy  of  the  Government  while  the  Capital  was  in  peril,  916;  feeble  Preparations  for  its  Defense,  917; 
General  Winder  in  Command — a  Call  for  Troops,  918;  Tardiness  of  the  Secretary  of  War — Apathy  of 
the  People,  9 1 9  ;  Appearance  of  the  British  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  920 ;  gathering  of  Troops — Destruction 
of  Barney's  Flotilla,  921;  the  Forces  gathered  for  the  Defense  of  Washington  and  Baltimore,  922;  the 
British  move  on  Washington  from  the  Patuxent,  923 ;  Battle  Lines  formed  near  Bladensburg,  924 ;  Ex 
citement  in  the  national  Capital,  925 ;  the  British  advance  on  Bladensburg,  926 ;  Arrangements  to  receive 
them,  926,  927;  Dueling -ground  near  Bladensburg,  928  ;  Battle  of  Bladensburg,  929,  930 ;  Barney 
wounded  and  made  Prisoner,  931;  the  victorious  British  march  on  Washington  City,  932;  Destruction 
of  the  public  Buildings,  933 ;  Destruction  of  the  Navy  Yard,  934  ;  Flight  of  the  President  and  his  Cabinet 
— Patriotism  of  Mrs.  Madison,  935  ;  Object  of  the  Invasion,  936 ;  the  British  retreat  from  Washington, 
937 ;  Slavery  the  cause  of  the  Disaster  at  Bladensburg,  938  ;  a  British  Fleet  passes  up  the  Potomac,  939 ; 
Alexandria  plundered — Torpedoes,  940 ;  the  British  Squadron  returns  to  Chesapeake  Bay — Visit  to  the 
Battle-ground  at  Bladensburg,  941 ;  Kalorama  and  Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  942;  Congressional  Burial- 
ground — Fort  Washington,  943. 

CHAPTER  XL. 

EVENTS    AT  BALTIMORE,  PHILADELPHIA,  AND   NEW   YORK    IN    1814. 

The  British  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  944  ;  Exploits  of  Parker  and  Cockburn,  945  ;  Operations  of  the  British 
Fleet  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  946  ;  Baltimore  threatened,  947 ;  Preparations  for  the  Defense  of  Baltimore, 


British  Invaders  driven  off,  956 ;  "  The  Star-spangled  Banner,"  957;  the  British  land  Troops  march  on 
Baltimore,  958  ;  they  retire  to  their  Ships — the  British  Programme,  959  ;  Honors  to  Colonel  Armistead, 
960 ;  the  Author's  Visit  to  Baltimore  and  the  historical  Localities  around  it,  961-965  ;  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  relieved,  965  ;  the  Volunteer  Companies  of  Philadelphia,  966  ;  Organization  of  Troops  and 
Establishment  of  Camps,  967 ;  Patriotism  of  the  Citizens  of  Philadelphia,  968 ;  New  York  aroused — Com 
mittee  of  Defense,  969  ;  the  Citizens  assist  in  casting  up  Fortifications — "The  Patriotic  Diggers,"  970 ; 
the  Fortifications  around  New  York,  971-975 ;  a  floating  Battery  authorized  by  Congress,  976 ;  the  Steam 
ship  Fulton  the  First,  977. 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

NAVAL    WARFARE    ON   THE    OCEAN    IN    1814 AMERICAN    PRIVATEERS. 


984;  the  Constitution  and  her  Prizes — Honors  to  Commodore  Stewart,  985 ;  Stewart's  Home  in  New 
Jersey,  986  ;  Decatur's  Squadron — he  puts  to  Sea  in  the  President,  987 ;  Battle  between  the  President 
and  Ehdymion,  988  ;  the  rest  of  Decatur's  Squadron  puts  to  Sea,  989  ;  Battle  between  the  Hornet  and 
Penguin,  990 ;  Honors  to  Captain  Biddle,  991 ;  Cruise  of  the  Hornet  and  Peacock — the  Navy  at  the  end 
of  the  War,  992  ;  the  first  Privateers,  993  ;  Cruise  of  the  Rossie,  994  ;  first  Prize  taken  to  Baltimore  — 
the  Globe,  995;  Cruise  of  the  Higliflyer,  Yankee,  and  Shadow,  996 ;  Salem  and  Baltimore  Privateers,  997; 
Privateering  at  the  close  of  1812,  998;  remarkable  Cruise  of  the  Corned,  999;  Cruise  of  the  Chasseur,  Sar 
atoga,  Dolphin,  Lottery,  and  Yankee,  1000;  Cruise  of  the  General  Armstrong,  Ned,  and  Scourye,  1001 ; 
the  Teaser — Capture  of  the  Eagle — Cruise  of  the  Decatur,  1002;  Cruise  of  the  David  Porter,  Globe,  and 
Harpy,  1003;  the  Career  of  the  General  Armstrong,  1004;  Honors  to  Captain  Reid — Cruise  of  the  Prince 
de  Neufchatel,  1005  ;  Cruise  of  the  Saucy  Jack  and  Kemp,  1006  ;  Cruise  of  the  Macdonough  and  Amelia 
— the  American  Privateers  and  their  Doings,  1007. 

CHAPTER  XLII. 

CIVIL   AFFAIRS    IN    1814 — OPERATIONS    IN   THE    GULF   REGION. 

Boston  the  Centre  of  illicit  Trade,  1 008  ;  the  Peace  Faction  assails  the  Government  and  the  Public  Credit 
1009 ;  Effects  of  the  Conspiracy  against  the  Public  Credit,  1010;  new  financial  Measures — Revival  of  the 
Public  Credit,  1011 ;  Measures  for  increasing  the  Army — Discontents  in  New  England,  1012  ;  the  Hart 
ford  Convention,  1013-1015  ;  the  Members  of  the  Hartford  Convention,  1016  ;  Jackson  recalled  to  active 
Service  in  the  Gulf  Region,  1017;  the  Baratarians  and  their  Leader,  1018  ;  Jackson  perceives  Mischief 
at  Pensacola,  1019 ;  Fort  Bowyer  threatened  by  a  British  Squadron,  1020;  the  Fort  attacked  and  the 
Assailants  repulsed,  1021 ;  the  British  at  Pensacola — Jackson  marches  on  that  Post,  1022 ;  Flight  of  the 
British  and  Indians,  1023 ;  Jackson  in  New  Orleans — Appearance  of  the  British,  1024  ;  Preparations  to 
receive  the  Invaders,  1025  ;  Capture  of  the  American  Flotilla  on  Lake  Borgne,  1026 ;  Jackson's  Review 
of  Troops  in  New  Orleans  and  their  Disposition,  1027 ;  the  British  approach  the  Mississippi,  1028 ;  they 
march  on  New  Orleans — Response  to  Jackson's  Call  for  Troops,  1029  ;  Events  below  New  Orleans,  1030  ; 
a  night  Battle,  1031;  the  British  fall  back,  1032 ;  the  Americans  withdraw,  1034. 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

DEFENSE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS PEACE. 

Jackson's  Line  of  Defense,  1034;  a  gloomy  Day  for  the  Invaders  —  Arrival  of  General  Pakenham,  1035; 
Seat  of  War  in  Louisiana  and  Florida,  1036 ;  severe  Battle  on  the  28th  of  December,  1037  ;  the  British 
vanquished — the  American  Lines  of  Defense,  1038  ;  the  British  cast  up  Redoubts  near  the  American  Line, 
1039;  a  heavy  Battle,  1040;  the  British  repulsed  and  then  re-enforced,  1041 ;  Jackson  prepares  to  receive 
the  increased  British  Forces,  1042 ;  Character  and  Disposition  of  his  own  Forces — Position  of  his  Army 
on  the  7th  of  January,  1043;  a  British  Detachment  crosses  the  Mississippi,  1044;  Battle  of  New  Orleans, 
1046-1049  ;  Disposal  of  the  Dead,  1050;  Attack  on  Forts  St.  Philip  and  Bowyer — Jackson's  Army  in 
New  Orleans,  1051;  Honors  accorded  to  Jackson  and  his  Troops,  1052  ;  Rumors  of  Peace  and  continu 
ance  of  Martial  Law,  1053  ;  Incidents  of  Jackson's  Trial  for  Contempt  of  Court,  1054;  the  Author's  Jour 
ney  to  New  Orleans — Lexington  and  "Ashland,"  1055  ;  Frankfort  and  its  Cemetery,  1056;  a  Visit  to 
Nashville  and  the  "  Hermitage,"  1057 ;  New  Orleans  and  its  historic  Men  and  Places,  1058 ;  Attack  on 
Fort  Sumter — Uprising  of  the  People,  1059 ;  Negotiations  for  Peace  and  the  Commissioners,  1060;  Ghent 
and  the  Sympathy  of  its  Inhabitants  with  the  Americans,  1 061 ;  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  1062, 1063  ;  Rejoic 
ings  of  the  American  People,  1064;  Commemorative  Medals — its  Ratification,  1065;  Position  of  the  Re 
public  at  the  close  of  the  War,  1067;  Readjustment  of  National  Affairs — Dartmoor  Prisoners,  1 068  ; 
Prosperity  of  the  Republic  and  its  Relations  to  other  Nations,  1069  ;  Text  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  1071. 


1.  Illuminated  Frontispiece. 

2.  Title-page. 

3.  Preface Page  iii 

4.  Contents v 

5.  Illustrations xiii 

6.  Initial  Letter 17 

7.  First  Great  Seal  of  the  United 

States 20 

8.  War 22 

9.  Britannia  aroused 22 

10.  Portrait  of  William  Jackson. .  26 

11.  Jackson's  Monument 2T 

12.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Gou- 

verneur  Morris 28 

13.  Signatures  of  the  Members  of 

the  Constitutional  Conven 
tion 30,31,  32 

14.  Tail-piece 34 

15.  Initial  Letter 35 

1C.  Campus  Martius 3T 

IT.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Miss 

Heckewelder 37 

18.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Gen 

eral  St.  Clair 38 

19.  Signature  of  Wiuthrop  Sargent  3S 

20.  Signature  of  Lord  Dorchesterv.  38 

21.  Fort  Harmar 39 

22.  Fort  Washington,  on  the  Site 

of  Cincinnati 41 

23.  Signature  of  Joseph  Harmar..  41 

24.  The  Maumee  Ford— Place   of 

Harmar's  Defeat 42 

25.  Map— Harmar's  Defeat 43 

26.  Hall's  Crossing-place 43 

27.  Apple-tree  near  Harmar's  Ford  44 

28.  Map— Plan  of  St.  Clair's  Camp 

and  Battle 47 

29.  Signature  of  Tobias  Lear 49 

30.  Lowry's  Monument 52 

31.  Map— Plan  of  Line  of  Wayne's 

March 54 

32.  Signature  of  A.  M'Kee 54 

33.  Map— Battle  of  the  Fallen  Tim 

bers  55 

34.  Turkey-foot  Rock 55 

35.  Signature    of    Colonel    Ham- 

tramck 56 

36.  Colonel  Hamtramck's  Tomb. .  56 

37.  Tail-piece— Indian  Implements  57 

38.  Initial  Letter 58 

39.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  T. 

Pinckney 64 

40.  Liberty  Cent 65 

41.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Gen 

eral  Hamilton 66 

42.  Portrait     and     Signature     of 

Thomas  Paine 69 

43.  A  Bad  Measure 69 

44.  An  Assignat 74 

45.  Portrait  of  Louis  XVI 76 

46.  Paine  fitting  Stays 76 

47.  Memorial  Medal 76 

43.  Initial  Letter 79 

40.  TheContrast 81 

50.  Portrait     and     Signature     of 

Thomas  Miffliu 82 

51.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  E.  C. 

Genet 83 

52.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  John 

Jay 85 

53.  Signature  of  Alexander  M'Kim  89 

54.  Seal  of  the  Republican  Society 

of  Baltimore 89 

55.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  C.  C. 

Pinckney 92 

56.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  John 

Adams 93 

57.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Joel 

Barlow .  94 


58.  Signature  of  Benjamin  Stod-  '  116. 

dert Page  96;  117. 

50.  Initial  Letter 98 

60.  John  Bull  taking  a  Lunch 99  118. 

61.  Signature  of  Stephen  Decatur  101 

6'2.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  John  119. 

Barry 101 

63.  Commodore    Barry's    Monu-  120. 

meut 101  121. 

64.  Naval  Pitcher 104  122. 

65.  Medal  presented  to  Commo-  123. 

dore  Truxtuu 105  |  124. 

66.  Signature  of  Thomas  Truxtun  105  125. 

67.  Truxtun's  Grave 105  126. 

68.  The  Lutheran  Church  in  Phil 

adelphia 110  127. 

69.  Washington  Medal Ill  128. 

70.  Tail-piece— M'Pherson Blue..  Ill 

71.  Initial  Letter 112  129. 

72.  Portrait    and    Signature    of 

Thomas  Jefferson 114  130. 

73.  Algiers  in  1800 117  131. 

74.  Portrait    and    Signature    of  132. 

Richard  Dale 118  133. 

75.  Dale's  Monument 119  134. 

76.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Ed 

ward  Preble 120  135. 

77.  Tripolitan  Weapon 121  136. 

78.  Tripolitau  Poniard 122  137. 

79.  Medal  given  to  Commodore  13S. 

Preble 123  139. 

80.  NavalMonument 124  ! 

81.  Signature  of  William  Eaton. .  125  \  140. 

82.  Initial  Letter 130  141. 

S3.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  A.  142. 

Burr 135  143. 

84.  Signature  of  John  Adair 136  !  144. 

85.  Blennerhassett's  Residence. .  136  I  145. 

86.  Signature  of  Blennerhassett. .  136  146. 

87.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Ru-  147. 

fusKing 143  148. 

88.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Wil 

liam  Pinkney 148  149. 

89.  Initial  Letter 140  ]  150. 

90.  Lynuhaveu  Bay 156  151. 

91.  Portrait    and    Signature    of  152. 

Commodore  Barron 159  153. 

92.  Portrait    and    Signature    of  154. 

James  Monroe 161  155. 

93.  Initial  Letter 167 

94.  Gun-boats 168  156. 

95.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Jo- 

siah  Quincy 174  157. 

96.  Portrait    and    Signature    of  158. 

James  Madison 176  150. 

97.  Fort  or  Battery  Severn,  at  An-  160. 

napolis 181  161. 

98.  Commodore  Rodgers's  Resi 

dence 182  162. 

99.  Signals,  No.  1 182  163. 

100.  SignalBook 182 

101.  Signals,  No.  2 183  164. 

102.  Signals,  No.  3 183  165. 

103.  Signals,  No.  4 183  166. 

104.  Signal  Alphabet 183  j  167. 

105.  Signal,  No.  5 184  168. 

106.  Portrait    and    Signature    of  169. 

Commodore  Rodgers 185 

107.  Tail-piece— Gauntlet 186  170. 

108.  Initial  Letter 187 

109.  Birth-place  of  Tecumtha  and  171. 

his  Brother 188  172. 

110.  The  Prophet 189  |  173. 

111.  Joseph  Barron 191  j  174. 

112.  Indian  Detecter 191  175. 

113.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Gen 

eral  Boyd 194  176. 

114.  Signature  of  Peter  Funk 195 

115.  Fort  Harrison 197  !  177. 


Signat're  of  Judge  Naylor  Page  198 
Portrait  and  Signature  of  A. 

Whitlock 199 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Wil 
liam  H.  Harrison 200 

View  at  Tippecanoe  Battle 
ground  202 

Signature  of  J.  Snelling 203 

Map— Battle  of  Tippecanoe. .  205 
Vignette  to  a  Mournful  Ballad  20S 
Tippecanoe  Battle-ground. ..  209 

Tail-piece— Wigwam 209 

Initial  Letter 210 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  H. 

Clay 211 

The  Gerrymander 211 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 

Randolph 215 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 

C.  Calhoun 216 

Signature  of  Josiah  Quincy. .  217 
Signature  of  James  Emott. ..  217 

Signature  of  J.  H.  Craig 220 

Fac-simileofaNewspapenDut  224 
Portrait  and  Signature  of  Gov 
ernor  Clinton 225 

Governor  Clinton's  Tomb. ...  226 
Caricature— Josiah  the  First.  228 

Initial  Letter 233 

Portrait  of  George  the  Fourth  233 
Signature    of  Jonathan  Wil 
liams 235 

Fort  Independence 236 

Castle  Williams 237 

Plan  of  Fort  M'Henry 237 

Torpedo,  Plate  1 238 

Torpedo,  Plate  2 239 

Torpedo,  Plate  3 239 

Torpedo,  Plate  4 240 

Destruction  of  the  Dorothea..  240 
Portrait  and  Signature  of  Rob 
ert  Fulton 242 

Fulton's  Birth-place 242 

Signature  of  Edward  Baynes.  247 
Portrait  of  Henry  Dearborn. .  240 
GeneralDearborn's  Residence  250 

The  Parting  Stone 250 

Initial  Letter 251 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Wil 
liam  Hull 252 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  John 

Johnston 253 

Place  of  Hull's  Rendezvous. .  254 
Signature  of  Governor  Meigs.  255 

View  at  Bloody  Bridge 261 

Colonel  Babie's  Residence...  262 
View  at  the  Riviere  aux  Ca 
nards 264 

Map— Detroit  Frontier 266 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Dun 
can  M'Arthur 267 

Mackinack.fromRoundlsIand  267 

Arch  Rock,  Mackinack 268 

Fort  Mackinack 269 

Tail-piece— Canoe 271 

Initial  Letter 272 

Fort     Niagara,    from    Fort 

George 274 

Portrait   of  Thomas   B.  Van 

Home 275 

Barracks  at  Sandwich 278 

Maguaga  Battle-ground 281 

Tecumtha 282 

Signature  of  J.  B.  Glegg 283 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  D. 

Noon 292 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Lew 
is  Cass 294 

Tail-piece— Neglected  Grave.  296 


XIV 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


ITS.  Initial  Letter  Page  297 

250.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Sol 
omon  Van  Rensselaer..  Page  407 
251.  Signature  of  John  Lovett  407 
252.  Tail-piece—  Proclamation  and 
Sword               411 

318.  Tail-piece—  A  Scalp  Page  493 
319.  Initial  Letter  494 

1T9.  Signature  of  Jno.  B.  Laughton  298 
180.  View  at  Maiden,  Upper  Can 
ada                                          .  299 

320.  Signature  of  R.M.Johnson  ..  495 
321.  J()hnsoii's  Monument  496 

181.  British  Cannon  at  Detroit  300 
182.  Signature  of  Robt.  Reynolds.  .  300 
183    Signature  of  C  Moran     302 

322.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  G. 
Croghan  499 

253    Initial  Letter                                412 

254.  Brock's  Monument  on  Queens- 
ton  Heights                             414 

323.  View  at  Fremont,  or  Lower 
Sandusky  500 

184.  Kmzie   Mansion   and   Fort 
Dearborn  303 
185.  The  Black  Partridge's  Medal.  306 

255.  Monument  where  Brock  fell.  .  416 
256.  Signature  of  Solomon  Vroo- 

324.  Plan  of  Fort  Stephen  son  503 
325.  Gold  Medal  awarded  to  Gen 
eral  Croghau  505 

257.  PresentOutline  of  Fort  George  418 
258.  French   Magazine    at   Fort 
George.           418 

326.  Lower  Castalian  Spring  506 

ISs'  Port  W'vvne  in  1819                    315 

327.  Site  of  Fort  Stephenson  507 

18»!  The  Little  Turtle's  Grave  315 
190.  Bridge  at  the  Head  of  the  Mau- 

328.  Part  of  Short's   Sword-scab 
bard  507 

259.  Distant  View  of  Fort  Missis- 

329.  Perry's  Residence  509 

191.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Z. 
Taylor                                     318 

260.  Interior  View—  Fort  Mississa- 
ga  in  1860               419 

330.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Dan 
iel  Dobbins  509 

192.  General  Taylor's  Residence..  319 
193   Initial  Letter                        .      320 

261.  Mission-house  on  the  Grand 
River        421 

331.  Wayne's  Block-house  at  Erie  510 
332.  Site  of  French  Fort  and  En 
trance  to  Erie  Harbor  511 

194    Fort  Defiance                               333 

262.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  G. 
II  M  Johnson  421 

195    Site  of  Fort  Defiance                  333 

333.  Mouth  of  Cascade  Creek  511 
334.  Block-house  511 
335.  Map—  Erie  and  Presq'  Isle  Bay  514 
336.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Ush 
er  Parsons  516 

190.  Apple-tree  at  Defiance  334 
197.  Tail-piece  —  Indians  at  Ruins 
of  a  Village  33T 

198   Initial  Letter                               338 

263.  Ornamental  Tomahawk  421 
264   Deer-shank  Weapon  422 

265.  Silver  Calumet  422 
°G6   Ancient  ScalpiiT'-knife  422 

199.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Si- 

207.  Mohawk  Church,  Grand  Riv 
er  C  W                       423 

337.  Put-in  Bay  517 

338.  Initial  Letter  518 

200.  Signature     of    Elijah    Wads- 
worth                                         340 

268.  Interior  of  Mohawk  Church..  423 
269.  Communion  Plate  425 
270.  General    Porter's    Residence, 
Black  Rock      426 

339.  Perry's   Look-out,  Gibraltar 
Island  518 

201.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  E. 
Whittlesey                               341 

340    Perry's  Battle-flag           519 

341.  Portrait  of  O.  H.  Perry  521 

202.  Signature  of  William  Eustis..  349 
203.  Winchester's  Head-quarters.  .  354 
204.  Map  —  Movements  at  French- 
town  358 

271.  Signature  of  George  M'Feely.  426 
272.  Signature  of  Cecil  Bisshopp.  .  428 
273.  Signature  of  Samuel  Angus.  .  .  428 
274.  Tail-piece  —  Snail  on  Maple- 
leaf                   432 

342.  View  of  Perry's  Birth-place.  .  .  521 
343.  Catafalco  521 

344.  Perry's  Monument  521 
345.  The  two  Squadrons  just  before 
the  Battle  522 

205   Residence  of  La  Salle                 359 

206.  Monroe,  from    the    Battle 
ground  361 
20T.  Signature  of  Laurent  Duro- 
cher  362 

275.  Initial  Letter  433 
276.  Signature  of  R.  Byron  436 

277.  The  ComtUution  in  1SGO  436 
278.  Fac-simile  of  Commodore  Por- 

346.    Portrait  and  Signature  of  8. 
Champlin  523 

347.  First  Position  in  the  Action.  .  523 
348.  Signature  of  J.  J.  Yarnall  524 
349.  Second  Position  in  the  Battle  526 
350.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 
Chapman  527 

208.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Jas. 
Knafo-s  363 

279.  Portrait    and    Signature     of 

209.  Tail-piece  —  Tomahawk    and 
Scalpin  "-knife  364 

280.  Hull's  Monument  442 

351.  Signature  of  Thomas  Holdup  528 
352.  Position  of  the  Squadrons  at 
the  close  of  the  Battle  529 

210.  Initial  Letter  365 

281.  Portrait  of  James  Richard  Da- 

211.  Arsenal  Building,  Watertown  306 
212.  Signature  of  Colonel  Benedict  36T 
213.  Portrait  of  Captain  William 
Vau"-han  36S 

282   Hull's  Medal                               446 

353.  Almy's  Sword  529 

283.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Cap- 

354.  Fac-simile  of  Perry's  Dispatch  530 
355.  The  Burial-place,  Put-in  Bay.  532 
356.  Queen  Charlotte  and  Johnny 
Bull                      534 

214.  Cipher  Alphabet  and  Numer 
als  3TO 
215.  Signature  of  Paul  Hamilton..  3TO 
216.  Signature  of  Richard  Dodge..  373 
217.  Appearance  of  Fort  Presenta 
tion  in  1812     373 

284.  Signature  of  Thos.  Whinyates  449 
285.  Signature  of  J.  P.  Beresford.  .  451 
286.  A  Wasp  on  a  Frolic  452 
287.  Medal    awarded    to    Captain 
Jones            452 

357.  The  Perry  Medal  535 

358    The  Elliott  Medal                        535 

359.  Signature  of  Asel  Wilkinson.  538 
SCO.  Portrait  of  Benjamin  Fleming  538 
361.  Perry's  Lantern  539 

288    The  Biddle  Urn                           453 

218   Design  on  Indian  Pass              374 

289.  Tail-piece—  Eagle  bearing  off 
the  Trident  of  Neptune  453 
290   Initial  Letter             .            .  .    454 

219.  Signature  of  G.  D.  Young.  ...  376 
220.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Ele- 
azer  Williams              .       .      377 

362    Perry's  Statue  540 

363.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  S. 
Sholes  541 

291.  Signature  of  John  S.  Garden.  456 
292.  Medal  awarded  to  Decatur.  .  .  458 
293.  Portrait    and    Signature     of 
Commodore  Bainbridge..  ..  459 
294.  Baiubriclge's  Monument  459 
295.  Bainbridge's  New  York  Gold 
Box                                             462 

221.  Old  Church  in  St.  Re<*is  378 

364.  Champlin's  Chair  542 
365   Perry's  Quarters  at  Erie  543 

223.  The  Port  of  Buffalo  in  1813.  .  .  380 
224.  Remains  at  Fort  Schlosser.  .  .  380 
225.  Signature  of  II.  Dearborn  381 
226.  Map  of  the  Niagara  Frontier.  382 
227.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Ste 
phen  Van  Rensselaer  384 
228.  Signature   of  William  Howe 
Cuyler                  387 

366.  Portrait  of  T.H.Stevens  543 
367.  Initial  Letter  544 

368.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  C. 
S.  Todd  548 

296.  Bainbridge's  Albany  Gold  Box  462 
297.  Bainbridge's  Medal  463 
998    Bainbrid<re's  Urn                         463 

369.  Dolsen's..       .            549 

370.  View  at  the  Mouth  of  M'Greg- 
or's  Creek  550 

299.  Tail-piece  —  Napoieon's  Flag 
and  Star  descendiii"  472 

371.  M'Greeor's  Mill  550 

229.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Jes 
se  D  Elliott  388 

372.  Portrait  of  Oshawahnah  552 

300   Initial  Letter                               473 

373.  View  on  the  Thames  553 

230   Tail  -  piece      Oar,  Boarding- 

301    Signature  of  C  Gratiot              474 

374.  Map—  Battle  of  the  Thames..  554 
375.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  S. 
Theobald  556 

pike,  and  Rope  388 

302.  Portrait    and    Signature     of 
Green  Clay                    .       .  476 

231.  Initial  Letter  389 

232.  Signature  of  Alexander  Smyth  389 
233.  Queenston  in  1812    390 

303.  View  of  Cincinnati  from  New 
port  in  1812                          .  476 

376.  The  Harrison  Medal  558 

377.  The  Shelbv  Medal  558 

234.  Signature  of  John  K.  Fenwick  391 
235.  View  from  the  Site  of  Vroo- 
man's  Battery  391 

304.  Map—  Fort  Meigs  and  its  Vi 
cinity  477 
305.  Fac-simile  of  Harrison's  Let 
ter  479 

378.  Tecumtha's  Pistol  560 

379.  Thames  Battle-ground  561 
380.  Remains  of  an  ancient  Coffin  564 
381.  The  four  Sides  of  the  Holy 
Stone  564 

236.  Signature  of  John  Chrystie...  392 
237.  Signature  of  James  Collier...  393 
238.  Landing-place  of  the  Ameri 
cans  at  Queenston  395 

306.  Portrait    and    Signature    of 
Leslie  Combs                         480 

382.  Stone  Axes  504 

307   Up  the  Maumee  Valley              481 

383.  Sectional  View  of  a  Pyramid.  564 
384.  Great  Earth-work  near  New 
ark  565 

239.  Russell's  Law  Office  396 

308.  Site  of  the  British  Batteries 
from  Fort  Meigs  482 
309.  Portrait  and  Signature  ofWm. 
Christy  483 

240.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  John 
E.Wool      .       .                       397 

385    The  old  State-house  567 

241.  Signature  of  J.  R.  Mnllanv.  ...  399 
242.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  John 
Brant   401 

386.  General  M'Arthur's  Residence  568 
387.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  T. 
Worthlngton  568 

310.  Plan  of  Fort  Meigs  484 

311.  Signature  of  W.  E.  Boswell..  .  487 
312.  Map    Sie^e  of  Fort  Mei<*s         488 

243.  Brant's  Monument  401 

388.  Aden  a,  Governor   Worthing- 

244.  Signature  of  Joseph  G.  Totten  403 
245.  Signature  of  J.Gibson  403 

313.  Remains  "of  Walker's  Monu 
ment.  .    .                                 489 

389.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Mrs. 
Harrison  571 

246.  New  Magazine  at  Fort  George  405 
247.  Signature  of  R.  H.  Sheaffe  405 
248.  Medal  in  Memory  of  General 
Brock  400 

314.  Portrait  of  Peter  Navarre  490 
315.  Ruins  of  Fort  Miami  491 
316.  Up  the  Maumee  from  Maumee 
City  492 
317.  Well  at  Fort  Metes  492 

390.  Pioneer  House,  North  Bend.  .  571 
391.  Block-house  at  North  Bend..-  571 
392.  Harrison's  Grave  573 
393.  Svmmes's  Monument  573 

249.  Brock's  Monument.  .  .            .  .  406 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XV 


395. 
396. 
397, 
398. 

399. 
400. 


402. 
403. 
404. 

405. 
406. 

407. 

408. 

409. 
410. 
411. 
412. 
413. 
414. 

415. 
416. 

417. 
418. 

419. 
420. 

421. 
422. 

423. 
424. 
425. 
426. 

427. 
428. 

429. 
430. 
431. 
432. 
433. 
434. 
435. 
436. 
437. 
438. 

439. 

440. 
441. 
442. 
443. 
444. 

445. 
440. 

447. 

449. 
449. 

450. 

451. 
452. 
453. 

454. 
455. 
456. 
457. 
458. 
459. 
460. 

461. 

462. 
463. 
464. 
465. 
466. 
407. 


Harrison's  Residence  at  North 

Bend  ..................  Page  574 

Initial  Letter  .................  57J 

Block-house  at  Brockville  ----  57"! 

Parish's  Store-house  ..........  578 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  D. 

W.  Church  .................  578 

Site  of  Fort  Presentation  .....  579 

Map—  Operations  at  Ogdens- 

burg  .......................  580 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 

York  ......................  580 

Court-house,  Ogdensburg  ----  580 

The  battered  Wind-mill  ......  583 

Wind  -mill  and  Ruins  near 

Prescott  ...................  584 

Fort  Wellington  in  I860  ......  584 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Z. 


Pike 


586 
Little  York  in  1813  ...........  587 

Remains  of  the  Western  Bat 


tery. 


668 


Powder-magazine  at  Toronto  589 
Map— Attack  on  Little  York. .  590 

Signature  of  John  Ross 592 

Remains  of  old  Fort  Toronto.  503 
Old  Fort  at  Toronto  in  1860. . .  593 
View  on  the  Niagara  near 

Lewiston 505 

Entrance  to  the  Niagara  River  597 
Plan  of  Operations  at  the 

Mouth  of  the  Niagara 599 

A  North  River  Steam-boat. . .  601 
Portrait  and  Signature  of  W. 

H.  Merritt 602 

Battle-ground  of  Stony  Creek  003 
Tail  -  piece  —  Destruction  of 

Store-houses 606 

Initial  Letter 007 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Ja 
cob  Brown 608 

General  Brown's  Monument..  60S 
Light-house  at  Horse  Island..  609 
Signature  of  Capt.  Mulcaster.  610 
Map — Operations  at  Sackett's 

Harbor 612 

Sackett's  Harbor  in  1814 613 

Map — Sackett's  Harbor  and  its 

Defenses 614 

Signature  of  Henry  Eckford..  615 

The  yew  Orleam 616 

Pike's  Monument 616 

Remains  of  Fort  Pike 617 

Block-house,  Sackett's  Harbor  617 
Mansion  of  General  Brown. . .  618 
Whittlesey  Rock,  Watertown.  018 
Signature  of  C.  G.  Boerstler. . .  620 

German  Church 620 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Lau 
ra  Secord 621 

Beaver  Dams  Battle-ground 

and  Surroundings 624 

Signature  of  James  Dittrick..  624 

Bisshopp's  Monument 628 

Interior  of  Fort  Niagara 634 

Signature  of  General  A.  Hall.  635 
Tail-piece  —  Farm  -  house  on 

fire 637 

Initial  Letter 637 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 

G.  Swift 638 

Signature   of  Joseph  Bloom- 
field 639 

Signature  of  A.  De  Salaberry.  639 
Portrait  and  Signature  of  Rob 
ert  Carr 640 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Jas. 

Wilkinson 646 

Signature  of  W.  Hampton 648 

Mouth  of  French  Creek 649 

Bald  Island  and  Wilkinson's 

Flotilla 650 

Chrysler's  in  1S55 652 

Signature  of  Rob't  Swartwout  652 

Signature  of  J.  A.  Coles 653 

Signature  of  J.  Walbach 653 

Map— Chrysler's  Field 654 

Signature  of  M.  Myers 654 

Place  of  Debarkation  on  the 

Salmon  River 655 

Lewis  and  Boyd's  Head-quar 
ters 656 

Brown's  Head-quarters 656 

Fac-simile  of  written  Placard  658 

Remains  of  Fort  Carleton 659 

Indian  Armlet 660 

Light-house  kept  by  Johnston  661 


468. 

469. 
470. 
471. 
472. 
473. 
474. 
475. 
476. 
477. 
478. 

479. 

480. 
4S1. 
482. 
4S3. 
484. 
485. 
486. 

487. 

488. 
489. 

490. 

491. 
492. 
493. 

494. 
495. 

496. 

497. 
498. 

499. 

Mill. 
Mil. 

MIL'. 
MI;;. 

504. 
505. 
500. 
507. 


M  t. 


M7. 
18. 


VJl. 


MO. 


._. 
Peel  Island 661  I  541. 


Portrait  and  Signature  of  W. 

Johnston... Page  662 

Johnston's  Commission 66; 

French  Mills  in  1800 664 

Signature  of  James  Campbell  665 

The  Block-house  Well 665 

Signature  of  Peter  Brouse 600 

Victoria  Medal 66C 

Initial  Letter 60' 

Interior  of  old  Fort  Norfolk. .  66f 

Signature  of  A.  M'Laue 668 

Signature   of  Admiral  Cock- 
burn 669 

Landing-place  of  the  British  at 

Havre  cle  Grace 671 

The  Pringle  House 672 

Episcopal  Church 672 

John  O'Neil's  Sword 673 

General  View  of  Crauey  Island  675 

Signature  of  Jos.  Tarbell 67: 

Signature  of  J.  Sanders 676 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  W. 

B.  Shubrick 670 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Rob 
ert  Taylor 67' 

Signature  of  B.  J.  Neale 678 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Jas. 

Faulkner 678 

Plan  of  Operations  at  Craney 

Island 67! 

Signature  of  Josiah  Tattnall. .  680 

The  Centipede 6S( 

View  at  Hampton   Creek  in 

1853 681 

Plan  of  Operations  at  Hamp 
ton 683 

Head  -  quarters    of   Beckwith 

and  Cockburn 683 

British  Consul's  House 68; 

Oyster  Fishing 6S5 

Remains  of  Fortifications  on 

Craney  Island 686 

Block-house  on  Craney  Island  CSt 
Magazine  on  Craney  island. .  686 
Landing-place  of  the  British 

at  Murphy's 687 

Kirby  House OSS 

Soldiers'  Monument  at  Point 

Pleasant 689 

Osceola's  Grave 600 

Entrance  to  Bonaventure 601 

Signature  of  T.  M.  Hardy 601 

New  London  in  1813 692 

Light-house  at  New  London..  694 

Signature  of  H.  Burbeck 604 

Burbeck's  Monument 694 

Commodore  Rodgers's  Monu 
ment 696 

Ancient  Block-house  at  Fort 

Trumbull 697 

New    London    Harbor    from 

Fort  Trumbull 697 

The  old  Court-house 697 

Initial  Letter 60S 

The  Lawrence  Medal 700 

Hornet  and  Peacock 700 

Signature  of  Sam.  Evans 701 

Fac-simile  of  Lawrence's  Let 
ter 702 

Fac-simile    of  Broke's   Chal 
lenge .     * 703 

The  Chesap&tke  disabled 706 

Portrait  of  Captain  Broke 707 

Shannon    and   Chesapeake    at 

Halifax 70S 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  Jas. 

Lawrence 709 

Signature  of  Admiral  Warren  709 

Admiral  Warren's  Seal 709 

Silver  Plate  presented  to  Cap 
tain  Broke 710 

Signature  of  George  Budd .711 

Coffins 712 

ftawrence  Memorial 712 

Monument  of  Lawrence  find 

Ludlow 713 

Lawrence's  early  Monument.  713 

Portrait  of  W.  H.  Allen 715 

Lieutenant  Allen's  Monument  716 
Graves  of  Burrows,  Blyth,  and 

Waters 718 

The  Burrows  Medal 719 

The  M'Call  Medal 720 

Initial  Letter 721 

Portrait  and  Signature  of  D. 

Porter 721 

The  mighty  Gattanewa 728 

The  Essex  and  her  Prizes 729 


542.  Marquesas  Drum Page  730 

543.  Battle  of  the  Essex,  Phoebe,  and 

Cherub 733 

544.  David  Porter's  Monument.. ..  734 

545.  Initial  Letter 738 

546.  Signature  of  Fulwar  Skipwith  740 

547.  Signature  of  Hugh  Campbell.  740 

548.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Gen 

eral  Robertson 747 

549.  Signature  of  Sam  Dale 749 

550.  Map— Seat  of  War  in  Southern 

Alabama 751 

551.  FortMims 756 

552.  Portrait  of  John  Coftee 759 

553.  Initial  Letter 760 

554.  Map— Battle  of  Talladega 705 

555.  Claiborne  Landing 770 

550.  Map— Seat  of  the  Creek  War 

in  Upper  Alabama 778 

557.  Map— Battle  of  the  Horseshoe  780 

558.  Initial  Letter 783 

559.  Signature  of  N.  Macon 784 

560.  Embargo— a  Caricature 785 

561.  Death  of  the  Terrapin 787 

562.  Signature  of  J.  Mason 788 

503.  Signature  of  C.  Van  De  Venter  788 

504.  Signature  of  George  Glasgow  788 

565.  Map— Affair  at  La  Colle  Mill.  790 

566.  La  Colle  Mill  and  Block-house  791 

507.  The  dismantled  Superior 794 

508.  Sir  J.L.Yeo 795 

509.  Attack  on  Oswego 796 

570.  Signature  of  A.  Bronson 796 

571.  Signature  of  H.  Eairle 797 

572.  Signature  of  M.  M'Nair 797 

573.  Fort  at  Oswego  in  1855 798 

574.  Place  of  Battle  at  Sandy  Creek  799 

575.  Otis's  House,  Sandy  Creek. ..  800 

576.  Signature  of  Alfred  Ely 600 

577.  Signature  of  Harmon  Ehle. ..  801 

578.  Portrait  of  Jehaziel  Howard. .  801 

579.  Red  Jacket's  Medal 802 

580.  Portrait  of  Red  Jacket 803 

581.  Profile  and  Signature  of  Wil 

liam  M'Ree 803 

5S2.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  C. 

K.Gardner 805 

583.  Signature  of  General  Riall. ..  805 

5S4.  Street's  Creek  Bridge S06 

585.  Remains  of  Tute-de-pont  Bat 
tery 807 

556.  Signature  of  Joseph  Treat 807 

587.  Street's  Creek  Bridge,  looking 

North 808 

588.  General  Towson's  Grave 809 

589.  Map— Battle  of  Chippewa. . . .  810 

590.  Signature  of  Worth 812 

591.  Worth's  Monument 812 

592.  Jones's  Monument 812 

593.  Mouth  of  Lyon's  Creek 813 

504.  Initial  Letter 816 

505.  View  at  Lundy's  Lane 818 

500.  Portrait  and 'Signature  of  J. 

Miller 820 

597.  Miller's  Medal 821 

508.  Portrait  of  John  M 'Neil 821 

509.  Flag  of  the  Twenty-fifth 822 

600.  Map— Battle  of  Niagara  Falls  S23 

601.  Scott's  Medal 826 

602.  Signature  of  Winfield  Scott...  826 

603.  Signature  of  Jas.  Cummings..  827 
004.  Hospital  near  Lundy's  Lane..  828 

605.  Wooden  Slab.   828 

606.  Remains  of  Douglass's   Bat 

tery  and  Fort  Erie 830 

007.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  E. 

P.Gaines 831 

COS.  Drummond's  Secret  Order 832 

009.  Gaiues's  Medal 836 

610.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  P. 

B.  Porter 838 

611.  Porter's  Tomb 838 

612.  Map— Sie<re  of  Fort  Erie 839 

613.  Wood's  Monument 840 

J14.  Brown's  Medal 841 

515.  Brown's  Gold  Box 841 

016.  Signature  of  E.  WT.  Ripley. . . .  842 

517.  Porter's  Medal 842 

818.  Seal  of  the  City  of  New  York.  842 
519.  Signature  of  De  Witt  Clinton  842 

620.  Ripley's  Medal 843 

321.  Portrait  of  Robert  White 844 

622.  Fac-simile  of  White's  Writing  844 

623.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  G. 

Izard 845 

624.  Ruins  of  Fort  Erie 846 

625.  Fort  Erie  Mills 847 

626.  Signature  of  James  Sloan 847 


XVI 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


627.  Soldiers'  Monument  Page  848 
628    Riley's  Monument                       849 

712.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  A. 
B  Holmes                     Page  914 

798.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 
Blakeley  Page  979 

629.  Signature  of  R.  M'Douall  850 
630    Map    M  'Arthur's  Raid        ...  852 

713.  Denison's  Grave  914 
714.  Tail-piece—  Bomb-shell  915 

799.  Blakeley's  Medal  980 

800.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  L. 
Warrington  981 

631    Portrait  of  General  Scott           853 

715.  Initial  Letter             916 

632    Initial  Letter                   854 

716.  Signature  of  P.  Stuart  916 

801.  Warrington's  Medal  982 

633.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  T. 

717.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  D. 
L.  Clinch    917 

802.  Billet-head  of  Cymw  985 

803.  Stewart's  Medal  986 

718.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  W. 
H  Winder                               918 

804.  Stewart's  Residence  986 

635   Signature  of  D  Bissell              857 

805.  Stewart's  Sword  986 

630    S  i  "-nature  of  G  Prevost              858 

719    Signature  of  H  Carbery  920 

800.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  C. 
Stewart  987 

637.  Portrait  and  Sig.  of  B.  Mooers  858 
638.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  A. 
Macomb                                     859 

720.  Signature  of  J.  P.  Van  Ness.  .  920 
721.  Signature  of  T.  E.  Stansbury..  921 
722    Signature  of  J  Sterett  921 

807.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  S. 
Decatur  988 

639    Sampson's                                .     859 

723    Signature  of  W.  Smith  922 

808.  Decatur's  Monument  989 

640.  Map—  Fortifications  at  Platts- 
bur°-                                        860 

724   Signature  of  S  West       922 

809.  Portrait  and  Sig.  of  J.  Biddle    990 
810.  Biddle's  Medal  991 

725   Signature  of  W  D.  Beall  922 

641.  M.  Smith's  Monument  801 
642.  Howe's  House  862 
643    Platt's  Residence                      .  863 

720.  Signature  of  W.  Scott  922 
727.  Signature  of  J.  Tilghman  922 
728    Ofd  Mill,  Bladeusburg  924 

811.  Privateer  Schooner  993 
812.  Signature  of  Admiral  Sawyer    994 
813.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  S. 
C.Reid  1004 

644    Old  Stone  Mill                              864 

729.  Bridge  at  Bladensburg  927 
730   Residence  of  J.  C.  Rives  927 

645    The  Saranac                                 865 

814.  Initial  Letter  1008 

646.  Henley's  Medal  868 

731.  Dueling-ground,  Bladensburg  928 
732.  Signature  of  J.  Davidson  928 
733   Map    Battle  of  Bladeusbur"-     929 

815.  Signature  of  A.  J.  Armstrong  1011 
816.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  A. 
J  Dallas     1011 

647.  Cassin's  Medal  868 

648.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  H. 
Pauldin0'      869 

734.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 
Barney                 930 

817.  Signature  of  T.Jesup  1013 

649.  View  from  Cumberland  Head  870 
650.  Map    Naval  Action       .       .      871 

818.  Signatures  of  the  Members  of 
the  Hartford  Convention  .  .  1014 
819.  Caricature  1015 
820.  The  Hermitage....  1017 
821.  Portrait  of  W.  C.  C.  Claiborne  1019 
822    Portrait  of  A  Jackson            .  1020 

735    Barney's  Spring  931 

651.  Macdonough's  Dispatch  872 
652.  Portrait  and  Sig.  of  J.  Smith  .  872 
653.  Battle  of  Plattsburg    873 

736.  Bullet  931 
737.  The  Capitol  in  1814  932 
738   Remains  of  the  Capitol  933 

654.  The  Saranac  at  Pike's  Canton 
ment                   874 

739.  Remains   of  the    President's 
House                         934 

823.  Map—  Attack  on  Fort  Bowyer  1021 
824.  Jackson's  City  Head-quarters  1024 
825.  Portrait  of  Major  Plauche.  .  .  1024 
826.  Patterson's  Monument  1025 

655.  Ruins  of  Fort  Brown  875 
650.  Artillery  Quadrant  875 

740.  Signature  of  T.  Tingey  934 
741.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  D. 
Madison       935 

657.  General  Mooers's  Grave  876 

658.  United  States  Hotel  876 

742.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 
Barker                                       936 

827.  Map—  Fight  of  Gun-boats  and 
Barges  1026 

659.  Macomb's  Monument  877 

660.  Macomb's  Medal  878 

743.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  G. 
R.Gleig  937 
744.  Signature  of  D.Wadsworth...  938 
745.  Fort  Washington.   ...              .  939 

828.  Cathedral  in  New  Orleans...  1027 
829.  Fort  St.  John  1028 

661.  Macdonounrh's  Medal.      .     .  .  878 

662.  Macdonough's  Farm-house...-  879 
663.  Dowuie's  Grave  879 

830.  Villero's  Mansion  1029 

831.  Portrait  of  De  la  Ronde  1030 
832.  Lacoste's  Mansion  1031 

604.  View  in  Beekmantown  880 

746    Sketch  of  Torpedo                      940 

665.  Soldiers'  Graves  880 

747    The  Unknown                              942 

833.  Map—  Affair  below  N.Orleaus  1032 
834.  Portrait  of  De  Lacy  Evans...  1032 
835.  A  Tennessee  Flag  1033 

666.  Map—  Seat  of  War  881 

748.  Barlow's  Vault  942 

667.  Store-houses   882 

749    Kalorama                                      942 

668.  Mooers's  House  SS2 
609.  Woolsey's  House  883 

750.  Cenotaph  943 
751.  Gerry's  Monument  943 

836.  Initial  Letter  1034 

837.  De  la  Ronde's  Mansion  1034 

670.  Ball  in  Mooers's  House  834 

752.  Initial  Letter                                 944 

638.  Map—  Seat  of  War  in  Louisi 
ana  1036 

671.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  F. 
Gregory  885 

753.  Portrait  and  Sig.  of  P.  Parker.  946 
754.  Portrait  and  Sig.  of  8.  Smith  .  947 
755.  Montebello       .                             947 

839.  Jackson's  Head-quarters  1037 
840.  Chalmette's  Plantation  1039 

672.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  M. 
Crane     ..   .  .'  885 

750    Rodilrers's  Bastion                        949 

841.  Map—  Battle  of  New  Orleans  1040 
842   Remains  of  a  Canal  1042 

673.  Crane's  Monument  886 

757.  Methodist  Meeting-house  950 
758.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 
Strieker                                   950 

674.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  I. 
Chauncey  887- 

843.  Plauchc's  Tomb  1043 

844    You's  Tomb  1043 

675.  Chauncey's  Monument  887 

759.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  D. 
M'Dou°-all                               952 

845.  Map—  Position  of  Troops  1044 
846   Battle  of  New  Orleans    1047 

670.  Initial  Letter  888 

677.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 
Montgomery  891 
678.  Fort  Pickering  891 

700.  Battle  of  North  Point                958 

847    Monument  1048 

701.  Battle-flag  954 
702.  Signature  of  M.  Bird  954 
703.  Fort  M'Heury  in  1801  954 
704.  Signature  of  J.  H.Nicholson..  955 
765.  Signature  of  S.  Lane  955 
766.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  G. 
Armistead  955 
767.  Signature  of  F.  S.  Key  956 
708.  Star-spangled  Banner  957 
70!).  The  Armistead  Vase  960 

848.  Pecan-trees  1050 
849    Map  —  Fort  St.  Philip  1051 

679.  Carcass  894 
680.  Stonington  Flag  894 

850    Jackson's  Medal  1052 

851    Jackson's  Draft     .              ...  1053 

6S1.  The  Cobb  House  896 
682.  Denison's  Monument  896 

852.  Signature  of  D.  A.  Hall  1054 
853    The  Old  Court-house  1054 

683.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  J. 
Sherbrooke  897 
684.  Fort  Porter,  Castine  897 
685.   Signature  of  R.  Barrie  898 
680.  General  Blake's  House  898 

854.  Ashland  1055 
855.  Bodley's  Grave  1055 

S5G    Jackson's  Tomb  1055 

857.  Clay's  Monument  1056 

858.  Grave  of  Daniel  Boone  1056 

687.  Crosby's  Wharf  899 

771.  Signature  of  W.  Ifc  Armistead  960 
772.  Battle  Monument/                      961 

859.  Kentucky    Soldiers'    Monu- 

688.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  C. 
Morris  900 
689.  Morris's  Monument  901 

773.  The  City  Spring,  Baltimore..  .  962 
774.  Portrait  and  Sig.  of  J.  Lester.  963 
775.  North  Point  Battle-ground...  963 
770.  Monument  where  Ross  fell.  ..  964 
777.  Remains  of  Circular  Battery..  905 
778.  State  Fencible                .             960 

860.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  F. 
Robertson.    .                        1058 

690.  Town-house,  Hampden  902 
691.  Reed's  Shop  902 
692.  Remains  of  Fort  George  903 
693.  Signature  and  Seal  ofG.  Gos- 
selin  .'.  903 

861.  Portrait  of  A.  Henuer  105b 

802.  Japan  Plum  1059 
803.  Portrait  of  J.  Q.  Adams  1059 
804.  Portrait  of  J.  A  Bayard  1060 

779.  Signature  of  D.  D.  Tompkins.  970 
780.  Signature  of  Morgan  Lewis.  ..  970 
781.  Fort  Stevens  and  Mill  Rock..  971 
782.  Tower  at  Hallett's  Point  971 
783.  Fortifications     around    New 
York                                    •  972 

805    Adams's  Homes     .  .  .                 1000 

694.  Yankee  Doodle  Upset  904 
695.  Billet-head  of  Constitution  905 
690.  Fort  Pickering,  Salem  906 
697.  Remains  of  Fort  Lee  906 

866.  ViewofGheut  1061 
867.  Cipher  Writing  1001 
868.  Fac-simile  of  MS.  of  Treaty 
of  Ghent        .                         1002 

698.  Marblehead  Harbor  907 

869    Seal  and  Sig.  of  Gambler         1062 

699.  Fort  Sewall  907 

784   MiM  Rock  Fortifications            973 

870.  Seal  and  Sig.  of  Goulburu...  1062 
871.  Seal  and  Sig.  of  W.  Adams  .  .  1002 
872.  Seal  and  Sig.  of  J.  Q.  Adams.  1002 
873.  Seal  and  Sig.  of  J.  A.  Bayard  1002 
874.  Seal  and  Sig.  of  H.  Clay  1003 
875.  Seal  and  Sig.  of  J.  Russell  .  .  .  1003 
870.  Seal  and  Sig.  of  A.  Gallatin..  1063 
877.  Por't  and  Sig.  of  C.  Hughes.    1003 
878.  Medal  of  Gratitude  1005 
879.  Treaty  of  Peace  Medal  1005 
880.  Allegorical  Picture—  Peace.  .  1066 
881.  Dartmoor  Prison  1068 
882.  Tail-piece  —  Civil  and  Mili 
tary  Power  .  .  1073 

700.  Portrait  and  Signature  of  Dr. 
Browne  908 

785.  Fort  Clinton  973 

780.  FortCliutonandHarlemRiver  973 
7S7.  M'Gowan's  Pass  974 
788.  North  Battery.              .               974 

701.  Small  Cannon  909 
702.  View  from  Fort  George  909 

703.  Remains  of  Fort  Castine  909 
704.  Remains  at  Fort  Griffith  910 
705.  Fort  Point  910 
706.  The  Bacon  Tree  911 
707.  Mouth  of  the  Kenduskeag  911 
708.  Portrait  and  Sig.  of  Van  Meter  912 
709.  Remains  of  Fort  Phoenix  913 
710.  Arsenal  at  Stonington  914 

789.  View  from  Fort  Fish  974 
790.  Courtenay's,  and  Tower  975 
791.  Remains  of  Block-house  975 
792.  M'Gowan's  Pass  in  1800  975 
7!)3.  Signature  of  A.  and  N.  Brown.  970 
794.  Iron-clad  Vessel  970 

795.  Section  of  Floating  Battery...  977 
796.  Fulton  the  First.                           977 

711.  Portrait  and  Sig.  of  J.  Holmes  914 

797.  Initial  Letter...                     ..978 

PICTORIAL    FIE  LD-B  0  OK 


OF 


THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


CHAPTER  I. 

"  I  see,  I  see, 

Freedom's  established  reign ;  cities,  and  men, 
Numerous  as  sands  upon  the  ocean  shore, 
And  empires  rising  where  the  sun  descends ! 
The  Ohio  soon  shall  glide  by  many  a  town 
Of  note ;  and  where  the  Mississippi  stream, 
By  forests  shaded,  now  runs  sweeping  on, 
Nations  shall  grow,  and  states  not  less  in  fame 
Than  Greece  and  Rome  of  old.    We,  too,  shall  boast 
Our  Scipios,  Solons,  Catos,  sages,  chiefs, 
That  in  the  lap  of  Time  yet  dormant  lie, 
Waiting  the  joyous  hour  of.life  and  light." 

PHILIP  FEENEATT,  1775. 

UCH  was  the  prophecy  of  an  Amer 
ican  poet  when  the  war  for  his 
country's  independence  had  just  been  kindled ;  and 
similar  were  the  prescient  visions  of  the  statesmen 
and  sages  of  that  hour,  who,  in  the  majesty  of  con- 
scjous  rectitude,  decreed  the  dismemberment  of  a  mighty 
empire  and  the  establishment  of  a  nation  of  freemen  in 
the  New  World.    Their  rebellion  instantly  assumed  the 
dignity  of  a  revolution,  and  commanded  the  respect  and 
sympathy  of  the  civilized  nations.     Their  faith  was  per 
fect,  and  under  its  inspiration  they  contended  gallantly 
for  freedom,  and  won.     We,  their  children,  have  seen  the 
minstrel's  prophecy  fulfilled,  and   all  the  bright  visions 
of  glory  that  gave  gladness  to  our  fathers  paled  by  a  splen 
dor  of  reality  that  makes  us  proud  of  the  title  —  AMERICAN 
CITIZEN. 

When,  on  the  25th  of  November,  1783,  John  Van  Arsdale,  a 
sprightly  sailor-boy  of  sixteen  years,  climbed  the  slushed  flag- staff 
in  Fort  George,  at  the  foot  of  Broadway,  New  York,  pulled  down  the 
British  ensign  that  for  more  than  seven  years  had  floated  there,  and  un 
furled  in  its  place  the  banner  of  the  United  States,1  the  work  of  the  Rev 
olution  was  finished.     As  the  white  sails  of  the  Bi'itish  squadron  that 
bore  away  from  our  shores  the  last  armed  enemy  to  freedom  in  Amer- 

1  Before  the  British  left  Fort  George  they  nailed  their  colors  to  the  summit  of  the  flag-staff,  knocked  off  the  elects, 
and  "slushed"  the  pole  from  top  to  bottom,  to  prevent  its  being  climbed.  Van  Arsdale  (who  died  in  183C)  ascended  by 
nailing  on  cleets,  and  applying  sand  to  the  greased  flag-staff.  In  this  way  he  reached  the  top,  hauled  down  the  British 
flag,  and  placed  that  of  the  United  States  in  its  position.  It  is  believed  by  some  that  the  nailing  of  the  flag  there  by  the 
British  had  a  higher  significance  than  was  visible  in  the  outward  act,  namely,  a  compliance  with  orders  from  the  impe 
rial  government  not  to  strike  the  flag,  as  in  a  formal  surrender,  but  to  leave  it  flying,  in  token  of  the  claim  of  Great 
Britain  to  the  absolute  proprietorship  of  the  country  then  abandoned.  It  was  believed  that  the  absence  of  British  au 
thority  in  the  United  States  would  be  only  temporary. 

B 


18  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  hopes  of  the  Americans  not  realized.  They  were  free,  but  not  independent. 

ica  became  mere  specks  upon  the  horizon  in  the  evening  sun  to  the  straining  eyes  of 
eager  thousands  gazing  seaward  beyond  the  Narrows,1  the  idea  of  absolute  independ 
ence  took  possession  of  the  mind  and  heart  of  every  true  American.  He  saw  the  visi 
ble  bonds  of  British  thraldom  fall  at  his  feet,  and  his  pulse  beat  high  with  the  inspira 
tion  of  conscious  freedom,  and  the  full  assurance  that  the  power  and  influence  of  Brit 
ish  sovereignty  had  departed  from  his  country  forever. 

Alas !  those  natural,  and  generous,  and  patriotic,  and  hopeful  emotions  were  falla 
cious.  They  were  born  of  a  beautiful  theory,  but  derived  no  real  sustenance  from  so 
ber  facts.  They  were  the  poetry  of  that  hour  of  triumph,  entrancing  the  spirit  and 
kindling  the  imagination.  They  gave  unbounded  pleasure  to  a  disenthralled  people. 
But  there  were  wise  and  thoughtful  men  among  them  who  had  communed  with  the 
teachers  of  the  Past,  and  sought  knowledge  in  the  vigorous  school  of  the  Present. 
They  diligently  studied  the  prose  chapters  of  the  great  volume  of  current  history  spread 
out  before  them,  and  were  not  so  jubilant.  They  reverently  thanked  God  for  what 
had  been  accomplished,  adored  him  for  the  many  interpositions  of  his  providence  in 
their  behalf,  and  rejoiced  because  of  the  glorious  results  of  the  struggle  thus  far.  But 
they  clearly  perceived  that  the  peace  established  by  the  decrees  of  high  contract 
ing  parties  would  prove  to  be  only  a  lull  in  the  great  contest  —  a  truce  soon  to  be 
broken,  not,  perhaps,  by  the  trumpet  calling  armed  men  to  the  field,  but  by  the  stern 
behests  of  the  inexorable  necessities  of  the  new-born  republic.  The  revolution  was 
accomplished,  and  the  political  separation  from  Great  Britain  was  complete,  but  abso 
lute  independence  was  not  achieved. 

The  experience  of  two  years  wrought  a  wonderful  change  in  the  public  mind.  The 
wisdom  of  the  few  prophetic  sages  who  warned  the  people  of  dangers  became  painful 
ly  apparent.  The  Americans  were  no  longer  the  legal  subjects  of  a  monarch  beyond 
the  seas,  yet  the  power  and  influence  of  Great  Britain  were  felt  like  a  chilling,  over 
shadowing  cloud.  In  the  presence  of  her  puissance  in  all  that  constitutes  the  material 
strength  and  vigor  of  a  nation,  they  felt  their  weakness ;  and  from  many  a  patriot  heart 
came  a  sigh  to  the  lips,  and  found  expression  there  in  the  bitter  words  of  deep  humili 
ation — We  are/ree,  but  not  independent. 

Why  not  ?  Had  not  a  solemn  treaty  and  the  word  of  an  honest  king  acknowledged 
the  states  to  be  free  and  independent  ? 

Yes.  The  Treaty  of  Peace  had  declared  the  confederated  colonies  "to  be  free,  sov 
ereign,  and  independent  states  ;"  and  that  the  King  of  Great  Britain  would  treat  them 
as  such,  and  relinquish  "  all  claims  to  the  government,  propriety,  and  territorial  rights 
of  the  same."2  The  king,  in  his  speech  from  the  throne,a  had  said,  "I  .Decembers, 
have  sacrificed  every  consideration  of  my  own  to  the  wishes  and  opinion  1783- 

of  my  people.  I  make  it  my  humble  and  earnest  prayer  to  Almighty  God  that  Great 
Britain  may  not  feel  the  evils  which  might  result  from  so  great  a  dismemberment  of 
the  empire,  and  that  America  may  be  free  from  those  calamities  which  have  formerly 
proved,  in  the  mother  country,  how  essential  monarchy  is  to  the  enjoyment  of  consti 
tutional  liberty.  Religion,  language,  interest,  affections  may,  and  I  hope  will,  yet  prove 
a  bond  of  permanent  union  between  the  two  countries :  to  this  end  neither  attention 
nor  disposition  shall  be  wanting  on  my  part."3 

i  The  passage  from  New  York  Harbor  to  the  sea,  between  Long  Island  and  Staten  Island. 

»  See  Article  I.  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  signed  at  Paris  on  the  3d  of 
September,  1783,  by  David  Hartley  in  behalf  of  Great  Britain,  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Adams,  and  John  Jay  for 
the  United  States. 

'  This  acknowledgment  was  wrung  from  the  king.  He  had  long  detested  the  very  name  of  every  thing  American ; 
and  this  feeling  was  strengthened  by  his  intense  personal  hatred  of  Dr.  Franklin,  whose  coolness  and  adroitness  had 
given  him  the  distinction  of  Arch-rebel.  The  king  carried  his  prejudices  so  far  that  Sir  John  Pringle  was  driven  to 
resign  his  place  as  President  of  the  Royal  Society  in  this  wise :  The  king  urgently  requested  the  society  to  publish,  with 
the  authority  of  its  name,  a  contradiction  of  a  scientific  opinion  of  the  rebellious  Franklin.  Pringle  replied  that  it  wag 
not  in  his  power  to  reverse  the  order  of  nature,  and  resigned.  The  pliant  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  with  the  practice  of  a  true 
courtier,  advocated  the  opinion  which  was  patronized  by  his  majesty,  and  was  appointed  President  of  the  Royal  Soci 
ety.  See  Wright's  England  under  the  House  of  Hanover,  ii.,  63. 


OF   THE  WAR    OP    1812.  19 


Reception  of  John  Adams  in  England.          Why  the  Americans  were  not  independent.         Articles  of  Confederation. 

This  was  all  very  kind,  and  yet  the  Americans  were  not  independent. 

Why  not  ?  Had  not  the  representative  of  their  independent  sovereignty  been  ap 
pointed  by  the  Congress  to  reside  as  the  agent  of  the  republic  in  the  British  capital, 
and  been  received  with  cordiality  ? 

Yes.     John  Adams  had  been  appointed14  minister  plenipotentiary  to  the    a  February  24, 
Court  of  Great  Britain,  and  had  been  ordered  to  leave  sunny  France  for  fog 
gy  England.     The  Duke  of  Dorset,  the  British  embassador  at  Paris,  had  treated  him 
most  kindly  at  Auteuil,  and  had  as  kindly  prescribed  a  gay  court-dress  to  be  worn  by  the 
embassador  at  his  first  presentation  to  the  king  on  his  majesty's  birth-day.    That  plen 
ipotentiary  had  been  presented,b  most  graciously  received,  and  affected  almost    »june4) 
to  tears  by  these  honest  words  of  good  King  George :  "  I  was  the  last  man  in 
the  kingdom,  sir,  to  consent  to  the  independence  of  America;  but,  now  it  is  granted,  I 
shall  be  the  last  man  in  the  world  to  sanction  a  violation  of  it." 

This  reception  was  significant,  and  this  declaration  of  his  majesty  was  explicit  and 
sincere.  Yet  the  Americans  were  not  independent. 

Why  not  ?  Because  they  had  not  formed  a  nation,  and  thereby  created  a  power  to 
be  respected  ;  because  British  statesmen  were  wise  enough  to  perceive  this  weakness, 
and  sagacious  enough  to  take  advantage  of  it.  Without  the  honesty  of  the  king,  mis 
led  by  the  fatal  counsels  of  the  refugee  loyalists  who  swarmed  in  the  British  metropo 
lis,  and  governed  wholly  by  the  maxims  and  ethics  of  diplomacy,  the  ministry  cast 
embarrassments  in  the  way  of  the  Confederation,  neglected  to  comply  with  some  of  the 
most  important  stipulations  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  maintained  a  haughty  reserve,  and 
waited  with*  complacency  and  perfect  faith  to  see  the  whole  fabric  of  government  in  the 
United  States,  cemented  by  the  bonds  of  common  interest  and  common  danger  while 
in  a  state  of  war,  crumble  into  fragments,  and  the  people  return  to  their  allegiance  as 
colonists  of  Great  Britain.  Their  trade  and  commerce,  their  manufactures  and  arts, 
their  literature,  science,  religion,  and  laws  were  yet  largely  tributary  to  the  parent 
country,  without  a  well-grounded  hope  for  a  speedy  deliverance.  To  this  domination 
was  added  a  traditional  contempt  of  the  English  for  their  transatlantic  brethren  as  an 
inferior  people,1  and  the  manifestation  of  an  illiberal  and  unfriendly  spirit,  heightened 
by  the  consciousness  that  the  Americans  were  without  a  government  sufficiently  pow 
erful  to  command  the  fulfillment  of  treaty  stipulations,  or  an  untrammeled  commerce 
sufficiently  important  to  attract  the  cupidity  and  interested  sympathies  of  other  na 
tions. 

Such  is  a  general  statement  of  reasons  why  the  United  States  were  not  inde 
pendent  of  Great  Britain  after  their  total  political  separation  from  her.  These  gave 
to  Dr.  Franklin  and  others  the  consciousness  of  the  incompleteness  of  the  struggle 
commenced  in  1775.  When  a  compatriot  remarked  that  the  war  for  independence  was 
successfully  closed,  Franklin  wisely  replied,  "  Say,  rather,  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 
The  war  for  independence  is  yet  to  be  fought." 

I  have  remarked  that  our  fathers  had  not  formed  a  NATION  on  the  return  of  peace, 
and  in  that  fact  was  the  inherent  weakness  of  their  government,  and  the  spring  of  all 
the  hopes  of  the  royalists  for  their  speedy  return  to  colonial  dependency.  To  illustrate 
this,  let  us  take  a  rapid  survey  of  events  from  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace 
in  the  autumn  of  1784,  to  the  formation  of  the  National  Constitution  in  the  autumn 
of  1787. 

The  Articles  of  Confederation,  suggested  by  Dr.  Franklin  in  the  summer  of  1775, 
adopted  by  the  Continental  Congress  in  November,  1777,  and  finally  settled  by  the 
ratification  of  all  the  states  in  the  spring  of  1781,  became  the  organic  law  of  the  great 
American  League  of  independent  commonwealths,  which,  by  the  first  article  of  that 
Constitution,  was  styled  "  The  United  States  of  America."  In  behalf  of  this  Confeder- 

1  "Even  the  chimney-sweepers  on  the  streets,"  said  Pitt,  in  a  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  1703,  "talk  boast- 
ingly  of  their  subjects  in  America." 


20 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  League  of  States. 


The  States  not  sovereign. 


The  Public  Debt. 


acy,  commissioners  were  appointed  by  the  Continental  Congress  to  negotiate  for  peace 
with  Great  Britain.  That  negotiation  was  successful,  and,  in  September,  1783,  a  defin- 
>  September  3,  i^e  treaty  was  signed  at  Paris*  by  the  respective  commissioners1  of  the 
1783.  two  governments.  It  was  subsequently  ratified  by  the  Congress  and  the 
Crown.  In  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  all  the  states  of  the  League  were  named,  for 
the  simple  purpose  of  definitely  declaring  what  provinces  in  the  New  World  formed 
"The  United  States  of  America,"  as  there  were  British,  French,  and  Spanish  provinces 
there  not  members  of  the  League;  and  also  because  they  were  held  to  be,  on  the  part 
of  the  English,  independent  republics,  as  they  had  been  colonies  independent  of  each 
other.2 

The  League  now  assumed  a  national  attitude,  and  the  powers  of  the  Confederacy  were 
speedily  tested.  The  bright  visions  of  material  prosperity  that  gladdened  the  hearts 
of  the  Americans  at  the  close  of  the  war  soon  faded,  and  others  more  sombre  appeared 
when  the  financial  and  commercial  condition  of  the  forming  republic  was  contemplated 
with  candor.  A  debt  of  seventy  millions  of  dollars  lay  upon  the  shoulders  of  a  wasted 
people.  About  forty-four  millions  of  that  amount  was  owing  by  the  Federal  govern 
ment  (almost  ten  millions  of  it  in  Europe),  and  the  remainder  by  the  individual  states. 
These  debts  had  been  incurred  in  carrying  on  the  war.  Even  while  issuing  their  paper 
money  in  abundance,  the  Congress  had  commenced  borrowing;  and  when,  in  1780, 
their  bills  of  credit  became  worthless,  borrowing  was  the  chief  monetary  resource  of 
the  government.  This,  of  course,  could  not  go  on  long  without  involving  the  republic 
in  embarrassments  and  accomplishing  its  final  ruin.  The  restoration  of  the  public  credit 
or  the  downfall  of  the  infant  republic  was  the  alternative  presented  to  the  American 
people. 

1  See  note  2,  page  IS. 

2  The  advocates  of  the  mischievous  political  doctrine  known  as  supreme  state  sovereignty,  whose  fundamental  dogma 
is  that  the  states  then  forming  the  inchoate  republic  were  absolutely  independent  sovereignties,  have  cited  this  naming  of 
the  several  states  in  that  treaty  in  support  of  their  views.    The  states  were  independent  commonwealths,  but  not  sover 
eignties.    That  term  implies  no  superior.    The  colonies  and  states  had  never  been  in  that  exalted  position.    They  were 
dependencies  of  Great  Britain  until  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  promulgated,  when  they  immediately  assumed 
the  position  of  equals  in  a  National  League,  acknowledging  the  general  government  which  they  thus  established  as  the 
supreme  controlling  power,  having  a  broad  isiguet  for  the  common  use,  bearing  the  words,  "  Seal  of  the  United  States," 


FIKST   GEEAT  SEAL  OF  TUB  TTNITED   STATES.* 

as  its  insignia  of  authority.  When  a  treaty  of  peace  was  to  be  negotiated,  the  states  did  not  each  choose  a  commis 
sioner  for  the  purpose,  but  these  agents  were  appointed  by  the  General  Congress,  as  representatives  of  the  nationality 
of  the  Confederation,  without  reference  to  any  particular  states.  And  when,  a  few  years  later,  the  people  ("We  the 
PEOPLE"  is  the  phrase)  formed  and  ratified  a  National  Constitution,  they  disowned  all  independent  state  sovereignty,  and 
reserved  to  the  states  only  municipal  rights,  the  exercise  of  which  should  not  be  in  contravention  of  the  organic  law  of 
the  land. 

*  For  a  history  (with  illustrations)  of  this  first  Great  Seal  of  the  United  States,  see  a  paper  in  Harper's  Magazine,  voL 
xiii.,  p.  178,  written  by  the  author  of  this  work. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  21 

Attempts  to  restore  the  Public  Credit  and  establish  Commercial  Relations.  Attitude  of  the  States. 

With  a  determination  to  restore  that  public  credit,  the  General  Congress  immediately 
put  forth  all  its  strength  in  efforts  to  produce  such  a  result.  A  few  weeks  after  the 
preliminary  Treaty  of  Peace  was  signed,  the  Congress  declared  that  "the  establishment 
of  permanent  and  adequate  funds  on  taxes  or  duties,  which  shall  operate  generally, 
and,  on  the  whole,  in  just  proportion,  throughout  the  United  States,  is  indispensably 
necessary  toward  doing  complete  justice  to  the  public  creditors,  for  restoring  pub 
lic  credit,  and  for  providing  for  the  future  exigencies  of  the  war."1  Two  months 
latera  the  Congress  recommended  to  the  several  states,  as  "  indispensably  nee-  a  April  is, 
essary  to  the  restoration  of  public  credit,  and  to  the  punctual  discharge  of 
the  public  debts,"  to  vest  the  Congress  with  power  to  levy,  for  a  period  of  twenty-five 
years,  specified  duties  on  certain  imported  articles,  and  an  ad  valorem  duty  on  all 
others,  the  revenue  therefrom  to  be  applied  solely  to  the  payment  of  the  interest  and 
principal  of  the  public  debt.  It  was  also  proposed  that  the  states  should  be  required 
to  establish  for  the  same  time,  and  for  the  same  object,  substantial  revenues  for  supply 
ing  each  its  proportion  of  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  annually,  exclusive 
of  duties  on  imports,  the  proportion  of  each  state  to  be  fixed  according  to  the  eighth 
article  of  the  organic  law  of  the  League.2  This  financial  system  was  not  to  take  effect 
until  acceded  to  by  every  state. 

This  proposition  was  approved  by  the  leading  men  of  the  country,  but  it  was  not 
adopted  by  the  several  states.  They  all  took  action  upon  it  in  the  course  of  the  succeed 
ing  three  years,  but  that  action  was  rather  in  the  form  of  overtures — indications  of 
what  each  state  was  willing  to  dp — not  of  positive  law.  All  the  states  except  two 
were  willing  to  grant  the  required  amount,  but  they  were  not  disposed  to  vest  the 
Congress  with  the  required  power.  "  It  is  money,  not  power,  that  ought  to  be  the  ob 
ject,"  they  said.  "  The  former  will  pay  our  debts,  the  latter  may  destroy  our  liber 
ties."* 

This  first  important  effort  of  the  Congress  to  assume  the  functions  of  sovereignty 
was  a  signal  failure,  and  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  failures.  It  excited  a  jealousy  be 
tween  the  state  and  general  governments,  and  exposed  the  utter  impotency  of  the  lat 
ter,  whose  vitality  depended  upon  the  will  of  thirteen  distinct  legislative  bodies,  each 
tenacious  of  its  own  peculiar  rights  and  interests,  and  miserly  in  its  delegation  of  power. 
It  was  speedily  made  manifest  that  the  public  credit  must  be  utterly  destroyed  by  the 
inevitable  repudiation  of  the  public  debt. 

The  League  were  equally  unfortunate  in  their  attempts  to  establish  commercial  rela 
tions  with  other  governments,  and  especially  with  that  of  Great  Britain.  The  Liberal 
ministry,  under  the  Earl  of  Shelburne  when  the  preliminary  Treaty  of  Peace  was  signed, 
devised  generous  measures  toward  the  Americans.  Encouraged  by  a  lively  hope  there 
by  engendered,  American  commerce  began  to  revive.  William  Pitt,  son  of  the  emi 
nent  Earl  of  Chatham,  then  at  the  age  of  only  twenty-four  years,  was  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer.  With  a  clear  perception  of  the  value  to  Great  Britain  of  friendly  relations 
between  that  government  and  the  new  republic,  he  introduced  a  bill  into  Parliament 
for  the  regulation  of  commerce  between  the  two  countries,  by  which  trade  with  the 
British  West  India  Islands  and  other  colonial  possessions  of  the  crown  was  thrown 
open  to  the  enterprise  of  the  merchants  of  the  United  States. 

In  this  proposed  measui'e  was  involved  a  powerful  element  of  solid  peace  and  har 
mony  between  the  two  governments;  but  there  seemed  not  to  be  wisdom  enough 
among  the  statesmen  of  Great  Britain  for  a  practical  perception  of  it.  The  shipping 

1  Journal  of  Congress,  February  12, 1783.    The  last  clause  was  necessary,  because  only  preliminary  articles  of  peace 
had  been  signed,  and  the  war  might  continue. 

2  The  following  was  the  proposed  apportionment :  New  Hampshire,  $52,708 ;  Massachusetts,  $224,427 ;  Rhode  Island, 
$32,318;  Connecticut,  $13-2,091 ;  New  York,  $128,243 ;  New  Jersey,  $83,358  ;  Pennsylvania,  $205,189 ;  Delaware,  $22,443 ; 
-Maryland,  $141,517;  Virginia,  $256, 48T ;  North  Carolina,  $109,006;  South  Carolina,  $96,183  ;  Georgia,  $16,030. 

3  The  resolutions  of  Congress,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  with  remarks  thereon  by  "A  Re 
publican,"  were  published  in  the  New  York  Gazetteer,  and  afterward  in  pamphlet  form,  in  tho  autumn  of  1786,  by  Carroll 
&  Patterson,  32  Maiden  Lane,  New  York. 


22 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Dissolution  of  the  Liberal  British  Ministry. 


The  new  Cabinet. 


Its  discordant  Elements. 


interest,  then  potential  in  Parliament,  with  strange  blindness  to  its  own  welfare  and  that 
of  the  state,  successfully  opposed  it;  and  the  Liberal  Shelburne  ministry  did  not  survive 
the  proposition  a  month.  It  was  dissolved,  and,  after  a  ministerial  hiatus  of  several 
weeks,  during  which  time  faction  threatened  the  peace  if  not  the  stability  of  the  throne, 
a  Cabinet  was  formed  of  materials  the  most  discordant  hitherto.  North  and  Fox,  Burke 
and  Cavendish,  Portland  and  Stormont,  who  had  differed  widely  and  debated  bitterly 
on  American  affairs,  coalesced,  much  to  the  astonishment  of  the  simple,  the  scandal  of 
political  consistency,  and  the  delight  of  satirists  with  pen  and  pencil.1 

The  new  Cabinet  listened  to  other  counsels  than  those  of  the  sagacious  Pitt,  and,  in 
stead  of  acting  liberally  toward  the  United  States,  as  friends  and  political  equals,  they 
inaugurated  a  restrictive  commercial  policy,  and  assumed  the  offensive  hauteur  of  lord 
and  master  in  the  presence  of  vassals  or  slaves.  Echoing  the  opinions  of  the  acrimoni 
ous  Silas  Deane,  the  specious  Tory,  Joseph  Galloway,  and  Peter  Oliver,  the  refugee 
Chief  Justice  of  Massachusetts,2  English  writers  and  English  statesmen  made  public 
observations  which  indicated  that  they  regarded  the  American  League  as  only  alien 
ated  members  of  the  British  realm.  Lord  Sheffield,  in  a  formidable  pamphlet,  gave 
expression  to  the  views  of  the  Loyalists  and  leading  British  statesmen,  and  declared 
his  belief  that  ruin  must  soon  overtake  the  League,  because  of  the  anarchy  and  confu- 

1  The  political  satires  and  caricatures  of  the  day  indicate  the  temper  of  the  people.   Of  these  the  war  in  America  formed 
the  staple  subject  at  the  time  in  question.    The  conduct  of  that  war,  its  cessation  or  continuance,  formed  the  topic 

of  violent  debates  in  Parliament,  caused  rancor 
among  politicians,  was  the  basis  of  new  party  or- 
gAnizations,  and  a  source  of  great  anxiety  among 
the  people.  Among  those  who  employed  carica 
tures  in  the  controversies  Sayer  and  Gillray  were 
the  chief.  The  latter  soon  outstripped  all  com 
petitors,  and  gave  to  the  world  more  than  twelve 
hundred  caricatures,  chiefly  political.  One  of  his 
earliest  productions  was  issued  at  the  period  in 
question,  in  which  the  original  positions  of  the 
different  leaders  of  the  coalition  were  exhibit 
ed  in  compartments.  In  one,  entitled  "War," 
Fox  and  Burke,  in  characteristic  attitudes,  are 
seen  thundering  against  the  massive  Lord  North. 
In  another  com 
partment,  called 
"Neither  Peace 

nor  War,"  the  three  orators  are,  in  the 
same  attitudes,  attacking  the  prelimina 
ry  Treaty  of  Peace  with  the  United  States. 
Under  them  are  the  words  "  The  Astonishing  Coa 
lition."   Another  caricature  was  called  "The  Loves 
of  the  Fox  and  the  Badger ;  or,  The  Coalition  Wed 
ding."     This  popular  caricature  was  a  burlesque 
pictorial  history  of  the  sudden  friendship  between 

Fox  and  North.  The  latter  was  commonly  known  in  political  circles  as  "  the 
badger."  In  another  print  Fox  and  North  were  represented  under  one  coat 
standing  on  a  pedestal,  and  called  "The  State  Idol."  This  the  king  (who  de 
tested  the  whole  affair)  was  expected  to  worship.  In  another,  the  two  are  seen 
approaching  Britannia  (or  the  people)  to  claim  her  sanction.  She  rejects  them 
and  their  attention  is  directed  to  a  gallows  and  block  in  the  distance  as  their 
proper  destination. 

The  coalition  finally  became  unpopular,  and  Gillray,  in  a  caricature  entitled 
"Britannia  Aroused;  or,  The  Coalition  Monsters  Destroyed,"  represents  her  in 
a  fury,  grasping  one  of  the  leaders  by  the  neck  and  the  other  by  the  leg,  and 
hurling  them  from  her  as  enemies  to  liberty.  I  have  copied  from  Wright's  En 
gland  under  the  Home  of  Hanover  the  most  forcible  portions  of  the  torn  carica 
tures  named.  BEITANNIA  AROUSET.. 


ih 


in  1774,  but  soon  afterward  abandoned  his  countrymen  and  went  to  England 

York,  and  did  not  leave  the  country  uni!' ~ 

England,  where  he  died  in  1803. 

Peter  Oliver  was  past  middle  life  when  the  Revolution  broke  out.  He  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  Massachusetts 
in  760,  when  his  brother-in-law,  Hutchinson,  became  governor  of  that  province  He  was  impeached  by  SSssachu- 
setts  Assembly  in  1774,  and  soon  afterward  went  to  England,  where  he  died  in  1791  aged  79  yeirs 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  23 


Expectations  of  British  Statesmen.  Lord  Sheffield's  Pamphlet.  British  Legislation.  Public  Dangers. 

sion  in  which  they  were  involved  in  consequence  of  their  independence.  He  assumed 
that  the  New  England  States  in  particular  would  speedily  become  penitent  suppliants 
at  the  foot  of  the  king  for  pardon  and  restoration  as  colonies.  He  saw  the  utter  weak 
ness  and  consequent  inefficiency  of  the  League  as  a  form  of  government,  and  advised 
his  countrymen  to  consider  them  of  little  account  as  a  nation.1  "If  the  American 
states  choose  to  send  consuls,  receive  them,  and  send  a  consul  to  each  state.  Each 
state  will  soon  enter  into  all  necessary  regulations  with  the  consul,  and  this  is  the 
whole  that  is  necessary."  In  other  wrords,  the  League  has  no  dignity  above  that  of  a 
fifth-rate  power,  and  the  states  are  still,  in  fact,  only  dislocated  members  of  the  British 
Empire.2 

In  considering  the  more  remote  causes  of  the  "War  of  1812,  and  the  final  independ 
ence  of  the  United  States  achieved  by  that  war,  that  pamphlet  of  Lord  Sheffield,  which 
gave  direction  to  British  legislation  and  bias  to  the  English  mind  in  reference  to  the 
American  League,  may  be  regarded  as  a  most  important  one.  It  was  followed  by 
Orders  in  Council3  by  which  American  vessels  were  entirely  excluded  from  the  British 
West  Indies ;  and  some  of  the  staple  productions  of  the  United  States,  such  as  fish, 
beef,  pork,  butter,  lard,  et  cetera^  were  not  permitted  to  be  carried  there  except  in  Brit 
ish  bottoms.  These  orders  were  continued  by  temporary  acts  until  1788,  when  the 
policy  was  permanently  established  as  a  commercial  regulation  by  act  of  Parliament. 

In  view  of  this  unfriendly  conduct  of  Great  Britain,  the  General  Congress,  in  the 
spring  of  1784,  asked  the  several  states  to  delegate  powers  to  them  for  fifteen  years,  by 
which  they  might  compel  England  to  be  more  liberal  by  countervailing  measures  of 
prohibition.4  Well  would  it  have  been  for  the  people  of  the  young  republic  had  some 
restrictive  measures  been  adopted,  whereby  British  goods  could  have  been  kept  from 
their  ports,  for  in  a  very  short  time  after  the  peace  a  most  extravagant  and  ruinous 
trade  with  Great  Britain  was  opened.  Immense  importations  were  made,  and  private 
indebtedness  speedily  added  immensely  to  the  evils  which  the  war  and  an  inadequate 
government  had  brought  upon  the  people.  But  the  appeal  of  the  Congress  was  in  vain. 
The  states,  growing  more  and  more  jealous  of  their  individual  dignity,  would  not  invest 
the  Congress  with  any  such  power ;  nor  would  they,  even  in  the  face  of  the  danger  of 
having  their  trade  go  into  the  hands  of  foreigners,  make  any  permanent  and  uniform 
arrangements  among  themselves.  Without  public  credit,  with  their  commerce  at  the 
mercy  of  every  adventurer,  without  respect  at  home  or  abroad,  the  League  of  States, 
free  without  independence,  presented  the  sad  spectacle  of  the  elements  of  a  great  nation 
paralyzed  in  the  formative  process,  and  the  coldness  of  political  death  chilling  every 
developing  function  of  its  being. 

Difficulties  soon  arose  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  concerning  the 

i  "  It  will  not  be  an  easy  matter,"  he  said  (and  he  no  doubt  spoke  the  language  of  the  English  people  in  general),  "  to 
bring  the  American  states  to  act  as  a  nation  ;  they  are  not  to  be  feared  as  such  by  us.  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  they 
can  engage  or  will  concur  in  any  material  expenses.  A  stamp  act,  a  tea  act,  or  such  act  that  can  never  again  occur, 
would  alone  unite  them.  Their  climate,  their  staples,  their  manners  are  different ;  their  interests  opposite ;  and 
that  which  is  beneficial  to  one  is  destructive  to  the  other.  We  might  as  reasonably  dread  the  effects  of  combinations 
among  the  German  as  among  the  American  states,  and  deprecate  the  resolves  of  the  Diet  as  those  of  the  Congress.  In 
short,  every  circumstance  proves  that  it  will  be  extreme  folly  to  enter  into  any  engagements  by  which  we  may  not  wish 
to  be  bound  hereafter.  It  is  impossible  to  name  any  material  advantage  the  American  states  will  or  can  give  us  in  return 
more  than  what  we  of  course  shall  have.  No  treaty  can  be  made  with  the  American  states  that  can  be  binding  on  the 
Whole  of  them.  The  Act  of  Confederation  does  not  enable  Congress  to  form  more  than  general  treaties."— SHEFFIELD'S 
Observations  on  the  Commerce  of  the  American  States,  London,  1783.  , 

3  The  estimation  in  which  the  League  was  held  by  the  British  government  may  be  inferred  by  an  inquiry  of  the  Duke 
of  Dorset,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  Messrs.  Adams,  Franklin,  and  Jefferson,  on  the  subject  of  a  commercial  treaty,  in 
March,  17S5.  His  grace  inquired  "  whether  they  were  commissioned  by  Congress  or  their  respective  states,  for  it  ap 
peared  to  him  that  each  state  was  determined  to  manage  its  own  matters  in  its  own  way."  It  could  not  be  expected  that 
England  would  be  in  haste  to  form  any  important  commercial  relations  with  a  government  so  uncertain  in  its  charac 
ter,  for  a  league  of  independent  governments  was  liable  to  dissolution  at  any  moment. 

3  July,  17S3.  The  British  Privy  Council  consists  of  an  indefinite  number  of  gentlemen,  chosen  by  the  sovereign,  and 
having  no  direct  connection  with  the  Cabinet  ministers.  The  sovereign  may,  under  the  advice  of  this  council,  issue 
orders  or  proclamations,  which,  if  not  contrary  to  existing  laws,  are  binding  upon  the  subjects.  These  are  for  tempo 
rary  purposes,  and  are  called  Orders  in  Council. 

*  See  Journal  of  Congress,  April  30, 1784. 


24  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Weakness  of  the  new  Government  made  manifest.  Its  Dissolution  threatened.  Excuse  for  Dissatisfaction. 

inexecution  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  each  charging  the  other  with  infractions  of  that 
treaty,  or  neglect  to  comply  with  its  requirements.1  An  open  rupture  was  threatened, 
•  February  24,  and  John  Adams  was  sent  to  England,a  clothed  with  the  full  powers  of  a 
1785-  plenipotentiary,  to  arrange  all  matters  in  dispute. 

But  Mr.  Adams  could  accomplish  little.  Indeed  his  mission  was  almost  fruitless.  He 
found  the  temper  of  the  British  people,  from  the  peasant  up  to  the  monarch,  cold,  if  not 
positively  hostile,  toward  the  United  States.  He  was  never  insulted,  yet  the  chilliness 
of  the  social  atmosphere,  and  the  studied  neglect  of  his  official  representations,  often 
excited  hot  indignation  in  his  bosom.  But  his  government  was  so  weak  and  powerless 
that  he  was  compelled  to  bite  his  lips  in  silence.  When  he  proposed  to  have  the  naviga 
tion  and  trade  between  all  the  dominions  of  the  British  crown  and  all  the  territories 
of  the  United  States  placed  upon  a  basis  of  perfect  and  liberal  reciprocity,  the  offer  was 
not  only  rejected  with  scorn,  but  the  minister  was  given  to  understand  that  no  othei' 
would  be  entertained  by  the  British  government.  When  he  recommended  his  own 
government  to  pass  countervailing  navigation  laws  for  the  benefit  of  American  com 
merce,  he  was  met  with  the  fact  that  it  possessed  no  power  to  do  so.  At  length,  be 
lieving  his  mission  to  be  useless,  and  the  British  government  steadily  refusing  to  send 
a  minister  to  the  United  States,  he  asked  and  received  permission  to  return  home. 

Meanwhile  matters  were  growing  infinitely  worse  in  the  United  States.  The  Con 
gress  had  become  absolutely  powerless,  and  almost  a  by-word  among  the  people.  The 
states  had  assumed  the  attitude  of  sovereign,  each  for  itself;  and  their  interests  were 
too  diversified,  and  in  some  instances  too  antagonistic,  to  allow  them  to  work  in  har 
mony  for  the  general  good.  The  League  was  on  the  point  of  dissolution,  and  the  fair 
fabric  for  the  dwelling  of  liberty,  reared  by  Washington  and  his  compatriots,  was  tot 
tering  to  its  fall.  The  idea  of  forming  two  or  three  distinct  confederacies  took  posses 
sion  of  the  public  mind.  Western  North  Carolina  revolted,  and  the  new  State  of 
Franklin,2  formed  by  the  insurgents,  endured  several  months.  A  portion  of  South 
western  Virginia  sympathized  in  the  movement.  Insurrection  against  the  authorities 
of  Pennsylvania  appeared  in  the  Wyoming  Valley.3  A  Convention  deliberated  at  Port 
land  on  the  expediency  of  erecting  the  Territory  of  Maine  into  an  independent  state.4 
An  armed  mob  surrounded  the  New  Hampshire  Legislature,  demanding  a  remission  of 
taxes  ;5  and  in  Massachusetts,  Daniel  Shays,  who  had  been  a  captain  in  the  Continental 
army,  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  large  body  of  armed  insurgents,  and  defied  the 
government  of  that  state.6  There  was  resistance  to  taxation  every  where,  and  disre 
spect  for  law  became  the  rule  and  not  the  exception. 

There  was  reason  for  this  state  of  things.  The  exhaustion  of  the  people  was  great 
on  account  of  the  war,  and  poverty  was  wide-spread.  The  farmer  found  no  remunera 
tive  market  for  his  produce,  and  domestic  manufactures  were  depressed  by  foreign 
competition.7  Debt  weighed  down  all  classes,  and  made  them,  feel  that  the  burden 

1  Against  Great  Britain  it  was  charged  that  slaves  had  been  carried  away  by  her  military  and  naval  commanders  sub 
sequent  to  the  signing  of  the  treaty,  and  on  their  departure  from  the  country.*   It  was  also  complained  that  the  Western 
military  posts  had  not  been  surrendered  to  the  United  States  according  to  Article  VII.  of  the  treaty.    Against  the  United 
States  it  was  charged  that  legal  impediments  had  been  interposed  to  prevent  the  collection  of  debts  due  British  mer 
chants  by  Americans,  and  that  the  stipulations  concerning  the  property  of  Loyalists,  found  in  Articles  V.  and  VI.  of  the 
treaty,  had  not  been  complied  with.    These  criminations  and  recriminations  were  fair,  for  it  has  been  justly  remarked, 
' '  America  could  not,  and  Great  Britain  would  not,  because  America  did  not,  execute  the  treaty."— Life  and  Works  of  John 
Adams,  i.,  424. 

2  See  Ramsey's  History  of  Tennessee ;  Harper's  Magazine  for  March,  1862. 

3  See  Lossing's  Field-Book  of  the  Revolution.  *  See  Williamson's  History  of  Maine. 

5  See  Coolidge  and  Mansfield's  History  of  New  Hampshire. 

6  See  Bradford's  History  of  Maxsachiisetts ;  Harper's  Magazine  for  April,  18C2. 

7  The  idea  was  prevalent,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  that  the  United  States  ought  to  be  an  exclusively  agricultural  nation, 
and  that  the  old  policy  of  purchasing  all  fabrics  in  Europe,  to  be  paid  for  by  the  productions  of  the  soil,  would  be  the 
wiser  one.   Acting  upon  the  belief  that  this  would  be  the  policy  of  the  new  government,  the  merchants  imported  largely, 
and,  there  being  very  little  duty  to  be  paid,  domestic  manufactures  could  not  compete  with  those  of  Great  Britain.   The 
fallacy  of  the  idea  that  exports  would  pay  for  the  imports  was  soon  made  manifest,  and  almost  universal  bankruptcy 

*  See  Article  VII.  of  the  treaty. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  25 

Washington's  Views  of  Public  Affairs.    His  Suggestions,  and  those  of  Alexander  Hamilton.    Propositions  of  the  latter. 

which  the  tax-gatherer  would  lay  upon  them  would  be  the  "  feather"  that  would  "  break 
the  camel's  back."  There  was  doubt,  and  confusion,  and  perplexity  on  every  side ; 
and  the  very  air  seemed  thick  with  forebodings  of  evil.  Society  appeared  to  be  about 
to  dissolve  into  its  original  elements. 

Patriots — men  who  had  labored  for  the  establishment  of  a  wise  government  for  a 
free  people — were  heart-sick.  "  Illiberality,  jealousy,  and  local  policy  mix  too  much  in  all 
our  public  councils  for  the  good  government  of  the  Union,"  wrote  Washington.  "The 
Confederation  appears  to  me  to  be  little  better  than  a  shadow  without  the  substance, 
and  Congress  a  nugatory  body,  their  ordinances  being  little  attended  to.  To  me  it  is 
a  solecism  in  politics ;  indeed,  it  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  things  in  nature,  that 
we  should  confederate  as  a  nation,  and  yet  be  afraid  to  give  the  rulers  of  that  nation 
(who  are  the  creatures  of  our  own  making,  appointed  for  a  limited  and  short  duration, 
and  who  are  amenable  for  every  action,  and  may  be  recalled  at  any  moment,  and  are 
subject  to  all  the  evils  they  may  be  instrumental  in  producing)  sufficient  powers  to 
order  and  direct  the  affairs  of  the  same.  By  such  policy  as  this  the  wheels  of  govern 
ment  are  clogged,  and  our  brightest  prospects,  and  that  high  expectation  which  was 
entertained  of  us  by  the  wondering  world,  are  turned  into  astonishment ;  and  from  the 
high  ground  on  which  we  stood  we  are  descending  into  the  vale  of  confusion  and  dai'k- 
ness. 

"  That  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  become  one  of  the  most  respectable  nations  upon 
earth,  admits,  in  my  humble  opinion,  of  no  doubt,  if  we  would  but  pursue  a  wise,  just, 
and  liberal  policy  toward  one  another,  and  keep  good  faith  with  the  rest  of  the  world. 
That  our  resources  are  ample  and  increasing,  none  can  deny;  but  while  they  are  grudg 
ingly  applied,  or  not  applied  at  all,  we  give  a  vital  stab  to  public  faith,  and  shall  sink, 
in  the  eyes  of  Europe,  into  contempt."1 

Other  patriots  uttered  similar  sentiments ;  and  there  was  a  feverish  anxiety  in  the 
public  mind  concerning  the  future,  destructive  of  all  confidence,  and  ruinous  to  enter 
prises  of  every  kind.  Already  grave  discussions  on  the  subject  had  occurred  in  the 
library  at  Mount  Vernon,  during  which  Washington  had  suggested  the  idea  of  a  con 
junction  of  the  several  states  in  arrangements  of  a  commercial  nature,  over  which  the 
Congress,  under  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  had  no  control.  The  suggestion  was 
luminous.  It  beamed  out  upon  the  surrounding  darkness  like  a  ray  of  morning  light. 
It  was  the  hei'ald  and  harbinger  of  future  important  action — the  key-note  to  a  loud 
trumpet-call  for  the  wise  men  of  the  nation  to  save  the  tottering  republic.  It  was  the 
electric  fire  that  ran  along  the  paralyzed  nerves  of  the  nation,  and  quickened  into  action 
a  broader  statesmanship,  like  that  displayed  by  the  youthful  Hamilton,  who,  three  or 
four  years  before,  had  induced  the  Legislature  of  New  York  to  recommend  the  "  assem 
bling  of  a  general  Convention  of  the  United  States,  specially  authorized  to  revise  and 
amend  the  Confederation,  reserving  the  right  to  the  respective  Legislatures  to  ratify 
their  determination."2 

occurred  among  the  importing  merchants.    The  imports  from  Great  Britain  during  the  years  1784  and  1TS5  amounted 
in  value  to  $30,000,000,  while  the  exports  thither  did  not  exceed  $9,000,000. 

1  Letter  to  James  Warren,  October  7, 17S5. 

2  So  early  as  17SO,  Alexander  Hamilton,  then  only  twenty-three  years  of  age,  thoroughly  analyzed  the  defects  of  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  in  a  long  letter  to  James  Duane,  member  of  Congress  from  New  York.    It  was  dated,  "Lib 
erty  Pole,  September  3, 1780."    He  discussed  the  subject  at  great  length,  gave  an  outline  sketch  of  a  Federal  Constitu 
tion,  and  suggested  the  calling  of  a  Convention  to  frame  such  a  system  of  government.*    During  the  following  year  he 
published  in  the  New  York  Packet,  printed  at  Fishkill,  Duchess  County,  a  series  of  papers  under  the  title  of  The  Consti 
tutionalist,  which  were  devoted  chiefly  to  the  discussion  of  the  defects  in  the  Articles  of  Confederation.    They  excited 
great  local  interest ;  and  Hamilton  succeeded,  in  the  summer  of  1782,  in  having  the  subject  brought  before  the  Legisla 
ture  of  the  State  of  New  York  while  in  session  at  Poughkeepsie.    It  was  favorably  received,  and  on  Sunday,  the  21st  of 
July,  that  body  passed  a  series  of  resolutions,  in  the  last  of  which  occurred  the  sentence  above  quoted. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  17S3,  Hamilton,  in  a  debate  in  Congress,  expressed  an  earnest  desire  for  a  general  Convention, 
and  the  subject  was  much  talked  of  among  the  members  of  Congress  in  17S4.  In  the  same  year  Thomas  Paine  and 
Pelatiah  Webster  wrote  on  that  subject.  In  the  spring  of  1784,  Noah  Webster,  the  lexicographer,  in  a  pamphlet  which 
he  says  he  "  took  the  pains  to  carry  in  person  to  General  Washington,"  suggested  a  "new  system  of  government,  which 

•  See  The  Works  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  i.,  150. 


26 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Conveution  of  Representatives  of  the  States  at  Annapolis  and  Philadelphia. 


This  recommendation  had  been  seriously  pondered  by  thoughtful  men  throughout 
the  League,  but  the  public  authorities  were  not  then  ready  to  adopt  it.    Washington's 
proposition  for  a  commercial  Convention  was  favorably  received,  and  in  September,  the 
•  September  ii,     following  year,a  five  states  were  represented  by  delegates  in  such  Conven- 
178S-  tion,  held  at  Annapolis,  in  Maryland.1     Already  a  desire  had  been  ex 

pressed  in  many  parts  of  the  country  for  a  Convention  having  a  broader  field  of  consid 
eration  than  commerce,  only  one  of  the  elements  of  a  nation's  prosperity.  So  thought 
and  felt  members  of  the  Convention  at  Annapolis — a  Convention  that  proved  a  failure 
in  a  degree,  inasmuch  as  only  five  of  the  thirteen  states  were  represented.  They  ad 
journed  after  a  brief  session,  first  recommending  the  several  states  to  call  another  Con 
vention  in  May  following ;  and  performing  the  momentous  service  of  preparing  a  letter 
to  the  General  Congress,  in  which  the  defects  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation  were  set 
forth. 

In  February  following,  the  Congress  took  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention  into 
consideration,  and  recommended  a  meeting  of  delegates  from  the  several  states,  to  be 
held  at  Philadelphia  on  the  second  Monday  in  the  ensuing  May ;  not,  however,  for  the 
regulation  of  commerce,  but  really  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  national  govern 
ment.2 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  a  Congress  of 
representatives  of  thirteen  colonies  met  in 
the  great  room  of  the  State  House  in  Phila 
delphia,  since  known  as  Independence  Hall, 
and  declared  those  colonies  free  and  inde 
pendent  states.  On  Monday,  the  14th  of 
May,  1787,  a  Congress  of  representatives 
of  the  same  colonies,  then  become  free  and 
independent  states,  assembled  in  the  same 
hall  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  the  va 
lidity  and  power  of  that  declaration,  by  dis 
solving  the  inefficient  political  League  of 
the  states,  and  constituting  the  inhabitants 
of  all  the  states  one  great  and  indissoluble 
nation. 

There  were  few  delegates  present  on  the 
appointed  day  of  meeting ;  and  it  was  not 
until  the  25th  that  representatives  from 
seven  states  (the  prescribed  quorum)  ap 
peared.  Then  Washington,  a  delegate  from 
Virginia,  was  chosen  president  of  the  Convention,  and  William  Jackson  secretary.3  On 


WILLIAM  JACK.BON. 


should  act,  not  on  the  states,  but  directly  on  individuals,  and  vest  in  Congress  full  power  to  carry  its  laws  into  effect." 
This  pamphlet  is  entitled,  "Sketches  of  American  Policy."  Thus  thinking  men  all  lamented  the  weakness  of  the  gen 
eral  government,  and  foresaw  the  dangers  of  the  doctrine  of  supreme  state  sovereignty,  which  has  wrought  so  much 
mischief  in  our  day. 

i  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  representatives :  New  York— Alexander  Hamilton,  Egbert  Benson ;  New  Jersey— 
Abraham  Clarke,  William  C.  Houston  ;  Pennsylvania — Tenche  Coxe,  James  Schureman  ;  Delaware—  George  Read,  John 
Dickinson,  Richard  Bassett ;  Virginia — Edmund  Randolph,  James  Madison,  Jr.,  St.  George  Tucker. 

8  This  action  of  the  Congress  took  place  on  the  21st  of  February,  1787.  The  resolution  (which  was  submitted  by  the 
delegates  from  Massachusetts)  was  as  follows : 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  Congress  it  is  expedient  that,  on  the  second  Monday  in  May  next,  a  Convention  of 
Delegates,  who  shall  have  been  appointed  by  the  several  states,  be  held  at  Philadelphia,  for  the  sole  and  express  pur 
pose  of  revising  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  reporting  to  Congress  and  the  several  Legislatures  such  alterations 
and  provisions  therein  as  shall,  when  agreed  to  in  Congress  and  confirmed  by  the  states,  render  the  Federal  Constitu 
tion  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  government  and  the  preservation  of  the  Union." 

3  William  Jackson  was  an  eminent  patriot,  and  one  of  Washington's  most  intimate  personal  friends.  He  entered  the 
Continental  army  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  and  served  his  country  faithfully  during  the  whole  war  for  independ 
ence.  He  became  an  aid  to  the  commander-in-chief,  with  the  rank  of  major.  In  1781  he  accompanied  his  friend, 
Colonel  John  Laurens,  on  a  diplomatic  mission  to  France.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  visited  Europe,  and  on  his  re 
turn  was  appointed,  on  the  nomination  of  Washington,  secretary  to  the  Convention  that  formed  the  National  Consti- 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  27 


William  Jackson  and  Edmund  Randolph.  Members  of  the  Convention.  Attitude  of  Rhode  Island. 

the  28th,  Edmund  Randolph,  of  Virginia,1  at  the  request  of  his  colleagues,  opened  the 
business  of  the  Convention  in  a  carefully  considered  speech,  in  which  he  pointed  out 
the  serious  defects  in  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  illustrated  their  utter  inadequacy 
to  secure  the  dignity,  peace,  and  safety  of  the  republic,  and  asserted  the  absolute  neces 
sity  of  a  more  energetic  government.  At  the  close  of  his  speech  he  offered  to  the  Con 
vention  fifteen  resolutions,  in  which  were  embodied  the  leading  principles  whereon  to 
form  a  new  government  according  to  his  views. 

I  do  not  propose  to  consider  in  detail,  nor  even  in  a  synoptical  manner,  the  proceed 
ings  of  that  Convention,  which  occupied  several  hours  each  day  for  four  months.  I  will 
merely  direct  attention  to  the  really  great  men  who  composed  it,  and  the  measures 
that  were  adopted,  and  leave  the  reader  to  seek  in  other  sources  the  interesting  infor 
mation  concerning  the  events  in  the  daily  sessions  of  that  remarkable  congress  of  wise 
men,  whose  efforts  bore  noble  fruit  for  the  political  sustenance  of  mankind.2 

The  venerable  Dr.  Franklin,  then  near  the  close  of  a  long  and  useful  life,  was  the 
most  conspicuous  member  of  that  Convention  next  to  Washington.  Thirty-three  years 
before  he  had  elaborated  a  plan  of  union  for  the  colonies,  to  which  neither  the  crown 
nor  the  provinces  would  listen  ;3  now  he  came  to  revive  that  plan,  with  full  hope  of 
success.  Johnson,  Rutledge,  and  Dickinson  had  been  members  of  the  Stamp-act  Con- 

tution.  His  private  record  of  the  proceedings  and  debates  is  iu  the  hands 
of  his  family.  He  became  the  private  secretary  of  President  Washington, 
and  accompanied  him  on  his  tour  through  the  Southern  States  in  1791. 
He  held  the  office  of  surveyor  of  the  port  of  Philadelphia  and  inspector  of 
customs  there  until  removed,  for  political  causes,  by  Mr.  Jefferson.  He 
then  started  a  daily  newspaper,  called  "The  Political  and  Commercial  Reg 
ister." 

Major  Jackson  lived  a  life  of  unsullied  honor,  and  at  his  death  was  buried 
in  Christ  Church  yard,  on  Fifth  Street,  Philadelphia.  A  plain  slab  about 
three  feet  high  marks  the  spot,  and  bears  the  following  inscription:  "Sacred 
to  the  memory  of  Major  William  Jackson :  born  March  the  9th,  1759 ;  depart 
ed  this  life  December  the  17th,  1828.  Also  to  Elizabeth  Willing,  his  relict : 
born  March  the  27th,  1768 ;  departed  this  life  August  the  5th,  1858."  Mrs. 
Jackson  was  ninety  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  death. 

I  am  indebted  to  Miss  Ann  Willing  Jackson,  daughter  of  Major  Jackson, 
for  the  portrait  given  on  the  preceding  page.  It  is  copied  from  a  miniature 
in  her  possession,  painted  by  Trumbull.  She  also  has  a  silhouette  profile 
of  her  father,  cut  by  Mrs.  Mayo,  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  the  mother  of  the 
late  Mrs.  General  Winfield  Scott. 

The  signature  of  Secretary  Jackson  is  with  those  of  the  other  signers  of  JACKSON'S  MONUMENT. 

the  Constitution,  on  page  32. 

1  Edmund  Randolph  was  a  son  of  an  attorney  general  of  Virginia  before  the  Revolution.  He  was  an  eminent  law 
yer,  and  a  warm  patriot  throughout  the  old  war  for  independence.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  from 
1779  until  1782.  He  was  active  in  the  Convention  that  formed  the  Constitution.  He  was  elected  Governor  of  Virginia 
iu  1788,  and  Washington  chose  him  for  his  first  attorney  general  of  the  United  States  in  1789.  He  was  secretary  of  state 
in  1794,  but,  in  consequence  of  being  engaged  in  an  intrigue  with  the  French  minister,  he  retired  from  public  life.  He 
died  in  December,  1813. 

3  Rhode  Island  was  not  represented  in  the  Convention.  Ignorant  and  unprincipled  men  happened  to  control  the 
Aesembly  of  the  state  at  that  time,  and  they  refused  to  elect  delegates  to  the  Convention.  But  some  of  the  best  and 
most  influential  men  in  Rhode  Island  joined  in  sending  a  letter  to  the  Convention,  in  which  they  expressed  their  cordial 
sympathy  with  the  objects  of  the  movement,  and  promised  their  acquiescence  in  whatsoever  measures  the  majority 
might  adopt.  The  following  were  the  names  of  the  delegates  from  the  several  states : 

New  Hampshire.— John  Langdon,  John  Pickering,  Nicholas  Gilman,  and  Benjamin  West. 

Massachrisetts.—  Francis  Dana,  Elbridge  Gerry,  Nathaniel  Gorham,  Rufus  King,  and  Caleb  Strong. 

Connecticut.— William  Samuel  Johnson,  Roger  Sherman,  and  Oliver  Ellsworth. 

New  York.— Robert  Yates,  Jonn  Lansing,  Jr.,  and  Alexander  Hamilton. 

New  Jersey.— David  Brearley,  William  Churchill  Houston,  William  Paterson,  John  Neilson,  William  Livingston,  Abra 
ham  Clark,  and  Jonathan  Dayton. 

Pennsylvania.—  Thomas  MiflJin,  Robert  Morris,  George  Clymer,  Jared  Ingersoll,  Thomas  Fitzsimmons,  James  Wilson, 
Gouverneur  Morris,  and  Benjamin  Franklin. 

Delaware.— George  Read,  Gunning  Bedford,  Jr.,  John  Dickinson,  Richard  Bassett,  and  Jacob  Brown. 

Maryland.— James  M'Henry,  Daniel  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer,  Daniel  Carroll,  John  Francis  Mercer,  and  Luther  Martin. 

Virginia.— George  Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  Edmund  Randolph,  John  Blair,  James  Madison,  Jr.,  George  Mason, 
and  George  Wythe.  Patrick  Henry  having  declined  his  appointment,  James  M'Clure  was  nominated  to  supply  his  place. 

North  Carolina.— Richard  Caswell,  Alexander  Martin,  William  Richardson  Davie,  Richard  Dobbs  Spaight,  and  Willie 
Jones.  Richard  Caswell  having  resigned,  William  Blonnt  was  appointed  as  deputy  in  his  place.  Willie  Jones  having 
also  declined  his  appointment,  his  place  was  supplied  by  Hugh  Williamson. 

South  Carolina.— John  Rutledge,  Charles  Pinckney,  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  and  Pierce  Butler. 

Georgia.— William  Few,  Abraham  Baldwin,  William  Pierce,  George Walton.William  Houston,  and  Nathaniel  Pendleton. 

3  "  The  Assemblies  did  not  adopt  it,"  said  Franklin,  "  as  they  all  thought  there  was  too  much  prerogative  in  it ;  and  in 
England  it  was  judged  to  have  too  much  of  the  democratic." 


28  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Leading  Members  of  the  Convention.  Its  Objects.  Its  Proceedings.  Gonverueur  Morris. 

gress  in  1765,  and  the  last  two  had  been  compatriots  of  Washington  in  the  Congress 
of  1774.  Livingston,  Sherman,  Read,  and  Wythe  had  shared  the  same  honors.  The 
last  two,  with  Franklin,  Sherman,  Gerry,  Clymer,  Morris,  and  Wilson,  had  signed  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  The  Continental  army  was  represented  by  Washington, 
Mifflin,  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  and  Hamilton.  The  younger  members,  who  had 
become  conspicuous  in  public  life  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  were  Hamilton, 
Madison,  and  Edmund  Randolph.  The  latter  was  then  Governor  of  Virginia,  having  suc 
ceeded  Patrick  Henry,  the  "trumpet  of  sedition"  when  the  states  were  British  provinces. 
The  Convention  was  marked  by  long  and  warm  debates,  and  with  dignity  suited  to 
the  occasion.  The  most  prominent  speakers  were  King,  Gerry,  and  Gorham,  of  Massa 
chusetts  ;  Hamilton  and  Lansing,  of  New  York ;  Ellsworth,  Johnson,  and  Sherman,  of 
Connecticut;  Paterson,  of  New  Jersey ;  Franklin,  Wilson,  and  Morris,  of  Pennsylvania; 
Dickinson,  of  Delaware ;  Martin,  of  Maryland ;  Randolph,  Mason,  and  Madison,  of  Vir 
ginia;  Williamson,  of  North  Carolina,  and  the  Pinckneys,  of  South  Carolina. 

Such  were  the  men,  all  conspicuous  in  the  history  of  the  republic,  who  assembled  for 
the  purpose  of  laying  the  broad  foundations  of  a  nation.  They  had  scarcely  a  prece 
dent  in  history  for  their  guide.  The  great  political  maxim  established  by  the  Revolu 
tion  was,  that  the  original  residence  of  all  human  sovereignty  is  in  THE  PEOPLE:  it  was 
for  these  founders  of  a  great  state  to  parcel  out  from  the  several  commonwealths  of 
which  the  new  nation  was  composed,  so  much  of  their  restricted  power  as  the  peo 
ple  of  the  several  states  should  be  willing  to  dismiss  from  their  local  political  insti 
tutions,  in  making  a  strong  and  harmonious  republic  that  should  be  at  the  same  time 
harmless  toward  reserved  state  rights.  This  was  the  great  problem  to  be  solved.  "At 
that  time,"  says  a  recent  writer,  "  the  world  had  witnessed  no  such  spectacle  as  that  of 
the  deputies  of  a  nation,  chosen  by  the  free  action  of  great  communities,  and  assembled 
for  the  purpose  of  thoroughly  reforming  its  Constitution,  by  the  exercise  and  with  the 
authority  of  the  national  will.  All  that  had  been  done,  both  in  ancient  and  in  modern 
times,  in  forming,  moulding,  or  modifying  constitutions  of  government,  bore  little  re 
semblance  to  the  present  undertaking  of  the  states  of  America.  Neither  among  the 
Greeks  nor  the  Romans  was  there  a  precedent,  and  scarcely  an  analogy."1 

Randolph  suggested  the  chief  business  of  the  Convention  in  his  proposition  "that  a 
NATIONAL  government  ought  to  be  established,  consisting  of  a  supreme  legislative,  ex 
ecutive,  and  judiciary."  Upon  this  broad  proposition  all  future  action  was  based ;  and 
they  had  not  proceeded  far  before  it  was  clearly  perceived  that  the  Articles  of  Confed 
eration  were  too  radically  defective  to  be  the  basis  of  a  stable  government.  Therefore, 
instead  of  trying  to  amend  them,  the  Convention  went  diligently  at  work  to  form  an 

entirely  new  Constitution.  In  this  they  made  slow 
progress,  opinions  were  so  conflicting.  Plans  and 
amendments  were  offered,  and  freely  discussed.  Dav 
after  day,  and  week  after  week,  the  debates  contin 
ued,  sometimes  with  great  courtesy,  and  sometimes 
with  great  acrimony,  until  the  10th  of  September, 
when  all  plans  and  amendments  which  had  been 
adopted  by  the  Convention  were  placed  in  the  hands 
of  a  committee  for  revision  and  arrangement.2  Bv 


1  Curtis's  History  of  the  Origin,  Formation,  and  Adoption  of  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States. 

2  This  committee,  appointed  on  the  8th,  consisted  of  Messrs.  Madison, 
Hamilton,  King,  Johnson,  and  Gouverneur  Morris.    They  were  directed 
to  "  revise  the  style  of,  and  arrange,  the  articles  agreed  to  by  the  House." 
They  placed  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  Gouverneur  Morris  for  the  pur 
pose.    In  language  and  general  arrangement,  the  National  Constitution 
was  the  work  of  that  eminent  man.* 


*  Gouverneur  Morris  was  born  near  the  Westchester  shore  of  the  Harlem  River,  New  York,  at  the  close  of  January, 
1752.    He  was  educated  at  King's  (now  Columbia)  College,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  studied  law  under  the  eminent 


OF  THE   WAK    OF    1812. 


Signing  the  Constitution.         Hesitation  on  the  part  of  some.        Patriotic  Course  of  Franklin,  Hamilton,  and  others. 

this  committee  a  Constitution  was  reported  to  the  Convention.  It  was  taken  up  and 
considered  clause  by  clause,  discussed,  slightly  amended,  and  then  engrossed.  On 
the  loth  it  was  agreed  to  by  the  delegates  of  all  the  states  present.  On  the  17th  a  fail- 
copy  on  parchment  was  brought  in  to  receive  the  signatures  of  the  members — an  act 
far  more  important  in  all  its  bearings  than  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  eleven  years  before.1 

In  the  performance  of  that  act,  as  in  the  former,  there  was  some  hesitation  on  the 
part  of  a  few.  There  had  been  serious  differences  of  opinion  during  the  whole  session 
— so  serious  that  at  times  there  seemed  a  probability  that  the  Convention  would  be  an 
utter  failure.  There  were  still  serious  differences  of  opinion  when  the  instrument  was 
adopted,  and  delicate  questions  arose  about  signing  it.  A  large  majority  of  the  mem 
bers  wished  it  to  go  forth  to  the  people,  not  only  as  the  act  of  the  Convention  collect 
ively,  but  with  the  individual  sanction  and  signature  of  each  delegate.  This  was  the 
desire  of  Dr.  Franklin,  and,  with  pleasant  words,  he  endeavored  to  allay  all  irritation 
and  bring  about  such  a  result.  It  was  finally  agreed,  on  the  suggestion  of  Gouverneur 
Morris,  that  it  might  be  signed,  without  implying  personal  sanction,  in  these  closing 
words :  "  Done  by  consent  of  the  states  present.  In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  sub 
scribed,"  etc. 

Hamilton  patriotically  seconded  the  efforts  of  Franklin,  notwithstanding  the  instru 
ment  did  not  have  his  approval,  because  it  did  not  give  power  enough  to  the  national 
government.  "  No  man's  ideas,"  he  said,  "  are  more  remote  from  the  plan  than  my 
own ;  but  is  it  possible  to  deliberate  between  anarchy  and  confusion  on  one  side,  and 
the  chance  of  good  on  the  other?" 

The  appeals  of  Franklin  and  Hamilton,  and  the  example  of  Madison  and  Pinckney, 
secured  the  signatures  of  several  dissatisfied  members ;  and  all  present,  excepting 
Mason  and  Randolph,  of  Virginia,2  and  Gerry,  of  Massachusetts,3  signed  the  Constitu 
tion.4  While  this  important  work  was  in  progress,  Franklin  looked  toward  the  chair 
occupied  by  "Washington,  at  the  back  of  which  a  sun  was  painted,  and  observed,  "  I 
have  often  and  often,  in  the  course  of  the  session,  and  the  vicissitudes  of  my  hopes  and 
fears  as  to  its  issue,  looked  at  that  sun  behind  the  President  without  being  able  to  tell 
whether  it  was  rising  or  setting :  at  length  I  have  the  happiness  to  know  that  it  is  a 
rising  sun." 

The  Convention,  by  a  carefully  worded  resolution,  recommended  the  Congress  to  lay 
the  new  Constitution  before  the  people  (not  the  states),  and  ask  them,  the  source  of  all 

William  Smith,  of  that  city,  and  was  licensed"to  practice  in  1771.  He  was  an  active  patriot  during  the  war,  serving  in 
the  Continental  Congress,  on  committees  of  safety,  etc.  He  resided  some  time  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  sent  abroad 
on  a  diplomatic  mission,  and  resided  for  a  while  in  Paris.  He  afterward  went  to  London  on  public  business,  and  was 
finally  appointed  minister  plenipotentiary  at  the  French  Court.  He  returned  to  America  in  1798,  was  elected  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  was  active  in  public  arid  private  life  until  his  death  in  1316. 

1  For  a  full  account  in  detail  of  all  the  proceedings  in  relation  to  the  Constitution,  see  the  History  of  the  Origin,  Forma 
tion,  and  Adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  with  Notices  of  its  Principal  Framers,  by  George  Ticknor  Curtis, 
in  two  volumes :  New  York,  Harper  &  Brothers. 

2  George  Mason  was  Washington's  neighbor  and  early  personal  friend.    He  was  a  statesman  of  the  first  order  among 
those  of  his  associates  in  Virginia,  and  a  thorough  republican.    He  was  the  framer  of  the  Constitution  of  Virginia,  and 
was  active  in  the  Convention  that  formed  the  National  Constitution.    He  was  so  imbued  with  the  state  pride  for  which 
Virginians  have  always  been  noted,  that  he  would  not  agree  to  that  Constitution  because  it  did  not  recognize  individual 
state  sovereignty — the  very  rock  on  which  the  new  republic  was  then  in  danger  of  being  wrecked.    In  conjunction  with 
Patrick  Henry,  he  opposed  its  adoption  in  the  Virginia  Convention,  professing  to  believe  that  it  would  be  the  instru 
ment  for  converting  the  government  into  a  monarchy.    He  died  at  his  seat  on  the  Potomac  (Gunston  Hall)  in  the 
autnran  of  1792,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven  years. 

3  We  shall  have  occasion  to  consider  the  public  character  of  Mr.  Gerry  hereafter.    He  was  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States  in  1812. 

4  The  names  of  the  delegates  have  been  given  in  note  2,  page  27.    The  names  of  those  who  signed  the  Constitution 
are  given  in  our  fac-similes  of  their  signatures,  which  have  been  engraved  from  the  original  parchment  in  the  State  De 
partment  at  Washington.    It  will  be  seen  that  Alexander  Hamilton's  name  stands  alone.    His  colleagues  from  New 
York  (Yates  and  Lansing)  had  left  the  Convention  in  disgust  on  the  1st  of  July,  and  New  York  was  considered  not 
officially  represented.    But  Hamilton,  who  had  not  swerved  from  duty,  was  there.    The  weight  of  his  name  was  im 
portant,  and  in  the  place  that  should  have  been  filled  with  the  names  of  delegates  from  his  state  was  recited,  "Mr.  Ham 
ilton,  of  New  York."    It  will  be  observed  that  the  hand-writing  of  all  seems  defective,  the  lines  appearing  irregular. 
This  is  owing  to  the  parchment  on  which  their  names  are  written,  which  did  not  receive  the  ink  as  freely  as  paper 
would  have  done.  These  irregularities  have  all  been  carefully  copied,  so  as  to  give  a  perfect  fat-simile  of  the  originals. 


30 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Signatures  to  the  National  Constitution. 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


31 


Resolutions  Bent  to  the  State  Legislatures. 


Signatures  to  the  National  Constitution. 


sovereignty,  to  ratify  or  reject  it.     The  views  of  the  great  majority  of  the  members  of 
Congress  were  concurrent,  and  on  the  28th  of  September  that  body 

"Resolved  unanimously,  That  the  said  report  [of  the  Convention  to  the  Congress], 
with  the  resolutions  and  letters  accompanying  the  same,  be  transmitted  to  the  several 


32 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Conventions  of  the  People. 


The  Federalist. 


Signatures  to  the  National  Constitution. 


Legislatures,  in  order  to  be  submitted  to  a  Convention  of  Delegates  chosen  in  each  state 
BY  THE  PEOPLE  THEREOF,  in  conformity  to  the  resolves  of  the  Convention  made  and 
provided  in  that  case." 

Conventions  of  \\\Q  people  were  accordingly  held  in  the  several  states  to  consider  the 
Constitution.  Long  and  stirring  debates  occurred  in  these  Conventions,  and  at  every 
public  gathering  and  private  hearth-stone  in  the  land.  Hamilton,  Madison,  Jay,  and 
others  fed  the  public  understanding  with  able  essays  on  government  and  in  favor  of 
the  new  Constitution.1  That  instrument  was  read  and  discussed  every  where.  But  it 


8IGNATUEE8   TO   THE  CONSTITUTION. 


The  essays  of  Hamilton,  Madison,  and  Jay  were  published  under  the  general  title  of  The  Federalist.    It  was  origin 
ally  designed  to  comprise  the  series  within  twenty,  or,  at  most,  twenty-five  numbers,  but  they  extended  to  eighty-five, 
f  these  Hamilton  wrote  sixty-five.    The  first  number,  written  by  Hamilton  in  the  cabin  of  a'Hudson  River  sloop,  was 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  33 

Ratification  of  the  Constitution.  Opposition  to  it.  The  family  and  state  Pride  of  the  Virginians. 

was  nine  months  after  its  adoption  by  the  Convention,  before  the  people  of  nine  states 
ratified  it — that  number  being  necessary  to  make  it  the  organic  law  of  the  land.  That 
ninth  state  was  New  Hampshire,  and  the  momentous  act  of  the  people  occurred  on  the 
21st  of  June,  1788.  The  General  Congress  was  then  in  session,  and,  on  the  2d  of  July, 
adopted  measures  "for  putting  the  said  Constitution  into  operation."  They  appointed 
the  first  Wednesday  of  the  ensuing  March  as  the  day  when  the  functions  of  the  new 
government  should  commence  their  action.  The  people  in  the  states  that  had  ratified 
the  Constitution  chose  their  presidential  electors  in  compliance  with  its  provisions. 
These  met  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  February,  1789,  and  elected  George  Washington 
chief  magistrate  of  the  new  republic,  and  John  Adams  Vice-President.  Washington 
was  inaugurated  on  the  30th  of  April,  and  before  the  close  of  the  year  the  inhabitants 
of  all  the  states  but  one  had  ratified  the  National  Constitution.1 

After  earnest  deliberation — after  the  free  discussion  of  every  principle  of  govern 
ment  involving  state  rights  and  state  sovereignty — after  a  careful  comparison  of  the 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  a  consolidated  nation  and  the  confederacy  they  had 
fairly  tried,  it  was  solemnly  declared  that  "WE,  THE  PEOPLE  of  the  United  States,  in 
order,  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,  establish  Justice,  insure  domestic  Tranquillity, 
provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the  general  Welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings 
of  Liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  Posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  CONSTITUTION 
for  the  United  States  of  America."2 

published  on  the  27th  of  October,  ITS",  a  little  more  than  a  month  after  the  adjournment  of  the  National  Convention. 
They  were  published  four  times  a  week  in  a  New  York  daily  paper.  Of  these  essays  Washington  wrote  to  Hamilton 
in* August,  1TS8:  "When  the  transient  circumstances  and  fugitive  performances  which  attend  this  crisis  shall  have  dis 
appeared,  that  work  [The  Federalist]  will  merit  the  notice  of  posterity,  because  in  it  are  candidly  and  ably  discussed  the 
principles  of  freedom  and  the  topics  of  government,  which  will  be  always  interesting  to  mankind,  so  long  as  they  shall 
be  connected  in  civil  society." 

1  That  state  was  Rhode  Island,  which  held  out  until  the  spring  of  1790.    The  people  in  the  several  states  ratified  the 
Constitution  in  the  following  order :  Delaware,  December  7, 1787 ;  Pennsylvania,  December  12, 1787 ;  New  Jersey,  De 
cember  18, 17S7;  Georgia,  January  2,  17SS;  Connecticut,  January  9,  17S8;  Massachusetts,  February  6,  1788;  Maryland, 
April  28,  1788 ;  South  Carolina,  May  23, 1788 ;  New  Hampshire,  June  21, 1788 ;  Virginia,  June  20, 1788 ;  New  York,  July 
26,1788;  North  Carolina,  November  21,1788;  Rhode  Island,  May  29,1790.    During  the  recess  of  Congress,  in  the  au 
tumn  of  1789,  President  Washington  visited  the  New  England  States.    As  Rhode  Island  yet  remained  a  kind  of  foreign 
state,  he  avoided  it. 

2  The  Constitution  was  violently  assailed  by  the  "  State  Rights"  or  state  sovereignty  men— men  who  regarded  alle 
giance  to  a  state  as  paramount  to  that  due  to  the  national  government.    Their  chief  objection  was  that  it  destroyed  (as 
it  was  intended  to  do)  the  alleged  sovereignty  of  the  several  states,  and  constituted  a  consolidated  nation.    In  Virginia, 
especially,  such  a  result  was  looked  upon  by  the  proud  aristocracy  with  great  disfavor.    Virginia  was  then  the  ruling 
state  in  the  League,  and  her  political  power  was  swayed  by  a  few  families.    These  were  exceedingly  proud,  and,  down 
to  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  for  independence,  they  looked  with  disdain  upon  the  people  of  the  other  colonies.*  This 
feeling  was  somewhat  modified  by  the  operations  of  the  war,  and  new  men  were  found  at  the  helm  of  the  vessel  of  state. 
Yet  much  of  the  old  pride  remained,  and  the  leading  Virginians,  with  a  few  honorable  exceptions,  could  not  bear  the 
thought  of  having  the  "Old  Dominion,"  as  they  were  proud  to  call  the  commonwealth,  stripped  of  her  independent 
sovereignty.    The  new  leaders  seized  upon  this  dominant  state  pride  and  made  it  subservient  to  their  wishes.    Patrick 
Henry  violently  denounced  the  Constitution  because  of  its  destructive  effects  upon  state  sovereignty.   lie  clearly  under 
stood  its  character  when,  with  a  loud  voice,  in  the  Virginia  Convention,  he  demanded,  "Who  authorized  the  Convention 
to  speak  the  language  'We,  the  people,'  instead  of  'We,  the  states?    Even  from  that  illustrious  man  who  saved  us  by  his 
valor,  I  would  have  a  reason  for  his  conduct."    George  Mason,  in  the  same  Convention,  denounced  the  Constitution  be 
cause,  as  he  asserted,  it  "changed  the  confederation  of  states  into  a  consolidation,  and  would  annihilate  the  state  gov 
ernments." 

The  opposition  in  several  other  states  was  very  powerful,  for  various  reasons,  and  the  Constitution  and  the  friends  of 
the  Constitution  were  assailed  with  the  most  outrageous  misrepresentations.  Of  the  opponents  in  Virginia  Washington 
wrote :  "  Their  strength,  as  well  as  those  of  the  same  class  in  other  states,  seems  to  lie  in  misrepresentation,  and  a  desire 
to  inflame  the  passions  and  alarm  the  fears  by  noisy  declamation,  rather  than  to  convince  the  understanding  by  sound 
arguments,  or  fair  and  impartial  statements.  Baffled  in  their  attacks  upon  the  Constitution,  they  have  attempted  to  vil 
ify  and  debase  the  characters  who  formed  it,  but  I  trust  they  will  not  succeed." 

The  papers,  by  Colonel  Byrd  (who  was  a  member  of  the  Colonial  Council),  above  referred  to,  afford  a  glimpse  of  the 
sense  of  superiority  to  all  the  other  colonists  entertained  by  the  leading  families  in  Virginia,  which  was  always  the 
bane  of  progress  and  national  feeling,  and  made  large  numbers  of  the  politicians  of  that  state  disnnionists  from  the  be 
ginning.  In  these  papers  the  New  Englanders  were  spoken  of  as  "  a  puritanical  sect,  with  pharisaical  peculiarities  in 
their  worship  and  behavior."  Trade  was  an  unfit  calling,  and  a  trade  eluding  laws,  though  pronounced  void,  was  justly 
regarded  as  demoralizing.  Such,  they  charged,  was  much  of  the  trade  of  the  Eastern  provinces.  The  dwellers  of  New 
York  had  not  more  favor.  The  Dutch  were  also  traders— a  "  slippery  people"— intruders  on  Virginia— encroachers  and 
reformers.  New  Jersey,  in  a  religious  aspect,  was  not  less  obnoxious,  peopled  by  "a  swarm  of  Scots  Quakers,  who 
were  not  tolerated  to  exercise  the  gifts  of  the  spirit  in  their  own  country ;"  by  "  Anabaptists,"  too,  and  some  "  Swedes/' 
The  merits  of  Penn  were  equivocal— he  was  not  immaculate;  but,  though  "Quakers  had  flocked  to  Pennsylvania  in 
shoals,"  they  had  the  virtues  of  "  dilligence  and  frugality,"  and  the  "  prudence"  which  became  non-combatants.  Mary- 

*  See  Byrd's  Westover  Papars.  , 

c 


34  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Dissolution  of  the  Continental  Congress.  Its  Character,  and  that  of  the  new  Government. 

With  the  birth  of  the  nation  on  the  4th  of  March,  1789,  the  Continental  Congress, 
the  representative  of  the  League,  expired.  Its  history  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
on  record.  It  was  first  an  almost  spontaneous  gathering  of  patriotic  men,  chosen  by 
their  fellow-citizens  in  a  time  of  great  perplexity,  to  consult  upon  the  public  good. 
They  represented  different  provinces  extending  a  thousand  miles  along  the  Atlantic 
coast,  with  interests  as  diversified  as  the  climate  and  geography.  With  boldness  un- 
equaled  and  faith  unexampled,  they  snatched  the  sceptre  of  rule  over  a  vast  dominion 
from  imperial  England,  of  whose  monarch  they  were  subjects,  and  assumed  the  func 
tions  of  sovereignty  by  creating  armies,  issuing  bills  of  credit,  declaring  the  provinces 
free  and  independent  states,  negotiating  treaties  with  foreign  governments,  and,  finally, 
after  eight  long  years  of  struggle,  wringing  from  their  former  sovereign  his  acknowl 
edgment  of  the  independence  of  the  states  which  they  represented.  The  career  of  the 
Congress  was  meteor-like,  and  astonished  the  world  with  its  brilliancy.  It  was  also 
short.  Like  a  half-developed  giant  exhausted  by  mighty  efforts,  it  first  exhibited  lassi 
tude,  then  decrepitude,  and  at  last  hopeless  decay.  Poor  and  weak,  its  services  forgot 
ten  by  those  who  should  have  been  grateful  for  them,  it  lost  the  respect  of  all  mankind, 
and  died  of  political  marasmus. 

Out  of  its  remains,  phoenix-like,  and  in  full  vigor  and  grand  proportions,  arose  a 
nation  whose  existence  had  been  decreed  by  the  will  of  true  sovereignty — THE  PEOPLE 
— and  whose  perpetuity  depends  upon  that  will.  It  immediately  arrested  the  profound 
attention  of  the  civilized  world.  It  was  seen  that  its  commerce,  diplomacy,  and  dignity 
were  no  longer  exposed  to  neglect  by  thirteen  distinct  and  clashing  legislative  bodies, 
but  were  guarded  by  a  central  power  of  wonderful  energy.  The  prophecy  of  Bishop 
Berkeley  was  on  the  eve  of  fulfillment.1  England,  France,  Spain,  and  Holland  placed 
their  representatives  at  the  seat  of  the  new  government,  and  the  world  acknowledged 
that  the  new-born  nation  was  a  power — positive,  tangible,  indubitable. 

land  was  a  commodious  retreat  for  Papist?,  for  whom  "  England  was  too  hot,"  and  to  whom,  as  a  neighbor,  Virginia 
was  a  little  cold.  The  Carolinas,  left  "  derelict  by  the  French  and  Sapaniards,"  were  the  regions  of  pines  and  serpents 
—dismal  in  their  swamps,  and  deadly  in  their  malaria.  "Thus,  in  the  eyes  of  her  favored  few,"  says  a  late  writer, 
"  Virginia  was  the  paradise  of  the  New  World."  For  a  farther  illustration  of  this  subject,  see  History  of  the  Republic  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  as  traced  in  the  Writings  of  Alexander  Hamilton  and  his  Contemporaries,  by  John  C.  Hamilton. 
1  When  inspired  with  his  transatlantic  mission,  Bishop  Berkeley  wrote  his  six  "Verses  on  the  Prospect  of  Planting 
Arts  and  Learning  in  America,"  in  which  he  predicted  the  rising  greatness  of  the  New  World,  and  employed  the  oft- 
quoted  line, 

"Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way." 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


Foundations  of  Government  laid  by  the  People. 


They  comprehend  the  Value  of  the  Great  Wilderness. 


CHAPTER  II. 

1  Old  burial-places,  once  sacred,  are  plundered, 

And  thickly  with  bones  is  the  fallow  field  slrown ; 
The  bond  of  confederate  tribes  has  been  sundered — 

The  long  council  hall  of  the  brave  overthrown. 
The  Sac  and  Miami  bowmen  no  longer 

Preserve  at  the  door-posts  unslumbering  guard ; 
We  fought,  but  the  pale-browed  invaders  were  stronger; 
Our  knife-blades  too  blunt,  and  their  bosoms  too  hard." 

W.  H.  C.  HOSMEE. 

3  have  seen  the  development  of  \veak,jsolated  commonwealths 
into  a  powerful,  consolidated  nation,  and  are  now  to  observe 
the  growth  of  that  nation  in  resources  and  strength  until,  by 
an  exhibition  of  its  powers  in  vindication  of  its  rights  before 
the  world,  it  became  absolutely  independent,  and  was  re 
spected  accordingly. 

That  assertion  and  vindication  were  made  by  the  moral 
forces  of  legislation  and  the  patriotism  of  the  people,  co- 
working  with  the  material  forces  of  army  and  navy.  In 
this  view  is  involved  the  whole  drama  of  the  contest  known 
in 'history  as  the  War  of  1812,  or  the  Second  Struggle  for 
Independence — a  drama,  many  of  whose  characters  and  inci 
dents  appear  upon  the  stage  simultaneously  with  the  persons  and  events  exhibited  in 
the  preceding  chapter.  Looking  back  from  the  summer  of  1812,  when  war  against 
Great  Britain  was  formally  declared,  the  causes  of  the  conflict  appear  both  remote  and 
near.  The  war  actually  began  years  before  the  President  proclaimed  the  appeal  to 
arms. 

While  statesmen  and  politicians  were  arranging  the  machinery  of  government,  the 
people  were  laying  broad  and  deep  the  visible  foundations  of  the  state,  in  the  estab 
lishment  of  material  interests  and  the  shaping  of  institutions  consonant  with  the  new 
order  of  things,  and  essential  to  social  and  political  prosperity.  They  had  already  be 
gun  to  comprehend  the  hidden  resources  and  immense  value  of  the  vast  country  within 
the  treaty  limits  of  the  United  States  westward  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  They 
had  already  obtained  prophetic  glimpses  of  a  future  civilization  that  should  flourish  in 
the  fertile  regions  watered  by  the  streams  whose  springs  are  in  those  lofty  hills  that 
stretch,  parallel  with  the  Atlantic,  from  the  Lakes  almost  to  the  Gulf,  across  fourteen 
degrees  of  latitude.  Pioneers  had  gone  over  the  grand  hills  and  sent  up  the  smoke  of 
their  cabin  fires  from  many  a  fertile  valley  irrigated  by  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi.  Already  they  had  learned  to  regard  the  Father  of  Waters  as  a  great  aque 
ous  highway  for  an  immense  inland  commerce  soon  to  be  created,  and  had  begun  to 
urge  the  supreme  authority  of  the  land  to  treat  with  Spain  for  its  free  navigation. 
Already  peace  and  friendship  with  the  savage  tribes  on  the  remote  frontiers  of  civil 
ization  had  been  promised  by  treaties  made  upon  principles  of  justice  and  not  fashioned 
by  the  ethics  of  the  sword.1 

1  Necessity,  if  noU;onscience,  recommended  this  policy,  for  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution  the  "  regular  army"  had  been 
reduced  to  less  thafceven  hundred  men,  and  no  officer  was  retained  above  the  rank  of  captain.  This  force  was  soon 
still  farther  reduced  to  twenty-five  men  to  guard  the  military  stores  at  Pittsburg,  and  fifty-five  to  perform  military  duty 
at  West  Point  and  other  magazines. 

Peace  was  negotiated  with  most  of  the  tribes  which  had  taken  part  against  the  United  States  in  the  late  war.    A 


36  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Indian  Treaties.  Anti-slavery  Movements.  The  Ordinance  of  178T.  First  Settlements  in  Ohio. 

By  treaty  with  the  chief  tribes  between  the  Ohio  River  and  the  Great  Lakes,  and 
the  cession  by  Virginia1  to  the  United  States  of  all  claims  to  lands  in  that  region,  the 
general  government  became  absolute  possessor  of  a  vast  country,  out  of  which  several 
flourishing  states  have  since  been  formed.2 

While  the  National  Convention  was  in  session  at  Philadelphia  in  the  summer  of 
1787,  the  Continental  Congress,  sitting  at  New  York,  feeble  and  dying,  with  only  eight 
states  represented,  took  up  and  disposed  of  in  a  satisfactory  manner  a  subject  second 
only  in  importance  to  that  under  discussion  in  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania.  They 
» July  is,  adopted,*  by  unanimous  vote,  "An  Ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  Ter- 

1T8T-  ritory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  Ohio."3  In  anticipation  of  this 
action,  extensive  surveys  had  been  made  in  the  new  territory.  Soon  after  the  passage 
of  the  ordinance  above  mentioned,  a  sale  of  five  millions  of  acres,  extending  along  the 
Ohio  from  the  Muskingum  to  the  Sciota,  were  sold  to  the  "Ohio  Company,"  which 
was  composed  of  citizens  of  New  England,  many  of  whom  had  been  officers  of  the  Con 
tinental  army.4  A  similar  sale  was  made  to  John  Cleve  Symmes,  of  New  Jersey,  for 
two  millions  of  acres,  in  the  rich  and  beautiful  region  between  the  Great  and  Little 
Miami  Rivers,  including  the  site  of  Cincinnati. 

These  were  the  first  steps  taken  toward  the  settlement  of  the  Northwestern  Terri 
tory,  in  which  occurred  so  many  of  the  important  events  of  the  War  of  1812.  Hitherto 
New  England  emigration  had  been  chiefly  to  Vermont,  Northern  New  Hampshire,  and 
the  Territory  of  Maine.  Now  it  poured,  in  a  vast  and  continuous  stream,  into  the  Ohio 
country.  General  Rufus  Putnam,  at  the  head  of  a  colony  from  Massachusetts,  founded 
a  settlement5  (the  first,  of  Europeans,  in  all  Ohio,  if  we  except  the  Moravian  missionary 
stations6)  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum  River,  and  named  it  Marietta,  in  honor  of 


treaty  was  concluded  at  Fort  Stanwix  (now  Rome,  New  York)  in  October,  17S4,  with  the  Six  Nations.  Another  was  con 
cluded  at  Fort  M'lutosh  in  January,  1785,  with  the  Wyandots,  Delawares,  Chippewas,  and  Ottawas;  and  another  with 
the  Cherokees,  at  Hopewell,  in  November  the  same  year.  Dissatisfaction  having  arisen  concerning  remuneration  for 
lands,  two  new  treaties  were  made  at  Fort  Hannar,  on  the  Muskiugum,  Ohio,  at  the  beginning  of  1789,  by  which  allow 
ances  were  made  for  ceded  lands.  By  treaty,  the  Indian  titles  to  lands  extending  along  the  northern  bank  of  the  Ohio 
and  a  considerable  distance  inland,  as  far  west  as  the  Wabash  River,  were  extinguished.  This  tract  comprised  about 
seventeen  millions  of  acres. 

1  The  deed  of  cession,  signed  by  Virginia  commissioners,  with  Thomas  Jefferson  at  their  head,  was  executed  on  the 
first  day  of  March,  1784.    It  stipulated  that  the  territory  ceded  should  be  laid  out  and  formed  into  states,  not  less  than 
one  hundred  nor  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  square  ;  that  the  states  so  formed  should  be  "distinct  repub 
lican  states,"  and  admitted  as  members  of  the  National  Union,  having  the  same  rights  of  sovereignty,  etc.,  as  the 
older  states. 

After  the  cession  was  executed  the  Congress  referred  the  matter  to  a  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Jefferson  was  chairman. 
That  committee  reported  an  ordinance  containing  a  plan  for  the  government  of  the  whole  Western  territory  north  and 
south  of  the  Ohio,  from  the  thirty-first  degree  of  north  latitude  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United  States,  it  being 
supposed  that  other  states  owning  territory  south  of  the  Ohio  would  follow  the  example  of  Virginia.  The  plan  proposed 
to  divide  the  great  Territory  into  seventeen  states,  and  among  the  conditions  was  the  remarkable  one  "that,  after  the  year 
1800,  there  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  any  of  the  said  states,  other  than  in  the  punishment  of 
crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted."  This  provision  did  not  get  the  vote  of  nine  states,  the  num 
ber  necessary  to  adopt  it.  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  with  the  four  New  England  States,  voted  for  it; 
North  Carolina  was  divided ;  Delaware  and  Georgia  were  unrepresented ;  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  South  Carolina  voted 
against  it.  (See  Journal  of  Congress,  April  19, 1784.)  After  expunging  this  proviso  the  report  was  adopted,  but  the 
subject  was  not  definitoly  acted  upon. 

2  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin. 

3  This  ordinance  was  reported  by  a  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Dane,  of  Massachusetts,  was  chairman.    It  contained  Mr. 
Jefferson's  anti-slavery  proviso,  with  a  clause  relative  to  the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves,  similar  in  form  to  the  one  incor 
porated  in  the  National  Constitution  a  few  weeks  later. 

*  This  company  was  formed  in  Boston,  and  Rev.  Manasseh  Cutler,  and  Winthrop  Sargent  were  the  authorized  agents 
of  the  association  to  make  the  contract  with  the  United  States  Treasury  Board.  Among  the  associates  were  Generals 
Parsons  and  Rufus  Putnam,  of  Connecticut ;  General  Varnum  and  Commodore  Whipple,  of  Rhode  Island ;  General  Tup- 
per,  of  Massachusetts,  and  men  of  lesser  note  in  public  life. 

s  Putnam  and  his  party  landed  on  the  site  of  Marietta  on  the  7th  of  April,  17S8.  The  governor  of  the  territory  had 
not  yet  arrived,  so  they  established  temporary  laws  for  their  own  government.  These  were  published  by  being  written 
and  nailed  to  a  tree.  Return  J.  Meigs,  afterward  governor  of  the  state,  was  appointed  to  administer  the  laws.  Such 
was  the  beginning  of  government  in  the  State  of  Ohio. 

s  These  devoted  missionaries  were  the  first  white  inhabitants  who  took  up  their  abode  within  the  present  limits  of  the 
State  or  Ohio.  The  Rev.  John  Frederick  Post  and  Rev.  John  Heckewelder  had  penetrated  the  wildei||es9  in  this  direction 
before  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution.  Their  first  visit  was  as  early  as  1761.  Others  followed,  and  they  estab 
lished  three  stations,  or  villages  of  Indian  converts,  on  the  Tuscarawas  River,  within  the  limits  of  the  present  county  of 
that  name.  These  were  named  Schoenbrun,  Gnadeuhutten,  and  Salem.  The  latter  was  near  the  present  village  of  Port 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


Campus  Martms  and  Fort  Washington. 


Miss  Heckewelder. 


General  St.  Clair. 


Maria  Antoinette,  the  queen  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  of  France.     A  stockade  fort,  called 
Campus  Martms,  was  immediate 
ly   commenced,  as   a   protection 
against  the  hostile  Indians.1     In 

O 

the  autumn  of  the  same  year  a 
party  of  settlers  seated  them 
selves  upon  Symmes's  purchase, 
and  founded  Columbia,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Little  Miami.  Fort 
Washington  was  soon  afterward 
built  a  short  distance  below,  on 
the  site  of  Cincinnati. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  with 
in  the  years  1788  and  1789,  full 
twenty  thousand  men,  women, 


CAMPUS  MABTIU8. 


and  children  went  down  the  Ohio 

in  boats,  to  become  settlers  on  its  banks.     Since  then,  how  wonderful  has  been  the 

growth  of  empire  beyond  the  Alleghanies ! 

Soon  after  the  organization  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  Major  General  Arthur 
St.  Clair,2  an  officer  in  the  old  French  War,  and  in  the  Continental  army  during  the 
Revolution,  was  appointed  its  governor  by  the  Congress,  of  which  body  he  was  then 
president.  He  accepted  the  position  with  reluctance.  "The  office  of  governor  was  in 
a  great  measure  forced  on  me,"  he  said,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend.3  Yet,  ever  ready  to  go 
where  duty  to  his  country  called  him,  he  proceeded  to  the  Territory  in  the  summer  of 


Washington.  There  Hecke 
welder  resided  for  some  time, 
and  there  his  daughter  Jo 
hanna  Maria  was  born,  on  the 
GthofApril,17Sl.  She  was  the 
first  white  child  born  in  Ohio, 
and  is  yet  living  [1SGT]  atBeth- 
lehera,  Pennsylvania,  in  full 
possession  of  her  mental  fac 
ulties.  She  has  been  deaf  for 
a  number  of  years,  and  uses 
a  slate  in  conversation.  Her 
hand  is  firm,  and  she  writes 
with  vigor,  as  her  signature, 
carefully  copied  in  the  engra 
ving,  made  at  the  close  of  1859, 
attests.  It  was  appended  to 
an  autograph  note  to  the 
writer.  The  portrait  was  tak 
en  by  the  Daguerreian  pro 
cess  at  that  time.  In  a  diary 
kept  by  the  younger  pupils 
of  the  Bethlehem  boarding- 
school,  where  Miss  Hecke 
welder  was  educated,  under 
date  of  December  23,  1TS8 


(the  year  when  Marietta  was 
founded),  occurs  the  follow 
ing  sentence  :  "  Little  Miss 
Polly  Heckewelder's  papa  re 
turned  from  Fort  Pitt,  which 
occasioned  her  and  us  great 
joy."  See  Bethlehem  Souve 
nir,  1S5S,  p.  67. 

'  This  fort  was  a  regular 
parallelogram,  with  an  exte 
rior  line  of  seven  hundred 
and  twenty  feet.  There  was  a 
strong  block-house  at  each 
corner,  surmounted  by  a  tow 
er  and  sentry-box.  Between 
them  were  dwelling-houses. 
At  the  outer  corner  of  each 
block -house  was  a  bastion, 
standing  on  four  stout  tim 
bers.  There  were  port-holes 
for  musketry  and  artillery. 
These  buildings  were  all 
made  or'  ea.wed  timbers. 
Twenty  feet  in  advance  of 
these  was  a  row  of  very 
strong  and  large  pickets, 


with  gateways  through  them,  and  a  few  feet  outside  of  these  was  placed  a  row  of  abatis. 

1  Arthur  St.  Clair  was  a  native  of  Edinburp,  in  Scotland,  where  he  was  born  in  1734.  He  came  to  America  with  Admi 
ral  Boscawen  in  1759,  and  served  under  Wolfe  as  a  lieutenant.  After  the  peace  in  1763  he  was  placed  in  command  of 
Fort  Ligonier,  in  Pennsylvania.  When  the  Revolution  broke  out  he  espoused  the  patriot  cause,  and  was  appointed  a 
colonel  in  the  Continental  army  in  January,  1776.  He  was  active  most  of  the  time  during  that  war,  and  after  its  close 
settled  in  Pennsylvania.  He  was  President  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  17S7.  and  the  following  year  was  appointed 
governor  of  the  newly-organized  Northwestern  Territory.  His  services  in  that  region  are  recorded  in  the  text.  He 
survived  his  misfortunes  there  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  then  died,  in  poverty,  at  Laurel  Hill,  in  Western 
Pennsylvania,  in  August,  1818,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years. 

3  William  B.  Giles,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Virginia. 


38 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Temper  of  the  Western  Indians.      The  British  tampering  with  them.     Lord  Dorchester.     Frontier  Troops  and  Posts. 

1 788,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  Campus     a  Juiv> 
Martius,a  with  Winthrop  Sargent   as      178S- 


SIGNATURE   OF   WINTUEOP  8AEGENT. 

secretary  or  deputy,  who  acted  as  chief  mag 
istrate  during  the  absence  of  the  governor. 

St.  Clair  at  once  instituted  inquiries,  in  ac 
cordance  with  bis  instructions,  concerning  the 
temper  of  the  Indians  in  the  Territory.  They 
were  known  to  be  exceedingly  uneasy,  and 
sometimes  in  frowning  moods  ;  and  the  tribes 
on  the  W abash,  numbering  almost  two  thou 
sand  warriors,  who  had  not  been  parties  to 
any  of  the  treaties,  were  decidedly  hostile. 
They  continued  to  make  predatory  incursions 
into  the  Kentucky  settlements,  notwithstand 
ing  chastisements  received  at  the  hands  of 
General  George  Rogers  Clarke,  the  "father 
of  the  North  west,"  as  he  has  been  called  ;  and  they  were  in  turn  invaded  and  scourged 
by  bands  of  retaliating  Kentuckians.  These  expeditions  deepened  the  hostile  feeling, 
and  gave  strength  and  fierceness  to  both  parties  when,  in  after  years,  they  met  in 
battle. 

It  soon  became  evident  that  all  the  tribes  in  the  Territory,  numbering  full  twenty 
thousand  souls,  were  tampered  with  by  British  emissaries,  sent  out  from  the  frontier 
forts,  which  had  not  been  given  up  to  the  United  States  in  compliance  with  treaty  stip 
ulations.  Sir  John  Johnson  (son  of  Sir  William,  of  the  Mohawk  Valley,  and  the  im 
placable  enemy  of  the  United  States1)  was  the  Inspector  General  of  Indian  Affairs  in 
America,  and  had  great  influence  over  the  savages;  and  Lord  Dorchester  (formerly 


to  war.  These  circumstan 
ces  gave  rise  to  the  opinion 
that  the  British  govern 
ment,  which  yet  refused  to 
send  a  representative  to 


Sir  Guy  Carleton)  was  again 
governor  general  of  those 
provinces,2  and,  by  speeches 
at  Quebec  and  Montreal,  di 
rectly  instigated  the  savages 
the  United  States,  and  treated  the  new  republic  with  ill-concealed  contempt,  was  pre 
paring  the  way  for  an  effort  to  reduce  the  members  of1  the  League  to  colonial  vas 
salage. 

The  Confederacy  was  but  feebly  prepared  to  meet  hostilities  on  their  northwestern 
frontier.  The  military  force  .at  the  time  the  Territory  was  formed  consisted  of  only 
about  six  hundred  men,  commanded  by  Brigadier  General  Harmar.3  Of  these  there 
were  two  companies  of  artillery,  formed  of  volunteers  who  enlisted  to  put  down  Shays's 
Rebellion  in  Massachusetts.  The  frontier  military  stations  were  Pittsburg,  at  the  forks 
of  the  Ohio,  Fort  M'Intosh,  on  Beaver  Creek,  and  Fort  Franklin,  on  French  Creek, 
near  old  Fort  Venango,  in  Pennsylvania;  Fort  Harmar,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mus- 

1  Sir  John  was  the  heir  to  the  title  and  fortune  of  Sir  William,  and  was  at  the  head  of  the  Loyalists  in  the  Mohawk 
Valley  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution.    He  had  lived  some  time  in  England,  and  returned  to  settle  in  Canada  in 
1785.    He  had  suffered  in  person  and  estate  at  the  hands  of  the  republicans,  having  been  expelled  from  his  home,  his 
property  confiscated,  and  his  family  exiled.    These  circumstances  made  him  a  bitter  and  relentless  foe,  and  ready  to 
strike  a  blow  of  retaliation.    His  losses  were  made  up  by  the  British  government  by  grants  of  land.    He  died  at  Mont 
real  in  1830,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years.    For  a  detailed  account  of  his  career  during  the  old  war  for  independence, 
see  Lossing's  Field-Book  of  the  Revolution,  vol.  i. 

2  Sir  Guy  Carleton  was  Governor  of  Canada  when  the  old  war  for  independence  broke  out,  and  continued  there  until 
its  close.    He  was  acquainted  with  all  the  affairs  of  the  Indians,  and  had  great  influence  over  them. 

3  Appointed  brigadier  general  on  the  31st  of  July,  1787. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


39 


Council  at  Fort  Harmar. 


Little  Turtle's  Opposition. 


Uneasiness  of  the  Indians  of  the  Gulf  Region. 


FOBT   IIABMAE. 


kingum  River;  Fort  Steuben,  on  the  Ohio  River,  now  Jefferson v ill e,  opposite  Louis 
ville  ;  and  Fort  Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash  River. 

Early  in  I789a  Governor  St.  Clair  held  a  council  at  Fort  Harmar1  with 
chiefs  and  sachems  of  the  Six  Nations.  He  also  held  a  council  with  the 
leading  men  of  the  Wyandots,  Delawares,  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Pottawatomies,  and 
Sacs.  With  all  these  representatives  of  thousands  of  Indians,  scattered  over  the  coun 
try  from  the  Mohawk  Valley  to  that  of  the  Wabash,  he  made  treaties,  when  old  agree 
ments  were  confirmed,  and  remunerations  and  boundaries  were  specified.  The  Six 
Nations  (or,  rather,  five  of  the  six  nations,  for  the  Mohawks,  who  were  in  Canada,  were 
not  represented)  were  faithful  to  the  treaty ;  but  the  great  body  of  the  others,  influ 
enced  by  British  emissaries  and  unscrupulous  traders,  refused  to  acknowledge  the  valid 
ity  of  the  treaty  made  by  their  warriors  and  rulers.2  Within  a  few  weeks  after  the 
council  at  Fort  Harmar,  parties  of  them  were  out  upon  the  war-path  on  the  frontiers 
of  Virginia  and  Kentucky. 

Nearer  the  Gulf,  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees,  brought  into  immediate  contact  with 
the  wily  Spaniards  in  Florida  and  at  New  Orleans,  who  were  already  preparing  seduc 
tive  temptations  to  the  settlers  in  the  trans-Alleghany  valleys  to  leave  the  American 
League  and  join  fortunes  with  the  children  of  Old  Spain,  became  first  uneasy,  and  at 
the  time  in  question  were  assuming  a  hostile  attitude.  The  Creeks,  led  by  the  talented 
M'Gillivray,  a  half-breed,  whose  father  was  a  Scotchman,  had  formed  a  close  alliance 
with  the  Spaniards,  and  through  them  might  receive  arms  and  other  military  supplies. 
In  view  of  all  these  pircumstances,  the  portentous  cloud  of  a  threatened  general  Indian 
Avar  was  gathering  in  the  Avestern  horizon  at  the  close  of  1789. 


'  This  fort  was  commenced  in  the  autumn  of  17S5,  by  a  detachment  of  United  States  troops  under  the  command  of 
Major  John  Doughty.  It  was  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Muskingum,  at  its  junction  with  the  Ohio,  and  was  named  in 
honor  of  Colonel  Josiah  Harmar,  to  whose  regiment  Major  Donghty's  corps  was  attached.  It  was  the  first  military  post 
of  the  kind  erected  within  the  limits  of  Ohio.  The  outlines  formed  a  regular  pentagon,  embracing  about  three  fourths 
of  an  acre.  United  States  troops  occupied  it  until  1790,  when  they  left  it  to  construct  and  occupy  Fort  Washington,  on 
the  site  of  Cincinnati.  During  the  Indian  wars  that  succeeded  it  was  occupied  by  a  few  troops,  and  was  finally  aban 
doned  after  the  treaty  of  Greenville  in  1795. 

2  In  the  great  council  at  Fort  Greenville  in  1795,  Little  Turtle,  the  most  active  of  the  chiefs  in  the  Northwest,  gave  the 
following  reason  for  their  refusal  to  comply  with  the  treaties:  "You  have  told  me,"  he  said,  "that  the  present  treaty 
should  be  founded  upon  that  of  Muskingum.  I  beg  leave  to  observe  to  you  that  that  treaty  was  effected  altogether  by 
the  Six  Nations,  who  seduced  some  of  our  young  men  to  attend  it,  together  with  a  few  of  the  Chippewas,  Wyandote, 
Delawares,  Ottawas,  and  Pottawatomies.  I  beg  leave  to  tell  you  that  I  am  entirely  ignorant  of  what  was  done  at  that 
treaty." 


40  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Evidences  of  British  Intrigues.        Proposed  Western  Boundary  of  the  United  States.        Indian  Warriors  on  the  Ohio. 

Yet  more  threatening  was  the  aspect  of  affairs  on  the  Western  frontier  in  the  spring 
of  1790.  Serious  trouble  was  evidently  brewing.  Major  Hamtramck,  a  small  Cana 
dian  Frenchman,  and  a  spirited  officer  in  the  United  States  army,  was  in  command  of 
the  military  post  at  Vincennes,  an  important  point  on  the  Wabash,1  surrounded  by 
French  families,  whose  long  residence  made  them  influential  among  the  Indians.  Many 
of  the  latter  spoke  their  language,  and  some  had  embraced  the  Roman  Catholic  relig 
ion.  Taking  advantage  of  this  intimate  relationship,  Hamtramck  sent  out  Antoine 
Gamelin,  with  speeches  to  the  Wabash  and  Miami  Indians  from  Governor  St.  Clair,  of 
fering  them  peace  and  friendship.  In  the  course  of  his  tour  Gamelin  obtained  positive 
evidence  of  the  influence  of  the  British  at  Detroit  over  the  savage  mind  in  the  West. 
He  traversed  the  country  from  Post  Vincennes  along  the  Wabash,  and  eastward  to  the 
Miami  village,  where  the  conjunction  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's  Rivers  forms 
the  Maumee,  or  Miami  of  the  Lakes,  at  the  present  city  of  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana.  He 
made  speeches  himself,  and  offered  them  St.  Glair's ;  but  he  was  every  where  met  with 
the  reply  that  they  could  do  nothing  definitely  until  they  could  hear  from  Detroit. 
"You  invite  us  to  stop  our  young  men,"  said  the  Kickapoos.  "It  is  impossible  to  do 
it,  being  constantly  encouraged  by  the  British."  "  We  are  all  sensible  of  your  speech, 
and  pleased  with  it,"  said  Blue  Jacket,  chief  warrior  of  the  Shawnoese;  "but  we  can 
not  give  you  an  answer  without  hearing  from  our  father  at  Detroit."  "We  can  not 
give  a  definite  answer  without  consulting  the  commandant  at  Detroit,"  said  Le  Gris, 
the  great  chief  of  the  Miamis.  "The  English  commandant  at  Detroit  is  our  father 
since  he  threw  down  our  French  father,"  said  the  Shawnoese.2  And  so,  on  all  occa 
sions,  they  were  unwilling  to  accept  proffers  of  peace  with  the  United  States  without 
first  consulting  the  commandant  at  Detroit,  with  whom  Johnson  and  Carleton  were  in 

t 

constant  communication.  Instigated  by  these  men,  these  Western  tribes  insisted  on 
the  establishment  of  the  Ohio  River  as  the  boundary  between  the  Indians  and  the 
United  States,  and  would  listen  to  no  other  terms.3 

Hamtramck  was  so  well  satisfied  of  these  machinations  of  the  British  that  he  assured 
Governor  St.  Clair  that  a  permanent  peace  with  the  savages  was  an  impossibility.  The 
governor,  meanwhile,  had  received  accounts  of  the  depredations  of  the  Indians  along 
the  Ohio  from  the  Falls  (Louisville)  to  Pittsburg.  They  infested  the  banks  in  such 
numbers,  waylaying  boats  and  plundering  and  wounding  the  voyaging  emigrants,  that 
an  utter  cessation  of  the  navigation  of  the  river  seemed  inevitable. 

The  principal  rendezvous  of  the  marauders  was  near  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto,  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  and  to  that  point  two  hundred  and  thirty  Kentucky  volunteers 
and  one  hundred  regular  troops  were  sent,  under  General  Harmar.  They  assembled 
at  Fort  Washington,4  then  not  quite  completed,  and  marched  from  thence  to  the  Scioto. 

1  Vincennes  was  so  named  by  the  French  traders,  who  established  a  trading-post  there  as  early  as  1730.  The  name  is 
in  honor  of  the  Sieur  de  Vincennes,  an  officer  sent  to  the  Miamis  as  early  as  1705,  and  who  commanded  the  post  on  the 
Wabash,  afterward  called  by  his  name.  It  was  alternately  in  possession  of  the  Americans  and  British  during  the  Revo 
lution,  while  the  head-quarters  of  the  latter  were  at  Detroit.  It  is  on  the  bank  of  the  Wabash,  one  hundred  miles  from 
its  mouth,  and  is  the  capital  of  Knox  County,  Indiana. 

J  Gamelin's  Journal,  cited  by  Dillon,  in  his  History  of  Indiana,  p.  226. 

3  This  curtailment  of  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States,  so  as  to  prevent  their  control  of  the  upper  lakes  and  the 
valuable  fur  trade  of  the  country  around  them,  was  a  favorite  scheme  of  British  statesmen.  It  was  even  proposed  as  a 
sine  qtut  non,  at  one  time,  by  the  British  commissioners  who  negotiated  the  Treaty  of  Peace  in  1814,  that  the  Indians 
inhabiting  a  portion  of  the  United  States  within  the  limits  established  by  the  Treaty  of  1783  should  be  included  as  the 
allies  of  Great  Britain  in  the  projected  pacification  ;  and  that  definite  boundaries  should  be  settled  for  the  Indian  terri 
tory,  upon  a  basis  which  would  have  operated  to  surrender  to  a  number  of  Indians,  not  probably  exceeding  a  few  thou 
sands,  the  rights  of  sovereignty  as  well  as  of  soil,  over  nearly  one  third  of  the  territorial  dominions  of  the  United  States, 
inhabited  by  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  of  its  citizens.* 

*  Fort  Washington  was  built  on  the  site  of  a  block-house  erected  by  Ensign  Luce  within  the  limits  of  the  present  city 
of  Cincinnati,  which  was  first  named  Losantiville  by  a  pedantic  settler,  from  the  words  le  os  antivillf,  which  he  interpreted 
as  meaning  "the  village  opposite  the  mouth" — mouth  of  Licking  River.  Luce  was  at  North  Bend  with  a  detachment  of 
troops,  charged  with  selecting  a  site  for  a  block-house.  Judge  Symmes  wished  it  to  be  built  there,  but  Luce,  according 
to  the  judge,  was  led  to  Cincinnati,  as  Losantiville  was  then  called,  on  account  of  his  love  for  the  beautiful  wife  of  a  set 
tler,  who  went  there  to  reside  because  of  the  attentions  to  her  of  the  ensign  at  the  Bend.  Luce  followed,  and  erected  the 

*  See  American  State  Papers,  ix.,  332  to  421,  inclusive. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


41 


Fort  Washington,  on  the  Site  of  Cincinnati. 


Harmar's  Expedition  against  the  Indians. 


*  1790. 


WASHINGTON,  ON   TUB   6ITE  OF   CINCINNATI. 


b  September  19. 


The  Indians  fled  on  their 
approach,  and  the  expedi 
tion  returned  without  ac 
complishing  any  thing. 

A  more  formidable  expe 
dition,  to  penetrate  the  Mi 
ami  country,  was  determ 
ined  upon,  and,  at  the  close 
of  September,a  Gen 
eral  Harmar  left  Fort 
Washington  with  over  four 
teen  hundred  troops,1  and 
moved  toward  the  heart  of 
the  hostile  Indian  country 
around  the  head  waters  of 
the  Maumee.  St.  Clair,  in 
obedience  to  instructions 
from  President  Washington, 
had  previously  sent  a  let 
ter1*  to  the  British  commandant  at  Detroit,  courteously  informing  him 
that  the  expedition  had  no  designs  upon  any  possessions  of  the  crown. 
He  added  that  he  had  every  reason  to  expect,  after  such  a  candid  explanation,  that  the 

commandant  would 
neither  countenance 
nor  assist  the  tribes 
in  their  hostilities. 
Of  course  this  ex 
pectation  was  not 
realized. 

Harmar  reached  the  Maumee  at  the  middle  of  October.  As  he  approached  an  In 
dian  town  the  inhabitants  fled,  leaving  it  to  be  burned  by  the  invaders.  Colonel  Har- 
din,  with  some  Kentucky  volunteers  and  thirty  regulars,  was  sent  in  pursuit.  He  fell 
into  an  ambuscade  of  one  hundred  Indians,  under  Mish-i-Jcin-a-Tcwa,  or  Little  Turtle 
(an  eminent  Miami  chief),  about  eleven  miles  from  the  site  of  Fort  Wayne,  where  the 
Goshen  state  road  crosses  the  Eel  River.  The  frightened  militia  fled  without  firing  a 
gun,  while  the  regulars  stood  firm  until  twenty-two  of  their  number  were  slain.  Cap 
tain  Armstrong,  who  escaped,  stood  in  mud  and  water  up  to  his  chin,  and  saw  the  sav 
ages  dance  in  frantic  joy  because  of  their  victory. 

Harmar  moved  about  two  miles  to  Chillicothe2  and  destroyed  it;  then,  after  being 

block-house  there ;  and  in  1790  Major  Doughty  built  Fort  Washington  on  the  same  spot.  It  was  a  rude  but  strong 
structure,  and  stood  upon  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  town  as  originally  laid  out,  between  the  present  Third  and  Fourth 
Streets,  east  of  Eastern  Row,  now  Broadway,  which  was  then  a  "two-pole  alley."  The  celebrated  English  writer  and 
traveler,  Mrs.  Trollope,  resided  in  Cincinnati  for  a  while,  and  had  a  noted  bazar  on  the  site  of  the  fort.  That  work  was 
composed  of  a  number  of  strongiy-built  hewn-log  cabins,  a  story  and  a  half  in  height,  arranged  for  soldiers'  barracks. 
Some,  better  finished  than  the  majority,  were  used  by  the  officers.  They  formed  a  hollow  square,  inclosing  about  an  acre 
of  ground,  with  a  strong  block-house  at  each  angle.  One  of  these  was  Luce's.  These  were  built  of  the  timber  from  the 
ground  on  which  the  fort  stood.  In  1792  Congress  reserved  fifteen  acres  around  it  for  the  use  of  the  garrison.  In  the 
autumn  of  1790,  Governor  St.  Clair  arrived  at  Fort  Washington,  organized  the  County  of  Hamilton,  and  decreed  that  the 
little  village  of  Cincinnati,  commenced  around  the  fort,  should  be  the  county  seat.  Thus  commenced  the  Queen  City  of 
the  West,  as  it  has  been  called. 

1  These  consisted  of  three  battalions  of  Virginia  militia,  one  battalion  of  Pennsylvania  militia,  one  battalion  of  mount 
ed  light  troops,  and  two  battalions  of  regulars— in  all,  1453.    Of  these,  320  were  regulars. 

2  This  has  been  mistaken  for  the  present  Chillicothe  on  the  Scioto.    Chillicothe  was  the  name  of  one  of  the  principal 
tribes  of  the  Shawuoese,  and  was  a  favorite  name  for  a  village.    There  were  several  of  that  name  in  the  country  of  the 
Shawnoese.    There  was  Old  Chillicothe,  where  Boone  was  a  captive  for  some  time.    It  was  on  the  Little  Miami,  on  the 
site  of  Xeuia.    There  was  another  on  the  site  of  Westfall,  in  Pickaway  County ;  and  still  another  on  the  site  of  Frank 
fort,  in  Ross  County.    There  was  an  Indian  town  of  that  name  on  the  site  of  the  present  Chillicothe.    All  these  were 
within  the  present  limits  of  Ohio.    It  signified  "  the  town,"  or  principal  one. 


42 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Battle  near  Fort  Wayne,  and  Ilarmar's  Defeat. 


The  Disaster  and  its  Consequences. 


October  21, 
1T90. 


menaced  by  the  Indians,  he  turned  his  face  toward  Fort  Washington.* 
That  night  was  a  starry  one,  and  Hardin,  who  was  full  of  fight,  proposed 
to  Harmar  a  surprise  of  the  Indians  at  the  head  of  the  Maumee,  where  they  had  a  vil 
lage  on  one  side  of  the  river  and  an  encampment  of  warriors  on  the  other  side.  Har 
mar  reluctantly  complied,  and  four  hundred  men  were  detached  for  the  purpose.1  Six 
ty  of  them  were  regulars,  under  Major  Wyllys.  They  marched  in  three  columns  (the 
regulars  in  the  centre),  and  pushed  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible,  hoping  to  fall  upon 
the  Indians  before  dawn.  But  it  was  after  sunrise  before  they  reached  the  bank  of  the 
Maumee.  A  plan  of  attack  was  soon  arranged.  Major  Hall,  with  a  detachment  of  mi 
litia,  was  to  pass  around  the  village  at  the  bend  of  the  Maumee,  cross  the  St.  Mary's 
and  the  St.  Joseph's,  gain  the  rear  of  the  Indian  encampment  unobserved,  and  await 
an  attack  by  the  main  body  of  the  troops  in  front.  These,  consisting  of  Major  M'Mul- 
lin's  battalion,  Major  Fontaine's  cavalry,  and  the  regulars  under  Major  Wyllys,  were  to 
cross  the  Maumee  at  and  near  the  usual  ford,  and  thus  surround  the  savages.  The  game 
was  spoiled  by  the  imprudence  of  Major  Hall,  who  fired  prematurely  upon  a  solitary 
Indian  and  alarmed  the  encampment.  The  startled  Miamis  were  instantly  seen  flying 

in  different  directions.  The 
militia  under  M'Mullin  and 
the  cavalry  under  Fontaine, 
who  had  crossed  the  river, 
started  in  pursuit,  in  disobe 
dience  of  orders,  leaving  the 
regulars  under  Wyllys,  who 
had  also  crossed  the  Mau 
mee,  unsupported.  The  lat 
ter  were  attacked  by  Little 
Turtle  and  the  main  body 
of  the  Indians,  and  driven 
back  with  great  slaughter. 
Richardville,  a  half-blood 
and  successor  to  Little  Tur 
tle,  who  was  in  the  battle, 
and  who  died  at  Fort  Wayne 
in  ]  840,  often  asserted  that 
the  bodies  of  the  slain  were 
go  numerous  in  the  river  at 
the  ford  that  he  could  have  crossed  over  the  sti'eam  upon  them  dryshod.2 

While  this  conflict  was  going  on  at  the  ford,  M'Mullin  and  Fontaine,  in  connection 
with  Hall,  were  skirmishing  with  parties  of  Indians  a  short  distance  up  the  St.  Jo 
seph's.  Fontaine,  with  a  number  of  his  followers,  fell  at  the  head  of  his  mounted 
militia,  in  making  a  charge.  He  was  shot  dead,  and,  falling  from  his  horse,  was  imme 
diately  scalped.  The  remainder,  with  those  under  Hall  and  M'Mullin,  fell  back  in 
confusion  toward  the  ford  of  the  Maumee,  and  followed  the  remnant  of  the  regulars 
in  their  retreat.  The  Indians,  having  suffered  severely,  did  not  pursue. 

General  Harmar  was  informed  of  the  disaster  by  a  horseman  who  had  outstripped 
the  rest.  A  detachment  of  militia  was  immediately  ordered  to  the  assistance  of  the 
retreating  parties ;  but  such  mortal  fear  had  taken  possession  of  these  raw  recruits 
that  only  thirty,  willing  to  go,  could  be  found  among  them.  On  his  arrival  at  camp 
Hardin  urged  Harmar  to  proceed  with  his  whole  force  to  the  Maumee.  The  latter, 
„  October  23  having  lost  all  confidence  in  the  militia,  refused ;  and,  as  soon  as  prepa 
rations  could  be  made,  the  whole  army  took  up  its  marchb  for  Fort  Wash- 

1  Harmar's  halting-place  was  on  Nine-mile  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Maumee,  nine  miles  south  of  Fort  Wayne. 

2  Statement  of  John  P.  Hedges,  of  Fort  Wayne,  to  the  author. 


THE   MAUMEE   FOKD — PLACE   OF   IIARMAR'S   DEFEAT. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


43 


Scene  of  Harmar's  Defeat. 


Visit  of  the  Author  to  the  Places  of  Conflict. 


Site  of  the  Miami  Village. 


ington,  which  they  reached  on  the 
4th  of  November.  l 

I  visited  the  scene  of  the  disas 
ter  at  the  Maumee  Ford  toward 
the  close  of  September,  1860.  I 
came  up  the  Maumee  Valley  to 
Defiance  on  the  night  of  the  24th, 
and,  after  visiting  places  of  histor^ 
ic  interest  there  the  next  morn 
ing  (of  which  I  shall  hereafter 
write),  I  rode  on  to  Fort  Wayne 
upon  the  Toledo  and  Wabash  Rail 
way,  a  distance  of  forty  -three 
miles.  It  was  a  delightful  day. 
but  the  journey  was  very  monot 
onous,  because  almost  intermina 
ble  forests  covered  the  flat  country 
over  which  we  passed.  I  arrived 

at  the  flourishing  city  of  Fort  Wayne,  the  shire  town  of  Allen  County,  Indiana,  late  in 
the  afternoon,  and  by  twilight  had  visited  the  fords  of  the  Maumee  and  St.  Joseph's, 
made  famous  by  the  events  of  the  22d  of  October,  1790.  I  was  accompanied  by  the 
Hon.  F.  P.  Randall,  the  mayor  of  the  city,  who  kindly  offered  his  services  as  guide. 
We  crossed  the  great  bridge  at  the  head  of  the  Maumee,  and  rode  first  down  that 
stream  to  the  place  yet  known  as  "Harmar's  Ford."  It  is  about  half  a  mile  below 
the  confluence  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's  at  Fort  Wayne.  The  river  was  not 
then  fordable  there,  a  dam  having  been  built  about  half  a  mile  below,  making  the 
water  four  feet  deep  at  the  old  crossing-place.  The  road  that  led  to  and  crossed  the 
ford  was  along  the  margin  of  the  Maumee,  which  was  skirted  by  the  same  forest-trees 
in  whose  presence  the  battle  was  fought.  They  had  grown  to  be  grand  and  stately, 
and  were  made  exceedingly  picturesque  by  the  trailing  grape-vines. 

We  returned  to  the  bridge  and  rode  up 
the  St.  Joseph's  to  the  place  where  Major 
Hall  and  his  detachment  forded  it.  It  is 
about  half  a  mile  above  the  bridge.  There 
the  St.  Joseph's,  with  its  banks  fringed 
with  a  variety  of  graceful  trees,  swept  in 
gentle  curves,  and  presented  to  the  eye 
pictures  of  great  beauty.  Near  the  spot 
here  represented,  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
St.  Joseph's,  was  once  a  stockade,  built 
by  the  French,  and  occupied  by  the  En 
glish  in  PoHtiac's  time. 

The  land  of  the  point  between  the  St. 
Joseph's  and  the  Maumee,  on  which  Little 
Turtle  was  encamped  and  the  principal 
Miami  village  was  situated,  is  a  level  bot 
tom,  and  known  as  the  Cole  Farm.  Much 
of  it  was  covered  with  Indian  corn  of  lux- 


CBOSBING-PLAOE. 


1  Harmar  lost,  in  this  expedition,  183  killed  and  31  wounded.  Among  the  killed  were  Majors  Wyllys  and  Fontaine. 
The  loss  of  the  Indians  was  supposed  to  he  about  equal  to  that  of  the  white  people.  Criminations  and  recriminations 
grew  out  of  this  expedition.  Harmar  and  Hardin  were  both  tried  by  court-martial  and  both  were  acquitted.  Harmar 
resigned  his  commission  on  the  1st  of  January,  1792.  Hardin  had  been  a  lieutenant  in  Morgan's  rifle  corps  in  the  Revo 
lution,  and  was  a  brave  soldier.  He  was  a  Virginian  by  birth,  but  settled  in  Kentucky  after  the  war.  He  was  killed  by 
some  Shawnoese  while  on  a  mission  of  peace  to  them  in  1792,  when  he  was  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  A  coun 
ty  in  each  of  the  states  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky  bears  his  name,  in  his  honor. 


44 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  venerable  Historical  Apple-tree. 


Chief  Richardville. 


The  Twightwees. 


Their  Cruelty  to  Prisoners. 


uriant  growth ;  and  I  was  told  that  there  is  evidence  that  a  similar  crop  has  been 
raised  from  it  year  after  year  for  almost  a  century,  and  yet  the  soil  was  black,  rich, 
and  apparently  inexhaustible.  Here,  it  is  said,  was  the  place  where  the  Miamis 
were  accustomed  to  burn  their  prisoners.1 

About  three  hundred  yards  westward 
from  Harmar's  Ford,  on  the  site  of  the  In 
dian  camp,  was  a  venerable  apple-tree,  full 
of  fruit^  its  trunk  measuring  fifteen  feet 
in  circumference.  Under  this  tree  Chief 
Richardville,  to  whom  allusion  has  been 
made,  was  born  a  little  more  than  a  hund 
red  years  ago.2  It  was  a  fruit  -  bearing 
tree  then,  and  is  supposed  to  have  grown 
from  a  seed  dropped  by  some  French 
trader  among  these  Twightwees,  as  the 
Miamis  were  called  in  early  times.3  In 
the  sketch  of  the  apple-tree  the  city  o  f 
Fort  Wayne  is  seen  in  the  distance.  The 
spires  on  the  left  are  those  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Cathedral. 

We  returned  to  Fort  Wayne  at  twi 
light,  and  I  spent  the  evening  profitably 
with  Mr.  Hedges,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  intelligent  of  the  inhabitants  of  that 
town.4  He  was  there  in  the  spring  of  1812,  while  the  old  stockade  was  yet  standing, 
and  before  a  garrison  of  United  States  troops  from  Harrison's  army  arrived.  He  has 
seen  the  city  bloom  out  into  its  present  form  and  beauty  from  the  folds  of  the  dark 
forest,  and  its  history  and  traditions  are  as  familiar  to  him  as  those  of  his  own  biog 
raphy.  We  chatted  on  the  events  of  the  past  until  a  late  hour,  and  parted  with  an 
agreement  to  visit  the  historic  scenes  together  in  the  morning.  The  air  toward  mid 
night  was  as  mild  as  early  June,  but  a  dappled  sky  prophesied  a  storm.  At  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  I  was  aroused  by  heavy  thunder-peals,  and  the  dawning  of  the 


APPLE-TREE   SEAK   1IAKMAK  8   FOKD. 


1  We  have  mentioned  Mr.  Gamelin's  peace  mission,  on  page  40.    He  was  at  this  place,  and  only  three  days  after  he 
left  (about  the  1st  of  May,  1700),  the  savages,  as  if  in  derision  of  the  United  States  authority,  brought  an  American  pris 
oner  there  and  burned  him.— See  DILLON'S  History  of  Indiana. 

About  seventy  years  ago  a  white  man  was  bound  to  the  stake  at  this  place.  The  mother  of  Chief  Richardville,  men 
tioned  in  the  next  note,  and  a  woman  of  great  influence,  had  made  fruitless  attempts  to  save  him.  The  torch  was  ap 
plied.  Richardville,  then  quite  young,  had  been  designated  as  their  future  chief.  She  appealed  to  him,  and,  placing  a 
knife  in  his  hand,  bade  him  assert  his  chieftainship  and  cut  the  cords  that  bound  the  prisoner.  He  obeyed,  and  the  pris 
oner  was  released.  The  kind-hearted  Miami  woman  secreted  the  prisoner  and  gent  him  down  the  Maumee  in  a  canoe, 
covered  with  furs  and  peltries,  in  charge  of  some  friendly  Indians.  Many  years  afterward  Richardville  stopped  at  a 
town  in  Ohio.  A  man  came  to  him  and  threw  his  arms  affectionately  around  his  neck.  It  was  the  rescued  prisoner. — 
Lecture  before  the  Congregation  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Fort  Wayne. 

2  Pis-he-ioa  (Wildcat),  or  Jean  Baptiste  Richardville,  was  born  in  1750.    His  father  was  Joseph  Drouet  de  Richard 
ville,  a  Frenchman,  who  traded  at  Kc-ki-on-ga*  (Fort  Wayne)  from  1750  to  1770.    He  was  elected  chief  of  the  Miamis,  on 
the  death  of  Little  Turtle,  in  1811.    He  was  a  large,  flue-looking  man,  of  quite  light  complexion,  and  spoke  English  well. 
Richardville  left  a  fortune  at  his  death  in  1840.    I  was  told  by  an  old  resident  of  Fort  Wayne,  who  knew  him  well,  that 
he  had  received  large  sums  of  money  and  immense  tracts  of  land,  from  time  to  time,  in  consideration  of  his  signing 
treaties ;  and  that,  at  his  death,  he  had  $200,000  buried  where  no  one  but  his  daughter  could  find  it.    He  was  a  temperate 
man,  with  acquisitiveness  largely  developed.    He  was  buried  in  Fort  Wayne. 

3  The  Twightwees  once  formed  a  powerful  confederacy  of  tribes,  and  claimed  to  be  the  possessors  of  a  vast  territory. 
At  the  treaty  with  Wayne  at  Greenville,  which  we  shall  notice  presently,  Little  Turtle  thus  defined  the  ancient  bound 
ary  of  the  Twightwees  or  Miamis :  "  It  is  well  known  by  all  my  brothers  present  that  my  forefather  kindled  the  first  fire 
at  Detroit ;  from  thence  he  extended  his  lines  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Scioto  ;  from  thence  to  its  mouth  ;  from  thence 
down  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  ;  and  from  thence  to  Chicago,  on  Lake  Michigan."— American  State  Papers, 
i.,  570.    This  comprises  about  one  half  of  Ohio,  the  whole  of  Indiana,  and  a  part  of  Southern  Michigan. 

4  John  P.  Hedges  was  employed  in  the  commissary's  department,  under  John  H.  Piatt,  of  Ohio,  the  contractor  for  the 
army  of  the  Northwest,  commanded  by  General  Harrison.    He  was  active  in  that  department  during  the  whole  of  the 
war,  and  became  familiar  with  all  the  territory.    He  was  with  General  M'Arthur  in  his  campaign  in  Western  Canada, 
and  was  with  Harrison  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames.    He  was  at  the  treaty  with  the  Indians  at  Greenville  in  1814,  and 
distributed  provisions  to  the  savages  on  that  occasion. 


Ke-ki-on-ga  in  the  language  of  the  Miamis,  and  Kee-ki-ogue  in  that  of  the  Pottawatomies. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF    1812.  45 

Indian  Hostilities  continued.         Expeditions  of  Generals  Scott  and  Wilkinson.         Destruction  of  Villages  and  Crops. 

28th  was  made  dreary  by  a  cold  drizzle  drifting  upon  a  northeast  wind.  I  went  out 
alone,  and  made  the  sketches  at  the  two  fords  and  other  drawings,  and,  after  visiting 
the  grave  of  Little  Turtle,  departed  in  the  midday  train  for  Indianapolis.  Of  Fort 
Wayne  in  1812,  and  of  Little  Turtle  and  his  grave,  I  shall  hereafter  write. 

Although  Harmar  in  his  expedition  had  punished  the  Miamis  and  Shawnoese  se- 
verely,  and  Hamtramck  meanwhile  had  been  up  the  Wabash  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Vermilion  River  and  destroyed  some  deserted  villages,  Indian  hostilities  in  the  North 
west  were  not  even  checked.  The  settlers  along  the  Ohio  were  continually  menaced 
and  sometimes  attacked  by  the  savages,  back  of  whom  was  distinctly  heard  the  voice 
of  the  British  commandant  at  Detroit.  Western  Virginia  and  Kentucky  were  threat 
ened,  and  life  and  property  on  the  frontiers  were  in  jeopardy  every  hour.  The  Vir 
ginia  Legislature  adopted  measures  for  the  protection  of  the  settlers,  and  the  national 
government,  awake  to  the  importance  of  the  subject,  put  forth  all  its  available  strength 
for  the  same  purpose.  General  Knox,  the  Secretary  of  War,  issued  orders  to  proper 
authorities  beyond  the  mountains  "  to  impress  the  Indians  with  the  power  of  the 
United  States,"  and  "  to  inflict  that  degree  of  punishment  which  justice  may  re 
quire."1  Under  these  instructions,  General  Scott,  of  Kentucky,  with  eight  hundred 
mounted  men,  crossed  the  Ohio,a  and  penetrated  the  Wabash  country  to  the  a  May  2s, 
large  village  of  Ouiatenon,  situated  about  eight  miles  below  the  present  vil-  ml- 
lage  of  Lafayette,  Indiana,  where  several  French  families  resided.  There  he  found 
ample  evidence  of  the  Indians'  connection  with  and  dependence  on  the  British  at 
Detroit.  Scott  destroyed  the  town,  and  several  villages  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
desolated  the  country.  He  killed  thirty-two  Indians, "  chiefly  warriors  of  size  and 
figure,"  and  took  fifty-eight  prisoners,  without  losing  any  of  his  own  men.2 

On  the  1st  of  August  Brigadier  General  James  Wilkinson  left  Cincinnati  (Fort 
Washington)  with  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  men,  and  penetrated  the  same  region, 
by  a  different  route,  to  the  important  Ouiatenon  village  of  Ke-na-pa-com-a-qua,  which 
the  French  called  UAnguille  (The  Eel),  on  the  Eel  River,  about  six  miles  from  the 
present  Logansport,  Indiana.3  He  destroyed  that  village,  desolated  the  country 
around  as  far  as  Tippecanoe,  and  then  pushed  forward  to  the  great  prairies  that 
stretch  away  toward  Lake  Michigan.  But  deep  morasses,  into  which  he  was  some 
times  plunged  armpit  deep,  compelled  him  to  retiirn.  He  then  destroyed  another 
Kickapoo  village  of  twenty  houses,  desolated  all  the  crops,  and,  after  a  march  of  four 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  reached  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  (Louisville)  on  the  21st  of 
August.4 

The  misfortune  that  befell  the  Indians  under  the  lash  of  Scott  and  Wilkinson  did  not 
quiet  them.  The  British  emissaries  stimulated  their  courage  to  a  point  of  desperation 
by  assuring  them  that  the  grand  object  of  the  United  States  was  to  exterminate  the 
tribes  and  take  possession  of  their  lands.5  Thus  two  most  powerful  incentives  to  war 

1  Instructions  of  the  Secretary  of  War  to  Brigadier  General  Scott,  of  Kentucky,  March  9, 1791. 

2  Scott's  official  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  June  2S,  1791. 

3  Fort  Ouiatenon,  a  stockade  built  by  the  French,  was  near  the  present  city  of  Lafayette,  Indiana. 

*  "I  have  destroyed,"  he  said,  "the  chief  town  of  the  Ouiatenon  nation,  and  made  prisoners  of  the  sons  and  sisters 
of  the  king.  I  have  burned  a  respectable  Kickapoo  village,  and  cut  down  at  least  four  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  corn, 
chiefly  in  the  milk.  The  Ouiatenons,  left  without  houses,  home,  or  provisions,  must  cease  to  war,  and  will  find  active 
employ  to  subsist  their  squaws  and  children  during  the  impending  winter."— WILKINSON'S  Official  Report  to  Governor  St. 
Clair,  Auirust  24, 1791. 

5  The  most  active  of  these  British  emissaries  were  Simon  Girty,  Andrew  M'Kee,  and  Mathew  Elliott,  three  malignant 
Tories  during  the  Revolution.  The  two  latter  were  natives  of  Path  Valley,  Pennsylvania.  Many  a  murder  was  justly 
charged  to  these  men  while  the  old  war  for  independence  was  in  progress.  They  carried  on  their  depredations  on  the 
frontier  with  a  high  hand,  and,  for  their  faithfulness  in  inciting  Indian  hostilities  during  that  war  that  led  to  frightful 
massacres,  the  British  government  rewarded  them  with  official  station.  They  married  Indian  women,  and  became  thor 
oughly  identified  with  the  savages.  At  the  time  we  are  now  considering  Elliott  and  M'Kee  were  subordinate  agents  in 
the  British«Indian  Department,  and,  with  Girty,  had  homes  near  Alalden,  in  Canada,  on  the  Detroit  River.  We  shall 
meet  Elliott  again.  Girty  was  an  unmitigated  scoundrel.  More  brutal  than  the  most  savage  Indian,  he  had  not  one 
redeeming  quality.  He  was  the  offspring  of  crime.  His  father,  an  Irishman,  was  a  sot ;  his  mother  was  a  bawd.  He 
was  nurtured  among  the  warlike  Senecas,  and  his  innate  cruelty  had  free  scope  for  growth.  With  Elliott  and  M'Kee, 
who,  with  him,  had  been  imprisoned  at  Pittsburg  in  1778,  he  aroused  the  Indians  in  the  Northwest  with  the  same  cry 


46  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Efforts  to  form  an  Indian  Confederacy.      Building  of  Forts  in  the  Indian  Country.       A  Camp  deep  in  the  Wilderness. 

were  presented — self-preservation  and  patriotism.  In  defense  of  life  and  country  they 
resolved  to  fight  to  the  last.  Little  Turtle,  of  the  Miarais,  Blue  Jacket,  of  the  Shaw- 
noese,  and  Buck-ong-a-helos,  of  the  Delawares,  put  forth  all  their  energies  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1791,  as  Pontiac  had  done  thirty  years  before,  to  confederate  all  the  Western 
tribes  in  an  eifort  to  drive  every  European  from  the  soil  north  of  the  Ohio.  The 
protestations  of  St.  Clair  that  peace,  friendship,  and  justice,  not  war,  subjugation,  and 
robbery,  were  the  desire  of  the  people  and  government  of  the  United  States,  were  of 
no  avail ;  and  he  was  compelled,  for  the  sake  of  the  national  life  on  the  frontier,  to 
attempt  to  convince  them,  by  the  stern  argument  of  arms,  that  they  were  governed 
by  bad  counselors  at  Detroit. 

It  was  determined  to  establish  a  strong  military  post  in  the  heart  of  the  Miami 
country,  on  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Fort  Wayne.  Congress  authorized  the 
raising  of  sufficient  troops  for  the  purpose,  and  during  the  spring  and  summer  of 
1791,  St.  Clair  was  putting  forth  strong  efforts  in  that  direction,  but  with  indifferent 
success.  Enlistments  were  slow,  and  it  was  not  until  the  beginning  of  September 
that  he  had  collected  a  sufficient  force  to  attempt  the  enterprise  with  an  appearance 
of  safety.  These  had  been  collected  in  the  vicinity  of  Cincinnati,  and  placed  under 
the  immediate  command,  in  camp,  of  Major  Hamtramck,  who  was  remarkable  as  a 
tactician  and  disciplinarian.1  St.  Clair  took  the  field  as  commander-in-chief.  Major 
General  Richard  Butler,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  his  second  in  command,  and  Winthrop 
Sargent,  Secretary  of  the  Territory,  was  appointed  adjutant  general. 

An  army  little  more  than  two  thousand  strong,  under  the  immediate  command  of 
General  Butler,  and  accompanied  by  General  St.  Clair,  moved  forward  on  the  5th  and 
6th  of  September.81  On  the  bank  of  the  Great  Miami,  little  more  than  twen 
ty  miles  from  Fort  Washington,  they  halted  and  built  Fort  Hamilton,  on  the 
site  of  the  present  village  of  Hamilton.  Forty-two  miles  farther  on,  at  a  point  about 
six  miles  south  of  Greenville,  in  the  present  Darke  County,  Ohio,  they  built  Fort  Jef 
ferson.  When  they  moved  from  there,  on  the  24th  of  October,  they  began  to  encoun 
ter  the  subtle  foe  in  small  parties.  It  was  evident  that  dusky  scouts  were  hanging 
upon  their  flanks,  and  they  became  hourly  more  cautious  and  vigilant.  The  nights 
were  frosty,  but  serene.  The  days  were  genial  and  brilliant.  The  summer  warmth 
had  been  diffused  over  the  whole  of  September ;  and  now  the  forests  were  arrayed  in 
all  the  gorgeous  beauty  of  autumnal  splendors  peculiar  to  them. 

At  length,  when  dark  clouds  were  overhead,  and  falling  leaves  were  thick  in  their 
path,  the  invading  army  halted  and  encamped  upon  the  borders  of  an  unknown 
stream,  which  proved  to  be  a  chief  tributary  of  the  Upper  Wabash.  They  were 
ninety-seven  miles  from  Fort  Washington,  deep  in  the  wilderness.  A  light  fall  of 
snow  lay  upon  the  ground — so  light  that  it  appeared  like  hoar-frost.  Over  a  piece 
of  rising  ground,  timbered  with  oak,  ash,  and  hickory,  the  encampment  was  spread, 
with  a  fordable  stream,  forty  feet  in  width,  in  front.  The  army  lay  in  two  lines,  sev 
enty  yards  apart,  with  four  pieces  of  cannon  in  the  centre  of  each.  Across  the  stream, 
and  beyond  a  rich  bottom  land  three  hundred  yards  in  width,  was  an  elevated  plain, 
covered  with  an  open  forest  of  stately  trees.  There  the  militia — three  hundred  and 
fifty  independent,  half-insubordinate  men,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Oldham,  of  Ken 
tucky — were  encamped. 

Eight  weary  miles  through  the  woods  the  soldiers  had  marched  that  day,  and  when 
the  camp  was  arranged  the  sun  was  low  in  the  cloudless  sky  of  the  west.  The  tired 
soldiers  early  sought  repose,  without  suspicion  of  danger  near.  All  around  them 

that  now  alarmed  them :  "  The  Americans  want  to  take  your  lives  and  your  lands."  For  more  than  twenty  years  the 
women  and  children  of  the  Ohio  country  turned  pale  when  his  name  was  mentioned.  • 

1  Hamtramck  was  a  poor  rider.  "  He  was  crooked  like  a  frog  on  horseback,"  said  the  venerable  Major  Whitlock,  of 
Crav.-fordsville,  to  me,  who  knew  him  well,  and  had  served  under  him.  He  had  the  faculty  of  inspiring  the  men  with 
self-confidence,  and,  notwithstanding  he  was  a  most  rigid  disciplinarian,  the  troops  all  loved  him,  for  he  was  kind- 
hearted,  generous,  and  brave. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


47 


St.  Clair's  Troops  and  the  Indians. 


St.  Clair's  Camp. 


The  Tribes  represented  by  the  Warriors. 


PLAN  OF  ST.  CLAIK'S  CAMP  AND  BATTLE.1 

were  evidences  of  old  and  recent  Indian  camps,  and  a  few  lurking  savages  had  been 
seen  by  vigilant  eyes;  but  no  one  knew  whether  Little  Turtle  and  his  confederates, 
with  their  followers,  were  near  or  far  away. 

They  were  near.  Only  a  few  miles  distant  the  great  Miami  leader,  Blue  Jacket 
the  Shawnoese  chief,  and  Buck-ong-a-helos,  the  leader  of  the  Delawares,  with  the 
cruel  Girty  and  other  white  men  in  the  British  interest,  were  lying  in  wait,  with  two 
thousand  fierce  warriors  at  their  beck.2  These  had  been  watching  St.  Clair's  move 
ments  for  several  days,  and  were  waiting  for  the  proper  moment  to  fall  upon  him  like 
a  bolt  from  the  cloud. 

The  morning  of  the  4th  dawned  brilliantly.  "Moderate  northwest  wind,  serene  at 
mosphere,  and  unclouded  sky."3  All  night  long  the  sentinels  had  been  firing  upon 


i  This  sketch  of  St.  Clair's  encampment  is  from  Winthrop  Sargent's  MS.  Journal  of  the  Campaign,  kindly  lent  to  me 
by  his  grandson,  Winthrop  Sargent,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia.  It  is  a  foe-simile  of  Mr.  Sargent's  sketch. 

EXPLANATION.— a,  Butler's  battalion  ;  6  6,  artillery ;  c,  Clarke's  battalion  ;  d,  Patterson's  battalion  ;  e,  Faulkner's  rifle 
company ;  //,  cavalry ;  g,  detachment  of  U.  S.  Second  Redment ;  h,  Gaither's  battalion  ;  j,  Beddhurer's  battalion  ;  b  np, 
flank  guards ;  o  2,  pickets ;  s,  swamp ;  m,  camp  guard.  The  numerous  crosses  represent  the  enemy  ;  z  z,  troops  retreat 
ing  ;  the  crooked  stream,  a  tributary  of  the  Wabash. 

8  The  late  Colonel  John  Johnson,  of  Dayton,  mentioned  hereafter,  informed  me  that,  from  the  best  information  he 
could  obtain,  the  Indians  numbered  about  two  thousand.  Some  have  estimated  their  number  at  one  thousand^  and 
others  at  three  thousand.  The  principal  tribes  engaged  in  the  battle  were  the  Miamis,  Delawares,  Shawnoese,  Wyan- 
dots,  Ottawas,  and  a  few  Chippewas  and  Pottawatomies. 

3  Winthrop  Sargent's  MS.  Journal,  November  4, 1791. 


48  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

St.  Glair's  Battle  with  the  Indians  and  his  Defeat.  Flight  of  the  vanquished  Army.  A  fleet-footed  Woman. 

prowling  Indians,  and  the  men,  by  order  of  the  commanding  general,  had  slept  upon 
their  arms. 

The  troops  had  been  early  mustered  and  dismissed  from  parade.  They  were  pre 
paring  for  breakfast,  when,  half  an  hour  before  sunrise,  a  body  of  Indians,  with  yells 
that  wakened  horrid  echoes  miles  away  through  the  forest,  fell  suddenly  upon  the 
militia.  The  assailed  camp  was  immediately  broken  up,  and  the  frightened  soldiers, 
most  of  whom  had  never  been  in  battle,  rushed  wildly  across  the  bottom  and  the 
creek  into  the  lines  of  the  regulars,  producing  alarm  and  confusion  there.  The  In 
dians  closely  followed,  and  fell  upon  the  regulars.  The  savages  were  several  times 
repulsed,  but  soon  rallied,  and  directed  their  most  effective  shots  upon  the  artillery  in 
the  centre.  Every  officer  there  was  prostrated,  and  the  cannon  were  silenced.  The 
carnage  among  the  Americans  was  terrible,  yet  they  withstood  the  enemy  with  great 
gallantry  for  almost  three  hours.  Finally,  when  full  one  half  of  the  army  had  fallen, 
St.  Clair  ordered  a  retreat  to  an  old  Indian  road  or  trail.  This  was  accomplished  after 
a  furious  charge  as  if  to  turn  the  enemy's  flank.1  The  militia  then  led  the  van  in  the 
precipitate  retreat,  which  soon  became  a  flight.2  The  fugitive  army  was  well  covered 
by  Major  Clarke  and  his  battalion.;  and  the  Indians,  after  following  about  four  miles, 
turned  back,  wonderfully  elated  with  their  victory.  Little  Turtle  was  in  chief  com 
mand. 

St.  Clair  behaved  gallantly  during  the  dreadful  scene.  He  was  so  tortured  with 
gout  that  he  could  not  mount  a  horse  without  assistance.  He  was  not  in  uniform. 
His  chief  covering  was  a  coarse  cappo  coat,  and  a  three-cocked  hat  from  under  which 
his  white  hair  was  seen  streaming  as  he  and  Butler  rode  up  and  down  the  lines  during 
the  battle.  He  had  three  horses  killed  under  him.  Eight  balls  passed  through  his 
clothes.  He  finally  mounted  a  pack-horse,  and  upon  this  animal,  which  could  with 
difficulty  be  spurred  into  a  trot,  he  followed  in  the  retreat. 

The  fugitive  army  did  not  halt  until  safely  within  the  palisades  of  Fort  Jefferson. 
The  panic  was  terrible,  and  the  conduct  of  the  army  after  quitting  the  ground  was 
mo^t  disgraceful.  Arms,  ammunition,  and  accoutrements  were  almost  all  thrown 
awdy  ;  and  even  officers,  in  some  instances,  threw  away  their  arms,  "  thus  setting  an 
example  for  the  most  precipitate  and  ignominious  flight."3  They  left  the  camp  at 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  at  seven  o'clock  that  evening  they  were  in  Fort  Jef 
ferson,  twenty-nine  miles  distant.  That  evening  Adjutant  General  Sargent  wrote  in 
his  diary,  "  The  troops  have  all  been  defeated ;  and  though  it  is  impossible,  at  this 
time,  to  ascertain  our  loss,  yet  there  •  can  be  no  manner  of  doubt  that  more  than  half 
the  army  are  either  killed  or  wounded."4 

1  There  were  qnite  a  large  number  of  the  wounded  so  maimed  that  they  could  not  walk  or  sit  upon  a  horse,  and  their 
companion!?  were  compelled  to  leave  them  upon  the  field.     "  When  they  knew  they  must  be  left,"  says  Sargent,  "they 
charged  their  pieces  with  a  deliberation  and  courage  which  reflects  the  highest  honor  upon  them ;  and  the  firing  of  mus 
ketry  in  the  camp  after  we  had  quitted  it  leaves  little  doubt  that  their  latest  efforts  were  professionally  brave,  and  where 
they  could  pull  a  trigger  they  avenged  themselves."— MS.  Journal. 

During  the  engagement,  the  Indians,  as  opportunity  offered,  plundered  and  scalped  their  victims.  They  also  disfig 
ured  the  bodies  of  the  slain.  Having  been  taught  by  the  British  emissaries  that  the  Americans  made  war  upon  them 
for  their  lands,  they  crammed  clay  and  sand  into  the  eyes  and  down  the  throats  of  the  dying  and  dead. — DILLON'S  His 
tory  of  Indiana,  p.  283.  Among  the  slain  was  Major  General  Butler  ;  and  it  has  been  authoritatively  asserted  that  the 
miscreant,  Simon  Girty,  instigated  a  savage  warrior,  while  the  general  was  yet  alive  on  the  field,  to  scalp  him,  and  take 
out  his  heart  for  distribution  among  the  tribes  ! 

2  The  whole  number  of  effective  troops  in  the  battle,  according  to  Sargent's  return,  was  1748. 

3  Sargent's  MS.  Journal.    There  were  almost  two  hundred  female  camp-followers,  chiefly  wives  of  the  soldiers.    Of 
these,  fifty-six  were  killed ;  most  of  the  remainder  were  in  the  flight.    One  of  them,  Mrs.  Catharine  Miller,  who  died  iu 
Cincinnati  about  the  year  1838,  was  so  fleet  afoot  that  she  ran  ahead  of  the  army.    She  had  a  great  quantity  of  long  red 
hair,  that  streamed  behind  her  as  she  ran,  and  formed  the  oriflamme  which  the  soldiers  followed.— Statement  of  Major 
Whitlock,  of  Crawfordsville,  Indiana. 

4  MS.  Journal,  Friday,  November  4,1791.    Mr.  Sargent  was  slightly  wounded.    According  to  his  report,  afterward  made 
out  carefully,  thirty-six  officers  were  killed  and  thirty  wounded;  and  593  privates  were  killed  and  missing,  and  214 
wounded.    He  did  not  think  many  Indians  were  lost— probably  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  killed  and  wound 
ed.    Several  pieces  of  cannon,  and  all  the  baggage,  ammunition,  and  provisions  were  left  on  the  field,  and  became  spoil 
for  the  savage  victors.    The  value  of  public  property  lost,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  toward  the 
close  of  1792,  was  $32,810  75.    The  signature  of  the  Adjutant  General,  of  which  a  foe-simile  is  given  on  page  38,  was  cop- 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  49 


Effect  of  St.  Clair's  Defeat  on  the  Public  Mind.  Expression  of  President  Washington's  Indignation. 

At  Fort  Jefferson  the  flying  troops  found  the  First  Regiment  of  the  United  States 
army,  about  three  hundred  strong.  Leaving  a  well-provisioned  garrison  there,  the 
remnant  of  St.  Clair's  force  made  their  way  to  Fort  Washington,  where  a  November, 
they  arrived  at  noon  on  the  8th. a  1T91- 

Intelligence  of  St.  Clair's  defeat  produced  the  greatest  alarm  among  all  the  settlers 
in  the  "West,  even  as  far  eastward  as  Pittsburg.  It  cast  a  gloom  over  society  in  all 
parts  of  the  Union,  and  checked  for  a  short  time  the  tide  of  emigration  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  Ohio.1 

St.  Clair  was  condemned  in  unmeasured  terms  by  men  of  all  classes  and  parties, 
and  the  indignation  of  President  Washington  was  exceedingly  hot.     "  Here,"  he  said 
to  Tobias  Lear,  his  private  secretary, 
"  yes,  HERE,  on  this  very  spot,  I  took  • 
leave  of  him.     I  wished  him  success 
and  honor.    You  have  your  instruc 
tions,  I  said,  from  the  Secretary  of 
War.    I  had  a  strict  eye  to  them,  and 
will  add  but  one  word — beware  of  a 

surprise!  I  repeat  it — BEWARE  OF  A  SURPRISE!  You  know  how  the  Indians  fight 
us.  He  went  off  with  that,  as  my  last  solemn  warning,  thrown  into  his  ears.2  And 
yet ! !  to  suffer  that  army  to  be  cut  to  pieces,  hacked,  butchered,  tomahawked,  by  a 
surprise — the  very  thing  I  guarded  him  against ! !  O  God,  O  God,  he  is  worse  than 
a  murderer !  How  can  he  answer  it  to  his  country  ?  The  blood  of  the  slain  is  upon 
him — the  curse  of  widows  and  orphans — the  curse  of  Heaven  !" 

The  tone  of  Washington's  voice  was  appalling  as  these  vehement  sentences  escaped 
his  lips.  "  It  was  awful !"  said  Mr.  Lear.  "  More  than  once  he  threw  his  hands  up  as 
he  hurled  imprecations  upon  St.  Clair."  Mr.  Lear  remained  speechless — awed  into 
breathless  silence. 

"  The  roused  chief,"  says  the  chronicler,  "  sat  down  on  the  sofa  once  more.  He 
seemed  conscious  of  his  passion,  and  uncomfortable.  He  was  silent ;  his  wrath  be 
gan  to  subside.  He  at  length  said,  in  an  altered  voice, '  This  must  not  go  beyond 

ied  from  his  report.  In  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio  may  be  found  many  particulars  and  anecdotes  of  this  dis 
astrous  campaign. 

Among  the  slain,  as  we  have  observed,  was  Major  General  Butler,  a  highly  esteemed  officer  from  Pennsylvania.  He 
held  the  rank  of  colonel  in  the  Continental  army.  In  1787  he  was  sent  to  the  Ohio  as  agent  for  Indian  affairs  in  that 
quarter.  He  was  wounded  early  in  the  action,  and  before  his  wounds  could  be  dressed,  an  Indian,  who  had  penetrated 
the  camp,  ran  up  and>  tomahawked  and  scalped  him.  Butler  was  much  beloved  by  the  Indians  who  were  friendly  to  the 
United  States.  Among  those  who  loved  him  most  was  Big  Tree,  a  Seneca  chief  in  the  Genesee  Valley.  He  vowed  to 
avenge  the  death  of  Butler  by  killing  three  of  the  hostile  Indians.  Because  the  treaty  of  peace  at  Greenville  in  1795 
thwarted  his  bloody  purpose,  Big  Tree  committed  suicide. 

1  This  event  was  the  theme  for  oratory,  the  pulpit,  poetry,  art,  and  song.    I  have  before  me  a  dirge-like  poem,  printed 
on  a  broadside,  and  embellished  with  rude  wood-cuts  representing  forty  coffins  at  the  head,  a  portrait  of  General  Butler, 
a  Miami  village,  an  Indian  with  a  bow,  and  the  hideous  skull  and  cross-bones.    It  is  entitled  "The  Columbian  Trage 
dy,"  and  professes  to  give,  in  verse,  "a  particular  and  official  account"  of  the  affair.    It  was  published  "by  the  earnest 
request  of  the  friends  of  the  deceased  worthies  who  died  in  defense  of  their  country."    According  to  this  "official  ac 
count,"  the  battle  was  fought  between  two  thousand  United  States  troops  "and  near  four  thousand  wild  Indian  savages, 
nt  Miami  Village,  near  Fort  Washington  !"    A  pious  tone  runs  through  the  mournful  ballad,  and  the  feelings  of  the 
writer  may  be  imagined  after  the  perusal  of  this  single  verse : 

"  My  trembling  hand  can  scarcely  hold 

My  faint,  devoted  quill, 
To  write  the  actions  of  the  Bold, 

Their  Valor  and  their  Skill." 

There  was  a  famous  song  that  was  sung  for  many  years  afterward,  entitled  "  Sinclair's  Defeat,"  written,  as  the  author 
thus  informs  us,  by  one  of  the  soldiers : 

"  To  mention  our  brave  officers  is  what  I  write  to  do; 
No  sons  of  Mars  e'er  fought  more  brave,  or  with  more  courage  true. 
To  Captain  Bradford  I  belonged,  in  his  Artillery  ; 
He  fell  that  day  among  the  slain— a  valiant  man  was  he." 
This  song  may  be  found  in  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  p.  136. 

2  This  interview  was  on  the  2Sth  of  March,  1791,  the  day  when  St.  Clair  left  Philadelphia  and  proceeded  to  the  frontier 
post  of  Pittsburg.    Thence  he  went  to  Kentucky,  and  afterward  to  Fort  Washington,  every  where  endeavoring  to  enlist 
the  sympathies  and  co-operation  of  the  inhabitants  for  the  campaign. 

D 


50  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Washington's  Kindness  to  St.  Clair.      Resignation  of  the  latter.       His  later  Days.       General  Wayne  and  his  Troops. 

this  room.'  Another  pause  followed — a  longer  one — when  he  said,  in  a  tone  quite 
low, '  General  St.  Clair  shall  have  justice.  I  looked  hastily  through  the  dispatches — 
saw  the  whole  disaster,  but  not  all  the  particulars.  I  will  hear  him  without  preju 
dice;  he  shall  have  full  justice.' 

"  He  was  now,"  said  Mr.  Lear,  "  perfectly  calm.  Half  an  hour  had  gone  by ;  the 
storm  was  over,  and  no  sign  of  it  was  afterward  seen  in  his  conduct  or  heard  in  his 
conversation."1 

Washington  was  both  generous  and  just,  and  St.  Clair  found  in  him  a  most  faithful 
friend.  "  The  first  interview  of  the  President  with  the  unfortunate  general  after  the 
fatal  4th  of  November,"  says  the  late  Mr.  Custis,  who  was  present,  "  was  nobly  im 
pressive.  St.  Clair,  worn  down  by  age,  disease,  and  the  hardships  of  a  frontier  cam 
paign,  assailed  by  the  press,  and  with  the  current  of  popular  opinion  setting  hard 
against  him,  repaired  to  his  chief  as  to  a  shelter  from  the  fury  of  so  many  elements. 
Washington  extended  his  hand  to  one  who  appeared  in  no  new  character,  for,  during 
the  whole  of  a  long  life,  misfortune  seemed  '  to  have  marked  him  for  her  own.'  Poor 
old  St.  Clair  hobbled  up  to  his  chief,  seized  the  offered  hand  in  both  of  his,  and  gave 
vent  to  his  feelings  in  an  audible  manner."2 

St.  Clair's  case  was  investigated  by  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  he  was  honorably  acqiiitted.  But  public  sentiment  had  set  against  him  in  a  cur 
rent  too  strong  to  be  successfully  resisted,  and  he  resigned  his  commission.3  General 
Anthony  Wayne,  whose  impetuosity  exhibited  during  the  old  war  for  independence 
had  gained  him  the  title  of "  Mad  Anthony,"  was  appointed  to  fill  his  place.  Wayne 
was  then  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  and  Congress  and  the  people  had  confidence  in 
his  intelligence,  courage,  and  energy.  Congress  authorized  an  increase  of  the  regu 
lar  army  to  a  little  over  five  thousand  men,  and  a  competent  part  of  this  force,  to  be 
called  the  Legion  of  the  United  States,  was  to  be  assigned  to  Wayne  for  an  expedi 
tion  against  the  Indians  in  the  Northwest.  He  took  post  at  Pittsburg  early  in  the 
following  June,a  and  appointed  that  place  as  the  rendezvous  of  his  invading 
army.  It  was  soon  perceived  that  it  was  easier  to  vote  troops  in  the  halls  of 
Congress  than  to  draw  them  out  and  muster  them  in  the  camp ;  and  it  was  not  until 
near  the  close  of  November  that  Wayne  had  collected  a  sufficient  number  to  warrant 
his  moving  forward.  He  then  went  down  the  Ohio  only  about  twenty  miles,  and  there 
hutted  his  soldiers  in  a  well-guarded  camp,  which  he  called  Legionville.  There  he 
was  joined  by  Lieutenant  William  Henry  Harrison,  afterward  the  distinguished  gen 
eral  in  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  and  the  ninth  President  of  the  republic.  The 

1  Washington  in  Domestic  Life,  by  Richard  Rush,  p.  CT. 

2  Recollections  and  Private  Memoirs  of  Washington,  by  his  adopted  son,  G.  W.  P.  Cnstis,  p.  419. 

3  The  late  Hon.  Elisha  Whittlesey,  of  Ohio,  First  Auditor  of  the  United  States  Treasury  during  a  portion  of  the  first 
term  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration,  and  a  veteran  soldier  of  1812,  furnished  me  with  the  following  interesting  account 
of  his  interview  with  St.  Clair  three  years  before  his  death : 

"  In  May,  1815,  four  of  us  called  upon  him,  on  the  top  of  Chestnut  Ridge,  eastwardly  eight  or  ten  miles  from  Greens- 
burg,  Westmoreland  County,  Pennsylvania.  We  were  traveling  on  horseback  to  Connecticut,  and  being  informed  that 
General  St.  Clair  kept  tavern,  we  decided  to  call  for  entertainment  during  the  night.  We  alighted  at  his  residence  late 
in  the  afternoon,  and,  on  entering  his  log  house,  we  saw  an  elderly,  neat  gentleman,  dressed  in  black  broadcloth,  silk 
stockings,  and  small-clothes,  shining  shoes  whose  straps  were  secured  by  large  silver  buckles,  his  hair  clubbed  and  pow 
dered.  On  closing  his  book  he  rose,  received  us  most  kindly  and  gracefully,  and  pointing  us  to  chairs,  he  asked  us  to  be 
seated.  On  being  asked  for  entertainment,  he  said, '  Gentlemen,  I  perceive  you  are  traveling,  and  although  I  should  be 
gratified  by  your  custom,  it  is  my  duty  to  inform  you  I  have  no  hay  nor  grain.  I  have  good  pasture,  but  if  hay  and  grain 
are  essential,  I  can  not  furnish  them.' 

"  There  stood  before  us  a  major  general  of  the  Revolution — the  friend  and  confidant  of  Washington— late  governor  of 
the  Territory  northwest  of  the  River  Ohio— one  of  nature's  noblemen,  of  high,  dignified  bearing,  whom  misfortune,  nor 
the  ingratitude  of  his  country,  nor  poverty  could  break  down  nor  deprive  of  self-respect—keeping  a  tavern  in  a  log 
house,  but  could  not  furnish  a  bushel  of  oats  nor  a  lock  of  hay.  We  were  moved  principally  to  call  upon  him  to  hear  him 
converse  about  the  men  of  the  Revolution  and  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and  our  regret  that  he  could  not  entertain 
us  was  greatly  increased  by  hearing  him  converse  about  an  hour.  The  large  estate  he  sacrificed  for  the  cause  of  the 
Revolution  was  within  a  short  distance  of  the  top  of  Chestnut  Ridge,  if  not  in  sight.  After  he  was  governor  he  peti 
tioned  Congress  for  relief,  but  died  before  it  was  granted."* 

*  During  the  last  two  years  of  his  life  General  St.  Clair  received  a  pension  of  sixty  dollars  a  month  from  his  govern 
ment,  and  his  latter  days  were  made  comfortable  thereby.  About  1850,  Senator  Brodhead,  of  Pennsylvania,  procured 
from  Congress  an  appropriation  for  the  heirs  of  General  St.  Clair. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  51 


Wayne  in  the  Indian  Country.  A  grand  Council.  Interference  of  British  Officials. 

young  Virginian  soon  exhibited  qualities  which  caused  Wayne  to  make  him  a  mem 
ber  of  his  military  family  as  his  aid-de-camp. 

Wayne  remained  at  Legionville  until  the  close  of  April,  1*793,  when  his  whole  force 
proceeded  to  Cincinnati  in  boats,  and  took  post  near  Fort  Washington.  There  they 
remained  all  the  summer  and  until  the  7th  of  October,  when  Wayne  moved  forward 
and  encampeda  six  miles  in  advance  of  Fort  Jefferson,  on  the  site  of  Green- 

T  -IT  •  *  October  23. 

ville.     His  army  then  numbered  three  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty 

men,  exclusive  of  a  small  body  of  friendly  Indians  from  the  South,  chiefly  Choctaws, 

under  the  eminent  warrior,  Humming-bird. 

While  the  army  was  making  these  tardy  movements,  the  government  was  using  its 
best  endeavors  to  effect  a  pacification  of  the  tribes,  and  to  establish  a  solid  peace 
Avithout  more  bloodshed.  These  efforts  promised  success  at  times.  With  the  aid  of 
the  pious  Heckewelder,  the  Moravian,  General  Putnam  made  a  treaty  of  peace  and 
friendship  with  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  tribes,  at  Vincennes,  on  the  27th  of  Septem 
ber,  1792.  At  about  the  same  time  great  numbers  of  the  tribes  on  the  Miami,  the 
Maumee  (or  Miami  of  the  Lakes),  and  Sandusky  Rivers,  assembled  at  the  Maumee 
Rapids  to  hold  a  grand  council,  at  Avhich  Red  Jacket,  Cornplanter,  Big  Tree,  the  aged 
Guasutha,  and  other  representatives  of  the  Six  Nations  appeared,  at  the  request  of  the 
Secretary  of  War.  Simon  Girty  was  the  only  white  man  present.  The  savages,  on 
consultation,  determined,  in  conformity  with  the  advice  of  the  British,  not  to  acknowl 
edge  any  claim  of  the  United  States  to  lands  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River.1 

In  the  spring  of  1793  a  commission  was  sent  by  the  President  to  treat  with  the 
hostile  tribes.2  Lieutenant  Governor  Simcoe,  of  Canada,  professing  to  be  friendly, 
and  favorable  to  a  pacification  of  the  tribes,  the  commissioners  went  by  the  way  of 
Niagara,  a  post  yet  held  by  the  British.  Simcoe  received  them  courteously,  and  hos 
pitably  entertained  them  for  five  or  six  weeks,  while  the  Indians  were  holding  another 
grand  council  at  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee.  While  tarry  ing  there,  the  commissioners 
were  informed  by  a  Mohawk  Indian  from  the  Grand  River  that  Governor  Simcoe  had 
"  advised  the  Indians  to  make  peace,  but  not  to  give  up  any  of  their  lands."3  The 
commissioners  called  Simcoe's  attention  to  this.  He  did  not  deny  the  allegation,  but 
replied,  "It  is  of  that  nature  that  it  can  not  be  true,"  as  the  Indians  had  not  "  applied 
for  his  advice  on  the  subject."4  This  subterfuge  was  well  understood  by  the  commis 
sioners  ;  and  his  admission  that,  "  ever  since  the  conquest  of  Canada,"  it  had  been 
"  the  principle  of  the  British  government  to  unite  the  American  Indians"  was  omin 
ous  of  ulterior  designs. 

At  Niagara,  and  at  Captain  Elliott's,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Detroit  River,  in  Can 
ada,  the  commissioners  held  councils  with  the  Indians,  but  nothing  satisfactory  was 
accomplished.  British  influence  was  more  powerful  than  ever,  and  the  savages  in 
council  plainly  told  the  commissioners  that  if  they  insisted  upon  the  treaty  at  Fort 
Harmar,  and  claimed  lands  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Ohio,  they  might  as  well  go 
home,  as  they  would  never  agree  to  any  other  boundary  than  that  river.  So  the 
commissioners,  after  several  months  of  fruitless  labor,  turned  homeward  late  in  Au 
gust.  It  was  evident  that  the  might  of  arms  must  make  a  final  settlement  of  the 
matter,  and  to  arms  the  United  States  resorted. 

We  left  Wayne  and  his  army  near  Fort  Jefferson,  eighty  miles  from  Fort  Washing 
ton,  on  the  23d  of  October.  He  was  then  embarrassed  by  a  lack  of  sufficient  convoys 
for  his  stores.  Already  a  party  detailed  for  this  purpose  had  been  attacked  and  se- 

1  The  sentiments  of  the  Indians,  even  the  friendly  ones,  concerning  the  boundary,  may  be  inferred  from  the  following 
toast  given  by  Cornplanter,  at  the  table  of  General  Wayne,  at  Legionville,  in  the  spring  of  1793 :  "  My  mind  is  upon  that 
river,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the  Ohio.    "May  that  water  ever  continue  to  run,  and  remain  the  boundary  of  lasting  peace 
between  the  Americans  and  Indians  on  the  opposite  shore." — HALL'S  Menwir  of  W.  H.  Harrison,  p.  31. 

2  The  commission  consisted  of  Benjamin  Lincoln,  Beverly  Randolph,  and  Timothy  Pickering. 

3  Note  of  commissioners  to  Lieutenant  Governor  Simcoe,  7th  June,  1793. 

4  Reply  of  Lieutenant  Governor  Simcoe  to  American  commissioner?,  Tth  June,  1793. 


52  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Hostile  Intentions  of  the  British  revealed.  Allied  Indians  and  British  in  Arms.  Battle  at  Fort  Recovery. 

verely  handled  by  a  strong  band  of  Indians  under  Little  Turtle  near  Fort  St.  Clair. 
Lieutenant  Lowry  and  fourteen  of  his  companions  were  killed,1  and  all  the  horses  at 
tached  to  the  wagons  were  carried  off. 

The  season  was  now  too  far  advanced  to  enter  upon  a  campaign,  so  Wayne  set  his 
army  to  building  a  very  strong  fort  on  the  spot  where  he  was  encamped.  It  was 
made  impregnable  against  the  Indians.  There  they  went  into  winter-quarters.2  Suf 
ficient  garrisons  were  placed  in  the  forts  at  Vincennes,  Cincinnati,  and  Marietta ;  and 
the  return  of  spring  was  waited  for  with  anxiety,  for  it  was  obvious  that  hostilities 
with  the  savages  could  not  be  long  delayed. 

A  European  war,  to  which  ^we  shall  soon  have  occasion  again  to  refer,  was  now 
having  its  effect  upon  the  United  States,  complicating  the  difficulties  which  natu 
rally  attend  the  arrangement  of  a  new  system  of  government.  Ill  feeling  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  was  increasing,  and  evidences  were  not  wanting 
that  the  latter  was  anxious  for  a  pretense  to  declare  hostilities  against  the  former. 
Taking  advantage  of  this  state  of  things,  Lord  Dorchester  (formerly  Sir  Guy  Carle- 
ton),  the  Governor  of  Canada,  encoiiraged  the  Indians  in  maintaining  their  hostile  at- 
»  February  io,  titude.  At  a  council  of  warriors  from  the  West,  held  at  Quebec  early  in 
1794.  I794,a  Dorchester,  in  a  speech,  said,  "Children,  since  my  return  I  find 

no  appearance  of  a  line  remains ;  and  from  the  manner  in  which  the  people  of  the 
states  push  on,  and  act,  and  talk  on  this  side,  and  from  what  I  learn  of  their  conduct 
toward  the  sea,  I  shall  not  be  surprised  if  we  are  at  .war  with  them  in  the  course  of  the 
present  year  y  and  if  so,  a  line  must  then  be  drawn  by  the  warriors" 

This  was  a  suggestion  for  the  savages  to  prepare  for  war.  It  was  followed  by  an 
order  from  Dorchester  to  Lieutenant  Governor  Simcoe  to  establish  a  British  military 
post  at  the  rapids  of  the  Maumee,  fifty  miles  within  the  Indian  country  and  the  treaty 
limits  of  the  United  States.  At  the  very  time  when  this  menacing  attitude  was  as 
sumed,  the  government  of  the  new  republic  was  exhibiting  the  most  friendly  feelings 
toward  that  of  Great  Britain  by  a  position  of  strict  neutrality. 

Wayne  was  compelled  to  wait  until  late  in  the  summer  of  1794  before  he  felt  strong 
enough  to  move  forward.  Meanwhile  the  Indians  appeared  in  force.  On  the  30th  of 
June,  about  a  thousand  of  them,  accompanied  by  a  number  of  British  soldiers  and 
French  Canadian  volunteers,3  made  their  appearance  before  Fort  Recovery  (mention 
ed  in  note  2  below),  and  during  the  day  assailed  the  garrison  several  times.  During 
these  assaults  the  Americans  lost  fifty-seven  men  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  and 
two  hundred  and  twenty-one  horses.  The  Indians  lost  more,  they  said,  than  in  their 
battle  with  St.  Clair. 
"July  26,  -^ess  than  a  month  after  this  engagement.  Wayne  was  joinedb  by  Major 

1794  General  Scott,  with  sixteen  hundred  mounted  volunteers  from  Kentucky ; 
c  July  28.  and  two  days  afterward0  he  moved  forward  with  his  whole  force  toward  the 

1  Fort  St.  Clair  was  at  a  point  about  a  mile  from  the  site  of  Eaton,  in  Preble  Coun 
ty,  Ohio.    Between  it  and  Eaton  is  a  small  cemetery,  and  therein,  upon  one  of  those 
ancient  artificial  mounds  common  in  Ohio,  a  neat  monument  of  Rutland  marble, 
twelve  feet  in  height,  was  erected  by  the  citizens  in  commemoration  of  the  slain  at 
Fort  Recovery.    Lowry  and  his  companions  were  buried  in  Fort  St.  Clair.    His  re 
mains  were  removed  to  the  little  cemetery  on  the  4th  of  July,  1R22,  and  there  reiu- 
terred  with  the  honors  of  war.   They  were  afterward  buried  in  the  mound. 

2  This  was  called  Fort  Greenville,  and  covered  a  large  part  of  the  site  of  the  pres 
ent  village  of  Greenville.  The  soldiers  built  several  hundred  log  huts,  in  which  they 
wintered  comfortably.    Each  hut  was  occupied  by  six  persons. 

From  Fort  Greenville  Wayne  sent  out  eight  companies,  and  a  detachment  of  artil 
lery  to  take  possession  of  and  fortify  the  place  where  St.  Clair  was  defeated.    They 
T.OWRY'B  MONUMENT.  arrived  on  the  ground  on  Christmas-day,  and  proceeded  to  build  a  strong  stockade. 

They  named  it  Fort  Recovery,  in  commemoration  of  the  fact  that  they  had  recov 
ered  the  territory  lost  by  St.  Clair,  as  well  as  all  but  one  of  the  cannon  which  he  was  compelled  to  leave  behind.  A  com 
pany  each  of  artillery  and  riflemen  were  left  there  as  a  garrison. 

3  Burnet,  in  his  notes,  asserts  upon  good  authority  that  there  were  "a  considerable  number  of  British  soldiers  and  De 
troit  militia  with  the  Indians."  Friendly  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  with  Wayne,  who  had  been  sent  on  a  scout  a  few 
days  before,  saw  a  large  body  of  Indians,  among  whom,  they  asserted,  were  many  white  men  with  their  faces  painted. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  53 


Wayne's  Expedition  down  the  Maumee.  His  Offers  of  Peace  rejected.  Conduct  of  Little  Turtle. 

Maumee.  Admonished  by  the  fate  of  St.  Clair,  he  marched  cautiously  and  slowly 
— so  slowly  and  stealthily  that  the  Indians  called  him  The  Blacksnake.  Little  Turtle 
was  again  upon  the  alert,  with  two  thousand  warriors  of  his  own  and  neighboring 
tribes  within  call.  The  vigilant  Wayne  well  knew  this.  He  had  faithful  and  compe 
tent  scouts  and  guides,  and  by  unfrequented  ways  and  with  perplexing  feints,  he 
moved  steadily  onward,  leaving  strength  and  security  in  his  rear. 

Twenty-five  miles  beyond  Fort  Recovery  he  built  a  stockade  on  the  bank  of  the 
St.  Mary's,  and  called  it  Fort  Adams.  From  this  point  he  moved  forward  on  the  4th 
of  August,  and  at  the  end  of  four  days  encamped  on  a  beautiful  plain  at  the  conflu 
ence  of  the  Au  Glaize  and  Maumee  Rivers,  on  the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Defi 
ance.  There  he  found  a  deserted  Indian  town,  with  at  least  a  thousand  acres  of  corn 
growing  around  it.1  There,  as  elsewhere  on  his  march,  the  alarmed  savages  fled  at 
his  approach.  He  tarried  there  a  week,  and  built  a  strong  fortification,  which  he 
called  Fort  Defiance.  Of  this  fort,  and  the  appearance  of  its  remains  when  I  visited 
it  in  the  autumn  of  1 860, 1  shall  hereafter  write. 

Wayne  was  now  at  the  most  important  and  commanding  point  in  the  Indian  coun 
try.    "  We  have  gained  the  grand  emporium  of  the  hostile  Indians  of  the  West  without 
loss  of  blood,"  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War.a    And  there  he  gained    "August  14, 
full  and  positive  information  concerning  the  character,  strength,  and  posi 
tion  of  the  British  military  post  at  the  foot  of  the  Maumee  Rapids  already  alluded  to.2 

Once  more  peace  and  reconciliation  were  offered  to  the  Indians.  Notwithstanding 
he  was  in  possession  of  full  power  to  subjugate  and  destroy  without  fear  of  the  Brit 
ish  intruders  below,  Wayne,  unwilling  to  shed  blood  unnecessarily,  sent  a  message  to 
the  Indians  down  the  Maumee  writh  kind  words.  "Be  no  longer  deceived  or  led 
astray,"  he  said,  "  by  the  false  promises  and  language  of  bad  white  men  at  the  foot  of 
the  Rapids ;  they  have  neither  the  power  nor  the  inclination  to  protect  you."  He  of 
fered  them  peace  and  tranquillity  for  themselves  and  their  families,  and  invited  them 
to  send  deputies  to  meet  him  in  council  without  delay.  His  overtures  were  rejected, 
and  by  craftiness  they  endeavored  to  gain  time.  "  Stay  where  you  are,"  they  said, 
"  for  ten  days,  and  we  will  treat  with  you ;  but  if  you  advance  we  will  give  you  bat 
tle." 

This  defiance  was  contrary  to  the  advice  of  the  sagacious  Little  Turtle,  who  coun 
seled  peace.3  For  this  he  was  taunted  with  accusations  of  cowardice.  The  false 
charge  enraged  him,  and  he  was  foremost  in  the  conflict  that  immediately  ensued. 
That  conflict  was  unavoidable.  The  vigilant  Wayne  perceived  that  nothing  but  a 
severe  blow  would  break  the  spirit  of  the  tribes  and  end  the  war,  and  he  resolved  to  in 
flict  it  mercilessly.  For  this  purpose  his  legion  moved  forward  on  the  15th  of  August, 
and  on  the  18th  took  post  at  Roche  de  Bout,  at  the  head  of  the  Rapids,  near  the  pres 
ent  town  of  Waterville,  and  there  established  a  magazine  of  supplies  and  baggage, 
with  protecting  military  works,  which  they  called  Fort  Deposit.  There,  on  the  1 9th, 
Wayne  called  a  council  of  war,  and  adopted  a  plan  of  march  and  of  battle  submitted 
by  his  young  aid-de-camp,  Lieutenant  Harrison,  who,  nineteen  years  afterward,  as  a 
general-in-chief,  performed  gallant  exploits  in  that  portion  of  the  Maumee  Valley.4 

1  "The  very  extensive  and  highly  cultivated  fields  and  gardens  show  the  work  of  many  hands.    The  margin  of  those 
beautiful  rivers,  the  Miami  of  the  Lakes  [pronounced  Maumee]  and  Au  Glaize,  appear  like  one  continued  village  for  a 
number  of  miles  both  above  and  below  this  place  ;  nor  have  I  ever  before  beheld  such  immense  fields  of  corn  in  any 
part  of  America  from  Canada  to  Florida."— WAYNE'S  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War  from  Fort  Defiance,  August  14, 1794. 

2  It  was  a  strong  work  of  earth  and  logs,  mounting  four  9-pounders,  two  large  howitzers,  six  6-ponnders,  and  two 
swivels.    The  garrison,  under  Major  Campbell,  a  testy  Scotchman,  consisted  of  250  British  regulars  and  200  militia. 

3  "We  have  beaten  the  enemy  twice,  under  separate  commanders,"  said  Little  Turtle,  in  a  speech.    "We  can  not  ex 
pect  the  same  good  fortune  always  to  attend  us.    The  Americans  are  now  led  by  a  chief  who  never  sleeps.    The  night 
and  the  day  are  alike  to  him ;  and  during  all  the  time  that  he  has  been  marching  upon  our  villages,  notwithstanding 
the  watchfulness  of  our  young  men,  we  have  never  been  able  to  surprise  him.    Think  well  of  it.    There  is  something 
whispers  me  it  would  be  prudent  to  listen  to  the  offers  of  peace." 

*  I  am  indebted  to  the  Hon.  John  Francis  Hamtramck  Claiborne,  of  Mississippi,  for  the  plan  of  the  line  of  march  and 
order  of  battle  given  in  the  text.    In  a  letter  to  me,  covering  the  drawings,  dated  "Bay  St.  Louis,  Mississippi,  August 


54 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Battle  of  the  Fallen  Timbers. 


Devastations  around  Fort  Miami. 


The  Punishment  of  M'Kee. 


PLAN   OF  T1IE   LINE  OF  MAECII.1 


On  the  morning  of  the  20th,  at  eight  o'clock, 
Wayne  advanced  with  his  whole  army  accord 
ing  to  the  adopted  plan  of  march,  having  for 
his  subordinate  general  officers  Major  General 
Scott,  of  the  Kentucky  volunteers,  and  Brig 
adier  Generals  Wilkinson,  Todd,  and  Barber. 
They  had  proceeded  about  five  miles  when 
the  advanced  corps,  under  Major  Price,  were 
terribly  smitten  by  heavy  volleys  from  the 
concealed  foe,  and  were  compelled  to  fall  back. 
The  legion  was  immediately  formed  in  two 
lines,  principally  in  a  dense  wood  on  the  bor 
ders  'of  a  wet  prairie,  where  a  tornado  had 
prostrated  a  large  number  of  trees,  making 
the  operations  of  cavalry  very  difficult.  This 
fallen  timber2  afforded  an  admirable  covert 
for  the  enemy,  who,  full  two  thousand  strong, 
and  composed  of  Indians  and  Canadian  volun 
teers,3  were  posted  in  three  lines,  within  sup 
porting  distance  of  each  other.  Wayne's 
troops  fell  upon  the  foe  with  fearful  energy, 
and  made  them  flee  toward  Fort  Miami  like 
a  herd  of  frightened  deer  to  a  covert.  In  the 
course  of  an  hour  the  victory  was  complete. 

The  mongrel  horde  were  driven  more  than  two  miles  through  the  thick  woods,  and  left 
forty  of  their  number  dead  in  the  pathway  of  their  flight.  By  the  side  of  each  body 
lay  a  musket  and  bayonet  from  British  armories.4 

Three  days  and  three  nights  the  victorious  army  remained  below  the  Rapids,  wield 
ing  the  besom  of  destruction  in  defiance  of  the  threats  of  the  commandant  of  Fort 
Miami,  within  view  of  whose  guns  Wayne  pitched  his  tents.  On  the  site  of  the 
present  Maumee  City,  tioned,  and  chief  insti- 

near  Fort  Miami,  Colo-  J    X^^^  $£/^     ^^    gator  of  the  war,  had 

nel  M'Kee,  the  Brit-  -f_^&JsrW'~j/t^€~>^  extensive  store -houses 
ish  agent  already  men-  and  dwellings,  for  he 

was  carrying  on  a  most  lucrative  trade  with  the  Indians.  These,  with  their  contents, 
were  committed  to  the  flames,  while  every  product  of  the  field  and  garden  above 
and  below  the  British  fort  was  utterly  destroyed.5  Wayne's  men  sometimes  ap- 

20,  I860,"  Mr.  Claiborne  remarks :  "  This  clay,  sixty-six  years  ago,  was  fought  the  great  Battle  of  the  Rapids.  I  send  yon 
the  original '  Plan  of  the  Line  of  March'  and  of  the  '  Order  of  Battle.'  I  found  these  diagrams  among  the  papers  of  my 
father,  the  late  General  Claiborne,  who  was  in  the  battle,  a  lieutenant  and  acting  adjutant  in  the  First  Regiment  United 
States  Infantry,  Colonel  J.  F.  Hamtramck.  I  found  them  in  a  package  of  letters  from  Harrison  to  my  father,  the  '  Plan 
of  the  Line  of  March'  indorsed,  in  my  father's  handwriting, '  Lieutenant  Harrison's  Plan,  adopted  in  council,  August 
19,  '94.' 

"Wayne,  it  appears,  called  a  council  of  war  on  the  19th,  and  the  plan,  drawn  tip  by  Harrison,  then  a  young  man  of 
twenty-one  years,  was  adopted  by  the  veteran  officers  the  moment  it  was  submitted— an  homage  to  skill  and  talent  rarely 
awarded  to  a  subaltern." 

1  EXPLANATION  OP  THE  PL  AN.— A  A,  two  squadrons  of  expert  woodmen  ;  B  B,  two  squadrons  of  light  dragoons ;  E  E, 
two  companies  of  infantry  front  and  rear ;  G  G,  one  troop  of  light  dragoons  on  each  flank ;  H  H,  one  company  of  infan 
try  on  each  flank ;  1 1,  one  squadron  of  dragoons  on  each  flank  ;  J  J,  two  companies  of  riflemen  on  each  flank ;  K  K,  ex 
pert  woodmen  on  the  extreme  of  each  flank.    F  F  F  F  represent  the  main  army  in  two  columns,  the  legion  of  regular 
troops  on  the  right,  commanded  by  General  Wilkinson,  and  the  Kentucky  volunteers,  under  Scott,  on  the  left. 

2  This  conflict  is  often  called  in  history  and  tradition  the  Battle  of  the  Fallen  Timbers. 

3  There  were  about  seventy  white  men,  including  a  corps  of  volunteers  from  Detroit  under  Captain  Caldwell. 

*  Among  the  officers  mentioned  by  Wayne,  in  his  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  whose  services  demanded  special 
mention,  were  Wilkinson  and  Hamtramck ;  his  aids-de-camp  De  Butt,  Lewis,  and  Harrison ;  Mills,  Covington  of  the 
cavalry,  Webb,  Slough,  Prior,  Smith,  Van  Rensselaer,  Rawlins,  M'Kenney,  Brook,  and  Duncan.  His  loss  in  killed  and 
wounded  was  133.  Of  these,  113  were  regulars.  The  loss  of  the  enemy  was  not  ascertained.  In  their  flight  they  left 
forty  of  their  dead  in  the  woods. 

5  Wayne's  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War  from  Fort  Defiance,  August  28, 1794. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


55 


The  British  and  Indians  humbled. 


Death  of  Turkey-foot. 


Scenes  at  the  Place  of  his  Death. 


preached  within  pistol-shot  of  Fort  Miami,  but  its 
guns  prudently  kept  silence.  Major  Campbell,  the 
commandant,  contented  himself  with  scolding  and 
threatening,  while  Wayne  coolly  defied  him  and 
retorted  with  vigor.  Their  correspondence  was 
very  spicy,  but  harmless  in  its  effects. 

Among  the  brave  warriors  in  the  battle  who  was 
the  last  to  flee  before  Wayne's  legion,  was  Me-sa- 
sa,  or  Turkey-foot,  an  Ottawa  chief,  who  lived  on 
Blanchard's  Fork  of  the  Au  Glaize  River.  He  was 
greatly  beloved  by  his  people.  His  courage  was 
conspicuous.  When  he  found  the  line  of  the  dusky 
warriors  giving  way  at  the  foot  of  Presque  Isle 
Hill,  he  leaped  upon  a  small  boulder,  and  by  voice 
and  gesture  endeavored  to  make  them  stand  firm. 
He  almost  immediately  fell,  pierced  by  a  musket 
ball,  and  expired  by  the  side  of  the  rock.  Long 
years  afterward,  when  any  of  his  tribe  passed  along 

the  Maumee  trail,  they  would  stop  at  that  rock,  and  linger  a  long  time  with  mani 
festations  of  sorrow.    Peter  Navarre,  a  native  of  that  region,  and  one  of  General  Har 
rison's  most  trusted  scouts  during  the  War  of  1812,  who  accompanied  me  to  the 
spot  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  told  me  that  he  had  seen  men,  women,  and  children  gather 
around  that  rock,  place  bits 
of  dried  beef,  parched  peas 
and    corn,    and   sometimes 
some  cheap  trinket  upon  it, 
and,  calling  frequently  upon 
the  name  of  the  beloved  Ot 
tawa,  weep  piteously.  They 
carved  many  rude  figures  of 
a  turkey's  foot  on  the  stone, 
,as  a  memorial  of  the  English 
name  of  the  lamented  Me-sa- 


l'LA_N    OF   TIIE  BATTLE  OF  TItE  FALLEN   TIMBERS. 


TTJKKEY-FOOT'S  BOCK. 


sa.  The  stone  is  still  there, 
by  the  side  of  the  highway 
at  the  foot  of  Presque  Isle 
Hill,  within  a  few  rods  of 
the  swift  -  flowing  Maumee. 
Many  of  the  carvings  are 
still  quite  deep  and  distinct, 
while  others  have  been  ob 
literated  by  the  abrasion  of 
the  elements.1  Of  this  locality,  so  famous  in  the  chronicles  of  the  War  of  1812,1  shall 
have  more  to  say  hereafter. 

1  The  above  view  of  Turkeij-foofs  Rock  is  at  the  foot  of  the  Maumee  Rapids,  looking  up  the  stream.  It  is  seen  in  the 
foreground,  on  the  right,  and  over  it  the  road  passing  over  Presque  Isle  Hill.  It  was  here,  and  farther  to  the  right,  that 
the  Indians  were  posted  among  the  fallen  trees.  On  the  left  is  seen  the  Maumee,  which  here  sweeps  in  a  grtceful  curve. 
The  point  across  the  Maumee  at  the  bend  is  the  river  termination  of  a  plain,  on  which  General  Hull's  army  was  encamp 
ed  while  on  its  march  toward  Detroit  in  the  summer  of  1S12.  There  the  army  crossed  the  Manmee. 

Turkey-foot  Rock  is  limestone,  about  five  and  a  half  feet  in  length  and  three  feet  in  height.  It  is  about  three  miles 
above  Maumee  City.  In  allusion  to  the  event  which  the  rock  commemorates,  Andrew  Cofflnberry,  of  Perrysburg,  in  a 
poem  entitled  "The  Forest  Ranger,  a  Poetic  Tale  of  the  Western  Wilderness  of  1794,"  thus  wrote,  after  giving  an  ac 
count  of  Wayne's  progress  up  to  this  time : 

"  Yet  at  the  foot  of  red  Presque  Isle 
Brave  Me-sa-sa  was  warring  still : 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Troops  build  Fort  Wayne. 


Colonel  Hamtramck. 


The  humbled  Indians  sue  for  Peace. 


Having  thoroughly  accomplished  his  work,  Wayne  returned  with  his  army  to  Fort 
.  Angngt  27,  Defiance,a  while  the  Indians,  utterly  defeated  and  disheartened,  retired  to 

"94-  the  borders  of  Maumee  Bay,  in  the  vicinity  of  Toledo,  to  brood  over  their 
misfortunes  and  ponder  upon  the  future.  At  the  middle  of  September  the  victors 
moved  from  Defiance  to  the  head  of  the  Maumee,  and  at  the  bend  of  that  river,  just 
below  the  confluence  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's,  which  form  it,  they  built  a 
strong  fortification,  and  named  it  Fort  Wayne.  It  was  completed  on  the  22d  of  Oc 
tober,  and  was  immediate 
ly  garrisoned  with  infan 
try  and  artillery,  under 
Colonel  Hamtramck.1  This 
accomplished,  the  remain 
der  of  the  troops  left,  some 
for  Fort  Washington,  to  be 
discharged  from  the  serv 
ice,  and  the  others  for  Fort 
Greenville,  where  Wayne  made  his  head-quarters  for  the  winter.  Thither  deputa 
tions  from  the  various  tribes  with  whom  he  had  been  at  war  came  to  Wayne,  and 
agreed  upon  preliminary  terms  of  peace.  They  well  remembered  his  assurance  that 
the  British  had  neither  the  power  nor  the  inclination  to  help  them — an  assurance 
verified  by  the  silence  of  Fort  Miami's  guns.  They  promised  to  meet  him  in  council 
early  in  the  ensuing  summer,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  definitive  treaty  of  peace 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Northwest.  Faithful  to  their 
promise,  chiefs  and  sachems  began  to  reach  Fort  Greenville  early  in  June.  A  grand 
council  was  opened  there  on  the  16th  of  that  month,  and  was  continued  until  the  10th 

He  stood  upon  a  large  rough  stone, 
Still  dealing  random  blows  alone  ; 
But  bleeding  fast— glazed  were  his  eyes, 
And  feeble  grew  his  battle-cries ; 
Too  frail  his  arm,  too  dim  his  sight, 
To  wield  or  aim  his  axe  aright ; 
As  still  more  frail  and  faint  he  grew, 
His  body  on  the  rock  he  threw. 
As  coursed  his  blood  along  the  ground, 
In  feeble,  low,  and  hollow  sound, 
Mingled  with  frantic  peals  and  strong, 
The  dying  chief  poured  forth  his  song." 
Here  follows  "The  Death-song  of  the  Sagamore." 

i  John  Francis  Hamtramck  was  a  most  faithful  and  useful  officer.  He  was  a  resident  of  Northern  New  York  when  the 
Revolution  broke  out,  and  was  a  captain  in  the  Continental  army.  He  was  appointed  a  major  in  the  regular  army  of  the 
United  States  in  September,  1789,  and  was  promoted  to  be  lieutenant  colonel  commandant  of  the  first  sub-legion  in  Feb 
ruary,  1793.  He  commanded  the  left  wing  under  General  Wayne  in  the  battle  of  the  Maumee,  in  August,  1794,  and  held 
the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel  in  the  First  Infantry  in  179C.  He  was  retained  as  colonel  on  the  reduction  of  the  army  in 
April,  1802,  and  on  the  llth  of  April  the  following  year  he  died  and  was  buried  at  Detroit. 

While  in  Detroit,  in  the  autumn  of  1800, 1  visited  the  grave  of  Colonel  Ham 
tramck,  and  made  the  accompanying  sketch.  It  is  in  the  grounds  attached  to 
St.  Anne's  Orphan  Asylum,  and  between  that  institution  and  St.  Anne's  Church, 
both  belonging  to  the  Roman  Catholics.  The  monument  over  his  grave  and 
the  grounds  around  it  were  much  neglected.  The  former  was  dilapidated,  the 
latter  covered  with  weeds  and  brambles.  The  monument  is  composed  of  a 
light  freestone  slab,  grown  dingy  from  the  effects  of  the  elements,  lying  upon 
a  foundation  of  brick.  It  bears  the  following  inscription  : 

"Sacred  to  the  memory  of  JOHN  FRANCIS  HAMTRAMCK,  Esq.,  Colonel  of  the 
First  United  States  Regiment  of  Infantry,  and  Commandant  of  Detroit  and  its 
dependencies.  He  departed  this  life  on  the  llth  of  April,  1803,  aged  45  years, 
7  months,  and  27  days.  True  patriotism,  and  zealous  attachment  to  national 
liberty,  joined  to  a  laudable  ambition,  led  him  into  military  service  at  an  early 
period  of  his  life.  He  was  a  soldier  even  before  he  was  a  man.  He  was  an 
active  participator  in  all  the  dangers,  difficulties,  and  honors  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  War;  and  his  heroism  and  uniform  good  conduct  procured  him  the 
attention  and  personal  thanks  of  the  immortal  Washington.  The  United 
States,  in  him,  have  lost  a  valuable  officer  and  good  citizen,  and  society  a 
useful  and  pleasant  member.  To  his  family  his  loss  is  incalculable,  and  his  friends  will  never  forget  the  memory  of 
Hamtramck.  This  humble  monument  is  placed  over  his  remains  by  the  officers  who  had  the  honor  to  serve  under  his 
command :  a  small  but  grateful  tribute  to  his  merit  and  his  worth." 


HAMTRAMCK'S  TOMB. 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  57 


Treaty  with  the  Indians  at  Greenville.  Peace  secured. 

of  August.  Almost  eleven  hundred  Indians  were  present,  representing  twelve  tribes.1 
A  definitive  and  satisfactory  treaty  was  signed  by  all  parties  on  the  3d  of  August, 
and  the  pacification  of  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest  was  thereby  made  complete.2 
By  the  operations  of  a  special  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
the  Western  military  posts  were  speedily  evacuated  by  the  British,  and  for  fifteen 
years  the  most  remote  frontier  settlements  were  safe  from  any  annoyance  by  the  In 
dians.  This  security  gave  an  immense  impetus  to  emigration  to  the  Northwestern 
Territory,  and  the  country  was  rapidly  filled  with  a  hardy  population. 

1  Wyandots,  Delawares,  Shawiioese,  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Pottawatomies,  Miamis,  Weas,  Kickapoos,  Piankeshaws, 
Kaskaskias,  and  Eel  River  Indians. 

2  After  the  treaty  had  been  twice  read  to  the  Indians,  and  every  section  explained  by  General  Wayne,  that  officer 
said:  "Brothers, — All  you  nations  now  present,  listen  !    You  now  have  had,  a  second  time,  the  proposed  articles  of 
treaty  read  and  explained  to  you.    It  is  now  time  for  the  negotiation  to  draw  to  a  conclusion.    I  shall,  therefore,  ask 
each  nation  individually  if  they  approve  of  and  are  prepared  to  sign  those  articles  in  their  present  form,  that  they  may 
be  immediately  engrossed  for  that  purpose.    I  shall  begin  with  the  Chippewas,  who,  with  the  others  who  approbate  the 
measure,  will  signify  their  assent.    You,  Chippewas,  do  you  approve  of  these  articles  of  treaty,  and  are  you  prepared  to 
sign  them  ?    [A  unanimous  answer— yes.]    You,  Ottawas,  do  you  agree  f    [A  unanimous  answer— yes.]    You,  Potta 
watomies?    [A  unanimous  answer— yes.]    You,  Wyandots,  do  you  agree  ?    [A  unanimous  answer— yes.]    You,  Dela 
wares  ?    [A  unanimous  answer— yes.]    You,  Shawnoese  ?    [A  unanimous  answer— yes.]    You,  Miamis,  do  you  agree  ? 
[A  unanimous  answer— yes.]     Yon,  Weas  f    [A  unanimous  answer— yes.]     And  you,  Kickapoos,  do  you  agree?    [A 
unanimous  answer— yes.]    The  treaty  shall  be  engrossed ;  and,  as  it  will  require  two  or  three  days  to  do  it  properly  on 
parchment,  we  will  now  part,  to  meet  on  the  2d  of  August.    In  the  interim,  we  will  eat,  drink,  and  rejoice,  and  thank 
the  Great  Spirit  for  the  happy  stage  this  good  work  has  arrived  at." 

After  the  treaty  was  signed,  a  copy  of  it  on  paper  was  given  to  the  representative  of  each  nation,  and  then  a  large 
quantity  of  goods  and  many  small  ornaments  were  distributed  among  the  Indians  present.  On  the  10th,  at  the  close  of 
the  council,  General  Wayne  said  to  them:  "Brothers,  I  now  fervently  pray  to  the  Great  Spirit  that  the  peace  now  es 
tablished  may  be  permanent,  and  that  it  may  hold  us  together  in  the  bonds  of  friendship  until  time  shall  be  no  more. 
I  also  pray  that  the  Great  Spirit  above  may  enlighten  your  minds,  and  open  your  eyes  to  your  true  happiness,  that  your 
children  may  learn  to  cultivate  the  earth  and  enjoy  tie  fruits  of  peace  and  industry.  As  it  is  probable,  my  children, 
that  we  shall  not  soon  meet  again  in  public  council,  I  take  this  opportunity  of  bidding  you  all  an  affectionate  farewell, 
and  of  wishing  you  a  safe  and  happy  return  to  your  respective  homes  and  families." 

By  this  treaty  the  Indians  ceded  about  twenty-five  thousand  square  miles  of  territory  to  the  United  States,  besides 
sixteen  separate  tracts,  including  lands  and  forts.  In  consideration  of  these  cessions,  the  Indians  received  goods  from 
the  United  States,  of  the  value  of  $20,000,  as  presents,  and  were  promised  an  annual  allowance,  valued  at  $9500,  to  be 
equitably  distributed  among  all  the  tribes  who  were  parties  to  the  treaty. 


58 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Organization  of  the  new  Government. 


Its  Policy  indicated. 


Its  Power  manifested. 


CHAPTER  El. 

"  What  constitutes  a  state  ? 

MEN,  who  their  duties  know, 
Bat  know  their  rights,  and,  knowing,  dare  maintain ; 

Prevent  the  long-aimed  blow, 
And  crush  the  tyrant  while  they  rend  the  chain— 

These  constitute  a  state." 


SIR  WILLIAM  JOKES. 


"  There's  a  warfare  where  none  but  the  morally  brave 
Stand  nobly  and  firmly,  their  country  to  save. 
'Tis  the  war  of  opinion,  where  few  can  be  found, 
On  the  mountain  of  principle,  guarding  the  ground ; 
With  vigilant  eyes  ever  watching  the  foes 
Who  are  prowling  around  them,  and  aiming  their  blows." 

MES.  DANA. 

HILE  the  arm  of  military  power  was  removing  the  remains  of  a 
hoary  barbarism  from  the  beautiful  region  west  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  preparatory  to  the  founding  of  great  commonwealths  there, 
the  new  national  government  was  summoning  its  functions  into 
energetic  and  beneficent  action.  Men  were  never  called  upon 
to  perform  duties  of  greater  importance  and  momentous  conse 
quences.  They  were  charged  with  the  establishment  of  the  for 
eign  and  domestic  policy  of  a  nation, "  not  for  a  day,  but  for  all 
time."  The  President  and  the  Legislature  felt  the  responsibility,  and  in  solemn  earn 
estness  they  elaborated  schemes  for  the  future  prosperity  of  the  republic. 

The  earliest  efforts  of  Congress,  after  its  organization,  were  directed  to' the  arrange 
ment  of  a  system  of  revenue,  in  order  to  adjust  the  wretched  financial  affairs  of  the 
country.  Mr.  Madison,  the  tacitly  acknowledged  leader  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  presented  the  plan  of  a  temporary  tariff  upon  foreign  goods  imported  into  the 
United  States,  with  provisions  favorable  to  American  shipping ;  also  a  scheme  of  ton 
nage  duties,  in  which  great  discriminations  were  made  in  favor  of  American  vessels, 
as  well  as  those  of  France,  Holland,  Sweden,  and  Prussia,  the  only  nations  having 
treaties  of  commerce  with  the  United  States.  An  efficient  revenue  system  was  speed 
ily  adopted  and  put  in  motion,  for  the  consolidated  government  possessed  inherent 
power  to  do  so. 

This  first  practical  exhibition  of  sovereignty  by  the  central  government  of  the 
United  States  opened  the  eyes  of  British  merchants  and  statesmen  to  the  fact  that 
the  Americans  had  suddenly  made  a  stride  toward  absolute  independence — that  their 
commerce  was  no  longer  subjected  to  the  caprice  of  foreign  powers,  nor  neglected 
because  of  the  disagreements  and  jealousies  of  thirteen  distinct  Legislatures.  They 
perceived  that  its  interests  were  guarded  and  its  strength  nurtured  by  a  central 
power  of  wonderful  energy,  and  that  the  new  republic  had  taken  its  place  among 
the  family  of  nations  writh  just  claims  to  the  highest  respect  and  consideration.  Other 
nations  yielded  the  same  recognition,  and  its  future  career  was  contemplated  with 
peculiar  interest  throughout  the  civilized  world. 

While  the  House  of  Representatives  was  engaged  on  the  subject  of  revenue,  the 
Senate  wras  occupied  in  arranging  a  judiciary  system.  A  bill  for  the  purpose  was 
offered  in  that  body  by  Oliver  Ellsworth,  of  Connecticut.  After  undergoing  several 
amendments,  it  was  concurred  in  by  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  a  national  judiciary 


OF  THE  WAR    OF   1812.  59 

The  Judiciary.         Amendments  to  the  Constitution.         Cabinet  Ministers.         Relations  with  France  and  England. 

\vas  established  similar  in  all  its  essential  features  to  that  now  in  operation.  It  con 
sisted  of  one  chief  justice  and  five  associate  justices,  who  were  directed  to  hold  two 
sessions  annually  at  the  seat  of  the  national  government.  Circuit  and  district  courts 
were  also  established,  which  had  jurisdiction  over  certain  specified  cases.  Each  state 
was  made  a  district,  as  were  also  the  two  Territories  of  Kentucky  and  Maine.  The 
districts,  excepting  the  two  Territories,  were  grouped  so  as  to  form  three  circuits.  A 
marshal  and  district  attorney  were  appointed  for  each  distri«t  by  the  President.1 

The  subjects  of  revenue  and  judiciary  being  well  disposed  of,  Congress  next  turn 
ed  its  attention  to  the  organization  of  executive  departments.  Only  three — Treas 
ury,  War,  and  Foreign  Relations — were  established.  The  heads  of  these  were  styled 
Secretaries  instead  of  Ministers,  as  in  Europe.  The  President  of  the  United  States 
was  clothed  with  power  to  appoint  or  dismiss  them  at  his  pleasure,  with  the  concur 
rence  of  the  Senate.  They  were  designed  to  constitute  a  cabinet  council,  ever  sub 
ject  to  the  call  of  the  President  for  consultation  on  public  affairs,  and  bound  to  give 
him  their  opinions  in  writing  when  required. 

The  attention  of  Conoress  was  next  turned  to  the  amendments  of  the  Constitution 

O 

proposed  by  the  people  of  the  several  states,  which  amounted,  in  the  aggregate,  to 
one  hundred  and  forty-seven,  besides  separate  Bills  of  Rights  proposed  by  Virginia 
and  New  York.  Sixteen  of  the  amendments  were  agreed  to,  and  twelve  of  them  were 
subsequently  ratified  by  the  people  and  became  a  part  of  the  organic  law  of  the  na 
tion.  The  profound  wisdom  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  and  its  own  perfection 
are  illustrated  by  the  fact  that,  of  these  twelve  amendments,  not  one  of  them,  judged 
by  subsequent  experience,  was  of  a  vital  character. 

Before  the  adjournment  of  Congress  on  the  29th  of  September,1  the  Presi- 
dent  had  appointed  his  Cabinet,2  and  the  new  government  was  fairly  set  in 
motion.  Its  foreign  relations  were,  on  the  whole,  satisfactory,  and  only  in  England 
were  other  than  friendly  feelings  toward  the  United  States  manifested.  These  were 
met  by  corresponding  ill  feeling  toward  England  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The 
resentments  caused  by  the  late  long  war  were  blunted,  but  by  no  means  deprived  of 
their  strength ;  and,  finally,  the  fact  that  the  British  government  still  held  possession 
of  Western  military  posts  within  the  boundary  of  the  United  States,  and  that  from 
these  had  gone  out  influences  which  had  involved  their  country  in  a  bloody  and  ex 
pensive  war  with  the  Indians,  produced  much  irritation  in  the  American  mind.  This 
was  intensified  by  the  wounds  given  to  their  national  pride  by  the  British  govern 
ment,  in  so  long  refusing  to  negotiate  a  commercial  treaty  with  them,  and  declining 
to  reciprocate  the  friendly  advances  of  the  United  States  by  sending  a  minister  to  re 
side  at  the  national  capital.  ** 

With  their  old  ally,  France,  the  most  perfect  friendship  still  existed,  but  it  was 
destined  to  a  speedy  interruption.  Events  in  that  country,  and  the  position  assumed 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  relation  to  them,  caused  violent  animosity  to 
take  the  place  of  cordial  good  will,  and  were  among  the  causes  which  gave  birth  to 
parties  in  America  whose  collisions,  for  several  years,  shook  the  republic  to  its  centre, 
and  at  times  threatened  its  existence.  The  animosities  of  these  parties,  and  the  col 
lateral  relations  of  national  policy  and  events  in  France  and  England  to  them,  will  be 
found,  as  we  proceed  in  our  narrative,  to  have  played  an  important  part  in  the  great 
drama  we  are  considering,  at  the  period  immediately  preceding  and  during  the  prog 
ress  of  the  War  of  1812. 

1  John  Jay,  of  New  York,  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States ;  and  John  Rutledge,  of  South  Carolina, 
James  Wilson,  of  Pennsylvania,  William  Cushing,  of  Massachusetts,  Robert  H.  Harrison,  of  Maryland,  and  John  Blair, 
of  Virginia,  were  appointed  associate  judges. 

2  Alexander  Hamilton  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  Henry  Knox,  Secretary  of  War ;  and  Thomas  Jeffer 
son,  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  the  duties  of  which  were  the  same  as  now  performed  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  or 
prime  minister.    The  Navy  Department  was  not  created  until  1708.    Naval  affairs  were  under  the  control  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  War.    At  that  time  the  Attorney  General  and  Postmaster  General  were  heads  of  departments,  but  were  not,  as 
now,  Cabinet  officers.    Edmund  Randolph  was  appointed  Attorney  General,  and  Samuel  Osgood  Postmaster  General. 


60  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Revolutionary  Movements  in  Prance.  Lafayette  the  Leader.  Excitement  in  Paris.  National  Assembly. 

At  the  very  time  when  the  fruits  of  the  American  Revolution  were  exhibiting  their 
ripeness  in  the  form  of  a  free  and  vigorous  nation  full  of  promise,  the  Empire  of 
PYance,  made  unsound  to  the  core  by  social  and  political  corruptions  most  foul,  was 
shaken  by  a  moral  earthquake — a  revolution  severe  at  the  beginning,  and  terrible  in 
its  subsequent  course.  The  French  monarch  was  weak,  his  advisers  were  wicked, 
and  the  dominant  classes,  through  luxury  and  concomitant  vices,  were  exceedingly 
corrupt.  The  good  and  the  brave  of  the  kingdom  had  long  perceived  the  abyss  of 
woe  upon  the  brink  of  which  their  country  was  poised,  and  with  a  heroism  which  in 
the  light  of  history  appears  almost  divine,  they  resolved  to  sound  the  trumpet  of  po 
litical  reform,  and  arouse  king,  nobles,  and  people  to  a  sense  of  solemn  duty  as  men 
and  patriots. 

At  the  head  of  these  brave  men  was  Lafayette,  seconded  chiefly  by  the  Duke  de 
Rochefoucauld  and  M.  Condorcet.  They  wished  to  obtain  for  France  a  Constitution 
similar  to  that  of  England,  which  they  regarded  as  the  most  perfect  model  of  human 
government  then  known.  They  loved  their  king  because  of  his  many  virtues,  and 
would  have  advised  him  wisely  had  their  voices  been  permitted  audience  in  the  Tui- 
leries ;  but  they  loved  France  more  than  their  king,  and  desired  to  see  her  crowned 
with  true  glory,  based  upon  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  her  people.  To  accomplish 
this,  they  placed  their  hopes  on  a  virtuous  constitutional  monarchy. 

For  a  long  time  Lafayette  and  his  coadjutors  had  been  elaborating  their  scheme. 
At  length,  in  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  in  April,  1789,  that  champion  of  rational  lib 
erty  stood  up  in  his  place  and  boldly  demanded  a  series  of  reforms  in  the  name  of 
the  people,  one  of  which  was  a  representative  National  Assembly.  "  What !"  ex 
claimed  the  Count  D'Artois,  one  of  the  king's  bad  advisers,  "  do  you  make  a  motion 
for  the  States  General?"  "  Yes,  and  even  more  than  that,"  quickly  responded  Lafay 
ette.  That  more  was  a  charter  from  the  king,  by  which  the  public  and  individual 
liberty  should  be  acknowledged  and  guaranteed  by  the  future  States  General.  The 
proposition  was  received  with  unbounded  enthusiasm.  The  measure  was  carried. 
Early  in  May  a  session  of  the  States  General  was  opened  at  Versailles,  and  they  con 
stituted  themselves  a  National  Assembly. 

Now  was  the  golden  opportunity  for  King  Louis.  Slight  concessions  at  that  mo 
ment  might  have  secured  blessings  for  himself  and  his  country.  But  he  heeded  the 
counsels  of  venal  men  more  than  the  supplications  of  his  real  friends.  He  opposed 
the  popular  will,  and  took  the  road  to  ruin.  He  ordered  the  hall  of  the  National  As 
sembly  to  be  closed,  and  placed  a  cordon  of  mercenary  German  troops  around  Paris 
to  overawe  the  people.  From  that  time  until  early  in  July  the  French  capital  was 
dreadfully  agitated.  Passion  ruled  the  hour.  The  city  was  like  a  seething  caldron. 
Every  one  felt  that  a  terrible  storm  was  about  to  burst. 

The  National  Assembly  was  now  sitting  in  Paris,  and  thoroughly  sustained  by  the 
people.  They  called  for  the  organization  of  forty-eight  thousand  armed  militia. 
Within  two  days  two  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  citizens  were  enrolled.  A  state 
mayor  was  appointed  by  the  town  assembly,  and  the  Marquis  La  Salle  was  named 
commander-in-chief. 

Court  dispatches  were  intercepted  by  the  people  by  the  arrest  of  royal  couriers. 
Then  they  demanded  arms.  An  immense  assemblage  went  to  the  Hospital  of  the 
Invalids  on  the  10th  of  July,  and  demanded  from  the  governor  the  instant  delivery  to 
them  of  all  weapons  there.  He  refused,  and  they  seized  thirty  thousand  muskets  and 
twenty  pieces  of  cannon.  Then  they  visited  the  shops  of  the  armorers  and  the  de 
pository  of  the  Garcle-meuble,  and  seized  all  the  arms  found  there. 

Higher  and  higher  rose  the  tide  of  revolution.  The  girdle  of  soldiers  around  Paris 
was  the  chief  cause  for  present  irritation.  The  National  Assembly  sent  a  deputation 
to  the  king  at  Versailles  to  ask  him  to  remove  them.  His  good  heart  counseled  com 
pliance,  but  his  weak  head  bowed  to  the  demands  of  bad  advisers.  "  I  alone  have 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  61 


Excitement  in  Paris.  Formation  of  a  National  Guard.  Treachery  at  the  Bastile.  That  Prison  destroyed. 

the  right  to  judge  of  the  necessity,  and  in  that  respect  I  can  make  no  change,"  was 
the  haughty  answer  of  the  king  borne  back  to  the  Assembly.  This  answer,  and  the 
dismissal  of  M.  Necker,  the  controller  of  the  treasury,  and  other  patriotic  ministers 
who  favored  reform,  produced  a  crisis. 

Paris  was  comparatively  quiet  on  the  night  of  the  13th  of  July.  It  was  the  omin 
ous  lull  before  the  bursting  of  the  tempest.  The  streets  were  barricaded.  The  people 
formed  themselves  into  a  National  Guard,  and  chose  Lafayette  as  their  commander. 
Gun,  sabre,  scythe,  and  whatever  weapon  fell  in  their  way  was  seized.  Multitudes 
of  men  of  the  same  opinion  embraced  each  other  in  the  streets  as  brothers,  and,  in 
an  instant  almost,  a  National  Guard  of  one  hundred  thousand  determined  men  was 
formed. 

The  morning  of  the  14th  was  serene.  The  sky  was  cloudless.  But  storms  of  pas 
sion  were  sweeping  over  Paris.  The  people  were  in  motion  at  an  early  hour.  Their 
steps  were  toward  the  Bastile,  a  hoary  state  prison,  which  was  regarded  as  the  strong 
hold  of  despotism.  They  stood  before  it  in  immense  numbers.  A  parley  ensued. 
The  gates  were  opened,  and  forty  leading  citizens,  as  representatives  of  the  popu 
lace,  were  allowed  to  enter.  The  bridges  were  then  suddenly  drawn,  and  volleys 
of  musketry  soon  told  a  tale  of  treachery  most  foul.  They  were  all  murdered ! 
That  moment  marks  the  opening  of  the  terrible  scenes  of  the  French  Revolution. 
With  demoniac  yells  the  exasperated  populace  dragged  heavy  cannon  before  the 
gates,  and  threatened  the  destruction  of  the  Bastile.  The  terrified  governor  displayed 
a  white  flag,  and  invited  a  second  deputation  to  enter  the  gates.  These  shared  the 
fate  of  the  former !  The  furious  multitude  would  no  longer  listen  to  words  of  peace. 
They  were  treacherous  all.  A  breach  was  soon  made  in  the  walls.  The  governor 
and  other  officers  were  dragged  to  execution,  and  their  heads  were  paraded  upon 
pikes  through  the  streets.  The  great  iron  key  of  the  Bastile  was  sent  to  the  City 
Hall.1  The  National  Assembly  decreed  the  demolition  of  the  hated  prison,  and  very 
soon  it  was  leveled  to  the  ground.2  Upon  its  site, now  the  Place  cle  Bastile,  stands 
the  Column  of  July,  erected  by  Louis  Philippe  to  commemorate  the  Revolution  in 
1830,  which  placed  him  on  the  throne.  Lafayette  sent  the  key  of  the  Bastile  to 
Washington,  who  placed  it  in  the  broad  passage  at  Mount  Vernon,  where  it  still 
hangs. 

The  National  Assembly  elected  Lafayette  commander -in -chief  of  the  National 
Guard  of  all  France,  a  corps  of  more  than  four  millions  of  armed  citizens.  They 
voted  him  a  salary  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year,  but,  imitating  Washington,  he 
refused  to  accept  any  remuneration  for  his  services.  The  humbled  king  approved  his 
appointment,  and  the  monarch,  deserted  by  his  evil  counselors,  threw  himself  upon 
the  National  Assembly.  "  He  has  been  deceived  hitherto,"  Lafayette  proclaimed  to 
the  public,  "  but  he  now  sees  the  merit  and  justice  of  the  popular  cause."  The  over 
joyed  people  shouted  "  Long  live  the  king  !"  and  for  a  moment  the  Revolution  seemed 
to  be  at  an  end  and  its  purposes  accomplished. 

But  Lafayette,  who  comprehended  the  labors  and  the  dangers  yet  to  be  encoun 
tered,  was  filled  with  apprehension.  The  wily  Duke  of  Orleans,  who  desired  the  de 
struction  of  the  king  for  the  base  purpose  of  his  own  exaltation  to  the  throne,  was 
busied  in  sowing  the  seeds  of  distrust  among  the  people.3  The  duke  incited  them  to 
demand  the  monarch's  presence  at  the  Tuileries.  Louis  went  voluntarily  from  Ver 
sailles  to  Paris,  followed  by  sixty  thousand  citizens  and  a  hundred  deputies  of  the 

1  For  a  picture  and  description  of  this  key,  see  Logging's  Field-Book  of  the  Revolution,  ii.,  209. 

2  A  picture  of  the  Bastile  may  be  found  in  Lossing's  Home  of  Washington  and  its  Associations,  p.  221. 

3  "He  does  not,  indeed,  possess  talent  to  carry  into  execution  a  great  project,"  said  Lafayette  to  John  Trumbull,  who 
was  about  to  leave  Paris,  "but  he  possesses  immense  wealth,  and  France  abounds  in  marketable  talents.    Every  city 
and  town  has  young  men  eminent  for  abilities,  particularly  in  the  law— ardent  in  character,  eloquent,  ambitious  of  dis 
tinction,  but  poor."    Many  of  these  were  the  men  who  composed  the  leaders  in  the  Reign  of  Terror,  and  reddened  the 
streets  of  Paris  with  human  blood. 


62  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

European  War  expected.          Great  Britain  and  Spain  in  ill-humor.          Attempt  to  extort  Justice  from  Great  Britain. 

Assembly,  and  there  formally  accepted  the  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man,  which 
was  presented  to  him.  The  people  were  satisfied,  and  the  duke  was  disappointed. 
Order  reigned  in  Paris  and  throughout  the  kingdom.  The  bearing  of  these  events 
upon  our  subject  will  be  observed  presently. 

At  this  time  a  general  European  war  seemed  inevitable.  A  long-pending  contro 
versy  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain  remained  unsettled.  It  was  believed  that 
France,  with  her  traditional  hatred  of  Great  Britain,  would  side  with  Spain.  This 
alliance  would  menace  England  with  much  danger.  At  the  same  time,  Spain,  a  de 
clining  power,  would  necessarily  be  much  embarrassed  by  war.  Viewing  this  situa 
tion  of  affairs  in  Western  Europe  with  the  eye  of  a  statesman,  Washington  concluded 
that  it  was  a  favorable  time  to  urge  upon  Spain  the  claims  of  the  United  States  to 
the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  concerning  which  negotiations  had  been  for 
some  time  pending,  and  also  to  press  upon  Great  Britain  the  necessity  of  complying 
with  the  yet  unfulfilled  articles  of  the  Treaty  of  1783.  Mr.  Carmichael,  the  American 
Charge  des  Affaires  at  the  Court  of  Madrid,1  was  instructed  not  only  to  press  the 
point  concerning  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  with  earnestness,  but  to  endeavor 
to  secure  to  the  United  States,  by  cession,  the  island  of  New  Orleans  and  the  Floridas, 
offering  as  an  equivalent  the  abiding  friendship  of  the  new  republic,  by  which  the 
territories  of  Spain  west  of  the  Mississippi  might  be  secured  to  that  government. 
At  the  same  time,  Gouverneur  Morris,  then  in  Paris,  was  directed  by  Washington  to 
repair  to  London,  and,  with  sincere  professions  of  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  "  to  pf omote  harmony  and  mutual  satisfaction  between  the  two  countries," 
sound  the  British  ministry  on  the  subject  of  a  full  and  immediate  execution  of  the 
Treaty  ofl783.2 

Morris  had  a  formal  interview  with  the  Duke  of  Leeds,  the  Secretary  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  near  the  close  of  March,  1790.  He  was  received  with  cordiality,  and  was 
assured  of  the  earnest  desire  of  Great  Britain  to  cultivate  friendly  relations  with  the 
United  States,  and  the  determination  of  the  king  to  send  a  minister  to  America.  But 
when  Morris  attempted  to  hold  explicit  conversation  on  the  subject  of  his  semi-offi 
cial  mission  he  was  met  with  evasion  and  reticence.  It  was  immediately  made  evi 
dent  to  him  that  there  was  real  reluctance  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  to  fulfill  the 
stipulations  of  the  Treaty  of  1783,  or  to  make  a  fair  commercial  arrangement,  and  that 
there  was  a  disposition  to  procrastinate  while  the  difficulties  between  Great  Britain 
and  Spain  remained  unadjusted.  He  found  great  misapprehensions  existing  in  En 
gland  concerning  the  real  character  of  the  Americans  and  their  government,  even 
among  the  best  informed.  They  overrated  the  importance  to  Americans  of  friendship 
with  them.  They  believed  that  trade  with  Great  Britain  was  of  vital  consequence 
to  the  Americans,  and  that  the  latter  would  make  an  international  commercial  treaty 
upon  almost  any  terms  to  secure  it.  With  this  belief,  a  committee  of  Parliament,  to 
whom  had  been  referred  the  revenue  acts  of  the  United  States,  acting  under  the  ad 
vice  of  the  merchants  of  leading  maritime  towns  of  Great  Britain,  reported  early  in 
1790,  in  favor  of  negotiating  a  commercial  treaty  with  the  Americans,  but  with  the 
explicit  declaration  that  the  commissioners  should  not  "  submit  to  treat"  for  the  ad 
mission  of  American  vessels  into  any  of  the  British  islands  or  colonial  ports.  They 
actually  believed  that  the  necessities  of  the  United  States  would  make  them  acqui 
esce  in  an  arrangement  so  ungenerous  and  partial. 

While  war  with  Spain  seemed  impending,  the  British  ministers  listened  compla 
cently  to  what  Morris  had  to  say  about  the  frontier  military  posts,  the  impressment 
of  American  seamen  into  the  British  naval  service  under  the  plea  that  they  were  sub- 

1  William  Carmichael  went  to  Spain  with  Minister  John  Jay,  as  secretary  of  legation,  in  17T9,  and  when  that  function 
ary  left,  Mr.  Carmichael  remained  as  Charge  dcs  A/aires.   After  the  Treaty  of  Peace  was  signed  in  1T83,  the  Spanish  gov 
ernment  refused  to  acknowledge  him  as  such,  but  finally,  through  the  agency  of  Lafayette,  they  reluctantly  consented 
to  do  so. 

2  Washington's  letter  to  Gouverneur  Morris,  October  13, 1789. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF    1812.  63 


Discourtesy  of  the  British  Government.  (  The  Americans  supposed  to  be  dependent.  A  Change  of  Views. 

jects  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  propriety  of  sending  a  full  minister  to  the  United 
States.1  It  was  evident  that  the  British  were  willing  to  allow  their  relations  with 
the  Americans  to  remain  unchanged  until  they  should  have  a  definite  perception  of 
the  course  European  aifairs  were  likely  to  take.  This  evidence  became  more  and 
more  manifest  in  the  autumn.  The  French  government,  embarrassed  by  its  own 
troubled  affairs,  was  disinclined  to  take  part  with  Spain  in  its  quarrel,  and  the  latter, 
unable  alone  to  cope  with  Great  Britain,  yielded  every  point  in  the  controversy,  and 
the  dispute  was  settled.  Relieved  of  this  burden  of  perplexity,  and  regarding  France 
as  hopelessly  crippled  by  her  internal  difficulties,  Great  Britain  showed  marked  indif 
ference  concerning  her  relations  with  the  United  States.  Nothing  more  was  said 
about  sending  a  minister  to  America,  and  Mr.  Morris  was  treated  with  neglect,  if  not 
with  positive  discourtesy. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  Mr.  Morris  left  England.  He  had  been  there  about  nine 
months,  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  positive  answer  to  the  simple  questions,  Will  you 
execute  the  Treaty  ?  will  you  make  a  treaty  of  commerce  with  the  United  States  ? 
At  the  end  of  that  time  the  real  views  of  the  British  government  were  as  hidden  as 
at  the  beginning.  Ungenerous  diplomacy  had  been  employed  all  the  time  by  the 
British  ministry,  while  the  American  government  was  anxious  to  establish  peaceful 
relations  with  Great  Britain  and  all  the  world  upon  principles  of  exact  justice.  Its 
agents  were  unskilled  in  the  low  cunning  of  diplomatic  art  which  at  that  time  dis 
tinguished  every  court  in  Europe,  and  they  lost  the  game.  Both  the  government  and 
people  of  the  United  States  felt  aggrieved  and  indignant  at  the  course  of  Great  Brit-v 
am,  and  self-respect  would  not  allow  them  to  farther  press  the  subject  of  diplomatic 
intercourse  or  treaty  relations.  They  therefore  resolved  to  pause  in  action  until  the 
republic  should  become  strong  enough  to  speak  in  decisive  tones,  and  prepared  to 
maintain  its  declarations  by  corresponding  vigor  of  action. 

Great  changes  are  wrought  by  time.  The  march  of  stirring  events  in  Europe 
now  became  majestic,  for  a  new  and  important  era  was  dawning ;  and  the  dignity 
and  importance  of  the  republic  beyond  the  sea  was  too  apparent  to  the  world  to 
allow  the  British  government  to  maintain  its  indifference  much  longer  without  evil 
consequences  to  itself.  Already  France,  Holland,  and  Spain,  the  real  enemies  of  En 
gland,  had  placed  representatives  at  the  seat  of  our  national  government,  and  British 
pride  was  compelled  to  yield  to  expediency.  In  August,  1791,  George  Hammond  ar 
rived  in  Philadelphia,  clothed  with  full  ministerial  powers  as  the  representative  of 
Great  Britain,  presented  his  credentials,  and  was  formally  received.  In  December 
following,  diplomatic  relations  between  the  two  governments  were  established  by  the 

i  Great  Britain  evidently  apprehended  an  alliance  of  the  United  States  with  Spain,  in  the  event  of  a  war  between  the 
former  and  the  latter  power.  Dorchester,  the  Governor  of  Canada,  was  employed  to  ascertain  the  disposition  of  the 
United  States  on  that  point.  He  accordingly  asked  permission  to  pass  through  New  York  on  his  way  to  England :  and 
when  it  was  readily  granted,  as  he  expected,  he  sent  his  aid-de-camp,  Major  Beckwith,  to  the  seat  of  the  United  States 
government,  under  the  pretext  of  making  a  formal  acknowledgment,  bnt  really  to  seek  information  upon  the  subject  in 
question.  He  first  approached  Mr.  Hamilton,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  After  expressing  the  thanks  of  Lord  Dor 
chester,  he,  with  apparent  unconcern,  remarked  that  his  Jordship  had  reason  to  fear  that  the  delays  which  Mr.  Morris 
experienced  in  England  would  be  attributed  to  a  lack  of  desire  on  the  part  of  the  British  ministry  to  adjust  every  mat 
ter  in  dispute  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.  In  behalf  of  his  lordship  he  was  instructed  to  say,  that 
there  could  be  no  doubt,  not  only  of  the  friendly  feeling  of  Great  Britain,  but  of  a  desire  on  her  part  for  an  alliance  with 
the  United  States.  Major  Beckwith  then  spoke  of  the  rupture  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  and  expressed  his  pre 
sumption  that,  in  the  event  of  war,  the  United  States  would  find  it  to  their  interest  to  take  part  with  Great  Britain.  He 
then,  in  the  name  of  Dorchester,  disclaimed  any  influence,  under  British  authorities,  over  the  Indian  tribes  in  the  West. 
The  President  laid  the  matter  before  his  Cabinet,  and  it  was  agreed  to  draw  out  from  the  major  as  much  information 
as  possible  by  treating  him  and  his  communication  very  civilly.  But  he  obtained  no  information  of  importance.  The 
matter  was  so  transparent  that  no  one  was  deceived.  "  What  they  [the  ministers]  are  savins  to  you,"  Jefferson  wrote 
to  Morris  in  August,  "  they  are  saying  to  us  through  Quebec ;  but  so  informally  that  they  may  disavow  it  when  they 
please.  .  .  .  Through  him  [Major  Beckwith]  they  talk  of  a  minister,  a  treaty  of  commerce,  and  alliance.  If  the  object 
of  the  latter  be  honorable,  it  is  useless ;  if  dishonorable,  inadmissible.  These  tamperings  prove  that  they  view  war 
as  possible;  and  some  symptoms  indicate  designs  against  the  Spanish  possessions  adjoining  us.  The  consequences  of 
their  acquiring  all  the  country  on  our  frontier  from  the  St.  Croix  to  the  St.  Mary's  are  too  obvious  to  you  to  need  devel 
opment.  You  will  readily  see  the  dangers  which  would  then  environ  us.  .  .  .  We  wish  to  be  neutral,  and  we  will  be  so, 
if  they  will  execute  the  Treaty  fairly  and  attempt  no  conquests  adjoining  MS." 


64 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Efforts  for  the  Establishment  of  the  Public  Credit.        Hamilton's  Protest  against  tampering  with  the  National  Honor. 


appointment  of  Thom 
as  Pinckney,  of  South 
Carolina,  as  American 
minister  to  the  Court 
of  St.  James.1 

At  about  this  time 
two  violently  antag 
onistic  parties  had  as 
sumed  definite  shape 
and   formidable    pro 
portions  in  the  United 
States,  the   acknowl 
edged  heads  of  which  ™ 
were  Alexander  Ham-  llm 
ilton  and  Thomas  Jef 
ferson,    members    of 
Washington '  s     Cabi 
net.    On  the  former, 
ns  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  devolved 
the  important  duty 
to  arrange  apian  for 


the  establishment  of 
the  public  credit.2  Ow 
ing  to  long  delay,  and 
doubts  and  discour 
agements  in  the  minds 
of  the  original  holders 
of  the  evidences  of  the 
public  debt,  they  had 
fallen  into  the  hands 
of  speculators  at  one 
sixth  of  their  nominal 
value.  It  was  there 
fore  argued  that,  in 
the  liquidation  of  these 
claims,  there  should  be 
a  scale  of  depreciation 
adopted,  thereby  mak 
ing  a  saving  to  the 
public  treasury. 

Hamilton  would 
listen  favorably  to 
no  suggestions  of 


that  kind.  With  the  sagacity  of  a  statesman,  the  sincerity  of  an  honest  man,  and  the 
true  heart  of  a  patriot,  he  planted  his  foot  firmly  upon  the  ground  of  justice  and 
honor,  and  declared  that  public  credit  could  only  be  established  by  the  faithful  dis 
charge  of  public  obligations  in  strict  conformity  to  the  terms  of  the  contract.  These 
debts  were  oi*iginally  due  to  ofiicers  and  soldiers,  farmers,  mechanics,  and  patriotic 
capitalists,  and  were  sacred  in  the  estimation  of  honest  men;  and  it  was  no  just  plea 
for  their  whole  or  partial  repudiation  that  speculators  would  profit  by  the  honesty  of 
the  government.  It  was  not  for  the  debtor  to  inquire  into  whose  hands  his  written 
promises  to  pay  were  lodged,  nor  how  they  came  there.3  Upon  this  lofty  foundation 
of  principle  Hamilton  stood  before  hosts  of  his  frowning  countrymen,  conscious  of  the 
importance  of  financial  honor  and  integrity  to  the  infant  republic,  and  determined  to 
secure  for  it  the  dignity  which  justice  confers,  at  whatever  cost  of  personal  popularity. 
°  January  14,  He  accordingly  presented  to  Congress,31  in  an  able  report,  a  scheme  "  for 
the  support  of  the  public  credit,"  whose  principal  feature  was  the  funding 
of  the  public  debt — a  plan  proposed  by  him  to  Robert  Morris  as  early  as  1782.  He 
also  proposed  the  assumption  by  the  general  government  of  the  state  debts  incurred 
during  the  war,  amounting,  in  principal  and  interest,  to  over  twenty  millions  of  dol- 

1  Thomas  Pinckney  was  born  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  23d  of  October,  1750.    He  was  educated  in  England. 
When  the  Revolution  broke  out  he  entered  the  military  service,  and  was  active  until  Gates's  defeat  near  Camden,  in 
August,  1780,  when  he  was  made  a  prisoner.    He  was  Gates's  aid.    He  was  chosen  Governor  of  South  Carolina  in  1787. 
In  1792  he  went  as  minister  to  England.    In  1794  he  was  gent  in  the  same  capacity  to  Spain,  to  treat  concerning  the  nav 
igation  of  the  Mississippi.    At  the  beginning  of  1S12  the  President  appointed  him  to  the  command  of  the  Southern  divi 
sion  of  the  army.    After  the  war  General  Pinckney  retired  to  private  life.    He  died  on  the  2d  of  November,  1828,  aged 
seventy-eight  years. 

2  The  impoverished  condition  of  the  country,  and  the  wants  of  the  public  treasury  at  that  time,  may  be  comprehended 
by  the  fact  that,  at  the  close  of  1789,  the  Attorney  General  and  several  members  of  Congress  were  indebted  to  the  pri 
vate  credit  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  discharge  their  personal  expenses.    Even  the  President  of  the  United 
States  was  obliged  to  pass  his  note  to  his  private  secretary,  Mr.  Lear,  to  meet  his  household  expenses,  which  was  dis 
counted  at  the  rate  of  two  per  cent,  a  month.    Members  of  Congress  were  paid  by  due-bills,  which  the  collectors  were 
ordered  to  receive  in  payment  of  duties.— HAMILTON'S  History  of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States,  iv.,  48. 

3  Hamilton  argued  that,  besides  motives  of  political  expediency,  there  were  reasons  in  favor  of  his  view  "which  rest 
on  the  immutable  principles  of  moral  obligation ;  and,  in  proportion  as  the  mind  is  disposed  to  contemplate,  in  the 
order  of  Providence,  an  ultimate  connection  between  public  virtue  and  public  happiness,  will  be  its  repugnance  to  a  vio 
lation  of  those  principles.    This  reflection  derives  additional  strength  from  the  nature  of  the  debt  of  the  United  States. 
IT  WAS  THE  TRICE  or  LiBEBTY.    The  faith  of  America  has  been  repeatedly  pledged  for  it,  and  with  solemnities  that  give 
peculiar  force  to  the  obligation." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  65 


Hamilton's  Financial  Scheme  assailed.  Banking  Capital  in  the  United  States.  A  Decimal  Currency  adopted. 

lars.  His  scheme  included  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank,1  a  system  of  revenue 
from  taxation,  internal  and  external,  and  a  sinking  fund. 

This  scheme — just,  patriotic,  necessary,  and  beneficial — was  assailed  with  the  great 
est  vehemence,  and  the  discussions  which  it  elicited,  especially  upon  the  subject  of  the 
assumption  of  the  state  debts,  in  Congress,  in  the  public  press,  and  in  private  circles, 
fearfully  agitated  the  nation,  and  created  the  first  regular  and  systematic  opposition 
to  the  principles  on  which  the  aifairs  of  the  republic  were  administered.  Its  propo 
sitions,  especially  the  one  relating  to  the  assumption  of  state  debts,  were  regarded 
with  alarm  by  the  late  opponents  of  the  Constitution  and  a  consolidated  government} 
because  of  their  tendency  to  a  centralization  of  power,  as  giving  an  undue  influence 
to  the  general  government  by  placing  the  purse  as  well  as  the  sword  in  its  hands, 
and  as  being  also  of  doubtful  constitutionality.  Many  believed  that  they  saw  in  this 
scheme  great  political  evils,  because  it  secured  the  financial  union  of  the  states,  and 
might  lead  to  the  establishment  of  a  government  as  absolute  as  a  constitutional  mon 
archy.  These  suspicions  were  strengthened  by  the  well-known  fact  that  Hamilton 
regarded  the  British  government  as  a  model  of  excellence,  and  had  advocated  greater 
centralization  of  power,  in  the  Convention  of  1787.  He  was  made  the  target  for  the 
shafts  of  personal  and  political  malice,  and  his  financial  system  was  misrepresented 
and  abused  as  a  scheme  for  enriching  a  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many.2  The  war 
of  opinion  was  fierce  and  uncompromising. 

While  Washington  took  no  part  in  the  discussion  of  Hamilton's  scheme,  it  com 
manded  his  highest  admiration,  as  the  most  perfect  that  human  wisdom  could  devise 
for  restoring  the  public  credit  and  laying  the  foundation  of  national  policy.  He  pre 
dicted  great  and  lasting  good  from  its  adoption,  and  his  prophecies  were  fulfilled. 
Confidence  was  revived,  and  that  acted  like  magic  upon  industry;  and  then  com- 

1  At  that  time  the  whole  banking  capital  of  the  United  States  was  only  $2,000,000,  invested  in  the  Bank  of  North  Amer 
ica,  established  in  Philadelphia  by  Robert  Morris,  chiefly  as  a  government  fiscal  agent ;  the  Bank  of  New  York,  in  New 
York  City;  and  the  Bank  of  Mawachiwett*,  in  Boston.  In  January,  1T91,  Congress  chartered  a  national  bank  for  the 
term  of  twenty  years,  with  a  capital  of  $10,000,000,  to  be  located  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and  its  management  to  be 
intrusted  to  twenty-five  directors.  It  did  not  commence  business  operations  in  corporate  form  until  in  February,  1794. 

The  subject  of  currency  had  occupied  the  attention  of  the  old  Congress  as  early  as  1782,  when  Gouverneur  Morris  pre 
sented  an  able  report  on  the  subject,  written  at  the  request  of  Robert  Morris.*  He  proposed  to  harmonize  the  moneys 
of  all  the  states.  Starting  with  one  ascertained  fraction  as  a  unit,  for  a  divisor,  he  proposed  the  following  table  of 
money :  Ten  units  to  be  equal  to  one  penny ;  ten  pence  to  one  bill ;  ten  bills,  one  dollar  (about  seventy-five  cents  of  onr 
present  currency) ;  and  ten  dollars,  one  crown.  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  chairman  of  a  committee  on  the  subject  of  coins,  re 
ported  a  table  in  1784,  in  which  he  adopted  Morris's  decimal  system,  but  entirely  changed  its  details.  He  proposed  to 
strike  four  coins,  namely,  a  golden  piece  of  the  value  of  ten  dollars,  a  dollar  in  silver,  a  tenth  of  a  dollar  in  silver,  and 
a  hundredth  of  a  dollar  in  copper.  This  report  was  adopted  by  Congress  the  following  year,  and  this  was  the  origin  of 
our  cent,  dime,  dollar,  and  eac/le.  The  establishment  of  a  mint  for  coinage  was  delayed,  and  no  legislative  action  on 
the  subject  was  taken  until  early  in  April,  1792,  when  laws  were  enacted  for  the  preparation  of  one.  For  three  years 
afterward  the  operations  of  the  mint  were  chiefly  experimental,  while  in 
Congress  long  debates  were  had  concerning  the  devices  for  the  new  coins. 
The  Senate  proposed  the  head  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  who 
should  occupy  the  chair  of  state  at  the  time  of  the  coinage.  In  the  House, 
the  head  of  Liberty  was  suggested,  as  being  less  aristocratic  than  the  ef 
figy  of  the  President— less  the  stamp  of  royalty.  The  head  of  Liberty  was 
finally  adopted.  During  that  interval  of  three  years,  several  of  the  coins 
called  "  specimens,"  now  so  rare  in  cabinets,  and  so  much  sought  after  by 
connoisseurs,  were  struck.  Of  these  the  rarest  is  a  small  copper  coin, 
known  as  the  "  Liberty-cap  cent."  The  engraving  is  from  one  in  my  pos-  LIBERTY  CENT. 

session.  The  mint  was  first  put  into  full  operation,  in  Philadelphia,  in  1795. 

"The  public  paper  suddenly  rose,  and  was  for  a  short  time  above  par,"  says  Marshall.  "The  immense  wealth 
which  individuals  acquired  by  this  unexpected  appreciation  could  not  be  viewed  with  indifference." 

*  Robert  Morris  had  considered  the  subject  for  more  than  a  year.  As  early  as  July,  1781,  he  wrote  to  Benjamin  Dud 
ley,  of  Boston,  an  Englishman,  requesting  him  to  come  to  Philadelphia,  that  he  might  consult  him  about  the  coinage  of 
money.  In  November  Mr.  Dudley  was  employed  in  assaying.  Mr.  Morris  kept  him  engaged  in  experiments,  and  in  the 
preparation  of  machinery  for  a  mint.  In  these  Mr.  Dudley  consulted  Dr.  Rittenhouse  and  Francis  Hopkinson.  A  coun 
try  blacksmith,  named  Wheeler,  was  employed  to  make  the  rollers  for  the  mint,  and  it  was  July  the  following  year  be 
fore  any  machinery  was  perfected.  Mr.  Morris  labored  hard  to  get  the  mint  in  operation,  but  without  success.  Finally, 
on  the  2d  of  April,  1783,  Morris  was  enabled  to  write  in  his  diary,  "I  sent  for  Mr.  Dudley,  who  delivered  me  a  piece  of 
silver  coin,  being  the  first  that  has  been  struck  as  an  American  coin."  Mr.  Dudley  was  installed  superintendent  of  the 
mint,  having  charge,  also,  of  the  preparation  of  the  paper  moulds,  etc.,  in  the  manufacture  of  the  currency  printed  by 
Hall  &  Sellers,  the  printers  of  the  Continental  money.  Finally,  in  July,  Mr.  Morris  gave  up  the  idea  of  establishing  a 
mint,  and  Mr.  Dudley,  after  delivering  up  the  dies  to  him,  left  his  service.— ROBEBT  MOBEIS'S  Diary. 

E 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Mr.  Jefferson  in  France.          His  Reception  in  New  York.          His  Suspicions  of  former  Colleagues  and  Compatriots. 


menced  that  wonderful 
development  of  material 
wealth  which  has  gone  on 
with  few  intermissions 
until  the  present  time. 

While  these  discus 
sions  were  at  their  height, 
Jefferson  arrived  at  the 
seat  of  government,  to  as 
sume  the  duties  of  Secre 
tary  of  State.  He  had 
but  lately  returned  from 
France,  where  he  had  la 
bored  for  several  years 
hi  the  diplomatic  service 
of  his  country.  He  had 


witnessed  the  uprising  of 
the  people  there  at  the 
bidding  of  Lafayette  and 
others  a  few  months  be 
fore.  The  example  of  his 
own  country  was  the  star 
of  hope  to  the  French 
revolutionists,  and  as  the 
author  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  he  was 
regarded  as  an  oracle,  and 
courted  by  the  leaders  of 
the  constitutional  party 
there.  Fresh  from  the 
fields  of  political  excite 
ment  in  the  French  capi 


tal,  and  his  inherent  democratic  principles  and  ideas  intensified  and  enlarged  by  these 
experiences,  he  came  home  full  of  enthusiasm,  expecting  to  find  every  body  in  his  own 
country  ready  to  speak  a  sympathizing  word  for,  and  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to  the 
people  of  France,  the  old  ally  of  Americans  in  their  efforts  to  establish  for  themselves 
a  constitutional  government. 

But  Mr.  Jefferson  was  disappointed.  When  he  arrived  in  New  York,  after  a  tedi 
ous  journey  of  a  fortnight  on  horseback,  he  was  warmly  welcomed  by  the  leading 
families  of  the  city,  and  became  the  recipient  of  almost  daily  invitations  to  social  and 
dinner  parties.  The  wealthier  and  more  aristocratic  classes  in  New  York,  who  gave 
dinner  parties  at  that  time,  were  mostly  Loyalists'  families,  who  remembered  the 
pleasant  intercourse  they  had  enjoyed  with  the  British  officers  during  the  late  war, 
and  had  always  regarded  the  British  form  of  government  as  the  most  perfect  ever 
devised.  Free  from  political  restraint,  their  conversation  was  open  and  frank,  and 
their  sentiments  were  expressed  without  reserve.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  continually 
shocked  by  the  utterance  of  opinions  repugnant  to  his  faith,  and  in  contrast  with  his 
recent  experience.1 

Mr.  Jefferson,  who  was  sensitively  and  even  painfully  alive  to  the  evils  of  despotism 
and  the  dangers  of  a  government  stronger  than  the  people,  took  the  alarm,  and  he 
became  morbidly  suspicious  of  all  around  him.  The  conservatism  of  Washington  and 
his  associates  in  the  government,  and  their  lack  of  enthusiasm  on  the  subject  of  the 
French  Revolution,  which  so  filled  his  own  heart,  were  construed  by  him  as  indiffer 
ence  to  the  diffusion  of  democratic  ideas  and  the  triumph  of  republican  principles,  for 
which  the  patriots  in  the  war  for  independence  had  contended.  He  'had  scarcely 
taken  his  seat  in  the  Cabinet  before  he  declared  that  some  of  his  colleagues  held  de 
cidedly  monarchical  views,  and  it  became  a  settled  belief  in  his  mind  that  there  was  a 
party  in  the  United  States  constantly  at  work,  secretly  and  sometimes  openly,  for  the 
overthrow  of  republicanism.  This  idea  became  a  sort  of  monomania,  and  haunted 
him  until  his  death,  more  than  thirty  years  afterward. 

Events  in  France  soon  began  to  make  vivid  impressions  upon  the  public  mind  in 
America.  The  fears  of  Lafayette  were  realized.  The  lull  that  succeeded  the  tempest 
of  1789,  was  only  the  precursor  of  a  more  terrible  storm  in  1791,  that  shook  European 
society  to  its  deepest  foundations,  and,  like  the  great  earthquake  of  1755,  was  felt  in 
almost  every  part  of  the  globe. 

1  "  I  can  not  describe  the  wonder  and  mortification  with  which  the  table  conversation  filled  me,"  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote. 
"  Politics  was  the  chief  topic,  and  a  preference  for  a  kingly  over  republican  government  was  evidently  the  favorite 
sentiment.  An  apostate  I  could  not  be,  nor  yet  a  hypocrite ;  and  I  found  myself,  for  the  most  part,  the  only  advocate 
on  the  republican  side  of  the  question,  unless  among  the  guests  there  chanced  to  be  some  member  of  that  party  from 
the  legislative  houses."  This  is  the  first  mention  that  we  any  where  find  of  a  Republican  Party  in  this  country. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  67 

Formation  of  the  Jacobin  Club  in  Paris.    Demoralization  of  the  National  Guard.    A  Constitution  granted  to  the  People. 

Long  before  the  meeting  of  the  States-general  at  Versailles,  forty  intelligent  men, 
whose  feelings  were  intensely  democratic,  wrho  avowed  their  hatred  of  kings  and 
their  attendant  titles  and  privileges,  and  who  ridiculed  and  contemned  Christianity 
as  an  imposture,  had  met  in  the  hall  of  the  Jacobin  monks  in  Paris,  and  from  that 
circumstance  were  called  the  Jacobin  Club.  In  the  commotions  that  attended  and 
followed  the  destruction  of  the  Bastile,  this  club  had  gained  immense  popularity. 
They  now  published  a  newspaper,  whose  motto  was  LIBERTY  AND  EQUALITY,  and 
whose  design  was  to  disseminate  ultra  democratic  doctrines,  irreligious  ideas,  and  a 
spirit  of  revolt  and  disaffection  to  the  king.  They  became  potential— a  power  in  the 
state.  Their  influence  was  every  where  seen  in  the  laxity  of  public  morals.  The 
church  w-as  polluted  with  the  contagion.  A  refractory  spirit  appeared  among  the 
National  Guards,  and  the  king  and  his  family  were  insulted  in  public. 

Disgusted  with  these  evidences  of  demoralization,  Lafayette  resigned  his  command 
of  the  National  Guard,  but  resumed  it  on  the  solicitation  of  sixty  battalions.  He  was 
exceedingly  popular,  yet  he  could  not  wholly  control  the  Spirit  of  anarchy  that  was 
abroad.  'The  king,  alarmed,  fled  in  disguise  from  Paris.  Terror  prevailed  among  all 
classes.  The  flight  of  the  monarch  was  construed  into  a  crime  by  his  enemies,  and  he 
was  arrested  and  brought  back  to  Paris  under  an  escort  of  thirty  thousand  National 
Guards.  He  excused  his  movement  with  the  plea  that  he  was  exposed  to  too  many 
insults  in  the  capital,  and  only  wished  to  live  quietly,  away  from  the  scenes  of 
strife. 

The  populace  were  not  satisfied.  Led  by  Robespierre,  a  sanguinary  demagogue, 
and  member  of  the  Constituent  Assembly,  they  met  in  the  Elysian  Fields,  and  peti 
tioned  for  the  dethronement  of  Louis.  Four  thousand  of  the  National  Guard  fired 
upon  them,  and  killed  several  hundred.  The  exasperation  of  the  people  was  terrible, 
yet  the  popularity  of  Lafayette  held  the  factious  in  check.1 

The  Constitution  was  completed  in  September.  The  trembling  king  accepted  it, 
and  solemnly  swore  to  maintain  it.  Proclamation  of  the  fact  was  made  throughout 
the  kingdom,  and  a  grand  fete,  whereat  one  hundred  thousand  people  sang  and  danced 
the  Carmagnole  in  the  Elysian  Fields,  was  held  at  Paris,  and  salvos  of  cannon  thun 
dered  along  the  banks  of  the  Seine.2 

There  was  wide-spread  sympathy  in  the  United  States  with  these  revolutionary 
movements  in  France.  The  spirit  pf  faction,  viewed  at  that  great  distance,  appeared 
like  patriotism.  Half-formed  and  half-understood  political  maxims,  floating  upon  the 
tide  of  social  life  in  the  new  republic,  began  to  crystallize  into  tenets,  and  assumed 
antagonistic  party  positions.  The  galvanic  forces,  so  to  speak,  which  produced  these 
crystallizations,  proceeded  from  the  President's  Cabinet,  where  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  Sec 
retary  of  State,  and  Mr.  Hamilton,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  were  at  direct  vari 
ance  in  their  views  of  domestic  public  measures,  and  were  making  constant  war  upon 
each  other.  Jefferson,  believing,  with  Thomas  Paine  (who  now  appeared  in  the  field 
of  political  strife  abroad),  that  a  weak  government  and  a  strong  people  were  the  best 
guarantees  of  liberty  to  the  citizen,  contemplated  all  executive  power  with  distrust, 
and  desired  to  impair  its  vitality  and  restrain  its  operations.  He  thought  he  saw  in 
the  funding  system  arranged  by  Hamilton,  and  in  the  United  States  Bank  and  the  ex 
cise  law — creations  of  that  statesman's  brain — instruments  for  enslaving  the  people ; 

1  "I  am  exposed  to  the  envy  and  attacks  of  all  parties,"  he  wrote  to  Washington,  "for  this  single  reason,  that  who 
ever  acts  or  means  wrong  finds  me  an  insuperable  obstacle.  And  there  appears  a  kind  of  phenomenon  in  my  situation 
—all  parties  against  me,  and  a  national  popularity,  which,  in  spite  of  every  effort,  has  remained  unchanged.  .  .  .  Given 
up  to  all  the  madness  of  license,  faction,  and  popular  rage,  I  stood  alone  in  defense  of  the  law,  and  turned  the  tide  into 
the  constitutional  channel." 

3  Upon  a  tree  planted  on  the  site  of  the  Bastile  a  placard  was  placed,  in  these  words  : 
"  Here  is  the  epoch  of  Liberty ; 
We  dance  on  the  ruins  of  despotism ; 
The  Constitution  is  finished- 
Long  live  patriotism !" 


68  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Jefferson  makes  War  upon  his  Opponents.     His  religions  Views.    Jefferson  and  John  Adams  Antagonists  in  Opinion. 

and  he  affected  to  believe  that  the  rights  of  the  states  and  liberties  of  the  citizens 
were  in  danger. 

Hamilton,  on  the  other  hand,  regarded  the  National  Constitution  as  inadequate  in 
strength  to  perform  its  required  functions,  and  believed  weakness  to  be  its  most  rad 
ical  defect ;  and  it  was  his  sincere  desire  and  uniform  practice  so  to  construe  its  pro 
visions  as  to  give  strength  and  efficiency  to  the  Executive  in  the  administration  of 
public  affairs. 

Not  content  with  an  expression  of  his  opinions,  Jefferson  charged  his  political  op 
ponents,  and  especially  Hamilton,  with  corrupt  and  anti-republican  designs,  selfish 
motives,  and  treacherous  intentions ;  and  thus  was  inaugurated  that  system  of  per 
sonal  abuse  and  vituperation  which  has  ever  been  a  disgrace  to  the  press  and  political 
leaders  of  this  country. 

An  unfortunate  blunder  made  by  John  Adams,  the  Vice-President,  at  about  this 
time,  confirmed  Jefferson  in  his  opinions  and  fears.  These  men,  compatriots  in  the 
events  out  of  which  the  nation  had  been  evolved,  cherished  dissimilar  political  ideas, 
and  held  widely  differing  religious  sentiments.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  always  a  free 
thinker,  and  his  latitudinarianism  was  greatly  expanded  by  a  long  residence  among 
the  contemners  of  revealed  religion  in  France.  He  admired  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  and 
D'Alembert,  whose  graves  were  then  green ;  and  one  of  his  most  intimate  compan 
ions  was  the  Marquis  of  Condorcet,  who  "  classed  among  fools  those  who  had  the 
misfortune  to  believe  in  a  revealed  religion."1  He  sympathized  with  the  ultra  Re 
publicans  of  France,  was  their  counselor  in  the  early  and  later  stages  of  the  revolu 
tionary  movement  of  1789,  and  opened  his  house  to  them  for  secret  conclave.  He 
was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  a  nation  of  enthusiasts. 

Mr.  Adams,  on  the  contrary,  was  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  political  and  reli 
gious  principles  of  New  England  Puritanism.  He  discovered  spiritual  life  in  every 
page  of  the  Bible,  and  accepted  the  doctrines  of  revealed  religion  as  an  emanation 
from,  the  fountain  of  Eternal  Truth.  His  mind  was  cast  in  the  mould  of  the  English 
conservative  writers,  whom  he  admired.  He  detested  the  principles  and  practices  of 
the  French  philosophers,  whom  Jefferson  revered ;  and,  from  the  outset,  he  detected  in 
the  revolutionary  movements  in  France  the  elements  of  destructiveness  which  were 
so  speedily  developed.  These  views  were  indicated  in  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Price, 
of  England,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  a  printed  copy  of  his  famous  discourse  on 
the  morning  of  the  anniversary  dinner  of  the  English  Revolution  Society  in  1789,  in 
which  the  preacher,  accepting  the  French  Revolution  as  a  glorious  event  in  the  his 
tory  of  mankind,  said,  "  What  an  eventful  period  is  this  !  I  am  thankful  that  I  have 
lived  to  see  it ;  and  I  could  almost  say, '  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in 
peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation.'  ...  I  have  lived  to  see  thirty  millions 
of  people  indignantly  and  resolutely  spurning  at  slavery,  and  demanding  liberty  with 
an  irresistible  voice." 

To  this  Adams  replied,  "  I  know  that  encyclopedists  and  economists — Diderot  and 
D'Alembert,  Voltaire  and  Rousseau — have  contributed  to  this  great  event  even  more 
than  Sidney,  Locke,  or  Hoadley ;  perhaps  more  than  the  American  Revolution :  and  I 
own  to  you  I  know  not  what  to  make  of  a  republic  of  thirty  millions  of  atheists.  .  .  . 

i  Capefigue,  ii.,  82.  Mr.  Jefferson's  religious  views,  at  that  time,  may  be  inferred  from  the  contents  of  a  letter  written 
at  Paris  on  the  10th  of  August,  1T87,  to  Peter  Carr,  a  young  relative  of  his  in  Virginia,  wherein  he  lays  down  some 
maxims  for  his  future  guidance.  He  enjoins  him  to  exalt  reason  above  creeds.  "Question  with  boldness,"  he  says, 
"even  the  existence  of  a  God  ;  because,  if  there  be  one,  he  must  more  approve  the  homage  of  reason  than  of  blindfold 
fear."  He  then  advises  him  to  read  the  Bible  as  he  would  Livy  or  Tacitns.  "  The  facts  which  are  within  the  ordinary 
course  of  nature  you  will  believe  on  the  authority  of  the  writer,  as  you  do  those  of  the  same  kind  in  Livy  or  Tacitus." 
He  then  cautions  him  against  a  belief  in  statements  in  the  Bible  "which  contradict  the  laws  of  nature."  Concerning 
the  New  Testament,  he  said,  "  It  is  the  history  of  a  personage  called  Jesus.  Keep  in  your  eye  the  opposite  pretensions, 
1,  of  those  who  say  he  was  begotten  of  God,  born  of  a  virgin,  suspended  and  reversed  the  laws  of  nature  at  will,  and 
ascended  bodily  into  heaven  ;  and,  2,  of  those  who  gay  he  was  a  man  of  illegitimate  birth,  of  a  benevolent  heart,  enthusi 
astic  mind,  who  set  out  with  pretensions  to  divinity,  ended  in  believing  them,  and  was  punished  capitally  for  sedition 
by  being  gibbeted  according  to  the  Roman  law." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


69 


An  English  Democrat's  Discourse.  Burke's  Reflections  on  the  French  Revolution.  Paine's  "Rights  of  Man." 

Too  many  Frenchmen,  after  the  example  of  too  many  Americans,  pant  for  equality  of 
person  and  property.  The  impracticability  of  this,  God  Almighty  has  decreed,  and 
the  advocates  for  liberty  who  attempt  it  will  surely  suffer  for  it."1 


i  See  Letter  to  Richard  Price,  April  19, 1790,  in  the  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  ix.,  563. 

Richard  Price,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  was  an  eminent  English  Dissenting  minister,  and  at  this  time  was  preacher  at  the  meet 
ing-house  in  Old  Jewry,  London.  He  was  then  quite  venerable  in  years,  and  with  a  mind  as  vigorous  as  when,  in  1776, 
he  wrote  his  famous  "Observations  on  the  War  in  America."  He  was  an  ultra  democrat,  and  sympathized  itrongly 
with  the  French  Revolution.  He  did  not  live  to  see  that  Revolution  assume  its  huge  proportions  and  hideous  visage 
that  so  terrified  Europe,  for  he  died  in  the  spring  of  1791. 

The  discourse  above  alluded  to  was  preached  on  the  anniversary  of  the  Revolution  in  1688  (4th  of  November)  which 
hurled  James  the  Second  from  the  throne.  Dr.  Price  was  an  active  member  of  the  "Revolution  Club,"  of  which,  at  that 
time,  the  Earl  of  Stanhope  was  president.  The  discourse  "  On  the  Love  of  our  Country"  was  preached  before  the  mem 
bers,  and  was  subsequently  printed.  After  alluding  to  the  Revolution  in  France,  he  said,  "I  see  the  dominion  of  kings 
changed  for  the  dominion  of  laws,  and  the  dominion  of  priests  giving  way  to  the  dominion  of  reason  and  conscience. 
Be  encouraged,  all  ye  friends  of  freedom  and  writers  in  its  defense  !  The  times  are  auspicious.  Your  labors  have  not 
been  in  vain.  Behold  kingdoms,  admonished  by  you,  starting  from  sleep,  breaking  their  fetters,  and  claiming  justice 
from  their  oppressors !  Behold  the  light  you  have  struck  out,  after  setting  America  free,  reflected  to  France,  and  there 
kindled  into  a  blaze  that  lays  despotism  in  ashes,  and  warms  and  illuminates  Europe !" 

The  Society,  at  that  meeting,  on  motion  of  Dr.  Price,  agreed,  by  acclamation,  to  send,  in  the  shape  of  a  formal  address, 
"their  congratulations  to  the  National  Assembly  on  the  event  of  the  late  glorious  Revolution  in  France."  This  action 
and  the  discourse  of  Dr.  Price  produced  the  greatest  agitation  throughout  England.  Auxiliary  clubs  were  speedily 
formed  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  encouraged  by  men  like  Dr.  Priestley,  the  eminent  Unitarian  minister  at  Bir 
mingham.  Monarchist  and  Churchman  were  greatly  alarmed.  The  king  was  inclined  to  deny  any  more  concessions  to 
the  Liberal  party,  making  the  Revolution  in  France  a  sufficient  argument  against  reform  in  England,  while  the  clergy  of 
the  hierarchy  raised  a  cry  that  the  Church  was  in  danger  from  the  revolutionizing  and  destructive  machinations  of  the 
Dissenters.  To  the  astonishment  of  all  men,  Edmund  Burke  raised  his  voice  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  cadences 
never  heard  before  from  his  lips.  He  had  ever  been  the  eloquent  advocate  of  the  rights  of  man.  Now  he  declared  that 
there  was  no  such  thing  as  natural  rights  of  men,  and  he  condemned  the  whole  body  of  Dissenters  in  the  strongest 
terms,  as  discontented  people,  whose  principles  tended  to  the  subversion  of  good  government.  Nor  did  his  denuncia 
tions  rest  there.  He  professed  to  regard  Dr.  Price's  sermon  with  holy  horror,  and  its  author  as  a  most  dangerous  agi 
tator,  and  he  brought  to  the  task  of  disabusing  the  public  mind  of  England  concerning  the  real  character  of  the  revolt 
in  Paris  the  whole  powers  of  his  mighty  intellect.  In  an  almost  incredible  short  space  of  time  he  wrote  his  famous 
"  Reflections  on  the  French  Revolution,"  the  publication  of  which  produced  a  most  powerful  effect.  The  king  and  min 
istry,  and  the  Tory  party,  expressed  unbounded  admiration  of  this  splendid  de 
fense  of  their  policy,  while  all  just  men  agreed  that  it  was  a  monstrous  exagger 
ation.  It  called  forth  many  opposing  writers— among  them  the  powerful  Priest 
ley,  the  elegant  Mackintosh,  and  the  coarse  but  vigorous  Paine.  The  war  of 
words,  and  pen,  and  type  was  waged  furiously  for  a  long  time,  and  satirical  bal 
lads  and  clever  caricatures  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  contest. 

Thomas  Paine,  who  had  been  in  Paris  some  time,  and  participated  in  some  of 
the  revolutionary  scenes  there,  had  lately  returned  when  Burke's  "Reflections" 
appeared,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  preparing  an  answer,  which  he  entitled  "  The 
Rights  of  Man."  The  first  part  was  published  on  the  1st  of  February,  1791,  and 
produced  great  disturbance.  It  was  sought  after  with  the  greatest  avidity,  and  in 
proportion  to  its  success  was  the  alarm  and  indignation  of  the  Tory  party.  There 
was  ample  food  for  the  caricaturists,  and  Gillray's  pencil  was  active.  Fox  and 
Sheridan,  who  were  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  in  Parliament,  were  classed 
among  the  leaders  of  the  Revolution  Clubs,  and  appeared  in  pictures  with  Priest 
ley  and  Paine.  In  May,  1791,  Gillray  burlesqued  Paine  in  a  caricature  which  he 
entitled  "  The  Rights  of  Man  ;  or,  Tommy  Paine,  the  American  Tailor,  taking  the 

Measure  of  the  Crown  for  a  new 
pair  of  Revolution  Breeches." 
Paine  is  seen  with  the  conven 
tional  type  of  face  given  by  the 
caricaturists  to  a  French  demo 
crat.  His  tri- colored  cockade 
bears  the  inscription,  "Five  la 
liberte!"  and  from  his  month 

proceeds  an  incoherent  soliloquy,  as  if  from  a  man  half  drunk.*  This 
was  in  allusion  to  his  well-known  intemperance.  Paine  was  finally 
prosecuted  by  the  government  for  libel  on  account  of  some  remarks  in 
his  "  Rights  of  Man,"  and  was  compelled  to  flee  to  France,  where  he  was 
warmly  received  by  the  revolutionists.  A  Tory  mob  destroyed  Dr. 
Priestley's  ohurch  in  Birmingham,  and  his  dwelling  and  fine  library  a 
short  distance  in  the  country ;  also  he  and  his  family  barely  escaped 
with  their  lives. 


•  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  soliloquy:  "Fathom  and  a  half!  fath 
om  and  a  half!  Poor  Tom  !  ah  !  mercy  upon  me  !  that's  more  by  half 
than  my  poor  measure  will  ever  be  able  to  reach  !  Lord  !  Lord  !  I  wish 
I  had  a  bit  of  the  stay-tape  [allusion  to  Paine's  former  business  of  stay- 
maker]  or  buckram  which  I  used  to  cabbage  when  I  was  a  'prentice,  to 
lengthen  it  out.  Well,  well,  who  would  ever  have  thought  it,  that  I, 
A  BAD  MEASUBE.  wno  have  served  seven  years  as  an  apprentice,  and  afterward  worked  four 

years  as  a  journeyman  to  a  master  tailor,  then  followed  the  business  of 
an  exciseman  as  much  longer,  shcu'.d  not  be  able  to  take  the  dimension  of  this  bawble !  for  what  is  a  crown  but  a  bawble, 


70  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Adams's  "Discourses  on  Davila."  His  Opinions  on  Government.  Jefferson's  Disgust  and  Alarm. 

Mr.  Adams  had  discerned  with  alarm  the  contagion  of  revolution  which  went  out 
from  Paris  in  the  autumn  of  1789.  He  saw  it  affecting  England,  and  menacing  the 
existence  of  its  government ;  and  he  perceived  its  rapid  diffusion  in  his  own  country 
with  surprise  and  pain.  It  was  so  different  in  form  and  substance  from  that  which 
had  made  his  own  people  free,  that  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  its  dangers.  With 
a  patriotic  spirit  he  sought  to  arrest  the  calamities  it  might  bring  upon  his  country, 
and  with  that  view  he  wrote  a  series  of  articles  for  a  newspaper,  entitled  "  Discourses 
on  Davila."  These  contained  an  analysis  of  Davila's  History  of  the  Civil  War  in 
France^  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  aim  of  Mr.  Adams  was  to  point  out  to  his 
countrymen  the  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  factions  in  ill-balanced  forms  of  gov 
ernment.  In  these  essays  he  maintained  that,  as  the  great  spring  of  human  activity, 
especially  as  related  to  public  life,  was  self-esteem,  manifested  in  the  love  of  superior 
ity,  and  the  desire  of  .distinction,  applause,  and  admiration,  it  was  important  in  a  pop 
ular  government  to  provide  for  the  moderate  gratification  of  all  of  them.  He  there 
fore  advocated  a  liberal  use  of  titles  and  ceremonial  honors  for  those  in  office,  and  an 
aristocratic  Senate.  To  counteract  any  undue  influence  on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  he 
proposed  a  popular  assembly  on  the  broadest  democratic  basis ;  and,  to  keep  in  check 
encroachments  of  each  upon  the  other,  he  recommended  a  powerful  Executive.  He 
thought  liberty  to  all  would  thus  be  best  secured.2  From  the  premises  which  formed 
the  basis  of  his  reasoning,  he  argued  that  the  French  Constitution,  which  disavowed 
all  distinctions  of  rank,  which  vested  the  legislative  authority  in  a  single  Assembly, 
and  which,  though  retaining  the  office  of  king,  divested  him  of  nearly  all  actual  power, 
must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  prove  a  failure.  The  wisdom  of  this  assumption  has 
been  vindicated  by  history. 

The  publication  of  these  essays  at  that  time  was  Mr.  Adams's  blunder.3  His  ideas 
were  presented  in  a  form  so  cloudy  that  his  political  system  was  misunderstood  by 
the  many  and  misinterpreted  by  the  few.  He  was  charged  with  advocating  a  mon 
archy  and  a  hereditary  Senate ;  and  it  was  artfully  insinuated  that  he  had  been  se 
duced  by  Hamilton  (whose  jealous  opponents  delighted  in  pointing  to  him  as  the 
arch-enemy  of  republican  government)  from  his  loyalty  to  those  noble  principles 
which  he  had  exhibited  before  he  wrote  his  "  Defense  of  the  American  Constitu 
tions,"  published  in  London  three  years  before. 

Those  essays  filled  Jefferson  with  disgust,  and  he  cherished  the  idea  that  Hamilton, 
Adams,  Jay,  and  others  were  at  the  head  of  a  party  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  to  over 
throw  the  republican  institutions  of  the  United  States,  and  on  their  ruins  to  construct 
a  mixed  government  like  that  of  England,  composed  of  a  monarchy  and  aristocracy.4 

1  Deir  Istoria  delle  Guerre  Civili  di  Francia,  by  Henrico  Caterino  Davila. 

2  This  was  only  an  amplification  of  the  thought  thus  expressed  in,  his  Defense  of  the  American  Constitutions:  "It  is 
denied  that  the  people  are  the  best  keepers,  or  any  keepers  at  all,  of  their  own  liberties,  when  they  hold  collectively,  or 
by  representative,  the  executive  and  judicial  power,  or  the  whole  uncontrolled  legislature."    He  did  not  believe  in  the 
efficiency  or  safety  of  a  government  formed  upon  the  simple  plan  of  M.  Thurgot  and  other  clear-minded  men  of  France, 
in  which  all  power  was  concentrated  in  one  body  directly  representing  the  nation.    That  was  the  doctrine  and  the  prac 
tice  of  the  French  revolutionists,  enforced  by  the  logic  of  Condorcet  and  the  eloquence  of  Mirabeau.    Mr.  Adams  wished 
a  system  of  checks  and  balances,  which  experience  has  proved  to  be  the  wisest. 

3  They  were  published  in  the  Gazette  of  the  United  States,  at  Philadelphia,  then  the  seat  of  the  national  government. 
Their  more  immediate  object  was  a  reply  to  Condorcet's  pamphlet,  entitled  Quatre  Lettrex  6"un  Bourgeois  de  New  Haven, 
sur  r  Unite  de  la  Legislation.    Mr.  Adams  soon  perceived  that  his  essays  were  furnishing  the  partisans  of  the  day  with 
too  much  capital  for  immediate  use  in  the  conflict  of  opinjon  then  raging,  and  ceased  writing  before  they  were  com 
pleted.  Twenty  years  later,  when  a  new  edition  was  published,  Mr.  Adams  wrote,  "  This  dull,  heavy  volume  still  excites 
the  wonder  of  its  author — first,  that  he  could  find,  amidst  the  constant  scenes  of  business  and  dissipation  in  which  he 
was  enveloped,  time  to  write  it ;  secondly,  that  he  had  the  courage  to  oppose  and  publish  his  own  opinions  to  the  uni 
versal  opinion  of  America,  and  indeed  of  all  mankind.    Not  one  man  in  America  then  believed  him.    He  knew  not  one, 
and  has  not  heard  of  one  since,  who  then  believed  him. — J.  A.,  1812." 

4  n  rjijje  rp01.y  paperj  Fenno's,"  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Short,  in  Paris,  "  rarely  admits  any  thing  which  defends  the  present  form 

which  we  may  see  in  the  Tower  for  sixpence  apiece  ?  Well,  although  it  may.be  too  large  for  a  tailor  to  take  measure 
of,  there's  one  comfort — he  may  make  mouths  at  it,  and  call  it  as  many  names  as  he  pleases  !  And  yet,  Lord  !  Lord  !  I 
should  like  to  make  it  a  Yankee-doodle  night-cap  and  breeches,  if  it  was  not  so  d— d  large,  or  I  had  stuff  enough.  Ah  ! 
if  I  could  once  do  that,  I  would  soon  stitch  up  the  mouth  of  that  barnacled  Edmund  from  making  any  more  Reflections 
upon  the  Flints.  And  so,  Flints  and  Liberty  forever,  and  d— n  the  Dungs !  Huzza  !" 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  71 


Effect  of  Paine's  "Eights  of  Man."  Feud  between  Jefferson  and  Hamilton.  Newspaper  War. 

To  thwart  these  fancied  designs,  and  to  inculcate  the  doctrines  of  the  French  Revo 
lution  which  he  so  much  admired,  and  on  which  he  grounded  his  hopes  of  a  stable 
government  in  his  own  country,1  Jefferson  hastened  to  have  printed  and  circulated 
Thomas  Paine's  famous  reply  to  Burke's  "  Reflections  on  the  French  Revolution," 
called  "  The  Rights  of  Man,"  which  had  just  been  received  from  England.  That 
essay,  originally  dedicated  "  To  the  President  of  the  United  States,"  was  admired  by 
Jefferson,  and  it  was  issued  from  the  Philadelphia  press,  with  a  complimentary  note 
from  him. 

This  apparent  indorsement  of  the  essay  by  the  government,  in  the  persons  of  the 
President  and  Secretary  of  State,  was  very  offensive  to  Great  Britain,  and  produced 
a  good  deal  of  stir  in  the  United  States.  Major  Beckwith,  the  aid-de-camp  of  Lord 
Dorchester,  already  mentioned,2  was  in  Philadelphia  at  that  time,  and  expressed  his 
surprise ;  but  subsequent  assurances  that  the  President  knew  nothing  of  the  dedica 
tion,  and  that  Mr.  Jefferson  "  neither  desired  nor  expected"  to  have  the  note  printed, 
soon  smoothed  the  ripple  of  dissatisfaction  so  far  as  the  British  government  was  con 
cerned.3 

The  political  and  personal  feud  between  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  became  more  in 
tense  every  hour.  Freneau's  United  States  Gazette,  believed  to  be  under  the  control 
of  the  former,  was  filled  with  bitter  denunciations  of  Hamilton  and  the  leading  meas 
ures  of  the  administration ;  and  Fenno's  National  Gazette,  the  supporter  of  the  gov 
ernment  policy,  was  made  spicy  by  Hamilton's  vigorous  retorts.4  The  public  mind 
was  greatly  excited  thereby,  and  Washington  was  compelled  to  perceive  (as  he  did 
with  alarm  and  mortification)  that  there  was  a  schism  in  his  Cabinet,  which  threat 
ened  to  be  destructive  of  all  harmony  of  action,  and  perilous  to  the  public  good.  He 
anxiously  sought  to  end  the  strife  by  assuming  the  holy  office  of  peace-maker,  but  in 


of  government  in  opposition  to  his  desire  of  subverting  it,  to  make  way  for  a  king,  Lords,  and  Commons.  There  are 
high  names  here  in  favor  of  this  doctrine  .  .  .  Adams,  Jay,  Hamilton,  Knox,  and  many  of  the  Cincinnati.  The  second 
says  nothing ;  the  third  is  open.  Both  are  dangerous.  They  pant  after  union  with  England,  as  the  p(^ver  which  is  to 
support  their  projects,  and  are  most  determined  Anti-Gallicans.  It  is  prognosticated  that  our  republic  is  to  end  with 
the  President's  life  ;  but  I  believe  they  will  find  themselves  all  head  and  no  body." 

1  "  You  will  have  heard,"  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  to  Edward  Rutledge  in  August,  1791,  "before  this  reaches  you,  of  the 
peril  into  which  the  French  Eevolution  is  brought  by  the  flight  of  their  king.    Such  are  the  fruits  of  that  form  of  gov 
ernment  which  heaps  importance  on  idiots,  and  which  the  Tories  of  the  present  day  are  trying  to  preach  into  our  favor. 
I  still  hope  the  French  Revolution  will  issue  happily.    I  feel  that  the  permanence  of  our  own  leans  in  some  degree  on 
that,  and  that  a  failure  there  would  be  a  powerful  argument  to  prove  that  there  must  be  a  failure  here." 

2  See  note  1,  page  G3. 

3  The  political  sentiments  of  Paine's  Rights  of  Man  were  in  accordance  with  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  the  great 
body  of  the  American  people.    The  author  sent  fifty  copies  to  Washington,  who  distributed  them  among  his  friends. 
His  official  position  cautioned  him  to  be  prudently  silent  concerning  the  work.    Richard  Henry  Lee,  to  whom  Washing 
ton  gave  a  copy,  said,  in  his  letter  acknowledging  the  favor,  "  It  is  a  performance  of  which  any  man  might  be  proud ; 
and  I  most  sincerely  regret  that  our  country  could  not  have  offered  sufficient  inducements  to  have  retained,  as  a  perma 
nent  citizen,  a  man  so  thoroughly  republican  in  sentiment  and  fearless  in  the  expression  of  his  opinions."   See  Lossing's 
Home  of  Washington,  or  Mount  Vernon  and  its  Associations,  p.  262. 

The  note  alluded  to  in  the  text  was  from  Mr.  Jefferson  to  a  stranger  to  him  (Jonathan  Bayard  Smith),  to  whom  the 
owner  of  Paine's  pamphlet,  who  lent  it  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  desired  him  to  send  it.  "  To  take  off  a  little  of  the 
dryness  of  the  note,"  Mr.  Jefferson  made  some  complimentary  observations  concerning  the  pamphlet,  and  expressed 
his  satisfaction  that  something  public  would  be  said,  by  its  publication,  "  against  the  political  heresies  which  had  lately 
sprung  up."  To  the  astonishment  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  this  private  note  was  printed  with  the  pamphlet  the  next  week. 
Mr.  Jefferson  acknowledged  that  his  remarks  in  it  were  aimed  at  the  author  of  the  Discourses  on  Davila,  and  the  affair 
produced  a  temporary  estrangement  between  him  and  Mr.  Adams. 

Warm  discussions  arose,  soon  after  the  publication  of  Paine's  pamphlet,  on  the  doctrines  which  it  promulgated.  A 
series  of  articles  in  reply  to  the  "Rights  of  Man"  appeared  in  the  Boston  Centinel,  over  the  signature  of  PuUicola,  which 
were  attributed  to  John  Adams,  and  were  reprinted  in  London,  in  pamphlet  form,  with  his  name  on  the  title  -  page. 
They  were  written  by  his  son,  the  late  John  Quincy  Adams.  They  were  answered  by  several  writers.  "A  host  of 
champions,"  Jefferson  wrote  to  Paine,  "entered  the  arena  immediately  in  your  defense." 

*  Philip  Freneau,  a  poet  of  some  pretensions,  and  a  warm  Whig  writer  during  the  Revolution,  was  called  from  New 
York,  where  he  was  editing  a  newspaper,  to  fill  the  post  of  translating  clerk  in  the  State  Department  under  Mr.  Jeffer 
son.  A  new  paper,  called  The  National  Gazette,  opposed  to  the  leading  measures  of  the  administration,  was  started,  and 
Freneau  was  made  its  editor.  It  was  understood  to  be  Mr.  Jefferson's  "  organ,"  but  it  would  be  both  ungenerous  and 
unjust  to  believe  that  the  bitter  attacks  made  upon  all  the  measures  of  the  administration  were  approved  by  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  ;  yet,  when  the  Secretary  well  knew  that  the  President,  whom  he  professed  to  revere,  was  greatly  hurt  and  annoyed 
by  them,  it  was,  as  Mr.  Irving  justly  remarks  (Life  of  Washington,  v.,  164),  "rather  an  ungracious  determination  to  keep 
the  barking  cur  in  his  employ."  Fenno  published  the  United  States  Gazette,  the  supporter  of  the  measures  of  the  admin 
istration. 


72  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Federalists  and  Republicans.  Their  Differences.  Popular  Sentiment.  Europe  against  France. 

vain.1  The  antagonisms  of  the  Secretaries  had  become  too  violent  to  be  easily  recon 
ciled.  Their  partisans  were  numerous  and  powerful,  and  had  become  arranged  in 
tangible  battle  order,  under  the  respective  names  of  Federalists  and  Republicans — 
names  which  for  many  years  were  significant  of  opposing  opinions :  first,  concerning 
the  administration  of  the  national  government;  secondly,  on  the  question  of  a  neutral 
policy  toward  the  warring  nations  of  Europe ;  and,  thirdly,  on  the  subject  of  the  war 
with  Great  Britain  declared  in  1812. 

The  Federalists,  called  the  "  British  party"  by  their  opponents,  were  in  favor  of  a 
strong  central  government,  and  were  very  conservative.  They  were  in  favor  of  main 
taining  a  strict  neutrality  concerning  the  affairs  of  European  nations  during  the  ex 
citing  period  of  Washington's  administration,  and  were  opposed  to  the  War  of  1812. 
The  Republicans,  called  the  "  French  party,"  were  favorable  to  a  strong  people  and  a 
weak  government,  sympathized  warmly  with  the  French  revolutionists,  and  urged 
the  government  to  do  the  same  by  public  expressions  and  belligerent  acts  if  necessary, 
and  were  favorable  to  the  War  of  1812  when  it  became  an  apparent  national  neces 
sity.  Federal  and  Republican  were  the  distinctive  names  of  the  two  great  political 
parties  in  the  United  States  during  the  first  quarter  of  a  century  of  the  national  ex 
istence,  when  they  disappeared  from  the  politician's  vocabulary.  New  issues,  grow 
ing  out  of  radical  changes  in  the  condition  of  the  country,  produced  coalitions  and 
amalgamations  by  which  the  identity  of  the  two  old  parties  was  speedily  lost. 

The  zeal  of  the  opposing  parties  was  intensified  by  events  in  Europe  during  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  1792 ;  and  at  the  opening  of  the  last  session  of  the  second  Con 
gress,  in  November,  the  party  divisions  were  perfectly  distinct  in  that  body. 

All  Europe  was  now  effervescing  with  antagonistic  ideas.  The  best  and  wisest 
men  stood  in  wonder  and  awe  in  the  midst  of  the  upheaval  of  old  social  and  political 
systems.  Popular  sentiment  in  the  United  States  was  mixed  in  character,  and  yet 
crude  in  form,  and  for  a  while  it  was  difficult  to  discern  precisely  in  what  relation  it 
stood  to  the  disturbed  nationalities  of  Europe.  The  blood  of  nearly  all  of  them 
coursed  in  the  veins  of  the  Americans ;  and  notwithstanding  a  broad  ocean,  and  per 
haps  more  than  a  generation  of  time,  separated  the  most  of  them  from  the  Old  World, 
they  experienced  lingering  memories  or  pleasant  dreams  of  Fatherland. 

France,  the  old  ally  and  friend  of  the  United  States,  was  the  centre  of  the  volcanic 
force  that  was  shaking  the  nations.  The  potentates  of  Europe,  trembling  for  the 
stability  of  their  thrones,  instinctively  arrayed  themselves  as  the  implacable  enemies 
of  the  new  power  that  held  the  sceptre  of  France,  and  disturbed  the  political  and 
dynastic  equilibrium.  They  called  out  their  legions  for  self-defense  and  to  utter  a 
solemn  protest.  The  people  were  overawed  by  demonstrations  of  power.  The  gleam 
of  bayonets  and  the  roll  of  the  drum  met  the  eye  and.  ear  every  where,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1792  nearly  all  Europe  was  rising  in  arms  against  France. 

Revolution  had  done  its  work  nobly,  wisely,  and  successfully  in  the  United  States, 
and  the  experiment  of  self-government  was  working  well.  The  memory  of  French 
arms,  and  men,  and  money  that  came  to  their  aid  in  their  struggle  for  liberty,  filled 
the  hearts  of  the  Americans  with  gratitude,  for  they  were  not,  as  a  people,  aware  of 

•  August  23  l  Botl1  mmisters.  discharged  their  respective  duties  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  President,  and  he 
1792.  ' '  felt  greatly  disturbed  by  their  antagonisms,  now  become  public.  To  Jefferson  he  wrote,"  after  referring 
to  the  Indian  hostilities,  and  the  possible  intrigues  of  foreigners  to  check  the  prosperity  of  the  United 
States,  "  How  unfortunate,  and  how  much  to  be  regretted  is  it,  that  while  we  are  encompassed  on  all  sides  by  armed  en 
emies  and  insidious  friends,  internal  dissensions  should  be  harrowing  and  tearing  our  yitals.  .  .  .  My  earnest  wish  and 
my  fondest  hope,  therefore,  is  that,  instead  of  wounding  suspicions  and  irritating  charges,  there  may  be  liberal  allow 
ances,  mutual  forbearances,  and  temporizing  yieldings  on  all  sides.  Under  the  exercise  of  these,  matters  will  go  on 
smoothly,  and,  if  possible,  more  prosperously.  Without  them,  every  thing  must  rub ;  the  wheels  of  government  will 
clog,  our  enemies  will  triumph,  and,  by  throwing  their  weight  into  the  disaffected  scale,  may  accomplish  the  ruin  of  the 
goodly  fabric  we  have  been  erecting." 

Washington  wrote  to  Hamilton  in  a  similar  strain,  and  from  both  he  received  patriotic  replies.  But  the  feud  was  too 
deep-seated  to  be  healed.  Jefferson  would  yield  nothing.  He  harbored  an  implacable  hatred  of  Hamilton,  whom  he 
had  scourged  into  active  retaliation,  and  whose  lash  he  felt  most  keenly. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  73 


Washington's  Wisdom  and  Prudence.  Sympathy  with  the  French  Revolutionists.  Anarchy  in  France. 

the  utterly  selfish  motive  of  the  Bourbon  in  giving  that  aid,  and  how  little  it  had 
really  contributed  to  their  success  in  that  struggle ;  and  their  own  zeal  for  freedom, 
while  enjoying  the  fruition  of  their  efforts,  awakened  their  warmest  sympathies  for 
those  yet  in  the  toils  of  slavery.  Without  inquiring,  they  cheered  on  the  people  of 
France,  who  were  first  led  by  the  beloved  Lafayette ;  and  with  corresponding  de 
testation,  heightened  by  the  memory  of  old  wrongs  and  the  irritations  of  present  un 
friendliness,  they  saw  Great  Britain,  so  boastful  of  liberty,  arrayed  against  the  French 
people  in  their  professed  struggle  for  the  establishment  of  a  constitutional  govern 
ment  like  that  of  England. 

But  there  were  wise,  and  thoughtful,  and  prudent  men  in  the  United  States  and  in 
Great  Britain,  who  had  made  the  science  of  government  their  study  and  human  nature 
their  daily  reading,  who  clearly  perceived  the  vast  difference  between  the  revolutions 
in  America  and  France,  and  thought  they  observed  in  the  latter  no  hope  for  the  real 
benefit  and  prosperity  of  the  people.  These,  in  the  United  States,  formed  the  leaders 
of  the  Federal  or  conservative  party.  Washington  had  hailed  with  great  satisfaction 
the  dawning  of  what  he  hoped  to  be  the  day  of  liberty  in  France,  but,  from  the  begin 
ning,  his  own  sagacity,  and  the  gloomy  forebodings  manifested  by  Lafayette  from  time 
to  time  in  his  letters,  made  him  doubtful  of  the  success  of  the  movement.  He  often 
expressed  an  earnest  wish  that  republicanism  might  be  established  in  France,  but 
never  breathed  a  hope,  because  he  never  felt  it.  And  when,  in  the  summer  of  179?, 
he  perceived  the  bloody  and  ferocious  character  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  the 
departure  of  its  course  from  the  high  and  honorable  path  marked  out  for  it  by  Lafay 
ette  and  his  compatriots,  he  and  the  conservative  party,  then  fortunately  holding  the 
reins  of  executive  and  legislative  power,  resolved  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States  should  stand  aloof  from  all  entanglements  with  European  politics. 

Jefferson  and  his  party,  on  the  other  hand,  deeply  sympathized  with  the  French 
revolutionists,  and  bore  intense  enmity  toward  Great  Britain.  They  were  greater  in 
numbers  than  the  Federalists,  and  their  warfare  was  relentless.  They  denounced 
every  man  and  measure  opposed  to  their  own  views  with  a  fierceness  and  lack  of 
generosity  that  appears  almost  incredible,  and  they  shut  their  ears  to  the  howling  of 
that  lawless  violence  that  had  commenced  drenching,  the  soil  of  France  in  blood. 
Even  the  dispatches  of  government  agents  abroad  were  sneered  at  as  instruments  of 
needless  alarm,  if  not  something  worse.1 

But  "  the  inexorable  logic  of  events"  soon  revealed  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  those  terrible  aspects  of  the  French  Revolution  which  made  them  for  a  mo 
ment  recoil  with  horror.  Anarchy  had  seized  unhappy  France,  and  the  ferocious  Jac 
obin  Club  reigned  supreme  in  Paris.  They  were  the  enemies  of  the  king  and  Consti 
tution,  and  were  determined  to  overthrow  both.  Incited  by  them,  the  populace  of 
Paris,  one  hundred  thousand  in  number,  professedly  incensed  because  the  king  had 
refused  to  sanction  a  decree  of  the  National  Assembly  against  the  priesthood,  and 
another  for  the  establishment  of  a  camp  of  twenty  thousand  men  near  Paris,  marched 
to  the  Tuileriesa  with  pikes,  swords,  muskets,  and  artillery,  and  demanded  .  Jnne  20) 
entrance.  The  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  forty  thousand  armed  men, 
many  of  them  the  vilest  sans-culottes  of  the  streets  of  Paris,  went  through  the  palace, 
and  compelled  the  king,  in  the  presence  of  his  family,  to  put  the  bonnet  rouge,  or  red 
cap  of  liberty,  upon  his  head.  . 

Lafayette  was  then  at  the  head  of  his  army  at  Maubeuge,  a  fortified  town  in  the 
Department  of  the  North.  He  hastened  to  Paris,  presented  himself  at  the  bar  of  the 

1  Gouverneur  Morris,  who  had  been  appointed  minister  to  France  after  Jefferson  left,  kept  Washington  continually 
informed  of  the  scenes  of  anarchy  and  licentiousness  in  the  French  capital,  and  presented  gloomy  prognostications  re 
specting  the  future  of  that  country.  Because  of  this  faithfulness,  and  his  testimony  against  the  tendency  of  the  French 
Revolution,  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  blind  devotion  to  that  cause,  and  his  ungenerous  judgment  concerning  all  who  differed 
from  him,  spoke  of  Morris  as  "  as  a  high-flying  monarchy-man,  shutting  his  eyes  and  his  faith  to  every  fact  against  hie 
wishes,  and  believing  every  thing  he  desired  to  be  true." 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Lafayette  before  the  National  Assembly. 


He  demands  the  Punishment  of  Traitors. 


French  Paper-money. 


RECOMPENSE 
LB     DEXONCIATETTR . 


!    i 


National  Assembly,  and  in  the  name  of  the  army  demanded  the  punishment  of  those 
who  had  insulted  the  king  and  his  family  in  the  palace  and  violated  the  Constitution. 
But  Lafayette  was  powerless.  Paris  was  drunk  with  passion  and  unrestrained  license. 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  75 


Monarchy  in  France  overthrown.  Lafayette  imprisoned.  The  National  Convention  established. 

The  doom  of  royalty  was  decreed.  The  populace  and  members  of  the  Assembly  de 
manded  the  deposition  of  Louis.  The  sittings  of  the  Assembly  were  declared  perma 
nent  until  order  should  be  restored.  At  midnight*  the  dreadful  tocsin,  or  .  August  9, 
alarm-bell,  was  sounded,  and  the  drums  beat  the  generate  in  every  direc 
tion.  The  streets  were  filled  with  the  mad  populace,  and  in  the  morning  the  Tuileries 
were  attacked  by  them.  The  king,  attended  by  the  Swiss  Guard,  fled  to  the  National 
Assembly  for  protection.  Nearly  every  man  of  the  guard  was  butchered.  The  mon 
arch  escaped  unhurt,  but  the  overawed  Assembly  decreed  the  suspension  of  the  royal 
authority.1  Monarchy  in  France  was  virtually  overthrown,  and  with  it  fell  Lafayette 
and  the  constitutional  party.  The  Jacobins  of  the  Assembly  procured  a  decree  for 
the  arrest  of  the  marquis.  He  and  a  few  friends  turned  their  faces  toward  Holland 
as  a  temporary  refuge  from  the  storm  until  they  could  escape  to  the  United  States. 
They  were  arrested  on  the  way,  and  for  three  years  Lafayette  was  entombed  in  an 
Austrian  dungeon  at  Olmutz,  while  pretended  republicans,  with  bloody  hands,  were 
holding  the  uncertain  and  slippery  reins  of  anarchical  power  in  his  beloved  France. 

The  Jacobins  were  not  satisfied  with  the  suspension  of  the  king's  authority.    They 
felt  unsafe  while  he  lived.     They  conspired  against  his  life  and  the  lives  of  all  who 
might  s^ftnpathize  with  him.     They  filled  the  prisons  with  priests  and  nobles,  and 
other  suspected  persons.     These  men  were  dangerous  while  their  pulses  beat  health 
ily.    Their  prisons  became  human  slaughter-houses.    Thither  the  demoniac 
populace  were  sent  on  the  evening  of  the  2d  of  September,15  and  before  the 
dawn,  at  least  eighteen  hundred  persons  were  slain ! 

The  conspirators  now  took  bolder  steps.  They  abolished  the  Constituent  Assem 
bly,  and  constituted  themselves  a  National  Convention.  The  Hall  of  the  Tuileries 
was  their  meeting-place,  and  there,  in  the  palace  of  the  kings,  they  assumed  the  ex 
ecutive  powers  of  government.  They  decreed  the  abolition  of  royalty,  and  proclaimed 
France  a  republic.0  With  wonderful  energy  they  devised  and  put  in  e  September  23, 
motion  schemes  of  conquest  and  propagandism.  They  assumed  to  be 
the  deliverers  of  the  people  of  Europe  from  kingly  rule.  Frontier  armies,  with  the 
aid  of  paper-money  alone,2  were  speedily  put  in  motion  to  execute  the  decree  of  Dan- 
ton  and  his  fellow-regicides  that  "  there  must  be  no  more  kings  in  Europe."  They 
invaded  Belgium  and  Savoy,  and  conquered  Austrian  Netherlands.  At  the  sound 
of  the  Marseilles  Hymn,  sung  by  these  knights-errant  of  the  new  chivalry,  the  people 
flocked  to  the  standards  of  revolt.3 

1  The  king  wrote  a  touching  letter  to  his  brother,  dated  "  August  12, 1792,  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning."    The  follow 
ing  is  a  copy : 

"My  brother,  I  am  no  longer  king ;  the  public  voice  will  make  known  to  you  the  most  cruel  catastrophe.  I  am  the 
most  unfortunate  of  husbands  and  of  fathers.  I  am  the  victim  of  my  own  goodness,  of  fear,  of  hope.  It  is  an  impene 
trable  mystery  of  iniquity.  They  have  bereaved  me  of  every  thing.  They  have  massacred  my  faithful  subjects.  I  have 
been  decoyed  by  stratagem  far  from  my  palace,  and  they  now  accuse  me  !  I  am  a  captive.  They  drag  me  to  prison,  and 
the  queen,  my  children,  and  Madame  Elizabeth  [his  sister]  share  my  fate. 

"I  can  no  longer  doubt  that  I  am  an  object  odious  in  the  eyes  of  the  French,  led  astray  by  prejudice.  This  is  the 
stroke  which  is  most  insupportable.  My  brother,  but  a  little  while,  and  I  shall  exist  no  longer.  Remember  to  avenge 
my  memory  by  publishing  how  much  I  loved  this  ungrateful  people.  Recall  one  day  to  their  remembrance  the  wrongs 
they  have  done  me,  and  tell  them  I  forgave.  Adieu,  my  brother,  for  the  last  time." 

This  letter  was  sent  in  a  bit  of  bread  to  a  friend  of  the  king.  It  was  intercepted,  and  never  reached  his  brother. — 
Correspondence  of  Louis  XVI.,  translated  by  HELEN  MAEIA  WILLIAMS,  iii.,  45. 

2  This  paper-money,  a  specimen  of  which  is  given  on  page  74,  was  called  Assignat.    It  was  first  issued  in  1789,  and  the 
basis  for  its  credit  was  the  property  of  the  clergy  and  the  emigrants,  which  the  government  had  seized,  and  which  was 
intended  for  sale.    For  three  years  it  held  a  market  value  of  over  ninety  per  cent.,  but  in  1792  it  began  to  depreciate,  and, 
like  our  own  Continental  money,  soon  became  worthless.    The  first  issue  was  to  the  amount  of  about  $200,000,000.    The 
amount  that  was  finally  put  in  circulation  was  about  $1,750,000,000.    This  paper-money,  which  for  a  season  played  so 
important  a  part  in  the  history  of  the  world,  was  productive  of  the  greatest  evils.    Specimens  of  it  are  now  rarely  to  be 
found.    The  engraving  represents  one  in  the  author's  possession. 

3  In  the  National  Convention,  on  the  28th  of  September,  Danton  declared,  amid  the  loud  applauses  of  the  assembly, 
that  "  the  principle  of  leaving  conquered  peoples  and  countries  the  right  of  choosing  their  own  constitutions  ought  to  be 
so  far  modified  that  we  should  expressly  forbid  them  to  give  themselves  kings.    There  must  be  no  more  kings  in  Europe. 
One  king  would  be  sufficient  to  endanger  general  liberty;  and  I  request  that  a  committee  be  established  for  the  purpose  of 
promoting  a  general  insurrection  among  all  people  against  kings."    They  thus  made  a  distinction  between  the  monarchs 
and  the  people,  and  professed  to  be  the  deliverers  of  the  latter.     The  Revolution  Clubs  of  England  affiliated  with  them 
in  sentiment,  and  Dr.  Priestley  and  Thomas  Paine  were  elected  members  of  the  National  Convention.    Priestley  de- 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Egotism  of  the  French  Revolutionists. 


Paine  in  France. 


Execution  of  Louis  XVI. 


Success  gave  the  revolu 
tionists  prestige,  and,  with 
egotism  unparalleled,  the 
National  Convention,  by 
acclamation,  declared  that, 
"  in  the  name  of  the  French 
nation,  they  would  grant 
fraternity  and  assistance  to 
all  those  peoples  who  wish 
ed  to  procure  liberty ;"  and 
they  charged  the  executive 
power  "  to  send  orders  to  the 
generals  to  give  assistance 
to  such  people,  and  to  de 
fend  citizens  who  had  suffer- 
ed,  and  were  then  suffering 
in  the  cause  of  liberty." 


The  revolutionists,  flush 
ed  with  victories,  and  em 
boldened  by  the  obedi 
ence  which  their  reign  of 
terror  inspired,  soon  exe 
cuted  a  long  -  cherished 
plan  of  the  Jacobins,  and 
murdered  their  king  in  the 
presence  of  his  subjects.1 
They  declared  war  against 
England  and  Hoi-  ,F  b  < 
land,a  and  soon  af-  1793. ' 
terward  against  i>Marcn 
Spain,b  and  with  r- 
the  battle-cry  of  "Liberty 
and  Equality"  they  de 


fied   all  Europe.     For  a 

moment  England  was  alarmed,  for  she  had  numerous  enemies  in  her  own  household, 
and  the  civilized  world  looked  upon  the  sanguinary  tragedy  on  the  Gallic  stage  with 
dismay  and  horror. 

The  contagion  of  that  bloody  Revolution  had  so  poisoned  the  circulation  of  the 
social  and  political  system  of  the  United  States,  that,  strange  as  it  may  appear  to  us, 
when  the  proclamation  of  the  French  Republic,  with  all  its  attendant  horrors  of 
August  and  September,  was  made  known  here,  followed  speedily  by  intelligence  of 


vJ 


clined,  but  Paine  accepted,  went  over  to  France,  and 

took  his  seat  in  that  blood-thirsty  assembly.    This  call 
ed  forth  squibs  and  caricatures  in  abundance.    In  one 

of  the  latter,  entitled  "Fashion  for  Ease;  or,  a  Good 

Constitution  sacrificed  for  a  Fantastic  Form,"  Paine  is 

represented  fitting  Britannia  with  a  new  pair  of  stays,  in 

allusion  to  the  occupation  of  his  early  life.  Over  a  cottage 

door  on  one  side  was  a  sign.  "  Thomas  Paine,  Stay-maker, 

from  Thetford.   Paris  Modes  by  Express."   Paine  never 

ventured  to  return  to  England.  His  popularity  in  France 

was  brief.    In  the  National  Convention  he  offended  the 

ferocious  Jacobius  by  advocating  leniency  toward  the 

king.    He  incurred  their  hatred,  and  Robespierre  and 

his  associates  cast  him  into  prison,  where  he  composed 

his  "  Age  of  Reason."   He  was  saved  frojn  the  guillotine 

by  accident,  escaped  to  the  United  States,  and  spent 

much  of  his  time  there,  until  his  death,  in  coarse  abuse 

of  men  and  measures  in  that  country  and  England. 
1  They  went  through  the  farce  of  a  trial.    The  king 

was  accused  of  treason  to  the  people  and  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  was  found  guilty,  of  course.   Weak  in  intellect, 

and  dissipated  in  habits  as  he  was,  Louis  was  innocent 

of  the  crimes  alleged  against  him.  He  was  beheaded  by 

the  guillotine.    When  standing  before  the  instrument  of  death,  and  looking  upon  the  people  with  benignity,  he  said, 

"I  forgive  my  enemies ;  may  God  forgive  them,  and  not  lay  my  innocent  blood  to  the  charge  of  the  nation  !    God  bless 

my  people !"    He  was  cut  short  by  an  order  to  beat  the  drums  and  sound  the  trumpets,  when  the  brutal  officer  in 

charge  called  out  to  him,  "  No  speeches  !  come,  no  speeches  I" 

The  death  of  Louis  was  sincerely  mourned.  He  was  weak,  but  not 
wicked.  He  was  an  amiable  man,  and  loved  his  country.  His  friends 
dared  not  make  any  public  demonstrations  of  grief,  or  even  of  attach 
ment.  A  small  commemorative  medal  of  brass  was  struck,  and  secretly 
circulated.  These  were  cherished  by  the  Loyalists  for  a  generation  with 
great  affection.  On  one  side  is  a  head  of  Louis,  with  the  usual  inscrip 
tion — I.UD.  xvi.  REX  GALL.  DEI  GRATIA.  On  the  other  side  is  a  memo 
rial  urn,  with  "LOUIS  xvi."  upon  it,  and  a  fallen  crown  and  sceptre  at 
its  base.  Beneath  is  the  date  of  his  death,  and  over  it  the  significant 
words,  SOL  REGNI  ABUT— "The  sun  of  the  kingdom  has  departed."  The 
engraving  is  from  a  copy  in  the  author's  possession.* 

MEMORIAL  MEDAL. 

*  Louis  was  born  on  the  23d  of  March,  1754,  and  in  1TTO  married  Maria 
Antoinette,  of  Austria.    He  ascended  the  throne  of  France,  on  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  in  1774. 


PAINE   FITTING   STAYS. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


Forgetfulness  of  Holland's  Friendship.  Arrival  of  "  Citizen  Genet."  Washington's  Wisdom  and  Prudence. 

the  conquest  of  Austrian  Netherlands  by  a  French  army,  there  was  an  outburst  of 
popular  feeling  in  favor  of  the  Gallic  cause  that  seemed  to  be  almost  universal. 
They  were  blind  to  the  total  difference  between  their  own  Revolution  and  that  in 
France.  They  were  forgetful  of  the  friendship  of  Holland  during  that  struggle — a 
friendship  far  more  sincere  than  that  of  the  French ;  forgetful  also  of  the  spirit  of 
true  liberty  which  for  centuries  had  prevailed  in  Holland,  and  made  it  an  asylum  for 
the  persecuted  for  conscience'  sake  in  all  lands ;  and  the  people  in  several  towns  and 
cities  celebrated  these  events  with  demonstrations  of  great  joy.1  With  a  similar 
spirit  the  death  of  the  French  king  was  hailed  by  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party 
in  the  United  States ;  and  the  declaration  of  war  against  England  and  Holland  by 
France  awakened  a  most  remarkable  enthusiasm  in  favor  of  the  old  ally  of  the  Amer 
icans,  aroused  old  hatreds  toward  England,  and  called  loudly  for  compliance  with  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  the  treaty  of  1778. 2 

These  demonstrations  were  soon  followed  by  the  arrival  of"  Citizen  Genet,"  as  he 
was  styled,3  as  minister  of  the  French  Republic  to  the  United  States.  He  came  in  a 
frigate,  and  landed  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  early  in  April.  His  reception  there 
was  all  that  his  ambition  could  have  demanded ;  and  his  journey  of  three  or  four 
weeks  by  land  from  there  to  Philadelphia,  the  national  capital,  was  a  continued  ova- 
tion.  He  was  a  man  of  culture  and  tact,  spoke  the  English  language  fluently,  and 
was  frank,  lively,  and  communicative.  He  was  precisely  the  man  for  his  peculiar 
mission.  He  mingled  familiarly  with  the  people,  proclaimed  wild  and  stirring  doc 
trines,  scorned  all  diplomatic  art  and  reserve,  and  assured  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  of  the  unbounded  affection  of  his  countrymen  for  the  Americans.  The  Repub 
lican  leaders  hailed  his  advent  with  delight ;  and  a  large  portion  of  the  people  were 
favorable  to  immediate  and  active  participation  by  their  government  with  France  in 
its  impending  struggle  against  armed  Europe.  Many,  in  the  wild  enthusiasm  of  the 
moment,  would  not  have  hesitated  an  instant  in  precipitating  their  country  into  a  war 
that  might  have  proved  its  utter  ruin. 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  country  that  a  man  like  "Washington,  and  his  wise  coun 
selors,  were  at  the  helm  and  halliards  of  the  vessel  of  state  at  that  time,  and  endowed 
with  courage  sufficient  to  meet  the  dangerous  popular  gale.  When  intelligence  of 
the  declaration  of  war  between  France  and  other  nations  reached  him,  the  President 
was  at  Mount  Vemon.  He  had  no  confidence  in  the  self-constituted  rulers  of  France 
or  their  system  of  government.  "  They  are  ready  to  tear  each  other  in  pieces,"  he 
wrote  to  Governor  Lee,  of  Virginia,  "  and  will,  more  than  probably,  prove  the  worst 
foes  the  country  has." 

Perceiving  the  proclivity  of  the  public  mind  in  his  own  country,  the  President  felt 
great  anxiety,  and  he  made  immediate  preparations  to  arrest,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
terrible  evils  which  a  free  course  of  the  popular  sympathy  for  the  French  might  have. 

1  There  was  a  grand  fi-te  held  in  Boston  on  the  24th  of  January,  1793.    An  ox  was  roasted  whole.    It  was  then  deco 
rated  with  ribbons,  and  placed  upon  a  car  drawn  by  sixteen  horses.    The  flags  of  the  United  States  and  France  were 
displayed  from  the  horns  of  the  ox.    It  was  paraded  through  the  streets,  followed  by  carts  bearing  sixteen  hundred 
loaves  of  bread  and  two  hogsheads  of  punch.    These  were  distributed  among  the  people ;  and  at  the  same  time  a  party 
of  three  hundred,  with  Samuel  Adams,  then  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  at  their  head,  assisted  by  the  French 
consul,  sat  down  to  a  dinner  in  Faneuil  Hall.   To  the  children  of  all  the  schools,  who  were  paraded  in  the  streets,  cakes 
were  presented,  stamped  with  the  words  "Liberty  and  Equality."    By  public  subscription,  the  sums  owed  by  prisoners 
in  the  jail  for  debt  were  paid,  and  the  victims  of  that  barbarous  law  were  set  free.    In  Philadelphia  the  anniversary  of 
the  French  alliance,  mentioned  in  the  subjoined  note,  was  commemorated  by  a  public  dinner.    Governor  (late  General) 
Mifflin  presided.    At  the  head  of  the  table  a  pike  was  fixed,  bearing  upon  its  point  the  bonnet  rouge,  with  the  French  and 
American  flags  intertwined  in  festoons,  and  the  whole  surmounted  by  a  dove  and  olive  branch. 

2  A  treaty  of  alliance,  friendship,  and  commerce  was  entered  into  by  the  United  States  and  France  on  the  6th  of  Feb 
ruary,  17TS,  by  which  the  former  was  bound  to  guarantee  the  French  possessions  in  America ;  and  by  a  treaty  of  com 
merce  executed  at  the  same  time,  French  privateers  and  prizes  were  entitled  to  shelter  in  the  American  ports,  while 
those  of  the  enemies  of  France  should  be  excluded.— See  Article  XVII.  of  the  Treaty. 

3  The  French  Jacobins  affected  the  simplicity  of  the  republics  of  Greece  and  Rome.    All  titles  were  abolished,  and 
the  term  citizen  was  universally  applied  to  men.    When  the  king  was  spoken  of,  his  family  name  of  Capet  was  used. 
He  was  called  "Citizen  Capet"  or  " Louis  Capet."    They  affected  to  regard  liberty  as  a  divinity,  and  a  courtesan,  in  the 
conventional  costume  of  that  divinity,  was  paraded  in  a  car  through  the  streets  as  the  Goddess  of  Liberty. 


78  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Washington's  Proclamation  of  Neutrality.  Assaults  upon  it  and  its  Author. 

•  April  12,  He  senta  a  most  unwelcome  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  State.  "  War,"  he 
1T93.  Wrote,  "  having  actually  commenced  between  France  and  Great  Britain,  it 
behooves  the  government  of  this  country  to  use  every  means  in  its  power  to  prevent 
the  citizens  thereof  from  embroiling  us  with  either  of  those  powers,  by  endeavoring 
to  maintain  a  strict  neutrality."  He  required  Mr.  Jefferson  to  give  the  subject  his 
careful  thought,  and  lay  his  views  before  him  on  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia.  A  sim 
ilar  letter  was  sent  to  the  head  of  every  other  department. 

Washington  reached  Philadelphia  on  the  17th  of  April,  and  on  the  19th  held  a 
Cabinet  council.  It  was  agreed  that  the  President  should  issue  a  proclamation  of 
neutrality,  warning  citizens  of  the  United  States  not  to  take  part  in  the  kindling  war. 
At  the  same  meeting  it  was  agreed  that  the  minister  of  the  French  Republic  should 
be  received.1 

The  President's  proclamation  of  neutrality  was  issued  on  the  22d  of  April,  and  was 
assailed  with  the  greatest  vehemence  by  the  "  French  party,"  as  the  Republicans 
were  called.  Reverence  for  the  President's  character  and  position  was  forgotten  in 
the  storm  of  passion  that  ensued.  The  proclamation  was  styled  a  "  royal  edict,"  a 
"  daring  and  unwarrantable  assumption  of  executive  power,"  and  was  pointed  at  as 
an  open'  manifestation  by  the  President  and  his  political  friends  of  partiality  for  En 
gland,  a  bitter  foe,  and  hostility  to  France,  a  warm  friend  and  ancient  ally.  It  is  fair 
to  infer,  from  the  tone  of  his  private  letters  at  that  time,  that  the  Secretary  of  State 
(who  voted  very  reluctantly  in  the  Cabinet  for  the  proclamation),  governed  by  his 
almost  fanatical  hatred  of  Hamilton,  and  his  sympathies  with  the  French  regicides, 
secretly  promoted  a  public  feeling  hostile  to  the  administration.2 

1  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  President's  proclamation : 

"Whereas  it  appears  that  a  state  of  war  exists  between  Austria,  Prussia,  Sardinia,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United  Neth 
erlands  on  the  one  part,  and  France  on  the  other,  and  the  duty  and  interests  of  the  United  States  require  that  they 
should,  with  sincerity  and  good  faith,  adopt  and  pursue  a  conduct  friendly  and  impartial  toward  the  belligerent  powers : 

"I  have  therefore  thought  fit,  by  these  presents,  to  declare  the  disposition  of  the  United  States  to  observe  the  conduct 
aforesaid  toward  those  powers  respectively,  and  to  exhort  and  to  warn  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  carefully  to 
avoid  all  acts  and  proceedings  whatsoever  which  may  ia  any  manner  tend  to  contravene  such  disposition. 

"And  I  do  hereby  make  known,  that  whosoever  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  shall  render  himself  liable  to  pun 
ishment  or  forfeiture  under  the  law  of  nations,  by  committing,  aiding,  or  abetting  hostilities  against  any  of  the  said 
powers,  or  by  carrying  to  any  of  them  those  articles  which  are  deemed  contraband  by  the  modern  usage  of  nations,  will 
not  receive  the  protection  of  the  United  States  against  such  punishment  or  forfeiture ;  and  farther,  that  I  have  given 
instructions  to  those  officers  to  whom  it  belongs  to  cause  prosecutions  to  be  instituted  against  all  persons  who  shall, 
within  the  cognizance  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  violate  the  laws  of  nations  with  respect  to  the  powers  at  war, 
or  any  one  of  them.  In  testimony  whereof,  etc.,  etc.  Signed,  GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

2  It  is  an  unpleasant  duty  to  arraign  men  whom  the  nation  delights  to  honor  as  tried  patriots,  on  a  charge  of  com 
plicity  with  those  who  at  one  time  would  have  wrecked  the  government  upon  the  rocks  of  anarchy,  not  designedly,  per 
haps,  but  nevertheless  effectually.    But  historic  truth  sometimes  demands  it,  as  in  the  case  before  us.    Mr.  Jefferson 
was  openly  opposed  to  the  policy  of  Washington's  administration.    This  was  manly.    But  it  was  not  manly  to  be  a 
covert  enemy.    He  always  denied  any  complicity  with  Freneau,  his  translating  clerk,  in  his  coarse  abuse  of  Washington 
and  his  political  friends,  while  Jefferson  was  Secretary  of  State  ;  but  the  very  minutes  made  by  Mr.  Jefferson  himself, 
and  printed  in  his  Anas,  sufficiently  indicate  his  relative  position  to  Freneau  at  that  time.    He  says  that  at  a  Cabinet 
council  Washington  spoke  harshly  of  Freneau,  who  impudently  sent  him  three  copies  of  his  paper  every  day,  filled  with 
abuse  of  the  administration.    "  He  could  see  nothing  in  it,"  Jefferson  recorded,  "  but  an  impudent  design  to  insult  him : 
he  ended  in  a  high  tone."    Again  Jefferson  says,  "  He  [the  President]  adverted  to  a  piece  in  Freneau's  paper  of  yester 
day.    He  said  he  despised  all  their  attacks  on  him  personally,  but  that  there  had  never  been  an  act  of  the  government, 
not  meaning  in  the  executive  line  only,  but  in  any  line,  which  that  paper  had  not  abused.  ...  He  was  evidently  sore 
and  warm,  and  I  took  his  intention  to  be,  that  I  should  interpose  in  some  way  with  Freneau,  perhaps  withdraw  his  ap 
pointment  of  translating  clerk  in  my  office.    But  I  will  not  do  it.    His  paper  has  saved  our  Constitution,  which  was  gal 
loping  fast  into  monarchy,  and  has  been  checked  by  no  one  means  so  powerfully  as  by  that  paper.    It  is  well  and  uni 
versally  known  that  it  has  been  that  paper  which  has  checked  the  career  of  the  monocrats." — Memoir  and  Correspond 
ence  of  Jefferson,  London  edition,  iv.,  497.    But  the  evidence  against  Mr.  Jefferson  in  this  matter  is  not  entirely  circum 
stantial.    The  late  Dr.  John  W.  Francis,  of  New  York,  who  was  Freneau's  physician  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life, 
informed  the  author  that  it  was  one  of  the  most  poignant  griefs  of  that  journalist  that  he  had  seemed  to  be  an  enemy 
of  Washington.    He  assured  Dr.  Francis  that  the  National  Gazette  was  entirely  under  the  control  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and 
that  the  Secretary  dictated  or  wrote  the  most  violent  attacks  on  Washington  and  his  political  friends.    The  only  excuse  for 
the  conduct  of  Mr.  Jefferson  at  that  time  is  political  monomania. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  79 


Genet's  Reception  in  South  Carolina.   Privateers  commissioned.    Arrival  and  Reception  of  one  of  them  at  Philadelphia. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

11  While  France  her  huge  limbs  bathes  recumbent  in  blood, 

And  society's  base  threats  with  wide  desolation, 
'  May  Peace,  like  the  dove  who  returned  from  the  flood, 
Find  an  ark  of  abode  in  our  mild  Constitution. 
But  though  peace  is  our  aim, 
Yet  the  boon  we  disclaim 
If  bought  by  our  Sovereignty,  Justice,  or  Fame ; 
For  ne'er  shall  the  sous  of  Columbia  be  slaves 
While  the  earth  bears  a  plant,  or  the  sea  rolls  its  waves." 

ROBEKT  TREAT  PAINE. 

HE  wisdom  and  timeliness  of  "Washington's  proclamation  of  neu 
trality  was  soon  made  manifest.  Genet  came  with  blank  com 
missions  for  naval  and  military  service,  and  proceeded  to  fit  out 
two  privateers  at  Charleston.  He  was  also  empowered  to  give 
authority  to  every  French  consul  in  the  United  States  to  consti 
tute  himself  a  court  of  admiralty,  to  dispose  of  prizes  captured  by 
French  cruisers  and  brought  into  American  ports.  In  defiance 
of  the  proclamation,  his  privateers,  manned  principally  by  American  citizens,  sailed 
from  Charleston,  with  the  consent  and  good  wishes  of  the  governor  and  citizens,  to 
depredate  on  British  commerce.1 

One  of  these  privateers  was  U Embuscade,  the  frigate  that  brought  Genet  to  our 
shores.  She  went  prowling  up  the  coast,  seizing  several  vessels,  and  at  last  captured 
a  fine  British  merchantman,  named  The  Grange,  within  the  Capes  of  the  Delaware, 
when  she  proceeded  to  Philadelphia  in  triumphant  attitude.a  Her  arrival  ajiays, 
was  greeted  by  a  great  assemblage  of  people  on  the  brink  of  the  river.  1793- 
"  When  the  British  colors  Avere  seen  reversed,"  Jefferson  wrote  to  Madison,  "  and  the 
French  flying  above  them,  the  people  burst  into  peals  of  exultation."  Upon  her  head, 
her  foremast,  and  her  stern,  liberty-caps  were  conspicuous ;  and  from  her  masts  float 
ed  white  burgees,  with  words  that  echoed  the  egotistic  proclamation  of  the  French 
National  Convention.2 

UEmbuscade  was  the  precursor  of  the  French  minister,  who  arrived  at  Philadel 
phia  fourteen  days  later.b    According  to  preconcert,  a  number  of  citizens 
met  him  at  the  Schuylkill  and  escorted  him  to  the  city,  in  the  midst  of  the 
roar  of  cannon  and  the  ringing  of  bells.     There  he  received  addresses  from  societies 
and  the  citizens  at  large ;  and  so  anxious  were  his  admirers  to  pay  homage  to  their 
idol,  that  he  was  invited  to  a  public  dinner  before  he  pjesented  his  credentials  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States ! 

At  that  presentation,  which  occurred  on  the  19th,cthe  minister's  pride  was 
touched,  and  his  hopeful  ardor  was  chilled.     He  found  himself  in  an  atmos- 

1  General  William  Moultrie,  the  heroic  patriot  of  the  Revolution,  was  then  Governor  of  South  Carolina.  A  wit  of  the 
day  wrote : 

"  On  that  blest  day  when  first  we  came  to  land, 
Great  Mr.  Moultrie  took  us  by  the  hand ; 
Surveyed  the  ships,  admired  the  motley  crew, 
And  o'er  the  envoy  friendship's  mantle  threw; 
Received  the  sans-culotte  with  soft  embrace, 
And  bade  him  welcome  with  the  kindliest  grace." 

5  From  her  foremast  were  displayed  the  words,  "  Enemies  of  equality,  reform  or  tremble ;"  from  her  mainmast, 
"  Freemen,  we  are  your  friends  and  brethren ;"  from  the  mizzen-mast,  "  We  are  armed  for  the  defense  of  the  rights  of 
man."  L'Embuecade  saluted  the  vast  crowd  with  fifteen  guns,  and  was  responded  to  on  shore  by  cheers,  and  gun  for  gun. 


80  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Genet  in  the  Presence  of  Washington.  His  Reception  by  his  Political  Friends.  Democratic  Societies 

phere  of  the  most  profound  dignity  in  the  presence  of  Washington ;  and  he  was  made 
to  realize  his  own  littleness  while  standing  before  that  noble  representative  of  the  best 
men  and  the  soundest  principles  of  the  American  Republic.  He  withdrew  from  the 
audience  abashed  and  subdued.  He  had  heard  sentiments  of  sincere  regard  for  the 
French  nation  that  touched  the  sensibilities  of  his  heart,  and  he  had  felt,  in  the  genu 
ine  courtesy  and  severe  simplicity  and  frankness  of  the  President's  manner,  wholly 
free  from  effervescent  enthusiasm,  a  withering  rebuke,  not  only  of  the  adulators  in 
public  places,  but  also  of  his  own  pretentious  aspirations  and  ungenerous  duplicity.1 

Genet  affected  to  be  shocked  by  the  evidences  of  monarchical  sympathies  in  the 
President's  house.2  He  was  supremely  happy  when  he  was  permitted  to  escape 
from  the  frigidity  of  truth,  virtue,  and  dignity  into  the  fervid  atmosphere  of  a  ban- 
•  May  23,  quet-hall  filled  with  his  "  friends.'"1  There  his  ears  were  greeted  with  the 

1793.  stirring  Marseilles  Hymn,  an  ode  in  French,  composed  for  the  occasion,3  and 
toasts  brimful  of "  Liberty  and  Equality."  There  his  eyes  were  delighted  with  a 
"  tree  of  liberty"  upon  the  table,  and  the  flags  of  the  two  nations  in  fraternal  enfold- 
ings.  There  his  heart  was  made  glad  by  having  the  red  cap  of  liberty  placed  upon 
his  own  head  first,  and  then  upon  the  head  of  each  guest,  while  the  wearer,  under  the 
inspiration  of  its  symbolism — 

"  That  sacred  Cap,  which  fools  in  order  sped 
In  grand  rotation,  round  from  head  to  head"— 

uttered  some  patriotic  sentiment.  There  his  hopes  of  success  were  made  to  bud  anew 
as  he  saw  the  officers  and  sailors  of  the  privateer  receive  a  "  fraternal  embrace"  from 
each  guest,  and  bear  away  to  the  robber  the  flags  of  the  two  nations  amid  the  cheers 
of  the  convivialists. 

Genet's  presence  intensified  the  party  spirit  of  the  Republicans.  "Democratic 
Societies,"  in  imitation  of  the  Jacobin  Clubs  of  France,  were  formed,  secret  in  their 
proceedings,  and  disloyal  in  the  extreme  in  their  practice  at  that  time.  In  servile 
imitation  of  their  prototypes,  they  adopted  the  peculiar  phrases  of  the  populace  of 
Paris  ;4  and  a  powerful  faction  was  soon  visible,  more  French  than  American  in  their 
habits  of  thought  and  political  principles.  By  some  strange  infatuation,  sensible  and 
patriotic  men  were  drawn  into  the  toils  of  the  charmer,  and  they  sanctioned  and  par 
ticipated  in  scenes  which  composed  a  most  astounding  and  humiliating  farce.5 

1  Genet's  address  to  Washington  was  full  of  friendly  professions.    "It  was  impossible,"  Jefferson  wrote  to  Madison, 
"for  any  thing  to  be  more  affectionate,  more  magnanimous  than  the  purport  of  Genet's  mission.  .  .  .  He  offers  every 
thing,  and  asks  nothing."    And  yet,  while  making  these  professions,  he  had  secret  instructions  in  his  pocket  to  foment 
discord  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  and  to  set  the  American  government  at  defiance,  if  necessary,  in 
the  execution  of  his  designs.    He  had  already  openly  insulted  that  government  by  his  acts  at  Charleston— a  city  which, 
on  that  occasion  as  on  subsequent  ones,  earned  the  "  bad  eminence"  of  standing  alone  in  the  attitude  of  disloyalty  to 
the  national  government. 

2  He  was  "  astonished  and  indignant"  at  seeing  a  bust  of  Louis  XVI.  in  the  vestibule,  and  complained  of  it  to  his 
"friends"  as  an  "insult  to  France."    He  was  equally  "astonished"  by  discovering  in  the  President's  parlor  "certain 
medallions  of  Capet  and  his  family ;"  and  he  was  "  shocked  to  learn"  that  the  Marquis  De  Noailles  (a  relative  of  Madame 
Lafayette)  and  other  emigrant  Frenchmen  had  lately  been  admitted  to  the  presence  of  Washington.    Indeed  he  found 
most  things  disagreeable  outside  of  the  farmed  circle  of  his  "friends." 

3  This  was  written  by  "  Citizen  Duponceau,"  of  Philadelphia,  a  worthy  French  gentleman,  who  came  to  America  with 
the  Baron  De  Steuben,  and  was  for  many  years  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Pennsylvania.    The  ode  was  translated  into 
English  at  the  table  by  Freneau,  the  translating  clerk  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  then  sung  again. 

*  "The  title  of  citizen,"  says  Griswold,  "became  as  common  in  Philadelphia  as  in  Paris,  and  in  the  newspapers  it  was 
the  fashion  to  announce  marriages  as  partnerships  between  Citizen  Brown,  Smith,  or  Jones  and  the  citess  who  had  been 
wooed  to  such  an  association."— Republican  Court,  p.  350. 

5  "  At  a  dinner  at  which  Governor  Mifflin  was  present,  a  roasted  pig  receive'd  the  name  of  the  murdered  French  king, 
and  the  head,  severed  from  the  body,  was  carried  round  to  each  of  the  guests,  who,  after  placing  the  liberty-cap  on  his 
own  head,  pronounced  the  word  '  tyrant,'  and  proceeded  to  mangle  with  his  knife  that  of  the  luckless  creature  doomed 
to  be  served  for  so  unworthy  a  company.  One  of  the  Democratic  taverns  displayed  as  a  sign  a  revolting  picture  of  the 
mutilated  and  bloody  corpse  of  Marie  Antoinette."*— Republican  Court,  p.  350.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  Jefferson  was  so 
influenced  by  his  prejudices  at  that  time  that  he  shut  his  eyes,  apparently,  to  all  passing  events,  and  could  write  to  Mad- 

*  Marie  Antoinette,  the  unhappy  queen  of  Louis  XVI.,  became  the  victim  of  Jacobin  malignity,  and  was  beheaded  on 
the  16th  of  October,  1793.    She  was  a  daughter  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  and  is  represented  as  a  beautiful  and  accom 
plished  woman.    Her  murderers  accused  and  convicted  her  of  crimes  of  which  they  knew  she  was  innocent.    She  was 
taken  to  the  scaffold  on  a  cart.    Her  body  was  cast  iuto  the  Magdalen  church-yard,  and  immediately  consumed  with 
quick-lime !    The  fiends  denied  her  a  grave. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


81 


Enthusiasm  for  the  French  Cause.      The  American  and  French  Revolutions  contrasted.     Genet  rebuked  by  Jefferson. 

But  the  ludicrous  picture  of  Genet's  reception  in  Philadelphia  was  relieved  by  a 
dignified  act.  On  the  day  of  his  arrival  in  that  city,  an  address,  signed  by  three 
hundred  merchants  and  other  substantial  men  of  that  city,  in  which  was  expressed 
the  soundest  loyalty  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  his  proclamation  of  neutrality,  was  pre 
sented  to  President  Washington. 

Similar  enthusiasm  for  the  French  cause  was  manifested  in  New  York  and  a  few 
other  places,  but  the  citizens  were  never  obnoxious  to  the  charge  of  overt  disloyalty 
to  the  government.  Although  the  Carmagnole1  was  sung  hourly  in  the  streets,  and 
Democratic  societies  fanned  the  zeal  for  the  Jacobin  system  of  government  into  in 
temperate  heat,  the  citizens,  as  such,  remained  loyal  to  the  Constitution  and  the  laws.2 

The  government,  unawed  by  the  storm  of  passion  that  beat  upon  it,  went  steadily 
forward  in  the  path  of  right  and  duty.  The  Grange  was  restored  to  its  British 
owners,  and  the  privateers  were  ordered  to  leave  the  American  waters.  Orders  were 
sent  to  the  collectors  of  all  the  ports  of  the  United  States  for  the  seizure  of  all  vessels 
fitted  out  as  privateers,  and  to  prevent  the  sale  of  any  prizes  captured  by  such  ves 
sels.  Americans  from  one  of  the  privateers  fitted  out  at  Charleston  were  arrested 
and  indicted  for  a  violation  of  law ;  and  Chief  Justice  Jay  declared  it  to  be  the  duty 
of  grand,  juries  to  present  all  persons  guilty  of  such  violation  of  the  laws  of  nations 
with  respect  to  any  of  the  belligerent  powers. 

These  measures  greatly  irritated  the  French  minister  and  his  American  partisans. 
He  protested ;  and  the  Secretary  of  State,  soon  finding  him  to  be  a  troublesome  friend, 
reiterated  the  opinions  of  the  President,  and  plainly  told  him  that,  by  commissioning 
privateers,  he  had  violated  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States,  and  that  it  was  ex 
pected  that  The  Genet  and  L1  Embusccide  (the  two  privateers  fitted  out  at  Charleston) 
would  leave  the  American  waters  forthwith. 

ison,  after  expressing  his  opinion  that  Genet's  magnanimous  offers  would  not  be  received,  "It  is  evident  that  one  or 
two  of  the  Cabinet  [meaning  Hamilton  and  Knox],  at  least,  under  pretense  of  avoiding  war  on  the  one  side,  have  no 
great  antipathy  to  run  foul  of  it  on  the  other,  and  to  make  a  part  in  the  confederacy  of  princes  against  human  liberty." 

1  A  dance,  with  singing,  performed  in  the  streets  of  Paris  during  the  French  Revolution.    See  page  60. 

2  These  societies  and  the  newspapers  in  their  interest  attempted  to  deceive  the  people  by  comparing  the  French  Rev 
olution  to  their  own,  as  equally  justified  and  holy.   Many,  totally  ignorant  of  the  facts,  believed ;  but  enlightenment  and 
better  counsels  kept  their  passions  in  check.    The  informed  and  thoughtful  saw  no  just  comparison  between  the  two 
Revolutions. 


THB   CONTRAST. 

The  aspect  of  dignity,  decorum,  gravity,  order,  and  religious  solemnity  so  conspicuous  in  the  American  Revolution 
was  wholly  wanting  in"  that  of  the  French.  "  When  I  find,"  Hamilton  wrote  to  Washington,  "the  doctrines  of  atheism 
openly  advanced  in  the  Convention,  and  heard  with  loud  applauses :  when  I  see  the  sword  of  fanaticism  extended  to 
enforce  a  political  creed  upon  citizens  who  were  invited  to  submit  to  the  arms  of  France  as  the  harbingers  of  liberty : 
when  I  behold  the  hand  of  rapacity  outstretched  to  prostrate  and  ravish  the  monuments  of  religious  worship  erected  by 
those  citizens  and  their  ancestors ;  when  I  perceive  passion,  tumult,  and  violence  usurping  those  seats  where  reason 
and  cool  deliberation  ought  to  preside— I  acknowledge  that  I  am  glad  to  believe  there  is  no  real  resemblance  between 
what  was  the  cause  of  America  and  what  is  the  cause  of  France."  The  difference  between  American  liberty  and  French 
liberty  was  graphically  illustrated  by  a  print  called  The  Contrast,  of  which  our  engraving  is  a  reduced  copy. 


82 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Persistence  of  the  French  Minister. 


His  "Filibustering"  Schemes. 


His  Attempt  to  create  a  Rebellion, 


Genet,  with  offensive  pertinacity,  de 
nounced  this  doctrine  as  contrary  to 
right,  justice,  and  the  law  of  nations, 
and  threatened  "to  appeal  from  the 
President  to  the  people."  •  The  Re 
publican  papers  sustained  him  in  his 
course.1  The  Democratic  societies  be 


came  more  bold  and  active ;  and  Genet, 
mistaking  the  popular  clamor  in  his  fa 
vor  for  the  deliberate  voice  of  the  na 
tion,  actually  undertook  to  fit  out  as  a 
privateer  at  Philadelphia,  during  the 
absence  of  the  President  at  Mount  Ver- 
non,  under  the  very  eyes  of  the  national 
government,  a  British  vessel  that  had 
been  captured  and  brought  in  there  by 
E Embuscade,  and  which  he  named  in 
French  The  Little  Democrat.  Mifflin, 
the  Democratic  Governor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania,  interfered,  and  threatened  to 
seize  the  vessel  if  Genet  persisted  in 
his  course.  The  minister  refused  to  listen.  Jefferson  begged  him  to  desist  until  the 
return  of  the  President.  Genet  spurned  his  kind  words,  and  raved  like  a  madman. 
He  declared  his  determination  to  send  The  Little  Democrat  to  sea,  complained  that  he 
had  been  thwarted  in  all  his  undertakings  by  the  government,  denounced  the  Presi 
dent  as  unfaithful  to  the  wishes  of  the  people,  and  resolved  to  press  him  to  call  the 
Congress  together  to  act  upon  the  subjects  in  dispute.2 

Genet's  official  and  pmrate  conduct  became  equally  offensive ;  and  when,  on  Wash 
ington's  return  to  the  seat  of  government,  it  was  recited  to  him,  his  indignation  was 
aroused.  "Is  the  minister  of  the  French  Republic  to  set  the  acts  of  the  government 
at  defiance  with  impunity  ?"  he  asked.  His  Cabinet  answered  No.  Forbearance  to 
ward  the  insolent  minister  was  no  longer  required  by  the  most  exacting  courtesy, 
and  it  was  agreed  in  Cabinet  comicil  that  the  French  government  should  be  requested 
to  recall  him  because  he  was  offensive  to  that  of  the  United  States.  Jefferson  had 
become  disgusted  with  him,  and  the  tone  of  popular  sentiment  soon  became  more 
sensible  and  patriotic.  His  reiterated  threat  of  appealing  from  the  President  to  the 
people — in  other  words,  to  excite  an  insurrection  for  the  purpose  of  overthrowing  the 
government — had  shocked  the  national  pride ;  and  many  considerate  Republicans, 

1  A  writer  in  Freneau's  Gazette  said,  "I  hope  the  minister  of  France  will  act  with  firmness  and  spirit.    The  people  are 
his  friends,  or  the  friends  of  France,  and  he  will  have  nothing  to  apprehend ;  for,  as  yet,  the  people  are  the  sovereigns 
of  the  United  States.    Too  mtich  complacency  is  an  injury  done  to  his  cause  ;  for,  as  every  advantage  is  already  taken 
of  France  (not  by  the  people),  farther  condescension  may  lead  to  farther  abuse.    If  one  of  the  leading  features  of  our 
government  is  pusillanimity  when  the  British  lion  shows  his  teeth,  let  France  and  her  minister  act  as  becomes  the  dig 
nity  of  her  cause,  and  the  honor  and  faith  of  nations." 

Frenean's  paper,  at  that  time,  was  assisted  in  its  attacks  upon  the  government  by  the  General  Advertiser  (afterward 
known  as  the  Aurora),  edited  by  B.  F.  Bache,  a  grandson  of  Dr.  Franklin,  who  had  been  educated  in  France.  It  was 
even  more  violent  and  abusive  than  its  colleague,  and  even  charged  Washington  with  an  intention  of  joining  in  the 
league  of  kings  and  priests  against  the  French  Republic  ! 

2  Genet  was  intrusted  by  his  government  with  bolder  schemes  than  the  fitting  out  of  privateers.    He  was  to  organize 
what  are  called  in  our  day  "  filibustering  expeditions,"  on  an  extensive  scale,  against  the  Spanish  dominions,  the  object 
being  no  less  than  the  seizure  of  Florida  and  New  Orleans.    An  expedition  against  the  former  was  to  be  organized  in 
South  Carolina,  and  against  the  latter  in  Kentucky.    The  one  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  was  to  be  led  by  General  George 
Rogers  Clarke,  the  conqueror  of  the  Northwest,  to  whom  was  given  the  magniloquent  title  of  "Major  General  in  the 
Armies  of  France,  and  Commander-in-chief  of  the  French  Revolutionary  Legions  on  the  Mississippi."    Funds  for  car 
rying  on  these  expeditions  were  to  be  derived  from  the  payment  to  the  minister,  by  the  United  States,  of  a  portion  of  the 
national  debt  due  to  France.    French  emissaries  were  employed  in  South  Carolina  and  Kentucky,  and  in  the  latter  dis 
trict,  the  public  mind,  irritated  by  the  Spanish  obstructions  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  was  very  favorable  to 
the  movement.    The  failure  of  Genet's  mission  put  an  end  to  these  schemes  of  conquest,  not,  however,  until  they  had 
produced  annoying  effects  upon  the  national  government. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


83 


A  Keaction. 


Genet  recalled. 


His  Successor. 


Biographical  Sketch  of  Genet. 


who  had  been  zealous 
in  the  cause  of  the 
Revolution  in  France, 
paused  while  listening 
to  the  audacious  words 
of  a  foreigner  who  pre 
sumed  to  dictate  the 
course  of  conduct  to 
be  pursued  by  the  be 
loved  Washington. 
The  tide  turned.  Very 
soon  there  were  dem 
onstrations  through 
out  the  Union  of  agree 
ment  with  the  procla 
mation  of  neutrality, 
which  the  partisans  of 
Genet  never  dreamed 
of,  and  a  strong  and 
irresistible  reaction  in 
favor  of  the  national 
government  speedily 
manifested  itself  on 
every  hand. 

Genet1  was  recalled, 
and  M.  Fouchet,  a  man 
equally  indiscreet,  was 


appointed  his  success 
or.  At  the  close  of 
the  year,  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  whose  views  of 
French  affairs  had  be 
come  much  modified 
by  the  course  of  events 
at  home  and  abroad, 
left  the  Cabinet  and 
retired  to  private  life, 
much  to  the  regret 
of  "Washington,  who 
found  in  him  an  able 
minister  of  state.  Jef 
ferson  was  a  patriot, 
but,  for  several  years, 
his  jealousy  and  ha 
tred  of  Hamilton  and 
his  friends  made  him 
a  political  monoma 
niac. 

While  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United 
States,  unswayed  by 
the  popular  sentiment 
in  favor  of  France, 
and  national  resent 


ment  against  Great  Britain,  had  hastened,  on  the  breaking  out  of  war  between  those 
tw*>  countries,  to  adopt  a  strictly  neutral  policy,  thereby  showing  great  magnanimity 
and  a  conciliatory  spirit  toward  the  late  enemy  in  the  field,  that  enemy,  inimical  still, 
was  pursuing  a  selfish  and  ungenerous  course,  which  the  wisest  and  best  men  of  En 
gland  deplored.  Regardless  of  the  opinions  of  Europe  expressed  in  the  treaty  for  an 
armed  neutrality  in  1780,2she  revived  the  rule  of  war  laid  down  by  herself  alone  in 

1  Mr.  Genet  never  returned  to  France.    At  about  the  time  of  his  recall,  a  change  of  faction  had  taken  place  in  his 
country,  and  he  thought  it  prudent  not  to  return.    He  remained,  married  a  daughter  of  George  Clinton,  Governor  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  became  an  ornament  to  American  society.    It  is  only  of  his  official  conduct,  while  the  minister 
of  the  French  Jacobin  government,  that  Americans  have  reason  to  complain  of  him.    He  was  a  man  of  eminent  abili 
ties.    At  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  the  United  Slates,  he  was  a  few  months  more  than  thirty  years  of  age,  having  been 
born  in  January,  1763.    He  was  a  precocious  boy,  and  from  childhood  was  engaged  in  public  employments.    He  was 
attached  to  the  embassies  at  Berlin,  Vienna,  London,  and  St.  Petersburg.    Because  of  a  spirited  letter  which  he  wrote 
to  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  indignantly  protesting  against  his  expulsion  from  his  dominions  after  the  death  of  Louis 
XVI.,  he  became  a  favorite  of  the  French  revolutionists.    He  was  made  adjutant  general  of  the  armies  of  France  and 
minister  to  Holland,  and  was  employed  iu  revolutionizing  Geneva  and  annexing  it  to  France.    He  was  finally  sent  to 
America  as  minister  and  consul  general.    He  was  twice  married.    His  second  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Osgood,  the 
first  Postmaster  General  under  the  Constitution.    He  took  great  interest  in  agriculture,  and  his  last  illness  was  occa 
sioned  by  his  attendance  at  the  meeting  of  an  agricultural  society  of  which  he  was  president.    He  died  at  his  seat  on 
Prospect  Hill,  near  Greenbush,  opposite  Albany,  on  the  14th  of  July,  1S34.*  One  of  his  sisters  was  the  celebrated  Madame 
Campan,  and  another  was  Madame  Anguie,  mother-in-law  of  the  distinguished  Marshal  Ney.    Mr.  Genet  often  spoke  of 
the  wisdom  of  Washington  and  his  administration,  the  folly  of  his  own  countrymen  at  that  time  and  of  their  admirers 
in  America,  and  rejoiced  that  the  proclamation  of  neutrality  defeated  his  wild  schemes. 

2  During  the  American  Revolution  the  superior  maritime  power  of  Great  Britain  was  able  to  damage  the  commerce 

*  Genet  was  buried  in  the  grave-yard  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  at  Greenbush.  Upon  a  plain  marble  tablet 
placed  over  his  remains  is  the  following  inscription : 

"  Under  this  humble  stone  are  interred  the  remains  of  EDMUND  CHARLES  GENET,  late  Adjutant  General,  Minister  Pleni 
potentiary  and  Consul  General  from  the  French  Republic  to  the  United  States  of  America.  He  was  born  at  Versailles, 
parish  of  St.  Louis,  in  France,  January  8, 1763,  and  died  at  Prospect  Hill,  town  of  Greenbush,  July  14, 1834. 

"Driven  by  the  storms  of  the  Revolution  to  the  shades  of  retirement,  he  devoted  his  talents  to  his  adopted  country, 
where  he  cherished  the  love  of  liberty  and  virtue.  The  pursuits  of  literature  and  science  enlivened  his  peaceful  solitude, 
and  he  devoted  his  time  to  usefulness  and  benevolence.  His  last  moments  were  like  his  life,  an  example  of  fortitude 
and  true  Christian  philosophy.  His  heart  was  love  and  friendship's  sun,  which  has  set  on  this  transitory  world,  to  rise 
•with  radiant  splendor  beyond  the  grave." 


84  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

British  "Rules"  and  Orders  in  Council.        Their  Injustice.         The  Armed  Neutrality.       Feeling  in  the  United  States. 

1756,1  and  first  by  a  "provisional  order  in  council,"  as  it  was  called,  issued  in  June, 
•  November  6  *  793,2  and  then  by  another  order  in  council,  issued  in  November  following,11 
1793.  anc[  secretly  promulgated,  she  struck  heavy  blows  at  her  antagonist,  re 
gardless  of  the  fact  that  they  fell  almost  as  heavily  upon  those  who  favored  her  by 
neutrality.  Citizens  of  the  United  States  were  then  carrying  on  an  extensive  trade 
with  the  French  West  India  Islands,  whose  ports  had  been  opened  to  neutrals  for  the 
same  reasons  as  in  1756,  and  felt  no  apprehension  of  interference  from  any  source. 
But  Great  Britain  had  determined  to  again  apply  her  starvation  measures  against  her 
old  enemy,  and  a  secret  order  in  council  was  issued,  and  silently  circulated  among  the 
British  cruisers,  without  the  least  notice  or  intimation  to  the  American  merchants, 
directing  all  vessels  engaged  in  trading  with  any  colony  of  France  to  be  taken  into 
British  ports  for  adjudication  in  the  courts  of  admiralty.'3 

This  lawless  invasion  of  neutral  rights,  conducted  secretly  and  treacherously,  pros 
trated  at  one  blow  a  great  portion  of  American  commerce.  The  property  of  Amer 
ican  merchants  to  the  amount  of  many  millions  of  dollars  was  swept  from  the  seas 
into  British  ports  and  lost.  This  was  regarded  as  little  better  than  highway  robbery, 
judged  by  the  law  of  nations  and  common  justice. 

When  intelligence  of  this  high-handed  measure  reached  the  United  States,  it  pro 
duced  the  hottest  indignation  throughout  the  land.  Political  strife  instantly  ceased, 
and  both  parties  were  equally  zealous  in  denunciations  of  the  treachery  and  aggres 
sions  of  Great  Britain,  for  which  she  offered  no  other  excuse  than  expediency,  grow 
ing  out  of  her  evident  determination  to  maintain  her  boasted  position  of"  mistress  of 
the  seas,"  regardless  of  the  rights  of  all  the  rest  of  the  world.  Congress  was  then  in 
session,  and  measures  were  proposed  for  retaliation,  such  as  reprisals,  embargoes,  se- 

of  other  European  nations  immensely.  The  British  government  revived  the  rule  of  1750,  below  mentioned,  and  infringed 
largely  upon  neutral  commerce.  To  resist  these  encroachments,  and  to  protect  neutral  maritime  rights,  Russia,  Swe 
den,  Denmark,  and  Holland  formed  a  treaty  of  alliance,  which  they  denominated  The  Armed  Neutrality,  by  which  they 
pledged  themselves  to  support,  at  the  hazard  of  war,  if  necessary,  the  following  principles:  1.  That  it  should  be  lawful 
for  any  ships  to  sail  freely  from  one  port  to  another,  or  along  the  coast  of  the  powers  at  war.  2.  That  all  merchandise 
and  effects  belonging  to  the  subjects  of  the  belligerent  powers,  and  shipped  in  neutral  bottoms,  should  be  entirely  free ; 
that  is,  free  ships  make  free  goods.  3.  That  no  place  should  be  considered  blockaded  except  the  assailing  power  had 
taken  a  station  so  as  to  expose  to  imminent  danger  any  ship  attempting  to  sail  in  or  out  of  such  ports.  4.  That  no  neu 
tral  ships  should  be  stopped  without  material  and  well-grounded  cause  ;  and,  in  such  cases,  justice  should  be  done  them 
without  delay."  The  British  navy  triumphed  over  all  opposition,  the  designs  of  the  armed  neutrality  were  defeated, 
and  Holland  was  made  a  party  to  the  war  with  the  Americans  and  France.  A  similar  attempt  to  restrict  the  maritime 
power  of  Great  Britain  was  made  in  the  year  1SOO,  which  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the  Danish  fleet  before  Copen 
hagen  in  April,  1801.  Soon  after  this  The  Armed  Neutrality  was  dissolved,  and  the  dominion  of  the  seas  was  accorded 
to  England. 

1  When  the  war  between  Great  Britain  and  France  was  formally  declared  in  1756,  the  former  power  announced,  as  a 
principle  of  national  law,  "that  no  other  trade  should  be  allowed  to  neutrals  with  the  colonies  of  a  belligerent  in  time 
of  war  than  what  is  allowed  by  the  parent  state  in  time  of  peace."    This  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the  law  of  nations 
promulgated  by  Frederick  the  Great,  of  Prussia,  namely,  "the  goods  of  an  enemy  can  not  be  taken  from  on  board  the 
ships  of  a  friend ;"  and  also  in  direct  violation  of  a  treaty  between  England  and  Holland,  in  which  it  was  stipulated  ex 
pressly  that  "free  ships  make  free  goods"— that  the  neutral  should  enter  safely  and  unmolested  all  the  harbors  of  the 
belligerents,  unless  they  were  blockaded  or  besieged.    England  not  only  violated  the  treaty,  but,  having  the  might,  ex 
ercised  the  right  of  invading  the  sovereignty  of  Holland,  and  capturing  its  vessels  whose  cargoes  might  be  useful  for  her 
navy.    This  assumption— this  dictation  of  law  to  the  nations  to  suit  her  own  selfish  purposes— turned  against  England 
the  denunciations  of  the  civilized  world,  and  which  for  more  than  a  century  she  has  never  ceased  to  receive.    At  that  time 
her  "law"  was  aimed  directly  at  France,  then  much  the  weaker  naval  power.    Unable  to  maintain  her  accustomed 
trade  with  her  West  India  Islands,  she  opened  their  ports  to  neutrals.    It  was  to  destroy  the  trade  by  neutrals,  so  lucra 
tive  to  them  and  so  beneficial  to  France,  that  Great  Britain  introduced  that  new  principle  of  national  law. 

2  This  order,  intended  as  a  starvation  measure  against  France,  declared  that  all  vessels  laden  wholly  or  in  part  with 
breadstuff's,  bound  to  any  port  of  France,  or  places  occupied  by  French  armies,  should  be  carried  into  England,  and 
their  cargoes  either  disposed  of  there,  or  security  given  that  they  should  be  Bold  only  in  ports  of  a  country  in  friendship 
with  Great  Britain.    This  order  was  issued  on  the  8th  of  June,  1793. 

3  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  order :  . 
"George  R. :  Additional  instructions  to  all  ships  of  war,  privateers,  etc. : 

"That  they  shall  stop  and  detain  all  ships  laden  with  goods  the  produce  of  any  colony  belonging  to  France,  or  con 
veying  provisions  or  other  supplies  for  the  use  of  such  colonies ;  and  shall  bring  the  same,  with  their  cargoes,  to  legal 
adjudication  in  our  courts  of  admiralty.  By  his  majesty's  command.  Signed,  DUNDAS. 

"  November  6, 1793." 

So  secretly  was  this  order  issued  that  the  first  account  of  its  existence  reached  the  London  Exchange  with  the  details 
of  several  captures  which  it  authorized  and  occasioned.  And  Mr.  Piuckney,  the  American  minister,  was  unable  to  pro 
cure  a  copy  ofit  until  the  25th  of  December,  more  than  six  weeks  after  it  was  issued.— Pinckney's  letter  to  his  government, 
December  20, 1793. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


British  Impressment  of  American  Seamen. 


War  threatened. 


John  Jay  a  special  Minister  to  England. 


questrations,  and  even  war.  The  whole  country  was  violently  agitated ;  and  the 
excitement  was  increased  by  events  on  the  Indian  frontier,  already  mentioned,  show 
ing  the  hand  of  British  influence  in  the  bloody  battles  in  the  Northwest. 

Another  and  more  serious  element  of  discord  between  the  two  nations  came  up  for 
consideration,  and  which,  in  after  years,  was  one  of  the  immediate  causes  of  open  hos 
tilities  between  the  two  countries.  This  was  the  impressment  of  American  seamen 
into  the  British  service.  In  efforts  to  maintain  her  position  of  "  mistress  of  the  seas," 
Great  Britain  found  herself  under  the  necessity  of  announcing  another  "  law  of  na 
tions"  to  suit  her  particular  case.  High  wages,  humane  treatment,  and  security  from 
danger,  to  be  found  in  the  American  merchant  service,  had  attracted  a  great  many 
British  seamen  to  it.  Their  government,  alarmed  at  the  threatened  weakening  of  its 
naval  power  by  this  drain,  planted  itself  upon  the  theory  that  a  subject  can  not  ex 
patriate  himself — once  an  Englishman,  always  an  Englishman ;  proclaimed  the  doc 
trine  that  in  time  of  war  the  government  had  a  right  to  the  services  of  every  subject ; 
and  that,  at  the  command  of  their  sovereign,  every  natural-born  subject  was  bound  to 
return  and  fight  the  battles  of  his  country.  In  accordance  with  this  doctrine  a  proc 
lamation  was  issued,  by  which  authority  was  given  to  the  commanders  of  British 
ships  of  war  to  make  up  any  deficiency  in  their  crews  by  pressing  into  their  service 
British-born  seamen  wherever  found,  not  Avithin  the  immediate  jurisdiction  of  any 
foreign  state.  Under  this  authority  many  American  merchant  vessels  were  crippled, 
while  in  mid-ocean,  by  British  seamen  being  taken  from  them.  Nor  were  subjects  of 
Great  Britain  alone  taken.  It  was  sometimes  difficult  to  discover  the  nationality  of 
English  and  American  seamen ;  and  as  the  British  commanders  were  not  very  nice  in 
their  scrutiny,  native-born  Americans  were  frequently  dragged  on  board  British  war 
vessels,  and  kept  in  servitude  in  the  royal  navy  for  years.  This  was  a  great  and  irri 
tating  grievance. 

War  with  Great  Britain  now  seemed  in 
evitable.  To  avert  it  was  Washington's 
most  anxious  desire.  To  do  so,  and  main 
tain  strict  neutrality,  was  a  difficult  task 
He  resolved  to  try  negotiation.  He  well 
knew  that  the  temper  of  his  countrymen 
would  oppose  it.  With  a  moral  heroism 
commensurate  with  the  occasion,  he  nom 
inated  John  Jay,  the  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States,  as  envoy  extraordinary  to 
the  Court  of  Great  Britain,  to  negotiate 
for  a  settlement  of  all  matters  in  dispute 
between  the  two  governments.  The  prop 
osition  was  met  with  a  storm  of  indigna 
tion.  It  was  scouted  as  pusillanimous. 
The  Democratic  societies  and  Democratic 
newspapers  were  aroused  into  uncommon 
activity.  The  tri-colored  cockade  was 
seen  on  every  side,  and  the  partisans  of 
the  French  regicides  ruled  the  hour. 

O 

Better  counsels  prevailed  in  the  Senate, 
and  on  the  19th  of  Aprila  that  body  ;1794 
confirmed  the  nomination  by  a  vote 
of  eighteen  to  eight.    On  the  12th  of  May 

following,  Mr.  Jay  sailed  from  New  York  for  London. 

The  French  "  Republic,"  meanwhile,  had  become  offended  with  the  United  States 

because  of  the  virtual  dismissal  of  Genet,  and  demanded  the  recall  of  Mr.  Morris. 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Pall  of  the  French  Jacobins.  Minister  Monroe  in  Paris.  Jay's  Treaty  with  Great  Britain. 

Washington  prudently  complied,  and  appointed  James  Monroe  in  his  place.  The 
,  An~jSt  latter  arrived  in  France  at  an  auspicious  moment. a  Intelligence  of  the 

iT'J4.  new  American  mission  to  England  had  aroused  the  most  bitter  enmity  to 
ward  the  United  States  among  the  violent  leaders  of  the  National  Convention.  But 
their  bloody  rule  was  at  an  end.  Robespierre  and  his  fiendish  associates  had  fallen. 
For  some  time  they  had  been  hated  in  the  Convention.  At  length  Billaud  Varennes 
mounted  the  tribune,  and,  in  a  speech  full  of  invective,  denounced  Robespierre  as  a 
"July 26,  tyrant.b  The  accused  attempted  to  speak.  "Down  with  the  tyrant!"  burst 

1794.  from  many  a  lip,  and  he  and  his  guilty  colleagues  were  dragged  to  execu 
tion  amid  the  shouts  of  the  populace,  who  had  huzzaed  as  loudly  when  the  king  was 
murdered.  With  their  fall  the  dreadful  Reign  of  Terror  ended.  The  Jacobin  society 
was  suppressed.  Reason  and  conscience  were  asserting  their  sway  in  the  Conven 
tion.  The  nation  breathed  freer,  and  the  curtain  fell  on  one  of  the  bloodiest  tragedies 
in  the  history  of  the  human  race. 

Monroe  was  received  with  great  cordiality.  He  sent  a  judicious  letter  to  the  Pres 
ident  of  the  Convention.  Its  sentiments  were  consonant  with  the  feelings  of  the 
hour.  When  he  afterward  entered  the  hall  of  the  Convention  the  president  em 
braced  him  affectionately.  It  was  decreed  that  the  flags  of  the  two  nations  should 
be  entwined  and  hung  up  there,  in  token  of  international  union  and  friendship ;  and 
Monroe,  with  reciprocal  courtesy,  presented  the  banner  of  his  country  to  the  Conven 
tion  in  the  name  of  the  American  people.  The  Convention,  in  turn,  resolved  to  pre 
sent  their  national  flag  to  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

Jay's  mission  to  England  was  partially  successful.  He  found  many  obstacles  to 
contend  with.  He  entered  upon  the  business  in  June,  with  Lord  Grenville,  and  on  the 
1 9th  of  November  following,  the  contracting  parties  signed  a  treaty  of  amity,  com 
merce,  and  navigation.  Although  Mr.  Jay  accomplished  much  less  than  his  instruc 
tions  directed  him  to  ask  for,  the  treaty  was  a  long  step  in  the  direction  of  right, 
justice,  and  national  prosperity,  and  led  to  the  execution,  to  a  great  extent,  of  the 
Treaty  of  1783.  It  also  laid  the  solid  foundation  of  the  commercial  policy  of  the 
United  States.1 

Jay's  treaty  was  doomed  to  a  severe  trial,  and,  with  it,  the  administration,  the 
Constitution,  and  even  the  republic  itself.  The  Democrats  had  resolved  to  oppose  it, 
whatever  might  be  its  provisions,  especially  if  it  should  remove  all  pretexts  for  a  war 

1  The  treaty  provided  for  the  establishment  of  commissions  to  determine  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  United  States, 
then  in  dispute  ;  the  amount  of  losses  incurred  by  British  subjects  by  impediments  being  thrown  in  the  way  of  collect 
ing  debts  in  the  United  States  incurred  before  the  Revolution ;  and  to  ascertain  and  estimate  the  losses  of  the  Americans 
by  irregular  and  illegal  captures  by  British  cruisers,  such  losses  to  be  paid  by  the  British  government.  It  was  provided 
that  the  Western  military  posts  should  be  given  tip  on  the  1st  of  June,  1796,  in  consideration  of  the  adjustment  of 
the  ante-Revolutionary  debts.  The  Indian  trade  was  left  open  to  both  nations,  the  British  being  allowed  to  enter 
all  American  harbors,  with  the  right  to  ascend  all  rivers  to  the  highest  port  of  entry.  This  was  not  reciprocated  in 
full.  Americans  were  not  allowed  free  navigation  of  the  rivers  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  possessions,  nor  those 
of  others  of  the  British  colonial  possessions  in  America,  except  above  the  highest  ports  of  entry.  The  citizens  or  subjects 
of  each  government  holding  lands  in  the  dominions  of  the  other  government  were  to  continue  to  hold  them  without 
alienage,  nor  were  confiscations  of  the  property  of  such  persons  to  be  allowed.  In  a  word,  the  existing  conditions  of 
property  should  not  be  disturbed.  Such  are  the  substantial  provisions  in  the  first  ten  articles  of  the  treaty,  which  were 
declared  to  be  perpetual.  The  remaining  eighteen,  having  special  reference  to  commerce  and  navigation,  were  limited 
in  their  operations  to  two  years  after  the  termination  of  the  war  in  which  Great  Britain  was  then  engaged.  American 
Tessels  were  allowed  to  enter  the  British  ports  in  Europe  and  the  East  Indies  on  equal  terms  with  those  of  British  ves 
sels,  while  participation  in  the  East  India  coasting-trade,  and  trade  between  European  and  British  East  Indian  ports, 
was  left  to  the  contingency  of  British  permission.  The  British  were  permitted  to  meet  the  discrimination  in  the  Amer 
ican  tonnage  and  import  duties  by  countervailing  measures.  American  vessels  not  exceeding  seventy  tons  were  allowed 
to  trade  to  the  British  West  Indies  on  condition  that  they  should  not,  during  the  continuance  of  the  treaty,  transport 
from  America  to  Europe  any  of  the  principal  colonial  products.  British  vessels  were  to  be  admitted  into  American 
ports-  on  terms  equal  to  the  most  favored  nations.  There  were  provisions  made  favorable  to  neutral  property  on  the 
high  seas,  and  that  a  vessel  entering  a  blockaded  port  should  not  be  liable  to  capture  unless  previously  notified  of  the 
blockade.  There  were  satisfactory  arrangements  made  concerning  enlistments;  of  courtesy  between  ships  of  war  and 
privateers  of  the  two  countries ;  to  prevent  the  arming  of  privateers  of  any  nation  at  war  with  the  two  contracting  par 
ties,  and  the  capture  of  goods  in  the  bays  and  harbors  of  the  parties.  In  the  event  of  war  between  the  two  countries, 
the  citizens  or  subjects  of  either  should  not  be  molested,  if  peaceable ;  and  fugitives  from  justice,  charged  with  high 
crimes,  to  be  mutually  given  up.* 

*  The  Treaty  in  full  may  be  found  in  the  Statesman's  Manual,  iv.,  298. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


Violent  Opposition  to  the  Treaty.  Its  Friends  assailed.  Secession  proposed  by  Virginians. 

with  Great  Britain.     It  reached  the  President  early  in  March,a  but  the  Sen-     »  March  5 
ate  were  not  convened  to  consider  it  until  June.b    Meanwhile  an  unfaithful        17y5- 
Cabinet  minister  (Mr.  Randolph,  of  Virginia)  revealed  enough  of  its  charac-     " June8' 
tor  to  warrant  attacks  upon  it.     The  mad,  seditious  cry  of  faction  was  immediately 
raised  in  the  Democratic  societies  and  spread  among  the  people.1 

The  Senate  finally  voted  to  ratify  the  treaty,  and  it  was  published  to  the  world.2 
Then  the  opposition  opened  upon  it  their  heaviest  batteries  of  abuse.  The  chief  tar 
gets  for  their  shot  were  its  provisions  for  the  payment  of  honest  debts  contracted  be 
fore  the  Revolution,  and  the  omission  to  provide  for  the  remuneration  of  slaveholders 
for  their  negroes  carried  away  during  that  war.  As  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  public  sentiment  and  judicial  decisions  of  Great  Britain  did  not  recog 
nize  man  as  property,3  the  claim  relating  to  slaves  in  the  old  treaty  was  passed  over. 

The  author  of  the  treaty,  the  approving  senators,  the  administration,  and  the  Presi 
dent  personally,  were  violently  assailed.  The  treaty  was  declared  to  be  a  token  of 
national  Cowardice ;  an  insult  to  the  American  people ;  a  covert  blow  at  France,  their 
old  ally.  Bold  attempts  were  made  to  intimidate  the  President  and  prevent  his  sign 
ing  it.  Public  meetings  were  held  all  over  the  country,  at  which  the  most  violent 
language  and  seditious  suggestions  and  menaces  were  made.  A  mob  in  Philadelphia 
paraded  in  the  streets  with  effigies  of  Jay  and  the  ratifying  senators.4  A  meeting  in 
Boston  denounced  the  treaty  as  containing  not  one  article  "  honorable  or  beneficial  to 
the  United  States."  Hamilton  and  other  speakers  in  favor  of  the  treaty  were  stoned 
at  a  public  meeting  in  New  York,  not  only  by  a  low  mob,  but  by  decent  people.5 
South  Carolinians  called  Jay  a  "  traitor,"  longed  for  a  guillotine,  trailed  the  British 
flag  in  the  dust  of  the  streets  of  Charleston,  and  burned  it  at  the  door  of  the  British 

O  * 

consul ;  while  Virginians,  ever  ready  with  the  grand  panacea  of  disunion  for  political 
evils,  offered  their  prescription  in  emphatic  if  not  elegant  language.6 

1  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  those  factious  cries:  "Americans,  awake  !  Remember  what  you  suffered  through  a 
seven  years'  war  with  the  satellites  of  George  the  Third  (and  I  hope  the  last).  Recollect  the  services  rendered  by  your 
allies,  now  contending  for  liberty.  Blush  to  think  that  America  should  degrade  herself  so  much  as  to  enter  into  any 
kind  of  treaty  with  a  power,  now  tottering  on  the  brink  of  ruin,  whose  principles  are  directly  contrary  to  the  spirit  of 
republicanism.  The  United  States  are  a  republic.  Is  it  advantageous  to  a  republic  to  have  a  connection  with  a  mon 
arch  ?  Treaties  lead  to  war,  and  war  is  the  bane  of  a  republican  government.  .  .  .  France  is  our  natural  ally ;  she  has 
a  government  congenial  with  our  own.  .  .  .  The  nation  on  whom  our  political  existence  depends  we  have  treated  with  in 
difference  bordering  on  contempt.  .  .  .  Citizens,  your  security  depends  on  France.  .  .  .  Let  us  unite  with  France,  and 
stand  or  fall  together." 

3  The  Senate,  on  voting  to  recommend  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  removed  the  seal  of  secrecy,  but  forbade  the  publi 
cation  of  the  treaty  itself,  for  prudential  reasons  connected  with  measures  for  ascertaining  the  construction  by  the  English 
of  the  order  of  the  Sth  of  June,  1T93  (see  page  84),  which,  it  was  rumored,  had  just  been  renewed.  Regardless  alike  of 
the  rules  of  the  Senate,  of  official  decorum,  and  of  personal  honor,  Senator  Thomson  Mason,  of  Virginia,  sent  a  copy  of 
it  to  the  Aurora  newspaper,  the  bitter  enemy  of  the  administration,  and  a  full  abstract  of  it  was  published  therein  on 
the  2d  of  July.  A  poet  of  the  day  thus  ironically  addressed  Mr.  Mason : 

"  Ah,  Thomson  Mason  !  long  thy  fame  shall  rise 

With  Democratic  incense  to  the  skies  ! 

Long  shall  the  world  admire  thy  manly  soul, 

Which  scorned  the  haughty  Senate's  base  control ; 

Came  boldly  forward  with  thy  weighty  name, 

And  gave  the  treaty  up  for  public  game  \"—The  Echo. 

3  In  1C97  an  English  court  decided  that  "negroes  being  usually  bought  and  sold  among  merchants  as  merchandise. 
and  also  being  infidels,  there  might  be  a  property  in  them  sufficient  to  maintain  trover."    In  1702  Chief  Justice  Holt  de 
cided  that  "so  soon  as  a  negro  lands  in  England  he  is  free."    To  this  Cowper  alluded  when  he  said,  "Slaves  can  not 
breathe  in  England."    Holt  also  decided  that  "there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  slave  by  the  law  of  England."    Just  before 
the  kindling  of  the  Revolution  these  decisions  were  reaffirmed  by  Chief  Justice  Lord  Mansfield  in  the  case  of  James 
Somerset,  a  native  of  Africa,  who  had  been  carried  to  Virginia,  sold  as  a  slave,  and  taken  to  England  by  his  master, 
where  he  was  induced  to  assert  his  freedom. 

4  That  of  Jay  bore  a  pair  of  scales:  one  was  labeled  "American  liberty  and  independence,"  and  the  other,  which  greatly 
preponderated,  "British  gold."    From  the  mouth  of  the  figure  proceeded  the  words,  "  Come  up  to  my  price,  and  1  will  sfll 
you  my  country." 

s  "These  are  hard  arguments,"  said  Hamilton,  who  was  hit  a  glancing  blow  upon  the  forehead  by  one  of  the  stones. 
"Edward  Livingston,"  says  the  late  Dr.  Francis,  in  his  Old  and  New  York  ("afterward  so  celebrated  for  his  Louisiana 
Code),  was,  I  am  informed,  one  of  the  violent  young  men  by  whom  the  stones  were  thrown." 

6  "  Notice  is  hereby  given,"  said  a  Richmond  paper  (July  31, 1795),  "  that  in  case  the  treaty  entered  into  by  that  damn 
ed  arch-traitor,  John  Jay,  with  the  British  tyrant  should  be  ratified,  a  petition  will  be  presented  to  the  next  General 
Assembly  of  Virginia  at  the  next  session,  praying  that  the  said  state  may  recede  from  the  Union,  and  be  under  the  gov 
ernment  of  one  hundred  thousand  free  and  independent  Virginians. 

"P.S.  As  it  is  the  wish  of  the  people  of  the  said  state  to  enter  into  a  treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and  navigation  with 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Washington's  Calmness  and  Faith.  The  "Whisky  Insurrection"  quelled.  The  "Democratic  Societies." 

None  of  these  things  moved  Washington.  He  signed  the  treaty,  and  awaited 
calmly  to  see  the  storm  pass  by.  It  did  so,  and  the  foundations  of  the  government 
were  found  to  be  stronger  than  ever.  It  was,  says  Lyman,  "  the  first  act  of  the  gov 
ernment  that  proved  the  stability  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  It  was  a  severe  trial, 
and  the  steadiness  with  which  the  shock  was  borne  may  be  attributed,  in  some  de 
gree,  to  the  personal  character  of  the  President."1  In  after  years,  when  the  republic 
was  menaced  by  internal  factions  and  external  foes,  the  result  of  the  conflict  over 
"  Jay's  Treaty"  was  pointed  to  as  a  warrant  for  faith  and  hope. 

While  these  unpleasant  relations  with  Great  Britain  and  France  were  exciting  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  the  government  was  sorely  perplexed  by  other  events  at 
home  and  abroad.  At  home  there  had  been,  for  a  long  time,  much  discontent  on  ac 
count  of  excise  laws  which  levied  a  duty  on  domestic  distilled  liquors.  These  discon 
tents  were  fanned  into  a  flame  by  the  Democratic  societies,  and,  in  the  summer  of 
1794,  the  inhabitants  of  some  of  the  western  counties  of  Pennsylvania  arrayed  them 
selves  in  armed  opposition  to  the  authority  of  the  national  government.  A  formidable 
insurrection  prevailed.  Buildings  were  burned,  mails  were  robbed,  and  government 
officers  were  insulted  and  abiised.  At  one  time  there  were  nearly  seven  thousand  insur 
gents  in  arms,  many  of  them  being  the  militia  of  the  country,  who  had  assembled  at  the 
call  of  rebel  leaders.  The  insurgent  spirit  also  infected  the  border  counties  of  Virginia. 

The  President  perceived  with  alarm  this  imitation  of  the  lawlessness  of  French  pol 
itics,  then  so  assiduously  propagated,  and  took  immediate  steps  to  crush  the  growing 
«  August  7  and  monster.  He  first  issued  two  warning  proclamations. a  They  were  un- 
September  25.  heeded.  After  exhausting  all  peaceable  means  for  the  restoration  of 
order,  he  sent  a  large  body  of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Virginia,  and  Maryland 
troops,  under  General  Henry  Lee  (then  Governor  of  Virginia),  into  the  disaffected  dis 
trict.  This  argument  was  effectual ;  and  very  soon  the  .outbreak,  known  in  history  as 
the  "  Whisky  Insurrection,"  like  that  of  Shays' s  in  Massachusetts  a  few  years  earlier, 
was  subdued  and  thoroughly  allayed.  This  alarming  insurrection  was  ended  without 
the  shedding  of  a  drop  of  blood — a  result  chiefly  due  to  the  prompt  energy  and  pru 
dence  of  Washington.  The  government  was  amazingly  strengthened  by  the  event. 
Every  good  citizen  expressed  his  reprobation  of  violent  resistance  to  law,  and  the 
Democratic  societies,  the  chief  fomenters  of  the  rebellion,2  after  that  shoAved  symp 
toms  of  a  desire  to  become  less  conspicuous.3 

any  other  state  or  states  of  the  present  Union  who  are  averse  to  returning  again  under  the  galling  yoke  of  Great  Britain, 
the  printers  of  the  (at  present)  United  States  are  requested  to  publish  the  above  notification." 

1  Lyman's  Diplomacy  of  the  United  States,  i.,  208. 

2  "That  the  self-constituted  societies,"  Washington  wrote  to  John  Jay,  "which  have  spread  themselves  over  this 
country,  have  been  laboring  incessantly  to  sow  the  seeds  of  distrust,  jealousy,  and  of  course  discontent,  thereby  hoping 
to  effect  some  revolution  in  the  government,  is  not  unknown  to  you.*    That  they  have  been  the  fomenters  of  the  West 
ern  disturbances,  admits  of  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  one  who  will  examine  their  conduct." 

"  I  consider  this  insurrection,"  he  wrote  to  General  Henry  Lee  on  the  26th  of  August,  "  as  the  first  formidable  fruit  of 
the  Democratic  societies,  brought  forth,  I  believe,  too  prematurely  for  their  own  views,  which  may  contribute  to  the  an 
nihilation  of  them." 

3  I  have  before  me  the  certificate  of  membership  granted  to  Captain  (afterward  Commodore)  Joshua  Barney  by  the 

*  At  that  time  there  existed  in  the  city  of  New  York  an  association  called  the  Tammany  Society,  or  Columbian  Order. 
It  was  formed  by  William  Mooney,  an  upholsterer,  residing  in  New  York  during  the  administration  of  Washington.  Its 
first  meeting  was  on  the  13th  of  May,  1789.  It  took  its  name  from  the  Indian  chief  Tammany,  of  whom  it  was  said  "  he 
loved  liberty  more  than  life."  Its  officers  were  composed  of  a  grand  sachem  and  thirteen  sachems,  representing  the 
President  and  the  governors  of  the  thirteen  states.  Besides  these  there  was  a  grand  council,  of  which  the  sachems  were 
members.  It  was  a  very  popular  society,  and  its  membership  included  most  of  the  best  men  of  New  York.  Its  anni 
versary  on  the  12th  of  May  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  holiday.  No  party  politics  were  tolerated  in  its  meetings.  But 
when  Washington  denounced  "  self-constituted  societies"  for  reasons  above  named,  nearly  all  of  the  members  left  it,  be 
lieving  their  society  to  be  included  in  the  just  reproof.  Mooney  and  others  adhered  to  the  organization,  and  from  that 
time  it  became  a  political  organization,  and  took  part  with  Jefferson  and  the  Democratic  party.  It  is  still  in  existence, 
and  is  known  as  a  centre  of  Democratic  organization,  in  the  political  sense  of  that  name.  Its  head-quarters  are  Tam 
many  Hall,  fronting  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  City  Hall  Park,  at  the  junction  of  Nassau  Street  and  Park  Row.  They 
met  at  first  at  Martling's  Long  Room,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Nassau  and  Spruce  Streets.  In  the  year  1800  they  de 
termined  to  build  a  "wigwam."  Tammany  Hall  was  accordingly  erected  by  them.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  the 
twenty-second  anniversary  of  the  society,  in  May,  1811,  and  was  finished  the  following  year.  Of  the  original  committee 
of  thirteen  appointed  at  the  meeting  in  1800  to  carry  out  the  design  of  erecting  a  building,  only  one  now  (18C7)  survives : 
that  is  the  venerable  Jacob  Barker,  of  New  Orleans. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


Difficulty  with  Algiers. 


British  Interference. 


Algerine  Corsairs  let  loose  upon  American  Commerce. 


The  new  difficulty  abroad  was  with  Algiers,  one  of  the  Barbary  Powers,  on  the 
southern  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  The  corsairs  of  those  states,  and  especially 
of  Algiers,  had  long  depredated  upon  commerce  in  that  region,  and  had  grown  bold 
by  suffered  impunity.  When,  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  American  vessels  began 
to  find  their  way  within  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  they  frequently  became  the  prey  of 
these  sea-robbers,  who  appropriated  their  cargoes  and  sold  their  crews  into  slavery, 
where  they  were  held  for  ransom-money.  President  Washington  called  the  attention 
of  the  national  government  to  these  piracies  as  early  as  1790 ;  and,  in  an  able  report, 
.Secretary  Jefferson  laid  before  Congress  important  details  touching  the  position  of 
American  interests  in  that  part  of  the  globe.  Little,  however,  could  be  done,  as  the 
Americans  had  no  navy ;  and  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  in  that  quarter  was 
for  a  long  time  dependent  on  the  Portuguese  fleet  for  protection. 

Portugal  was  at  war  with  Algiers  for  several  years,  and  the  fleet  of  the  former  con 
fined  the  cruisers  of  the  latter  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  This  barrier  was  broken  in 
1793,  by  British  instrumentality  acting  secretly,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  damaging 
France.  Portugal  was  then  seriously  dependent  on  Great  Britain,  and  had  asked  its 
aid  in  procuring  a  peace  with  Algiers.  The  British  agent  at  the  Court  of  the  Dey 
was  instructed  to  do  so,  and,  without  due  authority  being  given  him  by  Portugal  to 
act  in  its  behalf,  he  concluded  a  truce  between  the  belligerents  for  one  year.  In  that 
treaty  was  introduced  the  extraordinary  stipulation  that  the  Portuguese  government 
should  not  afford  protection  to  any  nation  against  Algerine  cruisers  !  This  truce  was 
immediate  in  its  operations,  and  the  robbers  were  released  without  notice  being  given 
to  other  powers. 

The  effect  of  this  measure  was  disastrous  to  American  commerce.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  British  ministry  disclaimed  any  intention  to  injure  the  United  States,  it  was 
very  evident  that  it  was  a  part  of  a  scheme  to  cripple  the  growing  commerce  of  the 
Americans,  or  at  least  so  to  alarm  it  as  to  prevent  its  carrying  supplies  to  France. 
And  such  was  the  result.  The  corsairs  spread  themselves  over  the  Atlantic  near  the 
European  coasts,  and  captured  a  large  number  of  American  vessels  making  their  way 
to  Portugal  and  other  parts  of  the  Continent,  unsuspicious  of  any  danger.  The  cor 
sairs  of  Tunis  joined  those  of  Algiers,  and  thus  a  powerful  fleet  of  pirate  ships  was 
formed.1 


Democratic  or  Republican  Society  of  Baltimore,  with  the  seal  of  the  society  attached,  by  the  side  of  which  his  name  is 
written.    The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  certificate  and  seal : 

"To  all  other  Societies  established  on  principles  of  LIBERTY  and  EQUALITY,  UNION,  PATRIOTIC  VIRTUE,  and  PERSE 
VERANCE. 

"We,  the  Members  of  the  Republican  Society  of  Baltimore,  certify  and  declare  to  all  Republican  or  Democratic  Soci 
eties,  and  to  all  Republicans  individually,  that  Citizen  JOSHUA  BARNEY  hath  been  admitted  and  now  is  a  member  of  our 
Society,  and  that,  from  his  known  zeal  to  promote  Republican  principles  and  the  rights  of  humanity,  we  have  granted 
him  this  oiir  certificate  (which  he  hath  signed  in  the  margin),  and  do  recommend  him  to  all  Republicans,  that  they  may 
receive  him  with  fraternity,  which  we  offer  to  all  those  who  may  come  to  us  with  sim 
ilar  credentials. 

"  In  testimony  whereof,  etc.  Signed,        ALEXANDER  M'KiM,  President. 

"GEOBGE  SEAKS,  Secretary." 


This  certificate  is  dated  the  "twelfth  day  of  August,  and  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  and  the  establishment  of  the  American  Republic,"  or  1705. 

1  The  maritime  force  of  Algiers  at  that  time,  according  to  O'Brien  (see  American  State  Papers,  x.,  323),  consisted  of 
four  frigates,  with  an  aggregate  of  124  guns  ;  one  polacca  (a  vessel  with  three  short  masts,  without  tops,  caps,  or  cross- 
trees  to  the  upper  yards),  with  18  guns ;  one  brig  of  20 ;  four  xebecs  (a  small  three-masted  vessel  used  in  the  Mediter- 


90  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Pride  and  Avarice  of  the  Dey  of  Algiers.        An  American  Navy  recommended.        First  Steps  toward  its  Creation. 

The  Americans  felt  justly  indignant  toward  Great  Britain  because  of  the  important 
part  she  had  played  in  letting  those  robbers  out  of  the  Mediterranean.  But  the  gov 
ernment  was  powerless  to  act.  David  Humphreys,  who  had  been  appointed  commis 
sioner  for  the  United  States  to  negotiate  with  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  had  been  treated 
with  contempt  by  the  haughty  semi-barbarian,  who  was  as  avaricious  as  he  was 
proud.  "  If  I  were  to  make  peace  with  every  body,"  he  said,  "  what  should  I  do 
with  my  corsairs  ?  What  should  I  do  with  my  soldiers  ?  They  would  take  off  my 
head  for  the  want  of  other  prizes,  not  being  able  to  live  on  their  miserable  allow 
ance  !" 

Such  logic  was  unanswerable  by  words,  and  Humphreys  wrote  to  his  government 
at  the  close  of  1793,  at  the  suggestion  of  Captain  Richard  O'Brien,1  "If  we  mean  to 
have  a  commerce,  we  must  have  a  navy  to  defend  it."  With  the  same  recognition 
of  the  necessity  for  nautical  power,  Washington,  in  his  message  at  the  opening  of  Con 
gress  early  in  December,a  said,  when  alluding  to  the  war  in  Europe,  and  the  deli 
cate  international  questions  arising  out  of  the  frontier  relations  of  the  republic, 
"  There  is  a  rank  due  to  the  United  States  among  nations,  which  will  be  withheld,  if 
not  absolutely  lost,  by  the  reputation  of  weakness.  If  we  desire  to  avoid  insult,  we 
must  be  able  to  repel  it ;  if  we  desire  to  secure  peace,  one  of  the  most  powerful  in 
struments  of  our  prosperity,  it  must  be  known  that  we  are  at  all  times  ready  for 
war." 

The  President's  wise  counsels  prevailed.     In  January ,b  1794,  a  commit- 

b  January  2.  .        .  .*  J ' 

tee  was  appointed,  with  instructions  to  report  the  amount  of  force  neces 
sary  to  protect  American  commerce  against  the  Algerine  pirates,  and  the  ways  and 
means  for  its  support.2  This  measure,  and  the  general  subject  of  British  aggressions, 
elicited,  as  we  have  seen,  long  and  warm  debates,  and  party  lines  were  very  distinctly 
*  March  2c,  drawn.  The  feeling  against  Great  Britain  became  intense,  and  in  Marchc 
an  embargo  for  a  limited  period  was  laid,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  ob 
structing  the  supply  of  provisions  for  the  British  fleet  in  the  West  Indies.3  Then 
followed  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Jay  as  minister  extraordinary  to  Great  Britain,  al 
ready  noticed. 

There  was  a  powerful  and  determined  opposition  to  the  creation  of  a  navy.  With 
strange  ideas  of  national  honor  and  national  independence,  some  advocated  the  pur 
chase  of  a  peace  Avith  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  and  the  future  security  of  his  forbearance, 
by  ransom  and  tribute  money,  rather  than  prepare  for,  and  thus,  as  they  believed, 
provoke  a  war.  And  these  cowardly  counsels  had  great  influence;  for  when,  finally, 
A  March  ii,  a  bill  was  passed3  providing  for  the  construction  of  six  frigates,  it  was  en- 
™-  cumbered  with  a  clause  commanding  a  suspension  of  labor  upon  them  in 
the  event  of  a  peace  with  Algiers  being  secured.  For  the  purchase  of  such  peace  a 
million  of  dollars  Avere  appropriated.  An  act  was  also  passed  for  the  fortification  of 
the  harbors  of  the  republic.4  These  were  the  first  steps  toward  the  creation  of  the 
navy,  army,  and  fortifications  of  the  United  States  under  the  National  Constitution. 

rnneau),  with  an  aggregate  of  108  guns  ;  a  brig  on  the  stocks  of  20  guns;  three  galliotas,  with  4  guns  each  •  and  sixty 
gun-boats.    The  vessels  were  all  manned  at  the  rate  of  twelve  men  fg,r  each  gun.    Tunis  had,  at  the  same  time,  twenty- 
three  corsairs,  mounting  from  4  to  24  guns  each. 
•Letter  of  O'Brien  to  Humphreys,  dated  "Algiers,  November  12,  lT93."-See  American  State  Papers,  Boston  edition, 

1817,  X.,  ;>19. 

2  This  was  the  first  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  ever  appointed  by  the  Congress,  questions  of  that  sort  haying 
been  hitherto  referred  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.    It  was  an  opposition  measure.     ' 

3  First  for  thirty  days,  and  afterward  for  sixty.    At  the  end  of  that  time  the  embargo  expired  by  limitation,  but  a 
temporary  act  authorized  the  President  to  renew  it  at  any  time  before  the  next  session  of  Congress 

^VIT/S!  bi"  provicled  that  folir  ofthe  six  friSates  should  carry  44  guns  each,  and  the  other  two  36  guns  each 
About  $.00,000  were  appropriated  for  the  purpose.  In  the  matter  of  harbor  defenses,  the  President  was  authorized  to 
commence  fortifications  at  Portland,  Portsmouth,  Gloucester,  Salem,  Boston,  Newport,  New  London  New  York  Phila 
delphia,  Baltimore,  Annapolis,  Alexandria,  Norfolk,  Ocracoke  Inlet,  Wilmington,  Cape  Fear  River  Georgetown  8  C 
Charleston,  Savannah,  and  St.  Mary's.  But  the  whole  amount  of  money  appropriated  for  this  purpose  wis  the'naltrv 
sum  of  $130,000.  True,  this  was  only  for  the  OHMMMMieflt  of  the  fortifications.  The  President  was  authorized  to  nur 
chase  two  hundred  cannon,  and  artillery  munitions  for  the  forts,  for  which  $96,000  were  appropriated  For  the  estab 
hshment  of  arsenals  and  armories  $81,000  were  appropriated,  and  $340,000  were  provided  for  the  purchase  of  arms' and 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


91 


Building  of  Frigates.  Tribute  to  the  Dey  of  Algiers.          Release  of  Captives.          The  French  Directory  offended. 

Perceiving  an  urgent  necessity  in  the  aspect  of  foreign  affairs  in  relation  to  his  own 
government,  the  President  resolved  to  have  the  six  frigates  built  immediately,  and 
their  keels  were  soon  respectively  laid  in  six  different  ports.1  The  work  was  going 
on  briskly,  when  it  was  suspended,  at  the  close  of  1795,  by  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty 
of  peacea  with  the  African  robber,  which  cost  the  government  a  million  » November  28, 
of  dollars  without  ultimate  advantage.2  The  work  on  the  six  frigates 
was  suspended,  and  the  mercantile  marine  of  the  United  States  lost  all  hope  of  pro 
tection  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  any  foreign  government. 

At  the  beginning  of  1*796  the  aspect  of  the  foreign  affairs  of  the  republic  was  peace 
ful.  The  Indian  war  in  the  West  had  ceased ;  a  better  understanding  with  Great 
Britain  prevailed  than  had  been  known  since  the  close  of  the  Revolution ;  and  the 
French  government,  then  in  the  hands  of  a  Directory,3  showed  no  special  symptoms 
of  enmity  toward  that  of  the  United  States.  But  clouds  soon  began  to  appear  in  that 
section  of  the  political  horizon.  The  ratification  of  Jay's  treaty  gave  such  offense  to 
the  Directory  that  they  declared13  the  alliance  between  France  and  the  b  February  15, 
United  States  at  an  end,  and  that  Adet,  the  successor  of  Fouchet,  should 
be  recalled,  to  make  room  for  a  special  minister.  In  July,c  when  intelli-  c  Julv  2- 
gence  was  received  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  had  made  an  appropriation 
for  the  due  execution  of  Jay's  treaty,  the  Directory  issued  a  secret  order  authorizing 
French  ships  of  war  to  treat  neutral  vessels  in  the  same  manner  as  they  had  suffered 
themselves  to  be  treated  by  the  English.  Under  this  authorization,  numerous  Amer 
ican  ships  were  seized  in  the  West  Indies  by  French  cruisers.  This  was  followed  in 


military  stores.    The  importation  of  arms  for  two  years  was  to  he  free,  and  no  arms  were  allowed  to  be  exported  for  a 
year. 

1  These  were  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  Norfolk.    The  President  also  pro 
ceeded  to  appoint  the  following  officers,  constructors,  and  navy  agents : 


Captains  and  Superintendents. 

Naval  Constructors. 

Navy  Agents. 

For  Ships  to  be  built  at 

John  Barry. 
Samuel  Nicholson. 
Silas  Talbot. 
Richard  Dale. 
Thomas  Truxtun. 
James  Sever. 

Joshua  Humphreys. 
George  Cleghorn. 
Forman  Cheesman. 
John  Morgan. 
David  Stodert. 
James  Hackett. 

Isaac  Coxe. 
Henry  Jackson. 
John  Blagge. 
W.  Pennock. 
Jeremiah  Yillott. 
Jacob  Sheafl'e. 

Philadelphia. 
Boston. 
New  York. 
Norfolk. 
Baltimore. 
Portsmouth. 

2  The  relations  of  those  African  sea-robbers  to  the  commerce  of  the  world  at  that  time  was  a  disgrace  to  the  civilized 
nations  who  suffered  themselves  to  be  made  tributary  to  the  piratical  rulers  of  the  semi-barbarian  states  on  the  south 
ern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

The  first  contact  of  those  powers  with  the  Americans  was  in  17S5,  when  Algerine  corsairs  captured  two  vessels  from 
the  United  States,  and  consigned  their  crews,  twenty-one  in  number,  to  slavery.  Measures  were  immediately  taken  by 
the  diplomatic  agents  of  the  United  States  in  Europe  fur  their  release.  The  rapacious  Dey  believed  he  had  found  a  new 
mine  of  wealth,  and  he  asked  an  enormous  price  for  their  ransom.  The  American  government  determined  not  to  estab 
lish  a  precedent  that  would  be  followed  by  more  exorbitant  demands.  In  France  was  a  religious  order,  called  Mathu- 
rins,  established  in  ancient  times  for  the  purpose  of  redeeming  Christian  captives  in  the  hands  of  the  infidels.  On  the 
solicitation  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  then  minister  of  the  United  States  at  the  French  Court,  the  principal  of  this  order  under 
took  to  procure  a  release  of  the  American  captives.  He  was  unsuccessful.  Others  made  similar  attempts,  with  like  re 
sults.  The  Dey  refused  to  lower  his  demands,  believing  that  the  United  States  would  pay  any  price  rather  than  allow 
Americans  to  remain  in  bondage.  Finally  our  government  appropriated  $40.000  for  their  ransom,  and  first  John  Paul 
Jones,  and  then  Mr.  Barclay,  were  appointed  commissioners  to  negotiate  for  their  release.  Each  died  before  he  reached 
Algiers,  and  the  business  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Colonel  David  Humphreys,  American  minister  at  Lisbon.  This 
was  at  about  the  time  when  the  truce  between  Portugal  and  Algiers,  already  mentioned,  was  concluded.  The  Algerine 
fleet  was  then  upon  the  Atlantic,  and,  within  a  month  after  the  truce  was  agreed  upon,  ten  American  vessels  were  cap 
tured  by  them,  and  over  one  hundred  American  seamen  consigned  to  slavery.  Colonel  Humphreys  asked  the  Dey  for  a 
passport  to  Algiers.  The  elated  rnler  said  that  he  would  not  make  peace  with  the  Americans  on  any  terms,  nor  allow 
any  American  embassador  to  come  to  his  capital.  Humphreys  hastened  to  the  United  States,  when  Congress  appropri 
ated  about  a  million  of  dollars  to  be  applied  to  the  release  of  the  captives.  In  the  spring  of  1705  Humphreys  sailed  for 
Europe,  with  Mr.  Donaldson,  consul  for  Tunis  and  Tripoli.  While  the  former  remained  in  France  to  obtain  the  aid  of 
that  government,  Donaldson  made  a  treaty  with  the  Dey.  The  captives  were  finally  released  on  the  payment  of  a  large 
sum  of  money,  and  an  agreement  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  pay  to  the  Dey  of  Algiers  an  annual  tribute.  The 
amount  to  be  paid  down  was  $800,000,  and,  in  addition,  the  United  States  agreed  to  present  the  Dey  with  a  friarate 
worth  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  amount  of  annual  tribute-money  was  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  This 
treaty  was  humiliating  to  the  United  States,  but  it  was  in  accordance  with  the  usages  of  European  nations,  and  could 
not  then  be  avoided. 

3  The  Directory  was  installed  at  the  Luxembourg  at  Paris,  under  a  new  constitution  of  government,  on  the  1st  of 
November,  1795,  and  was  appointed  to  hold  executive  power  for  four  years.    It  was  composed  of  five  members,  and 
ruled  in  connection  with  the  Chambers,  namely,  the  Council  of  Ancients  and  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred. 


92 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


American  Servility. 


Close  of  Washington's  Administration. 


Attacks  on  his  Character. 


America  by  Minister  Adet's  famous  "  cock 
ade  proclamation,"  calling  upon  all  French 
residents  in  the  United  States,  in  the  name 
of  the  Directory,  to  mount  on  their  hats  a 
tri-colored  cockade.  The  call  was  loyally 
responded  to,  and  many  American  Demo 
crats,  also,  were  seen  with  this  token  of 
their  devotion  to  the  French  Republic. 

Mr.  Monroe,  having  failed  to  please  either 
the  French  Directory  or  his  own  govern 
ment,  was  superseded  by  Charles  Cotes- 
worth  Pinckney,  of  South  Carolina.  That 
gentleman  embarked  as  minister  to  France 
in  September,  bearing  with  him  Monroe's 
letters  of  recall. 

Washington's  second  administration  was 
now  drawing  to  a  close,  and  he  resolved  to 
retire  to  private  life.  In  September  he  is 
sued  his  admirable  Farewell  Address  to  his 
countrymen — a  political  legacy  of  inestima 
ble  value.  At  the  same  time  the  first  great 
struggle  of  the  Federal  and  Democratic  parties  for  power  was  going  on,  in  the  can 
vass  for  Washington's  successor.  The  candidates  were  Adams  and  Jefferson ;  and 
every  appeal  which  party  spirit  or  party  rancor  could  invent  was  made  to  the  people 
all  over  the  land.  Adet,  with  unparalleled  impudence,  issued  an  inflammatory  appeal 
to  the  people,  containing  a  summary  of  alleged  violations  of  friendship  to  France  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  government.  It  was  chiefly  intended  to  arouse  the 
feelings  of  the  Americans  against  Great  Britain.  Other  partisans  of  Jefferson,  in  their 
zeal  to  injure  the  Federal  party,  made  outrageous  assaults  upon  Washington's  char 
acter,  charging  him  with  using  the  public  money  for  private  use,  and  of  being  a  trai 
tor  to  his  country.1  The  notorious  Thomas  Paine,  lately  released  from  a  French 
prison,  with  his  moral  sensibilities  all  blunted  by  habitual  dissipation,  wrote  a  scur 
rilous  letter  to  Washington,  from  under  the  roof  of  Monroe  in  Paris,  in  the  summer 
of  1796.  This  was  published  in  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  Jef 
ferson's  election.  But  Adams  was  successful.  The  attack  on  Washington  strength 
ened  the  Federal  party,  and  the  last  growl  of  the  opposition  toward  him  personally 
was  given  by  a  writer  in  the  Aurora  on  the  first  President's  retirement  from  office 
at  the  beginning  of  March,  1797,  and  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  Mo  Tint  Vernon.2 
When  Washington  retired  from  public  life  the  clouds  of  difficulty  between  the 
United  States  and  France  were  thickening.  French  cruisers  were  inflicting  great 

o  o    o 

'  February  27,     wrongs  on  American  commerce,  and  near  the  close  of  the  session  of  the 
Congress  of  1796, '97,  the  Secretary  of  State  laid  before  that  bodya  a  full 


1T97. 


1  "If  ever  a  nation  has  been  debauched  by  a  man,"  said  a  writer  in  the  Aurora,  "  the  American  nation  has  been  de 
bauched  by  Washington.    If  ever  a  nation  was  deceived  by  a  man,  the  American  nation  has  been  deceived  by  Washing 
ton.    Let  his  conduct,  then,  be  an  example  to  future  ages.    Let  it  serve  to  be  a  warning  that  no  man  may  be  an  idol. 
Let  the  history  of  the  Federal  government  instruct  mankind  that  the  mask  of  patriotism  may  be  worn  to  conceal  the 
foulest  designs  against  the  liberties  of  the  people." 

2  "  '  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation,' "  said  this  politician. 
"If  ever  there  was  a  time  that  would  license  the  reiteration  of  the  exclamation  of  the  pious  Simeon,"  he  said,  "that 
time  is  now  arrived;  for  the  man  who  is  the  source  of  all  the  misfortunes  of  our  country  is  this  day  reduced  to  a  level 
with  his  fellow-citizens,  and  is  no  longer  possessed  of  power  to  multiply  evils  upon  the  United  States.  .  .  .  When  a  ret 
rospect  is  taken  oftheWashingtouian  administration  for  eight  years,  it  is  a  subject  of  the  greatest  astonishment  that  a 
single  individual  should  have  cankered  the  principles  of  republicanism  in  an  enlightened  people  just  emerged  from  the 
gulf  of  despotism,  and  should  have  carried  his  designs  against  the  public  liberty  so  far  as  to  have  put  in  jeopardy  its 
very  existence.    Such,  however,  are  the  facts,  and,  with  them  staring  us  in  the  face,  this  day  ought  to  be  a  JUBILEE  in  the 
United  States !" 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


93 


President  Adams.  Aspect  of  Public  Affairs.  Treatment  of  an  American  Minister. 


The  French  Directory. 


exhibit  of  them.  From  that  communication  it  appeared  that  not  only  were  American 
vessels  captured,  but  their  crews  were  treated  with  great  indignity,  and  even  cruelty. 
Many  bitter  complaints  were  made  against  Commodore  Joshua  Barney,  then  in  the 
French  service,  in  command  of  two  frigates  in  the  West  Indies,  who  was  accused  of 
treating  his  own  captive  countrymen  with  indifference  and  neglect.  He  was  also 
charged  with  having  insulted  the  American  flag  by  hoisting  it  union  down.  And  yet, 
when  he  arrived  in  Chesapeake  Bay  to  learn  and  carry  away  to  France  the  result  of 
the  Presidential  election,  though  he  boasted  of  having  in  his  pocket  the  orders  of  the 
French  Directory  to  capture  American  vessels,  and  declared  that,  if  Jefferson  were 
not  elected,  war  would  be  proclaimed  by  France  within  three  months,  he  was  not  the 
less  on  that  account  honored  and  feasted  by  infatuated  politicians  who  read  the 
Aurora  and  believed  Washington  to  be  a  traitor  I1 

Adams2  came  into  office  with  a  power 
ful  party  opposed  to  him — a  party  which 
lacked  only  two  votes  of  giving  the  elec 
tion  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  his  rival,  who  be 
came  Vice-President.  An  open  rupture 
with  France  was  becoming  more  and 
more  imminent.  The  accession  of  Spain 
to  their  alliance,  and  the  victories  of 
young  Napoleon  Bonaparte  in  Italy,  gave 
the  Directory  strength,  and  their  bearing 
toward  other  governments  became  more 
and  more  insolent.  Their  corsairs  were 
depredating  upon  American  commerce, 
and  in  their  pride  they  declared  that,  un 
til  the  United  States  had  redressed  cer 
tain  alleged  grievances  of  which  they 
complained,  no  minister  of  the  republic 
would  be  received  by  them.  Pinckney, 
who  had  never  been  officially  received  as 
minister,  was  ordered  to  leave  France. 
He  retired  to  Holland,  after  sending  a  nar 
rative  of  his  bad  treatment  to  his  govern 
ment,  and  there  awaited  farther  orders. 

The  conduct  of  the  French  Directory  soon  wrought  a  great  change  in  the  public 
mind  in  the  United  States.  Disappointed  by  the  failure  of  Jefferson  to  be  elected 
President,  the  Directory  determined  to  punish  the  people  who  dared  to  thwart  their 
plans.  They  issued  a  decreea  which  was  almost  tantamount  to  a  declaration  » May  10, 
of  war.  It  not  only  authorized  the  capture  of  American  vessels  under  cer 
tain  conditions,  but  declared  that  any  American  found  on  board  of  a  hostile  ship, 
though  placed  there  without  his  consent  by  impressment,  should  be  hanged  as  a 
pirate.  American  seamen,  continually  liable  to  impressment  by  the  British,  were  to 
be  subjected  to  a  pirate's  fate  by  the  French  !  Strange  to  say,  the  eminent  American, 


i  Hildreth's  History  of  the  United  States,  Second  Series,  i.,  703. 

s  John  Adams  was  born  at  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  October  13, 1735.    He  was  educated  at  Harvard  University,  and  at 
the  age  of  twenty-two  years  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law.    He  was  brought  prominently  into  public  life  by  his 
defense  of  Captain  Preston  at  Boston,  who  was  engaged  in  the  so-called  "massacre,"  in  the  spring  of  1770.    He  became 
a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  and  in  1774  was  elected  to  the  Continental  Congress.    He  was  one  o; 
most  active  men  in  that  body  until  sent  on  diplomatic  missions  to  Europe.    He  was  the  representative  of  the  new  re 
public  abroad  for  many  years,  and  was  one  of  the  negotiators  for  peace  in  1783.    In  1789  he  was  chosen  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States,  and" in  1797  was  elevated  to  the  seat  of  the  President,  as  Washington's  successor.    He  served  o: 
term,  and  retired  to  Quiucy  in  1801.    He  engaged  but  little  in  public  life  afterward.    He  and  Jefferson  died  on  the  sam< 
day,  July  4, 1826,  just  fifty  years  after  they  voted  for  the  Declaration  of  Independence.    Mr.  Adams  was  then  ninety-one 
years  of  age.    The  above  portrait  was  painted  by  Stuart  at  about  the  time  Adams  was  elected  President. 


94 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Joel  Barlow  a  French  Democrat. 


Madness  of  Partisans. 


'  God  save  the  Guillotine." 


Joel  Barlow,  at  that  time 
a  resident  in  Paris,  coolly 
wrote  to  a  friend  concern 
ing  this  barbarous  decree, 
"  The  government  here  is 
determined  to  fleece  you 
to  a  sufficient  degree  to 
bring  you  to  your  feel 
ing  in  the  only  nerve  in 
which  your  sensibility 
lies,  which  is  your  pe 
cuniary  interest."1 

President  Adams  had 
called  an  extraordinary 
session  of  Congress  at  the 
middle  of  May.  The  re 
action  every  where  had 
greatly  strengthened  the 


administration  party,  and 
many  Republicans  talk 
ed  with  complacency  of  a 
war  with  France.  But  a 
majority  of  the  Cabinet 
favored  farther  attempts 
at  negotiation.  John  Mar 
shall,  a  Federalist  (after 
ward  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States),  and  El- 
bridge  Gerry,  a  Dem 
ocrat  ( afterward  Vice  - 
President),  were  appoint 
ed  envoys  extraordinary 
to  proceed  to  Europe, 
join  Mr.  Pinckney,  and 
attempt  to  settle  by  di 
plomacy  all  matters  in 
session  of  little  more  than 


dispute  between  the  United  States  and  France.  After  a 
six  weeks,  during  which  time  provision  was  made  for  a  small  loan  for  calling  out 
eighty  thousand  militia,  and  creating  a  small  naval  force,  and  acts  against  privateer- 
,  July  10)  ing  were  passed,  Congress  adjourned*  in  time  to  escape  the  yellow  fever  that 
ravaged  Philadelphia  that  season.2 


1797. 


Let  mercy  then  control 
The  guillotine. 

1  When  all  the  sceptred  crew 
Have  paid  their  homage  due 

The  guillotine, 
Let  Freedom's  flag  advance 
Till  all  the  world,  like  France, 
O'er  tyrants'  graves  shall  dance, 

And  peace  begin." 


1  Letter  to  his  brother-in-law,  Abraham  Baldwin,  of  Georgia.    Barlow,  who  went  to  France  with  a  communication  to 
the  National  Convention  from  a  sympathizing  society  in  England,  was  made  a  French  citizen.    By  some  commercial 
operations  he  accumulated  a  large  fortune,  lived  in  sumptuous  style  in  Paris,  and,  being  a  thorough  French  Democrat, 
was  the  bitter  enemy  of  the  administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams.    While  at  Hamburg,  in  1793,  he  was  invited  to 
a  Jacobin  festival,  and  he  furnished  for  the  occasion  a  copy  of  the  following  song,  written  by  Thelwall,  a  celebrated  En 
glish  Jacobin.    It  was  sung  on  that  occasion,  and  has  been  generally  considered  a  composition  by  Mr.  Barlow  himself. 
It  was  entitled  God  save  the  Guillotine,  and  is  a  parody  of  the  English  national  song*  God  save  the  King: 

"  God  save  the  guillotine !  Shall  in  the  basket  roll, 

Till  England's  king  and  queen 

Her  power  shall  prove ; 
Till  each  anointed  knob 
Affords  a  clipping  job, 
Let  no  rude  halter  rob 

The  guillotine. 

"  France,  let  thy  trumpet  sound- 
Tell  all  the  world  around 

How  CAPET  fell ; 
And  when  great  GEORGE'S  poll 

2  At  about  this  time  a  letter  written  by  Jefferson  to  Philip  Mazzei,  an  Italian  republican,  who  had  lived  near  him  in 
Virginia  for  a  while,  was  published  in  the  Federal  newspapers,  and  made  a  great  stir.    The  letter  was  written  a  year 
before,  and  was  translated  and  published  by  Mazzei  in  a  Florentine  journal.    It  contained  a  virtual  indorsement  of  all 
the  charges  made  against  Washington  and  his  political  friends.    Its  publication  brought  to  an  end  the  friendship  be 
tween  Jefferson  and  the  late  President.    Jefferson  was  placed  in  such  an  unpleasant  dilemma  by  it  that  he  prudently 
kept  silence.    It  was  used  with  great  effect  at  the  time,  and  was  again  brought  up  against  him  at  the  Presidential  can 
vass  in  the  year  1SOO.    It  was  made  the  subject  of  a  caricature  called  TUB  PROVIDENTIAL  DETECTION.    At  a  place  for 

*  It  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  remark  that  "  God  save  the  King,"  in  words  and  air,  did  not  originate  with  Han 
del  in  the  time  of  George  the  First,  as  is  generally  supposed,  but  is  almost  a  literal  translation  of  a  eantique  which  was 
always  sung  by  the  maidens  of  St.  Cyr  when  Louis  the  Fourteenth  entered  the  chapel  of  that  establishment  to  hear  the 
morning  prayer.  M.  De  Brinon  was  the  author  of  the  words,  and  the  music  was  by  the  eminent  Lulli,  founder  of  the 
French  opera.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  words : 

"  Grand  Dieu  sanve  le  Roi ! 
Grand  Dieu  venge  le  Roi ! 

Vive  le  Roi ! 
Que  toujours  glorieux, 
Louis  victorieux! 
Voye  ses  ennemi 

Toujours  soumis ! 
Grand  Dieu  sauve  le  Roi ! 
Grand  Dieu  venge  le  Roi ! 

Vive  le  Roi !" 
This  air  is  still  sung  by  the  vine-dressers  in  the  south  of  France.— See  Memoirs  of  Madame  de  Crcquy. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  95 


Pride  of  the  French  Directory.    Attempt  to  extort  Tribute  from  the  Americans.    Pinckney's  Reply.    A  French  Decree. 

Darker  and  darker  appeared  the  storm-clouds  of  European  politics,  and  the  mutter 
ing  of  their  thunders  shook  the  social  fabric  in  America  with  some  alarm.  England, 
for  a  moment,  seemed  tottering  to  its  fall.  Its  financial  power  was  sorely  smitten  by 
the  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  Bank  of  England,  and  its  naval  strength 
and  supremacy  seemed  menaced  by  a  great  mutiny  at  the  Nore.  Bonaparte  was 
making  his  splendid  conquering  marches  in  the  direction  of  the  Danube,  and  the  Car 
pathian  Mountains  beyond,  and  Austria  had  already  been  compelled  to  make  peace 
with  his  government.  Success  waited  on  French  arms  and  French  diplomacy  every 
where ;  and  when  the  three  American  envoys  reached  Paris  in  October,*  .  October  4 
and  asked  for  an  audience  with  the  Directory,  they  met  with  a  haughty  179T- 
refusal,  unless  they  should  first  pay  into  the  deficient  French  treasury  a  large  sum  as 
an  equivalent  for  friendship.  Overtures  for  this  purpose  were  made  by  unofficial 
agents,  and  the  sum  demanded  was  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars,  besides 
an  arrangement  for  purchasing  from  the  French  government  a  large  amount  of  Dutch 
securities,  which  had  been  wrung  from  the  Hollanders  as  the  price  of  peace.  Threats 
were  made  that,  if  these  conditions  were  not  complied  with,  the  envoys  might  be  or 
dered  to  leave  France  at  any  time  with  only  twenty-four  hours'  notice,  and  that  the 
coasts  of  the  United  States  would  be  ravaged  by  French  vessels  from  St.  Domingo. 

Delay  followed  delay.  The  envoys  were  firm;  and  the  occasion  was  given  for 
Pinckney  to  utter  the  noble  sentiment,  "  Millions  for  defense,  but  not  one  cent  for 
tribute  !"  At  length  the  envoys,  having  presented  a  list  of  grievances  of  which  their 
government  complained,  asked  for  their  passports  if  they  could  not  be  recognized  as 
ministers.  These  were  finally  grantedb  to  the  Federal  envoys,  but  under  cir-  b  March, 
cumstances  of  insult  and  indignity  Avhich  amounted  to  virtual  expulsion  from  1798- 
the  country.  Gerry,  the  Democrat,  Avho  had  held  interviews  with  Talleyrand,  the 
French  premier,  without  the  knowledge  of  his  colleagues,  and  who  doubtless  encour 
aged  him  to  believe  that  the  "  French  party"  in  America  were  sufficiently  numerous 
to  avert  a  war  with  France,  and  insure  a  partial  if  not  full  compliance  with  her  de 
mands,  was  directed  to  remain  in  the  character  of  an  accepted  minister.1  He  did  so, 
and  received  the  severest  censures  from  his  indignant  countrymen.  After  being 
treated  with  mingled  insolence  and  contempt  by  Talleyrand  and  his  asso-  c  JuiYi  1798- 
ciates,  Gerry  also  embarked  for  the  United  States.0  d  Jannary  18 

Meanwhile  the  French  Directory  had  issued  a  decree*1  concerning  neu-  i«9S- 
trals  on  the  ocean,  more  outrageous  than  any  yet  put  forth,  and  calculated  to  effect 
ually  destroy  American  commerce  in  European  waters.2  This  action,  the  indecent 
treatment  of  the  envoys,  and  the  continued  depredations  of  the  French  cruisers, 
aroused  a  violent  war  spirit  in  the  United  States.  It  had  been  manifested,  in  a  de 
gree,  at  the  opening  of  the  Fifth  Congress,  and  it  increased  with  every  fresh  item  of 
intelligence  from  France. 

The  President,  in  his  first  annual  message,6  had  recommended  prepara-    e  November  23, 
tions  for  war ;  and  in  Congress  the  administration  grew  stronger  every 
hour.     At  length,  at  the  middle  of  March,  dispatches  came  from  the  envoys  giving  a 
history  of  the  infamous  proceedings  of  the  French  Directory.3     A  general  outburst 

burnt  sacrifice  called  the  "Altar  of  French  Despotism,"  before  which  Jefferson  is  kneeling,  a  flame  is  seen,  fed  by  pa 
pers  marked  Age.  of  Reason,  Godwin,  Aurora,  Chronicle,  J.  J.  Rousseau,  Voltaire,  Ruins  of  Volney,  Heli-etim,  etc.  Around 
the  altar  lie  sacks  for  consumption,  marked  AMERICAN  Spoliations,  Dutch  Restitution,  Sardinia,  Flanders,  Venice,  Spain, 
Plunder,  etc. 

1  Gerry  was  much  petted  while  in  France,  while  his  colleagues  were  neglected.    At  a  ball  given  by  Talleyrand  as 
early  as  Jannary,  179S,  at  which  General  and  Madame  Bonaparte  were  present,  Mr.  Gerry  appeared.    His  brother  envoys 
not  having  been  invited,  he  at  first  refused,  but  finally  attended,  he  said,  in  compliance  with  the  dictates  of  policy. 

2  It  proclaimed  that  all  vessels  having  merchandise  on  board,  the  production  of  England  or  her  colonies,  whoever  the 
owner  of  the  merchandise  might  be,  were  liable  to  seizure  as  good  prizes ;  and  any  vessel  which  at  any  previous  part  of  her 
voyage  had  touched  at  any  English  port  or  possession  was  forbidden  to  enter  any  French  port.    Just  before  the  issuing 
of  this  decree  an  American  at  Nantes  wrote  to  his  friends  at  home  that  no  less  than  sixty  privateers  were  fitting  out  in 
that  port  alone  to  prey  upon  American  commerce. 

3  The  Directory  at  that  time  were  Barras,  Moulius,  SiOyes,  Gohier,  and  Roger  Ducos.    All  but  Barras  were  soon  after- 


96  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Indignation  of  the  Americans.  Preparations  for  War  with  France.  Proceedings  in  New  York  City. 

of  indignation  followed.  The  people  of  the  United  States,  as  a  nation,  felt  deeply  in 
sulted,  and  Pinckney's  patriotic  sentiment  was  repeated  in  every  part  of  the  republic. 
And  yet  there  were  those  slavish  enough  to  justify  France  and  criminate  their  own 
government.  In  this  cowardly  course  the  Aurora  took  the  lead.  By  some  disloyal 
hand  it  was  placed  in  possession  of  Talleyrand's  rejoinder  to  the  complaints  of  the 
envoys,  and  published  it  before  it  reached  the  government  of  the  United  States,  for 
whom  alone  it  was  intended.  It  was  argued  that  it  would  be  better  to  comply  with 
the  demands  of  the  Directory  for  money  than  to  incur  the  risk  of  a  war — better  to 
purchase  peace  by  humbly  paying  tribute,  than  to  vindicate  the  claims  of  the  nation 
to  independence  by  asserting  and  maintaining  its  rights  at  all  hazards ! 

Such  logic  did  npt  suit  the  character  nor  temper  of  the  American  people  at  that 
time.  The  rampant  war  spirit,  fed  on  every  hand  by  fresh  aggressions  and  patriotic 
•  March  19,  appeals,  was  not  to  be  appeased.  The  President  issued  a  special  message,1 
1798-  calling  upon  Congress  to  make  provisions  for  hostilities.  His  appeal  was 
responded  to  with  alacrity.  Means  for  administering  chastisements  for  injuries  re 
ceived,  and  for  repelling  those  which  were  threatened,  were  provided  without  hesita 
tion.  Provision  was  made  for  the  organization  of  a  regular  provisional  army,  in  mag 
nitude  sufficient  for  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  and  the  employment  of  a  volunteer 
force.  Measures  were  also  taken,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
for  strengthening  the  navy,  and  making  it  a  power  to  be  respected  on  the  high  seas.1 

To  a  great  extent  party  spirit  disappeared  in  the  National  Legislature.  Their  pro 
ceedings  were  approved  by  the  great  majority  of  the  people,  and  the  President  re 
ceived  addresses  from  all  parts  of  the  Union,  warmly  commending  his  course,  and 
overflowing  with  the  most  fervid  patriotism.2  The  young  Federalists,  with  a  spirit 
of  defiant  response  to  the  Democrats,  who  still  wore  the  badge  of  devotion  to  French 
politics  ordered  by  Adet,  mounted  a  black  cockade,  such  as  was  worn  by  officers  in 
the  Revolution  ;3  and  between  the  wearers  of  these  opposing  decorations  there  was 

ward  driven  from  office  ;  and  when,  in  the  autumn  of  1799,  Bonaparte  usurped  the  government,  he  expelled  from  France 
the  first  two  above  named  as  utterly  corrupt. 

1  After  much  manoeuvring  on  the  part  of  the  opposition  to  prevent  the  adoption  of  these  measures  to  meet  any  hostilities 
on  the  part  of  France,  the  men  who  in  1794 — only  four  years  before — were  eager  for  war  with  England,  and  voted  for  prep 
arations  for  it  with  alacrity,  were  now  as  vehement  for  peace — an  inconsistency  which  many  of  their  partisans  throughout 
the  country  pointed  at  with  scorn.    Congress  authorized  a  regular  provisional  army  of  about  twenty  thousand  men,  and 
gave  the  President  authority  to  appoint  officers  for  it ;  also  to  receive  and  organize  volunteer  corps,  who  should  be  ex 
empted  from  ordinary  militia  duty.    The  sum  of  $800,000  was  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of  cannon,  arms,  and  military 
stores.    Provision  was  made  for  fortifying  the  harbors  of  the  United  States— a  labor  already  commenced— and,  for  the 
farther  security  of  ports,  the  purchase  and  equipment  often  galleys.    The  President  was  also  authorized  to  cause  twelve 
ships  of  not  less  than  32  guns  each,  Department,  the  duties  of  which  the 
twelve  of  not  less  than  20  nor  exceed-          .^J                      /?  Secretary  of  War  had  hitherto  per- 
ing  24  guns  each,  and  six  not  exceed-      //]j              J4/C~~?{.  n        /    formed,  was  created,  and  on  the  30th 
ing  IS  guns  each,  besides  galleys  and     t/j/^t.       ^yC^r~CL^  1*/t//       of  April,  1798,  Benjamin  Stoddert,  of 
revenue  cutters,  to  be  built.    A  Navy  Georgetown,  in  the  District  of  Colum 
bia,  was  appointed  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  took  his  seat  in  the  Cabinet. 

2  The  city  of  New  York  was  greatly  excited  by  the  prospect  of  a  war  with  France.    Its  commerce  had  suffered  much 
by  the  depredations  of  French  cruisers,  and  the  mercantile  classes  were  greatly  exasperated.    The  Republicans  or  Dem 
ocrats  had  a  debating  association,  whose  meetings  were  public,  called  "The  Society  of  Free  Debate."    A  meeting  was 
called  for  the  27th  of  April,  1798,  to  discuss  the  question,  "Would  it  be  better  policy,  under  existing  circumstances,  to 
lay  an  embargo  [a  scheme  proposed  by  some  as  a  less  dangerous  measure],  than  to  arm  in  defense  of  our  carrying- 
trade  ?"    The  Federalists  went  to  the  meeting  in  great  numbers,  and,  by  an  overwhelming  vote,  elected  Jacob  Morton 
chairman.    By  ten  to  one  they  voted  for  arming.    They  expressed  by  resolutions  full  approbation  of  the  conduct  of  the 
government,  and  their  determination  to  support  it.    They  appointed  a  committee,  consisting  of  Colonel  Jacob  Morton, 
Colonel  Ebenezer  Stevens,  Nicholas  Evartson,  John  Cozine,  and  Josiah  Ogden  Hoffman,  to  draft  an  address  to  the  Pres 
ident  and  Congress,  expressive  of  their  satisfaction  with  the  course  pursued  toward  France.    After  the  adjournment  a 
Quaker  addressed  the  multitude. 

On  the  5th  of  May  a  meeting  was  held,  and  addressed  by  the  late  Chief  Justice  Samuel  Jones.  Nine  hundred  young 
men  present  pledged  themselves  to  be  in  readiness,  at  a  moment's  warning,  to  offer  their  services  to  their  country 
against  the  French. 

On  the  5th  of  June  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce  took  action  concerning  the  defenses  of  New  York.  They 
appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  the  military  authorities  and  the  Corporation.  A  conference  was  held  the  next 
day  at  the  Tontine  Coffee-house,  and  it  was  resolved  to  call  a  public  meeting  of  citizens  who  might  be  ready  to  defend 
an  "insulted  country"  and  the  "defenseless  port."  The  call  was  made,  and  an  invitation  was  given  for  such  citizens  to 
enroll  themselves  as  an  artillery  corps,  it  having  been  ascertained  that  Colonel  Stevens,  an  experienced  artillerist  of 
the  Revolution,  was  willing  to  take  the  direction  of  them  and  to  give  them  instructions. 

3  This  gave  them  the  name  of  "  Black-cockade  Federalists,"  which  was  a  term  of  reproach  until  ten  years  after  the 
War  of  1S12-'15. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812.  97 

Patriotic  Songs.  History  of  Hail,  Columbia  1  and  Adams  and  Liberty. 

intense  hatred,  which  sometimes  led  to  personal  collisions.  In  the  streets  of  cities 
opposing  processions  were  seen;  and  all  over  the  land  the  new  songs  of  Hail,  Colum 
bia  !  and  Adams  and  Liberty,  were  sung  with  unbounded  applause.1  The  excitement 
against  some  of  the  opposition  leaders  in  Congress  soon  became  intense,  and  the  most 
obnoxious  of  them,  from  Virginia,  sought  personal  safety  in  flight,  under  the  pretense 
of  attention  to  their  private  affairs  at  home. 

i  The  history  of  the  origin  and  fate  of  these  two  songs  is  curious.  The  former,  almost  totally  destitute  of  poetic 
merit,  is  still  sung,  and  is  regarded  as  a  national  song;  the  latter,  full  of  genuine  poetry,  has  been  forgotten.  Hail, 
Columbia  !  was  writfen  in  the  spring  of  1798,  wheu  the  war  spirit  of  the  nation  was  aroused  by  the  irritating  news  from 
France.  Mr.  Fox,  a  young  singer  and  actor  in  the  Philadelphia  Theatre,  was  to  have  a  benefit.  There  was  so  little 
novelty  at  the  play-house  that  he  anticipated  a  failure.  On  the  morning  previous,  he  called  upon  Joseph  Hopkinson, 
and  said,  "Not  a  single  box  has  been  taken,  and  I  fear  there  will  be  a  thin  house.  If  you  will  write  me  some  patriotic 
verses  to  the  tune  of  the  '  President's  March,'  I  feel  sure  of  a  full  house.  Several  people  about  the  theatre  have  attempt 
ed  it,  but  they  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  can  not  be  done.  Yet  I  think  you  may  succeed."  Hopkinson  retired 
to  his  study,  wrote  the  first  verse  and  chorus,  and  submitted  them  to  Mrs.  Hopkinson,  who  sang  them  with  a  harpsichord 
accompaniment.  The  time  and  words  harmonized.  The  song  was  soon  finished,  and  the  young  actor  received  it  the 
same  evening.  The  theatre  placards  the  next  morning  announced  that  Mr.  Fox  would  sing  a  new  patriotic  song.  The 
house  was  crowded— the  song  was  sung— the  audience  were  wild  with  delight ;  for  it  touched  the  public  heart  with  elec 
trical  effect  at  that  moment,  and  eight  times  the  singer  was  called  out  to  repeat  the  song.  When  it  was  sung  the  ninth 
time  the  whole  audience  arose  and  joined  in  the  chorus.  On  the  following  night  (April  30, 1T9S)  the  President  and  his 
wife  and  some  of  the  heads  of  departments  were  present,  and  the  singer  was  called  out  time  after  time.  It  was  repeat 
ed  night  after  night  in  the  theatres  of  Philadelphia  and  other  places,  and  it  became  the  universal  song  of  the  boys  in  the 
Htreets.  On  one  occasion  a  crowd  thronged  the  street  in  front  of  the  author's  residence,  and  suddenly  "Hail,  Colum 
bia  !"  from  five  hundred  voices  broke  the  stillness  of  the  midnight  air. 

In  June  following  Robert  Treat  Paine  was  requested  to  write  a  song,  to  be  sung  at  the  anniversary  of  the  "Massa 
chusetts  Charitable  Fire  Society."  He  wrote  a  political- song  adapted  to  the  temper  of  the  times,  and  called  it  "Adams 
and  Liberty."  At  the  house  of  Major  Russell,  editor  of  the  Boston  Centinel,  the  author  showed  it  to  that  gentleman.  "It 
is  imperfect,"  said  Russell,  "without  the  name  of  Washington  in  it."  Mr.  Paine  was  about  to  take  some  wine,  when 
Russell  politely  and  good-naturedly  interfered,  saying,  "You  can  have  none  of  my  wine,  Mr.  Paine,  until  you  have 
written  another  stanza,  with  Washington's  name  in  it."  Paine  walked  back  and  forth  a  few  moments,  called  for  a  pen, 
and  wrote  the  finest  verse  in  the  whole  poem — a  verse  which  forms  the  epigraph  of  the  chapter  on  the  next  page.  This 
song,  in  nine  stanzas,  became  immensely  popular.  It  was  sung  all  over  the  country,  in  theatres  and  public  places,  in 
workshops  and  drawing-rooms,  and  by  the  boys  in  the  streets.  The  sale  of  it  on  "broadsides"  yielded  the  author  a 
profit  of  $T50.  The  temper  of  the  large  majority  of  the  American  people  at  that  time  is  expressed  in  the  following 
verses  of  the  ode : 

"  While  France  her  huge  limbs  bathes  recumbent  in  blood, 
,  And  Society's  base  threats  with  wide  dissolution  ; 

May  Peace,  like  the  dove,  who  returned  from  the  flood, 
Find  an  ark  of  abode  in  our  mild  Constitution. 
But  though  Peace  is  our  aim, 
Yet  the  boon  we  disclaim, 

If  bought  by  our  Sov'reiguty,  Justice,  or  Fame. 

"  'Tis  the  fire  of  the  flint,  e"ach  American  warms  ; 

Let  Rome's  haughty  victors  beware  of  collision, 
Let  them  bring  all  the  vassals  of  Europe  in  arms— 
We're  a  world  by  ourselves,  and  disclaim  a  division. 
While  with  patriot  pride 
To  our  laws  we're  allied, 
No  foe  can  subdue  us,  no  faction  divide. 

"  Our  mountains  are  crowned  with  imperial  oak, 

Whose  roots,  like  our  liberties,  ages  have  nourished ; 
But  long  ere  our  nation  submits  to  the  yoke, 
Not  a  tree  shall  be  left  on  the  field  where  it  flourished. 
Should  invasion  impend, 
Every  grove  would  descend 
From  the  hill-tops  they  shaded,  our  shores  to  defend. 

"  Let  our  patriots  destroy  Anarch's  pestilent  worm, 

Lest  our  Liberty's  growth  should  be  checked  by  corrosion  ; 
Then  let  clouds  thicken  round  us,  we  heed  not  the  storm, 
Our  realm  fears  no  shock  but  the  earth's  own  explosion. 
Foes  assail  us  in  vain, 
Though  their  fleets  bridge  the  main, 
For  our  altars  and  laws  with  our  lives  we'll  maintain. 
For  ne'er  shall  the  sous  of  Columbia  be  slaves 
While  the  earth  bears  a  plant,  or  the  sea  rolls  its  waves." 

G 


98  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Preparations  for  War.      Washington  invited  to  command  the  Army.     He  accepts.      Hamilton  acting  General-in-chief. 


CHAPTER  V. 

"  Should  the  tempest  of  war  overshadow  our  land, 

Its  bolts  could  ne'er  rend  Freedom's  temple  asunder ;  » 

For,  unmoved,  at  its  portal,  would  Washington  stand, 
And  repulse  with  his  breast  the  assaults  of  the  thunder ! 
His  sword  from  the  sleep 
Of  its  scabbard  would  leap, 

And  conduct  with  its  point  ev'ry  flash  to  the  deep ! 
For  ne'er  shall  the  sons  of  Columbia  be  slaves 
While  the  earth  bears  a  plant,  or  the  sea  rolls  its  waves." 

ROBERT  TKEAT  PAINE. 

AVINGr  resolved  on  war,  if  necessary,  for  the  dignity  of  the 
nation,  the  question  arose  spontaneously  in  the  hearts  of  the 
American  people,  Who  shall  command  our  armies  at  this  im 
portant  crisis  ?  All  minds  instinctively  turned  toward  Wash 
ington  as  the  only  man  who  could  command  the  respect  of  the 
.  whole  nation  and  keep  a  dangerous  faction  in  check.1  "In 
such  a  state  of  public  affairs,"  Hamilton  wrote,  "it  is  impossi 
ble  not  to  look  up  to  you.  ...  In  the  event  of  an  open  rupture 
with  France,  the  public  voice  will  again  call  you  to  command 
the  armies  of  your  country.  .  .  .  All  your  past  labor  may  demand,  to  give  it  efficacy, 
this  farther,  this  great  sacrifice."2  "  We  must  have  your  name,  if  you  will  in  any 
case  permit  us  to  use  it,"  President  Adams  wrote  to  him  on  the  22d  of  June.  "  There 
will  be  more  efficiency  in  it  than  in  many  an  army."  And  four  days  later,  James 
M'Henry,  the  Secretary  of  War,  wrote  to  him,  "You  see  how  the  storm  thickens,  and 
that  our  vessel  may  soon  require  its  ancient  pilot.  Will  you — may  we  flatter  our 
selves  that,  in  a  crisis  so  awful  and  important,  you  will  accept  the  command  of  all 
our  armies  ?  I  hope  you  will,  because  you  alone  can  unite  all  hearts  and  all  hands, 
if  it  is  possible  that  they  can  be  united." 

These  intimations  were  followed  by  corresponding  action.  On  the  Vth  of  July 
President  Adams,  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  appointed  Washington  Lieutenant- 
general  and  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  armies  raised  and  to  be  raised  for  the 
service  of  the  United  States.  The  venerated  patriot,  then  sixty-five  years  of  age,  in 
stantly  obeyed  the  call  of  his  country.  "  You  may  command  me  without  reserve," 
he  said  to  President  Adams,  qualifying  the  remark  only  by  the  expressed  desire  that 
he  should  not  be  called  into  active  service  until  the  public  need  should  demand  it. 
His  friend,  Mr.  Hamilton,  then  forty-one  years  of  age,  was  appointed  first  major  gen 
eral,  and  placed  in  active  supreme  command ;  and  in  November,  Washington  held  a 
conference  at  Philadelphia  with  all  the  general  officers,  when  arrangements  were 
made  for  the  complete  organization  of  a  provisional  army  on  a  war  footing. 

Washington  all  this  while  had  looked  upon  the  gathering  tempest  with  perfect 
confidence  that  the  clouds  Avould  pass  by,  and  leave  his  country  unscathed  by  the 

1  It  was  the  settled  conviction  of  many  of  the  wisest  men  of  that  day  that  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  wished  to 
overthrow  the  Constitution.    "  It  is  more  and  more  evident,"  Hamilton  wrote  to  Washington  late  in  May,  1798,  "  that 
the  powerful  faction  which  has  for  years  opposed  the  government  is  determined  to  go  all  lengths  with  France.    I  rnn 
sincere  in  declaring  my  full  conviction,  as  the  result  of  a  long  course  of  observation,  that  they  are  ready  to  new  model  our 
Constitution  under  the  influence  or  coercion  of  France,  to  form  with  her  a  perpetual  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  and  to 
give  her  a  monopoly  over  trade  by  peculiar  and  exclusive,  privileges.    This  would  be  in  substance,  whatever  it  might  be 
in  name,  to  make  this  country  a  province  of  France.    Neither  do  I  doubt  that  her  standard,  displayed  in  this  country, 
would  be,  directly  or  indirectly,  seconded  by  them,  in  pursuance  of  the  project  I  have  mentioned. " 

2  Hamilton  to  Washington,  May  19, 1798. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  99 


The  Pride  of  the  Directory  humbled.  A  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  France  appointed. 

lightning  and  the  hail.  Events  soon  justified  his  faith.  The  pride  of  the  haughty 
Directory  was  speedily  humbled,  and  the  fears  of  England,  toward  whom  many 
thoughtful  men  in  America  had  looked  as  a  possible  friend  and  aid  in  the  event  of  a 
war  with  France,  were  allayed.  The  victorious  Bonaparte,  who  had  threatened  Great 
Britain  with  invasion,  had  gone  off  to  Egypt  on  a  romantic  expedition,  his  avowed 
object  being  to  march  into  Palestine,  take  possession  of  Jerusalem,  rebuild  the  Tem 
ple,  and  restore  the  Jews  to  their  beloved  city  and  land.  This  he  unsuccessfully  at 
tempted  after  the  battle  of  the  Nile,  in  which  the  proud  Toulon  fleet  had  been  van 
quished  by  Nelson. a  A  few  weeks  later  Sir  John  Borlase  Warren  had  •  August  i, 
scattered  a  French  fleetb  that  hovered  on  the  coast  of  Ireland  to  aid  in 
surgents  there ;  and  many  minor  victories  were  accorded  to  English  b  October  12. 
prowess.1 

These  successes  of  the  English,  intelligence  of  the  war  feeling  in  America,  and  the 
appointment  of  Washington  as  commander  -  in  -  chief  of  the  armies  of  the  United 
States,  made  the  intoxicated  Directory  pause  in  their  mad  career.     The  wily  Talley 
rand  began  to  think  of  conciliation.     In  letters  to  Pinchon,0  French  sec 
retary  of  legation  at  the  Hague,  he  intimated  that  any  advances  for  ne-       September  28, 
gotiation  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  might  make  would 
be  received  by  the  Directory  in  a  friendly  spirit.     These  intimations,  as  intended, 
were   communicated  to  William  Vans  Murray,  the  United  States  minister  at  the 
Hague,  who  transmitted  them  to  his  government. 

Without  consulting  his  Cabinet,  or  taking  counsel  of  national  dignity,  President 
Adams  nominated  Mr.  Murray  minister  plenipotentiary  to  France.  The  country  was 
astounded.  It  came  upon  the  Cabinet,  the  Congress,  and  the  people  without  premo 
nition.  The  Cabinet  opposed  it,  and  the  Senate  resolved  not  to  confirm  it.  No  direct 
overtures  had  been  made  by  the  French  government ;  and  some  of  Mr.  Adams's  best 
friends,  who  regarded  war  as  preferable  to  dishonor,  deprecated  a  cowardly  cringing 
to  a  half-relenting  tyrant,  and  warmly  remonstrated  with  him.  He  persisted,  and 
they  were  estranged.  He  finally  so  far  yielded  to  public  opinion  as  to  nomiijate 
three  envoys  extraordinary,  Mr.  Murray  being  one,  to  negotiate  a  settlement  of  all 
matters  in  dispute  between  the  United  States  and  France.  These  were  confirmed  by 
the  Senate  at  near  the  close  of  the  session,  in  February,  1799,  not  willingly,  but  from 
a  conviction  that  a  refusal  to  do  so  might  endanger  the  existence  of  the  Federal  party, 
for  Mr.  Adams  had  many  and  powerful  supporters.  It  was  stipulated,  however,  that 
the  two  envoys  yet  at  home  (Chief  Justice  Oliver  Ellsworth  and  Patrick  Henry2)  should 

1  England  had  for  some  time  trembled  violently  before  the  won 
derful  operations  of  Bonaparte  on  the  Continent.  For  a  while  in 
vasion  of  the  island  seemed  imminent.  But  when  the  cloud  disap 
peared  in  the  autumn  of  1798,  and  scarcely  a  day  passed  without 
bringing  intelligence  of  some  new  success  of  the  British  navy,  the 
feeling  of  exultation  was  intense.  The  pencil  of  Gillray,  the  great 
caricaturist,  was  exceedingly  active,  and  in  quick  succession  he 
brought  out  several  prints  illustrating  John  Bull  as  being  surfeited 
with  his  immense  capture!*.  In  one  of  these,  entitled  "John  Bull 
taking  a  Luncheon ;  or,  British  Cooks  cramming  Old  Grumble-giz 
zard  with  Son-ne  Chere"  the  representative  of  English  nationality,  a 
burly  old  fellow  is  seen  sitting  in  a  chair  at  a  well-furnished  table, 
while  the  naval  cooks  are  zealous  in  their  attentions.  The  hero  of 
the  Nile  offers  him  a  "  fricassee  a  la  Nelson,"  consisting  of  a  large 
dish  of  battered  French  ships  of  the  line.  Another  admiral  offers 
him  a  "fricando  a  la  Howe,"  "dessert  a  la  Warren,"  "Dutch  cheese 
a  la  Duncan,"  et  csetera.  John  Bull  is  deliberately  snapping  up  a 
frigate  at  a  mouthful,  and  is  evidently  fattening  on  his  diet. 
"What!"  he  exclaims,  "more  fricassees?  Where  do  you  think  I 
JOHN  BTTLL  TAKING  A  LUNCH.  shall  find  room  to  stow  all  you  bring  in?"  By  his  side  is  an  im 

mense  jug  of  brown  stout  to  wash  them  down.    Behind  him  is  a 

picture  of  "  Bonaparte  in  Egypt"  suspended  against  the  wall,  nearly  concealed  by  Nelson's  hat,  which  is  hung  over  it.* 
2  Mr.  Henry  declined  the  nomination  because  of  his  advanced  age  and  increasing  infirmities.    Governor  William  R. 

*  The  portion  of  this  celebrated  caricature  here  given,  with  the  description,  is  copied  from  Wright's  England  under  the 
House  of  Hanover,  ii.,  298. 


100  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Three  Envoys  sent  to  France.         Bonaparte  First  Consul.         Naval  Warfare  between  the  Americans  and  the  French. 

not  embark  for  Europe  until  authentic  and  satisfactory  assurances  should  be  given  as 
to  their  reception.  Such  assurances  were  received  by  the  government  in  October  fol 
lowing,  and  in  November  Ellsworth  and  W.  R.  Davie  (the  latter  having  taken  Mr. 
Henry's  place)  sailed  for  Europe.  Fortunately  for  all  parties,  when  the  envoys 
reached  France  a  change  had  taken  place  in  the  government  of  that  country.  The 
Directory  Avas  no  more.  Bonaparte  had  suddenly  returned  from  the  East,  after 
great  and  brilliant  movements  with  various  results,  and  was  hailed  as  the  good 
genius  of  the  Republic.  He  found,  as  he  expected,  his  country  rent  by  political  dis 
sensions,  and  the  Directory  in  disrepute  among  the  most  powerful  classes.  With  the 
assistance  of  a  strong  party,  supported  by  bayonets,  he  dissolved  the  Assembly  of 
•Novembers,  Representatives  and  took  the  government  into  his  own  hands,a  with  the 
1T99-  title  of  First  Consul,  which  was  at  first  conferred  upon  him  for  ten  years, 
and  afterward  for  life. 

The  audacity  and  energy  of  Bonaparte  saved  France  from  anarchy  and  ruin.  To 
please  the  people  he  proclaimed  a  pacific  policy,  and  opened  correspondence  with  the 
b  March  2  powers  then  at  war  with  the  Republic  with  professions  of  peaceful  desires. 

isoo.  ft  was  at  this  auspicious  moment  that  the  American  envoys  arrived1*  at 
Paris. 

While  these  political  movements  were  in  progress,  and  preparations  were  making 
in  the  United  States  for  a  French  invasion,  wTar  between  the  two  nations  actually 
commenced  on  the  ocean,  although  hostilities  had  not  been  proclaimed  by  either.  On 
the  7th  of  July,  1798,  Congress  declared  the  old  treaties  with  France  at  an  end,  and 
two  days  afterward  passed  a  law  authorizing  American  vessels  of  war  to  capture 
French  cruisers  wherever  they  might  be  found.  On  the  llth,  a  new  marine  corps  of 
nearly  nine  hundred  men,  rank  and  file,  commanded  by  a  major,  was  established  by 
law,  and  a  total  of  thirty  active  cruisers  was  provided  for. 

We  have  observed  that  some  movements  for  strengthening  the  navy  wrere  begun 
early  in  1797.  The  frigates  United  States,  44,  Constitution,  44,  and  Constellation,  38, ] 
were  launched,  and  ordered  to  be  put  in  commission  that  year.  The  United  States  first 
reached  the  water,  and  was  the  beginning  of  the  American  navy  created  after  the  adop 
tion  of  the  National  Constitution.  She  was  launched  at  Philadelphia  on  the  10th  of 
July,c  and  was  followed  in  September  by  the  Constellation  and  Constitution. 
The  former  was  set  afloat  on  the  7th  of  that  month,  at  Baltimore,  and  the  lat 
ter  on  the  20th,  at  Boston  ;2  yet  none  of  these  were  ready  for  sea  when,  in  the  spring 
of  1798,  war  with  France  seemed  inevitable. 

An  Indiaman,  called  the  Ganges,  was  armed  and  equipped  at  Philadelphia  as  a 
24-poundcr,  and  placed  in  the  command  of  Captain  Richard  Dale.  She  sailed  on  the 
22d  of  May,  to  cruise  along  the  coast  from  the  east  end  of  Long  Island  to  the  Capes  of 
Virginia,  to  watch  the  approach  of  an  enemy  to  the  ports  of  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
and  Baltimore.  On  the  12th  of  June  Captain  Dale  received  instructions  off  the  Capes 
of  Delaware  to  seize  French  cruisers  and  capture  any  of  their  prizes  that  might  fall 
in  his  way. 

The  Constellation,  38,  first  went  down  the  Patapsco  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of 
April, d  and  early  in  June  went  to  sea  under  the  command  of  Captain  Thomas 
Truxtun,  in  company  with  the  Delaware,  20,  Captain  Decatur,3  each  having 

Davie,  of  North  Carolina,  was  appointed  in  Henry's  place.  The  commission  then  stood :  Murray,  of  Maryland  ;  Ells 
worth,  of  Connecticut ;  and  Davie,  of  North  Carolina.  Mr.  Murray,  still  at  the  Hague,  was  instructed  to  inform  Talley 
rand  of  the  appointment. 

1  These  numbers,  44,  38,  etc.,  refer  to  the  number  of  guns  carried  by  each  vessel,  or,  rather,  the  number  they  were  rated 
at.    The  armament  of  vessels  sometimes  varies  from  the  rate. 
The  Constellation  was  constructed  by  David  Stodert. 


ail  on  the  Guadaloupe  station,  his  flag-ship  being  the  Philadelphia,  3S 


He  left  the  service  iu  1801,  and  engaged  in 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


Capture  of  Le  Croyable. 


The  United  States  and  the  Constitution. 


Life  and  Services  of  Commodore  Barry. 


orders  similar  to 
Dale's.  When  only 
a  few  days  out,  De- 

catur  fell  in  with  the  French  corsair  Le  CroyaUe,  14,  captured  her,  and  sent  her  to 
Philadelphia  as  a  prize.  She  wras  condemned  by  the  prize  court,  added  to  the  United 
States  navy  with  the  name  of  Retaliation,  and  placed  under  the  command  of  Lieuten 
ant  William  Bainbridge.  She  was  the  first  vessel  captured  during  the  "  French  War 
of  '98,"  so  called,  and  was  the  first  vessel  taken  by  the  present  navy  of  the  United 
States. 

Early  in  July  the  United  States,  44,  Cap 
tain  John  Barry,1  went  to  sea,  and  cruised 
eastward.  She  carried  among  her  officers 
several  young  men  who  afterward  became 
distinguished  in  the  annals  of  naval  war 
fare.2  The  government  soon  afterward  de 
termined  to  send  a  force  to  the  West  Indies, 
where  American  commerce  was  most  ex 
posed,  and  Captain  Barry  was  ordered  there 
with  a  small  squadron,  consisting  of  the 
United  States,  44,  Delaware,  20,  and  Her 
ald,^. 

The  Constitution  (yet  in  the  service)  went 
to  sea  in  July,  in  command  of  Captain  Sam 
uel  Nicholson,  and,  in  company  with  four 
revenue  vessels,  sailed  in  August  to  cruise 
off  the  coast  southward  of  the  Virginia 
Capes.  One  of  these  vessels  was  in  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant  (afterward  Commodore) 
Preble. 
In  August  the  Constitution,  Captain  Trux- 

commercial  pursuits  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  died  in  1803.  A  plain  slab,  near  the  noble  granite  monument  erected  to 
the  memory  of  his  distinguished  son  in  St.  Peter's  (Episcopal)  Church  burying-ground,  marks  the  grave  of  the  gallant 
captain  and  his  wife,  who  died  in  1812. 

1  John  Barry  was  born  in  Ireland,  County  of  Wexford, 
in  1745.  He  came  to  America  in  his  youth,  as  a  seaman. 
In  1775  he  entered  the  naval  service  of  Congress,  and  it 
is  a  disputed  point  whether  he  was  the  first  of  the  com 
manders  who  got  to  sea  at  that  period.  He  was  in  ac 
tive  service  during  the  whole  war.  In  the  establishment 
of  the  new  navy  in  1794  he  was  named  the  senior  officer, 
in  which  station,  in  command  of  the  United  States,  he  died 
on  the  ISth  of  September,  lS03,in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 
He  died  childless,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight  years. 

Commodore  Barry's  tomb  is  near  the  entrance  to  the 
cemetery  of  St.  Mary's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  on  Fourth 
Street,  Philadelphia.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  in 
scription  : 

"  Let  the  patriot,  the  soldier,  and  the  Christian  who  visit 
these  mansions  of  the  dead,  view  this  monument  with  re 
spect.  Beneath  are  deposited  the  remains  of  JOIIN  BARRY. 
He  was  born  in  the  County  of  Wexford,  in  Ireland,  but 
America  was  the  object  of  his  patriotism,  and  the  theatre  of 
his  usefulness  and  honor.  In  the  Revolutionary  War,  which 
established  the  independence  of  the  United  States,  he  bore 
the  commission  of  a  captain  in  their  infant  navy,  and  aft 
erward  became  commander-in-chief.  He  fought  often  and 
once  bled  in  the  cause  of  freedom.  But  his  habits  of  war 
did  not  lessen  in  time  the  peaceful  virtues  which  adorn  private  life.  He  was  gentle,  kind,  just,  and  charitable  ;  and  not 
less  beloved  by  family  and  friends  than  by  his  grateful  country.  In  a  full  belief  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  he  calmly 
resigned  his  soul  into  the  arms  of  his  Redeemer  on  the  13th  of  September,  1803,  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  His 
affectionate  widow  hath  caused  this  marble  to  be  erected,  to  perpetuate  his  name  after  the  hearts  of  his  fellow-citizens 
have  ceased  to  be  the  living  record  of  his  public  and  private  virtues." 

"  Her  first  lieutenant  was  David  Ross,  who  was  last  seen  on  the  30th  of  November,  1799 ;  John  Mullowny,  who  died  in 


COMMODORE   BAEEY'S   MONUMEXT. 


102  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

British  Outrages.         The  Obsequiousness  of  the  American  Government.        Instructions  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

tun,  and  the  Baltimore,  20,  Captain  Phillips,  performed  signal  service  by  safely  con 
voying  sixty  American  merchant  vessels  from  Havana  to  the  United  States,  in  the 
face  of  several  French  cruisers  lying  in  that  port.  Both  the  British  and  French  au 
thorities  in  the  West  Indies  were  surprised  at  the  appearance  of  so  many  American 
cruisers  in  that  region.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1798  the  American  navy  consisted 
of  twenty-three  vessels,  with  an  aggregate  armament  of  four  hundred  and  forty-six 
guns. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  first  of  the  series  of  most  flagrant  outrages  upon  the 
American  flag,  which  finally  aroused  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  vindicate 
their  honor  and  independence  by  an  appeal  to  arms,  was  committed  by  a  British 
commander.  The  American  ship  Baltimore,  Captain  Phillips,  sailed  out  of  Havana 
on  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  November,  1798,  in  charge  of  a  convoy  bound  to  Charles 
ton,  South  Carolina,  and  in  sight  of  Moro  Castle  met  a  British  squadron.  At  that  time 
the  governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  were  on  friendly  terms,  and 
Phillips  bore  up  to  the  Carnatick,  the  flag-ship  of  his  majesty's  squadron,  to  speak  to 
the  commander.  To  his  surprise,  three  of  the  convoy  were  cut  off  from  the  rest  and 
captured  by  the  British  vessels.  By  invitation  Phillips  went  on  board  the  CarnaticJc, 
when  he  was  informed  that  every  man  on  board  the  Baltimore  who  had  not  a  regular 
American  protection  should  be  transferred  to  the  British  flag-ship.  Captain  Phillips 
protested  agains.t  the  outrage,  and  declared  that  he  would  formally  surrender  his 
ship,  and  refer  the  matter  to  his  government.  His  protest  was  of  no  avail.  On  re 
turning  to  the  Baltimore,  he  found  a  British  officer  mustering  his  men.  He  imme 
diately  ordered  that  gentleman  and  those  who  accompanied  him  to  walk  to  the  lee 
ward,  and  then  sent  his  men  to  their  quarters.  After  consultation  with  a  legal  gen 
tleman  on  board  his  ship,  he  determined  to  formally  surrender  her  if  his  men  were 
taken  from  him.  Fifty-five  of  them  were  transferred  to  the  CarnaticJc,  and  the  colors 
of  the  Baltimore  were  lowered.  Only  five  of  her  crew  were  retained  by  {he  British 
captain.  These  were  pressed  into  the  service  of  the  king.  The  remainder  were  sent 
back,  and  the  Baltimore  was  released.  Th.e  British  squadron  then  sailed  away  with 
the  five  captive  seamen,  and  the  three  merchant  vessels  as  prizes. 

The  Baltimore  hastened  to  Philadelphia,  and  her  case  was  laid  before  the  govern 
ment.  At  that  time  the  trade  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  was  ex 
tremely  profitable  to  American  merchants ;  and  the  mercantile  interest  was  such  a 
power  in  the  state  that  almost  any  indignity  from  the  "  mistress  of  the  seas"  would 
have  been  submitted  to  rather  than  provoke  hostilities  with  that  government.1  The 
American  Cabinet,  in  its  obsequious  deference  to  the  British,  had  actually  instructed 
the  commanders  of  American  cruisers  on  no  account — not  even  to  save  a  vessel  of 
their  own  nation — to  molest  those  of  other  nations,  France  excepted.2  The  govern 
ment  dismissed  Captain  Phillips  from  the  navy  without  trial  because  he  surrendered 
without  a  show  of.  resistance ;  but  the  outrage  of  the  British  commander  was  passed 
by  unnoticed ! 

At  about  the  time  of  this  occurrence  near  Havana,  a  small  American  squadron  was 

1801,  was  her  second  lieutenant ;  her  third  was  James  Barron,  afterward  commodore ;  and  her  fourth  was  Charles  Stew 
art,  the  venerable  commodore,  yet  (1862)  living.  Among  the  midshipmen  were  Decatur,  Somers,  and  Caldwell,  who 
distinguished  themselves  at  Tripoli.  Jacob  Jones  and  William  M.  Crane  joined  her  soon  afterward,  both  of  whom  be 
came  commodores. 

1  The  country  had  just  entered  upon  a  career  of  great  commercial  prosperity,  notwithstanding  many  perils  and  hin- 
derances  beset  that  branch  of  national  industry.    American  tunnage  had  doubled  in  ten  years.    American  agricultural 
products  found  a  ready  market.    The  exports  had  increased  from  nineteen  millions  to  almost  ninety  millions,  and  the 
imports  in  about  the  same  proportion ;  and  the  amount  of  revenue  from  imports  greatly  exceeded  the  most  sanguine 
anticipations. 

2  "The  vessels  of  every  other  nation  (France  excepted"),  ran  the  instructions  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  "are  on  no 
account  to  be  molested ;  and  I  wish  particularly  to  impress  on  your  mind  that,  should  you  ever  see  an  American  vessel 
captured  by  the  armed  ship  of  any  nation  at  war  with  whom  we  are  at  peace,  you  can  not  lawfully  interfere  to  prevent 
the  capture,  for  it  is  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  such  nation  will  compensate  for  such  capture  if  it  shall  prove  to  have 
been  illegally  made." 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  103 


Naval  Engagements.  Increase  of  the  Navy.  Victory  of  the  Constellation  over  the  Insurgente. 

cruising  off  Guadaloupe.  One  of  the  vessels  was  the  captured  Le  Cray  able,  now  the 
Retaliation,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Bainbridge.  They  discovered  some  French 
cruisers,  and  mistook  them  for  English  vessels.  The  Retaliation  reconnoitered  them, 
and  perceived  her  mistake  too  late  to  avoid  trouble.  She  was  attacked  by  two 
French  frigates  (the  Volontaire  and  Insurgente),  and  was  compelled  to  surrender. 
The  Insurgente,  to  whom  the  Retaliation  was  a  prize,  was  one  of  the  swiftest  vessels 
on  the  ocean.  She  immediately  made  chase  after  two  of  the  American  ships,  who 
were  pressing  alj  sail  in  flight.  Bainbridge  was  a  prisoner  on  the  Volontaire,  and, 
with  the  officers  of  that  vessel,  witnessed  the  chase  with  great  interest  from  the  fore 
castle.  The  Insurgente  continually  gained  upon  the  fugitives.  "What  are  their 
armaments  ?"  the  commander  of  the  Volontaire  asked  Bainbridge.  "  Twenty-eight 
twelves  and  twenty  nines,"  he  quickly  responded.  This  false  statement  doubled  their 
forces,  and  startled  the  commander.  He  was  the  senior  of  the  captain  of  the  Insur 
gente,  and  immediately  signaled  him  to  give  up  the  chase.  The  order  was  reluctantly 
obeyed.  The  American  vessels  escaped,  and  Bainbridge's  deceptive  reply  cost  him 
only  a  few  curses.  In  this  affair  the  Retaliation  gained  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  cruiser  taken  by  both  parties  during  the  war. 

The  strength  of  the  navy  was  considerably  increased  during  the  year  1799.  Many 
vessels  were  launched,  and  most  of  them  were  commissioned  before  the  close  of  au 
tumn.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  the  active  force  in  the  West  Indies  was  distrib 
uted  into  four  squadrons.  Commodore  Barry,  the  senior  officer  in  the  service,  was 
in  command  of  ten  vessels,  with  an  aggregate  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-two  guns, 
whose  general  rendezvous  was  St.  Rupert's  Bay.  Another  squadron  of  five  ves 
sels,  under  Commodore  Truxtun,  in  the  Constellation,  rendezvoused  at  St.  Kitt's, 
and  cruised  to  leeward  as  far  as  Porto  Rico.  Captain  Tingey,  with  a  smaller  force, 
cruised  between  Cuba  and  St.  Domingo ;  and  Captain  Decatur,  with  some  revenue 
vessels,  watched  the  interests  of  American  commerce  off  Havana.  These  squadrons 
captured  many  French  vessels  during  the  year. 

At  meridian  on  the  9th  of  February ,a  while  the  Constellation  was  cruising 
off  Nevis,  a  large  vessel  was  discovered  at  the  southward.  Truxtun  gave 
chase,  and  brought  on  an  engagement  at  little  past  three  in  the  afternoon.  It  lasted 
an  hour  and  a  quarter,  when  the  antagonist  of  the  Constellation  struck  her  colors 
and  surrendered.  She  Avas  the  famous  French  frigate  Insurgente,  Captain  Barreault, 
just  mentioned  as  the  captor  of  the  Retaliation  a  few  weeks  earlier.  The  gallant 
Frenchman  did  not  yield  until  his  fine  ship  was  dreadfully  shattered,  and  he  had  lost 
seventy  men,  killed  and  wounded.  The  Constellation  had  lost  only  three  men  wound 
ed.  The  prize  was  put  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  (afterward  Commodore)  Rodgers, 
and  at  the  end  of  three  days  of  tempest,  danger,  and  suffering,  she  was  taken  into  St. 
Kitt's1  (St.  Christopher),  and  received  a  salute  from  the  fort. 

This  victory  produced  great  exultation  in  the  United  States,  and  the  navy  was  de 
clared  to  be  equal  to  any  in  the  world.  The  Insurgente  carried  40  guns  and  409 
men;  the  Constellation  only  32  guns  and  309  men.  The  battle  was  fought  with 
great  skill  and  bravery  on  both  sides.  The  press  was  filled  with  eulogiums  of  Trux 
tun.  He  received  congratulatory  addresses  from  all  quarters,  and  the  merchants  of 
Lloyd's  Coffee-house,  London,  sent  him  a  service  of  plate  worth  over  three  thousand 
dollars,  on  which  a  representation  of  the  action  was  elegantly  engraved.2  The  cap 
tives  were  loud  in  praises  of  Truxtun's  courtesy  and  kindness  ;3  and  for  a  long  time  a 

1  Cooper's  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  i.,  297;  Trnxtnn's  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

2  Wyatt's  Generals  and  Commodores  of  the  American  Army  andXavy,  p.  197. 

3  "  I  am  sorry,"  Captain  Barreault  wrote  to  Truxtnn,  "  that  our  two  nations  are  at  war ;  bnt  since  I  unfortunately  have 
been  vanquished,  I  felicitate  myself  and  crew  upon  being  prisoners  to  you.    You  have  united  all  the  qualities  which 
characterize  a  man  of  honor,  courage,  and  humanity.    Receive  from  me  the  most  sincere  thanks,  and  be  assured  I 
shall  make  it  a  duty  to  publish  to  all  my  fellow-countrymen  the  generous  conduct  which  you  have  observed  to 
ward  us." 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


American  Cruisers  in  the  West  Indies.  Contest  between  the  Constellation  and  La  Vengeance. 

song,  called  "  Truxtun's  Victory,"  was  sung  every  where,  in  private  and  at  public 
gatherings.1 

During  the  remainder  of  the  year  nothing  of  importance  was  performed  by  or  be- 
•  November  3,  fell  our  cruisers.  In  November  Commodore  Barry  sailed  from  Newport* 
1799.  for  France  in  the  United  States,  having  Messrs.  Wolcott  and  Davie,  the 
two  envoys,  on  board.  He  met  with  no  adventures,  and  performed  his  errand  with 
satisfaction.  Meanwhile  our  cruisers  were  busy  in  the  West  Indies,  watching  the 
interests  of  American  commerce  there,  and  making  the  French  corsairs  exceedingly 
cautious  and  circumspect.  At  length  another  victory  gave  lustre  to  the  American 
navy,  rendering  it  very  popular,  and  causing  many  leading  families  of  the  country  to 
place  their  sons  in  the  service.2 

The  victory  was  again  by  Truxtun,  in  the  Constellation.  Early  on  the  morning 
of  the  1st  of  February,  1800,  while  off  Guadaloupe  seeking  for  the  large  French  frigate 
La  Vengeance,  said  to  be  in  those  waters,  he  discovered  a  sail  to  the  south  which  he 
took  to  be  an  English  merchantman.  He  ran  up  English  colors,  but  receiving  no  re 
sponse,  he  gave  chase.  The  stranger  pressed  sail,  and  it  was  almost  fifteen  hours 
before  the  Constellation  came  w'ithin  hailing  distance  of  her.  It  was  then  discovered 
that  she  was  a  large  French  frigate.  Truxtun,  unabashed,  prepai'ed  for  action.  It 
was  opened  by  the  Frenchman,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  by  shots  from  the 
stern  and  quarter  guns.  A  desperate  engagement  at  pistol-shot  distance  ensued.  It 
lasted  until  one  in  the  morning,  the  combatants  all  the  while  running  free,  side  by 
side,  and  pouring  in  broadsides.  The  French  frigate  suddenly  ceased  firing,  and  dis 
appeared  so  completely  in  the  gloom  that  Truxtun  believed  she  had  gone  to  the  bot 
tom  of  the  sea.  At  that  moment  it  was  discovered  that  the  Constellation's  shrouds 
had  been  nearly  all  cut  away,  and  that  the  mainmast  was  ready  to  fall.  A  heavy 
squall  came  on,  and  the  mast  went  by  the  board,  carrying  with  it  a  midshipman  and 
several  topmen  who  were  aloft.  The  stranger,  dreadfully  crippled,  made  her  wTay  to 
b  February,  Cura§ao,  where  she  arrived  on  the  6th.b  She  was  the  sought-for  frigate 
isoo.  j^a  Vengeance,  carrying'  54  guns  and  400  men,  including  passengers.  Cap 
tain  Pitot,  her  commander,  acknowledged  that  he  had  twice  struck  his  flag  during 
the  engagement.  She  would  have  been  a  rich  prize  for  the  Constellation.  It  was 
lost  only  by  the  utterly  helpless  condition  of  that  vessel's  mainmast.  Truxtun  bore 
away  for  Jamaica,  and  it  was  some  time  before  he  knew  the  name  and  character  of 
his  antagonist,  and  the  prize  he  had  lost.3 

1  The  song  was  not  poetry,  but  touched  a  chord  of  popular  sentiment  which  responded  with  great  animation.    The 
following  is  a  single  verse  of  the  song,  which  contains  eight : 

"  On  board  the  Constellation  from  Baltimore  we  came ; 
We  had  a  bold  commander,  and  Truxtun  was  his  name : 
Our  ship  she  mounted  forty  guns, 
And  on  the  main  so  swiftly  runs', 
To  prove  to  France  Columbia's  sons 
Are  brave  Yankee  boys." 

2  "The  Navy"  became  a  favorite  toast  nt  public  meetings,  and  pictures  of  na 
val  battles  and  doggerel  verses  called  "naval  songs"  were  sold  in  the  shops  and 
streets.    An  enterprising  crockery  merchant  had  some  pitchers  of  different 
sizes  made  in  Liverpool,  commemorative  of  the  navy.    One  of  them,  before  me, 
that  belonged  to  the  late  W.  J.  Davis,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  is  a  white  pitcher, 
about  a  foot  in  height.    Under  the  spout,  in  a  wreath,  are  the  words,  "SUCCESS 
TO  THE  INFANT  NAVY,"  and  below  this  the  American  eagle,  in  form  like  that  on 
the  great  seal  of  the  United  States.    On  one  side  is  a  picture  of  a  full-rigged  vessel 
of  war,  and  some  naval  emblems  in  the  foreground.    On  the  other  side  is  a  map 
of  the  United  States,  having  on  one  side  Washington  and  Liberty,  in  full-length 
figures,  Fame,  with  trumpet  and  wreath,  above  it ;  and  on  the  other  side  Frank 
lin  sitting  making  a  record,  and  a  helmeted  female,  representing  America,  near 
wli'.ch  stands  Justice.    This  device  was  upon  pitchers  made  at  about  the  time  of 
Washington's  inauguration  as  the  first  President  of  the  United  States. 

3  La  Vengeance  had  on  board  the  Governor  of  Guadaloupe  and  his  family,  and 
two  general  officers,  returning  to  France.    She  had  also  a  full  cargo  of  sugar  and 
coffee,  and  a  very  large  amount  of  specie.    She  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  one 

hundred  and  sixty-two.    The  Constellation  lost  fourteen  men  killed  and  twenty-  KAVAI,  PITCHER. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


105 


Traxtun's  Victory  welcomed. 


He  is  honored  by  Congress. 


His  public  Services. 


This  second  victory  over  a  superior  foe  gave  Truxtun  great  renown  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by  action  approved  on  the  29th  of 
March,  1800,  authorized  the  President  to  present  him  a  gold  medal  "emblematical  of 
the  late  action,"  with  the  thanks  of  the  nation.1 


JllCTlAL   PE-.BF.NTF.I)    TO   COMMODORE   TRUXTUN. 


live  wounded.  Eleven  of  the  latter  died  of  their  wounds.  Among  the  lost  was  Midshipman  Jarvis,  of  New  York,  who 
commanded  the  men  in  the  top.  He  was  warned  by  an  old  seaman  that  the  mast  would  soon  fall.  He  gallantly  said, 
"  Then  we  must  go  with  it."  They  did  so,  and  only  one  man  was  saved.  Congress,  by  vote,  recognized  the  bravery  of 
young  Jarvis,  "who  gloriously  preferred  certain  death  to  an  abandonment  of  his  post." 

i  This  medal  is  represented  in  the  engraving,  the  exact  size  of  the  original.  On  one  side  is  a  profile  bust  of  Truxtun 
in  relief,  with  the  legend,  "PATRI.E  PATREB  FILIO  DIGNO  THOMAS  TRUXTUN."  On  the  reverse  are  seen  two  ships  of  war 
(the  French  a  two-decker),  both  shattered,  and  the  rigging  of  both  much  cut  up.  Legend:  "THE  UNITED  STATES 
FRIGATE  CONSTELLATION,  OF  THIRTY-EIGHT  GUNS,  PUKSUES,  ATTACKS,  AND  VANQUISHES  THE  FRENCH  SHIP  LA  VENGEANCE,  OF 
FIFTY-FOUK  GUN8,  1ST  OF  FEBRUARY,  1800." 

Thomas  Truxtun  was  born  at  Jamaica,  Long 
Island,  on  the  17th  of  February,  1T55.  He  went 
to  sea  at  the  age  of  twelve  years.    During  his 
apprenticeship  he  was  impressed  into  the  Brit 
ish  service,  but  was  soon  released.    He  com 
manded  a  vessel  in  1775,  and  brought  consid 
erable  powder  to  the  colonies  at  that  time. 
He  was  engaged  in  privateering  from  Phila 
delphia  during  the  whole  war.    While  carryingMr. 
Barclay,  consul  general  of  the  United  States,  to 
France,  he  had  a  successful  engagement  with  a 
British  man-of-war.    In  1704  he  was  appointed  by 
Washington  one  of  the  six  naval  commanders,  and 
the  Constellation  was  built  under  his  superintend 
ence  at  Baltimore.    His  exploits  in  her  are  related 
in  the  text.    The  cruise  which  resulted  in  the  de 
feat  of  La  Vengeance  was  his  last.    In  1S02  he  was 
ordered  to  the  command  of  a  squadron  destined 
far  the  Mediterranean.    Being  denied  a  captain  to 
command  his  flag-ship,  he  declined  the  service. 
His  letter  to  this  effect  was  construed  by  President 
Jefferson  as  a  resignation,  which  was  accepted, 
and  the  American  navy  was  deprived  of  one  of  its 
brightest  ornaments.    He  retired  to  a  farm  not  far 
from  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  in  quiet  un 
til  1816,  when  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  elect 
ed  him  high  sheriff.    He  held  that  office  three 
years,  and  died  on  the  5th  of  May,  1822,  in  the  six 
ty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  He  was  buried  in  Christ 
Church-yard,  Fifth  Street,  Philadelphia,  where  a 
plain  upright  slab  of  white  marble  marks  his  grave, 
on  which  is  the  following  inscription  :  "Sacred  to 
the  memory  of  Commodore  Thomas  Truxtun,  for 
merly  of  the  United  States  Navy,  who  died  May 
5th,  1822,  aged  sixty-seven  years."    In  considering 
the  little  sketch  of  Truxtun's  grave,  the  spectator 
is  supposed  to  be  standing  with  his  back  to  Fifth 
Street  looking  east. 


TECXTUN'B  GRAVE. 


106  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Peace.      Troubles  among  the  Federalists.      Character  of  President  Adams.       Opposition  to  Adams  in  his  own  Party. 

Other  victories  of  less  magnitude  were  won  by  the  American  cruisers  during  the 
earlier  months  of  the  year  1800,  and  contributed  to  make  the  little  navy  of  the  United 
States  a  subject  for  praise  and  wonder  in  Europe.  But  its  services  were  now  less 
needed,  and  efforts  to  increase  the  navy  were  sensibly  relaxed  during  the  summer  of 
that  year.  Active  negotiations  for  peace  and  amity  were  in  progress  between  the 
United  States  and  the  First  Consul  of  France,  which  led  to  a  settlement  of  difficulties. 
The  American  envoys  were  cordially  received,  and  three  plenipotentiaries,  with  Joseph 
Bonaparte  at  their  head,  were  appointed  to  treat  with  them.  Many  difficulties  arose, 
and  sometimes  an  utter  failure  of  the  effort  seemed  inevitable.  Finally  a  convention 
was  concluded,1  peace  was  established,  the  envoys  returned  home,  and  the  provisional 
army  of  the  United  States  was  disbanded. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  divisions  in  the  Federal  party  on  account  of  Presi 
dent  Adams's  course  in  the  appointment  of  diplomatic  agents  for  negotiations  with 
the  French  government  before  that  government  had  officially  signified  its  willingness 
to  receive  them.  The  instant  dissatisfaction  caused  by  that  act  only  gave  intensity 
to  feelings  already  existing.  Mr.  Adams  was  an  honest  patriot,  of  much  ability,  but 
totally  unfitted  by  temperament  and  disposition  for  the  leadership  of  a  great  politi 
cal  party.  He  was  excessively  vain,  and  correspondingly  sensitive  and  jealous.  His 
vivid  and  sometimes  eccentric  imagination  seldom  yielded  obedience  to  judgment. 
His  prejudices  were  violent  and  inexorable,  and  his  frankness  made  him  indiscreet  in 
his  expressions  of  opinion  concerning  men  and  measures.  He  held  resentment 
against  Hamilton  as  relentless  as  did  Jefferson,  and  he  openly  accused  him  of  British 
proclivities,  and  hostility  to  the  National  Constitution.  Because  Wolcott,  and  Pick 
ering,  and  Ames,  and  M'Henry,  and  other  leading  Federalists  could  not  agree  with 
him  concerning  public  policy,  the  President  regarded  them  as  personal  enemies,  actu 
ated  by  selfish  objects,  and  desirous  of  defeating  his  most  earnest  wishes,  namely,  a 
re-election  to  the  seat  he  then  occupied.  Cunning  Democrats  fanned  the  flame  of 
discord ;  and  they  strengthened  Adams's  political  aspirations  by  assuring  him  that  he 
might  unite  the  moderate  and  virtuous  men  of  both  parties,  and  thus  crush  the  oli 
garchy  of  radical  Federalists,  to  whom  all  national  troubles  should  be  attributed.2 

It  was  not  long  before  confidence  among  the  members  of  the  Federal  party  was  al 
most  destroyed.  Such  were  their  divisions  in  the  House  of  Representatives  that,  not 
withstanding  they  had  a  decided  majority  there,  they  were  not  able,  as  Jefferson  ex- 
ultingly  wrote,  to  carry  a  single  measure  during  the  session  of  1799-1800.  The  sim 
ple  truth  appears  to  be  that  Adams  would  not  be  controlled  by  the  leaders  who 
claimed  to  have  elevated  him  and  his  party  to  power.  He  exercised  his  own  judg 
ment  as  President  without  regard  to  party.  His  most  ardent  political  partisans, 
now  become  his  opponents,  reciprocated  his  own  suspicions,  and  believed  that  his 
conduct  was  prompted  by  jealousy  of  Hamilton,  and  a  disposition  to  secure  his  own  re 
election  at  whatever  sacrifice  of  principle,  or  at  Avhatever  risk  to  the  Federal  party.3 

These  suspicions  created  zealous  action.  The  most  influential  Federal  leadei-s,  two 
of  whom  (Timothy  Pickering  and  James  M'Henry)  were  in  Adams's  Cabinet,  adopted 
a  scheme  for  quietly  preventing  his  re-election  to  the  Presidency,  which  he  ardently 
desired.  The  method  of  choosing  the  President  and  Vice-President,  at  that  time,  was 

i  This  convention  was  signed  at  Paris  on  the  30th  of  September,  1SOO,  by  Oliver  Ellsworth,  William  R.  Davie,  and  Wil 
liam  Vans  Murray,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  and  Joseph  Bonaparte,  Charles  P.  E.  Fleurieu,  and  Pierre  L.  Roe- 
derer,  in  behalf  of  France.  It  provided  that  the  old  treaties  should  remain  inoperative  until  a  new  negotiation  should 
decide  concerning  them  as  well  as  indemnities  mutually  claimed.  It  provided  for  the  mutual  restoration  of  captured 
public  ships  and  property  not  already  condemned;  for  the  mutual  payment  of  all  debts  due  by  the  respective  govern 
ments  and  individuals  thereof;  for  reciprocal  commercial  relations  to  be  equal  to  those  of  the  most  favored  nations,  and 
for  security  of  American  commerce  against  the  vexatious  pretensions  of  French  cruisers.  The  convention  also  declared 
that  free  ships  should  make  free  (joods,  thus  affirming  the  doctrine  of  Frederick  the  Great  fifty  years  earlier,  and  denying 
that  of  England  in  her  famous  rule  of  1756,  revived  in  1793.— See  the  convention  in  full  in  the  Statesman's  Manual,  iv., 
338  2  Oliver  Wolcott  to  Fisher  Ames,  Dec.  20, 1799. 

3  Hildreth's  History  of  the  United  States,  Second  Series,  ii.,  355. 


OF   THE  WAR   OF    1812. 


Plans  of  Federalists  for  defeating  Adams.  Tactics  of  the  Democrats.  The  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws. 


for  two  persons  to  be  voted  for  without  distinction  as  to  the  office  for  which  they 
were  respectively  intended ;  and  the  one  receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes  was 
declared  President,  and  the  other  Vice-President.1  This  plan  gave  facility  to  the 
scheme  of  Mr.  Adams's  opponents.  A  caucus  of  the  Federal  members  of  Congress 
resolved  to  place  Mr.  Adams  and  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  of  South  Carolina,  on 
the  same  ticket,  with  the  understanding  that  both  should  receive  the  same  number 
of  votes,  and  thus  cause  the  election  to  be  carried  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
where  Mr.  Pinckney  would  have  a  considerable  majority.  Caution  was  necessary, 
for  the  foe  was  vigilant,  and  ever  ready  to  take  advantage  of  the  weakness  which  dis 
sensions  would  create  in  the  Federal  camp.  Open  opposition  to  Adams,  whose  high 
personal  character  was  appreciated  every  where,  and  especially  in  New  England, 
might  have  imperiled  the  success  of  the  party.  Mr.  Adams,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
aware  of  the  intrigues  against  him,  and  that  members  of  his  Cabinet  were  leaders  in 
the  scheme ;  yet  for  once  he  was  discreet  enough  not  to  denounce  them  openly,  nor 
dismiss  them*  from  his  council,  for  he  was  doubtful  of  his  own  strength  in  the  power 
ful  Middle  States  where  they  were  popular,  and  where  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws, 
which  brought  such  odium  upon  his  administration,  were  heartily  detested.  A  Dem 
ocratic  caucus  pursued  a  similar  course,  and  selected  Thomas'  Jefferson  and  Aaron 
Burr,  but  with  the  understanding  that  the  former  was  the  choice  of  the  party  for 
President. 

The  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  just  alluded  to  were  used  adroitly  by  the  Democrats 
to  excite  the  people  against  Adams's  administration  and  the  Federal  party,  and  that 
use  was  made  powerful  in  securing  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  Presidency  in 
the  year  1800.2 

1  For  the  young  reader,  or  a  foreigner  to  whom  the  working  of  our  political  system  in  detail  may  not  be  familiar,  an 
explanation  here  may  be  useful.    The  President  of  the  United  States  is  not  voted  for  directly  by  the  people.    Persons 
in  each  state,  in  number  equal  to  the  respective  senators  and  representatives  in  Congress,  are  elected  by  the  people, 
and  delegated  with  full  powers  to  choose  a  President  and  Vice-President.    These  meet  at  a  specified  time,  and  form 
what  is  termed  the  Electoral  College.    Although  the  electors  may  vote  for  whom  they  please,  the  candidates  named  by 
the  people  are  always  voted  for  in  the  college,  so  that  practically  the  people  do  vote  directly  for  President  and  Vice- 
President.    In  the  event  of  an  equal  number  of  votes  being  cast  in  the  college  for  both  candidates,  the  election  is  car 
ried  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  National  Constitution,  Article  ii.,  sec 
tion  1. 

2  The  action  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky  politicians  in  the  matter  were  so  powerful  at  the  time,  and  remote,  even  to  our 
day,  in  their  influence  upon  public  opinion  in  a  portion  of  the  republic  concerning  the  theory  of  our  government,  as  to 
warrant  the  introduction  here  of  the  following  brief  history  of  the  affair : 

In  the  year  1T9S,  when  war  with  France  seemed  to  be  unavoidable,  Congress  passed  acts  for  the  security  of  the  gov 
ernment  against  internal  foes.  By  the  first  act  alien  enemies  could  not  become  citizens  at  all.  By  the  second,  which 
was  limited  to  two  years,  the  President  was  authorized  to  order  out  of  the  country  all  aliens  whom  he  might  judge  to  be 
dangerous  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  United  States.  By  a  third  act,  in  case  of  war  declared  against  the  United  States, 
or  an  actual  invasion,  all  resident  aliens,  natives  or  citizens  of  the  hostile  nation,  might,  upon  a  proclamation  of  the  Pres 
ident  issued  according  to  his  discretion,  be  apprehended,  and  secured  or  removed.  These  were  known  as  Alien  Laws. 
The  President  never  had  occasion  to  employ  them,  but  several  prominent  Frenchmen,  who  felt  that  the  laws  were  aimed 
at  them,  speedily  left  the  country.  Among  them  was  the  celebrated  French  writer,  M.  Volney,  who,  in  the  preface  to  his 
View  of  the  Soil  and  Climate  of  the  United  States  of  America,  complained  bitterly  of  the  "  violent  and  public  attacks  made 
upon  his  character,  with  the  connivance  or  instigation  of  a  certain  eminent  personage,"  meaning  President  Adams. 

In  July,  1798,  an  act  was  passed  for  the  punishment  of  sedition.  It  made  it  a  high  misdemeanor,  punishable  by  a  fine 
not  to  exceed  $5000,  imprisonment  from  six  months  to  five  years,  and  binding  to  good  behavior  at  the  discretion  of  the 
court,  for  any  persons  unlawfully  to  combine  in  opposing  measures  of  the  government  properly  directed  by  authority, 
or  attempting  to  prevent  government  officers  executing  their  trusts,  or  inciting  to  riot  or  insurrection.  It  also  pro 
vided  for  the  fining  or  imprisoning  any  person  guilty  of  printing  or  publishing  "any  false,  scandalous,  and  malicious 
writings  against  the  government  of  the  United  States,  or  either  House  of  Congress,  or  the  President,  with  intent  to  de 
fame  them,  or  to  bring  them  into  contempt  or  disrepute."  This  was  called  the  Sedition  Law. 

The  laws  brought  out  the  heaviest  batteries  of  denunciation  from  the  opposition,  and  were  deplored  by  many  of  the 
Federalists.  The  wise  Hamilton  perceived  the  dangers  that  might  arise  from  the  enactment  of  the  Sedition  Law,  and 
immediately  wrote  a  hurried  note  of  warning  to  Wolcott  on  the  29th  of  June,  saying,  "LET  us  NOT  ESTABLISH  A  TYKAN- 
NY.  Energy  is  a  very  different  thing  from  violence.  If  we  take  no  false  step,  we  shall  be  essentially  united ;  but  if  we 
push  things  to  the  extreme,  we  shall  then  give  to  faction  body  and  solidity."  The  fears  of  Hamilton  were  realized. 
Nothing  contributed  more  powerfully  to  the  speedy  downfall  of  the  Federal  party  than  these  extreme  measures. 

The  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  aroused  individual  resentments,  and  led  to  the  public  avowal  of  the  doctrine  of  inde 
pendent  and  supreme  state  sovereignty  in  its  most  dangerous  form.  The  right  of  "nullification"  was  as  distinctly  pro 
claimed  by  Jefferson  and  others  as  it  ever  was  by  Calhoun  or  Hayne.  In  a  series  of  resolutions  drawn  up  under  the 
seal  of  secrecy  as  to  their  authorship,  Mr.  Jefferson  declared  the  National  Constitution  to  be  a  mere  compact  made  by 
sovereign  states  as  states,  each  having  the  sole  right  of  interpreting  for  itself  the  "compact,"  and  bound  by  no  interpre 
tation  but  its  own ;  that  the  general  government  has  no  final  right,  in  any  of  its  branches,  to  interpret  the  extent  of  its 
own  powers,  and  that  all  its  acts  not  considered  constitutional  by  a  state  may  be  properly  nullified  by  such  state  within 


108  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Method  of  Choosing  Electors.  Germ  of  a  new  Party.  Jefferson  elected  President  of  the  United  States. 

Most  of  the  Presidential  electors  at  that  time  were  chosen  by  the  respective  State 
Legislatures,  and  not  by  the  people,  as  now,  and  the  contest  was  really  commenced 
in  the  election  of  members  to  those  bodies.  New  York  was  regarded  as  the  custo 
dian  of  the  balance  of  political  power,  and  the  election  of  that  state  which  occurred 
at  the  close  of  April,  1800,  was  looked  to  with  great  anxiety  by  both  parties.  A  rad 
ical  change  had  taken  place.  Burr,  the  most  unscrupulous  intriguer  of  the  day, 
worked  incessantly,  and  New  York,  which  the  year  before  gave  the  Federalists  five 
hundred  majority,  noAv  gave  almost  as  great  a  majority  for  the  Democrats.  The  lat 
ter  were  jubilant — the  former  were  alarmed. 

At  this  time  the  germ  of  a  new  party  was  distinctly  visible  in  Virginia  and  the 
states  south  of  it,  which  was  born  of  slavery  and  the  doctrine  of  independent  state 
sovereignty.  Virginia  was  its  sponsor,  and  it  allied  itself  to  the  Democratic  party. 
And  yet,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  Mr.  Adams  at  this  time  looked  to  the  Southern 
States  for  his  forlorn  hope  in  the  coming  election  contest.  Believing  Pickering  and 
M'Henry  to  be  unpopular  there,  he  abruptly  called  upon  them  to  resign.  M'Henry 
instantly  complied,  but  Pickering  refused.  Adams  dismissed  him  with  little  cere 
mony.1  The  event  caused  much  excitement,  and  had  considerable  influence  in  redu 
cing  the  Federal  vote.  Bitter  animosities  prevailed.  Criminations  and  recrimina 
tions  ensued. 

The  open  war  in  the  Federal  party  against  Mr.  Adams  was  waged  by  a  few  leaders, 
several  of  whom  resided  in  Essex  County,  Massachusetts,  the  early  home  of  Picker 
ing,  and  on  that  account  the  irritated  President  called  his  assailants  and  opposers  the 
"  Essex  Junto."  He  denounced  them  as  slaves  to  British  influence,  some  lured  by 
monarchical  proclivities,  and  others  by  English  gold.  Severe  retorts  followed  ;  and  a 
pamphlet  from  the  pen  of  Hamilton,  whom  Adams  had  frequently  assailed  in  conver 
sation  as  a  British  sympathizer,  and  an  enemy  to  the  National  Constitution,  damaged 
the  President's  political  prospects  materially. 

The  result  of  the  canvass  was  the  triumph  of  the  Democratic  party.  Jefferson  was 
elected  President  of  the  United  States,  and  Aaron  Burr  Vice-President,2  to  the  great 
joy  of  their  partisans,  who  chanted,  in  effect, 

"  The  Federalists  are  down  at  last ! 
The  Monarchists  completely  cast ! 
The  Aristocrats  are  stripped  of  power — 
Storms  o'er  the  British  faction  lower. 
Soon  we  Republicans  shall  see 
Columbia's  sons  from  bondage  free. 
Lord !  how  the  Federalists  will  stare 
At  JEFFEESON  in  ADAMS'  chair!" — The  Echo. 


its  own  boundaries.  These  resolutions  were  offered  to  the  Kentucky  Legislature ;  but  the  one  avowing  the  absolute 
right  of  nullification  was  modified,  or  rather  substituted  by  another,  before  the  whole  were  put  upon  their  passage.  This 
action  was  in  November,  1798.  Within  a  month  afterward  John  Taylor,  of  Caroline,  an  avowed  secessionist,  introduced 
into  the  Virginia  Legislature  a  series  of  resolutions  drawn  by  Mr.  Madison,  similar  in  spirit,  but  more  cautious  in  ex 
pression.  They  were  adopted,  and,  with  a  plea  in  their  favor,  were  sent  to  the  various  State  Legislatures.  In  some  of 
them  they  were  handled  roughly,  and  all  that  responded  condemned  them  as  unwarrantable  and  mischievous,  excepting 
already-committed  Kentucky.  These  were  the  famous  "Resolutions  of  "98,"  on  which  nullification  in  1S32  and  secession 
in  1861  planted  themselves  and  looked  for  justification.  The  whole  movement  was  of  a  local  and  temporary  nature. 
Jefferson  and  Madison  were  wielding  dangerous  weapons  in  their  sturdy  warfare  for  political  power  (for  that  was  the 
animus  of  the  whole  matter) ;  but  they  trusted  the  people,  and  believed,  as  Jefferson  said  in  his  inaugural,  that  great 
errors  may  be  tolerated  when  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  them.  That  nullifiers  and  secessionists  have  no  warrant  for 
their  doctrines  in  the  action  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  at  that  time  Mr.  Madison  distinctly  declared  more  than  thirty 
years  afterward.  "The  tenor  of  the  debates,"  he  said,  "which  were  ably  conducted,  and  are  understood  to  have  been 
revised  for  the  press  by  most,  if  not  all  of  the  speakers,  discloses  no  reference  whatever  to  a  constitutional  right  in  an  indi 
vidual  state  to  arrest  by  force  the  operation  of  a  law  of  the  United  States."— See  letter  to  Edward  Everett,  August,  1830,  in 
Selections  from  the  Private  Correspondence  of  James  Madison,  published  by  J.  C.  M'Guire,  of  Washington  City,  for  private 
distribution. 

'  John  Marshall,  who  was  soon  afterward  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  took  Pickering's  place  as  Sec 
retary  of  State,  and  Samuel  Dexter  was  called  to  M'Henry's  seat  in  the  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  War. 

2  The  Electoral  College  met,  and  their  vote  stood  as  follows :  Jefferson,  73  ;  Burr,  73  ;  Adams,  05 ;  Pinckney,  C4 :  John 
Jay,  1.  The  votes  for  Jefferson  and  Burr  being  equal,  the  election,  as  provided  by  the  Constitution,  was  carried  into  the 
House  of  Representatives.  The  occasion  presented  exciting  scenes.  On  the  first  ballot  eight  states  voted  for  Jefferson, 
six  for  Burr,  and  two  (Vermont  and  Maryland)  were  divided.  Two  or  three  members  were  so  sick  that  they  were  brought 
to  the  House  on  beds.  For  seven  days  the  members  were  occupied  in  balloting.  The  Federalists  all  voted  for  Burr, 
as  the  least  offensive  of  the  two  candidates,  but  the  friends  of  Jefferson  were  stronger  than  they. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  1QO 


Mortification  of  the  Federalists.  Ins  and  Outs.  Announcement  of  the  Death  of  Washington.  Its  Effect. 

The  mortification  of  the  defeated  party  was  intense,  and  new  elements  of  strife 
soon  mingled  with  the  old  causes  of  contention  between  the  two  parties.  At  these 
John  Quincy  Adams  hinted  when  he  said,  "  The  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  Pres 
idency  was,  upon  sectional  feelings,  the  triumph  of  the  South  over  the  North,  of  the 
slave  representation  over  the  free.  On  party  grounds,  it  was  the  victory  of  professed 
Democracy  over  Federalism,  of  French  over  British  influence.  The  party  overthrown 
was  the  whole  Federal  party.  The  whole  Federal  party  was  mortified  and  humili 
ated  at  the  triumph  of  Jefferson.1 

After  an  existence  of  eight  years  as  a  distinct  political  organization,  the  original 
Federal  party  fell,  never  to  rise  again  into  power.  Its  noble  monument  is  the  ma 
chinery  of  the  national  government,  which  its  wise  men  devised  and  set  in  motion, 
and  which  still  performs  its  functions  with  admirable  steadiness  and  increased  power 
— machinery  which  the  opposition  declared  to  be  weak  and  dangerous  when  they 
were  in  the  minority,  but  which  they  adopted  as  sound  and  secure  as  soon  as  they 
came  into  power.  The  saying  of  English  politicians,  that  a  Tory  in  place  becomes  a 
Whig  out  of  place,  and  a  Whig  when  provided  with  a  place  becomes  a  Tory,  was 
exemplified.2 

While  the  nation  was  thus  agitated  by  contending  factions  and  menaced  by  the 
tempests  of  war,  the  great  light  of  the  republic,  by  whose  steady  planetary  gleams 
the  vessel  of  state  had  been  long  guided,  and  saved  from  the  rocks  and  quicksands  of 
faction  and  anarchy,  suddenly  went  out.  In  the  darkness  that  fell  without  twilight 
— without  premonition — every  discordant  voice  was  for  a  moment  hushed,  for  awe 
placed  the  finger  of  silence  upon  the  lips  of  political  partisans  of  every  kind.  The 
National  Congress  was  then  in  session  at  Philadelphia.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the 
18th  of  December1 — a  cold,  crisp,  winter  morning — a  courier  with  smoking 
steed  dashed  up  to  the  Presidential  mansion,  and  delivered  a  letter  from  the 
private  secretary3  of  the  great  leader,  who  had  already  been  called  PATER  PATRICE.* 
The  President  was  at  breakfast.  The  seal  was  black  wax.  It  wras  broken  hastily  by 
Mr.  Adams,  who  read,  "  It  is  with  inexpressible  grief  that  I  have  to  announce  to  you 
the  death  of  the  great  and  good  General  WASHINGTON.  He  died  last  evening,  be 
tween  ten  and  eleven  o'clock,  after  a  short  illness  of  about  twenty-four  hours."5 

There  was  grief  in  the  President's  household.  There  was  grief  in  Congress 
when  John  Marshall  announced11  "  Our  Washington  is  no  more." 

b  December  19. 

There  was  grief  in  the  streets  of  the  national  capital  when  the  sad  intel 
ligence  went  from  lip  to  ear  all  over  the  city  within  an  hour  after  the  arrival  of  the 
courier.  There  was  grief  throughout  the  nation  when  the  knell  of  the  funeral  bells 
in  cities  and  villages,  with  chilling  monotone,  fell  upon  the  ears  of  the  people.  There 
was  grief  in  Europe  when,  forty  days  afterward,  it  was  known  in  England  and  on  the 
Continent.  Lord  Bridport  lowered  to  half  mast  the  flags  of  his  great  English  fleet 

'  See  Life  of  William  Plummer,  p.  310. 

2  A  London  paper  in  1813  contained  the  following  poetic  version  of  the  maxim,  under  the  head  of  Definition  of 
Parties: 

"WHIGS  NEVER  IN. 

A  Whig  is  never  in  !    How  strange  the  story ! 
Turn  in  a  Whig— he  turns  in  a  Tory  ! 

TORIES   NEVEK   OUT. 

A  Tory's  never  out !    Strange  whirligig ! 
Turn  out  a  Tory— he  turns  out  a  Whig  ! 

INS   AND   OUTB. 

Why  then  turn  all  our  brains  with  senseless  rout  ? 
Tory  and  Whig  are  merely  IN  and  OUT." 

3  Tobias  Lear. 

*  The  late  G.  W.  P.  Custis,  the  adopted  son  of  Washington,  in  a  letter  to  his  foster-father  written  at  Annapolis,  where 
he  was  at  school,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1798,  after  congratulating  his  guardian  on  his  appointment  to  the  command  of  the 
American  army,  said,  "Let  an  admiring  world  again  behold  a  Cincinnatus  springing  up  from  rural  retirement  to  the 
conquest  of  nations;  and  the  future  historian,  in  recording  so  great  a  name,  insert  that  of  the  'Father  of  his  Country.'  " 

5  Dated  "Mount  Vernon,  December  15, 1799." 


110 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


1800. 


Action  of  Congress  on  the  Death  of  Washington.     Marks  of  Respect  in  Europe.     Funeral  Honors.     M'Pherson  Blues. 

of  sixty  vessels  then  lying  in  Torbay ;  and  Bonaparte,  just  made  First  Consul  of 
France,  paid  a  beautiful  tribute  to  the  virtues  of  the  beloved  man  in  an  order  of  the 
day  to  the  French  army,  and  in  directing  a  funeral  oration  to  be  pronounced  before 
him  and  the  civil  and  military  authorities.1  The  Congress  of  his  own  country,  by 
*  December 23  jomt  resolutions,  decreeda  that  a  marble  monument  should  be  erected  to 
1T99.  his  memory  at  the  new  Capitol  on  the  Potomac ;  that  there  should  be 
a  funeral  procession  from  Congress  Hall  to  the  German  Lutheran  Church,  where  an 
oration  should  be  pronounced  by  one  of  the  members  of  Congress ;  that  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  should  wear  crape  on  their  left  arm  as  mourning  for  thirty  days ; 
and  that  the  President  should  send  a  letter  of  condolence  to  Mrs.  Washington,  and 

O  / 

request  that  her  husband's  remains  might  be  interred  at  the  Capitol  of  the  nation.2 
They  also  recommended  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  assemble  on  the  next  an- 
,  February  22,  niversary  of  Washington's  birthday ,b  "  to  testify  their  grief  by  suitable 
eulogies,  orations,  and  discourses,  or  by  public  prayers." 

General  Henry  Lee,  the  per 
sonal  friend  of  Washington,  and 
son  of  that  "Lowland  Beauty" 
whom  the  great  patriot  loved  in 
his  early  youth,  was  the  chosen 
orator.  With  rare  eloquence  he 
charmed  the  vast  audience  that 
thronged  the  Lutheran  Church, 
the  largest  in  Philadelphia.3  The 
M'-Pherson  Hhies,*  an  elegant 
military  corps  of  three  hundred 
young  men,  were  there  as  a  guard 
of  honor,  and  fired  the  accustom 
ed  military  salute.  On  the  ensu 
ing  22d  of  February  funeral  ora 
tions  were  pronounced  in  many 
places  throughout  the  country; 
and  memorials  of  many  kinds 
were  speedily  prepared,  to  per 
petuate,  by  visible  objects,  the 
recollection  of  Washington's  vir- 


TUE   LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 


1  This  oration  was  delivered  by  Louis  Fontaine  in  the  Temple  of  Mars,  at  Paris,  on  the  8th  of  February,  1800.    In  al 
lusion  to  the  young  general  and  chief  ruler  of  France  before  him,  the  orator  said,  in  his  peroration,  "Yes,  thy  counsels 
shall  be  heard,  O  Washington  !  O  warrior  !  O  legislator !  O  citizen  without  reproach  !    He  who,  while  yet  young,  rivals 
thee  in  battles,  shall,  like  thee,  with  his  triumphant  hands,  heal  the  wounds  of  his  country.    Even  now  we  have  his  dis 
position,  his  character  for  the  pledge  ;  and  his  warlike  genius,  unfortunately  necessary,  shall  soon  lead  sweet  peace  into 
this  temple  of  war.    Then  the  sentiment  of  universal  joy  shall  obliterate  the  remembrance  of  oppression  and  injustice. 
Already  the  oppressed  forget  their  ills  in  looking  to  the  future.    The  acclamations  of  every  age  will  be  offered  to  the 
hero  who  gives  happiness  to  France,  and  seeks  to  restore  it  to  a  contending  world." 

2  Mrs.  Washington  consented  to  the  removal  of  her  husband's  remains  to  the  National  Capitol.    But  they  have  never 
been  taken  from  his  beloved  Mount  Vernon.    They  never  should  be.    That  home  of  the  illustrious  patriot  is  now  the 
property  of  the  patriotic  women  of  America,  and  should  ever  be  consecrated  by  the  presence  of  his  tomb.    The  HOME 
and  TOMB  of  our  beloved  friend  should  be  inseparable,  and  these  words  of  Lunt  should  express  the  sentiments  of  every 
American  : 

"  Ay,  leave  him  alone  to  sleep  forever, 

Till  the  strong  archangel  calls  for  the  dead, 
By  the  verdant  bank  of  that  gushing  river 
Where  first  they  pillowed  his  mighty  head." 

3  That  German  Lutheran  Church  is  yet  standing  on  Fourth  Street,  Philadelphia,  above  Arch  Street.   Lee's  oration  was 
hastily  prepared,  but  was  an  admirable  production.    In  it  he  used  those  memorable  words,  "FIKST  IN  WAR,  FIRST  IN 
PEACE,  FIRST  IN  THE  HEARTS  OF  HIS  COUNTRYMEN."    This  oration  may  be  found  in  Custis's  Recollections  of  Washington. 

*  This  corps  was  composed  of  the  elite  of  Philadelphia  society.  The  costume  is  represented  in  an  engraving  in  Los- 
sing's  Home  of  Washington,  or  Mount  Vernon  and  its  Associations.  Six  of  those  who  were  present  on  that  occasion  were 
yet  living  in  January,  1S62,  and  all  were  residents  of  Philadelphia,  namely,  Samuel  Breck,  aged  ninety ;  S.  Palmer,  aged 
eighty-one ;  S.  F.  Smith,  aged  eighty-one ;  Charles  N.  Bancker,  aged  eighty-five ;  Quintan  Campbell,  aged  eighty-five, 
and  Robert  Carr,  aged  eighty-four.  John  F.  Watson,  the  annalist  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  who  died  in  De- 


O F   T H E   WA R    OF    1812. 


Ill 


Medal  hi  Honor  of  Washington. 


Sketch  of  Washington's  Person  and  Character. 


tues  and  illustrious   deeds.1 
logy.2 


The  faithful  history  of  those   deeds   is  his  best  eu- 


'  His  glory  fills  the  land— the  plain, 

The  moor,  the  mountain,  and  the  mart ! 
More  firm  than  column,  urn,  or  fane, 
His  monument— the  human  heart. 
The  Christian— patriot — hero— sage  ! 

The  chief  from  heaven  in  mercy  sent ; 
His  deeds  are  written  on  the  age — 
His  country  is  his  monument." 

GEORGE  P.  MOKRIS. 


cember,  1SCO,  was  a  member.    Colonel  Carr,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  War  of  1S12,  informed  me  that  he  was  one  of  the 
squad  who  fired  the  volleys  on  that  occasion.    The  costume  of  the  M'Pherson  Blues  is  seen  in  the  figure  below. 


1  Among  many  other  tokens 
of  respect  published  at  that 
time  was  a  silver  medal,  a  lit 
tle  larger  and  thicker  than  the 
Spanish  quarter  of  a  dollar. 
One  of  these  is  in  the  posses 
sion  of  the  writer,  and  is  repre 
sented  in  the  engraving.  On 
one  side  is  a  profile  of  Wash 
ington,  inclosed  in  a  wreath  of 
laurel,  and  surrounded  by  the 

WOrdS,    "  HE    IS    IN    GLORY,    THE 
WORLD   IN   TEAKS."      On  the  T6- 

verse  is  a  memorial  urn,  and 


WASHINGTON"   MEDAL. 


around  it,  forming  two  circles, 
are  abbreviations,  seen  in  the 
engraving,  signifying  "Born 
February  11,  1732 ;  General  of 
the  American  Army,  1775 ;  re 
signed  17S3 ;  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America, 
17S9;  retired  in!79G;  General 
of  the  Armies  of  the  United 
States,  179S ;  died  December 
14, 1799."  This  medal  was  de 
signed  by  Dudley  A.  Tyng,  the 
collector  of  customs  at  New- 
buryport  at  that  time,  and  en 


graved  and  published,  immediately  after  the  death  of  Washington,  by  Jacob  Perkins,  the  well-known  ingenious  me 
chanic  and  engraver.  He  cut  dies  for  this  design  of  two  sizes. 

2  A  contemporary  wrote  as  follows  concerning  Washington's  person  and  character: 

"GENERAL  WASHINGTON  in  his  person  was  tall,  upright,  and  well-made :  in  manner  easy  and  unaffected.  His 
eyes  were  of  a  bluish  cast,  not  prominent,  indicative  of  deep  thoughtfnlness,  and,  when  in  action  on  great  occasions, 
remarkably  lively.  His  features  strong,  manly,  and  commanding;  his  temper  reserved  and  serious;  his  counte 
nance  grave,  composed,  and  sensible.  There  was  in  his  whole  appearance  an  unusnal  dignity  and  gracefulness  which 
at  once  secured  for  him  profound  respect  and  cordial  esteem.  He  seemed  born  to  command  his  fellow-men.  In  his  of 
ficial  capacity  he  received  applicants  for  favors,  and  answered  their  requests  with  so  much  ease,  condescension,  and 
kindness,  as  that  each  retired  believing  himself  a  favorite  of  his  chief.  He  had  an  excellent  and  well-cultivated  under 
standing;  a  correct,  discerning,  and  comprehensive  mind;  a  memory  remarkably  retentive ;  energetic  passions  under 
perfect  control ;  a  judgment  sober,  deliberate,  and  sound.  He  was  a  man  of  the  strictest  honor  and  honesty ;  fair  and 
honorable  in  his  dealings ;  punctual  to  his  engagements.  His  disposition  was  mild,  kind,  and  generous.  Candor,  sin 
cerity,  moderation,  and  simplicity  were,  in  common,  prominent  features  in  his  character ;  but,  when  an  occasion  call 
ed,  he  was  capable  of  displaying  the  most  determined  bravery,  firmness,  and  independence.  He  was  an  affectionate 
husband,  a  faithful  friend,  a  humane  master,  and  a  father  to  the  poor.  He  lived  in  the  unvarying  habits  of  regularity, 
temperance,  and  industry.  He  steadily  rose  at  the  dawn  of  day,  and  retired  to  rest  usually  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  even 
ing.  The  intermediate  hours  all  had  their  proper  business  assigned  them.  In  his  allotments  for  the  revolving  hours 
religion  was  not  forgotten.  Feeling,  what  he  so  often  publicly  acknowledged,  his  entire  dependence  on  God,  he  daily, 
at  stated  seasons,  retired  to  his  closet  to  worship  at  His  footstool,  and  to  ask  His  divine  blessing.  He  was  remarkable 
for  his  strict  observation  of  the  Sabbath,  and  exemplary  in  his  attendance  on  public  worship." 


]12  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK. 

Peaceful  Promises.          The  Achievements  of  Bonaparte.  His  Influence  in  Europe.  Hatred  of  Great  Britain. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"The  Dey  of  Algiers,  not  afraid  of  his  ears, 

Sent  to  Jonathan  once  for  some  tribute : 
'  Ho !  ho  !'  says  the  Dey,  '  if  the  rascal  don't  pay, 

A  caper  or  two  I'll  exhibit. 

I'm  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  with  a  beard  a  yard  long ; 
I'm  a  Mussulman,  too,  and  of  course  very  strong: 
For  this  is  my  maxim,  dispute  it  who  can, 
That  a  man  of  stout  muscle's  a  stout  Mussulman.' " 

EFFERSON'S  administration  commenced  under  favorable  aus- 
pices.a  There  were  omens  of  peace  abroad,  and  these  .  March  4) 
promised  calmness  and  prosperity  at  home.  The 
league  of  England  and  the  Continental  powers  against  Bona 
parte  had  failed  to  impede  his  progress  in  the  path  toward  uni 
versal  dominion ;  on  the  contrary,  he  had  brought  nearly  all 
Europe  trembling  at  his  feet.  Within  the  short  space  of  two 
years  he  made  himself  master  of  all  Italy,  and  humbled  proud 
Austria  by  a  scries  of  the  most  splendid  victories  on  record.  Within  the  circle  of 
another  two  years  he  had  returned  from  his  Oriental  campaigns  to  receive  the  hom 
age  of  France,  and  accept  its  sceptre  in  republican  form  as  First  Consul.  With  the 
absolute  power  of  an  emperor,  which  title  he  speedily  assumed,  he  prepared  to  bring 
to  France  still  more  wealth,  territory,  and  glory,  by  extending  her  sway  from  Africa 
to  the  North  Cape — from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Ural  Mountains.  Old  thrones  shook; 
and  when  Bonaparte  whispered  peace  all  Europe  Kstened  eagerly,  for  they  were 
words  of  hope  for  dynasties  and  nationalities. 

The  preliminary  Treaty  of  Luncville,lb  affirming  that  of  Campo-For- 
eisoiarj "'     mio,2  made  four  years  earlier,6  rendered  a  reconstruction  of  the  map  of 
«  October  IT,     Europe  necessary,  for  kings  and  princes  had  allowed  the  successful  soldier 
to  change  the  geographical  lines  of  their  dominions.     Great  Britain  was 
left  alone  in  armed  opposition  to  the  conquering  Corsican.     Even  her  late  allies 
against  him,  always  jealous  of  her  maritime  superiority,  were  now  his  foes.     The 
league  of  Northern  powers,  known  as  the  Armed  Neutrality,3  was  re-established  by 
*  December  ic,     treaty'1  at  the  instigation  of  the  Emperor  Paul,  of  Russia,  and  from  their 
180°-  council  went  forth  the  spirit  of  Cato's  words  concerning  the  offending 

African  city :  Delenda  est  Carthago — "  Carthage  must  be  destroyed."  They  resolved 
to  contradict  by  force  her  doctrine  concerning  the  freedom  of  neutrals,4  and  naval 
armaments  were  put  afloat.  At  the  same  time  Bonaparte  was  threatening  Great  Brit 
ain  with  invasion,  and  her  rich  East  India  possessions  with  the  tread  of  the  conqueror. 
Although  burdened  with  taxation  to  a  degree  before  unknown,  and  wearied  with 
her  long  contest  with  France  and  the  Irish  rebellion  under  her  own  roof,5  Britain 

1  The  peace  concluded  at  Luneville  between  the  French  Republic  and  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  after  confirming  the 
Treaty  of  Campo-Formio,  stipulated  that  the  Rhine  to  the  Dutch  Territories  should  form  the  boundaries  of  France,  and 
recognizing  the  independence  of  the  Bavarian,  Helvetic,  Ligurian,  and  Cisalpine  Republics. 

2  In  the  Treaty  of  Campo-Formio,  between  France  and  Austria,  the  latter  yielded  the  Low  Countries  and  the  Ionian 
Islands  to  the  former,  and  Milan,  Mantua,  and  Modena  to  the  Cisalpine  Republic  which  Bonaparte  had  established  in 
Italy.    By  a  secret  article,  the  Emperor  of  Austria  took  possession  of  the  Venitian  dominions,  in  compensation  for  the 
Netherlands.  3  See  note  2,  on  page  83.  *  See  note  1,  page  84. 

5  The  Roman  Catholics  and  the  Protestant  Dissenters  in  Ireland  were  subjected  to  cruel  and  insulting  disabilities  by 
the  English  in  regard  to  both  civil  and  religious  privileges.  In  1701  a  society  was  formed,  chiefly  under  the  direction  of 
Wolfe  Tone,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  Parliamentary  reform  in  this  matter.  They  were  called  "United  Irishmen." 
They  were  also  animated  by  republican  sentiments,  and  a  hatred  of  England  as  an  oppressor.  Inspired  by  events  in 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  113 


Great  Britain  triumphant.  Friendly  Relations  with  Bonaparte.  The  sudden  Change  ridiculed. 

once  more  put  forth  her  strength  on  the  ocean.     Parker  and  Nelson  destroyed  the 
Danish  fleet  at  Copenhagen,a  and  brought  that  government  to  submission ;     .  Apri]  2) 
the  other  powers  of  the  league,  alarmed,  and  deserted  by  Paul's  successor, 
withdrew  from  the  unequal  contest,  and  left  England  still  boasting,  as  in  Waller's 
time,  two  hundred  years  ago,  that  her  ships  were 

"Riding  without  a  rival  on  the  sea;" 

or  chanting,  with  the  faith  of  Thomson,  a  hundred  years  -later, 

"When  Britain  first,  at  Heaven's  command, 

Arose  from  out  the  azure  main, 
This  was  the  charter  of  the  land, 

And  guardian  angels  sung  the  strain : 
Rule  Britannia ;  Britannia  rules  the  waves  ! 
Britons  never  shall  be  slaves." 

England  was  willing  to  have  peace,  but  not  with  the  loss  of  an  iota  of  her  power. 
A  peace  ministry,  with  Mr.  Addington  at  its  head,  assumed  the  reins  of  government 
in  the  spring  of  1801.  It  looked  with  favor  upon  the  dispersion  of  the  war-clouds 
which  had  so  long  brooded  over  Europe.  During  that  year  one  after  another  of  the 
Continental  powers  wheeled  into  the  line  of  amicable  relations  with  Bonaparte,1  and 
in  March,  1 802,b  by  treaty  at  Amiens,2  he  and  George  the  Third  became 
technical  friends,  much  to  the  disgust  of  a  powerful  war  party  in  England, 
who  would  not  trust  the  word  of  the  ambitious  Corsican  for  an  hour.  They  believed 
his  object  to  be  rest  and  gaining  of  time,  while  he  should  make  preparations  for  more 
formidable  blows  for  the  subjugation  of  Europe.  But  they  were  compelled  to  yield 
to  the  greater  faith,  or  the  greater  needs,  of  the  government  and  the  majority.  There 
was  sunlight  abroad,  and  a  bow  of  promise  in  the  sky.  It  seemed  as  if  universal 
peace  was  about  to  be  established  in  Europe,  and  Bonaparte  was  hailed  as  a  pacifica 
tor.  England  blazed  with  bonfires  and  illuminations ;  was  resonant  with  speeches 
and  sermons;  feasted  in  public  halls  in  testimony  of  her  faith  and  joy,  and  enriched 
her  literature  with  addresses  and  poems  on  the  apparent  dawning  of  a  political  mil 
lennium.  Forgetful  of  the  past  deeds  of  Bonaparte,  which  they  had  denounced  as 
crimes,  Englishmen  flocked  to  Paris  to  bow  before  the  rising  sun  of  power,  and  car 
ried  back  with  them  French  fashions  in  abundance,  as  tokens  of  their  satisfaction. 
The  sly  Corsican,  chuckling  over  their  obsequiousness,  and  their  blindness  to  his  real 
designs,  treated  the  most  distinguished  of  his  English  admirers  with  marked  respect, 
and  received  in  turn  such  fulsome  adulation  that  right-minded  men  in  Great  Britain 
blushed  with  shame.3 

The  machinery  of  government  was  all  adjusted  for  the  easy  management  of  the 

France,  these  "United  Irishmen,"  whose  society  extended  all  over  the  kingdom,  resolved  to  strike  for  liberty  and  es 
tablish  a  republican  form  of  government  for  Ireland.  In  this  they  received  the  aid  of  France.  They  nominated  an  ex 
ecutive  directory  in  1797.  Their  plans,  carried  on  with  the  utmost  secrecy,  were  ripe  for  execution,  when  they  were  dis 
covered  and  denounced  by  a  government  spy.  Many  of  the  leaders  were  arrested,  but  an  open,  armed  rebellion  was  sud 
denly  developed  all  over  the  kingdom  in  May,  1798.  Great  Britain  put  forth  its  military  power,  then  strong  at  home,  in 
anticipation  of  an  invasion  by  the  armies  in  France,  and  the  insurrection  was  crushed  in  the  course  of  a  few  months. 

1  France  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Naples  March  18, 1801 ;  with  Spain,  March  21 ;  with  the  Pope,  July  15 ;  with 
Bavaria,  August  24 ;  with  Portugal,  September  29 ;  with  Russia,  October  4 ;  with  Turkey,  October  9 ;  and  with  Algiers, 
December  7. 

2  This  was  a  treaty  between  Great  Britain,  Holland,  France,  and  Spain.    The  preliminary  treaty  had  been  signed  on 
the  1st  of  October,  1801.    The  definitive  treaty  was  signed  by  Lord  Cornwallis,  for  England ;  Joseph  Bonaparte,  for 
France ;  Azara,  for  Spain,  and  Schimmelpenniuck,  for  Holland. 

3  Among  those  who  went  over  at  that  time  were  Charles  James  Fox  and  his  nephew,  Lord  Holland,  Lords  Erskine, 
Grey,  and  other  leading  men.    These  visits  excited  the  ridicule  of  satirists.    Gillray's  pencil  was  active.    Several  cari 
catures  from  his  brain  were  speedily  published.    He  ridiculed  the  visit  of  Fox  and  his  friends  in  a  caricature  entitled 
'  'Introduction  of  Citizen  Volprone  and  Suite  at  Paris,"  in  which  Fox  and  his  wife,  Lord  and  Lady  Holland,  and  Grey  and  Er 
skine,  are  seen  stooping  low  before  the  new  ruler  of  France.    One  of  the  most  popular  of  his  caricatures  was  entitled  "  The 
first  Kiss  this  ten  years,  or  the  meeting  of  Britannia  and  Citizen  Francois."    Britannia,  who  has  suddenly  become  corpu 
lent,  appears  as  a  fine  lady  in  full  dress,  her  shield  and  spear  leaning  neglected  against  the  wall.    The  citizen  expresses 
his  joy  at  the  meeting  in  warm  terms.    "Madame,"  he  says,  "permittez  me  to  pay  my  profound  esteem  to  your  en 
gaging  person,  and  to  seal  on  your  divine  lips  my  everlasting  attachment ! ! !"    The  lady,  blushing  deeply,  replies, 
"Monsieur,  you  are  a  truly  well-bred  gentleman  ;  and  though  you  make  me  blush,  yet  you  kiss  so  delicately  I  can  not 
refuse  yon,  though  I  was  sure  yon  would  deceive  me  again  !"    On  the  wall  just  behind  these  two  figures  are  portraits 
of  King  George  and  Bonaparte  scowling  at  each  other.— See  Wright's  England  under  the  House  of  Hanover,  ii.,  391. 

H 


114 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Beginning  of  Jefferson's  Administration.        Appearance  and  Condition  of  the  National  Capital.        Thomas  Jefferson. 

new  President  of  the  United  States.  The  treasury  had  never  been  so  full,  nor  the 
revenue  so  abundant  as  at  that  time,  and  he  was  enabled  to  signalize  the  commence 
ment  of  his  administration  and  to  strengthen  it  by  the  repeal  of  the  excise  and  other 
obnoxious  acts,  which  were  necessary  at  the  beginning.  Commerce,  and  all  the  in 
dustrial  interests  of  the  country,  were 
flourishing,  and  the  pathway  of  the  new 
chief  magistrate  of  the  republic  seemed 
plain,  flowery,  and  luminous. 

The  seat  of  government  had  just  been 
removed  to  the  city  of  Washington,  the 
new  capital  of  the  nation,  and  then  an  in 
significant  village  on  the  bank  of  the  Poto 
mac,  on  the  verge  of  a  Maryland  forest,1  in 
the  District  of  Columbia.2  There,  in  one 
of  the  wings  of  the  half-finished  Capitol, 
the  last  session  of  Congress  had  been 
held ;  and  there,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1801, 
Chief  Justice  Marshall  administered  to 
Mr.  Jefferson  the  oath  of  office,  and  he 
became  the  third  President  of  the  United 
States.3 

Although  Jefferson  was  a  radical  Re 
publican,  he  made  no  special  changes  in 
the  inaugural  ceremonies  used  by  his  pre 
decessors.  He  abolished  public  levees  at 
the  Presidential  mansion,  and  sent  mes 
sages  in  writing  to  Congress,  instead  of 


1  "There  is  one  good  tavern  about  forty  rods  from  the  Capitol,  and  several  other  houses  are  built  or  erecting,"  Oliver 
Wolcott  wrote  to  a  friend  in  the  autumn  of  1800 ;  "  but  I  don't  see  how  the  members  of  Congress  can  possibly  secure 
lodgings  unless  they  will  consent  to  live  like  scholars  in  a  college  or  monks  in  a  monastery,  crowded  ten  or  twenty  in 
one  house.    The  only  resource  for  such  as  wish  to  live  comfortably  will  be  found  in  Georgetown,  three  miles  distant, 
over  as  bad  a  road  in  winter  as  the  clay  grounds  near  Hartford.  .  .  .  There  are,  in  fact,  but  few  houses  in  any  one 
place,  and  most  of  them  small,  miserable  huts,  which  present  an  awful  contrast  to  the  public  buildings.    The  people 
are  poor,  and,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  they  live  like  fishes,  by  eating  each  other.  .  .  .  You  may  look  in  almost  any  direc 
tion,  over  an  extent  of  ground  nearly  as  large  as  the  city  of  New  York,  without  seeing  a  fence  or  any  object  except 
brick-kilns  and  temporary  huts  for  laborers.  .  .  .  There  is  no  industry,  society,  or  business." 

Mrs.  Adams,  wife  of  the  President,  wrote  in  November,  1800 :  "  Woods  are  all  you  see  from  Baltimore  until  you  reach 
the  city,  which  is  only  so  in  name.  Here  and  there  is  a  small  cot,  without  a  glass  window,  interspersed  among  the  for 
ests,  through  which  you  travel  miles  without  seeing  a  human  being."  Concerning  the  President's  house,  which  she 
speaks  of  as  "upon  a  grand  and  superb  scale,  requiring  about  thirty  servants  to  attend  and  keep  the  apartments  in 
proper  order,  and  perform  the  ordinary  business  of  the  house  and  stables,"  she  said,  "If  they  will  put  me  up  some  bells 
—there  is  not  one  hung  through  the  whole  house,  and  promises  are  all  you  can  obtain— and  let  me  have  wood  enough 
to  keep  fires,  I  design  to  be  pleased.  I  could  content  myself  almost  any  where  for  three  months ;  but,  surrounded  with 
forests,  can  you  believe  that  wood  is  not  to  be  had,  because  people  can  not  be  found  to  cut  and  cart  it !  Briesler  entered 
into  a  contract  with  a  man  to  supply  him  with  wood  ;  a  small  part — a  few  cords  only — has  he  been  able  to  get.  Most  of 
that  was  expended  to  dry  the  walls  of  the  house  before  we  came  in,  and  yesterday  the  man  told  him  it  was  impossible 
to  procure  it  to  be  cut  and  carted.  He  has  had  recourse  to  coals,  but  we  can  not  get  grates  made  and  set.  We  have, 
indeed,  come  into  a  new  country." 

2  The  District  of  Columbia  was  a  tract  ten  miles  square,  lying  on  each  side  of  the  Potomac,  and  ceded  to  the  United 
States  by  the  States  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  for  the  residence  of  the  national-government.    The  portion  lying  in  Vir 
ginia  was  retroceded  to  that  state  a  few  years  ago.    The  city  of  Washington  was  laid  out  there  in  1T91,  and  the  erection 
of  the  Capitol  was  commenced  in  1T93,  when,  on  the  18th  of  April,  President  Washington  laid  the  corner-stone,  with  ma 
sonic  ceremonies.    The  two  wings  were  completed  in  1808.    The  government,  which  had  resided  ten  years  in  Philadel 
phia,  moved  to  Washington  in  the  autumn  of  1800. 

3  Thomas  Jefferson  was  born  at  Shadwell,  Albemarle  County,  Virginia,  on  the  13th  of  April,  1743.    He  was  educated 
at  William  and  Mary's  College,  studied  law  with  the  eminent  George  Wythe,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  while  yet  a  very 
young  man.    He  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Assembly  before  the  Revolution,  and  won  fame  as  a  vigorous  thinker 
and  writer.    He  was  elected  to  the  Continental  Congress  in  17T5,  and  in  1776,  at  the  request  of  a  committee  of  which  he 
was  a  member,  he  drew  up  the  Declaration  of  Independence.    He  was  offered  an  embassy  to  France,  but  declined  it 
on  account  of  feeble  health.    In  1779  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  in  17SO  retired  from  public  life,  and  de 
voted  his  time  chiefly  to  literary  and  scientific  pursuits.    He  was  sent  to  France  in  1783,  to  join  Adams  and  Franklin,  as 
representative  of  his  country,  and  in  1785  succeeded  Franklin  as  minister  at  the  French  Court.    He  remained  there  un 
til  1789,  when  he  returned,  and  entered  Washington's  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  State.    He  remained  in  that  position  until 
1793.    He  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  in  1796,  and  in  1801  was  elected  to  the  Presidency.    He  was 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  115 


Mr.  Jefferson  foreshadows  his  Policy.        His  Popularity.       A  National  Party  desired.       Political  Proscription  begun. 

delivering  speeches  in  person,  because  be  considered  these  customs  too  monarchical 
in  form.1 

A  small  military  and  civic  escort  conducted  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  Capitol,  aftd  there 
he  read  his  inaugural  address  to  a  large  crowd  of  delighted  listeners.  It  had  been 
looked  for  with  anxiety,  as  it  would  foreshadow  the  policy  of  the  new  administration.2 
It  was  patriotic,  conservative,  and  conciliatory,  and  allayed  many  apprehensions  of 
his  political  opponents.  "  Every  difference  of  opinion,"  he  said,  "  is  not  a  difference  of 
principle.  We  have  called  by  different  names  brethren  of  the  same  principle.  We 
are  all  Federalists — we  are  all  Republicans."3 

In  this  spirit  Mr.  Jefferson  commenced  his  administration.  He  set  about  the  reform 
of  public  abuses,  treated  every  body  with  kindness,  and  left  most  of  the  incumbents 
of  public  offices  untouched  for  a  while.4  His  political  enemies  were  compelled  to  con 
fess  his  forecast,  wisdom,  and  faithfulness ;  and  many  Federalists,  believing  that  he 
would  not  disturb  their  friends  in  office,  joined  the  Republican  party,  and  became  the 
most  vehement  denunciators  of  their  old  partisans  and  their  principles.5 

Mr.  Jefferson  soon  discovered  that  he  was  not  wholly  his  own  master.  He  had 
been  elevated  to  power  by  a  party  whose  leaders,  like  those  of  all  parties,  were 
lustful  for  office.  He  was  compelled  to  listen  to  their  clamors,  and  finally  to  yield 
acquiescence  in  their  doctrine  that  "  to  the  victor  belongs  the  spoils."6  He  grad 
ually  filled  many  of  the  most  important  offices  in  his  gift  with  his  political  friends, 
for  whose  accommodation  faithful  men,  a  large  proportion  of  them  appointed  by 
Washington  and  retained  by  Adams,  were  removed.  Thus  was  developed  in  alarm 
ing  proportions  that  system  of  proscription  commenced  by  the  second  President, 
which  has  worked  mischievously  in  the  administration  of  our  general  and  state  gov 
ernments  from  that  time  until  the  present.  It  bore  immediate  fruit  in  the  form  of 
bitter  partisanship.  The  Federalists,  now  become  the  opposition,  and  thereby  hav 
ing  the  advantage  in  controversy,  began  a  relentless  warfare  upon  the  new  admin 
istration  as  soon  as  its  prescriptive  policy  was  manifested.  With  that  warfare,  as  a 
mere  game  of  politics,  we  have  nothing  to  do,  except  so  far  as  it  had  a  bearing  upon 

re-elected  in  1805,  and  in  1809  retired  to  private  life,  from  which  he  was  never  again  drawn.  He  died  at  his  residence  at 
Monticello  on  the  4th  of  July,  1826,  in  the  S4th  year  of  his  age.  Like  Adams,  he  departed  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The  profile  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  given  on  page  114,  is  from  an  impression  from  a  pri 
vate  plate  made  in  aquatinta  about  the  year  1804,  and  presented  by  the  President  to  the  Hon.  D.  C.Verplanck,  who  was  a 
member  of  Congress  from  1803  until  1809. 

i  The  personal  appearance  of  President  Jefferson  at  this  period  may  be  imagined  from  the  following  description  by 
William  Plumer,  United  States  senator  from  New  Hampshire  in  1802:  "The  next  day  after  my  arrival  I  visited  the 
President,  accompanied  by  some  Democratic  members.  In  a  few  moments  after  our  arrival  a  tall,  high-boned  man 
came  into  the  room.  He  was  dressed,  or  rather  undressed,  in  an  old  brown  coat,  red  waistcoat,  old  corduroy  small 
clothes  much  soiled,  woolen  hose,  and  slippers  without  heels.  I  thought  him  a  servant,  when  General  Varnum  sur 
prised  me  by  announcing  that  it  was  the  President."— See  Life  of  William  Plumer,  p.  242. 

3  In  a  letter  to  Nathaniel  Macon,  of  North  Carolina,  on  the  14th  of  May,  Mr.  Jefferson  indicated  his  policy  as  follows: 
"  1.  Levees  are  done  away  with.  2.  The  first  communication  to  the  next  Congress  will  be,  like  all  subsequent  ones,  by 
message,  to  which  no  answer  will  be  expected.  3.  The  diplomatic  establishment  in  Europe  will  be  reduced  to  three 
ministers.  4.  The  compensation  of  collectors  depends  on  you  [Congress],  and  not  on  me.  5.  The  army  is  undergoing 
a  chaste  reformation.  6.  The  navy  will  be  reduced  to  the  legal  establishment  by  the  last  of  this  mouth.  1.  Agencies 
in  every  department  will  be  revised.  8.  We  shall  push  you  to  the  uttermost  in  economizing.  9.  A  very  early  recom 
mendation  has  been  given  to  the  Postmaster  General  to  employ  no  printer,  foreigner,  or  Revolutionary  Tory  in  any  of 
his  offices." 

3  See  the  Statesman's  Manual,  i.,  242,  where  the  President's  inaugural  message  is  printed  in  full. 

*  Mr.  Jefferson  appointed  James  Madison  Secretary  of  State,  Henry  Dearborn  Secretary  of  War,  and  Levi  Lincoln  At 
torney  General.  He  retained  Mr.  Adams's  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  and  Navy  until  the  following  autumn,  when 
Albert  Gallatin  was  appointed  to  the  first,  and  Robert  Smith  to  the  second.  These  were  both  Republicans,  and  his  Cabi 
net  was  now  wholly  so. 

5  Mr.  Jefferson  dreamed,  patriotically,  of  a  consolidated  national  party  and  a  brilliant  administration.    In  a  letter  to 
John  Dickinson,  two  days  after  his  inauguration,  he  wrote,  "I  hope  to  see  shortly  a  perfect  consolidation,  to  effect 
which,  nothing  shall  be  wanting  on  my  part  short  of  the  abandonment  of  the  principles  of  the  Revolution.    A  just  and 
solid  republican  government  maintained  here,  will  be  a  standing  monument  and  example  for  the  aim  and  imitation  of 
the  people  of  other  countries."    Yet  he  early  resolved  on  rewards  to  friends.    To  Colonel  Monroe  he  wrote  on  the  7th 
of  March,  "To  give  time  for  a  perfect  consolidation  seems  prudent.    I  have  firmly  refused  to  follow  the  counsels  of 
those  who  have  desired  the  giving  of  offices  to  some  of  the  Federalist  leaders  in  order  to  reconcile.    I  have  given,  and 
will  give,  only  to  Republicans,  under  existing  circumstances." 

6  This  doctrine  was  first  announced  in  these  words  by  the  late  William  L.  Marcy  when  he  assumed  the  administration 
cf  the  public  affairs  of  the  State  of  New  York  as  governor  in  1833. 


116  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Reason  for  giving  a  History  of  Parties.       The  Navy  reduced.       Unwise  Economy.      Tribute  to  the  Barbary  Powers. 

public  events  during  the  few  years  immediately  preceding  the  War  of  1812,  and  held 
relationship  thereto. 

It  sedms  proper  at  this  point  in  our  narrative  to  say,  that  the  sketch  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  the  two  great  political  parties  which  existed  in  the  United  States  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  whose  animosities  and  aspirations  had  much  to 
do  in  bringing  about  a  war  in  1812,  has  been  given  for  the  purpose,  first,  to  afford  our 
general  subject  that  much-needed  elucidation,  and,  secondly,  to  connect  by  dependent 
links  of  historic  outlines  the  events  of  the  FIKST  with  those  of  the  SECOND  WAE  FOR 
INDEPENDENCE. 

•  March,  At  the  close  of  Mr.  Adams's  administration,*1  Congress  passed  a  law1  au- 
1801-  thorizing  the  President  to  place  the  navy  on  a  rigid  peace  footing,  by  retain 
ing  only  thirteen  frigates,2  and  only  six  of  these  to  be  kept  in  active  service.  The 
act  authorized  him  to  dismantle  and  sell  all  others,  and  lay  up  seven  of  the  thirteen 
in  a  way  in  which  they  might  be  carefully  preserved.  It  also  authorized  him  to  re 
duce  the  complement  of  officers  and  men,  by  retaining  in  the  service,  in  time  of  peace, 
only  nine  captains,  thirty-six  lieutenants,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  midshipmen,  in 
cluding  those  employed  on  the  six  frigates  kept  in  active  service,  and  to  discharge  the 
remainder.  Under  this  authority,  and  in  accordance  with  his  own  judgment  concern 
ing  rigid  economy  and  the  prospect  of  universal  peace,  Mr.  Jefferson  sold  all  but  the 
thirteen  frigates  named,  laid  up  seven  of  these,  and  discharged  all  the  officers  and 
men  in  excess  after  placing  the  service  on  a  peace  footing.  And  yet,  in  the  matter 
of  force,  nearly  four  fifths  was  retained,  for  the  vessels  sold  were  mostly  inferior,  and 
only  fourteen  of  them  had  been  built  expressly  for  the  government  service.  The  Pres 
ident  also  suspended  work  on  six  ships  authorized  by  Congress  in  1798.  So  little  did 
the  American  people  then  seem  to  apprehend  the  value  of  a  competent  navy  for  the 
protection  of  their  commerce  every  where,  as  well  as  the  honor  of  the  nation,  that  a 
majority  of  them  applauded  these  measures,  while  many  Federalists  assailed  them 
only  for  political  effect.  That  strong  arm  of  the  government  which  had  so  protected 
commerce  as  to  enable  the  Americans  to  sell  to  foreign  countries,  during  the  difficul 
ties  with  France,  surplus  products  to  the  amount  of  $200,000,000,  and  to  import  suf 
ficient  to  yield  the  government  a  revenue  exceeding  $23,000,000,  was  thus  paralyzed 
by  an  unwise  economy  in  public  expenditure. 

The  conduct  of  the  Barbary  Powers  soon  made  the  want  of  an  efficient  navy  pain 
fully  apparent.  The  government  of  the  United  States  had  purchased,  by  the  pay 
ment  in  full  of  a  stipulated  sum  of  money,  the  friendship,  or  rather  the  forbearance  of 
the  Bey  of  Tripoli,  while  to  the  Dey  of  Algiers  and  the  Bey  of  Tunis  tribute  in  money, 
military  and  maritime  stores,  and  other  presents  was  annually  paid.3  The  submis 
sion  of  all  the  Christian  nations  of  Europe  to  these  exactions  made  those  pirate-kings 
exceedingly  insolent,  and  finally,  in  the  spring  of  1801,  the  President  resolved  to 
humble  the  pride  and  the  power  of  those  commercial  marauders,  release  American 
commerce  from  their  thrall  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  assert  the  dignity  of  his  coun 
try  by  ceasing  to  pay  tribute  to  another.  This  resolution  was  strengthened  by  the 

1  Approved  March  3, 1801. 

2  These  were  the  United  States,  Constitution,  President,  Chesapeake,  Philadelphia,  Constellation,  Congress,  New  York,  Bos 
ton,  Essex,  Adams,  John  Adams,  and  General  Greene.    These  had  an  aggregate  armament  of  364  guns.    The  vessels  sold 
were  the  George  Washington,  Ganges,  Portsmouth,  Merrimack,  Connecticut,  of  24  guns  each  ;  the  Baltimore,  Delaivare,  and 
Montezuma,  of  20  guns  each ;  the  Maryland,  Patapsco,  Herald,  Trumbull,  Warren,  Norfolk,  Richmond,  and  Pinckney,  of  18 
guns  each ;  the  Eagle,  Augusta,  and  Scamnel,  14  guns  each  ;  the  Experiment,  9  guns,  and  nine  galleys.— COOPER,  i.,  333-4. 

3  Colonel  Ebenezer  Stevens,  an  active  and  eminent  merchant  of  New  York,  and  who  had  been  a  meritorious  artillery 
officer  during  the  Revolution,  was  employed  by  the  government  as  its  factor  in  forwarding  the  stores  to  Tunis.    In 
May,  1801,  Secretary  Madison  wrote  to  Mr.  Stevens  on  the  subject,  saying,  "  It  is  desirable  that  the  remaining  cargo 
of  maritime  and  military  stores  due  to  the  Regency  of  Tunis  should  be  provided  and  shipped  without  loss  of  time.    The 
powder  will  be  given  to  you  from  the  public  magazines,  and  the  Navy  Department  will  give  orders  to  its  agent  at  New 
York  or  elsewhere,  as  may  be  most  convenient,  to  supply  the  cannon  and  such  other  articles  as  you  may  want  and  can 
be  spared."— MS.  letter.    How  much  cheaper  and  more  dignified  it  would  have  been  to  have  sent  the  materials  in  ships 
of  war,  fully  prepared,  as  they  might  have  been,  to  knock  the  capitals  of  those  semi-barbaric  rulers  about  their  ears, 
and  sink  their  corsairs  in  the  deep  waters  of  the  Mediterranean ! 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


117 


Bainbridge  at  Algiers  and  Constantinople.         His  Treatment  at  each.         Good  Effect  of  his  Visit  to  Constantinople. 

insolent  treatment  of  Commodore  Bainbridge  by  the  Dey  of  Algiers  the  previous 
year.  In  May,  1800,  Bainbridge,  in  command  of  the  George  Washington,  24,  went 
out  with  the  usual  tribute  to  the  Algerine  ruler.  He  arrived  in  the  port  of  his  capi 
tal  in  September,  performed  with  courtesy  the  duties  enjoined  upon  him,  and  was 
about  to  leave,  when  the  Dey  commanded  him  to  carry  an  Algerine  embassador  to 
the  Court  of  the  Sultan  at  Constantinople.  Bainbridge  politely  refused  compliance, 
when  the  haughty  and  offended  Dey  said  sternly, "  You  pay  me  tribute,  by  which 
you  become  my  slaves,  and  therefore  I  have  a  right  to  order  you  as  I  think  proper." 
The  guns  of  the  castle  were  looking  out  vigilantly  upon  Bainbridge's  frigate,  and 
without  their  permission  he  could  not  pass  out  of  the  harbor.  He  was  compelled  to 
yield  to  the  force  of 
circumstances,  being 
assured  by  Mr.  O'Bri 
en,  once  a  captive  and 
then  American  consul 
there,  that  if  he  at 
tempted  to  leave  the 
harbor,  the  guns  of  the 
castle, heavy  and  well- 
manned,  would  open 
upon  his  vessel  with 
destructive  effect,  his 
ship  would  be  seized 
and  used  for  the  pur 
pose,  and  war  would 
ensue.  To  avoid  these 
calamities  Bainbridge 
bowed  submissively 
to  the  humiliation ; 
and  he  even  complied 
with  the  haughty  ruler's  farther  requisition,  that  he  should  carry  the  Algerine  flag  at 
the  main,  and  that  of  the  United  States  at  the  fore.  He  sailed  out  of  the  port  of 
Algiers  an  obedient  slave,  and  then,  placing  his  own  flag  in  the  position  of  honor  as  a 
freeman,  he  bore  the  Algerine  embassador  to  the  Golden  Horn.  "  I  hope,"  he  wrote 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, "  I  shall  never  again  be  sent  to  Algiers  with  tribute, 
unless  I  am  authorized  to  deliver  it  from  the  mouth  of  our  cannon." 

Under  other  circumstances  this  trip  to  the  ancient  city  of  Constantinople  would 
have  been  a  desirable  one,  for  Bainbridge  had  the  honor  of  displaying  the  stars  and 
stripes  for  the  first  time  before  that  famous  seat  of  Ottoman  empire.  The  Sultan 
and  his  great  officers  of  state  were  astonished.  They  had  never  heard  of  the  United 
States ;  but  when,  at  length,  they  were  made  to  comprehend  that  it  was  a  country 
beyond  the  great  sea,  discovered  by  Columbus,  of  which  they  had  heard  vague  and 
romantic  rumors,  Bainbridge  was  received  with  the  greatest  courtesy.  He  and  the 
Turkish  admiral  became  warm  friends ;  and  when  Bainbridge  was  about  to  return  to 
Algiers  in  January,  the  latter  gave  him  a  firman  to  protect  him  from  farther  inso 
lence  there.  The  Sultan,  whose  flag  bore  the  crescent  moon,  drew  a  favorable  omen 
from  this  visit  of  a  banner  bearing  its  neighbors,  the  stars  of  heaven.  He  believed 
the  two  nations  must  ever  be  friends,  and  so  they  have  been. 

On  his  return  to  Algiers'1  the  Dey  requested  Bainbridge  to  go  on  an-    .  January  21, 
other  errand  to  Constantinople.     Bainbridge  peremptorily  refused.     The 
Dey  flew  into  a  rage,  threatened  war,  and  finally  menaced  the  captain  with  personal 
violence.     Bainbridge  quietly  produced  his  firman,  when  the  fierce  governor  became 
lamb-like,  and  obsequiously  offered  to  the  man  he  had  just  looked  upon  as  his  slave, 


ALGIERS    IN  1800. 


118 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Dey  of  Algiers  humbled. 


Insolence  of  the  Bey  of  Tunis. 


Commodore  Dale  in  the  Mediterranean. 


friendship  and  service.  Taking  advantage  of  this  change,  Bainbridge  assumed  the 
air  of  a  dictator,  and  demanded  the  instant  release  of  the  French  consul  and  fifty  or 
sixty  of  his  countrymen,  who  had  lately  been  imprisoned  by  the  Dey.  When  Bain- 
bridge  left  he  carried  away  with  him  all  the  French  in  Algiers.  His  compulsory  visit 
to  Constantinople  resulted  in  great  good  to  his  fellow-men. 

The  Bey  or  Bashaw  of  Tripoli,1  not  content  with  the  gross  sum  that  had  been  paid 
him  by  the  United  States,  when  he  learned  that  his  neighbors  had  received  larger 
bribes  than  he,  demanded  tribute  in  the  autumn  of  1800,  and  threatened  war  if  his 
demand  was  not  satisfied  Avithin  six  months.  Accordingly,  in  May,  1801,  he  ordered 
the  flag-staff  of  the  American  consulate  to  be  cut  down,  and  proclaimed  war.  In  an 
ticipation  of  these  events,  Commodore  Dale  had  been  sent  with  a  small  squadron,  con 
sisting  of  the  President,  44,  Captain  James  Barren ;  Philadelphia^  38,  Captain  Samuel 
Barren;  Essex,  32,  Captain  Bainbridge,  and  Enterprise,  12,  Lieutenant  Commandant 
Sterrett.  The  President  was  Dale's  flag-ship.  The  squadron  sailed  from  Hampton  Roads, 
and  reached  Gibraltar  on  the  1st  of  July.  Dale  soon  proceeded  eastward  in  company 


with  the  Enterprise, 
and  appeared  ofi" Trip 
oli  and  Timis,  to  the 
great  astonishment  of 
the  rulers  of  those 
states.  On  the  way 
the  Enterprise  fell  in 
with,  attacked,  and 
captured  a  Tripoli- 
tan  corsair  called  the 
Tripoli,  reducing  her, 
in  the  course  of  an 
engagement  of  three 
hours,  almost  to  a 
wreck,  and  killing  and 
wounding  twenty  of 
her  men,  without  the 
loss  of  a  single  man  on 
her  side.2  Meanwhile 
the  Philadelphia  was 
cruising  in  the  Straits 


of  Gibraltar,  to  pre 
vent  two  Tripolitan 
corsairs  which  were 
found  there  going  out 
upon  the  Atlantic ; 
and  the  Essex  sailed 
along  the  northern 
shores  of  the  Medi 
terranean,  to  convoy 
American  merchant 
ships.  Dale  contin 
ued  to  cruise  in  the 
Mediterranean  until 
autumn,  and  his  pres 
ence  exercised  a  most 
wholesome  restraint 
over  the  corsairs.3 
Another  expedition 
was  sent  to  the  Medi 
terranean  in  1802,  under 
Commodore  Richard  V. 


Morris.  It  was  a  relief  squadron,  and  consisted  of  the  Chesapeake,  38,  Lieutenant 
Chauncey,  acting  captain;  Constellation,  38,  Captain  Murray;  New  York,  36,  Cap 
tain  James  Bairon;  John  Adams,  28,  Captain  Rodgez-s;  Adams,  28,  Captain  Camp 
bell,  and  Enterprise,  12,  Lieutenant  Commandant  Sterrett.  Morris  hoisted  his  broad 
pennant  on  board  the  Chesapeake.  The  squadron  did  not  go  in  a  body,  but  pro 
ceeded  one  after  another  from  February  until  September.  Meanwhile  the  ^Boston, 

i  This  was  Jussuf  Caramalli.  He  was  a  third  son,  and  had  obtained  the  seat  of  power  by  violence.  He  murdered 
his  father  and  elder  brother,  and  deposed  his  next  brother,  Hamet,  the  rightful  heir,  who  at  this  time  was  an  exile  in 
Egypt,  whither  he  fled  to  save  his  life,  followed  by  quite  a  large  number  of  adherents. 

s  The  rats  or  commander  of  the  Tripoli  was  Mahomet  Sous,  Three  times  during  the  engagement  the  Tripoli  struck 
her  colors,  and  as  often  treacherously  renewed  the  combat,  when  Lieutenant  Sterrett  determined  to  sink  her.  She  was 
too  much  of  a  wreck  to  be  taken  into  port— indeed,  according  to  instructions,  she  could  not  be  made  a  prize— and  she 
was  dismantled  under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  David  Porter.  When  her  commander  reached  Tripoli,  wounded  and 
heart-broken,  he  was  subjected  to  great  indignity.  He  was  placed  upon  a  jackass,  paraded  through  the  streets,  and  aft 
erward  received  the  bastinado. 

3  Richard  Dale  was  born  near  Norfolk,  Virginia,  on  the  Cth  of  November,  1756.  He  went  to  sea  at  the  age  of  twelve 
years,  and  continued  in  the  merchant  service  until  177G,  when  he  became  lieutenant  of  a  Virginia  cruiser.  He  was  an 
active  officer  during  the  whole  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  with  Paul  Jones  in  his  gallant  action  with  the  Serapis  in 
September,  1779.  He  was  then  only  about  twenty-three  years  of  age.  He  was  a  great  favorite  with  Jones,  and  the  latter 
presented  to  Dale  the  elegant  gold-mounted  sword  which  Jones  received  from  the  King  of  Prance.  It  is  now  in  the  pos 
session  of  his  grandson,  Richard  Dale,  of  Philadelphia,  where  I  saw  it  iu  November,  1861.  The  handle,  guard,  and  hilt, 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


Tripoli  and  its  Cruisers  blockaded.  Abandonment  of  the  Barbary  Coast.  Commodores  Morris  and  Dale. 

commanded  by  the  eccentric  Captain  M'Neill  (son  of  Hector  M'Neill,  of  the  Revo 
lutionary  navy),1  was  cruising  in  the  Mediterranean  in  an  independent  way,  after 
conveying  Robert  R.  Livingston,  the  United  States  minister,  to  France.  The  port 
of  Tripoli  was  blockaded  by  her  early  in  May,  where  she  was  joined  by  the  Con 
stellation.  The  latter  vessel  was  soon  left  alone,  as  M'Neill  avoided  the  company  of 
others,  and  not  long  afterward  she  had  a  severe  contest  with  a  flotilla  of  seventeen 
Tripolitan  gun-boats.  She  handled  them  severely,  as  well  as  some  cavalry  on  the 
shore,  with  her  great  guns. 

The  Chesapeake  reached  Gibraltar  on  the  25th  of  May,  and  found  the  Essex,  Cap 
tain  Bainbridge,  still  blockading  the  two  Tripolitan  cruisers  there.  The  arrival  of 
the  Adams  late  in  July  enabled  the  Chesapeake,  in  company  with  the  Enterprise,  to 
cruise  along  the  north  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  for  the  protection  of  American 
commerce.  Finally  orders  were  given  for  the  different  vessels  of  the  squadron  to 
rendezvous  at  Malta.  They  collected  there  in  the  course  of  the  month  of  January, 
1803,  and  during  the  spring  appeared  off  the  ports  of  the  Barbary  Powers,  and  ef 
fectually  restraining  their  corsairs.  Tripoli  was  blockaded  by  the  John  Adams  in 
May.  She  had  a  severe  engagement  toward  the  close  of  the  month  with  gun-boats 
and  land  batteries.  These  suffered  severely,  and  the  Americans  lost  twelve  or  fifteen 
in  killed  and  wounded.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  to  negotiate  a  peace  was  made  the 
next  day,  and  in  June  the  movements  of  the  Algerine  and  Tunisian  corsairs  induced 
the  Americans  to  raise  the  blockade.  But,  before  leaving,  Commodore  Rodgers,  of 
the  John  Adams  (then  in  chief  command),  with  the  Enterprise,  attacked  a  large  Tri 
politan  corsair  lying  in  a  sheltered  bay,  and  drove  her  people  to  the  shore.  The  cor 
sair  soon  afterward  blew  up,  with  a  large  number  of  persons  who  had  returned  to 
her.  The  ships  then  all  left  the  Barbary  coast,  and  Commodore  Morris  returned 
home.  He  arrived  toward  the  close  of  November,  1803.  The  conduct  of  affairs  in 
the  Mediterranean  under  his  direction  was  not  satisfactory.  A  court  of  inquiry  de 
cided  that  he  had  not  "  discovered  due  diligence  and  activity  in  annoying  the  enemy," 
and  the  President,  with  a  precipitation  difficult  to  be  defended,  dismissed  him  from 
the  service  without  trial.2 

The  United  States  government  had  determined  to  act  with  more  vigor  against  the 
Barbary  Powers,  and  in  May,  1803,  Commodore  Preble  was  appointed  to  the  com- 

andthe  mountings  of  the  scabbard  are  solid  gold,  with  beau 
tifully-wrought  devices  on  them.  Upon  the  blade  is  the  fol 
lowing  iuscription :  VINIHCATI  MARTS  LHIMVICUS  xvi.  REMU- 
NERATOR  SIREN-IK)  viRTUTi — "  Louis  XVI.  rewarder  of  the 
valiant  asserter  of  the  freedom  of  the  sea." 

Dale  left  the  service  in  1TSO.  In  1794  he  was  appointed 
one  of  the  six  naval  captains  by  Washington.  He  was  made 
commodore  in  1801  by  being  placed  in  command  of  a  squad 
ron,  and  the  following  year  he  resigned.  He  retired  with  a 
competency,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  Philadel 
phia,  where  he  died  in  1826,  iu  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his 

acrp 

dge. 

The  grave  of  Commodore  Dale  is  in  Christ  Church-yard,  on 
Fifth  Street,  Philadelphia.  His  monument  is  a  marble  slab, 
with  the  following  inscription:  "In  memory  of  Commodore 
RICUARD  DALE,  born  November  6,  175G,  died  February  24, 
1320.  An  honest  man,  an  incorruptible  patriot,  in  all  his  re 
lations  conciliating  universal  love.  A  Christian  without 
guile,  he  departed  this  life  in  the  well-founded  and  triumph 
ant  hope  of  that  blessedness  which  awaits  all  who,  like  him, 
die  in  the  Lord."  On  the  same  slab  is  an  inscription  com 
memorative  of  the  virtues  of  his  wife,  who  died  in  Septem-  DALE'S  MONUMENT. 
her,  1S32,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  Very  near  this  tomb 

is  a  handsome  marble  cross,  erected  to  the  memory  of  Montgomery,  a  son  of  Commodore  Dale,  also  of  the  United  State* 
navy,  who  died  in  December,  1S52,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years. 

1  See  Lossing's  Field-Book  of  the  Revolution,  ii.,  C40. 

2  Richard  Valentine  Morris  was  the  youngest  son  of  Lewis  Morris,  of  Morrisania,  New  York,  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.    He  entered  the  service  in  early  life,  and  in  June,  179S,  he  was  commissioned  a  captain  in 
the  navy.    He  was  retained  as  fifth  in  rank  at  the  reduction  of  the  navy  in  1S01.    His  dismissal  from  the  service  hap 
ever  been  considered  a  high-handed  political  measure.    He  died  while  attending  the  Legislature  at  Albany  in  1S14. 


120 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Squadron  under  Preble  in  the  Mediterranean.     Settlement  of  Difficulties  with  Morocco.     Capture  of  the  Philadelphia. 

mand  of  a  squadron,  consisting  of  the 
Constitution,  44,  Philadelphia,  38,  Ar 
gus  and  /Siren,  16  each,  and  Nautilus, 
Vixen,  and  Enterprise,  12  each.  Preble 
sailed  in  the  Constitution  at  the  middle 
of  August,  and  the  other  vessels  follow 
ed  as  fast  as  they  were  made  ready. 
The  Philadelphia,  Captain  Bainbridge, 
had  sailed  in  July,  and  on  the  26th  of 
August  captured  the  Moorish  frigate 
Meshboha,  found  holding  in  possession 
an  American  merchant  vessel  which 
she  had  taken  as  a  prize.  It  was  dis 
covered  that  her  commander  was  act 
ing  under  the  orders  of  the  Moorish 
Governor  of  Tangiers  to  cruise  for 
American  vessels.  The  Philadelphia 
returned  to  Gibraltar  with  her  prize. 

On  the  arrival  of  Preble  he  determ 
ined  to  sail  for  Tangiers  and  make  in 
quiries  respecting  the  hostile  proceed 
ings  of  the  Moors.  He  was  accompa 
nied  by  Commodore  Rodgers,  and  on 
the  6th  of  October  the  Constitution, 
New  York,  John  Adams,  and  Nautilus 
entered  the  Bay  of  Tangiers.  Preble 
had  an  interview  with  the  Emperor  of  Morocco,  who  disavowed  the  act  of  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Tangiers,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  remain  at  peace  with  the  United  States. 
The  difficulty  with  Morocco  being  settled,  Rodgers  sailed  for  home,  and  Preble 
made  energetic  preparations  to  bring  Tripoli  to  terms.  A  serious  disaster  soon  oc 
curred.  On  the  morning  of  the  31st  of  October  the  Philadelphia  chased  a  Tripolitan 
ship  into  the  harbor  of  Tripoli.  In  endeavoring  to  beat  off  she  struck  on  a  rock  not 
laid  down  in  any  of  the  charts.  Every  effort  to  get  her  off  failed,  and  she  was'  at 
tacked  and  finally  captured  by  the  Tripolitans.  Bainbridge  and  his  officers  and  men 
were  made  prisoners,  and  two  days  afterward  the  ship  was  extricated  and  taken  into  the 
harbor.  The  officers  were  treated  as  prisoners  of  war,  but  the  crew  were  made  slaves. 

Bainbridge  found  means  to  report  his  misfortune  to  Preble  at  Malta,  and  to  sug 
gest  the  destruction  of  the  Philadelphia,  which  was  being  fitted  for  sea.  Preble  had 
recently  appeared  off  Tripoli  for  the  first  time.  On  the  23d  of  December  the  ^Enter 
prise,  Lieutenant  Decatur,  sailing  in  company  with  the  flag-ship,  captured  a  ketch 
called  the  Mastico,  then  belonging  to  the  Tripolitans,  and  bound  to  Constantinople 
with  a  present  of  female  slaves  for  the  Sultan.  Heavy  storms  arose,  and  Preble  and 
Decatur  sailed  into  Syracuse,  where  the  ketch  was  appraised  and  taken  into  the 
service,  with  the  name  of  the  Intrepid. 

Decatur  had  formed  a  plan  for  cutting  out  or  destroying  the  Philadelphia.  It  was 
approved  by  Preble;  and  on  the  3d  of  February,  1804,  he  left  Syracuse  with  orders 
and  preparations  to  destroy  her.  The  Intrepid  was  chosen  for  the  service,  and  sev 
enty-four  determined  young  men  sailed  in  her  for  the  port  of  Tripoli,  accompanied  by 
the  brig  Siren,  Lieutenant  Stewart.  Heavy  storms  dekyed  their  operations  until  the 
16th,  when,  in  the  evening,  the  young  moon  shining  brightly,  the  Intrepid  sailed  into 
the  harbor,  and  was  warped  alongside  the  Philadelphia  without  exciting  suspicion, 
she  having  assumed  the  character  of  a  vessel  in  distress.  Most  of  the  officers  and 
men  were  concealed  until  the  ketch  was  placed  alongside  the  Philadelphia.  Then, 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  121 

Destruction  of  the  Philadelphia.  Tripoli  bombarded.  A  hand  to  hand  Fight.  Gallantry  of  Decatur. 

for  the  first,  the  Tripolitans  suspected  them.  At  the  same  moment  Decatur  and 
other  officers  sprang  on  board  the  frigate,  followed  by  their  men.  In  a  few  minutes 
the  turbaned  defenders  of  the  vessel  were  all  killed  or  driven  into  the  sea.  She  was 
immediately  set  on  fire,  in  the  midst  of  the  roar  of  cannon  from  the  Tripolitan  bat 
teries  and  castle,  and  from  two  corsairs  near.  The  scene  was  magnificent ;  and  as  the 
guns  of  the  Philadelphia  became  heated  they  were  discharged.  The  Intrepid  was  in 
imminent  danger  from  the  flames,  but  she  escaped.  Not  one  of  the  gallant  Decatur's 
men  was  killed,  and  only  four  were  wounded.  In  the  light  of  the  conflagration  the 
Intrepid,  by  the  aid  of  oars,  swept  out  of  the  harbor,  where  the  boats  of  the  Siren, 
with  their  strong  sweeps,  were  in  readiness  to  aid  in  towing  her  off.  Before  a  pleas 
ant  breeze  both  vessels  sailed  for  Syracuse,  where  the  American  squadron  and  the 
people  of  the  town  welcomed  them  with  strong  demonstrations  of  joy.  For  this  he 
roic  act  Decatur  was  promoted  to  captain,  and  several  of  the  other  officers  who  ac 
companied  him  were  advanced. 

This  bold  act  greatly  alarmed  the  Bey  or  Bashaw  of  Tripoli,  and  the  ensuing  block 
ade  of  his  port  by  Commodore  Preble  made  him  exceedingly  circumspect.  Finally, 
at  the  close  of  July,a  Preble  entered  the  harbor  of  Tripoli  with  his  squadron,  and 
anchored  the  Constitution  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  walled  city,  whose  pro 
tection  lay  in  heavy  batteries  mounting  one  hundred  and  fifteen  cannon,  nine 
teen  gun-boats,  a  brig,  two  schooners,  and  some  galleys,  twenty-five  thousand 
land-soldiers,  and  a  sheltering  reef  of  dangerous  rocks  and  shoals.  These  did 
not  dismay  Preble.  On  the  3d  of  August,  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  he  opened 
a  heavy  cannonade  and  bombardment  from  his  gun-boats,  which  alone  could 
get  near  enough  for  effective  service.  Conflict  in  closer  range  soon  took 
place,  and  finally  Lieutenant  Decatur,  commanding  gun-boat  Number  four, 
lay  his  vessel  alongside  one  of  the  largest  of  those  of  the  enemy,  and  boarded 
and  captured  her  after  a  desperate  struggle.1  He  immediately  boarded  an 
other,  when  he  had  a  most  desperate  personal  encounter  with  the  powerful 
Tripolitan  captain.  The  struggle  was  brief  but  deadly.  The  captain  was 
finally  killed  by  Decatur  at  a  moment  of  fearful  peril,  and  the  vessel  was 
captured.2  After  a  general  conflict  of  two  hours,  during  which  time  three 
of  the  enemy's  gun-boats  were  sunk  in  the  harbor,  three  of  them  captured,  and 
a  heavy  loss  of  life  had  been  suffered  by  the  Tripolitans,  the  Americans  thought 
it  prudent  to  withdraw,  but  to  renew  the  conflict  four  days  afterward. 

The  second  attack  on  Tripoli  commenced  at  half  past  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  7th.b  An  hour  afterward  a  hot  shot  from  the  town 
us '  passed  into  the  hull  of  gun-boat  Number  Nine,  one  of  the  prizes 
captured  on  the  3d,  and  fired  her  magazine.  The  vessel  was  destroyed,  and 
with  it  her  commander,  Lieutenant  Caldwell,  of  the  Siren,  Midshipman  Dor- 
sey,  and  eight  of  her  crew.  Six  others  were  wounded.  When  the  smoke 
cleared  away  her  bow  only  was  above  water.  On  it  were  Midshipman  Rob 
ert  T.  Spence  and  eleven  men,  busily  engaged  in  loading  the  long  24-pounder 
with  which  she  was  armed.  They  gave  three  loud  cheers,  discharged  the 
gun  at  the  enemy,  and  a  moment  afterward  were  picked  from  the  water  by 
men  in  boats,  for  the  wreck  on  which  they  stood,  with  its  great  gun,  had 
gone  to  the  bottom. 

Again,  after  inflicting  some  damage  upon  the  enemy,  the  Americans  with-  TBIPOLITAN 
drew,  but  renewed  the  attack  on  the  24th  of  the  same  month.  This  was  WEAPON. 

1  While  Captain  Decatur  was  thus  gallantly  assailing  the  enemy,  his  younger  brother  James,  first  lieutenant  of  the 
Nautilus,  was  as  bravely  emulating  his  example,  in  command  of  gun-boat  Number  Two.  He  had  caused  the  surrender  of 
one  of  the  enemy's  largest  vessels,  and  was  boarding  her  to  take  possession,  when  the  captain  of  the  surrendered  vessel 
treacherously  shot  him  and  escaped.  The  miscreant's  pistol  was  loaded  with  two  balls  connected  by  a  wire.  The  wire 
struck  Decatnr  on  the  forehead,  and  bending,  the  two  balls  entered  his  temples,  one  on  each  side,  and  killed  him  in 
stantly.  He  was  the  only  American  officer  killed  in  this  engagement. 

3  Decatur  attacked  the  Tripolitan  captain  with  a  pike.    The  assailed  seized  it  and  turned  it  upon  his  assailant.    Deca- 


122  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Tripoli  bombarded  the  Fifth  Time.  A  floating  Mine.  Its  Explosion  in  the  Harbor  of  Tripoli. 

brief,  and  without  any  important  results.  But  on  the  29th  a  fourth  and  more  formi 
dable  attack  was  made  by  the  American  gun-boats,  commencing  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  The  conflict  continued  until  daylight,  with  great  fury  on  both  sides,  when 
the  Constitution  ran  toward  the  harbor,  under  heavy  fire  from  the  Bashaw's  castle 
and  Fort  English.  She  signaled  the  gun-boats  to  withdraw,  correctly  supposing  their 
ammunition  to  be  nearly  exhausted.  This  was  done  under  the  fire  of  the  Constitution, 
which,  with  grape  and  round  shot,  greatly  damaged  the  gun-boats  of  the  enemy  and 
caused  them  to  retreat.  She  then  ran  in,  and  opened  a  heavy  fire  upon  the  town,  bat 
teries,  and  castle.  She  soon  silenced  the  guns  of  the  castle  and  two  batteries,  sunk  a 
Tunisian  vessel,  damaged  a  Spanish  one,  severely  bruised  the  enemy's  galleys  and 
gun-boats,  and  then  withdrew,  without  having  a  man  hurt. 

The  American  squadron  lay  at  anchor  off  Tripoli  until  the  2d  of  September  repair 
ing  damages!  It  then  sailed  for  the  harbor,  where  it  arrived  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
3d.  The  enemy,  profiting  by  experience,  had  adopted  new  tactics.  The  change  com 
pelled  Preble  to  modify  his  own  plan.  At  half  past  three  in  the  afternoon  the  bomb- 
ketches  opened  the  conflict  by  bombarding  the  town.  The  Constitution  ran  down  to 
the  rocky  reef  and  opened  a  heavy  fire,  at  grape-shot  distance,  upon  the  castle  and  the 
city.  She  poured  in  eleven  effective  broadsides,  while  the  smaller  vessels  were  car 
rying  on  the  conflict  at  other  points.  The  general  engagement  lasted  an  hour  and  a 
quarter,  when,  the  wind  rising  freshly,  the  commander,  in  the  exercise  of  prudence, 
gave  a  signal  for  the  squadron  to  withdraw. 

The  ketch  Intrepid,  used  in  the  destruction  of  the  Philadelphia,  had  been  converted 
into  a  floating  mine,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  enemy's  cruisers  in  the  harbor 
of  Tripoli.  One  hundred  barrels  of  gunpowder  were  placed  in  a  room  below  deck, 
and  immediately  above  them  a  large  quantity  of  shot,  shell,  and  irregular  pieces  of 
iron  were  deposited.  In  other  parts  of  the  vessel  combustibles  were  placed,  and  she 
was  made  in  every  way  a  most  disagreeable  neighbor.  On  the  night  succeeding  the 
fifth  bombardment  of  Tripoli  she  was  sent  into  the  harbor  on  her  destructive  mission, 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Somers,  who  had  behaved  gallantly  during  the  recent 
attacks  on  the  town.  He  Avas  assisted  by  Lieutenant  Wadsworth,  of  the  Constitution, 
and  Mr.  Israel,  an  ardent  young  officer,  who  got  on  board  the  ketch  by  stealth.  These, 
with  a  few  men  to  work  the  Intrepid,  and  the  crews  of  two  boats  employed  in  towing 
her,  composed  the  expedition. 

At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  Intrepid  entered  the  harbor  on  her  perilous  mis 
sion.  The  night  was  very  dark,  and  she  soon  disappeared  in  the  gloom.  Many  eager 
eyes  were  turned  in  the  direction  where  her  shadowy  form  was  last  seen.  All  hearts 
in  the  squadron  beat  quickly  with  anxiety.  Suddenly  a  fierce  and  lurid  light  streamed 
up  from  the  dark  bosom  of  the  waters  like  volcanic  fires,  and  illuminated  with  its 
horrid  gleams  the  rocks,  forts,  flotilla,  castle,  town,  and  the  broad  expanse  of  the  har 
bor,  followed  instantly  by  an  explosion  that  made  all  surrounding  objects  tremble. 
Flaming  masts  and  sails  and  fiery  bombs  rained  upon  the  waters  for  a  few  moments, 

tur  drew  his  cntlasa  and  attempted  to  cut  off  the  head  of  the  pike,  when  his  weapon  snapped  at  the  hilt,  and  he  was  left 
apparently  at  the  mercy  of  the  Turk.  He  parried  the  thrust  of  the  Tripolitan,  and  sprang  upon  and  clutched  him  by  the 
throat.  A  trial  of  strength  ensued,  and  they  both  fell  to  the  deck.  The  Tripolitan  attempted,  as  they  lay,  to  draw  a 
small  poniard  from  his  sash.  Decatur  perceived  the  movement,  grasped  the  hand  that  held  the  deadly  steel,  and  drew 
from  his  own  pocket  a  small  pistol,  which  he  passed  round  the  body  of  his  antagonist,  pointed  it  inward,  and  shot  him 
dead.  During  the  affray,  Reuben  James,  a  quarter-gunner,  performed  a  most  self-sacrificing  act.  One  of  the  Tripolitan 
crew,  seeing  the  perilous  condition  of  his  commander,  aimed  a  sabre-blow  at  Decatur's  head.  James,  with  both  arms 
disabled  from  wounds  and  bleeding  profusely,  rushed  between  the  Tripolitan  and  his  commander,  and  received  the 
sabre-stroke  upon  his  own  Vice -Admiral)  Charles  Stew- 

head.   The  blow  was  not  fa-     mfc —       — j^^  art — from  which  the  annexed 

tal.    Decatur  took  the  dirk    jjK||jjjta^^|l         ~ ~ — = — atiti^^    drawing  was  made.  One  of  the 

from  his  foe,  and  afterward     ^^        ^^^^^BBBM^BHIHH^^^^^^  weapons— a  powerful  though 

f  eSenrt!l7nittv,t0      °aPtr  TKirOLITA*   PONIABD.  ?Ot   ^  ^    °f  *   ™°^    °T 

(now  [1807]  the  venerable  long  knife,  in   a  shark -skin 

scabbard— which  was  taken  from  the  enemy  by  Decatur  at  that  time,  is  delineated  in  the  engraving  on  page  121.  It 
is  in  the  possession  of  F.  J.  Dreer,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia.— See  Waldo's  Life  of  Decatur,  page  132. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


123 


Destruction  of  the  Intrepid. 


Honors  to  Commodore  Preble. 


Biographical  Sketch. 


when  all  was  again  silence  and  darkness  three-fold  greater  than  before.  Anxious  eyes 
and  ears  bent  hi  the  direction  of  the  dreadful  explosion.  The  boats  were  waited  for 
until  the  dawn  with  almost  insupportable  impatience.  They  never  came,  and  no 
man  of  that  perilous  expedition  was  heard  of  afterward.  Whether  the  explosion  was 
an  accident  or  a  sacrifice — whether  a  shot  from  the  enemy,  or  a  brand  dropped  from 
a  patriotic  hand  to  prevent  the  ketch  and  its  freight  of  men  and  powder  from  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  Tripolitans — can  never  be  known.  For  more  than  sixty  years 
the  matter  has  been  shrouded  in  impenetrable  mystery.1 

Lack  of  powder  and  the  approach  of  the  stormy  season  of  the  year  induced  Com 
modore  Preble  to  cease  operations  on  the  dangerous  Barbary  coast,  other  than  the 
maintenance  of  the  blockade  of  Tripoli.     Not  another  shot  was  fired ;  and  on  the 
10th  of  September*  Preble  was  relieved  by  the  arrival  of  Commodore  Samuel 
Barren.     He  returned  home  late  in  February,  1805,  bearing  expressions  of  the 
highest  regards  from  his  oificers,  and  received  the  homage  of  the  nation's  gratitude.2 
Congress  voted  thanks  to  the  commodore,  and  all  who  had  served  under  his  orders. 
On  Preble  they  bestowed  a  gold  medal  bearing  appropriate  devices  and  inscrip- 


MEDAT.   GIVEN   TO  COMMODOEE  PEBBLE. 


i  Waldo,  in  his  Life  ofDecatur,  page  146,  says  that  an  eye-witness  informed  him  that  the  evening  was  unusually  calm ; 
that  as  the  Intrepid  moved  silently  into  the  inner  harbor,  two  of  the  enemy's  heaviest  galleys,  with  more  than  a  hundred 
men  in  each,  captured  the  "  infernal,"  wholly  unconscious  of  her  character.  The  impression  was  that  Somers,  knowing 
their  fate  to  be  miserable  captivity  if  taken  prisoners  into  the  city,  where  Bainbridge  and  his  men  had  then  suffered  for 
eleven  months,  considered  death  preferable,  and  with  his  own  hand  fired  the  magazine  of  the  Intrepid.  Under  this  im 
pression  a  newspaper  writer,  after  alluding  to  the  capture,  wrote  with  more  feeling  than  poetry— 

"  In  haste  they  board :  see  Somers  stand, 
Determined,  cool,  formed  to  command, 
The  match  of  death  in  his  right  hand, 

Scorning  a  life  of  slavery. 
And  now  behold  !  the  match  applied, 
The  mangled  foe  the  welkin  ride : 
Whirling  aloft,  brave  Somers  cried, 

'  A  glorious  death  or  liberty !' " 

*  Edward  Preble  was  born  in  Portland,  Maine,  on  the  15th  of  August,  1761.    He  early  evinced  a  passion  for  the  sea, 
and  engaged  in  the  merchant  service.    He  became  a  midshipman  in  the  naval  service  in  1T79  in  the  state  ship  Protector. 
He  afterward  became  lieutenant  of  the  sloop-of-war  Winthrop,  and  remained  in  her  during  the  remainder  of  the  war  for 
independence.    He  was  the  first  lieutenant  appointed  in  the  new  naval  establishment  in  1798,  and  soon  afterward  made 
two  cruises  in  th«  brig  Pickering  as  commander.    In  1800  he  was  made  captain  and  placed  in  command  of  the  Essex,  in 
which  he  sailed  to  the  East  Indies  to  convoy  American  vessels.    On  account  of  ill  health  he  withdrew  from  active  serv 
ice  until  1803,  when  he  went  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.    After  his  successful  operations  there  he  again  withdrew  from 
the  service.    In  1806  he  suffered  severely  from  debility  of  the  digestive  organs,  from  which  he  never  recovered.    He 
died  on  the  25th  of  August,  1807,  at  the  age  of  forty-six  years.    To  his  memory  a  friend  wrote  in  1807— 
"  Lamented  chief!  though  death  be  calmly  past, 
Our  navy  trembled  when  he  breathed  his  last ! 
Our  navy  mourns  him,  but  it  mourns  in  vain : 
A  Preble  ne'er  will  live— ne'er  die  again  ! 
Yet  hope,  desponding,  at  the  thought  revives — 
A  second  PBEBI.E — a  DECATUE  lives '." 
The  likeness  of  Preble  given  on  page  120  is  from  a  portrait  of  him  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston. 


124 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Commodore  Barren's  Squadron  in  the  Mediterranean.    The  Naval  Monument  at  Annapolis.    Devices  and  Inscriptions. 

tions.1  "  Officers  of  the  navy  afterward  caused  a  white  marble  monument  to  be  erected 
at  the  government  dock-yard  near  the  National  Capitol  in  memory  of  their  brother 
officers  who  fell  at  Tripoli.2 

Commodore  Barren  found  himself  in  command  of  a  much  greater  naval  force  than 
the  Americans  had  ever  put  afloat  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  It  consisted  of  the 
President,  44,  Captain  Cox ;  Constitution,  44,  Captain  Decatur ;  Congress,  38,  Captain 
Rodgers;  Constellation,  38,  Captain  Campbell;  Essex,  32,  Captain  J.  Barren;  Siren, 
16,  Captain  Stewart ;  Argus,  16,  Captain  Hull ;  Vixen,  12,  Captain  Smith  ;  Enterprise, 
12,  Lieutenant  Commandant  Robinson,  and  Nautilus,  12,  Lieutenant  Commandant 
Dent.  The  John  Adams,  28,  Captain  Chauncey,  and  the  Hornet,  12,  Lieutenant  Com 
mandant  Evans,  with  two  bombs  and  twelve  gun-boats,  were  expected  to  join  the 
Mediterranean  squadron.  It  will  be  perceived  that  in  this  squadron,  in  actual  com 
mand,  were  many  of  those  who  attained  to  great  distinction  during  the  War  of  1812. 


1  The  engraving  on  the  preceding  page  shows  the  exact  size  of  the  medal.  On  one  side  is  a  bust  of  the  commo 
dore,  with  the  legend,  "EDWAEDO  PREBLE,  nuoi  STRENUO  COMITIA  AMERICANA."  On  the  reverse,  the  American  fleet  bom 
barding  the  town  aud  forts  of  Tripoli ;  legend,  "  VINDIOI  OOMMERCII  AMEIUCANI.  Exergue — ANTE  TRIPOLI,  1804." 

2  The  picture  represents  the  monu 
ment  as  it  appeared  when  first  erected. 
It  is  of  white  marble,  and  with  its  pres 
ent  pedestal  (not  seen  in  the  engrav 
ing)  is  about  forty  feet  in  height.  It 
was  mutilated  when  the  navy  yard  at 
Washington  was  burned  in  1814.  It 
was  afterward  repaired,  and  removed 
to  the  west  front  of  the  Capitol  in 
Washington,  where  it  was  placed  upon 
a  spacious  brown-stone  base  in  an  oval 
reservoir  of  water.  The  monument, 
with  this  base,  was  removed  to  Annap 
olis,  in  Maryland,  in  1860,  and  set  up 
there  in  the  grounds  of  the  Naval 
Academy.  In  consequence  of  the  Great 
Rebellion,  in  1861,  that  academy  was 
removed  to  Newport,  Rhode  Island. 
The  monument  was  left.  "It  is  situ 
ated,"  wrote  Mr.  William  Yorke  AtLee 
to  the  author  in  January,  1862,  "on  a 
hill  in  the  northwestern  portion  of  the 
naval  school  grounds.  It  is  in  a  state 
of  good  preservation,  and  adds  not  a 
little  to  the  beauty  of  the  grounds." 

The  shaft  is  surmounted  by  the 
American  eagle,  bearing  the  shield. 
On  its  sides  the  representations  of  the 
bows  of  vessels  are  seen  projecting,  • 
and  by  its  pedestal  is  an  allegorical 
figure  of  Fame  in  the  attitude  of  alight 
ing,  with  a  coronal  of  leaves  in  one 
hand  and  a  pen  in  the  other.  The 
form  of  the  pedestal  has  been  altered. 
On  one  side  of  the  base,  in  relief,  is  a 
view  of  Tripoli  and  the  American 
squadron ;  on  the  other  the  names  of 
the  heroes  in  whose  memory  the 
monument  was  erected.  On  three 
sides  of  the  base  are  statues  rep 
resenting  Mercury  (Commerce),  His 
tory,  and  America,  the  latter  in  the 
form  of  an  Indian  girl  with  a  feather 
head-dress,  half  nud«,  and  two  chil 
dren  near.  On  the  brown  sandstone 
sub-base  on  which  this  monument  now 

NAVAL  MONUMENT.  stands  are  the  following  inscriptions, 

upon  three  sides : 

1.  "Erected  to  the  memory  of  Captain  Richard  Somers,  Lieutenants  James  Caldwell,  James  Decatur,  Henry  Wads- 
worth,  Joseph  Israel,  and  John  Dorsey,  who  fell  in  the  different  attacks  made  on  the  city  of  Tripoli  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1804,  and  in  the  twenty-eighth  year  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States." 

2.  "  The  love  of  country  inspired  them.    Fame  has  crowned  their  deeds.    History  records  the  event.    The  Children  of 
Columbia  admire,  and  Commerce  laments  their  fall." 

3.  "As  a  small  tribute  of  respect  to  their  memory,  and  admiration  of  their  valor,  so  worthy  of  imitation,  their  brother 
officers  have  erected  this  monument." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  125 


Alliance  with  Hamet  Caramalli.    March  across  Northern  Africa.    Peace  with  Tripoli.    The  Barbary  Powers  humbled. 

Barren's  flag-ship  was  the  President.  Leaving  some  of  his  force  to  overawe  the 
menacing  Moors,  he  kept  up  the  blockade  of  Tripoli  during  the  autumn  and  winter  of 
1804-5.  Meanwhile  a  land  movement 
against  Tripoli  was  conceived  and  exe 
cuted  under  the  management  of  Cap 
tain  William  Eaton,  of  the  United  States  *- *• 


army,  then  consul  at  Tunis. 

We  have  already  observed  that 
Hamet  Caramalli,  the  right  possessor 
of  the  beyship  of  Tripoli,  had  fled  to  Egypt.  He  had  taken  refuge  with  the  Mame 
lukes.  It  was  determined  to  make  common  cause  with  him  against  his  usurping 
brother.  Accordingly  Captain  Eaton,  with  three  American  officers,  set  out  for 
Egypta  to  confer  with  him.  Hamet  joyfully  accepted  their  alliance,  a  November  26 
and  the  Viceroy  of  Egypt  gave  him  permission  to  leave  the  country.  1804- 

Pie  left  the  Mamelukes  with  about  forty  followers,  and  joined  Eaton  westward  of 
Alexandria,  who  was  at  the  head  of  a  small  number  of  troops,  composed  of  men  of  all 
nations.     Early  in  Marchb  the  allies,  with  transportation  consisting  of  one     b  March  e 
hundred  and  ninety  camels,  started  for  Tripoli.     They  traversed  portions  of 
the  great  Desert  of  Barca,  and  the  wild  regions  along  the  African  coast  of  the  Medi 
terranean  for  a  thousand  miles.     Late  in  April,0  in  conjunction  with  two     <=  April  2T. 
American  vessels,  they  captured  the  Tripolitan  sea-port  town  of  Derne.     d  jlay  is  and 
After  two  successful  engagements'1  with  Tripolitan  troops  they  approach-       June  18> 
ed  the  capital,  confident  of  success,  for  their  followers  had  become  very  numerous, 
when,  to  the  mortification  of  Captain  Eaton  and  the  extinguishment  of  all  the  hopes 
of  Hamet,  they  were  apprised  that  Tobias  Lear,  consul-general  on  that  coast,  had  ap 
peared  before  Tripoli  in  the  JSksecc,  and  made  a  treaty6  with  the  terrified    e 
Bashaw.1 

Thus  ended  the  four  years'  war  with  Tripoli.  The  ruler  of  Tunis  was  yet  insolent, 
and  Commodore  Rodgers,  who  had  become  commander  of  the  squadron  in  conse 
quence  of  the  failing  health  of  Barren,  anchored  thirteen  vessels  before  his  capital  on 
the  1st  of  August.  The  haughty  Bey  was  speedily  humbled,  and  sent  an  embassador 
to  the  United  States. 

The  power  of  the  American  government  was  now  acknowledged  and  feared  by  all 
the  barbarians  of  the  northern  shores  of  Africa,  and  the  conynerce  of  the  Mediterra 
nean  Sea  was  relieved  of  great  peril.  Pope  Pius  the  Seventh  declared  that  the  Amer 
icans  had  done  more  for  Christendom  against  the  North  African  pirates  than  all  the 
powers  of  Europe  united.  The  cruising  and  belligerent  operations  of  the  American 
navy  in  the  Mediterranean  had  not  only  accomplished  this  great  good  for  the  world, 
but  had  been  an  admirable  school  for  the  military  marine  of  the  United  States.  The 
value  of  the  lessons  taught  in  that  school  was  manifested  a  thousand  times  during 
the  war  with  Great  Britain  that  ensued  a  few  years  later. 

While  these  events  in  the  Mediterranean,  connected  in  the  practical  service  on  the 
part  of  the  Americans  with  the  War  of  1812,  were  transpiring,  political  changes  had 
commenced  in  Europe  which  speedily  aroused  the  United  States  to  a  sense  of  the  ne 
cessity  of  strengthening  the  naval  arm  of  the  government. 

We  have  observed  that  the  beginning  of  1802  saw  a  general  pacification  of  Europe, 
and  that  England  paid  obsequious  court  to  Bonaparte,  whose  fascinations  allured 
thousands  of  Englishmen  to  France.  This  "First  Kiss  in  Ten  Years,"  celebrated  by 

i  This  treaty  wts  not  creditable.  Although  it  was  stipulated  that  the  United  States  should  pay  no  more  tribute  to 
Tripoli,  it  was  agreed  that  $60,000  should  be  paid  for  captives  then  in  possession  of  the  Bashaw.  Altogether  better  and 
less  humiliating  terms  for  the  United  States  might  have  been  obtained.  All  that  Hamet  gained  was  the  release  of  his 
wife  and  children.  He  lost  every  thing  else.  He  afterward  came  to  the  United  States,  and  applied  to  Congress  for  re 
muneration  for  his  services  in  favor  of  the  Americans.  His  petition  was  denied,  but  $2400  were  voted  for  his  temporary 


relief. 


126  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Bonaparte  declared  Consul  for  Life.  His  Insolence  toward  the  English. War  declared  against  France. 

the  caricaturists,  was  the  last  for  more  than  that  space  of  time.  First  jealousy,  then 
suspicion,  and,  finally,  intense  hatred  of  France  and  her  ruler  took  possession  of  the 
English  mind.  These  feelings  were  intensified  by  the  act  of  the  French  Senate,  who 
•  August  3,  declared  Bonaparte  consul  for  life,a  a  declaration  speedily  sanctioned  by  the 

1802-  votes  of  three  millions  of  Frenchmen.  This  was  jealously  regarded  as  a 
cautious  step  toward  more  absolute  power,  which  England  feared ;  and  when,  im- 
"  August  15.  mediately  afterward,  first  the  Island  of  Elba,b  then  Piedmont,0  then  the 
«  September  ii.  Duchy  of  Parma,d  were  incorporated  into  the  dominions  of  France,  no 
« 0ctober.  one  ^oubted  that  the  First  Consul  would  speedily  set  armies  in  motion 

for  the  greater  aggrandizement  of  himself  and  the  country  of  his  adoption. 

England  professed  to  see  in  this  accession  of  territory  infringements  of  the  Treaty 
of  Amiens.  Bonaparte  retorted  by  accusing  Great  Britain  of  violating  the  spirit  of 
treaties  and  endeavoring  to  disturb  the  peace  of  Europe,  for  which  he  was  laboring, 
and  assumed  toward  England  a  haughty  and  dictatorial  tone  that  wounded  her  sens 
itive  pride.  He  evinced  a  disposition  to  possess  Malta ;  required  England  to  drive 
royal  French  emigrants  from  her  shores,  where  they  had  taken  refuge  ;  demanded  a 
suppression  of  the  liberties  of  the  English  press  in  its  criticisms  on  French  affairs,  be 
cause  it  was  regarded  as  his  most  dangerous  enemy ;  and  actually  asked  for  a  modifi 
cation  of  the  English  Constitution.1  He  was  charged  with  inciting  another  rebellion 
in  Ireland,  and  distributing  his  secret  emissaries,  under  the  guise  of  consuls,  all  along 
the  British  coasts.2 

The  cup  of  Bonaparte's  iniquity  was  finally  made  full  to  English  comprehension 
when,  at  the  beginning  of  March,  1803,  he  declared,  in  an  official  note  to  Lord  Whit- 
worth,  the  British  embassador  in  Paris,  that  England,  alone,  can  not  now  encounter 
France."  That  announcement,  assuming  the  shape  of  a  menace,  raised  a  storm  of 
patriotic  indignation  all  over  England,  which  found  a  loud  echo  in  the  House  of  Lords 
on  the  9th  of  March.  That  indignation,  not  unmixed  with  alarm,  became  more  in 
tense  when  intelligence  reached  London  that  a  Senatus  ConsuUwn  on  the  21st  of 
March  had  placed  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  conscripts  at  the  command  of 
the  French  ruler.  Still  professing  a  desire  for  peace,  the  Addington  ministry  contin 
ued  negotiations  with  Bonaparte.  Finally,  in  May,  the  British  minister  at  Paris,  who 
had  been  personally  insulted  by  the  First  Consul,  and  who  had  repeatedly  warned  his 
government  that  the  negotiations  on  the  part  of  the  French  ruler  were  deceptive,  and 
contrived  only  to  give  time  for  hostile  preparation,  was  ordered  to  leave  the  French 
capital.  The  British  government  immediately  ordered  the  French  minister  to  leave 
London,  and  on  the  1 8th  of  May  formally  declared  war  against  France,  and  put  in 
immediate  operation  an  embargo  upon  all  French  vessels  in  English  ports.  In  retal 
iation,  crowds  of  English  visitors  in  the  French  dominion  were  seized  and  held  as 
prisoners  of  war.3  Immense  bodies  of  troops  were  sent  to  the  French  coast,  and  men 
aced  England  with  immediate  invasion.  Bonaparte  superintended  the  preparations 
in  person,  established  his  head-quarters  at  Boulogne,  on  the  roads  to  which  finger 
posts  marked  "To  London"  were  erected,  and  every  possible  means  were  used  to  in- 

1  The  English  Constitution  is  not  a  permanent  instrument  embodying  the  foundations  of  all  laws,  like  that  of  the 
United  States,  but  comprehends  the  whole  body  of  English  laws  enacted  by  Parliament,  and*y  which  the  British  peo 
ple  are  governed.    The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  superior  to  the  Congress  or  National  Legislature ;  the  Par 
liament  or  National  Legislature  of  England  is  superior  to  the  Constitution.    What  Parliament  declares  to  be  the  Consti 
tution  of  England  is  the  Constitution  of  England:  what  the  Parliament  enacts  the  monarch  must  be  governed  by,  and 
the  courts  can  not  adjudge  to  be  unconstitutional  and  void.    Sheridan  comprehensively  said,  "The  King  of  England  is 
not  seated  on  a  solitary  eminence  of  power ;  on  the  contrary,  he  sees  his  equals  in  the  coexisting  branches  of  the  Legis 
lature,  and  he  recognizes  his  superior  in  the  LAW." 

2  The  latter  charge  was  proven  by  the  seizure  of  the  papers  of  the  French  consul  at  Dublin,  in  wh»se  secret  instruc 
tions  were  the  following  passages :  "  You  are  required  to  furnish  a  plan  of  the  ports  of  your  district,  with  a  specification 
of  the  soundings  for  mooring  vessels.    If  no  plan  of  the  ports  can  be  procured,  you  are  to  point  out  with  what  wind  ves 
sels  can  come  in  and  go  out,  and  what  is  the  greatest  draught  of  water  with  which  vessels  can  enter  the  river  deeply 
laden." 

3  About  twelve  thousand  English  subjects  of  all  ages  were  committed  to  custody. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  127 


The  English  People  excited  against  France.  Invasion  of  Great  Britain  by  the  French  expected.  Witticisms. 

flame  the  resentments  of  Frenchmen   against  their  English  neighbors  across  the 
Channel. 

In  England  every  art  was  also  employed  to  excite  the  people  against  France  and 
its  ruler.  Immense  numbers  of "  loyal  papers"  and  "  loyal  tracts"  were  scattered 
over  the  land,  some  being  atrocious  libels  on  Bonaparte  and  his  family,  fictitious  ac 
counts  of  his  barbarities,  and  exaggerated  pictures  of  his  treatment  of  those  countries 
which  had  bowed  to  his  power ;  others  were  calm  and  dignified  appeals  to  the  pa 
triotism  and  courage  of  the  nation.  It  was  evident  to  all  that  an  invasion  was  prob 
able,  and  yet  wits,  and  satirists,  and  vulgar  libelers  hurled  perpetual  volleys  of  abuse 
and  ridicule  against  Bonaparte  and  France,  affecting,  with  ill-disguised  trepidation, 
to  look  upon  both  with  contempt.1  This  apparent  gayety  and  unconcern  was  like  the 
whistling  of  boys  in  the  dark  to  keep  their  courage  up.  The  government  at  the  same 
moment  was  making  immense  preparations  to  repel  the  expected  invasion,  and  the 
yea"r  1803  was  one  of  alarm  and  terror  for  all  England.2  She  was  the  asylum  of  the 
Bourbon  Royalists,  who  were  the  traditional  enemies  of  all  popular  liberty  and  prog 
ress,  the  most  implacable  foes  of  the  French  ruler,  and  the  sleepless  and  relentless 
conspirators  against  the  lives  of  all  who  should  stand  in  the  way  of  their  recovery  of 
the  throne  from  which  the  best  of  their  lineage,  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  had  been  driven 
a  few  years  before.  These  Royalists  were  petted  by  the  English  government  and  pit- 

1  Bonaparte  was  sometimes  compared  to  a  wild  beast,  at  other  times  to  a  pigmy,  and  at  all  times  as  a  blusterer  to  be 
laughed  at.    One  morning  London  would  be  amused  by  a  large  placard  announcing  an  exhibition  thus:  "Just  arrived 
at  Mr.  Bull's  Menagerie,  in  British  Lane,  the  most  renowned  and  sagacious  Man-tiger  or  Orang-outang,  called  Napoleon 
Bonaparte.    He  has  been  exhibited  in  Holland,  Switzerland,  and  Italy,  and  lately  in  Egypt,"  etc.    Another  morning 
chapmen  would  offer  in  the  great  thoroughfares  songs  with  words  like  these : 

"  Come,  I'll  sing  you  a  song,  just  for  want  of  some  other, 
About  a  small  thing  that  has  made  a  great  pother : 
A  mere  insect — a,  pigmy.    I'll  tell  you,  my  hearty, 
'Tis  the  Corsican  hop-o'-my-thumb,  BuouapartJ." 
Or  boastful  ballads  in  words  like  these : 

"Arm,  neighbors,  at  length, 
And  put  forth  your  strength 
Perfidious,  bold  France  to  resist ! 
Ten  Frenchmen  will  fly, 
To  shun  a  black  eye, 
If  one  Englishman  doubles  his  fist !" 

The  theatres  were  resonant  with  patriotic  songs.  One  of  the  most  popular  of  those  sang  in  the  play-houses,  called 
"The  Island,"  began  with  this  stanza: 

"If  the  French  have  a  notion 
Of  crossing  the  ocean, 

Their  luck  to  be  trying  on  land, 
They  may  come  if  they  like ; 
But  we'll  soon  make  'em  strike 
To  the  lads  of  the  tight  little  Island  ! 

Huzza  for  the  boys  of  the  Island !  i 

The  brave  volunteers  of  the  Island  ! 
The  fraternal  embrace, 
If  foes  want  in  this  place, 

We'll  present  all  the  arms  in  the  Island !" 

Gillray  and  other  caricaturists  were  exceedingly  active  at  this  time  in  ridiculing  all  parties,  but  especially  Bonaparte. 
Some  of  these  caricatures,  which  were  grossly  personal,  annoyed  the  Corsican  exceedingly,  for  he  was  extremely  sensi 
tive  to  any  thing  like  ridicule  against  himself  and  family.  The  one  which  gave  him  most  offense  was  a  broad  parody 
on  BeUhazzar's  Feast,  by  Gillray,  which  appeared  in  August,  1S03,  entitled  "  The  Handwriting  on  the  Wall."  The  First 
Consul  and  Josephine,  his  wife  (the  latter  represented  of  enormous  bulk),  and  other  members  of  his  family  and  court, 
are  seated  at  table  devouring  the  good  things  of  England  as  a  dessert.  When  Bonaparte  first  discovers  the  mysterious 
hand,  his  fork  is  stuck  into  St.  James's,  seen  on  his  plate.  Another  is  swallowing  the  Tower  of  London,  while  Jose 
phine  is  drinking  large  bumpers  of  wine.  On  a  plate  bearing  the  inscription  "  Oh  de  roast  beef  of  Old  England  !"  is  seen 
a  head  of  King  George.  Above  the  feasters  a  hand  holds  the  scales  of  Justice,  in  which  the  legitimate  crown  of  France 
weighs  down  the  red  cap  and  its  attendant  chain— Despotism  under  the  name  of  Liberty.  Behind  Josephine  stand  the 
three  afterward  princesses  of  the  imperial  family— Borghese,  Louise,  and  Joseph  Bonaparte.  A  copy  of  this  caricature  is 
given  in  full  in  Wright's  History  of  the  House  of  Hanover,  illustrated  by  Caricatures  and  Satires.  It  is  said  to  have  greatly 
exasperated  the  First  Consul  and  his  friends. 

2  On  the  23d  of  July  the  germ  of  another  rebellion  in  Ireland  appeared  at  Dublin.    The  chief  leader  was  Robert  Em 
met,  an  eminent  barrister,  who  was  implicated,  with  his  brother,  in  the  rebellion  there  in  1798.    His  followers  proved 
themselves  so  unworthy  of  himself  and  the  cause  (which  was  the  independence  of  Ireland)  that  he  fled  in  despair  to  the 
Wicklow  Mountains.    He  might  have  evaded  pursuit,  but  his  love  for  his  betrothed,  the  daughter  of  the  famous  Curran, 
caused  him  to  linger.    He  was  arrested,  tried  for  and  found  guilty  of  treason,  and  hanged  on  the  20th  of  September  fol 
lowing. 


128  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Effects  of  the  British  Declaration  of  War.    Fight  for  the  Championship.    Bonaparte  proclaimed  Emperor.    His  Plans. 

led  by  the  English  people ;  and  this  offense,  above  all  others,  exasperated  Bonaparte, 
for  he  regarded  England  as  the  accomplice  of  the  conspirators  against  himself  and 
human  freedom. 

The  British  declaration  of  war,  said  Meneval  (who  was  always  at  the  elbow  of  the 
First  Consul),  changed  his  whole  nature.1  He  had  been  planning  vast  beneficent 
schemes  for  France  under  the  serene  skies  of  universal  peace,  when  England,  of  all  the 
nations  loudest  in  her  professions  of  concord  and  sentiments  of  Christian  benevo 
lence,  was  the  first  to  disappoint  him — the  first  to  again  disturb  the  peace  of  Europe 
.by  brandishing  high  in  air  the  flaming  sword  of  war,  instead  of  the  green  olive- 
branch  of  amity  and  good  will.  Compelled  to  accept  the  challenge,  he  resolved  to 
give  her  war  to  her  heart's  content. 

Each  party  charged  the  other  with  acts  of  flagrant  wrong  against  the  peace  and 
well-being  of  the  world,  and  the  record  of  impartial  history  implies  that  both  spoke 
the  truth.  It  is  not  our  business  to  act  as  umpire  on  the  question,  or  to  delineate  the 
events  of  the  great  war  that  ensued.  We  will  simply  consider  the  resulting  effects 
of  these  international  strifes  on  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  United  States.  The 
war  was  waged  by  both  parties  with  an  utter  disregard  of  the  rights  of  all  other 
nations  or  the  settled  maxims  of  international  comity.  France  and  England  entered 
the  lists  for  the  champion's  belt — for  the  supremacy  in  the  political  affairs  of  the 
world — and  they  fought  with  the  science,  the  desperation,  and  the  brutality  of  ac 
complished  pugilists, 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1804,  Bonaparte  was  proclaimed  Emperor  of  the  French,  in 
accordance  with  a  decree  of  the  Senatea  and  the  votes  of  the  people.  To 
give  more  eminent  sanction  to  the  deed,  the  Pope  was  invited  to  perform  the 
coronation  ceremony.  He  consented,  and  on  the  2d  of  December  following  Bona 
parte  was  anointed  by  his  holiness,  at  the  great  altar  of  Notre  Dame,  "The  High  and 
Mighty  Napoleon  the  First."  The  republics  which  he  had  established  by  his  sword 
were  speedily  changed  into  kingdoms,  on  the  thrones  of  which  members  of  his  own 
b  May  26,  family  were  placed.  In  May,  the  following  year,b  he  was  solemnly  anointed 

1805.  King  of  Italy  at  Milan.  Then  he  cast  his  eyes  significantly  over  Europe,  and 
contemplated  a  thorough  reconstruction  of  its  map.  England,  Russia,  Austria,  and 
Sweden,  alarmed  and  provoked,  coalesced  against  the  "  usurper,"  as  Napoleon  was 
called.  Prussia  was  kept  from  the  league  only  by  a  bribe,  Napoleon  having  offered 
Hanover,  which  he  had  stolen  from  England,  as  the  price  of  the  king's  friendship. 
Very  soon  a  French  army  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  strong  was  upon  the 
Rhine.  On  the  2d  of  December  the  strength  of  the  Corsican  was  tested.  Against 
him,  near  Austerlitz,  appeared  two  great  armies,  each  led,  like  his  own,  by  an  em 
peror*.  They  met  in  deadly  conflict.  Napoleon  was  the  victor.  The  Continental 
Powers  withdrew  from  the  contest.  Prussia  received  Han6ver  as  her  reward,  and 
England  was  left  to  fight  the  Emperor  of  the  French  single-handed.  Napoleon  pro 
ceeded  to  distribute  crowns  and  ducal  coronets  among  his  friends  and  favorite  gen 
erals  with  a  lavish  hand,  and  induced  no  less  than  fourteen  German  princes,  who 
ruled  over  sixteen  millions  of  people,  to  form  a  league,  under  the  supremacy  of 
France,  known  as  the  Confederacy  of  the  Rhine. 

Early  in  1806  the  English  government,  under  the  premiership  of  Charles  Fox, 
opened  with  Napoleon  negotiations  for  peace,  the  restoration  of  Hanover  being  one 
of  the  proposed  conditions.  Napoleon  considered  it,  and  on  that  account  the  King 
of  Prussia,  alarmed  and  offended,  joined  the  coalition  of  the  Northern  Powers  against 
him.  The  exasperated  emperor  marched  upon  Prussia,  and,  after  slaying  more  than 
'October 25  twenty  thousand  of  the  king's  subjects  in  arms,  he  entered  Berlin,6  his 
1806-  capital,  in  triumph.  Meanwhile  the  Russians  had  been  beaten  back 

i  History  of  the.  Second  War  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  Great  Britain,  by  Charles  J.  Ingersoll.  Second 
Series,  i.,  20C. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  129 


The  Berlin  Decree. 


through  Poland,  and  he  was  in  possession  of  Warsaw.  Strong,  bold,  and  defiant,  and 
burning  with  a  desire  to  humble  "  perfidious  Albion,"  he  issued  from  his  camp  at 
the  Prussian  capital"  the  famous  manifesto  known  in  history  as  the  .  November  21, 
Berlin  Decree,1  which  declared  the  ports  of  the  whole  of  the  British  do-  180C- 

minions  in  a  state  of  blockade,  while  a  French  vessel  of  war  scarcely  dare  appear  on 
the  ocean  to  enforce  it.  This  brings  us  to  the  immediate  consideration  of  events  in 
the  United  States,  and  the  eifects  of  the  strife  abroad  upon  American  afiairs. 

i  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  decree : 

"  Imperial  Camp,  Berlin,  November  21, 1SOG. 

"Napoleon,  Emperor  of  the  French  and  King  of  Italy,  considering: 

"1.  That  England  does  not  admit  the  right  of  nations  as  universally  acknowledged  by  all  civilized  people ; 

"2.  That  she  declares  as  an  enemy  every  individual  belonging  to  an  enemy  state,  and,  in  consequence,  makes  pris 
oners  of  war  not  only  of  the  crews  of  armed  vessels,  but  those  also  of  merchant  vessels,  and  even  the  supercargoes  of  the 
same ; 

"3.  That  she  extends  or  applies  to  merchant  vessels,  to  articles  of  commerce,  and  to  the  property  of  individuals  the 
right  of  conquest,  which  can  only  be  applied  or  extended  to  what  belongs  to  an  enemy  state ; 

"4.  That  she  extends  to  ports  not  fortified,  to  harbors  and  mouths  of  rivers,  the  right  of  blockade,  which,  according  to 
reason  and  the  usages  of  civilized  nations,  is  applicable  only  to  strong  or  fortified  ports ; 

"5.  That  she  declares  places  blockaded  before  which  she  has  not  a  single  vessel  of  war,  although  a  place  ought  not  to 
be  considered  blockaded  but  when  it  is  so  invested  that  no  approach  to  it  can  be  made  without  imminent  hazard  ;  that 
she  declares  even  places  blockaded  which  her  united  forces  would  be  incapable  of  doing,  such  as  entire  coasts  and  a 
whole  empire. 

"  C.  That  this  unequaled  abuse  of  the  right  of  blockade  has  no  other  object  than  to  interrupt  the  communication  of 
different  nations,  and  to  extend  the  commerce  and  industry  of  England  upon  the  ruin  of  those  of  the  Continent ; 

"T.  That  this  being  the  evident  design  of  England,  whoever  deals  on  the  Continent  in  English  merchandise  favors 
that  design,  and  becomes  an  accomplice ; 

"  8.  That  this  conduct  in  England  (worthy  only  of  the  first  stages  of  barbarism)  has  benefited  her  to  the  detriment 
of  other  nations ; 

"9.  That  it  being  right  to  oppose  to  an  enemy  the  same  arms  she  makes  use  of,  to  combat  as  she  does  when  all  ideas 
of  justice  and  every  liberal  sentiment  (the  result  of  civilization  among  men)  are  disregarded, 

"  We  have  resolved  to  enforce  against  England  the  usages  which  she  has  consecrated  in  her  maritime  code. 

"The  present  decree  shall  be  considered  as  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Empire  until  England  shall  acknowledge  that 
the  rights  of  war  are  the  same  on  land  as  at  sea ;  that  they  can  not  be  extended  to  any  private  property  whatever,  nor  to 
persons  who  are  not  military,  and  until  the  right  of  blockading  be  restrained  to  fortified  places  actually  invested  by 
competent  forces. 

"Art.  1.  The  British  Islands  are  in  a  state  of  blockade. 

"Art.  2.  All  commerce  and  correspondence  with  them  is  prohibited ;  consequently,  all  letters  or  packets  written  in 
England,  or  to  an  Englishman  written  in  the  English  language,  shall  not  be  dispatched  from  the  post-offices,  and  shall  be 
seized. 

"  Art.  3.  Every  individual  a  subject  of  Great  Britain,  of  whatever  rank  or  condition,  who  is  found  in  countries  occu 
pied  by  our  troops  or  those  of  our  allies,  shall  be  made  prisoner  of  war. 

"  Art.  4.  Every  warehouse,  all  merchandise  or  property  whatever  belonging  to  an  Englishman,  are  declared  good  prize. 

"  Art.  5.  One  half  of  the  proceeds  of  merchandise  declared  to  be  good  prize  and  forfeited,  as  in  the  preceding  articles, 
shall  go  to  indemnify  merchants  who  have  suffered  losses  by  the  English  cruisers. 

"Art.  6.  No  vessel  coming  directly  from  England  or  her  colonies,  or  having  been  there  since  the  publication  of  this 
decree,  shall  be  admitted  into  any  port. 

"Art.  7.  Every  vessel  that  by  a  false  declaration  contravenes  the  foregoing  disposition  shall  be  seized,  and  the  ship 
and  cargo  confiscated  as  English  property. 

"Art.  8.  [This  article  states  that  the  Councils  of  Prizes  at  Paris  and  at  Milan  shall  have  recognizance  of  what  may 
arise  in  the  Empire  and  in  Italy  under  the  present  decree.] 

"  Art.  9.  Communications  of  this  decree  shall  be  made  to  the  Kings  of  Spain,  Naples,  Holland,  Etruria,  and  to  our  oth 
er  allies,  whose  subjects  as  well  as  ours  are  victims  of  the  injuries  and  barbarity  of  the  English  maritime  code. 

"  Art.  10.  Our  ministers  of  foreign  relations,  etc.,  are  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  present  decree. 

"NAPOLEON." 

With  a  partiality  toward  the  Americans  that  was  practical  friendship,  the  French  cruisers  did  not,  for  a  whole  year,  in 
terfere  with  American  vessels  trading  with  Great  Britain.  On  this  point  Alexander  Baring,  M.P.,  in  his  Inquiry  into 
the  Causes  and  Consequences  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  and  an  Examination  of  the  Conduct  of  Great  Britain  toward  the  Xeu- 
tral  Commerce  of  America,  said:  "^Vo  condemnation  of  an  American  vessel  had  ever  taken  place  under  it;  and  so  little  did 
the  French  privateers  interfere  with  the  trade  of  America  with  this  country,  that  the  insurance  on  it  was  very  little  higher 
than  in  time  of  profound  peace  ;  while  that  of  the  American  trade  with  the  Continent  of  Europe  has  at  the  same  time 
been  doubled,  and  even  trebled,  by  the  conduct  of  our  cruisers." 

I 


130 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Prosperity  of  American  Commerce. 


Germs  of  new  States  appearing  in  the  Organization  of  Territories. 


CHAPTER  VH. 

"  Shall  that  arm  which  haughty  Britain 

In  its  gristle  found  too  strong— 
That  by  which  her  foes  were  smitten— 

Shall  that  arm  be  palsied  long  ? 
See  our  sons  of  ocean  kneeling 

To  a  tyrant's  stripes  and  chains  ! 
Partisan  !  hast  thou  no  feeling 

When  the  hardy  tar  complains  ? 
See  the  British  press-gang  seize  him, 

Victim  of  relentless  power ! 
Stout  his  heart  is,  but  must  fail  him 

In  this  evil,  trying  hour." 

TUB  IMPRESSED  SEAMAN'S  APPEAL. 

iNCOURAGED  by  promises  of  continued  peace  in  Europe,  and  the 
relaxation  of  the  "rule  of  1756"  by  Great  Britain,1  the  commerce 
and  general  business  of  the  United  States  enjoyed  a  season  of  un 
exampled  prosperity.  The  social  and  political  power  of  the  re 
public  rapidly  augmented.  The  Indians  on  the  frontiers  were 
peaceful;  and  the  causes  for  irritation  on  the  part  of  the  inhabit 
ants  west  of  the  mountains  toward  the  Spaniards,  who  controlled 
the  Lower  Mississippi,  were  in  a  fair  way  of  being  speedily  re 
moved.  The  germs  of  new  states  were  appearing  in  the  late  wilderness.  That  vast 
domain  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  west  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky 
River  to  Fort  Recovery  on  St.  Glair's  battle-field,  and  thence  due  north  to  Canada,  was 
erected  into  a  Territory,a  and  named  INDIANA.  William  Henry  Harrison, 
Wayne's  efficient  aid  in  1794  (who  had  been  out  of  the  army  since  1798),  was 
appointed  governor  of  the  germinal  state,  and  established  his  capital  at  Vincennes, 
on  the  Lower  Wabash. 

At  about  the  same  time  the  Mississippi  Territory,  organized  in  1798  by  Winthrop 
Sargent,  St.  Glair's  efficient  secretary  in  the  government  of  the  Ohio  country, 
was  allowed  a  representative  assembly ,b  and  its  political  machinery  was  put 
in  motion. 

In  the  spring  of  1802  the  United  States  came  into  possession,  by  act  of  Georgia,  of 
one  hundred  thousand  square  miles  of  territory,  now  constituting  the  State  of  Ala 
bama.  It  was  inhabited  by  the  Creek  and  Cherokee  Indians  toward  the  east,  and 
the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  tribes  toward  the  west.  With  those  philanthropic  im 
pulses  which  marked  the  character  of  Jefferson,  he  recommended  measures  for  the 
well-being  of  those  tribes,  and  for  securing  to  them  equal  and  exact  justice. 
Late  in  the  same  year  the  inhabitants  within  the  present  domain  of  Ohio,  in  repre 
sentative  convention  held  at  Chilicothe,  adopted  a  State  Constitution,0 
and  the  Territory,  called  OHIO,  became  a  peer  among  the  states  of  the 
republic. 

But  these  political  organizations  on  soil  within  the  domains  of  the  United  States, 
and  over  which  a  civilized  population  was  rapidly  spreading,  were  of  small  account 
when  compared  with  the  importance  of  a  great  acquisition  of  territory  and  political 
power  which  speedily  followed.  Louisiana,  which  once  comprehended  the  vast  and 
undefinable  region  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  domain  watered  by  its 


Ma  T 
1802.  ' 


November  29. 


See  note  1,  page  84. 


OF   THE  WAR   OF   1812.  131 


Louisiana  retroceded  to  France.        The  Americans  disturbed  by  the  Act.        President  Jefferson's  View  of  the  Subject. 

tributaries,  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude,  and  west 
ward  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  "  South  Sea,"  as  it  was  then  called,  was  a  possession  of 
France  by  right  of  discovery  by  secular  and  religious  explorers,  and  was  named  in 
honor  of  the  Gallic  king  Louis. 

In  1763  France  ceded  to  England  the  whole  of  that  region  east  of  the  Mississippi 
except  Florida,  and  to  Spain  all  west  of  that  river.  By  these  cessions  and  the  sur 
render  of  others,  effected  by  compulsion  at  the  end  of  a  seven  years'  war,  France  ab 
dicated  territorial  dominion  in  North  America. 

While  the  negotiations  of  the  Treaty  of  Amiens  were  in  progress,  a  rumor  went 
abroad  that  Spain,  by  secret  treaty,  had  retroceded,  or  would  retrocede,  to  France  all 
of  Louisiana  in  her  possession,  and  possibly  the  domain  along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
known  as  East  and  West  Florida,  thus  giving  to  that  now  rising,  ambitious,  and  ag 
gressive  power  the  entire  control  of  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  and  a  position 
to  exercise  an  influence  over  the  political  affairs  of  the  United  States  more  potent 
and  permanent  than  had  ever  been  attempted.  This  gave  the  government  and  people 
much  uneasiness,  and  the  American  ministers  in  London,  Paris,  and  Madrid  were  im 
mediately  instructed  to  endeavor  to  defeat  the  measure.  It  was  too  late.  The  act 
of  cession  was  accomplished,  and  the  fact  was  made  known  to  the  President  early  in 
1802. 

President  Jefferson,  who  loved  his  country  and  republican  institutions  intensely, 
and  who  desired  its  prosperity  and  grandeur  with  a  patriot's  warm  devotion,  wrote 
an  earnest  letter  to  Mr.  Livingston,*  the  American  embassador  at  Paris,  on  a  Aprii  18) 
the  subject.  With  wonderful  sagacity  he  clearly  comprehended  the  mat 
ter  in  all  its  bearings,  immediate  and  prospective,  and  perceived  the  great  evils  to  the 
republic  which  French  occupation  of  the  outlet  of  the  Mississippi  would  inflict.  "  It 
would  completely  reverse,"  he  said,  "  all  the  political  relations  of  the  United  States, 
and  would  form  a  new  epoch  in  our  political  career.  Of  all  nations  of  any  consider 
ation,  France  is  the  one  which  hitherto  has  offered  the  fewest  points  on  which  we 
could  have  any  conflict  of  right,  and  the  most  points  of  common  interest.  From  these 
causes  we  have  ever  looked  to  her  as  our  natural  friend,  as  one  with  whom  we  never 
could  have  occasion  of  difference.  Her  growth,  therefore,  we  viewed  as  our  own,  her 
misfortunes  ours.  There  is  on  the  globe  one  single  spot  the  possessor  of  which  is  our 
natural  and  habitual  enemy.  It  is  New  Orleans,  through  which  the  produce  of  three 
eighths  of  our  territory  must  pass  to  market ;  and,  from  its  fertility,  it  will  ere  long 
yield  more  than  half  of  our  whole  produce,  and  contain  more  than  half  of  our  inhabit 
ants.  France,  placing  herself  in  that  door,  assumes  to  us  the  attitude  of  defiance. 
Spain  might  have  retained  it  quietly  for  years.  Her  pacific  dispositions,  her  feeble 
state  would  induce  her  to  increase  our  facilities  there,  so  that  her  possession  of  the 
place  would  be  hardly  felt  by  us,  and  it  would  not  perhaps  be  very  long  before  some 
circumstance  might  arise  which  might  make  the  cession  of  it  to  us  the  price  of  some 
thing  of  more  worth  to  her. 

"  Not  so  can  it  ever  be  in  the  hands  of  France ;  the  impetuosity  of  her  temper,  the 
energy  and  restlessness  of  her  character,  placed  in  a  point  of  eternal  friction  with  us 
and  our  character,  which,  though  quiet,  and  loving  peace  and  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  is 
high-minded,  despising  wealth  in  competition  with  insult  or  injury.  Enterprising 
and  energetic  as  any  nation  on  earth,  these  circumstances  render  it  impossible  that 
France  and  the  United  States  can  long  continue  friends  when  they  meet  in  so  irrita 
ble  a  position.  .  .  .  The  day  that  France  takes  possession  of  New  Orleans  fixes  the 
sentence  which  is  to  restrain  her  forever  within  her  low-water  mark.  It  seals  the 
union  of  two  nations  who,  in  conjunction,  can  maintain  exclusive  possession  of  the 
ocean.  From  that  moment  we  must  marry  ourselves  to  the  British  fleet  and  nation. 
We  must  turn  all  our  attentions  to  a  maritime  force,  for  which  our  resources  place  us 
on  very  high  ground ;  and,  having  formed  and  connected  together  a  power  which 


132  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Proposition  for  the  Cession  of  Louisiana.        The  secret  Designs  of  France.        Talleyrand.        Atrocious  Suggestions. 

may  render  re-enforcement  of  her  settlements  here  impossible  to  France,  make  the 
first  cannon  which  shall  be  fired  in  Europe  the  signal  for  tearing  up  every  settlement 
she  may  have  made."1 

Mr.  Jefferson  suggested  that  if  France  considered  the  possession  of  Louisiana  "  in 
dispensable  for  her  views,"  she  might  be  willing  to  cede  to  the  United  States,  for  a 
consideration,  the  Island  of  New  Orleans,  and  the  Floridas,  and  guarantee  the  free 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi  by  both  nations,  thus  removing,  in  a  degree, "  the  causes 
of  jarring  and  irritation"  between  the  parties.2 

Although  the  President's  letter  to  Mr.  Livingston  was  private,  Mr.  Jefferson  chose 
to  consider  it  as  supplemental  to  the  official  instructions  which  were  sent  to  the  em- 
bassador,  and  he  desired  him  to  urge,  on  proper  occasions,  with  the  proper  persons, 
and  in  a  proper  manner,  the  considerations  and  suggestions  which  the  letter  con 
tained.  As  we  have  already  observed,  it  was  too  late  to  prevent  the  cession.  That 
act  had  been  accomplished  by  secret  treaty  eighteen  months  before.3 

Nothing  now  remained  for  the  Americans  to  do  to  prevent  the  threatened  evils  of 

French  occupation  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  but  to  negotiate  for  the  purchase 

of  territory  there.     Such  negotiations  were  speedily  entered  into.     Mr.  Livingston 

took  important  preliminary  steps  in  that  direction,  and  in  January,  1803,a 

James  Monroe  was  appointed  to  assist  him  in  the  negotiation.     Their  in- 

1  Letter  to  Robert  R.  Livingston,  April  18, 1802. 

2  France  had  no  really  peaceful  and  friendly  feelings  toward  the  United  States  at  that  time.    Among  the  dreams  of 
glory  which  filled  the  mind  of  Bonaparte  was  the  re-establishment  of  the  ancient  colonial  Empire  of  France.    His  first 
essay  was  in  St.  Domingo ;  his  next  was  to  be  in  Louisiana.    What  would  have  been  his  instrumentalities  there  in  ex 
tending  his  sway  over  the  country  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  extract  of  a  memorial 
whose  inspiration  was  supposed  to  be  the  First  Consul,  and  Talleyrand  the  writer.    This  document  was  published  in 
pamphlet  form  in  Philadelphia  in  1803,  but  was  suppressed  because  of  negotiations  then  pending  for  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana  from  France.    It  vindicates  the  wisdom  and  sagacity  of  Jefferson  exhibited  in  the  above  letter  to  Mr.  Living 
ston.    On  the  forty-fifth  page  of  the  pamphlet  it  is  observed  : 

"  There  is  still  another  mean,  however,  by  which  the  fury  of  THE  STATES  may  be  held  at  pleasure— by  an  enemy  placed 
on  their  Western  frontiers.  The  only  aliens  and  enemies  within  their  borders  are  not  the  blacks.  They,  indeed,  are  the 
most  inveterate  in  their  enmity  ;  but  the  INDIANS  are,  in  many  respects,  more  dangerous  inmates.  Their  savage  igno 
rance,  their  undisciplined  passions,  their  restless  and  warlike  habits,  their  notions  of  ancient  rights,  make  them  the  fittest 
tools  imaginable  for  disturbing  THE  STATES.  In  the  territory  adjacent  to  the  Ohio,  Mississippi,  and  Missouri  there  are 
more  than  thirty  thousand  men  whose  trade  is  hunting,  and  whose  delight  is  war.  These  men  lie  at  the  mercy  of  any 
civilized  nation  who  live  near  them.  Such  a  neighbor  can  gain  their  friendship  or  provoke  their  enmity  with  equal  ease. 
He  can  make  them  inactive,  or  he  can  rouse  them  to  fury;  he  can  direct  their  movement  in  any  way  he  pleases,  and 
make  it  mischievous  or  harmless,  by  supplying  their  fury  with  arms  and  with  leaders,  or  by  withholding  that  supply. 

"  The  pliant  and  addressful  spirit  of  the  French  has  always  given  them  an  absolute  control  over  these  savages.  The 
office  which  the  laziness  or  the  insolence  of  the  British  found  impracticable  was  easily  performed  by  us,  and  will  be  still 
easier  hereafter,  since  we  shall  enter  on  the  scene  with  more  advantages  than  formerly. 

"We  shall  detach  within,  a  sufficient  force  to  maintain  possession  against  all  the  efforts  of  THE  STATES,  should  they, 
contrary  to  all  their  interests,  proceed  to  war  with  or  without  provocation.  We  shall  find  in  the  Indian  tribes  an  army 
permanently  cantoned  in  the  most  convenient  stations,  endowed  with  skill  and  temper  best  adapted  to  the  nature  and  the 
scene  of  the  war,  and  armed  and  impelled  with  far  less  trouble  and  expense  than  an  eqnal  number  of  our  own  troops. 
We  shall  find  a  terrible  militia,  infinitely  more  destructive  while  scattered  through  the  hostile  settlements  than  an  equal  force 
of  our  own.  We  shall  find  in  the  bowels  of  THE  STATES  a  mischief  that  only  ivants  the  touch  of  a  well-directed  spark  to  in 
volve  in  its  explosion  the  litter  ruin  of  half  their  nation.  Such  will  be  the  power  we  shall  derive  from  a  military  station 
and  a  growing  colony  on  the  Mississippi.  These  will  be  certain  and  immediate  effects,  whatever  distance  and  doubt 
there  may  be  in  the  remoter  benefits  to  France  on  which  I  have  so  warmly  expatiated.  As  a  curb  on  a  nation  whose 
future  conduct  in  peace  and  war  will  be  of  great  importance  to  us,  this  province  will  be  cheaply  purchased  at  ten  times 
the  cost  to  which  it  will  subject  us." 

The  writer  made  Bonaparte  say :  "My  designs  on  the  Mississippi  will  never  be  officially  announced  till  they  are  exe 
cuted.  Meanwhile  the  world,  if  it  pleases,  may  fear  and  suspect,  but  nobody  will  be  wise  enough  to  go  to  war  to  pre 
vent  them.  I  shall  trust  to  the  folly  of  England  and  America  to  let  me  go  my  way  in  my  own  time." 

When  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  broke  out  in  1812,  British  writers  urged  the  government 
to  employ  the  savages,  with  all  their  known  blood-thirstiness  and  cruelty,  as  allies.  One  writer  soundly  berated  the  gov 
ernment  for  its  apparent  apathy  toward  their  "  Indian  friends,"  and  cited  the  above  atrocious  suggestions  of  the  French 
minister  as  the  true  programme  of  action  for  the  British  to  pursue  in  the  war  with  the  Americans  !— See  the  New  Quar 
terly  Review  and  British  Colonial  Register,  No.  4 :  J.  M.  Richardson,  Cornhill,  London. 

3  There  had  been  for  some  time  indications  of  speedy  hostilities  between  the  United  States  and  Spain,  growing  out 
of  the  territorial  relations  of  the  two  countries  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.    By  a  treaty  with  Spain  in  1795  that  government 
had  granted  to  the  United  States  the  right  of  deposit  at  New  Orleans  for  three  years,  after  which  the  privilege  was  either 
to  be  continued,  or  an  equivalent  place  assigned  on  another  part  of  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.    The  Spaniards  consid 
ered  themselves  masters  of  the  province  while  it  was  unoccupied  by  the  French,  even  after  the  cession  was  consum 
mated.    The  privilege  of  deposit  at  New  Orleans  had  been  continued;  but  suddenly,  in  October,  1802,  the  Spanish  in- 
tendant  or  governor  declared  by  proclamation  that  the  right  of  deposit  at  New  Orleans  no  longer  existed.    This  pro 
duced  great  excitement  in  the  Western  country,  and  the  Americans,  when  certified  of  the  treaty  of  cession,  did  not  doubt 
that  the  Spanish  intendant  acted  under  orders  from  the  French  government. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  133 


Effect  of  Jefferson's  Letter  and  Bonaparte's  Necessity.  Purchase  of  Louisiana.  Blow  at  England. 

structions  only  asked  for  the  cession  of  New  Orleans  and  the  Floridas,  and  that  the 
Mississippi  should  be  divided  by  a  line  that  should  put  the  city  of  New  Orleans 
within  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  thus  securing  the  free  navigation  of  that 
river. 

To  the  surprise  of  the  American  negotiators,  M.  Marbois,  the  representative  of  Bo 
naparte,1  offered  to  treat  for  the  sale  of  the  whole  of  Louisiana.  "  Irresolution  and 
deliberation,"  said  the  First  Consul  in  his  instructions  to  Marbois,  "  are  no  longer  in 
season.  I  renounce  Louisiana.  It  is  not  only  New  Orleans  that  I  will  cede,  it  is  the 
Avhole  colony,  without  any  reservation.  I  know  the  price  of  what  I  abandon,  and  I 
have  sufficiently  proved  the  importance  that  I  attach  to  this  province,  since  my  first 
diplomatic  act  with  Spain  had  for  its  object  the  recovery  of  it.  I  renounce  it  with 
the  greatest  regret.  To  attempt  to  retain  it  would  be  folly.  I  direct  you  to  nego 
tiate  this  affair  with  the  envoys  of  the  United  States." 

The  sagacious  Bonaparte — the  Man  of  Expediency — saw  clearly  which  was  the 
path  of  safety  for  him.  Jefferson's  covert  menace  of  an  American  alliance  with  En 
gland  against  him,  his  ill  success  against  St.  Domingo,2  and  the  storm-clouds  of  war 
that  were  again  lowering  darkly  over  Europe,  caused  the  gorgeous  dream  of  colonial 
dominion  to  fade  from  the  mind  of  the  First  Consul.  He  needed  troops  at  home,  and 
he  was  more  in  want  of  money  than  far-off  possessions  held  by  doubtful  tenure.3 

Monroe  arrived  at  Paris  on  the  12th  of  April,  1803.  The  negotiations  immediately 
commenced.  The  intercourse  between  the  three  commissioners  was  very  pleasant. 
Livingston  and  Marbois  had  known  each  other  intimately  more  than  twenty  years 
before.  Every  thing  went  on  smoothly;  and  in  less  than  a  fortnight  a  treaty  was 
signed  by  which  the  United  States  came  into  the  possession  of  a  vast  and,  to  some 
extent,  undefined  domain,  containing  a  mixed  free  population  of  eighty-five  thousand 
souls  and  forty  thousand  negro  slaves,  for  the  sum  of  815,000,000.  "We  have  lived 
long,"  said  Mr.  Livingston  to  Marbois,  as  he  arose  from  his  seat  after  signing  the 
treaty,  "  but  this  is  the  noblest  work  of  our  whole  lives.  The  treaty  wrhich  we  have 
just  signed  has  not  been  obtained  by  art  or  force ;  equally  advantageous  to  the  two 
contracting  parties,  it  will  change  vast  solitudes  into  flourishing  districts.  From  this 
day  the  United  States  take  their  place  among  the  powers  of  the  first  rank ;  the  En 
glish  lose  all  exclusive  influence  in  the  affairs  of  America." 

Bonaparte,  who  had  watched  the  progress  of  the  negotiations  with  intense  interest, 
held  similar  opinions.  "  It  is  true,"  he  said  to  Marbois  a  few  hours  later,  "  the  nego 
tiation  does  not  leave  me  any  thing  to  desire ;  sixty  millions  [francs]  for  an  occupa 
tion  that  will  not  perhaps  last  for  a  day !  I  Avould  that  France  should  enjoy  this 
unexpected  capital,  that  it  may  be  employed  in  works  beneficial  to  her  marine.*  This 
accession  of  territory,"  he  continued  exultingly,  "  strengthens  forever  the  power  of 
the  United  States ;  and  I  have  just  given  to  En  gland  a  maritime  rival that  will ',  sooner 
or  later,  humble  her  pride" 

1  Marbois  was  secretary  to  the  French  embassy  to  the  United  States  during  a  portion  of  the  American  Revolution,  and 
was  now  at  the  head  of  the  French  Treasury  Department. 

2  Toussaint  L'Ouvertnre,  an  able  and  courageous  negro,  seized  the  Spanish  part  of  St.  Domingo,  and  made  it  a  colony 
of  France,  in  January,  1801.    He  was  declared  President  for  life.    This  example  was  speedily  followed  by  the  black  and 
colored  population  of  Guadaloupe.    They  seized  the  governor  sent  out  by  Bonaparte,  and  established  a  provisional  gov 
ernment  in  October,  1801.    Meanwhile  an  insurrection  had  broken  out  in  St.  Domingo,  and  Bonaparte  sent  his  brother- 
iu-law,  Le  Clerc,  to  quell  it.    Toussaint  regarded  the  army  as  an  instrument  for  the  enslavement  of  himself  and  his 
people.    A  new  civil  war  ensued,  while  the  French  army  was  completely  decimated  by  fever  and  sword.    Twenty  thou 
sand  soldiers  perished,  and  sixty  thousand  white  people  of  the  island  were  massacred  by  the  infuriated  negroes.    A 
momentary  peace  ensued.    Toussaint,  who  deprecated  these  acts,  was  treacherously  seized  on  the  false  charge  of  inten 
tion  to  excite  another  insurrection,  taken  to  France,  and  died  in  prison  there.    By  direct  act  of  Bonaparte  slavery  was 
established  in  Guadaloupe  (where  his  army  was  more  successful),  and  the  slave-trade  was  opened. 

3  "I  require  a  great  deal  of  money,"  the  First  Consul  said  to  Marbois,  "to  carry  on  this  war,  and  I  would  not  like  to 
commence  with  new  contributions.    If  I  should  regulate  my  terms  according  to  the  value  of  those  vast  regions  to  the 
United  States,  the  indemnity  would  have  no  limits.    I  will  be  moderate,  in  consideration  of  the  necessity  in  which  J  am 
placed  of  making  a  sale.    But  keep  this  to  yourself." 

*  The  invasion  of  England  and  the  prostration  of  her  maritime  superiority  was  then  Bonaparte's  favorite  project. 


134  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Secession  proposed  by  New  England.      Condemned  by  Hamilton.     Affairs  in  the  Southwest.     Transfer  of  Louisiana. 

Notwithstanding  the  acknowledged  national  advantages  to  be  gained  by  the  acqui 
sition  of  Louisiana,  the  Federal  politicians,  especially  those  of  New  England,  perceiv 
ing  that  it  would  strengthen  the  South,  into  whose  hands  the  government  had  fallen, 
raised  a  loud  outcry  against  it  as  the  work  of  the  Southern  Democracy.  They  pro 
fessed  to  regard  the  measure  as  inimical  to  the  interests  of  the  North  and  East ;  and 
having,  while  in  power,  become  familiar  with  the  prescription  of  disunion  of  the 
states,  always  put  forth  by  the  Southern  political  doctors  as  the  great  remedy  for 
apparently  incurable  political  evils,  they  resolved  to  try  its  efficiency  in  the  case  in 
question.  All  through  the  years  1803  and  1804  desires  for  and  fears  of  a  dissolution 
of  the  Union  were  freely  expressed  in  what  are  now  the  free-labor  states  east  of  the 
Alleghanies  ;J  and  a  select  Convention  of  Federalists,  to  be  held  at  Boston  in  the 
autumn  of  1804,  to  consider  the  question  of  disunion,  was  contemplated  early  in  that 
year.  Alexander  Hamilton  was  invited  to  attend  it,  but  his  emphatic  condemnation 
of  the  whole  plan,  only  a  few  months  before  his  death,  seems  to  have  disconcerted  the 
leaders  and  dissipated  the  scheme.  "  To  his  honor  be  it  spoken,"  said  Dewitt  Clinton 
in  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  1809,  "it  was  rejected  by  him  with  abhor 
rence  and  disdain." 

The  acquisition  of  Louisiana  by  the  United  States  was  distasteful  to  the  Spaniards. 
It  brought  the  restless  and  enterprising  Americans  too  near  the  Spanish  provinces  in 
Mexico  to  promise  quietude  to  the  latter.  Yrugo,  the  Spanish  minister  at  Washing 
ton,  therefore  entered  a  solemn  protest  against  the  entire  treaty.  Questions  concern 
ing  the  true  boundary  of  Louisiana  were  speedily  raised,  and  serious  complications 
were  threatened.  The  Spaniards  were  disposed  to  cling  to  all  the  territory  east  of 
the  Mississippi  included  in  West  Florida,  and  thus  hold  possession  of  New  Orleans. 
This  disposition  opened  afresh  the  animosity  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  West  against 
the  occupants  of  the  Lower  Mississippi,  and  the  United  States  contemplated  the  ne 
cessity  of  taking  possession  of  New  Orleans  by  the  force  of  arms.  Troops  under 
General  James  Wilkinson,  consisting  of  a  few  regulars,  several  companies  of  Mississip 
pi  volunteers,  and  a  considerable  number  of  Tennessee  militia,  marched  from  Nash 
ville  to  Natchez. 

But  a  peaceful  transfer  of  the  territory  took  place.  Lausat,  the  commissioner  of 
France  to  receive  Louisiana  from  the  Spaniards  under  the  cession  treaty,  performed 
that  duty,  and  a  few  days  afterward  he  formally  delivered  the  island  and  city  of  New 
Orleans  to  General  Wilkinson  and  William  C.  C.  Claiborne,  the  commissioners  appoint 
ed  for  the  purpose  by  the  United  States.  The  Spaniards  were  left  in  possession  of 
the  country  along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  known  as  The  Floridas, 
lying  south  of  the  thirty-first  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  east  of  a  line  nearly  cor 
responding  with  the  present  boundary  between  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  on  the 
Pearl  River. 

Upon  the  soil  thus  acquired,  and  which  was  an  important  step  in  the  direction  of 
absolute  independence  of  Great  Britain  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  some  of  the 
most  stirring  events  of  the  War  of  1812  occurred,  and  thereon  was  fought  the  last 
and  most  decisive  battle  of  the  Second  War  for  Independence. 

The  acquisition  of  Louisiana  created  in  the  minds  of  adventurers  visions  of  personal 
and  national  aggrandizement  the  influence  of  which  it  was  difficult  to  resist.  Among 
those  who  formed  schemes  of  operation  in  that  direction  was  Aaron  Burr,  the  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  who  in  1804,  by  the  failure  of  his  political  aspirations, 
the  general  distrust  of  his  political  and  personal  integrity,  the  exposure  of  his  immoral 
character,  his  hopeless  financial  embarrassments,  and,  above  all,  his  cruel  murder  of 

i  Jefferson,  who  was  a  strict  constructionist'of  the  Constitution,  was  a  little  embarrassed  by  this  treaty.  The  acquisi 
tion  of  territory  he  thought  unconstitutional,  and  he  proposed  an  amendment  of  that  instrument  so  as  to  sanction  this 
important  act.  But  nothing  of  the  kind  was  done.  All  parties  coincided  in  the  measure,  and  on  the  20th  of  October, 
1803,  the  Senate  ratified  the  treaty  by  a  vote  of  twenty-four  to  seven.  The  purchase  of  Louisiana  became  a  precedent, 
and  its  accession  was  one  of  the  glories  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


135 


Aaron  Burr.    His  Murder  of  Hamilton.    Virginians  honor  him  for  it.    Specially  honored  by  Jefferson  and  his  Friends. 

the  great  and  honored  Hamilton  in  a  duel,  had  become  a  desperate  man,  and  a  fugi 
tive  from  society  and  from  justice,  moral  and  legal.  When  the  correspondence  be 
tween  Burr  and  Hamilton  immediately  preceding  the  duel  was  published,  it  was  evi 
dent  that  the  former  had  committed  a  murder  by  forcing  the  combat  upon  his  victim.1 
The  public  indignation  was  intense — so  intense  that  Burr  fled  before  its  fury  to  Geor 
gia  by  sea,  "  merely,"  as  he  wrote  to  his  (jjpghter  Theodosia,  a  planter's  wife  in  South 
Carolina,  "  to  give  a 
little  time  for  pas 
sion  to  subside,  not 
from  any  apprehen 
sions  of  the  final  ef 
fects  of  proceedings 
in  courts  of  law." 

Burr  found  him 
self  in  a  congenial 
atmosphere  in  the 
South.  He  was  feted 
and  caressed ;  and 
when,  finally,  he 
made  his  way  to 
ward  Washington 
City,  to  take  his  seat 
as  President  of  the 
Senate  by  virtue  of 
his  office,  he  was 
treated  to  ovations.  A  public 
dinner  was  given  him  at  Pe 
tersburg,  in  Virginia,  to  hon 
or  him  as  "  the  destroyer  of  the 


arch-foe  of  democra 
cy."2  Attended  by  a 
retinue  of  Democrats 
he  visited  the  thea 
tre  in  the  evening, 
where  the  audience 
rose  and  received 
him  with  cheers.3 
At  "Washington  City 
he  was  received  with 
great  deference.  The 
"  President  (Jeffer 
son)  seems  to  have 
been  more  complai 
sant  than  usual  ;"4 
and  at  Burr's  re 
quest  General  Wil 
kinson  was  appoint 
ed  Governor  of  Lou 
isiana,  and  Dr.  Brown  secreta 
ry.  These  were  the  Vice-Pres 
ident's  warm  friends. 

At  the  close  of  his  official  ca- 


reer  in  the  spring  of  1 805,  Burr  was  a  ruined  man,  socially,  politically,  and  pecuniari- 


1  The  political  intrigues  and  social  immoralities  of  Burr  had  become  so  generally  known  in  1804  that  his  future  suc 
cess  in  any  political  schemes  was  extremely  doubtful.    He  offered  himself  as  an  independent  candidate  for  Governor 
of  the  State  of  New  York  in  the  spring  of  1804,  and  was  defeated,  as  he  believed,  through  the  powerful  influence  of  Alex 
ander  Hamilton,  who  was  convinced  that  he  was  unfit  for  any  important  place  of  honor  or  profit.    That  failure  imbit- 
tered  him.    This  feeling  was  intensified  by  the  consciousness  that  he  was  suspected  and  distrusted  every  where.    Ham 
ilton,  whom  he  regarded  as  his  arch-enemy,  was  at  the  same  time  honored  and  trusted.    His  integrity  was  not  doubted 
by  his  most  uncompromising  political  enemies.    This  contrast  was  like  glowing  embers  upon  the  head  of  Burr,  and  he 
was  resolved  to  destroy  his  antagonist.    A  pretext  for  action  to  that  end  was  not  long  wanting.    A  zealous  partisan  of 
Burr's  competitor  in  the  late  election,  in  his  zeal  during  the  canvass,  declared  in  print  that  Hamilton  had  said  that  the 
Vice-President  was  a  "dangerous  man,  who  ought  not  to  be  trusted  with  the  reins  of  government."    Again  he  wrote, 
"I  could  detail  you  a  more  despicable  opinion  which  General  Hamilton  has  expressed  of  Burr." 

These  alleged  expressions  were  made  the  basis  of  a  challenge,  on  the  part  of  Burr,  to  mortal  combat.  Hamilton  per 
ceived  at  the  beginning  that  Burr  was  determined  to  force  him  to  fight,  against  his  own  convictions  of  the  wrongfulness 
of  dueling  and  the  necessities  of  the  case.  He  took  honorable  means  to  avoid  a  meeting.  His  malignant  enemy  could 
not  be  appeased.  At  length,  compelled  by  the  wretched  custom  of  society  then  prevailing,  called  "  the  code  of  honor," 
he  accepted  the  challenge,  met  Burr  on  the  western  shore  of  the  Hudson  near  Weehawken  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
llth  of  July,  1S04,  and  received  a  mortal  wound.  He  declared  his  intention  not  to  fire  at  Burr,  and  adhered  to  his  reso 
lution,  while  the  murderer  took  deliberate  aim,  and  accomplished  his  errand  to  the  field  of  blood.  Hamilton  was  con 
veyed  across  the  river  to  the  house  of  a  friend,  where  he  died  after  suffering  for  twenty-four  hours.  The  coroner  returned 
a  verdict  of  willful  murder.  A  bill  of  indictment  for  that  crime  was  found  against  him  in  New  Jersey,  within  the  juris 
diction  of  which  the  duel  was  fought,  and  the  Grand  Jury  of  New  York  found  bills  against  him  and  his  seconds  for  being 
concerned  in  a  duel,  the  punishment  for  which,  by  a  recent  act  of  that  state,  was  disfranchisement  and  incapacity  to 
hold  office  for  twenty  years.  Burr  fled  to  Philadelphia,  and  from  thence  to  Georgia. 

2  Parton's  Life  of  Aaron  Burr,  page  3T2.  3  The  same. 

4  The  same,  page  3T3.  Senator  Plumer  wrote  in  November,  1804,  "Mr.  Jefferson  has  shown  him  more  attention,  and  in 
vited  him  oftener  to  his  house  within  the  last  three  months,  than  he  ever  did  for  the  same  time  before.  Mr.  Gallatin  [Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury]  has  waited  upon  him  oftener  at  his  lodgings,  and  one  day  was  closeted  with  him  more  than 
two  hours.  Mr.  Madison,  formerly  the  intimate  friend  of  Hamilton,  has  taken  his  murderer  into  his  carriage,  and  ac 
companied  him  on  a  visit  to  the  French  minister.  .  .  .  The  Democrats  of  both  houses  are  remarkably  attentive  to  Burr. 
What  office  they  can  give  him  is  uncertain.  Mr.  Wright,  of  Maryland,  said  in  debate, '  The  first  duel  I  ever  read  of  was 
that  of  David  killing  Goliath.  Our  little  David  of  the  Republicans  has  killed  the  Goliath  of  Federalism,  and  for  this  I 
am  willing  to  reward  him.'  "—See  Life  of  William  Plumer,  by  his  son,  page  328. 


136 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Burr's  Schemes  for  his  own  Profit.     Blennerhassett  and  his  Home.     Burr  deceives  Andrew  Jackson  and  John  Adair. 

ly.  Every  legitimate  avenue  to  a  retrieval  of  his  character  and  fortune  seemed  to  be 
closed,  and  he  became  desperate.  His  ambition  was  as  intense  as  ever,  and  he  sought 
new  fields  for  the  exercise  of  his  powers.  He  spent  the  ensuing  summer  in  the  West. 
It  was  for  him  a  season  of  wide  observation  of  men  and  things,  having  a  bearing  upon 
some  grand  enterprise  which  he  had  conceived.  As  he  went  leisurely  down  the 
Ohio  he  visited  Harman  Blennerhassett,  a  WBlthy  and  cultivated  Irishman,  who,  with 
a  beautiful  and  equally  cultivated  wife,  had  formed  for  themselves  a  sort  of  terrestrial 
paradise  upon  an  island  in  the  Ohio  River  a  short  distance  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Muskingum.  Husband  and  wife  were  equally  charmed  by  Burr.  He  fired  their 
imaginations  with  glimpses  of  his  schemes  of  personal  grandeur  for  all  who  should 
co-operate  with  him.  He  filled  their  minds  with  dreams  of  immense  wealth  and 
power;  and  when  he  left  their  home  the  sunshine  of  their  sweet  domestic  felicity  had 
departed  forever.  Blennerhassett  was  a  changed  man.  He  had  placed  his  wealth 
and  reputation  in  the  keeping  of  an  unprincipled  profligate,  and  lost  both.1 

At  that  time  the  brave  and  incorruptible  Andrew  Jackson  was  in  command  of  the 
Tennessee  militia.  In  Maya  Burr  appeared  at  the  door  of  his  mansion,  a  few 
miles  from  Nashville,  and  was  received  as  an  honored  guest.  To  that  stern 
patriot  he  talked  of  the  establishment  of  a  splendid  empire  in  the  Southwest,  where 
the  Spaniards  then  ruled ;  and,  before  he  departed,  he  had  won  Jackson's  confidence, 
and  his  promises  of  co-operation.  He  met  Wilkinson  at  St.  Louis,  and  divulged  some 
of  his  schemes  to  that  weak  man.  He  won  the  friendship  of  other  influential  persons, 


1S06. 


among  them  General 
Adair,  of  Kentucky ; 
and  in  the  autumn 
he  returned  to  Wash 
ington,  and  sought  to 


win  to  his  service 
dissatisfied  military 
and  naval  officers. 
He  talked  enigmat 
ically,  and,  to  the 


1  Blennerhassett's  was  in 
deed  a  beautiful  and  happy 
home.  It  was  the  creation  of 
wealth,  taste,  and  love.  The 
mansion  was  elegant.  The 
gardens  were  laid  out  and 
planted  with  care.  Conserv 
atories  were  rich  in  exotics. 
Science,  music,  painting,  farm 
culture,  and  social  pleasures 
made  up  a  great  portion  of 
the  sum  of  daily  life  in  that 
elegant  retreat.  It  became 
the  resort  of  the  best  minds 
west  of  the  mountains.  The 
lately  rude  island  smiled  with 
perpetual  beauty.  To  the  sim 
ple  settlers  upon  the  neigh 
boring  shore  the  house  seem 
ed  like  a  palace,  and  the  way  of  living  there  like  that  of  a  prince.  Into  that  paradise  the  wily  serpent  crept,  and  polluted 
it  with  its  slime. 

Harman  Blennerhassett  was  a  descendant  of  an  ancient  Irish  family,  whose  seat  was  Castle  Conway,  in  Kerry.  His 
education  was  thoroughly  given  at  Trinity  College,  in  Dublin,  aud  he  graduated  at  the  same  time  with  his  friend  and 
kinsman,  Thomas  Addis  Emmett.  He  loved  and  studied  science.  On  the  death  of  his  father  in  1798  he  inherited  a  large 
fortune.  Having  become  involved  in  political  troubles,  he  sold  his  estate,  went  to  England,  and  married  the  beautiful 
and  accomplished  Miss  Agnew,  granddaughter  of  one  ot  the  British  generals  killed  at  the  battle  at  Germantown,  near 
Philadelphia.  They  came  to  America, 


JiLENJSEKllAHSETT  B 


for  five  years  before  Burr's  appearance 
they  had  enjoyed  perfect  happiness 
and  repose.  A  fine  library,  pictures, 
scientific  apparatus  gave  them  imple 


ments  for  mental  culture,  and  they  improved  the  opportunity.  When  Burr's  mad  schemes  failed  Blennerhassett's  para 
dise  was  laid  waste.  He  became  a  cotton-planter  in  Mississippi,  but  finally  lost  his  fortune.  He  and  his  wife  finally 
returned  to  England,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-one  years.  His  widow  came  to  America  to  seek  from  Congress 
some  remuneration  for  his  losses.  While  the  matter  was  pending  she  sickened  and  died  in  poverty  in  New  York  in 
August,  18^,  and  was  buried  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  137 


Military  Preparations  on  the  Ohio  River.     Burr  suspected  of  Treason  and  denounced.     His  Arrest  and  Trial.     Exile. 

ears  of  some,  disloyally.  Now  he  spoke  of  an  expedition  against  Mexico,  then  of  a 
union  of  the  Western  States  and  Territories  into  a  glorious  independent  government. 
To  General  Eaton  he  talked  of  usurpation — of  taking  possession,  by  the  instrument 
ality  of  a  revolution,  of  the  national  capital  and  archives,  and,  Cromwell-like,  assuming 
for  himself  the  character  of  a  protector  of  an  energetic  government.1  The  President 
was  apprised  of  these  things,  but  he  regarded  Burr's  language  and  schemes  as  those 
of  a  desperate  politician  too  weak  to  be  dangerous.2 

In  the  summer  of  1 806  Burr  was  again  in  the  West,  engaged  in  his  grand  scheme, 
into  the  inner  secrets  of  which  he  had  not  allowed  any  man  to  penetrate.  Blenner- 
hassett's  home  was  his  head-quarters,  and  a  military  organization  was  his  work.  A 
flotilla  was  formed  at  Marietta,  on  the  Ohio,  laden  with  provisions  and  military  stores ; 
and  large  numbers  of  leading  men  in  the  West,  ignorant  of  the  real  designs  of  Burr, 
but  believing  the  great  central  plan  to  be  the  construction  of  a  magnificent  Anglo- 
Saxon  empire  in  Mexico,  in  whose  glories  they  all  might  share,  joined  in  the  enter 
prise.  Wilkinson  was  made  the  arch-conspirator's  willing  tool.  Having  been  en 
gaged  in  intrigues  with  the  Spaniards  in  a  scheme  that  would  have  dismembered  the 
Union,  he  was  now  a  fitting  instrument  for  Burr's  disloyal  designs. 

But  in  Kentucky  there  was  a  man  not  to  be  deceived  by  Aaron  Burr.  It  was  that 
remarkable  character,  Colonel  Joe  Daviess,  who  gave  his  life  to  his  country  on  the 
field  of  Tippecanoe.  He  was  then  the  United  States  District  Attorney  for  Kentucky. 
He  believed  Burr  to  be  engaged  in  treasonable  plans,  and  procured  his  arrest.  Young 
Henry  Clay  defended  the  prisoner,  and  he  was  acquitted ;  but  Daviess  never  doubted 
his  guilt.  Jackson  too  had  become  convinced  that  Burr  was  preparing  to  separate 
the  West  from  the  rest  of  the  Union,  and  he  denounced  him.  "  I  hate  the  Dons,"  he 
Avrote  to  Governor  Claiborne,a  "and  would  delight  to  see  Mexico  re-  a  November  12, 
duced ;  but  I  would  die  in  the  last  ditch  before  I  would  see  the  Union 
disunited !"  Wilkinson,  alarmed  at  the  aspect  of  affairs,  turned  traitor  to  Burr,  and 
also  denounced  him. 

Meanwhile  the  government  had  become  alarmed.  The  whole  West,  and  indeed 
the  whole  country,  wTas  agitated  by  Burr's  operations ;  and  the  magnitude  of  his 
preparations,  the  persons  involved  in  his  toils,  and  the  known  disposition  of  unscru 
pulous  politicians  west  of  the  mountains  to  set  up  for  independency,  caused  the  Pres 
ident  to  take  measures  to  arrest  what  seemed  to  be  treason,  in  the  bud.  Jefferson 
did  not  choose  to  give  it  that  complexion,  and,  in  a  proclamation  for  the  arrest  of 
Burr's  designs,  whatever  they  might  be,  he  warned  all  persons  against  participating 
in  a  scheme  for  "  invading  the  Spanish  dominions." 

Boats  at  Marietta,  on  the  Ohio,  loaded  for  New  Orleans  with  materials  for  the  ex 
pedition,  were  seized,  and  Blennerhassett's  Island  wras  occupied  by  United  States 
troops.  In  February,  1807,b  Burr  was  arrested  near  Fort  Stoddart,  on 
the  Tombigbee  River,  in  the  present  State  of  Alabama,  by  Lieutenant 
(afterward  Major  General)  E.  P.  Gaines.  He  was  taken  to  Richmond,  in  Virginia, 
and  there  tried  on  a  charge  of  treason.  Chief  Justice  Marshall  presided  over  the 
court.  Burr  was  acquitted  ;  but,  from  that  day  to  this,  no  intelligent  student  of  the 
history  of  events  in  the  West  during  the  years  1 805  and  1 806,  doubts  that  he  was  en 
gaged  in  a  wicked  conspiracy  to  dissever  the  Union,  and  establish  a  government  over 
which,  in  some  form,  he  should  be  the  ruler.  His  escape  from  conviction  was  so  nar 
row,  and  his  fears  of  farther  prosecution  were  so  great,  that,  after  remaining  concealed 
for  several  weeks  among  his  friends,  he  sailed  for  Europe  under  the  name  of  G.  H. 
Edwards.  He  remained  in  exile  and  poverty  for  several  years. 

i  "He  said  if  he  could  gain  over  the  marine  corps,  and  secure  the  naval  commanders  Trhxtun,  Preble,  Decatur,  and 
others,  he  would  turn  Congress  neck  and  heels  out  of  doors,  assassinate  the  President,  seize  on  the  treasury  and  navy, 
and  declare  himself  the  protector  of  an  energetic  government." — Deposition  of  General  William  Eaton.  See  Life  of 
Eaton,  page  306^00,  inclusive.  2  The  same,  page  401. 


138 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  "Rule  of  1756"  modified.      Commercial  Thrift  in  the  United  States.      The  Jealousy  of  British  Merchants  aroused. 

While  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  violently  agitated  by  these  events  in 
the  West  the  war  in  Europe  was  progressing,  and  France  and  England  had  com 
menced  their  desperate  game  for  supremacy  at  the  expense  of  the  commercial  pros 
perity  of  the  world. 

For  a  long  time  the  commercial  thrift  of  the  United  States,  fostered  by  a  modifica 
tion  of  the  British  "rule  of  1756,"1  had  been  the  envy  of  English  merchants.  That 
modification  had  been  made  solely  for  the  supposed  benefit  of  British  commercial  in 
terests.  Relying  upon  the  faith  of  that  government,  tacitly  pledged  in  the  formal 
exposition  of  the  terms  of  that  modification  by  the  law  officer  of  the  crown,  the 
American  ship-owners  commenced  and  carried  on  a  most  extensive  and  profitable 
trade.2  American  vessels  became  the  chief  carriers  of  the  products  of  the  colonies  of 
France  and  Holland ;  also  of  Spain  after  her  accession  to  the  French  alliance.  Swe 
den,  Denmark,  and  the  Hanse  Towns3  were  then  the  only  neutral  maritime  powers, 
and  these,  in  common  with  the  United  States,  were  fast  growing  rich.4 

First  the  envious  British  merchants  complained ;  then  the  privateersmen  and  navy 
officers,  who  declared  that,  as  there  were  no  more  prizes  to  take,  their  occupation  was 

1  See  note  1,  page  84. 

2  On  the  accession  of  Alexander  to  the  throne  of  Russia,  after  the  assassination  of  the  Emperor  Paul  in  March,  1801, 
the  most  friendly  relations  were  established  between  that  country  and  Great  Britain.    On  the  ITth  of  June,  1S01,  a  treaty 
was  concluded  between  the  two  governments  "to  settle,"  as  the  preamble  expressed  it,  "an  invariable  determination 
of  the  principles  of  the  two  governments  upon  the  rights  of  neutrality."    In  that  treaty  not  only  the  "rule  of  1756"  was 
not  recognized,  but  the  right  of  the  neutral  to  trade  with  the  colonies  of  belligerents,  and  from  his  own  country  in  the 
produce  of  those  colonies  to  the  mother  country,  was  expressly  stipulated.    As  this  was  avowedly  the  "settled  princi 
ple"  of  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  American  commerce  had  no  more  fears.    But  its  sense  of  security  was  soon 
disturbed,  but  immediately  quieted  by  the  prompt  action  of  Mr.  King,  the  American  minister  at  the  BriMsh  court.    Early 
in  1801  he  was  informed  that  a  decree  of  the  Vice-Admiralty  Court  at  Nassau,  New  Providence,  had  condemned  the  cargo 
of  an  American  vessel  going  from  the  United  States  to  a  port  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  the  cargo  consisting  of  articles 
the  growth  of  old  Spain.    Mr.  King  immediately  presented  a  respectful  remonstrance  to  the  British  government  against 
this  infringement  of  the  rights  of  neutrals.    The  matter  was  referred  to  the  king's  advocate  general  (Lord  Hawkesbury), 
who  reported,  on  the  16th  of  March,  1S01,  in  the  following  words,  the  doctrine  of  England  at  that  time*  concerning  the 
rights  of  neutrals: 

"  It  is  now  distinctly  understood,  and  has  been  repeatedly  so  decided  by  the  High  Court  of  Appeals,  that  the  produce 
of  the  colonies  of  the  enemy  may  be  imported  by  a  neutral  into  his  own  country,  and  may  be  exported  from  thence,  even  to  the 
mother  country  of  such  colony;  and,  in  like  manner,  the  produce  and  manufactures  of  the  mother  country  may,  in  this  cir 
cuitous  mode,  legally  find  their  way  to  the  colonies.  The  direct  trade,  however,  between  the  mother  country 'and  its  colo 
nies  has  not,  I  apprehend,  been  recognized  as  legal,  either  by  his  majesty's  government  or  by  his  tribunals."  He  then 
explained  what  rule  should  govern  the  carrying  of  goods  to  cause  them  to  avoid  a  fair  definition  of  "direct  trade"  and 
be  in  conformity  to  the  modification  of  the  "rule  of  1756,"  above  mentioned,  by  saying,  "  that  landing  the  goods  and  pay 
ing  the  duties  in  the  neutral  country  breaks  the  continuity  of  the  voyage,  and  is  such  an  importation  as  legalizes  the 
trade,  although  the  goods  be  reshipped  in  the  same  vessel,  and  on  account  of  the  same  neutral  proprietors,  and  be  for 
warded  for  sale  to  the  mother  country  or  the  colonies." 

On  the  30th  of  March  the  Duke  of  Portland  (the  principal  Secretary  of  State)  sent  the  above  extracts  from  the  report 
of  the  advocate  to  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty,  with  a  letter  in  which  he  said,  "  I  have  the  honor  to  sig 
nify  to  your  lordships  the  king's  pleasure  that  a  communication  of  the  doctrine  laid  down  in  the  said  report  should  be 
immediately  made  by  your  lordships  to  the  several  judges  presiding  in  them,  setting  forth  what  is  held  to  be  the  law 
upon  the  subject  by  the  superior  tribunals  for  their  future  guidance  and  direction."— Letters  from  Messrs.  Monroe  and 
Piuckney  to  Lord  Howick,  August  20, 1806. 

3  Lubeck,  Hamburg,  and  Bremen.    These  are  all  that  remain  of  the  ancient  Hanseatic  League,  a  commercial  union 
of  a  number  of  German  port-towns  in  support  of  each  other  against  the  piracies  of  the  Swedes  and  Danes,  formed  in 
1164,  and  formally  signed  in  1241.    At  one  time  the  league  comprised  sixty-six  cities,  and  possessed  great  political  power. 
They  were  reduced  by  various  causes  to  their  present  number  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago.    The  Congress  at  Vi 
enna  in  1815  guaranteed  the  freedom  of  these  cities. 

*  The  following  table  exhibits  the  export  trade  of  the  United  States  for  four  years: 


YEARS. 

FOREIGN. 

DOMESTIC. 

TOTAL. 

1803  

13,594,000 
36,231,000 
53,179,000 
CO,  283,  000 

42,206,000 
41,468,000 
42,387,000 
41,253,000 

55,800,000 
77,699,000 
95,506,000 
101,536,000 

1804  

1805  

1800  

163,287,000 

167,314,000 

330,601,000 

This  exhibit  was  made  peculiarly  annoying  to  the  English,  because  the  foreign  articles  were  principally  productions 
of  the  colonies  of  the  enemies  of  Great  Britain. 

*  Montesquieu,  writing  ten  years  before  the  English  "rule  of  1756"  in  regard  to  the  rights  of  neutrals  was  promul 
gated,  said,  concerning  the  spirit  of  that  people,  "Supremely  jealous  with  respect  to  trade,  they  bind  themselves  but  lit 
tle  by  treaties,  and  depend  only  on  their  own  laws.  Other  nations  have  made  the  interests  of  commerce  vield  to  those 
of  politics;  the  English,  on  the  contrary,  have  ever  made  their  political  interests  give  way  to  those  of  commerce  "—See 
The  Spirit  of  Laws,  ii.,  8. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812.  139 

Keassertion  of  the  "Rule  of  1756."  British  Perfidy  defended  by  British  Writers.  Baring's  Exposure. 

greatly  interfered  with.  The  enemies  of  Great  Britain,  having  full  use  of  neutral 
merchant  vessels,  had  none  of  their  own  on  the  ocean.  Armed  ships,  protected  by 
the  neutral  flag,  performed  all  the  duties  of  practical  commerce,  and  the  trade  of  the 
maritime  foes  of  England  was  but  little  interrupted  by  existing  war.  The  "  rule  of 
1756,"  it  was  alleged,  was  wholly  evaded. 

These  complaints  were  heeded.  The  Courts  of  Admiralty  began  to  listen  willingly 
to  suggestions  that  this  allegation  of  neutral  property  was  in  many,  if  not  in  most 
cases,  a  mere  fraud,  intended  to  give  to  belligerent  goods  a  neutral  character ;  and 
early  in  the  summer  of  1805  the  "rule  of  1756"  was  revived  in  full  force.1  Like  kin 
dred  measures  on  previous  occasions,2  it  was  put  into  operation  secretly ;  and  the  first 
intimation  that  the  maritime  law  laid  down  by  the  king's  advocate  in  1801,  was  abro 
gated,  was  the  seizure  by  British  cruisers  and  condemnation  by  British  Admiralty 
Courts  of  American  vessels  and  their  cargoes.  At  the  same  time  English  public 
writers  put  forth  specious  defenses  of  the  action  of'their  government  in  its  revival  of 
the  old  practice.  One  of  these  was  James  Stephens,  a  lawyer  of  ability,  supposed  to 
have  been  employed  for  the  purpose  by  the  government.  He  wrote*  an  able  a  October, 
and  elaborate  essay,  under  the  title  of"  War  in  Disguise,  or  the  Frauds  of  the  1805< 
Neutral  Flags,"  in  which,  taking  the  "  rule  of  1756"  as  the  law  of  nations, "  to  which," 
he  said,  "  the  neutral  powers  have  all  assented,  in  point  of  principle,  by  submitting  to 
its  partial  application,"3  he  argued  that  the  immense  trade  carried  on  with  the  ene 
mies  of  England  under  the  American  flag  was  essentially  war  against  Great  Britain. 

"  War  in  Disguise"  was  "  written  in  the  spirit  of  a  lawyer  stimulated  by  that  of  a 
merchant,"4  and  was  full  of  dogmatic  assertions  and  bold  sophistries.  It  was  ably 
answered  in  England  by  Alexander  Baring,5  and  in  America  by  James  Madison,  then 

1  In  May,  1805,  the  decision  of  the  Lords  of  Appeal  on  the  case  of  the  cargo  of  the  American  ship  Essex  unchained  the 
chafing  English  cruisers.    It  was  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  decency,  to  give  to  the  world  a  fair  excuse  for  that  decision. 
It  had  already  been  decided  that  when  goods  had  been  made  a  common  stock  of  America  by  a  fair  importation  and 
the  payment  of  duties,  they  might  be  re-exported  from  thence  to  any  part  of  the  world.    To  evade  this  decision,  the 
Court  of  Appeals,  in  the  case  above  alluded  to,  established  the  illegality  of  the  neutral  trade,  "founded  on  a  discovery," 
says  Alexander  Baring  (see  note  5,  below),  "now  made  for  the  first  time,  that  the  duties  on  the  cargo  imported  had 
not  actually  been  paid  in  money,  but  by  bond  of  the  importer."    This  decision  contracted  the  whole  foreign  trade  of 
America  excepting  that  in  her  own  produce.    "  It  circulated  rapidly  among  our  cruisers  and  privateers,"  continues  Mr. 
Baring,  "  and  in  the  course  of  a  fortnight  the  seas  were  cleared  of  every  American  ship  they  could  find,  which  now 
crowded  our  ports  for  trial."— See  Baring's  Inquiry  into  the  Causes  and  Consequences  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  pages  81,  82. 

2  See  page  84. 

3  This  assumption  was  characteristic.    England,  on  her  own  motion,  promulgated  the  "rule  of 1756"  as  a  "law  of  na 
tions  ;"  and  having  the  power  to  enforce  it  for  half  a  century  in  the  face  of  the  most  vehement  protests  of  every  respect 
able  maritime  nation— even  armed  protests— her  statesmen  and  publicists  agreed  that  those  nations  had  "assented  to 
it ;"  as  if  a  icrong  unresented  on  account  of  the  weakness  of  the  sufferers  became  a  right !   It  was  never  assented  to.    The 
"Armed  Neutrality"  of  1780  and  1SOO  were  marked  protests  against  it,  and  the  American  principle  and  policy  always  op 
posed  the  assumption.    From  the  first  protest  against  it  in  1793  until  the  close  of  1801,  when  Secretary  Seward,  in  a  letter 
to  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  minister  at  Washington,  in  the  case  of  the  San  Jacinto  and  Trent,  reiterated  the  American 
doctrine  concerning  the  protecting  powers  of  a  neutral  flag,  the  Americans  have  opposed  the  "rule  of  1750."    For  a  full 
account  of  the  case  of  the  San  Jacinto  and  Trent,  see  Lossing's  Pictorial  History  of  the  Civil  War. 

*  Madison. 

5  The  eminent  English  merchant,  Alexander  Baring  (afterward  Lord  Ashburton,  and  at  that  time  a  member  of  Parlia 
ment),  put  forth  a  pamphlet  in  February,  1808,  entitled  An  Inquiry  into  the  Causes  and  Consequences  of  the  Orders  in  Coun 
cil,  etc.  It  was  published  in  February,  1808,  and  contains  a  most  searching  exposure  of  the  mischievous  exaggerations 
and  sophisms  of  this  essay.  It  is  not  extravagant  to  say  that  that  essay,  in  its  injurious  influence,  was  one  of  the  most 
potent  causes  of  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  in  1S12,  because  it  justified  in  a  semi-official  manner 
the  outrages  of  the  British  government,  through  its  navy,  on  the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  under  the  sanction  of 
orders  in  council,  and  deluded  the  English  mind  with  a  semblance  of  justice.  Speaking  of  some  of  the  statements  of 
the  author  of  War  in  Disguise,  Mr.  Baring  said,  "He  appears  ignorant  of  every  thing  relative  to  American  trade  to  a  de 
gree  incredible." 

War  in  Disguise  was  followed  by  other  pamphlets  of  lesser  note  on  the  same  side.  Among  the  most  noted  of  these  was 
one  entitled  The  Present  Claims  and  Complaints  of  America  Briefly  and  Fairly  Considered.  It  was  an  echo  of  War  in  Disguise, 
and  was  published  in  London  at  the  close  of  May,  1806.  On  the  back  of  the  title-page  of  the  copy  in  my  possession  is 
the  following  memorandum  in  manuscript  by  Brooke  Watson,  who  was  an  eminent  Canadian  merchant  when  the  Rev 
olution  broke  out  in  1775,  and  was  a  violent  partisan  of  the  crown  : 

"June  5th,  6th,  7th,  and  8th,  1806.  Read  this  pamphlet  with  all  the  attention  in  my  power  to  give  it,  and  under  all 
the  consideration  of  my  capacity,  accompanied  with  as  much  disinterestedness  as  the  nature  of  the  subject  will  permit 
to  exercise.  I  am  of  opinion  that,  should  this  country  give  way  to  the  solicitations  of  the  American  States,  and  much 
less  to  their  hostile  threats,  they  will,  by  so  doing,  that  is,  by  allowing  the  Americans  to  be  the  carriers  of  the  produce 
of  the  French  colonies  to  the  mother  country,  sacrifice  the  deepest  interest  of  this  nation  to  the  views  of  France  and  the 
growing  insolence  of  the  Americans. — East  Sheen,  8th  June,  1806.  BEOOKE  WATSON. 

"Read  'War  in  Disguise,'  Lord  Sheffield,  etc." 


140  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Answer  to  "  War  in  Disguise."  Foreign  Relations  unpromising.  Expected  Difficulties  with  Great  Britain. 

the  Secretary  of  State.  In  that  answer,  referring  to  menaces  in  Mr.  Stephens's  essay, 
Madison  uttered  the  following  noble  words,  prophetic  of  soon-coming  deeds  that  vin 
dicated  the  power  behind  them :  "  The  blessing  of  God  on  our  first  contest  in  arms 
made  this  nation  sovereign,  free,  and  independent.  Our  citizens  feel  their  honorable 
condition,  and,  whatever  may  be  their  opinion  on  questions  of  national  policy,  will 
firmly  support  the  national  rights.  Our  government  must  therefore  be  permitted  to 
judge  for  itself.  No  minister,  however  splendid  his  talents,  no  prince,  however  great 
his  power,  must  dictate  to  the  President  of  the  United  States."1 

The  foreign  relations  of  the  United  States  at  the  opening  of  the  year  1806  were 
unpromising.  The  conduct  of  the  Spanish  government  in  reference  to  Louisiana 
seemed  to  render  wrar  with  that  nation  inevitable.  Forbearance  on  the  part  of  the 
a  january  s;  Americans  was  exhausted,  and  a  select  committee  of  Congress  reported11 

1806-  that  the  aggressions  of  Spain  afforded  ample  cause  for  war.  But  as  the 
policy  of  the  country  was  always  a  peaceful  one,  it  was  proposed,  while  preparing 
for  hostilities,  to  endeavor  to  avert  them,  and  settle  all  matters  in  dispute  by  the 
purchase  of  a  part  or  the  whole  of  the  Floridas  from  Spain.  Action  to  that  end  was 
taken,  but  the  wrar-cloud  soon  passed  away. 

Not  so  with  the  harbingers  of  a  storm  that  was  evidently  brewing  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain.  The  depredations  of  British  cruisers  and  priva 
teers  on  American  commerce,  commenced  under  the  most  absurd  and  frivolous  pre 
texts,2  and  fully  sanctioned  by  the  British  government,  produced  the  most  intense 
indignation  throughout  the  country ;  and  wThen  the  Ninth  Congress  had  assembled  at 
Washington  in  December,  1805,  the  subject  was  speedily  presented  to  their  notice. 
Mr.  Jefferson  had  been  re-elected  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Democratic 
party,  of  which  he  was  the  founder  and  head,  had  an  overwhelming  majority  in  the 
National  Legislature.  Its  power  became  somewhat  weakened  by  the  defection  of 
John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  one  of  its  leaders,  a  quarrelsome  and  ambitious  man  of 
varied  but  not  solid  attainments,  who  carried  with  him  several  of  his  Virginia  col 
leagues,  and  filled  the  halls  of  legislation  during  the  entire  session  with  unprofitable 
bickerings. 

On  account  of  British  depredations,  memorials  from  the  merchants  of  nearly  all  of 
the  maritime  towns  of  the  United  States  north  of  the  Potomac,  argumentative  and 
denunciatory  in  substance,  and  numerously  signed,  were  presented  to  the  President ; 
and  on  the  17th  of  January  these,  Avith  a  special  message  on  the  subject,  were 
laid  before  Congress  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  together  with  parts  of  the  diplomatic  corre- 

1  This  reply  to  Mr.  Stephens  was  published  anonymously  in  February,  1806,  with  the  title  of  An  Answer  to  "War  in 
Disguise;"  or,  Remarks  on  the  New  Doctrine  of  England  concerning  Neutral  Trade. 

After  the  capture  of  the  Macedonian  by  Decatur  in  the  autumn  of  1812,  the  following  epigram  appeared  in  Cobbett'd 
Political  Register,  an  English  publication  : 

"WAR  IN  DISGUISE;  OR, 

AN  APOLOGY  FOK   HIS   MAJESTY'S  NAVY. 

"  One  Stephens,  a  lawyer,  and  once  a  reporter, 
Of  war  and  of  taxes  a  gallant  supporter, 
In  some  way  or  other  to  Wilberforce  kin, 
And  a  member,  like  him,  of  a  borough  bought  in, 
Who  a  Master  in  Chancery  since  has  been  made, 
Wrote  a  pamphlet  to  show  that  Jonathan's  TKADE 
Was  a  '  WAE  IN  DISGUISE  ;'  which,  though  strange  at  first  sight, 
Events  have  since  proved  may  have  been  but  too  right ; 
For  when  Garden  the  ship  of  the  Yankee  Decatur 
Attacked,  without  doubting  to  take  her  or  beat  her, 
A  FRIGATE  she  seemed  to  his  glass  and  his  eyes ; 
But  when  taken  himself,  how  great  his  surprise 
To  find  her  a  SEVENTY-FOUR  IN  DISGUISE  ! 

"  If  Jonathan  thus  has  the  art  of  disguising, 
That  he  captures  our  ships  is  by  no  means  surprising ; 
And  it  can't  be  disgraceful  to  strike  to  an  elf 
Who  is  more  than  a  match  for  the  devil  himself.— PUBS." 
3  Baring's  Inquiry,  etc.,  page  96. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  141 


Memorials  of  Merchants  on  the  Subject  of  British  Depredations.  Conduct  of  the  British  Cruisers. 

spondence  on  the  same  topic  by  Mr.  Monroe,  the  United  States  minister  at  the  Brit 
ish  court.  The  President  assured  Congress  that  Mr.  Monroe  had  been  instructed  "  to 
insist  on  rights  too  evident  and  too  important  to  be  surrendered.1 

The  memorials  from  the  merchants  were  generally  drawn  with  great  ability ;  and 
it  is  a  notable  fact  that  these  men,  who,  as  a  class,  naturally  deprecate  war  because 
it  is  destructive  to  commerce,  and  are  willing  to  make  great  concessions  to  avoid  it, 
called  earnestly  upon  the  government  to  put  forth  the  strong  powers  of  the  army 
and  navy,  if  necessary,  in  defense  of  the  rights  of  neutrals  and  the  protection  of 
American  interests. 

There  were  memorials  from  Boston,  Salem,  Newburyport,  New  Haven,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  and  all  called  loudly  for  redress,  under  the  evident  ex 
pectation  that  to  insist  upon  it  would  cause  war. 

The  Boston  merchants  said  that  they  fully  relied  that "  such  measures  would  be 
promptly  adopted  as  Avould  tend  to  disembarrass  commerce,  assert  our  rights,  and 
support  the  dignity  of  the  United  States." 

The  merchants  of  Salem  said, "  If,  however,  conciliation  can  not  effect  the  purpose, 
and  an  appeal  to  arms  be  the  last  and  necessary  protection  of  honor,  they  feel  no  dis 
position  to  decline  the  common  danger  or  shrink  from  the  common  contribution. 
Relying  on  the  wisdom  and  firmness  of  the  general  government  on  this  behalf,  they 
feel  no  hesitation  to  pledge  their  lives  'and  properties  in  the  support  of  the  measures 
which  may  be  adopted  to  vindicate  the  public  rights  and  redress  the  public  wrongs" 

The  merchants  of  Newburyport  relied  "with  confidence  on  the  firmness  and  justice 
of  the  government  to  obtain  for  them  compensation  and  protection ;"  and  those  of 
New  Haven  called  upon  that  government "  firmly  to  resist  every  encroachment  upon 
the  rights  of  neutral  nations."  They  tendered  "  assurances  of  their  disposition  to 
give  aid  and  support  to  every  measure  calculated  to  accomplish  this  important 
object." 

The  New  York  merchants  declared  their  firm  "  reliance  upon  the  government  of 
their  country  that  their  rights  would  not  be  abandoned,  and  (referring  to  the  assump 
tion  of  the  author  of  "War  in  Disguise,"  see  page  139)  that  no  argument  in  favor 
of  a  usurpation  would  ever  be  derived  from  their  acquiescence."  They  concluded 
by  saying, "  We  pledge  our  united  support  in  favor  of  all  the  measures  adopted  to 
vindicate  and  secure  the  just  rights  of  our  country." 

The  merchants  of  Philadelphia  suggested  that  when  every  peaceable  means  con 
sistent  with  honor  had  been  tried  to  recover  redress,  and  failed,  that  a  resort  to 
arms  might  be  necessary.  "  If  such  measures  should  prove  ineffectual,"  they  said, 
"  whatever  may  be  the  sacrifice  on  their  part,  it  would  be  met  with  submission." 

These  memorials  were  signed  by  merchants  of  every  shade  of  politics,  and  by  for 
eigners  doing  business  in  these  ports.  For  more  than  ten  years  they  had  suffered 
greatly  from  the  varying  but  always  aggressive  policy  of  Great  Britain,  a  policy  now 
greatly  aggravated  by  the  latitude  tacitly  given  to  the  British  cruisers  in  respect  to 
American  commerce.  These  were  in  little  danger  of  being  made  answerable  for  any 
errors,  and  were  consequently  not  disposed  to  make  nice  distinctions.  They  detained 
and  sent  in  every  vessel  they  met  under  the  most  frivolous  pretenses,  in  which  they 
were  encouraged  by  the  expectation  of  actual  war.  They  captured  American  vessels 
with  cargoes  wholly  of  American  produce ;  and  the  owners  of  privateers  were  in  the 
daily  practice  of  taking  in  valuable  cargoes  and  offering  immediately  to  release  them 
for  one  or  two  hundred  guineas,  and  sometimes  a  larger  sum.  "  In  these  instances," 
says  Mr.  Baring,  "  the  judge  decreed  the  restitution  of  the  ship  and  cargo,  and  costs 
against  the  captors,  with  expressions  of  indignation  which  so  lawless  an  outrage  nec 
essarily  excited.  The  latter  had,  in  the  face  of  this  censure,  the  audacity  to  enter  ap- 

1  Statesman's  Manual,  i.,  273. 


142  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Impressment  of  American  Seamen  into  the  British  Service.    The  Eight  of  Search  asserted.    Protest  of  the  Americans. 

peals,  and  the  American  was  obliged  either  to  compromise  or  leave  to  the  captor  the 
option  of  bringing  forward  his  appeal  within  a  twelve-month,  with  the  possible  ad 
vantage  of  an  intervening  war  securing  to  him  his  prize.1  The  London  merchant,"  he 
said, "  is  either  obliged  to  acquiesce  in  this  iniquitous  robbery,  or  let  his  correspondent 
suffer  the  more  expensive  vexations  which  it  is,  unfortunately,  in  the  power  of  these 
people  to  inflict.  If  these  are  the  maritime  rights,"  exclaims  the  honest  and  indig 
nant  Englishman, "  for  which,  we  are  told,  with  a  pompous  ambiguity  that  always 
avoids  coming  to  the  point,  '  our  ancestors  fought  and  bled,'  and  for  which  '  we 
crushed  the  Northern  Confederacy,'2  I  am  strangely  mistaken."3 

Another  and  most  serious  subject  of  complaint  against  Great  Britain  was  now 
considered  in  connection  with  the  depredatibns  upon  American  commerce.  It  was 
the  impressment  into  the  British  naval  service  of  seamen  taken  without  leave  from 
American  vessels,  and  who  were  sailing  under  the  protection  of  the  American  flag. 
To  this  subject  we  have  already  referred.4  It  had  been  a  topic  of  complaint  and  ne 
gotiation  from  the  beginning  of  the  national  government  in  1789,  and  impressment 
in  general  was  a  system  against  which  humane  British  publicists  and  statesmen  had 
declaimed.  But  the  British  government,  not  always  the  exponent  of  the  English 
mind  and  heart,  governed  by  expediency  rather  than  justice,  and  having  the  prece 
dents  of  more  than  four  hundred  years  to  support  its  policy  in  this  respect,5  had  then 
for  half  a  century  chosen  to  exercise  that  power  in  procuring  seamen  for  its  navy, 
and  to  utterly  disregard  other  hoary  precedents  which  would  have  justified  it  in 
abolishing  the  nefarious  system.6  It  was  too  useful  in  time  of  war,  in  the  replenish 
ment  of  the  navy,  to  be  relinquished.  Upon  it  had  been  ingrafted  another  more  uni 
versally  offensive.  It  was  that  of  searching  neutral  vessels  for  British  seamen,  and, 
seizing  them  without  other  criteria  of  their  nationality  than  the  presumptive  evi 
dence  which  similarity  of  language  afforded,  impressing  them  into  the  British  naval 
service.  In  the  course  of  fifteen  years  thousands  of  native  Americans  had  thus  been 
made  to  serve  a  master  whom  they  detested.  There  being  no  maritime  power  strong 
enough  to  resist  these  aggressions,  it  was  assumed  by  Great  Britain,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  "  rule  of  1756,"  that  it  was  for  her  an  established  "maritime  right." 

From  the  beginning  of  its  career  the  government  of  the  United  States  protested 
against  the  right  of  search  and  the  impressment  of  seamen  taken  from  under  the 
American  flag.  In  his  instructions  to  the  United  States  minister  in  London,  in  the 
summer  of  1792,  Mr.  Jefferson  directed  him  to  call  the  attention  of  the  British  minis 
try  to  the  subject.  That  government  not  denying  that  American  seamen  had  been 
impressed,  had  made  the  degrading  proposition  that,  for  their  protection  against  such 
"  accidents,"  such  seamen  should  carry  with  them  a  certificate  of  citizenship  !  "  This 
is  a  condition,"  said  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  never  yet  submitted  to  by  any  nation."7  The 
right  to  enter  an  American  vessel  without  leave,  for  any  pretense,  was  then,  and  al 
ways  has  been,  strongly  denied  by  the  government  of  the  United  States.  The  War 
of  1812  with  England  was  a  solemn  protest  against  the  assumption  of  that  right  by 
the  British  government ;  and  such  a  requirement  of  American  sailors  would  operate 
practically  as  a  warrant  to  British  cruisers  for  stripping  almost  every  American  ves 
sel  of  its  seamen,  for  the  habits,  calling,  and  vicissitudes  of  the  sailor  are  such  that 
most  of  them  would  soon  lose  their  "  certificates."  The  proposition  had  been  unhes 
itatingly  rejected  as  inadmissible  by  an  independent  nation. 

In  October  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Jefferson  again  called  the  attention  of  the  embas- 
sador  to  the  subject,  "  so  many  instances"  of  impressment  having  been  complained 

i  Inquiry,  etc.,  page  94.  *  Armed  Neutrality.    See  note  2,  page  83.  =»  Baring's  Inquiry,  pages  95, 96,  97. 

4  See  page  85. 

5  The  statute  of  2  Richard  II.  speaks  of  impressment  being  well  known  as  early  as  13T8. 

6  Impressment  was  declared  to  be  illegal  by  the  British  government  in  1641. 

7  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Mr.  Pinckney,  June  11, 1792. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


143 


Correspondence  on  the  Subject  of  Impressments. 


Kufus  King. 


His  Arraignment  of  the  British  Government. 


of;1  and  in  November  he  expressed  to  Mr.  Pinckney  the  hope  that  he  might  "  be  able 
to  make  the  British  ministry  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  punishing  the  past  and  pre 
venting  the  future."2 

board  their 


In  1796  Timothy 
Pickering,  then  Sec 
retary  of  State,  in 
his  instructions  to 
Mr.  King,  Ameri 
can  minister  at  the 
Court  of  London,3 
spoke  of  "the  long 
and  fruitless  at 
tempts  that  have 
been  made  to  pro 
tect  American  sea 
men  from  British 
impress,"  and  di 
rected  him  to  do  all 
in  his  power  to  en 
able  the  American 
flag  to  "  protect 
those  of  whatever 
nation  who  sail  un 
der  it."4  In  anoth 


ry   on 

ships  for  American 
seamen,"  and  there 
fore  "  their  doom  is 
fixed  for  the  war. 
Thus," he  said,  "the 
rights  of  an  inde 
pendent  nation  are 
to  be  sacrificed  to 
British  dignity. 
Justice  requires 
that  such  inquiries 
and  examinations 
be  made,  because, 
otherwise,  the  lib 
eration  of  our  sea 
men  will  be  im 
possible.  For  the 
British  govern 
ment  then  to  make 
professions  of  re 
spect  to  the  rights  of  our  cit 
izens,  and  willingness  to  re 
lease  them,  and  yet  deny  the 
only  means  of  ascertaining 
If  the  British  government  have  any  regard 


er  dispatch  the  same  year  he 

alludes   to    the    fact  that  the 

British  government  had  gone 

so  far  as  not  to  "  permit  inqui- 

those  rights,  is  an  insulting  tantalism. 

to  our  rights,  any  respect  for  our  nation,  and  place  any  value  on  our  friendship,  they 

will  even  facilitate  to  us  the  means  of  releasing  our  oppressed  citizens."5 

A  little  later  he  wrote, "  The  British  naval  officers  often  impress  Swedes,  Danes, 
and  other  foreigners  from  the  vessels  of  the  United  States.  They  have  even  some 
times  impressed  Frenchmen !  .  .  .  They  can  not  pretend  an  inability  to  distinguish 
these  foreigners  from  their  own  subjects.  They  may  with  as  much  reason  rob  the 
American  vessels  of  the  property  or  merchandise  of  the  Swedes,  Danes,  or  Portu 
guese,  as  seize  and  detain  in  their  service  the  subjects  of  those  nations  found  on  board 
American  vessels."6 

During  the  following  year  very  many  complaints  concerning  impressed  American 
seamen  were  made  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  cases  of  absolute 


i  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Mr.  Pinckney,  October  12, 1792. 

"  The  same  to  the  same,  November  C,  1792. 

3  Kufus  King  was  born  in  Scarborough,  Maine,  in  the  year  1755.  He  was  a  student  in  Harvard  College  in  1775,  when 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  for  independence  suspended  that  institution.  He  chose  the  law  for  his  profession,  and  be 
came  an  able  practitioner.  He  was  in  Sullivan's  army  in  Rhode  Island  in  1778,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1780.  His 
first  appearance  was  in  opposition  to  his  great  instructor,  Theophilus  Parsons,  of  Newburyport.  His  oratorical  talents 
soon  became  known  and  appreciated,  and  in  1784  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts.  In  the 
National  Convention  of  1787  he  was  an  efficient  member,  and  nobly  advocated  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution  there 
adopted.  Having  married  the  daughter  of  an  opulent  merchant  of  New  York,  Mr.  King  made  that  city  his  residence  in 
1788,  and  the  next  year  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  New  York.  He  was  one  of  the  first  United  States  sen 
ators  from  New  York,  and  in  1796  was  appointed  minister  to  Great  Britain.  He  returned  home  in  1803.  From  1813  to 
1826  he  was  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate.  At  the  close  of  his  term  he  was  sent  to  England  as  minister  pleni 
potentiary,  but  ill  health  compelled  him  to  relinquish  his  post  and  return  home  after  a  residence  of  about  a  year  there. 
He  died  at  his  home  near  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  on  the  29th  of  April,  1S27,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years. 

*  Mr.  Pickering  to  Mr.  King,  June  8, 1796. 

6  The  same  to  the  same,  September  10, 1796. 

6  The  same  to  the  same,  October  26, 1796. 


144  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Cruel  Treatment  of  American  Seamen  in  the  British  Navy.  Secretary  Marshall  to  Minister  King. 

cruelty  exercised  toward  and  hardships  endured  by  American  seamen  thus  impressed 
were  reported.1 

The  United  States  government,  always  inclined  to  peace,  frequently  urged  upon 
that  of  Great  Britain  the  necessity  of  a  convention  which  should  settle  the  questions 
of  impress  and  neutrality,  but  without  success,  for  the  British  government  prac 
tically  assumed  the  right  to  be  a  law  unto  itself.  Early  in  1799  Mr.  King  made  an 
earnest  representation  on  the  subject  to  Lord  Grenville,  denying,  as  he  had  on  former 
conferences,  any  right  of  the  kind  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  suggesting  that 
American  ships  of  war,  by  permission  of  their  government,  might  with  equal  right 
pursue  the  same  practice  toward  British  merchantmen.  He  protested  against  the  in 
discriminate  seizure  on  board  of  American  vessels  of  seamen  of  several  nations,  and 
pressed  him  for  some  definite  assurance  of  a  change.  But  Grenville,  as  usual,  was 
evasive,  and  the  conference  ended  without  a  prospect  of  satisfaction.  Grenville  as 
sured  Mr.  King  that  all  Americans  so  impressed  should  be  discharged  on  application 
for  that  purpose ;  but  the  American  minister  very  properly  considered  that  offer  far 
short  of  satisfaction.  "  Indeed,"  he  said,  "  to  acquiesce  in  it  is  to  give  up  the  right."2 

Late  in  the  year  1800,  John  Marshall,  then  Secretary  of  State,  wrote  an  able  and 
eloquent  letter  to  Mr.  King  in  London  on  the  subject  of  the  impress.  "The  impress 
ment  of  our  seamen,"  he  said,  "  is  an  injury  of  very  serious  magnitude,  which  deeply 
affects  the  feelings  and  the  honor  of  the  nation.  .  .  .  They  are  dragged  on  board 
British  ships  of  war  with  evidences  of  citizenship  in  their  hands,  and  forced  by  vio 
lence  there  to  serve  until  conclusive  testimonials  of  their  birth  can  be  obtained.  .  .  . 
Although  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty  uniformly  direct  their  discharge  on  the  produc- 

1  Investigation  revealed  the  following  facts:  on  the  4th  of  July,  1T94,  Captain  Silas  Talbot,  of  the  United  States  Navy, 
wrote  from  Kingston,  Jamaica,  to  Secretary  Pickering,  that  Admiral  Sir  Hyde  Parker  had  "issued  a  general  order  to  all 
captains  and  commanders  of  ships  and  vessels  of  war,  directing  them  not  to  obey  any  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  nor  suffer 
any  men  to  leave  their  ships  in  consequence  of  such  writ."    This  order  was  issued  because  Talbot  had  made  successful 
applications  to  the  civil  authorities  on  that  island  for  the  release  of  enslaved  Americans  on  board  British  vessels.    Tal 
bot,  however,  persevered  in  his  humane  efforts,  and  he  wrote  that,  while  all  the  writs  which  he  had  obtained  were 
served,  none  of  them  were  obeyed.    The  naval  officers  on  that  station  set  the  civil  authority  at  defiance,  and  Talbot 
wrote,  "The  laws  in  this  island,  it  seems,  can  not  be  administered  for  the  relief  of  American  citizens  who  are  held  in 
British  slavery,  many  of  whom,  as  they  write  me  from  on  board  Captain  Otway's  ship,  have  been  brought  to  the  gangway 
and  whipped  for  writing  to  their  agent  to  get  them  discharged  /" 

William  Cobbett,  an  Englishman,  wrote  afterward  in  Us  Political  Register,  saying,  "Our  ships  of  war,  when  they  meet 
an  American  vessel  at  sea,  board  her  and  take  out  of  her  by  force  any  seamen  whom  our  officers  assert  to  be  British 
subjects.  There  is  no  rule  by  which  they  are  bound.  They  act  at  discretion;  and  the  consequence  is  that  great  numbers 
of  native  Americans  have  been  impressed,  and  great  numbers  of  them  are  now  in  our  navy.  .  .  .  That  many  of  these 
men  have  died  on  board  our  ships,  that  many  have  been  wounded,  that  many  have  been  killed  in  action,  and  that  many 
have  been  worn  out  in  the  service  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Some  obtain  their  release  through  the  application  of  the 
American  consul  here  ;  and  of  these  the  sufferings  have  in  many  instances  been  very  great.  There  have  been  instances 
where  men  have  thus  got  free  after  having  been  flogged  through  the  fleet  for  desertion.*  But  it  has  been  asked  whether  we 
are  not  to  take  our  sailors  where  we  find  them  ?  To  which  America  answers,  '  Yes.'  .  .  .  She  wishes  not  to  have  in  her 
ships  any  British  sailors,  and  she  is  willing  to  give  them  up  whenever  the  fact  of  their  being  British  sailors  can  be 
proved ;  but  let  not  men  be  seized  in  her  ships  upon  the  high  seas  (and  sometimes  at  the  mouths  of  her  own  rivers), 
where  there  is  nobody  to  judge  between  the  parties,  and  where  the  British  officer  going  on  board  is  at  once  ACCUSES, 
WITNESS,  JUDGE,  and  OAPTOK  !" 

2  Mr.  King  to  Mr.  Pickering,  March  15, 1799. 

*  There  is  ample  testimony  to  prove  the  cruel  treatment  experienced  by  impressed  American  seamen  on  board  British 
vessels.  Richard  Thompson,  a  native  of  New  Paltz,  Ulster  County,  New  York,  testified  at  Poughkeepsie  on  the  17th  of 
April,  1793,  that,  while  on  the  sea  in  a  merchant  vessel,  he  was  impressed  on  board  the  British  vessel  of  war  Peacock  in 
1810.  He  was  not  allowed  to  write  to  his  friends.  When  he  and  two  other  impressed  American  seamen  heard  of  the 
declaration  of  war  in  1812,  they  claimed  to  be  considered  prisoners  of  war,  and  refused  to  do  duty  any  longer.  They 
were  ordered  to  the  quarter-deck,  put  in  irons  for  twenty-four  hours,  then  taken  to  the  gangway,  stripped  naked,  "tied 
and  whipped,  each  one  dozen  and  a  half  lashes,  and  put  to  duty."  When  the  Peacock  went  into  action  with  the  Hornet 
they  asked  the  captain  to  be  sent  below,  that  they  might  not  fight  against  their  countrymen.  The  captain  called  a  mid 
shipman  and  told  him  to  "  do  his  duty."  That  duty  was  to  hold  a  pistol  at  the  head  of  Thompson  and  threaten  to  blow 
his  brains  out  if  he  and  his  companions  did  not  do  service.  They  were  liberated  on  the  capture  of  the  Peacock  by  the 
Hornet.  Another  seaman  from  Ulster  County,  named  James  Tompkins,  testified  to  greater  cruelties  inflicted  on  himself 
and  three  others,  who  were  impressed  on  board  the  British  ship  Acteon  in  April,  1S12.  When  they  refused  to  do  duty 
they  were  whipped  "five  dozen  lashes  each."  Two  days  afterward  they  received  four  dozen  lashes  each.  They  still 
refused  to  do  duty,  and,  after  the  lapse  of  another  two  days,  they  received  two  dozen  lashes  each.  They  still  refused, 
and,  after  being  whipped  again,  they  were  put  in  irons,  where  they  were  kept  three  months.  On  their  arrival  in  London 
they  heard  of  the  capture  of  the  Guerriere.  With  a  shirt  and  handkerchiefs  they  made  stripes  and  stars  for  American 
colors,  hung  it  over  a  gun,  and  gave  three  cheers  for  the  victory.  For  this  outburst  of  patriotism  they  received  two 
dozen  lashes  each. 


OF   THE   WAE    OF    1812.  145 


Argument  against  Impressments.    The  British  Government  refuses  to  listen.    Its  Proposition  on  the  Subject  rejected. 

tion  of  this  testimony,  yet  many  must  perish  unrelieved,  and  all  are  detained  a  con 
siderable  time  in  lawless  and  injurious  confinement.  It  is  the  duty  as  well  as  a  right 
of  a  friendly  nation  to  require  that  measures  be  taken  by  the  British  government  to 
prevent  the  continued  repetition  of  such  violence  by  its  agents.  .  .  .  The  mere  release 
of  the  injured,  after  a  long  course  of  serving  and  suffering,  is  no  compensation  for  the 
past,  and  no  security  for  the  future.  .  .  .  The  United  States,  therefore,  require  posi 
tively  that  their  seamen  who  are  not  British  subjects,  whether  born  in  America  or 
elsewhere,  shall  be  exempt  from  impressment.  The  case  of  British  subjects,  whether 
naturalized  or  not,  is  more  questionable ;  but  the  right  even  to  impress  them  is  de 
nied.  .  .  .  Alien  seamen,  not  British  subjects,  engaged  in  our  merchant  service,  ought 
to  be  equally  exempt  with  citizens  from  impressments.  "We  have  a  right  to  engage 
them,  and  have  a  right  to  and  an  interest  in  their  persons  to  the  extent  of  the  service 
contracted  to  be  performed.  Britain  has  not  a  pretext  of  right  to  their  persons  or 
their  service.  To  tear  them,  then,  from  our  possession  is  at  the  same  time  an  insult 
and  an  injury.  It  is  an  act  of  violence  for  which  there  exists  no  palliative."  After 
alluding  to  the  fact  that  the  principles  of  the  United  States  government  would  not 
allow  retaliation  by  impressments  from  the  British  merchant  ships,  and  suggesting 
that  something  in  that  way  might  be  done  by  recruiting  from  that  service,  Mr.  Mar 
shall  concludes  by  saying,  "  Is  it  not  more  advisable  to  desist  from,  and  to  take  ef 
fectual  measures  to  prevent  an  acknowledged  wrong,  than,  by  perseverance  in  that 
wrong,  to  excite  against  themselves  the  well-founded  resentment  of  America,  and 
force  our  government  into  measures  which  may  possibly  terminate  in  open  rup 
ture  ?'n 

These  suggestions  were  all  submitted  to  the  British  ministry,  but  without  the 
slightest  visible  effect.  While  the  war  continued,  the  nefarious  practice  was  carried 
on  vigorously;  but  when  the  general  pacification  of  Europe  took  place  in  1801,  and 
the  Peace  of  Amiens  gave  a  respite  to  British  ships  of  war — when  their  seamen  were 
in  excess  of  the  demand — impressments  ceased,  and  the  American  minister  in  London, 
untaught  by  past  experience  and  observation,  wrote,  "  I  am  in  hopes  that  Lord  St. 
Vincent  will  be  inclined  to  attend  to  our  reiterated  remonstrances  against  the  im 
pressment  of  our  seamen  and  the  vexations  of  our  trade."2  Vain  expectation  ! 

Early  in  the  year  1 800a  Mr.  Listen,  the  British  minister  in  the  United 

•  tt  February  4 

States,  submitted  to  President  Adams  a  proposition  for  the  reciprocal  de 
livery  of  deserters,  so  worded  as  to  sanction  impressment  on  board  of  private  vessels, 
but  to  except  "  public  ships  of  war."  It  was  rejected.  Pickering,  the  Secretary  of 
State,  said,  "  It  appears  utterly  inadmissible,  unless  it  would  put  an  end  to  impress 
ments."3  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  said,  "  It  is  better  to  have  no  article,  and  meet 
all  consequences,  than  not  to  enumerate  merchant  vessels  on  the  high  seas  among  the 
things  not  to  be  entered  in  search  of  deserters."4  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ob 
jected  to  it  because  it  did  not "  provide  against  the  impressment  of  American  sea 
men."5  The  Secretary  of  War  objected  to  it  on  the  same  ground,  saying,  "  If  this 
article  [the  seventh  in  Mr.  Listen's  proposition]  means  what  it  is  apprehended  it  does, 
it  is  utterly  inadmissible."6  The  President  and  his  Cabinet,  thus  planting  themselves 
upon  the  broad  principles  of  neutral  rights  and  the  sanctity  of  the  national  flag  laid 
down  at  the  beginning,  would  listen  to  nothing  short  of  a  recognition  of  those  rights 
and  of  that  sanctity.7 
When  hostilities  between  Great  Britain  and  France  were  revived  in  1803,  the  im- 

i  Marshall  to  King,  September  20, 1800.  2  Mr.  King  to  the  Secretary  of  State.  February  23, 1801. 

3  Pickering  to  the  President,  February  20, 1800.  *  Benjamin  Stoddert  to  the  President,  February  26, 1800. 

5  Oliver  Wolcott  to  the  President,  April  26, 1800.  «  James  M 'Henry  to  the  President,  April  16, 1800. 

7  From  June,  1797,  until  the  beginning  of  1801,  no  less  than  2059  applications  for  seamen  impressed,  including  many 
made  previously  by  Mr.  King  and  Mr.  Pinckney,  were  made.  Of  these,  only  102  were  British  subjects— less  than  one 
twentieth  of  the  whole  impressed.  Eleven  hundred  and  forty-two  were  discharged  as  not  being  British  subjects,  and 
805,  more  than  one  half,  were  held  for  farther  proof,  while  there  existed  strong  presumption  that  the  whole,  or  a  greater 
part,  at  least,  were  aliens.  — LTMAN'S  Diplomacy  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  15,  note. 

K 


146  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Doctrine  concerning  Neutral  Rights  held  by  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.        The  latter  arraigned  by  Madison. 

press  was  again  put  into  active  operation.  The  American  minister  in  London,  Mr. 
Monroe,  following  up  previous  efforts  made  by  Mr.  King  when  that  gentleman  per 
ceived  that  war  was  inevitable,1  used  every  lawful  endeavor  to  make  a  mutually  sat 
isfactory  arrangement  concerning  it.  In  a  letter  of  instructions  to  that  minister  early 
in  1804,a  Mr.  Madison,  then  Secretary  of  State,  ably  and  lucidly  reviewed 
the  whole  subject  of  the  impress  and  the  rights  of  neutrals.  His  letter 
opened  with  the  following  clear  enunciation  of  the  doctrines  of  the  two  nations : 

"  We  consider  a  neutral  flag  on  the  high  seas  as  a  safeguard  to  those  sailing  under 
it.  Great  Britain,  on  the  contrary,  asserts  a  right  to  search  for  and  seize  her  own  sub 
jects  ;  and  under  that  cover,  as  can  not  but  happen,  are  often  seized  and  taken  off  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States,  and  citizens  or  subjects  of  other  neutral  countries  navigating 
the  high  seas  under  the  protection  of  the  American  flay" 

After  brief  and  cogent  argument,  Mr.  Madison  said, "  Were  it  allowable  that  Brit 
ish  subjects  should  be  taken  out  of  American  vessels  on  the  high  seas,  it  might  at 
least  be  required  that  the  proof  of  their  allegiance  should  lie  on  the  British  side. 
This  obvious  and  just  rule  is,  however,  reversed.  And  any  seaman  on  board,  though 
going  from  an  American  port,  sailing  under  an  American  flag,  and  sometimes  even 
speaking  an  idiom  proving  him  not  to  be  a  British  subject,  is  presumed  to  be  such 
unless  proved  to  be  an  American  citizen.  It  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  this  is  an 
outrage  which  has  no  precedent,  and  which  Great  Britain  would  be  among  the  last 

nations  in  the  world  to  suffer,  if  offered  to  her  own  subjects  and  her  own  flag.2 
*  *  #  #  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"  Great  Britain  has  the  less  to  say  on  the  subject,  as  it  is  in  direct  contradiction  to 
the  principles  on  which  she  proceeds  in  other  cases.  "While  she  claims  and  seizes  on 
the  high  seas  her  own  subjects  voluntarily  serving  in  American  vessels,  she  has  con 
stantly  given,  when  she  could  give,  as  a  reason  for  not  discharging  from  her  service 
American  citizens,  that  they  had  voluntarily  engaged  in  it.  Nay,  more ;  while  she 
impresses  her  own  subjects  from  the  American  service,  although  they  have  been  set 
tled,  and  married,  and  naturalized  in  the  United  States,  she  constantly  refuses  to  re 
lease  from  hers  American  seamen  pressed  into  it  whenever  she  can  give  for  a  reason 
that  they  are  either  settled  or  married  within  her  dominions.  Thus,  when  the  volun 
tary  consent  of  the  individual  favors  her  pretensions,  she  pleads  the  validity  of  that 
consent.  When  the  voluntary  consent  of  the  individual  stands  in  the  way  of  her 
pretensions,  it  goes  for  nothing.  When  marriage  or  residence  can  be  pleaded  in  her 
favor,  she  avails  herself  of  the  plea.  When  marriage,  residence,  and  naturalization 
are  against  her,  no  respect  whatever  is  paid  to  either.  She  takes  by  force  her  own 
subjects  voluntarily  serving  in  our  vessels.  She  keeps  by  force  American  citizens 
involuntarily  serving  in  hers.  More  flagrant  inconsistencies  can  not  be  imagined." 

No  arguments,  no  remonstrances,  no  appeals  to  justice  or  the  demands  of  interna 
tional  comity,  could  induce  the  British  government  at  that  time,  when  waging  war 
with  all  its  powers,  to  relinquish  so  great  an  advantage. 

1  In  the  spring  of  1803  Mr.  King  made  a  determined  effort  to  prevent  a  revival  of  the  practice  of  impressment.    On  the 
Tth  of  May  he  submitted  the  following  article  to  the  British  ministry:  "No  person  shall  be  impressed  or  taken  on  the 
high  seas  out  of  any  ship  or  vessel  belonging  to  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  one  of  the  parties  by  the  public  or  private 
armed  ships  or  men-of-war  belonging  to  or  in  the  service  of  the  other  party."    Lord  St.  Vincent,  the  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty,  and  Lord  Hawkesbury,  the  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  at  first  assented  to  this  article ;  but,  after 
consultation  with  Sir  William  Scott,  an  exception  was  required  in  favor  of  the  narrow  seas.    This  proposal  was  rejected 
by  Mr.  King.    It  was  regarded  as  a  subterfuge.    The  government,  at  the  opening  of  another  war,  was  determined  not 
to  relinquish  the  practice  of  impressments  from  American  vessels,  and  this  revival  of  an  obsolete  claim  of  England  to 
exclusive  jurisdiction  over  the  seas  surrounding  the  British  Isles  as  far  south  as  Cape  Finisterre  and  north  to  a  point 
on  the  coast  of  Norway,  which  it  was  known  the  Americans  would  reject,  was  done  as  an  excuse  for  terminating  the  ne 
gotiation  on  the  practice  of  the  impress. 

2  Cooper,  in  his  Naval  History  of  the,  United  States,  ii.,  84,  8ays :  "On  the  12th  of  June  [1805]  No.  7  [gun-boat]  fell  in 
with  the  fleet  of  Admiral  Collingwood  off  Cadiz,  and,  while  Mr.  Lawrence  was  on  board  one  of  the  British  ships,  a  boat 
was  sent  and  took  three  men  out  of  No.  7,  under  the  pretense  that  they  were  Englishmen.    On  his  return  to  his  own  ves 
sel  Mr.  Lawrence  hauled  down  his  ensign,  but  no  notice  was  taken  of  the  proceeding  by  the  British.    It  is  a  fitting  com 
mentary  on  this  transaction  that  in  the  published  letters  of  Lord  Collingwood,  when  he  speaks  of  the  impressment  of 
Americans,  he  says  that  England  would  not  submit  to  such  an  aggression  for  an  hour." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  147 


National  Independence  and  Honor  imperiled.       Memorials  to  Congress  for  decided  Action.      Hesitation  of  Congress. 

Day  after  day  proofs  were  received  of  the  suiferings  of  American  citizens  on  ac 
count  of  the  impress;  and  so  flagrant  and  frequent  were  these  outrages  toward  the 
close  of  1805,  that,  in  the  memorials  presented  to  Congress  on  the  subject  of  British 
depredations  upon  American  commerce,  already  alluded  to,  the  impressment  of  Amer 
ican  seamen  was  a  prominent  topic.1 

Action  in  Congress  on  these  subjects,  so  vital  to  the  interests  of  the  people  and  the 
dignity  of  the  nation,  was  prompt.  It  was  felt  that  a  crisis  was  reached  when  the  in 
dependence  of  the  United  States  must  be  vindicated,  or  the  national  honor  be  imper 
iled.  There  was  ample  cause  for  most  vigorous  retaliatory  measures  toward  Great 
Britain,  ay,  even  for  war.  But  the  administration  itself,  and  the  host  of  its  oppo 
nents,  were  willing  to  bear  a  little  longer  than  take  the  responsibility  of  an  open  rup 
ture  with  Great  Britain.  A  resolution  offered  in  the  United  States  Senate,  declaring 
that  the  depredations  upon  American  commerce  under  the  sanction  of  the  British 
government  were  "  unprovoked  aggressions  upon  the  property  of  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  violations  of  their  neutral  rights,  and  encroachments  upon  their  na 
tional  independence,"  was  adopted  by  unanimous  vote  ;a  but  when,  four  .  February  10, 
days  afterward,b  another  resolution  was  offered  requesting  the  President 
to  "  demand  the  restoration  of  the  property  of  those  citizens  captured  and 
condemned  on  the  pretext  of  its  being  employed  in  a  trade  with  the  enemies  of  Great 
Britain,  indemnification  for  past  losses,  and  some  arrangement  concerning  the  impress 
ment  of  seamen,"  there  was  hesitation.  To  obtain  the  redress  sought,  there  were 
only  four  modes — namely,  negotiation,  non-intercourse,  embargo,  and  war.  The  first 
had  been  tried  in  vain ;  the  second  and  third  would  be  menacing  and  offensive ;  and 
the  fourth,  all  parties  at  that  time  deprecated.  There  was  a  division  in  the  vote. 
There  was  unanimity  in  denunciation,  but  differences  when  the  test  of  positive  action 
was  applied.  There  were  twenty  votes  in  the  affirmative1,  and  six  in  the  negative. 

It  was  resolved  to  try  negotiations  once  more.     William  Pinkney,2  of  Maryland, 
who  had  considerable  diplomatic  experience,  was  finally  appointed  a  minister    c 
extraordinary  to  England,0  to  become  associated  with  Monroe,  the  resident 

1  "The  impressment  of  our  seamen,  notwithstanding  clear  proofs  of  citizenship,  the  violation  of  our  jurisdiction  by 
captures  at  the  mouths  of  our  harbors,*  and  insulting  treatment  of  our  ships  on  the  ocean,  are  subjects  worthy  the  se 
rious  consideration  of  our  national  councils." — Salem  Memorial. 

"The  constancy  and  valor  of  the  seamen  of  the  United  States  are  justly  themes  of  patriotic  exultation.  From  their 
connection  with  us,  we  consider  their  cause  as  our  cause,  their  rights  as  our  rights,  their  interests  as  our  interests.  Our 
feelings  are  indignant  at  the  recital  of  their  wrongs." — Sew  York  Memorial,  signed  by  John  Jacob  Astor  and  others. 

"  That  our  seamen  should  be  exposed  to  meanest  insults  and  most  wanton  cruelties,  and  the  fruits  of  their  industry 
and  enterprise  fall  a  prey  to  the  profligate,  can  not  but  excite  both  feeling  and  indignation,  and  call  loudly  for  the  aid 
and  protection  of  government." — Philadelphia  Memorial.  The  New  Haven  and  Baltimore  memorials  expressed  similar 
sentiments. 

a  William  Pinkney  was  born  at  Annapolis,  Maryland,  on  the  17th  of  March,  1764.  His  father  was  a  Loyalist,  but  Wil 
liam,  as  he  approached  manhood,  toward  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  espoused  the  cause  of  his  country.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-two  years  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Harford  County,  Mary 
land,  where  he  married  the  sister  of  (afterward)  Commodore  Rodgers.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council  of 
Maryland  in  1792,  and  in  1795  was  chosen  to  the  Legislature.  The  next  year  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners 
under  the  provisions  of  Jay's  treaty,  and  proceeded  to  England.  He  remained  there  until  1S05,  when  he  returned,  and 
made  Baltimore  his  residence.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  legal  learning  and  eloquence,  and  was  immediately  ap 
pointed  Attorney  General  of  Maryland.  He  was  sent  to  England  for  the  object  mentioned  in  the  text,  in  1806,  where  he 
remained  until  1S11,  when  he  returned  home.  He  fought  bravely  in  the  battle  near  Bladensburg  in  1814,  and  was  soon 
afterward  elected  to  Congress.  In  1816  he  was  appointed  minister  to  Russia.  He  remained  there  until  1820,  when  he 
returned,  and  was  chosen  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  In  that  body,  and  in  the  United  States  Courts,  he 
labored  intensely  until  1821,  when  his  health  suddenly  gave  way.  He  died  on  the  25th  of  February,  1822,  in  the  fifty- 
ninth  year  of  his  age. 

*  This  had  been  done  repeatedly.  The  American  waters  were  almost  continually  plowed  by  British  cruisers  at  this 
time.  A  few  weeks  later  an  event  occurred  which  aroused  the  greatest  indignation  throughout  the  country.  A  small 
coasting  vessel,  navigated  by  Captain  John  Pearce,  of  New  York,  running  for  Sandy  Hook,  was  fired  into  by  the  British 
cruiser  Leander,  Captain  Whitby.  Captain  Pearce  was  killed.  It  was,  morally,  a  gross  act  of  piracy.  The  act  itself  called 
forth  bitter  denunciations  at  a  meeting  held  at  the  Tontine  Coffee-house,  in  New  York,  on  the  following  day  (April  26, 
1806).  A  resolution  proposed  by  a  committee,  of  which  Rufus  King,  late  minister  to  England,  was  chairman,  declared 
that  an  administration  that  would  suffer  foreign  armed  ships  to  "impress,  wound,  and  murder  citizens"  was  "not  en 
titled  to  the  confidence  of  a  brave  and  free  people."  The  public  indignation  was  increased  when  it  became  known  that 
Captain  Whitby,  who  was  brought  to  trial  in  England  for  the  murder  of  Captain  Pearce,  and  his  guilt  fairly  proven  by 
evidence  dispatched  thither  by  the  United  States  government,  was  honorably  acquitted  I 


148 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Minister  Extraordinary  sent  to  England.  The  old  Party  Lines  again  established.  War  and  Anti-war  Parties. 

minister,  in  negotiating  a  treaty  that  should 
settle  all  disputes  between  the  two  govern 
ments.  It  was  thought  expedient,  at  the 
same  time,  to  use  the  second  method  pros- 
pectively,  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  American 
ministers,  for  it  would  appeal  potentially  to 
the  commercial  interest  of  Great  Britain, 
then,  as  ever,  the  ruling  power  in  the  state. 
Accordingly,  after  long  and  earnest  debates, 
the  House  of  Representatives  passed  an 
acta  prohibiting  the  importation  aMarch28, 
into  the  United  States  of  a  great  1S06- 
variety  of  the  most  important  manufactures 
of  Great  Britain.  It  passed  the  Senate  on 
the  16th  of  April,  and  on  the  18th  became 
a  law.1  To  give  time  for  the  negotiations, 
the  commencement  of  the  prohibition  was 
postponed  until  the  middle  of  the  following 
November. 

In  the  debate  upon  the  Non-importation 
Act  in  Congress,  and  in  its  discussion  among 
the  people,  the  old  party  lines,  which,  to 
some  extent,  had  appeared  faint  when  great 
national  questions  were  fairly  discussed, 
became  perfectly  distinct.  The  measure 
was  regarded  by  the  jealous  opponents  of  Jeiferson  and  his  Cabinet  as  a  display  of 
that  hostility  to  Great  Britain  because  of  love  for  France,  which  the  President  and 
his  Secretary  had  so  frequently  manifested  during  the  administrations  of  Washington 
and  Adams.  It  was  regarded  as  a  measure  calculated  to  lead  the  country  into  a  war 
with  Great  Britain.  The  administration  party,  on  the  contrary,  charged  the  Feder 
alists,  because  they  were  unwilling  to  support  the  measure,  with  being  friendly  to 
their  country's  oppressor.  The  old  political  war-cries  were  sounded,  and  "  French 
party"  and  "  British  party"  became  familiar  words  again  on  the  lips  of  partisans. 
The  Federalists  affected  to  regard  Great  Britain  in  her  wars  with  France,  and  espe 
cially  in  the  current  one  with  Napoleon,  as  the  champion  of  the  liberties  of  the  world 
against  an  audacious  aspirant  for  universal  empire ;  while  the  Democrats  affected  to 
consider  the  Emperor  of  the  French  as  a  great  regenerator,  who  was  destined  to  bene 
fit  the  world  by  prostrating  tottering  thrones,  effacing  corrupt  dynasties,  purifying  the 
political  atmosphere  of  Europe,  and  giving  new  life  and  vigor  to  the  people.  Such 
were  the  antagonistic  ideas  then  distinctly  developed.  The  Non-importation  Act 
was  passed  by  a  strictly  party  vote — ninety-three  Democrats,  against  thirty-two  Fed 
eralists  and  "  Quids,"  as  John  Randolph  and  his  six  secessionists  were  called.  The 
heat  of  that  debate  in  the  first  session  of  the  Ninth  Congress  developed  the  germ  of 
the  War  and  Anti-war  parties,  so  strong  and  implacable  just  previous  to  and  during 
the  WAR  OF  1812. 


1  The  following  is  a  list  of  articles  prohibited :  All  articles  of  which  leather,  silk,  hemp  or  flax,  and  tin  and  brass  (tin 
sheets  cxcepted)  were  the  materials  of  chief  value ;  woolen  cloths  whose  invoice  prices  should  exceed  five  shillings  ster 
ling  a  yard  ;  woolen  hosiery  of  all  kinds ;  window-glass,  and  all  the  manufactures  of  glass ;  silver  and  plated  ware ;  pa 
per  of  every  description  ;  nails  and  spikes ;  mats,  and  clothing  ready  made;  millinery  of  all  kinds ;  playing-cards;  beer, 
ale,  and  porter ;  and  pictures  and  prints. 


OF   TIJE   WAR   OF    1812.  149 


Hopes  created  by  a  new  British  Ministry.  Disappointment.          Negotiations  reopened.          Charles  James  Fox. 


CHAPTER 

"  Yon  all  rememher  well,  I  guess, 

The  Chesapeake  disaster, 
When  Britons  dared  to  kill  and  press, 
To  please  their  royal  master." 

SONG RODGERB   AND  VlCTOBY. 

"  From  the  deep  we  withdraw  till  the  tempest  be  past, 

Till  our  flag  can  protect  each  American  cargo ; 
While  British  ambition's  dominion  shall  last, 
Let  us  join,  heart  and  hand,  to  support  the  EJIBABGO  : 
For  EMBARGO  and  PEACE 
Will  promote  our  increase ; 

Then  embargoed  we'll  live  till  injustice  shall  cease: 
For  ne'er,  till  old  Ocean  retires  from  his  bed, 
Will  Columbia  by  Europe's  proud  tyrants  be  led." 

SONG — EMBARGO  AND  PEACE. 

HILE  the  debate  on  the  Non-importation  Act  was  at  its  height 
in  Congress,  intelligence  came  of  a  change  in  the  British  minis 
try  that  promised  a  speedy  adjustment  of  all  matters  in  dis 
pute  between  the  two  countries.  William  Pitt  died  in  Jauur.- 
ry,a  and  at  the  beginning  of  February  a  new  Cabi-  a  January  23, 
net  was  formed,  known  in  English  history  as  "  All- 
the-talents  Ministry,"  of  which  the  peaceful,  humane,  and  lib 
eral  Charles  James  Fox  was  the  most  influential  member,1  as 
Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

Under  the  impression  that  the  new  ministry  would  be  more  ready  to  act  justly  to 
ward  the  Americans  than  the  old  one,  Mr.  Pinkney  sailed  for  England.  He  was  soon 
\mdeceived.  England's  policy  in  the  conduct  of  the  tremendous  war  in  which  she 
was  engaged  was  too  firmly  established  to  be  disturbed  by  the  private  opinions  and 
wishes  of  individuals,  and  Mr.  Fox  appears  to  have  imbibed  the  views  of  his  prede 
cessors  in  office  concerning  the  complaints  of  the  Americans  on  the  subject  of  the 
impress  and  neutral  rights. 

Before  Pinkney's  arrival  Fox  had  expressed  to  Monroe  some  sensibility  at  the 
passage  of  the  Xon-importation  Act.  He  declared  that  it  embarrassed  him,  because 
it  would  place  him  in  the  position  of  treating  under  seeming  compulsion.  Monroe 
gave  a  satisfactory  explanation,  and,  on  the  arrival  of  Pinkney,  Lords  Holland  and 
Auckland  were  appointed  to  negotiate  with  the  American  envoys. 
The  negotiations  commenced  in  August.b  As  the  American  commis- 

b  August  2. 

sioners  were  instructed  to  make  no  treaty  which  did  not  secure  the  vessels 
of  their  countrymen  on  the  high  seas  against  visitations  from  press-gangs,  this  topic 
naturally  occupied  the  early  and  earnest  attention  of  the  negotiators.  The  American 
commissioners,  under  instructions,  contended  that  the  right  of  impressment  existing 
by  municipal  law  could  not  be  exercised  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Great  Britain,  and, 
consequently,  upon  the  high  seas.  In  reply,  the  British  commissioners  recited  the  old 

1  Fox  and  Burke  stood  side  by  side  in  the  opposition  to  Lord  North  in  the  long  struggle  before  and  during  the  Amer 
ican  Revolution.  He  was  always  on  the  liberal  side  in  politics,  of  the  Whig  school,  and  was  intensely  hated  by  the  king. 
At  one  time,  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  the  nation  appeared  to  be  divided  into  parties,  one  known  as  the  king's,  and 
the  other  as  Fox's.  On  one  occasion  Dr.  Johnson  said,  "  Fox  is  an  extraordinary  man ;  here  is  a  man  who  has  divided 
a  kingdom  with  Csesar,  so  that  it  was  a  doubt  which  the  nation  should  be  ruled  by— the  sceptre  of  George  III.  or  the 
tongue  of  Fox."  He  was  always  an  advocate  for  a  peace  policy,  and  his  accession  to  power  in  1S06  gave  the  thinking 
men  of  England  hopes  of  a  cessation  of  the  wasting  war  with  the  all-conquering  Napoleon.  To  that  end  he  labored, 
and  had  well-nigh  accomplished  measures  for  pacification  when,  on  the  13th  of  September,  1S06,  he  died. 


150  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Progress  and  Character  of  Negotiations.  A  Treaty  agreed  to.  The  Berlin  Decree  considered. 

doctrine  that  no  subject  of  the  king  could  expatriate  himself— "  once  an  Englishman, 
always  an  Englishman"— and  argued  that  to  give  up  that  right  would  make  every 
American  vessel  an  asylum  for  British  seamen  wishing  to  evade  their  country's  serv 
ice,  and  even  for  deserters  from  British  ships  of  war.  They  were  sustained  in  this 
view  by  the  law  officers  of  the  crown  and  the  Board  of  Admiralty,  and  would  not 
yield  the  point.  Here  the  American  commissioners  might  have  terminated  the  nego 
tiation,  because  the  vital  object  of  their  appointment  could  not  be  obtained. 

At  length  this  impressment  question  was  placed  in  an  attitude  to  allow  negotiations 
upon  other  topics  to  go  on.  While  the  British  commissioners  declared  that  their  gov 
ernment  would  not  relinquish  by  formal  treaty  the  right  of  impressment  on  the  high 
seas,  they  agreed  that  special  instructions  should  be  given  and  enforced  for  the  ob 
servance  of  great  caution  against  subjecting  any  American-born  citizens  to  molesta 
tion  or  injury.  They  gave  the  American  commissioners  to  understand,  although  it 
was  not  expressed  in  terms,  that  the  intention  of  the  British  government  was  not  to 
allow  impressments  from  American  vessels  on  the  high  seas  except  under  extraordi 
nary  circumstances,  such  as  having  on  board  known  deserters  from  the  British  navy, 
m  November  8  and  thus  gradually  to  abandon  the  practice.  This  proposition  was  put  in 
isoe.  '  writing,a  and  the  negotiations  on  other  topics  proceeded. 

The  terms  of  a  treaty  considered  in  many  respects  more  favorable  to  the  Americans 
than  that  of  Jay  in  1794,  to  continue  for  ten  years,  were  soon  agreed  to.  The  trade 
between  the  United  States  and  the  European  possessions  of  Great  Britain  were  placed 
on  a  footing  of  perfect  reciprocity,  but  no  concessions  could  be  obtained  as  to  the 
trade  of  the  West  Indies ;  while  in  the  matter  of  the  East  India  trade  terms  as  favor 
able  to  the  Americans  as  those  of  Jay's  would  not  be  granted.  The  provisions  in 
that  treaty  concerning  blockades  and  contraband  were  adopted,  with  an  additional 
provision  that  no  American  vessels  were  to  be  visited  or  seized  within  five  miles  of 
the  coast  of  the  United  States. 

In  regard  to  the  carrying-trade,  in  which  American  vessels  were  so  largely  con 
cerned,  the  modification  of  the  "  rule  of  1756"  (stipulated  in  the  treaty  with  Russia  in 
1801,  already  alluded  to)1  was  agreed  to,  but  to  operate  only  during  the  current  war, 
by  which  such  vessels  could  transport  to  any  belligerent  colony  not  blockaded  by  a 
British  force,  any  European  goods  not  contraband  of  war,  providing  such  goods  were 
American  property,  and  the  continuity  of  the  voyage  had  been  broken  by  their  hav 
ing  been  previously  landed  in  the  United  States,  and  a  duty  paid  of  at  least  one  per 
cent,  above  the  amount  drawn  back  on  re-exportation.  In  like  manner  the  produce 
of  the  colony  might  be  carried  back,  and  taken  into  any  port  in  Europe  not  block 
aded. 

At  this  point  in  the  negotiation,  intelligence  of  the  issue  of  the  Berlin  Decree,2  which 
we  shall  consider  presently,  reached  the  commissioners.  It  produced  hesitation  on 
the  part  of  the  British  negotiators.  They  required  assurances  that  the  United  States 
would  not  allow  their  trade  with  Great  Britain,  and  in  British  merchandise,  to  be  in 
terrupted  and  interfered  with  by  France  without  taking  measures  to  resent  it.  This 
assurance  the  American  commissioners  refused  to  give,  as  they  were  not  inclined  to 
pledge  their  government  to  quarrel  with  France  for  the  benefit  of  English  trade. 
Holland  and  Auckland  w-aived  the  point  and  signed  the  treaty,  at  the  same  time  pre 
senting  a  written  protest  against  the  Berlin  Decree,  reserving  to  the  British  govern 
ment  the  right,  should  that  decree  be  actually  carried  into  force  as  against  neutrals, 
and  be  submitted  to  by  them,  to  take  such  measures  of  retaliation  as  might  be  deem 
ed  expedient. 

Had  this  treaty  not  been  based  in  a  degree  upon  contingencies  and  promises,  leav 
ing  American  commence  still,  in  the  absence  of  positive  treaty  stipulations,  at  the 

1  See  note  2,  page  138.  "  See  page  129. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  151 

Treaty  withheld  from  the  Senate.  War  on  the  Administration.  Blockade  of  the  European  Coast  declared. 

mercy  of  British  policy,  it  might  have  been  considered  so  advantageous  to  the  mer 
chants  of  the  United  States,  being  an  advance  in  the  right  direction,  as  to  have  re 
ceived  the  favor  of  the  administration.  But  it  was  too  loose  in  its  actual  guarantees, 
and  the  experience  of  the  past  was  too  admonitory  to  allow  such  a  treaty  to  be  ac 
cepted  as  a  satisfactory  settlement  of  difficulties  between  the  two  governments.  It 
also  failed  to  secure  the  most  vital  advantages  contemplated  in  the  appointment  of 
the  commission,  namely,  the  abolition  of  the  impress  from  American  vessels  and  re- 
linquishment  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  of  its  claims  to  a  right  of  search.  Such 
being  its  character,  the  President,  at  the  risk  of  being  charged  with  usurpation,  did 
not  even  lay  the  treaty  before  the  Senate,  but,  on  his  own  responsibility,  seconded  by 
the  co-operation  of  Mr.  Madison,  his  Secretary  of  State,  he  refused  to  ratify  it.  That 
refusal  destroyed  all  hope  of  negotiating  another  treaty  so  favorable  to  the  Amer 
icans,  for,  long  before  it  reached  the  British  government  in  official  form,  the  Fox  and 
Grenville  ministry  had  disappeared.  It  had  been  superseded3  by  one  in  which  » Marchi 
Liverpool,  Percival,  and  Canning,  all  disciples  of  the  more  warlike  Pitt,  were  180T- 
the  leading  spirits.  The  remains  of  Fox  had  lain  in  Westminster  Abbey  six  months 
when  this  change  in  the  administration  took  place.1 

As  might  have  been  expected,  Jefferson  was  vehemently  assailed  by  the  opposi 
tion  ;  and  the  merchants,  as  a  class,  misled  by  the  deceptive  clamor  of  politicians, 
swelled  the  voice  of  denunciation.  The  Federalists,  ever  suspicious  of  the  President, 
their  arch-enemy  in  former  crises  of  the  government,  charged  him  with  insincerity 
when  he  protested  his  earnest  desire  for  an  honorable  adjustment  with  England ;  and 
they  were  inclined  to  regard  the  rejection  of  the  treaty  as  a  deliberate  manoeuvre  to 
cherish  popular  passion,  and  thus  to  strengthen  the  party  hold  of  the  President  and 
his  destined  successor,  Mr.  Madison.2 

The  war  against  the  administration  was  waged  unrelentingly.  Another  great 
struggle  between  the  Democrats  and  Federalists  for  the  prize  of  the  Presidency  and 
national  rule  now  commenced,  and  some  leading  men  of  the  opposition  who,  when  in 
power,  had  bitterly  denounced  the  course  of  the  British  government  because  of  its 
course  on  the  impress  and  neutral  rights,  now  became  either  silent  spectators  or  vir 
tual  apologists  for  England.  Yet  the  Democratic  party  steadily  gained  in  numbers 
and  influence  even  in  New  England,  and  the  war  feeling  became  more  and  more  in 
tense  and  positive  among  the  people. 

We  have  already  alluded  to  the  seizure  of  Hanover  by  the  Prussians  at  the  insti 
gation  of  Napoleon.3  This  offense  against  the  Crown  of  England  was  immediately 
resented ;  or,  rather,  it  was  made  the  pretext  for  employing  against  France  a  measure 
which,  as  in  1756  and  1792,  was  calculated  to  starve  the  empire.  By  orders  in  Coun 
cil,  issued  on  the  16th  of  May,  1806,  the  whole  coast  of  Europe  from  the  Elbe,  in  Ger 
many,  to  Brest,  in  France,  a  distance  of  about  eight  hundred  miles,  was  declared  in  a 
state  of  blockade,  when,  at  the  same  time,  the  British  navy  could  not  spare  from  its 
other  fields  of  service  vessels  enough  to  enforce  the  blockade  over  a  third  of  the  pre 
scribed  coast.  It  was  essentially  a  "  paper  blockade,"  then  valid  according  to  En 
glish  "  laws  of  nations" — laws  of  her  own  enactment,  and  enforced  by  her  own  mate 
rial  power.  The  almost  entire  destruction  of  the  French  and  Spanish  fleets  off  Tra 
falgar,  a  few  months  before,b  had  annihilated  her  rivals  for  the  sovereign-  b  October  21, 
ty  of  the  seas,  and  she  now  resolved  to  control  the  trade  of  the  world,  by 
which  she  might  procure  pecuniary  means  to  carry  on  the  war. 

The  British  orders  in  Council  somewhat  startled  American  commerce,  and  by 
some  was  considered,  so  far  as  that  commerce  was  concerned,  as  not  only  a  counter 
vailing  measure  in  view  of  the  Non-importation  Act  of  the  American  Congress,  but  a 
positively  belligerent  one.  But  its  effects  were  slight  in  comparison  with  the  pros- 

'  See  page  128. 

=  Hildreth's  History  of  the  United  States,  Second  Series,  ii.,  663.  3  See  page  128. 


152  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Berlin  Decree.  The  "  Continental  System."  Americans  the  only  Neutrals.  Their  Expectations. 

trating  blow  inflicted  upon  the  American  shipping  interest  when,  from  the  "  Imperial 
Camp  at  Berlin"  on  the  21st  of  November,  1806,  Napoleon  issued  the  famous  decree 
which  declared  the  British  Islands  in  a  state  of  blockade,  forbade  all  correspondence 
or  trade  with  England,  defined  all  articles  of  English  manufacture  or  produce  as  con 
traband,  and  the  property  of  all  British  subjects  as  lawful  prize  of  war.1 

Resting  for  moral  support  upon  England's  cherished  "  law  of  nations,"  Napoleon 
made  this  declaration  of  a  practically  universal  blockade  when  he  had  scarcely  a  ship 
at  his  command  to  enforce  it ;  for  Lord  Nelson,  as  we  have  just  observed,  had  almost 
«  October  21  demolished  the  whole  French  and  part  of  the  Spanish  fleet  off  Trafalgar 

1805.          justi  thirteen  months  before. a 

On  land  the  power  of  Napoleon  was  scarcely  bounded  by  any  river  in  Europe. 
Within  his  grasp  was  seemingly  the  sceptre  of  universal  empire,  of  which  he  dreamed 
with  the  ambition  of  an  Alexander.  State  after  state  had  been  added  to  his  domin 
ions,  and  brother  after  brother  had  been  placed  upon  thrones  of  his  own  construction, 
amid  the  ruins  of  old  dynasties.  He  now  endeavored,  by  the  practice  of  England's 
logic,  to  dispute  with  her  in  a  peculiar  way  the  sceptre  of  the  seas.2 

This  was  the  beginning  of  what  was  afterward  called  the  Continental  System,  com 
menced  avowedly  as  a  retaliatory  measure,  and  designed  primarily  to  injure  and,  if 
possible,  to  destroy  the  commercial  prosperity  of  England.  Napoleon  adhered  to  it 
for  several  years  as  a  favorite  scheme,  to  the  delight  and  profit  of  smugglers  created 
by  the  system,  and  the  immense  injury  of  the  commerce  of  the  world.  He  compelled 
most  of  the  states  of  Europe  to  become  partners  in  the  league  against  Great  Britain. 
A  refusal  to  join  it  was  considered  a  just  cause  for  war.  Yet  England,  with  such 
powers  against  her,  and  such  an  injurious  system  impinging  heavily  upon  her  mari 
time  and  trading  interests,  defied  Napoleon  and  his  allies,  and  exhibited  a  moral  and 
material  energy  which  commands  our  wonder  and  highest  respect. 

America  was  at  this  time  really  the  only  neutral  in  the  civilized  world.  Her  iso 
lation  enabled  her  to  maintain  that  position,  and  enjoy  prosperity  while  Europe  was 
resonant  with  the  din  of  battle,  clouded  with  the  smoke  of  camps  and  ruined  towns, 
and  wasted  by  the  terrible  demands  of  moving  armies.  But  her  security  and  pros 
perity  were  likely  to  be  disturbed  by  this  unrighteous  decree  from  the  "Imperial 
Camp."  It  was  so  broad  in  its  application,  that  it  would  be  equally  injurious  to  neu 
trals  and  belligerents.  The  commercial  world  perceived  this  with  its  keen  eye,  and 
American  commerce  was  convulsed  by  a  thrill  of  apprehension.  Rates  of  insurance 
ran  up  to  ruinous  heights  at  the  beginning  of  1807,  and  commercial  enterprises  of 
every  kind  were  suspended. 

This  panic  was  somewhat  allayed  by  a  letter  from  John  Armstrong,  American  min 
ister  at  Paris,  who  believed  the  operations  of  the  decree  would  be  only  municipal, 
and  was  assured  by  the  French  Minister  of  Marine  that  the  existing  commercial  re 
lations  of  the  United  States  and  the  French  Empire,  as  settled  by  the  Convention  of 
1800,3  would  not  be  disturbed.4  This  assurance  was  subsequently  strengthened  by 
the  fact  that  the  decree  was  not  erfforced  against  American  vessels  until  about  a  year 
afterward,5  Napoleon  doubtless  hoping  the  United  States,  growing  every  day  more 
and  more  hostile  toward  England  because  of  her  injustice,  would  be  induced  to  join 
the  league  against  that  power.  The  Americans  were  also  taught  to  rely  upon  the 
traditional  policy  of  France  concerning  the  rights  of  neutrals,  so  plainly  avowed  in 
the  Armed  Neutrality  Treaty  in  1780,  earnestly  proclaimed  ever  since  by  the  French 

1  See  note  1,  page  120. 

2  Napoleon  at  this  time  had  been  compelled  to  abandon  his  schemes  for  the  invasion  of  England.    He  had  lost  St.  Do 
mingo,  and  all  prestige  in  the  West  Indies,  and  had  no  means  of  annoying  his  most  potent  enemy,  on  the  sea. 

3  See  twelfth  and  fourteenth  articles  of  that  Convention  in  Statesman's  Manual,  iv.,  342,  343. 

4  On  the  10th  of  December,  Minister  Armstrong  asked  for  an  explanation  of  the  Berlin  Decree.    Monsieur  Decres,  the 
Minister  of  Marine,  replied  on  the  24th  that  he  considered  the  decree  as  in  no  way  modifying  "the  regulations  at  pres 
ent  observed  in  France  with  regard  to  neutral  navigators,  nor,  consequently,  of  the  Convention  of  the  30th  of  September, 
1800,  with  the  United  States  of  America."  »  Baring's  Inquiry,  etc.,  page  116,  cited  in  note  1,  page  129. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  153 


Change  in  the  Policy  of  the  French.  Seizure  of  American  Ships.  Bi'itish  Orders  in  Council. 

rulers,  and  reiterated  in  the  charges  against  England  in  the  preamble  to  the  famous 
decree  under  consideration. 

The  promises  of  security  to  American  commerce  from  the  operations  of  the  Berlin 
Decree  were  soon  broken.  The  powers  of  that  decree  were  put  forth  in  the  autumn 
of  1807.  The  Peace  of  Tilsit1  had  released  a  large  number  of  French  soldiers  from 
duties  in  the  camp  and  field,  and  these  were  employed  at  various  ports  along  the 
coasts  of  Europe  in  strictly  enforcing  the  blockade  and  putting  the  Continental  Sys 
tem  into  active  operation.  Even  American  commerce  did  not  remain  undisturbed ; 
on  the  contrary,  it  was  directly  threatened  by  a  decision  of  Regnier,  the  French  Min- 
ter  of  Justice,  who  declared  that  all  merchandise  derived  from  England  and  her  colo 
nies,  by  whomsoever  owned,  was  liable  to  seizure  even  on  board  neutral  vessels.2  As 
Americans  were  then  the  only  neutrals,  this  decision  was  aimed  directly  at  them, 
with  the  intention,  no  doubt,  of  forcing  the  United  States  into  at  least  a  passive  co 
operation  with  Bonaparte  in  his  deadly  designs  against  British  commerce  and  the 
liberties  of  that  people.  When  Minister  Armstrong  made  inquiries  concerning  this 
interpretation  of  the  Berlin  Decree,  Champagny,  the  French  Minister  for  Foreign  Af 
fairs,  coolly  replied  that  the  principal  powers  of  Europe  for  eleven  months  had  not 
only  not  issued  any  protest  against  the  decree,  but  had  agreed  to  enforce  it,  and  that 
to  make  it  effectual  its  execution  must  be  complete.  He  disposed  of  the  treaty  obli 
gations  in  the  matter  by  saying  that,  since  England  had  disregarded  the  rights  of  all 
maritime  powers,  the  interests  of  those  powers  were  common,  and  they  were  bound 
to  make  common  cause  against  her;3  that  is  to  say,  any  nation  that  would  not  join 
Napoleon  in  enforcing  his  iniquitous  Continental  System,  ostensibly  against  England, 
but  really  against  the  commerce  of  the  world,  forfeited  its  claim  to  have  its  treaty 
stipulations  regarded !  This  doctrine  was  speedily  followed  up  by  practice,  when 
the  American  ship  Horizon,  stranded  upon  the  French  coast,  was,  with  her  cargo,  in 
violation  of  every  principle  of  humanity,  confiscated  in  the  French  prize  court,  acting 
under  Regnier's  decision,11  on  the  ground  that  that  cargo  consisted  of  *  November  10 
merchandise  of  British  origin.  This  decision  and  confiscation  became  a  1807< 

precedent  for  the  speedy  seizure  and  sequestration  of  a  large  amount  of  American 
property. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  this  practical  illustration  of  Regnier's  interpretation 
of  the  Berlin  Decree  in  the  case  of  the  Horizon*  Great  Britain  made  a 

,         .    ,  *  November  10. 

more  destructive  assault  on  the  rights  of  neutrals  than  any  yet  attempt 
ed  by  either  party.     By  orders  in  council,  adopted  on  the  llth  and  promulgated 
on  the  17th  of  November,  all  neutral  trade  was  prohibited  with  France  or  her  allies 
unless  through  Great  Britain.4     This  avowed  measure  of  retaliation  for  the  issue  of 

1  This  was  a  treaty  of  peace  concluded  between  France  and  Russia  on  the  7th  of  June,  1S07,  when  Napoleon  restored 
to  the  Prussian  monarch  one  half  of  his  territories,  and  Russia  recognized  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  and  the  eleva 
tion  of  Napoleon's  three  brothers,  Joseph,  Louis,  and  Jerome,  to  the  thrones  respectively  of  Naples,  Holland,  and  West 
phalia. 

2  Letter  to  the  Imperial  Attorney  General  for  the  Council  of  Prizes,  September  18, 1807. 

3  "All  the  difficulties  which  have  given  rise  to  your  reclamations,"  said  Champagny  to  Armstrong,  "  would  be  removed 
with  ease  if  the  government  of  the  United  States,  after  complaining  in  vain  of  the  injustice  and  violations  of  England, 
took,  with  the  whole  Continent,  the  part  of  guaranteeing  itself  therefrom.    England  has  introduced  into  the  maritime 
war  an  entire  disregard  for  the  rights  of  nations  :  it  is  only  in  forcing  her  to  a  peace  that  it  is  possible  to  recover  them. 
On  this  point  the  interest  of  all  nations  is  the  same.    All  have  their  honor  and  independence  to  defend." — LYMAN'S 
Diplomacy  of  the.  United  States,  i.,  411. 

This  was  all  very  true,  but  the  terms  on  which  the  United  States  were  invited  to  join  that  Continental  league  were 
entirely  inconsistent  with  their  principles  concerning  blockades— principles  identical  with  those  of  the  Armed  Neutral 
ity  of  17SO.  The  Berlin  Decree  asserted  principles  the  very  reverse  of  these,  and  in  an  extreme  degree— principles 
against  which  the  Americans  had  ever  protested — principles  which  the  French  minister,  only  a  year  before,  had  pro 
nounced  "  monstrous  and  indefensible." 

4  Mr.  Baring,  in  his  able  Inquiry  into  the  Causes  and  Consequences  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  gives  the  following  analysis 
of  the  extremely  lengthy  document : 

"All  trade  directly  from  America  to  every  port  and  country  of  Europe  at  war  with  Great  Britain,  or  from  which  the 
British  flag  is  excluded,  is  totally  prohibited.  In  this  general  prohibition  every  part  of  Europe,  with  the  exception  at 
present  of  Sardinia,  is  included,  and  no  distinction  whatever  is  made  between  the  domestic  produce  of  America  and 
that  of  the  colonies  re-exported  from  thence. 


154  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Napoleon's  Milan  Decree.  Its  Effects  on  American  Commerce.  British  Cruisers  in  American  Waters. 

the  Berlin  Decree  was  only  a  pretext  for  pampering  the  greed  of  the  British  colonial 
merchants  and  ship-owners.  As  the  Americans  were  the  only  neutrals,  it  was  a  di 
rect  blow  against  their  commerce,  of  which,  for  ten  years,  the  British  had  been  ex 
ceedingly  jealous.  The  effect  was  to  deprive  American  vessels  of  all  the  advantages 
of  neutrality. 

In  retaliation  for  the  issuing  of  these  orders,  Bonaparte  promulgated  another  de 
cree,  dated  "At  our  Palace  at  Milan,  December  17, 1807,"  which  extended  and  made 
more  vigorous  that  issued  from  Berlin.  It  declared  every  vessel  which  should  sub 
mit  to  be  searched  by  British  cruisers,  or  should  pay  any  tax,  duty,  or  license-money 
to  the  British  government,  or  should  be  found  on  the  high  seas  or  elsewhere  bound 
to  or  from  any  British  port,  denationalized  and  forfeit.1  With  their  usual  servility 
to  the  dictates  of  the  conqueror,  Spain  and  Holland  immediately  issued  similar  de 
crees.  Thus,  within  a  few  months,  the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  carried  on  in 
strict  accordance  wTith  the  acknowledged  laws  of  civilized  nations,  was  swept  from 
the  ocean.  Utterly  unable,  by  any  power  it  then  possessed,  to  resist  the  robbers  upon 
the  great  highway  of  nations,  the  independence  of  the  republic  had  no  actual  record. 
It  had  been  theoretically  declared  on  parchment  a  quarter  of  a  century  before,  but 
the  nation  and  its  interests  were  now  as  much  subservient  to  British  orders  in  coun 
cil  and  French  imperial  decrees  as  when  George  the  Third  sent  governors  to  the  col 
onies  of  which  it  was  composed,  and  Beaumarchais,  in  behalf  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth, 
supplied  their  feeble,  rebellious  hands  with  weapons  wherewith  to  fight  for  liberty 
and  independence. 

While  the  commerce  of  the  world  was  thus  becoming  the  sport  of  France  and  En 
gland — traditionary  enemies  and  implacable  duelists  for  a  thousand  years — unscru 
pulous  gamesters  for  power — an  event  occurred  which  excited  in  the  United  States 
the  most  intense  animosity  toward  Great  Britain,  and  created  a  powerful  war  party 
among  legislators  and  people. 

To  give  efficiency  to  the  Orders  in  Council,  the  British  government  kept  a  naval 
force  continually  hovering  along  the  American  coast.  They  frequently  intruded  into 
American  waters,  and  were  a  great  vexation  and  annoyance  to  navigators  and  mer 
chants.  They  were  regarded  as  legalized  plunderers  employed  by  a  strong  nation  to 
despoil  a  weaker  one.2  Every  American  vessel  was  liable,  on  leaving  port,  to  be  ar 
rested  and  seized  by  this  marine  police,  sometimes  under  the  most  untenable  pretexts, 
and  sent  to  England  as  a  prize.  The  experience  of  the  Leander,  already  mentioned 
(see  page  147),  was  the  experience  of  hundreds  of  vessels,  excepting  the  murder  of 
their  commanders ;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  remonstrances  and  negotiations  were  of  no 
avail.  A  crisis  was  at  length  reached  in  the  summer  of  1807. 

"The  trade  from  America  to  the  colonies  of  all  nations  remains  unaltered  by  the  present  orders.  America  may  ex 
port  the  produce  of  her  own  country,  but  that  of  no  other,  directly  to  Sweden. 

"With  the  above  exception,  all  articles,  whether  of  domestic  or  colonial  produce,  exported  by  America  to  Europe, 
must  be  landed  in  this  country  [England],  from  whence  it  is  intended  to  permit  their  re-exportation  under  such  regula 
tions  as  may  hereafter  be  determined. 

"By  these  regulations  it  is  understood  that  duties  are  to  be  imposed  on  all  articles  so  re-exported ;  but  it  is  intimated 
that  an  exception  will  be  made  in  favor  of  such  as  are  the  produce  of  the  United  States,  that  of  cotton  excepted. 

"Any  vessel  the  cargo  whereof  shall  be  accompanied  with  certificates  of  French  consuls  abroad  of  its  origin,  shall, 
together  with  the  cargo,  be  liable  to  seizure  and  confiscation. 

"  Proper  care  shall  be  taken  that  the  operation  of  the  orders  shall  not  commence  until  time  is  afforded  for  their  being 
known  to  the  parties  interested." — See  Inquiry,  etc.,  page  15. 

When  introducing  this  analysis  of  the  orders  of  the  llth  of  November,  Mr.  Baring  remarks  that  "they  are  so  much 
enveloped  in  official  jargon  as  to  be  hardly  intelligible  out  of  Doctors'  Commons,  and  not  perfectly  so  there."  In  a  note 
he  says,  "  I  beg  to  disclaim  any  intention  to  expound  the  titual  text ;  it  seems  purposely  intended  that  no  person  should 
profane  it  with  his  comprehension  without  paying  two  guineas  for  an  opinion,  with  an  additional  benefit  of  being  able 
to  obtain  one  directly  opposed  to  it  for  two  more." 

1  "These  measures,"  said  the  fourth  article  of  the  Milan  Decree,  "which  are  resorted  to  only  in  just  refaction  of  the 
barbarous  system  adopted  by  England,  which  assimilates  in  its  legislation  to  that  of  Algiers,  shall  cease  to  have  any 
effect  with  respect  to  all  nations  who  shall  have  the  firmness  to  compel  the  English  government  to  respect  their  flag." 
It  declared  that  the  provisions  of  the  present  decree  should  be  null  as  soon  as  England  should  "  abide  again  by  the 
principles  of  the  law  of  nations  which  regulate  the  relations  of  civilized  states  in  a  state  of  war." 

2  Privateers  with  French  commissions  were  guilty  of  depredations  upon  American  commerce,  but  the  occasions  were 
rare. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  155 


Reorganization  of  the  Naval  Service.  The  "Guu-boat  Policy."  Deserters  from  British  Ships. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  depredations  upon  American  commerce  and  the  in 
creasing  menaces  of  the  belligerents  in  Europe,  very  little  had  been  done  to  increase 
the  efficiency  of  the  navy  of  the  United  States  since  its  reduction  at  the  close  of  the 
war  with  the  Barbary  States.  The  squadron  in  the  Mediterranean  had  been  gradu 
ally  reduced,  but  several  small  vessels  had  been  built.  Two  of  these,  the  ship  Wasp, 
18,  and  brig  Hornet,  18,  constructed  after  French  models,  and  ranking  as  sloops-of- 
war,  were  beautiful,  stanch,  and  fast-sailing  craft. 

In  the  spring  of  1 806  the  naval  service  was  reorganized,1  yet  nothing  of  great  im 
portance  was  contemplated  to  increase  its  material  strength  excepting  the  construc 
tion  of  gun-boats.2  The  President  had  imbibed  very  strong  prejudices  in  favor  of 
these  vessels.  A  flotilla  of  them,  obtained  from  Naples,  had  been  used  effectively  in 
the  war  with  Tripoli  in  1804,  and  they  were  favorites  in  the  service  because  they  af 
forded  commands  for  enterprising  young  officers.  A  few  were  built  in  the  United 
States  in  1805,  their  chief  contemplated  use  being  the  defense  and  protection  of  har 
bors  and  rivers.  Then  was  inaugurated  the  "  gun-boat  policy"  of  the  government,  so 
much  discussed  for  three  or  four  years  afterward. 

Toward  the  close  of  1806  the  President  officially  announced  that  the  gun-boats  (fifty 
in  number)  "  authorized  by  an  act  of  the  last  session"  were  so  far  advanced  that  they 
might  be  put  in  commission  the  following  season.3  Yet  only  in  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  was  there  a  foreign  station  of  the  navy  of  the  United  States  where  an  American 
cruiser  might  be  seen  at  the  beginning  of  1807,  notwithstanding  American  merchant 
vessels  to  the  amount  of  1,200,000  tons  were  afloat.  Nor  was  there  a  home  squadron 
worthy  of  the  name  ;  while  British  and  French  cruisers  were  swarming  on  our  coasts, 
and  British  orders  and  French  decrees  were  wielding  the  besom  of  destruction  against 
our  commerce. 

In  the  spring  of  1807  a  squadron  of  British  ships  of  war,  whose  rendezvous  was 
Lynnhaven  Bay,4  just  within  Cape  Henry,  in  Virginia,  were  watching  some  French 
frigates  which  had  been  for  some  time  blockaded  at  Annapolis,  in  Maryland.  One 
of  the  British  vessels  was  the  Melampus,  38.  Three  of  her  men  deserted,  and  enlisted 
among  the  crew  of  the  United  States  frigate  Chesapeake,  then  being  fitted  for  sea  at 
the  navy  yard  at  Washington  to  join  the  Mediterranean  squadron.  Mr.  Erskine,  the 
British  minister,  who  had  been  sent  to  Washington  by  Fox  to  supersede  Merry,  the 
successor  of  Listen,  made  a  formal  request  of  the  President  for  their  surrender,  but 
without  any  warrant  found  in  the  laws  of  nations,  or  in  any  agreement  between  the 
two  governments.  A  proposition  to  deliver  up  British  deserters  had  been  made  by 
Monroe  and  Pinkney  during  the  late  negotiations,  as  an  inducement  for  the  British 
to  abandon  the  practice  of  impressment,  but  nothing  on  that  point  had  been  accom 
plished. 

The  United  States  government,  willing  to  be  just,  and  anxious  for  honorable  peace, 
instituted  inquiries  concerning  the  deserters.  They  were  actually  enlisted  for  service 

1  By  an  act  of  Congress  in  April,  1806,  the  President  was  authorized  to  employ  as  many  of  the  public  vessels  as  he 
might  deem  necessary,  but  limiting  the  number  of  officers  and  seamen.    The  list  of  captains  was  increased  by  the  act  to 
thirteen,  that  of  the  masters  and  commanders  to  nine,  and  that  of  the  lieutenants  to  seventy-two.    In  consequence  of 
deaths  and  resignations  there  were  many  promotions,  and  sixty-nine  midshipmen  were  raised  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant. 

The  names  of  the  captains  under  the  new  law  were  as  follows :  Samuel  Nicholson,  Alexander  Murray,  Samuel  Barron, 
John  Rodgers,  Edward  Preble,  James  Barron,  William  Bainbridge,  Hugh  G.  Campbell,  Stephen  Decatur,  Thomas  Tin- 
gey,  Charles  Stewart,  Isaac  Hull,  John  Shaw,  and  Isaac  Chauncey.  Of  these  Commodore  Stewart  is  now  (18G7)  the  only 
survivor. 

The  names  of  the  masters  and  commanders  were  as  follows :  John  Smith,  George  Cox,  John  H.  Dent,  Thomas  Robin 
son,  David  Porter,  John  Carson,  Samuel  Evans,  and  Charles  Gordon.  Not  one  survives. 

2  The  act  of  Congress  for  "  fortifying  the  Ports  and  Harbors  of  the  United  States  and  for  building  Gun-boats"  was  ap 
proved  on  the  21st  of  April,  180C.    It  provided  for  the  construction  of  fifty  gun-boats. 

3  Annual  message,  December  2, 1800.— See  Statesman's  Manual,  i.,  282. 

*  Here  the  French  fleet  under  the  Count  de  Grasse  lay  early  in  September,  1781,  when  the  English  fleet  under  Admiral 
Graves  appeared  off  Cape  Charles,  entering  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  The  French  prepared  for  conflict,  and  put  to  sea.  The 
British  bore  down  upon  them,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  5th  of  September  a  partial  action  took  place.  The  two  fleets 
were  within  sight  of  each  other  for  five  consecutive  days,  but  had  no  other  engagement.  For  an  account  of  these  events 
and  a  diagram,  see  Lossing's  Field-book  of  the  Revolution,  ii.,  306,  latest  edition. 


156 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Deserters  American  Citizens.  Their  Surrender  refused.  The  Chesapeake  watched  by  a  British  Squadron. 

on  board  the  Chesa 
peake  ;  but  it  was  es 
tablished  by  compe 
tent  testimony  that 
one  was  a  native  of 
the  Eastern  Shore  of 
Maryland,  that  anoth 
er  was  a  colored  man 
and  a  native  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  in  the 
case  of  the  third  there 
was  strong  circum 
stantial  evidence  of 
his  being  a  native- 
born  citizen  of  Mary 
land.1  Under  these 
circumstances,  as  the 
claims  of  British  citi 
zenship  could  not  be 
established,  and  as  the 
government  was  not 

disposed  to  surrender  any  seamen  who  claimed  its  protection,  a  refusal  in  respectful 
terms  was  communicated  to  Mr.  Erskine.  No  more  was  said  upon  the  subject;  but 
it  appears  to  have  stimulated  Vice- Admiral  Berkeley,  on  the  Halifax  station,  under 
whose  command  was  the  squadron  in  Lynnhaven  Bay,  to  the  assumption  of  authority 
Avhich  led  to  much  trouble. 

At  about  the  beginning  of  June  the  Chesapeake  sailed  from  Washington  to  Nor 
folk,  and  on  the  19th  she  was  reported  to  Commodore  James  Barron,  the  appointed 
flag-officer  of  the  Mediterranean  squadron,  as  ready  for  sea.  She  dropped  down  to 
Hampton  Roads,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  June — a  bright,  beautiful,  hot 
morning — at  about  eight  o'clock,  she  weighed  anchor,  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Gordon,  and  bearing  the  broad  pennant  of  Commodore  Barron.  She  was  armed  with 
twenty-eight  18-pounders  on  her  gun-deck,  and  twelve  carronades2  above,  making  a 
total  of  forty  guns.  She  was  a  vessel  of  ordinary  character,  and  bore  a  crew  num 
bering  three  hundred  and  seventy-five. 

On  the  evening  of  the  21st,a  the  British  squadron  in  Lynnhaven  Bay, 
charged  with  the  double  duty,  it  seems,  of  watching  the  French  frigates 
and  the  Chesapeake,  consisted  of  the  Bellona,  74;  the  Melampus,  38;  the  Leopard, 
50  ;  and  another  whose  name  was  not  mentioned.  The  Leopard,  Captain  Humphreys, 
was  charged  with  the  duty  of  intercepting  the  Chesapeake.  She  was  a  small  two- 
decker,  and  is  said  to  have  mounted  fifty-six  guns.  She  preceded  the  Chesapeake  to 
sea  several  miles,  her  sails  bent  by  a  gentle  northwest  breeze. 

The  Leopard  kept  in  sight  of  the  Chesapeake  until  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
when  the  former  bore  down  upon  the  latter  and  hailed,  informing  Commodore  Barron 
that  she  had  a  dispatch  for  him.  The  Chesapeake  responded  by  lying-to,  when  some 
of  her  officers  discovered  that  the  Leopard"1  s  ports  were  triced  up — an  evidence  of 
belligerent  intent — but  they  did  not  mention  the  fact  to  Captain  Gordon  or  the  com- 

1  The  names  of  the  deserters  were  William  Ware,  who  had  been  pressed  from  an  American  vessel  on  board  the  Me- 
lampus  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay ;  Daniel  Martin,  colored,  pressed  at  the  same  time  and  place;  and  John  Strachan,  pressed 
on  board  the  same  vessel  from  an  English  Guineaman  off  Cape  Finisterre.    Ware  and  Strachan  had  protections,  but 
Martin  had  lost  his.— See  Commodore  Barren's  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  dated  April  2, 1807.    It  is  proper  to 
state  that  Mr.  Hamilton,  the  British  consul  at  Norfolk,  made  repeated  official  demands  for  these  three  seamen  and  an 
other,  and  wag  as  often  refused  by  the  officers  of  the  Chesapeake,  acting  under  government  orders. 

2  A  carronade  is  a  short  piece  of  ordnance,  having  a  large  calibre,  and  a  chamber  for  the  powder  like  a  mortar.    It  de 
rives  its  name  from  Carron,  in  Scotland,  where  it  was  first  made. — Webster. 


1  June, 

1SOT. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  157 


The  Chesapeake  boarded.  The  Demand  for  the  Deserters  refused.  The  Leopard  fires  into  the  Chesapeake. 

modore.  A  British  boat  came  alongside,  and  the  lieutenant  in  command  was  politely 
received  by  Barren  in  the  cabin  of  the  Chesapeake.  He  informed  the  commodore  that 
he  was  in  search  of  deserters,  and,  giving  their  names,  he  demanded  their  release,  on 
the  authority  of  instructions  issued  at  Halifax  on  the  1st  of  June  by  Vice-Admiral 
Berkeley.  Those  instructions  directed  all  captains  under  his  command,  should  they 
fall  in  with  the  Chesapeake  out  of  the  waters  of  the  United  States,  to  show  their 
orders,  and  "  to  proceed  and  search"  for  such  deserters ;  at  the  same  time,  should  the 
commander  of  the  Chesapeake  make  a  similar  demand,  they  were  to  allow  him  to 
search  for  deserters  from  the  American  service, "  according  to  the  usages  of  civilized 
nations  on  terms  of  peace  and  amity  with  each  other."1  He  also  presented  a  note 
from  Captain  Humphreys  of  the  Leopard,  expressing  a  hope  that  every  circumstance 
respecting  the  deserters  might  "  be  adjusted  in  a  manner  that  the  harmony  sub 
sisting  between  the  two  countries  might  remain  undisturbed." 

Barron  was  justly  astonished  at  the  impertinence  of  Humphreys  and  the  assump 
tions  of  Berkeley.  The  "  customs  and  usages"  referred  to  by  the  latter  were  confined 
to  the  British  navy,  and  were  subjects  for  complaint  by  "  civilized  nations."  The 
practice  had  been  advocated  only  in  the  British  Parliament  and  by  the  British  press ; 
and  twice  already  the  "usage"  had  been  applied  to  American  vessels  by  British 
cruisers  and  denounced  as  outrageous.2  Barron  knew  well  that  the  first  outrage  of 
the  kind  had  caused  the  issuing  of  a  standing  order  from  his  government  to  the  com 
manders  of  national  vessels  never  to  allow  their  crews  to  be  mustered  except  by  their 
own  officers.  He  therefore  made  a  short  reply  to  Humphreys,  telling  him  he  knew 
of  no  deserters  on  board  the  Chesapeake,  that  he  had  instructed  his  recruiting  officers 
not  to  enlist  British  deserters,  and  explicitly  assuring  him  that  his  crew  should  not 
be  mustered  except  by  their  own  officers. 

While  the  lieutenant  was  waiting  for  Barren's  answer,  the  officers  of  the  Chesa 
peake,  suspicious  of  some  mischief  brewing,  were  busy  in  clearing  the  ship  for  action. 
She  had  left  port  all  unprepared  for  conflict.  Without  the  least  expectation  of  en 
countering  an  enemy,  she  had  gone  to  sea  without  preparation  for  hostile  service, 
either  in  the  drilling  of  her  men  or  in  perfecting  her  equipments.  She  was  littered 
and  lumbered  by  various  objects,  and  her  crew  had  been  mustered  only  three  times. 

When  the  lieutenant  left,  Barron  seems  to  have  imagined  that  some  hostile  demon 
stration  might  follow  his  refusal  to  allow  a  search  for  deserters.  His  men  were 
silently  called  to  quarters,  and  the  ship  was  regularly  prepared  for  action.  He  soon 
received  a  trumpet  message  from  Humphreys,  saying,  "  Commodore  Barron  must  be 
aware  that  the  orders  of  the  vice-admiral  must  be  obeyed."  Barron  replied  that  he 
did  not  understand.  The  hail  was  several  times  repeated,  and  then  a  shot  was  sent 
from  the  Leopard  athwart  the  bows  of  the  Chesapeake.  This  was  speedily  followed 
by  another,  and  as  quickly  the  remainder  of  the  broadside  was  poured  into  the  almost 
helpless  frigate.  Owing  to  obstructions  it  was  difficult  to  get  her  batteries  ready; 
and  when  one  broadside  was  ready  for  action  there  was  no  priming-powder.  When 
a  small  quantity  was  brought,  there  were  no  matches,  locks,  nor  loggerheads,  and  not 
a  shot  could  be  returned.  Meanwhile  the  Leopard,  at  not  more  than  pistol-shot  dis 
tance,  and  in  smooth  water,  poured  several  broadsides  upon  the  unresisting  ship,  kill 
ing  three  men  and  wounding  eighteen.  Barron  and  his  aid  (Mr.  Broome),  who  were 
standing  in  the  gangway  watching  the  assailant,  were  slightly  hurt.  The  commodore 
frequently  expressed  a  desire  that  one  gun,  at  least,  might  be  fired  before  he  should 

1  Vice-Admiral  Berkeley's  circular  order  recited  that  many  seamen,  subjects  of  his  Britannic  majesty,  and  serving  in 
the  British  Navy,  had  deserted  from  several  British  ships,  which  he  named,  and  had  enlisted  on  board  the  frigate  Ches 
apeake,  and  had  openly  paraded  the  streets  of  Norfolk,  in  sight  of  their  officers,  under  the  American  colors,  protected  by 
the  magistrates  of  the  town  and  the  recruiting  officer,  who  refused  to  give  them  up,  either  on  demand  of  the  commanders 
of  the  ships  to  which  they  belonged  or  on  that  of  the  British  consul. 

2  See  the  account  of  outrage  in  case  of  the  Baltimore,  Captain  Phillips,  on  page  102,  and  that  of  the  American  gun 
boat  overhauled  by  one  of  Admiral  Collingwood's  vessels  in  the  Mediterranean,  note  2,  page  146.    An  apology  was 
made  for  the  former  outrage,  but  the  latter  was  passed  by. 


158  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Surrender  of  the  Chesapeake.  The  Deserters  carried  away.  The  Outrage  resented. 

strike  his  flag,  for  he  perceived  that  a  surrender  would  be  necessary  to  save  the  ship 
from  utter  destruction.  He  was  gratified.  Just  as  the  colors  in  their  descent  touched 
the  taffrail,  Lieutenant  Allen,  who  had  made  ineffectual  attempts  to  use  a  loggerhead,1 
ran  with  a  live  coal  bet  ween  his  fingers  and  touched  off  one  of  the  guns  of  the  second 
division  of  the  ship,  of  which  he  was  commander. 

The  Leopard  had  kept  up  her  cannonade,  without  any  response,  for  about  twelve 
minutes.  Twenty-one  of  her  round  shot  had  hulled  the  Chesapeake,  and  her  grape 
had  made  considerable  havoc  with  the  victim's  sails  and  rigging.  When  the  Amer 
ican  ensign  was  lowered,  two  British  lieutenants  and  several  midshipmen  went  on 
board,  mustered  the  crew,  arrested  the  three  deserters  from  the  Melampus,  dragged 
from  his  concealment  in  the  coal-hole  the  fourth,  named  John  Wilson,  who  had  desert 
ed  from  the  Halifax,  and  bore  them  all  away  to  the  Leopard.  Barren,  meanwhile, 
had  informed  Humphreys  by  note2  that  the  Chesapeake  was  his  prize ;  but  that  com 
mander  refused  to  receive  her,  saying,  "  My  instructions  have  been  obeyed,  and  I  de 
sire  nothing  more."  He  then  expressed  regret  because  of  the  loss  of  life,  and  offered 
any  assistance  the  crippled  ship  might  require.  His  proffered  sympathies  and  aid 
were  indignantly  rejected;  and  the  Chesapeake,  with  mortified  officers  and  crew, 
made  her  way  sullenly  back  to  Norfolk. 

The  unfortunate  deserters  were  taken  to  Halifax,  tried  by  a  court-martial,  and  sen 
tenced  to  be  hung.  The  three  Americans  were  reprieved  on  condition  that  they 
should  re-enter  the  British  service,  but  Wilson,  the  English  subject,  was  hanged. 

When  Canning,  the  British  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  heard  of  the  outrage,  he 
expressly  disavowed  the  act  in  behalf  of  his  government,  and  informed  Monroe  and 
Pinkney  that  orders  had  been  sent  out  for  the  recall  of  Berkeley  from  his  command. 
Humphreys  also  suffered  the  displeasure  of  his  government  because  he  had  exceeded 
his  instructions,  and  he  was  never  again  employed  in  service  afloat.  One  of  the 
Americans  remanded  to  slavery  in  the  British  navy  died  in  captivity ;  the  others, 
« June  is,  after  five  years  of  hard  service,  were  restored*  to  the  deck  of  the  ship  from 
which  they  had  been  taken.  Provision  was  also  made  for  the  families  of 
the  slain. 

The  attack  on  the  Chesapeake  created  the  most  intense  excitement  and  indignation 
throughout  the  United  States,  and  for  a  time  all  local  politics  were  forgotten,  and  all 
parties,  Federalists  and  Democrats,  natives  and  foreigners,  were  united  in  a  firm  re 
solve  that  Great  Britain  should  make  reparation  for  the  wrong,  or  be  made  to  feel 
the  indignation  of  the  insulted  republic  in  the  power  of  war.  Public  meetings  were 
held  in  all  the  principal  cities  from  Boston  to  Norfolk,3  in  which  the  feelings  of  the 
people  were  vehemently  expressed.  "  It  is  an  act  of  such  consummate  violence  and 
wrong,"  said  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,4  "and  of  so  barbarous  and  murderous  char 
acter,  that  it  would  debase  and  degrade  any  nation,  and  much  more  so  a  nation  of 
freemen,  to  submit  to  it."  Such  were  the  sentiments  every  where  expressed,  and  there 

1  A  loggerhead  is  a  spherical  mass  of  iron  heated  and  used  in  place  of  a  match  in  firing  cannon  in  the  navy. 

2  Barron's  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  June  23, 1SOT  ;  Cooper's  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  97-104 ; 
nildreth's  History  of  the  United  States,  Second  Series,  ii.,  GTS ;  Perkins's  History  of  the  Late  War,  page  22. 

3  On  the  return  of  the  Chesapeake  to  Norfolk  a  public  meeting  was  held  there,  when  it  was  resolved  that  no  inter 
course  of  any  kind  should  be  held  with  the  British  squadron  in  the  vicinity  until  the  pleasure  of  the  President  should 
be  known.    Captain  Douglas,  the  commander  of  the  squadron,  made  some  insolent  threats,  when  Cabell,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  ordered  detachments  of  militia  to  Norfolk  and  Hampton.    Douglas,  finding  his  threats  to  be  working  mischief 
for  himself,  became  as  obsequious  as  he  was  before  insolent,  and  withdrew  from  a  menacing  position  in  Hampton  Roads 
to  Lynnhaven  Bay.    Decatur,  then  in  command  of  the  American  naval  force  at  Norfolk,  was  ordered  not  to  molest  him 
while  he  remained  there.    Some  rather  spicy  correspondence  with  Erskine,  the  British  minister,  ensued,  in  the  course 
of  which  he  asked  indemnification  for  some  water-casks  belonging  to  the  British  fleet  destroyed  by  the  indignant  peo 
ple  of  Hampton  after  the  return  of  the  Chesapeake  !    In  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  State  from  Monticello,  concerning 
this  demand  under  such  circumstances,  President  Jefferson  wrote :  "  It  will  be  very  difficult  to  answer  Mr.  Erskine's  de 
mand  respecting  the  water-casks  in  a  tone  proper  for  such  a  demand.    I  have  heard  of  one  who,  having  broken  his  cane 
over  the  head  of  another,  demanded  payment  for  his  cane.    This  demand  might  well  enough  have  made  part  of  an  offer 
to  pay  the  damages  done  to  the  Chesapeake,  and  to  deliver  np  the  authors  of  the  murders  committed  on  board  her." 

*  July  1, 180T.    The  secretary  of  the  meeting,  who  drafted  the  resolutions,  was  Joseph  Hopkinson,  Esq.,  a  leading  Fed- 
err.list,  and  author  otHail,  Columbia  ! 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


159 


British  Vessels  ordered  to  leave  American  Waters. 


Harbors  to  be  defended. 


Punishment  of  Barren. 


was  a  general  desire  for  an  immediate  declaration  of  war  against  Great  Britain  to  re 
dress  all  wrongs  and  grievances.  But  the  President  and  his  Cabinet,  averse  to  war, 
preferred  a  pacific  course,  and  determined  to  allow  Great  Britain  an  opportunity  for 
a  disavowal  of  the  act,  and  to  make  reparation  of  the  wrong.  The  former,  as  we  have 
observed,  was  promptly  done  by  Mr.  Canning ;  the  latter,  embarrassed  by  intricate 
negotiations,  was  accomplished  more  tardily. 

In  response  and  submission  to  the  popular  will,  the  President  issued  a  proclamation 
on  the  2d  of  July,  in  wrhich  he  complained  of  the  habitual  insolence  of  the  British 
cruisers,  expressed  his  belief  that  the  present  outrage  was  unauthorized,  and  ordered 
all  British  armed  vessels  to  leave  the  waters  of  the  United  States  immediately.  As 
his  government  possessed  no  power  to  compel  compliance  with  this  order,  he  directed 
that,  in  case  of  their  refusal  to  leave,  all  intercourse  with  them,  their  officers  and 
crews,  should  be  at  once  suspended.  Pie  forbade  all  persons  affording  such  vessels 
aid  of  any  kind,  unless  in  the  case  of  a  ship  in  distress  or  charged  with  public  dis 
patches.  Preparations  for  defense  were  also  made.  Most  of  the  gun-boats  in  com 
mission  were  ordered  to  New  York,  Charleston,  and  New  Orleans ;  military  stores 
were  purchased ;  one  hundred  thousand  militia  were  ordered  to  be  detached  by  the 
different  states,  but  without  pay,  and  volunteers  were  invited  to  enroll  themselves. 

Commodore  Barron  was  made  to 
feel  the  nation's  indignation  most  se 
verely.  He  was  accused  of  neglect 
of  duty,  and  was  tried  by  a  court- 
martial  on  specific  charges  of  that 
nature.  The  navy,  government,  and 
nation  appear  to  have  predeterm 
ined  his  guilt.  The  wounded  na 
tional  pride  needed  a  palliative,  and 
it  was  found  in  the  supposed  de 
linquencies  of  the  unfortunate  com 
modore.  He  was  found  guilty,  and 
sentenced  to  five  years'  suspension 
from  the  service,  without  pay  or 
emoluments.1  Captain  Gordon  was 
tried  on  the  same  charge,  but  his  of 
fense  was  so  slight  that  he  was  only 
privately  reprimanded.  Such  also 
was  the  fate  of  Captain  Hall,  of  the 
marines ;  while  the  gunner,  for  neg 
lect  in  having  priming-powder  suffi 
cient,  was  cashiered. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Cooper 
that  these  officers  were  made  the 


1  James  Barron  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1768,  and  commenced  his  services  in  the  navy  under  his  father,  who  was 
"  commodore  of  all  the  armed  vessels  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia"  during  the  Revolution  and  the  Confederation. 
He  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  under  Barry  in  1798,  and  the  following  year  was  promoted  to  the  highest  grade  then 
known  to  the  navy,  namely,  captain.  With,  and  subordinate  to  his  brother  Samuel,  he  sailed  to  the  Mediterranean  that 
year,  where  he  soon  acquired  fame  for  his  skill  in  seamanship.  He  was  one  of  the  best  officers  and  disciplinarians  in 
the  navy.  The  affair  of  the  Chesapeake  and  its  effects  upon  himself  cast  a  shadow  over  his  future  life.  He  was  restored 
to  official  position,  but,  somewhat  broken  in  spirit,  he  never  afterward  entered  the  service  afloat.  In  1820  he  and  Deca- 
tur  had  a  correspondence  on  the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake,  which  resulted  in  a  duel,  the  particulars  of  which  will  be  given 
hereafter.  The  duel  was  fought  near  Bladensburg,  four  miles  from  Washington  City.  Both  were  badly  wounded.  De- 
catur  died ;  Barron  recovered  after  mouths  of  intense  suffering. 

Barron  held  several  important  commands  in  the  service  on  shore,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  on  the  21st  of  April, 
1851,  he  was  the  senior  officer  of  the  United  States  Navy.  He  died  at  Norfolk,  in  Virginia,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Paul's 
Church-yard  there,  with  military  and  civic  honors,  on  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  April.  A  funeral  sermon  was  preached 
in  the  venerable  and  venerated  church  by  Eev.  William  Jackson.  It  was  a  beautiful  tribute  to  the  worth  of  a  brave,  and 
ill-requited  patriot. 


1GO  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Kepai-ation  demanded  of  England.  Failure  to  obtain  it.  Royal  Proclamation  concerning  British  Seamen. 

scape-goats  of  the  government,  where  divided  power  is  too  often  not  only  irrespons 
ible  but  inefficient.  "  It  may  well  be  questioned,"  he  says,  "  if  any  impartial  person, 
who  coolly  examines  the  subject,  will  not  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the  real  de 
linquents  were  never  put  on  their  trial."  He  then  adverts  to  the  fact  that  four 
months  had  been  consumed  in  fitting  this  single  vessel  for  sea,  under  the  immediate 
eye  of  the  government,  at  a  time  when  there  was  pressing  necessity  for  her  service ; 
that  she  did  not  receive  all  her  guns  until  a  few  days  before  she  sailed ;  that  her 
crew  were  coming  on  board  until  the  last  hour  before  her  departure ;  that  her  people 
had  been  quartered  only  three  days  before  she  put  to  sea,  and  that  she  was  totally 
unfitted  for  active  service  when  she  was  ordered  to  leave  port.  "  When  it  was  found 
that  the  nation  had  been  disgraced,"  continues  Mr.  Cooper, "  so  unsound  was  the  state 
of  popular  feeling  that  the  real  delinquents  were  overlooked,  while  their  victims  be 
came  objects  of  popular  censure."1 

The  President's  proclamation  wras  followed  by  the  dispatch  of  the  armed  schooner 
Revenge  to  England  with  instructions  to  the  American  ministers  (Monroe  and  Pink- 
ney)  to  demand  reparation  for  insults  and  injuries  in  the  case  of  the  Chesapeake,  and 
to  suspend  all  other  negotiations  until  it  should  be  granted.  Unfortunately  for  the 
success  of  the  special  negotiations,  these  instructions  also  directed  them,  in  addition 
to  a  demand  for  an  apology  and  indemnity  to  the  families  of  the  killed,  to  insist,  by 
way  of  security  for  the  future,  that  the  visitation  of  American  vessels  in  search  of 
British  subjects  should  be  totally  relinquished.  This  was  inadmissible.  The  British 
government  refused  to  treat  upon  any  other  subject  than  that  of  reparation.  A  dis 
avowal  of  the  act  had  already  been  made,  and  every  disposition  to  be  just  and  friendly 
had  been  shown.  The  ministry  even  placed  their  government  in  the  position  of  an 
injured  party,  inasmuch  as  the  proclamation  concerning  British  ships  of  war  in  Amer 
ican  waters  was  evidently  an  act  of  retaliation  before  a  demand  for  reparation  had 
been  made,  or  the  disposition  of  the  British  Cabinet  had  been  ascertained. 

Monroe  and  Pinkney  had  already  proposed  to  reopen  negotiations  for  a  treaty  on 
the  basis  of  the  one  returned  from  their  government  unratified,2  and,  with  these  new 
instructions,  they  pursued  the  subject  with  so  much  assiduity  that  Mr.  Canning  made 
"  October  22,  to  them  a  formal  and  final  replya  that,  while  he  was  ready  to  listen  to  any 
iso7.  suggestions  with  a  view  to  the  settlement  of  existing  difficulties,  he  would 
not  negotiate  anew  on  the  basis  of  a  treaty  concluded  and  signed,  and  already  reject 
ed  by  one  of  the  parties.  Indeed  there  was  a  decided  aversion  to  treating  at  all  on 
the  subject  of  impressments ;  and  the  views  of  the  government  on  that  topic  were 
plainly  manifested  when,  by  royal  proclamation,15  all  British  mariners,  in 

"  October  17.      r  .        J  .  * 

whatever  service  engaged,  were  required  to  leave  it  forthwith  and  hasten 
to  the  aid  of  their  native  country,  then  menaced  and  imperiled,  and  her  "  maritime 
rights"  called  in  question.  It  authorized  all  commanders  of  foreign  ships  of  war  to 
seize  British  seamen  on  board  foreign  merchant  vessels  (but  without  undue  violence), 
and  take  them  to  any  British  port.  It  also  demanded  from  all  foreign  ships  of  war 
the  delivery  of  all  British  mariners  on  board  of  them ;  and  that  in  case  of  a  re 
fusal  to  give  them  up,  proper  notice  should  be  communicated  to  the  British  minister 
resident  of  the  nation  to  which  such  contumacious  vessel  and  commander  might  be 
long,  that  measures  for  redress  might  be  employed. 

Mr.  Monroe  formally  objected  to  this  proclamation,  as  shutting  the  door  against  all 
future  negotiations  on  the  subject  of  impressments.3  Canning  replied  that  it  was 

1  Cooper's  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  110.  2  gee  page  151. 

3  James  Monroe  was  born  in  Westmoreland  County,  in  Virginia,  on  the  2d  of  April,  1759.  His  youth  was  spent  among 
political  excitements  when  the  old  war  for  independence  was  kindling.  He  left  the  College  of  William  and  Mary  for 
the  camp,  and  enrolled  himself  a  soldier  for  freedom.  He  was  severely  wounded  in  the  van  of  battle  at  Trenton,  and 
was  promoted  to  captain.  In  other  battles  he  was  conspicuous  for  bravery ;  and  after  that  of  Monmouth  he  left  the  army, 
and  commenced  the  study  of  law  with  Mr.  Jefferson.  When  Arnold  and  Cornwallis  invaded  Virginia  in  1781,  he  again 
took  up  arms  as  a  volunteer.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  in  17S2.  He  was  promoted  to  the 
Executive  Council,  and  at  the  age  of  tweuty-five  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  National  Congress.  He  remained  in  public 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


161 


Special  Envoy  to  the  United  States. 


His  Mission  fruitless. 


Critical  Situation. 


only  a  declaration 
of  existing  law,  and 
necessary  for  the  in 
formation  of  British 
commanders  who 
might  be  placed  in  a 
situation  similar  to 
that  of  Captain  Hum 
phreys,  of  the  Leop 
ard, 

It  was  evident  to 
both  parties  that  the 
topic  of  that  outrage 
could  not  be  satis 
factorily  treated  in 
London,  because  the 
American  ministers 
could  not  separate  it 
from  that  of  impress 
ment.  The  British 
government  re 
solved  therefore 


minister  to  Washing 
ton,  provided  with 
instructions  to  bring 
the  unhappy  dispute 
to  an  honorable  con 
clusion.  H.  G.  Rose, 
a  son  of  one  of  the 
ministers,  was  ap 
pointed  for  the  deli 
cate  duty,  and  ar- 
vived  at  Annapolis  in 
January,  1808.  His 
mission  was  fruit 
less.  He  was  instruct 
ed  not  to  treat  of  the 
affair  of  the  Chesa 
peake  while  the  re 
cent  proclamation  of 
the  President  was  in 
force,  nor  to  connect 
thesubjectwith 
that  of  impress- 
to  send  a  special  ^  ments  from  pri 
vate  vessels.  As  the  proclamation  had  reference  to  the  conduct  of  British  armed 
vessels  in  American  waters  from  the  beginning  of  the  current  European  war,  the 
President  refused  to  withdraw  the  document,  and  Rose  returned  in  the  same  vessel 
that  bore  him  to  our  shores.  Meanwhile  Monroe  had  returned  home,  leaving  Pinkney 
resident  minister  in  London.  All  hopes  of  settling  existing  difficulties  with  England 
were  at  an  end,  and  from  the  beginning  of  1808  the  political  relations  between  the 
two  governments  foreboded  inevitable  hostilities  at  no  distant  day. 

The  critical  condition  of  foreign  relations  induced  the  President  to  call  the  Tenth 
Congress  together  as  early  as  the  25th  of  October.  The  administration  party  had  an 
overwhelming  majority  in  that  body,  and  was  daily  increasing  in  strength  through 
out  the  country.  The  confidence  of  the  Democrats  in  Jefferson's  wisdom,  sagacity, 
and  patriotism  was  unbounded.  In  the  United  States  Senate  there  were  only  six 
Federalists,  and  one  of  them,  John  Quincy  Adams,  soon  left  their  ranks  and  joined 
those  of  the  dominant  party.1  A  new  Democratic  member  appeared  at  about  the 
same  time,  and  began  a  career  as  a  national  legislator  which  forms  a  wonderful  chap 
ter  in  the  history  of  the  government.  It  was  Henry  Clay,2  who  had  been  appointed 
to  fill,  for  a  single  session,  the  seat  made  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  General  John 


life,  and,  with  Patrick  Henry  and  others  of  his  state,  he  opposed  the  ratification  of  the  National  Constitution.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  United  States  senators  from  Virginia  under  it.  He  was  sent  to  France  as  embassador  in  1704,  and  was 
recalled  by  Washington  in  1T96.  In  1798  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  three  years  afterward  Mr.  Jefferson 
sent  him  to  Paris  to  assist  in  negotiations  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana.  He  was  then  transferred  to  the  British  court 
as  co-laborer  in  diplomacy  with  Mr.  Pinkney.  In  1811  he  was  again  elected  Governor  of  Virginia,  but  was  soon  called  to 
the  Cabinet  of  Mr.  Madison  as  Secretary  of  War.  In  1S1G  he  was  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  and  held  that 
office  eight  years,  when  he  retired  from  public  life.  He  lived  in  Virginia  until  1S31,  when  he  took  up  his  residence  with 
his  son-in-law  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  died  there  on  the  4th  of  July  of  that  year,  at  the  age  of  little  more  than  sev 
enty-one  years. 

i  Mr.  Adams  was  then  forty  years  of  age,  and  had  been  in  the  Senate  since  1S03.  "  He  is  a  man  of  much  information," 
wrote  his  contemporary  and  friend,  Senator  Plumer,  of  New  Hampshire,  in  April,  1SOO,  "  a  correct  and  animated  speaker, 
of  strong  passions,  and  of  course  subject  to  strong  prejudices,  but  a  man  of  strict,  undeviating  integrity.  He  is  not  the 
slave  of  party,  nor  influenced  by  names,  but  free,  independent,  and  occasionally  eccentric." 

=  "This  day  [December  29, 1S06"],  wrote  Senator  Plumer,  "Henry  Clay,  the"  successor  of  John  Adair,  was  qualified, 
and  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate.  He  is  a  young  lawyer.  His  stature  is  tall  and  slender.  I  had  much  conversation  with 
him,  and  it  afforded  me  much  pleasure.  He  is  intelligent,  and  appears  frank  and  candid.  His  address  is  good,  and  his 
manners  easy." — Life  of  Plumer,  page  351. 


162  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Political  Complexion  of  the  Tenth  Congress. The  President's  Message. An  Embargo  established. 

Adair,  then  under  a  cloud  because  of  his  recent  participation  with  Aaron  Burr  in  his 
schemes  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  the  Democratic  party  had  about  the  same  average 
majority  as  in  the  Senate.  The  opposition,  even  with  the  "  Quids"— John  Randolph 
and  his  Virginia  seceders— could  not  command  at  any  time  more  than  twenty-eight 
votes.  Their  chief  leaders  were  Samuel  W.  Dana,  of  Connecticut,  who  had  been  a 
member  since  1796;  the  late  Josiah  Quincy,  of  Massachusetts,  who  took  his  seat  in 
1 805  ;  Barent  Gardinier,  of  New  York,  and  Philip  Barton  Key,  of  Maryland.  Among 
the  new  administration  members  was  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky.  Thus  sus 
tained  by  the  National  Legislature  and  the  people,  the  policy  of  the  President  and 
his  Cabinet  became  the  policy  of  the  country. 

» October  27  *n  ^s  seventh  annual  message*  the  President  called  the  attention  of 
1807.  Congress  to  several  very  important  subjects.  He  gave  a  narrative  of  un 
successful  efforts  to  settle  with  Great  Britain  all  difficulties  concerning  search  and 
impressments ;  considered  the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake,  the  refusal  of  the  British  com 
manders  to  obey  the  orders  of  his  proclamation  to  leave  American  waters,  the  orders 
in  Council  and  Decrees,  the  subject  of  national  defenses,  the  uneasiness  of  the  In 
dians  on  the  frontiers,  and  the  relations  with  other  foreign  governments.  He  also 
expressed  great  dissatisfaction  at  the  acquittal  of  Burr,  through  erroneous,  if  not  mis 
chievous  interpretation  of  law,  as  he  evidently  believed ;  and  he  pressed  upon  the 
attention  of  Congress  the  propriety  of  so  amending  the  law  as  to  prevent  the  de 
struction  of  the  government  by  treason.1 

Having  been  officially  informed13  of  the  new  interpretation  of  the  Ber- 
U'  lin  Decree,2  and  unofficially  Apprised  of  the  almost  simultaneously  issued 
«  December  is.  jjritigh  or(jers  in  Council,  the  President  communicated  to  Congress0  the 
facts  in  his  possession,  and  recommended  the  passage  of  an  Embargo  Act — "  an  in 
hibition  of  the  departure  of  our  vessels  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States."3  The 
Senate,  with  closed  doors,  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  subject,  and,  after  a 
session  of  four  hours  and  a  departure  from  ordinary  rules,  passed  a  billd 
laying  an  embargo  on  all  shipping,  foreign  and  domestic,  in  the  ports  of 
the  United  States,  with  specific  exceptions.  The  minority  made  a  feeble  opposition 
to  the  measure.4  They  asked  for  delay,  but  it  was  not  granted,  and  the  act  was 
passed  by  a  strictly  party  vote — ayes  twenty-two,  noes  six.  John  Quincy  Adams 
thus  signified  his  adherence  to  the  dominant  party  by  voting  with  them.  In  the 
House,  which  also  sat  with  closed  doors,  the  passage  of  the  act  was  pressed  with 
equal  zeal  by  the  friends  of  the  administration,  and  was  as  warmly  opposed  by  the 
Federalists  and  "  Quids."  The  bill  was  debated  for  three  days  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  the  sittings  continuing  far  into  each  night.  The  bill  was  passed  on  Monday, 
the  21st,  at  almost  midnight,  by  a  vote  of  eighty-two  to  forty-four,  and  became  a  law 
by  receiving  the  signature  of  the  President  on  the  following  day.  It  prohibited  all 
vessels  in  the  ports  of  the  United  States  from  sailing  for  any  foreign  port,  except  for 
eign  ships  in  ballast,  or  with  cargoes  taken  on  board  before  notification  of  the  act ; 
and  coastwise  vessels  were  required  to  give  heavy  bonds  to  land  their  cargoes  in  the 

i  "The  framers  of  our  Constitution,"  said  the  President,  "  certainly  supposed  they  had  guarded  as  well  their  govern 
ment  against  destruction  by  treason,  as  their  citizens  against  oppression  under  pretense  of  it ;  and  if  these  ends  are  not 
attained,  it  is  of  importance  to  inquire  by  what  means  more  effectual  they  may  be  secured."— Statesman's  Manual,  i.,  297. 
Jefferson,  like  many  other  sagacious  men,  felt  at  that  time  that  the  Union  had  barely  escaped  dissolution  from  the  in 
famous  machinations  of  Burr  and  his  dupes. 

=  See  page  129.  =  Special  Message  to  Congress,  December  18, 1807. 

4  The  President  was  charged  with  having  recommended  an  embargo  before  receiving  positive  information  of  the  Ber 
lin  Decree  and  the  Orders  in  Council.  This  was  a  mistake.  Of  the  former  he  had  been  informed  for  a  week  previously 
to  his  communication  to  Congress  on  the  subject  by  an  official  letter  from  Mr.  Armstrong ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the 
day  on  which  the  message  was  sent  in,  the  National  Intelligencer,  of  Washington  City,  contained  a  paragraph  from  a 
London  paper  of  the  10th  of  November,  announcing  the  Orders  in  Council  "  awaiting  his  majesty's  signature."  Private 
letters  had  also  reached  him,  by  which  he  was  satisfied  that,  by  the  combined  action  of  the  belligerents,  the  foreign  com 
merce  of  the  United  States  was  utterly  destroyed. 


OF   THE  WAR   OF    1812.  163 


Effects  of  the  Embargo.  Prophecy  of  Josiah  Quincy.  Party  Spirit  violently  aroused. 

United  States.  What  little  life  was  left  in  American  commerce  under  the  pressure 
of  the  orders  and  decrees  of  the  belligerents  was  utterly  crushed  out  by  this  act. 

The  Embargo  Act,  universal  in  its  application  and  unlimited  in  its  duration,  was 
an  experiment  never  before  tried  by  any  nation — an  attempt,  by  withholding  inter 
course  from  all  the  world,  to  so  operate  upon  two  belligerent  nations  as  to  compel 
them  to  respect  the  rights  and  accede  to  the  claims  of  an  injured  neutral.  Its  pro 
fessed  objects  were  to  induce  France  and  England  to  relax  their  practical  hostility  to 
neutral  commerce,  and  to  preserve  and  develop  the  resources  of  the  United  States. 
But  it  accomplished  neither.  The  French  government  viewed  it  as  timely  aid  to 
their  Continental  System,  and  far  more  injurious  in  its  effects  upon  Great  Britain 
than  upon  France ;  while  England,  feeling  that  her  national  character  and  honor  were 
at  stake,  and  believing  that  she  could  endure  the  privations  which  the  measure  would 
inflict  in  both  countries  longer  than  America,  proudly  refused  to  yield  a  single  point 
under  the  pressure  of  this  new  method  of  coercion.  The  words  of  Josiah  Quincy  be 
came  prophetic.  "  Let  us  once  declare  to  the  world,"  he  said,  "  that,  before  our  em 
bargo  policy  be  abandoned,  the  French  decrees  and  the  British  orders  must  be  re 
voked,  and  we  league  against  us  whatever  spirit  of  honor  and  pride  exists  in  both 
those  nations.  .  .  .  No  nation  will  be  easily  brought  to  acknowledge  such  a  depend 
ence  on  another  as  to  be  made  to  abandon,  by  a  withholding  of  intercourse,  a  settled 
line  of  policy."1 

Opposition  to  the  measure,  in  and  out  of  Congress,  was  violent  and  incessant.  The 
topic  was  made  a  strong  battery  from  which  the  Federalists  hurled  their  hottest  de 
nunciatory  shot  against  the  administration.  Old  party  cries  were  again  heard,  and 
the  people  were  startled  by  the  bugbear  of  French  influence  in  the  councils  of  the 
nation.  The  President  was  charged  with  secret  intrigues  with  Bonaparte  for  an  alli 
ance  of  the  United  States  and  France  against  Great  Britain,  the  traditional  object  of 
hatred  by  the  Democratic  party.  The  suggestion  alarmed  intelligent  men,  for  the 
history  of  six  years  had  taught  them  that  the  allies  »f  the  Corsican  soon  became  his 
subjects.2  The  New  England,  people  were  taught  to  believe  that  the  Embargo  was 
the  result  of  a  combination  of  Western  and  Southern  states  to  ruin  the  Eastern  com 
monwealths  ;  and  every  art  which  party  tactics  could  command  was  brought  to  bear 
in  the  service  of  the  opposition,  who,  as  politicians,  hoped,  by  means  of  the  alarm,  dis 
traction,  and  real  distress  which  then  prevailed,  to  array  such  numbers  against  the 
dominant  party  that,  in  the  election  for  President  of  the  United  States  to  be  held  a 
few  months  later,  they  might  fill  the  Executive  chair  with  one  of  their  own  number. 

1  Speech  in  Congress  on  the  supplementary  Embargo  Act,  February,  180S. 

2  In  the  course  of  debate  on  a  supplementary  Embargo  Act  in  Congress,  on  the  20th  of  February,  Gardinier  denounced 
the  -whole  affair  as  a  sly,  cunning  measure  to  aid  France.    "  Is  the  nation  prepared  for  this  ?"  he  vehemently  exclaimed. 
"To  settle  that  point,"  he  said  to  the  defenders  of  the  measure,  "tell  the  people  what  your  object  is;  tell  them  that  yon 
mean  to  take  part  with  the  '  Great  Pacificator.'    Else  stop  your  present  course.    Do  not  go  on  forging  chains  to  fasten 
us  to  the  car  of  the  imperial  conqueror  !" 

"  The  commercial  portion  of  the  United  States  (J  mean  from  Pennsylvania  to  New  Hampshire"),  wrote  Timothy  Pick 
ering  on  the  26th  of  January,  1808,  "are  in  general  yet  patient,  because,  from  their  unlimited  confidence  in  the  Presi 
dent's  wisdom  and  patriotism,  they  believe  that  some  mighty  state  secret  induced  him  to  recommend  the  Embargo.  If 
they  supposed,  as  I  do,  that  it  originated  in  the  influence  of  France— perhaps  in  a  concert  with  that  government,  the 
sooner  to  pull  down  the  power  of  Britain— the  public  indignation  would  be  roused,  and  our  country  saved  from  becom 
ing  the  provinces  of  the  '  emperor  and  king.' 

"I  greatly  regret  the  retaliating  order  of  Great  Britain ;  for,  though  it  really  furnishes  no  ground  for  the  Embargo,  it 
will  yet  be  urged  by  the  President's  friends  to  justify  it.  The  path  of  interest  and  common  policy  was  plain.  We 
should  have  pursued  our  ordinary  commerce  with  all  the  British  dominions,  and  armed  our  vessels  against  French 
cruisers.  This  would  have  offended  Bonaparte.  No  matter.  While  Britain  maintains  her  own  independence  ours  will  be 
safe.  If  she  fall  (which  I  do  not  believe  will  happen),  our  condition  would  not  be  worse.  With  arms  in  our  hands,  and 
a  manly  military  spirit  pervading  our  country,  we  should  be  respected  by  the  conqueror ;  but  tamely  crouching,  without 
any  resistance,  we  should  be  treated,  as  we  should  deserve,  with  contempt,  and  all  the  indignities  due  to  voluntary 
slaves." — MS.  Letter  to  General  Ebenezer  Stevens,  dated  "  City  of  Washington,  January  20, 1808." 

This  remarkable  letter,  now  before  me,  from  a  senator  of  the  United  States  to  a  leading  merchant  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  is  cited  to  show,  first,  how  powerfully  partisan  feelings  may  operate  upon  the  opinions  and  judgment  of  a  true 
patriot,  and,  secondly,  how  much  the  leading  men  of  the  country  at  that  time  considered  the  United  States  a  dependent 
on  Great  Britain.  "  While  Britain  maintains  her  own  independence  ours  will  be  safe !"  The  war  that  speedily  followed 
dispelled  that  servile  spirit. 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Inconsistency  of  Politicians.       Violations  of  the  Embargo.       Supplementary  Acts.       A  young  Poet's  Denunciations. 

That  section  of  the  Federalists  known  as  the  "  Essex  Junto"  were  the  most  uncom 
promising  opponents  of  the  administration  and  the  Embargo  ;  and  many  of  those  who, 
only  two  years  before,  had  vehemently  denounced  Great  Britain  because  of  her  per 
sistent  assaults  upon  the  rights  of  neutrals,  were  now,  in  the  heat  of  party  zeal,  the 
apologists  of,  and  sympathizers  with  that  government,  whose  aggressions  had  con- 
»  February,  stantly  increased.  In  the  very  montha  when  that  eminent  British  mer- 

18081  chant,  Alexander  Baring,  declared  before  the  world  that  "  it  would  be  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  upward  of  three  fourths  of  all  the  merchants,  seamen,  etc., 
engaged  in  commerce  or  navigation  in  America,  have,  at  some  time  or  other,  suffered 
from  acts  of  our  [British]  cruisers,"1  a  leading  Federal  politician  (who,  two  years  be- 
*  February  10  fore,b  declared,  by  his  vote  in  the  National  Senate,  that  the  conduct  of 
1806.  Great  Britain  was  "  an  unprovoked  aggression  upon  the  property  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  a  violation  of  their  neutral  rights,  and  an  encroachment 
upon  their  national  independence"),  wrote  to  a  friend  that,  "  although  England,  with 
her  thousand  ships  of  war,  could  have  destroyed  our  commerce,  she  has  really  done 
it  no  essential  injury."2 

It  was  soon  discovered  that  the  Embargo  Act  was  frequently  violated  by  enrolled 
coasting  vessels  carrying  cargoes  to  the  West  Indies,  and  it  became  necessary  to  pass 
supplementary  acts  to  prevent  such  evasions  of  the  law.  It  was  chiefly  in  the  de 
bates  upon  these  acts  that  the  acrimony  already  noticed  appeared.  Gardinier,  of 
New  York,  made  the  most  sweeping  charges  of  corruption,  and  affiliation  with  the 
"French  usurper"  against  the  majority  in  Congress.  His  violence  and  abuse  elicited 
some  personal  attacks,  and  one  of  them  so  incensed  him  that  he  challenged  his  assail 
ant  (Campbell)  to  mortal  combat.  They  met  at  Bladensburg.  Gardinier  was  shot 
through  one  side  of  his  body,  but,  after  weeks  of  suffering,  he  recovered  and  came 
back  to  Congress,  not  a  whit  subdued.  Disputes  ran  high  throughout  the  country, 
and  public  speeches,  newspapers,  and  pamphlets  teemed  with  the  most  vehement  as 
saults  upon  the  dominant  party.3  Many  men,  dreading  the  horrors  of  a  war  with 

1  Baring's  Inquiry,  etc. 

2  Timothy  Pickering  to  James  Sullivan,  Governor  of  New  Hampshire,  February  1C,  1808. 

3  Among  the  few  political  pamphlets  of  that  period,  now  extant,  is  a  remarkable  one  before  me,  entitled  The  Embar 
go;  or,  Sketches  of  the  Times:  a  Satire.    It  is  a  poem,  and  was  written  by  WILLIAM  CXTLLEN  BRYANT,  then  a  lad  only  about 
thirteen  years  of  age,  who  is  still  (1807)  in  active  political  life,  and  holds  a  front  rank  among  the  literary  celebrities  of 
the  age.    In  rhythm,  vigor  of  thought,  and  force  of  expression,  this  production  of  his  early  years  gave  ample  assurance 
of  the  future  distinction  of  the  author  as  a  poet  and  political  writer.*    But  politics  were  seldom  the  theme  for  his  muse 
after  this  early  effusion  of  that  nature. 

In  the  preface  he  spoke  of  the  "  terrapin  policy"  of  the  administration—  the  policy  designed  by  the  Embargo  of  shut 
ting  the  nation  up  in  its  own  shell,  as  it  were,  like  the  terrapin.  His  epigraph,  from  Pope's  £ssay  on  Satire,  contained 
the  significant  line, 

"  When  private  faith  and  public  trust  are  sold." 

He  assailed  the  President  and  his  supporters  as  vigorously  as  if  his  weapon  had  been  wielded  by  the  hand  of  long  ex 
perience.    Seriously  believing  that  his  country  was  in  great  peril,  he  wrote  — 

"  Ill-fated  clime  !  condemned  to  feel  th'  extremes 
Of  a  weak  ruler's  philosophic  dreams  ; 
Driven  headlong  on  to  ruin's  fateful  brink, 
When  will  thy  country  feel,  when  will  she  think  f  " 
Of  the  Embargo  he  wrote  — 

"  Curse  of  our  nation,  source  of  countless  woes, 
From  whose  dark  womb  unreckoned  misery  flows, 
Th'  Embargo  rages,  like  a  sweeping  wind  — 
Fear  lowers  before,  and  Famine  stalks  behind." 

Influenced  by  the  common  opinion  of  the  opposition,  he  said  to  his  countrymen— 
"  How  foul  a  blot  Columbia's  glory  stains  ! 
How  dark  the  scene  !    Infatuation  reigns  ! 
For  French  intrigue,  which  wheedles  to  devour, 
Threatens  to  fix  us  in  Napoleon's  power. 


*  In  a  notice  of  the  second  edition,  with  other  poems,  printed  in  1809,  \heMonthlyAntholociy  for  June  of  that  year  said, 
"If  the  young  bard  has  met  with  no  assistance  in  the  composition  of  this  poem,  he  certainly  bids  fair,  should  he  con 
tinue  to  cultivate  his  talent,  to  gain  a  respectable  station  on  the  Parnassian  Mount,  and  to  reflect  credit  on  the  literature 
of  his  country." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  165 


An  insulting  Proposition  by  Great  Britain.  Tribute  exacted  from  Neutral  Nations. 

England,  which  they  believed  the  Embargo  Act  would  evoke,  preferred  to  give  free 
dom  to  the  commerce  of  the  country,  and  let  it  provide  itself  against  the  risks  that 
menaced  it,  rather  than  to  kill  it  outright.  Such  was  the  feeling  of  many  merchants ; 
but  patriotic  statesmen,  holding  the  dignity  and  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  as  of  far  more  consequence  than  the  temporary  interests  of  trade,  advocated 
the  most  stringent  execution  of  the  Embargo  Act,  and  at  the  middle  of  *  March  12, 
March*  the  supplementary  enactments  became  law.  180S- 

At  about  the  same  time  the  British  Parliament,  with  an  air  of  condescension,  pass 
ed  an  act,b  as  a  favor  to  neutrals,  permitting  them  (United  States  and 
Sweden)  to  trade  with  France  and  her  dependencies,  on  the  condition  that 
vessels  engaged  in  such  trade  should  first  enter  some  British  port,  pay  a  transit  duty, 
and  take  out  a  license  71  In  other  words,  the  United  States  were  told  by  England, 
with  as  much  insolence  and  hauteur  in  fact  as  the  Dey  of  Algiers  ever  exhibited, 
"  Pay  me  tribute,  and  my  cruisers  (or  corsairs)  will  be  instructed  not  to  plunder 
you."  This  was  properly  regarded  as  a  flagrant  insult — one  which  the  British  gov 
ernment  would  never  have  offered  except  to  a  nation  supposed  to  be  incapable  of 
efficiently  resenting  it.  When  to  this  insult  was  added  a  positive  injury,  a  few 
weeks  later,0  in  the  form  of  instructions  issued  by  ministers,  in  the  name  of 

c  j^nril  11 

the  half-demented  king,  to  the  British  naval  commanders,  expressly  intend 
ed  to  induce  Americans  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits  to  violate  the  blockade,  the 
administration  resolved  to  plant  itself  firmly  upon  that  dignity  and  independence 
which  a  free  people  ought  always  to  assert.  Those  instructions,  so  disgraceful  to 
the  British  ministers,  were  severely  condemned  by  every  honest  man  in  the  British 
realm.2 

Evasions  of  the  Embargo  continued,  and  another  supplementary  act,  applying  to 
the  navigation  of  rivers,  lakes,  and  bays,  increased  its  stringency,  and  awakened  new 
and  more  bitter  denunciations  of  the  measure.  But  the  government  was  immovable. 

Oh  ne'er  consent,  obsequious,  to  advance 
The  willing  vassal  of  imperious  France  ! 
Correct  that  suffrage  you  misused  before, 
And  lift  your  voice  above  a  Congress  roar. 

Rise,  then,  Columbia !  heed  not  France's  wiles, 
Her  bullying  mandates,  her  seductive  smiles ; 
Send  home  Napoleon's  slave,  and  by  him  say 
No  art  can  lure  us,  and  no  threats  dismay , 
Determined  yet  to  war  with  whom  we  will, 
Choose  our  allies,  or  dare  be  neutral  still." 

I  have  cited  the  above  as  an  example  of  the  intensity  of  feeling  against  the  administration  at  that  time  among  those 
politically  opposed  to  Jefferson  and  his  party— a  feeling  that  made  even  boys  politicians. 

1  This  was  essentially  a  tribute  in  the  form  of  a  duty,  more  odious  in  principle  and  application  than  the  stamp  tax  that 
aroused  the  American  colonists  in  1765.    The  effect  may  be  illustrated  by  showing  the  amount  of  tribute  which  American 
commerce  was  required  by  the  act  to  pay  upon  only  two  of  the  many  articles  specified,  with  the  percentage  of  the  tariff, 
namely,  cotton  and  tobacco.    The  amount  on  a  cargo  of  cotton,  at  the  then  current  prices,  costing  at  New  Orleans 
$43,500,  would  be  subjected  to  a  tax  in  some  English  port,  before  it  would  be  allowed  to  depart  for  a  French  port,  of 
$6500.    To  this  would  be  added  about  $2000  more  on  account  of  other  charges.    A  cargo  of  tobacco  of  four  hundred 
hogsheads  would  be  subjected  to  a  tribute  of  about  $13,000.    The  estimated  annual  tribute  upon  tobacco  alone  was 
$2,338,000.    It  was  proposed  to  tax  a  great  variety  of  American  productions  in  the  same  way. 

2  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  instructions  : 

"  George  R. :  Instructions  to  the  commanders  of  our  ships  of  war  and  privateers.  Given  at  our  Court  at  Windsor,  the 
llth  day  of  April,  1SOS,  in  the  4Sth  year  of  our  reign  : 

"  Our  will  and  pleasure  is  that  yon  do  not  interrupt  any  neutral  vessel  laden  with  lumber  and  provisions,  and  going  to 
any  of  our  colonies,  islands,  or  settlements  in  the  West  Indies  or  South  America,  to  whomsoever  the  property  may  appear  to 
belong,  and  notm'hstanding  such  vessel  may  not  have  regular  clearances  and  documents  on  board.  And  in  case  any  vessel 
shall  be  met  with,  and  being  on  her  due  course  to  the  alleged  port  of  destination,  an  indorsement  shall  be  made  on  one 
or  more  of  the  principal  papers  of  such  vessel,  specifying  the  destination  alleged  and  the  place  where  the  vessel  was  so 
visited.  And  in  case  any  vessel  so  laden  shall  arrive  and  deliver  her  cargo  at  any  of  our  colonies,  islands,  or  settle 
ments  aforesaid,  such  vessel  shall  be  permitted  to  receive  her  freight  and  to  depart,  either  in  ballast  or  with  any  goods 
that  may  be  legally  exported  in  such  vessel,  and  to  proceed  to  any  unblockaded  port,  notwithstanding  the  present  hos 
tilities,  or  any  future  hostilities  which  may  take  place.  And  a  passport  for  such  vessil  may  be  granted  by  the  governor,  or 
other  person  having  the  chief  civil  command  of  such  colony,  island,  or  settlement." 

A  British-born  writer  of  the  day,  after  declaring  that  this  order  was  a  sufficient  cause  of  war,  said,  "  What !  one  of  the 
most  potent  monarchs  in  the  world,  rather  than  do  justice  to  an  unoffending  nation,  on  which,  for  fourteen  years,  his 
ministers  had  perpetrated  the  most  flagrant  outrages,  invites,  and  tempts,  and  affords  facilities  to  its  citizens  to  violate 
the  laws  of  their  country,  and  openly  pursue  the  infamous  trade  of  smuggling."— Mathew  Carey. 


166  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

The  Embargo  denounced  as  suicidal.  Dangers  of  National  Vanity.  A  notable  Illustration. 

It  was  deaf  to  the  prayers  for  a  repeal  made  in  petition  after  petition  that  poured 
into  Congress,  especially  from  New  England.  A  proposition  for  repeal,  and  to  allow 
merchant  vessels  to  arm  and  take  care  of  themselves,  was  voted  down  by  a  large 
majority ;  and  the  only  glimpse  of  light  was  seen  through  an  authorization  given  to 
the  President  to  suspend  the  Embargo  Act,  according  to  his  discretion,  in  case  of 
peace  in  Europe,  or  such  changes  in  the  policy  of  the  belligerents  as  might,  in  his 
judgment,  make  the  navigation  of  the  seas  safe  to  American  vessels.  It  was  in  the 
debate  on  this  proposition  that  Josiah  Quincy,  who  had  then  taken  a  place  among 
the  acknowledged  leaders  of  the  Federal  party,  used  the  language  already  quoted  on 
page  163.  He  denounced  the  whole  policy  as  fallacious  and  mischievous.  "The 
language  of  that  policy  is,"  he  said,  "  '  Rescind  your  decrees  and  your  orders,  or  we 
will,  in  our  wrath,  abandon  the  ocean !'  And  suppose  Great  Britain,  governed  by 
the  spirit  of  mercantile  calculation,  should  reply,  '  If  such  be  your  mode  of  venge 
ance,  indulge  it  to  your  heart's  content !  It  is  the  very  thing  we  wish.  You  are  our 
commercial  rivals,  and,  by  driving  you  out  of  the  market,  we  shall  gain  more  than  we 
can  lose  by  your  retirement.'  .  .  . 

"  It  is  to  be  feared,"  continued  Mr.  Quincy,  "  that,  having  grown  giddy  with  good- 
fortune,  attributing  the  greatness  of  our  prosperity  to  our  own  wisdom,  rather  than 
to  a  course  of  events  over  which  we  have  had  no  influence,  we  are  now  entering  that 
school  of  adversity,  the  first  blessings  of  which  is  to  chastise  our  overweening  conceit 
of  ourselves.  A  nation  mistakes  its  relative  importance  and  consequence  in  thinking 
that  its  countenance,  or  its  intercourse,  or  its  existence  is  all-important  to  the  rest  of 
mankind.  An  individual  who  should  retire  from  intercourse  with  the  world  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  vengeance  on  it  for  some  real  or  imaginary  wrong,  would,  notwith 
standing  the  delusions  of  self-flattery,  be  certainly  taught  that  the  world  moved 
along  just  as  well  after  his  dignified  retirement  as  before.  Nor  would  the  case  of  a 
nation  which  should  make  a  similar  trial  of  its  consequence  be  very  different.  The 
intercourse  of  human  life  has  its  basis  in  a  natural  reciprocity,  which  always  exists, 
however  national  or  personal  vanity  may  often  suggest  to  inflated  fancies  that,  in  the 
intercourse  of  friendship,  civilities,  or  business,  they  give  more  than  they  receive." 

These  were  words  of  wisdom — words  as  wise  and  significant  now  as  they  were 
then.  They  combated  a  great  error — an  error  fully  exemplified  in  our  day  in  the 
assumption  of  a  single  class  of  our  citizens,  namely,  the  cotton-growers.  These, 
knowing  the  value  of  their  great  staple  and  its  consequence  to  the  civilized  world, 
believed  or  asserted,  before  the  late  Civil  War,  that  it  gave  them  power  to  dictate 
certain  lines  of  policy  to  the  governments  of  the  earth.  In  the  madness  of  their 
error  they  proclaimed  cotton  a  KING  too  potent  for  all  other  kings.  Believing  that 
the  producers  of  the  raw  material  have  the  consumers  of  it  always  in  their  power, 
and  may  bring  the  latter  to  terms  at  any  time  by  cutting  off  the  supply,  they  forgot 
the  great  fact  that  dependence  is  reciprocal,  and  that,  in  commercial  conflicts,  the 
producer,  being  the  poorer  party,  is  always  the  first  to  succumb.  The  events  and 
results  of  the  late  Civil  War  laid  bare  that  radical  error  to  the  full  comprehension  of 
all,  as  well  as  to  acute  political  economists. 

So  it  was  with  the  Embargo.  Those  who  expected  to  see  great  national  triumphs 
follow  that  measure,  which  was  expected  to  starve  the  English  manufacturing  oper 
atives  and  the  West  India  slaves,  were  bitterly  disappointed.  The  evils  brought 
upon  their  own  national  industry  in  various  forms  were  far  greater  than  those  in 
flicted  upon  England  or  France.  It  had  one  good  effect,  namely,  the  encouragement 
and  establishment  of  various  manufactures  in  the  United  States,  which  have  ever 
been  important  elements  of  our  national  independence.1 

1  When  war  was  declared  against  Great  Britain  in  1812,  the  manufacture  of  cotton  was  carried  on  extensively  in 
Rhode  Island.  A  writer  in  1813  estimated  the  number  of  cotton  factories  built  and  in  course  of  erection  at  that  time, 
eastward  of  the  Delaware  River,  at  five  hundred. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  167 

Provisions  for  strengthening  the  Army  and  Navy.  Increase  in  the  Number  of  Gun-boats. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

"  Let  traitors,  who  feel  not  the  patriot's  flame, 

Talk  of  yielding  our  honor  to  Englishmen's  sway"; 
No  such  blemish  shall  sully  our  country's  fair  fame : 
We've  no  claims  to  surrender,  nor  tribute  to  pay. 
Then,  though  foes  gather  round, 
We're  on  Liberty's  ground, 
Both  too  wise  to  be  trapp'd,  and  too  strong  to  be  bound." 

SONG — EMBASGO  AND  PEACE. 

"  Where  are  you  from?"  bold  Rodgers  cried, 

Which  made  the  British  wonder : 

Then  with  a  gun  they  quick  replied, 

Which  made  a  noise  like  thunder. 

Like  lightning  we  returned  the  joke, 

Our  matches  were  so  handy ; 
The  Yankee  bull-dogs  nobly  spoke 
The  tune  of  Doodle  Dandy." 

SONG — RODGEES  AND  VICTORY. 

RESIDENT  Jefferson's  policy  had  been  to  keej)  the  army  and  navy 
upon  the  cheapest  footing  compatible  with  a  due  regard  to  the 
public  good.  It  was  now  evident  that  these  arms  of  the  public 
service  must  be  materially  strengthened,  in  order  to- secure  the 
national  safety,  and  'the  President  asked  Congress  to  augment 
the  number  and  efficiency  of  the  regular  army.  They  did  so. 
The  measure  was  opposed  by  the  Federalists,  but  a  bill  to  raise  seven  regiments 
passed  by  a  vote  of  ninety-eight  to  sixteen.  Other  provisions  for  war  followed.  The 
sum  of  $1,000,000  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  President  for  the  erection  of 
coast  and  harbor  defenses.  Another  sum  of  $300,000  was  appropriated  for  the  pur 
chase  of  arms,  and  $150,000  for  saltpetre.  The  President  was  also  authorized  to  call 
upon  the  governors  of  the  several  states  to  form  an  army,  in  the  aggregate,  of  one 
hundred  thousand  militia,  to  be  immediately  organized,  equipped,  and  "  held  in  readi 
ness  to  march  at  a  moment's  warning"  when  called  for  by  the  Chief  Magistrate.  He 
was  also  authorized  to  construct  arsenals  and  armories  at  his  discretion ;  the  sum  of 
$200,000  was  placed  at  his  disposal  for  providing  arms  and  military  equipments  for 
the  whole  body  of  the  militia  of  the  republic ;  and  about  a  million  of  dollars  were 
appropi'iated  to  pay  the  first  year's  expenses  of  the  seven  new  regiments.  The  gov 
ernment  appropriated  altogether  about  $5,000,000  for  war  purposes.1 

Efforts  were  made  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  navy  by  adding  to  the  few  sea 
men  already  in  the  service  twelve  hundred  and  seventy-two  additional  men,  to  put 
on  board  the  gun-boats  then  completed  or  in  process  of  construction.     In  Decem 
ber11  the  President  had  been  authorized  to  procure  one  hundred  and  eighty-    t 
eight  additional  gun-boats  by  purchase  or  construction,  making,  in  all,  two 
hundred  and  fifty-seven.2    Mr.  Jefferson's  idea  appears  to  have  been  to  have  these 

1  The  formation  of  new  regiments  brought  into  the  service  several  men  who  became  conspicuous  in  the  War  of  1812. 
Among  them  was  Wade  Hampton,  of  South  Carolina,  who  had  been  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  now  made 
a  brigadier  general.  Among  the  colonels  were  Smythe  and  Parker,  of  Virginia,  and  Boyd,  of  Massachusetts.  Peter 
Gansevoort,  of  New  York,  also  of  the  Continental  army,  was  made  a  brigadier.  Zebulon  Pike  was  promoted  to  major, 
and  Winfleld  Scott  and  Zachary  Taylor  both  took  offices  in  the  army,  the  former  as  a  captain,  and  the  latter  as  a  lien- 
tenant. 

5  The  engraving  on  the  following  page  shows  the  different  forms  of  the  gun-boats  at  that  time.  The  group  is  made 
from  drawings  presented  to  me  when  visiting  the  navy  yard  at  Gosport,  opposite  Norfolk,  in  Virginia,  in  the  spring  of 


168 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Gun-boats  ridiculed. 


Violent  Hostility  to  a  Navy. 


Its  Neglect. 


boats  in  readiness,  properly  distributed,  but  not  actually  manned  until  necessity 
should  call  for  their  being  put  into  commission.  This  proposition  excited  much 
ridicule,  not  only  among  naval  officers,  but  among  the  people  at  large.1  The  whole 
gun-boat  system  was  denounced  as  "  wasteful  imbecility,  called  by  the  name  of  econ 
omy,"  and  Jefferson  was  pointed  at  as  a  dreaming  philosopher  without  a  whit  of  mil 
itary  knowledge,  as  evinced  when  Governor  of  Virginia  in  1781.2 

There  seemed  to  be,  for  reasons  quite  inexplicable,  a  most  violent  hostility  to  a 
navy,  especially  at  the  South.  A  member  (Mr.  Williams)  from  South  Carolina  said 
that  he  "  was  at  a  loss  to  find  terms  sufficiently  expressive  of  his  abhorrence  of  a  navy. 
He  would  go  a  great  deal  farther  to  see  it  burned  than  to  extinguish  the  fire.  It 
Avas  a  curse  to  the  country,  and  had  never  been  any  thing  else.  Navies  had  deceived 
the  hopes  of  every  country  which  had  relied  upon  them."  He  affirmed  that  the  peo 
ple  were  willing  to  give  commerce  all  the  protection  in  their  power,  "  but  they  could 
not  provide  a  navy  for  that  purpose."  Others  opposed  a  navy  because  it  might  be  a 
measure  for  increasing  Executive  patronage ;  and  no  act  was  passed  or  appropriation 


GUN-BOATS. 


made,  either  for  the  employment  of  more  men,  or  for  the  placing  in  commission  any 
additional  vessels,  until  January,  1809,  when  the  President  was  directed  to  equip  the 

1S53.    I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  James  Jarvis  for  them.    The  drawings  were  made  by  one  who  assisted  in  their  construc 
tion,  and  who  was  then  engaged  in  service  at  Gosport. 

i  Among  those  who  ridiculed  the  gun-boat  system  was  Colonel  John  Trambull,  the  artist.  According  to  that  system, 
he  said,  "Whenever  danger  shall  menace  any  harbor,  or  any  foreign  ship  shall  insult  us,  somebody  is  to  inform  the  gov 
ernor,  and  the  governor  is  to  desire  the  marshal  to  call  upon  the  captains  of  militia  to  call  upon  the  drummers  to  beat 
to  arms  and  call  the  militia-men  together,  from  whom  are  to  be  drafted  (not  impressed)  a  sufficient  number  to  go  on 
board  the  gun-boats  and  drive  the  hostile  stranger  away,  unless,  during  this  long  ceremonial,  he  should  have  taken  him 
self  off.—  TRUMBULI.'S  Reminiscences  of  his  own  Times,  page  252. 

a  In  the  political  poem  quoted  from  on  page  164,  the  author  thus  alludes  to  Mr.  Jefferson  at  that  time : 
"  And  thou,  the  scorn  of  every  patriot  name, 

Thy  country's  ruin,  and  her  councils'  shame  ! 

Poor,  servile  thing !  derision  of  the  brave  ! 

Who  erst  from  Tarleton  fled  to  Carter's  cave ; 

Thou,  who,  when  menaced  by  perfidious  Gaul, 

Didst  prostrate  to  her  whiskered  minion  fall ; 

And  when  our  cash  his  empty  bags  supplied, 

Did  meanly  strive  the  foul  disgrace  to  hide. 

Go,  wretch,  resign  the  Presidential  chair, 

Disclose  thy  secret  measures,  foul  or  fair  ; 

Go  search  with  curious  eye  for  horned  frogs 

'Mid  the  wild  wastes  of  Louisiana  bogs; 

Or  where  Ohio  rolls  his  turbid  stream, 

Dig  for  huge  bones,  thy  glory  and  thy  theme." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  169 


James  Madison  elected  President.  Effect  of  Baring's  Inquiry.  Opposition  to  the  British  Orders  in  Council. 

United  States,  44,  President,  44,  Essex,  32,  and  John  Adams,  24,  the  latter  vessel  hav 
ing  been  cut  down  from  a  frigate  to  a  sloop  of  war.1 

The  country  was  now  agitated  by  an  approaching  election  for  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  for  a  time  the  political  caldron  seethed  violently. 
Early  in  1808  a  Democratic  caucus  of  members  of  Congress  nominated  James  Madi 
son  for  President,  and  George  Clinton  for  Vice-President  of  the  republic.  There  was 
then  a  schism  in  the  Democratic  party,  caused  by  the  ambition  of  leaders.  Mad 
ison,  Monroe,  and  Clinton  w^ere  each  candidates  for  the  Chief  Magistrate's  chair ; 
and  the  Federalists,  perceiving,  as  they  thought,  some  chance  for  success  in  the  can 
vass,  nominated  C.  C.  Pinckney,  of  South  Carolina,  for  President,  and  Rufus  King, 
of  New  York,  for  Vice-President.  The  result  was  the  election  of  Madison  and 
Clinton. 

Meanwhile  events  were  transpiring  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  apparently  tend 
ing  to  a  general  abandonment  of  the  policy  of  the  Orders,  Decrees,  and  Embargo. 
The  able  Inquiry  of  Mr.  Baring  concerning  the  orders  in  Council,  already  cited,  made 
a  powerful  impression  upon  the  mercantile  classes  of  England.  He  had  fully  exposed 
the  inexpediency  and  injustice  of  the  measures,  and  nobly  vindicated  the  character 
and  conduct  of  the  Americans.  Some  of  the  late  Cabinet  associates  of  Mr.  Fox  de 
nounced  those  orders  as  both  inexpedient  and  unjust ;  and  petitions  for  their  repeal, 
numerously  signed  by  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  Hull,  Manchester,  Liver 
pool,  and  London,  were  presented  to  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  17th  and  21st  of 
March,*  while  a  bill  affirming  the  action  of  the  Privy  Council  in  the  matter  was  a 
pending.  Henry  Brougham,  an  eminent  barrister,  was  the  advocate  of  the 
petitioners,  and  was  heard  with  profound  attention,  on  the  6th  of  April,  in  that  body 
of  peers  of  the  realm  of  which,  a  little  more  than  twenty  years  afterward,  he  became 
a  distinguished  member.2  Already,  in  the  month  of  March,  resolutions  moved  against 
them  by  Lords  Erskine,  St.  John,  Holland,  and  Lauderdale,*and  a  protest  signed  by 
the  Earls  of  Lauderdale,  King,  and  Albermarle,  had  prepared  the  way  for  Brougham's 
argument.  These  documents  contained,  within  their  brief  limits,  close  and  sound  ar 
guments  on  the  whole  subject.  The  motion  of  Erskine  discussed  the  illegality  of  the 
new  system  in  a  constitutional  view.  Lord  St.  John's  treated  of  its  repugnance  to  the 
law  of  nations.  Lord  Holland's  set  forth  with  great  clearness  its  effects  upon  British 
intercourse  with  foreign  nations;  and  Lord  Lauderdale's  motion  showed  its  prejudi 
cial  tendency  to  British  commerce  in  general.  The  protest  of  the  three  peers  named 
discussed  more  particularly  the  consequences  on  the  cotton  trade.3  But  the  efforts 
of  these  statesmen  and  the  array  of  facts  set  forth  in  the  minutes  of  evidence  taken 
at  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Lords,  before  a  Committee  of  the  whole  House,  on  the 
subject  of  the  orders,4  were  insufficient  to  move  the  majority,  and  the  ministry  tri 
umphed.  The  bill  affirming  the  action  of  the  Council  and  making  it  permanent  was 
passed,  and  Parliament  fixed  the  amount  of  tribute  in  the  form  of  "  transit  duties," 

i  This  vessel  was  built  as  a  small  frigate  of  24  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  She  was.  cut  down  to  a  sloop,  then 
raised  to  a  frigate  ;  finally  cut  down  to  a  sloop  again,  and,  about  the  year  1S30,  was  entirely  rebuilt  as  a  first-class  ship. 
— COOPEK'B  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  116. 

=  This  was  the  now  (1S67)  venerable  Lord  Brougham.  He  had  recently  made  London  his  residence,  having  practiced 
law  in  his  native  city  of  Edinburg  until  180T.  He  entered  Parliament  as  a  Whig  in  1S10,  and  was  a  coworker  with  Clark- 
son,  Wilberforce,  and  Granville  Sharpe  in  favor  of  the  negro  slave.  He  was  the  vindicator  of  Queen  Caroline  against 
the  persecution  of  her  infamous  husband,  King  George  the  Fourth.  His  voice  and  pen  were  ever  on  the  side  of  reform 
and  humanity.  In  1830  he  became  a  peer,  and  Lord  Chancellor  of  England.  He  has  ever  held  a  high  place  in  literature, 
his  first  contributions  having  appeared  in  the  Edinburg  Review,  at  its  commencement  in  1802.  In  his  several  depart 
ments  of  labor  as  philosopher,  law  reformer,  statesman,  and  critic,  he  has  ever  stood  pre-eminent.  He  has  resided 
much  at  Cannes,  in  France,  during  his  later  years,  on  account  of  ill  health. 

During  the  late  Civil  War  in  America,  Lord  Brougham  wrote  and  spoke  in  favor  of  the  insurgents,  who  were  fighting 
for  the  perpetuation  of  the  slave  system  which  he  had  opposed  all  his  life,  and  against  the  government  whose  most  zeal 
ous  adherents  were  avowed  Abolitionists. 

3  According  to  the  statement  of  that  protest,  the  amount  of  cotton  wool  exported  to  England  from  the  United  States 
inlSOT  was  "250,000  bags,  amounting,  at  £12  per  bag,  to  the  value  of  .£3,000,000. 

*  Printed,  with  the  motions  and  protest  alluded  to,  and  an  abstract  of  Brougham's  speech,  in  a  thin  volume  of  about 
two  hundred  pages. 


170  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Napoleon  in  Spain.  The  Bayonne  Decree.  Modifications  of  the  British  Orders  in  Council. 

just  referred  to,  which  neutrals  must  pay  to  England  for  permission  to  navigate  the 
ocean  without  fear  of  sea-robbers. 

Napoleon,  inspired  by  the  keenest  sagacity,  expressed  his  approbation  of  the  Em 
bargo.  He  was  then  in  Spain,  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  royal  intrigues 
for  the  good  of  the  people,  but  really  in  preparing  a  throne  for  his  brother  Joseph. 
Murat,  with  a  competent  force,  occupied  Madrid  in  March,a  and  in  June  Joseph 
was  declared  by  the  Emperor  to  be  King  of  Spain.  From  Bayonne,  in  March, 
Napoleon  issued  a  decree  directing  the  seizure  and  confiscation  of  all  American  ves 
sels  in  France,  or  which  might  arrive  there ;  and  when  Minister  Armstrong  remon 
strated,  he  was  given  to  understand  that  the  Emperor  expected  the  Embargo  to  be 
full  and  perfect.  "  No  American  vessel,"  said  the  French  minister  craftily,  "  can  be 
lawfully  abroad  since  the  passage  of  the  Embargo  Act ;  and  those  pretending  to  be 
such  must  be  either  English,  or,  if  American,  vessels  which  come  under  the  ban  of  the 
Milan  Decree  because  of  subserviency  to  the  British  orders.  The  Emperor  well  knew 
that  there  were  a  large  number  of  American  vessels  afloat  which,  under  the  tempta 
tion  of  immense  profits,  were  sailing  under  British  licenses ;  and  others  were  evading 
French  prohibitions  by  forged  documents,  which  indicated  that  they  had  come  di 
rectly  from  America.  This  leak  in  his  Continental  System  Napoleon  was  determined 
to  stop,  and  for  that  purpose  his  Bayonne  Decree  was  effectual. 

The  Spaniards  resisted  the  attempts  of  Napoleon  to  place  his  brother  on  their 
throne,  and  there  was  a  general  uprising  of  the  Dons.  The  whole  Spanish  Peninsula 
and  the  Spanish  colonies  in  Central  and  South  America  were  thrown  open  to  British 
commerce,  and  by  so  much  weakened  the  effect  of  the  American  Embargo  on  that 
commerce.  A  repeal  of  the  orders  in  Council  as  they  related  to  Spain,  and  also  to 
Portugal,  whose  royal  family  had  lately  fled  to  Brazil  and  opened  a  vast  country 
there,  immediately  followed.  On  the  receipt  of  intelligence  concerning  these  facts, 
petitions  from  several  maritime  towns  in  the  United  States  were  sent  to  the  Presi 
dent,  praying  for  a  suspension  of  the  Embargo  Act  as  to  Spain  and  Portugal ;  but  he 
declined,  saying,  "  To  have  submitted  our  rightful  commerce  to  prohibitions  and  trib 
utary  exactions  from  others  would  have  been  to  surrender  our  independence.  To 
resist  them  by  arms  was  war,  without  consulting  the  state  of  things  or  the  choice  of 
the  nation."  He  contended  that  the  Embargo,  "  besides  saving  to  our  citizens  their 
property,  and  our  mariners  to  their  country,"  gave  time  for  the  belligerent  nations  to 
revise  a  conduct  as  contrary  to  their  interests  as  it  was  to  our  rights.  As  to  Spain, 
he  wisely  suggested  that  her  resistance  might  not  prove  (as  it  did  not)  effectual. 

But  the  President  had  already  taken  some  measures  in  the  direction  of  repeal.  As 
"  A  -'i  si  earty  as  *he  cl°se  °f  April*  he  had  sent  instructions  to  Pinkney  in  London, 
and  Armstrong  in  Paris,  authorizing  them  to  offer  a  repeal  of  the  Embargo 
on  certain  conditions.  To  England  such  repeal  was  offered  on  condition  of  her  recall 
ing  her  orders  in  Council.  To  France  Armstrong  appears  to  have  offered,  in  addition 
to  a  repeal  of  the  Embargo  Act,  a  declaration  of  war  against  Great  Britain  in  the 
event  of  her  not  recalling  her  offensive  orders  after  the  Emperor  should  have  with 
drawn  his  Berlin,  Milan,  and  Bayonne  decrees.1 

Canning  spoke  for  his  government  in  a  very  courteous  but  extremely  sarcastic 
note,  assuring  Mr.  Pinkney  of  the  kindly  feeling  of  his  majesty  toward  the  United 
States,  but  expressing  his  unwillingness  to  change  the  policy  involved  in  those  orders, 
under  the  present  aspect  of  the  case.  He  could  not  see  the  impartiality  of  the  Em- 

i  Armstrong's  instructions  said,  "  Should  she  [France]  set  the  example  of  revocation,  Great  Britain  would  he  obliged, 
either  by  following  it,  to  restore  to  France  the  full  benefit  of  neutral  trade,  which  she  needs,  or,  by  persevering  hf  her 
obnoxious  orders  after  the  pretext  for  them  had  ceased,  to  render  collision  with  the  United  States  inevitable." 

Pinkney's  instructions  said,  "Should  the  French  government  revoke  so  much  of  its  decrees  as  violate  our  neutral 
rights,  or  give  explanations  and  assurances  having  the  like  effect,  and  entitling  it,  therefore,  to  a  removal  of  the  Em 
bargo  as  it  applies  to  France,  it  will  be  impossible  to  view  a  perseverance  of  Great  Britain  in  her  retaliatory  orders  in 
any  other  light  than  that  of  war,  without  even  the  pretext  now  assumed  by  her." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


Canning's  offensive  Letter.     Pinkney's  Opinion  of  the  Embargo.     Silence  of  Napoleon.     Opposition  to  the  Embargo. 

bargo  which  Mr.  Pinkney  claimed  j1  nor  did  his  majesty  feel  inclined  to  recall  his 
orders  while  the  proclamation  of  the  President  concerning  the  interdiction  of  British 
ships  of  war  in  American  waters  remained  in  full  force.2  He  alluded  to  the  timeli 
ness  of  the  Embargo  in  assisting  France  in  her  blockade  of  Europe,  but  expressed  an 
unwillingness  to  believe  that  the  Americans  intended,  or  could  have  any  interest  in 
"  the  subversion  of  the  British  power."3  The  letter  concluded  with  a  hope  that  a 
perfect  understanding  between  the  two  governments  might  be  maintained.  But  its 
tone  was  so  ironical — so  disingenuous  and  uncandid — so  full  of  the  spirit  of  a  selfish 
strong  man  in  his  dealings  with  a  weak  one,  that  it  irritated  the  American  minister 
to  whom  it  was  addressed,  and  the  administration  that  made  the  overture,  not  a 
little. 

Mr.  Pinkney  expressed  his  views  strongly  against  a  repeal  of  the  Embargo  Act  in 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Madison.  "  The  spirit  of  monopoly,"  he  said,  "  has  seized  the  people 
and  government  of  this  country.  We  shall  not,  under  any  circumstances,  be  toler 
ated  as  rivals  in  navigation  and  trade.  .  .  .  If  we  persevere  we  must  gain- our  pur 
pose  at  last.  By  complying  with  the  policy  of  the  moment  we  shall  be  lost.  By  a 
quiet  and  systematic  adherence  to  principle  we  shall  find  the  end  of  our  difficulties. 
The  Embargo  and  the  loss  of  our  trade  are  deeply  felt  here,  and  will  be  felt  with 
more  severity  every  day.  The  Avheat  harvest  is  likely  to  be  alarmingly  short,  and  the 
state  of  the  Continent  will  augment  the  evil.  The  discontents  among  their  manufac 
turers  are  only  quieted  for  a  moment  by  temporary  causes.  Cotton  is  rising,  and 
will  soon  be  scarce.  Unfavorable  events  on  the  Continent  will  subdue  the  temper, 
unfriendly  to  wisdom  and  justice,  which  now  prevails  here.  But,  above  all,  the  world 
will,  I  trust,  be  convinced  that  our  firmness  is  not  to  be  shaken.  Our  measures  have 
not  been  without  effect.  They  have  not  been  decisive,  because  we  have  not  been 
thought  capable  of  persevering  in  self-denial — if  that  can  be  called  self-denial  which 
is  no  more  than  prudent  abstinence  from  destruction  and  dishonor." 

The  French  Emperor  maintained  an  ominous  silence  on  the  subject.  He  made  no 
response  to  Armstrong's  proposition,  and  this  reticence  was  quite  as  offensive  as  Can 
ning's  irony.  "  We  have  somewhat  overrated  our  means  of  coercion,"  Armstrong 
wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  State. a  "Here  it  is  not  felt;  and  in  England,  aAuffUgt31) 
amid  the  more  recent  and  interesting  events  of  the  day,  it  is  forgotten.  I  180S- 
hope,  unless  France  shall  do  us  justice,  we  shall  raise  the  Embargo,  and  make,  in  its 
steady  the  experiment  of  an  armed  commerce.  Should  she  adhere  to  her  wicked  and 
foolish  measures,  there  is  much  more  besides  that  we  can  do ;  and  we  ought  not  to 
omit  doing  all  we  can,  because  it  is  believed  here  that  we  can  not  do  much,  and  even 
that  we  will  not  do  what  little  we  can." 

At  home  the  Embargo  Act  met  with  the  most  violent  opposition  in  various  forms. 
It  was  talked  against  and  acted  against,  especially  by  the  leaders  of  the  opposition 
in  the  Eastern  States.  They  excited  a  very  strong  sectional  feeling  by  calling  it 

1  "  If  considered  as  a  measure  of  impartial  hostility  against  both  belligerents,"  wrote  Mr.  Canning,  "the  Embargo 
appears  to  his  majesty  to  have  been  manifestly  unjust,  as,  according  to  every  principle  of  justice,  the  redress  ought  to 
have  been  first  sought  from  the  party  originating  the  wrong.  And  his  majesty  can  not  consent  to  buy  off  that  hostility, 
which  America  ought  not  to  have  extended  to  him,  at  the  expense  of  a  concession  made,  not  to  America,  but  to 
France." 

3  Alluding  to  the  failure  of  Rose's  mission  in  regard  to  the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake,  Mr.  Canning,  with  singular  un 
fairness,  remarked,  speaking  of  the  President's  proclamation  which  that  affair  drew  forth  concerning  British  vessels  of 
war,  "The  continuance  of  an  interdiction  w,hich,  under  such  circumstances,  amounts  so  nearly  to  direct  hostility,  after 
the  willingness  professed,  and  the  attempt  made  by  his  majesty  to  remove  the  cause  on  which  that  measure  had  been 
originally  founded,  would  afford  but  an  inauspicious  omen  for  the  commencement  of  a  system  of  mutual  conciliation  ; 
and  the  omission  of  any  notice  of  that  measure  in  the  proposal  which  Mr.  Pinkney  has  been  instructed  to  bring  for 
ward,  would  have  been  of  itself  a  material  defect  in  the  overture  of  the  President." 

1  "By  some  unfortunate  concurrence  of  circumstances,"  said  Mr.  Canning  sarcastically,  "without  any  hostile  inten 
tion,  the  American  Embargo  did  come  in  aid  of  the  '  blockade  of  the  European  Continent'  precisely  at  the  very  moment 
when,  if  that  blockade  could  have  succeeded  at  all,  this  interposition  of  the  American  government  would  most  effectual 
ly  have  contributed  to  its  success." 

These  words  of  Canning  were  caught  up  by  the  opposition  in  America  as  additional  evidence  that  the  administration 
were  playing  into  the  hands  of  Napoleon,  and  the  old  cry  of  "  French  party"  was  vigorously  revived  for  a  while. 


172  .  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Infractions  of  the  Embargo.  Attempts  to  make  it  Odious.  Disuuionists  in  New  England. 

sometimes  a  "  Virginia  measure,"  at  others  a  "  Southern  measure,"  and  at  all  times  a 
"  subserviency  to  French  dictation."  They  declared  that  it  was  a  blow  aimed  inten 
tionally  at  the  prosperity  of  New  England,  she  having  greatly  the  preponderance  in 
commercial  arid  navigating  interests ;  and  that,  while  the  whole  country  felt  the  in 
jury  inflicted  by  the  Embargo  Act  more  than  England  or  France,  that  injury  fell 
mostly  upon  the  Eastern  States.  This  deceptive  statement,  made  chiefly  for  political 
effect,  was  contradicted  by  the  commercial  statistics  of  the  United  States.1 

Infractions  of  the  Embargo  were  open  and  frequent  all  along  the  New  England 
coast,  for  the  magistrates  winked  at  them ;  and  smuggling  became  so  general,  es 
pecially  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain,  that  the  first  active  services  of  the  newly-cre 
ated  army  were  enforcements  of  the  laws  on  the  Northern  frontier,  under  the  direc 
tion  of  Wilkinson,  while  gun-boats  were  sent  into  several  of  the  Eastern  ports  for 
the  same  purpose.  The  leaders  of  the  opposition,  hoping  to  break  down  the  Demo 
cratic  party,  made  the  Embargo  Law  as  odious  as  possible,  cast  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  its  execution,  and  used  every  means  to  induce  England  to  believe  that  it  was  so 
unpopular  that  it  would  be  speedily  repealed  in  the  face  of  the  continuance  of  her 
orders  in  Council.  "  They  are  now  playing  a  game,"  the  President  wrote,  "  of  the 
most  mischievous  tendency,  without  perhaps  being  themselves  aware  of  it.  They  are 
endeavoring  to  convince  England  that  we  suffer  more  from  the  Embargo  than  they 
do,  and  if  they  will  but  hold  out  a  while  we  must  abandon  it.  It  is  true,  the  time  will 
come  when  we  must  abandon  it.  But  if  this  is  before  the  repeal  of  the  orders  in 
Council,  we  must  abandon  it  only  for  a  state  of  war.  The  day  is  not  distant  when 
that  will  be  preferable  to  a  longer  continuance  of  the  Embargo.  But  we  can  never 
remove  that,  and  let  our  vessels  go  out  and  be  taken  under  these  orders,  Avithout 
making  reprisals.  Yet  this  is  the  very  state  of  things  which  these  Federal  monarch 
ists  are  endeavoring  to  bring  about ;  and  in  this  it  is  but  too  possible  they  may  suc 
ceed.  But  the  fact  is,  if  we  have  Avar  with  England,  it  will  be  solely  produced  by 
these  manoauvres."2 

An  "  Anglican  party,"  a  mere  political  myth  in  former  years,  was  now  a  practical 
reality.3 

Another  form  of  opposition  to  the  Embargo  was  a  declaration  of  several  eminent 
lawyers  of  Massachusetts  that  it  was  unconstitutional;  and  very  soon  the  doctrine  of 
the  Virginia  nullifiers,  as  put  forth  in  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  resolutions  of  1798, 
so  decidedly  condemned  by  the  Federalists  as  tending  directly  to  disunion,  was  speed 
ily  proclaimed  by  that  same  party  all  over  New  England  as  being  orthodox.  When 
it  was  known  that  the  party  was  defeated,  and  that  Madison  was  elected  President, 
the  unpatriotic  cry  of  disunion  was  heard  throughout  NCAV  England,  in  the  deceptive 
accents  of  proclamations  that  a  state,  as  such,  has  a  right  to  declare  void  any  act  of 
the  National  Congress  that  might  be  deemed  unconstitutional.  That  doctrine  was 
as  boldly  proclaimed  in  the  Eastern  States  as  it  had  been  in  Virginia  and  the  South 
ten  years  before.4  The  arguments  used  by  the  Virginia  nullifiers  and  secessionists  in 

1  According  to  official  tables,  the  value  of  the  exports  of  the  United  States  from  ITfll  to  1S13  was  $1,343,047,000.    Of 
this  amount  the  exports  of  the  Eastern,  Middle,  and  Southern  States  were  in  value  as  follows: 

Five  Eastern  States $299,192,000 

Four  Middle  States 534,TCO,000 

Six  Southern  States  and  District  of  Columbia 509,089,000 

or  for  the  New  England  States  less  than  one  fourth  of  the  whole  amount. 

2  Jefferson  to  Dr.  Lieb,  of  Philadelphia,  June  23, 1808. 

s  The  following  clause  in  a  resolution  adopted  at  a  public  meeting  in  Topsfield,  Massachusetts,  on  the  15th  of  Janu 
ary,  1807,  expressed  the  sentiments,  and  illustrated  the  actions  of  a  large  class  of  Americans  at  that  time  :  "  This  assem 
bly  can  not  refrain  from  expressing  its  conviction  that  neither  the  honor  nor  the  permanent  interests  of  the  United 
States  require  that  we  should  drive  Great  Britain,  if  it  were  in  our  power,  to  the  surrender  of  those  claims  [right  of 
search,  impress,  and  confiscation]  so  essential  to  her  in  the  mighty  conflict  in  which  she  is  at  present  engaged— a  con 
flict  interesting  to  humanity,  to  morals,  to  religion,  and  the  last  struggle  of  liberty." 

*  A  memorial  from  the  town  of  Bath,  in  Maine,  to  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  dated  December  27, 1808,  contained 
the  following  resolution  :  "That  a  respectful  address  be  forwarded  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  this  town  to  the  Legis 
lature  of  this  commonwealth,  stating  to  them  the  wrongs  and  grievances  we  already  suffer,  and  the  painful  apprehen- 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  173 


The  dangerous  Weapons  of  Party  Strife.  State  Sovereignty  proclaimed  in  New  England.  An  Enforcing  Act. 

1798  against  the  Alien  and  Sedition  laws  were  used  in  New  England  in  1808  against 
the  Embargo  laws.  Happily  we  are  far  enough  removed  from  the  din  of  that  old 
conflict  of  parties  to  view  the  contest  dispassionately,  and  perceive  that  we  can,  with 
just  charity,  declare  that  these  New  England  leaders  wrere  no  more  real  disunionists 
at  heart  than  were  Jefferson  and  Madison,  and  that  both  parties,  having  confidence  in 
the  people,  ventured  to  use  dangerous  weapons  in  their  partisan  strife  for  the  suprem 
acy,  feeling,  as  Jefferson  said  in  his  inaugural  address,  already  cited,  that  there  wras 
safety  in  tolerating  a  great  error  "  when  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it." 

The  second  session  of  the  Tenth  Congress  was  commenced  on  the  7th  of  Novem- 
ber,a  and,  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  after  the  organization,  the  opposition 
opened  their  batteries  upon  the  Embargo  in  various  forms.  In  both  houses 
motions  for  a  repeal  or  modification  of  the  act  were  presented,  and  long  and  warm 
debates  ensued.  But  in  both  houses  there  was  a  decided  majority  in  favor  of  sustain 
ing  the  measure,  and  these  were  supported  by  resolutions  in  favor  of  the  Embargo 
passed  by  the  Legislatures  of  New  Hampshire,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Vir 
ginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia.  The  whole  country  was  agitated  by  the  discus 
sion  of  the  question,  and  in  private  and  public  assemblies  the  great  incubus  upon 
commerce  was  the  topic  which  occupied  all  minds,  and  shaped  the  tenor  of  general 
conversation. 

The  history  of  parties,  their  tactics  and  manoeuvres,  their  struggles  and  animosities 
at  that  time,  bearing  as  they  do,  more  or  less  directly,  upon  the  subject  of  this  vol 
ume,  form  a  very  interesting  chapter  in  the  chronicles  of  the  nation  for  the  student 
of  our  history.  Our  plan  and  space  do  not  admit  of  even  an  outline  narrative  of  those 
purely  partisan  conflicts,  and  we  must  pass  on  to  a  rapid  consideration  of  events  which 
speedily  caused  war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

The  policy  of  the  administration  being  fully  sustained,  more  stringent  measures  for 
enforcing  the  Embargo  were  adopted.  The  Enforcing  Act,  as  it  was  called,  caused 
such  opposition  and  exasperation  in  New  England,  that  action  among  the  people  and 
in  State  Legislatures  assumed  the  aspect  of  incipient  rebellion.  Then  it  was  that  dis 
union  sentiments,  just  alluded  to,  were  freely  uttered  in  nearly  all  the  region  eastward 
of  the  longitude  of  the  Hudson  River.  Many  wise  men  began  to  regard  civil  war  as 
possible,  if  not  inevitable.  Some  wTeak-kneed  members  of  the  administration  party  in 
Congress  wTere  disturbed  by  the  mutterings  of  the  thunder  indicating  an  approaching 

sions  we  experience  of  speedily  having  our  calamity  increased  by  the  addition  of  still  more  restrictive  and  arbitrary 
laws ;  expressing  to  them  our  approbation  of  the  measures  they  have  already  adopted  upon  the  subject,  and  requesting 
them  to  take  such  other  immediate  steps  for  relieving  the  people,  either  by  themselves  alone  or  in  concert  with  other 
commercial  states,  as  the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  our  situation  require." 

In  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  a  town  meeting  resolved,  on  the  12th  of  January,  1SOO,  "  that  to  our  state  government  we 
look  for  counsel,  protection,  and  relief  at  this  awful  period  of  general  calamity." 

The  people  of  Boston,  in  a  memorial  dated  January  25, 1809,  said:  "Our  hope  and  consolation  rest  with  the  Legisla 
ture  of  our  state,  to  whom  it  is  competent  to  devise  means  of  relief  against  the  unconstitutional  measures  of  the  general 
government ;  that  your  power  is  adequate  to  this  object  is  evident  from  the  organization  of  the  confederacy." 

The  opposition  press  uttered  many  violent  and  inflammatory  appeals  to  the  people.  A  hand-bill  was  circulated  in 
Newburyport  which  contained  the  following  sentences:  "Let  every  man  who  holds  the  name  of  America  dear  to  him 
stretch  forth  his  hand  and  put  this  accursed  thing,  the  EMBARGO,  from  him.  Be  resolute  ;  act  like  the  sons  of  liberty, 
of  GOD,  and  of  your  country ;  nerve  your  arms  with  VENGEANCE  against  the  DESPOT  who  would  wrest  the  inestimable 
gem  of  your  independence  from  you,  and  you  shall  be  conquerors  !" 

"We  know,"  said  the  Boston  Repertory,  "if  the  Embargo  be  not  removed,  our  citizens  will  ere  long  set  its  penalties 
and  restrictions  at  defiance.  It  behooves  us  to  speak,  for  strike  we  must  if  speaking  does  not  answer." 

"It  is  better  to  suffer  the  amputation  of  a  limb  [meaning  the  severance  of  New  England  from  the  Union"],  said  the 
Boston  Gazette,  "  than  to  lose  the  whole  body.  We  must  prepare  for  the  operation.  Wherefore,  then,  is  New  England 
asleep  ?  Wherefore  does  she  submit  to  the  oppression  of  enemies  in  the  South  t  Have  we  no  Moses  who  is  inspired  by  the 
God  of  our  fathers,  and  will  lead  us  out  of  Egitpt  t" 

" This  perpetual  Embargo,"  said  Russell,  in  the  Boston  Centinel,  "being  unconstitutional,  every  man  will  perceive  that 
he  is  not  bound  to  regard  it,  but  may  send  his  produce  or  merchandise  to  a  foreign  market  in  the  same  manner  as  if  the  gov 
ernment  had  never  undertaken  to  prohibit  it.  If  the  petitions  do  not  produce  a  relaxation  or  removal  of  the  Embargo,  the 
people  ought  to  immediately  assume  a  higher  tone.  The  government  of  Massachusetts  has  also  a  duty  to  perform.  The 
state  is  still  sovereign  and  independent." 

The  above  passages  have  been  cited  to  give  an  idea  of  the  state  of  public  feeling  under  the  pressure  of  the  Embargo. 
Never  had  the  patriotism  of  the  people  greater  temptations  than  at  the  gloomy  period  of  utter  commercial  stagnation 
or  ruinous  fluctuation  from  1SOS  to  1S12,  inclusive  of  those  years. 


174 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Embargo  or  War  the  proclaimed  Alternative. 


Quincy  lashes  the  War  Party. 


Effects  of  his  Denunciations. 


tempest,  and,  for  the  purpose  of  pacifying  the  discontented  people,  the  majority  passed 
<>  January  19,     an  acta  appointing  the  last  Monday  in  May  following  as  the  time  for  the 
1809>          assembling  of  the  new  Congress,  when  a  repeal  of  the  Embargo  would 
occur,  and  the  alternative  of  war  with  Great  Britain  be  accepted. 

This  postponement  of  the  repeal  and 
the  expressed  intention  of  going  to  war 
called  forth  from  Quincy,1  the  Federal 
leader  in  the  lower  House,  a  most  with 
ering,  denunciatory  speech  —  a  speech 
that  stung  the  dominant  party  to  the 
quick,  and  rankled  like  a  thorn  for  a 
long  time.  He  treated  their  assertion 
that  war  would  be  the  alternative  of  re 
peal  with  the  most  bitter  scorn.  He  had 
heard  enough  of  that  "  eternal  clamor," 
he  said,  and,  if  he  could  help  it,  the  old 
women  of  the  country  should  no  longer 
be  frightened  by  the  unsubstantial  bug 
bear.  He  taunted  them  with  cowardice, 
and  declared  his  conviction  that  no  in 
sult,  however  gross,  that  might  be  offer 
ed  by  France  or  Great  Britain,  could 
force  the  majority  into  a  declaration  of 
war.  "  To  use  a  coarse  but  common  ex 
pression,"  he  said,  "  they  could  not  be 
kicked  into  a  war."  He  declared  that 
all  the  officers  for  the  new  army  were 
partisans  of  the  administration.  "  If  the  intention  had  been,"  he  said,  "  to  unite  the 
nation  as  one  man  against  a  foreign  enemy,  is  not  this  the  last  policy  which  any  ad 
ministration  ought  ever  to  have  adopted  ?  Is  not  a  party  army  the  most  dreadful 
and  detestable  of  all  engines,  the  most  likely  to  awaken  suspicions  and  to  inspire  dis 
content  ?"  He  then  sneered  at  the  idea  of  going  to  war  with  England — the  great 
maritime  power  of  the  world — with  "  but  one  frigate  and  five  sloops  in  commission," 
while  the  administration  had  not  "  resolution  enough  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the 
paltry  little  navy  rotting  in  the  Potomac !" 

Quincy's  lash  stirred  up  a  strong  Avar  feeling*  throughout  the  Democratic  party, 
and  stimulated  the  administration  to  more  vigorous  efforts  for  increasing  the  army 
and  navy.  The  Southern  members,  with  Williams,  of  South  Carolina,  at  their  head, 


i  Josiah  Quincy  was  born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  on  the  4th  of  February,  1772.  He  was  educated  at  Harvard  Uni 
versity,  in  Cambridge,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1790.  He  entered  upon  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Boston.  In  1804  he 
was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  National  Congress,  and  held  that  position  eight  successive  years.  In  1813  he  declined  a  re 
election.  He  was  chosen  a  senator  from  Suffolk,  and  was  a  representative  in  the  upper  House  of  the  Legislature  of 
Massachusetts  for  four  successive  years.  He  was  speaker  of  the  lower  House  in  1820,  and  the  following  year  was  ap 
pointed  judge  of  the  Municipal  Court  of  Boston.  In  1823  he  was  chosen  mayor  of  that  city,  and  held  the  office  six  con 
secutive  years,  when  he  declined  a  re-election.  He  was  chosen  President  of  Harvard  University  in  1829,  and  held  that 
honorable  position  until  his  resignation  in  1845,  from  which  time  he  enjoyed  leisure  in  private  life,  but  always  actively 
alive  to  events  around. 

Mr.  Quincy  was  an  author  of  reputation,  his  most  considerable  works  being  A  Ilixtory  ofHarrarA  University,  in  two 
volumes,  with  illustrations  by  his  daughter ;  Memoir  of  his  father  (Josiah  Quincy)  and  others ;  A  Memorial  IJistorij  of 
Boston,  etc.  Mr.  Quincy  lived  until  the  2d  day  of  July,  1SG4,  when  he  died  at  his  country  seat  in  Quincy,  Massachusetts, 
in  the  ninety-third  year  of  his  age.  He  and  the  late  Lord  Lyndhurst  (son  of  Copley,  the  painter)  were  born  in  Boston 
on  the  same  night,  and  the  same  physician  attended  both  mothers. 

The  writer  visited  him  when  he  was  in  his  ninetieth  year,  and  had  the  pleasure  and  profit  of  his  conversation  con 
cerning  past  days ;  and  when  he  spoke  of  having  a  distinct  recollection  of  being  carried  out  of  Boston  by  way  of  the 
British  fortifications  on  the  Neck  in  1775,  and  undergoing  a  purification  by  sulphur  vapor  on  account  of  small-pox  in 
the  city,  I  seemed  to  be  talking  with  a  patriarch  indeed— a  man  whose  memory  embraced  the  stirring  events  of  much 
of  the  two  centuries.  He  was  born  at  the  opening  of  the  just  rebellion  of  a  great  people  against  real  tyranny,  and  lived 
to  speak  patriotic  words  in  condemnation  of  a  most  unrighteous  rebellion  of  a  few  demagogues  against,  as  one  of  their 
number  had  but  recently  said,  "  the  most  beneficent  government  on  the  face  of  the  earth." 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  175 


Cotton  supposed  to  be  King  of  Commerce.  Non-intercourse  Act.  Signs  of  Eeconciliation. 

vehemently  opposed  every  expenditure  for  the  navy.  That  violent  sectionalist,  with 
the  shallowness  and  selfishness  of  his  class,  could  perceive  no  other  American  interest 
but  that  of  cotton  worth  fighting  for  or  preserving.  The  "  transit  duty"  imposed  upon 
neutral  merchandise  by  a  late  action  of  the  British  government  was  the  chief  object 
of  his  ire  and  assault,  and  because  of  that  measure  he  was  eager  to  go  to  war.  Daz> 
zled  by  the  increase  of  the  cotton  trade,  he  believed  that  product  of  Carolina  to  be 
the  King  of  Commerce,  around  which  all  other  interests  should  revolve  as  satellites 
or  courtiers.  "  The  great  staple,"  he  said,  "  of  the  country — cotton — worth  more  than 
any  two  others,  is  coerced  into  Great  Britain,  and  is  absolutely  prohibited  from  re 
exportation  altogether.  .  .  .  You  are  to  raise  cotton  to  carry  to  the  British  domin 
ions,  and  nowhere  else !  What  does  this  amount  to  ?  Any  thing  short  of  the  as 
sumption  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  soil  ?  And  yet  gentlemen  can  not  see  any  cause 
of  war !  All  the  objections  made  to  war  with  Great  Britain — want  of  revenue,  want 
of  ships,  want  of  objects  of  attack,  destruction  of  commerce,  danger  to  our  liberties 
from  standing  armies — are  nothing  but  disguises  for  want  of  patriotism,  and  con 
temptible  cowardice." 

Yet,  when  Joseph  Story,  the  afterward  eminent  jurist,  with  a  broader  statesman 
ship,  a  wiser  forecast,  and  a  true  national  patriotism,  suggested  a  fleet  of  fifty  fast- 
sailing  frigates  for  the  protection  of  all  the  industrial  interests  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  support  of  the  dignity  and  independence  of  the  government,  scarcely  a  man 
was  to  be  found  from  the  region  southward  of  the  Delaware  to  second  his  views ; 
and  Williams  declared  that  if  the  rights  of  America  were  only  so  to  be  saved,  he  was 
for  abandoning  them  at  once.  "  Impatient  as  he  was  to  fight  for  the  rights  of  the 
cotton-growers,  he  had  not  the  least  idea  of  going  to  war  for  the  rights  of  ship-owners. 
While  urging  the  navigating  interest  to  submit  quietly  to  destruction,  in  hopes  of 
forcing  a  "wider  market  for  cotton,  he  declaimed  with  the  most  perfect  unconscious 
ness  about  the  self-sacrifice  of  the  South  and  the  selfishness  of  the  North  7"1 — a  most 
untruthful  and  ungenerous  assertion,  which  has  been  constantly  repeated  ever  since 
by  unscrupulous  demagogues  for  selfish  purposes,  to  the  material  injury  of  the  whole 
countiy,  and  especially  of  the  slave-labor  states. 

The  outside  pressure  upon  the  administration  against  the  Embargo  Act  became 
too  great  for  resistance,  and  on  the  1st  of  March,  1809,  it  was  repealed.  As  a  pacific 
countervailing  measure,  to  induce  the  European  belligerents  to  respect  the  rights  of 
neutrals,  a  Non-intercourse  Act  was  passed,  by  which  the  commerce  of  America  was 
opened  to  all  the  world  except  to  England  and  France,  and  British  and  French  ships 
of  war  were  equally  excluded  prospectively  from  American  ports.  This  measure  was 
denounced  by  the  opposition  with  more  bitterness,  if  possible,  than  the  Embargo  Act. 
It  was  declared  to  be  actual  war  in  disguise — a  cowardly  obedience  to  French  man 
dates — an  attempt  to  produce  hostilities  with  Great  Britain  at  the  instigation  and 
for  the  benefit  of  Napoleon.  Strange  as  it  may  appear  to  us,  this  foolish  bugbear — 
this  Gallic  mask  of  demagogues  for  disturbing  the  nerves  of  the  timid — was  still  effect 
ive,  and  the  country  was  so  agitated  by  the  alarmists  that  the  paralysis  of  industry 
continued.  The  wings  of  partially-released  commerce  fluttered  timidly  in  harbors, 
because  its  imagination  pictured  whole  bevies  of  war-hawks  abroad. 

Relief  soon  came,  and  the  doves  of  peace  whitened  the  horizon.  For  some  time 
the  administration,  persuaded  of  the  incompetence  of  the  Embargo  to  effect  its  in 
tended  purposes,  had  been  unofficially  negotiating  with  Mr.  Erskine,  the  British  min 
ister  resident  at  Washington,  for  a  settlement  of  the  disputes  between  the  two  gov 
ernments,  and  Mr.  Madison  took  the  Presidential  chair  on  the  4th  of  March,  vacated 
by  Mr.  Jefferson,  with  a  sanguine  expectation  that  the  beginning  of  his  administration 
would  be  signalized  by  some  promise  of  peace  and  prosperity  for  his  country. 

i  Hildreth's  History  of  the  United  States,  Second  Series,  iii.,  126. 


!76  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Mr.  Erskine's  Proposition.  A  just  Arrangement.  General  Satisfaction.  Disappearance  of  Party  Strife. 

Mr.  Erskine  had  made  such  representations 
to  his  government  that  Mr.  Canning  instruct 
ed  him  to  offer  to  propose  to  the  Americans 
a  reciprocal  repeal  of  all  the  prohibitory 
laws  upon  certain  conditions.  But  these 
conditions  were  so  partial  to  England — re 
quiring  the  Americans  to  submit  to  the  de 
tested  "rule  of  1756,"  and  to  allow  British 
cruisers  to  capture  all  American  vessels  at 
tempting  to  trade  with  France — that  they 
were  rejected.  But  an  arrangement  was 
speedily  made,  by  which,  upon  the  orders  in 
Council  being  recalled,  the  President  should 
issue  a  proclamation  declaring  a  restoration 
of  commercial  intercourse  with  Great  Brit 
ain,  but  leaving  all  restrictive  laws  against 
France  in  full  force.  Mr.  Erskine  offered, 
in  addition,  reparation  for  the  insult  and  in 
jury  in  the  case  of  the  Chesapeake,  and  also 
assured  the  American  government  that  Great 

/  &t*^-**      <££<£"  £&  <*-£/  £W      grjtam  Would  immediately  send  over  an  en- 
'  voy  extraordinary  "  invested  with  full  pow 

ers  to  conclude  a  treaty  on  all  points  of  the  relations  between  the  two  governments." 
This  arrangement  was  completed  on  the  18th  of  April. a     On  the  following 
8°9'     day  the  Secretary  of  State  received  a  note  from  Mr.  Erskine,  saying,  "  I  am 
authorized  to  declare  that  his  majesty's  orders  in  Council  of  January  and  November, 
1807,  will  have  been  withdrawn,  as  respects  the  United  States,  on  the  tenth  day  of 
June  next."     On  the  same  day  President  Madison  (only  forty-four  days  after  his  in 
auguration)  issued  a  proclamation1*  declaring  that  trade  with  Great  Britain 
might  be  renewed  after  the  tenth  day  of  the  following  June.1 
This  proclamation  was  hailed  with  the  greatest  joy  throughout  the  United  States 
as  an  omen  of  brighter  days.     The  voice  of  partisan  strife  was  hushed,  and  President 
Madison  was  lauded  as  the  representative  of  the  whole  American  people,  and  not  of 
a  party  only.     He  was  toasted  and  praised  by  the  Federalists,  invited  to  their  feasts, 
and  hailed  as  a  Washingtonian  worthy  of  all  confidence.    The  foolish  idea  of"  French 
influence"  was  dispelled,  and  every  body  indulged  in  millennial  anticipations.     En 
gland  was  lauded  for  her  generosity  and  magnanimity,  and  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  John  Randolph  offered  the  following  resolution  on  the  2d  of  May :  "Re 
solved,  That  the  promptitude  and  frankness  with  which  the  President  of  the  United 
States  has  met  the  overtures  of  the  government  of  Great  Britain  toward  a  restoration 
of  harmony  and  freer  commercial  intercourse  between  the  two  nations  meet  the  ap 
probation  of  this  House."    The  warmest  Federalists  supported  the  resolution,  and  a 
contemporary  says  that  the  praise  of  the  President  by  his  former  political  enemies 
was  so  universal  that  "the  Democrats  grew  jealous.     They  were  afraid  of  losing  the 
attachment  of  the  President,  whose  election  they  had  made  such  exertions  to  secure." 
The  joy  of  the  Americans  was  brief.     On  the  31st  of  July  Mr.  Erskine  communi 
cated  to  the  President  the  mortifying  fact  that  his  government  had  refused  to  affirm 
his  arrangement.    This  refusal  was  made  ostensibly  because  the  minister  had  exceed- 

1  After  the  usual  preamble  citing  the  action  between  the  government  and  "the  Honorable  David  Montague  Erskine, 
his  majesty's  envoy  extraordinary,"  he  said,  "  Now,  therefore,  I,  James  Madison,  President  of  the  United  States,  do 
hereby  proclaim,  that  the  orders  in  Council  aforesaid  will  have  been  withdrawn  on  the  said  tenth  day  of  June  next ; 
after  which  day  the  trade  of  the  United  States  with  Great  Britain,  as  suspended  by  the  act  of  Congress  above  mentioned, 
an  act  laying  an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the  United  States,  and  the  several  acts 
supplementary  thereto,  maybe  renewed." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  177 


Erskiue's  Arrangements  repudiated  by  his  Government.          The  supposed  Reasons.          Party  Rancor  again  revived. 

ed  his  instructions,  and  was  not  authorized  to  make  any  such  arrangement.  It  was 
charged  that  this  was  not  the  true  reason,  because  the  arrangement  as  made  was 
perfectly  just  to  both  parties,  and  more  favorable  to  England  than  to  the  United 
States.  To  America  it  offered  simply  a  repeal  of  the  orders  in  Council  and  atone 
ment  for  the  outrage  on  the  Chesapeake;  to  England  it  offered  a  restoration  of  all 
the  advantages  of  a  vast  and  valuable  commerce,  and  a  continuance  of  non-inter 
course  between  the  United  States  and  France.  The  most  plausible-  conjectures  for 
the  disavowal  of  an  arrangement  so  desirable  were,  first,  that  the  implied  censure  of 
the  British  government  respecting  the  conduct  of  Admiral  Berkeley,  contained  in 
one  of  the  letters  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  Mr.  Erskine,1  so  irritated  the  old  mon 
arch,  who  had  always  hated  the  Americans,  that  he  refused  his  assent ;  secondly,  that 
the  recent  violent  proceedings  in  New  England  in  relation  to  the  enforcement  of  the 
Embargo  Act  deceived  the  British  ministry  into  the  belief  that  the  American  gov 
ernment  would  be  compelled  by  popular  clamor  to  repeal  the  Embargo,  and  leave 
England's  restrictive  policy  unimpaired.  To  the  comprehension  of  the  writer,  the 
true  reason  for  the  rejection  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  such  an  arrangement 
would  interfere  in  a  deep-laid  scheme  to  break  up  the  American  Union,  by  fomenting 
sectional  antagonisms  based  chiefly  upon  the  clashing  of  apparently  diverse  interests. 
Two  years  later  it  was  discovered  that  the  British  authorities  in  Canada  had  an  ac 
credited  agent  in  Boston  for  that  purpose,  the  British  government  ignorantly  sup 
posing  the  opposition  of  the  Federalists  to  be  real  disloyalty.2  Whatever  may  "have 
been  the  true  reason  for  the  rejection,  the  historical  fact  remains  that  England  spurn 
ed  the  olive-branch  so  confidingly  offered.  The  orders  in  Council  stood  unrepealed, 
Mr.  Erskine  was  recalled,3  and  a  proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
dated  9th  of  August,  1809,  declared  the  Non-intercourse  Act  to  be  again  in  full  force 
in  regard  to  Great  Britain.  The  British  government  also  issued  orders  to  protect 
from  capture  such  American  vessels  as  had  left  the  United  States  in  consequence  of 
the  President's  proclamation  of  April  preceding. 

The  blessings  of  the  opposition,  so  freely  showered  upon  the  administration  when 
the  blossoms  of  May  and  the  leaves  of  June  were  unfolding,  returned  to  their  bosoms, 
and  at  the  season  of  the  harvest-moon  curses  flowed  out  as  freely.  It  was  charged 
that  Madison  and  his  Cabinet  were  acquainted  Avith  Canning's  instructions  to  Er 
skine  ;  that  they  knew  the  latter  had  exceeded  his  instructions,  and  that  there  was 
no  expectation  of  the  arrangement  being  confirmed  by  the  British  government;  and 
that  the  whole  affair  was  a  pitiful  trick  of  the  administration  to  cast  the  odium  of 
continued  restrictions  upon  commerce  from  their  own  shoulders  upon  that  of  the 
British  ministry.  The  partisan  war  was  soon  revived  in  all  its  rancor. 

Francis  James  Jackson,  who  had  been  the  British  minister  at  Copenhagen  in  1807, 
succeeded  Mr.  Erskine.  He  was  an  unscrupulous  diplomat,  and,  because  of  his  com 
plicity  in  the  unwarrantable  attack  by  British  land  and  naval  forces  upon  the  capital 
of  Denmark  in  early  September,  1807,  he  was  known  as  "  Copenhagen  Jackson."4  The 

1  Secretary  Robert  Smith,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Erskine  on  the  17th  of  April,  said,  "I  have  it  ill  express  charge  from  the 
President  to  state  that,  while  he  forbears  to  insist  on  a  farther  punishment  of  the  offending  officer,  he  is  not  the  less 
sensible  of  the  justice  and  utility  of  such  an  example,  nor  the  less  persuaded  that  it  would  best  comport  with  what  is 
due  from  his  Britannic  majesty  to  bis  own  honor." 

2  For  an  account  of  this  matter,  see  Chapter  XI.  of  this  work. 

3  Mr.  Erskine  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  celebrated  English  orator  and  lord  chancellor.    In  the  year  1SOO  he  married  the 
(laughter  of  General  John  Cadwalader,  of  Philadelphia,  with  whom  he  lived  until  1843,  when  she  died.    His  eldest  son 
lie  named  Thomas  Americtis,  and  is  still  living,  I  believe,  the  successor  to  his  father's  title.    In  1848  Lord  Erskine  mar 
ried  again.    This  wife  died  in  April,  1S51,  and  he  again  married  in  December,  1852.    His  last  wife  was  the  widow  of 
Thomas  Calderwood  Durham,  Esq.,  of  Largo  and  Palton.    He  had  children  only  by  his  first  wife.    He  succeeded  to 
his  father's  titles  in  1823.    He  was  educated  for  the  law  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  but  was  much  of  his  life  in  dip 
lomatic  service.    He  was  British  envoy  at  Washington  from  1806  to  1810,  and  afterward  represented  his  country  at  the 
courts  of  Wurtemberg  and  Bavaria.    In  1S43  he  retired  from  public  life,  and  died  on  the  19th  of  March,  1855. 

*  The  British  government  strongly  suspected  that  Denmark  would  acquiesce  in  the  dictates  of  the  French  emperor, 
and  become  the  ally  of  the  conqueror.  If  so,  the  Danish  fleet  would  fall  into  his  hands,  and  England's  life  might  be  im 
periled.  She  therefore  sent  a  formidable  armament  to  the  Baltic,  accompanied  by  Jackson  as  envoy  extraordinary,  to 
negotiate  with  the  Danish  government,  the  basis  of  which  was  an  English  protectorate  of  Danish  neutrality,  on  condi- 

M 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


'•  Copenhagen  Jackson"  and  his  -Misconduct.     Proposed  Revocation  of  the  French  Decrees.     Napoleon  on  Armstrong. 

infamy  of  that  affair  made  every  person  connected  with  it  odious  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  It  was  a  foul  blot  upon  the  boasted  civilization  and  Christianity  of 
Great  Britain;  and  the  sending  of  Jackson,  who  had  been  a  conspicuous  actor  in  the 
trao-edy  as  minister  to  Washington  while  causes  for  serious  irritation  between  the 
two  governments  existed,  was  regarded  as  a  meditated  insult  by  the  extreme  mem 
bers  of  the  dominant  party. 

Jackson  was  received  with  cool  courtesy,  but  his  deportment  soon  excited  the 
thorough  dislike  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  He  was  insolent,  irritable, 
and  quarrelsome.  He  had  an  unbounded  admiration  of  the  greatness  of  the  people 
he  represented,  and  a  corresponding  contempt  for  the  people  he  had  been  sent  to. 
He  regarded  the  Americans  as  an  inferior  people,  and  treated  the  officers  of  govern 
ment  with  the  hauteur  which  he  had  practiced  toward  weak  and  bleeding  Denmark 
when  he  negotiated  with  her  at  the  mouths  of  British  cannon.  His  manners  were  so 
offensive  that,  after  the  second  verbal  conference  with  him,  Secretary  Smith  refused 
any  farther  correspondence  except  in  writing.  The  insolent  diplomat  was  offended, 
and  wrote  an  impudent  letter  to  the  secretary.  He  was  soon  informed  that  no  far 
ther  communications  would  be  received  from  him.  Disappointed  and  angry,  he  left 
Washington,  with  every  member  of  his  diplomatic  family,  and  retired  to  New  York.1 
The  American  government  requested  his  recall,  and  early  in  1810  he  was  summoned 
back  to  England.  But  his  government  manifested  the  greatest  indifference  as  to  its 
relations  with  the  United  States,  the  request  for  his  recall  was  received  with  the 
most  perfect  coolness,  and  no  other  minister  was  sent  to  Washington  until  early  in 
1811. 


In  the  early  part  of  1810,a  the  President  received  intimations  from  abroad 
that  a  way  was  probably  opened  for  a  repeal  of  the  restrictive  orders  and 
decrees.  M.  de  Champagny  (Duke  de  Cadore),  the  French  Minister  of  Foreign  Af 
fairs,  in  a  letter  to  Minister  Armstrong,  said  that  if  England  would  revoke  her  block 
ade  against  France,  the  latter  would  revoke  her  Berlin  Decree.2  Minister  Pinkney, 
still  in  London,  on  receiving  this  information,  approached  the  British  ministry  on  the 
subject,  and  he  expressed  to  his  own  government  his  hope  that  the  restrictive  meas 
ures  of  the  belligerents  would  be  speedily  removed.3  To  aid  in  negotiations  to  that 
effect,  Congress,  on  the  1st  of  May,  1810,  repealed  the  'Non-intercourse  and  Non-im 
portation  laws,  and  substituted  an  act  excluding  both  British  and  French  armed  ves 
sels  from  the  waters  of  the  United  States.  It  farther  provided  that,  in  case  either 
Great  Britain  or  France  should  so  revoke  or  modify  its  acts  before  the  3d  of  March, 

tion  that  its  fleet  should  be  deposited  in  British  ports  until  the  termination  of  the  war  with  France.  The  Danish  gov 
ernment  rejected  this  degrading  proposal,  and  claimed  the  rights  of  a  neutral,  independent  nation,  whereupon  the  Brit 
ish  armament  of  twenty-seven  sail  of  the  line,  and  twenty  thousand  land  troops,  under  the  respective  commands  of  Ad 
miral  Gambier  and  Lord  Cathcart,  attacked  Copenhagen.  The  splendid  cathedral,  many  public  buildings  and  private 
houses,  were  destroyed,  and  with  them  two  thousand  lives.  The  city  was  on  flre  from  the  2d  until  the  5th  of  September. 
A  great  part  of  the  city  was  consumed,  when  a  flag  of  truce  was  displayed  by  the  Danish  commander.  The  Danish  fleet 
and  a  large  quantity  of  naval  stores  were  surrendered.  But  the  indignant  Danish  government  refused  to  ratify  the  ca 
pitulation,  and  issued  a  declaration  of  war  against  England.  Russia,  indignant  at  the  shameful  treatment  of  Denmark, 
also  declared  war  against  England,  and  issued  a  manifesto  on  the  30th  of  October  ordering  the  destruction  of  all  British 
ships  and  property. 

1  Jackson  found  a  residence  in  the  city  too  uncomfortable,  on  account  of  the  detestation  in  which  he  was  held,  and  he 
took  up  his  abode  at  Claremont,  the  seat  of  the  Post  family,  at  the  present  Manhattanville,  now  Jones's  Hotel,  a  fash 
ionable  place  of  resort. 

2  See  letter  of  Armstrong  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  January,  1810,  in  American  State  Papers.    The  manner  of  the  cor 
respondence  of  Minister  Armstrong  with  the  French  government  at  this  time  appears  to  have  excited  the  hot  displeas 
ure  of  the  Emperor,  who  wrote  to  M.  de  Champagny  on  the  10th  of  January,  1810,  as  follows: 

"  MONSIEUR  DUKE  DE  CAPORE,—  You  must  see  the  minister  from  America.  It  is  beyond  all  ridiculous  that  he  writes 
of  things  that  one  does  not  comprehend.  I  prefer  that  he  should  write  in  English,  but  at  length,  and  in  a  manner  that 
we  can  understand.  How  is  it  that  in  affairs  so  important  he  contents  himself  with  writing  letters  of  four  lines  f  Speak 
to  the  secretary  who  is  here  ;  speak  also  to  the  secretary  who  is  about  arriving  from  America.  Send  by  a  courier  extra 
ordinary  a  dispatch  in  cipher  to  make  them  understand  that  that  government  is  not  represented  here  ;  that  its  minister 
don't  understand  French—  is  a  morose  man,  with  whom  one  can  not  deal  ;  that  all  obstacles  would  be  removed  if  we  had 
an  envoy  to  talk  with.  Write  in  detail  on  the  matter.  Let  me  know  what  effect  the  letter  from  Altenburg  has  had  in 
the  United  States—  what  has  been  done,  and  what  is  proposed.  Write  to  America  in  such  manner  that  the  President 
may  know  what  a  fool  has  been  sent  here.  NAPOLEON." 

3  Letter  of  Piukuey  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  February  28,  1810,  in  American  State  Pavers. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812.  179 


The  Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees  revoked.  The  British  Orders  in  Council  maintained. 

1811,  as  that  they  should  cease  to  violate  the  neutral  commerce  of  the  United  States, 
and  if  the  other  nation  should  not,  within  three  months  thereafter,  in  like  manner  re 
voke  or  modify  its  edicts,  the  provisions  of  the  Non-intercourse  and  Non-importation 
laws  should,  at  the  expiration  of  the  three  months,  be  revived  against  the  nation  neg 
lecting  or  refusing  to  comply. 

When  this  act  was  communicated  to  the  French  government,  M.  de  Champagny 
addressed  a  note  to  Minister  Armstrong,  dated  5th  of  August,  1810,  officially  declar 
ing  that  "  the  decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan  are  revoked,  and  that  after  the  first  day 
of  the  following  November  they  will  cease  to  have  effect ;  it  being  understood  that, 
in  consequence  of  this  declaration,  the  English  shall  revoke  their  orders  in  Council, 
and  renounce  the  new  principles  of  blockade  which  they  have  wished  to  establish, 
or  that  the  United  States,  conformably  to  their  law,  will  cause  their  rights  to  be  re 
spected  by  the  English."  This  was  explicit,  and  the  President  doubted  not  it  was 
sincere.  Therefore,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  1st  of  May, 
he  issued  a  proclamation  on  the  2d  of  November  announcing  this  revocation  of  the 
French  decrees,  and  declaring  the  discontinuance,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States, 
of  all  commercial  restrictions  in  relation  to  France  and  her  dependencies.  On  the 
same  day  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  issued  an  order  to  all  collectors  of  the  cus 
toms  to  act  in  conformity  with  the  President's  proclamation,  but  to  enforce  against 
English  war  vessels,  and  against  her  commerce,  the  law  of  Maya  after  tlje  a  May  i 
2d  of  the  following  February,  unless,  meanwhile,  information  should  be  re-  181°- 
ceived  by  the  President  of  the  revocation  of  her  orders  in  Council. 

The  United  States  had  been  made  to  doubt  Gallic  faith.     Professing  to  be  indiar- 

o  o 

nant  at  what  seemed  to  be  partiality  shown  to  England  by  the  Americans  in  their 
restrictive  acts,  Bonaparte  had  caused  the  seizure  and  confiscation  of  many  American 
vessels  and  their  cargoes.     Armstrong  remonstrated  from  time  to  time,  and  finally, 
when  notified  that  a  large  number  of  these  vessels  were  to  be  sold,  he  presented  a 
vigorous  protest,b  and  recapitulated  the  many  aggressions  which  American 
commerce  had  suffered  from  French  cruisers.     This  just  remonstrance  was 
ungenerously  responded  to  by  a  decree,  issued  by  the  Emperor  from  Rambouillet  on 
the  23d  of  March,  1810,  which  declared  that  "all  American  vessels  which  should  en 
ter  French  ports,  or  ports  occupied  by  French  troops,  should  be  seized  and  seques 
tered."     Under  this  decree,  many  American  vessels  and  millions  of  American  prop 
erty  were  seized.    But  it  was  supposed  that  the  proclamation  of  the  President  on  the 
2d  of  November  would  annul  these  hostile  proceedings,  and  release  the  vessels.     On 
the  contrary,  the  French  government  simply  suspended  the  causes  in  the  Council  of 
Prizes0  until  February,  1811,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  United 
States  would  enforce  the  proclamation  of  November  against  Great  Brit 
ain.     At  the  same  time  the  French  government  abstained  from  furnishing  the  Amer 
ican  government  with  formal  official  evidence  of  any  decree  relating  to  the  revoca 
tion  of  former  edicts,  and  the  whole  matter  rested  upon  the  simple  letter  of    d 
the  Duke  of  Cadore  (Champagny)  to  Mr.  Armstrong.11 

Great  Britain  took  advantage  of  this  fact,  and  resisted  the  application  to  re 
scind  her  orders,  on  the  ground  that  she  was  furnished  with  no  evidence  that  the 
decrees  had  been  rescinded,  because  the  French  government  had  never  promulgated 
any  edict  for  this  revocation.  But  she  had  the  evidence  of  the  French  minister's  ex 
plicit  declaration,  on  which  the  fbtion  of  the  United  States  government  was  based, 
as  well  as  a  general  order  of  the  French  government  to  the  Director  General  of  Cus 
toms0  not  to  apply  the  Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees  to  American  vessels 
entering  French  ports  after  the  1st  of  November,  1810.  These  official 
declarations  of  the  French  government  were  sufficient  for  the  United  States,  and 
should  have  been  for  Great  Britain,  for,  if  faith  could  not  have  been  placed  in  them, 
decrees  from  the  same  source  would  have  had  little  value.  But  France  and  England 


180  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

England  and  France  refuse  to  be  just.  Friendly  Proposition  of  the  United  States  unheeded. 

were  playing  such  a  desperate  game,  that  they  not  only  rightfully  suspected  each 
other  of  duplicity  continually,  but  doubted  the  sincerity  of  the  United  States,  al- 
thouo-h  that  government  had  never,  in  the  smallest  degree,  broken  its  faith  with  ei 
ther*  England  refused  to  recall  her  orders  in  Council ;  Bonaparte  refused  to  make 
any  indemnity  for  the  seizures  under  the  Bayonne  and  Rambouillet  Decrees,  and 
American  commerce  was  left  in  a  state  of  the  most  painful  suspense. 

Having  exhausted  all  arguments  in  endeavoring  to  convince  the  British  ministry 
of  the  reality  of  the  French  revocation,1  and  to  effect  a  recall  of  the  orders,  Mr.  Pink- 
ney  left  England  and  returned  home,  satisfied  that,  while  she  could  sustain  herself  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  war,  she  would  never  yield  an  iota  of  her  power  to  oppress  the 
Aveak.  At  this  very  time,  spurned  as  they  had  been,  the  United  States  proceeded  to 
open  another  door  of  reconciliation,  by  an  act  of  Congress  providing  that,  in  case  at 
any  time  "  Great  Britain  should  revoke  or  modify  her  edicts,  as  that  they  shall  cease 
to  violate  the  neutral  commerce  of  the  United  States,  the  President  of  the  United 
States  should  declare  the  fact  by  proclamation,  and  that  the  restrictions  previously 
imposed  should,  from  the  date  of  such  proclamation,  cease  and  be  discontinued."2 

To  this  friendly  proposition  England  was  deaf.  She  would  listen  to  no  appeals  to 
her  justice  or  her  magnanimity.  For  long  years  she  had  been  the  aggressor  and  the 
oppressor,  and  yet  she  refused  to  heed  the  kindly  voice  of  her  best  friend  when  it 
pleaded  flpr  simple  justice.  At  that  very  time  she  was  exercising,  by  the  might  of 
her  navy,  the  most  despotic  sway  upon  the  ocean,  and  committing  incessant  injuries 
upon  a  friendly  power.  She  had,  at  that  time,  impressed  from  the  crews  of  American 
merchant  vessels,  peaceably  navigating  the  high  seas,  not  less  than  six  THOUSAND 
MARINERS  who  claimed  to  be  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  who  were  denied  all 
opportunity  to  verify  their  claims.  She  had  seized  and  confiscated  the  commercial 
property  of  American  citizens  to  an  incalculable  amount.  She  had  united  in  the 
enormities  of  France  in  declaring  a  great  proportion  of  the  terraqiieous  globe  in  a 
state  of  blockade,  effectually  chasing  the  American  merchant  from  the  ocean.  She 
had  contemptuously  disregarded  the  neutrality  of  the  American  territory,  and  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  American  laws  within  the  waters  and  harbors  of  the  United  States. 
She  was  enjoying  the  emoluments  of  a  surreptitious  trade,  stained  with  every  species 
of  fraud  and  corrruption,  which  gave  to  the  belligerent  powers  the  advantage  of  a 
peace,  while  the  neutral  powers  were  involved  in  the  evils  of  war.  She  had,  in  short, 
usurped  and  exercised  on  the  water  a  tyranny  similar  to  that  which  her  great  antag 
onist  had  usurped  and  exercised  on  the  land.  And,  amid  all  these  proofs  of  ambition 
and  avarice,  she  demanded  that  the  victims  of  her  usurpations  and  her  violence  should 
revere  her  as  the  sole  defender  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  mankind  !3 

At  about  the  time  when  Mr.  Pinkney  left  England,  Augustus  J.  Foster,  who  had 
» February  is,     ^een  secretary  to  the  British  legation  at  Washington,  was  appointed" 
18H.  envoy  extraordinary  to  the  United  States,  charged  with  the  settlement 

of  the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake  and  other  matters  in  dispute  between  the  two  gov 
ernments.4  He  had  just  fairly  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  peaceful  mission,  when 
an  event  occurred  that  produced  great  complications  and  ill  feelings. 

1  The  British  ministry,  in  their  refusal  to  rescind  the  orders,  made  a  strong  point  of  the  fact  that  one  of  the  conditions 
in  Champagny's  letter  was  the  renouncing  by  the  English  what  were  called  the  "new  British  principles  of  blockade," 
namely,  the  blockading  of  all  commercial  unfortified  towns,  coasts,  harbors,  and  mouths  of  rivers.    Bonaparte  claimed 
that  it  ought  to  be  confined  to  fortified  places.    Great  Britain  would  nq^relax  an  iota  of  her  pretensions  in  this  matter. 

2  Act  of  Congress,  passed  2d  of  March,  1811. 

3  See  Dallas's  Exposition  of  the  Causes  and  Character  of  the  late  War, 

4  In  announcing  this  appointment,  the  British  ministry  assured  Mr.  Pinkney  of  the  most  pacific  feelings  of  their  gov 
ernment  toward  that  of  his  own,  and  that  the  delay  in  filling  the  place  caused  by  the  recall  of  Jackson  was  not  because 
of  any  indisposition  to  keep  up  friendly  diplomatic  relations,  but  from  a  desire  to  make  a  satisfactory  appointment,  and 
also  from  late  interruptions  to  official  business  owing  to  the  mental  disability  of  the  king  and  the  establishment  of  a 
regency.    The  king  had  shown  signs  of  insanity  in  1TS8,  and  a  Regency  Bill  was  submitted  to  Parliament  in  December 
of  that  year.    The  king  recovered,  and  in  February  following  it  was  withdrawn.    In  1S10  the  physicians  of  the  king 
announced  his  confirmed  insanity,  and  ou  the  5th  of  February,  1S11,  his  son,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  afterward  George  the 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


181 


Outrage  by  a  British  Cruiser. 


Commodore  Kodgers. 


The  Frigate  President  ordered  to  Sea. 


Since  the  favorable  arrangement  with  France,  British  cruisers  hovering  upon  the 
American  coast  had  become  more  and  more  annoying  to  commerce.  A  richly-laden 
American  vessel  bound  to  France  had  been  captured  within  thirty  miles  of  New 
York ;:  and  early  in  the  month  of  May  a  British  frigate,  supposed  to  be  the  Guer- 
riere,  Captain  Dacres,  stopped  an  American  brig  only  eighteen  miles  from  New  York, 
and  a  young  man,  known  to  be  a  native  of  Maine,  was  taken  from  her  and  impressed 
'into  the  British  service.2  Similar  instances  had  lately  occurred,  and  the  government 
resolved  to  send  out  one  or  two  of  the  new  frigates3  immediately  for  the  protection 
of  the  coast  trade  from  the  depredators. 

The  President,  Captain  Ludlow,  was  then  anchored  off  Fort  Severn,4  at  Annapolis, 


FORT   OR   BATTERY    SEVERN,  AT   AKMAVOLIS. 


bearing  the  broad  pennant  of  Commpdore  Rodgers,  the  senior  officer  of  the  navy. 
The  commodore  was  with  his  family  at  Havre  de  Grace,  seventy  miles  distant  ;5  the 
President's  sailing-master  was  at  Baltimore,  forty  miles  distant ;  her  purser  and  chap 
lain  were  at  Washington,  an  equal  distance  from  their  posts,  and  all  was  listlessness 
on  board  the  frigate,  for  no  sounds  of  war  were  in  the  air.  Suddenly,  at  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  7th  of  May,  while  Captain  Ludlow  was  dining  on  board  the 
sloop-of-war  Argus,  lying  near  the  President,  the  gig  was  seen,  about  five  miles  dis 
tant,  sailing  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  with  the  commodore's  broad  pennant 
flying,  denoting  that  he  was  on  board.6  Rodgers  was  soon  on  the  Presidents  quar 
ter-deck.  He  had  received  orders1  from  his  government  to  put  to  sea  at  once  a  ^ay  6 
in  search  of  the  offending  British  vessel,  and  on  the  10th  he  weighed  anchor  1811- 

Fourth,  went  before  the  Privy  Council  in  great  state,  and  was  sworn  in  as  regent  of  the  kingdom.  He  held  that  office 
until  the  death  of  his  father  in  1S20,  when  he  became  king. 

1  Hildreth,  Second  Series,  iii.,  245. 

2  Although  the  sea  was  running  high,  the  captain  of  the  Spitfire  (the  arrested  brig)  went  with  the  young  man  on  board 
the  frigate,  and  assured  the  commander  that  he  had  known  him  from  boyhood  as  a  native  of  Maine.    The  insolent  reply 
was,  "  All  that  may  be  so,  but  he  has  no  protection,  and  that  is  enough  for  me." — New  York  Herald,  May  11, 1811. 

3  The  American  navy  then  in  active  service  consisted  of  the  President,  Constitution,  and  United  States,  44  each ;  the  Es 
sex,  32  ;  John  Adams,  24 ;  Wasp  and  Hornet,  18  each ;  Argus  and  Siren,  1C  each ;  Xautilm,  Enterprise,  and  Vixen,  12  each  ; 
and  a  large  flotilla  of  gun-boats,  commanded  principally  by  sailing-masters  selected  from  the  officers  of  merchant  ves 
sels.— Cooper,  ii.,  118. 

*  The  present  Fort  or  Battery  Severn,  composed  of  a  circular  base  and  hexagonal  tower,  is  upon  the  site  of  a  fort  of 
the  same  name,  erected,  with  other  fortifications,  in  1T7C.  It  was  then  little  more  than  a  group  of  breast-works.  These 
were  strengthened  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  in  1812.  The  present  fort,  seen  in  the  picture,  is  rather  a  naval  than  a 
military  work,  its  principal  use  being  for  a  practice-battery  for  the  students  in  the  Naval  Academy  there,  and  for  the  de 
fense  of  the  naval  arsenal,  school,  and  officers'  quarters.  That  academy  (which  was  removed  to  Newport,  Rhode  Island, 
on  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  in  the  spring  of  1S01,  and  its  buildings  at  Annapolis  used  for  hospital  purposes  dur 
ing  the  conflict)  was  to  the  navy  what  the  West  Point  Academy  is  to  the  army.  The  grounds  about  Fort  Severn  are  very 
beautiful,  and  delight  the  eyes  of  all  visitors.  In  addition  to  the  Naval  Monument  there,  already  mentioned  (page  124), 
are  others,  both  elegant  and  expensive. 

5  The  residence  of  Commodore  Rodgers  at  Havre  de  Grace,  at  that  time,  was  yet  standing  when  I  visited  that  town  in 
November,  1861.    It  stood  at  near  the  junction  of  Washington  and  St.  John  Streets,  and  was  occupied  by  William  Pop 
lar.    It  was  a  two-story  brick  house,  substantially  built,  and  well  preserved,  as  'seen  in  the  engraving  on  the  next 
page.    It  will  be  referred  to  again,  in  an  account  of  my  visit  to  Havre  de  Grace  above  alluded  to. 

6  Letter  from  an  officer  on  board  the  President  in  the  Sew  York  Herald,  June  0, 1311. 


182 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


The  President  on  a  Cruise. 


She  discovers  a  strange  Vessel. 


Signals. 


Method  of  Signaling. 


COMMODOEE  ROTIGERS'S   RESIDENCE. 


and  proceeded  down  the  Chesapeake,  with 
the  intention  of  cruising  off  New  York  as 
an  inquirer  concerning  the  impressment. 
He  stopped  on  his  way  down  the  bay  for 
munitions,  and  on  the  14th  passed  the  Vir 
ginia  capes  out  upon  the  broad  ocean.  He 
lingered  there  as  an  observer  for  a  day 
or  two,  and  at  about  noon  on  the  16th, 
Cape  Henry  bearing  southwest,  and  dis-  > 
tant  about  forty  miles,  he  discovered  a 
strange  sail  on  the  eastern  horizon.  The 
squareness  of  her  yards  and  symmetry  of 
her  sails  proclaimed  her  a  war  vessel.  She 
was  bearing  toward  the  President  under 
a  heavy  press  of  sail.  Thinking  she  might 
be  the  offender,  the  President  stood  for  the 
stranger,  and  at  two  o'clock  displayed  her  broad  pennant1  and  ensign.  The  stran 
ger  made  several  signals.  These  were  unanswered,  and  she  bore  away  southward.2 

1  A  pennant  is  a  streamer  made  of  a  long,  narrow  piece  of  bunting,  worn  at  the  mast-heads  of  vessels  of  war.    A 
broad  pennant  is  a  square  piece  of  the  same  material,  placed  at  the  mast-head  of  the  commodore's  flag-ship.    It  is  some 
times  spelled  pendant  and  pennon.    The  latter  is  not,  strictly,  a  streamer.    It  is  a  shorter  flag,  split  at  the  end,  and  used 
on  merchant  vessels.    In  the  Middle  Ages  it  was  carried  by  knights  at  the  heads  of  their  lances.    It  is  sometimes  used 
poetically  for  a  streamer  or  banner. 

2  "Made  the  signal  275,  and  finding  it  not  answered,  concluded  she  was  an  American  frigate,"  wrote  the  commander 
of  that  vessel  to  his  superior  on  the  21st  of  May.    Each  nation  has  a  system  of  naval  signals  of  its  own,  unknown  to  all 
others,  and  changed  frequently,  and  for  that  reason  Commodore  Rodgers  could  not  answer.    These  signals  comprise  a 
system  of  telegraphic  signs,  by  which  ships  communicate  with  each  other  at  a  distance  and  convey  information,  or  make 
known  their  wants.    This  is  done  by  means  of  a  certain  number  of  flags  and  pennants  of  different  colors,  peculiarly  ar 
ranged,  which  indicate  the  different  numerals  from  1  to  0.    Particular  flags  or  pennants  are  also  used  for  specific  pur 
poses  ;  for  example,  one  pennant  is  called  the  interrogative,  and,  when  hoisted,  signifies  that  a  question  is  asked ;  while 
another  flag  signifies  affirmative,  negative,  etc.    To  correspond  with  the  flags,  signal-books  are  formed,  with  sentences 
or -words  which  these  flags  represent.    These  books  contain  a  list  of  the  most  common  words  in  the  language,  with  a 
table  of  such  geographical  names  as  are  likely  to  be  needed  at  sea,  and  also  a  list  of  the  ships  belonging  to  the  navy  of 
the  country.* — New  American  Cyclopaedia,  article  SIGNALS. 

To  give  the  reader  a  practical  idea  of  the  working  of  naval  signals,  I  introduce  graphic  and  explanatory  descriptions 
from  Rodgers  and  Black's  Semaphoric  Signal-book,  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  J.  Y.  Mason,  in  1S4T.  These 
signals  are  composed  of  nine  flags  and  five  short  pennants, 
capable  of  making  100,000  signals.  These  flags  and  pen 
nants  are  seen  in  the  engraving,  No.  1.  There  are  three 
colors,  namely,  red,  white,  and  blue.  The  red  and  blue  are 
represented  by  shading,  the  lines  of  the  former  being  per 
pendicular,  and  of  the  latter  horizontal.  Each  of  the  flags 
has  the  same  signification  as  the  number  above  it. 

The  pennants  are  used  for  duplicating  or  repeating. 
They  are  intended  as  substitutes  for  the  numbers  of  such 
flags  as  are  already  in  use ;  for  example,  in  the  signal  num 
ber  2325  the  figure  2  occurs  twice.  Having  but  one  flag  to 
represent  that  figure,  another  is  substituted  to  answer  its 
purpose,  and  this  is  done  by  using  a  pennant  termed  du 
plicate.  The  four  pennants  in  the  lower  section  of  engrav 
ing  No.  1  represent  1st,  2d,  3d,  and  4th  duplicates  in  the 
order  of  common  enumeration.  The  first  duplicate  always 
repeats  the  number  of  the  upper  or  first  flag  (the  counting 
is  always  downward)  of  the  signal  with  which  it  is  hoist- 


0 


BIG.NALb. — >iO.  1. 


SIGNAL-HOOK. 


*  These  signal-books,  when  prepared  for  actual  service  at  sea,  are  cov 
ered  with  canvas,  containing  a  plate  of  lead  on  each  side  sufficient  to  sink 
them.  This  is  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  them,  by  throwing  them 
into  the  sea  when  a  vessel  is  compelled  to  strike  her  colors,  to  prevent 
their  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  annexed  picture  of  a 
signal-book  so  covered  and  leaded  is  from  a  drawing  of  one  before  me 
which  was  used  by  Commodore  Barney.  It  is  about  nine  inches  in  length. 
The  lead  is  stitched  into  the  canvas  cover.  It  was  found  among  Barney's 
papers,  which  that  indefatigable  antiquary  of  Philadelphia,  John  A.  M'Al- 
lister,  secured  from  destruction,  and  deposited  for  safe  keeping  with  the 
collections  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society.  Those  papers  were 
kindly  placed  at  my  disposal  by  Mr.  M'Allister,  and  from  them  I  gleaned 
much  valuable  material  used  in  the  preparation  of  a  portion  of  this  work. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


183 


A  Chase  by  the  President. 


Signaling. 


A  Change  in  Signals. 


SIGNALS. — >'O.  2. 


Anxious  to  speak  with  her,  Rodgers  gave  chase.  The  President  gained  upon  her, 
and  at  three  in  the  afternoon  was  so  near  that  her  hull  was  seen  upon  the  horizon ; 

ed;  the  2d  duplicate  repeats  the  second  flag,  and  so  on.  The  first  duplicate,  hoisted  singly,  is  answering  pennant ;  the 
2d,  hoisted  singly,  is  No;  the  3d,  hoisted  singly,  is  Yes;  and  the  4th,  hoisted  singly,  is  numeral  signal.  0,  or  cipher  pen 
nant,  hoisted  singly,  is  alphabetical  signal. 

Engraving  No.  2  shows  four  ex 
amples  of  the  use  of  the  signals, 
in  all  of  which  the  duplicates  are 
used.  By  attention  to  the  above 
explanations,  the  operation  will 
be  readily  understood.  The  first 
section  of  the  engraving  No.  2 
represents  the  number  2295,  op 
posite  which,  in  the  signal-book, 
will  be  found  the  words,  "The 
commodore  wishes  to  see  you." 
The  second  section  represents 
the  number  2329  —  "Can  you 
spare  a  compass  ?"  In  these  two 
the  1st  duplicate  is  used,  repeat 
ing  the  number  of  the  first  or  up 
per  flag.  In  the  third  section  is 
represented  number  C404— "  Prepare  for  action."  In  the  fourth  section,  number  7226—"  Strange  sail  on  the  starboard." 

In  these  two  the  second  duplicate  repeats  the  number  of  the  second 
flag  hoisted.  The  recipient  of  the  information  conveyed  by  the  sig 
nals  writes  down  the  numbers  on  a  slate,  and  then  readily  finds  the 
meaning  by  referring  to  the  corresponding  number  in  the  signal-book. 
In  a  calm  the  signals  are  displayed  on  a  more  horizontal  line,  as 
seen  in  engraving  No.  3,  which  represents  number  130T — "Is  be 
calmed,  and  requires  a  steam-boat  to  tow." 

The  same  flags  and  pennants  are  also  used  for  alphabetical  signals, 
to  spell  a  word  or  name.  The  0,  or  cipher  signal,  is  hoisted  singly,  as 
the  preparatory  signal,  after  which  the  0  or  cipher  signal  is  placed 
above  or  below  the  flags  where  required,  as  seen  in  engraving  No.  4, 
and  indicated  in  the  alphabet  below. 

During  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1811  and  1812,  when  war  with  En 
gland  seemed  to  be  inevitable,  the  attention  of  Commodore  Eodgers 
was  much  occupied  with  the  subject  of  laud  telegraphs  for  army  pur 
poses,  and  naval  signals.  He  invented  a  telegraph  which  was  adopt 
ed.  On  the  31st  of  April,  1812,  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
from  the  President,  then  ly 
ing  in  Hampton  Roads,  rec 
ommending  a  change  in 
the  naval  signals,  several 
years  having  elapsed  since 
the  system  of  day  signals 
then  in  use  had  been  intro 
duced.  He  thought  it  had 
become  known  to  the  Brit 
ish 'navy.  In  that  letter, 
preserved  in  the  Depart 
ment  at  Washington,  he 
sent  a  drawing  made  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  proposed 
change.  His  suggestions 
were  adopted,  and  the  sig 
nals  delineated  in  the  en 
graving  No.  5,  on  the  next 
page,  copied  from  Rodgers's  manuscripts, 
were  those  used  during  the  War  of  1812. 

A  frequent  change  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  signal  flags  is  necessary,  for  obvious 
reasons.  The  code  of  signals  used  in  the 
United  States  Navy  just  previous  to  the 
late  civil  war  was  prepared  by  a  board  of 
officers  consisting  of  Commodores  M'Cau- 
ley  and  Lavalette,  and  Commanders  Mar- 
chand  and  Steedmau.  It  was  adopted  by 
the  Navy  Department  in  1857.  In  1859  an 
other  board  of  officers  tested  and  approved 
a  system  of  night  signals  invented  by  B.  F. 
Coston,  of  the  United  States  Navy.  In  Octo 
ber,  1861,  they  were  adopted  in  the  United 
States  army.  A  new  system  of  signals  for 
both  the  army  and  navy  was  arranged  by  Major  (afterward  Colonel)  Albert  J.  Myer,  which  was  used  throughout  the 
war.  Major  Myer  was  the  chief  signal  officer  during  all  that  time,  and  is  now  (1867)  at  the  head  of  the  signal  depart 
ment  of  the  army. 


SIGNALS. — NO.  4. 


1 
A 

2 

E 

3 

c 

4 
D 

5 

E 

e 
F 

7 

G 

,8 
H 

9 
I 

10 

J 

20 

K 

30 
Ii 

4.0 

M 

50 

M 

60 

O 

70 
P 

80 

90 

R 

01 

S 

02 

T 

03 

17 

04 

V 

05 

W 

06 

X 

07 

Y 

08 

Z 

09 
finish 

184 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Pursuer  and  the  Pursued  iu  Conflict. 


The  President  and  the  Little  Belt  the  Combatants. 


BIGS  ALB. — NO.  5. 


but  the  breeze  slackened,  and  night  fell  upon  the  waters 
before  the  two  vessels  were  near  enough  to  each  other 
to  discern  their  respective  characters. 

At  twenty  minutes  past  eight  in  the  evening  the  Pres 
ident  brought-to  on  the  weather-bow,  or  a  little  forward 
of  the  beam  of  the  stranger,  and,  when  within  about  a 
hundred  yards  of  her,  Rodgers  hailed,  and  asked  "  What 
ship  is  that  ?"  No  answer  was  given,  but  the  question 
was  repeated  from  the  stranger,  word  for  word.  After  a 
pause  of  fifteen  or  twenty  seconds  Rodgers  reiterated  his 
inquiry,  and,  before  he  could  take  his  trumpet  from  his 
mouth,  was  answered  by  a  shot  that  cut  off  one  of  the 
main-top-backstays  of  his  vessel,  and  lodged  in  her  main 
mast.  He  was  about  to  order  a  shot  in  return,  when  a 
o-un  from  the  second  division  of  his  ship  was  fired. r  At 
almost  the  same  instant  the  antagonist  of  the  President 
fired  three  guns  in  quick  succession,  and  then  the  rest  of 
her  broadside,  with  musketry.  This  provocation  caused 
the  President  to  respond  by  a  broadside.  "  Equally  determined,"  said  Rodgers, "  not  to 
be  the  aggressor,  or  suffer  the  flag  of  my  country  to  be  insulted  with  impunity,!  gave 
a  general  order  to  fire."2  In  the  course  of  five  or  six  minutes  his  antagonist  was  si 
lenced,  and  the  guns  of  the  President  ceased  firing,  the  commander  having  discovered 
that  his  assumed  enemy  was  a  feeble  one  in  size  and  armament.  But,  to  the  surprise 
of  the  Americans,  the  stranger  opened  her  fire  anew  in  less  than  five  minutes.  This 
was  again  silenced  by  the  guns  of  the  President,  when  Rodgers  again  demanded 
"What  ship  is  that?"  The  wind  was  blowing  freshly  at  the  time,  and  he  was  able 
to  hear  only  the  words,  "  His  majesty's  ship — "  but  the  name  he  could  not  understand. 
He  immediately  gave  the  name  of  his  own  vessel,  displayed  many  lights  to  show  his 
whereabouts  in  case  the  disabled  ship  should  need  assistance,  and  bore  away. 

At  dawn  the  President  discovered  her  antagonist  several  miles  to  the  leeward,  and 
immediately  bore  down  upon  her  to  offer  assistance.  Lieutenant  Creighton  was  sent 
in  a  boat  to  learn  the  names  of  the  vessel  and  her  commander,  to  ascertain  the  extent 
of  damage,  offer  assistance,  and  to  express  the  regret  of  the  commodore  that  necessity 
on  his  part  had  led  to  such  results.  Lieutenant  Creighton  brought  back  the  informa 
tion  that  the  ship  was  the  British  sloop-of-war  Little,  Belt,  18,  Captain  A.  B.  Bingham, 
who  had  been  sent  to  the  waters  off  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  search  of  the  Guer- 
riere,  and,  not  finding  her,  was  cruising  northward  for  the  same  purpose,  according  to 
his  instructions.3  Captain  Bingham  politely  refused  aid,  because  he  did  not  need  it, 
and  sailed  away  to  Halifax,  where  he  reported  to  "Herbert  Sawyer, Esq., Rear-admi 
ral  of  the  Red,"  the  commander-in-chief  on  the  American  station.4  The  President  pro- 
•May,  ceeded  on  her  voyage  toward  New  York,  and  "off  Sandy  Hook,"  on  the  23d,a 
181t-  Commodore  Rodgers  wrote  the  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  from 
which  the  foregoing  facts  have  been  drawn. 
The  reports  of  the  occurrence  by  Rodgers  and  Bingham  were  utterly  contradictory 

1  Two  English  seamen,  who  professed  to  have  been  deserters  from  the  President,  testified  at  Halifax  that  this  gun  was 
discharged  by  accident.— London  Times,  December  7, 1811. 

2  Rodgers's  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Xavy,  May  23, 1811. 

3  These  instructions  were  dated  at  "Bermuda,  this  inth  day  of  April,  1811,"  signed  by  H.  N.  Somerville,  by  command 
of  Admiral  Sawyer,  and  addressed  to  "  Arthur  Batt  Bingham,  Esq.,  commander  of  his  majesty's  sloop  Little  Belt."    In 
the  instructions  he  was  enjoined  to  be  "particularly  careful  not  to  give  any  just  cause  of  offence  to  the  government  or 
subjects  of  the  United  States  of  America  ;  and  to  give  very  particular  orders  to  this  effect  to  the  officers  you  may  have 
occasion  to  send  on  board  ships  under  the  American  flap." 

*  Bingham  reported  his  vessel  much  damaged  in  her  masts,  sails,  rigging,  and  hull ;  many  shot  through  between 
wind  and  water,  and  many  shot  imbedded  in  her  side  and  all  her  upper  works,  with  the  starboard  pump  shot  away. 
He  told  Creighton  that  he  had  all  necessary  materials  on  board  for  making  sufficient  repairs  to  enable  him  to  reach 
Halifax. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


185 


Contradictory  Statements  of  Rodgers  and  Bingham. 


The  Testimony. 


Indignation  of  the  American  People. 


1811. 


in  respect  to  the  most  essential  fact,  namely,  as  to  the  aggressor.  Rodgers  stated 
positively  that  he  hailed  twice,  and  his  words  were  repeated  by  the  stranger;  that 
she  first  fired  one  shot,  which  struck  his  vessel,  then  three  shots,  and  immediately 

afterward  the  remainder  of  her  broad 
side,  before  he  opened  his  guns  upon 
her,  except  the  single  one  which  one  of 
the  deserters  declared  was  discharged 
by  accident.  This  account  was  fully 
corroborated,  before  a  court  of  inquiry, 
by  every  officer  and  some  of  the  sub 
ordinates  who  were  on  board  the  Pres 
ident,  under  oath.  On  the  contrary, 
Captain  Bingham  reported  that  he 
hailed  fir^,  and  that  his  words  were 
twice  repeated  from  the  President, 
when  that  vessel  fired  a  broadside, 
which  the  Little  Belt  immediately  re 
turned.  This  statement  was  fully  cor 
roborated  before  a  court  of  inquiry, 
held  at  Halifax  on  the  29th  of 
May,a  by  the  officers  of  the  Lit 
tle  Belt,  and  two  deserters  from  the 
President,  under  oath.  Bingham  and 
his  supporting  deponents  declared 
that  the  action  lasted  from  forty- 
five  minutes  to  one  hour ;  while 
Rodgers  declared  that  it  lasted  al 
together,  including  the  intermis 
sions,  not  more  than  fifteen  min 
utes.1  Bingham  also  intimated  in  his  dispatch  that  he  had  gained  the  advantage  in 
the  contest.2 

When  intelligence  of  this  affair  wefit  over  the  land  it  produced  intense  excitement. 
Desires  for  and  dread  of  war  with  England  were  stimulated  to  vehement  action,  and 
conflicting  views  and  expressions,  intensified  by  party  hate,  awoke  spirited  conten 
tions  and  discussions  in  every  community.  The  contradictions  of  the  two  command 
ers  were  in  due  time  made  known,  and  added  fuel  to  the  fires  of  party  strife.  Each 
government  naturally  accepted  the  report  of  its  own  servant  as  the  true  one.  Not 
so  with  all  the  people  of  the  United  States.  The  opposition  politicians  and  news 
papers,  with  a  partisanship  more  powerful  for  a  while  than  patriotism,  took  sides  with 
the  British ;  and,  eager  to  convict  the  administration  of  belligerent  intentions,  while 
at  the  same  time  they  inconsistently  assailed  it  because  of  its  alleged  imbecility  and 
want  of  patriotism  in  not  resisting  and  resenting  the  outrages  and  insults  of  Great 


/z$f 


G^f 


1  John  Rodgers  was  born  at  Havre  de  Grace,  in  Maryland,  in  1771.    He  entered  the  navy  as  lieutenant,  on  the  9th  of 
March,  1798,  and  was  the  executive  officer  of  the  Constellation,  under  Commodore  Truxtun,  when  the  In&urgente  was 
taken.    See  page  103.    He  was  appointed  captain  in  March,  1799,  and  he  was  in  active  service  during  the  naval  opera 
tions  in  the  Mediterranean  until  1805.   He  was  the  oldest  officer  in  rank  in  the  navy  at  the  time  of  the  occurrence  narrated    • 
in  the  text.    He  was  the  first  to  start  on  a  cruise  with  a  squadron  after  the  declaration  of  war  in  1S12.    His  efficient  serv 
ices  during  that  war  will  be  found  detailed  in  future  pages.    From  April,  1815,  until  December,  1824,  he  served  as  presi 
dent  of  the  board  of  Navy  Commissioners,  and  from  1824  until  1827  he  was  in  command  of  a  squadron  in  the  Mediterra 
nean.    On  his  return  in  1S27  he  resumed  his  place  at  the  board,  and  held  it  for  ten  years,  when  he  relinquished  it  on 
account  of  failing  health.    He  died  at  Philadelphia  in  August,  1838.    The  portrait  above  given  was  copied  from  an  orig 
inal  painting  in  the  Navy  Department  at  Washington. 

2  "The  action  then  became  general,  and  continued  so  for  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  when  he  [the  American] 
ceased  firing,  and  appeared  to  be  on  fire  about  the  main  hatchway.    He  then  filled.    I  was  obliged  to  desist  from  firing, 
as  the  ship  falling  off,  no  gun  would  bear,  and  had  no  after-sail  to  keep  her  to."— Dispatch  to  Admiral  Sawyer,  May 
21, 1811. 


186  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

The  demoralizing  Effects  of  Party  Politics.  Commodore  Rodgers  assailed.  Rodgers  vindicated. 

Britain,  or  making  efficient  preparations  for  such  resistance  and  resentment,  circulated 
a  report,  with  the  fiercest  denunciations,  that  Rodgers  had  sailed  with  orders  from 
Washington  to  rescue  by  force  the  young  man  lately  impressed  from  a  Portland 
brig.1  They  exultingly  drew  a  comparison  between  the  late  and  present  Democratic 
administration,  the  former  denying  the  right  of  the  Leopard  to  take  a  seaman  by 
force  from  the  Chesapeake,  the  latter  ordering  Rodgers  to  do  what  Captain  Hum 
phreys  had  been  condemned  by  the  Americans  and  punished  by  his  own  government 
for  doing.  Rodgers  himself,  who  had  behaved  most  prudently,  gallantly,  and  mag 
nanimously  in  the  matter,  received  his  full  share  of  personal  abuse  from  the  opponents 
of  the  administration ;  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  when  the  question  was  reduced 
to  one  of  simple  veracity  on  the  part  of  the  two  commanders,  a  large  number  of  his 
countrymen,  even  with  the  overwhelming  testimony  of  all  the  officers  and  many  of 
the  subordinates  of  the  President  against  that  of  five  officers  and  two  deserters  pro 
duced  by  Captain  Binghamj|were  so  misled  by  party  zeal  as  to  express  their  belief 
that  the  British  commander  uttered  nothing  but  truth,  and  that  Rodgers  and  his  peo 
ple  all  committed  perjury !  But  these  ungenerous  and  unpatriotic  assaults  soon  lost 
their  chief  sustenance  when  the  Secretary  of  State  officially  declared  that  no  orders 
had  been  given  for  a  forcible  rescue  of  the  impressed  American ;  and  the  satisfaction 
of  Mr.  Foster,  the  British  minister  at  Washington  (who  had  requested  an  inquiry  into 
the  conduct  of  Rodgers),  that  the  statements  of  that  commander  were  substantially 
true,  was  manifested  by  the  fact  that  the  subject  was  dropped  in  diplomatic  circles, 
was  never  revived  there,  and  the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake  was  settled  in  accordance 
with  the  demands  of  the  government  of  the  United  States. 

But  while  the  two  governments  tacitly  agreed  to  bury  the  matter  in  official  obliv 
ion,  the  people  of  the  respective  countries,  highly  excited  by  the  event,  would  not  let  it 
drop.  It  increased  the  feeling  of  mutual  animosity  which  had  been  growing  rapidly 
of  late,  and  widened  the  gulf  of  separation,  which  every  day  became  more  and  more 
difficult  of  passage  by  kindly  international  sentiments ;  and  when  the  Twelfth  Con- 
»  November  4,  gress  assembled,  a  month  earlier  than  usual,a  the  administration  party  in 
and  out  of  that  body  was  found  to  be  decidedly  a  war  party,  while  the 
Federalists,  growing  weaker  in  numbers  every  day,  were  as  decidedly  opposed  to 
war.  • 

1  The  charge  was  apparently  justified  by  the  tenor  of  a  letter,  already  referred  to,  purporting  to  have  been  written  by 
an  officer  on  board  the  President  on  the  14th  of  May,  but  whose  name  was  never  given.  He  wrote :  "  By  the  officers  who 
came  from  Washington  we  learn  that  we  are  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  British  frigate  who  had  impressed  a  passenger  from 
a  coaster.  Yesterday,  while  beating  down  the  bay,  we  spoke  a  brig  coming  up,  who  informed  us  that  she  saw  the  British 
frigate  the  day  before  oft'  the  very  place  where  we  now  are ;  but  she  is  not  now  in  sight.  We  have  made  the  most  complete 
preparations  for  battle.  Every  one  wishes  it.  She  is  exactly  our  force,  but  we  have  the  Argus  with  us,  which  none  of 
us  are  pleased  with,  as  we  wish  a  fair  trial  of  courage  and  skill.  Should  we  see  her,  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  of  an  en 
gagement.  The  commodore  will  demand  the  person  impressed  ;  the  demand  will  doubtless  be  refused,  and  the  battle 
will  instantly  commence.  .  .  .  The  commodore  has  called  in  the  boatswain,  gunner,  and  carpenter,  informed  them  of 
all  circumstauces,  and  asked  if  they  were  ready  for  action.  Ready  was  the  reply  of  each." — New  York  Herald,  June  3, 1811. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  187 


The  Indiana  Territory.  Harrison  its  Governor.  His  wise  Administration. 


CHAPTER  X. 

"  On  Wabash,  when  the  sun  withdrew, 
And  chill  November's  tempest  blew, 
Dark  rolled  thy  waves,  Tippecanoe, 
Amidst  that  lonely  solitude. 

But  Wabash  saw  another  sight ; 
A  martial  host,  in  armor  bright, 
Encamped  upon  the  shore  that  night, 
And  lighted  up  her  scenery." 

SONG— T  ippEOAN  OE 

"Bold  Boyd  led  on  his  steady  band, 

With  bristling  bayonets  burnished  bright. 
What  could  their  dauntless  charge  withstand  ? 
What  stay  the  warriors'  matchless  might  ? 
Rushing  amain,  they  cleared  the  field  ; 
The  savage  foe  constrained  to  yield 
To  Harrison,  who,  near  and  far, 
Gave  form  and  spirit  to  the  war." 

BATTLE  OF  TIPPECANOE. 

»HILE  the  nation  was  agitated  by  political  contentions,  and  the 
low  mutteringa  of  the  thunder  of  an  oncoming  tempest  of  war 
were  heard,  heavy,  dark,  and  ominous  clouds  of  trouble  were 
seen  gathering  in  the  northwestern  horizon,  where  the  Indians 
were  still  numerous,  and  discontents  had  made  them  restless. 

In  the  year  1800,  as  we  have  seen  (page  130  ),  the  Indiana 
Territory  (then  including  the  present  States  of  Indiana,  Illinois, 
-  and  Wisconsin)  was  established,  and  the  late  President  Harri 
son,  then  an  energetic  young  man  of  less  than  thirty  years  of  age,  was  appointed  gov 
ernor.  He  had  resigned  his  commission  of  captain  in  the  United  States  army,  and 
for  a  few  years  had  been  employed  in  civil  life.  In  the  year  1 805  a  Territorial  Leg 
islature  was  organized,  much  to  the  discontent  of  the  French  settlers  on  the  Wabash, 
and  Vincennes,  an  old  town  already  spoken  of  (page  40),  was  made  the  capital. 
Harrison  was  popular  among  all  classes,  and  particularly  with  the  Indians ;  and  he 
managed  the  public  affairs  of  the  Territory  with  prudence  and  energy  in  the  midst 
of  many  difficulties  arising  out  of  land  speculations,  land  titles,  treaties  with  the  In 
dians,  and  the  machinations  of  traders  and  the  English  in  Canada.  He  had  much  to 
contend  against  in  the  demoralization  of  the  Indians  by  immediate  contact  with  the 
white  people,  especially  effected  by  whisky  and*  other  spirituous  liquors.1 

By  a  succession  of  treaties,  Governor  Harrison,  at  the  close  of  1805,  had  extin 
guished  Indian  titles  to  forty-six  thousand  acres  of  land  within  the  domain  of  Indi 
ana.  Every  thing  had  been  done  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  exact  justice, 
and,  had  the  governor's  instructions  been  fully  carried  out,  the  Indians  would  never 
have  had  cause  to  complain.  But  settlers  and  speculators  came,  bringing  with  them, 
in  many  cases,  the  peculiar  vices  of  civilized  society,  which,  when  copied  by  the  In 
dians,  were  intensified  fourfold.  Regarding  the  natives  as  little  better  than  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  forest,  they  defrauded  them,  encroached  upon  their  reserved  domain, 
and  treated  them  with  contempt  and  inhumanity.  "  You  call  us  your  children,"  said 
an  old  chief  to  Harrison  one  day,  in  bitterness  of  spirit — "  you  call  us  your  children 

1  "  I  do  not  believe,"  wrote  General  Harrison  in  1805,  "that  there  are  more  than  six  hundred  warriors  on  the  Wabash, 
and  yet  the  quantity  of  whisky  brought  here  annually  for  their  consumption  is  said  to  amount  to  six  thousand  gallons." 


188 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Encroachments  on  the  Indians. 


British  Emissaries  again  at  Work. 


Tecumtha  and  his  Family. 


—why  do  you  not  make  us  happy,  as  our  fathers,  the  French,  did  ?  They  never  took 
from  us  our  lands ;  indeed,  they  were  common  between  us.  They  planted  where  they 
pleased,  and  they  cut  wood  where  they  pleased,  and  so  did  we.  But  nowT,  if  a  poor 
Indian  attempts  to  take  a  little  bark  from  a  tree  to  cover  him  from  rain,  up  comes  a 
white  man  and  threatens  to  shoot  him,  claiming  the  tree  as  his  own."1  And  so,  with 
ample  reason,  they  murmured  on.  Emissaries  sent  out  by  the  British  authorities  in 
Canada  fanned  the  flame  of  discontent ;  and  Elliott,  the  old  enemy  of  the  Americans, 
still  living  near  Maiden,  observing  symptoms  of  impending  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  was  again  wielding  a  potent  influence  over  the  chiefs  of  the 
tribes  in  the  Northwest.  Their  resources,  as  well  as  privileges,  were  curtailed.  Na 
poleon's  Continental  System  touched  even  the  savage  of  the  wilderness.  It  clogged 
and  almost  closed  the  chief  markets  for  his  furs,  and  the  prices  were  so  low  that  In 
dian  hunters  found  it  difficult  to  purchase  their  usual  necessaries  from  the  traders. 
At  the  beginning  of  1811  the  Indians  were  ripe  for  any  enterprise  that  promised  them 
relief  and  independence. 

A  powerful  warrior  had  lately  become  conspicuous,  \vho,  like  Metacomet,  the  Wam- 
panoag,  and  Pontiac,  the  Ottawa,  essayed  to  be  the  savior  of  his  people  from  the 
crushing  footsteps  of  the  advancing  white  man.  He  was  one  of  three  sons  born  of  a 
Creek  mother  (Methoataske)  at  the  same  time,  in  a  cabin  built  of  sapling  logs  un 
hewn,  and  chinked  with  sticks  and  mud,  near  the  banks  of  the  Mad  River,  a  few 
miles  from  Springfield,  Ohio.  They  were  named  respectively  Tecumtha,  Elkswatawa, 

and  Kamskaka.  •  Te 
cumtha2  was  the  war 
rior  alluded  to.  His 
name  signifies,  in  the 
Shawrnoese  dialect, "  a 
flying  tiger,"  or  "a 
wild-cat  springing  on 
its  prey."  He  was  a 
well-built  man,  about 
five  feet  ten  inches 
in  height.3  Elkswata 
wa,  "  the  loud  voice," 
also  became  famous, 
or,  more  properly  speaking,  notorious ;  but  Kamskaka  lived  a  quiet,  retired  life,  and 
died  in  ignoble  obscurity. 

As  early  as  1 805,  Elkswatawa,  pretending  to  have  had  a  vision,  assumed  to  be  a 
prophet,  and  took  the  name  of  Pemsquatawah,  or  "  open  door."  Up  to  that  period 
he  had  been  remarkable  for  nothing  but  stupidity  and  intoxication.  He  was  a 
cunning,  unprincipled  man,  whose  countenance  was  disfigured  by  the  loss  of  an 

1  Governor  Harrison  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

2  The  late  Colonel  John  Johnston,  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  who  was  Indian  Agent  among  the  Shawnoese  and  neighboring 
tribes  for  many  years,  and  knew  Tecumtha  well,  informed  me  that  the  proper  way  to  spell  that  warrior's  name,  accord 
ing  to  the  native  pronunciation,  is  as  I  have  given  it.    On  such  authority  I  have  adopted  the  orthography  in  the  text. 
From  Colonel  Johnston,  whose  name  will  be  frequently  mentioned  in  the  course  of  our  narrative,  I  obtained  much  val 
uable  information  concerning  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest  from  the  year  1SOO  to  1812,  during  a  visit  with  him  in  the 
autumn  of  1SGO. 

The  birthplace  of  Tecumtha  and  his  brothers  was  at  the  Piqua  village,  about  five  miles  west  from  Springfield.*  The 
engraving,  copied  by  permission  from  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  shows  the  place  of  his  birth  as  it  appeared 
a  few  years  ago.  It  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  Mad  River.  A  small  hamlet,  called  West  Boston,  now  occupies  the  site 
of  the  Piqua  village.  The  Indian  fort  at  that  place,  consisting  of  a  rude  log  hut  surrounded  by  pickets,  stood  upon  the 
hill  seen  on  the  left  of  the  picture.  3  Colonel  Johnston. 

*  This  was  ancient  Piqua,  the  seat  of  the  Piqua  clan  of  the  Shawnoese,  a  name  which  signifies  "  a  man  formed  out  of 
the  ashes,"  and  significant  of  their  alleged  origin.  See  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  page  302.  Modern  Piqua, 
oftentimes  confounded  with  that  of  the  ancient  one  in  speaking  of  Tecumtha,  is  a  flourishing  village  on  the  Great  Mia 
mi  River,  Miami  County.  Upper  Piqua,  three  miles  above  the  village,  is  a  place  of  considerable  historical  interest.  The 
reader  is  referred  to  Mr.  Howe's  valuable  work  for  interesting  details  concerning  the  events  which  made  it  famous. 


JJIHTJU'LAOE   OF   TEOU.MTUA  AM)   HIS    UHOTIIERS. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


189 


The  Prophet's  Vision. 


Tecumtha's  Craft. 


His  Inspiration. 


The  superstitious  Indians  excited. 


eye.1  While  lighting 
his  pipe  one  day,  he 
fell  to  the  earth,  as  if 
dead.  Preparations 
were  made  for  his  bu 
rial.  When  his  friends 
were  about  to  remove 
him,  he  opened  his  eyes 
and  said, "  Be  not  fear 
ful.  I  have  been  in  the 
Land  of  the  Blessed. 
Call  the  nation  togeth 
er,  that  I  may  tell  them 
what  I  have  seen  and 
heard."  His  people 
were  speedily  assem 
bled,  and  again  he 
spoke,  saying,  "  Two 
beautiful  young  men 
were  sent  to  me  by  the 
Great  Spirit,  who  said, 


111E   riSOI'HET. 


is  angry  with  you  all. 
He  will  destroy  you 
unless  you  refrain  from 
drunkenness,  lying, 
stealing,  and  witch 
craft,  and  turn  your 
selves  to  him.  Unless 
the  red  men  shall  do 
this,  they  shall  never 
see  the  beautiful  place 
you  are  now  to  be 
hold."  He  was  then 
taken  to  a  gate  which 
opened  into  the  spirit- 
land,  but  he  was  not 
permitted  to  enter.2 

Such  was  the  proph 
et's  story.  He  imme 
diately  entered  upon 
his  mission  as  a  pro 
fessed  preacher  of 
righteousness.  He  in- 


The  Master  of  Life 
veighed  against  drunkenness  and  witchcraft,  and  warned  his  people  to  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  pale-faces,  their  religion,  their  customs,  their  arms,  or  their  arts,  for 
every  imitation  of  the  intruders  was  offensive  to  the  great  Master  of  Life.  Tecum- 
tha,  possessed  of  a  master  mind  and  a  statesman's  sagacity,  was  the  moving  spirit  in 
all  this  imposture.  It  was  a  part  of  his  grand  scheme  for  obtaining  influence  over 
the  Northwestern  tribes  for  political  purposes,  and  he  went  from  tribe  to  tribe  pub 
lishing  the  wonders  of  his  brother's  divine  mission. 

The  Prophet's  harangues  excited  the  latent  superstition  of  the  Indians  to  the  high 
est  degree,  and  for  a  while  his  sway  over  the  minds  of  the  savages  in  the  Northwest 
was  almost  omnipotent.  The  chiefs  and  leading  men  of  his  own  tribe  denounced 
him,  but  the  people  sustained  him.  Success  made  him  bold,  and  he  used  his  newly- 
acquired  power  for  the  gratification  of  private  and  public  resentments.  He  was  ac 
cuser  and  judge,  and  he  caused  the  execution  of  several  hostile  Delaware  chiefs  on  a 
charge  of  witchcraft.  A  terrorism  began  to  prevail  all  over  the  region  where  his  di 
vine  mission  was  recognized.  The  credulous — men,  women,  and  children — came  long 
distances  to  see  the  oracle  of  the  Great  Spirit,  who,  they  believed,  wrought  miracles.3 
Their  numbers  became  legion,  and  the  white  settlers  were  alarmed. 

Tecumtha's  deep  scheme  worked  admirably.    In  the  great  congregation  were  lead- 

1  The  portrait  of  the  Prophet  is  from  a  pencil  sketch  made  by  Pierre  Le  Dru,  a  young  French  trader,  at  Vincennes, 
in  1S08.    He  made  a  sketch  of  Tecumtha  at  about  the  same  time,  both  of  which  I  found  in  possession  of  his  son  at 
Quebec  in  1S4S,  and  by  whom  I  was  kindly  permitted  to  copy  them.    That  of  Tecumtha  will  be  found  in  Chapter  XIV. 
Owing  partly  to  his  excessive  dissipation,  the  Prophet  appeared  much  the  elder  of  Tecumtha. 

2  Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  page  C24. 

3  The  Prophet  was  without  honor  in  his  own  country,  and  he  left  Piqua  and  settled  in  a  village  of  his  own  at  Green 
ville,  in  Ohio,  where  Wayne  held  his  great  treaty  in  17!>5,  on  lands  already  ceded  to  the  United  States.    At  the  instiga 
tion  of  Tecnmtha,  no  doubt,  he  sent  emissaries  to  the  tribes  on  the  Lakes  and  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  to  declare  his 
prophecy  that  the  earth  was  about  to  be  destroyed,  except  in  the  immediate  residence  of  the  Prophet  at  Greenville. 
Alarm  caused  many  to  flock  thither  as  a  place  of  refuge,  and  this  gave  Tecumtha  ajj  opportunity  to  divulge  with  ease 
to  a  large  number,  his  plans  for  a  confederacy.    The  Prophet  made  many  predictions  concerning  the  future  glory  of  the 
Indians.    His  disciples  spread  the  most  absurd  tales  about  his  wonderful  power — that  he  could  make  pumpkins  spring 
out  of  the  ground  as  large  as  wigwams,  and  that  his  corn  grew  so  large  that  one  ear  would  feed  a  dozen  men.    They 
spread  a  belief  that  the  body  of  the  Prophet  was  invulnerable,  and  that  he  had  all  knowledge,  past,  present,  and  future. 
It  is  said  that  so  great  a  number  flocked  to  Greenville  to  see  him,  that  the  southern  shores  of  Lakes  Superior  and  Mich 
igan  were  quite  depopulated.    The  traders  were  obliged  to  abandon  their  business.    Of  these  deluded  fanatics  not  more 
than  one  third  ever  returned,  having  died  in  consequence  of  the  privations  of  hunger,  cold,  and  fatigue.    They  perished 
by  scores  upon  their  weary  pilgrimage.— ITS.  Life  and  Times  of  Tecumseh,  by  Henry  Onderdonk,  Jr.,  1842. 


190  PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 

Tecumtha's  Project  of  a  Confederation.  Harrison  denounces  the  Prophet.  Tecumtha's  Boldness. 

ing  men  from  all  the  surrounding  tribes,  even  from  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  he  had 
a  rare  opportunity  to  confer  with  them  together  on  the  subject  of  his  darling  project, 
a  grand  confederation  of  all  the  tribes  in  the  Northwest  to  drive  the  white  man 
across  the  Ohio,  and  reclaim  their  lands  which  they  had  lost  by  treaties.  He  declared 
to  assembled  warriors  and  sachems,  whenever  opportunity  offered,  that  the  treaties 
concerning  those  lands  northward  of  the  Ohio  were  fraudulent,  and  therefore  void ; 
and  he  always  assured  his  auditors  that  he  and  his  brother,  the  Prophet,  would  resent 
any  farther  attempts  at  settlement  in  that  direction  by  the  white  people. 

Governor  Harrison  perceived  danger  in  these  movements,  and  early  in  1808  he  ad 
dressed  a  speech  to  the  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Shawnoese  tribe,  in  which  he  de 
nounced  the  Prophet  as  an  impostor.  "  My  children,"  he  said,  "  this  business  must 
be  stopped.  I  will  no  longer  suffer  it.  You  have  called  a  number  of  men  from  the 
most  distant  tribes  to  listen  to  a  fool,  who  speaks  not  the  words  of  the  Great  Spirit, 
but  those  of  the  Evil  Spirit  and  of  the  British  agents.  My  children,  your  conduct  has 
much  alarmed  the  white  settlers  near  you.  They  desire  that  you  will  send  away 
those  people ;  and  if  they  wish  to  have  the  impostor  with  them  they  can  carry  him. 
Let  him  go  to  the  Lakes ;  he  can  hear  the  British  more  distinctly." 

This  speech  exasperated  and  alarmed  the  brothers.  The  Prophet  and  his  follow 
ers,  frowned  upon  by  the  Shawnoese  in  general,  who  listened  to  the  governor,  took 
up  their  abode  in  the  spring  of  1808  on  the  banks  of  the  Wabash,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Tippecanoe  River.  Tecumtha  was  there  too,  when  not  on  his  political  journeys 
among  the  neighboring  tribes,  but  he  was  cautious  and  silent.  The  Prophet,  more 
directly  aimed  at  in  Harrison's  speech,  hastened  to  deny  any  complicity  with  the 
British  agents,  or  having  hostile  designs.  He  visited  Vincennes  in  August  to  con 
fer  in  person  with  the  governor,  and  to  give  him  renewed  and  solemn  assurances  that 
he  and  his  followers  wished  to  live  in  harmony  with  the  white  people.  So  specious 
were  the  words  of  the  wily  savage,  that  Harrison  suspected  he  had  misjudged  the 
man,  and  he  dismissed  the  Prophet  with  friendly  assurances. 

The  governor  soon  had  reason  to  doubt  the  fidelity  of  the  oracle.  There  were 
reported  movements  at  the  Prophet's  town  on  the  Wabash,  half  religious  and  half 
warlike,  that  made  him  suspect  the  brothers  of  unfriendly  designs  toward  the  Ameri 
cans.  He  charged  them  with  having  made  secret  arrangements  with  British  agents 
for  hostile  purposes,  and  pressed  the  matter  so  closely  that,  at  a  conference  between 
the  governor  and  the  Prophet  at  Vincennes  in  the  summer  of  1809,  the  latter  acknowl 
edged  that  he  had  received  invitations  from  the  British  in  Canada  to  engage  in  a  war 
with  the  United  States,  but  declared  that  he  had  rejected  them.  He  renewed  his 
vows  of  friendship,  but  Harrison  no  longer  believed  him  to  be  sincere. 
»  September  so,  Soon  after  this  interview  Harrison  concluded  a  treaty  at  Fort  Waynea 
iso9.  with  DelaAvare,  Pottawatomie,  Miami,  Kickapoo,  Wea,  and  Eel  River  In 

dians,  by  which,  in  consideration  of  $8200  paid  down,  and  annuities  to  the  amount  of 
$2350  in  the  aggregate,  he  obtained  a  cession  of  nearly  three  millions  of  acres  of  land 
extending  up  the  Wabash  beyond  Terre  Haute,  and  including  the  middle  waters  of 
the  White  River.1  Neither  Tecumtha,  nor  his  brother,  nor  any  of  their  tribe  had  any 
claim  to  these  lands,  yet  they  denounced  those  who  sold  them,  declared  the  treaty 
void,  and  threatened  t'o  kill  every  chief  concerned  in  it.  Tecumtha  grew  bolder  and 
bolder,  for  he  was  sanguine  of  success  in  his  great  scheme  of  a  confederation,  and  the 
arrest  of  the  white  man's  progress.  He  had  already  announced  the  doctrine,  opposed 
to  state  or  tribal  rights,  that  the  domain  of  all  the  Indians  belonged  to  all  in  common, 
and  that  no  part  of  the  territory  could  be  sold  or  alienated  without  the  consent  of 
all.  This  was  the  ground  of  the  denunciations  of  the  treaty  by  Tecumtha  and  his 
brother,  and  the  justification  of  their  threats  against  the  offending  chiefs — threats  the 

1  The  Weas  and  Kickapoos  were  not  represented  at  the  council,  but  the  former,  in  October,  and  the  latter,  in  Decem 
ber,  confirmed  the  treaty  at  Fort  Wayne. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


191 


Signs  of  Indian  Hostilities. 


The  Mission  of  Joseph  Barren. 


His  hostile  Reception  by  the  Prophet. 


more  alarming,  because  the  warlike  Wyandots,  on  the  southern  shores  of  Lake  Erie, 
whom  all  the  tribes  so  feared  and  respected  that  they  called  them  uncles,  had  lately 
become  the  allies  of  these  Shawanoese  brothers. 

In  the  spring  of  1810  the  Indians  at  the  Prophet's  town  gave  unmistakable  signs 
of  hostility.  They  refused  to  receive  the  "  annuity  salt,"  and  insulted  the  boatmen 
who  took  it  to  them  by  calling  them  "American  dogs."  These  and  other  indications 
of  hostility  caused  Harrison  to  send  frequent  messengers  to  the  Prophet  and  his 
brother.  Finally,  in  July,  he  sent  a  letter  to  them  by  Joseph  Barron,  a  Frenchman, 
known  to  and  respected  by  all  the  Indian  tribes  in  that  region  as  a  faithful  and  kind- 
hearted  interpreter.  He  was  instructed  to  in 
vite  the  brothers  to  meet  the  governor  in  coun 
cil  at  Vincennes,  and  lay  their  alleged  griev 
ances  before  him.  Barron  was  received  by  the 
Prophet  in  a  most  unfriendly  spirit.  The  ora 
cle  was  surrounded  by  several  Indians,  and 
when  the  interpreter  was  formally  presented 
his  single  eye  kindled  and  gleamed  with 
fiercest  anger.  Gazing  upon  the  visitor  in 
tently  for  several  minutes  without  speaking, 
he  suddenly  exclaimed, "  For  what  purpose  do 
you  come  here  ?  Brouillette  was  here ;  he  was 
a  spy.  Dubois  was  here ;  he  was  a  spy.  Now 
you  have  come.  You,  too,  are  a  spy."  Then, 
pointing  to  the  ground,  he  said,  vehemently, 
"  There  is  your  grave,  look  on  it !"  At  that 
moment  TeCumtha  appeared,  assured  Barron 
of  his  personal  safety,  heard  the  letter  of 
Governor  Harrison,  and  promised  to  visit  Vin 
cennes  in  the  course  of  a  few  days.1 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  August  Te- 
cumtha  appeared  at  Vincennes.  He  had  been  requested  to  bring  not  more  than  thir 
ty  warriors  with  him ;  he  came  with  four  hundred  fully  armed,  and  encamped  in  a 
grove  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  The  inhabitants,  most  of  whom  were  unarmed, 
were  startled  by  this  unexpected  demonstration  of  savage  strength,  and,  partly  on 

1  Statement  of  Mr.  Barron,  quoted  by  Dillon  in  his  History  of  Indiana,  page  441.  Mr.  Barron  was  a  native  of  Detroit. 
He  was  employed  by  Harrison  as  interpreter  about  eighteen  years.  He  was  an  uneducated  man,  of  much  natural  abil 
ity,  and  very  interesting  in  conversation.  He  was  slender  in  form,  about  a  medium  height,  had  black  eyes,  sallow  com 
plexion,  a  prominent  nose,  small  mouth,  and  wore  his  hair  in  a  cue,  a  la  aborigine,  with  a  long  black  ribbon  dangling 
down  his  back.  He  was  a  facetious,  pleasant,  social,  and  entertaining  man,  full  of  anecdotes  and  ban  mots.  He  was  fond 
of  music,  and  played  the  Indian  flutes  with  skill.  Barron  was  acquainted  with  most  of  the  Indian  dialects  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  In  1837  he  accompanied  emigrating  Pottawatomies  to  the  West.  He  also  accompanied  another  party  of 
the  same  tribe  in  1S3S  to  their  lands  beyond  the  Mississippi.  He  afterward  returned  to  the  Wabash,  and,  after  a  pro 
tracted  illness,  died  on  the  31st  of  July,  1843,  at  an  advanced  age,  at  the  residence  of  his  son  on  the  Wabash,  near  its  con 
fluence  with  the  Eel  River. 

Mr.  Barron  was  at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  with  Harrison,  and  this  circumstance  greatly 
exasperated  the  Indians  against  him.  JThey  were  very  anxious  to  capture  and  torture  him. 
So  important  did  they  consider  him,  that  they  made  rude  sketches  of  his  features  on  the 
barks  of  trees,  and  sent  them  among  the  various  tribes,  that  they  might  know  and  catch 
him.  One  of  these  was  for  some  time  in  possession  of  Mr.  Compret,  of  Fort  Wayne.  It  was 
carried  to  Germany  by  a  Catholic  priest  as  a  great  curiosity.  Another,  on  a  piece  of  beech 
bark,  was  preserved  a  long  time  at  Fort  Dearborn,  and  in  1S30  was  in  possession  of  James 
Hertz,  a  private  soldier  at  Mackinaw,  from  whom  a  friend  procured  it,  and  in  the  autumn 
of  1SG1  sent  me  a  tracing  of  it.  The  sketch  is  a  fac-simile  on  a  reduced  scale. 

George  Winter,  Esq.,  an  artist  of  Lafayette,  Indiana,  painted  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Barron  in 
1837.  He  kindly  furnished  me  the  copy  from  which  the  above  engraving  was  made  ;  also 
with  the  information  concerning  the  famous  interpreter  contained  in  this  note.  Mr.  Winter 
was  the  painter  of  the  portrait  of  Frances  Slocum,  the  lost  child  of  Wyoming.— See  Lossing's 
Field-book  of  the  Revolution,  i.,  369. 

Brouillette  and  Dubois,  mentioned  above,  with  Francis  Vigo,  Pierre  La  Plante,  John  Con 
ner,  and  William  Prince,  were  influential  men,  and  were  frequently  employed  by  Harrison 
as  messengers  to  the  Indians. 


JOSEPH  UAKKON. 


192  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Tecumtha  at  Vincennes.  His  Arrogauce.  Harrison's  Speech.  Hostile  Demonstrations  by  the  Indians. 

account  of  their  fears,  and  partly  because  of  the  fame  of  Tecumtha  as  an  orator,  they 
flocked  to  the  governor's  house.  Seats  had  been  prepared  for  those  who  were  to  par 
ticipate  in  the  council  under  the  portico  of  the  governor's  residence ;  but  when  Te 
cumtha,  after  placing  the  great  body  of  his  warriors  in  camp  in  the  shade  of  a  grove 
near  by,  advanced  with  about  thirty  of  his  followers,  he  refused  to  enter  the  area  with 
the  white  people,  saying, "  Houses  were  built  for  you  to  hold  councils  in ;  Indians 
hold  theirs  in  the  open  air."  He  then  took  a  position  under  some  trees  in  front  of 
the  house,  and,  unabashed  by  the  large  concourse  of  people  before  him,  opened  the 
business  with  a  speech  marked  by  great  dignity  and  native  eloquence.  When  he  had 
concluded,  one  of  the  governor's  aids,  through  Barron  the  interpreter,  said  to  the 
chief,  pointing  to  a  chair, "  Your  father  requests  you  to  take  a  seat  by  his  side."  The 
chief  drew  his  mantle  around  him,  and,  standing  erect,  said,  with  scornful  tone,  "  My 
father !  The  sun  is  my  father,  and  the  earth  is  my  mother ;  on  her  bosom  I  Avill  re 
pose,"  and  then  seated  himself  upon  the  ground. 

Tecumtha's  speeches  at  this  council  were  bold,  arrogant,  and  sometimes  insolent. 
He  avowed  the  intention  of  himself  and  brother  to  establish,  by  a  confederacy  of  the 
tribes,  the  principle  of  common  interest  in  the  domain  as  intended  by  the  Great  Spir 
it,  and  to  not  only  prevent  any  other  sale  or  cession  of  lands,  but  to  recover  what  had 
been  lately  ceded  by  the  treaty  at  Fort  Wayne.  He  declared  his  intention  to  kill  all 
the  "  village  chiefs"  who  had  made  the  sale  if  the  lands  were  not  returned,  because 
he  was  authorized,  he  said,  by  all  the  tribes  to  do  so.  "  Return  those  lands,"  he  said, 
"  and  Tecumtha  will  be  the  friend  of  the  Americans.  He  likes  not  the  English,  who 
are  continually  setting  the  Indians  on  the  Americans."1 

Governor  Harrison,  in  his  reply,  ridiculed  the  idea  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  intend 
ed  the  Indians  to  be  one  people.  "  If  such  had  been  his  intention,"  he  said, "  he  would 
not  have  put  six  different  tongues  into  their  heads,  but  would  have  taught  them  all 
to  speak  one  language."  As  to  the  lands  in  dispute,  the  Shawnoese  had  nothing  to 
do  with  it.  The  Miamis  owned  it  when  the  Shawnoese1  Avere  living  in  Georgia,  out 
of  which  they  had  been  driven  by  the  Creeks.  The  lands  had  been  purchased  from 
the  Miamis,  who  were  the  true  owners  of  it,  and  it  was  none  of  the  Shawnoese's  busi 
ness.  When  these  asseverations  were  interpreted,  Tecumtha's  eyes  flashed  with  an 
ger.  He  cast  off  his  blanket,  and,  with  violent  gesticulations,  pronounced  the  govern 
or's  words  to  be  false.  He  accused  the  United  States  of  cheating  and  imposing  upon 
the  Indians.  His  warriors,  receiving  a  sign  from  him,  sprang  to  their  feet,  seized  their 
war-clubs,  and  began  to  brandish  their  tomahawks.  The  governor  started  from  his 
chair  and  drew  his  sword,  while  the  citizens  seized  any  missile  in  their  way.  It  was 
a  moment  of  imminent  danger.  A  military  guard  of  twelve  men,  who  were  under 
some  trees  a  short  distance  off,  were  ordered  up.  A  friendly  Indian  cocked  his  pis 
tol,  which  he  had  loaded  stealthily  while  Tecumtha  was  speaking,  and  Mr.Winans,  a 
Methodist  minister,  ran  to  the  governor's  house,  seized  a  gun,  and  placed  himself  in 
the  door  to  defend  the  family.  The  guard  were  about  to  fire,  when  Harrison,  perfect 
ly  collected,  restrained  them,  and  a  bloody  encounter  was  prevented.  When  the  in 
terpreter  told  him  the  cause  of  the  excitement,  he  pronounced  Tecumtha  a  bad  man, 
and  ordered  him  to  leave  the  neighborhood  immediately.  Tecumtha  retired  to  his 
°  Aimist  20,  camp,  the  council  was  broken  up,a  and  no  sleep  came  to  the  eyelids  of  the 
isio.  people  of  Vincennes  that  night,  as  they  expected  an  attack  from  the  savages. 

On  the  following  morning,  Tecumtha,  with  seeming  sincerity,  expressed  his  regret 
because  of  the  violence  into  which  he  had  been  betrayed.  He  found  in  Harrison  a 
man  not  to  be  awed  by  menaces  nor  swayed  by  turbulence.  With  respectful  words 
he  asked  to  have  the  council  resumed.  The  governor  consented,  and  then  placed  two 
companies  of  well-armed  militia  in  the  village,  for  the  protection  and  encouragement 
of  the  inhabitants.  Tecumtha,  always  dignified,  laid  aside  his  insolent  manner,  and 

1  Onderdouk's  MS.  Life  of  Tecumseh. 


OF  THE  WAR  OF   1812.  193 


Unsuccessful  Attempts  to  conciliate  Tecumtha.  Roving  Plunderers.  Tecumtha's  Fears  and  Duplicity. 

publicly  disavowed  any  intention  of  attacking  the  governor  and  his  friends  on  the 
preceding  day.  When  asked  whether  he  intended  to  persist  in  his  opposition  to  the 
late  treaty,  he  replied  firmly  that  he  should  "  adhere  to  the  old  boundary."  Chiefs 
from  five  different  tribes  immediately  arose,  and  declared  their  intention  to  support 
Tecumtha  in  the  stand  he  had  takenj  and  their  determination  to  establish  the  pro 
posed  confederacy. 

Harrison  well  knew  the  great  ability  and  influence  of  Tecumtha,  and  was  very  anx 
ious  to  conciliate  him.  On  the  following  day,  accompanied  only  by  Mr.  Barren,  he 
visited  the  warrior  in  his  camp,  and  had  a  long  and  friendly  interview  with  him.  He 
told  Tecumtha  that  his  principles  and  his  claims  would  not  be  allowed  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  and  advised  him  to  relinquish  them.  "  Well,"  said  the 
warrior,  "  as  the  Great  Chief  is  to  determine  the  matter,  I  hope  the  Great  Spirit  will 
put  sense  enough  into  his  head  to  induce  him  to  direct  you  to  give  up  this  land.  It 
is  true,  he  is  so  far  oif  he  will  not  be  injured  by  the  war.  He  may  sit  still  in  his  town 
and  drink  his  wine,  while  you  and  I  will  have  to  fight  it  out."1  The  conference  end 
ed  by  the  governor's  promising  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  President. 

War  with  the  followers  of  Tecumtha  and  the  Prophet  now  seemed  probable,  and 
Harrison  commenced  measures  to  meet  it.  A  small  detachment  of  United  States 
troops,  under  Captain  Cross,  stationed  at  Newport,  Kentucky,  were  ordered  to  Vin- 
cennes,  there  to  join  three  companies  of  militia  infantry  and  a  company  of  Knox  Coun 
ty  dragoons,  in  the  event  of  an  attack  from  the  savages.  The  governor  had  paid  par 
ticular  attention  to  drilling  the  militia,  and  now,  when  their  services  were  likely  to 
be  needed,  they  felt  much  confidence  on  account  of  their  discipline. 

The  Indians  on  the  Wabash,  grown  bold  by  the  teachings  of  their  great  military 
leader,  the  oracular  revelations  of  the  Prophet,  and  the  active  encouragement  of  the 
British  in  Canada,  began  to  roam  in  small  marauding  parties  over  the  Wabash  region 
in  the  spring  of  1811,  plundering  the  houses  of  settlers  and  the  wigwams  of  friendly 
Indians,  stealing  horses,  and  creating  general  alarm.  Tecumtha  was  exceedingly  ac 
tive,  at  the  same  time,  in  eiforts  to  perfect  his  confederacy  and  inciting  the  tribes  to 
war ;  and,  early  in  the  summer,  the  movements  of  the  Indians  were  so  menacing  that 
Governor  Harrison  sent  Captain  Walter  Wilson,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Barren,  with  an 
energetic  letter  to  the  Shawnoe  brothers.a  He  assured  them  that  he  was  ajune24, 
fully  prepared  to  encounter  all  the  tribes  combined,  and  that  if  they  did  not  1811- 
put  a  stop  to  the  outrages  complained  of,  and  cease  their  warlike  movements,  he 
should  attack  them. 

Tecumtha  wHs  alarmed.  He  received  the  messengers  very  courteously,  and  prom 
ised  to  see  the  governor  in  person  very  soon,  when  he  would  convince  him  that  he 
had  no  desire  to  make  war  upon  the  Americans.  He  accordingly  appeared  at  Vin- 
cennes  on  the  27th  of  July,  accompanied  by  about  three  hundred  Indians,  twenty  of 
them  women.  The  inhabitants  were  alarmed.  It  was  believed  that  the  wily  savage 
had  intended,  with  these  warriors  at  hand,  to  compel  the  governor  to  give  up  the  Wa 
bash  lands.  But  when,  on  the  day  of  his  arrival,  he  saw  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
well-armed  militia  reviewed  by  the  governor,  he  exhibited  no  haughtiness  of  tone  and 
manner.  He  was  evidently  uneasy.  He  made  the  most  solemn  protestations  of  his 
friendly  intentions  and  desires  to  restrain  the  Indians  from  hostilities,  yet  he  earnest 
ly  but  modestly  insisted  upon  a  return  of  the  lands  ceded  by  the  treaty  at  Fort 
Wayne.  His  duplicity  was  perfect.  He  left  Vincennes  a  few  days  afterward  with 
twenty  warriors,  went  down  the  Wabash,  and,  as  was  afterward  ascertained,  visited 
the  Southern  Indians — Creeks,  Choctaws,  and  Chickasaws — and  endeavored  to  bring 
them  into  his  league  against  the  white  people.  The  remainder  of  his  followers  from 
the  Prophet's  town,  astonished  at  the  military  display  at  Vincennes,  returned  to  their 
rendezvous  on  the  Tippecanoe,  filled  with  doubt  and  alarm. 

1  Dawson's  Life  of  Harrison,  page  59 ;  Drake's  Book  of  the  North  American  Indians. 


194 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Preparations  for  fighting  the  Indians. 


Colonel  John  P.  Boyd. 


Response  to  a  Call  for  Volunteer?. 


The  government  had  suggested  to  Harrison 
the   propriety   of  seizing  Tecumtha  and  the 
Prophet,  and  holding  them  as  hostages  for  the 
good  behavior  of  their  followers.     The  gov 
ernor,  in  turn,  suggested,  as  a  better  method 
of  obtaining  peace  and  security,  an  increase  of 
the  military  resources  of  the  Territory,  and  the 
establishment  of  a  military  post  high  up  the 
Wabash  toward  the  Prophet's  town.    The  wis^ 
dom  of  this  suggestion  was  conceded.     The 
Fourth  Regiment  of  "United  States  Infantry, 
under  Colonel  John  P.  Boyd,1  was  ordered  from 
Pittsburg  to  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  now  Lou 
isville  ;  and  Governor  Harrison   was  author- 
izeda  to  employ  these  troops  and  call     B  Jnly  17> 
out  the  militia  of  the  Territory  for  the        1811- 
purpose  of  attacking  the  hostile  savages  on 
the  Tippecanoe,  if  he  should  deem  it  advisable. 
This  authorization  gave  the  inhabitants  about 
Vincennes  great  relief.     They  had  already,  be 
fore  the  arrival  of  the  order,  appointed  a  com 
mittee  at  a  public  meeting1*  to  ask  the     "  July  31. 
government  to  direct  the  dispersion  of  the  hos 
tile  bands  at  the  Prophet's  town.2 
The  government  was  anxious  to  preserve  peace  with  the  Indians,  and  Harrison's 
orders  gave  him  very  little  discretionary  powers  in  the  matter  of  levying  war  upon 
the  savages.     They  were  sufficient  for  his  purpose.     He  determined  to  push  forward, 
build  a  fort  on  the  Wabash,  make  peaceful  overtures,  and  if  they  were  rejected,  open 
war  vigorously.     He  called  Colonel  Boyd  to  Vincennes  with  his  detachment,  consist 
ing  of  a  part  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  and  some  riflemen,  and  asked  for  volunteers. 
The  response  was  quick  and  ample.     Revenge  because  of  wrongs  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  the  Indians  north  of  the  Ohio  slumbered  in  many  bosoms,  especially  in  Ken 
tucky  ;  and  when  the  voice  of  the  popular  Harrison  called  for  aid,  it  was  like  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet.     Old  Indian  warriors  in  Kentucky  like  General  Samuel  Wells 

1  John  Parke  Boyd  was  born  in  Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  December  21, 17C4.    His  father  w(fc  from  Scotland,  and 
his  mother  was  a  descendant  of  Tristam  Coffin,  the  first  of  that  family  who  emigrated  to  America.    He  entered  the 
army  in  17S6,  as  ensign  in  the  Second  Regiment.    With  a  spirit  of  adventure,  he  went  to  India  in  1789,  having  first 
touched  at  the  Isle  of  France.    In  a  letter  to  his  father  from  Madras,  in  June,  1790,  he  says,  "Having  procured  recom 
mendatory  letters  to  the  English  consul  residing  at  the  court  of  his  highness,  the  Nizam,  I  proceeded  to  his  capital,  Hy- 
drabad,  450  miles  from  Madras.    On  my  arrival,  I  was  presented  to  his  highness  in  form  by  the  English  consul.    My  re 
ception  was  as  favorable  as  my  most  sanguine  wishes  had  anticipated.    After  the  usual  ceremony  was  over,  he  present 
ed  me  with  the  command  of  two  kansolars  of  infantry,  each  of  which  consists  of  500  men."    His  commission  and  pay 
were  in  accordance  with  his  command.    He  describes  the  army  of  the  Nizam,  which  had  taken  the  field  against  Tippoo 
Sultan.    It  consisted  of  150,000  infantry,  C0,000  cavalry,  and  500  elephants,  each  elephant  supporting  a  "  castle"  contain 
ing  a  nabob  and  servants.    He  remained  in  India  several  years,  in  a  sort  of  guerrilla  service,  and  obtained  much  favor. 
He  was  in  Paris  early  in  1808,  and  at  home  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  when  he  was  appointed  (October  2)  colonel  of 
the  Fourth  Regiment  of  the  U.  S.  Army.    He  was  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  in  November,  1811,  and  on  the  commence 
ment  of  war  with  Great  Britain  he  was  appointed  (August  26)  a  brigadier  general.    He  held  that  rank  throughout  the 
war.    He  was  at  the  capture  of  Fort  George,  and  in  the  battle  of  Chrysler's  Field,  or  Williamsburg,  in  Canada.    He  left, 
the  army  in  1815,  and  the  following  year  he  went  to  England  to  obtain  indemnity  for  the  loss  of  a  valuable  cargo  of  salt 
petre,  captured  by  an  English  cruiser  while  on  its  way  from  the  East  Indies.    He  procured  only  a  single  installment  of 
$30,000.    President  Jackson  appointed  him  Naval  Officer  at  Boston  in  1830.    He  died  there  the  same  year,  on  the  4th  of 
October,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years. 

General  Boyd  was  a  tall,  well-formed,  and  handsome  man ;  kind,  courteous,  and  generous.  I  am  indebted  to  the 
courtesy  of  the  Hon.  William  Willis,  of  Portland,  Maine,  for  the  materials  of  the  above  brief  sketch  and  the  profile  of  the 
general. 

2  The  committee  consisted  of  Samuel  T.  Scott,  Alexander  Devin,  Luke  Decker,  Ephraim  Jordan,  Daniel  M'Clure, 
Walter  Wilson,  and  Francis  Vigo.    In  a  letter  dated  August  3, 1811,  and  addressed  to  the  President,  they  said,  "  In  this 
part  of  the  country  we  have  not,  as  yet,  lost  any  of  our  fellow-citizens  by  the  Indians ;  but  depredations  upon  the  prop 
erty  of  those  who  live  upon  the  frontiers,  and  insults  to  the  families  that  are  left  unprotected,  almost  daily  occur."— 
Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  page  456. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  195 


Harrison's  March  up  the  Wabash  with  Troops.  Fort  Harrison  built.  Deputations  of  friendly  Indians. 

and  Colonel  Owen  instantly  obeyed.  They  hastened  to  the  field,  accompanied  by  the 
eloquent  Kentucky  lawyer,  Joseph  Hamilton  Daviess,  Colonel  Frederick  Geiger,  Cap 
tain  Peter  Funk1  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  cavalry,  and  Croghan,  O'Fallon,  Shipp, 
Chum,  Edwards,  and  other  subalterns,  who  had  been  mustered  by  Geiger  near  Louis 
ville.  All  of  these  have  praisers  for  bravery  in  the  annals  of  their  country. 

On  the  26th  of  September  Governor  Harrison  left  Fort  Knox,2  at  Vincennes,  with 
about  nine  hundred  effective  men,  marched  up  the  Wabash  Valley,  and  oh  the  3d  of 
October  halted  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river,  about  two  miles  above  an  old  Wea 
village,  where  the  town  of  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  now  stands.  It  was  a  spot  famous 
in  Indian  tradition  as  the  scene  of  a  desperate  battle,  at  some  time  far-  in  the  past,  be 
tween  tribes  of  the  Illinois  and  Iroquois.  On  this  account  the  old  French  settlers 
had  named  the  spot "  Battaille  des  Illinois."  There  they  immediately  commenced  the 
erection  of  a  quadrangular  stockaded  fort,  with  a  block-house  at  three  of  the  angles ; 
and  there  the  governor  received  deputations  from  friendly  Delaware  and  Miami  In 
dians,  who  assured  him  that  the  hostility  and  strength  of  the  Prophet  was  increasing. 
In  war-speeches  to  them  he  had  declared  that  the  hatchet  was  lifted  up  against  the 
Americans;  and  this  information  was  affirmed  on  the  night  of  the  10th  of  October, 
when  some  prowling  Shawnoese,  who  had  come  down  the  Wabash,  wounded  one  of  the 
sentinels.  Harrison  sent  a  deputation  of  Miamis  to  the  Prophet's  town  with  a  mes 
sage  to  the  impostor,  requiring  the  Indians  on  the  Tippecanoe  to  disperse  immediately 
to  their  respective  tribes.  It  also  required  the  Prophet  to  restore  all  the  stolen 
horses  in  his  possession,  and  surrender  the  men  who  had  murdered  white  people  on 
the  Indiana  and  Illinois  frontiers.  The  messengers  never  returned  with  an  answer. 

The  fort  was  completed  on  the  28th  of  October.  It  was  built  upon  a  bluff  thirty 
or  forty  feet  above  the  Wabash,  and  covered  about  an  acre  of  ground.  On  the  day 
of  its  completion  it  was  named,  by  the  unanimous  request  of  the  officers  present,  FORT 
HARRISON,  in  honor  of  the  governor.  Colonel  Daviess  made  a  speech  on  the  occasion. 
Standing  over  the  gate,  and  holding  a  bottle  of  whisky  in  his  hand,  he  said,  in  conclu 
sion,  "  In  the  name  of  the  United  States,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  I  christen 
this  Fort  Harrison."  He  then  broke  the  bottle  over  the  gate,  when  a  whisky-loving 
soldier,  standing  near,  exclaimed,  with  the  usual  expletive, "  It  is  too  bad  to  waste 
whisky  in  that  way — water  would  have  done  just  as  well."  Less  than  a  year  after 
ward  that  little  fort  became  the  theatre  of  heroic  exploits  under  Captain  Zachary 
Taylor,  which  we  shall  consider  hereafter. 

I  visited  Terre  Haute  and  the  site  of  Fort  Harrison  late  in  September, 

_  .  ___  .         .   .   .  ' :      •  September  26. 

1860.a     I  had  spent  the  previous  day  at  tort  Wayne,  in  visiting  and 
sketching  the  grave  of.Little  Turtle,  the  great  Miami  chief,  and  other  places  of  inter 
est  about  that  historic  city.     A  storm  had  just  ended,  and  the  sky  was  still  murky 

i  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  D.  R.  Poignard,  of  Taylorsville,  Kentucky,  for  a  very  interesting  narrative  of  this  campaign, 
taken  by  him  from  the  lips  of  Captain  Funk  in  1802,  then  aged  eighty  years,  and  enjoying  good  health  of  mind  and 
body  on  his  fertile  farm  eight  miles  from  Louisville.  Mr.  Funk  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  where  he  was  born  in  1782. 
He  was  of  German  descent.  His  narrative  is  clear,  and  exceedingly  interesting,  and  I  have  availed  myself  of  its  valua 
ble  information  in  compiling  the  account  of  this  memorable  campaign. 

Captain  Funk  says  that  Governor  Harrison  was  in  Louisville  in  August,  1811,  when  the  narrator  was  in  command  of 
a  company  of  militia  cavalry  there.  At  Harrison's  personal  request  he  hastened  to  Governor  Scott,  and  obtained  per 
mission  to  raise  a  company  of  cavalry  to  join  the  forces  of  the  Governor  of  Indiana  at  Vincennes,  for  an  expedition  up 
the  Wabash.  Harrison  also  call-  -A^  -  Sandusky ;  but,  before  leaving 

ed  for  a  company  of  infantry,  to          /// 
be  raised  by  Captain  James  Hunt-       /  /  L/ 


command,  under  Colonel  Grog-  //  *  \  his  company  in  the  course  of  a 
han,  at  Fort  Stephenson,  on  the  few  days,  and  early  in  September 
joined  Colonel  Bartholomew's  regiment,  then  marching  on  Vincennes.  At  this  place  they  found  Colonel  Joseph  H.  Da 
viess,  with  two  other  volunteers  (James  Mead  and  Ben.  Saunders)  from  Lexington,  the  colonel's  then  place  of  residence. 
There  were  with  him,  also,  four  young  gentlemen  from  Louisville,  namely,  George  Croghan,  John  O'Fallon,  a  million 
aire  of  St.  Louis  in  1862, Moore,  afterward  a  captain  in  the  U.  8.  Army,  and Hynes. 

The  signature  of  Captain  Funk  (then  bearing  the  title  of  Major),  above  given,  is  copied  from  a  note  to  me  from  him, 
written  in  September,  1861. 

2  Fort  Knox  was  erected  by  Major  Hamtramck  in  1787,  and  named  in  honor  of  General  Henry  Knox,  the  Secretary 
of  War. 


196  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

A  Night  at  Peru.  A  Political  Campaign.  Unpleasant  Experience  at  Indianapolis. 

when  we  left,  at  two  in  the  afternoon,  for  Indianapolis.  We  arrived  at  Peru,  a  little 
village  on  the  Wabash  fifty-six  miles  west  of  Fort  Wayne,  at  sunset.  The  dull  clouds 
had  lifted  the  space  of  a  degree  from  the  horizon,  and  allowed  the  last  rays  of  the  sun 
to  give  glory  to  the  thoroughly  saturated  country  for  a  few  minutes,  before  the  lu 
minary  disappeared  behind  the  forests  that  skirted  a  wide  prairie  on  the  west. 

At  Peru,  a  railway  leading  southward  to  the  capital  of  Indiana  connects  with  the 
Toledo  and  Wabash  Road,  over  which  we  had  traveled.  But  there  was  no  evening 
connection,  and  we  were  compelled  to  remain  among  the  Peruvians  until  morning. 
Theirs  is  a  small  village.  Town  and  taverns  were  filled  with  people,  drawn  thither 
by  the  two-fold  attraction  of  a  county  fair  and  a  desire  to  go  to  Indianapolis  in  the 
morning,  where  the  late  Judge  Douglas,  one  of  the  candidates  for  the  Presidency  of 
the  United  States,  was  to  speak.  I  found  a  crowd  of  railway  passengers  around  the 
register  of  the  inn  where  I  stopped,  all  anxious  to  secure  good  lodgings  for  the  night. 
The  applicants  were  many,  and  the  beds  proportionately  few.  I  was  fortunate  enough 
to  have  for  my  room-companion  for  the  night,  Judge  Davis,  of  Bloomington,  Illinois, 
a  gentleman  of  great  weight  in  the  West,  and  an  ardent  personal  friend  of  the  late 
President  Lincoln.  He  declared  that,  if  his  friend  should  be  elected,  he  would  be 
found  to  be  "the  right  man  in  the  right  place."  Judge  Davis  is  now  (1867)  one  of 
the  Associate  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

Having  half  an  hour  to  spare  before  supper  and  the  approaching  darkness,  I  strolled 
around  the  village,  that  lies  upon  a  rolling  plain  and  along  the  banks  of  the  beauti 
ful  Wabash — beautiful,  indeed,  because  of  variety  in  outline,  greenness  of  verdure, 
and  its  fringes  of  graceful  trees  and  shrubbery.  Many  of  the  trees  were  more  ancient 
than  the  dominion  of  the  white  man  there,  and  others  were  as  young  as  the  town 
near  by,  so  lately  sprung  up  from  the  shadows  of  the  wilderness.  A  canal,  with 
muddy  banks,  dug  along  the  margin  of  the  river,  somewhat  marred  the  beauty  of 
the  scene.  It  was  quite  dark  when  I  retired  to  the  inn,  having  called  on  the  way  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Grigg,  whose  wife  is  a  daughter  of  the  Little  Turtle.  They  were 
absent,  and  I  missed  the  anticipated  pleasure  of  an  interview  with  one  whose  father 
bore  such  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  history  of  the  Northwest. 

I  left  Peru,  in  company  with  Judge  Davis,  at  six  o'clock  the  following  morning, 
and  reached  Indianapolis  at  ten.  It  was  a  sunny  day.  The  town  was  rapidly  filling 
with  people  pouring  in  by  railways  and  common  roads  from  all  directions.  Flags 
were  flying,  drums  were  beating,  marshals  were  hurrying  to  and  fro,  and  the  crowds 
w.ere  flowing  toward  the  "  Bates  House,"  the  common  centre  of  attraction,  where 
Judge  Douglas  was  receiving  his  friends  in  a  private  parlor,  and  waiting  for  the  ap 
pointed  hour  when  he  should  go  out  and  speak  to  the  people,  on  the  political  topics 
of  the  day.  Over  the  broad  street  a  splendid  triumphal  arch  was  thrown,  and  every 
avenue  to  the  hotel  was  densely  thronged  with  eager  expectants.  I  made  my  way 
through  the  living  sea,  and  registered  my  name  for  dinner  at  the  "  Bates,"  expecting 
to  leave  for  Terre  Haute  at  evening.  After  spending  an  hour  with  Mr.  Dillon,  au 
thor  of  the  latest  history  of  Indiana,  I  was  informed  that  a  train  would  leave  for  the 
West  at  meridian.  So  I  again  elbowed  my  way  through  the  crowd  just  as  Judge 
Douglas  was  entering  his  carriage,  and,  with  the  shouts  of  twenty  thousand  voices 
ringing  in  my  ears,  I  escaped  to  the  empty  streets,  and  reached  the  railway  station 
just  in  time  for  the  midday  train.  I  was  soon  reminded  that  I  had  involuntarily 
made  a  liberal  contribution  to  some  light-fingered  follower  of  the  itinerant  candidate 
for  the  crown  of  civic  victory.  I  had  been  relieved  of  the  present  care  of  that  subtle 
magician  thus  apostrophized  by  Byron : 

"Thon  more  than  stone  of  the  philosopher! 
Thou  touchstone  of  Philosophy  herself! 
Thou  bright  eye  of  the  mine  !  thou  loadstar  of 
The  soul !  thou  true  magnetic  pole,  to  which 
All  hearts  point  duly  north,  like  trembling  needles !" 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


197 


Visit  to  Terre  Haute  and  the  Site  of  Fort  Harrison. 


Sketch  of  the  Fort. 


A  Traveler  in  Trouble. 


Terre  Haute  (high  land)  is  seventy-three  miles  westward  of  Indianapolis.  It  is  a 
pleasant  village,  and  the  capital  of  Vigo  County.  It  then  contained  less  than  two 
thousand  inhabitants.  It  is  on  a  high  plain  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Wabash,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  delightful  summer  residences  in  all  that  region.  "We  arrived  there 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Hoping  to  visit  the  site  of  Fort  Harrison  that  even 
ing,  so  as  to  leave  in  the  morning,  I  immediately  sought  a  gentleman  in  the  village 
to  whom  I  had  a  letter  of  introduction.  The  town  was  almost  depopulated  by  the 
attractions  of  a  county  fair  in  its  neighborhood.  The  afternoon  was  so  pleasant  that 
men,  women,  and  children  had  all  gone  to  the  exhibition,  and  not  a  vehicle  of  any 
kind  could  be  found  to  convey  me  to  the  fort,  over  two  miles  distant.  After  wasting 
more  than  an  hour  in  fruitless  attempts  to  procure  one,  I  fell  back  on  my  unfailing 
reserve,  and  started  off  on  foot.  It  was  twilight  when  I  reached  the  spot — twilight 
too  dim  to  make  a  sketch  of  the  locality.  The  old  sycamore  and  elm  trees  that  were 
there  in  their  early  maturity  when  the  fort  was  built  yet  stand  along  the  bank  be 
tween  the  canal  and  the  ruin,  and  on  the  western  shore  of  the  Wabash  opposite  may 
still  be  seen  the  fine  old  timber  upon  the  low  and  frequently-overflowed  bottom ;  but 
nothing  of  the  fort  remained  excepting  the  logs  of  one  of  the  block-houses,  which 
then  (1860)  formed  the  dwelling  of  Cornelius  Smock  within  the  area  of  the  old  stock 
ade.  I  had  the  good-fortune  to  meet  an  old  man  (in  my  haste  I  forgot  to  inquire  his 
name),  when  near  the  site  of  the  fort,  who  was  there  in  1813,  soon  after  Captain  Tay 
lor's  defense  of  it.  He  pointed  out  the  exact  locality,  and  gave  me  such  a  minute 
description  of  the  structure, 
that  I  made  a  rough  outline 
of  it  on  the  spot,  a  finished 
copy  of  which  is  seen  in  the 
picture.  He  pronounced  it 
perfect  according  to  his  rec 
ollection.  Its  truthfulness 
was  confirmed  on  my  return 
to  the  Terre  Haute  House 
by  a  picture,  made  in  like 
manner  a  few  years  ago  from 
the  recollections  of  old  peo 
ple,  and  lithographed.1  It 
was  placed  in  my  hands  by 
Mr.  Ralston,  of  the  gas 
works;  and  I  was  surprised 
to  find  such  a  perfect  agree 
ment,  even  in  detail.  I  have 
no  doubt  the  engraving  here 
given  is  a  truthful  representation  of  Fort  Harrison  and  its  surroundings  in  1813. 

I  left  Terre  Haute  for  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  « September  27, 
morning,a  checking  my  luggage  (as  I  thought)  to  the  Junction  near 
Greencastle,  the  capital  of  Putnam  County,  where  the  Louisville,  New  Albany,  and 
Chicago  Railway  crosses  that  of  the  Terre  Haute  and  Richmond.  By  mistake  my 
trunk  was  checked  for  Philadelphia,  and  was  not  left  at  the  Junction.  I  found  the 
telegraph  operator  in  his  bed  half  a  mile  from  the  station,  but  he  could  not  send  a 
message  with  effect  before  seven  o'clock,  at  which  time  my  luggage  would  be  beyond 
Indianapolis,  making  its  way  toward  Philadelphia  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  miles  an 
hour.  The  winged  electricity  was  more  fleet  than  the  harnessed  steam.  It  headed 
the  fugitive  at  Richmond,  a  hundred  miles  distant,  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  it  was  brought  back  a  prisoner  to  Greencastle  Station,  much  to  my  relief.  I 

i  Published  by  Modesitt  and  Hager  in  the  year  1S4S. 


FOBT  HAKBISON. 


!98  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Greencastle  and  Crawfordsville.  A  Visit  to  the  Founder  of  Crawfordsville.  Two  of  Wayne's  Soldiers. 

think  I  never  saw  so  much  beauty  in  an  old  black  leather  trunk  before  nor  since. 
Meanwhile  I  had  pretty  thoroughly  explored  Greencastle,  chiefly  before  daylight, 
when  trying  to  find  my  way  back  to  the  station  from  the  telegraphist's  lodgings. 
Every  street  appeared  to  end  at  a  vacant  lot.  At  length,  just  at  dawn,  I  received 
directions  from  aft  Irishman,  with  an  axe  on  his  shoulder,  more  explicit  than  clear. 
"  Is  it  the  dapo'  you  want  ?"  he  inquired.  "  Yes."  "  Will,  thin,"  he  said,  "  jist  turn 
down  to  the  lift  of  the  Prisbytarian  Church  that's  not  finished,  and  go  by  the  way  of 
the  church  that  is  finished ;  turn  right  and  lift  as  many  times  as  ye  plaze,  and  bedad 
ye'll  be  there."  Perfectly  satisfied  I  walked  on,  found  the  station  by  accident,  wait 
ed  patiently  for.  the  telegraphist,  and  then  went  to  the  village,  half  a  mile  distant,  to 
breakfast. 

Greencastle  is  pleasantly  situated  upon  a  high  table-land,  sloping  every  way,  about 
a  mile  east  of  the  Walnut  Fork  of  the  Eel  Run,  and  then  contained  between  two 
thousand  and  three  thousand  inhabitants.  I  remained  there  until  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  when  I  left  for  Crawfordsville,  twenty-eight  miles  northward,  where  I 
met  my  family  and  remained  a  few  days,  the  guest  of  the  Honorable  (afterward  Ma 
jor  General)  Lewis  Wallace,  the  gallant  commander  first  of  the  celebrated  Eleventh 
Indiana  Regiment  in  Western  Virginia,  and  afterward  of  loyal  brigades  and  di 
visions  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Northern  Mississippi,  in  the  late  Civil  War. ' 
There  I  met  the  Honorable  s  since  1833,  and  for  fifteen 

Isaac  ISTaylor,  who  was  with  y  /ft*  "  ^y^^V-')  years  was  JudSe  of  the  Cir- 
Harrison  at  the  battle  of  6/  «X/2^^^t!^J/  cuit  Court.  From  him  I 
Tippecanoe.  He  had  been  /V  obtained  much  valuable  in- 

a  resident  of  Crawfordsville  formation  concerning  the  in 

cidents  of  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  and  the  preceding  march  of  the  army  from  Vin- 
cennes.2 

I  also  visited,  at  Crawfordsville,  the  late  venerable  Major  Ambrose  Whitlock,  one 
of  the  last  survivors  of  General  Wayne's  army  in  the  Northwest.  He  was  first  under 
the  immediate  command  of  Hamtramck,  and  afterward  served  as  aid  to  Wayne,  and 
became  lieutenant  in  the  company  of  which  Harrison  was  captain.  Major  Whitlock 
was  the  founder  of  Crawfordsville.  He  \vas  at  the  head  of  the  Land-office  in  Indiana, 
as  receiver  of  the  public  moneys  of  the  United  States,  for  eight  years.  William  H. 
Crawford,  Monroe's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  appointed  him  to  that  station.  The 
office  was  at  Terre  Haute.  It  was  finally  determined  to  establish  an  office  in  another 
part  of  the  Territory  for  the  convenience  of  the  settlers,  and  the  selection  of  the  lo 
cality  was  left  to  the  judgment  of  Major  Whitlock.  He  found  in  the  wilderness  near 
Sugar  Creek,  in  a  thickly-wooded  dell,  a  spring  of  excellent  water,  and  resolved  to 
establish  the  new  Land-office  near  that  desirable  fountain.  Settlers  came.  He  laid 
out  a  village,  and  named  it  Crawfordsville,  in  honor  of  his  friend  of  the  Treasury  De 
partment.  He  resided  there  ever  afterward.  His  house  was  upon  a  gentle  eminence 
eastward  of  the  railway,  and  the  wooded  dell  and  the  ever-flowing  spring  of  sweet 
water  formed  a  part  of  his  premises  on  the  eastern  borders  of  the  village.  Major  Whit 
lock3  was  ninety-one  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  yet  his  mental  faculties 

i  For  an  account  of  General  Wallace's  military  services,  see  Lossing's  Pictorial  History  of  the  Civil  War. 

"*  Judge  Naylor  was  born  in  Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  on  the  30th  of  July,  1790,  and  at  the  age  of  three  years  was 
taken  by  his  family  to  a  settlement  near  Ruddle's  Station,  Bourbon  County,  Kentucky.  He  removed  to  Clarke  County, 
Indiana,  in  1805,  arid  in  1810  made  a  voyage  to  New  Orleans  on  a  flat-boat.  He  repeated  it  next  year,  and  soon  after 
his  return,  and  while  preparing  for  college,  he  joined  Harrison's  army  at  Vincenues  as  a  volunteer  in  Captain  James  Big- 
ger's  company.  He  assisted  in  the  construction  of  Fort  Harrison,  participated  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  soon  after 
ward,  and,  at  different  times  during  the  war  with  Great  Britain  that  ensued,  served  as  a  volunteer,  but  was  not  in  any 
other  battle.  In  1SGO  he  was  elected  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  of  Montgomery  County. 

3  Ambrose  Whitlock  was  born  at  Bowling  Green,  Caroline  County,  Virginia,  on  the  25th  of  April,  1769.  At  an  early 
age  he  went  to  Kentucky.  He  enlisted  in  Wayne's  army,  and  was  with  him  throughout  his  Indian  campaigns.  At  one 
time  he  was  his  aid.  He  was  five  years  in  garrison  at  Fort  Washington  (Cincinnati)  as  sergeant.  President  Adams 
commissioned  him  lieutenant  in  1800.  In  1802  he  was  appointed  assistant  military  agent  at  Vincennes,  and  also  assistant 
paymaster.  He  became  district  paymaster  in  1805,  a  first  lieutenant  in  the  regular  army  in  1807,  and  a  captain  in  1S12. 


OF   THE   WAK   OF    1812. 


199 


Journey  from  Crawfordsville  to  Lafayette. 


Political  Excitement  at  Lafayette. 


Political  Parties  at  that  Time. 


were  quite  vigorous.  Unlike  many  sol 
diers  of  the  past,  a  large  portion  of  his  life 
was  blessed  with  an  affluence  of  health 
and  fortune. 

On  the  evening  of  a  sultry  day,  the  last 
one  of  September,  we  left  Crawfordsville 
for  Lafayette,  Indiana,  twenty-eight  miles 
northward,  with  the  intention  of  visiting 
the  Tippecanoe  battle-ground  the  next 
morning.  The  country  through  which  we 
passed  for  the  first  few  miles  was  hilly,  and 
heavily  timbered,  and  the  foliage  was  be 
ginning  to  assume  the  gorgeous  hues  of 
autumn.  It  was  the  first  evidence  we  had 
seen  of  the  actual  departure  of  summer,  for 
nearly  all  September  had  been  more  like 
August  in  temperature,  than  itself.  We 
soon  reached  a  small  prairie,  the  first  we 
had  seen,  and  at  eight  o'clock  arrived  at 
Lafayette.  The  town,  containing  full  ten 
thousand  inhabitants,  was  all  alive  with 
political  excitement,  the  "Douglas  Democrats"  and  the  " Republicans"1  both  holding 
public  meetings  there.  The  former,  convened  at  a  hotel,  was  addressed  by  Herschel 
V.  Johnson,  of  Georgia,  the  "  Douglas"  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency  of  the  United 
States  ;  the  latter,  held  in  the  court-house,  was  addressed  by  Mr.  Howard,  member  of 
Congress  from  Michigan,  whom  I  had  met  a  few  days  before  at  the  table  of  Senator 
Lane,  of  Crawfordsville.  Torch-light  processions  of  the  "  Wide-awakes"  and  the 
"  Little  GiantV'2  followed  the  speeches  ;  and  as  they  marched  and  countermarched  in 
the  same  streets  at  the  same  time,  they  became  so  entangled  to  the  eye  of  the  specta 
tor  that  it  was  difficult  for  a  partisan  to  recognize  his  own  political  representative  in 
the  moving  illumination.  This  was  followed  by  drum-beatings  and  huzzas,  which 
were  kept  up  until  midnight. 

He  relinquished  his  rank  in  the  line  in  June,  1814,  and  in  May,  1815,  was  appointed  deputy  paymaster  general  of  the  dis 
trict  composed  of  Kentucky,  Illinois,  and  Indiana.  He  was  disbanded  in  1816,  having  served  in  the  army  twenty-three 
years  and  a  half,  and  attained  to  the  rank  of  major.  He  was  never  in  military  service  afterward.  After  serving  eight 
years  as  receiver  of  the  public  moneys  in  Indiana,  he  was  dismissed  by  General  Jackson  to  make  room  for  some  one 
else.  It  is  supposed  that  not  half  a  dozen  soldiers  of  Wayne's  army  now  (1867)  survive.  In  the  possession  of  Mr.  Dil 
lon  at  Indianapolis  I  saw  a  daguerreotype  of  Martin  Huckleberry,  one  of  Wayne's  army,  then  (September,  1860)  just 
taken  from  life  ;  and  in  Bangor,  Maine,  I  saw  in  November,  1860,  Henry  Van  Meter,  a  colored  man,  over  ninety  years  of 
age,  who  was  also  in  "Mad  Anthony's"  army.  I  am  indebted  to  General  Wallace  for  the  portrait  of  Major  Whitlock,  from 
which  this  engraving  was  made.  It  was  taken  when  he  was  in  his  ninety-first  year.  He  died  at  his  residence  in  Craw 
fordsville  on  the  26th  of  June,  1863,  when  over  ninety-four  years  of  age. 

1  There  was  a  schism  in  the  great  Democratic  party,  so-called,  in  the  spring  of  1860,  when  one  portion  nominated  Ste 
phen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  for  the  Presidency,  and  were  called  the  "  Douglas  Democrats,"  and  the  other  portion  nom 
inated  John  C.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  then  the  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  were  known  as  the 
"  Breckinridge  Democrats."    Opposed  to  the  entire  Democratic  party  was  the  Republican,  a  political  organization  of  a 
few  years'  standing,  composed  of  men  of  all  the  old  parties,  whose  leading  distinctive  object  was  the  prevention  of  the 
extension  of  slavery  beyond  the  states  and  Territories  in  which  it  already  existed.    This  party  had  nominated  Abraham 
Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  for  President.    A  fourth  party,  professedly  conservative,  and  calling  themselves  the  Union  party, 
nominated  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  for  President,  and  Edward  Everett,  of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice-President.    They 
were  frequently  called  the  Bell-Everett  party.    At  the  election  in  November,  1860,  these  four  candidates  were  supported 
by  their  respective  friends.    Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected.    Mr.  Douglas  died  in  the  city  of  Chicago  early  in  the  following 
June.    Mr.  Bell  had  already  declared  his  affiliation  with  rebels  in  arms  against  the  government ;  while  Mr.  Breckin 
ridge,  a  lately-chosen  senator  from  Kentucky,  only  waited  for  the  close  of  the  extraordinary  session  of  Congress,  held 
in  July,  and  the  payment  of  his  salary  from  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  to  openly  declare  himself  an  enemy  to 
that  country,  and  become  a  traitor  by  taking  up  arms  to  overthrow  the  government. 

2  Republican  associations,  pledged  to  the  support  of  the  candidates  of  that  party,  were  formed  all  over  the  free-labor 
states  in  1860.    They  wore  round  capes,  and  oftentimes  lights  on  their  hats,  and  assumed  the  name  of  "  Wide-awakes." 
They  formed  the  staple  of  Republican  torch-light  processions  in  the  autumn  of  I860.    Mr.  Douglas  was  a  short,  powerful 
man.    In  allusion  to  his  mental  strength  and  shortness  in  stature,  he  was  called  by  his  admirers  the  Little  Giant.    The 
young  men  of  his  party  formed  associations  like  the  "  Wide-awakes,"  called  themselves  "Little  Giants,"  and  formed  the 
staple  of  the  torch-light  processions  of  the  Douglas  party  in  the  autumn  of  I860. 


200 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Indian  Portraits. 


Journey  to  the  Battle-ground  of  Tippecanoe. 


Harrison's  March  up  the  Wabash  Valley. 


At  Lafayette  I  met  Mr.  George  Winter,  an  English  artist  who  has  resided  many 
years  in  Indiana,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  inspecting  his  fine  collection  of  Indian  por 
traits  and  scenes  painted  by  him  from  nature.  His  collection  possesses  much  histor 
ical  and  ethnological  value,  and  ought  to  be  in  the  possession  of  some  institution 
where  it  might  be  preserved  and  the  individuals  never  separated.  He  was  intimate 
ly  acquainted  with  many  of  the  characters  whose  features  he  has  delineated,  and  he 
has  collected  stores  of  anecdotes  and  traditions  of  the  aboriginals  of  the  Northwest. 
The  memory  of  Mr.  Winter's  kind  attentions  while  we  were  in  Lafayette  is  very 
pleasant. 

The  first  day  of  October  dawned  brightly,  and  the  temperature  of  the  air  was  like 
that  of  early  June.  Before  sunrise  we  visited  the  artesian  well  of  sulphur-water  in 
the  public  square,  the  result  of  a  deep  search  for  pure  water.  A  neat  pavilion  covers 
it ;  cups  are  furnished  for  the  thirsty,  and  not  far  off  are  baths  of  it  for  invalids  and 
others. 

At  an  early  hour  we  departed  for  the  battle-ground  of  Tippecanoe,  seven  miles 
northward.  We  passed  over  a  level  and  pleasant  country  most  of  the  way,  crossing 
the  railway  several  times.  Within  three  miles  of  the  battle-ground  we  crossed  the 
Wabash  on  a  cable-bateau,1  and  watched  with  interest  the  perilous  fording  of  the 
stream  just  above,  near  the  railway  bridge,  by  a  man  and  woman  in  a  light  wagon. 
Twice  they  came  near  being  submerged  in 
deep  channels,  but  finally  reached  the  shore 
with  only  wet  feet.  The  man  saved  the  fer 
riage  fee  of  twelve  cents. 

We  arrived  at  the  Battle-ground  House  at 
ten  o'clock,  passing  the  scene  of  the  conflict 
just  before  reaching  it.  Resting  in  the  cool 
shadows  of  the  stately  trees  that  still  cover 
the  spot,  let  us  turn  to  the  chronicle  of  the 
Past  and  study  the  events  which  have  made 
this  gentle  elevation,  overlooking  a  "  wet  prai 
rie,"  classic  ground. 

Fort  Harrison,  as  we  have  seen,  was  com 
pleted  on  the  28th  of  October.  It  was  gar 
risoned  by  a  small  detachment  under  Lieuten 
ant-colonel  Miller — the  "  I'll  try,  sir !"  hero  of 
the  battle  of  Niagara,  three  years  later.  The 
main  body  of  the  army  moved  forward  the 
^October 29,  next  day,a  and  on  the  31st,  soon 

1811-          after  passing  the  Big 
Raccoon    Creek,  crossed    to    the          t 
western  side  of  the  Wabash,  near      J  * 
the  site  of  the  present  village  of  '  6/L. 
Montezuma,  in  Parke  County.2 
There  the  troops  were  joined  by  some  of  the  Kentucky  volunteers,  under  Wells, 
Owen,  and  Geiger.3     Harrison  was  commander-in-chief  by  virtue  of  his  office  as  gov- 

1  These  were  large  flat-boats  for  conveying  passengers,  teams,  and  freight.    They  are  pushed  across  by  poles  at  low 
water,  and  at  high  water  are  secured  and  assisted  in  the  passage  by  a  huge  cable  stretched  from  shore  to  shore. 

2  Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  page  462. 

3  Having  been  informed  that  the  Indians  were  more  numerous  in  his  front  than  he  had  anticipated,  Governor  Harri 
son  had  sent  Colonel  Daviess  and  one  or  two  others  to  Kentucky  to  apply  for  a  re-enforcement  of  five  hundred  men. 
Brigadier  General  Wells  immediately  ordered  out  his  brigade  and  beat  up  for  volunteers.    The  privates  hanging  back, 
Wells  and  several  of  his  officers  stepped  out,  and  being  joined  by  some  of  the  file,  the  volunteers  mustered  thirty-two 
men.    They  elected  Colonel  F.  Geiger  as  their  captain.    The  reluctance  of  the  men  to  turn  out  was  owing  in  part  to 
their  scruples,  the  brigade  having  been  ordered  out  without  orders  from  the  Governor  of  Kentucky.    The  governor  be 
ing  at  Frankfort,  there  was  no  time  to  consult  him. — Funk's  Narrative. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  201 

First  Appearance  of  hostile  Indians.  The  Prophet's  Town  approached.  The  Indians  alarmed. 

ernor  of  the  Territory,  and  Boyd  was  his  next  in  command.  The  whole  force  con 
sisted  of  nine  hundred  and  ten  men,  and  was  composed  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
regulars  under  Boyd,  sixty  volunteers  from  Kentucky,  and  six  hundred  Indiana  mili 
tia.  The  mounted  men,  consisting  of  dragoons  and  riflemen,  amounted  to  about  two 
hundred  and  seventy.  The  command  of  the  dragoons  was  given  to  Colonel  Daviess, 
and  of  the  riflemen  to  General  Wells,  both  having  the  relative  rank  of  major. 

The  army  was  near  the  Vermilion  River  on  the  2d  of  November,  and  there,  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Wabash,  built  a  block-house  twenty-five  feet  square,  in  which 
eight  men  were  placed,  to  protect  the  boats  employed  in  bringing  up  provisions  for 
the  army.  On  the  following  daya  the  army  moved  forward,  and  on  the  a  November  3, 
5th  encamped  within  eleven  miles  of  the  Prophet's  town.  Harrison  had  1811> 

been  careful,  on  the  preceding  day,  to  avoid  the  dangerous  passes  of  Pine  Creek, 
whose  banks,  for  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  from  its  mouth,  were  immense  cliffs  of  rock, 
where  a  few  men  might  dispute  the  passage  of  large  numbers.1 

From  their  encampment  on  the  5th,  looking  northward,  stretched  an  immense  prai 
rie,  extending  far  beyond  the  limits  of  vision.  It  reached  to  the  Illinois  at  Chicago, 
the  guides  asserted.  It  filled  the  troops,  who  had  never  been  on  the  northwest  side 
of  the  Wabash,  with  the  greatest  astonishment ;  but  their  attention  was  soon  drawn 
from  the  contemplation  of  nature  to  watchfulness  against  the  wiles  of  their  own  spe 
cies.  Until  now  they  had  seen  no  Indians,  though  often  discovering  their  trails.  On 
the  following  day,b  when  within  five  or  six  miles  of  the  Prophet's  town, 

*  b  November  C. 

they  were  seen  hovering  around  the  army  on  every  side.  The  approach 
of  the  troops  had  become  known  to  the  Prophet,  and  his  scouts,  numerous  and  saga 
cious,  watched  every  step  of  the  invaders.  Great  caution  was  now  necessary,  and 
the  same  order  of  march  which  Harrison,  as  Wayne's  aid,  had  planned  for  that  gen 
eral  in  I794,2he  now  adopted.  The  infantry  marched  in  two  columns  on  both  sides 
of  the  path,  and  the  dragoons  and  mounted  riflemen  in  front,  rear,  and  on  the  flanks. 
To  facilitate  the  march,  and  keep  the  troops  in  position  for  a  quick  and  precise  forma 
tion  into  battle  order  in  the  event  of  an  ambuscade,  they  were  broken  into  short  col 
umns  of  companies.  They  had  now  left  the  open  prairie,  and  were  marching  most 
of  the  time  through  open  woods,  the  ground  furrowed  by  ravines.  Parties  of  In 
dians  were  continually  making  their  appearance,  and  Barron  and  other  interpreters 
tried,  but  in  vain,  to  speak  to  their  leaders.  Finally,  when  within  a  mile  and  a  half 
of  the  Prophet's  town,  Toussaint  Dubois,  of  Vincennes,  offered  to  take  a  message  to 
the  mongrel  warrior-pontiff.  The  menaces  of  the  savages  were  so  alarming  that  he 
soon  turned  back,  and  the  army  pressed  forward  toward  the  Tippecanoe. 

The  alarmed  savages  now  asked  for  a  parley.  It  was  granted.  They  assured  Har 
rison  that  the  Prophet  had  sent  back  a  friendly  message  by  the  Delaware  and  Miami 
couriers,  but  that  they  had  gone  down  the  eastern  bank,  and  missed  him  on  his  march. 
They  were  surprised  at  his  coming  so  soon,  and  hoped  he  would  not  disturb  and  fright 
en  their  women  and  children  by  occupying  their  town.  Harrison  assured  them  that 
he  was  ready  to  have  a  friendly  talk  with  them,  and  desired  a  good  place  for  an  en 
campment.  They  pointed  to  a  suitable  spot  back  from  the  Wabash,  on  the  borders 
of  a  creek  less  than  a  mile  northwest  from  the  Prophet's  town.  Two  officers  (Majors 
Taylor  and  Clarke)  were  sent  with  Quarter-master  Piatt  to  examine  it.  They  report 
ed  that  the  situation  was  excellent.  Harrison  then  parted  with  the  chiefs  who  had 
come  out  to  meet  him,  after  an  interchange  of  promises  that  no  hostilities  should  be 
commenced  until  an  interview  should  be  held  the  following  day.  "  I  found  the  ground 
destined  for, the  encampment,"  Harrison  wrote, "not  altogether  such  as  I  could  wish 

i  It  was  believed  that  the  Indians  might  make  a  stand  there,  as  they  did  in  1780,  when  General  George  Rogers  Clarke 
undertook  a  campaign  against  the  Wabash  Indians,  and  again,  in  1790,  when  Major  Hamtramck  penetrated  that  region 
with  a  small  force  as  high  as  the  Vermilion  River,  to,  make  a  diversion  in  favor  of  General  Harmar's  expedition  on  the 
Maumee.  2  See  page  54. 


202 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Harrison's  Encampment  on  the  Tippecanoe  Battle-ground. 


Its  Arrangement  and  Composition. 


it.  It  was,  indeed,  admirably  calculated  for  the  encampment  of  regular  troops  that 
were  opposed  to  regulars,  but  it  afforded  great  facility  to  the  approach  of  savages. 
It  was  a  piece  of  dry  oak  land,  rising  about  ten  feet  above  the  level  of  a  marshy  prai 
rie  in  front  (toward  the  Prophet's  town),  and  nearly  twice  that  height  above  a  simi 
lar  prairie  in  the  rear,  through  which,  and  near  to  this  bank,  ran  a  small  stream  clothed 
with  willows  and  other  brushwood.  Toward  the  left  flank  this  bench  of  land  widened 
considerably,  but  became  gradually  narrower  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  at  the  dis 
tance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  right  flank  terminated  in  an  abrupt 
point."1  No  doubt  the  wily  savages  recommended  this  position  that  they  might 
employ  their  peculiar  mode  of  warfare  advantageously. 

The  above  is  a  good  description  of  the  locality  as  it  appeared  when  I  visited  it  in 
the  autumn  of  1 860.  It  was  still  covered  with  the  same  oaks ;  on  "  the  front,"  toward 
Wabash  and  Tippecanoe  Creek,  stretched  the  same  "  wet"  or  frequently  overflowed 
prairie  ;  in  "  the  rear"  was  the  same  higher  bank,  and  prairie,  and  Burnet's  Creek ;  and 
at  the  "  abrupt  point"  the  Louisville,  New  Albany,  and  Chicago  Railway  strikes  the 
"  bench  of  land,"  and  runs  parallel  with  the  common  wagon-road  along  the  bank  over 
looking  the  "  wet  prairie."  In  the  annexed  sketch,  taken  from  "  the  abrupt  point," 
looking  northeast  over  the  camp-ground,  is  seen  the  southern  portion  of  the  inclosure 

of  the  battle-field,  near 
which  Spencer's  rifle 
men  were  posted,  indi 
cated  on  the  plan  of 
the  encampment  on 
page  205.  The  horse 
man  denotes  the  direc 
tion  of  the  wet  prairie 
toward  the  Prophet's 
town,  and  the  steep 
bank  seen  on  the  left 
of  the  picture  has  Bur- 
net's  Creek  flowing  at 
its  base,  and  was  still 
"clothed  with  wil 
lows,"  shrubbery,  and 
vines. 

Harrison  arranged 
his  camp  with  care  on 
the  afternoon  of  the 
6th  of  November,  in 
the  form  of  an  irregular  parallelogram,  on  account  of  the  slope  of  the  ground.  On  the 
front  was  a  battalion  of  United  States  infantry,  under  Major  George  Rogers  Clarke 
Floyd,2  flanked  on  the  left  by  one  company,  and  on  the  right  by  two  companies  of  In 
diana  militia,  under  Colonel  Joseph  Bartholomew.3  In  the  rear  was  a  battalion  of 
United  States  infantry,  under  Captain  William  C.  Baen,4  acting  as  major,  with  Cap 
tain  Robert  C.  Barton,5  of  the  regulars,  in  immediate  command.  These  were  support 
ed  on  the  right  by  four  companies  of  Indiana  militia,  led  respectively  by  Captains 


VIEW    AT   TU'l'JiCAJiOJi  BATTL.E-GKOC.N1>. 


i  Harrison's  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War  from  Vincennes,  November  IS,  1811. 

=  Was  appointed  Captain  of  the  Seventh  Infantry  in  1808,  and  Major  of  the  Fourth  Infantry  in  1S10.    In  August,  1812, 
he  was  promoted  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Seventh  Infantry,  and  resigned  in  April,  1813. 

3  Afterward  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Indiana  Volunteers  under  General  Harrison.    He  was  appointed  United  States  Ma 
jor  General  of  the  Indiana  Territory  in  1816. 

4  Appointed  Captain  of  the  Fourth  Infantry  in  1808,  and  died  of  his  wounds  received  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  on 
the  9th  of  November,  1811. 

s  First  Lieutenant  in  Fourth  Infantry  in  1808,  promoted  to  captain  in  1809,  and  resigned  in  September,  1812. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  203 


Harrison's  Instructions.  The  Camp  in  Repose.  The  Indians  in  Commotion.  The  Prophet's  Treachery. 

Josiah  Snelling,  Jr.,1  John  Posey,  Thomas  Scott,  and  Jacob  Warrick,  the  whole  com 
manded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Luke  Decker.  The  right  flank,  eighty  yards  wide,  was 
filled  with  mounted  riflemen,  under  Captain  Spear  Spencer.  The  left,  about  one  hund 
red  and  fifty  yards  in  extent,  was  composed  of  mounted  riflemen,  under  Major  Gen 
eral  Samuel  Wells,2  commanding  as  major,  and  led  by  Colonels  Frederick  Geiger3  and 
David  Robb,  as  captains.  Two  troops  of  dragoons,  under  Colonel  Joseph  H.  Da- 
viess,  acting  as  major,  were  stationed  in  the  rear  of  the  front  line  near  the  left  flank; 
and  at  a  right  angle  with  these  companies,  in  the  rear  of  the  left  flank,  was  a  troop 
of  cavalry  as  a  reserve,  under  Captain  Benjamin  Parke.4  Wagons,  baggage,  officers' 
tents,  etc.,  were  in  the  centre. 

Having  completed  the  arrangement  of  his  camp  and  supped,  Harrison  summoned 
the  field-officers  to  his  tent  by  a  signal,  and  gave  them  instructions.  He  ordered  that 
each  corps  that  formed  the  exterior  line  of  the  camp  should  hold  its  ground,  in  case 
of  an  attack,  until  relieved.  In  the  event  of  a  night  attack,  the  cavalry  were  to  pa 
rade  dismounted,  with  their  pistols  in  their  belts,  and  act  as  a  corps  de  reserve.  Two 
captains'  guards,  of  forty-two  privates  each,  and  two  subalterns',  of  twenty  each,  were 
detailed  to  defend  the  camp.  The  whole  were  commanded  by  the  field-officer  of  the 
day.  Thus  prepared,  the  whole  camp,  except  the  sentinels  and  guards,  were  soon 
soundly  sleeping.  There  was  a  slight  drizzle  of  rain  at  intervals,  and  the  darkness 
was  intense,  except  occasionally  when  the  clouds  parted  and  faint  moonlight  came 
through. 

Quite  different  was  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Indian  camp.  There  was  no  sleep 
there.  Both  parties  had  agreed  to  parley  before  fighting,  and  there  should  have  been 
no  excitement ;  but  the  dusky  foe  of  the  white  man  had  no  respect  for  truces.  The 
unprincipled  Prophet,  surrounded  by  his  dupes,  prepared  for  treachery  and  murder  as 
soon  as  the  curtain  of  night  had  fallen  upon  the  land.5  He  brought  out  the  Magic 
Bowl.  In  one  hand  he  held  the  sacred  torch,  or  "  Medean  fire,"  in  the  other  a  string 
of  beans  which  he  called  holy,  and  were  accounted  to  be  miraculous  in  their  effect 
when  touched.  His  followers  were  all  required  to  touch  this  talisman  and  be  made 
invulnerable,  and  then  to  take  an  oath  to  exterminate  the  pale-faces.  When  this  was 
accomplished,  the  Prophet  went  through  a  long  series  of  incantations  and  mystical 
movements  ;  then  turning  to  his  highly-excited  band,  about  seven  hundred  in  num 
ber,  he  told  them  that  the  time  to  attack  the  white  men  had  come.  "  They  are  in 
your  power,"  he  said,  holding  up  the  holy  beans  as  a  reminder  of  their  oath.  "  They 
sleep  now,  and  will  never  awake.  The  Great  Spirit  will  give  light  to  us,  and  dark 
ness  to  the  white  men.  Their  bullets  shall  not  harm  us ;  your  weapons  shall  be  al- 

1  First  Lieutenant  in  Fourth  Infantry  in  1808,  regimental 
paymaster  in  April,  1S09,  and  promoted  to  captain  in  June  the 
same  year.    He  was  breveted  a  major  for  gallantry  at  Browns- 
town,  in  August,  1S12.    In  April,  1813,  was  appointed  assistant 
inspector  general,  with  the  rank  of  major,  and  in  February, 
1814,  was  commissioned  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Fourth  Reg 
iment  of  Riflemen.    In  April  he  received  the  commission  of 
inspector  general,  with  the  rank  of  colonel.    He  was  distin 
guished  at  Lyon's  Creek,  on  the  Chippewa,  under  GeneralBis- 
sell ;  and  when  the  army  was  placed  on  a  peace  footing  in  1815 
he  was  retained  as  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Sixth  Infantry. 

He  was  promoted  to  Colonel  of  the  Fifth  in  1819.    He  died  at  Washington  City  on  the  20th  of  August,  1S2S. 

2  He  was  a  major  in  Adair's  battalion  of  mounted  riflemen,  General  Charles  Scott's  division  of  Kentucky  Volunteers, 
in  1T93.    He  was  afterward  made  Major  General  of  the  Kentucky  Militia.    He  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  Seventeenth 
Regiment  of  Infantry  in  March,  1812,  and  was  disbanded  in  May,  1814. 

3  He  afterward  commanded  a  company  of  Louisville  Volunteers  under  Major  General  Harrison. 

*  Parke  was  promoted  to  major  on  this  field  of  action  by  Governor  Harrison  for  his  gallant  conduct.  His  company 
was  discharged  in  November,  1812. 

5  It  is  believed  that  the  treachery  of  the  Indians  did  not  take  the  shape  of  an  attack  on  Harrison's  camp  until  late  that 
evening,  it  having  been  primarily  arranged  that  they  should  meet  the  governor  in  council,  and  appear  to  agree  to  his 
terms.  At  the  close  the  chiefs  were  to  retire  to  their  warriors,  when  two  Winnebagoes,  selected  for  the  purpose,  were 
to  kill  the  governor,  and  give  the  signal  for  the  uprising  of  the  Indians.— See  Indian  Biography,  by  Samuel  G.  Drake, 
1832  ;  12mo,  page  33T. 


204  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Furious  Attack  on  Harrison's  Camp.  Good  Behavior  of  raw  Troops.  Gallantry  of  Major  Daviess. 

ways  fatal."  Then  followed  war-songs  and  dances,  until  the  Indians,  wrought  up  to 
a  perfect  frenzy,  rushed  forth  to  attack  Harrison's  camp  without  any  leaders.  Stealth 
ily  they  crept  through  the  long  grass  of  the  prairie  in  the  deep  gloom,  intending  to 
surround  their  enemy's  position,  kill  the  sentinels,  rush  into  the  camp,  and  massacre 
all.1 

Harrison  was  in  the  habit  of  rising  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  calling  his  troops 
to  arms,  and  keeping  them  so  until  broad  daylight.  On  the  morning  of  the  7th  of 
November  he  was  just  pulling  on  his  boots  at  the  usual  hour,  when  a  single  gun  was 
fired  by  a  sentinel  at  the  northwest  angle  of  the  camp,  near  the  bank  of  Burnet's 
Creek.  This  was  instantly  followed  by  the  horrid  yells  of  numerous  savages  in  that 
quarter,  who  opened  a  murderous  fire  upon  the  companies  of  Baen  and  Geiger  that 
formed  that  angle.  The  foe  had  been  creeping  up  stealthily  to  tomahawk  the  senti 
nels,  but  the  sharp  eyes  of  one  of  them  had  detected  the  moving  savage  in  the  gloom, 
and  fired  upon  him  with  fatal  effect.2  Their  assault  was  furious,  and  in  their  frenzy 
several  Indians  penetrated  through  the  lines,  but  never  to  return. 

The  whole  camp  was  soon  awakened  by  demon  yells  and  a  cry  to  arms,  and  the 
officers,  with  all  possible  speed  and  precision,  in  the  faint  light  of  smouldering  fires, 
placed  their  men  in  battle  order.  These  fires  were  then  extinguished,  for  they  were 
more  useful  to  the  assailants  than  to  the  assailed.  Nineteen  twentieths  of  the  troops 
had  never  been  in  battle,  yet,  considering  the  alarming  circumstances  of  the  attack, 
their  conduct  was  cool  and  gallant,  and  very  little  noise  or  confusion  followed  such  a 
sudden  awaking  from  sleep  and  call  to  defend  life.  The  most  of  them  were  in  line 
before  they  were  fired  upon,  but  some  were  compelled  to* fight  defensively  at  the  doors 
of  their  tents. 

Harrison  called  for  his  horse — a  fine  white  charger — but  in  affright  the  animal  had 
pulled  up  the  stake  that  held  his  tether,  and  could  not  be  found.  The  governor  im 
mediately  mounted  a  fine  bay  horse  that  stood  snorting  near,  and  with  his  aid,  Colo 
nel  Owen,  hastened  to  the  angle  of  the  camp  where  the  attack  was  first  made.3  He 
found  that  Barton's  company  had  suffered  severely,  and  the  left  of  Geiger's  was  en 
tirely  broken.  He  immediately  ordered  Cook's  company  and  that  of  the  late  Captain 
Wentworth,  under  Lieutenant  Peters,  to  be  brought  up  from  the  centre  of  the  rear 
line,  where  the  ground  was  much  more  defensible,  and  form  across  the  angle  in  sup 
port  of  Barton  and  Geiger.  At  that  moment  the  governor's  attention  was  directed 
to  firing  at  the  northeast  angle  of  the  camp,  where  a  small  company  of  United  States 
riflemen,  armed  with  muskets,  and  the  companies  of  Baen,  Snelling,  and  Prescott,  of 
the  Fourth  Regiment,  were  stationed.  There  he  found  Major  Daviess  forming  the 
dragoons  in  the  rear  of  those  companies.  Observing  heavy  firing  from  some  trees 
about  twenty  paces  in  front  of  them,  he  directed  the  major  to  dislodge  them  with  a 
part  of  his  dragoons.  "  Unfortunately,"  says  Harrison  in  his  dispatch  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  "  the  major's  gallantry  determined  him  to  execute  the  order  with  a 
smaller  force  than  was  sufficient,  which  enabled  the  enemy  to  avoid  him  in  front  and 

1  During  the  night  a  negro  camp  follower  who  had  been  missed  from  duty  was  found  lurking  near  the  governor's 
marquee,  and  arrested.  He  was  tried  after  the  battle  by  a  drum-head  court-martial,  and  was  convicted  of  having  de 
serted  to  the  enemy,  and  returned  for  the  purpose  of  murdering  the  governor.  He  was  sentenced  to  be  hung  immedi 
ately,  but  was  saved  in  consequence  of  the  kindness  of  heart  of  the  governor.  His  imploring  eyes  touched  Harrison's 
tender  feelings,  and  he  referred  the  matter  to  the  commissioned  officers  present.  Some  were  for  his  immediate  execu 
tion,  when  Snelling  said,  "  Brave  comrades,  let  us  save  him.  The  wretch  deserves  to  die ;  but  as  our  commander,  whose 
life  was  more  particularly  his  object,  is  willing  to  spare  him,  let  us  also  forgive  him.  I  hope,  at  least,  that  every  officer 
of  the  Fourth  Regiment  will  be  on  the  side  of  mercy."  Ben  was  saved.— Harrison's  letter  to  Governor  Scott,  of  Ken 
tucky,  cited  by  Hall,  page  140.  Captain  Funk,  in  his  narrative,  says  the  negro  was  the  driver  of  Governor  Harrison's 
cart,  and  that  he  informed  the  Indians  that  the  white  people  had  no  cannon  with  them.  Cannon  were  the  dread  of  the 
savages.  Doubtless  this  information  caused  a  change  in  the  policy  mentioned  in  note  5,  page  203,  and  caused  the  sav 
ages  to  conclude  to  attack  the  pale-faces. 

>»a  Judge  Naylor,  of  Crawfordsville,  already  mentioned  as  a  participant  in  the  battle,  informed  me  that  the  name  of  the 
sentinel  who  first  fired  and  gave  the  alarm  was  Stephen  Mars,  of  Kentucky.  He  fired,  and  fled  to  the  camp,  but  was 
shot  before  reaching  it. 

3  Statement  of  Judge  Naylor.  Captain  Funk  says  that  Harrison's  own  white  horse  was  ridden  by  Major  Taylor,  the 
general's  aid,  against  his  wishes. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


205 


Battle  of  Tippecanoe. 


The  Severity  of  the  Battle. 


Death  of  Major  Daviess. 


attack  him  on  his  flanks.  The  major  was  mortally  wounded,1  and  his  party  driven 
back."2  Harrison  immediately  promoted  Captain  Parke  to  Daviess's  rank  just  as  in 
telligence  was  brought  to  him  that  Captain  Snelling,  with  his  company  of  regulars, 
had  driven  the  savages  from  their  murderous  position  Avith  heavy  loss. 


TIPPECANOE 

(Camp  aai  Battle. 


The  battle  now  became  more  general.  The  Indians  attacked  the  camp  on  the 
whole  front  and  both  flanks,  and  a  portion  of  the  rear  line.  They  fell  with  great  se 
verity  upon  Spencer's  mounted  riflemen  on  the  right  and  the  right  section  of  War- 
rick's  company,  which  formed  the  southwest  angle  of  the  encampment.  Spencer  and 
his  lieutenant  were  killed,  and  Warrick  was  mortally  wounded,  and  yet  their  men 
gallantly  maintained  their  position.  They  were  speedily  re-enforced  by  Robb's  rifle 
men,  who  had  been  driven  or  ordered  by  mistake  from  their  position  on  the  left  flank 
toward  the  centre  of  the  camp,  and  at  the  same  time  Prescott's  company  of  the 
Fourth  Regiment  was  ordered  to  fill  the  space  vacated  by  the  riflemen,  the  grand 
object  being  to  maintain  the  lines  of  the  camp  unbroken  until  daylight,  when  the  as- 

1  The  letter  B  in  the  plan  marks  the  spot  where  Daviess  fell.    It  was  near  an  oak  whose  top  was  blown  off  in  a  gale 
a  few  years  ago.    It  is  seen  in  the  sketch  of  the  battle-ground  as  it  appeared  in  I860,  printed  on  page  209. 

2  Daviess  was  gallant  and  impatient  of  restraint.    One  of  his  party  was  General  Washington  Johns,  of  Vincennes,  a 
quarter-master  of  the  dragoons,  who  was  intimate  with  Harrison.    Daviess  sent  him  to  the  governor  when  the  Indians 
first  made  the  attack  at  this  point,  asking  permission  to  go  out  on  foot  and  charge  the  foe.     "  Tell  Major  Daviess  to  be 
patient ;  he  shall  have  an  honorable  station  before  the  battle  is  over,"  Harrison  replied.    In  a  few  moments  Daviess 
repeated  the  request,  and  the  governor  made  the  same  reply.    Again  he  repeated  it,  when  Harrison  said,  "Tell  Major 
Daviess  he  has  heard  my  opinion  twice  ;  he  may  now  use  his  own  discretion."    The  gallant  major,  with  only  twenty 
picked  men,  instantly  charged  beyond  the  lines  on  foot,  and  was  mortally  wounded.    He  was  a  conspicuous  mark  in 
the  gloom,  because  he  wore  a  white  blanket  coat.— Statements  of  Judge  Naylor  and  Captain  Funk.    The  latter  says  Col 
onel  Daviess's  horse  was  a  roan  bought  of  Frank  Moore,  of  Louisville.    The  Indians  were  masked  by  some  fallen  tim 
ber.    Captain  Funk  attended  him  at  about  nine  o'clock ;  assisted  in  changing  his  clothes,  and  dressing  his  wounds.    He 
was  shot  between  the  right  hip  and  ribs,  and  it  was  believed  that  the  fatal  bullet  proceeded  from  the  ranks  of  his  friends 
firing  in  the  gloom.    Daviess  was  afraid  the  expedition  might  be  driven  away  hastily,  and  leave  those  wounded  behind. 
He  exacted  a  promise  from  Captain  Funk  that  in  no  event  would  he  leave  him  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  savages. 


206  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Defeat  of  the  Indians.  The  Prophet  in  Disgrace.  Return  of  the  Army  to  Vincennes. 

sailed  would  be  able  to  make  a  general  charge  upon  a  visible  foe.  To  do  this  re 
quired  great  activity  on  the  part  of  the  commander.  Harrison  was  constantly  rid 
ing  from  point  to  point  within  the  camp,  and  kept  the  assailed  positions  re-enforced. 
Finally,  when  the  day  dawned,  he  discovered  the  larger  portion  of  the  Indians  to  be 
on  the  two  flanks.  He  accordingly  strengthened  these,  and  was  about  to  order  the 
cavalry,  under  Parke,  to  charge  upon  the  foe  on  the  left,  when  Major  Wells,  not  un 
derstanding  Harrison's  intentions,  led  the  infantry  to  perform  that  duty.  It  was  ex 
ecuted  gallantly  and  eifectually.  The  Indians  were  driven  at  the  point  of  the  bay 
onet,  and  the  dragoons  pursued  them  into  the  wet  prairies  on  both  sides  of  the  ridge 
on  which  the  battle  was  fought.  The  ground  was  too  soft  for  the  horsemen  to  pur 
sue,  and  the  savages  escaped.  Meanwhile  the  Indians  had  been  charged  and  put  to 
flight  on  the  right  flank,  and  had  also  taken  refuge  in  the  marshy  ground,  chiefly  on 
the  side  of  Burnet's  Creek,  where  they  were  sheltered  from  view.1 

Looking  eastward  from  the  site  of  the  battle-ground  over  the  "  wet  prairie"  (now 
a  fenced  and  cultivated  plain)  toward  the  Wabash,  the  visitor  will  see  a  range  of 
very  gentle  hills,  covered  with  woods.  On  one  of  these  the  Prophet  stood  while  the 
battle  was  raging  on  that  dark  November  morning,  at  a  safe  distance  from  danger, 
singing  a  war-song  and  performing  some  protracted  religious  mummeries.  When 
told  that  his  followers  were  falling  before  the  bullets  of  the  white  men,  he  said, 
"  Fight  on,  it  will  soon  be  as  I  told  you."  When  at  last  the  fugitive  warriors  of 
many  tribes — Shawnoese,  Wyandots,  Kickapoos,  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Pottawatomies, 
Winnebagoes,  Sacs,  and  a  few  Miamis  —  lost  their  faith,  and  covered  the  Prophet 
with  reproaches,  he  cunningly  told  them  that  his  predictions  had  failed  because,  dur 
ing  his  incantations,  his  wife  touched  the  sacred  vessels  and  broke  the  charm  !  Even 
Indian  superstition  and  credulity  could  not  accept  that  transparent  falsehood  for  an 
excuse,  and  the  impostor  was  deserted  by  his  disappointed  followers,  and  compelled 
to  take  refuge  with  a  small  band  of  Wyandots  on  Wild-cat  Creek.  The  foe  had 
scattered  in  all  directions  into  places  where  the  white  man  could  not  well  follow. 

"  Sound,  sound  the  charge  !  spur,  spur  the  steed, 

And  swift  the  fugitives  pursue: 
"Pis  vain  ;  rein  in — your  utmost  speed 
Could  not  o'ertake  the  recreant  crew. 
In  lowland  marsh,  in  dell  or  cave, 
Each  Indian  sought  his  life  to  save  ; 
Whence  peering  forth,  with  fear  and  ire, 
He  saw  his  Prophet's  town  on  fire." 

•  November  8,         When,  on  the  day  after  the  battle,a  Harrison  and  his  army  advanced 
isii.  upon  the  Prophet's  town,  they  found  it  deserted.     After  getting  all  the 

copper  kettles  they  could  find,  and  as  much  beans  and  corn  as  they  could  carry  away, 
they  applied  the  torch,  and  the  village  and  a  large  quantity  of  corn  were  speedily  re 
duced  to  ashes.  Six  days  afterward  the  army,  bearing  the  wounded  in  twenty-two 
wagons,  reached  Fort  Harrison  on  its  return  to  Vincennes.  Captain  Snelling,  with 
his  company  of  regulars,  was  left  to  garrison  the  fort,  and,  on  the  18th  of  the  month, 
the  remainder  of  the  army,  excepting  some  volunteers  disbanded  the  day  before, 
were  at  Fort  Knox,  in  the  capital  of  the  Indiana  Territory.  The  immediate  result 
of  the  expedition  was  to  scatter  the  Prophet's  warriors  on  the  Wabash,  frustrate  the 
scheme  of  Tecumtha,  and  give  temporary  relief  to  the  settlers  in  Indiana. 

Tecumtha,  who  was  really  a  great  man  (while  the  Prophet  was  a  cunning  dema 
gogue  and  cheat — a  tool  in  the  hands  of  his  brother),  was  absent  among  the  South- 

i  Harrison's  dispatch  to  Dr.Enstis,  Secretary  of  War,  November  IS,  1811 ;  M'Afee's  Tlistorji  of  the  Late  War  in  the  West 
ern  Country,  pages  22-30 ;  Onderdonk's  MS.  Life  of  Tecumseh ;  Drake's  Indian  Biography ;  Hall's  Life  of  Harrison,  pages 
132-146;  Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  pages  447-472;  statements  to  the  author  by  Judge  Naylor,  of  Crawfordsville,  In 
diana,  and  Major  Funk,  of  Kentucky. 

The  7th  was  passed  in  burying  the  dead  and  strengthening  the  encampment,  for  rumors  were  plenty  that  Tecumtha 
was  coming  to  the  aid  of  his  brother  with  a  thousand  warriors.  "Night,"  says  Captain  Funk,  "found  every  man 
mounting  guard,  without  food,  fire,  or  light,  and  in  a  drizzly  rain.  The  Indian  dogs,  during  the  dark  hours,  produced 
frequent  alarms  by  prowling  in  search  of  carrion  about  the  sentinels." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  207 


Tecumtha  disappointed.  Recruiting-tour  of  the  Prophet.  Life  and  Character  of  Major  Daviess. 

ern  Indians  when  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  occurred.  He  returned  soon  afterward, 
and  found  all  his  schemes  frustrated  by  the  folly  of  the  Prophet.  The  sudden  un 
popularity  of  the  impostor  deprived  him  of  a  strong  instrument  in  the  construction 
of  his  confederacy,  to  which  his  life  and  labors  had  been  long  directed  with  the  zeal 
of  a  true  patriot.  He  saw  his  brightest  visions  dissipated  in  a  moment.  Mortified, 
vexed,  and  exasperated,  and  failing  to  obtain  the  acquiescence  of  Governor  Harrison 
in  his  proposition  to  visit  the  President  with  a  deputation  of  chiefs,  he  abandoned  all 
thoughts  of  peace,  and  became  a  firm  ally  of  the  British.1 

In  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  Harrison  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-eight.2  It  was  a  hard-fought  and  well-fought  battle,  and  attested  both  the 
skill  and  bravery  of  Harrison.3  The  expediency  and  conduct  of  the  campaign  were 
topics  for  much  discussion,  and  elicited  not  a  little  severity  of  censure  from  the  op 
ponents  of  the  administration  and  of  war.  Harrison  was  a  personal  and  political 
friend  of  President  Madison,  and  this  gave  license  to  the  opposition  to  make  him  a 
target  for  denunciatory  volleys.  His  prudence,  his  patriotism,  his  military  skill,  his 
courage,  were  all  brought  in  question ;  and  some  claimed  the  chaplet  of  fame  for  the 
victory  gained,  for  the  brow  of  Colonel  Boyd.4  But  time,  the  great  healer  of  dissen- 

1  Elkswatawa  (the  Prophet)  now  started  on  a  recruiting-tour  among  the  various  tribes  on  the  Upper  Lakes  and  Mis 
sissippi,  all  of  which  he  visited  with  astonishing  success.    He  entered  the  villages  of  his  most  inveterate  enemies,  and 
of  others  who  had  not  even  heard  his  name,  and  so  manoeuvred  as  to  make  his  mystery-fire  and  sacred  string  of  beans 
a  safe  passport  through  all  their  settlements.    He  enlisted  some  eight  or  ten  thousand  warriors  to  fight  the  battles  of  bis 
brother.    He  carried  into  every  wigwam  an  image  of  a  dead  person  the  size  of  life,  which  was  ingeniously  made  of 
some  light  material,  and  kept  concealed  under  bandages  of  thin  white  muslin,  and  not  to  be  opened  to  public  scrutiny. 
Of  this  he  made  great  mystery,  and  got  his  recruits  to  swear  by  touching  the  string  of  white  beans  attached  to  its  neck. 
By  his  extraordinary  cunning  he  carried  terror  wherever  he  went.    If  they  did  not  obey  him  he  threatened  to  make  the 
earth  tremble  to  its  centre  and  darken  the  light  of  the  sun.    Nature  seemed  to  conspire  with  the  Prophet,  for  at  this 
very  time  an  earthquake  extended  along  the  Mississippi,  demolishing  houses  and  settling  the  ground.    A  comet,  too, 
appeared  in  the  north  with  fearful  length  of  tail,  and  seemed  a  harbinger  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  predictions  of  the  Proph 
et.    The  sun  was  eclipsed,  to  the  great  terror  of  the  savages,  but,  as  the  Prophet  declared,  it  resumed  its  wonted  bright 
ness  because  of  his  intercession.    But  while  in  the  full  tide  of  success,  two  rival  chiefs  of  his  own  tribe  dogged  the  foot 
steps  of  the  Prophet,  denounced  him  as  an  impostor,  and  exposed  his  tricks.— On derdonk's  MS.  Life  ofTecumseh. 

2  He  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  ten  officers,  namely,  one  aid-de-camp,  one  major,  three  captains,  two  subalterns,  one 
sergeant,  and  two  corporals.    Judge  Naylor  told  me  that  the  sergeant  and  himself  were  asleep  at  the  same  fire  when 
the  attack  commenced,  and  that  a  bullet  from  an  Indian's  musket  killed  him  as  he  was  springing  to  his  feet.    Colonel 
Abraham  Owen,  Harrison's  aid-de-camp,  was  killed  early  in  the  engagement,  when  he  and  the  governor  rode  to  the  point 
of  first  attack.    Letter  A  in  the  plan  on  page  205  marks  the  spot  where  he  fell.    He  rode  a  white  horse,  and  this  made 
him  a  mark  for  the  Indians.    The  enemies  of  Harrison  afterward  asserted  that  the  latter,  to  conceal  himself,  had  ex 
changed  horses  with  Owen.    The  fact  was  as  I  have  stated— his  own  horse  had  scampered  away  in  a  fright,  and  he  had 
mounted  the  first  one  near,  which  happened  to  be  a  dark-colored  one.    The  horse  Owen  rode  was  his  own.    That  offi 
cer  had  joined  him  as  a  private  of  Geiger's  company,  and  had  been  accepted  as  his  volunteer  aid.    He  was  a  good  citi 
zen  and  a  brave  soldier,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  Kentucky  Legislature. 

Among  the  mortally  wounded,  and  who  died  before  Harrison  made  his  report,  was  Major  Daviess,  and  Captains  Baen 
and  Warrick.  Daviess,  commonly  called  "Joe  Daviess,"  was  the  most  brilliant  man  in  that  little  army,  and  was  as 
brave  as  he  was  brilliant.  He  was  a  Virginian  by  birth,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  only  thirty-seven  years  of  age. 
He  took  a  leading  part  against  Aaron  Burr  in  the  West  in  1S06.  Previous  to  that  he  had  been  a  successful  opponent  of 
the  Nicholases  in  political  movements,  they  being  Republicans  and  he  a  Federalist.  He  was  a  great  student,  very  ab 
stemious,  used  a  hewn  block  for  a  pillow,  and  a  bed  nearly  as  hard.  His  oratory  was  powerful,  and  Wilson  C.  Nicholas, 
the  leader  of  that  art  in  Kentucky  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  was  often  compelled  to  bend  to  his  young  rival.  Al 
luding  to  this  power,  a  Tennessee  poet  (Robert  Mack)  wrote  as  follows,  in  a  rhyming  eulogy,  after  his  death : 

"Emerging  from  his  studious  shed, 

Behold,  behold  him  rise  ! 
All  Henry  bursting  from  his  tongue, 

And  Marshall  from  his  eyes. 
Chained  by  the  magic  of  his  voice, 

Fierce  party  spirit  stood  ; 
E'en  prejudice  almost  gave  way, 
While  with  resistless  reasoning's  sway 
O'er  far-famed  Nicholas  he  rolled 

The  oratorial  flood." 

In  1S01,  '02  Mr.  Daviess  went  to  Washington  City  on  professional  business,  and  was  the  first  Western  lawyer  who  ever 
appeared  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Jefferson  made  him  Attorney  of  the  United  States  for  the 
District  of  Kentucky.  He  married  a  sister  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  and  always  held  a  front  rank  in  his  profession. 
Daviess  County,  Kentucky,  was  named  in  his  honor.  He  was  wounded  at  about  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  7th 
of  November,  and  survived  until  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day.  He  was  nearly  six  feet  high,  vigorous 
and  athletic.  He  was  born  in  Bedford  County,  Virginia,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1774. 

3  Harrison  was  continually  exposed  during  the  action,  but  escaped  unhurt.    A  bullet  passed  through  his  hat.    Major 
Henry  Hurst,  who  was  one  of  his  aids-de-camp  (and  an  active  one)  in  this  battle,  and  was  the  only  lawyer  who  resided 
in  Indiana  while  it  was  a  Territory,  died  at  Jeffersouville,  on  the  Ohio,  opposite  Louisville,  where  he  had  lived  forty 
years,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1855,  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

*  In  his  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  Harrison  said  of  Colonel  Boyd :  "The  whole  of  the  infantry  formed  a  small 


208  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Harrison  and  the  Tippecanoe  Battle.  The  Battle-ground.  A  solemn  Memorial  Poem. 

sions,  corrector  of  errors,  and  destroyer  of  party  and  personal  animosities,  has  long 
since  silenced  the  voice  of  detraction ;  and  the  verdict  of  his  countrymen  to-day,  as 
they  study  the  record  dispassionately,  is  coincident  with  that  of  his  soldiers  at  the 
time,  and  of  the  Kentucky  Legislature  shortly  afterward,  who,  on  motion  of  the 
late  venerable  member  of  Congress,  John  J.  Crittenden,  resolved,  "  That  in  the  late 
campaign  against  the  Indians  on  the  Wabash,  Governor  W.  H.  Harrison  has,  in  the 
opinion  of  this  Legislature,  behaved  like  a  hero,  a  patriot,  and  a  general ;  and  that 
for  his  cool,  deliberate,  skillful,  and  gallant  conduct  in  the  late  battle  of  Tippecanoe, 
he  deserves  the  warmest  thanks  of  the  nation."  History,  art,  and  song1  made  that 
event  the  theme  for  pen,  pencil,  and  voice ;  and  when,  thirty  years  afterward,  the 
leader  of  the  fray  was  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States,  he  was 
every  where  known  by  the  familiar  title  of  Old  Tippecanoe.  His  partisans  erected 
log-cabins  in  towns  and  cities,  and  in  them  sang  in  chorus, 

"Hurrah  for  the  father  of  all  the  green  West, 

For  the  Buckeye  who  follows  the  plow ! 
The  foemen  in  terror  his  valor  confessed, 

And  we'll  honor  the  conqueror  now. 
His  country  assailed  in  the  darkest  of  days, 

To  her  rescue  impatient  he  flew ; 
The  war-whoop's  fell  blast,  and  the  rifle's  red  blaze, 

But  awakened  Old  Tippecanoe." 

The  battle-field  of  Tippecanoe  has  become  classic  ground.  It  belonged  to  the  State 
of  Indiana,  and  had  been  inclosed  with  a  rude  wooden  fence  for  several  years,  which, 
we  were  told,  was  soon  to  give  place  to  an  iron  one.  The  inclosure  comprised  seven 
acres.  It  was  a  beautiful  spot.  The  ground,  gently  undulating,  and  sloping  from 
Battle-ground  City1  (an  infant  in  years  and  size),  was  still  covered  with  the  noble 
oaks.  In  the  sketch  here  given,  made  when  I  visited  it  in  October,  1 860,  the  specta 
tor  is  supposed  to  be  standing  just  northward  of  the  place  where  Major  Wells's  line, 
on  the  left  flank,  was  formed  (see  a  plan  of  the  camp  on  page  205),  and  looking  south 
west  over  the  once  wet  prairie  toward  the  Wabash.  On  the  extreme  left,  in  the  dis 
tance,  is  seen  the  gentle  eminence  on  which  the  Prophet  stood  during  the  battle,  sing 
ing  his  war-songs.  Farther  to  the  right,  near  the  row  of  posts,  is  a  large  tree  with 
the  top  broken  off.  It  marks  the  spot  near  which  Daviess  fell.  There  is  only  space 
enough  between  it  and  the  verge  of  the  prairie  below  for  the  common  road  and  the 
railway. 

brigade,  under  the  immediate  orders  of  Colonel  Boyd.  The  colonel  throughout  the  action  manifested  equal  zeal  and 
bravery  in  carrying  into  execution  my  orders,  in  keeping  the  men  to  their  posts,  and  exhorting  them  to  fight  with 
valor."  Judge  Naylor  informed  me  that  he  heard  Colonel  Boyd  frequently  cry  out,  "  Huzzah !  my  sons  of  gold,  the 
day  is  ours !" 

1  Among  the  many  "verses  composed  on  the  occasion  of  the 
battle  of  Tippecanoe,"  none  were  more  popular  in  the  West,  for 
a  long  time,  than  a  string  of  solemn  doggerel,  printed  on  a 
small  broadside  of  rough  paper,  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky.  A  copy 
lies  before  me.  It  is  entitled,  "A  Bloody  Battle  between  the 
United  States  Troops,  under  the  command  of  Governor  Harri 
son,  and  several  Tribes  of  Indians,  near  the  Prophet's  Town. 
November  T,  1811."  At  the  head  is  a  rude  wood-cut,  evidently 
made  by  an  amateur  for  some  other  scene,  for  a  camp  exhibits 
two  cannon.  A  little  distance  off  are  seen  three  Indians.  I  give 
a  fac-simile  of  this  remarkable  "  illustration"  (of  reduced  size),  as 

a  specimen  of  the  art  in  the  West  at  that  time.  The  following  specimen  of  the  "  poetry"  shows  a  "  fitness  of  things"  be 
tween  the  rhyme  and  the  picture  : 

"  Harrison,  a  commander  of  great  renown, 
Led  oil  our  troops  near  by  the  Prophet's  town  ; 
After  evils  o'ercome  and  obstructions  past, 
Near  this  savage  town  they  encamped  at  last." 

Readers  anxious  to  peruse  the  other  seven  verses  will  find  the  whole  "poem"  In  the  third  volume  of  M'Carty's  Xa- 
tional  Sony-book,  page  440. 

*  This  village  is  the  child  of  a  college  located  there,  called  The  Battle-ijround  Institute,  devoted  to  the  education  of 
both  sexes.  It  was  founded  in  1858,  and  the  village  was  soon  afterward  laid  out.  Both  college  and  "city"  are  flour 
ishing.  The  former  was  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  E.  H.  Staley  when  I  was  there,  and  contained  almost  three  hundred 
pupils.  The  college  is  situated  in  a  grove  of  oaks  on  the  upper  border  of  the'battle-prouiid,  and  the  shaded  inclosure 
forms  a  delightful  promenade  and  place  for  out-of-door  study.  Several  students,  with  their  books,  were  seen  under  the 
trees  when  we  were  there. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


209 


Departure  for  Chicago. 


Journey  across  the  Prairies. 


Thunder-storm. 


Arrival  at  Chicago. 


TIPPECANOE   BATTLE-UROUHD   IN    1SOU. 

We  dined  at  the  Battle-ground  House,  and  departed  for  Chicago,  one  hundred  and 
forty  miles  distant,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  journey  was  one  of  real 
pleasure.  Soon  after  leaving,  we  entered  a  prairie,  and  traversed  its  dead  level  for 
seventy  miles,  passing  some  little  villages  on  the  way.  It  was  rich  with  verdure  and 
late  prairie-flowers,  and  the  broad  expanse  was  dotted  here  and  there  in  every  di 
rection,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  comprehend,  with  clumps  of  tall  trees  and  shrubbery, 
which  appeared  like  islands  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  green  sea.  Toward  evening  heavy 
black  clouds  gathered  in  the  northwestern  sky,  and  when  we  approached  Michigan 
City  that  stands  among  the  sand  dunes  at  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan,  just  at  sunset, 
we  ran  into  a  heavy  thunder-shower  that  was  sweeping  around  the  majestic  southern 
curve  of  that  inland  sea.  Darkness  soon  came  on,  and  as  we  approached  Chicago, 
late  in  the  evening,  we  encountered  another  shower.  On  lake  and  prairie  the  light 
ning  descended  in  frequent  streams,  and  the  thunder  roared  fearfully  above  the  din 
of  the  dashing  railway  train.  But  all  was  serene  when  we  arrived  at  Chicago.  The 
stars  were  beaming  brightly,  and  a  young  moon  was  just  dipping  its  horn  below  the 
.great  prairie  on  the  west.  It  had  been  a  day  of  exciting  pleasure  as  well  as  fatigue, 
and  the  night  at  the  Richmond  House  was  one  of  sweet  repose  for  us  all. 


o 


210  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Meeting  of  the  Twelfth  Congress.  Strength  of  Parties  in  that  Body. 


CHAPTER  XL 

"Hark !  the  peal  of  war  is  rang ; 
Hark !  the  song  for  battle's  sung ; 
Firm  be  every  bosom  strung, 

And  every  soldier  ready. 
On  to  Quebec's  embattled  halls ! 
Who  will  pause  when  glory  calls  ? 
Charge,  soldiers !  charge  its  lofty  walls, 

And  storm  its  strong  artillery  ! 
Firm  as  our  native  hills  we'll  stand, 
And  should  the  lords  of  Europe  land, 
We'll  meet  them  on  the  farthest  strand  ; 

We'll  conquer  or  we'll  die !" 

FEOM  THE  TEENTON  TKTTE  AMERICAN. 

INTELLIGENCE  of  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  reached  Washing 
ton  City  soon  after  the  Twelfth  Congress  had  assembled,  and 
produced  a  profound  sensation  in  that  body.  They  had  been 
convened  by  proclamation  a  month  earliera  than  the  a  November  4, 
regular  day  of  meeting.  The  affairs  of  the  coun 
try  were  approaching  a  crisis,  and  this  session  was  to  be  the 
most  important  of  any  since  the  establishment  of  the  nation. 
Both  political  parties  came  fully  armed  and  well  prepared  for  a 
desperate  conflict.  The  Federalists  were  in  a  hopeless  minority  in  both  houses,  but 
were  strong  in  materials.  They  had  but  six  members  in  the  Senate,  where  even  Mas 
sachusetts,  the  home  of  the  "  Essex  Junto,"  was  represented  by  a  Democrat  in  the 
person  of  the  veteran  Joseph  B.  Varnum,  the  speaker  of  the  last  House,  who  had 
been  chosen  to  supersede  Timothy  Pickering.1  Giles,  of  Virginia,  having  joined  a 
faction  similar  to  Randolph's  "  Quids"  in  its  relations  to  the  administration,  Wm.  H. 
Crawford,  of  Georgia,  became  the  leader  in  the  Senate  of  the  dominant  party  proper, 
and  was  ably  supported  by  Campbell,  of  Tennessee. 

In  the  lower  House  the  Federalists  had  but  thirty-six  members,  whose  great  leader 
was  Quincy,  of  Massachusetts,  ably  supported  by  Key,  of  Maryland,  Chittenden,  of 
Vermont,  and  Emott,  of  New  York.  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  were  still  num 
bered  among  the  Federal  states ;  but  in  the  remainder  of  New  England  and  the  State 
of  New  York  the  Democrats  had  a  decided  majority.  There  were  but  ten  Federal 
ists  for  all  the  states  south  of  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware.  The  more  radical  mem 
bers  of  the  last  Congress  had  been  re-elected ;  and  in  Cheves,  Calhoun  and  Lowndes, 
of  South  Carolina,  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  and  Grundy,  of  Tennessee — all  young  men  and 
full  of  vigor — appeared  not  only  Democi-atic  members  of  ability,  but  enthusiastic 
champions  of  war  with  Great  Britain.  With  these  came  the  veteran  Sevier,  the  hero 

i  The  contest  for  power  between  the  Federalists  and  Democrats  of  Massachusetts  had  been  long  and  bitter.  In  1811 
the  latter  succeeded  in  electing  their  candidate  for  governor  (Elbridge  Gerry),  and  a  majority  of  both  houses  of  the  Leg 
islature.  In  order  to  secure  the  election  of  United  States  senators  in  the  future,  it  was  important  to  perpetuate  this 
possession  of  power,  and  measures  were  taken  to  retain  a  Democratic  majority  in  the  State  Senate  in  all  future  years. 
The  senatorial  districts  had  been  formed  without  any  division  of  counties.  This  arrangement,  for  the  purpose  alluded 
to,  was  now  disturbed.  The  Legislature  proceeded  to  rearrange  the  senatorial  districts  of  the  state.  They  divided 
counties  in  opposition  to  the  protests  and  strong  constitutional  arguments  of  the  Federalists  ;  and  those  of  Essex  and 
Worcester  were  so  divided  as  to  form  a  Democratic  district  in  each  of  those  Federal  counties,  without  any  apparent  re 
gard  to  convenience  or  propriety.  The  work  was  sanctioned,  and  became  law  by  the  signature  of  Governor  Gerry.  He 
probably  had  no  other  hand  in  the  matter,  yet  he  received  most  severe  castigations  from  the  opposition. 

In  Essex  County,  the  arrangement  of  the  district  in  its  relation  to  the  towns  was  singular  and  absurd.  Russell,  the 
veteran  editor  of  the  Boston  Centinel,  who  had  fought  against  the  scheme  valiantly,  took  a  map  of  that  county  and  des- 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


211 


Henry  Clay  chosen  Speaker. 


The  President's  feeble  War-trumpet. 


History  of  the  Gerry-mander. 


of  King's  Mountain,  and  first  Governor  of  Tennessee — "  stiff  and  grim  as  an  Indian 
arrow ;  not  speaking,  but  looking  daggers."1  The  young  and  ardent  members,  with 
the  imperious  Clay  ^^^^^  tious  sachem,  with 

diately  took  the  lead ;  jf  ^K  warriors  eager  for  a 

per  of  the  House  was  F^PIS^'^I^M  e   Present,  in 

a     dozen    scattering    Ijf^^          f  /  Jm  H       must  now  add,  that 

icy  of  the  administra-  a  system  of  more  am- 

tion  was  soon  manifested,  and  the  &//  Ple  provision  for  maintaining  them, 
timid  President  Madison  found  //'tffiy  Notwithstanding  the  scrupulous 

himself,  as  the  standard-bearer  of  C j  justice,  the  protracted  moderation, 

his  party,  surrounded,  like  a  cau-  r   and  the  multiplied  efforts  on  the 

part  of  the  United  States,  to  substitute  for  the  accumulating  dangers  to  the  peace  of 


ignated  by  particular  coloring  the  towns  thus  se 
lected,  and  hung  it  on  the  wall  of  his  editorial 
room.  One  day  Gilbert  Stuart,  the  eminent  paint 
er,  looked  at  the  map,  and  said  the  towns  which 
Russell  had  thus  distinguished  resembled  some 
monstrous  animal.  He  took  a  pencil,  and  with  a 
few  touches  added  what  might  represent  a  head, 
wings,  claws,  and  tail.  "There,"  Stuart  said, 
"that  will  do  for  a  salamander."  Russell,  who 
was  busy  with  his  pen,  looked  up  at  the  hideous 
figure,  and  exclaimed,  "Salamander !  call  it  Gerry 
mander  !  The  word  was  immediately  adopted  into 
the  political  vocabulary  as  a  term  of  reproach  to 
the  Democratic  Legislature.  —  See  Specimens  of 
Newspaper  Literature,  with  Personal  Memoirs,  An 
ecdotes,  and  Reminiscences,  by  Joseph  T.  Bucking 
ham,  ii.,  91. 

Stuart's  monstrous  figure  of  the  Gerry-mander 
was  presented  upon  a  broadside  containing  a  natu- 
—  ral  and  political  history  of  the  animal,  and  hawked 
about  the  country.  From  one  of  these  before  me, 
kindly  placed  in  my  possession  by  the  late  Edward 
Everett,  I  copied  the  picture  given  in  this  note, 
which  is  about  one  half  the  size  of  the  original. 

After  giving  some  ludicrous  guesses  as  to  its 
character  and  origin — whether  it  was  the  genuine 
Basilisk,  the  Serpens  Monocephalus  of  Pliny,  the 
Griffin  of  romance,  the  Great  Red  Dragon  or  Apol- 
lyon  of  Bunyan,  or  the  Monstrum  Horrendum  of 
Virgil  — the  writer  of  the  natural  history  of  the 
Gerry-mander  says  that  the  learned  Dr.  Water- 
£ruel  proved  it  to  be  a  species  of  salamander,  engendered  partly  by  the  devil  in  the  fervid  heats  of  party  strife.  "  But," 
he  says,  "  as  this  creature  has  been  engendered  and  brought  forth  under  the  sublimest  auspices,  the  doctor  proposes 
that  a  name  should  be  given  to  it  expressive  of  its  genus,  at  the  same  time  conveying  an  elegant  and  very  appropriate 
compliment  to  his  excellency  the  governor,  who  is  known  to  be  the  zealous  patron  of  whatever  is  new,  astonishing,  and 
erratic,  especially  of  domestic  growth  and  manufacture.  For  these  reasons,  and  other  valuable  considerations,  the  doc 
tor  has  decreed  this  monster  shall  be  denominated  a  GERKY-MANDER."  :  Hildreth. 

2  Mr.  Clay  was  elected  on  the  first  ballot.    The  vote  stood— for  Clay,  75 ;  for  Bibb,  38 ;  for  Bassett,  of  Virginia,  1 ;  for 
Nelson,  of  Virginia,  2 ;  and  for  Macon,  of  North  Carolina,  3.    Mr.  Clay  was  declared  duly  elected  speaker.    A  corre- 


THE   GEEEY-MANDEB. 


212  *        PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations.  Its  Charges  against  Great  Britain  and  warlike  Tone. 

the  two  countries  all  the  mutual  advantages  of  re-established  friendship  and  confi 
dence,  we  have  seen  that  the  British  Cabinet  perseveres  not  only  in  withholding  a 
remedy  for  other  wrongs,  so  long  and  so  loudly  calling  for  it,  but  in  the  execution, 
brought  home  to  the  threshold  of  our  territory,  of  measures  which,  under  existing 
circumstances,  have  the  character  as  well  as  the  effects  of  war  on  our  lawful  com 
merce.  With  this  evidence  of  hostile  inflexibility  in  trampling  on  rights  which  no 
independent  nation  can  relinquish,  Congress  will  feel  the  duty  of  putting  the  United 
States  into  an  armor  and  an  attitude  demanded  by  the  crisis,  and  corresponding  with 
the  national  spirit  and  expectations."  Yet  Mr.  Madison,  like  Mr.  Jefferson,  was  anx 
ious  to  avoid  war,  if  possible. 

A  war-note  in  a  higher  key  was  speedily  sounded  by  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations,  of  which  Peter  P.  Porter,  of  New  York,  was  chairman.  They  made  a  short 
but  energetic  report  on  the  29th  of  November.*1  They  referred  in  severe  terms 
to  the  wrongs  which  for  more  than  five  years  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States  had  suffered  from  the  operations  of  the  conflict  for  power  between  England 
and  France — wrongs  inaugurated  by  British  orders  in  Council,  and  imitated,  in  re 
taliation,  by  French  decrees.  They  charged  Great  Britain  with  the  crime  of  persist 
ing  in  the  infliction  of  these  wrongs  after  France,  by  abandoning  her  decrees,  so  far 
as  the  United  States  were  concerned,  had  led  the  way  toward  justice  to  neutrals. 
They  then  arraigned  Great  Britain  upon  a  more  serious  charge — that  of  continued 
impressment  of  American  seamen  into  the  British  service.  While  they  pleaded  for 
the  protection  of  commerce,  they  were  not,  they  said,  "  of  that  sect  whose  worship 

is  at  the  shrine  of  a  calculating  avarice Although  the  groans  of  those  victims 

of  barbarity  for  the  loss  of  (what  should  be  dearer  to  Americans  than  life)  their  lib 
erty — although  the  cries  of  their  wives  and  children,  in  the  privation  of  protectors 
and  parents,  have  of  late  been  drowned  in  the  louder  clamors  of  the  loss  of  prop 
erty,  yet  is  the  practice  of  forcing  our  mariners  into  the  British  navy,  in  violation  of 
the  rights  of  our  flag,  carried  on  with  unabated  rigor  and  severity.  If  it  be  our  duty 
to  encourage  the  fair  and  legitimate  commerce  of  this  country  by  protecting  the 
property  of  the  merchant,  then,  indeed,  by  as  much  as  life  and  liberty  are  more  esti 
mable  than  ships  and  goods,  so  much  more  impressive  is  the  duty  to  shield  the  per 
sons  of  our  seamen,  whose  hard  and  honest  services  are  employed,  equally  with  those 
of  the  merchants,  in  advancing,  under  the  mantle  of  its  laws,  the  interests  of  their 
country.  To  sum  up,  in  a  word,  the  great  cause  of  complaint  against  Great  Britain, 
your  committee  need  only  say,  that  the  United  States,  as  a  sovereign  and  independ 
ent  power,  claim  the  right  to  use  the  ocean,  which  is  the  common  and  acknowledged 
highway  of  nations,  for  the  purposes  of  transporting,  in  their  own  vessels,  the  prod 
ucts  of  their  own  soils  and  the  acquisitions  of  their  own  industry  to  a  market  in  the 
ports  of  friendly  nations,  and  to  bring  home,  in  return,  such  articles  as  their  necessi 
ties  or  convenience  may  require,  always  regarding  the  rights  of  belligerents  as  de 
fined  by  the  established  laws  of  nations.  Great  Britain,  in  defiance  of  this  incontesta 
ble  right,  captitres  every  American  vessel  bound  to  or  returning  from  a  port  where 
her  commerce  is  not  favored;  enslaves  our  seamen,  and,  in  spite  of  our  remonstrances, 
perseveres  in  these  aggressions.  To  wrongs  so  daring  in  character  and  so  disgraceful 
in  their  execution,  it  is  impossible  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  should  remain 
indifferent.  We  must  now  tamely  and  quietly  submit,  or  we  must  resist  by  those 
means  which  God  has  placed  within  our  reach. 

spondent  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post  wrote :  "He  made  a  short  address  to  the  House  on  taking  his  seat,  which,  from 
the  lowuess  of  his  voice  at  that  time,  could  not  be  distinctly  heard."  In  the  same  letter  the  writer  said,  "It  is  believed 
Clay  was  not  thought  of  for  Speaker  till  Sunday  ;  he  certainly  was  not  publicly  mentioned.  The  Democrats  had  a  cau 
cus  Sunday  evening,  and  fixed  on  Clay.  This  was  done  to  prevent  the  election  of  Macon,  who  has  too  much  honesty 
and  independence  for  the  leading  administration  men." 

Mr.  Clay  was  then  thirty-four  years  of  age,  and  this  was  his  first  appearance  as  n  member  in  the  House  of  Represent 
atives.  He  was  in  the  Senate  previously,  as  we  have  observed.  The  portrait  given  on  the  previous  page  is  from  a 
painting  from  life  by  the  late  Mr.  Ranney,  when  Mr.  Clay  was  nearly  sixty  years  of  age. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  213 

Resolutions  of  the  Committee  oil  Foreign  Relations.  The  first  railway  Traveler  and  telegraphic  Dispatch. 

"  Your  committee  would  not  cast  a  shade  over  the  American  name  by  the  expres 
sion  of  a  doubt  which  branch  of  this  alternative  will  be  embraced.  The  occasion  is 
now  presented  when  the  national  character,  misunderstood  and  traduced  for  a  time 
by  foreign  and  domestic  enemies,  should  be  vindicated.  If  we  have  not  rushed  to 
the  field  of  battle  like  the  nations  who  are  led  by  the  mad  ambition  of  a  single  chief 
in  the  avarice  of  a  corrupted  court,  it  has  not  proceeded  from  the  fear  of  war,  but 
from  our  love  of  justice  and  humanity.  That  proud  spirit  of  liberty  and  independ 
ence  which  sustained  our  fathers  in  the  successful  assertion  of  rights  against  foreign 

O  o  £? 

aggression  is  not  yet  sunk.  The  patriotic  fire  of  the  Revolution  still  lives  in  the 
American  breast  with  a  holy  and  unextinguishable  flame,  and  will  conduct  this  na 
tion  to  those  high  destinies  which  are  not  less  the  reward  of  dignified  moderation 
than  of  exalted  valor.  But  we  have  borne  with  injury  until  forbearance  has  ceased 
to  be  a  virtue.  The  sovereignty  and  independence  of  these  states,  purchased  and 
sanctified  by  the  blood  of  our  fathers,  from  whom  we  received  them,  not  for  ourselves 
only,  but  as  the  inheritance  of  our  posterity,  are  deliberately  and  systematically  vio 
lated.  And  the  period  has  arrived  when,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  it  is  the 
sacred  duty  of  Congress  to  call  forth  the  patriotism  and  resources  of  the  country. 
By  the  aid  of  these,  and  with  the  blessing  of  God,  we  confidently  trust  we  shall  be 
able  to  procure  that  redress  which  has  been  sought  for  by  justice,  by  remonstrance, 
and  forbearance  in  vain." 

The  committee, "  reserving  for  a  future  report  those  ulterior  measures  which,  in 
their  opinion,  ought  to  be  pursued,"  earnestly  recommended  Congress  to  second 
the  proposition  of  the  President  by  immediately  putting  the  United  States  "  into  an 
armor  and  attitude  demanded  by  the  crisis,  and  corresponding  with  the  national 
spirit  and  expectations."  In  a  series  of  resolutions  they  recommended  the  imme 
diate  completion  of  the  military  establishment  as  authorized  by  law,  by  filling  up 
the  ranks  and  prolonging  the  enlistments ;  the  authorization  of  an  additional  force 
of  ten  thousand  regular  troops  to  serve  for  three  years,  and  the  acceptance  by  the 
President,  under  proper  regulations,  of  any  number  of  volunteers  not  exceeding  fifty 
thousand,  to  be  organized,  trained,  and  held  in  readiness;  giving  the  President  au 
thority  to  order  out  detachments  of  militia  when  the  interests  of  the  country  should 
require ;  the  immediate  repairing  of  all  national  vessels  and  fitting  them  for  service, 
and  the  allowing  merchant  ships  to  arm  in  their  own  defense.1 

This  report,  spread  upon  the  wings  of  the  press,  went  over  the  country  swiftly — 
not  so  swiftly  as  now,  for  railways  and  telegraphs  were  unknown2 — and  produced  a 

1  Niles's  Weekly  Register,  L,  253. 

2  The  first  trip  made  by  a  locomotive  on  this  continent  was  thus  described  a  few  years  ago  in  a  speech  at  an  Erie 
Railway  festival,  by  Horatio  Allen,  the  eminent  engineer : 

"When  was  it?  Who  was  it?  And  who  awakened  its  energies  and  directed  its  movements?  It  was  in  the  year 
1828,  on  the  banks  of  the  Lackawaxen,  at  the  commencement  of  the  railroads  connecting  the  canal  of  the  Delaware  and 
Hudson  Canal  Company  with  their  coal  mines,  and  he  who  addresses  you  was  the  only  person  on  that  locomotive. 
The  circumstances  which  led  to  my  being  alone  on  the  engine  were  these :  The  road  had  been  built  in  the  summer ; 
the  structure  was  of  hemlock  timber,  and  rails  of  large  dimensions  notched  on  caps  placed  far  apart.  The  timber  had 
cracked  and  warped  from  exposure  to  the  sun.  After  about  three  hundred  feet  of  straight  line,  the  road  crossed  the 
Lackawaxen  Creek  on  trestle-work  about  thirty  feet  high,  with  a  curve  of  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  to  four  hundred 
feet  radius.  The  impression  was  very  general  that  the  iron  monster  would  either  break  down  the  road,  or  it  would 
leave  the  track  at  the  curve  and  plunge  into  the  creek.  My  reply  to  such  apprehensions  was  that  it  was  too  late  to  con 
sider  the  probability  of  such  occurrences ;  there  was  no  other  course  than  to  have  a  trial  made  of  the  strange  animal, 
which  had  been  brought  here  at  a  great  expense,  but  that  it  was  not  necessary  that  more  than  one  should  be  involved 
in  its  fate ;  that  I  would  take  the  first  ride  alone,  and  the  time  would  come  when  I  should  look  back  to  the  incident 
with  great  interest.  As  I  placed  my  hand  on  the  throttle-valve  handle,  I  was  undecided  whether  I  would  move  slowly 
or  with  a  fair  degree  of  speed ;  but,  believing  that  the  road  would  prove  safe,  and  preferring,  if  we  did  go  down,  to  go 
handsomely,  and  without  any  evidence  of  timidity,  I  started  with  considerable  velocity,  passed  the  curve  over  the  creek 
safely,  and  was  soon  out  of  hearing  of  the  vast  assemblage.  At  the  end  of  {wo  or  three  miles  I  reversed  the  valve  and 
returned  without  accident,  having  thus  made  the  first  railroad  trip  by  locomotive  on  the  Western  hemisphere." 

The  first  regular  telegraphic  dispatch,  for  the  public  eye  and  ear,  was  sent  from  Washington  City  to  Baltimore  by 
Professor  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  the  inventor  of  the  electro-telegraphic  system  of  intellectual  communication,  in  May, 
1844.  The  dispatch,  furnished  to  Professor  Morse,  according  to  promise,  by  Miss  Anna  Ellsworth,  daughter  of  the  then 
Commissioner  of  Patents,  who  had  taken  great  interest  in  Mr.  Morse's  experiments,  was  worthy  of  the  occasion :  it  was 
the  expression  of  Balaam — "WHAT  IIATH  GOD  WROUGHT!"  That  first  dispatch,  in  the  telegraphic  language,  may  be 
found  in  the  archives  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society. 


214  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Supposed  Republican  Proclivities  of  British  Colonists.  John  Randolph  on  the  Danger  of  enlightening  the  Slaves. 

powerful  impression  upon  the  American  mind  and  heart.  No  one  could  deny  the 
truthfulness  of  its  statements,  and  few  well-informed  persons  doubted  the  wisdom 
and  justice  of  its  conclusions.  While  great  indignation  was  felt  toward  France  for 
her  past  and  present  aggressions  upon  the  rights  of  neutrals,  much  stronger  was  the 
feeling  against  Great  Britain,  because  it  had  been  her  settled  policy  and  her  practice 
for  more  than  half  a  century,  and  had  been  used  with  cruel  rigor  long  before  France, 
in  retaliation,  adopted  the  same  instrument  for  warfare.  This  indignation  was  more 
vehement  because  England,  with  haughty  persistence,  and  in  violation  of  the  sover 
eignty  and  independence  of  the  United  States,  continued  her  nefarious  practice  of 
impressing  American  seamen  into  the  British  naval  service.  Upon  such  burning 
feelings  throughout  the  land,  just  then  stimulated  to  great  intensity  by  the  intelli 
gence  from  the  Indian  country,  fell  the  fuel  of  this  trumpet-toned  report.  It  was 
short,  perspicuous,  and  pungent.  It  was  read  by  every  body ;  and  every  measure 
proposed  in  Congress,  looking  to  hostilities  with  Great  Britain,  was  applauded  by  a 
large  majority  of  the  people. 

In  Congress  warm  debates  followed  on  the  resolutions  appended  to  the  report.  It 
was  admitted  that  the  United  States  could  not  meet  Great  Britain  on  the  ocean  fleet 
to  fleet,  but  it  was  believed  that  when  an  army  from  the  States  should  appear  on  the 
soil  of  Canada,  or  of  the  other  British  provinces  in  the  farther  East,  the  people,  then 
tired  of  being  ruled  as  colonies,  would  gladly  join  fortunes  with  the  young  Giant 
of  the  West.  It  was  believed  that  their  bosoms  swelled  with  desires  since  embodied 
in  these  words  of  an  English  poet : 

"  There's  a  star  in  the  West  that  shall  never  go  down 

'Till  the  records  of  valor  decay ; 
We  must  worship  its  light,  though  'tis  not  our  own, 
For  liberty  bursts  in  its  ray." 

It  was  also  believed  that  American  privateers  would  speedily  ruin  British  com 
merce  and  fisheries,  and  that,  by  sea  and  land  expeditions,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  would  be  remunerated  tenfold  for  all  the  spoliations  inflicted  on  their  com 
merce,  and  thus  compel  the  British  government  to  act  justly  and  respectfully.1 

Most  of  the  Southern  and  Western  members  were  in  favor  of  war.  But  John  Ran 
dolph,  always  happy  in  his  element  of  universal  opposition,  battled  against  the  men 
of  his  own  section  in  his  peculiar  way,  sometimes  with  ability,  always  discursorily, 
and  frequently  with  the  keenest  satire.  He  endeavored  to  excite  the  fears  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  slave-labor  states  by  warning  them  that  an  invasion  of  Canada  might  be 
retorted  upon  Southern  soil  with  fearful  effect.  He  declared  that  the  slaves  had  al 
ready  become  polluted  by  that  French  democracy  which  animated  the  administration 
party,  who  were  so  eager  to  go  to  war  with  the  enemy  of  Napoleon,  whom  he  ranked, 
as  a  scourge  of  mankind,  with  Tamerlane  and  Genghis  Khan — "  malefactors  of  the 
human  race,  who  grind  down  men  into  mere  material  of  their  impious  and  bloody 
ambition."  He  said  the  negroes  were  rapidly  gaining  notions  of  freedom,  destructive 
alike  to  their  own  happiness  and  the  safety  and  interests  of  their  masters.  He  de 
nounced  as  a  "  butcher"  a  member  of  Congress  who  had  proposed  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  He  said  men  had  broached  on  that  very  floor 
the  doctrine  of  imprescriptible  rights  to  a  crowded  audience  of  blacks  in  the  galleries, 
teaching  them  that  they  were  equal  to  their  masters.  "  Similar  doctrines,"  he  said, 
"  are  spread  throughout  the  South  by  Yankee  peddlers ;  and  there  are  even  owners 
of  slaves  so  infatuated  as,  by  the  general  tenor  of  their  conversation,  by  contempt  of 
order,  morality,  religion,  unthinkingly  to  cherish  these  seeds  of  destruction.  And 
what  has  been  the  consequence  ?  Within  the  last  ten  years  repeated  alarms  of  slave- 
insurrections,  some  of  them  awful  indeed.  By  the  spreading  of  this  infernal  doctrine 

the  whole  South  has  been  thrown  into  a  state  of  insecurity You  have  de- 

1  Porter's  Speech. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


215 


Randolph  scolds  the  Democrats. 


John  C.  Calhoun. 


Sketches  of  Randolph  and  Calhoun. 


prived  the  slave  of  all  moral  restraint," 
he  continued,  addressing  the  Democrat 
ic  members;  "you  have  tempted  him 
to  eat  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  just 
enough  to  perfect  him  in  wickedness; 
you  have  opened  his  eyes  to  his  naked 
ness God  forbid  that  the  South 
ern  States  should  ever  see  an  enemy 
on  these  shores  with  their  infernal  prin 
ciples  of  French  fraternity  in  the  van ! 
While  talking  of  Canada,  we  have  too 
much  reason  to  shudder  for  our  own 
safety  at  home.  I  speak  from  facts 
when  I  say  that  the  night-bell  never 
tolls  for  fire  in  Richmond  that  the  fright 
ened  mother  does  not  hug  her  infant  the 
more  closely  to  her  bosom,  not  know 
ing  what  may  have  happened.  I  have 
myself  witnessed  some  of  these  alarms 
in  the  capital  of  Virginia." 

Randolph1  then  gave  the  Democrats 
some  severe  words  concerning  the  ad 
verse  policy  advocated  by  their  party 
in  1798,  when  the  Federal  administra 
tion  was  preparing  for  a  war  with 

France.  He  taunted  them  with  being  preachers  of  reform  and  economy  heretofore, 
but  now,  in  their  blind  zeal  to  serve  their  French  master,  were  willing  to  create  a 
heavy  national  debt  by  rushing  into  an  unnecessary  and  wicked  war  with  a  fraternal 
people — fraternal  in  blood,  language,  religion,  laws,  arts,  and  literature.2 

Randolph's  speech  had  but  little  effect  upon  his  auditors  other  than  to  irritate  the 
more  sensitive  and  amuse  the  more  philosophic.  A  few  members,  at  the  risk  of  poi 
soned  arrows  from  his  tongue,  ventured  to  give  him  some  home  thrusts,  while  Cal 
houn,  then  less  than  thirty  years  of  age,  made  this  the  occasion  of  his  first  oratorical 
effort  in  that  great  theatre  of  legislative  strife  wherein  he  so  long  and  so  valiantly 
contested.3  With  that  dexterous  use  of  subtle  logic  which  never  failed  to  give  him 


1  John  Randolph  claimed  to  be  seventh  in  descent  from  Pocahontas,  the  famous  Indian  princess.    He  was  bom 
three  miles  from  Petersburg,  in  Virginia,  on  the  2d  of  June,  1TT3.    He  was  educated  at  Princeton  College,  New  Jersey, 
Columbia  College,  New  York,  and  William  and  Mary  College,  in  Virginia.    Prom  infancy  he  suffered  from  ill  health.    He 
studied  law,  but  never  practiced  it.    His  first  appearance  in  public  life  was  in  1799,  when  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the 
National  Congress,  and  for  thirty  years,  with  an  interval  of  two  years  each,  he  held  a  seat  in  that  body.    He  became  in 
sane  for  a  time  in  1811,  and  had  returns  of  his  malady  at  intervals  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.    He  strenuously  op 
posed  the  war  with  Great  Britain  in  1812,  and  after  that  event  his  political  career  was  very  erratic.    He  was  the  warm 
friend  of  General  Jackson  in  1828,  and  in  1S30  that  gentleman  appointed  him  United  States  Minister  to  Russia.    He 
could  not  endure  the  winter  on  the  Neva,  and  his  stay  in  Russia  was  short.    He  resided  in  England  for  a  while,  and  after 
his  return  his  constituents  elected  him  to  Congress.    But  he  did  not  take  his  seat.    Consumption  laid  its  hand  upon 
him,  and  he  died  in  a  hotel  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  23d  of  May,  1833,  while  on  his  way  to  New  York  to  embark  for  Eu 
rope. 

2  Speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  December  10, 1811. — Niles's  Register,  i.,  315. 

3  John  Caldwell  Calhoun  was  born  in  Abbeville  District,  South  Carolina,  on  the  18th  of  March,  1782.    His  mother 
was  a  native  of  Virginia.    He  entered  Yale  College  as  a  student  in  1802,  where  he  was  marked  as  a  young  man  of  genius 
and  great  promise.    He  was  graduated  in  1804  with  the  highest  honors  of  the  institution.    He  studied  law  in  Litchfield, 
Connecticut,  and  entered  upon  its  practice  in  his  native  district.    He  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  South 
Carolina  in  1808,  and  in  1811  he  took  his  seat  as  member  of  the  National  Congress  as  a  stanch  Republican  or  Democrat. 
He  ably  supported  Mr.  Madison's  administration,  and  in  1817  President  Monroe  called  him  to  his  Cabinet  as  Secretary 
of  War.    He  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  in  1825,  and  was  re-elected  with  Jackson  in  1828.    He  suc 
ceeded  Hayne  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in  1831,  and  became  the  leader  in  the  disloyal  movement  of  his  native 
state  known  in  history  under  the  general  title  of  Nullification,  in  1832-'33.    President  Tyler  called  him  to  his  Cabinet 
as  Secretary  of  State  in  1S43,  and  he  again  entered  the  Senate  as  the  representative  of  his  state  in  1845.    He  held  that 
position  until  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Washington  City  on  the  31st  of  March,  1850,  when  he  was  just  past  sixty-eight 
years  of  age.    Our  portrait  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  on  the  next  page,  is  from  one  taken  from  life  about  the  year  1830,  when  he 
was  forty-eight  years  of  age. 


216 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Calhoun's  Reply  to  Randolph's  Speech. 


The  Policy  of  the  Federalists. 


Preparations  for  War. 


to  controvert.  The 
extent,  duration, 
and  character  of  the 
injuries  received ; 
the  failure  of  those 
peaceful  means  here 
tofore  resortedto  for 
the  redress  of  our 
wrongs,  is  my  proof 
that  it  is  necessary. 
Why  should  I  men 
tion  the  impress 
ment  of  our  seamen ; 
depredation  on  ev 
ery  branch  of  our 
commerce,  includ 
ing  the  direct  ex 
port  trade,  contin 
ued  for  years,  and 
made  under  laws 
which  professedly 
undertake  to  reg 
ulate  our  trade 


ingenious  arguments  in  favor  of  any  views  he  might  desire  to  enforce,  he  repliecUo 
Randolph  at  some 
length,  insisting 
that  it  was  a  prin 
ciple  as  applicable 
to  nations  as  to  in 
dividuals  to  repel 
a  first  insult,  and 
thus  command  the 
respect,  if  not  the 
fear  of  the  assailant. 
"Sir,"  he  said,  "I 
might  prove  the 
war,  should  it  en 
sue,  justifiable  by 
the  express  admis 
sion  of  the  gentle 
man  from  Virginia ; 
and  necessary,  by 
facts  undoubted 
and  universally  ad 
mitted,  such  as 
that  gentleman 
did  not  pretend 

with  other  nations ;]  negotiation  resorted  to  time  after  time  till  it  became  hopeless ;  the 
restrictive  systems  persisted  in  to  avoid  war  and  in  the  vain  expectation  of  returning 
justice?  The  evil  still  grows,  and  in  each  succeeding  year  swells  in  extent  and  pre 
tension  beyond  the  preceding.  The  question,  even  in  the  opinion  and  admission  of  our 
opponents,  is  reduced  to  this  single  point,  Which  shall  we  do,  abandon  or  defend  our 
own  commercial  and  maritime  rights,  and  the  personal  liberties  of  our  citizens  in  ex 
ercising  them  ?  These  rights  are  essentially  attacked,  and  war  is  the  only  means  of 
redress.  The  gentleman  from  Virginia  has  suggested  none,  unless  we  consider  the 
whole  of  his  speech  as  recommending  patient  and  resigned  submission  as  the  best 
remedy.  Sir,  which  alternative  this  House  ought  to  sustain  is  not  for  me  to  say.  I 
hope  the  decision  is  made  already  by  a  higher  authority  than  the  voice  of  any  man. 
It  is  not  for  the  human  tongue  to  instill  the  sense  of  independence  and  honor.  This 
is  the  work  of  nature — a  generous  nature  that  disdains  tame  submission  to  wrongs. 
This  part  of  the  subject  is  so  imposing  as  to  enforce  silence  even  on  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia.  He  dared  not  deny  his  country's  wrongs,  or  vindicate  the  conduct 
of  her  enemy." 

In  this  dignified  strain  Mr.  Calhoun  charmed  his  listeners,  steadying  the  vacillat 
ing,  convincing  the  doubting,  and  commanding  the  respectful  attention  of  the  oppo 
nents  of  the  resolutions.  He  treated  Randolph's  bugbear  of  slave  insurrection  with 
lofty  contempt.  "  However  the  gentleman  may  frighten  himself,"  he  said,  "  with  the 
disorganizing  effects  of  French  principles,  I  can  not  think  our  ignorant  blacks  have 
felt  much  of  their  baleful  influence.  I  dare  say  more  than  one  half  of  them  never 
heard  of  the  French  Revolution."2 

The  Federalists  said  very  little  on  this  occasion.     It  had  always  been  their  policy 

to  be  prepared  for  war.     The  resolutions  appended  to  the  report  of  the  Committee 

a  December  16,     on  Foreign  Relations  were  adopted,a  and  bills  were  speedily  prepared 

and  passed  for  augmenting  the  army.     Additional  regulars  to  the  num- 

i  See  page  105. 

s  Abridgment  of  the  Debates  of  Congress  from  17S9  to  1856,  by  Thomas  H.  Benton,  iv.,  449. 


OF  THE  WAR    OF    1812.  21' 


Augmentation  of  the  Army.         Patriotism  of  leading  Federalists.         Reasons  of  Quincy  and  Emott  for  their  Course. 

ber  of  twenty-five  thousand  were  authorized  by  a  vote  of  the  House  early  in  Janu 
ary. a  The  bill  also  provided  for  the  appointment  of  two  major  generals  ajamiary4, 
and  five  additional  brigadiers ;  also  for  a  bounty  to  new  recruits  of  sixteen  1S12- 
dollars,  and,  at  the  time  of  discharge,  three  months'  extra  pay  and  a  certificate  for 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land.1  On  the  14th  of  the  month  another  act  was 
passed,  appropriating  a  million  of  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  arms,  ordnance,  camp 
equipage,  and  quarter-master's  stores ;  and  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  powder, 
ordnance,  and  small-arms  for  the  navy.  Thus,  in  a  brief  space  of  time,  the  little  army 
of  the  peace  establishment,  which  had  been  comparatively  inactive,  was  swelled  in 
prospective  from  about  three  thousand  men  to  more  than  seventy  thousand  regulars 
and  volunteers.  The  President  was  authorized  to  call  upon  the  governors  of  states 

1  Seven  of  the  thirty-seven  Federalists  in  the  House  voted  for  these  measures.  These  were  Quincy  and  Reed,  of  Mas 
sachusetts;  Emott,  Bleecker,  Gold,  and  Livingston,  of  Xew  York;  and  Miluor,  of  Pennsylvania.  The  latter  was  the  late 
James  Milnor,  D.D.,  Rector  of  St.  George's  Church,  New  York.  It  was  during  this  session  of  Congress  that  he  became 
deeply  impressed  with  religious  sentiments,  and  felt  himself  called  to  the  Gospel  ministry.  He  abandoned  the  lucrative 
profession  of  the  law  and  the  turbulent  field  of  politics,  and  took  orders  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  of  which, 
until  his  death,  in  the  spring  of  1S44,  he  was  "a  bright  and  shining  light." 

The  position  taken  by  these  leading  Federalists  at  that  critical  time,  in  opposition  to  the  great  body  of  their  colleagues 
in  Congress  and  of  the  party  in  New  England,  was  patriotic  in  the 

highest  degree,  and  yet,  so  doubtful  were  they  of  the  verdict  which     /?  /~J 

posterity  might  pass  upon  their  actions,  that  two  of  them  (Quincy     (\  *  Lj 

and  Emott)  prepared  quite  an  elaborate  defense,  in  which  the  rea-  j  f\^(  •(  ('t  /l/\  fj  A  j(  A/\J(~<(S^r 
sons  for  their  course  were  ably  set  forth.  It  was  drawn  up  by  Em-  t/  V  •  Vx  \A/  V  \  DoA_A/*/  I/*"*  *^-f 
ott,  slightly  amended  by  Quincy,  and  signed  by  both.  It  was  left 
in  Emott's  hands,  to  be  used  at  any  future  time  by  him  or  his  de- 
sceudants  in  vindication  of  their  course.  Posterity — even  eontem- 
poraries — have  pronounced  their  course  wise  and  patriotic.  The 
original  manuscript,  in  the  possession  of  the  Hon.  James  Emott,  of 
Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  a  son  of  one  of  the  signers,  is  before  me  while  I  write.  It  is  in  the  delicate  and  neat  hand 
writing  of  the  elder  Emott,*  and  dated  January  1, 1812.  After  clearly  stating  the  position  of  public  affairs,  they  say :  "  We 
thought  it  therefore  worthy  of  an  experiment  to  allow  the  administration  to  make  out  their  case  before  the  great  bar 
of  the  public  without,  as  heretofore,  aiding  it  by  an  early  opposition  ;  and  we  hoped,  and  yet  hope,  that  by  withdrawing 
the  aliment  of  party  rancor  it  will  cease  to  exist,  and  that  the  people  will  see  the  precipice  to  which  they  have  been 
drawn,  and  the  danger  which  awaits  the  country  unless  there  is  a  speedy  and  radical  change  of  men  or  measures.  . 
By  leaving  the  government  in  the  first  instance  unmolested,  in  its  measures  the  people  may  receive  a  distinct  impres 
sion  of  its  objects.  If  they  are  really  of  that  high  and  commanding  character  as  to  effectuate  what  their  friends  prom 
ised,  relief  to  our  country,  it  is  of  little  consequence  from  whose  hands  so  desirable  a  blessing  is  received.  But  if  the 
character  of  the  plans  of  the  administration  continues  time-serving,  self-oppressive,  and  hypocritical,  on  it  and  its  sup 
porters  would  fall  the  responsibility,  without  the  possibility  of  transferring  it  to  those  who  had  neither  shared  nor  op 
posed  their  purposes." 

These  gentlemen  then  allude  to  the  prevalent  opinion  that  if  the  Federalists  should  withhold  their  opposition,  the 
British  government,  hopeless  of  a  party  in  its  favor  in  the  United  States,  would  relax  its  restrictive  measures.  They 
then  declare  that  if  the  British  government  or  people  believe  that  opposition  of  the  Federalists  arises  from  any  unpa 
triotic  motives,  "  bottomed  on  a  desire  for  power  to  be  obtained  at  the  expense  of  the  interests  of  the  nation,"  there  has 
been  an  essential  and  lamentable  mistake. 

In  reference  to  the  measures  proposed  for  putting  the  country  in  a  state  of  adequate  strength  in  the  event  of  war,  for 
which  these  gentlemen  voted  four  days  after  the  date  of  the  paper  under  action,  they  remarked:  "In  re-estimating  our 
duties  upon  this  occasion,  we  have  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  take  into  consideration  the  causes  which  have  led  to  our 
present  embarrassments.  We  certainly  do  not  entertain  the  opinion  that  the  course  which  has  been  pursued  by  the  ad 
ministration  is  either  correct  or  to  be  justified  ;  but  we  can  not  but  perceive  that  our  present  difficulties  are  not  so  appa 
rently  and  exclusively  attributable  to  the  American  government  as  to  justify  a  resort  to  a  policy  which  would  leave  the 
nation  unprotected  and  defenseless.  ...  It  is  because  we  wish  for  peace  with  security  that  we  are  willing  to  add  to  the 
present  military  establishment.  .  .  .  Our  country  and  our  firesides  are  dear  to  tie.  We  think  they  are  in  danger,  and 
we  wish  to  protect  them.  .  .  .  When,  by  measures  in  which  we  have  had  no  agency,  and  for  which  we  do  not  hold  our 
selves  responsible  in  whole  or  in  part,  we  discover  that  a  necessity  has  been  produced  for  defensive  preparations,  we 
can  not  permit  ourselves  to  resist  such  preparations  from  motives  of  general  opposition  to  the  administration,  or  from 
a  desire  to  render  it  odious  to  the  country." 

*  James  Emott  was  born  at  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  on  the  14th  of  March,  1771.  He  chose  the  profession  of  law  as 
his  vocation,  and  commenced  its  practice  at  Ballston  Centre,  New  York,  a  growing  village  a  few  miles  from  Balls- 
ton  Spa.  In  1797  he  was  appointed  a  commissioner,  with  Robert  Yates  and  Vincent  Mathews,  to  settle  disputes  con 
cerning  titles  to  lands  in  the  military  tract  of  Onondaga  County.  The  commissioners  held  their  sittings  at  Albany, 
and  to  that  city  Mr.  Emott  removed  about  the  year  1800.  In  1804  he  was  chosen  to  represent  Albany  County  in  the 
State  Legislature.  He  soon  afterward  removed  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  after  practicing  law  there  for  a  while  he 
returned  to  Ponghkeepsie,  and  was  elected  to  represent  the  Duchess  District  in  the  National  Congress.  He  took  his 
seat  in  1809,  and  continued  in  possession  of  it  by  re-election  until  1S13.  In  politics  he  was  a  Federalist,  and  was  one  of 
the  prominent  leaders,  yet  his  patriotism  was  never  in  subjection  to  the  behests  of  party.  He  was  representative  of 
Duchess  County  in  the  New  York  Assembly  iu  1814,  and  was  Speaker  of  the  House.  He  was  a  member  of  that  body 
four  consecutive  years.  In  1817  he  was  appointed  first  judge  of  Duchess  County,  and  held  the  office  until  1823,  when,  for 
political  reasons,  he  was  removed  to  make  room  for  the  late  Maturin  Livingston.  He  was  appointed  judge  of  the  sec 
ond  circuit  by  Governor  Clinton  in  1827,  and  held  it  until  1831,  when  he  was  sixty  years  of  age.  Judge  Emott  then  re 
tired  from  active  life.  He  died  at  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  on  the  10th  of  April,  1850,  aged  seventy-nine  years. 


218  PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 

Voices  of  the  State  Legislatures.  A  Pittance  for  the  Navy.  Unsuccessful  Efforts  for  its  Increase. 

each  to  furnish  his  respective  quota  of  one  hundred  thousand  militia,  to  be  held  in 
readiness  to  instantly  obey  the  call  of  the  chief  magistrate.  For  the  expense  of  this 
reserve  one  million  of  dollars  were  appropriated. 

The  State  Legislatures,  meanwhile,  spoke  out  emphatically  for  war  if  necessary. 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  and  Ohio,  resolved  to  stand 
by  the  general  government  when  decisive  measures  should  be  adopted ;  and,  in  their 
reply  to  the  annual  message  of  Governor  Gerry,  the  House  of  Representatives  of 
Massachusetts  exhibited  the  same  sentiments,  denouncing  Great  Britain  as  a  "  pirat 
ical  state,"  and  her  practice  of  impressment  "man-stealing." 

The  navy,  important  as  it  proved  to  be  in  the  war  that  followed,  was  neglected. 
Cheves,  of  South  Carolina,  made  a  report  in  favor  of  its  augmentation ;  and  he  and 
Lowndes,  in  supporting  speeches,  hinted  at  the  expediency  of  constructing  forty  frig 
ates  and  twenty-five  ships  of  the  line.  It  was  urged  by  these  members,  in  direct  op 
position  to  the  narrow  views  of  Williams  from  the  same  state  a  year  before,  that 
"protection  to  commerce  was  protection  to  agriculture."  Quincy  also  argued  that 
protection  to  commerce  was  essential  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and,  with  a 
covert  but  significant  threat,  he  gave  as  a  reason  that  the  commercial  states  could 
not  be  expected  to  submit  to  the  deliberate  and  systematic  sacrifice  of  their  most  im 
portant  interests.1  Their  pleas  were  in  vain.  A  bill,  containing  only  an  appropria 
tion  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  dollars  for  repairing  three  frigates —  Con 
stellation,  Chesapeake,  and  Adams — and  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  annually  for 
three  years,  to  purchase  timber  for  the  purpose  of  refitting  three  others,  was  passed, 
and  sent  to  the  Senate,  where  Lloyd,  of  Massachusetts,  moved  to  insert  an  appropria- 
•  January  IT,  tion  for  thirty  new  frigates. a  "  Let  us  have  the  frigates,"  he  said ;  "  pow 
erful  as  Great  Britain  is,  she  could  not  blockade  them.  With  our  haz 
ardous  shores  and  tempestuous  northwesterly  gales  from  November  to  March,  all 
the  navies  in  the  world  could  not  blockade  them.  Divide  them  into  six  squadrons. 
Place  those  squadrons  in  the  northern  ports  ready  for  sea,  and  at  favorable  moments 
we  would  pounce  upon  her  West  India  Islands,  repeating  the  game  of  De  Grasse  and 
D'Estaing  in  '79  and  '80.  By  the  time  she  was  ready  to  meet  us  there,  we  would 
be  round  Cape  Horn  cutting  up  her  whalemen.  Pursued  thither,  we  would  skim 
away  to  the  Indian  Seas,  and  would  give  an  account  of  her  China  and  India  ships 
very  different  from  that  of  the  French  cruisers.  Now  we  would  follow  her  Quebec, 
now  her  Jamaica  convoys  ;  sometimes  make  our  appearance  in  the  chops  of  the  Chan 
nel,  and  even  sometimes  wind  north  almost  into  the  Baltic.  It  would  require  a  hund 
red  British  frigates  to  watch  the  movements  of  these  thirty.  Such  are  the  means  by 
which  I  would  bring  Great  Britain  to  her  senses.  By  harassing  her  commerce  with 
this  fleet,  we  could  make  the  people  ask  the  government  why  they  continued  to  vio 
late  our  rights." 

Crawford,  of  Georgia,  replied  at  some  length,  and  the  Senate,  unmoved  by  the  glow 
ing  pictures  of  naval  achievements  drawn  by  the  senator  from  Massachusetts,  not 
only  refused  to  sanction  Lloyd's  amendment,  but  reduced  the  appropriation  for  re 
pairs  to  three  hundi'ed  thousand  dollars. 

While  the  war  party,  strong  in  Congress  and  throughout  the  country,  were  ener 
getic  in  action  and  impatient  of  delay,  Mr.  Madison  showed  great  timidity.  It  was 
owing,  doubtless,  in  a  great  degree,  to  the  character  of  his  Cabinet,  which  unfortunate 
ly  surrounded  him  at  that  momentous  crisis.  Mr.  Monroe,  the  Secretary  of  State,  was 
the  only  member  who  had  any  military  taste  and  experience,  and  he  had  seen  only 
limited  service  in  the  Revolution.  Gallatin,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  was  a 
civilian,  and  was  avowedly  opposed  to  the  war  with  Great  Britain.  Eustis,  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  knew  very  little  about  military  affairs.  Hamilton,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  had  no  practical  knowledge  of  naval  affairs  to  qualify  him  for  the  station ; 

i  Hildreth,  Second  Series,  iii.,  277! 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  219 


Madison  threatened  with  Desertion  by  the  War  Party.        He  recommends  an  Embargo.        A  British  Plot  discovered. 

and  Mr.  Madison  himself  was  utterly  unable,  though  by  virtue  of  his  office  command- 
er-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  to  grasp  with  vigor  the  con 
duct  of  public  affairs  in  a  time  of  war.  Consciousness  of  this  made  him  timid  and 
vacillating. 

The  administration  members  of  Congress  at  length  resolved  to  take  a  bold  and 
decided  stand  with  the  President.     His  first  term  of  office  was  draAvino-  to  a  close, 

O 

and  it  was  known  that  he  was  anxious  for  re-election.  The  leading  Democrats  in 
the  State  of  "New  York,  whose  voices  were  potential  in  the  matter  at  that  time,  dis 
satisfied  with  Mr.  Madison's  weak  course,  contemplated  nominating  De  Witt  Clinton, 
then  mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York,  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States.  His 
pretensions  were  sustained  by  Gideon  Granger,  the  postmaster  general,  who  doubt 
ed  the  propriety  of  a  war  with  Madison  as  leader.  Other  influential  Democrats  in 
different  parts  of  the  country  held  similar  views. 

In  this  state  of  things,  Mr.  Madison  was  waited  upona  by  several  of  the  » March  2, 
leading  Democratic  members  of  Congress,  and  informed,  in  substance,  that 
war  with  England  was  now  resolved  upon  by  the  dominant  party,  the  supporters  of 
his  administration;  that  the  people  would  no  longer  consent  to  a  dilatory  and  in 
efficient  course  on  the  part  of  the  national  government ;  that,  unless  a  declaration  of 
war  took  place  previous  to  the  Presidential  election,  the  success  of  the  Democratic 
party  might  be  endangered,  and  the  government  thrown  into  the  hands  of  the  Fed 
eralists  ;  that,  unless  Mr.  Madison  consented  to  act  with  his  friends,  and  accede  to  a 
declaration  of  war  with  Great  Britain,  neither  his  nomination  nor  his  re-election  to 
the  Presidency  could  be  relied  on.  Thus  situated,  Mr.  Madison  concluded  to  waive 
his  own  objections  to  the  course  determined  on  by  his  political  friends,  and  to  do  all 
he  could  for  the  prosecution  of  a  -war  for  which  he  had  neither  taste  nor  practical 
ability.1 

Mr.  Madison's  first  step  in  the  prescribed  direction  after  this  interview  was  in  the 
form  of  a  confidential  message  to  Congress  on  the  1st  of  April,  recommending,  as 
preliminary  to  a  declaration  of  war,  the  immediate  passage  of  a  law  laying  a  general 
embargo  on  all  vessels  then  in  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  or  that  might  there 
after  enter,  for  the  period  of  sixty  days.  Meanwhile  another  subject  had  produced 
very  great  excitement  throughout  the  country.  An  Irishman,  named  John  Henry, 
who  had  become  a  naturalized  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  had  lived  several 
years  in  Canada,  appeared  at  the  Presidential  mansion  one  dark  and  stormy  even 
ing  early  in  February ,b  1812.  He  bore  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Mr. 
Madison  from  Governor  Gerry,  of  Massachusetts,  who  seemed  to  be  im 
pressed  with  the  truthfulness  of  Henry,  and  the  great  importance  of  the  information 
which  he  proposed  to  lay  before  the  President.2  An  interview  was  arranged  for  the 
following  evening,  when  Henry  divulged  to  the  President  what  appeared  to  be  most 
astounding  secrets  concerning  efforts  that  had  been  in  progress  for  two  years  on  the 
part  of  the  British  authorities  in  Canada,  sanctioned  by  the  home  government,  to 
effect  a  separation  of  the  Eastern  States  from  the  Union,  and  to  attach  them  to  Great 
Britain.  He  told  Mr.  Madison  that,  up  to  the  year  1809,  he  had  been  living  for  five 

1  Statement  of  James  Fisk,  a  Democratic  member  of  Congress  from  Vermont,  who  was  one  of  the  committee,  cited  in 
the  Statesman's  Manual,  i.,  444.    The  feeling  against  Mr.  Madison  on  account  of  his  timid  policy  had  begun  to  manifest 
itself  very  strongly  among  his  political  friends  in  Congress  before  the  close  of  1811.    The  New  York  Evening  Post,  of 
January  6, 1812,  says :  "The  Houses  of  Congress  refused  to  adjourn  on  the  1st  of  January  in  order  to  wait  on  the  chief 
magistrate.    It  was  an  intended  insult." 

Henry  Dearborn,  an  officer  of  the  Revolution,  then  in  Washington,  and  who  had  lately  been  appointed  a  major  gen 
eral  in  the  national  army,  wrote  to  his  daughter,  saying :  "  You  may  tell  your  neighbors  they  may  prepare  for  war ;  we 
shall  have  it  by  the  time  they  are  ready.  I  know  that  war  will  be  very  unwelcome  news  to  you,  but  I  also  know  that 
yon  possess  too  much  Spartan  patriotism  to  wish  your  father  to  decline  a  command  for  the  defense  of  the  honor  of  our 
beloved  country.  You  would,  if  necessary,  urge  him  to  the  field  rather  than  a  speck  of  dishonor  should  attach  to  him 
for  declining  such  a  command." 

2  Henry  had  spent  a  week  in  Baltimore.    He  left  that  city  for  Washington  on  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  February.— 
Letter  in  Niles's  Register,  ii.,  46. 


220  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Mission  of  John  Henry  in  New  England.  An  Attempt  to  destroy  the  Republic  by  Disunion. 

years  on  his  farm  in  Vermont,  near  the  Canada  line,  and  amused  himself  in  writing 
essays  for  the  newspapers  against  republican  governments,  which  he  detested.    Those 

essays,  he  said,  had  arrested  the  atten 
tion  of  Sir  James  Craig,  then  Governor 
General  of  Canada,  who  invited  him  to 
Montreal  at  the  close  of  1808.  At  that 
time  the  violent  demonstrations  of  the 
Federalists  in  New  England  against 
the  embargo  induced  the  English  to 
believe  that  there  was  deep-seated  dis 
affection  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  that 
section.  Under  that  impression  Henry  was  commissioned  by  Sir  James  Craig  to 
proceed  to  Boston,  and  ascertain  the  trne  state  of  affairs  there,  and  the  temper  of  the 
people  in  that  part  of  the  Union.  His  instructions  directed  him  especially  to  ascer 
tain  whether  the  Federalists  of  Massachusetts  would,  in  the  event  of  their  success  at 
the  approaching  election,  be  disposed  to  separate  from  the  Union,  or  enter  into  any 
connection  with  England.  "  The  earliest  information  on  this  subject,"  said  Sir  James, 
"  may  be  of  great  consequence  to  our  government ;  as  it  may  also  be,  that  it  should 
be  informed  how  far,  in  such  an  event,  they  would  look  to  England  for  assistance,  or 
be  disposed  to  enter  into  a  connection  with  us."1  Henry  was  authorized  to  intimate 
to  the  Federalist  leaders,  if  the  supposed  state  of  things  should  be  found  to  exist,  that 
they  might  communicate  to  the  British  government  through  him.2 

According  to  Henry's  statement,  he  passed  through  Vermont  after  receiving 
these  instructions,  and  arrived  at  Boston  on  the  5th  of  March.  There  he  remained 
about  three  months,  spending  his  time  in  coffee-houses  and  disreputable  places,  until 
•May 4,  Erskine's  arrangement  and  a  recall  by  Ryland,a  Craig's  Secretary,  put  an 
S09'  end  to  his  mission.  During  that  time  Henry  had  addressed  fourteen  letters 
to  Sir  James  over  the  initials  "A.  B.,"  most  of  them  written  at  Boston.  The  earlier 
ones  were  filled  with  the  most  encouraging  accounts  of  the  extreme  disaffection  of 
the  Eastern  people,  especially  those  of  Massachusetts,  on  account  of  the  commercial 
restrictions.  He  expressed  his  belief  that,  in  the  event  of  a  declaration  of  war  against 
Great  Britain  by  the  United  States,  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  would  take  the 
lead  in  establishing  a  separate  Northern  Confederacy,  which  might,  in  some  way,  end 
in  a  political  connection  with  Great  Britain.  The  grand  idea  of  destroying  the  Union 
was  the  theme  of  all  the  letters,  expressed  or  implied.  "  If  a  war  between  America 
and  France,"  he  wrote,  "  be  a  grand  desideratum,  something  more  must  be  done ;  an 
indulgent,  conciliating  policy  must  be  adopted.  ...  To  bring  about  a  separation  of 
the  states  under  distinct  and  independent  governments  is  an  affair  of  more  uncer 
tainty,  and,  however  desirable,  can  not  be  effected  but  by  a  series  of  acts  and  long- 
continued  policy  tending  to  irritate  the  Southern  and  conciliate  the  Northern  peo 
ple.  .  .  .  This,  I  am  aware,  is  an  object  of  much  interest  in  Great  Britain,  as  it 
would  forever  insure  the  integrity  of  his  majesty's  possessions  on  this  continent,  and 
make  the  two  goverments,  or  whatever  member  the  present  confederacy  might  join 
with,  as  useful  and  as  much  subject  to  the  influence  of  Great  Britain  as  her  colonies 
can  be  rendered."3 

i  Sir  James  Craig's  Instructions  to  John  Henry,  dated  at  Quebec,  Cth  February,  1S09. 

"  Henry  was  furnished  with  the  following  credentials,  to  be  used  if  circumstances  should  require  : 

"  The  bearer,  Mr.  John  Heury,  is  employed  by  me,  and  full  confidence  may  be  placed  in  him  for  any  communication 
which  any  person  may  wish  to  make  to  me  on  the  business  committed  to  him.  In  faith  of  which  I  have  given  him  this, 
under  my  hand  and  seal,  at  Quebec,  the  6th  day  of  February,  1809.  j.  jj.  CKAIO." 

Henry  was  also  furnished  with  a  cipher  to  be  used  in  his  correspondence. 

3  Henry  to  Sir  James  Craig,  13th  of  March,  1809.  Mr.  Erskine's  arrangement  greatly  disappointed  the  British  author 
ities  in  Canada,  who  doubtless  expected  to  reap  great  rewards  from  the  home  government  by  a  successful  effort  to  dis 
rupt  the  American  Union.  For  twenty  years  they  had  been  inciting  the  Indians  on  the  Northwestern  frontiers  to  war 
upon  the  Americans,  and  now  they  hoped,  by  a  successful  movement  among  those  whom  they  supposed  to  be  as  mer- 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  221 


Henry's  Correspondence  in  Madison's  Possession.  The  President's  Message  on  the  Subject. 

Henry  soon  perceived  that  his  estimate  of  New  England  disloyalty  was  simply  ab 
surd,  and  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  idea  of  a  withdrawal  from  the  Union 
was  unpopular ;  that,  as  matters  stood,  the  Federalists  would  confine  themselves  to 
the  ordinary  resistance  of  political  opposition.  "  Weak  men,"  he  wrote, "  are  sure  to 
temporize  when  great  events  call  upon  them  for  decision." 

Henry's  performances  seem  to  have  pleased  Sir  James  Craig,  who  promised  him 
employment  in  Canada  worth  at  least  a  thousand  pounds  ($5000)  per  annum.  Henry 
waited  long  for  the  fulfillment  of  that  promise,  and  finally  Sir  James  died.  In  June, 
1811,  the  British  spy  was  in  London  humbly  petitioning  the  government  for  remu 
neration  for  his  services  in  Boston.  There  he  was  at  first  treated  with  great  con 
sideration  by  the  government.  "  I  was  received  in  the  highest  circles,"  he  said  to 
his  friend,  the  Count  Edward  de  Crillon.  "  I  was  complimented  with  a  ticket  as  \ 
member  of  the  PITT  CLUB  without  Ueing  balloted  for."1  But  when  he  had  spent  all 
his  money,  and  presented  his  claims  for  retribution,  the  government  attempted  to 
cheapen  his  services.  He  claimed  thirty  thousand  pounds,  but  speedily  lowered  his 
demands.  He  would  be  content,  he  said,  with  the  office1  of  Judge  Advocate  of  Lower 
Canada,  with  a  salary  of  five  hundred  pounds  a  year,  or  a  consulate  in  the  United 
States.  Robert  Peel,  the  Earl  of  Liverpool's  under  secretary,  in  behalf  of  that  offi 
cial,  politely  referred  Henry  to  Sir  James  Craig's  successor  in  Canada,  Sir  George 
Prevost.  The  spy  was  exasperated,  and  sailed  for  Boston  instead  of  for  Quebec,  full 
of  wrath,  and  a  determination  to  be  revenged  by  divulging  the  whole  secret  of  his 
mission  to  the  United  States  government,  and,  if  possible,  receive  from  it  the  remu 
neration  which  he  had  vainly  sought  in  England.  He  was  successful.  Mr.  Madison 
was  satisfied  of  the  great  value  of  Henry's  disclosures  at  that  crisis,  when  war  against 
England  was  about  to  be  declared.  They  gave  overwhelming  proof  of  the  secret  de 
signs  of  the  British  government  to  destroy  the  new  republic  in  the  West.  Out  of 
the  secret  service  fund  in  his  possession  he  gave  Henry  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the 
entire  correspondence  of  the  parties  to  the  aifair  in  this  country  and  in  England. 

After  receiving  the  money2  Henry  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  President1  as  a  preface  "to  his  disclosures.  On  the  9th  of  March  a  February  20, 
the  United  States  sloop-of-war  Wasp,  Captain  Jones,  sailed  from  Sandy 
Hook  with  dispatches  for  Mr.  Barlow,  the  American  minister  at  Paris,  bearing  away 
Henry  to  sunny  France,  where  he  would  be  safe  from  British  vengeance.  On  the 
same  day  the  President  laid  the  Henry  documents3  before  Congress,  with  a  message, 
in  which  he  said,  "  They  prove  that  at  a  recent  period,  while  the  United  States,  not 
withstanding  the  wrongs  sustained  by  them,  ceased  not  to  observe  the  laws  of  neu 
trality  toward  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  midst  of  amicable  professions  and  negotia 
tions  on  the  part  of  the  British  government  through  its  public  minister  here  [Mr.  Er- 
skine],  a  secret  agent  of  that  government  was  employed  in  certain  states — more  espe 
cially  at  the  seat  of  government  in  Massachusetts — in  fomenting  disaffection  to  the 
constituted  authorities  of  the  nation,  and  in  intrigues  with  the  disaffected  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  about  resistance  to  the  laws,  and  eventually,  in  concert  with 

cenary  as  themselves,  to  reduce  the  United  States  to  virtual  vassalage.  Ryland,  Governor  Craig's  secretary,  in  a  letter 
to  Henry  on  the  1st  of  May  (four  days  before  his  official  letter  summoning  him  to  Montreal),  exhibited  that  disappoint 
ment.  He  concluded  his  letter  in  these  petulant  words  :  "  I  am  cruelly  out  of  spirits  at  the  idea  of  Old  England  truck 
ling  to  such  a  debased  and  accursed  government  as  that  of  the  United  States." 

1  De  Crillon's  deposition  before  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  submitted  to  Congress  March  13, 1811. 

2  This  was  paid  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  in  two  sums,  on  the  draft  of  Albert  Gallatin,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  to  the  order  of  James  Graham,  the  United  States  Treasurer,  one  for  forty-nine  thousand  dollars,  and  the  other 
for  one  thousand  dollars,  dated  10th  of  February,  1812.    Henry  was  probably  swindled  out  of  his  money.    He  had  land 
ed  at  Boston  with  a  Frenchman  calling  himself  the  Count  de  Crillon,  and  a  great  intimacy  grew  up  between  them.   They 
went  to  Washington  together.    When  Henry  returned  to  Baltimore  he  had  a  deed  from  the  "count"  for  an  estate  in 
Languedoc,  the  consideration  being  four  hundred  thousand  francs.    It  is  probable  the  count  received  the  forty-nine 
thousand  dollars,  and  Mr.  Henry  the  one  thousand  dollars,  the  latter  being  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  reach  his  valuable 
French  estate.    The  "  count,"  who  became  a  witness  in  the  government  investigation  of  Henry's  disclosures,  proved  to 
be  an  arrant  knave  and  impostor. 

3  These  may  be  found  in  Benton's  Abridgment  of  the  Debates  in  Congress,  iv.,  500  to  514  inclusive. 


222  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Henry's  Disclosures  make  Political  Capital.    The  British  Ministry  suppress  the  Correspondence.    Embargo  proposed. 

a  British  force,  of  destroying  the  Union,  and  forming  the  eastern  part  thereof  into  a 
political  connection  with  Great  Britain." 

The  indignation  against  Great  Britain  was  intensified  by  these  disclosures,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  New  England  felt  deeply  annoyed  by  this  implied  disparagement  of 
the  patriotism  of  their  section.  Both  political  parties  endeavored  to  make  capital 
out  of  the  affair.  The  Democrats  vehemently  reiterated  the  charge  that  the  Feder 
alists  were  a  "  British  party,"  and  "  disunionists  ;'n  while  the  opposition  alleged  that 
the  affair  was  a  political  trick  of  the  administration  to  damage  their  party,  insure  the 
re-election  of  Madison,  and  to  offer  an  excuse  for  war.  The  feeling  excited  in  New 
England  against  the  administration  was  intense,  and  the  indignation  of  the  people 
was  almost  equally  divided  between  the  President  and  the  British  sovereign.  It 
was  charged  that  the  whole  matter  was  a  fraud ;  that  Monroe  wrote  the  letter  pur 
porting  to  have  been  sent  by  Henry  from  Philadelphia  to  the  government,  and  that 
the  paper  on  which  Lord  Liverpool's  communication  to  Henry,  through  Robert  Peel, 
was  written,  bore  the  mark  of  a  Philadelphia  paper  manufacturer. 

These  charges  were  all  unti*ue.  Every  thing  about  the  matter  was  genuine.  The 
British  minister  at  Washington  (Mr.  Foster),  two  days  after  the  President's  message 
*  March  ii  was  published,  declared  in  the  public  prints*  his  entire  ignorance  of  any 

1812-  transaction  of  the  kind,  and  asked  the  United  States  government  to  consid 
er  the  character  of  the  individual2  who  had  made  these  disclosures,  and  to  "  suspend 
any  farther  judgment  on  its  merits  until  the  circumstances  shall  have  been  made 
known  to  his  majesty's  government."  That  government  was  called  upon  for  an  ex 
planation,  early  in  May,  by  Lord  Holland,  who  gave  noticeb  that  he  should 
make  a  motion  to  call  for  the  correspondence  in  relation  to  the  intrigue. 
Ministers  were  alarmed,  and  their  guilt  was  apparent  in  their  efforts  to  suppress  in 
quiry.  Every  pretext  was  brought  to  bear  to  oppose  the  motion.  When  they  could 
no  longer  deny  the  facts,  they  endeavored  to  throw  the  obloquy  of  the  act  upon  the 
dead  Sir  James  Craig.  The  ministerial  party  in  the  House  of  Lords,  when  the  mo 
tion  was  made,  prevailed,  and,  by  a  vote  of  seventy-three  against  twenty-seven,  re 
fused  to  have  the  correspondence  produced.  Lord  Holland  declared  in  his  closing 
speech  that,  until  such  investigation  should  be  had,  the  fact  that  Great  Britain  had 
entered  into  a  dishonorable  and  atrocious  intrigue  against  a  friendly  power  would 
stand  unrefuted.  And  it  does  stand  unrefuted  to  this  day.  It  was  so  palpable,  that 
Madison,  in  his  war  message  on  the  1st  of  June,  made  this  intrigue  one  of  the  serious 
charges  against  Great  Britain  as  justifying  war. 

The  President,  as  we  have  observed,  sent  a  confidential  message  to  Congress  on 
the  1st  of  April,  recommending  the  laying  of  an  embargo  for  sixty  days.  It  was 
avowedly  a  precursor  of  war ;  and  Mr.  Calhoun  immediately  presented  a  bill  in  Com- 

1  They  called  up  in  formidable  array  the  proceedings  of  the  New  England  people  against  the  Embargo  Laws  during 
the  past  two  or  three  years,  and  in  an  especial  manner  they  arraigned  Mr.  Qnincy,  the  great  opposition  leader  of  the 
House,  who,  a  year  before  (January  14, 1811),  in  the  debate  on  the  bill  to  enable  the  people  of  the  Territory  of  Orleans  to 
form  a  State  Constitution  preparatory  to  their  admission  into  the  Union,  had  declared  that  the  passage  of  the  bill  would 
"justify  a  revolution  in  this  country."    "  Look,"  they  said,  "  to  the  signification  of  this  passage  in  Mr.  Quincy's  speech 
—a  passage  which,  when  called  to  order,  he  reduced  to  writing :  "  I  am  compelled  to  declare  it  as  my  deliberate  opinion 
that,  if  this  bill  passes,  the  bonds  of  the  Union  are  virtually  dissolved ;  that  the  states  which  compose  it  are  free  from 
their  moral  obligations,  and  that,  as  it  will  be  the  right  of  all,  so  it  will  be  the  duty  of  some  to  prepare  definitely  for  a 
separation,  amicably  if  they  can,  violently  if  they  must."   For  an  abstract  of  Mr.  Quincy's  speech  on  that  occasion,  see 
Ben  ton's  Abridgment  of  the  Debates  in  Congress,  iv.,  327. 

The  Senate,  by  resolution,  asked  for  the  names  of  persons  in  Boston  or  elsewhere  who  were  concerned  in  the  plot 
with  Henry.    By  Secretary  Monroe's  reply,  it  seems  that  the  spy  never  mentioned  the  name  of  any  individual. 

2  John  Henry  was  a  native  of  Ireland.    He  appeared  in  Philadelphia  about  the  year  1793  or  1794,  having  come  over  as 
a  steerage  passenger.    He  possessed  considerable  literary  ability,  and  became  editor  of  Brown's  Philadelphia  Gazette. 
He  afterward  kept  a  grocery,  and  married  in  that  city.    Having  become  naturalized,  and  obtained  a  commission  in  the 
army  in  the  time  of  the  expected  war  with  France,  he  had  command  of  an  artillery  corps  under  General  Ebenezer 
Stevens,  of  New  York,  and  was  superior  officer  at  Fort  Jay,  on  Governor's  Island,  for  more  than  a  year.    He  afterward 
had  a  command  at  Newport,  where  he  quitted  the  service,  settled  upon  a  farm  in  Northern  Vermont,  studied  law,  and 
after  five  years  entered  upon  the  service  recorded  in  the  text.    "He  was  a  handsome,  well-behaved  man,"  says  Sulli 
van,  "  and  was  received  in  some  respectable  families  in  Boston." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  223 


Efforts  to  alarm  the  People.  War  predicted.  The  Sins  of  France.  Embargo  Act  passed. 

mittee  of  the  Whole  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation.1  The  opposition  sound 
ed  an  alarm.  The  weakness  of  the  country,  and  its  utter  want  of  preparation  for  war, 
became  the  themes  of  impassioned  appeals  to  the  fears  of  the  people.  The  continued 
aggressions  of  France — equal,  they  said,  to  those  of  England2 — were  pointed  to  as 
causes  for  war  with  that  nation,  and  it  might  be  necessary  to  encounter  both  at  the 
same  time. 

To  these  alarmists  Clay  vehemently  responded.  He  charged  them  with  having 
cast  obstacles  in  the  way  of  preparation,  and  now  made  that  lack  of  preparation  an 
excuse  for  longer  submission  to  great  wrongs.  Weak  as  we  are,  he  said,  we  could 
fight  France  too,  if  necessary,  in  a  good  cause — the  cause  of  honor  and  independence. 
He  had  no  doubt  that  the  late  Indian  war  on  the  Wabash  had  been  excited  by  the 
British  ;3  and  he  alluded  to  the  employment  of  Henry,  as  a  spy  and  fomentor  of  dis 
union,  as  another  gross  offense.  "  We  have  complete  proof,"  he  said, "  that  England 
would  do  every  thing  to  destroy  us.  Resolution  and  spirit  are  our  only  security." 
He  viewed  the  Embargo  as  a  war  measure,  and  "  war  we  shall  have  in  sixty  days," 
he  said. 

John  Randolph  implored  the  House  to  act  with  great  caution.  He  said  the  Presi 
dent  dared  not  plunge  the  country  into  a  war  while  in  its  present  unprepared  state. 
There  would  be  no  war  within  sixty  days.  He  believed  the  spirit  of  the  people  was 
not  up  to  war,  or  the  provocation  of  an  Embargo  Act  would  not  be  needed. 

Other  remarks  were  heard  from  both  sides.     The  bill,  by  the  aid  of  the  previous 
question,  was  passed  that  evening*  by  a  vote  of  seventy  against  forty-one,     a  ^prii  i, 
It  was  sent  to  the  Senate  the  next  morning.     That  body  suspended  the        1S12- 
rules,  took  up  the  bill,  and  carried  it  through  all  the  stages  but  the  last,  with  an 
amendment  increasing  the  time  to  ninety  days.     It  was  sent  b*ack  to  the  House  the 
next  morning,b  where  it  was  concurred  in,  and  on  Saturday,  the  4th  of  April, 
it  became  a  law  by  the  signature  of  the  President.     It  had  been  violently 
assailed  by  Quincy,  when  it  came  back  from  the  Senate,  as  an  attempt  to  escape  war, 
not  as  a  preliminary  to  it.     It  was  absurd  to  think  of  creating  a  sufficient  army  and 
navy  in  ninety  days  to  commence  war,     He  coincided  with  Randolph  in  the  belief 
that  the  Embargo  was  only  intended  to  aid  Bonaparte,  by  stopping  the  shipment  of 

1  When  the  Embargo  project  was  first  suggested  in  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  it  was  proposed  to  discuss 
it  under  a  pledge  of  secrecy.    John  Randolph  refused  to  be  bound  by  any  such  pledge,  denying  the  committee's  author 
ity  to  impose  it.    Mr.  Calhonn,  with  frank  generosity,  on  the  ground  that  all  should  have  aii  equal  chance,  communi 
cated  to  Mr.  Quincy  the  fact  that  an  embargo  was  to  be  laid  the  day  before  the  committee's  report  to  that  effect  was  made. 
Qniucy,  Lloyd,  and  Emott  immediately  sent  expresses  with  the  information  to  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Boston. 
Emott's  message  appeared  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post  on  the  31st  of  March,  the  day  before  the  President's  message 
was  sent  in.    In  consequence  of  this  information,  several  vessels  at  these  respective  ports  loaded  and  escaped  to  sea 
before  the  Embargo  was  laid. 

2  These  assertions  contained  much  truth.    According  to  a  report  laid  before  Congress  on  the  6th  of  July,  1812,  it  ap 
peared  that  the  whole  number  of  British  seizures  and  captures  of  American  vessels  since  the  commencement  of  the 
Continental  War  was  917.    Of  these,  528  had  occurred  previously  to  the  orders  in  Council  of  November,  1807,  and  389 
afterward.    The  French  seizures  and  captures  were  55S ;  of  these,  206  were  before  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees,  317  after 
ward,  and  45  since  their  alleged  repeal.    Recent  Danish  captures  amounted  to  70,  and  Neapolitan  to  47.    Besides  these 
there  had  been  extensive  Dutch  and  Spanish  seizures,  which,  it  was  alleged,  should  properly  be  placed  to  the  French 
account,  as  those  countries  were  under  the  control  of  Napoleon.    It  was  also  stated  that  more  than  half  the  captures  by 
British  cruisers  had  been  declared  invalid,  and  restoration  ordered,  while  in  France  only  a  quarter  of  the  vessels  seized 
were  so  treated.    It  must  be  confessed  that  France  was  guilty  of  direct  and  indirect  spoliation  of  American  commerce 
to  an  extent  equal,  if  not  exceeding  that  inflicted  by  Great  Britain. 

3  On  the  llth  of  June  the  Secretary  of  War  laid  before  Congress  numerous  letters  from  military  and  civil  officers  of 
the  government  from  various  portions  of  the  Northwestern,  Western,  and  Southwestern  frontiers,  dating  back  as  far  as 
1307,  and  giving  overwhelming  evidence  of  the  continual  efforts  of  British  emissaries  to  stir  up  the  Indians  to  hostilities 
against  the  United  States,  and  to  win  them  to  the  British  interest  in  expectation  of  war  between  the  two  countries.    I 
will  quote  as  a  matter  of  fact,  not  speculation,  from  a  speech  of  Red  Jacket,  the  great  Seneca  chief,  in  behalf  of  himself 
and  other  deputies  of  the  Six  Nations,  in  February,  1S10 : 

"  BROTHER,— Since  you  have  had  some  disputes  with  the  British  government,  their  agents  in  Canada  have  not  only 
endeavored  to  make  the  Indians  at  the  westward  your  enemies,  but  they  have  sent  the  war-belt  among  our  warriors  [in 
Western  New  York],  to  poison  their  minds  and  make  them  break  their  faith  with  you.  At  the  same  time  we  had  in 
formation  that  the  British  had  circulated  war-belts  among  the  Western  Indians,  and  within  your  territory." 

Copious  extracts  from  the  letters  above  mentioned  as  having  been  laid  before  the  Secretary  of  War  may  be  found  in 
Niles's  Weekly  Register,  ii.,  342. 


224 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Supplementary  Embargo  Act. 


Opposition  to  the  Embargo. 


Delusive  Hopes  of  Justice. 


provisions  to  Spain,  where  the  British  armies  were  then  beginning  to  win  victories.1 
It  was  called,  in  ridicule, "  a  Terrapin  War."2 

The  Embargo  Act  (which  prohibited  the  sailing  of  any  vessel  for  any  foreign  port, 
except  foreign  vessels,  with  such  cargoes  as  they  had  on  board  when  notified  of  the 
•>  April  14,  act)  was  speedily  followed  by  a  supplement11  prohibiting  exportations  by 

1812-  land,  whether  of  goods  or  specie.3  Farther  provision  was  also  made  for  the 
immediate  strengthening  of  the  army. 

These  belligerent  measures  were  hailed  with  joy  throughout  the .  country  by  the 
war  party,  who  were  dominant  and  determined.  They  alarmed  those  who  wished 
for  peace ;  yet  these,  unwilling  to  believe  that  the  administration  would  push  mat 
ters  to  the  extreme  of  actual  hostility,  acquiesced  in  the  embargo  because  of  a  delu 
sive  hope  that  it  might  be  the  means  of  causing  Great  Britain  to  modify  its  system 
concerning  neutrals,  and  thereby  avert  war.  It  was,  indeed,  a  delusive  hope.  The 
letters  of  Jonathan  Russell  (who  had  succeeded  Mr.  Pinkney  as  minister  to  England) 
at  this  time  gave  no  encouragement  for  it.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  discourag 
ing.  To  Mr.  Monroe  he  wrote,  after  attending  discussions  on  the  orders  in  Council 
in  Parliament :  "  If  any  thing  wras  wanting  to  prove  the  inflexible  determination  of 
the  present  ministry  to  persevere  in  the  orders  in  Council,  without  modification  or  re 
laxation,  the  declarations  of  leading  members  of  the  administration  on  these  meas 
ures  must  place  it  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt.  I  no  longer  entertain  a  hope 
that  we  can  honorably  avoid  war."4 


1  One  great  object  of  the  Embargo  appears  to  have  been  to  detain  at  home  as  many  merchant  ships  as  possible,  for 
the  twofold  purpose,  in  view  of  approaching  war,  to  keep  them  from  British  privateers,  and  to  engage  them  for  that 
service  on  the  part  of  the  Americans.  Mr.  Alison,  the  British  historian,  suggests  only  part  of  the  truth  in  saying  that 
it  was  to  prevent  intelligence  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Americans  in  their  preparations  for  war  reaching  England,  and 
to  furnish  them  with  means,  from  their  extensive  commercial  navy,  of  manning  their  vessels  of  war.  To  do  this,  cost 
the  nation  a  great  sacrifice.  A  writer  in  the  American  Review  of  April,  1S12,  estimated  the  loss  as  follows: 

Mercantile  loss $24,814,249 

Deteriorated  value  of  surplus  produce  and  waste 40,196,028 

Loss  sustained  by  the  revenue 0,000,000 

Total  national  loss $74,010,277,  or  $6,107,523  a  month. 

8  See  note  3,  page  164.  Argument,  ridicule,  satire  were  all  employed  against  the  "Terrapin  War."  During  the  late 
spring  and  early  summer  of  1812,  the  subjoined  song  was  sung  at  all  gatherings  of  the  Federalists,  and  was  very  popular : 


"  Huzza  for  our  liberty,  boys, 

These  are  the  days  of  our  glory — 
The  days  of  true  national  joys, 

WThen  terrapins  gallop  before  ye  ! 
There's  Porter,  and  Grundy,  and  Rhea, 

In  Congress  who  manfully  vapor, 
Who  draw  their  six  dollars  a  day, 
And  fight  bloody  battles  on  paper  I 

Ah  !  this  is  true  Terrapin  war. 
"Poor  Madison  the  tremors  has  got, 

'Bout  this  same  arming  the  nation 
Too  far  to  retract,  he  can  not 
Go  on— and  he  loses  his  station. 


FAO-BIMlLJi   OF   A  JSliWbl'Al'KB   OUT. 


Then  bring  up  your  'regulars,'  lads, 
In  'attitude'  nothing  ye  lack,  sirs, 
Ye'll  frighten  to  death  the  Danads, 
With  fire-coals  blazing  aback,  sirs  1 

Oh,  this  is  true  Terrapin  war ! 
"As  to  powder,  and  bullet,  and  swords, 

For,  as  they  were  never  intended, 
They're  a  parcel  of  high-sounding  words, 

But  never  to  action  extended. 
Ye  must  frighten  the  rascals  away, 

In  '  rapid  descent*  on  their  quarters ; 
Then  the  plunder  divide  as  ye  may, 
And  drive  them  headlong  in  the  waters. 
Oh,  this  is  great  Terrapin  war  !" 

3  The  opposition  speakers  and  newspapers  denounced  the 
Embargo  (especially  the  "Land  Embargo,"  as  the  supplement 
ary  act  was  called)  in  unmeasured  terms.    The  land  trade  with 
Canada,  so  suddenly  arrested  and  thrown  into  confusion  by  it, 
was  represented  by  a  bewildered  serpent,  which  had  been  sud 
denly  stopped  in  its  movements  by  two  trees,  marked  respect 
ively  EMBARGO  and  NON-INTEECOCRSE.    The  wondering  snake 
is  puzzled  to  know  what  has  happened,  and  the  head  cries  out, 
"What  is  the  matter,  tail  ?"    The  latter  answers,  "I  can't  get 
out."    A  cock  (in  allusion  to  France)  stands  by,  crowing  joyfully. 

4  Letter  to  Secretary  Monroe,  March  4, 1S12.    Mr.  Percival,  one 
of  the  Cabinet,  and  a  leading  administration  member,  said,  in 
the  course  of  debate:   "As  England  is  contending  for  the  de 
fense  of  her  maritime  rights,  and  for  the  preservation  of  her  na 
tional  existence,  which  essentially  depends  on  the  maintenance 
of  these  rights,  she  could  not  be  expected,  in  the  prosecution  of 
this  great  and  primary  interest,  to  arrest  or  vary  her  course  to 
listen  to  the  pretensions  of  neutral  na'ions,  or  to  remove  the  evils, 
however  then  might  be  regretted,  which  the  uniform  policy  of  the 
times  indirectly  or  unintentionally  extended  to  them." 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


225 


British  Orders  and  French  Decrees  unrepealed. 


A  preliminary  War  Measure. 


Madison  renominated. 


The  determination  of  the  British  government  not  to  relax  the  rigor  of  the  orders 
in  Council  was  explicitly  stated  a  few  weeks  later,a  when  Mr.  Foster,  the  a30thMay, 
British  minister  at  Washington,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Monroe,  after  reviewing 
the  wrhole  ground  of  controversy  between  the  two  countries,  said :  "  Great  Britain 
can  not  admit,  as  a  true  declaration  of  public  law,  that  free  ships  make  free  goods. 
She  can  not  admit,  as  a  principle  of  public  law,  that  arms  and  military  stores  are  alone 
contraband  of  war,  and  that  ship-timber  and  naval  stores  are  excluded  from  that  de 
scription;  and  she  feels  that  to  relinquish  her  just  measures  of  self-defense  and  retali 
ation  would  be  to  surrender  the  best  means  of  her  own  preservation  and  rights,  and 
with  them  the  rights  of  other  nations,  so  long  as  France  maintains  and  acts  upon 
such  principles." 

The  conduct  of  France  now  became  a  subject  for  just  animadversion,  and  cast  ob 
stacles  in  the  way  of  the  arguments  of  the  war  party  concerning  the  orders  in  Coun 
cil.  Joel  Barlow  had  been  sent  to  France  as  the  successor  of  minister  Armstrong. 
He  strove  in  vain  to  procure  from  the  French  government  any  promise  of  indemnity 
for  past  spoliations,  or  of  a  relaxation  of  restrictive  measures  in  future.  The  Presi 
dent  and  his  Cabinet  had  earnestly  hoped  that  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  would 
be  repealed,  thereby  compelling  Great  Britain  to  withdraw  her  orders  in  Council,  or 
stand  before  the  world  as  a  willful  violator  of  the  rights  of  nations.  In  this  they  hoped 
for  a  door  of  escape  from  war.  It  was  certain  that,  while  the  decrees  stood  absolute 
ly  unrepealed  in  form,  Great  Britain  would  not  relax  her  restrictive  system  one  iota, 
Dispatches  from  Barlow  late  in  March  gave  no  hope  of  a  change.  Indeed,  the  French 
Minister  for  Foreign  AiFairs  had  laid  before  the  Conservative  Senate1*  a  re 
port  in  which  those  decrees  were  spoken  of  as  embodying  the  settled  pol 
icy  of  the  emperor,  to  be  enforced  against  all  nations  who  should  suffer  their  flags  to 
be  "denationalized1"  by  submitting  to  the  pretensions  of  the  British  to  seize  enemies' 
goods  in  neutral  vessels,  to  treat  timber  and  naval  stores  as  contraband,  or  to  block 
ade  a  port  not  also  invested  by  land. 

Thus  matters  stood  on  the  1st  of  June,  when  Mr.  Madison  sent  into  Congress,  aft 
er  previous  arrangement  with  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Affairs,  a  most  important  confidential  mes 
sage,  by  which  he  was  fairly  committed  to  the  war 
polity.     He  had  hesitated  somewhat.     He  was  will 
ing  to  sign  a  bill  declaring  war  against  Great  Brit 
ain,  but  he  did  not  wish  to  appear  as  a  leader  in  the 
measure.     His  new  political  masters  would  consent 
to  no  flinching.     They  resolved  that  the  President 
should  share  the  fearful  responsibility  with  them 
selves.     A  Congressional  caucus  was  about  to  be 
held  to  nominate  a  Democratic  candidate  for  the 
Presidency,  and  a  committee,  with  the  imperious 
Clay  at  their  head,  waited  on  Mr.  Madison,  and  told 
him  plainly  that  he  must  move  in  a  declaration  of 
war,  or  they  would  not  support  him  for  re-election. 
He  yielded.     The  caucus  was  held.     Eighty  members 
were  present.     Varnum,  of  Massachusetts,  was  presi 
dent,  and  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky,  was  sec 
retary.     The  entire  vote  was  given  to  Mr.  Madison. 
George   Clinton,  the  Vice-President,  whom  they  had 
intended  to  nominate  for  re-election,  had  died  a  few 


to 

A  little  later  a  London  ministerial  paper  used  the  following;  language,  which  exposed  the  animus  of  the  men  in  pow 
er  and  the  aristocratic  and  mercantile  classes:  "As  Great  Britain  has  got  possession  of  the  ocean,  it  must  have  the 
right  to  enact  laws  for  the  regulation  of  its  own  element,  and  to  confine  the  tracks  of  neutrals  within  such  boundaries  as  its 
own  rights  and  interests  require  to  be  drawn." — London  Courier,  April,  1812. 


226 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


George  Clinton. 


The  President's  accusatory  Message. 


Calhoun's  Report  on  Causes  and  Reasons  for  War. 


weeks  before,1  and  the  aged  Elbridge  Gerry,  lately  defeated  as  a  candidate  for  re 
election  to  the  governorship  of  Massachusetts,  was  placed  on  the  ticket  for  Vice- 
President.  This  matter  disposed  of,  and  the  continued  claims  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  of 
New  York,  to  a  nomination  for  President  being  considered  as  of  little  moment, 
the  war  party,  led  by  Clay  and  Calhoun,  put  forth  vigorous  exertions  for  the  full  ac 
complishment  of  their  purposes. 

In  his  message  to  Congress  on  the  1st  of  June  the  President  recapitulated  the 
wrongs  which  the  people  of  the  United  States  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  Great 
Britain — wrongs  already  noticed  in  preceding  pages,  and  need  not  be  repeated  here. 
He  declared  that  her  conduct,  taken  together,  was  positively  belligerent.  "  We  be 
hold  in  fine,"  he  said, "  on  the  side  of  Great  Britain,  a  state  of  war  against  the  United 
States,  and  on  the  side  of  the  United  States  a  state  of  peace  toward  Great  Britain."2 
He  warned  his  countrymen  to  avoid  entanglements  "  in  the  contests  and  views  of 
other  powers" — meaning  France — and  called  their  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
French  government,  since  the  revocation  of  her  decrees  as  applied  to  American  com 
merce,  had  authorized  illegal  captures  by  her  privateers ;  but  he  abstained  at  that 
time  from  offering  any  suggestions  concerning  definitive  measures  with  respect  to 
that  nation. 

The  message  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,3  and  on  the  3d 
of  June  Mr.  Calhoun,  its  then  chairman,  presented  a  report,  in  which  the  causes  and 
reasons  for  war  were  more  fully  stated — more  in  historical  order  and  detail — than  in 
the  President's  message.  In  concluding  the  review  of  British  aggressions,  the  report 
declared  that  the  hostility  of  the  government  of  Great  Britain  was  evidently  based 

1  George  Clinton  was  born  in  Ulster  County,  New  York,  in  1T39.    He  chose 

the  profession  of  the  law  for  his  avocation.    In  1T68  he  was  elected  to  a  seat 

j^          in  the  Colonial  Legislature,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  in 

1775.    He  was  appointed  a  brigadier  in  the  army  of  the  United  States  in  1776, 

and  during  the  whole  war  was  active  in  military  affairs  in  New  York.    In 

-f  --•  .  •  t/  April,  1777,  he  was  elected  governor  and  lieutenant  governor,  under  the  new 

Republican  Constitution  of  the  state,  and  was  continued  in  the  former  office 
eighteen  years.  He  was  president  of  the  Convention  assembled  at  Pough- 
keepsie  to  consider  the  Federal  Constitution  in  17S8.  He  was  again  chosen 
governor  of  the  state  in  1801,  and  three  years  afterward  he  was  elected  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States.  He  occupied  that  elevated  position  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Washington  City  on  the  20th  of  April,  1812. 

Mr.  Clinton  expired  ab«ut  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  He  had  been  ill  for 
some  time,  and  his  death  was  not  unexpected.  His  funeral  took  place  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  21st.  The  corpse  was  removed  from  his  lodgings  to  the  Capi 
tol,  escorted  by  a  troop  of  horse.  There  it  remained  until  four  o'clock,  when 
the  procession,  composed  of  cavalry  and  the  marine  corps,  clergymen,  physi 
cians,  mourners,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  members  of  both  houses 
of  Congress,  heads  of  departments,  etc.,  moved  to  the  Congressional  burying- 
grouud,  situated  on  the  Eastern  Branch  of  the  Potomac,  about  a  mile  east 
ward  of  the  Capitol.  Over  his  grave  a  monument  of  white  marble  was  erect 
ed.  The  annexed  sketch  of  it  was  made  when  I  visited  that  resting-place  of 
many  of  the  American  worthies,  in  the  autumn  of  1861.  It  is  about  fifteen  feet 
in  height.  The  tablet  for  the  inscription,  and  a  profile  in  high  relief  on  the 
obelisk,  are  of  statuary  marble.  On  the  east  side  (in  shadow  in  the  picture) 
is  the  inscription ;  on  the  north  side  the  fasces ;  on  the  west  side  a  serpent 
on  a  staff;  and  on  the  south  side  the  winged  caduceus  of  Mercury.  On  the 
west  side  of  the  obelisk  is  a  Roman  sword,  crossed  by  a  saber,  and  tied  to 
gether  by  a  scarf.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  inscription : 

"To  the  memory  of  GEORGE  CLINTON.  He  was  born  in  the  State  of  New 
York  on  the  26th  of  July,  1739,  and  died  at  Washington  on  the  20th  of  April, 
1S12,  in  the  73d  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  soldier  and  statesman  of  the  Rev 
olution,  eminent  in  council,  distinguished  in  war.  He  filled,  with  unexampled 
usefulness,  purity,  and  ability,  among  many  other  high  offices,  those  of  gov 
ernor  of  his  native  state,  and  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  White 
he  lived,  his  virtue,  wisdom,  and  valor  were  the  pride,  the  ornament,  and  the 
security  of  his  country  ;  and  when  he  died  he  left  an  illustrious  example  of  a 
well-spent  life,  worthy  of  all  imitation.  This  monument  is  affectionately  dedi 
cated  by  his  children." 

2  For  the  message  in  full,  see  Statesman's  Manual,  i.,  387. 

3  The  committee  was  composed  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina ;  Felix  Grundy,  of  Tennessee  ;  John  Smilie, 
of  Pennsylvania ;  John  A.  Harper,  of  New  Hampshire ;  Joseph  Desha,  of  Kentucky ;  and  Ebenezer  Sea'ver,  of  Massa 
chusetts. 


CLINTON  S   TOMJi. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  227 


Action  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  Secret  Session.  Action  of  the  Senate  on  a  Declaration  of  War. 

on  the  fact  that  the  United  States  were  considered  by  it  as  its  commercial  rival,  and 
.that  their  prosperity  and  growth  were  incompatible  with  its  welfare.  "  Your  com 
mittee,"  said  the  report,  "will  not  enlarge  on  any  of  the  injuries,  however  great, 
which  have  a  transitory  effect.  They  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the  House  to  those 
of  a  permanent  nature  only,  which  intrench  so  deeply  on  our  most  important  rights, 
and  wound  so  extensively  and  vitally  our  best  interests,  as  could  not  fail  to  deprive 
the  United  States  of  the  principal  advantages  of  their  Revolution,  if  submitted  to. 
The  control  of  our  commerce  by  Great  Britain,  in  regulating  at  pleasure  and  expel 
ling  it  almost  from  the  ocean ;  the  oppressive  manner  in  which  these  regulations 
have  been  carried  into  effect,  by  seizing  and  confiscating  such  of  our  vessels,  with 
their  cargoes,  as  were  said  to  have  violated  her  edicts,  often  without  previous  warn 
ing  of  their  danger ;  the  impressment  of  our  citizens  from  on  board  our  own  vessels 
on  the  high  seas  and  elsewhere,  and  holding  them  in  bondage  till  it  suited  the  conven 
ience  of  their  oppressors  to  deliver  them  up,  are  encroachments  of  that  high  and  dan 
gerous  tendency  which  could  not  fail  to  produce  that  pernicious  effect ;  nor  would 
these  be  the  only  consequences  that  would  result  from  it.  The  British  government 
might,  for  a  while,  be  satisfied  with  the  ascendency  thus  gained  over  us,  but  its  pre 
tensions  would  soon  increase.  The  proof  which  so  complete  and  disgraceful  a  sub 
mission  to  its  authority  would  afford  of  our  degeneracy,  could  not  fail  to  inspire  con 
fidence  that  there  was  no  limit  to  which  its  usurpations  and  our  degradation  might 
not  be  carried." 

On  the  presentation  of  this  report  the  doors  were  closed,  and  a  motion  to  open 
them  was  denied  by  a  vote  of  seventy-seven  against  forty-nine.  Mr.  Calhoun  then 
presented  a  bill,  as  part  of  the  report,  declaring  war  between  Great  Britain  and  her 
dependencies  and  the  United  States  and  its  Territories.  Amendments  were  offered. 
Ten  votes  were  given  for  a  proposition  by  M'Kee,  of  Kentucky,  to  include  France 
in  the  declaration.  Mr.  Quincy  endeavored,  by  an  addition  to  the  bill,  to  provide  for 
the  repeal  of  all  restrictive  laws  bearing  upon  commerce ;  and  Randolph  moved  to 
postpone  the  whole  matter  until  the  following  October.  All  were  rejected,  and  the 
bill,  as  Calhoun  presented  it,  was  passed  on  the  4th  day  of  June  by  a  vote  of  seventy- 
nine  for  it  and  forty-nine  against  it. 

When  the  bill  reached  the  Senatea  it  was  referred  to  a  committee  already  a  june  5,  • 
appointed  to  consider  the  President's  message.  It  remained  under  discussion  1812- 
twelve  days.  Meanwhile  the  people  throughout  the  country  were  fearfully  excited 
by  conflicting  emotions.  A  memorial  against  the  war  went  from  the  Legislature  of 
Massachusetts ;  and  another  from  the  merchants  of  New  York,  led  by  John  Jacob 
Astor,  recommending  restrictive  measures  as  better  than  war.  War-meetings  were 
held  in  various  places,  and  the  whole  country  was  in  a  tumult  of  excitement.  Final 
ly,  on  the  17th  of  June — the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill — the  bill,  with 
some  amendments,  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  nineteen  against  thirteen.  It  was  sent 
back  to  the  House  on  the  morning  of  the  18th,  where  the  amendments  were  concurred 
in.  The  bill  was  engrossed  on  parchment,  and  at  three  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of 
that  day  became  a  law  by  the  signature  of  the  President.1  In  the  House,  the  mem 
bers  from  Pennsylvania,  and  the  states  South  and  West,  gave  sixty-two  votes  for  it 

i  The  act  declaring  war  was  drawn  up  by  William  Pinkney,  late  minister  to  England,  and  then  Attorney  General  of  the 
United  States.  It  is  as  follows :  "That  war  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  declared  to  exist  between  the  United  Kingdom 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  and  the  dependencies  thereof  and  the  United  States  of  America  and  their  Territories ;  and 
that  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  authorized  to  use  the  whole  land  and  naval  force  of  the  United  States 
to  carry  the  same  into  effect,  and  to  issue  to  private  armed  vessels  of  the  United  States  commissions,  or  letters  of  marque 
and  general  reprisal,*  in  such  form  as  he  shall  think  proper,  and  under  the  seal  of  the  United  States,  against  the  vessels, 
goods,  and  effects  of  the  government  of  the  said  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  and  the  subjects  thereof." 

*  Letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  or  commissions  to  seize  the  goods  of  an  enemy  in  time  of  war  and  not  incur  the  pen 
alty  of  robbery  or  piracy,  were  issued  in  England  as  early  as  Edward  the  First.  It  has  ever  been  a  powerful  belligerent 
arm  in  warfare  against  commercial  nations,  and  the  system  was  of  great  service  to  the  Americans  during  their  war  with 
Great  Britain  in  1S12-'15.  Efforts  have  recently  been  made  to  abolish  the  -system  among  nations.  It  should  be,  for, 
after  all,  it  is  only  legalized  piracy. 


'228 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Declaration  of  War. 


The  President  proclaims  the  Fact. 


A  Protest. 


'  Josiah  the  First." 


to  seventeen  against  it.     In  the  Senate  the  same  states  gave  fourteen  for  it  to  five 
against  it.     "  Thus,"  says  a  late  writer,  "  the  war  may  be  said  to  have  been  a  meas- . 
ure  of  the  South  and  West  to  take  care  of  the  interests  of  the  North,  much  against 
the  will  of  the  ktter."1 

When  the  War  Act  became  law,  the  injunction  of  secrecy  was  removed,  and  on  the 
a  June  19  following  daya  the  President  issued  a  proclamation  announcing  the  fact,  and 
isi'2-  '  calling  upon  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  sustain  the  public  authori 
ties  in  the  measures  to  be  adopted  for  obtaining  a  speedy,  just,  and  honorable  peace. 
"  I  exhort  all  the  good  people  of  the  United  States,"  he  said, "  as  they  love  their  coun 
try  ;  as  they  value  the  precious  heritage  derived  from  the  virtue  and  valor  of  their 
fathers ;  as  they  feel  the  wrongs  which  have  forced  on  them  the  last  resort  of  injured 
nations ;  and  as  they  consult  the  best  means,  under  the  blessing  of  divine  Providence, 
of  abridging  its  calamities,  that  they  exert  themselves  in  preserving  order,  in  promot 
ing  concord,  in  maintaining  the  authority  and  the  efficiency  of  the  laws,  and  in  sup 
porting  and  invigorating  all  the  measures  which  may  be  adopted  by  the  constituted 
authorities." 

This  was  soon  followed  by  an  able  protest  against  the  measure.  It  was  chiefly 
written  by  Mr.  Quincy,  who  then  stood  at  the  head  of  the  opposition,  not  only  in  Con 
gress,  but  throughout  the  country.  The 
prestige  of  his  father's  name  as  a  leading 
patriot  of  the  Revolution  ;  his  own  long 
services  in  the  National  Legislature ;  his 
family  connections  and  influence ;  his  ster 
ling  worth  in  private  life ;  his  withering 
sarcasm  of  tongue  and  pen ;  his  fluency 
of  speech  in  declamation  or  debate,  and 
his  handsome  and  commanding  presence, 
all  combined  to  make  him  peerless  as 
a  leader.  He  was  consequently  assailed 
with  the  greatest  bitterness  by  the  friends 
of  the  administration;  and  squibs,  and 
epigrams,  and  caricatures2  frequently  at 
tested  the  general  acknowledgment  of 
his  commanding  position.  Mr.  Quincy 
outlived  all  of  his  contemporaries.  Not 
one  of  the  members  of  the  Twelfth  Con 
gress —  the  Congress  that  declared  war 
against  Great  Britain  in  1812 — was  liv 
ing  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  born 
with  the  nation,  whose  full  independence 
was  only  achieved  at  the  close  of  that 


the  IlIROT. 


1  Edwin  Williams,  in  the  Statesman's  Manual,  i.,  450. 

2  One  of  the  caricatures  of  Mr.  Quincy  is  before  me.    It  was  engraved  and  published  by  William  Charles,*  of  Phila 
delphia,  and  is  entitled  "Josiah  the  First."    He  is  represented  as  a  king,  in  reference  to  his  political  domination.    On 


*  Of  William  Charles,  the  engraver  above  mentioned,  who  published  several  caricatures  during  the  War  of  1S12-'15, 
very  little  is  remembered.  The  venerable  Doctor  Alexander  Anderson,  of  New  York,  the  father  of  wood  engraving  in 
America,  and  yet  (1867)  a  practitioner  of  the  art  at  the  age  of  ninety-two  years,  informed  the  writer  that  he  knew  Charles 
when  he  first  came  to  America,  about  the  year  1801.  He  was  a  native  of  Edinburg,  Scotland.  He  caricatured  one  or 
more  of  the  magistrates  of  that  city,  and,  to  avoid  the  consequences  of  prosecution,  he  left  and  came  to  the  United 
States.  He  practiced  his  art  in  New  York  for  a  number  of  years  without  success,  and  then  went  to  Philadelphia.  The 
venerable  John  M'Allister,  of  Philadelphia,  now  (1867)  more  than  eighty  years  of  age,  writes  me  that  he  remembers 
Charles'  and  his  small  book-store  and  print-shop,  which  he  opened  in  Philadelphia  just  before  the  War  of  1S12.  After 
the  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  in  1814,  he  engraved,  printed,  and  vended  a  great  quantity  of  notes  for 
fractions  of  dollars,  commonly  known  as  "  shinplasters."  He  died  in  Philadelphia  in  the  year  1821,  and  his  widow  con 
tinued  his  bookselling  and  stationery  business.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  M'Allister  for  the  caricature  of  Mr.  Quincy  above 
given. 


OF   THE    WAK    OF    1812.  229 

I 

Substance  of  the  Protest  of  the  Minority.  Names  of  those  who  signed  it. 

war,  and  lived  to  see  it,  in  sturdy  maturity,  not  only  resist  a  most  dangerous  inter 
nal  and  inherited  disease  that  threatened  to  destroy  its  life,  but  to  rise  from  the  at 
tack  purified  and  strengthened,  with  every  promise  of  long  and  vigorous  existence 
impressed  upon  every  fibre  of  its  being.1 

Mr.  Quincy,  it  has  been  observed,  wrote  the  most  of  the  minority's  protest  against 
the  war.  He  was  aided  by  Mr.  Bayard,  of  Delaware,  and  some  suggestions  were 
made  by  others.  It  was  signed  by  all  the  minority  members  of  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  and  was  issued  in  the  form  of  an  address  to  their  constituents,  in  which 
their  conduct  in  voting  against  the  war  was  vindicated.2  They  set  forth  perspicu 
ously  the  state  of  the  country,  and  the  course  of  the  administration  and  its  support 
ers  in  Congress.  They  professed  to  believe  that  a  war  with  Great  Britain  would 
necessarily  lead  to  a  political  connection  with  France,  then  waging  bitter  hostilities 
against  her — a  connection  which  would  be  extremely  hazardous  to  the  liberties  of 
the  United  States.  They  professed  to  regard  France  as  the  greater  aggressor  of  the 
two,  and  looked  upon  her  commerce  as  not  worth  contending  for.  Notwithstanding 
the  French  edicts,  a  profitable  trade  might  be  carried  on  with  England,  for  France 
had  not  the  power  to  enforce  their  edicts  to  a  very  great  extent.  Indeed,  a  large 
portion  of  the  world  where  American  commerce  might  be  made  profitable  was  not 
affected  by  the  actions  of  either  of  the  belligerents.  They  would,  therefore,  author 
ize  the  American  merchantmen  to  arm  in  their  own  defense,  become  their  own  pro 
tectors,  and  go  wherever  they  chose  to  risk  themselves.  As  to  the  invasion  and 
seizure -of  Canada,  which  was  a  part  of  the  programme  of  the  war  party,  they  con 
sidered  an  attempt  to  carry  out  that  measure  as  unjust  and  impolitic  in  itself,  very 
uncertain  in  the  issue,  and  unpromising  as  to  any  good  results.  They  pointed  to  the 
unprepared  state  of  the  country  as  vehemently  forbidding  a  declaration  of  war. 
"  With  a  navy  comparatively  nominal,  we  are  about  to  enter  into  the  lists  against 
the  greatest  marine  on  the  globe.  With  a  commerce  unprotected  and  spi'ead  over 
every  ocean,  we  propose  to  make  profit  by  privateering,  and  for  this  endanger  the 
wealth  of  which  we  are  honest  proprietors.  An  invasion  is  threatened  of  the  colo 
nies  of  a  power  which,  without  putting  a  new  ship  into  commission,  or  taking  another 
soldier  into  pay,  can  spread  alarm  or  desolation  along  the  extensive  range  of  our  sea 
board.  Before  adequate  fortifications  are  prepared  for  domestic  defense,  before  men. 
or  money  are  provided  for  a  war  of  attack,  why  hasten  into  the  midst  of  this  awful 
contest,  which  is  laying  waste  Europe  ?  It  can  not  be  concealed  that  to  engage  in 
the  present  war  against  England  is  to  place  ourselves  on  the  side  of  France,  and 

his  head  is  a  crown.  His  coat  is  scarlet,  his  waistcoat  brown,  his  breeches  light  green,  and  his  stockings  white  silk.  In 
one  hand  he  holds  a  sceptre,  and  in  the  space  near  his  head  (omitted  in  our  reduced  copy)  are  the  words  :  "I,  Josiah  the 
First,  do,  by  this  royal  proclamation,  announce  myself  King  of  New  England,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Passamaquoddy ;  Grand 
Master  of  the  noble  Order  of  the  Two  Codfishes."  On  his  left  breast  are  seen  two  codfishes  crossed,  forming  the  order, 
and  in  the  sea  behind  him  that  kind  offish  is  seen  sporting  in  the  water.  These  were  probably  introduced  in  allusion 
to  his  defense  on  the  floor  of  Congress  of  the  rights  of  the  New  England  fishermen  ;  or  possibly  because  of  the  fact  that 
the  representation  of  a  codfish  has  hung  in  the  Representatives'  Hall  in  the  State-house  at  Boston  since  the  year  1TS4, 
"as  a  memorial,"  in  the  language  of  John  Rowe,  who  that  year  moved  that  it  be  placed  there,  "of  the  importance  of 
the  codfishery  to  the  welfare  of  the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts." 

1  On  the  29th  of  June,  1861,  Mr.  Quincy  made  a  speech  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  Captain  Porbes's  Coast  Guard  at 
Quincy,  Massachusetts.    He  was  then  in  his  ninetieth  year.    In  the  course  of  his  remarks  on  the  great  uprising  of  the 
people  of  the  Northern  section  of  the  Union  to  put  down  the  demagogues'  rebellion  in  the  Southern  section,  he  remarked  : 
"With  what  pride  and  joy  would  the  founders  of  this  republic  have  hailed  the  events  of  our  day — a  whole  people  rising 
as  one  man,  with  one  mind  and  one  heart,  in  support  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  ;  upspringing  from  the  East, 
the  North,  and  the  West,  the  farmer  from  the  field,  the  mechanic  from  the  work-bench—all  classes  and  all  professions — 
forgetting  their  gains,  and  ready  to  make  sacrifices  with  one  thought  and  one  will  to  protect,  to  preserve,  and  to  render 
the  union  of  these  states  immortal.    These  are  the  true  glories  of  a  republic,  evidencing  that  the  masses  which  compose 
it  understand  the  value  of  their  liberties,  and  are  prepared  to  sacrifice  property  and  life  in  their  defense." 

2  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  signers  of  the  protest : 

George  Sullivan,  William  Reid,  Epaphroditus  Champion,  Benjamin  Tallmadge,  H.  M.  Ridgeley,  Joseph  Lewis,  Jr., 
Elijah  Brigham,  Leonard  White,  Jonathan  O.  Moseley,  Asa  Fitch,  Philip  Stuart,  Thomas  Wilson,  Abijah  Bigelow,  Laban 
Wheaton,  Lyman  Law,  James  Emott,  Philip  B.  Key,  A.  M'Bryde,  Josiah  Quincy,  Elisha  R.  Potter,  Lewis  B.  Sturges, 
James  Milnor,  James  Breckinridge,  Joseph  Pearson,  William  Ely,  Richard  Jackson,  Jr.,  Timothy  Pitkin,  Jr.,  Thomas 
R.  Gould,  John  Baker,  Martin  Chittenden,  Samuel  Taggart,  John  Davenport,  Jr.,  H.  Bleecker,  C.  Goldsburgh.  The  pro 
test  was  printed  in  newspapers  and  on  broadsides,  and  widely  circulated. 


230  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

• 

The  Issue  fairly  before  the  Country.  Organization  of  a  Peace  Party.  Its  unpatriotic  Course. 

expose  us  to  the  vassalage  of  states  serving  under  the  banners  of  the  French  em 
peror." 

"  It  is  said,"  they  remarked,  "  that  war  is  demanded  by  honor.  Is  national  honor 
a  principle  which  thirsts  after  vengeance,  and  is  appeased  only  by  blood ;  which, 
trampling  on  the  hopes  of  man  and  spurning  the  law  of  God,  untaught  by  what  is 
past  and  careless  of  what  is  to  come,  precipitates  itself  into  any  folly  or  madness  to 
gratify  a  selfish  vanity  or  to  satiate  some  unhallowed  rage  ?  If  honor  demands  a 
war  with  England,  what  opiate  lulls  that  honor  to  sleep  over  the  wrongs  done  us  by 
France  ?" 

"  What  are  the  United  States  to  gain  by  this  war  ?"  they  asked.  "  Will  the  grati 
fication  of  some  privateersmen  compensate  the  nation  for  that  sweep  of  our  legiti 
mate  commerce  by  the  extended  marine  of  our  enemy  which  this  desperate  act  in 
vites  ?  Will  Canada  compensate  the  Middle  States  for  New  York,  or  the  Western 
States  for  New  Orleans  ?  Let  us  not  be  deceived.  A  war  of  invasion  may  invite  a 
retort  of  invasion.  When  we  visit  the  peaceable,  and,  as  to  us,  innocent  colonies  of 
Great  Britain1  with  the  horrors  of  war,  can  we  be  assured  that  our  own  coast  will 
not  be  visited  with  like  horrors  ?  At  a  crisis  of  the  world,  such  as  the  present,  and 
under  impressions  such  as  these,  the  undersigned  can  not  consider  the  war  into  which 
the  United  States  have  in  secret  been  precipitated  as  necessary,  or  required  by  any 
moral  or  political  expediency." 

Thus  the  issue  was  fairly  placed  before  the  country.  The  time  for  discussion  was 
ended ;  the  time  for  action  had  arrived.  While  one  portion  of  the  people — the  vast 
majority — were  nobly  responding  to  the  call  of  the  President  to  sustain  the  govern 
ment  by  word  and  deed,  another  portion  were  preparing  to  cast  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  its  success.  An  organization  was  soon  visible,  called  the  Peace  Party,  composed 
chiefly  of  the  more  violent  opponents  of  the  administration  and  disaffected  Demo 
crats,  whose  party-spirit  held  their  patriotism  in  complete  subordination.  Lacking 
the  sincerity  or  the  integrity  of  those  patriotic  members  of  the  Congressional  minor 
ity,  whose  protest  was  the  voice  of  their  consciences  made  audible,  they  endeavored, 
by  attempting  to  injure  the  public  credit,  preventing  enlistments  into  the  armies, 
spreading  false  stories  concerning  the  strength  of  the  British  and  weakness  of  the 
Americans,  and  by  public  speeches,  sermons,  pamphlets,  and  newspaper  essays,  to 
compel  the  government  to  sheathe  the  sword  and  hold  out  the  olive-branch  of  peace 
at  the  cost  of  national  honor  and  independence.  These  machinations  were  kept  up 
during  the  whole  war  to  the  great  embarrassment  of  the  government  and  the  injury 
of  the  country.  To  this  unpatriotic  Peace  Party  a  large  number  of  the  leading  Fed 
eralists  gave  no  countenance,  but,  with  a  clear  perception  of  duty  to  their  country, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  true  spirit  of  republicanism,  many  of 
them,  bound  to  the  expressed  will  of  the  majority,  yielded  their  private  views  to  the 
necessities  of  the  hour,  and  lent  their  aid,  as  the  President  desired  all  good  citizens 
to  do, "  to  the  constituted  authorities  for  obtaining  a  speedy,  a  just,  and  an  honorable 
peace." 

Having  resolved  on  war,  the  next  important  labor  for  Congress  to  perform  was 
making  adequate  provisions  for  prosecuting  it.  One  of  the  most  important  consid 
erations  was  finance,  for  money  has  been  justly  styled  the  "  sinews  of  war."  In  Feb- 
a  February  IT,  ruarya  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  reported  a  system  of  finance 
adapted  to  a  state  of  war  for  three  years.  Its  chief  features  contem 
plated  the  support  of  war  expenses  wholly  by  loans ;  and  the  ordinary  expenses  of 
the  government,  including  the  interest  on  the  national  debt,  by  revenues.  They  es 
timated  the  war  expenses  at  $11,000,000  for  the  first  year.  Aware  that  a  state  of 

1  The  House  of  Representatives  resolved  that,  in  the  event  of  a  determination  to  invade  Canada  or  other  British 
provinces,  the  President  should  be  authorized  to  issue  a  proclamation  assuring  the  inhabitants  thereof  that  all  their 
rights,  of  every  kind,  should  be  respected  if  their  territory  should  become  a  part  of  the  United  States. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  231 

Measures  for  raising  Funds  for  War  Purpose^.  Belligerent  Preparations.  A  Fast  Day  proclaimed. 

war  wrould  diminish  the  revenue,  they  proposed  a  tariff  by  which  the  imposts  should 
be  doubled,  foreign  tonnage  raised  to  a  dollar  and  a  half,  a  direct  tax  of  $3,000,000, 
and  an  extensive  system  of  internal  duties  and  excise.1     Congress  adopted  this  finan 
cial  scheme  generally,  and  authorized*  a  loan  of  $11,000,000,  at  an  interest     » March  14, 
not  exceeding  six  per  cent,  a  year,  and  reimbursable  in  twelve  years.    The 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  directed  subscriptions  to  be  opened  at  the  principal  banks 
in  the  United  States  on  the  first  and  second  days  of  May  ;b  and,  to  induce  the 
banks  to  subscribe,  it  was  agreed  that  their  subscriptions  should  remain  as  de 
posits  until  called  for  by  the  wants  of  the  Treasury. 

When  war  was  declared,  it  was  found,  by  the  returns  of  the  subscriptions  to  the 
$11,000,000  loan,  that  the  banks  had  subscribed  only  $4,190,000,  and  individuals 
$1,928,000,  leaving  a  deficiency  of  $4,882,000.  To  supply  that  deficiency,  the  Presi 
dent  was  authorized  to  issue  Treasury  notes,  payable  in  one  year,  and  bearing  an  an 
nual  interest  of  five  and  two  fifths  per  cent.,  to  be  receivable  in  all  payments  at  the 
Treasury.  This  was  intended  to  pass  as  currency,  and  supersede,  to  a  certain  extent, 
the  circulation  of  bank-notes.  It  was  estimated  that  the  entire  expenses  of  the  coun 
try  for  the  fiscal  year  of  1812-'! 3,  including  the  $11,000,000  for  war  purposes,  and 
the  interest  on  $45,154,000  (the  amount  of  the  public  debt),  would  be  $26,616,619.2 

On  the  26th  of  June  Congress  passed  an  act  respecting  the  issue  of  letters  of  marque 
and  reprisal,  and  another  for  the  consolidation  of  the  old  army  and  the  new  levies ; 
the  regular  force  to  consist  of  twenty  regiments  of  foot,  four  of  artillery,  two  of  dra 
goons,  and  one  of  riflemen,  which,  with  engineers  and  artificers,  would  make  a  force 
of  thirty-six  thousand  seven  hundred  men.  The  actual  regular  force — experienced, 
disciplined,  and  effective — was  only  about  three  thousand  men.  The  regular  force 
under  arms  at  that  time  was  about  ten  thousand  men,  but  more  than  half  of  them 
were  raw  recruits.  Little  reliance  could  be  placed  on  the  militia  except 'for  garrison 
duty,  notwithstanding  they  were  eight  hundred  thousand  strong  in  a  population  of 
eight  millions.  They  were  not  compelled  by  law  to  serve  more  than  three  years,  nor 
go  beyond  the  limits  of  their  respective  states.  To  volunteers  the  government  and 
the  country  looked  for  numbers,  and  the  President  was  authorized  to  place  them  on 
a  footing  with  the  regular  army,  and,  with  their  consent,  to  appoint  their  officers. 

The  navy  consisted  of  only  three  frigates  of  forty-four  guns  each,  three  of  thirty- 
eight,  one  of  thirty-six,  one  of  thirty-two,  three  of  twenty-eight,  nine  smaller  vessels 
ranging  front  twelve  to  eighteen,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  gun-boats. 

Congress  adjourned  on  the  6th  of  July.     They  had  requested  the  President  to  rec 
ommend  a  day  of  public  humiliation  and  prayer  to  be  observed  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States  for  the  purpose  of  pxiblicly  invoking  the  blessing  of  the  Almighty  on 
their  cause,  and  the  speedy  restoration  of  peace.     In  accordance  with  this  request, 
the  President  issued  a  proclamation  on  the  9th  of  July,  recommending  the  setting 
apart  of  the  third  Thursday  of  August  following6  for  that  purpose.     That 
day  was  generally  observed  throughout  the  Union ;  in  most  places  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  Congressional  resolutions  and  the  proclamation  of  the 
President,  while  from  several  New  England  pulpits  went  forth  denunciations  of  the 

1  As  an  excise  duty  on  liquors  was  proposed  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  was  one  of  the  lead 
ers  in  the  famous  "  Whisky  'Insurrection"  in  Western  Pennsylvania  a  few  years  before  (see  page  SS),  which  was  pro 
duced  by  a  similar  duty,  he  was  severely  handled  by  the  opposition.  Smilie,  a  Pennsylvania  member  of  Congress, 
who  was  much  more  deeply  implicated  in  wrong-doing  in  connection  with  that  insurrection  than  Mr.  Gallatin,  and  who 
now  voted  against  the  excise  on  liquors,  was  assailed  with  ridicule.  On  account  of  his  defective  education  and  his  use 
of  bad  grammar  in  his  Congressional  speeches,  the  following  epigram,  which  appeared  in  a  leading  Federal  paper  in 
March,  1S12,  was  pointed : 

"A  tax  on  whisky  is  a  tax  on  sin: 

Why  then  should  Smilie  hate  the  home-made  gin-tax  ? 
Because  he  is,  and  he  has  ever  been, 

A  most  invet'rate  enemy  to  syn-tax." 

?  TUxtory  of  the  Political  and  Military  Events  of  the  late  War  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  by  Samuel  Per- 
Jtins,  page  53. 


232  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

How  the  Fast  Day  was  observed.          William  Ellery  Channiug'8  Discourse.          Webster's  Oration  and  Bryant's  Ode. 

war,  and  the  alleged  authors  and  abettors  of  it.1  The  national  anniversary  that  year 
was  also  made  the  occasion  for  political  speeches,  songs,  and  toasts  condemnatory  of 
the  measures  of  the  administration.  (Some  of  these  were  fierce,  others  were  mild,  and 
still  others  were  dignified  and  patriotic — firm,  outspoken,  manly  arguments  against 
the  necessity,  the  wisdom,  or  the  justice  of  the  war,  but  evincing  a  love  of  country 
more  potent  than  love  of  party  or  opinions.2 

1  Already  the  governor  of  Massachusetts  had  appointed  the  23d  of  July  as  a  day  of  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer. 
It  was  made  the  occasion  for  plain  speaking  from  the  pulpit  against  the  war.  Sometimes  there  was  bitterness  in  the 
words,  but  generally  these  sermons  breathed  a  spirit  of  sorrow  because  of  the  calamities  threatened  by  the  war.  Among 
others,  William  Ellery  Chanuing,  of  Boston,  on  both  the  state  and  the  national  fast-days,  spoke  out  plainly,  but  with  that 
charitable  and  sweet  Christian  spirit  which  characterized  his  whole  life.  "  The  cry  has  been,"  he  said,  "  that  war  is  de 
clared,  and  all  opposition  should  therefore  be  hushed.  A  sentiment  more  unworthy  of  a  free  country  can  hardly  be 
propagated.  If  this  doctrine  be  admitted,  rulers  have  only  to  declare  war,  and  they  are  screened  at  once  from  scrutiny. 
At  the  very  time  when  they  have  armies  at  command,  when  their  patronage  is  most  extended,  and  their  power  most 
formidable,  not  a  word  of  warning,  of  censure,  of  alarm  must  be  heard.  The  press,  which  is  to  expose  inferior  abuses, 
must  not  utter  one  rebuke,  one  indignant  complaint,  although  our  best  interests  and  most  valuable  rights  are  put  to 
hazard  by  an  unnecessary  war.  The  sum  of  my  remarks,"  he  said,  in  concluding  his  discourse  on  the  state  fast-day, 
"is  this:  It  is  your  duty  to  hold  fast,  and  to  assert  with  firmness  those  truths  and  principles  on  which  the  welfare  of 
your  country  seems  to  depend  ;  but  do  this  with  calmness,  with  a  love  of  peace,  without  ill-will  and  revenge.  Improve 
every  opportunity  of  allaying  animosities.  Strive  to  make  converts  of  those  whom  you  think  in  error.  Discourage,  in 
decided  and  open  language,  that  rancor,  malignity,  and  unfeeling  abuse  which  so  often  find  their  way  into  our  public 
prints,  and  which  only  tend  to  increase  the  already  alarming  irritation  of  our  country."  "  Our  duties  to  our  rulers,"  he 
said,  on  the  national  fast-day,  "  are  not  so  easily  presented.  It  is  our  duty  toward  them  to  avoid  all  language  and  con 
duct  which  will  produce  a  spirit  of  insubordination,  a  contempt  of  laws  and  just  authority.  At  the  same  time,  we  must 
not  be  tame,  abject,  and  see,  without  sensibility,  without  remonstrance,  our  rights  violated  and  our  best  blessings  thrown 
away.  Our  elective  form  of  government  makes  it  our  duty  to  expose  bad  rulers,  to  strip  them  of  unmerited  confidence 
and  of  abused  power.  This  is  never  more  clearly  our  duty  than  when  our  rulers  have  plunged  us  into  an  unjustifiable 
and  ruinous  war— a  war  which  is  leading  us  down  to  poverty,  vice,  and  slavery.  To  reduce  such  men  to  a  private  sta 
tion  no  fair  and  upright  means  should  be  spared,  and,  let  me  add,  no  other  means  should  be  employed.  Nothing  can 
justify  falsehood,  malignity,  or  wild,  ungoverned  passion.  Be  firm,  but  deliberate  ;  in  earnest,  yet  honest  and  just." 

2  In  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  July  21, 1812,  may  be  found  the  following  notice  of  a  speech  by  the  afterward  eminent 
Daniel  Webster,  who  had  not  yet  appeared  prominently  in  public  life.  He  entered  Congress  the  next  year. 

"WEBSTKK'B  ORATION.— A  gentleman  of  this  name,  distinguished  in  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  for  the  superiority 
of  his  talents,  delivered  an  oration  to  the  Washington  Society  at  Portsmouth  on  the  4th  of  July.  The  following  extracts 
will  be  read  with  pleasure : 

"  '  With  respect  to  the  war  in  which  we  are  now  involved,  the  course  which  our  principles  require  us  to  pursue  can 
not  be  doubtful.  It  is  now  the  law  of  the  land,  and  as  such  we  are  bound  to  regard  it.  Resistance  and  insurrection 
form  no  parts  of  our  creed.  The  disciples  of  Washington  are  neither  tyrants  in  power  nor  rebels  out.  If  we  are  taxed  to 
carry  on  this  war,  we  shall  disregard  certain  distinguished  examples,  and  shall  pay.  If  our  personal  services  are  re 
quired,  we  shall  yield  them  to  the  precise  extent  of  our  constitutional  liability.  At  the  same  time,  the  world  may  be  as 
sured  that  we  know  our  rights,  and  shall  exercise  them.  We  shall  express  our  opinions  on  this,  as  on  every  measure 
of  government,  I  trust  without  passion,  I  am  certain  without  fear.  We  have  yet  to  learn  that  the  extravagant  progress 
of  pernicious  measures  abrogates  the  duty  of  opposition,  or  that  the  interest  of  our  native  land  is  to  be  abandoned  by  us 
in  the  hour  of  the  thickest  danger  and  sorest  necessity.  By  the  exercise  of  our  constitutional  right  of  suffrage,  by  the 
peaceable  remedy  of  election,  we  shall  seek  to  restore  wisdom  to  our  councils  and  peace  to  our  bountry.'  " 

Those  who  remember  Mr.  Webster's  patriotic  course  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in  voting  for  the  "  Force  Bill," 
to  crush  incipient  treason  and  rebellion  in  South  Carolina  in  1833,  will  perceive  in  the  above  extract  the  visible  germ 
of  that  stanch  patriotism  which  distinguished  him  through  life.  On  the  occasion  referred  to  he  said,  with  the  spirit  that 
animated  him  in  1812,  "  I  am  opposed  to  this  administration  ;  but  the  country  is  in  danger,  and  I  will  take  my  share  of 
the  responsibility  in  the  measure  before  us." 

The  Evening  Post  of  the  same  date  contains  an  "Ode  for  the  Fourth  of  July,"  written  by  William  Cullen  Bryant, 
then  seventeen  years  of  age.  He  is  now  (1SG7),  after  a  lapse  of  fifty-five  years,  one  of  the  proprietors  and  the  editor  in 
chief  of  that  journal,  which  he  has  ably  conducted  for  a  very  long  period.  The  following  stanzas  selected  from  that 
Ode  give  a  specimen  of  its  character  which  made  it  very  popular  at  the  time : 

"Lo  !  where  our  ardent  rulers  "The  same  ennobling  spirit 

For  fierce  assault  prepare,  That  kindles  valor's  flame, 

While  eager  "  A  te"  awaits  their  beck  That  nerves  us  to  a  war  of  right, 

To  "slip  the  dogs  of  war."  Forbids  a  war  of  shame. 

In  vain  against  the  dire  design  For  not  in  Conquest's  impious  train 

Exclaims  the  indignant  land ;  Shall  Freedom's  children  stand ; 

The  unbidden  blade  they  haste  to  have,  Nor  shall  in  guilty  fray  be  raised 

And  light  the  unhallowed  brand.  The  high-souled  warrior's  hand ; 

Proceed  !  another  year  shall  wrest  Nor  shall  the  Patriot  draw  his  sword 

The  sceptre  from  your  hand.  At  Gallia's  proud  command." 


O F   T H E   WA R    OF   1812. 


233 


A  Regency  established  in  England. 


Condition  of  Political  Affairs  in  Europe. 


CHAPTER  XH. 

"The  tocsin  has  sounded — the  bugle  has  blown, 
And  rapid  as  lightning  the  rumor  has  flown, 
That,  prepared  to  defend  our  heaven-blessed  soil, 
Our  country  to  save  and  proud  tyrants  to  foil, 
We  submit  without  murmur  to  danger  and  toil." 

SONG — THE  TOCSIN  IIAS  SOUNDED. 

BEFORE  entering  upon  a  description  of  the  stirring  scenes  of  act 
ual  conflict  of  arms  during  the  w.ar,  let  us  make  brief  notes  of 
the  position  of  the  belligerents  in  relation  to  the  struggle. 

The  Prince  of  Wales  (afterward  George  the  Fourth)  had  be 
come  actual  sovereign  of  Great  Britain  by  the  removal  of  the 
restrictions  of  the  bill  which  created  him  regent  of  the  realm. 
The  court  physicians 
had  pronounced  the 
insanity  of  the  old  king  to  be  incurable. 
This  change  in  the  practical  relations  of 
the  prince  to  the  government  took  place  in 
February,  1812,  and  in  May  following  a 
radical  change  in  the  Cabinet  occurred,  on 
account  of  the  murder  of  Mr.  Perceval,  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  by  Bellamy, 
a  Liverpool  ship-broker,  who  charged  his 
commercial  losses  upon  the  government, 
and  sought  revenge  in  slaying  one  of  its 
chief  servants.  Lord  Sidmouth  was  ap 
pointed  Secretary  of  State,  the  Earl  of 
Harrowby  Lord  President  of  the  Council, 
and  Mr.  Vansittart  Chancellor  of  the  Ex 
chequer.  Lord  Castlereagh  was  Secretary 
for  Foreign  Affairs. 

Great  Britain  was  still  waging  a  tre 
mendous  war  against  Napoleon.  Wellington  was  at  the  head  of  her  armies  in  the 
Spanish  Peninsula,  and  her  forces  by  land  and  sea  were  generally  successful.  Her  h> 
herent  energy  was  wonderful.  Russia  refused  to  bow  the  knee  to  the  Corsican,  and 
he  threatened  her  with  invasion.  Great  Britain  became  her  ally,  and  the  summer 
and  autumn  of  1812  saw  the"  hopes  of  the  ambitious  emperor  of  obtaining  universal 
dominion  clouded  with  fearful  doubts.  Six  days  after  the  United  States  declared 
war  against  Great  Britain,  the  victorious  Napoleon,  with  an  immense  and  splendid 
army,  crossed  the  Niemena  in  the  face  of  three  hundred  thousand  Russians,  a  June  24 
and  pushed  on  toward  Moscow.  At  Borodino  the  retreating  Muscovites  1S12- 
confronted  their  invaders,b  and  when  the  curtain  of  night  fell  upon  the  bat 
tle-field,  ninety  thousand  killed  and  wounded  soldiers  lay  there.  The  French 
entered  Moscow  in  triumph,  but  it  was  soon  a  heap  of  ashes.  Late  in  October, 
with  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men,  the  emperor  commenced  a  retreat  to 
ward  France.  Six  months  from  the  time  of  his  entering  Russian  territory  he  had 
lost,  in  slain,  wounded,  starved,  frozen,  and  prisoners,  four  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 


TUE  PRINCE  REGENT — GEORGE  TV. 


234  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  British  Navy.  British  Land  Force  in  Canada.  Their  Frontier  Fortifications. 

sand  men,  and  yet  he  had  scarcely  reached  Paris  before  he  issued  orders  for  new 
conscriptions  with  which  to  prosecute  the  war!  The  sun  of  his  glory  was  low  in 
the  west,  yet  it  blazed  out  brilliantly  before  it  set.  In  1812,  Great  Britain,  Russia, 
Sweden,  and  Spain  were  allied  in  arms  against  France,  Prussia,  Italy,  Austria,  and 
Poland. 

The  British  navy  at  that  time  consisted  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  ships-of-the- 
line,  of  74  guns  and  upward ;  thirty-five  50's  and  44's ;  two  hundred  and  forty-seven 
frigates  ;  and  five  hundred  and  six  smaller  vessels  of  war ;  making  a  total  of  one 
thousand  and  thirty-six.  Of  these  there  were  five  ships-of-the-line,  nineteen  frigates, 
forty-one  brigs,  and  sixteen  schooners  on  the  American  station ;  that  is  to  say,  at 
Halifax  and  Newfoundland,  Jamaica  and  the  Leeward  Islands.1  They  had  also  four 
armed  vessels  on  Lake  Ontario,  namely,  Royal  George,  22  ;  Earl  ofMoira,  16  ;  Prince 
Regent,  14  ;  and  Duke  of  Gloucester,  8.  They  also  had  several  smaller  vessels  nearly 
ready  for  service. 

The  British  regular  land  force  in  Upper  Canada  when  war  was  declared  did  not 
exceed  fifteen  hundred  men  ;2  but  the  aggregate  of  that  in  Lower  Canada,  and  in  the 
contiguous  British  provinces  was  estimated  at  six  thousand  regular  troops.  The  pop 
ulation  of  all  the  North  American  British  colonies  was  estimated  at  400,000,  and  their 
militia  at  40,000.  They  had  an  immense  assailable  frontier,  stretching  along  a  series 
of  great  lakes,  and  the  Rivers  St.  Mary's,  St.  Clair,  Detroit,  Niagara,  and  St.  Law 
rence,  commencing  at  Lake  Superior  on  the  west,  and  terminating  far  below  Quebec 
on  the  east,  along  a  line  of  about  1 700  miles.  Out  of  Lake  Superior  flows  a  rapid 
current,  over  immense  masses  of  rock,  through  a  channel  for  twenty-seven  miles  call 
ed  the  St.  Mary's  River,  and  enters  Lake  Huron,  at  the  head  of  which  is  the  British 
island  of  St.  Joseph.  On  that  island  was  then  a  small  fort  and  garrison.  It  is  dis 
tant  above  Detroit  about  three  hundred  and  thirty  miles  by  water.  The  shores  of 
Lake  Huron  at  that  time  were  uninhabited  except  by  Indians  and  a  few  traders.  At 
its  western  angle  is -a  short  and  wide  strait,  connecting  it  with  Lake  Michigan,  in  the 
centre  of  which  is  the  island  of  Michilimackinack,  which  is  about  nine  miles  in  cir 
cumference.  On  this  island  the  Americans  had  a  small  fort  and  garrison.  The  wa 
ters  flow  out  of  Lake  Huron  through  the  rivers  and  Lake  St.  Clair,  and  then  through 
the  Detroit  River  into  Lake  Erie.  On  the  latter  river,  at  Amherstburg,  the  British 
had  a  fort  and  small  garrison,  where  ships  for  service  on  Lake  Erie  were  built.  The 
British  had  no  harbor  or  military  post  on  Lake  Erie.  At  its  foot,  at  the  head  of  the 
Niagara  River,  was  Fort  Erie,  a  distance  of  five  hundred  and  sixty-five  miles  from 
Quebec.  Just  above  Niagara  Falls,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chippewa  River,  there  was 
a  small  stockade,  called  Fort  Chippewa.  Near  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River,  not 
quite  seven  miles  below  Queenstown,  was  Fort  George,  constructed  of  earthen  ram 
parts  and  cedar  palisades,  mounting  some  guns  not  heavier  than  nine-pounders. 
Half  a  mile  below  the  fort,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River,  was  a  pretty  little 
village  called  Newark,  now  Niagara.  On  the  north  side  of  Lake  Ontario  is  York,  or 
Toronto  Harbor,  where  was  an  old  fort  and  a  block-house.  York  was  then  the  cap 
ital  of  Upper  Canada.  On  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  lake  is  Kingston,  with  a  fine 
harbor,  and  was  defended  by  a  small  battery  of  nine-pounders  on  Point  Frederick. 
It  was  the  most  populous  town  in  the  Upper  Province  at  that  time,  and  formed  the 
principal  naval  depot  of  the  British  on  Lake  Ontario.  There  were  some  military 
works  at  Montreal,  and  very  strong  ones  at  Quebec. 

At  the  time  when  war  was  declared  the  United  States  weretat  peace  with  all  the 
world,  and  had  very  little  commerce  exposed  upon  the  ocean,  owing  to  restrictions 

i  Steele's  List,  1812. 

»  These  consisted  of  the  Forty-first  Regiment,  900  men  ;  Tenth  Veterans,  250  ;  Newfoundland  Regiment,  250;  Royal 
Artillery,  50 ;  Provincial  Seamen,  50.  These  forces  had  to  occupy  the  Forts  St.  Joseph,  Amherstburg,  Chippewa,  Erie,' 
George,  York  (Toronto),  and  Kingston,  and  to  defend  an  assailable  frontier  of  nearly  thirteen  hundred  miles.— Life  and 
Correspondence  of  Major  General  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  K.I}.,  by  Ferdinand  Brock  Tupper,  p.  108. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  235 


Sea-coast  and  Frontier  Defenses  of  the  United  States.  West  Point  Military  Academy.  Jonathan  Williams. 

and  dangers  which  had  prevailed  for  a  few  years.  Of  the  land  and  naval  forces  at 
that. time  we  have  spoken  in  the  last  chapter.  In  addition  to  full  twelve  hundred 
miles  of  frontier  along  the  British  provinces,  there  was  a  sea-coast  of  a  thousand  miles 
to  defend  against  the  most  powerful  maritime  nation  in  the  world. 

The  subject  of  sea-coast,  harbor,  and  frontier  defenses  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
government  at  an  early  period.  A  school  for  military  instruction,  especially  for  the 
education  of  engineers,  to  be  established  at  West  Point,  on  the  Hudson,  was  author 
ized  by  Congress  in  the  spring  of  1802;al  and  from  to  time  to  time  appro-  •  March  i&> 
priations  had  been  made  for  fortifications,  and  works  had  been  erected. 
The  corps  of  engineers,  authorized  by  the  law  just  named,  commenced  their  functions 
as  constructors  of  new  forts  or  repairers  of  old  ones  in  the  year  1808,  when  a  war  with 
England  was  confidently  expected  ;  and  that  body  of  young  men  continued  thus  em 
ployed,  in  a  moderate  way,  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  1812,  when  they 
were  sent  to  the  field,  and  all  won  military  distinction.2  The  forts  completed  pre 
vious  to  1809  were  the  only  fortifications  for  the  defense  of  the  sea-coast  of  the 
United  States  at  the  commencement  of  the  war  in  1812.3 

1  Washington  recommended  the  establishment  of  a  military  academy  at  West  Point  so  early  as  1783,  when,  on  the  ap 
proach  of  peace,  his  thoughts  were  turned  to  the  future  military  condition  of  his  country.    Soon  after  he  became  Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States,  he  again  called  the  attention  of  his  countrymen  to  the  importance  of  a  military  academy, 
and  again  indicated  West  Point  as  the  proper  place.    In  1794,  Colonel  Rochefontaine,  a  French  officer  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  and  other  officers  of  artillery,  were  stationed  at  West  Point  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  miltary 
school  there.    They  rebuilt  the  front  of  Fort  Putnam,  on  the  mountains  in  the  rear,  in  1795,  and  constructed  five  or  six 
small  casemates,  or  bomb-proofs.    Fort  Clinton,  on  the  Point,  was  then  partly  in  ruins.    Its  magazine,  twenty-five  by 
two  hundred  feet  in  size,  built  of  stone  and  lined  with  plank,  and  trenches,  was  quite  perfect.    Several  buildings  were 
erected,  and  the  whole'post  was  under  the  charge  of  Major  Jonathan  Williams.    The  library  and  apparatus  were  com 
menced,  but  the  school  was  soon  suspended.    It  was  revived  in  1S01  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  follow 
ing  year  Congress,  as  we  have  observed  in  the  text,  authorized  the  establishment  of  a  military  academy  there.    Mean 
while  the  harbors  on  the  coast  were  defended  only  by  small  redoubts.    They  were  insignificant  affairs.     "  It  is  worthy 
of  remembrance?"  observed  the  late  venerable  General  J.  G.  Swift,  in  a  letter  to  the  author  in  February,  1860,  "that  the 
sites  upon  which  these  small  works  were  built  were  those  selected  in  the  Eevolutionary  struggle,  and  they  remain  to 
this  day  the  best  for  their  purpose." 

2  Letter  of  General  Swift  to  the  author,  February  13, 1860.    In  November,  1802,  the  engineers  at  West  Point  formed  a 
Military  and  Philosophical  Society,  the  object  of  which  was  the  promotion  of  military  science.    The  following  are  the 
names  of  the  original  members  :  Jonathan  Williams,  Decius  Wadsworth,  William  A.  Barren,  Jared  Mansfield,  James 
Wilson,  Alexander  Macomb,  Jr.,  Joseph  G.  Swift,  Simon  M.  Leroy,  Walter  K.  Armistead,  and  Joseph  G.  Totten.    These 
were  the  members  present  at  the  first  meeting.    Swift  and  Totten  were  the  latest  survivors  of  this  little  company.    The 
former  died  in  the  summer  of  1SG5,  and  the  latter  in  the  spring  of  1864.    Their  portraits  will  be  found  in  this  work. 
Totten  was  the  chief  military  engineer  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  his  death.    The  society  consisted  of  many 
persons  besides  military  men.    Its  membership,  during  its  ten  years'  existence,  comprised  most  of  the  leading  men  in 
the  country,  especially  of  the  army  and  navy.    The  MS.  records  of  the  society,  in  four  folio  volumes,  are  in  the  New 
York  Historical  Society. 

3  The  following  statement  of  the  names,  locations,  and  conditions  of  the  coast  fortifications  previous  to  1S08, 1  have 
compiled  from  a  manuscript  general  return  of  such  works  by  Colonel  Jonathan  Williams*  and  Captain  Alexander  Ma- 
comb,  which  I  found  among  the  minutes  of  the  Military  and  Philosophical  Society  of  West  Point,  mentioned  in  a  preced 
ing  note.    Some  of  these  forts  were  somewhat  strengthened  before  the  declaration  of  war  in  1812,  but  the  change  in 
their  general  condition  was  not  very  great. 

Fort  Stimner,  Portland,  Maine.— A  square  block-house. 

Fort  William  and  Mary,  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.— A  ruin. 

Fort  Lily,  Gloucester,  Cape  Ann. — Three  sides  of  an  unfinished  figure,  being  one  front  and  two  diverging  lines.  A 
square  block-house  in  the  rear. 

Fort  Pickering,  at  Salem,  Massachusetts.— Three  sides  of  a  rectangular  figure,  without  bastions,  flanks,  or  any  promi 
nence  whatever.  The  lower  part  of  the  sides  is  stone-work,  with  parapets  of  earth.  Closed  in  the  rear  by  barracks,  a 

*  Jonathan  Williams  was  born  in  Boston  in  1750. 
He  was  appointed  Major  of  the  Second  Artillery  and 
Engineers  iu  February,  1801,  and  in  December  follow 
ing  Inspector  of  Fortifications  and  Superintendent  of 
the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  In  July,  1802, 
he  was  promoted  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Engineers, 
and  resigned  in  June  the  following  year.  In  April, 
1805,  he  resumed  the  servica  among  the  Engineers, 
with  the  same  rank,  and  in  February,  1808,  was  pro 
moted  to  colonel ;  he  resigned  in  July,  1812.  In  1814 
he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  Congress  from  Philadel 
phia,  but  never  occupied  it.  He  died  on  the  20th  of 
May,  1815,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years. — Gardner's 
Dictionary  of  the  Army,  487.  Colonel  Williams  was 
the  author  of  A  Metnoir  of  the  Thermometer  in  Xavi- 
gation,  and  Elements  of  Fortification. 


236  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

The  Coast  Defenses  of  the  United  States  in  the  year  1812. 

A  new  system  of  naval  warfare  had  lately  been  suggested  by  Robert  Fulton,  who 

•  December,     had  been  a  long  time  abroad,  and  who  had  recently  returned  homea  to 

achieve  an  immortal  triumph  in  science  and  art,  and  the  beginning  of  a 

brick  wall,  and  gate.  A  square  block-house  in  the  centre,  and  an  old  stone  building  in  the  rear  and  on  the  left,  without 
the  lines.  A  sketch  of  its  appearance  in  I860  may  be  found  in  another  part  of  this  volume. 

Fort  Sewall,  at  Marblehead,  Massachusetts,  is  an  irregular  oblong  figure,  with  a  square  block-house.  It  is  founded,  on 
one  side,  on  a  rock,  and  on  the  opposite  side  has  a  wall  and  arches,  forming  a  magazine  below.  One  stone  house  within 
the  lines.  A  sketch  of  this  old  fort  as  it  appeared  in  I860  may  be  found  in  another  part  of  this  work. 

Fort  Independence,  in  Boston  Harbor. — New  work.  An  irregular  pentagon  and  well  fortified,  with  five  bastions.  Three 
bastions  and  one  curtain  finished.  This  fort  (whose  present  appearance  is  seen  in  the  engraving)  is  on  Castle  Island, 


FOKT   INDEPENDENCE. 

on  the  site  of  a  fortification  erected  during  the  early  years  of  the  Massachusetts  colony.  It  was  rebuilt  in  1C44,  and 
burned  in  1673.  A  new  fort  of  stone  was  then  erected,  and  other  works,  apd  it  became  the  shelter  of  the  British  during 
the  years  preceding  the  Revolution.  After  the  Revolution  it  was  called  Fort  Adams.  In  1799  Castle  Island  was  ceded 
to  the  United1  States,  and  President  Adams  named  the  works  Fort  Independence.  The  present  structure  was  erected  in 
1801,  '2,  and  '3.  It  and  Port  Warren,  on  an  island  opposite,  command  the  entrance  to  Boston  Harbor.  The  fort  may 
contain  a  thousand  men  in  time  of  war. 

Fort  Wolcott,  near  Newport,  Rhode  Island. — Built  of  stone  cemented  with  lime.  Had  a  brick  and  stone  magazine,  a 
sally-port  and  ditch,  reverberatory  furnace.  Supported  by  two  wings  or  bastions,  both  facing  the  harbor.  Revetments 
in  stone  laid  in  lime  cement;  parapets  supplied  with  sod-work;  the  batteries  intended  for  ten  pieces'of  cannon.  Had 
five  pieces,  32-pounders  each.  Barracks  two  stories  high,  composed  of  brick,  and  bomb-proof. 

Fort  Adams,  Newport  Harbor.— Form  similar  to  Port  Wolcott.  Situated  on  Brenton's  Point,  nearly  opposite  the 
Dumplings  Fort  on  Canonicut  Island.  Similar  in  all  its  arrangement  and  construction  to  Fort  Wolcott.  It  was  then 
unfinished. 

Fort  Hamilton,  Narraganset  Bay,  near  Newport,  a  mile  northwest  of  Fort  Wolcott,  on  Rose  Inland. — Extensive  forti 
fications,  commenced  in  1S02.  Quadrilateral  in  form,  presenting  two  regular  and  two  tower  bastions.  Works  suspend 
ed  in  1S03.  It  was  intended  to  be  wholly  constructed  of  stone,  brick,  and  sod-work.  The  barracks  were  completed,  and 
were  considered  the  finest  in  America  at  that  time.  It  was  intended  to  mount  seventy  cannon.  About  half  completed 
when  the  war  broke  out. 

North  Batter;/,  Rhode  Island,  about  three  fourths  of  a  mile  northeast  of  Fort  Wolcott,  on  a  point  of  land  nearer  New 
port.— Semicircular,  and  calculated  for  about  eight  guns.  It  was  unfinished. 

Dumplings  Fort.— Entrance  to  Narraganset  Bay,  nearly  opposite  Fort  Adams.  A  round  tower  bastion,  built  in  1804, 
of  stone  well  cemented.  It  was  about  eighty  feet  above  the  water,  and  rose  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  above  the  rock  on 
which  it  was  built.  It  contained  a  good  magazine,  and  three  other  bomb-proof  rooms  for  the  men.  No  cannon  were 
mounted.  The  platforms  were  not  completed.  Calculated  for  seven  pieces,  exclusive  of  howitzers  and  mortars.  It  was 
believed  that  thirty  men  might  defend  it. 

Towering  Hill,  near  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  one  mile  east  of  the  North  Battery,  an,d  due  north  from  the  city.— It  com 
manded  the  whole  town,  the  country  around,  and  a  part  of  the  harbor.  Remains  of  Revolutionary  works  there.  A  small 
block-house  built  in  1799  or  1800  was  entire. 

Fort  Trumbull,  New  London,  Connecticut,  on  a  rocky  point  of  land  projecting  into  the  River  Thames.— Form  irregu 
lar.  The  walls  fronting  the  water  built  of  solid  stone,  elevated  to  the  usual  height,  and'finished  with  turf  and  gravel. 
Badly  situated  against  an  enemy  on  land,  as  the  hills  around  it  and  across  the  river  are  higher  than  the  fort.  It  had  a 
small  magazine  and  stone  block-house,  and  fourteen  guns  mounted.  A  view  of  this  fort  may  be  seen  in  another  part 
of  this  work. 

Fort  Jay,  on  Governor's  Island,  New  York  Harbor,*  thirteen  hundred  yards  south  of  the  Battery,  at  the  lower  extrem 
ity  of  the  city  of  New  York.— It  was  a  regular  fort,  with  bastions,  quite  strong,  but  then  unfinished.  It  had  a  handsome 
gateway,  with  a  corps  de  garde  draw-bridge.  In  the  centre  of  the  fort  was  a  square  block-house  of  timber,  two  stories 
high,  but  probably  not  cannon-proof;  under  it  was  a  well.  It  had  two  detached  batteries,  one  mounting  four  18-pound- 
ers  and  an  8-inch  French  mortar,  with  platforms  for  four  others ;  and  the  other  ten  pieces,  18  and  24  pounders ;  origin- 

*  Governor's  Island  was  called  Pag-ganc'k  by  the  Indians,  and  Nutten  Island  by  the  Dutch.  It  was  purchased,  as  a 
public  domain,  by  Governor  Van  Twiller,  in  the  early  days  of  the  Dutch  rule  in  New  York.  In  the  settlement  of  the 
accounts  of  the  Revolutionary  debt,  New  York  agreefl  to  erect  fortifications  in  the  harbor  in  front  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  in  payment  of  the  quota  required  from  that  state.  In  accordance  with  an  act  passed  by  the  State  Legislature  in 
March,  1794,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  was  expended,  under  the  direction  of  a  committee,  in 
constructing  fortifications.  The  committee  consisted  of  George  Clinton,  Matthew  Clarkson,  James  Watson,  Richard 
Varick,  Nicholas  Fish,  Ebenezer  Stevens,  and  Abijah  Hammond.  A  further  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  was 
granted  on  the  Gth  of  April,  1795,  to  complete  the  works  on  that  and  Oyster  (now  Ellis's)  Island.  Fort  Jay  was  built, 
and  in  February,  1800,  the  island  and  all  its  appurtenances  were  ceded  to  the  United  States.  The  island  contains  sev 
enty-two  acres  of  laud. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


237 


Coast  Defenses  of  the  United  States. 


wonderful  revolution  in  commerce,  by  the  successful  introduction  of  navigation  by 
steam.a     While  abroad,  Mr.  Fulton  had  conceived  the  idea  of  destroying  ships 
by  introducing  floating  mines  under  their  bottoms  in  submarine  boats,  and  ex- 


^<..;  ^-*-^-'r* 


CASTLE   WILLIAMS. 

ally  intended  for  thirteen  guns.  The  parapet  had  fifty-one  embrasures,  and  it  would  take  one  thousand  men  to  man  the 
parapet.  The  fort,  being  commanded  by  hills  on  the  Long  Island  shore,  was  not  constructed  to  withstand  a  siege,  but 
as  a  guard  to  the  entrance  to  the  East  River,  and  to  operate  against  an  enemy  in  the  harbor  or  in  the  city. 

Ellis's  and  Bedloe's  Islands  both  had  fortifications  on  them.  The  former,  lying  a  little  more  than  two  thousand  yards 
southwest  from  the  Battery,  had  a  semicircular  battery  calculated  for  thirteen  guns.  The  parapet,  of  timbers,  was  un 
finished.  Twelve  12-pounders  lay  there,  but  no  guns  were  mounted.  It  was  commanded  by  Bedloe's  Island,  twelve 
hundred  yards  distant ;  also  by  Paulus's  Hook  (Jersey  City),  lying  north  of  it.  There  were  good  quarters  for  officers  and 
men.  It  was  an  excellent  position  to  defend  the  harbor  from  an  enemy  coming  in  at  the  Narrows.  Only  a  part  of  the 
island  then  belonged  to  the  United  States. 

On  Bedlne's  Island  a  battery  had  been  commenced,  and  brick  buildings  for  quarters.  No  cannon  were  mounted  except 
ing  two  field-pieces  that  belonged  to  Fort  Jay.  A  dismounted  24-pounder  lay  upon  the  island.  It  was  almost  useless  as 
a  defensive  work.  Major  Decius  Wadsworth  was  then  in  command  of  the  District  of  New  York,  and  these  works  were 
under  his  supervision.  Of  the  islands  in  New  York  Harbor,  and  the  modern  fortifications  upon  them,  I  shall  have  occa 
sion  to  write  hereafter. 

Fort  Miffiin,  on  the  southeast  extremity  of  Mud  Island,  in  the  Delaware,  just  below  Philadelphia,  was  an  irregular 
oval.  It  was  the  old  British  fort  of  the  Revolution.  It  had  been  strengthened,  and  was  a  very  important  work.  It  was 
constructed  of  stone,  brick,  and  earth,  with  heavy  guns  mounted.  A  long  account  of  it  is  given  in  the  MS.  records  of 
the  Military  and  Philosophical  Society  (New  York  Historical  Society),  vol.  iv. 

FortM'Henmj,  at  Baltimore,  was  a  new  work  situated  on 
a  point  of  laud  between  the  Patapsco  River  and  the  har 
bor.  It  was  a  regular  pentagon,  with  a  well-executed  re 
vetment  ;  also  a  magazine,  and  barracks  sufficient  for  one 
company.  The  counterscarp,  covert,  and  glacis  were  yet 
to  be  made.  On  the  water  side  was  the  wall  of  a  battery, 
but  not  yet  inclosed.  It  is  a  well-chosen  position  to  pre 
vent  ships  reaching  Baltimore,  and  is  about  two  and  a  half 
miles  from  the  city.  At  the  time  we  are  considering,  a  large 
house  belonging  to  a  citizen  stood  in  front  of  the  battery, 
next  the  extreme  point,  and,  in  the  event  of  a  ship's  pass 
ing,  would  have  to  be  battered  down,  as  it  would  cover  the 
vessel.  A  picture  of  the  fort  as  it  appeared  in  1SC1  may  be 
found  in  another  part  of  this  work. 

Fort  Severn,  at  Annapolis,  has  already  been  noticed.  See 
note  4,  on  page  181. 

Forts  Norfolk  and  Xelson,  one  on  each  side  of  the  Eliza 
beth  River,  near  Norfolk,  Virginia,  were  of  some  import 
ance.  The  former,  on  the  Norfolk  side  of  the  river,  a  mile 
and  a  half  below  the  town,  was  an  oblong  square,  with  two 
bastions,  built  chiefly  of  earth,  and  a  ditch  on  three  sides 
of  it.  VVithiu  it  was  one  frame  house  and  eight  small  log 
huts,  all  in  bad  condition.  Two  12,  four  9,  and  thirteen  G 
pounders,  two  brass  8-inch  howitzers,  and  seven  carron- 
ades,  all  dismounted,  were  lying  there.  The  fort  was  on 
the  site  of  some  works  thrown  up  during  the  Revolution. 

Fort  Xelson  was  about  a  mile  below  the  town,  on  the  OP- 


PLAN  OF  FOKT  M'IIEXKV. 


posite  side  of  the  river.  Its  form  was  triangular,  but  irregular,  the  works  of  the  Revolutionary  era  having  been  used. 
It  covered  nearly  two  acres  of  ground.  It  was  built  of  earth.  It  had  two  batteries  with  embrasures,  lined  with  brick 
inside.  In  it  were  one  large  two-story  house,  two  rooms  on  a  floor,  a  kitchen,  and  smoke-house.  There  were  thirteen 
24-pounders  and  one  12-pounder  mounted ;  the  carriages  were  rotten,  and  unfit  for  service.  This  fort,  like  the  one  op 
posite,  was  intended  to  guard  the  approach  to  the  town  by  water.  On  the  land  side  the  walls  were  not  more  than  three 
feet  high.  The  magazine  was  too  damp  for  use. 


238 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Military  Posts  on  the  Northwestern  Frontiers. 


Fulton's  Torpedoes. 


ploding  them  there.  He  was  filled  with  the  benevolent  idea  that  the  introduction 
of  such  secret  and  destructive  agencies  would  have  a  tendency  to. do  away  with  naval 
warfare,  and  thus  would  be  established  what  he  called  the  Liberty  of  the  Seas. 
Impelled  by  this  grand  idea,  he  left  France,  where  he  had  been  residing  several 
years,  and  went  over  to  England  in  1 804,  for  the  purpose  of  offering  his  invention 
to  the  British  government.1  He  finally  obtained  permission  to  make  a  public  ex 
periment  of  his  TORPEDO,  as  he  called  his  "  infernal  machine,"  and  he  was  furnished 


For  the  protection  of  Charleston  Harbor  there  were  several  works,  some  of  them  as  old  as  the  Revolution.  Fort  John 
son,  on  James's  Island,  was  enlarged  and  strengthened  in  1793,  and  afterward  repaired  and  patched  at  various  times. 
The  chief  works  were  of  brick.  The  barracks  were  of  wood,  one-story  high  ;  there  was  also  a  block-house.  A  large 
portion  of  the  fort  was  carried  away  by  a  hurricane  in  1804,  and  the  remainder  was  inundated,  sapped,  and  destroyed. 
Fort  Pinckney,  built  in  1798,  stood  upon  a  marsh  in  front  cf  Charleston  called  Shute's  Folly.  Built  entirely  of  brick.  It 
mounted  eight  26-pounders  en  barbette.  At  the  best  it  was  an  inefficient  work,  and  in  1804  it  too  was  sapped  during  the 
great  hurricane,  and  rendered  almost  useless.  Fort  Moultrie  was  built  on  the  site  of  the  fort  of  that  name  in  the  Revo 
lution.  It  was  constructed  in  179S,  chiefly  of  brick  and  palmetto  logs.  It  mounted  on  the  ramparts  ten  26-pounders  en 
barbette,  on  double  sea-coast  carriages  ;  one  mortar,  and  six  12-pounders  and  a  howitzer  in  the  ditch.  This  fort  was  also 
greatly  damaged  by  the  hurricane.  The  counterscarp  and  glacis  were  entirely  swept  away  ;  no  ditch  remained  ;  every 
traverse,  and  gun,  and  the  reverberatory  furnace  were  washed  away  and  buried  in  the  sand.  All  the  wood-work  of  the 
fort  was  rotten,  yet  the  fort  was  in  a  condition  to  be  repaired.  At  the  south  end  of  the  city  of  Charleston  were  the  re 
mains  of  Fort  Mechanic,  a  redoubt  in  utter  ruin. 

Such  was  the  general  condition  of  the  sea-coast  defenses  of  the  United  States  when  war  was  declared  in  1812. 
On  the  Northern  and  Northwestern  frontiers  were  some  military  posts  and  fortifications.  First  was  the  fort  on  the 
island  of  Michillimackinack,  in  the  straitbetween  Lakes  Huron  and  Michigan.  At  Chicago,  on  Lake  Michigan,  was  Fort 
Dearborn ;  at  the  head  of  the  Maumee,  Fort  Wayne ;  a  strong  fort  at  Detroit ;  a  battery  and  block-house  at  Erie ;  a  bat 
tery  at  Black  Rock,  just  below  Buffalo  •  Fort  Niagara,  a  strong  work  built  by  the  French,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara 
River;  another  considerable  fort  at  Oswego,  and  a  military  post  and  a  battery,  called  Fort  Tompkins,  at  Sackett's  Har 
bor.  All  of  these  will  be  noticed  in  the  course  of  our  narrative. 

1  Mr.  Fulton  took  up  his  residence  in  Paris  with  Joel  Barlow,  and  remained  with  him  seven  years.  It  was  during 
that  time  that  he  planned  his  submarine  boat,  which  he  called  a  nautilus,  and  the  machines  attached  to  which  he 
styled  submarine  bombs.  He  offered  his  invention  several  times  to  the  French  government,  and  once  to  the  Dutch  em- 
bassador  at  Paris,  but  did  not  excite  the  favorable  attention  of  either.  He  then  opened  negotiations  with  the  British 
government,  and  went  to  London  in  1S04.  There  he  held  interviews  with  Mr.  Pitt  and  Lord  Melville,  and  explained  the 
nature  of  his  'invention  to  them.  Pitt  was  convinced  of  its  great  value,  but  Melville  condemned  it.  In  the  course  of  a 
month  a  committee  was  appointed  to  examine,  whose  chairman  was  Sir  Joseph  Banks.  They  reported  the  submarine 
boat  to  be  impracticable,  when  Mr.  Fulton  abandoned  the  idea  of  employing  a  submarine  vessel,  and  turned  his  atten 
tion  t6'  the  arrangement  of  his  bombs,  so  that  they  might  be  employed  without  submerged  boats.  These  he  called  TOR 
PEDOES,  and,  in  a  memorial  afterward  presented  to  the  American  Congress,*  he  thus  describes  their  construction,  and 
method  of  operation : 

PLATE  I.  This  shows  the  torpedo  anchored, 
and  so  arranged  as  to  blow  up  a  vessel  that 
should  strike  it.  B  is  a  copper  case,  two  feet 
long  and  twelve  inches  in  diameter,  capable 
of  containing  one  hundred  pounds  of  gun 
powder.  A,  a  brass  box,  in  which  is  a  lock, 
similar  to  a  common  gun-lock,  with  a  barrel 
two  inches  long,  and  holding  a  musket-charge 
of  powder.  The  box,  with  the  lock  cocked 
and  barrel  charged,  is  screwed  to  the  copper 
case  B.  H  is  a  lever,  having  a  communica 
tion  with  the  cock  inside  the  box  A,  holding 
the  lock  cocked,  and  ready  to  fire.  C,  a  deal 
box  filled  with  cork  and  tied  to  the  case  B, 
so  as  to  make  the  torpedo  fifteen  to  twenty 
pounds  lighter  than  the  water  specifically,  so 
as  to  give  it  buoyancy.  It  is  held  down  to  a 
given  depth  by  a  weight.  A  small  anchor  is 
attached  to  the  weight  to  prevent  its  being 
moved  by  the  tides.  The  torpedo  was  sunk 
not  so  deep  as  the  usual  draft  of  vessels  to  be 
acted  upon.  In  flood-tide  it  would  be  oblique 
to  the  weight,  at  slack  water  perpendicular 
at  D,  and  during  the  ebb  again  oblique  at  E. 
At  ten  feet  below  the  surface  the  tide  would 
not  be  likely  to  disturb  it  seriously.  When 
a  ship  in  sailing  should  strike  the  lever  H, 
an  instantaneous  explosion  would  take  place, 
and  the  utter  destruction  of  the  vessel  would  follow.  Fulton  proposed  to  anchor  a  hundred  of  these  in  the  Narrows, 
approaching  the  harbor  of  New  York,  in  the  event  of  war.  The  figure  on  the  right  shows  an  end  view  of  the  torpedo, 
with  a  forked  link,  by  which  the  chances  of  being  struck  by  a  vessel  were  increased. 

*  Mr.  Fulton's  memorial,  published  in  pamphlet  form  in  1810,  by  William  Elliott,  114  Water  Street,  New  York,  bears 
the  following  title  :  TORPEDO  WAK  and  SUBMARINE  EXPLOSION,  by  ROHF.RT  FUI.TON,  Fellow  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  and  of  the  United  States  Military  and  Philosophical  Societ'j.  Its  mottc— The  Liberty  of  the  Seas  uill  be  the  Happi 
ness  of  the  Earth. 


•lOItPEIK). — PLATE   I. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


Description  of  Torpedoes  and  their  Uses. 


with  a  Danish  brig,  named  Dorothea,  and  two  boats,  with  eight  men  each,  for  the 
purpose.     On  the  loth  of  October,  1805,  the  Dorothea  was   anchored  in  Walmer 

PLATE  II.  This  represents  another  kind  of  torpedo— a  clock-work  torpedo*— intended  to  attack  a  vessel  while  lying 
at  anchor  or  under  sail,  by  harpooning  her  on  her  larboard  or  starboard  bow.  B,  a  copper  case  containing  one  hundred 
pounds  or  more  of  gunpowder.  C,  a  cork  cushion,  to  give  buoyancy  to  the  whole.  A,  a  cylindrical  brass  box,  about 
seven  inches  in  diameter  and  two  deep,  in  which  is  a  gun-lock,  with  a  barrel  two  inches  long  to  receive  a  charge  of  pow 
der  and  wad,  which  charge  is  fired  with  the  powder  of  the  case  B.  In  the  brass  box  A  there  is  also  a  piece  of  clock 
work,  moved  by  a  coiled  spring,  which  being  wound  up  and  set,  will  let  the  lock  strike  fire  in  any  number  of  minutes 
which  may  be  determined,  within  an  hour.  K  is  a  small  line  fixed  to  a  pin,  which  holds  the  clock-work  inactive.  The 
instant  the  pin  is  withdrawn  the  clock-work  begins  to  move,  and  the  explosion  will  take  place  in  one,  two,  three,  or  any 
number  of  minutes  for  which  it  has  been  set.  The  whole  is  made  perfectly  water-tight.  D  isf  a  pine  box,  two  feet 
long  and  six  or  eight  inches  square,  filled  with  cork  to  give  it  buoyancy,  as  in  Plate  I.,  although  in  this  case  it  floats  on 
the  surface,  no  weights  for  submergence 
being  used.  To  this  the  torpedo  is  sus 
pended.  The  line  of  suspension  should 
be  long  enough  to  bring  the  torpedo 
well  back  toward  the  stern  of  the  vessel. 
From  the  torpedo  and  float  D  are  two 
lines,  each  twenty  feet  long,  united  at  E. 
Prom  these  a  single  line,  about  fifty  feet  in 
length,  is  attached  to  a  harpoon.  This, 
when  the  vessel  is  harpooned  in  the  bow, 
will  bring  the  torpedo  under  the  bottom, 
at  about  midships,  of  a  man-of-war.  The 
harpoon  I  is  a  round  piece  of  iron,  half 
an  inch  in  diameter,  two  feet  long,  with 
a  butt  of  one  inch,  which  is  the  exact  cal 
ibre  of  the  gun  from  which  it  is  to  be 
projected.  In  the  head  of  the  barbed  har 
poon  is  an  eye  ;  the  point  about  six  inch 
es  long.  Into  the  eye  the  line  of  the  har 
poon  is  spliced,  and  a  small  iron  or  tough 
copper  J'nk  runs  on  the  shaft  of  the  har 
poon.  To  this  link  the  line  is  attached 
at  such  length  as  to  form  the  lq»p  H 
when  the  harpoon  is  in  the  gun.  When 
fired,  the  link  will  slide  along  to  the  butt 
of  the  harpoon,  and,  holding  the  rope  and 
the  harpoon  parallel  to  each  other,  the 
rope  will  act  like  a  tail  or  rod  to  a  rocket,  and  guide  it  straight.  F  is  the  harpoon  gun,  acting  upon  a  swivel  fixed  in 

the  stern-sheets  of  a  boat.  The 
harpoon  is  fixed  in  the  vessel's 
bow,  with  the  line  from  the  tor 
pedo  attached ;  the  torpedo  clock 
work  is  set  in  motion,  the  ma 
chine  is  thrown  overboard,  and 
the  tide,  on  the  motion  of  the  ves 
sel,  quickly  places  it  under  the 
ship. 

PLATE  III.  The  upper  portion 
of  the  plate  represents  the  stem 
of  a  row-boat,  with  the  harpoon- 
gun  and  torpedo  just  described. 
A  platform,  four  feet  long  and 
three  feet  wide,  is  made  o»  the 
stern,  level  with  the  gunwale,  and 
projecting  over  the  stern  fifteen 
or  eighteen  inches,  so  that  the 
torpedo,  in  falling  into  the  water, 
may  clear  the  rudder.  The  ropes 
are  carefully  disposed  so  that 
there  may  be  no  entanglement. 
The  letters  in  this  figure  (A,  B,  and 
C)  denote  the  parts,  as  in  the  last 
plate.  The  pin  D,  which  restrains 
the  clock  -  work,  is  drawn,  when 
the  torpedo  is  cast  off,  by  the  line 
attached  to  the  boat  at  E.  The 
TORPEDOES.— PLATE  in.  '  harpooner,  stationed  at  the  gun, 

*  The  late  Henry  Frasse,  who  for  many  years  kept  a  shop  in  Fulton  Street,  New  York,  for  the  sale  of  watch-maker's 
materials,  made  the  clock-work  for  Mr.  Fulton.  In  his  account-book  before  me  is  the  following  entry  at  the  time  we  are 
considering : 

"  Dt.  Mr.  Fulton  a  H'y  Frasse  : 

"26th  May,  1810.— a  Fulton  repare  un  turpedos,  le  grand  ressort,  volant  et  roue,  4.50." 

Mr.  Frasse  was  then  the  only  machinist  of  note  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  died  in  February,  1S19,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight  years. 


TOIiPEDO. — PLATE    II. 


240 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Dorothea  destroyed  by  a  Torpedo. 


An  Account  of  Fulton's  Experiment. 


Road,  not  far  from  Deal,  and  in  sight  of  Walmer  Castle,  the  residence  of  William  Pitt, 
the  English  prime  minister,  and  there,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  naval  offi 
cers  and  others,1  he  made  a  successful  exhibition.  He  first  practiced  the  boatmen 
with  empty  torpedoes.  One  was  placed  in  each  boat,  and  connected  by  a  small  rope 
eighty  feet  long.  The  Dorothea  drew  twelve  feet  of  water,  and  the  torpedoes  were 
suspended  fifteen  feet  under  water  when  cast  from  the  boats,  at  the  distance  of  sev 
enty-five  feet  apart.  They  floated  toward  the  brig  with  the  tide,  one  on  each  side 
of  her.  When  the  connecting-line  struck  the  hawser  of  the  brig,  both  torpedoes  were 
brought  by  the  tide  under  her  bottom. 

Having  exercised  the  men  sufficiently,  Fulton  filled  one  of  the  torpedoes  with  one 
hundred  and  eighty  pounds  of  gunpowder,  set  its  clock-work  (explained  in  note  1, 
page  238)  to  eighteen  minutes,  and  then  went  through  with  the  same  manoeuvres  as 

before,  the  filled  and  the  empty  torpedo 
being  united  by  a  rope.  At  the  expira 
tion  of  eighteen  minutes  from  the  time 
the  torpedoes  were  cast  overboard,  and 
were  carried  toward  the  Dorothea,  a  dull 
explosion  was  heard,  and  the  brig  was 
raised  bodily  about  six  feet,2  and  sepa 
rated  in  the  middle  ;  and  in  tweny  min 
utes  nothing  was  seen  of  her  but  some 
floating  fragments.  The  pumps  and  fore 
masts  were  blown  out  of  her ;  the  fore- 
topsail-yards  were  thrown  up  to  the 
cross-trees  ;  tht  fore-chain  plates,  with 
their  bolts,  were  torn  from  her  sides,  and 
her  mizzen-mast  was  broken  off  in  twro 
places.  The  experiment  was  perfectly 
satisfactory ;  but  the  British  government 
refused  to  purchase  and  use  the  invention,  because  it  was  thought  to  be  inexpedient 


DESTRUCTION  OF  TUB  DOEOTUEA. 


also  steers  the  boat,  and  fires  according  to  his  judgment.  If  the  harpoon  sticks  into  the  bow  of  the  vessel,  the  boat  is 
immediately  moved  away,  the  torpedo  cast  out  of  the  boat,  and  the  clock-work  set  in  motion.  If  the  harpoon  misses 
the  ship,  the  torpedo  may  be  saved,  and  another  attack  be  made.  Fulton  proposed  to  have  twelve  men  in  each  boat,  all 
armed  for  their  protection  or  offensive  movements,  if  necessary.  The  figure  in  the  lower  part  of  the  plate  is  a  bird's- 
eye  view  of  a  vessel  (A)  at  anchor.  B,  her  cable ;  E  F,  two  torpedoes ;  C  D,  their  coupling  lines,  twelve  feet  long.  It  is 
touching  the  vessel's  cable,  and  the  torpedoes  being  driven  under  her  by  the  tide.  In  this  way  the  Dorothea,  mentioned 
in  the  text,  was  attacked.  Those  were  clock-work  torpedoes. 

PLATE  IV.  represents  a  bird's- 
eye  view  of  a  vessel  at  anchor,  or 
under  weigh,  attacked  by  a  flotilla 
of  mortar-boats.    A  is  the  vessel, 
and  B  C  two  torpedoes  operating 
by  means  of  the  harpoon  move 
ment.    When  it  was  objected  that 
these  boats  would  be  exposed  to 
grape,  canister,  and  musket  balls 
from  the  vessel,  Fulton  estimated 
that  the  time  of  danger,  by  expert 
movements, would  not  exceed  four 
minutes— two  in  approachingnear 
enough  to  fire  the  harpoon,  and 
two  for  retreating.     He  entered 
into  a  calculation  of  the  greater 
efficiency  and  less  exposure  of  the 
torpedo  system,  in  harbor  defense,  than  ships  of  war.    I  have  given  this  description  of  the  torpedo  as  illustrative  of  a 
part  of  the  history  of  the  times  we  are  considering.    Science  and  mechanical  skill  have  since  produced  far  more  de 
structive  engines  of  war,  and  yet  Fulton's  dream  of  establishing  the  liberty  of  the,  seas  by  means  of  the  torpedo,  or  any 
other  instrumentality,  remains  unaccomplished.    A  Monitor  of  to-day  is  worth  a  million  of  torpedoes  for  harbor  defense, 
i  Admiral  Holloway,  Sir  Sidney  Smith,  Captain  Owen,  Captain  Kingston,  Colonel  Congreve,  and  a  greater  portion  of 
the  officers  of  the  fleet  under  Lord  Keith  were  present.    Pitt  was  in  London,  and  did  not  see  the  exhibition.    Colonel 
Congreve  was  the  inventor  of  the  rocket,  or  •"  pyrotechnic  arrow,"  as  Fulton  called  it,  bearing  his  name. 
5  The  engraving  is  from  a  drawing  by  Fulton,  appended  to  his  memorial  to  Congress  in  1S10. 


TORPEDOES. — PLATE  IV. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  241 


Fulton's  Torpedoes  iii  New  York  Harbor.  His  Estimate  of  the  Value  of  Torpedoes  and  Steam  Navigation. 

for  the  mistress  of  the  seas  to  introduce  into  naval  warfare  a  system  that  would  give 
great  advantages  to  weaker  maritime  nations.  The  Earl  St.  Vincent  said  Pitt  was  a 
fool  to  encourage  a  mode  of  warfare  which  they,  who  commanded  the  seas,  did  not 
want,  and  which,  if  successful,  Avould  deprive  them  of  it.1 

At  the  beginning  of  1807  Mr.  Fulton  was  in  Washington  with  his  drawings,  mod 
els,  and  plans  for  a  "  torpedo  war."  He  was  favorably  listened  to  then,  but  his  plans 
were  regarded  with  more  interest  after  the  affair  of  the  Leopard  and  Chesapeake,  a 
few  months  later.  That  affair  caused  much  public  discussion  about  harbor  defenses, 
and  able  practical  writers,  like  Colonel  Williams  and  John  Stevens,  favored  the  use 
of  Fulton's  torpedoes.  It  was  believed  that  measures  would  be  taken  to  drive  British 
vessels  of  war  from  American  harbors,  and  on  the  6th  of  July  Fulton  again  brought 
his  torpedoes  to  the  notice  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  Congress  made  a  small 
appropriation  for  experiments,  and  on  the  20th  of  July,  by  the  direction  of  the  Presi 
dent,  Fulton  performed  a  feat  in  the  harbor  of  New  York  similar  to  that  of  the  de 
struction  of  the  Dorothea  in  Walmer  Road.  He  utterly  destroyed  a  vessel  of  two 
hundred  tons  burden,  and  convinced  the  spectators  that  any  ship  might  be  so  demol 
ished.2  The  experiment  created  quite  a  sensation  in  England.  The  Earl  of  Stan 
hope,  Fulton's  early  friend,  alluded  to  it  in  Parliament,  and  reproached  the  govern 
ment,  by  implication,  for  suffering  such  an  invention  to  go  to  America,  when,  for  three 
thousand  pounds,  they  might  have  possessed  it.  Nothing  farther  of  importance  was 
done  in  the  matter,  for  Fulton  was  then  deeply  engaged  in  bringing  to  a  successful 
issue  his  experiments  in  navigating  by  steam  as  a  motor.  But  when  those  experi 
ments  resulted  in  absolute  and  brilliant  success,  and  men's  minds  were  filled  with 
speculations  concerning  the  future  of  this  new  aid  to  commerce,  he  believed  -that  his 
torpedo  system  would  be  of  far  more  benefit  to  mankind  than  navigation  by  steam. 
In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  giving  him  an  account  of  his  first  voyage  to  Albany  and  back 
by  steam — the  first  achievement  of  the  kind — he  said :  "  However,  I  will  not  admit 
that  it  is  half  so  important  as  the  torpedo  system  of  defense  and  attack,  for  out  of  it 
will  grow  the  liberty  of  the  seas,  an  object  of  infinite  importance  to  the  welfare  of 
America  and  every  civilized  country.  But  thousands  of  witnesses  have  now  seen  the 
steam-boat  in  rapid  movement,  and  believe ;  they  have  not  seen  a  ship-of-war  de 
stroyed  by  a  torpedo,  and  they  do  not  believe."3 

How  utterly  impotent  is  the  finite  mind  when  it  attempts  to  understand  the  future. 
It  is  like  a  bewildered  traveler  in  a  dark  night  attempting  to  comprehend  an  almost 
illimitable  prairie  before  him  by  the  aid  of  a  "fire-fly  lamp."  The  torpedo  is  forgot 
ten  ;  the  steam-boat,  in  Monitor*  form,  is  now  (1867)  the  great  champion  for  the  "  lib 
erty  of  the  seas." 

In  January,  1810,  Fulton  again  visited  Washington,  and  at  Kalorama,  the  seat  of 
his  good  friend  Barlow,  near  Georgetown,  in  the  presence  of  President  Jefferson,  Sec 
retary  Madison,  and  a  large  number  of  members  of  Congress,'  he  exhibited  and  ex 
plained  the  plans  and  models  of  improved  torpedoes,  such  as  are  described  in  note  1, 

1  Letter  from  Robert  Fulton  to  Joel  Barlow. 

2  Mr.  Fulton  invited  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  the  Corporation  of  the  city,  and  many  others,  to  witness 
his  experiments.    They  assembled  at  Fort  Jay,  on  Governor's  Island,  on  the  20th  of  July,  and  in  the  shadow  of  the  great 
gateway  he  lectured  on  the  subject  of  his  torpedoes.    He  had  a  blank  one  for  his  explanations,  and  his  numerous  audi 
tors  gathered  close  around  him,  with  great  eagerness,  to  catch  every  word  from  his  lips,  and  see  every  part  of  the  ma 
chine.    At  length  he  turned  to  one  of  the  torpedoes  lying  near,  under  the  gateway  of  the  fort,  to  which  his  clock-work 
was  attached,  and  drawing  out  the  plug,  and  setting  it  in  motion,  he  said :  "Gentlemen,  this  is  a  charged  torpedo,  with 
which,  precisely  in  its  present  state,  I  mean  to  blow  tip  a  vessel.    It  contains  one  hundred  and  seventy  pounds  of  gun 
powder,  and  if  I  were  to  suffer  the  clock-work  to  run  fifteen  minutes,  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  would  blow  this  fortifica 
tion  to  atoms."    The  circle  of  the  audience  around  Mr.  Fulton  immediately  widened,  and,  before  five  of  the  fifteen  min 
utes  had  elapsed,  all  but  two  or  three  had  disappeared  from  the  gateway,  and  retired  to  as  great  a  distance  as  possible 
with  the  utmost  speed.    Fulton,  entirely  confident  in  his  machine,  was  perfectly  calm.    "How  frequently  fear  arises 
from  ignorance,"  he  said.— Colden's  Life  of  Fulton,  page  78. 

3  Letter  to  Joel  Barlow  from  New  York,  dated  August  22, 1807. 

4  For  a  description  of  the  Monitor,  a  new  style  of  vessel  of  war,  first  made  known  to  the  world  by  a  terrible  encoun 
ter  with  the  Merrimack,  another  efficient  vessel  of  war,  in  Hampton  Roads,  Virginia,  in  March,  1S62,  see  Lossing's  Pic 
torial  History  of  the  Civil  War. 

Q 


242 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Farther  Experiments  with  Torpedoes. 


A  wholesome  Fear  of  them. 


Robert  Fulton. 


page  238.  They  were  deeply  impressed  with  the  value  of  the  invention,  and  in  March 
Congress  appropriated  five  thousand  dollars  for  farther  experiments,  to  be  publicly 
made  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  under  the  direct  superintendence  of  Commodore 
Rodgers  and  Captain  Chauncey.  The  sloop-of-war  Argus  was  prepared  to  defend 

herself  against  Fulton's  torpedo  attacks.1  The  experiments  were  tried 
uid&ctober,  in  the  autumn.a  They  failed,  so  far  as  attacks  upon  the  Argus  were 

concerned,  and  Rodgers  reported  the  scheme  to  be  wholly  impracticable. 
Commissioners,  among  whom  were  Chancellor  Livingston,  Morgan  Lewis,  and  Cad- 


wallader  Golden,  re 
ported  in  its  favor. 
But  Fulton,  then  still 
deeply  engaged  in 
steam-boat  matters, 
made  no  farther  ef 
forts  to  induce  the 
government  to  adopt 
his  torpedo  system ; 
yet  his  faith  in  its  val 
ue  was  not  abated. 

When  war  was  de 
clared  in  1812,  Ful 
ton  revived  his  tor 
pedo   scheme,  but 
could   not   win    the 
countenance    of  the 
government.    Sever 
al   attempts  to  put 
it  in  execution  were 
made  by  inexperi 
enced  persons,  and 
failed,  and    torpe 
does  did  not  enter 
into  the  system  of 
warfare  carried  on 


at   that   time.     But 
while  they  were  not 
actually    used,   ex 
cept  in  a  few  isola 
ted  cases,  against 
the    British    vessels 
of  war,  a  wholesome 
fear    of  them   was 
abroad  in  the  Brit 
ish  navy.    There  was 
great  anxiety  mani 
fested   on    the    part 
of  the  British  naval 
commanders,  when 
they  approached 
our  coasts,  to  know 
where    Mr.   Fulton2 
was ;  and,  such  was 
their    caution,  they 
seldom  attempted  to 
enter  the  harbors 
of  the  United 
States  dui-ing  the 
war.      No    doubt 
the    fear    of  Ful 
ton's     torpedoes 


1  Fulton  had  also  invented  a  submarine  machine  for  cut 
ting  the  cables  of  ships  at  anchor.    Experiments  with  this 
were  tried  at  the  same  time. 

2  Robert  Fulton  was  born  at  Little  Britain,  Lancaster 
County,  Pennsylvania,  in  17C5.    His  parents  were  from  Ire 
land.    His  early  education  was  meagre.    At  the  age  of  sev 
enteen  he  was  painting  miniatures*  at  Philadelphia,  and 
indulging  his  taste  for  mechanics  in  the  work-shops  of  that 
city.    His  friends  sent  him  to  London,  to  receive  instruc 
tions  in  painting,  when  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
The  celebrated  West  was  his  instructor.    The  Earl  of  Stan 
hope,  who  took  great  interest  in  mechanics,  became  his 
friend,  and  encouraged  his  taste  for  the  useful  arts.    He 
heard  of  the  experiments  of  Fitch  and  Evans  in  the  use 
of  steam  for  navigation,  and  his  active  mind  began  to  spec 
ulate  on  the  subject,  and  have  glorious  perceptions  of  fu 
ture  achievements.    He  left  painting,  and  became  an  en 
gineer.    He  entered  the  family  of  Joel  Barlow,  at  Paris,  in 
1707,  and  there  he  became  acquainted  with  Chancellor  Liv 
ingston,  with  whom  he  carried  on  experiments  in  naviga 
tion  by  steam.    They  saw  wealth  and  honor  as  the  reward 
of  success  in  that  line  on  the  inland  waters  of  the  United 
States.    They  came  home,  and  were  successful.    The  first 
voyage  from  Albany  to  New  York  silenced  all  doubt.    In 


*  In  White's  Philadelphia  Directory,  1785,  is  the  following:  "Robert  Fulton,  miniature  painter,  corner  of  Second  and 
Walnut  Streets." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  243 


A  "Pence  Party."  Action  of  State  Governments.  Riot  in  Baltimore. 

saved  several  of  our  sea-port  towns  from  destruction.  Fulton's  steam-frigate,  launched 
in  1814,  will  be  noticed  hereafter. 

Notwithstanding  war  had  been  declared  by  a  large  majority  in  Congress,  and  was 
approved  by  an  equally  large  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  the  admin 
istration  was  anxious  for  some  honorable  means  for  averting  it.  Indeed,  both  gov 
ernments  at  the  last  moment  seemed  to  hesitate.  In  the  United  States  there  was  a 
large  and  powerful  party  utterly  opposed  to  hostilities.  There  was  a  smaller  organ 
ization,  called  the  "  Peace  party,"  who  were  pledged  to  cast  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
the  government  while  hostilities  should  last.  The  authorities  of  several  of  the  states 
took  ground  early  against  affording  aid  to  the  government ;  and  it  was  very  soon 
perceived  that  the  Canadians,  whose  Avillingness  to  cast  off  the  yoke  of  tho  imperial 
government  had  not  been  doubted,  were  generally  loyal,  and  ready  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  United  States.  The  Governors  of  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  Con 
necticut  refused  to  comply  with  the  requisition  made  upon  them  for  militia  immedi 
ately  after  the  declaration  of  war  was  promulgated.  They  planted  themselves  upon 
the  Constitution,  and  the  act  of  Congress  authorizing  the  President  to  make  a  requi 
sition  for  the  militia,  which  contemplated  the  exigency  of  expected  invasion.  No 
evidence  of  any  danger  of  invasion,  they  said,  existed ;  and,  supported  by  the  judici 
ary  and  Legislatures  of  their  respective  states,  they  set  the  President  at  defiance. 
The  Legislature  of  New  Jersey  denounced  the  war  as  "  inexpedient,  ill-timed,  and 
most  dangerously  impolitic,  sacrificing  at  once  countless  blessings."  The  Maryland 
House  of  Delegates  passed  resolutions  commending  the  action  of  the  Governors  of 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut,  and  disapproving  of  the  war ;  while 
in  the  Senate  opposite  views  were  expressed.  The  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  re 
buked  the  action  of  the  three  New  England  governors,  and  called  it  "  an  alarming 
and  unexpected  occurrence."  They  resolved  that  "  the  declaration  of  war  was  the 
result  of  solemn  deliberation,  sound  wisdom,  and  imperious  necessity."  The  Legisla 
ture  of  Ohio  declared  that  the  United  States  had  been  driven  into  the  war  by  the 
aggressions  of  Great  Britain,  and  said,  "  The  man  who  would  desert  a  just  cause  is 
unworthy  to  defend  it."  The  Governor  of  New  York  exhorted  a  hearty  concurrence 
in  support  of  the  national  government;  and  the  new  State  of  Louisiana,  just  admit 
ted  into  the  Union,  said,  by  the  voice  of  its  governor,  "  If  ever  war  was  justifiable, 
the  one  which  our  country  has  declared  is  that  war.  If  ever  a  people  had  cause  to 
repose  in  the  confidence  of  their  government,  we  are  that  people." 

These  conflicting  views  produced  corresponding  conflict  of  action.  Party  spirit 
was  aroused  in  all  its  fierceness.  Personal  collisions  became  frequent  occurrences, 
and  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  a  most  fearful  riot  occurred,  the  result  of  which  was 
murder  and  maiming.1 

1809  he  obtained  his  first  patent.  His  torpedo  scheme  failing,  he  turned  his  attention  to  submarine  batteries.  In  1814  he 
was  directed  by  Congress  to  construct  a  war  steamer.  She  was  launched,  and  called  Fulton.  He  died  seven  months 
afterward  (February  24, 1S15),  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  Our  engraving  of  Mr.  Fulton  is  from  a  portrait  by  Benjamin 
West,  painted  in  1805.  The  view  of  his  residence  is  from  a  sketch  by  E.  B.  Cope,  Esq.  It  gives  its  present  appearance. 
1  There  was  a  violent  opposition  newspaper  in  Baltimore  called  The  Federal  Republican,  edited  by  a  young  man  only 
twenty-six  years  of  age.  Baltimore  was  then  a  flourishing  commercial  city,  and  this  paper  was  the  organ  of  the  mer 
cantile  interest,  which  had  suffered  from  the  restrictive  commercial  measures,  and  was  now  prostrated  by  the  impend 
ing  war.  The  Republican  denounced  the  declaration  of  war,  and,  in  defiance  of  intimations  that  had  been  made  in  Con 
gress  that  when  that  declaration  was  once  made  all  opposition  to  the  war  must  cease,  the  editor  announced  his  determ 
ination  to  speak  as  freely  against  the  administration  and  its  measures  as  before,  thereby  reversing  the  policy  of  his  party 
in  1798  in  the  matter  of  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws.  "  We  mean,"  he  said,  "  to  represent,  in  as  strong  colors  as  we  are 
capable,  that  the  war  is  unnecessary,  inexpedient,  and  entered  into  from  partial,  personal,  and,  as  we  believe,  motives 
bearing  upon  their  front  marks  of  undisguised  foreign  influence  which  can  not  be  mistaken."  This  announcement  was 
made  on  Saturday,  June  20th,  and  on  Monday  evening,  the  22d,  a  mob,  headed  by  a  French  apothecary,  proceeded  to  the 
office  of  that  paper  and  demolished  it.  Having  thus  commenced  violence,  they  proceeded  to  the  wharves  and  disman 
tled  some  vessels,  and  committed  other  heinous  acts.  The  publisher  of  the  Federal  Republican  determined  to  re-establish 
the  office.  The  lower  portion  of  the  house  of  one  of  the  proprietors  was  used  for  the  purpose.  The  paper  was  printed 
in  Georgetown,  but  published  then  in  Baltimore  after  a  silence  of  five  weeks.  According  to  expectation,  the  publishing 
office  was  attacked.  The  magistrates  of  the  city  seemed  to  have  used  no  means  to  quell  the  riot  in  June,  and  were  not 
expected  to  do  so  now.  General  Henry  Lee,  then  a  resident  of  Baltimore,  furnished  the  proprietors  with  a  regular  plan 
of  defense,  and  offered  to  superintend  the  execution  of  it.  General  Lingan,  another  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  also 


244  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Inhabitants  of  Canada.  Reasons  for  their  Loyalty.  Address  of  the  Canadian  Legislature. 

The  people  of  Canada,  whose  soil  was  about  to  be  invaded,  were  filled  with  feelings 
of  doubt  and  alarm,  especially  in  the  Upper  Province.  A  large  number  of  the  in 
habitants  in  that  section  were  natives  of  the  United  States  who  had  emigrated  thith 
er  to  better  their  condition.  Many  of  them  still  felt  a  lingering  affection  for  the  land 
of  their  birth,  and  were  unwilling  to  take  up  arms  against  it ;  but  there  was  another 
class  of  emigrants — Loyalists,  or  the  children  of  Loyalists  of  the  Revolution — polit 
ical  exiles — occupying  -a  large  tract  of  land  lying  between  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario, 
and  westward,  who  were  indebted  to  the  liberality  of  the  British  government  for  .the 
soil  they  were  cultivating,  and  to  their  own  industry  for  the  roofs  that  sheltered 
them.  These  retained  bitter  feelings  toward  the  United  States,  and  took  up  arms  with 
alacrity  against  a  people  whom  they  regarded  as  their  oppressors.  When  war  was 
actually  commenced — when  American  troops  were  actually  encamped  on  Canadian 
territory,  these  old  Loyalists  formed  a  most  energetic  and  active  element  in  the  firm 
opposition  which  the  invasion  encountered.  To  these  the  Legislature  of  Upper  Can 
ada,  whose  loyalty  was  at  first  considered  somewhat  doubtful,  addressed  a  most 
stirring  appeal,  soon  after  the  American  declaration  of  war  was  known,  to  the  delight 
of  the  governor  and  the  English  party.  "  Already,"  they  said,  "  have  we  the  joy  to 
remark  that  the  spirit  of  loyalty  has  burst  forth  in  all  its  ancient  splendor.  The  mi 
litia  in  all  parts  of  the  province  have  volunteered  their  services  with  acclamation,  and 
displayed  a  degree  of  energy  worthy  of  the  British  name.  They  do  not  forget  the 
blessings  and  privileges  which  they  enjoy  under  the  protective  and  fostering  care 
of  the  British  empire,  whose  government  is  only  felt  in  this  country  by  acts  of  the 
purest  justice,  and  most  pleasing  and  efficacious  benevolence.  When  men  are  called 
upon  to  defend  every  thing  they  call  precious,  their  wives  and  children,  their  friends 
and  possessions,  they  ought  to  be  inspired  with  the  noblest  resolutions,  and  they  will 
not  be  easily  frightened  by  menaces,  or  conquered  by  force ;  and  beholding,  as  AVC 
do,  the  flame  of  patriotism  burning  from  one  end  of  the  Canadas  to  the  other,  we  can 
not  but  entertain  the  most  pleasing  anticipations.  Our  enemies  have,  indeed,  said 
that  they  can  subdue  this  country  by  a  proclamation ;  but  it  is  our  part  to  prove  to 
them  that  they  are  sadly  mistaken ;  that  the  population  is  determinately  hostile,  and 
that  the  few  who  might  be  otherwise  inclined  will  find  it  their'  safety  to  be  faithful." 

The  address  then  proceeded  to  warn  the  people  that, "  in  imitation  of  their  Euro 
pean  master  (Napoleon),"  the  United  States  would  "  trust  more  to  treachery  than  to 

a  Federalist,  joined  him,  and  about  twenty  others  made  up  the  defensive  party.  They  were  well-armed  and  provisioned 
for  a  siege.  On  the  evening  of  the  20th  of  July  (the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  the  revived  newspaper  first  appeared) 
the  mob  assembled.  After  assailing  the  building  with  stones  for  some  time,  they  forced  open  the  door,  and  when  ascend 
ing  the  stairs  they  were  fired  upon.  One  of  the  ringleaders  was  killed  and  several  were  wounded.  After  much  solici 
tude,  two  magistrates,  by  virtue  of  their  authority,  ordered  out  two  companies  of  militia,  under  General  Strieker,  to 
quell  the  mob.  A  single  troop  of  horse  soon  appeared,  and  at  about  daylight  the  mayor  and  General  Strieker  appeared. 
A  truce  was  obtained,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  defenders,  some  of  whom  were  hurt,  and  who  were  all  charged  with 
murder,  should  be  conducted  to  prison  to  answer  that  charge.  They  were  promised  not  only  personal  safety,  but  pro 
tection  of  the  premises  by  a  military  guard.  On  their  way  to  prison  the  band  played  the  rogue's  march.  The  mob  im 
mediately  sacked  the  house.  Only  a  few  more  of  the  military  could  be  persuaded  to  come  out,  and  the  mob  had  its  own 
way  to  a  great  extent.  At  night  they  gathered  around  the  prison,  and  the  turnkey  was  so  terrified  that  he  allowed  them 
to  enter.  The  prisoners  extinguished  their  lights  and  rushed  out.  They  mingled  with  the  mob,  and  thus  several  es 
caped.  Some  were  dreadfully  beaten,  and  three  were  tortured  by  the  furious  men.  General  Lee  was  made  a  cripple  for 
life,  and  General  Liugan,  then  seventy  years  of  age,  distinguished  for  his  services  in  the  field  during  the  old  war  for  in 
dependence,  expired  in  the  hands  of  the  mob.*  In  the  treatment  of  their  unfortunate  prisoners  the  most  intense  sav- 
agism  was  displayed.  The  riot  was  at  length  quelled,  and  the  city  magistrates,  on  investigation,  placed  the  entire  blame 
on  the  publishers  of  the  obnoxious  newspaper.  It  was  decided  that  in  a  time  of  war  no  man  has  a  right  to  cast  ob 
stacles  in  the  way  of  the  success  of  his  country's  undertakings.  The  course  of  the  Federal  Republican  was  condemned 
as  treasonable— as  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy ;  and  its  fate  was  not  mourned  outside  of  the  circle  of  its  polit 
ical  supporters.  While  all  right-minded  men  deprecated  a  mob,  and  condemned,  in  unmeasured  terms,  its  atrocities, 
they  as  loudly  condemned  the  unpatriotic  course  of  the  offending  newspaper. 

*  Funeral  honors  were  paid  to  General  Lingan,  at  Georgetown,  on  the  1st  of  September  following,  by  a  great  proces 
sion,  and  an  oration  by  the  late  George  Washington  Parke  Custis,  the  adopted  sou  of  Washington.  His  oration  was 
extemporaneous,  and  wras  an  eloquent  and  impassioned  appeal  to  the  feelings  of  his  auditors.  Only  thi'ee  years  and 
six  months  after  the  death  of  the  orator,  the  blood  of  other  patriots,  not  engaged  in  the  immediate  defense  of  the  liber 
ty  of  the  press,  but  hurrying  to  the  national  capital  to  save  it  from  the  grasp  of  fratricides,  were  slain  in  the  streets  of 
Baltimore  by  a  mob  (April  19, 1801),  who,  as  in  1812,  were  tenderly  dealt  with,  if  not  encouraged,  by  the  magistrates  of 
the  city. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  245 


Enlistments  in  the  British  Provinces.  Peaceful  Propositions.  Action  on  the  Orders  in  Council  and  Decrees. 

force ;"  that  they  would  be  falsely  told  that  armies  come  to  give  them  freedom 
and  peace ;  that  emissaries  "  of  the  most  contemptible  faction  that  ever  distracted 
the  affairs  of  any  nation — the  minions  of  the  very  sycophants  who  lick  the  dust  from 
the  feet  of  Bonaparte,"  would  endeavor  to  seduce  them  from  their  loyalty. 

This  address  had  a  powerful  effect.  The  prudence  and  sagacity  of  Sir  George  Pre- 
vost,  the  governor  general  of  Canada,  had  allayed  the  political  agitations  in  the  Low 
er  Province,  which  had  assumed  a  threatening  aspect  during  the  administration  of 
his  predecessor,  Sir  James  H.  Craig.  Now,  when  war  seemed  impending,  the  Legis 
lature  of  the  Lower  Province,  laying  aside  their  political  bickerings,  voted  to  furnish 
two  thousand  unmarried  men  to  serve  for  three  months  during  two  successive  sum 
mers.  Besides  these,  a  corps,  called  the  Glengary  Light  Infantry,  numbering,  on 
the  1st  of  May,  1812,  four  hundred  rank  and  file,  and  drawn  chiefly  from  the  Lower 
Province,  was  organized.  Its  officers  promised  to  double  that  number.  At  the  same 
time,  enlistments  were  made  in  Acadia  and  Nova  Scotia,  while  Lieutenant  M'Donell 
gathered  under  his  banner  a  large  number  of  Highlanders,  settled  upon  the  Lower  St. 
Lawrence  and  the  Gulf.1  It  was  soon  made  evident  to  the  Americans  that  no  de 
pendence  could  be  placed  upon  disloyalty  among  the  Canadians,  and  that,  instead  of 
finding  friends  and  allies  north  of  the  lakes,  they  would  find  active  foes. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  in  America,  there  were  movements  abroad 
which  faintly  promised  an  adjustment  of  difficulties  between  the  two  governments 
without  a  resort  to  arms.  Immediately  after  the  declaration  of  war,  President  Mad 
ison,  through  Secretary  Monroe,  sent  a  dispatch*  to  Mr.  Russell,  the  Amer-  a  june  2e, 
ican  minister  at  the  British  court,  by  Mr.  Foster,  the  English  minister  retir 
ing  from  Washington,2  instructing  him  to  offer  an  armistice  preliminary  to  a  definite 
arrangement  of  all  differences,  on  condition  of  the  absolute  repeal  of  the  obnoxious 
orders  in  Council,  the  discontinuance  of  impressment,  and  the  return  of  all  American 
seamen  who  had  been  impressed  and  were  still  in  the  British  service.  He  was  au 
thorized  to  promise,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  a  positive  prohibition  of  em 
ployment  for  British  seamen  in  the  American  service,  public  or  private,  on  condition 
of  a  reciprocity  in  kind  on  the  part  of  the  British  government.  He  made  still  more 
liberal  advances  toward  reconciliation  in  a  subsequent  dispatch,b  offering 

.      .  .  -,.H       .  .   .   a      "August  24. 

to  agree  to  an  armistice  on  a  tacit  understanding,  instead  ot  a  positive 
stipulation,  that  no  more  American  seamen  should  be  impressed  into  the  British 
service. 

The  British  government  had  already  taken  action  on  the  orders  in  Council.  We 
have  noticed  the  effect  of  Brougham's  efforts  in  Parliament,  and  Baring's  potent  In 
quiry  on  the  subject  of  those  orders.  In  the  spring  of  1812  a  new  order  was  issued, 
declaring  that  if  at  any  time  the  Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees  should,  by  some  authori 
tative  act  of  the  French  government  publicly  promulgated,  be  withdrawn,  the  orders 
in  Council  of  January,  1807,  and  of  April,  1809,  should  be  at  once  repealed.  Mr.  Bar 
low,  the  American  minister  at  Paris,  immediately  after  receiving  information  of  this 
new  order,  pressed  the  French  government  to  make  a  public  announcement  that  those 
decrees  had  ceased  to  operate,  as  against  the  United  States,  since  November,  1810. 
The  Duke  of  Bassano  exhibited  great  reluctance  to  do  so,  but  finally,  persuaded  that 
the  Americans  would  resume  trade  with  Great  Britain  in  defiance  of  the  few  French 
cruisers  afloat,  and  that  the  two  governments  might  form  an  alliance  against  the  em 
peror,  produced  a  decree,  dated  April  28,  1811,  directing  that,  in  consideration  of  the 
resistance  of  the  United  States  "  to  the  arbitrary  pretensions  advanced  by  the  British 
orders  in  Council,  and  a  formal  refusal  to  sanction  a  system  hostile  to  the  independ- 

1  A  Ilistnnj  of  the  War  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  of  America  during  the  Years  1812, 1813,  and  1814,  by 
G.  Auchinleck,  pajres  40-48  inclusive. 

2  Mr.  Foster  sailed  from  New  York  for  Halifax  in  the  brig  Colibri,  on  Sunday,  July  12,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Barclay, 
the  British  consul  at  New  York. 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Disgraceful  Conduct  of  a  French  Minister.  Conditional  Revocation  of  the  Orders  in  Council. 

ence  of  neutral  powers,  the  Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees  were  to  be  considered  as  not 
having  existed,  as  to  American  vessels,  since  November  1, 1810." l  Barlow  perceived, 
by  the  date  of  this  document,  that  there  was  dissimulation  and  lack  of  candor  in  the 
whole  matter,  and,  by  pressing  the  duke  with  questions,  caused  that  minister  to  ut 
ter  what  were  doubtless  absolute  falsehoods.2  In  truth,  the  French  had,  throughout 
this  whole  matter  of  decrees,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  Continental  System,  been 
guilty  of  deception  and  injustice  to  a  degree  that  would  have  justified  an  honest  na 
tion  in  suspending  all  diplomatic  relations  with  them. 

On  receiving  a  copy  of  this  decree  Barlow  dispatched  it  to  London  by  the  Wasp, 
for  Mr.  Russell's  use.  It  reached  there  just  in  time  to  co-operate  with  the  British 
manufacturers,  who  had  procured  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  to  inquire  into  the  effects  of  the  orders  in  Council  on  the  commercial  inter 
ests  of  the  nation.3  Castleraagh,  to  whom  Russell  presented  the  decree,  considered 
it  too  limited  to  induce  the  British  government  to  make  any  change  in  its  policy. 
But  he  and  his  colleagues  were  compelled  to  yield.  The  new  ministry,  who  came  in 
after  Mr.  Perceval's  death,4  were  very  strongly  pressed  by  Brougham,  Baring,  and  oth 
ers,  and  menaced  with  the  desertion  of  their  supporters  in  the  manufacturing  dis 
tricts.  Finally,  on  the  1 6th  of  June,a  Brougham,  after  a  minute  statement  of 
facts  brought  out  by  the  inquiry  of  the  Commons'  committee,  and  an  eloquent 
exposition  of  the  absurd  policy  pursued  by  the  government,5  moved  an  address  to  the 
Prince  Regent,  beseeching  him  to  recall  or  suspend  the  orders  in  Council,  and  to 
adopt  such  other  measures  as  might  tend  to  conciliate  neutral  powers,  without  sacri 
ficing  the  rights  and  dignity  of  his  majesty's  crown.  Castlereagh  deprecated  this 
"  hasty  action,"  as  he  called  it,  and  stated  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  government 
to  make  a  conciliatory  proposition  to  the  Cabinet  at  Washington.  On  an  intimation 
that  this  definite  proposition  was  decided  upon  in  the  Cabinet,  and  would  appear  in 
the  next  Gazette.  Brougham  withdrew  his  motion.  On  the  23db  a  declaration 

b  jmig 

from  the  Prince  Regent  in  Council  was  published,  absolutely  revoking  all  or 
ders  as  far  as  they  regarded  America.  It  was  accompanied  by  a  proviso  that  the 
present  order  should  have  no  effect  unless  the  United  States  should  revoke  their  Non- 
intercourse  Act,  and  place  Great  Britain  on  the  same  relative  footing  as  France.  The 
order  also  provided  that  the  Prince  Regent  should  not  be  precluded,  if  circumstances 
should  require  it,  from  restoring  the  orders  in  Council,  or  from  taking  such  other 
measures  of  retaliation  against  the  French  as  might  appear  to  his  royal  highness  just 
and  necessary.6 

Intelligence  of  this  conditional  revocation  of  the  orders  in  Council  reached  Mr.  Fos 
ter  before  he  sailed  from  Halifax,  and  he  obtained  from  the  naval  commander  on  that 
station  (Admiral  Sir  John  Borlase  Warren)  consent  to  a  mutual  suspension  of  pro- 

1  The  new  decree  was  dated  "  Palace  of  St.  Cloud,  April  28, 1811,"  and  signed  by  Napoleon  as  "  Emperor  of  the  French, 
King  of  Italy,  Protector  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  and  Mediator  of  the  Swiss  Confederacy." 

2  Barlow  asked  Bassano  if  the  decree,  apparently  a  year  old,  had  ever  been  published.    He  was  answered  no,  adding 
that  it  had  been  shown  to  Mr.  Russell,  when  Charge  d' Affaires  at  Paris,  and  had  been  sent  to  Serrurier,  at  Washington, 
to  be  communicated  to  the  American  government.    The  records  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  proved  this  statement  to 
be  untrue.    The  decree  was  a  fresh  one,  antedated  for  diplomatic  effect. 

3  The  examination  of  this  committee,  who  were  authorized  to  summon  persons  and  papers,  commenced  on  the  29th 
of  April,  and  continued  until  the  13th  of  June.    Witnesses  from  almost  every  part  of  Great  Britain  were  examined,  and 
in  every  case  the  transcendent  importance  of  American  commerce  to  the  welfare  of  England  was  made  manifest  by  tes 
timony.    The  folly,  wickedness,  and  stupidity  of  the  orders  in  Council  were  fully  exposed  ;  and  in  the  volume  of  almost 
seven  himdred  pages,  filled  with  the  minutes  of  that  examination,  an  awful  picture  is  given  of  the  calamities  to  trade 
which  those  orders  had  produced.  *  See  page  233. 

5  He  decried  the  sort  of  half-piratical  commerce  which  England  was  then  pursuing  in  unmeasured  terms.  "It  is  this 
miserable,  shifting,  doubtful,  hateful  traffic  that  we  prefer  to  the  sure,  regular,  increasing,  honest  gains  of  American 
commerce— to  a  trade  which  is  placed  beyond  the  enemy's  reach  ;  which,  besides  enriching  ourselves  in  peace  and  hon 
or,  only  benefits  those  who  are  our  natural  friends,  over  whom  he  has  no  control ;  which  supports  at  once  all  that  re 
mains  of  liberty  beyond  the  seas,  and  gives  life  and  vigor  to  its  main  pillar  within  the  nation — the  manufactures  and 
commerce  of  England.  .  .  .  That  commerce  is  the  whole  American  market,  a  branch  of  trade  in  comparison  of  which, 
whether  you  regard  its  extent,  its  certainty,  or  its  progressive  increase,  every  other  sinks  into  insignificance.  It  is  a 
market  which  in  ordinary  times  may  take  off  about  thirteen  millions  [$65,000,000]  worth  of  our  manufactures,  and  in 
steadiness  and  regularity  it  is  unrivaled."  6  American  State  Papers,  ix.,  83. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  247 


All  Armistice.         The  haughty  Assumptions  of  the  British  Government.         Number  of  impressed  American  Seamen. 

ceedings  against  captured  vessels.  This  fact  was  communicated  to  Mr.  Boker,  the 
British  secretary  of  legation  left  at  Washington,  to  be  laid  before  ihe  President.  Fos 
ter  also  stated  that  he  had  advised  Sir  George  Prevost,  Governor  General  of  Canada, 
to  propose  a  suspension  of  hostilities  on  land.  This  was  done,  and  General  Dearborn, 
the  commander  of  the  American  forces  on  the  Northern  frontier,  provisionally  agreed 
to  an  armistice.1  Joy  filled  many  hearts  at  these.promises  of  peace  and  returning 
prosperity;  but  it  was  of  short  duration.  The  United  States  government  refused  to 
ratify  this  armistice,  or  to  accept  the  other  propositions  of  the  ex-minister,  because  the 
President  doubted  his  authority  to  suspend  the  proceedings  of  prize  courts ;  was  un 
certain  how  far  these  arrangements  would  be  respected  by  the  British  officers  them 
selves  ;  saAV  no  security  against  the  Indian  allies  of  the  English,  then  hovering  like  a 
dark  cloud  on  the  Northwestern  frontier ;  and  considered  the  arrangement  unequal, 
as  it  would  afford  an  opportunity  to  re-enforce  Canada  during  the  armistice.  The 
President  was  also  apprehensive  that  a  suspension  of  hostilities  previous  to  receiving 
an  answer  from  the  British  government  on  the  subject  of  impressment  might  appear 
like  waiving  that  point. 

When  Mr.  Russell  presented  his  instructions'1  to  Castlereagh  on  the  sub- 

.  *  v  August  24, 

ject  of  an  armistice,  that  minister  repliedb  that  the  orders  in  Council  had  isi2. 
been  already  provisionally  repealed,  and  that  instructions  had  been  sent 
to  Admiral  Warren,  on  the  Halifax  station,  to  propose  a  suspension  of  hostilities  on 
that  basis.  At  the  same  time  the  British  minister  declined  any  discussion  of  the  vi 
tal  subject  of  impressment,  and  the  release  of  impressed  seamen.  He  even  expressed 
surprise  that, "  as  a  condition  preliminary  even  to  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  should  have  thought  fit  to  demand. that  the  British  gov 
ernment  should  desist  from  its  ancient  and  accustomed  practice  of  impressing  British 
seamen  from  the  merchant  ships  of  a  foreign  state,  simply  on  the  assurance  that  a  law 
shall  hereafter  be  passed  to  prohibit  the  employment  of  British  seamen  in  the  public 
or  commercial  service  of  that  state."  He  said  that  his  government  was  willing  to 
discuss  any  proposition  concerning  abuses  in  the  practice  of  impressment,  or  the 
substitution  of  some  method  of  accomplishing  the  same  object  with  less  vexation  in 
practice ;  "  but  they  can  not  consent,"  he  said,  "  to  suspend  the  exercise  of  a  right 
upon  ichich  the  naval  strength  of  the  empire  mainly  depends"  unless  assured  that  the 
object  might  be  attained  in  some  other  way.2 

Of  all  the  grievances  complained  of  by  the  Americans,  that  of  impressment  was 
the  most  serious.  It  was  a  practical  violation  of  the  sovereignty  and  independence 
of  the  United  States,  and  was  of  more  consequence  to  the  character  of  the  nation 
than  all  blockades  or  other  obstructions  to  commerce.  It  offended,  in  the  highest 
degree,  the  patriotism  of  every  true  American ;  and  it  touched  not  only  the  political 
sensibilities  of  a  free  people  at  a  most  tender  point,  but  it  impressed  them  keenly  with 
a  sense  of  social  wrong.  At  that  very  time  there  were  upward  of  six  thousand  cases 
of  impressment  of  American  seamen  on  the  records  of  the  State  Department,  and  it 
was  believed  that  as  many  more,  never  reported  to  the  government,  had  occurred. 
Castlereagh  admitted,  on  the  floor  of  the  British  Parliament,  that  there  were  'three 
thousand  five  hundred  impressed  servants  in  the  British  navy,  claiming  to  be  Amer 
ican  seamen,  but  said  that  they  might  be  discharged  on  proving  their  citizenship. 
American  citizens,  kidnapped  from  the  decks  of  American  vessels  by  British  cruisers, 
and  made  slaves  in  British  ships,  were  offered  freedom  only  on  condition  of  proving 

i  General  Dearborn's  head-quarters  at  this  time  were  at  Green-  > 

bush,  opposite  Albany,  in  New  York.    Thither  Sir  George  Prevost  ^^ 

sent  his  adjutant  general,  Baynes,  to  propose  an  armistice,  and  .-^T 

clothed  with  power  to  conclude  one.    Dearborn  and  Baynes  sisrned  /    / /"/  J 

it  on  the  9th  of  August.    The  agreement  was  to  affect  only  Dear-  £&/  ^^  ' 

born  and  the  frontiers  of  New  York,  and  the  armies  of  the  British 

along  the  opposite  and  corresponding  line.  2  American  State  Papers,  ix.,  73. 


248  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Failure  of  Peace  Negotiations.  British  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal.  Opinions  concerning  the  War. 

themselves  to  bo  American  citizens  !  Ay,  more,  subjected,  at  the  same  time,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  the  liability  of  receiving  degrading  punishment  for  attempting  to  se 
cure  that  freedom  I1 

Perceiving  no  hope  of  an  adjustment  of  difficulties  with  the  rulers  of  England,  Mr. 
» September  2,  Russell  obtained  his  passports,a  and,  leaving  Mr.  Reuben  Guant  Bease- 
ley  as  agent  for  prisoners  of  war  in  London,  he  returned  home,  intima 
ting  by  his  departure  that  diplomacy  between  the  two  goverments  had  ended,  and 
that  the  war,  already  begun  on  land  and  sea,  must  proceed.  On  the  12th  of  October 
the  English  government  issued  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  against  the  Ameri 
cans.2  The  armistice  on  the  Canada  frontier  had  been  ended  for  some  weeks,  and 
the  war  went  on. 

History  has  no  record  of  a  people  more  righteous  in  persisting  in  Avar  than  were 
the  Americans  at  this  time,  when  their  plea  for  simple  justice  was  so  insolently 
spurned  by  the  men  who  then  unfortunately  governed  the  British  nation.  They  had 
tried  every  peaceful  measure  consistent  with  national  honor  for  obtaining  a  redress 
of  grievances,  as  they  did  for  ten  long  and  weary  years,  exposed  to  insult  and  op 
pression  from  the  same  government,  before  the  Revolution.  They  were  now  determ 
ined  to  secure  fully  and  forever  that  dignity  and  independence  in  the  family  of  na 
tions  to  which  their  strength  and  importance  entitled  them.  "  It  was  a  war,"  says 
a  late  historian3  (whose  sympathies  with  the  Federalists  is  manifested  on  every  page 
of  his  narrative),  "for  the  rights  of  personal  freedom — the  freedom,  suppose,  of  Brit 
ons  and  other  foreigners,  as  well  as  Americans,4  from  the  domineering  insolence  of 
British  press-gangs — an  idea  congenial  to  every  manly  soul,  and  giving  to  the  con 
test  a  strong  hold  on  the  hearts  of  the  masses ;  in  fact,  a  just  title  to  the  character 
of  a  democratic  war,  in  the  best  sense  of  that  very  ambiguous  epithet,  and  even  to 
be  called  a  second  war  for  independence,  as  its  advocates  delighted  to  describe  it." 

With  these  facts  before  them,  writers  and  speakers  of  American  birth,  at  that  time, 
for  party  purposes,  magnified  the  generosity  of  Great  Britain,  its  Christian  desire  for 
peace,  its  magnanimous  offers  of  reconciliation ;  and  declaimed  most  piteously  about 
the  cruelty  of  waging  war  against  a  nation  kindred  in  blood,  language,  and  religion, 
in  the  hour  of  its  great  extremity,  when  a  desperate  adventurer  was  seeking  to  de 
stroy  it.  Even  at  this  late  day,  a  Scotch  Canadian  writer,  with  all  the  facts  of  his 
tory  in  his  possession,  has  ungenerously  declared  that  "  the  war — the  grand  provoca 
tion  having  been  thus  [by  conditional  repeal  of  the  orders  in  Council]  removed — was 
persisted  in,  for  want  of  a  better  excuse,  on  the  ground  of  the  '  impressment  ques 
tion,'  "  and  adds, "  The  government  of  the  United  States  stand,  then,  self-condemned 
of  wanton  aggression  on  the  North  American  colonies  of  Great  Britain,  and  of  prose 
cuting  the  war  on  grounds  different  from  those  which  they  were  accustomed  to  as 
sign."5 

Thus  it  has  ever  been  with  British  writers  and  statesmen  of  a  certain  class,  who 
represent  the  great  leading  idea  of  the  boasted  Mistress  of  the  Seas  when  she  was 
less  enlightened  than  now.  We  have  already  quoted  the  following  words  of  Mon 
tesquieu  concerning  English  politics  a  hundred  years  ago — "  the  English  have  ever 
made  their  political  interests  give  way  to  those  of  commerce."6  These  words  bear 

1  See  note,  page  144. 

2  Subsequently  to  this  act,  the  British  government,  pressed  by  the  necessities  of  their  army  in  Spain,  freely  granted 
licenses  or  protections  to  American  vessels  engaged  in  carrying  flour  to  the  ports  of  that  country.    This  traffic  was  sub 
jected  to  heavy  penalties  by  Congress,  yet  it  was  largely  indulged  in,  because  it  afforded  immense  profits — profits  more 
than  equal  to  the  risks.    These  licenses  were  cited  by  the  opponents  of  the  war  then,  and  by  British  writers  since,  as 
evidences  of  the  great  forbearance  of  the  British  government,  for  which  the  Americans  should  have  been  profoundly 
thankful ! 

3  Ilildreth's  History  of  the  United  Stated,  Second  Scries,  iii.,  352. 

*  The  Americans  justly  contended  that  the  flag  should  protect  every  man  who  was  innocent  of  crime,  who  sought  se 
curity  under  its  folds,  wherever  his  birth-place  might  have  been.  It  represented  the  sovereignty  of  the  nation,  and, 
as  such,  claimed  full  respect. 

5  Auchinleck's  History  of  the  War  of  1812,  page  38.  6  gee  sub-note  *,  page  138. 


0  F   T  H  E 


OF    1812. 


249 


National  Mischief-makers. 


The  Men  to  be  chosen  as  Military  Leaders. 


The  Geueral-in-chief. 


repetition  in  this  connection.  In  estimating  the  character  of  other  nations,  men  of 
the  class  alluded  to  are  always  governed  by  the  commercial  idea,  and  can  not  com 
prehend  the  fact,  frequently  illustrated  in  history  (even  slightly  in  their  own),  that  a 
people  may  contend  for  something  more  noble  than  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence. 
That  class  of  writers  and  statesmen,  who  governed  England  about  a  century  ago, 
believed  that  a  slight  remission  of  taxes  on  tea  would  purchase  the  allegiance  and 
abject  submission  of  the  Americans.  The  same  class  of  writers  and  statesmen,  of 
the  Stephen  and  Castlereagh  stamp,  who  governed  England  in  1812,  believed  that  a 
concession  to  American  commerce  would  be  an  equivalent  for  national  honor  and  in 
dependence  ;  and  the  same  class  of  writers  and  statesmen  who  governed  England  in 
1861  could  not  comprehehend  the  great  fact  that  the  American  government  was 
struggling  for  its  life  against  household  assassins,  without  counting  the  cost  in 
pounds,  shillings,  and  pence.  They  are  a  class  who  never  learn,  and  are  prominent 
only  as  national  mischief-makers. 

The  door  of  reconciliation,  as  we  have  seen,  was  shut  in  the  autumn  of  1812.  The 
wrar  had  been  already  commenced  on  sea  and  land.  Provision  had  been  made  by 
Congress  for  the  organization  of  an  adequate  army.  One  of  the  most  important 
measures  was  the  appointment  of  officers  to  command  the  troops.  A  greater  portion 
of  the  most  distinguished  and  meritorious  officers  of  the  Revolution  had  passed  away, 
and  there  were  none  of  experience  left  who  had  held  a  commission  above  colonel  in 
the  Continental  army.  A  long  season  of  peace,  except  during  difficulties  with  the 
Indians,  had  deprived  the  younger  army  of 
ficers  in  the  service  of  the  opportunity  of 
real  experience  in  the  practical  art  of  war. 

Notwithstanding  the  surviving  soldiers 
of  the  old  war  had  advanced  far  in  the 
journey  of  life,  and  most  of  them  had  been 
long  enjoying  the  quietude  of  civil  pursuits, 
it  was  thought  to  be  most  prudent  to  call 
them  to  the  head  of  the  new  army,  with 
their  small  experience  of  actual  field  duty, 
than  to  trust  to  those  who  had  never  been 
under  fire.  The  collector  of  the  port  of 
Boston,  Henry  Dearborn,  late  Secretary  of 
War,  an  active  Democrat,  and  then  sixty- 
°  February,  one  years  of  age,  was  appointed1 
first  major  general,  or  acting  com- 
mander-in-chief,  having  the  Northern  De 
partment  under  his  immediate  control.1 
Thomas  Pinckney,  of  South  Caroli- 

b  March.  .          ,»/ 

na,  was  appointed"  second  major  iren- 


HEMRY   WEAE1JOP.X. 


1  Henry  Dearborn  was  born  in  Hampton,  New  Hampshire,  in  March,  1751.  At  Portsmouth  he  studied  the  science  of 
medicine  with  Dr.  Jackson  Jackson,  and  commenced  its  practice  there  in  1772.  When  the  old  war  for  independence 
was  impending,  he  took  an  active  part  in  politics  on  the  popular  side,  and  gave  as  much  attention  as  his  engagements 
would  allow  to  military  matters.  On  the  day  after  the  skirmish  at  Lexington,  in  April,  1775,  he  marched  toward  Cam 
bridge  at  the  head  of  sixty  men.  He  then  returned  to  New  Hampshire,  was  commissioned  a  captain  in  Colonel  Stark's 
regiment,  and  by  the  middle  of  May  was  back  to  Cambridge  with  a  full  company.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Bunker's 
Hill,  and  accompanied  General  Arnold  in  his  perilous  expedition  through  the  wilderness  of  Maine  to  Quebec  in  the  au 
tumn  of  that  year.  He  suffered  dreadfully  from  privations  and  a  fever,  but  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  participate  in 
the  assault  on  Quebec  at  the  close  of  the  year,  when  he  was  made  a  prisoner.  He  was  not  exchanged  until  March,  177T, 
when  he  was  appointed  a  major  in  Scammell's  regiment.  He  was  in  the  campaign  opposed  to  Burgoyne,  and  behaved 
gallantly  on  the  field  of  Saratoga,  where  he  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  colonel.  He  was  at  Monmouth,  in  Sullivan's  cam 
paign,  and  in  the  siege  of  Yorktown.  In  17S4  he  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Kennebec  as  a  farmer.  Washington  appoint 
ed  him  marshal  of  the  District  of  Maine  in  17S!>,  and  he  was  elected  to  Congress  from  that  Territory.  He  was  called  to 
Jefferson's  Cabinet,  as  Secretary  of  War,  in  1801,  which  position  he  filled  for  eight  years.  Mr.  Madison  appointed  him 
collector  of  the  port  of  Boston  in  1S09 ;  and  in  February,  1S12,  he  was  commissioned  a  major  general  in  the  United  States 
army.  Ill  henlth  compelled  him  to  relinquish  that  position,  and  he  assumed  command  of  the  military  district  of  New 
York  City.  He  retired  to  private  life  in  1S15.  In  1S22  President  Monroe  appointed  him  minister  to  Portugal,  where  he 


250 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Names  of  the  general  Officers  appointed. 


Declaration  of  War  announced  to  the  Troops. 


The  first  Prisoner. 


eral,  and  placed  in  command  of  the  Southern  Department.  Joseph  Bloomfield,  Gov 
ernor  of  New  Jersey,1  James  Winchester,  of  Tennessee,  J.  P.  Boyd,  of  Massachusetts, 
and  William  Hull,  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  were  commissioned  briga- 
» April  s,  1812.  diers.a  The  same  commission  was  givenb  to  Thomas  Flournoy,  of  Geor- 
e  j™e'4  gia.  John  Armstrong,  of  New  York,  also  received  the  commission0  of  a 

i  July  2.  brigadier,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  recent  deathd  of  General  Pe- 

« July  8.  ter  Gansevoort.  This  was  soon  followed  by  a  like  commission6  for  John 
Chandler,  of  Maine.  Morgan  Lewis,  of  New  York,  was  appointed  quarter-master  gen- 
'  April  3.  eral,f  and  Alexander  Smyth,  of  Virginia,  late  Colonel  of  the  Rifles,  was 
*  March  so.  appointed  inspector  general,g  each  bearing  the  commission  of  brigadier. 
Thomas  H.  Gushing,2  of  Massachusetts,  then  Colonel  of  the  Second  Regiment,  was 
appointed  adjutant  general,  with  the  rank  of  brigadier.  James  Wilkinson,  of  Mary 
land,  the  senior  brigadier  in  the  army,  was  sent  to  New  Orleans  to  relieve  Wade 
Hampton,  now  a  brigadier,  and  a  meritorious  subaltern  officer  in  South  Carolina  dur 
ing  the  Revolution.  Alexander  Macomb,  of  the  Engineers,  was  promoted  to  colonel ; 
and  Winfield  Scott  and  Edmund  Pendleton  Gaines,  of  Virginia,  and  Eleazer  W.  Rip- 
ley,  of  Maine,  were  commissioned  colonels. 

remained  two  years.  He  died  at  the  house 
of  his  son  in  Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  on 
the  Gth  of  June,  1829,  at  the  age  of  seven 
ty-eight  years.  He  had  been  living  with 
his  son  some  time.  The  house  in  which 
he  died  is  yet  (1867)  standing  on  Wash 
ington  Street,  Roxbury.  It  is  a  fine  old 
mansion,  surrounded  by  trees,  many  of 
them  rare.  It  was  oc 
cupied,  when  I  made 
the  sketch  in  I860,  as 
a  summer  boardiug- 
house  by  Mrs.  Shep- 
ard.  Not  far  from 
it,  at  the  junction 
of  Washington  and 
;  Centre  Streets,  or  of 
the  Cambridge  and 
the  Dedham  and 
Rhode  Island  Roads, 
was  a  rude  stone,  in 
which  was  inserted 
an  iron  shaft  and 
fork  for  the  support 
of  a  street  lamp.  It 
is  called  the  Parting 

GENEBAL   UEAKUOKN'S   RESIDENCE.  gtone        Qn  Qne   gjde 

is  the  inscription,  The  Parting  Stone,  1744,  P.  Dudley ;  on  another,  Dedham  and  Rhode  Island ;  and  on 
a  third,  Cambridge.  It  appears  to  have  been  erected  by  Mr.  Dudley,  at  the  parting  of  the  ways,  as  a 
sort  of  guide-post,  and  there  it  had  remained  for  a  hundred  and  sixteen  years. 

1  General  Bloomfield  was  in  New  York  when  war  was  declared.    He  had  arrived  on  the  2d  of 
June,  to  take  charge  of  the  fortifications  there.    He  was  the  first  to  announce  the  declaration  of  war 
to  troops  in  a  formal  manner.    This  he  did  in  the  following  brief  order,  issued  on  the  20th  of  June  : 

"  General  Bloomfield  announces  to  the  troops  that  war  is  declared  by  the  United  States  ayainst  Great  Britain. 

"By  order,  R.  H.  M'PHEHSON,  A.  D.  C." 

Government  expresses  had  passed  through  New  York  City  for  Albany  and  Boston  with  the  news  at  ten  o'clock  that 
morning. 

The  first  prisoner  taken  after  the  declaration  of  war  was  Captain  Wilkinson,  of  the  Royal  Marines,  who  excited  the 
suspicions  of  the  people  of  Norfolk,  Virginia,  that  he  was  about  to  communicate  the  fact  that  war  was  declared,  to  a 
British  man-of-war  known  to  be  hovering  on  the  coast.  He  was  seen  making  his  way  rapidly  from  the  house  of  the 
British  consul  through  back  streets  to  a  mail-boat  about  to  start  for  Hampton.  He  darted  on  board  the  boat,  and  at 
tempted  to  conceal  himself.  A  boat  from  the  navy  yard,  and  another  from  Fort  Norfolk,  were  dispatched  after  the 
mail-boat.  Captain  Wilkinson  was  brought  back,  and  conveyed  to  the  navy  yard  as  a  prisoner. 

2  Thomas  H.  Gushing  was  appointed  captain  of  infantry  in  1701.    He  was  in  the  Sub-legion  in  1702.    In  1707  he  was 
appointed  inspector  of  the  army  ;  and  in  April,  1802,  he  was  made  adjutant  and  inspector,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant 
colonel.    He  was  promoted  to  colonel  in  1805,  and  commissioned  adjutant  general  in  1S12,  with  the  rank  of  brigadier. 
He  was  disbanded  in  1815,  and  the  following  year  was  appointed  collector  of  the  port  of  New  London.    He  died  ou  the 
19th  of  October,  1822.— Gardner's  Dictionary  of  the  Army. 


THE   I'AKTINO 
STONE. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF    1812.  251 

Plan  of  the  first  Campaign.        Governor  Hull  opposed  to  an  Invasion  of  Canada.        His  judicious  Recommendations. 


CHAPTER  Xin. 

'Let  Feds,  Quids,  and  Demos  together  nnite, 
For  our  country,  our  laws,  and  our  altars  to  fight ; 
While  our  tars  guard  the  seaboard,  our  troops  line  the  shore, 
Let  our  enemies  face  us,  we'll  ask  for  no  more. 
While  our  hand  grasps  the  sword  well  prepared  for  tho  fight, 
On  Washington's  glory  we  dwell  with  delight ; 
His  spirit' our  guide,  we  can  feel  no  alarms  ; 
While  for  Freedom  we  fight,  we're  victorious  in  arms !" 

'N  'Lhe  plan  of  the  first  campaign  there  was  very  little  com 
plexity.  The  coast  fortifications  were  to  be  well  garrisoned 
by  the  local  militia,  when  necessary,  assisted  by  some  regulars. 
The  remainder  of  the  troops,  regulars,  volunteers,  and  militia, 
were  to  be  employed  in  invading  Upper  Canada  at  two  points, 
namely,  on  the  extreme  west  from  Detroit,  and  on  the  Niagara 
frontier  from  the  State  of  New  York.  It  was  believed,  as  we 
have  seen,  that  this  might  be  successfully  accomplished,  and 
that  Canadian  sympathy  would  complete  and  make  permanent  the  easy  conquest. 
This  achieved,  a  victorious  army,  in  a  friendly  country,  might  go  down  the  St.  Law 
rence  to  Montreal  and  Quebec,  and  liberate  the  Lower  Province  from  British  rule, 
while  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  (according  to  the  opinions  of  the  more  san 
guine),  sympathizing  with  the  movement,  would  welcome  the  invaders,  and  British 
rule  in  North  America  would  cease  forever.  The  Americans,  remunerated  by  their 
conquests  for  commercial  spoliations,  would  soon  find  British  statesmen  in  power 
ready  to  do  justice  to  an  injured  nation.  The  originators  of  this  campaign  seem  to 
have  forgotten  the  costly  and  disastrous  lessons  of  l775-'76,  when  a  similar  attempt 
to  invade,  conquer,  and  liberate  Canada  was  made,  and  similar  expectations  of  wel 
come  were  indulged. 

Governor  Hull,  of  Michigan,  was  in  Washington  City  during  a  part  of  the  winter 
and  spring  of  1812,  while  legislative  preparations  for  war  were  in  progress.  The  in 
vasion  of  Canada  was  freely  spoken  of  in  official  circles,  but  his  voice  was  heard 
against  it.  He  knew  that  the  British  authorities  in  that  country  had  sent  messen 
gers  to  all  the  principal  Indian  tribes  in  the  Northwest,  with  arms  and  presents,  ex 
horting  them  to  become  the  allies  of  Great  Britain  in  the  event  of  war.  He  knew 
that  his  Territory  was  threatened  with  desolation  by  these  savages,  and  that,  with 
out  a  fleet  on  Lake  Erie,  where  the  British  had  full  sway,  and  with  the  inadequate 
preparations  even  for  a  defense  of  the  Territory  which  then  existed,  the  idea  of  a 
successful  invasion  of  the  neighboringi  province  was  preposterous.  He  therefore 
urged  the  President  to  increase  the  military  force  in  his  Territory  simply  for  its  de 
fense  ;  and,  for  the  third  time,  he  called  attention  to  the  positive  necessity  of  a  small 
American  fleet  on  the  lake.1 

President  Madison  listened  to  the  advice  of  Hull  to  some  extent.  Commander 
Stewart  was  ordered  to  Washington  to  receive  the  appointment  of  agent  on  Lake 
Erie,  and  also  orders  concerning  the  building  of  a  fleet  on  those  waters.  The  Presi- 

i  Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  the  principal  inhabitants  of  Detroit,  alarmed  at  the  aspect  of  affairs 
around  them,  petitioned  Congress  to  strengthen  their  defenses.  The  Territory  was  too  sparsely  populated  to  present 
much  resistance  to  the  savages.  The  whole  white  population  of  Michigan  was  only  about  four  thousand  eight  hund 
red,  and  of  this  number  four  fifths  were  Canadian  French.  The  remainder  were  chiefly  Americans,  with  a  few  English 
and  Scotch.— Lanman's  History  of  Michigan,  page  193. 


252 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Hull  commissioned  a  Brigadier  General.  Response  to  Calls  for  Volunteers.  Organization  of  Ohio  Troops. 

dent  made  a  requisition  upon  Governor  Meigs,  of  Ohio,  for  twelve  hundred  militia,  to 
be  detached,  drilled,  and  prepared  to  march  to  Detroit ;  and  he  requested  Hull  to 
accept  the  commission  of  a  brigadier 
o-eneral,  and  take  command  of  them. 

"  7 

Hull  declined  the  proposed  honor  and 
service,  expressing  a  wish  not  to  engage 
in  military  employment.  He  was  final 
ly  persuaded  to  accept  the  appointment, 
but  with  no  other  object,  he  said,  than 
to  aid  in  the  protection  of  the  inhabit 
ants  of  Michigan  against  the  savages. 
He  retained  his  office  of  governor  of  the 
Territory,  and  returned  to  the  North 
west,  prepared  for  any  duty  in  that  re 
gion,  civil  or  military,  to  which  his  gov 
ernment  might  call  him. 
a  April  o,  Governor  Meigs's  calla  for 
isi2.  troops  to  assemble  at  Dayton, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Mad  River,  on  the 
Great  Miami,1  was  heartily  responded  to. 
At  the  close  of  April,  the  time  appoint 
ed  for  the  rendezvous, 'more  than  the  re 
quired  number  had  nocked  to  the  camp. 
The  Indian  wars  and  depredations,  which 
had  been  instigated  by  British  emissaries,  had  greatly  exasperated  the  settlers  north 
of  the  Ohio,  and  they  were  anxious  to  strike  an  avenging  blow.  Many  of  the  best 
citizens  sought  this  opportunity  to  serve  their  country,  and  these  were  found  at  the 
place  of  rendezvous,  enduring  all  the  privations  of  camp  life,  without  tents  or  other 
conveniences,  for  more  than  a  fortnight.  It  was  the  middle  of  May  before  blankets 
and  camp  equipage  arrived  from  Pittsburg  by  way  of  Cincinnati.  But  the  troops 
had  not  been  idle.  They  had  organized  three  regiments,  and  elected  their  field  offi 
cers  ;  and  when  General  Hull  arrived  there  on  the  25th  of  May,  and  took  formal  com 
mand,  they  were  nearly  ready  for  a  forward  movement.  Duncan  M'Arthur  was 
chosen  colonel  of  the  First  Regiment,  and  James  Denny  and  William  Trimble  were 
elected  majors  ;  James  Findlay  was  chosen  colonel,  and  Thomas  Moore  and  Thomas 
Van  Horn  majors  of  the  Second  Regiment ;  and  the  late  LeAvis  Cass,  of  Detroit,  then 
thirty  years  of  age,  was  chosen  colonel  of  the  Third  Regiment,  with  Robert  Morrison 
and  J.  R.  Munson  as  majors.  The  veteran  Fourth  Regiment  of  regulars,  stationed  at 
Port  Vincennes,  and  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  James  Miller,  since  the  pro 
motion  of  Boyd,  had  been  ordered  to  join  the  militia  at  Dayton. 

Governor  Meigs,  under  the  same  date,b  ordered  Major  General  Elijah 
"Wadsworth,  commanding  the  fourth  division  of  the  Ohio  militia,  to  raise, 
without  delay,  three  companies  of  men.  WAadsworth  obeyed  with  alacrity,  and  the 
requisite  number  were  soon  in  the  field,  selected  from  the  brigades  of  Generals  Mil 
ler,  Beale,  Perkins,  and  Paine,  which  composed  the  fourth  division.2 


April  G. 


1  The  present  fine  city  of  Dayton,  the  county  seat  of  Montgomery  Qounty,  then  contained  about  four  hundred  souls. 
It  derives  its  name  from  General  Jonathan  Dayton, of  New  Jersey,  who,  with  Generals  St.Clair  and  Wilkinson,  and 
Colonel  Israel  Ludlow,  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  in  that  section  of  the  state. 

2  The  following  incident  connected  with  the  volunteering  was  communicated  to  the  author  by  the  late  venerable 
Elisha  Whittlesey,  then  (18G2)  First  Auditor  of  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington,  who  was  one  of  General  Wads- 
worth's  aids :  Colonel  John  Campbell,  of  Paine's  brigade,  called  out  his  corps  at  Ravenna  on  the  23d  of  May.    After 
some  stirring  music,  he  placed  himself  in  front  of  his  regiment,  and  requested  all  who  were  willing  to  volunteer  to  step 
forward.    Many  complied,  but  far  too  few  to  make  the  proper  number  for  a  company.    Finally,  Colonel  Campbell  was 
compelled  to  stimulate  them  by  threatening  to  resort  to  a  draft.    Their  colonel  had  volunteered.    It  was  a  bright,  sun 
ny  day,  and  he  saw,  high  in  the  heavens,  a  brilliant  star.    He  told  his  men  that  it  was  a  good  omen.    One,  who  had 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


253 


Rendezvous  of  Ohio  Volunteers. 


A  Visit  to  Colonel  John  Johnston. 


Sketch  of  his  Life. 


The  place  of  the  early  rendezvous  of  the  Ohio  Volunteers  was  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Mad  River,  upon  a  beautiful  plain  about  two  miles  above  Dayton.  I  visited  the 
spot  late  in  September,  1860,  just  as  the  heavy  clouds  of  a  cold  northeast  storm  were 
passing  away.  We  reached  the  valley  of  the  Great  Miami  at  Hamilton,  the  site  of 
Fort  Hamilton,  twenty-five  miles  above  Cincinnati,  at  twilight,  and  then  traversed 
that  beautiful  region,  thirty-five  miles  farther  to  Dayton,  Avhere  we  arrived  at  a  little 
past  eight  o'clock.  At  an  early  hour  the  next  morning  I  started  for  the  place  of  the 
gathering  of  Hull's  army,  but  a  storm,  that  had  begun  during  the  night,  was  too  fierce 
to  allow  a  comfortable  ramble  over  the  fields,  so  I  rode  to  the  pleasant  mansion  of 
Colonel  Jefferson  Patterson,  a  mile  or  more  from  the  town,  to  visit  the  venerable  Col 
onel  John  Johnston,  who  had  been  in  that  country  as  Indian  agent,  and  in  the  per 
formance  of  other  government  business,  for  more  than  half  a  century.  I  found  him 
in  the  apparent  enjoyment  of  all  his  faculties,  mental  and  physical,  although  the  num 
ber  of  his  years  was  eighty-five.  He  was  over  six  feet  in  height,  and  not  at  all  bent 
by  the  burden  of  years.  Under  the  hospitable  roof  of  Colonel  Patterson,  his  son-in- 
law,  I  spent  nearly  the  whole  day,  and  listened,  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  and 
profit,  to  the  narration  of  the  venerable  pioneer's  long  experience  in  frontier  life. 
He  had  been  well  acquainted  with  most  of  the  leading  men  in  that  region,  white  and 
red,  since  the  beginning  of  the  century.  His  residence  as  Indian  agent  was  mostly 
with  the  Shawnoese.  He  knew  Tecumtha  and  the  Prophet  well,  and  had  entertained 
the  Little  Turtle  at  his  table.  He  informed  me  that  he  was  writing  a  memoir  of 
his  Life  and  Times,  and  hoped  to  be  spared  to  complete  it.  He  exhibited  every 
promise  of  centenary  honors  in  action  and  speech,  but  death  has  since  borne  him  to 
the  grave.1 


held  back,  declared  that  if  he  could  see  the  star  he  would  volunteer, 
and  the  company  was  soon  filled.    They  all  signed  a  volunteer  roll. 

1  The  accompanying  like 
ness  of  Colonel  Johnston  is 
from  a  plate  published  in 
Moore's  Masonic  Review.  On 
the  back  of  a  daguerreotype 
of  him,  which  he  showed  me 
at  the  time  of  my  visit,  was 
the  following,  in  his  own  firm 
and  plain  hand-writing : 

"Born  near  Ballyshannon, 
Ireland,  March  25, 1775.  Emi 
grated  to  the  United  States 
with  his  parents  in  17SO,  and 
settled  in  Cumberland  Coun 
ty,  Pennsylvania.  Was  with 
Wayne's  army  on  the  Ohio,  at 
Cincinnati,  in  the  winter  of 
1792  and  '93.  A  captain  in 
Philadelphia  in  1798  ;  a  clerk 
in theWar Department;  agent 
for  Indian  Affairs  in  the 
Northwest  thirty-one  years.; 
a  canal  commissioner  of  Ohio 
eleven  years ;  paymaster  and 
quartermaster  in  the  War  of 
1812;  a  commissioner  fortreat- 
i  112  with  the  Indians  in  1841-'2 
[for  their  removal  westward;. 


He  saw  it  and  kept  his  promise.  Others  followed, 
They  then  elected  Colonel  Campbell  their  captain. 
Presented  to  my  beloved 
daughter,  Julia  Johnston  Pat 
terson,  and  her  family,  by  her 
most  affectionate  father,  JOHN 
JOHNSTON." 

Colonel  Johnston  was  an  ac 
tive  member  of  the  masonic 
fraternity.  He  was  admitted 
to  its  mysteries  at  Bourbon 
Court-house  (now  Paris),  Ken 
tucky,  in  the  winter  of  1794-'5. 
As  secretary  of  a  lodge  in  Phil 
adelphia,  Vie  walked  in  the 
funeral  procession  in  honor  of 
the  deceased  Washington,  in 
1800,  when  General  Lee  pro 
nounced  his  famous  oration. 
A  brother  member  from  Ire 
land,  who  walked  by  his  side, 
came  to  Cincinnati  fifty  years 
afterward,  and  was  welcomed 
to  a  lodge  there  by  Colonel 
Johnston.  — Moore's  Masonic 
Review,  xvi.,  1.  When,  in  the 
summer  of  1845,  the  remains 
of  Daniel  Boone  and  his  wife 
were  taken  from  Missouri  and 
buried  in  the  public  cemetery 


at  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  Colonel  Johnston  was  one  of  the  pall-bearers.  He  was  president  of  the  Historical  and  Philo 
sophical  Society  of  Ohio,  and  member  of  several  kindred  societies  in  other  parts  of  the  Union.  Colonel  Johnston  died 
at  Washington  City  on  the  19th  of  April,  1S61,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years.  He  visited  the  national  capital  for  the 
twofold  purpose  of  settling  some  accounts  with  the  government  and  soliciting  the  appointment  of  a  grandson  to  a 
cadetship  at  West  Point.  He  was  disappointed  in  his  efforts.  The  great  rebellion  was  then  menacing  the  existence 
of  the  republic  he  loved  so  well  and  had  served  so  faithfully.  Sumter  had  fallen  before  its  fury,  and  the  fratricidal 


254 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Visit  to  the  Field  of  Rendezvous.     Storm  and  Accident  on  the  Railway.    The  Country  between  Dayton  and  Sandusky. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  I  left  Colonel  Johnston,  and  rode  to  the  place 

of  the  gathering  of  the  Ohio 
militia.  We  crossed  the  Mad 
River  at  Dayton,  rode  up  the 
turnpike  a  short  distance  be 
yond  the  toll-gate,  and,  turn 
ing  into  a  road  on  the  right, 
found  the  place  about  half  a 
mile  farther  in  that  direc 
tion.  It  is  a  low  prairie, 

and  when  I  vis-      a  September  20, 

PLACE   OF  RENDEZVOUS,  NEAR  DAYTON,  AS   IT   APPEARED   IN   18JO.  itpd      lta      it      Wfl«*  18G°' 

covered  with  Indian  corn,  some  standing  and  some  of  it  harvested.  The  distant 
trees  in  the  little  sketch  show  the  line  of  the  Mad  River. 

I  returned  to  Dayton  in  time  to  take  the  cars  for  Sandusky  at  six  o'clock.  As  we 
left  the  station,  an  immense  deep  blue-black  cloud  came  rolling  up  from  the  west. 
In  a  few  moments  large  drops  of  rain  fell  with  the  sound  of  hail  on  the  car  roof. 
Suddenly  a  flash  of  vivid  lightning  broke  from  the  cloud,  and  a  crashing  thunder 
peal  rolled  over  the  land.  A  shower  of  cold  rain  followed.  Before  it  ceased  the  sun 
beamed  out  brilliantly  in  the  west,  and  we  seemed  to  be  enveloped  in  a  falling  flood 
of  glittering  gold.  Then  from  many  lips  in  the  car  were  heard  the  exclamations, 
"  How  beautiful !  how  glorious !"  and  all  eyes  were  turned  eagerly  toward  the  east, 
where, 

"  In  pomp  transcendent,  robed  in  heavenly  dyes, 
Arch'd  the  clear  rainbow  round  the  orient  skies." 

Twilight  soon  followed,  and  while  moving  at  a  moderate  speed,  near  Cross's  Sta 
tion,  eighteen  miles  above  Dayton,  a  "  switch"  in  wrong  position  threw  our  train  off 
the  track,  but  with  no  other  serious  effect  than  producing  a  detention  for  three  hours 
in  a  most  dreary  place.  There  was  a  hamlet  of  a  few  houses  near,  and  some  of  us 
went  out  in  the  chilly  night  air  to  search  for  food  and  drink.  In  every  house  but 
one  nearly  all  the  inmates  were  sick  with  fever  and  ague,  and  only  at  the  dwelling 
of  a  pleasant-spoken  and  kindly-acting  German  woman  could  any  thing  be  procured. 
There  I  obtained  some  fresh  bread  and  milk,  and  was  offered  coffee.  I  laid  in  stores 
sufficient  for  a  night's  campaign,  hardly  expecting  to  see  Springfield,  six  miles  be 
yond,  before  morning.  We  were  agreeably  disappointed.  Through  the  exertions 
of  the  mail  agent  and  others,  we  were  in  the  enjoyment  of  comfortable  quarters  at 
the  "  Willis  House,"  in  Springfield,  before  midnight. 

The  morning  dawned  brilliantly.  The  sky  was  cloudless  and  the  air  was  cool,  and 
at  about  eleven  o'clock  I  departed  for  Sandusky.  From  Springfield  northward  the 
poverty  of  the  soil  became  more  and  more  apparent,  until  we  reached  the  high 
swampy  land  of  the  summit  near  Kenton.  The  road  lay  much  of  the  way  through 
forests  or  recent  clearings.  About  a  mile  north  of  Hudsonville  Station  (six  miles 

O  N 

south  of  Kenton)  we  crossed  diagonally  the  road  made  by  Hull  in  his  march  from 
the  Mad  River  to  the  Maumee.  It  was  visible  on  each  side,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
comprehend  it,  as  a  broad  avenue  through  the  forest,  running  from  southeast  to  north 
west,  now  filled  with  a  delicate  second  growth  of  timber. 

From  Kenton1  to  Tiffin,2  on  the  Lake  Erie  slope,  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  the  coun 
try  was  newly  cleared  of  the  woods  most  of  the  way.  Few  other  than  log  houses 

assassin  was  at  the  doors  of  the  capital.  His  clear  and  active  mind  comprehended  the  danger  to  the  liberties  of  his 
country.  He  sickened,  but,  it  was  believed,  not  seriously.  He  kept  his  room ;  and,  in  the  absence  of  his  attendant, 
laid  down  upon  his  bed  and  expired.  His  body  was  buried  at  Piqua,  with  the  remains  of  his  wife  and  eight  children. 

1  Named  in  honor  of  Simon  Kentou,  a  noted  pioneer. 

2  Named  in  honor  of  Edward  Tiffin,  who  was  president  of  the  Convention  that  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
of  Ohio,  and  first  governor  of  that  state. 


OF    THE    WAR    0  F    1  8  1  2.  255 

Arrival  at  Sandusky.  Hull  takes  Command  of  Ohio  Volunteers.  He  Addresses  the  Troops. 

were  seen.  Tiffin  is  the  capital  of  Hardin  County.  It  is  quite  a  large  town,  spread 
over  a  considerable  surface  of  a  gentle  'eminence  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Sandusky 
River.  On  the  lower  ground  opposite  is  the  little  straggling  village  of  Fort  Ball, 
the  site  of  a  stockade  of  that  name,  which  the  Ohio  Volunteers  erected  there  during 
the  early  part  of  the  war  of  1812.  It  occupied  about  a  third  of  an  acre  of  ground,  and 
was  named  in  honor  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  James  V.  Ball,  commander  of  a  squadron 
of  cavalry  under  General  Harrison,  whose  exploits  will  be  mentioned  in  connection 
with  events  at  Lower  Sandusky  (now  Fremont),  nearer  the  lake.  We  passed  Tiffin 
and  Fort  Ball  at  five  o'clock,  and  reached  Sandusky  City,  on  Sandusky  Bay,  a  little 
after  sunset.  There  I  sojourned  two  or  three  days  at  the  house  of  an  esteemed 
kinswoman. 

The  command  of  the  little  army  of  volunteers  near  Dayton  was  surrendered  to 
General  Hull  by  Governor  Meigs1  on  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  May.a     The 
governor  made  a  stirring  had  fought  for  free- 

speech   on    the    occasion,  /^        j  ^f  dom  in  the  War  of  the 

and  congratulated  the  sol-         (     ./jlfr     //  Revolution.    Colonel  Cass 

diers   on   their  good  for-  /x//'Jd%>j /I//     ^*»  a^so  Addressed  the  troops 

tune  in  being  placed  un-  St/y  t/^t&sl-jr-J  £^  with  eloquent  words, 
der  the  command  of  an  ~^S  "  *  which  were  loudly  ap- 

experienced    officer    who  "  plauded.      General    Hull 

then  came  forward,  took  formal  command,  and,  in  a  patriotic  speech  of  some  length, 
he  stirred  the  blood  of  the  volunteers,  and  made  them  eager  to  meet  the  dusky  foe 
on  the  distant  frontier.  "  In  marching  through  a  wilderness,"  he  said, "  memorable 
for  savage  barbarity,  you  will  remember  the  causes  by  which  that  barbarity  has  been 
heretofore  excited.  In  viewing  the  ground  stained  with  the  blood  of  your  fellow- 
citizens,  it  will  be  impossible  to  suppress  the  feelings  of  indignation.  Passing  by  the 
ruins  of  a  fortress,2  erected  in  our  territory  by  a  foreign  nation  in  times  of  profound 
peace,  and  for  the  express  purpose  of  exciting  the  savages  to  hostility,  and  supplying 
them  with  the  means  of  conducting  a  barbarous  war,  must  remind  you  of  that  sys 
tem  of  oppression  and  injustice  which  that  nation  has  continually  practiced,  and 
which  the  spirit  of  an  indignant  people  can  no  longer  endure."3 

This  speech  touched  sharply  a  tender  chord  of  feeling  in  every  bosom,  and  they 
gave  their  general  their  fullest  confidence.  Most  of  them  had  never  seen  him  before. 
His  manner  was  pleasing ;  his  general  deportment  was  familiar,  yet  not  undignified  ; 
and  his  gray  locks  commanded  reverence  and  respect.  There  were  some,  who  pro 
fessed  to  know  him  well,  who  doubted  the  wisdom  of  the  government  in  choosing 
him  to  fill  so  important  a  station  at  a  time  so  critical,  yet  they  generally  kept  silent, 

'  Return  Jonathan  Meigs  was  born  at  Middletown,  Connecticut,  in  1765,  and  was  graduated  at  Yale  College.  He 
chose  the  law  as  a  profession,  and  commenced  its  practice  in  his  native  town.  He  was  chosen  chief  justice  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  Connecticut  in  the  winter  of  1802-'3.  In  the  following  year  President  Jefferson  appointed  him  com 
mandant  of  United  States  troops  and  militia  in  Upper  Louisiana,  and  soon  afterward  he  became  one  of  the  judges  of 
that  Territory.  He  was  commissioned  a  judge  of  Michigan  Territory  in  1807.  He  resigned  the  following  year,  and  was 
elected  governor  of  Ohio.  His  election  was  unconstitutional  because  of  non-residence,  not  having  lived  four  years  in 
Ohio  prior  to  the  election.  He  was  appointed  United  States  senator  for  Ohio  in  1SOS.  That  office  he  resigned,  and  was 
elected  governor  of  that  state  in  1810.  He  was  governor  during  the  greater  part  of  the  War  of  1S12,  and  was  one  of  the 
most  energetic  men  of  the  West  in  the  prosecution  of  that  war.  He  was  appointed  postmaster  general  in  March,  1S14, 
and  managed  that  important  department  of  the  government  with  great  ability  until  1S23.  He  died  at  Marietta,  Ohio, 
on  the  29th  of  March,  1825.  Governor  Meigs  was  a  tall  and  finely-formed  man,  and  in  deportment  was  dignified,  yet  ur 
bane  in  the  extreme. 

The  singular  name  of  Governor  Meigs  suggests  inquiry  as  to  its  origin.  The  answer  may  thus  be  briefly  given :  A 
bright-eyed  Connecticut  girl  was  disposed  to  coquette  with  her  lover,  Jonathan  Meigs  ;  and  on  one  occasion,  when  he 
had  pressed  his  suit  with  great  earnestness,  and  asked  for  a  positive  answer,  she  feigned  coolness,  and  would  give  him 
no  satisfaction.  The  lover  resolved  to  be  trifled  with  no  longer,  and  bade  her  farewell  forever.  She  perceived  her  er 
ror,  but  he  was  allowed  to  go  far  down  the  lane  before  her  pride  would  yield  to  the  more  tender  emotions  of  her  heart. 
Then  she  ran  to  the  gate  and  cried,  "Return,  Jonathan  !  return,  Jonathan  !"  He  did  return  ;  they  were  joined  in  wed 
lock,  and,  in  commemoration  of  these  happy  words,  they  named  their  first  child  Return  Jonathan.  He  was  born  in 
1740 ;  was  the  heroic  Colonel  Meigs  of  which  history  says  so  much,  and  was  the  father  of  the  governor  of  Ohio,  who 
bore  his  name.  2  Fort  Miami,  on  the  Lower  Maumee,  just  below  the  Falls. 

3  History  o/  the  late  War  in  the  Western  Country,  by  Robert  B.  M'Afee,  p.  51. 


256  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Hull's  Troops  joined  by  Regulars.  Honors  paid  to  the  latter.  The  Army  in  the  Wilderness. 

wishing  to  give  him  every  opportunity  to  disappoint  their  expectations,  win  success 
for  his  country,  and  honors  for  himself. 

On  the  1st  of  Junea  the  little  army  commenced  its  march  up  the  Miami. 

a  1C 19  * 

General  Hull  had  appointed  his  son,  Captain  A.  F.  Hull,  and  Robert  Wallace, 
Jr.,  his  aids-de-camp ;  Lieutenant  Thomas  S.  Jesup,  of  Kentucky,  his  brigade  major; 
Dr.  Abraham  Edwards  his  hospital  surgeon ;  and  General  James  Taylor,  of  Ken 
tucky,  his  quai-termaster  general.1  He  proceeded  to  Staunton,  a  small  village  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Miami,  and  thence  moved  on  to  Urbana,2  where  the  volunteers 
were  joined  by  the  Fourth  Regiment  of  regulars  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  James 
Miller.3  They  were  met  about  a  mile  from  the  village  by  Colonels  M' Arthur,  Cass, 
and  Findlay,  at  the  head  of  their  respective  regiments,  by  whom  they  were  escorted 
into  camp.  They  were  led  under  a  triumphal  arch  of  evergreens,  decked  with  flow 
ers,  surmounted  with  an  eagle,  and  inscribed  with  the  words,  in  large  letters,  "  TIP- 
PECANOE — GLORY.  %u  On  their  arrival,  General  Hull  issued  an  order  complimentary 
to  the  regulars  and  congratulatory  to  the  volunteers.  "The  general  is  persuaded," 
he  said,  "  that  there  will  be  no  other  contention  in  this  army  but  who  will  most  ex 
cel  in  discipline  and  bravery.  .  .  .  The  patriots  of  Ohio,  who  yield  to  none  in  spirit 
and  patriotism,  will  not  be  willing  to  yield  to  any  in  discipline  and  valor." 

The  troops  were  now  at  a  frontier  town.  Between  them  and  Detroit,  two  hund 
red  miles  distant,  lay  an  almost  unbroken  wilderness,  a  part  of  it  the  broad  morasses 
of  the  watershed  between  the  Ohio  and  the  lakes,  and  beyond  these  the  terrible 
Black  Swamp  in  the  present  counties  of  Henry,  Wood,  and  Sandusky.  There  was  no 
pathway  for  the  army,  not  even  an  Indian  trail.  They  were  compelled  to  cut  a  road, 
and  for  this  purpose  M'Arthur's  regiment  was  detached.  The  difficulties  and  labors 
were  very  great,  for  heavy  timber  had  to  be  felled,  causeways  to  be  laid  across  mo 
rasses,  and  bridges  to  be  constructed  over  considerable  streams.  They  also  erect 
ed  block-houses  for  the  protection  of  the  sick,  and  of  provision  trains  moving  forward 
with  supplies  for  the  army.  Industry  and  perseverance  overcame  all  obstacles,  and, 
on  the  16th  of  June,  the  road  was  opened  to  the  scouts  at  a  point  in  Hardin  County, 
not  far  from  Kenton.  Two  block-houses  were  built  on  the  south  bank  of  that  stream, 
stockaded,  and  the  whole  work  named  Fort  M' Arthur.  The  fortifications  did  not  in 
close  more  than  half  an  acre.  There  were  log  huts  for  the  garrison,  and  log  corn- 
cribs  for  the  food.  It  was  a  post  of  great  danger.  Hostile  Indians,  and  especially 
the  warlike  Wyandots,  filled  the  forest,  and  were  watching  every  movement  with 
vigilant  eyes  and  malignant  hearts. 

The  army  halted  at  Fort  M' Arthur  on  the  19th,  and  Colonel  Findlay  was  detached 
with  his  regiment  to  continue  the  road  to  Blanchard's  Fork  of  the  Au  Glaize,  a  trib 
utary  of  the  Maumee.  Three  days  afterward  the  whole  army  followed,  excepting  a 
small  garrison  for  Fort  M' Arthur,  under  Captain  Dill,  left  to  keep  the  post  and  take 
care  of  the  sick.  Heavy  rains  now  fell,  and  the  little  army  was  placed  in  a  perilous 
position.  They  had  reached  the  broad  morasses  of  the  summit,  and  had  marched 
only  sixteen  miles,  wrhen  the  deep  mud  impelled  them  to  halt.  They  could  go  no  far 
ther.  The  black  flies  and  musquitoes  were  becoming  a  terrible  scourge.  The  cattle 
were  placed  on  short  allowance,  and  preparations  were  made  to  transport  the  bag- 

1  General  Taylor  was  yet  living,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine,  in  184S,  at  Newport,  Kentucky. 

2  Urbana  is  the  capital  of  Champaign  County,  Ohio.    It  was  laid  out  by  Colonel  William  Ward,  a  Virginian,  in  1S05. 
The  army  of  General  Hull  encamped  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  village.    This  being  a  frontier  town,  it  was  afterward 
used  as  a  place  of  rendezvous  and  departure  for  troops  going  to  the  frontier.    The  old  court-house,  built  in  1807,  was 
used  as  a  hospital. 

3  These  troops  came  from  Vincennes.    They  had  come  by  the  way  of  Louisville,  through  Kentucky,  and  had  been 
every  where  received  with  honors.    Their  services  at  Tippecanoe  were  duly  appreciated.    At  Cincinnati  the  shore  was 
lined  with  the  inhabitants  waiting  to  receive  them  as  they  crossed  the  Ohio  from  Newport.    A  triumphal  arch  had  been 
built,  over  which,  in  large  letters,  were  the  words,  "THE  HEROES  OP  TIITEOANOE."    They  were  received  with  cheers 
and  a  salute  of  seventeen  guns  (the  number  of  the  states  at  that  time),  and  they,  only,  passed  under  the  arch.    Pood  and 
liquor  in  great  abundance  were  sent  to  their  camp.— Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller  to  his  Wife,  June  12,  1S12— Atitoriraph 
Letter.  *  Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller  to  his  Wife,  June  12, 1S12— Autograph  Letter. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  257 


Hull's  March  toward  Detroit.  Alarming  Reports  concerning  the  Indians. 

gage  and  stores  on  pack-horses.     They  built  a  fort,  which,  in  allusion  to  the  circum 
stances,  they  called  Fort  Necessity. 

Here  Hull  was  met  by  two  messengers  from  Detroit — General  Robert  Lucas  and 
William  Denny — whom  he  had  sent  from  Dayton  to  that  post  with  dispatches  for 
acting  Governor  Atwater.  Their  report  was  disheartening.  General  Lucas  had  been 
present  at  a  council  of  the  chiefs  of  several  tribes  at  Brownstown — Ottawas,  Ojib- 
was  or  Chippewas,Wyandots,  and  others.  All  but  Walk-in-the- Water,  principal  chief 
of  the  Wyandots,  made  peaceful  professions.  The  latter  spoke  many  bold  and  un 
friendly  words.  The  British,  too,  were  making  hostile  manifestations.  They  had 
collected  a  considerable  body  of  Indians  at  Maiden,  where  they  were  fed,  and  armed, 
and  well  supplied  with  blankets  and  ammunition.  Kind  and  generous  treatment 
made  them  fast  friends  of  the  British,  and  eager  to  go  out  upon  the  war-path  against 
the  Americans.  Tecumtha  was  also  wielding  his  great  influence  in  the  same  direc 
tion  ;  and  to  Hull  and  his  friends  the  situation  of  Detroit,  with  its  weak  defenses, 
seemed,  as  it  really  was,  in  great  peril.  The  danger  made  him  impatient  to  push 
forward.  At  length  the  rain  ceased,  the  earth  became  more  firm,  the  army  marched 
under  the  guidance  of  Zane,  M'Pherson,  and  Armstrong  (three  men  well  acquainted 
with  wood-craft),  and  at  the  end  of  three  days  were  on  Blanchard's  Fork,  where 
Colonel  Findlay  had  erected  a  stockade  fort,  which  was  called  by  his  name.  It  was 
about  fifty  yards  square,  with  a  block-house  at  each  corner,  and  a  ditch  in  front.  It 
was  on  the  southwest  side  of  the  stream,  where  the  village  of  Findlay  now  stands. 
The  fort  stood  at  the  end  of  the  present  bridge.1 

At  Fort  Findlay  General  Hull  received  a  dispatch*  from  the  War  Depart-     a  June  24, 
ment  directing  him  to  hasten  to  Detroit,  and  there  await  farther  orders.    It 
Avas  dated  on  the  morning  of  the  day  when  war  was  declared,  but  contained  not  a 
word  concerning  that  measure.2     This  will  be  mentioned  again  presently. 

Hull  ordered  all  the  camp  equipage  to  be  left  at  the  fort,  and  made  preparations 
for  an  immediate  advance.  Colonel  Cass  was  sent  forward  with  his  regiment  to 
open  a  road  to  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee  ;3  and  a  few  days  afterward  the  whole 
army,  excepting  detachments  left  in  the  forts,  were  encamped  upon  a  plain  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  that  stream,  opposite  Wayne's  battle-ground  of  1794.  There  the 
wearied  troops  had  the  first  glimpse  of  civilization  since  they  left  Urbana.  They 
were  taken  across  the  stream,  and  marched  down  its  left  bank,  through  a  small  vil 
lage  at  the  foot  of  the  Rapids,4  to  a  level  spot  near  the  ruins  of  the  old  British  fort 
Miami,  where  they  encamped. 

So  wearied  and  worn  were  Hull's  beasts  of  burden  when  he  reached  navigable  wa 
ters  connecting  with  his  destination  that  he  resolved  to  relieve  them  as  much  as  pos 
sible.  He  accordingly  dispatched,  from  the  foot  of  the  Rapids,  the  schooner  Cuya- 
hoga  for  Detroit  with  his  own  baggage  and  that  of  most  of  his  officers ;  also  all  of 
the  hospital  stores,  intrenching  tools,  and  a  trunk  containing  his  commission,  his  in 
structions  from  the  War  Department,  and  complete  muster-rolls  of  the  whole  army.5 
The  wives  of  three  of  the  officers,  Lieutenant  Dent,  and  Lieutenant  Goodwin,  with 
thirty  soldiers  as  protectors  of  the  schooner,  also  embarked  in  her.  A  smaller  ves 
sel,  under  the  charge  of  Surgeon's  Mate  James  Reynolds,  was  dispatched  with  the 
Cuyahoga  for  the  conveyance  of  the  army  invalids,  and  both  sailed  into  Maumee 

1  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  page  238. 

2  Armstrong's  Notices  of  the  War  of  1S12,  i.,  48.    Hull's  Memoir  of  the  Campaign  of  the  Northwestern  Army,  page  36. 

3  Miami  and  Maumee  mean  the  same  thing.    The  latter  method  of  spelling  more  nearly  indicates  the  pronunciation 
to  an  English  ear  than  the  former.    The  Indians  pronounced  it  as  if  spelled  Me-aw-me.    So  the  French  spelt  it,  accord 
ing  to  their  pronunciation  of  i  and  a,  Mi-a-mi.    To  distinguish  this  stream  from  the  two  of  the  same  name  (Great  and 
Little  Miami)  that  empty  into  the  Ohio,  this  was  frequently  called  the  Miami  of  the  Lakes. 

*  Now  Mnnmee  City,  nearly  opposite  Perrysburg,  the  capital  of  Wyandotte  County. 

6  Robert  Wallace,  one  of  General  Hull's  aids-de-camp,  in  a  letter  published  in  a  newspaper  at  Covington,  Kentucky, 
in  1842,  and  quoted  in  the  Appendix  to  General  Hull's  Military  and  Civil  Life,  page  443,  says,  "  His  son,  Captain  Hull 
(who  was  also  an  aid),  in  executing  this  order,  unfortunately  shipped  a  small  trunk  containing  the  papers  and  reports 
of  the  army,  for  which  he  was  afterward  severely  reprimanded  by  his  father." 

K 


258  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Hull  informed  of  the  Declaration  of  War.  Capture  of  a  Schooner  with  his  Baggage  and  Papers. 

Bay,  where  Toledo  now  stands,  on  the  evening  of  the  1st  of  July.  On  the  same  day 
the  army  moved  toward  Detroit  through  the  beautiful  open  country,  by  the  way  of 
Frenchtown,  on  the  River  Raisin,  now  the  pleasant  city  of  Monroe,  in  Michigan. 
»jniy,  When  approaching  Frenchtown  toward  the  evening  of  the  2d,a  Hull  was 
1812.  overtaken  by  a  courier,  sent  by  the  vigilant  postmaster  at  Cleveland,  with  a 
dispatch  from  the  War  Department,  which  read  as  follows : 

"  SIR, — War  is  declared  against  Great  Britain.  You  will  be  on  your  guard.  Pro 
ceed  to  your  post  with  all  possible  expedition ;  make  such  arrangements  for  the  de 
fense  of  the  country  as  in  your  judgment  may  be  necessary,  and  wait  for  farther 
orders." 

This  dispatch  was  explicit  and  easily  understood,  but  its  date,  and  the  time  and 
manner  of  its  reception,  perplexed  the  general.  It  bore  the  same  date  as  the  one  re 
ceived  a  week  earlier  at  Fort  Findlay,  in  which  there  was  no  intimation  of  a  declara 
tion  of  war.  That  had  been  sent  by  a  special  courier  from  the  seat  of  government ; 
this  had  been  sent  by  mail  to  Cleveland,  to  be  there  intrusted  to  such  conveyance  as 
"  accident  might  supply,"  through  one  hundred  miles  of  wilderness.1  The  former 
contained  an  important  order;  the  latter  contained  information  more  important. 
This  fact  was  inexplicable  to  Hull,  and  remains  unexplained  to  this  day.  The  cir 
cumstance  made  him  feel  serious  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  the  schooner  and  her 
consort.  The  question  pressed  heavily  upon  his  mind  whether  the  British  command 
er  at  Maiden,  past  which  the  vessels  must  sail,  might  not  already  have  heard  of  the 
declaration  of  war.  In  that  event  they  might  be  seized,  and  valuable  plunder  as 
well  as  valuable  information  would  fall  into  his  hands.  Moved  by  these  considera 
tions,  he  dispatched  an  officer  writh  some  men  to  the  mouth  of  the  Raisin  to  stop  the 
schooner,  but  their  arrival  was  too  late.  With  a  fair  wind  she  had  passed  that  point. 

A  few  hours  afterward  Hull's  apprehensions  were  justified  by  events,  for  he  learned, 
on  the  morning  after  his  arrival  at  Frenchtown,  that  the  Cuyahoga  had  been  cap 
tured.  While  sailing  past  Maiden,  unconscious  of  danger,  at  ten  o'clock  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  2d,  she  was  brought  to  by  a  gun  from  the  shore.  The  British  armed  ves 
sel  Hunter  went  alongside  of  her,  and  schooner  and  cargo  became  a  prize.  The 
troops  and  crew  were  made  prisoners  of  war.  The  vessel  with  the  invalids,  being  be 
hind  the  schooner,  passed  up  the  more  shallow  channel  on  the  west  side  of  Bois  Blanc 
Island,  and  reached  Detroit  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  dayb  in  safety.2 

The  British  commander  at  Maiden,  and  those  of  other  posts,  had  been  noti 
fied  of  the  declaration  of  war  through  the  vigilance  of  British  subjects  in  New  York. 
Sir  George  Prevost,  the  governor  general  of  Canada,  was  informed  of  the  fact  on  the 
24th  of  June  by  an  express  from  New  York  to  the  Northwest  Fur  Company,  which 
left  that  city  on  the  20th,  the  day  when  intelligence  of  the  declaration  of  war  reached 
there.  On  the  25th,  Sir  George  sent  a  courier  with  a  letter  to  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  the 
lieutenant  governor  at  York  (now  Toronto),  but  it  did  not  reach  him  until  the  3d  of 

1  I  am  indebted  to  the  Hon.  Elisha  Whittlesey,  of  Ohio,  late  First  Auditor  of  the  United  States  Treasury,  for  the  fol 
lowing  interesting  account  of  the  transmission  of  this  dispatch  from  Cleveland  to  the  camp.  Mr.  Walworth,  the  post 
master  at  Cleveland,  was  requested  by  the  postmaster  general  to  send  the  dispatch  by  express.  Charles  Shaler,  Esq.,  a 
young  lawyer,  then  in  Cleveland  (brother-in-law  of  Commodore  M'Donough),  was  persuaded  to  become  the  bearer,  cer 
tainly  as  far  as  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee,  and  possibly  to  Detroit.  The  compensation  agreed  upon  was  thirty-five  dol 
lars.  On  searching  the  mail  the  dispatch  could  not  be  found.  It  was  suggested  to  Mr.  Walworth  that  it  might  be  in 
the  Detroit  mail.  Having  been  informed  by  letter  of  the  declaration  of  war,  and  believing  the  dispatch  to  be  of  great 
importance,  he  considered  it  his  duty  to  open  the  Detroit  mail.  He  did  so,  but  with  reluctance,  and  found  the  dispatch. 
At  about  noon  on  the  2Sth  of  June  Mr.  Shaler  started  from  Cleveland  on  horseback.  He  was  obliged  to  swim  all  the 
streams  excepting  the  Cuyahoga  at  Cleveland.  No  relays  of  horses  could  be  obtained.  He  reached  the  Rapids  on  the 
night  of  the  1st  of  July.  There  he  was  informed  that  the  army  was  moving  rapidly  toward  Detroit.  He  pursued  and 
overtook  it  not  far  from  the  Raisin,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  2d,  just  as  the  moon  was  rising.  After  some 
formality  he  was  ushered  into  the  presence  of  Hull,  who  was  dressing.  He  was  requested  to  be  silent  in  the  presence 
of  camp  listeners.  A  council  of  officers  was  immediately  summoned.  The  army  was  put  in  motion  at  dawn.  He  ac 
companied  it  to  Detroit,  where  his  horse  died  from  the  effects  of  the  rapid  journey  through  the  wilderness.  Mr.  Shaler 
remained  in  Detroit  until  he  saw  the  flag  of  his  country  raised  over  the  soil  of  Canada.  He  returned  to  Cleveland 
partly  on  foot,  and  partly  on  hired  and  borrowed  horses.  a  Letter  of  Dr.  Reynolds,  dated  at  Detroit.  July  7,  1812. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  259 


How  British  Officers  in  Canada  were  informed  of  the  Declaration  of  War.  Hall's  Army  at  Detroit. 

July,  when  he  was  at  Fort  George,  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  He  had  been  informed 
of  the  event  by  express  from  New  York  as  early  as  the  27th  of  June.1  Colonel  St. 
George,  at  Maiden,  was  informed  of  it  by  letter  on  the  30th,  two  days  before  it  reach 
ed  Hull ;  and  Captain  Roberts,  in  command  of  the  British  post  on  the  island  of  St. 
Joseph,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Huron,  Avas  notified  by  letter  also  on  the  8th  of  July. 
The  letters  to  the  last  two  named  commanders  were  in  envelopes  franked  by  the 
American  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.2  How  these  were  obtained  remains  a  mystery, 
for  no  man  believes  that  Mr.  Gallatin  would  have  lent  such  assistance  to  any  known 
enemy  of  his  country.  The  fact  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  Avar  gave  currency  to  a 
report  that  he  was  willing  to  cast  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  invasion  of  Canada,  a 
scheme  which  many  even  of  the  war  -  party  regarded  as  unwise.  Mr.  Madison  was 
also  charged  with  having,  under  the  influence  of  Virginia  politicians  and  the  wily  Cal- 
houn,  withheld  aid  from  Hull,  that  the  conquest  of  Canada  might  not  be  effected,  as 
it  would,  by  annexation  to  the  United  States,  materially  increase  the  area  and  polit 
ical  influence  of  free-labor  territory,  and  more  speedily  snatch  the  sceptre  of  dominion 
in  the  aifairs  of  the  government  from  the  slave-labor  states.  Assertions  of  this  kind 
were  prevalent  at  that  day,  and  have  been  revived  in  our  time.3 

Hull's  army  rested  a  day  at  Frenchtown,  and  spent  the  4th  of  July  in  constructing 
n  bridge  across  the  Huron  River,  near  Brownstown,  twenty-five  miles  from  Detroit. 
They  had  passed  a  hostile  Wyandotte  village,  and  observed  a  large  vessel  with  troops 
on  board  at  Maiden.  Expecting  an  attack  by  a  combined  force  of  British  and  In 
dians,  Hull's  troops  slept  upon  their  arms  that  night.4  They  marched  early  the  next 
morning ;  and  at  evening,  having  passed  the  Rivers  Aux  Ecorces  and  Rouge,  en 
camped  at  Spring  Wells,5  at  the  lower  end  of  the  Detroit  settlement,  opposite  Sand 
wich  in  Canada,  where  a  British  force  was  stationed,  and  not  far  from  which,  up  the 
river  opposite  Detroit,  they  were  throwing  up  fortifications.  The  camp  was  upon  a 
pleasant  eminence,  eligible  for  a  commanding  fortification.  From  its  crown  they 
hurled  a  few  heavy  shot  across  the  river, "  which  cleared  out  a  number  of  inhabitants 

'  The  late  Honorable  William  Hamilton  Merritt,  of  St.  Catharine's,  Canada  West,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Canadian 
Parliament,  was  an  active  officer  of  dragoons  during  the  early  portion  of  the  war  on  the  Canadian  Peninsula.  He  left  a 
very  valuable  narrative  of  the  events  of  the  war  in  that  section,  in  manuscript,  which  his  family  kindly  placed  in  my 
hands.  In  that  narrative  I  find  the  following  statement:  "We  received  intelligence  of  the  declaration  of  war  by  the 
United  States  on  the  27th  of  June,  1S12,  from  a  messenger  sent  by  the  late  John  Jacob  Astor  to  Thomas  Clark,  Esq.,  of 
Niagara  Falls.  The  express  was  immediately  sent  to  President  General  Brock,  who  was  at  York." 

2  Letter  of  General  Jesup  to  General  Armstrong,  cited  in  the  latter's  Notices  of  the  War  of  1812,  i.,  195. 

3  It  is  said  that  when  (as  we  shall  hereafter  notice)  General  John  Armstrong  and  President  Madison  quarreled,  the 
former,  in  a  pamphlet,  boldly  made  the  charge  alluded  to  in  the  text.    They  became  reconciled,  and  the  pamphlet  was 
withdrawn,  and  the  whole  issue,  as  far  as  practicable,  was  destroyed.    One  of  these  pamphlets  was,  it  is  said,  in  pos 
session  of  the  late  Alvan  Stewart.    In  a  letter  of  that  gentleman  to  "The  Liberty  Party"  in  1S46,  he  alluded  to  this 
matter  as  follows :  After  noticing  the  points  on  the  frontier  to  which  General  Smyth,  of  Virginia,  General  Winder,  of 
Maryland,  Generals  Wilkinson  and  Hampton,  then  of  Louisiana,  were  stationed  with  their  troops,  he  says,  "Four  slave- 
holding  generals,  with  their  four  armies,  were  stretched  out  on  our  northern  frontier,  not  to  take  Canada,  but  to  prevent 
its  being  taken  by  the  men  of  New  England  and  New  York,  in  1812,  '13,  and  '14,  lest  we  should  make  some  six  or  eight 
free  states  from  Canada,  if  conquered.    This  was  treason  against  Northern  interests,  Northern  blood,  and  Northern 
honor.    But  the  South  furnished  the  President  and  the  Cabinet.    This  revelation  could  have  been  proved  by  General 
John  Armstrong,  then  Secretary  of  War,  after  he  and  Mr.  Madison  had  quarreled." —  Writings  and  Speeches  of  Alvan 
Stewart  on  Slavery,  edited  by  his  son-in-law,  Luther  R.  Marsh,  Esq.,  page  47. 

We  have  seen  that  Commander  Stewart  (now  the  venerable  admiral  bearing  the  title  of  Old  Ironsides)  was  called  to 
Washington  City  on  public  business.  At  that  time,  while  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Calhoun  upon  public  matters,  the 
latter  declared  to  the  former  that  whenever  the  control  of  the  national  government  should  pass  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
Southern  politicians  (he  spoke  for  them,  and  not  for  the  people),  they  would  "  resort  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union."— See 
Letter  of  Commodore  Stewart  to  G.  W.  Childs,  May  24, 1861. 

*  It  was  the  intention  of  the  British  to  attack  Hull  in  the  swamps  of  the  Huron  River.  It  was  prevented  by  a  decep 
tive  communication  to  the  commander  at  Maiden  by  a  resident  there,  and  a  friend  of  Hull's.  He  informed  Colonel  St. 
George  that  Hull  had  sent  for  cannon  at  Detroit,  and  intended  to  cross  the  river  and  attack  Fort  Mjilden.  This  caused 
the  British  commander  to  concentrate  his  troops  for  the  defense  of  the  fort.  Meanwhile  Hull  moved  on  toward  De 
troit.  Speaking  of  this  event  in  the  march,  Robert  Wallace,  one  of  General  Hull's  aids,  writing  in  1842  to  the  Licking 
Valley  Register,  Covington,  Kentucky,  says,  "During  that  day  it  was  remarked  to  me  by  several  officers  that  General 
Hull  appeared  to  have  no  sense  of  personal  danger,  and  that  he  would  certainly  be  killed  if  a  contest  commenced.  This 
was  said  to  prepare  me  for  taking  orders  from  the  next  in  rank." 

5  This  locality  was  sometimes  called  The  Sand  Hills.  Out  of  these,  on  the  river  side,  many  springs  of  pure  water  for 
merly  gushed  out,  and  these  gave  the  name  by  which  the  place  was  generally  known.  For  the  same  reason  the  French 
called  it  Belle  Fontaine.  The  sand-hills,  three  in  number,  were  Indian  burial-places. 


260  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Impatience  to  invade  Canada.  Hull  determines  to  do  so.  Detroit  in  1812. 

very  quick."1  There,  and  near  Fort  Detroit,  Hull  allowed  his  troops  to  wash  their 
clothes  and  have  their  arms  repaired,  while  he  was  awaiting  farther  orders  from  his 
government.2 

Officers  and  men,  anxious  to  invade  Canada,  were  impatient,  and  even  a  mutinous 
spirit  was  manifested  by  some  of  the  Ohio  Volunteers.  They  burned  with  a  desire 
to  cross  the  river  and  attack  the  foe.  The  sight  of  growing  fortifications,  that  would 
endanger  the  town  and  fort  of  Detroit,  and  soon  become  too  formidable  to  face  in 
crossing  the  river,  maddened  them,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  their  officers 
restrained  them.3  To  quiet  their  tumultuous  impulses,  Hull  called  a  council  of  the 
field  officers.  He  assured  them  that  he  had  no  authority  to  invade  Canada.  They 
insisted  that  it  was  expedient  to  do  so  immediately,  and  drive  off  the  fort-builders. 
"  While  I  have  command,"  he  said,  firmly, "  I  will  obey  the  orders  of  my  govern 
ment.  I  will  not  cross  the  Detroit  until  I  hear  from  Washington."  The  young  offi 
cers  heard  this  announcement  with  compressed  lips,  and  doubtless  many  a  rebellious 
heart — rebellious  toward  the  commander — beat  quickly,  with  deep  emotion,  for  hours 
after  the  council  was  dismissed.  The  general  was  perplexed ;  but,  happily  for  all 
concerned,  a  letter  came  from  the  Secretary  of  War  that  evening,  directing  him  to 
"  commence  operations  immediately,"  and  that,  should  the  force  under  his  command 
be  equal  to  the  enterprise,  and  "  consistent  with  the  safety  of  the  American  posts," 
he  should  take  possession  of  Fort  Maiden  at  Amherstburg,  and  extend  his  conquests 
as  circumstances  might  justify.4  He  was  also  directed  to  give  assurance  to  the  in 
habitants  of  the  province  about  to  be  invaded,  of  protection  to  their  persons  and  prop 
erty.  With  such  official  warrant  in  his  hands,  Hull  determined  to  cross  into  Canada 
at  once,  to  the  delight  of  his  army,  both  officers  and  privates.5 

Detroit  at  that  time  stretched  along  the  river  at  a  convenient  distance  back,  and 
the  present  Jefferson  Avenue  was  the  principal  street.  It  contained  one  hundred 
and  sixty  houses,  and  about  eight  hundred  souls.  The  inhabitants  were  chiefly  of 
French  descent.  Only  seven  years  before,  every  building  but  one  in  the  village  was 
destroyed  by  fire.6  On  the  hill,  in  the  rear,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from 
the  river,  stood  Fort  Detroit,  built  by  the  English  after  the  conquest  of  Canada  a 
hundred  years  ago.  It  was  quadrangular  in  form,  with  bastions  and  barracks,  and 

1  Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller  to  his  Wife,  July  7,  1812 — Autograph  Letter. 

2  Colonel  William  Stanley  Hatch,  of  "  River  Home,"  near  Cincinnati,  kindly  placed  in  my  hands  a  chapter  of  his  un 
published  "Memoirs  of  the  War  0/1S12  in  the  Northwest,  containing  a  minute  account  of  events  which  came  under  his 
own  observation  during  the  campaign  of  General  Hull  from  May  until  the  middle  of  August.    Colonel  Hatch  was  a 
volunteer  in  the  Cincinnati  Light  Infantry,  commanded  by  Captain  John  F.Mansfield  of  that  city,  and  from  the  inva 
sion  of  Canada  to  the  surrender  of  the  army  he  was  acting  assistant  quartermaster  general.    To  his  narrative  I  am  in 
debted  for  a  number  of  facts  given  in  this  sketch  not  found  recorded  in  history.    He  says  that  on  Monday,  the  Gth  of 
July,  the  fourth  regiment  of  regulars  marched  to  the  fort,  and  that  the  next  day  the  volunteers  marched  thither,  and 
took  up  their  position  near  the  fort,  south,  west,  and  north  of  it. 

3  General  Hull  had  been  subjected  to  much  annoyance  from  the  Ohio  Volunteers  from  the  beginning  of  the  march. 
They  were  militia  just  called  into  the  field,  and  had  never  been  restricted  by  military  discipline.    They  were  frequently 
quite  insubordinate.    This  fact  was  brought  out  on  Hull's  tria^     "  One  evening,"  says  Lieutenant  Baron,  of  the  Fourth 
Kegiment,  in  his  testimony  at  the  trial  of  General  Hull,  "while  at  Urbana,  I  saw  a  multitude,  and  heard  a  noise,  and 
was  informed  that  a  company  of  Ohio  Volunteers  were  riding  one  of  their  officers  on  a  rail.    In  saying  that  the  Ohio 
Volunteers  were  insubordinate,  witness  means  that  they  were  only  as  much  so  as  undisciplined  militia  generally  are. 
Some  thirty  or  forty  of  the  Ohio  militia  refused  to  cross  into  Canada  at  one  time,  and  thinks  he  saw  one  hundred  who 
refused  to  cross  when  the  troops  were  at  Urbana." — Forbes's  Report  oftJie  Court-martial,  page  124.    The  same  witness 
testified  to  the  manifestation  of  a  mutinous  spirit  at  other  times.    On  one  occasion,  he  says,  General  Hull  rode  up  and 
said  to  Colonel  Miller,  "Your  regiment  is  a  powerful  argument ;  without  them  I  could  not  march  these  men  to  Detroit." 

*  Dispatch  of  William  Eustis,  Secretary  of  War,  to  General  Hull,  dated  June  24, 1812. 

5  On  the  morning  of  the  Gth  Colonel  Cass  was  sent  to  Maiden  with  a  flag  of  truce,  to  demand  the  baggage  and  pris 
oners  taken  from  the  schooner.    On  his  approach  he  was  blindfolded,  and  in  this  condition  was  taken  before  Colonel 
St.  George.    He  was  treated  courteously.    The  demand  was  unheeded,  and,  being  again  blindfolded,  he  was  led  out  of 
the  fort.    He  returned  to  camp  with  Captain  Burbanks,  of  the  British  army.— M' Afee. 

6  The  city  of  Detroit  is  about  nine  miles  below  Lake  St.  Clair.    The  river,  or  strait,  between  St.  Clair  and  Lake  Erie 
gave  it  its  name,  de  troit  being  the  French  name  of  a  strait.    The  Indians  called  it  Wa-rva-o-te-woncf.    It  was  a  trading- 
post  of  the  French  as  early  as  1G20,  before  any  of  the  French  missionaries  had  penetrated  the  distant  wilderness  from 
Quebec  and  Montreal.    It  was  established  as  a  settlement  in  1701,  when  Antoine  do  la  Motte  Cadillac,  lord  of  Bouaget, 
Moun  Desert,  having  received  a  grant  of  fifteen  miles  square  from  Louis  XIV.,  reached  the  site  of  Detroit  with  a  Jesuit 
missionary  and  one  hundred  men,  and  planted  the  first  settlement  in  Michigan. — Cftarlevoix.    The  name  of  the  old  In 
dian  village  on  its  site  was  called  by  the  Ottawas  Teuchsa  Grondic.— Colden,  cited  by  Lauman  in  his  History  of  Michigan, 
page  Gl. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


261 


Sites  of  Fortifications  at  Detroit. 


British  Works  opposite. 


Preparations  to  cross  the  River. 


covered  about  two  acres  of  ground.  The  embankments  were  nearly  twenty  feet  in 
height,  with  a  deep  dry  ditch,  and  were  surrounded  by  a  double  row  of  pickets.  The 
outside  row  was  in  the  centre  of  the  ditch,  and  the  other  row  projected  from  the 
bank,  forming  what  is  technically  called  afraise.  There  was  a  work,  called  the  Cita 
del  Fort,  that  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  Arsenal,  or  Temperance  Hotel,  in  Jef 
ferson  Avenue.  The  fort  was  garrisoned  when  Hull  arrived  by  ninety-four  men.  Its 
position  was  one  of  considerable  strength,  but,  unfortunately,  it  did  not  command  the 
river,  and  could  not  damage  the  armed  vessels  which  the  British  at  that  time  em 
ployed  in  those  waters.1  The  town  was  surrounded  by  strong  pickets,  fourteen  feet 
high,  with  loop-holes  to  shoot  through.  The  pickets  commenced  at  the  river,  on  the 
line  of  the  Brush  farm,  and  followed  it  to  about  Congress  Street ;  thence  westerly, 
along  or  near  Michigan  Avenue,  back  of  the  old  fort,  to  the  east  line  of  the  Cass  farm, 
and  followed  that  line  to  the  river.  On  Jefferson  Avenue,  at  the  Cass  line,  and  on  At- 
water  Street,  on  the  Brush  farm,  massive  gates  were  placed.  These  pickets,  which 
had  been  erected  as  defenses  against  Indian  incursions,  were  yet  well  preserved  in 
1812.2 

The  fortifications  which  the  British  were  erecting  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river 
(then  about  three  fourths  of  a  mile  wide)  would,  if  completed,  not  only  command  the 
town,  but  seriously  menace  the  fort ;  so,  with  all  possible  expedition,  Hull  prepared 
to  cross  and  drive  the  British  toward  Maiden.  His  force  at  that  time,  including  the 
Michigan  militia,  under  Colonel  Elijah  Brush,  who  had  joined  those  from  Ohio,  num 
bered  about  twenty-two  hundred  effective  men.3 

After  great  exertions,  Hull  collected  boats  and  canoes  sufficient  to  carry  about 
four  hundred  men  at  a  time.  These  would  be  too  few  to  cross  in  the  face  of  the  en 
emy  behind  his  breastworks,  and  he  resorted  to  strategy.  Toward  the  evening  of 
the  llth,  all  the  boats  were  sent  down  the  river  to  Spring  Wells,  in  full  view  of  the 
British,  and  at  the  same  time  Colonel  M' Arthur,  with  his  regiment,  marched  to  the 
same  point.  The  Brit 
ish  prepared  to  dispute 
their  passage.  After 
dark,  troops  and  boats 
moved  silently  up  the 
river  toBloody  Bridge, 
a  mile  and  a  half  above 
Fort  Detroit,  and  pre 
pared  to  cross  there. 
Finding  all  silent  at 
Spring  Wells,  the  de 
ceived  British  believed 
that  the  Americans  had 
gone  stealthily  down 
the  river  to  attack 
Maiden.  Under  this 
impression,  they  left 
Sandwich,  and  in  the 
morning  the  Ameri 
cans  had  no  One  tO  Op-  VIEW  AT  BLOODY  BRIDGE  IN  1SGO.* 

1  At  that  time  the  Americans  had  a  small  frigate,  named  the  Adams,  nearly  completed,  at  the  ship-yard  on  the  Ronge 
River.  a  Judge  Witherell's  Reminiscences  of  Detroit.  3  Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller— Autograph  Letter. 

*  This  view  is  from  the  bridge  that  was  over  Bloody  Run,  in  Jefferson  Avenue,  in  I860.  Bloody  Bridge  was  nearer 
the  Detroit  River,  seen  in  the  distance.  It  was  near  the  second  fence  from  the  river,  running  from  the  left  in  the  pic 
ture,  and  at  the  most  distant  point  where  the  stream  of  water  is  seen.  That  stream  is  Bloody  Run.  The  large  tree  in 
the  foreground  was  a  whitewood.  It  was  sixteen  feet  in  circumference;  and  scars  of  the  hullets  received  into  it  dur 
ing  a  battle  a  hundred  years  ago  might  still  be  seen  in  its  huge  trunk. 


262  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

First  Invasion  of  Canada.  Hull's  Head-quarters.  Hull's  Proclamation  to  the  Canadians. 

•  July  12,  Pose  their  landing.  At  dawna  the  regular  troops  and  the  Ohio  Volunteers 
1812.  crossed  to  the  Canadian  shore  to  a  point  opposite  the  lower  end  of  Hog  Isl 
and.  They  looked  with  suspicious  eye  upon  a  stone  wind-mill  on  the  shore,  for  it  ap 
peared  like  an  excellent  place  for  a  concealed  battery.1  But  there  was  no  resistance,2 
and  the  little  army  first  touched  Canada  just  above  the  present  town  of  Windsor. 
It  was  a  bright  and  lovely  Sabbath  morning,  with  a  gentle  breeze  from  the  south 
west.  The  American  flag  was  immediately  hoisted  by  Colonel  Cass  and  a  subaltern3 
over  Canadian  soil,  and  was  greeted  by  cheers  from  the  invaders,  the  spectators  of 
•the  passage  of  the  Detroit  at  Bloody  Bridge,  and  from  the  fort  and  town.  They 
were  also  cordially  received  by  the  French  Canadians.  The  Americans  encamped 

on  the  farm  of  Colonel  Francis  Babie,4  a 
French  Canadian  and  British  officer,  with 
his  fine  brick  mansion  (then  unfinished, 
and  yet  standing  in  Windsor)  in  the 
centre  of  the  camp.  This  Avas  taken  pos 
session  of  by  General  Hull,  and  used  as 
head-quarters  for  himself  and  principal  of 
ficers.  The  little  village  of  Sandwich,  a 
short  distance  below,  gave  its  name  to 
this  locality,  and  Hull's  dispatches  from 

COLONEL  BABIE'B   EESIl^NOi,  j^      head.quarters      wenj      alWayS      dated     Sit 

"Sandwich." 

On  the  day  of  the  invasion,1"  the  commanding  general  issued  a  stirring 
proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  of  Canada,  which  was  written  by  Colonel 
Lewis  Cass.  "  After  thirty  years  of  peace  and  prosperity,"  he  said,  "  the  United 
States  have  been  driven  to  arms.  The  injuries  and  aggi'essions,  the  insults  and  in 
dignities  of  Great  Britain,  have  once  more  left  them  no  alternative  but  manly  resist 
ance  or  unconditional  submission."  He  then  declared  that  he  came  as  a  friend,  and 
as  their  liberator  from  British  tyranny,  and  not  as  an  enemy  or  mere  conquering  in 
vader.  "  I  tender  you,"  he  said,  "  the  invaluable  blessings  of  civil,  political,  and  re 
ligious  liberty,  and  their  necessary  results,  individual  and  general  prosperity.  .  .  . 
•Remain  at  your  homes ;  pursue  your  peaceful  and  accustomed  avocations ;  raise  not 
your  hands  against  your  brethren."  He  assured  them  that  the  persons  and  property 
of  all  peaceful  citizens  should  be  perfectly  secure.  He  did  not  ask  them  to  join  his 
army.  "I  come  prepared,"  he  said,  "for  any  contingency.  I  have  a  force  which  will 
look  down  all  opposition,  and  that  force  is  but  the  vanguard  of  a  much  greater."  All 
that  he  asked  of  them  was  to  remain  peacefully  at  their  homes.  At  the  same  time, 
knowing  that  the  British  had  in  their  service  hordes  of  merciless  savages,  whose 
mode  of  warfare  was  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  men,  women,  and  children,  or  the 

1  "  Expecting,  of  course,  that  the  enemy  would  contest  our  lauding,  we  were  thinking,  as  we  left  the  shore,  of  the 
amusing  fact  that  we  should  doubtless  commence  our  active  campaign  by  attacking  a  wind-mill."— Colonel  Hatch's  Nar- 
rative.    The  invasion  proved  to  be  about  as  ridiculous  and  bootless  as  Quixotte's  attack  on  the  wind-mills.    This  build 
ing  was  yet  standing  when  I  visited  the  spot  in  the  autumn  of  I860. 

2  "  As  we  were  crossing  the  river  we  saw  two  British  officers  ride  up  very  fast  opposite  where  we  intended  landing, 
but  they  went  back  faster  than  they  came.    They  were  Colonel  St.  George,  the  commanding  officer  at  Maiden,  and  one 
of  his  captains."— Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller  to  his  Wife,  July  14, 1812— Autograph  Letter. 

3  "  Tell  our  much-beloved  Father  Flint  that  his  sou  James  had  the  honor  and  gratification,  as  commanding  officer,  to 
plant,  with  his  own  hands,  assisted  by  Colonel  Cass,  the  first  United  States  standard  on  the  pleasant  bank  of  the  De 
troit  River,  in  King  George's  province  of  Upper  Canada."— Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller  to  his  Wife,  July  14, 1812— Auto 
graph  Letter. 

*  Pronounced  as  if  spelt  Baw-bee.  The  house  was  about  eight  rods  back  from  Sandwich  Street,  Windsor,  with  shops 
and  mean  buildings  in  front  of  it.  It  was  a  brick  house,  stuccoed  in  front,  and  made  to  represent  blocks  of  stone.  Be 
fore  it  was  a  garden,  the  remnant  of  a  more  spacious  and  beautiful  one,  that  extended  to  the  river  bank.  The  house 
belonged  to  a  son  of  Colonel  Babie.  When  Hull  took  possession  of  it  the  floors  were  laid  and  the  windows  were  in, 
but  the  partitions  were  not  built.  These  were  immediately  made  of  rough  boards.  The  general  and  his  aids,  according 
to  Colonel  Hatch's  narrative,  occupied  the  north  half  of  the  house,  or  the  portion  seen  over  the  heads  of  the  two  figures 
in  the  picture.  The  councils  of  war  were  held  in  the  second  story,  over  the  rooms  occupied  by  the  general.  General 
James  Taylor,  of  Kentucky,  the  quartermaster  general,  occupied  a  part  of  the  house  as  his  head-quarters,  but,  being 
unwell,  he  lodged  in  Detroit. 


OF   THE    \VAR    OF    1812.  263 


Effect  of  Hull's  Proclamation.  A  Reconnoissauce  toward  Maiden.  Foraging  Expedition  to  the  Thames. 

torture  of  prisoners,  he  warned  the  inhabitants  that  no  quarter  would  be  shown  to 
them  if  found  fighting  by  the  side  of  the  Indians.  "  The  first  stroke  of  the  tomahawk, 
the  first  attempt  with  the  scalping-knife,"  he  said, "  will  be  the  signal  for  an  indis 
criminate  scene  of  desolation.  No  white  man  found  fighting  by  the  side  of  an  In 
dian  will  be  taken  prisoner.  Instant  destruction  will  be  his  lot." 

This  proclamation,  the  presence  of  a  considerable  army,  and  the  sight  of  the  Amer 
ican  flag  flying  on  both  sides  of  the  Detroit,  produced  a  powerful  eifect.  Many  of 
the  Canadian  militia  deserted  the  British  standard.  Some  joined  the  Americans,  and 
others  returned  to  their  farms.  A  large  number  of  families,  terrified  by  the  tales  of 
British  officers  concerning  the  savagism  of  the  invaders,  had  fled  to  the  depths  of  the 
forests.  These  were  soon  assured,  and  most  of  them  accepted  Hull's  promised  pro 
tection,  and  returned  to  their  homes.1 

On  the  morning  of  the  13tha  Hull  sent  a  reconnoitring  party  toward  Fort  » July, 
Maiden,  at  the  little  village  of  Amherstburg,  eighteen  miles  below  his  head 
quarters,  a  spot  associated  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of  the  West  with  every  thing 
hideous  in  the  annals  of  their  sufferings  from  Indian  depredations,  for  there  the  raids 
of  the  savages  upon  the  frontier  settlements  had  been  arranged  by  Elliott,  M'Kee, 
Girty,  and  others.  The  troops  were  anxious  to  break  up  that  nest  of  vultures ;  and 
the  reconnoitring  party,  under  Captain  Henry  Ulery,  of  Colonel  Findlay's  regiment, 
went  upon  duty  with  great  alacrity.  They  returned  toward  evening  with  intelli 
gence  that  at  Turkey  Creek,  nine  miles  below  the  camp,  they  had  been  informed  that 
about  two  hundred  Indians,  under  Tecumtha  (then  in  the  British  service),  had  been 
lying  in  ambush  at  the  southern  end  of  the  bridge  over  that  stream,  and  that  the 
forest  was  full  of  prowling  savages.  Hull  immediately  ordered  his  camp  to  be  forti 
fied  on  the  land  side,  and  what  cannon  he  had  to  be  placed  in  battery  on  the  bank 
of  the  river,  for  vague  rumors  came  that  the  British  were  about  to  send  a  small  fleet 
up  to  co-operate  with  a  land  force  in  an  attack  upon  the  Americans.  Rumors  also 
came  of  Indians  up  the  river,  and  a  detachment  of  Sloan's  cavalry  were  sent  in  that 
direction.  They  sent  word  back  that  they  had  discovered  a  party  of  savages.  At 
eight  o'clock  the  same  evening,  Colonel  M' Arthur,  with  one  hundred  men,  went  in 
pursuit.  The  chase  was  vigorous,  and  at  Ruscum  River  the  pursuers  fell  upon  the 
rear  of  the  fugitives,  who  dispersed,  fled  to  the  woods,  and  escaped.  M'Arthur  was 
about  to  return,  when  Captain  Smith,  of  the  Detroit  Dragoons,  overtook  him  with  or 
ders  to  push  forward  to  the  settlements  on  the  Thames  in  search  of  provisions.  He 
instantly  obeyed,  penetrated  as  far  as  the  Moravian  towns,  sixty  miles  from  its 
mouth,  near  which  the  battle  of  the  Thames  occurred  in  1813,  and  found  many  farm 
houses  and  cultivated  fields  along  the  picturesque  borders  of  the  river.  Among 
the  homes  near  its  mouth  was  that  of  Isaac  Hull,  a  nephew  of  the  general.  The 
owner  had  fled.  The  house  was  guarded  by  a  file  of  British  soldiers.  These  were 
disarmed  and  paroled.  Boats  along  the  stream  were  seized,  and  loaded  with  the 
winnings  of  the  expedition ;  and  on  the  17th  M'Arthur  returned  to  camp  with  about 
two  hundred  barrels  of  flour,  four  hundred  blankets,  and  quite  a  large  quantity  of 
military  stores.  These  were  chiefly  public  property,  collected  for  the  British  troops 
at  Maiden,  and  yet  Hull  gave  a  receipt  for  the  whole,  public  and  private. 

Meanwhile  small  expeditions  had  been  sent  toward  Maiden.     Colonel  Cass,  with 


that  the  proclamation  was  unauthorized  and  disapproved  by  the  government.    The  American  commissioners,  at  the 
treaty  of  Ghent,  in  the  face  of  Secretary  Enstis's  letter  to  the  contrary,  made  the  same  assertion  ;  and  this  proclama- 


264  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Affair  on  the  Ta-ron-tee.  First  Battle  of  the  War.  The  "  Hero  of  Ta-ron-tee." 

two  hundred  and  eighty  men,  accompanied  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller,  of  the  reg 
ulars,  pushed  forward  to  the  Ta-ron-tee,  as  the  Wyandots  called  it,  or  Riviere  Aux 
Canards,  as  it  was  named  by  the  French,  a  wide  and  deep  stream  that  passes  through 


VIEW   AT   TUE   ElVIEKE  AUX   CANAKU8. 


broad  marshes  into  the  Detroit  River,  about  four  miles  above  Maiden.  On  the  south 
ern  side  of  this  stream,  at  the  end  of  a  bridge,  was  a  British  picket,  composed  of  some 
of  the  Forty-first  regiment,  Canadian  militia,  and  Indians  under  Tecumtha.1  Leav 
ing  a  rifle  company  of  forty  men  in  ambush,  Cass  marched  three  or  four  miles  up  the 
stream  to  a  ford,  came  down  on  the  south  side,  wading  across  streams  armpit  deep, 
and  confronted  the  enemy  at  sunset.  There  he  was  checked  by  a  deep  tributary  of 
the  Aux  Canards,  and  compelled  to  make  a  circuit  of  more  than  a  mile  to  gain  the 
shore  next  to  the  enemy.  This  was  soon  accomplished.  Forming  with  his  riflemen 
on  each  wing,  Cass  dashed  upon  the  foe  with  great  impetuosity,  who  fled  at  the  first 
fire.  Pie  had  been  re-enforced ;  and  three  times  he  rallied,  changed  front,  and  fired 
upon  the  pursuers.  Cass  chased  the  fugitives  about  half  a  mile,  the  drums  beating 
Yankee  Doodle  ;  when  night  fell,  the  pursuit  was  relinquished,  and  the  attacking  par 
ty  returned  to  the  bridge.  A  courier  was  sent  to  head-quarters  to  ask  permission  to 
hold  the  bridge,  as  it  would  be  of  great  importance  in  the  march  of  the  army  toward 
Maiden.  Hull  refused  to  grant  it.  It  was  too  near  the  enemy,  he  said,  to  be  held 
with  safety  by  a  small  detachment ;  and,  not  having  received  his  heavy  cannon  from 
Detroit,  he  was  not  prepared  to  attack  strong  Fort  Maiden  at  Amherstburg.2  The 
impatient  officers  and  soldiers  were  irritated  by  the  refusal,  and  murmured  loudly, 
but  Hull  was  unyielding.  This  was  the  first  battle  and  victory  in  the  second  war 
for  independence.  It  was  hailed  throughout  the  United  States  as  an  omen  of  suc 
cess,  and  Colonel  Cass  was  called  the  "Hero  of  Ta-ron-tee."  He  took  two  prisoners ; 
and  from  deserters  he  learned  that  some  of  the  enemy  were  killed,  and  nine  or  ten 
wounded,  while  he  did  not  lose  a  man. 

That  the  Americans  might  have  taken  Maiden  with  the  means  at  their  command 
when  they  first  crossed  into  Canada  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Why  Hull  did  not  at 
tempt  it  is  a  question  not  easily  answered  to-day,  unless  we  look  for  a  solution  in  the 
fact  that  the  Americans  had  no  reliable  information  concerning  the  real  strength  of 

1  On  the  morning  of  the  17th  a  re-enforcement  of  troops  arrived  at  the  bridge,  consisting. of  the  remainder  of  the 
Fourth  United  States  regiment,  and  a  piece  of  artillery,  under  Captain  Eastman.    A  council  of  officers  was  convened. 
A  majority  of  them  insisted  on  leaving  the  hridge,  while  Colonel  Cass  and  Captain  Snelling  insisted  on  holding  it,  as  it 
would  be  of  the  utmost  importance  in  marching  upon  Maiden.    The  overruling  of  their  opinion,  and  the  refusal  of  Hull 
to  allow  the  bridge  to  be  held,  caused  its  abandonment.    This  was  one  of  the  most  fatal  of  the  delays  of  Hull  in  the 
early  movements  of  this  Canadian  invasion. 

2  "  This  determination,"  says  Wallace  (Licking  Valleij  Register,  1842),  "  occasioned  a  delay  of  nearly  three  weeks,  which 
proved  most  fatal  to  the  results  of  the  campaign.    Had  we  been  prepared  for  an  immediate  attack  on  Maiden,  our  cam 
paign  would  have  been  as  glorious  as  it  was  otherwise  disastrous,  asd  the  name  of  General  Hull  would  have  been  ex 
alted  to  the  skies." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  265 

Weakness  of  Fort  Maiden.  Effects  of  Delay.  Recounoissauces  toward  Maiden. 

the  fort  and  garrison.  The  fort  itself  was  weak,  and  the  garrison  was  weaker.  The 
militia  and  Indians  were  constantly  deserting.  The  fort  consisted  of  four  bastions 
flanking  a  dry  ditch,  with  a  single  interior  defense  of  picketing,  perforated  with  loop 
holes  for  musketry.  All  the  buildings  were  of  wood,  roofed  with  shingles.  A  few 
shells  would  have  destroyed  the  works.  The  garrison  was  composed  of  about  two 
hundred  men  of  the  first  battalion  of  the  Forty-first  Regiment,  commanded  by  Cap 
tain  Muir;  a  very  weak  detachment  of  the  Royal  Newfoundland  Fencibles;  and  a 
subaltern  command  of  artillery  under  Lieutenant  Troughton.1  The  exact  number 
of  Indians  there  at  that  time  is  not  known.  Colonel  St.  George,  the  commander  of 
the  post,  was  so  well  convinced  of  his  inability  to  hold  it  against  a  respectable  force, 
that  orders  were  given  to  the  garrison  to  be  ready  at  a  moment's  notice  to  leave  the 
works.  He  preferred  to  risk  a  battle  in  the  open  field  to  incurring  the  dangers  of  a 
siege  in  a  fortification  so  untenable. 

But  Hull  did  not  advance  upon  Maiden,  and  the  post  was  saved  and  speedily 
strengthened.  Little  enterprises  like  that  in  which  Colonel  Cass  was  engaged  (though 
none  were  so  important  in  their  actual  or  promised  results)  broke  the  monotony  of 
camp  life,  while  most  precious  time  was  passing  away — "  wasting,"  the  young  offi 
cers  said.  "  I  can  scarcely  restrain  my  indignation  sufficiently  while  writing  to  de 
scribe  the  event  in  deliberate  terms,"  said  one  of  them  in  1817.2  "The  officers,"  he 
says, "  from  this  occurrence,  began  to  distrust  the  views  of  the  general,  and  their 
opinion  of  his  abilities  began  to  dwindle  into  contempt." 

A  report  reached  the  camp,  on  the  evening  of  the  1 7th,a  that  the  Queen    a  Juiyj 
Charlotte,  a  British  armed  vessel  of  eighteen  guns,  at  Maiden,  was  sailing  up 
the  river,  and  committing  depredations  on  the  American  side.     Colonel  Findlay  was 
immediately  detached  with  a  small  reconnoitring  party  toward  the  Aux  Canards.    He 
found  the  planks  of  the  bridge  torn  up,  the  timbers  formed  into  a  breast-work  on  the 
south  side  of  the  stream,  and  the  Queen  Charlotte  lying  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
within  easy  supporting  distance.3     The  great  advantage  acquired  by  Colonel  Cass  in 
taking  possession  of  that  bridge  was  utterly  lost.     On  the  following  day,  a  small 
party,  under  Captain  Snelling,  went  down  as  a  corps  of  observation ;  and,  to  the  de 
light  of  the  whole  army,  Hull  issued  an  orderb  for  its  movement,  which  gave     b 
implied  assurance  of  an  immediate  march  on  Maiden.     Under  the  direction 
of  that  order,  Colonel  M' Arthur,  the  senior  officer;  marched  down  the  river,  on  the 
morning  of  the  19th,  with  a  detachment  of  his  regiment,  one  hundred  and  fifty  strong, 
and  joined  Captain  Snelling  at  the  Petit  Cote  settlement,  about  a  mile  above  the 
bridge. 

M' Arthur  was  instructed  to  ascertain  the  situation  of  affairs  at  the  Aux  Canards, 
but  not  to  go  within  reach  of  the  guns  of  the  Queen  Charlotte.  With  his  adjutant 
and  a  few  riflemen  he  went  to  the  top  of  a  ridge,  about  three  hundred  yards  from 
the  river,  to  reconnoitre.  He  ascertained  that  the  battery  on  the  south  side  of  the 
stream  was  supported  by  about  sixty  regulars,  one  hundred  and  fifty  Canadian  mili 
tia,  twenty-five  dragoons,  and  fifty  Indians.  Some  little  skirmishing  ensued  between 
the  Indians,  who  had  crossed  on  the  timbers  of  the  bridge,  and  the  American  rifle 
men  ;  and  Colonel  M' Arthur  was  fired  upon  by  a  gun-boat,  until  then  undiscovered, 
under  the  bank  of  the  river,  while  he  was  reconnoitring  the  position  of  the  Queen 
Charlotte.  He  also  came  near  being  cut  off  by  the  Indians.  Soon  after  this  the 
whole  detachment  engaged  in  two  skirmishes  with  the  Indians.  In  the  last  the 
latter  were  commanded  by  Tecumtha.  The  ammunition  of  the  Americans  becom- 

'  Auchinleck's  History  of  the  War  of  1812,  page  51. 

*  Robert  B.  M'Afee. — History  of  tJif  late  War  in  the  Western  Country,  page  65. 

3  A  short  distance  tip  the  Rouge  River,  and  not  far  from  Detroit,  was  a  ship-yard  (see  the  map),  where  a  small  brig, 
called  the  A  dams,  was  being  fitted  for  service  at  this  time,  under  the  direction  of  H.  H.  Brevoort,  of  the  navy,  who  was 
called  "  Commodore"  in  Hull's  orders.  From  the  12th  to  the  20th  of  July  great  exertions  were  made  to  perfect  her  prep 
arations. 


266 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Distrust  of  General  Hull. 


M'Arthnr  in  Command. 


ANDINGOF 

AMERICANS^JULY  5. I8'I2. 
TISH  BATTERIES 
REDOUBTAND 
FIED   CAMP    EVACUATED 


ing  scarce,  they  fell  back,  and 
M'Arthur  sent  an  express  to 
camp  for  re-enforcements.  On 
the  arrival  of  the  messenger, 
Colonel  Cass  hastened  down 
with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
men  and  a  six-pounder.  He 
met  the  retreating  detachment 
at  Turkey  Creek  Bridge,  when 
the  united  forces  pushed  on  to 
Petit  Cote,  and  there  encamped 
for  the  night.  The  enemy  had 
been  re-enforced  in  the  mean 
time  with  both  men  and  artil 
lery.  Cass  was  anxious  to  at 
tack  them,  and,  at  his  request, 
M'Arthur  ordered  the  whole 
force  toward  the  bridge.  A 
few  shots  of  the  six-pounder 
were  exchanged  with  the  artil 
lery  of  the  enemy,  but  with  lit 
tle  eifect ;  and  toward  evening 
the  whole  detachment  marched 
back  to  camp  fatigued  and  dis 
pirited,  and  bereft  of  all  confi 
dence  in  the  commanding  gen 
eral.  All  accused  him  of  in 
capacity  ;  many  of  them  de 
nounced  him  in  private  conver 
sation  as  a  coward,  and  a  few 
expressed  the  belief  that  he  was 

treacherous.     These  suspicions  were  confirmed  to  their  minds  by  his  leaving  his  army 

on  the  21st  of  July,  and  remaining  at  Detroit  fcmr  days,  without,  as  they  alleged, 

any  but  frivolous  pretexts.1 

During  the  absence  of  Hull,  the  command  of  the  troops  in  Canada  devolved  on 

Colonel  M'Arthur,2  who  resolved  to  make  an  eifort  to  attack  Maiden.    He  dispatched 

1  M'Afee, 'pages  CO  to  68. 

2  A  biographical  sketch  of  M'Arthur  will  be  found  in  another  part  of  this  work.    See  Index. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


267 


Skirmishes  with  the  Indians. 


First  Blood  shed  in  the  War. 


Michillimuckinack. 


Captain  M'Cullough,  with  Rangers,  to  seek  a 
passage  for  artillery  across  the  Canards  above 
the  bridge,  so  as  to  avoid  the  guns  of  the  bat 
tery  and  the  Queen  Charlotte.  He  found  it 
impracticable,  on  account  of  the  deep  morass 
es  that  bordered  the  stream  for  several  miles. 
Informed  that  the  Indians  had  been  seen  be 
tween  the  Aux  Canards  and  Turkey  Creek, 
M' Arthur  sent  Major  Denny  and  one  hundred 
and  seventeen  men,  all  militia,  to  drive  them 
back.  The  major  marched  on  the  night  of 
the  24th,  and  early  next  morning  found  an  In 
dian  ambuscade  in  the  Petit  Cote  settlement, 
where  he  captured  a  French  captain  of  a  mi 
litia  company  then  at  Maiden.  During  the 
day  he  had  skirmishes  with  the  savages.  In 
the  last  a  part  of  his  line  gave  way,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  retreat  in  confusion,  pur 
sued  Tor  two  miles  and  a 
half  by  the  Indians.1  Near 
Turkey  Creek  Bridge  the 
major  endeavored  to  rally 
his  men,  but  in  vain.  They 
crossed  the  bridge,  and  met  General  Lucas  with  re-enforcements,  when  the  whole 
party  returned  to  camp.2  Denny  had  lost  six  killed  and  two  wounded.  This  was 

the  FIRST  BLOOD  SHED  IN  THE  WAR.3 

While  the  little  invading  army  were  perplexed  with  doubts  and  fears,  and  startled 
by  dreadful  suspicions  concerning  their  commander-in-chief,  alarming  intelligence 
came  from  the  north — the  far  distant  and  mysterious  region  of  the1  upper  lakes,  which 
was  considered  the  great  hive  of  the  savages.  In  the  bosom  of  the  clear,  cold,  deep 
waters  of  the  strait  between  Lakes  Huron  and  Michigan — a  strait  forty  miles  in 
length  and  four  in 
breadth  —  stands  a 
limestone  rock,  about 
seven  miles  in  circum 
ference,  rising  in  its 
centre  to  an  altitude 
of  nearly  three  hund 
red  feet,  and  covered 
with  a  rough  and 
generous  soil,  out  of 
which  springs  heavy 

timber.      The  Indians,  MACKINACK,  FEOM  BOUND  ISLAND.* 

speaking  the  Algonquin  tongue,  impressed  with  its  shape,  called  it  Michillimackinack, 
which  signifies  The  Great  Turtle.     On  the  opposite  shore,  which  is  the  most  north- 

1  British  authorities  say  that  there  were  only  twenty-two  Indians,  of  the  Minoumin  tribe,  in  this  engagement.— See 
Auchinleck,  page  52. 

2  Major  Denny,  at  his  own  request,  was  subjected  to  the  scrutiny  of  a  court  of  inquiry,  over  which  Colonel  M'Arthur 
presided.    He  was  acquitted  of  all  blame. 

3  The  check  given  to  the  Americans  at  the  Aux  Canards  was  made  the  subject  of  congratulation  in  a  general  order 
issued  by  General  Brock  on  the  Gth  of  August. 

*  On  the  right  is  seen  the  projecting  crag  called  Robinson's  Folly;  on  the  left  the  Lover's  Leap;  and  in  the  centre 
Fort  Mackinack,  with  the  village  of  Mackiuack  below  it.  Old  Fort  Holmes,  now  a  ruin,  is  on  the  higher  ground  in  the 
rear.  This  view  is  from  a  sketch  by  C.  F.  Davis,  made  in  August  in  1839  from  Round  Island,  and  is  pronounced  by  those 
who  have  visited  Mackinack  to  be  faithful. 


268  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Pontiac's  Confederacy.  Treachery  of  the  Indians.  A  Massacre.  Scenery  at  Mackinaw. 

erly  point  of  the  peninsula  of  Michigan,  the  French  Jesuit  missionaries  planted  the 
symbol  of  Christianity  as  early  as  1671,  and  called  the  Head-land  Point  of  Ignatius. 
La  Salle,  the  discoverer  of  the  Mississippi,  with  Father  Hennepin  and  others,  were 
there  in  1679 ;  and  by  the  side  of  the  standard  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  they  erected  a 
strong-hold  of  war,  and  called  it  Fort  Michillimackinack.  The  name  was  abbreviated 
to  Mackinack  (pronounced  Mackinaw),  and  that  orthography  we  will  adopt. 

When,  on  the  conquest  of  Canada  from  the  French,  this  post  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  English,  the  savages  that  filled  the  country  remained  hostile  to  their  new  mas 
ters.  "  You  have  conquered  the  French,"  they  said, "  but  you  have  not  conquered 
us."  The  mighty  Pontiac,  the  Ottawa  chief,  was  then  forming  his  giant  confederacy 
in  the  Northwest  for  the  extermination  of  the  English  westward  of  the  Niagara. 
The  principal  tribes  of  that  region  were  the  Ottawas  and  Ojibwas,  or  Chippewas. 
The  latter  were  the  most  powerful.  Their  most  important  village  was  upon  the 
back  of  Michillimackinack,  The  Great  Turtle,  in  the  strait,  where  a  hundred  warriors 
resided. 

On  the  morning  of  the  king's  birthday,a  1763,  the  forests  and  Fort  Mack- 

a  Jung  4,  »  ' 

inack  was  filled  with  the  Ojibwas.  They  professed  warm  friendship  for  the 
English,  and  invited  the  garrison  out  to  see  their  great  game  of  ball,  the  favorite 
amusement  of  the  Indians.  It  was  a  gay  and  exciting  scene.  At  length  a  ball  went 
up  from  the  midst  of  the  players  in  a  lofty  curve,  and  fell  near  the  pickets  of  the  fort. 
It  was  a  preconcerted  signal.  The  warriors  rushed  toward  the  fort  as  if  in  quest  of 
the  ball.  Their  hands  were  soon  filled  with  gleaming  hatchets,  which  the  squaws 
had  concealed  beneath  their  blankets.  A  bloody  massacre  ensued.  After  a  satur 
nalia  of  several  days,  the  Indians,  alarmed  by  rumors  of  the  approach  of  a  strong  En 
glish  force,  took  refuge  on  the  island — three  hundred  and  fifty  warriors,  with  their 
families  and  household  effects — carrying  with  them  Alexander  Henry,  an  English 
trader,  who  had  been  saved  from  the  massacre  by  the  hands  of  friendly  Indians.  The 
following  year  Fort  Mackinack  was  garrisoned  by  the  English.  The  Indians  had 
fled  from  the  island,  and  settlements  upon  it  immediately  commenced.  It  is  a  most 
delightful  spot.  As  seen  from  the  water,  it  presents  a  most  striking  picture  of  white 
cliffs,  contrasting  beautifully  with  the  green  foliage  that  half  covers  them.  In  the 
centre  the  land  rises  in  wooded  heights,  in  some  places  three  hundred  feet  above  the 
lake.  The  rocks  form  fantastic  shapes.  Here  may  be  seen  a  cave,  there  a  towering 

pinnacle,  and  in  other  places  gorges  are  span 
ned  by  natural  bridges.  One  of  the  most 
noted  of  these  is  the  Arch  Rock,  second  only 
in  picturesqueness  to  the  famous  Natural 
Bridge  in  Virginia.  The  crown  is  over  one 
hundred  feet  above  the  water,  and  almost 
forty  above  the  ground.  It  was  formed  by 
the  falling  out  of  great  masses  of  stone.  The 
Rabbit's  Peak,  the  Sugar-loaf,  Plutonic  Cave, 
Devil's  Kitchen,  Giant's  Causeway,  and  the 
Lover's  Leap,  are  all  famous  places,  and  clus 
tered  with  stirring  legends  connected  with 
the  French  and  English  occupation,  or  run 
ning  back  to  the  dim  old  traditions  of  the 
Children  of  the  Forest.  But  I  will  not  occu 
py  more  space  in  describing  this  now  famous 
summer  resort  for  tourists  and  sportsmen — a 
place  I  have  never  visited.  I  was  about  to 
take  passage  at  Chicago  for  the  strait  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  when  I  heard  that  snows 
had  fallen  there,  and  that  the  sceptre  of  Boreas  was  omnipotent  over  all  those  north- 


AKCII   liiK'K,    .MACK1.NAOK. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


269 


Fort  Mackinaw  and  its  Surroundings. 


Military  Occupation  of  the  Island. 


A  coveted  Prize. 


FORT   MACKINACK. 


ern  waters.  So  I  turned  my 
face  homeward,  content  to 
rely  upon  others  for  all  need 
ful  information.  At  Detroit 
I  found  the  sketch  of  a  dis 
tant  view  of  Mackinack  Isl 
and,  printed  on  page  267  ; 
and  from  Ballou's  Drawing- 
room  Companion  I  have  cop 
ied  the  Arch  Rock,  and  a 
near  view  of  Mackinaw  vil 
lage  and  fort,  sketched  by  an 
officer  of  the  United  States 
Army. 

Mackinack  came  into  the 
possession  of  the  United 
States  in  1796,  when  the 
Western  military  posts  were 
finally  surrendered  by  the 
British;  and  in  1812,  Fort  Holmes,1  on  the  high  southwest  bluff  of  the  island  over 
looking  the  fine  harbor,  was  garrisoned  by  fifty-seven  men,  rank  and  file,  under  the 
command  of  Lieutenant  Porter  Hancks,  of  the  United  States  Artillery.  The  post 
was  a  very  important  one  as  a  defense  to  the  fur-traders,  and  a  check  upon  the  In 
dians.  The  fort  stood  upon  a  bluff  overlooking  the  fine  semicircular  harbor,  a  mile 
in  extent,  with  an  uninterrupted  view  into  Lake  Huron  to  the  northeast,  and  Lake 
Michigan  on  the  west.  It  was  entirely  commanded  by  the  higher  ground  in  the 
rear,  on  which  was  a  stockade  defended  by  two  block-houses,  in  each  of  which  a  brass 
six-pounder  was  mounted.  On  a  battery  in  front  were  two  long  nine-pounders,  two 
howitzers,  and  a  brass  three-pounder.  These  commanded  the  approach  to  the  gate. 
The  magazine  was  bomb-proof,  but  without  much  ammunition  or  many  implements 
of  war.2 

Such  was  the  American  post  in  the  far  off  wilderness,  isolated  from  the  haunts  of 
civilized  life  more  than  one  half  of  the  year  by  ice  and  snow,  surrounded  by  hordes 
of  savages  ready  to  raise  the  hatchet  in  the  pay  of  those  who  might  seem  to  be  the 
stronger  party,  and  liable,  in  the  event  of  war,  to  assault  by  allied  British  and  In 
dians  from  Fort  St.  Joseph,  on  an  island  of  that  name  about  forty  miles  northeast 
from  Mackinack,  in  command  of  Captain  Charles  Roberts,  and  garrisoned  with  a  de 
tachment  of  the  Tenth  Royal  Veteran  Battalion,  forty-six  in  number.  This  fort  had 
been  erected  in  the  spring  of  1812  by  order  of  the  vigilant  General  Brock,  and  that 
circumstance  had  given  some  uneasiness  to  Lieutenant  Hancks.  Rumors  of  expect 
ed  hostilities  had  already  been  conveyed  to  him  by  traders,  but  the  first  knowledge 
that  he  received  of  the  actual  declaration  of  war  was  from  Captain  Roberts,  who,  on 
the  morning  of  the  17th  of  July,  appeared  at  Mackinack  with  his  garrison  of  British 
regulars,  two  hundred  and  sixty  Canadian  militia,  and  seven  hundred  and  fifteen  In 
dians,  chiefly  of  the  tribes  of  the  Sioux,  Ottawas,  Winnebagoes,  and  Ojibwas  (Chip- 
pewas),  and  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  post. 

Captain  Roberts  was  a  vigilant  and  energetic  officer.  As  soon  as  Sir  Isaac  Brock 
was  apprised,  at  Fort  George,  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  of  the  declaration  of  war,  he 

1  Named  in  honor  of  Lieutenant  Holmes,  of  Rodgers's  Rangers,  so  celebrated  in  the  French  and  Indian  war.    He  was 
in  command  of  Fort  Miami,  on  the  Maumee  River,  in  17C3.    He  was  murdered  there  on  the  27th  of  May,  1703,  through 
the  treachery  of  a  young  Indian  girl  who  lived  with  him.    She  represented  to  him  that  a  squaw  lay  dangerously  ill  in  a 
wigwam  not  far  off,  and  desired  him  to  bleed  her.    He  went  out  for  the  purpose,  and  was  shot.    The  sergeant  who  went 
out  to  learn  the  cause  was  made  a  prisoner,  and  the  fort  was  captured. 

2  History  of  the  Second  War  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  Great  Britain,  by  Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  i.,  80. 


270  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Expedition  against  Mackinack.  First  Intimation  of  Danger.  Demand  for  the  Surrender  of  the  Fort. 

» June  26      dispatched  an  express*  to  Captain  Roberts  with  the  important  intelligence. 

isi2.  A  jetter  from  another  hand,  as  we  have  observed,  had  already  given  that 
information  to  Roberts.  Brock  ordered  him  to  attack  Mackinack  immediately,  if 
practicable ;  or,  in  the  event  of  his  being  attacked  by  the  Americans,  to  defend  his 
post  to  the  last  extremity.  Another  order,  issued  two  days  later,b  directed 
him  to  summon  to  his  assistance  the  neighboring  Indian  tribes,  British  and 
American,  and  to  solicit  the  co-operation  of  the  employes  of  the  Northwest  Fur 
Company  in  that  vicinity.  Still  another  was  issued,  giving  Captain  Roberts  discre 
tionary  powers. 

Mr.  Pothier,  the  agent  of  the  Northwest  Company,  was  then  at  St.  Joseph's,  and 
Roberts  laid  before  him  his  plan  of  operations.  Pothier  approved  of  them,  and  placed 
all  the  resources  of  the  company  at  that  point  at  his  disposal ;  and  he  offered  to  com 
mand  in  person  one  hundred  and  fifty  Canadian  voyayeurs,  then  employed  in  the 
company's  service,  and  within  call. 

On  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  July — a  bright  and  beautiful  morning — the  wind 
blowing  gently  from  the  northwest,  Captain  Roberts  embarked  with  his  whole  force, 
civilized,  semi-civilized,  and  savage,  for  Mackinack,  in  boats,  bateaux,  and  canoes, 
accompanied  by  two  six-pounders,  and  convoyed  by  the  brig  Caledonia,  belonging 
to  the  Northwest  Fur  Company,  which  was  laden  with  provisions  and  stores.  Mean 
while  the  doomed  garrison  at  Mackinack  was  ignorant  of  the  declaration  of  war  and 
the  impending  blow.  Lieutenant  Hancks  had  observed  with  some  uneasiness  the 
sudden  coolness  of  Ottawa  and  Ojibwa  chiefs,  who  had  professed  great  friendship 
only  a  few  days  before ;  and  on  the  morning  when  Roberts  sailed  from  St.  Joseph's, 
the  Indian  interpreter  at  Mackinack  told  Hancks  that  he  had  been  assured  that  the 
Indians,  who  had  just  assembled  in  great  numbers  at  St.  Joseph's,  were  about  to  at 
tack  Fort  Holmes.  Hancks  immediately  summoned  the  American  gentlemen  on  the 
island  to  a  conference.  It  was  thought  by  them  expedient  to  send  a  confidential 
agent  to  St.  Joseph's  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  the  temper  of  the  commandant  of  the 
garrison,  and  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Indians.  Captain  Daurman  was  sent 
on  that  errand.  He  embarked  at  about  sunset  on  the  16th.c  The  moon  was 
at  its  full,  and  Avhen  night  fell  upon  the  waters  they  were  softly  illuminated 
by  its  dim  effulgence. 

Captain  Daurman  had  accomplished  fifteen  miles  of  his  voyage  when  he  met  the 
hostile  flotilla,  and  was  made  a  prisoner.  He  was  paroled  on  the  condition  that  he 
should  land  on  Mackinaw  in  advance  of  the  invaders,  summon  the  inhabitants  to  its 
west  side  to  receive  the  protection  of  a  British  guard  for  their  persons  and  property, 
and  not  to  give  any  information  to  Hancks  of  the  approach  of  the  expedition.  He 
was  also  instructed  to  warn  the  inhabitants  that  all  who  should  go  to  the  fort  would 
be  subject  to  a  general  massacre  ! 

Daurman  was  landed  just  at  dawn,  and  fulfilled  the  provisions  of  his  parole  to  the 
very  letter.  But,  while  the  inhabitants  were  flying  from  the  village  to  seek  British 
protection  from  the  blood-thirsty  saA'ages,  Dr.  Day,  an  American  gentleman,  more 
courageous  than  the  rest,  hastened  to  the  fort  and  gave  the  alarm.  This  was  the 
first  intimation  that  reached  Hancks  of  the  approach  of  an  enemy.  That  enemy  had 
already  landed,  and  taken  one  of  his  two  heavy  guns,  in  the  gray  morning  twilight 
of  the  17th,  to  the  crown  of  the  island,  in  the  rear  of  the  fort,  and  placed  it  in  bat 
tery  so  as  to  command  the  American  works  at  their  weakest  point.  It  was  too  late 
for  Hancks  to  prepare  for  defense.  By  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  Roberts  had  pos 
session  of  the  heights,  and  the  woods  back  of  the  fort  seemed  to  be  swarming  with 
painted  savages.  At  half  past  eleven  a  summons  was  made  for  the  immediate  sur 
render  of  the  fort,  garrison,  and  island  "to  the  forces  of  his  Britannic  majesty." 
"  This,"  said  Hancks,  in  his  report  to  the  government, "  was  the  first  intimation  I 
had  of  the  declaration  of  war."  Haiicks  held  a  consultation  with  his  officers  and  the 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  271 

Surrender  of  Mackinaw.  .The  Consequences.  Employment  of  the  Indians  by  the  British. 

American  gentlemen  in  the  fort,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  overwhelming  force,  and 
the  character  of  the  assailants,  made  it  expedient  to  surrender.1  Honorable  terms 
were  allowed  by  capitulation,  and  at  meridian  the  American  colors  were  taken  down, 
and  those  of  Great  Britain  were  put  in  their  place.  The  garrison  marched  out  with 
the  honors  of  war.  The  prisoners  were  all  paroled,  and  those  who  decided  to  leave 
Mackinaw  were  conveyed  in  a  British  cai'tel  to  Detroit.  An  order  was  then  issued 
warning  all  those  upon  Mackinack  who  would  not  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
British  government  to  leave  the  island  within  a  month  from  the  date  of  the  capitu 
lation.  All  private  property  was  held  sacred,  and  the  Indians  were  thoroughly  re 
strained.  "  It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance,"  wrote  John  Askin,  Jr.,a  of  the  » juiy  is, 
British  Store-keeper's  Department,  to  Colonel  William  Glaus  at  Fort  George, 
"  that  the  fort  surrendered  without  firing  a  single  gun,  for  had  they  done  so  I  firmly 
believe  not  a  soul  of  them  would  have  been  saved."  This  admission  on  the  part  of  a 
British  officer  connected  with  the  expedition,  and  who  commanded  two  hundred  and 
eighty  of  the  savages,  stains  indelibly  the  character  of  the  government  that  employ 
ed  such  instrumentalities  —  a  practice  which  the  great  Earl  of  Chatham  had  vehe 
mently  denounced  on  the  floor  of  the  British  Parliament  more  than  thirty  years  be 
fore.2 

The  capture  of  Mackinack  was  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  British  interests, 
immediate  and  prospective.  Valuable  stores  and  seven  hundred  packages  of  costly 
furs  were  among  the  spoils  of  victory.  The  key  to  the  fur-trade  of  a  vast  region  was 
placed  in  the  possession  of  the  enemies  of  the  United  States.  The  command  of  the 
Upper  Lakes,  with  all  its  vast  advantages,  was  transferred  to  that  enemy.  The 
prison  bar  that  kept  back  the  savages  of  that  region  and  secured  their  neutrality  was 
drawn,  and  Detroit  was  exposed  to  fearful  raids  by  those  fierce  barbarians  of  the 
wilderness,  whose  numbers  were  unknown,  and  the  dread  of  whom  made  all  the  front 
ier  settlements  shudder  with  horror. 

Such  was  another  result  of  the  criminal  remissness,  willful  neglect,  or  imbecility 
of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Hancks  might  have  been  apprised  of  the  declaration  of 
hostilities  nearly  a  week  earlier  than  the  information  reached  Roberts.  American 
instead  of  British  efforts  might  have  been  successful,  and  the  captured  fortress  might 
have  been  a  British  instead  of  an  American  post. 

1  "  Three  American  gentlemen,  who  were  prisoners,  were  permitted  to  accompany  the  flag  ;  from  them  I  ascertained 
the  strength  of  the  enemy  to  be  from  nine  hundred  to  one  thousand  string.  .  .  .  The  following  particulars  relating  to 
the  British  force  were  obtained  after  the  capitulation  from  a  source  that  admits  of  no  doubt :  Regular  troops,  40,  includ 
ing  four  officers  ;  Canadian  militia,  260.    Total,  300.    Savaf/es— Sioux,  50 ;  Winnebagoes,  48 ;  Tallesawains,  39 ;  Chippe- 
was  and  Ottawas,  5T2.    Total,  1021.    It  may  be  remarked  that  one  hundred  and  fifty  Chippewas  and  Ottawas  joined  the 
British  two  days  after  the  capitulation."— Lieutenant  Hancks's  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  August  4, 1812. 

2  In  the  course  of  a  debate  in  1777  concerning  the  employment  of  Indians,  a  member  of  the  House  of  Lords  justified 
their  employment  by  saying  that  the  British  had  a  right  to  use  the  means  "which  God  and  Nature  had  given  them." 
Pitt  (Earl  of  Chatham)  scornfully  repeated  these  words.     "God  and  Nature  !    Those  abominable  principles,  and  this 
most  abominable  avowal  of  them,  demands  most  decisive  indignation.    I  call  upon  that  right  reverend  bench  (pointing 
to  the  bishops),  those  holy  ministers  of  the  Gospel  and  pious  pastors  of  the  Church— I  conjure  them  to  join  in  the  holy 
work,  and  to  vindicate  the  religion  of  their  God."    His  appeal  to  the  bishops  was  vain.    Every  man  of  them  voted  for 
the  employment  of  the  savages  in  a  war  against  their  brethren  in  America,  then  struggling  for  their  freedom. 

During  the  war  of  1812  British  publicists  continually  insisted  upon  the  necessity  of  conciliating  the  Indians,  making 
them  allies,  and  using  them  as  terrible  instruments  of  warfare.  One  of  them,  in  the  British  fyuirtcrly  Review,  No.  4, 
called  piteously  upon  the  British  government  to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  savages.  "The  aboriginal  natives,"  he 
said,  "had  beeu  our  faithful  allies  during  the  whole  of  the  American  rebellion,  yet  not  a  single  stipulation  was  made  in 
their  favor.  .  .  .  We  dare  assert,  and  recent  facts  [the  aid  given  by  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity  of  Detroit]  have  gone  far 
in  establishing  the  truth  of  the  proposition,  that  the  Cauadas  can  not  be  effectually  anl  durdblj  defended  without  the  friend 
ship  of  the  Indians ."' 


272  FICTO RIAL    FIELD- BOOK 


Alarming  Rumors  and  Facts.  .  A  mutinous  Spirit  in  Hull's  Army. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

"  They  who  have  nothing  more  to  fear  may  well 
Indulge  a  smile  at  that  which  once  appall'd, 
As  children  at  discovered  bugbears." 

BYKON:  Sardanapalus. 

ISASTROUS  in  the  highest  degree  to  the  American  cause  was 
the  fall  of  Mackinack,  and  the  prospect  which  it  presented  to 
Hull  was  justly  appalling.     His  uneasiness  was  increased  by  in 
telligence  that  came  almost  hourly  of  the  web  of  extreme  diffi 
culties  fast  weaving  around  him.     He  had  sent  to  the  Govern 
ors  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky  for  re-enforcements  and  supplies,  but 
*  he  had,  as  yet,  no  positive  tidings  of  their  approach.     From  the 
north  came  sounds  of  dreadful  import  to  a  handful  of  isolated 
soldiers.     The  savage  chiefs  in  alliance  with  the  British  at  Mackinack  had  sent  cou- 

~ 

riers  to  all  the  villages  south  as  far  as  the  Maumee,  informing  their  warriors  of  that 
alliance,  of  the  fall  of  Mackinack,  of  the  investment  of  Chicago,  and  of  their  active 
preparations  to  proceed  to  Maiden  in  great  force,  to  join  other  warriors  there,  and 
attack  Detroit.  From  the  east  came  a  rumor  that  the  Canadians  and  savages  in  that 
direction  were  also  hasting  toward  Maiden,  and  that  a  detachment  of  British  sol 
diers,  with  artillery,  under  the  command  of  Major  Chambers,  had  landed  at  the 
west  end  of  Lake  Ontario,  penetrated  in  the  direction  of  Detroit  as  far  as  the  River 
Trench,  or  Thames,  and  were  receiving  great  accessions  of  militia  and  Indians  on 
their  march.  The  alarm  created  by  these  facts  and  rumors  was  immediately  intensi- 
•  August  4,  fied  by  farther  reports*  that  Colonel  Proctor,  of  the  British  army,  had  ar 
rived  at  Maiden  from  Fort  Erie  with  re-enforcements.1  Then  came  over 
from  Sandwich  an  intercepted  letter  from  a  member  of  tfie  Northwest  Company  at 
Fort  William,  dated  two  days  after  the  fall  of  Mackinack,  sdying  that,  on  the  receipt 
of  the  declaration  of  war,  their  agents  ordered  a  general  muster  of  their  forces,  which 
amounted  to  twelve  hundred  men,  exclusive  of  several  hundreds  of  the  natives.  "  We 
are  equal,  in  all,"  he  said,  "  to  sixteen  or  seventeen  hundred  strong.  One  of  our  gen 
tlemen  started  on  the  17th  with  several  light  canoes  for  the  interior  country  to  rouse 
the  natives  to  activity,  which  is  not  hard  to  do  on  the  present  occasion.  We  like 
wise  dispatched  messengers  in  all  directions  with  the  news.  I  have  not  the  least 
doubt  but  our  force  two  days  hence  will  amount  to  five  thousand  effective  men. 
Our  young  gentlemen  and  engagees  offered  most  handsomely  to  march  immediately 
for  Michillimackinack.  Our  chief,  Mr.  Shaw,  expressed  his  gratitude,  and  drafted  one 
hundred.  They  are  to  proceed  this  evening  for  St.  Joseph's.  He  takes  about  as 
many  Indians.  Could  the  vessel  contain  them,  he  might  have  had  four  thousand 
more.  It  now  depends  on  what  accounts  we  receive  from  St.  Joseph's,  whether  these 
numerous  tribes  from  the  interior  will  proceed  to  St.  Joseph's  or  not."2 

In  addition  to  these  causes  for  alarm,  Hull  discovered  a  spirit  of  mutiny  in  his  own 
camp  which  gave  him  more  uneasiness  still — a  spirit,  he  said,  "  which  before  had 
manifested  itself  in  whispers,  increased  and  became  more  open.  It  was  evident  it 
was  now  fostered  and  encouraged  by  the  principal  officers  of  the  militia,  and  was 


cite 


1  Hull's  Campaign  of  1812,  page  58. 

2  Letter  of  Mr.  M'Kenzie,  of  the  Northwest  Company,  at  Fort  William,  to  Mr.  M'lutosh,  of  Sandwich,  July  19, 1812, 
ted  by  Hull  in  his  Campaijn  0/1812,  pnge  53. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF   1812.  273 


Energy  and  Vigilance  of  General  Brock.  Inactivity  of  Governor  Prevost.  The  Car  Brigade. 

fast  rising  into  an  avowed  conspiracy."1     This  mutinous  spirit  we  shall  consider 
presently. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  General  Hull  and  his  army  at  the  middle  of  the  first 
week  in  August,  when  the  cheering  intelligence  reached  them  that  Captain  Henry 
Brush,  of  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  with  two  hundred  and  thirty  volunteers,  one  hundred 
beef  cattle  and  other  provisions,  and  a  mail,  were  at  the  crossing  of  the  River  Rai 
sin,  thirty-five  miles  distant. 

The  energy  and  vigilance  of  Major  General  Brock,  and  the  lack  of  these  qualities 
at  this  time  in  General  Hull,  saved  Upper  Canada  from  a  disastrous  invasion.  The 
amiable  Sir  George  Prevost,  the  governor  general,  was  spending  precious  time  at 
Quebec  in  absolute  unbelief  of  impending  war,  while  Brock,  who,  in  Octo 
ber,1  1811,  had  been  made  "president  and  administrator  of  the  govern 
ment  of  Upper  Canada" — that  is  to  say,  lieutenant  governor — perceived,  from  the 
moment  of  his  arrival  at  his  post,  that  war  was  inevitable,  and  made  preparations 
accordingly.  He  was  vigilant,  active,  sagacious,  and  brave,  and  made  the  most  of 
his  inadequate  resources  to  repel  the  invasion  of  Hull.  From  the  beginning  he  was 
opposed  to  the  employment  of  the  Indians,  and  discountenanced  the  attempts  to 
arouse  their  resentment  against  the  Americans  before  war  was  declared ;  but  neces 
sity  compelled  him  to  accept  their  services.2  He  endeavored  to  strengthen  the  re 
mote  military  posts.  When  navigation  opened  in  the  spring  of  1812,  he  sent  a  sup 
ply  of  ordnance  and  stores  to  St.  Joseph's  and  to  Amherstburg.  He  visited  the  lat 
ter  post  early  in  June,  taking  with  him  a  re-enforcement  of  one  hundred  men  of  the 
Forty-first  Regiment.  But  in  all  his  movements  he  was  restrained  by  his  superior. 
As  late  as  his  departure  for  Amherstburg,  Sir  George  Prevost,  not  believing  hostili 
ties  to  be  near,  recommended  him  to  employ  the  most  rigid  economy  in  the  public 
expenditure,  and  to  avoid  all  expenses  not  absolutely  necessary,  because  of  the  great 
difficulty  of  raising  money. 

When  intelligence  of  the  declaration  of  war  reached  Brock  he  was  at  York,  now 
Toronto,  the  capital  of  his  province.  He  had  just  been  offered  a  company  of  farm 
ers'  sons,  with  their  draught-horses,  for  the  equipment  of  a  car  brigade,  under  Cap 
tain  Holcroft,  of  the  Royal  Artillery.  He  was  considering  this  generous  offer  of  the 
yeomanry  when  the  startling  news  arrived.  It  was  immediately  accepted.  An  ex 
traordinary  session  of  the  Legislature  was  summoned ;  and  with  Evans,  his  brigade 
major,  and  his  aid-de-camp,  Captain  Glegg,  he  hastened  to  Fort  George,  on  the  Ni 
agara  frontier,  and  there  established  his  military  head-quarters.  His  intention  was 
to  cross  the  Niagara  River  immediately  and  capture  the  American  fort  of  that  name, 
but  he  shrank  from  the  responsibility  of  taking  such  an  important  step  without  in 
structions,  at  the  same  time  assuring  his  superior  that  it  might  be  "  demolished,  when 
found  necessary,  in  half  an  hour."3  He  contented  himself  with  making  preparations 
for  offensive  or  defensive  movements,  as  circumstances  might  require.  The  militia 
of  the  peninsula  between  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario  being  summoned  to  his  standard, 
eight  hundred  men  responded  by  their  presence.  Yielding  to  necessity,  he  called 
upon  the  Indians  on  the  Grand  River  for  aid,  and  a  hundred  came,  under  John  Brant, 
bringing  promise  of  the  speedy  appearance  of  the  remainder.4 

By  the  3d  of  July  the  "  car  brigade"  was  completed,  with  horses  belonging  to  gen 
tlemen  "  who  spared  them  free  of  expense."  Meanwhile  the  Americans  had  gath 
ered  a  considerable  force  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  scattered  at  different  points 

1  Hull's  Campaign  of  1812,  page  60.    See  note  3,  page  260  of  this  work. 

2  In  a  letter  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  written  December  3, 1811,  after  hearing  of  the  Tippecanoe  affair,  he  said:  "My 
first  care,  on  my  arrival  in  this  province,  was  to  direct  the  officers  of  the  Indian  Department  at  Amhersthurg  to  exert 
their  whole  influence  with  the  Indians  to  prevent  the  attack  which  I  understood  a  few  tribes  meditated  against  the 
American  frontier." 

3  Letters  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  July  3  and  25, 1812,  cited  by  Tupper  in  his  Life  of  Brock,  pages  171  and  198. 

4  Letter  of  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  July  3, 1812. 

s 


274 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Alarm  caused  by  Hull's  Invasion. 


Brock  before  the  Canadian  Legislature. 


That  Body  despondent. 


FOET   NIAGARA,  FROM   FORT   GKOIMjE. 


along  a  line  of  thirty  miles  from  Buffalo  to  Fort  Niagara,  and  estimated  by  General 
Brock  to  be  twelve  hundred  strong.1 

On  the  20th  of  July  Brock  received  intelligence  of  Hull's  invasion;  also  a  copy  of 
his  proclamation,  with  hints  of  its  eifect.  Those  hints,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  weak 
ness  of  Fort  Maiden,  alarmed  him.2  The  Legislature,  about  to  meet  at  York,  would 
require  his  presence,  and  he  could  not  leave  for  the  field  in  the  West,  as  he  desired 
to  do.  Divided  duties  perplexed  him.  He  instantly  recalled  a  portion  of  the  militia 
whom  he  had  permitted  to  go  home  to  gather  in  the  grain  harvest,  and  they  mur 
mured.  He  dispatched  Colonel  Proctor,  of  the  Forty-first  Regiment,  with  such  re- 
enforcements  as  he  could  spare,  to  assume  command  at  Amherstburg,  and  the  inhab- 
a  July  22,  itants  of  the  Niagara  border  felt  themselves  abandoned.  He  issued  a  coun- 

S12-        ter-proclamationa  to  neutralize  the  effect  of  Hull's,  and  hope  revived. 

Leaving  the  military  along  the  Niagara  frontier  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Myers,  Brock  hastened  to  York,  and,  with  much  parade,  opened  the  Legislature  in 
person.  His  address  was  cordially  responded  to ;  but  he  soon  found  that  the  Legis 
lature  partook,  in  a  large  degree,  of  the  despondency  of  a  great  portion  of  the  people 
of  Upper  Canada,  which  Hull's  menacing  proclamation  and  actual  invasion  had  pro 
duced.  Five  hundred  militia  in  the  Western  District  had  already  sought  Hull's  pro 
tection  ;  the  Norfolk  militia,  most  of  them  connected  by  blood  with  the  inhabitants 
of  the  United  States,  peremptorily  refused  to  take  up  arms;  and  the  Indians  on  the 
Grand  River,  in  the  heart  of  the  province,  after  s.ome  of  their  chiefs  returned  fi'om  a 
visit  to  Hull,  refused,  with  few  exceptions,  to  join  the  British  standard,  declaring  their 
intention  to  remain  neutral.  With  such  promises  of  failure  and  disaster  before  them 
if  resistance  should  be  made,  a  majority  of  the  Assembly  were  more  disposed  to  sub- 

1  Brock  was  very  anxious  to  capture  Fort  Niagara,  but  was  restrained  by  his  superior.    Sir  George  Prevost  believed 
it  to  be  a  party  war,  and  was  unwilling  to  do  that  which  might  rouse  the  national  spirit  of  the  Americans,  and  unite 
both  parties  against  the  British.    He  believed  that  the  war  party  could  not  carry  on  hostilities  long.    He  therefore 
commanded  Brock  to  act  strictly  on  the  defensive. 

2  Hull,  as  we  have  seen,  invaded  Canada  and  issued  his  proclamation  on  the  12th  of  July,  but  it  was  not  until  the  15th 
that  Lieutenant  Colonel  St.  George  wrote  to  General  Brock  on  the  subject.    "It  is  strange,"  said  the  latter,  "that 
three  days  should  be  allowed  to  elapse  before  sending  to  acquaint  me  of  this  important  fact.    Hull's  insidious  procla 
mation,"*  he  continued,  "herewith  inclosed,  has  already  been  productive  of  considerable  effect  on  the  minds  of  the  peo 
ple.    In  fact,  a  general  sentiment  prevails  that,  with  the  present  force,  resistance  is  unavailing.    I  shall  continue  to 
exert  myself  to  the  utmost  to  overcome  every  difficulty."— Brock  to  Prevost,  Fort  George,  July  20, 1812. 

*  The  editor  of  the  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  speaking  of  the  invasion,  says,  "Brigadier  General 
Hull  issued  on  that  day  the  following  insidious  but  able  proclamation,  which  was  doubtless  written  at  Washington."— 
See  Life,  etc.,  page  185. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  275 


Symptoms  of  Disloyalty  in  Canada.  Brock's  Influence.  His  Proclamation.  Volunteer  Militia. 

mit,  and  to  court  the  favor  of  the  invaders,  than  to  stand  np  boldly  in  defense  of 
their  province.  Mr.  Wilcox,  a  prominent  politician  of  York  or  Toronto,  and  editor 
of  a  leading  newspaper,  took  strong  ground  in  favor  of  the  Americans,  but  he  was 
finally  overawed  by  the  energy  and  influence  of  Brock,  and  induced  to  offer  him  the 
use  of  his  pen  and  services.  Wilcox  was  not  a  hearty  supporter  of  the  British,  and 
afterward  joined  the  American  army,  in  the  service  of  which  he  was  killed  at  Fort 
Erie.  Perceiving  this  alarming  symptom  of  disloyalty,  and  apprehending  more  evil 
than  good  from  the  presence,  in  a  body,  at  the  capital  of  these  timid  representatives 
of  the  people,  Brock  prorogued  the  Assembly  as  soon  as  it  had  passed  the  necessary 
supply  bills.1  He  had  sought  in  vain  for  its  leave  to  suspend  the  Habeas  Corpus 
Act  or  to  declare  martial  law  when  necessary ;  but,  after  consultation  with  his  coun 
cil,  Brock  resolved  to  do  both,  should  certain  exigencies  occur.2 

Brock's  confident  tone  in  his  speech  at  the  opening  of  the  Legislature,  and  the 
spirit  and  power  of  his  counter-proclamation,  produced  a  marked  change;3  and  when, 
very  speedily,  the  fall  of  Mackinack  and  the  American  reverses  on  the  Detroit  front 
ier  became  known,  a  reversal  of  public  sentiment  was  so  manifest  that  Brock  was 
enabled  to  write  to  Sir  George  Prevost  from  York,  saying,  "  The  militia  stationed 
here  volunteered  their  services  this  morning*  to  any  part  of  the  province  *  Ju]y  29) 
without  the  least  hesitation.  I  have  selected  one  hundred,  whom  I  have 
directed  to  proceed  without  delay  to  Long  Point,  where  I  propose  collecting  a  force 
for  the  relief  of  Amherstburg.  This  example,  I  hope,  will  be  followed  by  as  many 
as  may  be  required.4 

We  have  observed  that  the  Americans  on  the  banks  of  the  Detroit  were  cheered 
by  the  approach  of  Captain  Brush  to  the  Raisin  with  men,  cattle,  provisions,  and  a 
mail,  all  sent  forward  by  the  vigilant  and  untiring  Governor  Meigs,  of  Ohio.  A  mes 
senger  soon  bore  from  him  to  General  Hull  the  information  that  a  party  of  Indians, 
under  Tecumtha,  and  possibly  some  British  regulars,  had  crossed  the  Detroit  from 
Maiden,  and  were  lying  near  Brownstown,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Huron  River,  twenty- 
five  miles  below  Fort  Detroit,  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  the  treasures  in  charge  of 

1  Tupper's  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Brock,  page  203. 

2  Sir  George  Prevost  seemed  to  have  had  similar  difficulties  in  the  lower  province.    On  the  31st  of  July  he  wrote  to 
General  Brock,  saying,  "  I  believe  you  are  authorized  by  the  commission  under  which  you  administer  the  government 
of  Upper  Canada  to  declare  martial  law,  in  the  event  of  invasion  or  insurrection ;  it  is  therefore  for  you  to  consider 
whether  you  can  obtain  any  thing  equivalent  to  that  power  from  your  Legislature.    I  have  not  succeeded  in  obtaining 
a  modification  of  it  in  Lower  Canada,  and  must,  therefore,  upon  the  occurrence  of  either  of  those  calamities,  declare 
the  law  martial  unqualified,  and,  of  course,  shut  the  doors  of  the  courts  of  civil  law." 

3  Brock's  proclamation,  issued  from  Fort  George,  was  calculated  to  arouse  both  the  pride  and  the  resentment  of  those 
Canadians  who  were  of  the  American  refugee  families.    In  allusion  to  Hull,  he  said,*"  He  has  thought  proper  to  in 
vite  his  majesty's  subjects  not  only  to  a  quiet  and  unresisting  submission,  but  insults  them  with  a  call  to  seek  volun 
tarily  the  protection  of  his  government."    Eeferring  to  Hull's  assertion  of  the  tyranny  of  the  British  government, 
Brock  asked,  "Where  is  the  Canadian  subject  who  can  truly  affirm  to  himself  that  he  has  been  injured  by  the  govern 
ment  in  his  person,  his  property,  or  his  liberty  ?    Where  is  to  be  found,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  a  growth  so  rapid  in 
prosperity  and  wealth  as  this  colony  exhibits?    Settled  not  thirty  years,  by  a  band  of  veterans  exiled  from  their  for 
mer  possessions  on  account  of  their  loyalty,  not  a  descendant  of  these  brave  people  is  to  be  found  who,  under  the  fos 
tering  liberality  of  their  sovereign,  has  not  acquired  a  property  and  means  of  enjoyment  superior  to  what  were  pos 
sessed  by  their  ancestors."    He  then  warned  them  of  the  immense  advantages  which  they  would  lose  by  a  separation 
from^Great  Britain,  the  greatest  maritime  nation  on  the  globe,  their  exclusion  from  the  ocean  by  being  a  Territory  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  danger  of  becoming  reannexed  to  France  when  once  estranged  from  the  protection  of  Great 
Britain.    "  Are  you  prepared,"  he  said,  "  inhabitants  of  Canada,  to  become  willing  subjects,  or,  rather,  slaves  to  the  des 
pot  who  rules  the  nations  of  Continental  Europe  with  a  rod  of  iron  ?    If  not,  arise  in  a  body  ;  exert  your  energies ;  co 
operate  cordially  with  the  king's  regular  forces  to  repel  the  invader;  and  do  not  give  cause  to  your  children,  when 
groaning  under  the  oppression  of  a  foreign  master,  to  reproach  you  with  having  so  easily  parted  with  the  richest  in 
heritance  of  this  earth— a  participation  in  the  name,  character,  and  freedom  of  Britons  !"    He  assured  them  that  if,  by 
this  sudden  war,  and  a  lack  of  aid,  his  majesty's  arms  should  be  obliged  to  yield,  the  province  would  not  be  abandoned, 
and  that  no  peace  would  be  made  with  the  United  States  of  which  the  restoration  of  the  Canadas  to  Great  Britain 
should  not  make  the  most  prominent  condition.    He  then  alluded  to  Hull's  threat  of  "  no  quarter"  for  those  who  should 


They  seek  him  not,  and  can  not  expect  to  find  women  and  children  in  an  invading  army."    Hull's  threat  was  denounced 
as  inhuman  ;  and  assurance  was  given  that  its  execution  would  be  considered  "  as  deliberate  murder,  for  which  every 
subject  of  the  offending  power  must  make  expiation." 
*  Tupper's  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Brock,  page  207. 


276 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Re-enforcements  and  Supplies  at  the  River  Raisin. 


Defeat  of  Major  Van  Home  at  Brownstown. 


Brush,  so  precious  to  the  little  army.  Brush  was  unwilling  to  risk  those  treasures 
and  his  small  force  without  an  escort,  and  he  appealed  to  Hull  to  send  him  a  detach 
ment  of  men  for  that  purpose.  The  general  hesitated,  and,  when  the  Ohio  colonels 
joined  in  a  request  that  an  escort  should  be  sent,  he  flatly  refused  compliance.  At 
length  better  counsels  prevailed,  and,  after  much  persuasion,  he  ordered  Major  Thom 
as  B.  Yan  Home,  of  Colonel  Findlay's  Ohio  regiment,  to  proceed  to  the  Raisin  with 
a  detachment  of  two  hundred  men  from  that  corps,  to  join  Brush,  and  afford  a  safe 
convoy  for  the  cattle,  provisions,  and  mail.  The  major  obeyed  with  alacrity.  He 
crossed  the  Detroit  with  his  command  on  the  4th  of  August,  and  encamped  that 
night  on  the  banks  of  the  Ecorces  River,  where  the  soldiers  slept  on  their  arms. 
They  resumed  their  march  early  on  the  following  morning.  A  light  fog  veiled  the 
flat  country  along  the  borders  of  the  river.  The  air  was  still  and  sultry.  Four 
spies,  under  Captain  William  M'Cullough,  preceded  the  troops,  to  watch  for  the  en 
emy.  They  lost  their  way,  and,  while  passing  around  a  corn-field  in  bloom,  they 
were  fired  upon  by  a  dozen  Indians  who  lay  in  ambush  there.  M'Cullough  fell  from 
his  horse  severely  wounded,  and,  before  the  detachment  could  reach  the  spot,  the 
savages  had  scalped  him  and  bore  away  his  shining  locks  in  triumph.  His  country 
was  thus  bereaved  of  one  of  the  bravest  and  most  devoted  of  its  defenders,  and  the 
whole  army  sincerely  mourned  a  real  loss. 

The  detachment  was  moving  very  cautiously  half  an  hour  after  this  sad  occur 
rence,  when  it  was  joined  by  some  mounted  militia,  and  a  few  gentlemen  who  had 
taken  this  opportunity  to  travel  in  safety  to  the  Raisin.  These,  with  Major  Van 
Home,  stopped  at  the  house  of  a  Frenchman  for  water,  and  were  informed  by  him 
that  several  hundred  Indians  and  British  soldiers  were  lying  in  ambush,  near  Browns- 
town,  for  the  purpose  of  intercepting  the  party.  Van  Home  had  become  accustomed 
to  alarmists,  and  did  not  credit  the  story.  He  marched  on  in  fancied  security,  his 


front  guard  of  twenty- 
four  men  in  two  col 
umns,  each  column  pre 
ceded  by  three  dra 
goons,  and  the  main 
body  in  the  same  or 
der.  The  mail,  with  a 
mounted  escort,  was 
placed  in  the  centre. 
Where  the  ground, 
would  permit,  the  col 
umns  inarched  a  hund 
red  yards  apart.  As 
they  approached 
Brownstown  the  road 
passed  through  a  nar 
row  prairie  skirted  with 
thick  woods,  and  a 
creek  on  the  right. 
The  woods  on  the  creek 
came  to  a  point  toward 
the  town,  through 


THOMAS  B.  VAN   DORNE. 


which  the  road  passed 
to  the  ford.  On  the 
left  were  corn-fields  and 
thickets  of  thorn  bush 
es  ;  and  near  the  creek 
the  columns  were  com 
pelled  to  approach  each 
other  on  account  of  the 
narrowness  of  the  way. 
Just  as  they  reached  its 
margin,  and  were  en 
tering  upon  the  open 
ground  around  the  vil 
lage,  near  the  house  of 
Adam  Brown,  a  heavy 
fire,  at  only  fifty  yards' 
distance,  was  opened 
upon  them  from  both 
sides  by  a  large  body  of 
Indians  who  lay  in  am 
bush  in  the  thickets  and 


the  woods.  The  attack 
was  sudden,  sharp,  and  deadly,  and  the  troops  were  thrown  into  confusion.  Appre 
hensive  that  he  might  be  surrounded,  Major  Van  Home  immediately  ordered  a  re 
treat.  This  movement  was  conducted  with  much  confusion.  The  Indians  pursued, 
and  a  running  fight  was  kept  up  for  a  considerable  distance,  the  retreating  Americans 
frequently  turning  upon  the  savage  foe,  and  giving  him  deadly  volleys.  The  retreat 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  277 


Perils  of  a  Supply-train.  Loud  Complaints  against  Hull.  Cheering  Orders.  A  grievous  Disappointment. 

continued  to  the  Ecorces,  but  the  Indians,  restrained  by  the  prudent  Tecumtha,  only 
followed  about  half  that  distance.1  The  mail  was  lost,  and  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  British  authorities,  by  which  most  valuable  information  concerning  the  weakness 
and  disaffection  of  Hull's  army  was  made  manifest,  for  the  officers  and  soldiers  had 
written  freely  to  their  friends  at  home  on  the  subject.2  The  detachment  also  lost 
seventeen  killed  and  several  wounded,  who  were  left  behind.3 

Hull  was  greatly  disconcerted  by  the  news  of  Van  Home's  repulse  and  loss.  His 
colonels  urged  the  employment  of  immediate  and  efficient  measures  for  retrieval,  and 
begged  him  to  send  a  sufficient  force  to  overcome  any  obstacles  likely  to  be  met  be 
tween  Detroit  and  the  Raisin.  Brush  was  in  danger,  and  the  army  would  soon  need 
the  supplies  in  his  charge.  The  way  between  the  army  and  Ohio  must  be  kept  open, 
and  no  time  was  to  be  lost  in  securing  these  important  ends.  "  Send  five  hundred 
men  at  once,"  they  said,  "  to  escort  Brush  to  Detroit."  "  I  can  spare  only  one  hund 
red  men,"  was  the  general's  disheartening  reply.  These  were  too  few,  and  the  en 
terprise  was  abandoned  for  the  moment.  Brush  was  left  to  the  mercy  of  Tecumtha 
and  his  savage  followers,  and  the  needed  supplies  for  the  army  were  placed  in  im 
minent  peril.  Indignation  and  alarm  stirred  the  blood  of  the  officers. 

The  mutinous  spirit,  of  which  Hull  afterward  wrote,  was  now  vehemently  exhibit 
ed.  There  was  plain  and  loud  talk  at  head-quarters  —  talk  which  startled  the  gen 
eral,  and  caused  him  to  call  a  council  of  field  officers,*1  the  result  of  which  »  August  7, 
was  an  agreement  to  march  immediately  upon  Maiden.  Orders  were  is 
sued  for  the  medical  and  surgical  departments  to  prepare  for  active  duties  in  the 
field  ;  for  the  securing  of  boats  at  Detroit  ;  for  leaving  the  convalescents  under  an 
officer  at  Sandwich,  with  means  for  crossing  the  river,  if  desired  ;  for  a  raft  of  timber 
and  planks  for  a  bridge  to  be  floated  down  the  river  ;  for  drawing,  on  the  morning 
of  the  8th,  by  the  whole  army,  cooked  rations  for  three  days  ;  and  for  the  return  of 
"  all  artificers,  and  all  men  on  any  kind  of  extra  duty,"  to  their  regiments  imme 
diately. 

This  order  diffused  joy  throughout  the  little  army.  They  believed  that  the  hour 
for  energetic  action  had  come.  Every  man  was  busy  in  preparation;  and  a  long 
summer's  day  was  drawing  to  a  close,  when  another  order  from  the  commanding  gen 
eral  cast  a  cloixd  of  disappointment  over  the  camp  more  sombre  than  the  curtain  of 
night  that  speedily  fell  upon  it.  It  was  an  order  for  the  army  to  recross  the  river  to 
Detroit/  —  an  order  to  abandon  Canada,  and  leave  to  the  vengeance  of  their  own  gov 
ernment  the  inhabitants  who,  confiding  in  Hull's  promises  of  protection,  had  refused 
to  take  up  arms  in  defense  of  their  invaded  territory.  This  order  was  in  conse 
quence  of  intelligence  just  received  that  a  considerable  force  of  British  regulars,  mi 
litia,  and  Indians  were  coming  to  attack  the  Americans  in  the  rear,  under  General 
Brock. 

But  Canada  was  not  to  be  wholly  abandoned.  Major  Denny,  with  one  hundred 
and  thirty  convalescents  and  a  corps  of  artillerists,  under  Lieutenant  Anderson,  was 
left  "  to  hold  possession  of  that  part  of  Canada,  and  afford  all  possible  protection 
to  the  well-disposed  inhabitants."  A  strong  house,  belonging  to  one  Gowris,  had 
been  stockaded,  and  called  Fort  Gowris.  In  this,  and  in  a  long  stone  building  yet 
standing  in  Sandwich,4  which  the  American  soldiers  had  used  as  barracks,  the  con- 

1  For  his  gallantry  in  this  campaign,  Major  Van  Home,  while  a  prisoner  on  parole,  was  promoted  to  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  in  the  Twenty-sixth  Regular  Infantry,  and  was  transferred  to  the  Nineteenth  in  1S14.    He  was  disbanded  in  June, 


1S15. 


. 

2  The  battle-ground  was  about  five  miles  below  the  present  village  of  Trenton,  in  Michigan. 

3  Among  the  killed  were  Captains  William  M'Cullough,  Robert  Gilchrist,  Henry  Ulery,  and  Jacob  Boerstler  ;  Lieu 
tenant  Jacob  Pentz,  and  Surgeons  Edward  Roby  and  Andrew  Allison.—  M'Afee,  page  74.    Hull's  Letter  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  dated  Sandwich,  August  7,  1812. 

*  This  building  was  erected  for  a  school  in  1807  or  1SOS.  It  was  in  a  dilapidated  state  when  I  sketched  it  in  the  au 
tumn  of  1860.  It  occupies  an  open  space  in  the  village  of  Sandwich.  Several  poor  families  occupied  it.  The  place 
known  as  Spring  Wells  is  opposite,  and  indicated  in  our  little  sketch  by  the  buildings  with  tall  chimneys,  from  which 
columns  of  smoke  are  rising.  These  compose  the  copper  smelting-works  at  Spring  Wells.  A  long  wharf  on  the  Saud- 


278 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Army  recrossed  to  Detroit. 


Expedition  to  Succor  the  Supply-trail!. 


Colonel  Miller  and  his  Men. 


li,M:i:.M'KS   AT   SANDWICH. 


valescents  were  placed,  and  Denny  was  ordered  to  defend  the  post  to  the  last  ex 
tremity  against  musketry,  but  to  leave  it  in  the  event  of  artillery  being  brought 
against  it  so  powerfully  as  to  make  it  untenable.1 

Sullenly  that  humiliated  army  obeyed  their  overcautious  commander,  and  during 
» August,  the  night  of  the  7th  and  moi-ning  of  the  8tha  they  crossed  the  deep,  dark, 

812'  rapidly-flowing  river  in  sadness,  and  encamped  upon  the  rolling  plain  be 
hind  Fort  Detroit.  Hull's  reason  for  this  mortifying  termination  of  his  invasion  of 
Canada  was  the  receipt  of  intelligence,  as  we  have  observed,  that  General  Brock  was 
hasting  toward  Amherstburg  with  re-enforcements,  and  the  necessity  of  securing  a 
permanent  communication  between  his  army  and  the  sources  of  its  supplies  in  the 
Ohio  settlements.  He  accordingly  dispatched  six  hundred  men,  under  Lieutenant 
Colonel  James  Miller,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  8th,  to  open  a  communication  with  the 
Raisin  and  escort  Brush  to  Detroit.  The  detachment  consisted  of  the  Fourth  Regi 
ment  of  regulars ;  two  small  corps  of  the  First  Regiment,  under  Lieutenant  Dixon 
Stansbury  and  Ensign  Robert  A.  M'Cabe ;  detachments  from  the  Ohio  and  Michigan 
volunteers — the  latter,  sixty  in  number,  from  the  "Michigan  Legion,"2  mostly  French, 
under  Captain  Antoine  Dequindre ;  a  corps  of  Captain  Dyson's  artillerists,  then  sta 
tioned  at  the  fort  with  a  six-pounder,  under  Lieutenant  John  L.  Eastman  (who  was . 
Miller's  brigade  major  on  this  occasion),  and  a  howitzer,  under  Lieutenant  James 
Daliba  ;  and  a  part  of  Captains  Smith  and  Sloan's  cavalry,  under  the  latter.  Majors 
Van  Home  and  Morrison  were  associated  with  Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller  as  field 
officers.  "  Commodore"  Brevoort,  who  was  a  captain  of  infantry,  and  appointed  com 
mander  of  any  government  vessels  that  might  be  placed  on  the  lakes,  and  Captain 
A.  F.  Hull,  the  general's  son,  who  was  afterward  killed  at  the  Battle  of  Niagara  Falls, 
volunteered  as  aids  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller.3 

The  troops  paraded  on  the  north  side  of  Jefferson  Avenue,  in  Detroit,  nearly  op 
posite  where  the  Exchange  now  stands.  When  placed  in  marching  order,  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Miller  rode  up  in  front  of  them,  and  in  his  clear,  loud  voice,  said  to  the 
volunteers  and  militia,  "  Soldiers,  we  are  now  going  to  meet  the  enemy,  and  to  beat 
them.  The  reverse  of  the  5th  (Van  Home's)  must  be  repaired.  The  blood  of  our 
brethren,  spilt  by  the  savages,  must  be  avenged.  I  shall  lead  you.  You  shall  not 
disgrace  yourselves  nor  me.  Every  man  who  shall  leave  the  ranks  or  fall  back  with 
out  ordei'S  will  be  instantly  put  to  death.  I  charge  the  officers  to  execute  this  or 
der."  Then,  turning  to  the  veteran  Fourth  Regiment  of  regulars,  he  said,  "  My 
brave  soldiers,  you  will  add  another  victory  to  that  of  Tippecanoe — another  laurel  to 
that  gained  on  the  Wabash  last  fall.  If  there  is  now  any  man  in  the  ranks  of  the 
detachment  who  fears  to  meet  the  enemy,  let  him  fall  out  and  stay  behind."  A  loud 

wich  side  of  the  river  is  seen  toward  the  right  of  the  position.  The  British  picketed  this  building,  and  used  it  for  bar 
racks  in  1813.  i  M'Afee,  page  7T. 

2  This  "Legion"  had  been  organized  during  the  winter  of  1S11-T2,  as  a  home  guard  against  the  Indians,  who  were 
then  menacing  the  Michigan  settlers.    They  were  mustered  into  the  volunteer  service  under  the  act  of  February  6, 1S12. 
The  "Legion"  was  composed  of  one  company  of  dragoons,  commanded  by  Captain  Richard  Smythe,  and  three  compa 
nies  of  infantry,  commanded  respectively  by  Captains  Antoiue  Dequindre,  Stephen  Mack,  and  Hubert  la  Croix. 

3  Hull's  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  August  13, 1812 ;  Judge  Witherell's  paper  on  the  Battle  of  Mouguagen,  read 
before  the  Michigan  Historical  Society  in  the  spring  of  1859. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812.  279 

March  toward  the  Raisin.  Indian  Scouts.  British  and  Indian  Force.  Walk-in-the-Water. 

huzza  went  up  from  the  entire  corps,  and  "  I'll  not  stay !  I'll  not  stay !"  broke  from 
every  lip.1 

Miller  led  his  detachment  to  the  River  Rouge  that  night,  crossed  it  in  two  scows, 
and  bivouacked  on  its  southern  shore.  The  march  was  resumed  early  in  the  morn- 
ino-.  Major  Thompson  Maxwell,2  with  the  spies,  led  the  way,  followed  by  a  vanguard 
of  forty-men,  under  the  high-souled  Captain  Snelling,  of  the  Fourth  Regulars.  The 
infantry  marched  in  two  columns,  about  two  hundred  yards  apart.  The  cavalry  kept 
the  road  in  the  centre  in  double  file.  The  artillery  followed,  and  flank-guards  of 
riflemen  marched  at  proper  distances.  In  this  order  a  line  of  battle  might  be  in 
stantly  formed.  The  march  was  very  slow,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  moving  cannon 
over  marshy  ground. 

At  about  nine  in  the  morning — a  sultry  Sabbath  morning — the  sky  overcast  with 
clouds,  and  not  a  leaf  stirring  upon  the  trees,  it  became  evident  that  an  enemy  was 
near.  Several  Indians,  fleet  of  foot,  were  seen  flying  in  the  distance.  But  nothing 
of  much  interest  occurred  until,  in  the  afternoon,  they  approached  the  Indian  village 
of  Maguaga,  fourteen  miles  below  Detroit,  where  a  man  named  White,  who,  with  his 
young  son,  accompanied  the  expedition  as  an  amateur  soldier,  and  in  his  eagerness 
had  outstripped  the  spies,  was  shot  from  his  horse  near  the  cabin  of  the  chief  Walk- 
in-the-Water,  behind  which  some  Indians  were  concealed.3  He  was  scalped  before 
the  advance-guard  could  reach  the  spot. 

It  was  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  Snelling  and  his  men 
reached  the  Oak  Woods,  near  Maguaga.  They  had  just  entered  a  clearing,  surround 
ed  with  an  oak  forest  and  thick  bushes,  near  the  bank  of  the  Detroit  River,  when 
they  received  a  terrible  volley  from  a  line  of  British  and  Indians,  the  former  under 
Major  Muir,  of  the  Forty-first  Regiment,  and  the  latter  under  Tecumtha.  This  was 
a  detachment  which  Proctor  had  sent  over  from  Fort  Maiden,  at  Amherstburg,  to 
Brownstown,  to  repeat  the  tragedy  of  the  5th  (Van  Home's  defeat),  cut  off"  commu 
nication  between  the  Raisin  and  Detroit,  and  capture  the  stores  in  charge  of  Captain 
Brush.  The  party  consisted  of  about  one  hundred  of  the  Forty-first  Regiment,  as 
many  Canadian  militia,  and  between  two  and  three  hundred  Indians.  Among  the 
leaders  of  the  latter  were  Tecumtha,  Walk-in-the-Water,  Lame-Hand,  and  Split-Log 
— all  chiefs  of  note. 

The  flying  savages,  seen  by  the  Americans  in  the  morning,  and  who  had  been  scout 
ing  for  Muir,  had  entered  the  little  British  camp  at  Brownstown  in  hot  haste,  utter 
ing  the  peculiar  news-cry,  and  warning  the  soldiers  that  the  enemy,  strong  in  num 
bers,  was  advancing  upon  them.  The  camp  was  immediately  broken  up,  and  Muir 
and  Tecumtha,  with  their  followers,  pressed  forward  to  Maguaga,  and  formed  an  am 
bush  in  the  Oak  Woods.  There  they  lay  for  several  hours,  awaiting  the  slowly-ap 
proaching  Americans,  and  were  joined  by  a  fresh  detachment  from  Maiden,  under 
Lieutenant  Bullock,  of  the  Forty-first  Grenadiers,  who  had  been  sent  by  General 

1  Judge  Witherell. 

2  Major  Maxwell  was  well  known  in  Detroit.    He  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  French  and  Indian  War,  and  was  one  of 
the  survivors  of  the  battle  at  Bloody  Bridge,  just  above  Detroit,  in  "Poutiac's  War."    He  was  a  brave  soldier  in  the 
Revolution.    He  was  with  Wayne  on  his  campaigns,  and  followed  Miller  npou  the  heights  at  the  battle  of  Niagara  Falls 
(Lundy's  Lane)  when  he  took  the  British  battery  on  the  crown.    He  died  on  the  River  Rouge  about  the  year  1834.— 
Jurttre"  Witherell. 

3  Waik-in-the-Water's  residence  at  Magnaga  was  on  the  land  afterward  owned  by  Major  Biddle,  and  on  which  he 
built  his  farm-houses.    Judge  Witherell  says,  "  I  knew  him  well  in  my  boyhood.    He  was  then  a  man  past  middle  age, 
with  a  fine,  commanding  person,  near  six  feet  in  height  and  well-proportioned,  and  as  straight  as  an  arrow.    He  was 
mild  and  pleasant  in  his  deportment."    The  chief  was  friendly  to  the  United  States,  and  desired  to  join  them  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war ;  but  the  instructions  of  his  government  not  to  employ  savages  and  his  own  humane  impulses 
would  not  allow  Hull  to  accept  his  services.    They  were  soon  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  the  British  and  their  savage 
allies;  and  as  the  United  States  could  give  them  no  protection,  Walk-in-the-Water  and  his  band  of  Wyandots  joined 
the  British  at  Maiden.    Their  hands  were  in  that  service,  but  the  heart  of  the  chief  was  not  there.    Walk-in-the-Water 
died  about  the  year  1817.    His  totem  or  arms  was  a  turtle. 

Walk-in-the-Water  was  a  Huron,  of  the  Wyandot  tribe.  His  Indian  name  was  My-ee-rah,  and  he  was  among  the 
most  active  of  the  chiefs  with  Tecumtha  in  the  War  of  1S12.  Far-he,  or  Kinsr  Crane,  the  grand  chief  of  the  Wyandots, 
resided  at  Sandusky.  We  shall  meet  Walk-in-the-Water  again,  at  the  River  Raisin  and  the  Thames. 


280  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Battle  of  the  Oak  Woods,  or  Maguaga.       The  British  and  their  savage  Allies  defeated.        Appearance  of  the  Savages. 

Brock  from  Fort  George.1  He  had  reached  Maiden  the  previous  day,  and  was  sent 
over  to  assist  Muir  and  his  savage  allies.  He  took  with  him  twenty  of  his  grena 
diers,  twenty  light  infantry,  and  twenty  battalion-men.  The  Indians  occupied  the 
left  of  the  line.2 

A  single  shot  on  the  left  of  the  foe,  then  the  terrible  yells  of  scores  of  savages,  and 
then  a  heavy  volley  of  musketry  from  the  whole  British  line,  were  the  first  intima 
tions  given  to  Snelling  of  the  presence  of  the  concealed  enemy.  He  received  and  re 
turned  the  fire  gallantly,  and  maintained  his  position  until  joined  by  the  main  body. 
Miller's  quick  ear  caught  the  first  sound  of  battle,  and,  ordering  his  men  forward  at 
double  quick,  he  rode  at  full  speed  toward  the  field  of  conflict.  As  his  troops  came 
up  and  formed  in  battle  order,  he  waved  his  sword  aloft,  and  cried,  "  Charge  !  boys, 
charge  !"3  The  order  was  instantly,  gallantly,  and  effectually  obeyed ;  and,  at  the 
same  time,  a  six-pounder  poured  in  a  storm  of  grape-shot  that  made  sad  havoc.  A 
body  of  Indians,  that  had  been  detached  to  the  left  of  the  foe,  and  near  the  river,  was 
driven  back  by  an  impetuous  charge  by  Major  Dequindre  and  his  Michigan  and  Ohio 
Volunteers,4  and  fled.  Their  white  auxiliaries,  who  performed  but  little  fighting  in 
this  engagement,  mistaking  them  for  Indian  allies  of  the  Americans,  fired  upon  them. 
The  savages  returned  it  with  spirit,  and  for  a  few  moments  these  friends  in  the  same 
service  seemed  determined  to  annihilate  each  other. 

The  battle  had  now  become  general.  This  sudden  blow  upon  the  right  wing,  and 
the  confusion  produced  by  the  mistake  just  mentioned,  alarmed  the  centre,  and  the 
whole  British  line,  civilized  and  savage,  wavered.  Closely  pressed  in  front,  and  ex 
pecting  an  attack  in  the  rear,  the  British  regulars  and  Canadians  broke  and  fled  in 
confusion,  leaving  Tecumtha  and  his  savages  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  battle,  which 
they  did  with  great  obstinacy.5  Muir  rallied  his  men,  in  a  good  position,  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  in  rear  of  the  battle-ground,  when,  becoming  alarmed  by  firing  in  the  woods 
on  the  left,  they  retreated  "  at  the  double-quick,"  as  Major  Richardson  said,  gained 
their  boats  as  speedily  as  possible,  and  sped  across  the  river  to  Maiden  as  fast  as  strong 
arms  and  stout  oars  could  take  them.  The  savages  finally  broke  and  fled,  and  Miller 
ordered  Sloan  to  pursue  them  with  his  cavalry.  That  officer's  courage  seemed  to 

1  The  entire  British  force  at  Monguaga,  including  the  Indians,  has  been  differently  estimated  by  different  writers.    It 
was  probably  about  equal  to  that  of  the  Americans. 

2  Major  Richardson,  of  the  Forty-first,  gives  the  following  description  of  the  appearance  of  the  Indian  warriors  on  the 
march  from  Brownstown  to  Monguaga:  "No  other  sound  than  the  measured  step  of  the  troops  interrupted  the  soli 
tude  of  the  scene,  rendered  more  imposing  by  the  wild  appearance  of  the  warriors,  whose  bodies,  stained  and  painted 
in  the  most  frightful  manner  for  the  occasion,  glided  by  us  with  almost  noiseless  velocity,  without  order  and  without  a 
chief;  some  painted  white,  some  black,  others  half  black  and  half  red,  half  black  and  half  white  ;  all  with  their  hair 
plastered  in  such  a  way  as  to  resemble  the  bristling  quills  of  the  porcupine,  with  no  other  covering  than  a  cloth  around 
their  loins,  yet  armed  to  the  teeth  with  rifles,  tomahawks,  war-clubs,  spears,  bows  and  arrows,  and  scalping-knives.    Ut 
tering  no  sound,  and  intent  on  reaching  the  enemy  unperceived,  they  might  have  passed  for  the  spectres  of  those  wilds 
—the  ruthless  demons  which  war  had  unchained  for  the  punishment  and  oppression  of  men."    Major  Richardson,  per 
ceiving  the  necessity  of  an  apology  for  behig  found  fighting  Christian  men  side  by  side  with  these  savage  pagans  as 
brethren  in  arms,  says,  but  without  warrant,  "  The  natives  must  have  been  our  friends  or  our  foes.    Had  we  not  em 
ployed  them  the  Americans  would ;  and,  although  humanity  must  deplore  the  necessity  imposed  by  the  very  invader 
himself  of  counting  them  among  our  allies,  and  combating  at  their  sides,  the  law  of  self-preservation  was  our  guide,  and 
scrupulous,  indeed,  must  be  the  power  that  would  have  hesitated  at  such  a  moment  in  its  choice."— War  of  1812.    Pint 
Series,  containing  a  full  and  detailed  Narrative  of  the  Operation  of  the  Right  Division  of  tlie  Canadian  Army,  by  Major  Rich 
ardson,  K.  8.  P — Pamphlet,  page  52. 

Auchinleck,  without  the  shadow  of  justification,  says  (page  55),  that "  every  possible  exertion  was  employed  by  agents 
of  the  United  States  government  to  detach  the  Indians  from  us,  and  to  effect  an  alliance  with  them  on  the  part  of  the 
States."  Every  honorable  exertion  was  used  by  the  United  States  to  detach  the  Indians  from  the  British  interest  and 
persuade  them  to  remain  neutral,  but  the  government  never  consented  to  an  alliance  with  the  savages  until  the  practice 
of  the  British  made  it  necessary,  as  in  the  old  struggle  for  independence,  when  Washington  said  "we  must  fight  Indians 
with  Indians." 

3  Miller  was  thrown  from  his  horse.    He  was  supposed  to  be  shot,  and  the  savages  rushed  forward  to  scalp  him. 
They  were  driven  back,  and  in  a  few  moments  he  was  remounted. — Judge  Witherell.    M'Afee  says  he  remained  on  foot 
through  the  remainder  of  the  battle,  and  that  the  most  active  part  devolved  upon  Majors  Van  Home  and  Morrison. 

*  Among  those  who  performed  gallant  service  in  this  charge  was  Sergeant  Nathan  Champe,  son  of  Sergeant  Champe, 
famous  in  the  Revolution  as  the  one  employed  by  Washington  to  seize  Arnold  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Lieutenant 
George  Johnston,  who  died  at  Green  Bay  in  1850,  commanded  the  Michigan  Cavalry  on  this  occasion,  and  was  called 
the  Murat  of  that  corps. — Judge  Witherell. 

5  For  his  services  on  this  occasion  Tecumtha  was  rewarded  by  the  British  government  with  the  commission  of  a  brig 
adier  general. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


281 


Rebuke  of  a  hesitating  Soldier. 


Maguaga  Battle-ground. 


The  Wounded  saved  from  Capture. 


W  AHUAUA    JlATTLE-liKOUNl). 


have  been  paralyzed  for  the 
moment.  He  stood  still. 
The  impetuous  Snelling 
perceived  it,  and,  rushing 
up  to  him,  peremptorily  or 
dered  him  to  dismount, 
leaped  upon  the  horse  him 
self,  and,  at  the  head  of  his 
troops,  bareheaded  (his  hat 
having  been  shot  away  in 
the  battle),  his  red  hair 
streaming  in  the  wind,  he 
dashed  after  the  fugitives, 
and  pursued  them  more 
than  two  miles,  when  the 
danger  of  an  ambuscade, 
the  necessary  care  of  the 
wounded,  and  the  approach 
of  night,  induced  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Miller  to  order 
a  suspension  of  the  chase. 
The  rout  and  victory  were 
complete.  According  .to 
the  British  account,  the 
loss  of  their  regulars  was 
twenty-four,  only  one  of  whom  was  killed.2  That  of  the  militia  and  Indians  were 
never  reported.  Our  troops  found  forty  of  the  latter  dead  on  the  field.  The  loss  of 
the  Americans  was  eighteen  killed  and  fifty-seven  wounded.3 

Miller  was  anxious  to  follow  up  his  advantage  gained,  and  push  on  to  the  Raisin ; 
and  at  sunset  he  dispatched  a  messenger  to  Hull  reporting  his  success,  and  asking  for 
a  supply  of  provisions.  Hull  ordered  Colonel  M<  Arthur  to  take  one  hundred  men  of 
his  regiment,  and  six  hundred  rations,  and  go  down  the  river  in  boats  for  the  relief 
of  Miller.  M' Arthur  embarked  at  a  little  past  two  in  the  morning,a  in  nine  .  August  10, 
boats,  and,  under  the  cover  of  darkness  and  a  drenching  rain,  he  passed  the 
Queen  Charlotte  and  the  Hunter,  and  reached  his  destination  in  safety.  The  wound 
ed  w«re  immediately  conveyed  to  the  boats,  but,  in  attempting  to  return  by  day 
light,  M'Arthur  found  himself  intercepted  by  the  British  vessels.  He  hastened  to 
the  shore,  left  the  boats,  conveyed  the  wounded  through  the  woods  to  the  road,  and 
sent  them  to  Detroit  in  wagons,  which,  with  proper  forecast,  he  had  ordered  down, 
because  he  anticipated  this  very  difficulty.  Colonel  Cass  had  come  down  in  the 
mean  time,  and  attempted  to  secure  the  boats,  but  before  he  reached  the  shore  they 
were  seized  by  the  British  and  lost. 

Miller  was  injured  by  the  fall  from  his  horse  at  the  beginning  of  the  battle,  and  was 
so  ill  that  he  could  not  proceed  toward  the  Raisin  immediately.  He  sent  to  Hull 
for  jnore  provisions.  His  messenger  met  Cass  below  the  River  Aux  Ecorces,  and 

i  This  is  from  a  pencil  sketch  made  by  an  officer  of  the  United  States  Army  in  1816.    Beyond  the.  opening  out  of  the 

k  Woods,  mentioned  in  the  text,  is  seen  the  Detroit  River,  with  Grosse  Isle  in  the  distance.  The  Indian  village  near 
which  this  battle  was  fought  is  spelled  sometimes  Maguaga,  according  to  the  orthography  of  the  official  dispatches ; 
Mongenava,  according  to  Mellish's  Military  Atlas,  from  which  our  map  on  page  266  was  copied ;  and  Monyuayon,  accord 
ing  to  Judge  Witherell  and  other  local  writers.  I  have  adopted  the  orthography  of  the  dispatches.  The  battle-ground 
was  at  or  near  the  present  village  of  Trenton,  in  Michigan. 

*  Hull's  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  August  13, 1812  ;  Major  Richardson,  quoted  by  Auchinleck,  pages  53  and  54 ; 
M'Afee,  pages  78  and  79  ;  Judge  Witherell's  Paper,  read  before  the  Michigan  Historical  Society  in  the  Spring  of  1857 ; 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller  to  his  Wife,  August  27, 1812— Autograph  Letter. 

3  Major  Muir  and  Lieutenant  Sutherland  were  the  only  British  officers  wounded.  Tecumtha  was  also  slightly  wonnd- 
ed  in  the  neck  by  a  buck-shot. 


282  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Disappointment  of  the  Troops.  Disposition  to  deprive  Hull  of  Command.  The  British  before  Detroit. 

acquainted  him  with  the  delay.  Cass  knew  that  time  was  precious,  for  Proctor,  re 
lieved  of  all  appi'ehensions  of  an  attack  upon  Maiden,  would  doubtless  send  over  a 
larger  force  of  Europeans  and  savages  to  bar  the  way  to  the  Raisin,  and  attack  Brush 
there.  He  therefore  sent  this  laconic  dispatch  to  Hull :  "  SIR, — Colonel  Miller  is«ick; 
may  I  relieve  him  ? — L.  CASS."  Receiving  no  reply,  he  returned  to  Detroit,  meeting 
on  his  way  an  express  bearing  to  Miller  positive  orders  for  the  whole  detachment  to 
return  to  head-quarters.  Thus  another  favorable  moment  for  achieving  great  good 
was  lost  by  what  seemed  the  timidity  and  instability  of  the  commanding  general. 
Miller  was  only  twenty-two  miles  from  the  Raisin.  Dispirited  in  the  extreme,  he 
and  his  troops  left  their  camp  at  noon  on  the  day  after  the  battle,  and  made  their 
way  slowly  back  to  Detroit. 

Hull's  shortcomings  were  freely  spoken  of,  and  the  belief  was  inculcated  among 
the  troops  that  he  was  either  traitorously  inclined,  or  had  become  an  imbecile.  At 
times  he  would  be  shut  up  in  his  room1  for  hours,  inaccessible  to  all  but  his  son,  who 
was  his  aid-de-camp ;  at  others  he  appeared  abstracted  and  confused — "  sullen  in  de 
portment,  and  wavering  in  his  orders."2  His  incompetency  to  meet  the  crisis  at  hand 
was  felt  by  all,  and  his  officers  of  every  grade,  after  consultation,  came  to  the  conclu 
sion  that  the  salvation  of  the  little  army  would  only  be  found  in  depriving  him  of 
the  command  and  giving  it  to  another.3  Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller  was  invited  to 
accept  it.  He  declined,  but  expressed  his  Avillingness  to  unite  with  them  in  giving 
the  command  to  M'Arthur,  the  senior  officer  of  the  volunteers,  and  one  of  the  most 
vigilant  and  active  soldiers  in  the  army.  It  would  be  a  bold  step  for  subordinates 
to  strip  a  commanding  general  of  his  sword  and  epaulets  jvhile  at  the  head  of  his 
army,  and,  when  they  were  ready  to  act,  they  naturally  hesitated.  Relief  might 
speedily  come  from  Ohio.  Governor  Meigs,  it  was  suggested,  might  accompany  it 
in  person,  and  upon  him  the  honor  might  properly  be  laid.  Colonel  Cass  acted 
•August  12,  promptly  on  this  suggestion,  and  wrotea  an  energetic  letter  to  the  gov 
ernor,  urging  him  to  press  forward  with  re-enforcements  and  supplies. 
He  informed  him  that  the  army  had  been  reduced  to  a  critical  situation  "  from  causes 
not  fit  to  be  put  on  paper."  He  told  him  that  the  golden  opportunity  for  success 
had  passed  by,  and  mildly  remarked  that,  unfortunately,  the  general  and  the  princi 
pal  officers  could  not  view  the  situation  and  prospect  of  affairs  in  the  same  light. 
"  That  Maiden,"  he  said,  "  might  easily  have  been  reduced,  I  have  no  doubt.  .  .  . 
But  instead  of  looking  back,  we  must  now  look  forward.  .  .  .  Our  supplies  must 
come  from  our  state."  He  called  for  two  thousand  men  at  least,  and  added,  "It  is 
the  unanimous  wish  of  the  army  that  you  should  accompany  them."  • 

Before  this  letter  was  shown  to  the  other  officers  a  change  in  affairs  had  taken 
place.  The  British  were  congregating  in  force  at  Sandwich,  and,  in  view  of  this  men 
ace,  the  following  postscript  was  added  to  the  letter :  "  Since  the  other  side  of  this 
letter  was  written,  new  circumstances  have  arisen.  The  British  force  is  opposite,  and 
our  situation  has  nearly  reached  its  crisis.  Believe  all  the  bearer  will  tell  you. 
Believe  it,  however  it  may  astonish  you,  as  much  as  if  told  by  one  of  us.  Even  a 
c****  is  talked  of  by  the  *****.  The  bearer  will  supply  the  vacancy.4  On  you  we 

i  "In  my  boyhood,"  says  Judge  Witherell,  " I  knew  him  well.  His  appearance  was  venerable  and  dignified ;  his  heart 
was  the  seat  of  kindness ;  he  was  unquestionably  an  honest  man.  The  general  had  a  most  excellent  familj-.  Mrs. 
Hull,  a  portly,  fine-looking  woman,  made  it  the  principal  business  of  her  life  to  visit  the  sick  and  provide  for  the  desti 
tute  poor."  2  M'Afee,  page  82. 

3  Colonel  Hatch  says,  "On  a  private  consultation  on  the  12th  of  August  with  those  known  to  be  the  most  active  of 
the  subordinate  officers  and  men  of  the  volunteer  regiments,  it  was  decided  to  get  up  a  Round-Robin*  (so  called),  ad 
dressed  to  the  three  colonels,  requesting  the  arrest  or  displacement  of  the  general  from  his  command,  and  vesting,  by 
common  consent,  the  eldest  colonel,  M'Arthur,  with  all  the  powers  incidental  to  chief  command. 

4  "The  doubtful  fate  of  this  letter  rendered  it  necessary  to  use  circumspection  in  its  details,  and  therefore  the  blanks 
were  left.    The  word  'capitulation'  will  fill  the  first,  and  'commanding  general'  the  other."— Colonel  Cass  to  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  Washington  City,  September  10,  1812. 

*  A  phrase  (rond  ruban)  originally  derived  from  a  custom  of  the  French  officers,  who,  on  signing  a  remonstrance  or 
petition  to  their  superiors,  wrote  their  names  in  a  circular  form,  so  that  it  might  be  impossible  to  ascertain  who  had 
headed  the  list. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


Pecuniary  Aid  for  Brock. 


He  proceeds  to  Fort  Maiden. 


Conference  with  Indians. 


depend."    This  was  signed  by  Cass,  Findlay,  M' Arthur,  Taylor,  and  Colonel  Elijah 
Brush,  of  the  Michigan  militia. 

General  Brock  joined  Proctor  at  Amherstburg  or  Maiden  on  the  night  of  the 
13th.a     Relieved  from  civil  duties  on  the  6th,  he  procured  pecuniary  aid     » August, 
from  an  association  of  gentlemen,  and,  with  two  hundred  volunteers,  he        1812> 
sailed  from  York  for  Burlington  Bay,  at  the  west  end  of  Lake  Ontario.     He  had  been 
called  upon  to  repel  a  formidable  invasion  with  few  troops,  and  without  a  money- 
chest,  provisions,  blankets,  or  even  shoes  for  the  militia  whom  he  expected  to  muster 
into  the  service.     Those  gentlemen  known  as  "The  Niagara  and  Queenston  Associ 
ation"  supplied  him  with  several  thousand  pounds  sterling  in  the  form  of  bank-notes, 
which  were  afterward  redeemed  with  army  bills.     He  had  sent  forty  of  the  Forty- 
first  Regiment  to  Long  Point,  on  Lake  Erie,  to  gather  the  militia  there,  and  fifty  more 
of  the  same  regiment  were  sent  to  the  Indians  in  the  interior,  to  induce  them  to  en 
gage  in  the  expedition.     On  his  way  across  the  country  he  held  a  coun 
cil1*  at  the  Mohawk  settlement  on  the  Grand  River,  and  sixty  warriors 
promised  to  join  him  on  the  10th. 

With  his  few  regulars  and  three  hundred  militia,  Brock  embarked  in  boats,  bat- 


August  8. 


teaux,  and  canoes  (sup 
plied  by  the  neighbor 
ing  farmers)  at  Long 
Point,0  a  n  d, 
after  a  rough 
voyage  of  five  days 
and  nights,  nearly  two 
hundred  miles  in  ex 
tent,  he  reached  Am 
herstburg  a  little  be 
fore  midnight  of  the 
13th.  The  patient  en 
durance  of  his  troops 
delighted  him.  He  was 
welcomed  by  a  feu  de 
joie  of  musketry  from 
Tecumtha  and  his  band 
on  Bois  Blanc  Island, 
before  Amherstburg. 
Half  an  hour  after 
ward  that  warrior  was 


brought  over  by  Colo 
nel  Elliot,  the  Indian 
agent  whom  we  have 
already  spoken  of  (who 
lived  near  Amherst 
burg),  and  Brock  was 
introduced  to  the  great 
chief  of  the  Shawno- 
ese.1  It  being  late,  the 
conference  was  short, 
and  they  parted  with 
the  understanding  that 
a  council  would  be  call 
ed  immediately. 

Brock  held  a  confer 
ence  with  the  Indians 
on  the  morning  of  the 
1 4th.  About  one  thou 
sand  were  present.  The 
general  opened  the  in 
terview  by  informing 


i  Captain  J.  B.  Glegg,  Brock's  aid-de-camp,  has  left  on  record  the  following  description  of  Tecumtha  at  that  inter 
view  :  "  Tecumseh's  appearance  was  very  prepossessing :  his  figure  light,  and  finely  proportioned ;  his  age  I  imagined 
to  be  about  five-and-thirty  [he  was  about  forty] ;  in  height,  five  feet  nine  or  ten  inches ;  his  complexion  light  copper ; 
countenance  oval,  with  bright  hazel  eyes,  bearing  cheerfulness,  energy,  and  decision.  Three  small  silver  crosses  or 

coronets  were  suspended  from  the  lower  cartilage  of  his  aquiline  nose,  and 
a  large  silver  medallion  of  George  the  Third,  which  I  believe  his  ancestor 
had  received  from  Lord  Dorchester  when  Governor  General  of  Canada,  was 
attached  to  a  mixed-colored  wampum  string  and  hung  round  his  neck.  His 
dress  consisted  of  a  plain,  neat  uniform,  tanned  deer-skin  jacket,  with  long 
trowsers  of  the  same  material,  the  seams  of  both  being  covered  with  neatly- 
cut  fringe,  and  he  had  on  his  feet  leather  moccasins,  much  ornamented  with 
work  made  from  the  dyed  quills  of  the  porcupine." 

The  portrait  of  Tecnmtha  above  given  is  from  a  pencil  sketch  by  Pierre  le  Dru,  mentioned  in  note  1,  page  189.  In 
this  I  have  given  only  the  head  by  Le  Dru.  The  cap  was  red,  the  band  ornamented  with  colored  porcupines'  quills,  and 
in  front  was  a  single  eagle's  feather,  black,  with  a  white  tip.  The  sketch  of  his  dress  (and  the  medal  above  described), 
in  which  he  appears  as  a  brigadier  general  of  the  British  army,  is  from  a  rough  drawing  which  I  saw  in  Montreal  in  the 
summer  of  185S,  made  at  Maiden  soon  after  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  where  the  Indians  celebrated  that  event  by  a  grand 
feast.  It  was  only  on  gala  occasions  that  Tecumtha  was  seen  in  full  dress.  The  sketch  did  not  pretend  to  give  a  true 
likeness  of  the  chief,  and  was  valuable  only  as  a  delineation  of  his  costume.  From  the  two  we  are  enabled  to  give  a 
pretty  faithful  picture  of  the  great  Shawnoese  warrior  and  statesman  as  he  appeared  in  his  best  mood.  When  in  full 
dress  he  wore  a  cocked  hat  and  plume,  but  would  not  give  up  his  blue  breech-cloth,  red  leggins  fringed  with  buckskin, 
and  buckskin  moccasins. 


284  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Amnesty  offered  and  accepted.  Preparations  for  attacking  Detroit.  Its  Surrender  predetermined. 

them  that  he  had  come  to  assist  them  in  driving  the  Americans  from  Detroit  and 
their  rightful  hunting-grounds  north  of  the  Ohio.  His  speech  was  highly  applauded 
by  Tecumtha,  who  replied  in  an  eloquent  and  sagacious  manner,  and  gave  Brock  a 
high  opinion  of  his  genius.1  Not  deeming  it  prudent  to  reveal  too  much  of  his  plan 
of  operations  to  the  assembled  savages,  the  latter  invited  Tecumtha,  with  a  few  old 
chiefs,  to  Colonel  Elliott's  quarters,  and  there  he  laid  the  whole  matter  before  them. 
The  chiefs  listened  with  great  attention,  and  assured  Brock  that  he  should  have  their 
cordial  co-operation.  In  reply  to  his  question  whether  the  warriors  could  be  re 
strained  from  drinking  whisky,  Tecumtha  replied  that,  before  leaving  their  country 
on  the  Wabash,  they  had  promised  him  that  they  would  not  taste  a  drop  of  the  fire 
water  until  they  had  humbled  the  big-knives — the  Americans — and  that  they  might 
be  relied  on.2 

Brock  had  issued  a  general  order  early  in  the  morning  of  the  14th,  in  which  he 
calmed  the  fears  of  those  inhabitants  who  had  deserted  from  the  British  army,  or  had 
taken  protections  from  Hull,  by  expressing  his  willingness  to  believe  that  their  con 
duct  proceeded  more  from  their  anxiety  to  get  in  their  harvests  than  from  "  any  pre 
dilection  for  the  principles  and  government  of  the  United  States."  This  ingenious 
offer  of  amnesty  by  implication  was  sent  out  upon  the  roads  northward,  and  was  ac 
cepted  by  the  great  body  of  the  inhabitants,  who  were  alarmed  and  exasperated  by 
Hull's  desertion  of  them ;  and  when,  on  the  same  day,  Brock  marched  from  Maiden 
to  Sandwich,  he  passed  through  a  country  of  friends. 

» August  11,  Major  Denny  had  already  evacuated  Fort  Gowris,a  and,  with  the  con 
valescents  and  troops  under  his  command,  had  crossed  the  river  to  De 
troit.  The  American  camp  at  Sandwich  and  vicinity  was  immediately  taken  pos-' 
session  of  by  British  troops,  under  Captain  Dixon,  of  the  Royal  Engineers  (whom  we 
shall  meet  at  Fort  Stephenson),  and  a  battery  was  planted  so  as  to  command  Detroit. 
The  American  artillerists  begged  permission  to  open  upon  them  from  the  fort  with 
twenty-four  pounders,3  but  Hull  would  not  grant  it,  and  the  enemy  was  allowed  to 
complete  his  preparations  for  reducing  the  fort  without  molestation.  The  brave 
Captain  Srielling  asked  permission  to  go  over  in  the  night  and  take  the  works,  but 
Hull  would  listen  to  no  propositions  of  the  kind.  He  seemed  unwilling  to  injure  or 
exasperate  the  enemy. 

That  General  Hull  had  determined  to  surrender  Detroit,  under  certain  contingen 
cies,  rather  than  risk  an  engagement  with,  or  a  protracted  siege  by  the  British  and 
Indians,  at  least  two  or  three  days  before  that  deed  was  accomplished,  the  careful 
student  of  the  history  of  that  affair  can  not  doubt.  All  of  his  movements  indicate 
this,  according  to  the  positive  testimony  given  by  M'Afee,  and  of  Colonel  Stanley 
Hatch's  narrative,  already  cited.  Hatch  was  Hull's  assistant  quartermaster  general. 
Hull  seemed  convinced  that,  under  all  the  circumstances,  the  post  would  be  untenable 
against  such  a  force  as  the  enemy  might  bring  to  bear  upon  it,  unless  his  communi 
cation  with  Ohio  might  be  kept  up.  Dearborn  had  failed  to  make  any  diversions  in 
his  favor  on  the  Niagara  or  at  Kingston,  as  he  had  been  directed  to  do.4  His  com 
munication  with  Ohio  (his  only  source  of  supply),  lying  beyond  a  trackless  wilder- 

1  Brock  wrote  of  Tecumtha  as  follows :  "  A  more  sagacious  or  a  more  gallant  warrior  does  not,  I  believe,  exist.  He 
was  the  admiration  of  every  one  who  conversed  with  him.  Prom  a  life  of  dissipation  he  has  not  only  hecome,  in  every 
respect,  abstemious,  but  he  has  likewise  prevailed  on  all  his  native,  and  many  of  the  other  tribes,  to  follow  his  ex 
ample."  2  Tupper's  Life  of  Brock,  page  220. 

3  The  execution  of  heavy  guns  at  long  distances  at  that  time  was  feeble  when  compared  to  that  of  the  rifled  cannon 
and  conical  balls  used  at  the  present  day.  In  the  year  1812,  the  late  Ichabod  Price,  of  New  York  (who  died  in  that  city 
on  the  1st  of  March,  1862,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years),  suggested  to  the  War  Department  both  rifled  cannon  and  con 
ical  balls.  He  was  then  a  sergeant  of  an  artillery  corps  of  the  State  of  New  York,  who  volunteered  for  the  defense  of 
the  state.  The  department  would  not  listen  to  Price's  proposition  ;  but  his  genius  was  so  well  attested  in  the  presence 
of  President  Madison  that  he  commissioned  him  a  lieutenant  in  the  regular  army  of  the  United  States. 

*  Letter  of  the  Secretary  of  War  to  General  Dearborn,  August  1, 1812.  Of  the  position  of  affairs  on  the  Niagara  front 
ier  at  this  time  much  will  be  said  hereafter.  Suffice  it  to  say  now  that  General  Dearborn  agreed  to  a  conditional  ar 
mistice  with  Sir  George  Prevost,  an  arrangement  which  the  government  of  the  United  States  subsequently  repudiated. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  285 


Hull  deceived  by  false  Reports  and  Appearances.  Escort  sent  for  Brush.  Its  Fate. 

ness  two  hundred  miles  away,  was  cut  off.  His  provisions,  he  thought,  were  becom 
ing  too  scarce  to  warrant  the  risk  of  a  protracted  siege,  and  an  intercepted  letter 
from  Proctor  to  Roberts  at  Mackinack  threatened  a  descent  of  five  thousand  Indians 
from  that  region.  Hemmed  in  on  every  side,  and  his  force  wasting  with  disease,  dis 
appointment,  and  death,  his  kindness  of  heart,  and  the  growing  caution  incident  to 
old  age,  made  him  timid  and  fearful.  He  did  not  know  that  the  letter  from  Proctor 
at  Maiden  had  been  sent  for  the  purpose  of  interception  to  alarm  him.1  He  did  not 
know  that  a  large  portion  of  Brock's  troops,  reported  to  him  as  regulars,  were  only 
the  militia  of  Long  Point  and  vicinity,  dressed  in  scarlet  uniforms  to  deceive  him.2 
He  was  too  honest  (whatever  may  be  said  of  his  military  sagacity)  to  suspect  decep 
tions  of  this  kind,  and  he  sincerely  believed  that  his  little  army  would  be  exterm 
inated  by  the  savages  should  he  exasperate  them  by  shedding  their  blood.  "  A  man 
of  another  mould,  full  of  resolution  and  resource,"  says  Ingersoll,  "  might  have  tri 
umphed  over  the  time-serving  negligence  of  his  own  government,  and  the  bold  re 
sistance  of  an  enemy  who  could  not  fail  to  perceive  that  he  had  a  feeble  and  dis 
mayed  antagonist  to  deal  with."3 

On  the  14th  General  Hull  sent  a  message  to  Captain  Brush  informing  him  that  a 
sufficient  detachment  to  escort  him  to  head-quarters  could  not  then  be  spared,  and 
directing  him  to  remain  where  he  was  until  farther  orders,  or,  if  he  thought  best,  to 
attempt  a  forward  movement  by  a  circuitous  and  more  inland  route,  after  consulting 
with  Colonel  Anderson  and  Captain  Jobard,  the  bearers  of  the  letter.4  Toward  the 
evening  of  the  same  day,  he  changed  his  mind,  and  concluded  to  send  a  detachment 
to  escort  Brush  to  Detroit.  He  communicated  his  plan  to  Colonels  M' Arthur  and 
Cass,  who  not  only  approved  of  it,  but  volunteered  to  perform  the  duty.  They  were 
permitted  to  choose  three  hundred  and  fifty  men  from  their  respective  regiments. 
M' Arthur,  as  senior  officer,  took  the  command  ;  and  they  left  in  haste  in  the  evening 
without  a  sufficient  supply  of  provisions  for  a  protracted  absence,  or  even  of  blank 
ets  for  repose  in  resting,  for  they  were  assured  that  they  would  doubtless  meet  Brush 
between  the  Rouge  and  Huron,  and  not  more  than  twelve  miles  distant.  When  they 
remonstrated  because  they  were  dispatched  with  a  scanty  supply  of  provisions,  Hull 
promised  to  send  more  after  them  on  pack-horses.  But  Brush's  orders  left  it  option 
al  with  him  to  remain  or  move  forward.  He  was  not  found  on  the  way,  nor  were 
provisions  received  from  Hull  as  promised. 

The  detachment  under  M'Arthur  and  Cass  crossed  the  Rouge  that  even-  « August  14, 
ing,a  and  the  next  day  pushed  forward  by  a  circuitous  route  toward  the 
head  waters  of  the  Huron,  twenty-four  miles  from  Detroit,  when  they  became  en 
tangled  in  a  swamp,  and  could  proceed  no  farther.  Half  famished  and  greatly  fa 
tigued  by  their  march  through  the  forest,  they  had  prepared  to  bivouac  for  the  night, 
when,  just  as  the  evening  twilight  was  fading  away,  a  courier  arrived  with  a  sum 
mons  from  Hull  to  return  immediately  to  Detroit.5  The  order  was  obeyed,  and  they 

1  I  was  informed  by  the  venerable  Robert  Reynolds,  of  Amherstburg,  who  was  a  deputy  assistant  commissary  general 
in  the  British  army  in  Canada  during  the  war,  that  Proctor  sent  a  letter  to  Captain  Roberts  telling  him  that  his  force 
was  considerable,  and  that  he  need  not  send  down  more  than  five  thousand  Indians.    This  letter,  according  to  instruc 
tions,  was  intercepted,  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  Hull,  who  had  visions  immediately  of  an  overwhelming  force  coming 
down  upon  his  rear,  while  a  superior  army  should  attack  him  in  front. 

2  I  visited  the  Long  Point  region  at  Norwichville  in  the  autumn  of  1S60,  where  early  settlers  were  yet  living.    There  I 
was  informed,  from  the  lips  of  Adam  Yeigh,  of  Burford,  who  was  one  of  the  volunteers,  that  all  of  the  recruits  from  his 
neighborhood  were  dressed  in  scarlet  uniform  at  the  public  expense.    When  they  approached  Sandwich  he  said  these 
raw  recruits  were  mixed  with  the  regulars,  each  volunteer  being  placed  between  two  regulars.    By  this  stratagem  Hull 
was  deceived  into  the  belief  that  a  large  British  force  was  marching  against  him.    Yeigh  was  an  energetic  young  man, 
and  soon  won  the  confidence  of  Brock,  who  gave  him  the  following  directions  on  the  day  that  they  marched  upon  Sand 
wich  from  Amherstburg  :  If  your  lieutenant  falls,  take  his  place ;  if  your  captain  falls,  take  his  place  ;  if  your  colonel 
falls,  take  his  place.    As  no  blood  was  shed  on  the  occasion,  and  nobody  fell,  Yeigh  failed  of  promotion.    He  cited  this 
circumstance  to  show  how  nearly  he  came  to  being  a  British  colonel. 

a  Historical  Sketches  of  the  Second  War,  etc.,  i.,  81. 
*  Hull's  Memoir  of  the  Campaign  of  1812,  page  T3. 
5  Letter  of  Colonel  Cass  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  September  10, 1812. 


286  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Demand  for  the  Surrender  of  Detroit.  The  Garrison  threatened  with  Massacre.  The  Demand  refused. 

_ _ « 

approached  head-quarters  the  next  day  at  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Mean 
while  affairs  at  Detroit  had  reached  a  crisis. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  August,  General  Hull  pitched  his  marquee  in  the 
centre  of  his  camp,  near  the  fort.  It  was  the  first  time  since  the  4th  of  July  that  it 
had  made  its  appearance,  and  much  attention  and  remark  was  elicited  by  it,  especial 
ly  because  its  top  was  ornamented  with  red  and  blue  stripes,  which  made  it  conspic 
uous  among  the  tents.1  The  British  had  been  in  considerable  force  on  the  opposite 
shore  since  the  13th,  and  had  been  permitted  to  throw  up  intrenchments,  and  to  plant 
a  battery  for  two  eighteen-pounders  and  an  eight-inch  howitzer  in  a  position  to  com 
mand  the  town  and  fort,  notwithstanding  the  latter  was  armed  with  twenty-eight 
pieces  of  heavy  ordnance,  which  the  artillerists  were  anxious  to  use  in  driving  the 
enemy  from  his  works.  When  his  preparations  for  attack  were  completed,  General 
Brock,  at  little  past  meridian  on  the  15th,  sent  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Donell  and  Ma 
jor  Glegg  from  Sandwich,  with  a  flag,  to  bear  to  General  Hull  a  summons  for  the 
unconditional  surrender  of  the  post.  "  The  force  at  my  disposal,"  said  Brock,  "  au 
thorizes  me  to  require  of  you  the  surrender  of  Detroit.  It  is  far  from  my  inclination 
to  join  in  a  war  of  extermination,  but  you  must  be  aware  that  the  numerous  body  of 
Indians  who  have  attached  themselves  to  my  troops  will  be  beyond  my  control  the 
moment  the  contest  commences."2 

This  covert  threat  of  letting  loose  the  blood-thirsty  savages  upon  the  town  and 
garrison  of  Detroit  deeply  impressed  the  commanding  general  with  contending  emo 
tions.  His  pride  of  character,  and  his  patriotism,  for  which  all  venei-ated  him,  bade 
him  fight ;  his  fear  of  the  consequences  to  the  army  and  the  inhabitants  under  his 
charge  bade  him  surrender.  His  whole  effective  force  then  at  his  disposal  did  not 
exceed  one  thousand  men,3  and  the  fort  was  thronged  with  trembling  women,  and 
children,  and  decrepit  old  men  of  the  town  and  surrounding  country,  who  had  fled 
thither  to  escape  the  blow  of  the  tomahawk  and  the  keen  blade  of  the  scalping-knife. 
For  full  two  hours  he  kept  the  flag  waiting  while  revolving"  in  his  mind  what  to  do. 
His  troops  were  confident  in  their  ability  to  successfully  confront  the  enemy,  and 
were  eager  to  measure  strength  with  him ;  and  at  length  Hull  mustered  resolution 
sufficient  to  say  to  Brock, "  I  have  no  other  reply  to  make  than  to  inform  you  that  I 
am  ready  to  meet  any  force  which  may  be  at  your  disposal,  and  any  consequences 
which  may  result  from  its  execution  in  any  way  you  may  think  proper  to  use  it." 
He  added,  apologetically,  that  a  certain  flag  of  truce,  sent  to  Maiden  at  about  the 
time  Colonel  Cass  fell  upon  the  British  and  Indians  at  the  Aux  Canards,  proceeded 
contrary  to  his  orders ;  and  that  the  destruction  of  Gowris's  house  at  Sandwich  was 
also  contrary  to  his  orders.4 

Hull's  response  to  Brock,  when  made  known,  was  welcomed  by  the  troops  with  the 
most  lively  satisfaction ;  and  when  the  flag  touched  the  Canada  shore,  the  bearers 
were  startled  by  a  loud  huzza  from  the  fort  at  Detroit  and  the  adjacent  camp.  The 
time  for  trial,  and,  as  Hull's  little  army  believed,  of  victory  for  them,  was  at  hand,  and 
the  most  active  preparations  to  meet  the  foe  was  seen  on  every  side.  Major  Jesup 
rode  down  to  Spring  Wells  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy  at  Sandwich.  He  was  satisfied, 
from  the  position  which  the  Queen  Charlotte  had  taken,  that  the  British  intended  to 
land  at  that  place  under  cover  of  her  guns.  Having  selected  a  commanding  point 
for  a  battery  from  which  that  vessel  might  possibly  be  driven  away,  he  hastened 
back  to  head-quarters,  and  requested  Hull  to  send  down  a  twenty-pounder  for  the 
purpose.  Hull  refused.  Jesup  returned  to  Spring  Wells,  where  he  found  Captain 

i  M'Afee,  page  85.  2  Brock  to  Hull,  dated  Sandwich,  August  15, 1812. 

3  Hull,  in  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  August  26, 1S12,  said  it "  did  not  exceed  eight  hundred  men."  Colonel 
Cass,  in  a  letter  to  the  same  Cabinet  minister,  on  the  10th  of  September,  said  that  the  morning  report  of  the  15th  "  made 
our  effective  men  present  fit  for  duty  lOfiO."  Major  Jesup  estimated  them  at  050. 

*  When  Major  Denny  evacuated  Fort  Gowris  he  set  fire  to  the  picket  and  other  works  used  for  strengthening  it,  when 
the  flames  accidentally  seized  the  house  and  destroyed  it. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  .  287 


Bombardment  of  Fort  Detroit.  British  and  Indians  cross  the  River.  They  move  against  the  Fort. 

. m —    - 

Snelling,  with  a  few  men  and  a  six-pounder,  occupying  the  place  he  had  selected  for 
his  battery.  They  perceived  that  the  greater  part  of  the  British  forces  were  at  Sand 
wich,  and  both  hastened  to  head-quarters.  Jesup  now  asked  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men  to  go  over  and  spike  the  enemy's  guns  opposite  Detroit.  Hull  said  he  could 
not  spare  so  many.  "  Give  me  one  hundred,  then,"  said  the  brave  Jesup.  "  Only 
one  hundred,"  said  Snelling,  imploringly.  "  I  will  think  of  it,"  was  Hull's  reply ;  and 
soon  afterward  he  took  refuge  in  the  fort,  for  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the 
British  battery  of  five  guns  opposite,  under  the  direction  of  Captain  Dixon,  of  the 
Royal  Engineers,  opened  upon  the  town,  the  fort,  and  the  camp,  with  shot  and  shell. 
All  the  troops,  except  Findlay's  regiment,  which  was  stationed  three  hundred  yards 
northwest  of  the  fort,  were  ordered  within  the  walls,  crowding  the  work  far  beyond 
its  capacity.1 

The  British  kept  up  their  cannonade  and  bombardment  until  toward  midnight.2 
The  fire  was  returned  with  great  spirit,  and  two  of  the  enemy's  guns  were  silenced 
and  disabled.3  At  evening  twilight  it  was  suggested  to  Hull  that  as  the  fort  did 
not  command  the  river,  a  strong  battery  might  be  placed  near  the  margin  of  the 
stream,  so  as  to  destroy  the  enemy  as  fast  as  they  should  attempt  to  land.  An 
eligible  point  for  the  purpose,  in  the  direction  of  Spring  Wells,  was  selected,  but  the 
general,  whose  mind  seemed  to  have  been  benumbed  from  the  moment  the  enemy's 
battery  was  opened,  would  listen  to  no  suggestions  of  the  kind ;  and  when  that  ene 
my,  in  full  force,  crossed  the  river  during  the  early  morning  of  the  16th — a  calm  and 
beautiful  Sabbath  morning — completing  the  passage  in  the  matin  twilight,  they 
were  allowed  to  land  without  the  least  molestation  from  ball  or  bullet.  Colonels 
Elliott  and  M'Kee,  with  Tecumtha,  had  crossed  during  the  night  two  miles  be 
low,  with  six  hundred  Indians,  and  taken  position  in  the  woods  to  attack  the 
Americans  on  flank  and  rear,  should  they  attempt  to  dispute  the  debarkation  of  the 
regulars  and  militia,  who  numbered  seven  hundred  and  seventy  men,  with  five  pieces 
of  light  artillery.4  When  all  had  breakfasted,  the  invaders  moved  toward  the  fort ; 
the  white  troops  in  a  single  column,  their  left  flank  covered  by  the  Indians,  who  kept 
in  the  woods  a  mile  and  a  half  distant.  Their  right  rested  on  the  Detroit  River,  and 
was  covered  by  the  guns  of  the  Queen  Charlotte. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller,  with  the  4th  Regiment,  was  now  in  the  fort ;  and  the 
Ohio  Volunteers  and  part  of  the  Michigan  militia  were  posted  behind  the  town  pali 
sades,  so  as  to  annoy  the  enemy's  whole  left  flank.  The  remainder  of  the  militia 
were  stationed  in  the  upper  part  of  the  town,  to  resist  the  incursions  of  the  Indians, 

1  Historical  Sketches  of  the  late  War,  by  John  Lewis  Thomson,  page  30. 

2  During  the  evening  a  large  shell  was  thrown  from  a  battery  opposite  where  Woodward  Avenue  now  is.    It  passed 
over  the  present  Jefferson  Avenue,  then  the  principal  street  of  the  town,  and  fell  upon  the  roof  of  Augustus  Langdon, 
which  stood  on  what  is  now  the  southerly  corner  of  Woodward  Avenue  and  Congress  Street.    Coming  down  through 
the  house,  which  was  two  stories  in  height,  it  fell  upon  a  table  around  which  the  family  were  seated,  and  went  through 
to  the  cellar.    The  family  had  just  time  to  flee  from  the  house,  when  the  shell  exploded,  almost  wrecking  the  building. 
— Judge  Withered. 

3  The  battery  that  did  the  greatest  execution  was  placed,  according  to  Judge  Witherell,  in  the  rear  of  the  spot  where 
the  United  States  Court-house  now  stands.    It  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Daliba,  of  Dyson's  Artillery  Corps.    He 
was  a  brave  soldier.    During  the  cannonade  he  stood  in  the  ramparts,  and  when  he  saw  the  smoke  or  flash  of  the  ene 
my's  cannon,  he  would  call  out  to  his  men  "Down  !"  when  they  would  drop  behind  the  parapet  until  the  shot  had  struck. 
A  large  pear-tree  stood  near  the  battery  and  was  somewhat  in  the  way.    Colonel  Mack,  of  the  Michigan  militia,  or 
dered  a  young  volunteer  named  John  Miller  to  cut  it  down.    John  obeyed  with  alacrity.    Seizing  an  axe,  he  hewed 
away  diligently  until  he  had  about  half  severed  the  trunk,  when  a  cannon  ball  from  the  enemy  cut  away  nearly  all  of 
the  remainder.    The  young  man  coolly  turned  toward  the  enemy  and  called  out,  "  Send  us  another,  John  Bull ;  you  can 
cut  faster  than  I  can." 

It  is  related  that  a  negro  was  seen,  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  when  the  shot  were  striking  thick  and  fast  around  the 
fort,  behind  a  chimney  on  the  roof  of  one  of  the  barracks  in  the  fort.  He  watched  the  smoke  of  the  cannon  across  the 
river,  and  would  then  dodge  behind  the  chimney.  At  length  an  eight-pound  ball  struck  the  chimney  just  over  his  head, 
demolished  it,  and  covered  the  skulker  with  brick  and  mortar.  Clearing  himself  from  the  rubbish,  and  scratching  his 
woolly  head,  he  exclaimed,  "  What  de  debble  you  doin  up  dar  !"  He  fled  to  a  safer  place. 

4  According  to  Brock's  official  account,  the  number  of  troops  which  he  marched  against  the  fort  was  a  little  over  thir- 
*teen  hundred,  as  follows :  30  artillery  ;  250  of  the  41st  Regiment ;  50  Royal  Newfoundland  Regiment ;  400  militia,  and 

about  600  Indians.  His  artillery  consisted  of  three  6-pounders  and  two  3-pounders.— Tupper's  Life  of  Brock,  page  250. 
The  number  of  Indians  was  probably  greater  than  here  stated,  as  1000  warriors  attended  a  council  a  few  days  before. 


288  .  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Hull's  Troops  restrained  from  Action.  All  ordered  into  the  Fort.  Scenes  within  the  Fort. 

whose  chief  motive  in  joining  the  British  standard  was  plunder,  and  the  free  and  safe 
indulgence  of  their  ferocity.  Two  twenty-four-pounders  had  been  placed  in  battery 
on  an  eminence  from  which  they  could  sweep  the  advancing  column.1  The  American 
force  was  considerably  less  than  that  of  the  British,  white  and  red  combined,  but 
their  position  was  much  superior.  They  had  four  hundred  rounds  of  twenty-four- 
pound  shot  fixed ;  about  one  hundred  thousand  cartridges  prepared  ;  ample  provisions 
for  fifteen  days  and  more  approaching,  and  no  lack  of  arms  and  loose  ammunition.2 

The  invaders  advanced  cautiously,  and  had  reached  a  point  within  five  hundred 
yards  of  the  American  line,  near  the  site  of  Governor  Woodbridge's  residence,  at  the 
crossing  of  the  Central  Railroad,  when  General  Hull  sent  a  peremptory  order  for  his 
soldiers  to  retreat  into  the  fort.  The  troops  were  astounded  and  bewildered.  Con 
fident  in  their  ability  to  repulse  and  probably  capture  the  invaders,  they  were  eager 
for  the  order  to  begin  the  contest.  "  Not  a  sign  of  discontent  broke  upon  the  ear ; 
not  a  look  of  cowardice  met  the  eye.  Every  man  expected  a  proud  day  for  his  coun 
try,  and  each  was  anxious  that  his  individual  exertion  should  contribute  to  the  general 
result."3  Like  true  soldiers  they  obeyed,  but  not  without  loud  and  fearless  expression 
of  their  indignation,  and  their  contempt  for  the  commanding  general.  Many  of  them, 
high-spirited  young  men  from  the  best  families  in  Ohio,  showed  symptoms  of  positive 
mutiny  at  first ;  and  the  twenty-four-pounder  would  have  poured  a  destructive  storm 
of  grape-shot  upon  the  advancing  column,  notwithstanding  the  humiliating  order,  had 
not  Lieutenant  Anderson,  who  commanded  the  guns,  acting  under  the  general's  di 
rection,  forcibly  restrained  them.  He  was  anxious  to  reserve  his  fire  until  the  ap 
proaching  column  should  be  in  the  best  position  to  receive  the  most  destructive 
volleys.  The  guns  were  heavily  charged  with  grape-shot,  and  would  have  sent 
terrible  messengers  to  many  of  the  "  red-co^Pts,"  as  the  scarlet-dressed  British  were 
generally  termed.  The  eager  artillerists  were  about  to  apply  the  match  too  soon, 
when  Anderson  sprang  forward,  with  drawn  sword,  and  threatened  to  cut  down  the 
first  man  who  should  disobey  his  orders. 

The  infuriated  soldiers  entered  the  already  over-crowded  fort,  while  the  enemy, 
after  reconnoitring  the  fort  and  discovering  the  weakness  of  the  fortification  on  the 
land  side,  prepared  to  storm  it.  But,  before  they  could  form  for  the  purpose,  the  oc 
casion  had  ceased.  The  fire  from  the  battery  on  the  Canada  shore,  kept  up  slowly 
since  dawn,  had  become  very  vigorous.  Up  to  this  time  no  casualty  had  resulted 
from  it  within  the  fort.  Now  a  ball  came  bounding  over  the  fort  wall,  dealing  death 
in  its  passage.  A  group  standing  at  the  door  of  one  of  the  officers'  quarters  were 
almost  annihilated.  Captain  Hancks,  of  Mackinaw,  Lieutenant  Sibley,  and  Dr.  Rey 
nolds,  who  accompanied  Hull's  invalids  from  the  Maumee  to  Detroit,  were  instantly 
killed,  and  Dr.  Blood  was  severely  wounded.  Two  other  soldiers  were  killed  almost 
immediately  afterward  by  another  ball ;  and  still  two  others  on  the  outside  of  the 
fort  were  slain. 

Many  women  and  children  were  in  the  house  where  the  officers  were  slain.  Among 
them  were  General  Hull's  daughter  and  her  children.  Some  of  the  women  were  pet 
rified  with  aifrjght,  and  were  carried  senseless  to  the  bomb-proof  vault  for  safety. 
Several  of  them  were  bespattered  with  blood ;  and  the  general,  who  saw  the  eifects 
of  the  ball  from  a  distance,  knew  not  whether  his  own  child  was  slain  or  not.  These 
casualties,  the  precursors  of  future  calamities,  almost  unmanned  him,  and  he  paced 
the  parade  backward  and  forward  in  the  most  anxious  frame  of  mind.  At  that  mo 
ment  an  officer  from  the  Michigan  militia  in  the  town,  who  had  observed  the  steady 
approach  of  the  enemy  without  a  gun  being  fired  from  the  fort  or  the  twenty-four 

1  This  was  in  Jefferson  Avenue,  in  front  of  the  Cass  farm,  before  the  hill  was  cut  down.    The  elevation  was  then  about 
the  same  as  it  is  now  at  the  intersection  of  Woodward  Avenue.    These  guns  were  placed  there  by  Lieutenant  Anderson, « 
of  the  United  States  Engineers.    Although  the  landing-place  of  the  enemy  at  Spring  Wells  was  about  three  miles  off, 
Anderson  opened  upon  the  foe  while  they  were  crossing,  but  without  doing  much  damage. 

2  Colonel  Cass  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  September  10th,  1812.  3  The  same  to  the  same. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF    1812.  289 


Surrender  of  Detroit.  Indignation  of  the  Troops.  Hull  assumes  all  Responsibility. 

pounders  outside,  came  in  haste  to  inquire  whether  it  was  the  intention  of  the  gen 
eral  to  allow  that  body  alone  to  defend  the  place ;  also  to  inform  him  that  the  Brit 
ish  and  Indians  were  at  the  tan-yard,  close  upon  the  town.  The  general  made  no  re 
ply,  but,  stepping  into  a  room  in  the  barracks,  he  prepared  a  note  hastily,  handed  it 
to  his  son,  Captain  Hull,  and  directed  him  to  display  a  white  flag  immediately  from 
the  walls  of  the  fort,1  where  it  might  be  seen  by  Captain  Dixon  over  the  river.2  This 
was  done.  The  firing  soon  ceased,  and  in  a  few  minutes  Captain  Hull  was  "  unex 
pectedly  seen  emerging  from  the  fort"3  with  a  flag  of  truce.  At  the  same  time, 
a  boat,  with  a  flag,  was  dispatched  to  the  commander  of  the  battery  on  the  Canada 
shore. 

Captain  Hull  bore  proposals  for  an  immediate  capitulation.  He  soon  returned  with 
Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Donell  and  Major  Glegg,  who  were  authorized  by  Brock  to 
negotiate  the  terms  of  surrender.  The  white  flag  upon  the  walls  had  awakened  pain 
ful  suspicions ;  the  arrival  of  these  officers  announced  the  virtual  betrayal  of  the  gar 
rison.  Hull  had  asked  no  man's  advice,  nor  suggested  to  any  the  possibility  of  a  sur 
render.4  His  act  was  quick,  and  as  unexpected  as  a  thunderbolt  from  a  clear  sky. 
Not  a  shot  had  been  fired  upon  the  enemy — not  an  effort  to  stay  his  course  had  been 
made.  For  a  moment  nothing  but  reverence  for  gray  hairs,  and  veneration  for  a  sol 
dier  of  the  Revolution,  saved  the  commander  from  personal  violence  at  the  hands  of 
his  incensed  people.  Many  of  the  soldiers,  it  is  said,  shed  tears  of  mortification  and 
disappointment. 

The  terms  of  capitulation  were  soon  agreed  to,5  and  the  American  commander  is 
sued  a  general  order  saying  that  it  was  "  with  pain  and  anxiety"  that  he  announced 
to  the  Northwest  Army  that  lie  had  been  compelled,  from  a  sense  of  duty,  to  agree 
to  articles  of  capitulation  which  were  appended  to  the  averment.  He  then  sent  a 

1  "Leonard  Harrison,  of  Dearborn,  told  me  that  soon  after  a  white  flag  was  hoisted  at  the  fort  he  happened  to  be 
standing  near  Colonel  Findlay,  of  the  Ohio  Volunteers,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller,  of  the  Fourth  Infantry.    Colonel 
Findlay  said,  '  Colonel  Miller,  the  general  talks  of  a  surrender  ;  let  us  put  him  under  arrest.'    Miller  replied,  '  Colonel 
Findlay,  I  am  a  soldier ;  I  shall  obey  my  superior  officer,'  intimating  that  if  Findlay  would  assume  the  command  of  the 
army  he  would  obey  him.    Had  the  stern  old  M'Arthur,  or  the  younger  and  more  impetuous  Cass  been  present,  either 
of  them  would  have  taken  the  responsibility."— JitAge  Witlierell. 

Miller's  true  soldierly  qualities  of  obedience  and  acquiescence  is  shown  in  the  careful  manner  in  which,  to  his  wife, 
he  wrote  concerning  the  surrender,  from  his  prison  at  Fort  George,  on  the  27th  day  of  August,  1812.  "  Only  one  week 
after  I,  with  six  hundred  men,  completely  conquered  almost  the  whole  force  which  they  then  had,  they  came  out  and 
took  Fort  Detroit,  and  made  nearly  two  thousand  of  us  prisoners,  on  Sunday,  the  16th  instant.  There  being  no  opera 
tions  going  on  below  ns  [meaning  Niagara  frontier]  gave  them  an  opportunity  to  re-enforce.  The  number  brought 
against  ns  is  yet  unknown ;  but  my  humble  opinion  is  we  could  have  defeated  them,  without  a  doubt,  had  we  attempt 
ed  it.  But  General  Hull  thought  differently,  and  surrendered  without  making  any  terms  of  capitulation.  Colonel 
Brush  and  I  made  the  best  terms  we  could  after  the  surrender,  which  were  but  poor."— Manuscript  Letter. 

2  The  white  "  flag"  was  a  table-cloth.    It  was  waved  from  one  of  the  bastions  by  Captain  Burton,  of  the  Fourth  Regi 
ment,  by  order  of  General  Hull.  3  Tupper's  Life  of  Brock,  page  232. 

*  In  his  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  dated  at  Fort  George,  August  26, 1812,  General  Hull  generously  said  :  "  I 
well  know  the  high  responsibility  of  the  measure,  and  take  the  whole  of  it  on  myself.  It  was  dictated  by  a  sense  of  duty, 
and  a  full  conviction  of  its  expediency.  The  bauds  of  savages  which  had  then  joined  the  British  force  were  numerous 
beyond  any  former  example.  Their  numbers  have  since  increased ;  and  the  history  of  tie  barbarians  of  the  north  of 
Europe  does  not  furnish  examples  of  more  greedy  violence  than  these  savages  have  exhibited.  A  large  portion  of  the 
brave  and  gallant  officers  and  men  I  commanded  would  cheerfully  have  contested  until  the  last  cartridge  had  been  ex 
pended  and  the  bayonets  worn  to  the  sockets.  I  could  not  consent  to  the  useless  sacrifice  of  such  brave  men  when  I 
knew  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  sustain  my  situation.  It  was  impossible,  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  an  army  could 
have  been  furnished  with  the  necessary  supplies  of  provisions,  military  stores,  clothing,  and  comforts  for  the  sick,  on 
pack-horses,  through  a  wilderness  of  two  hundred  miles,  filled  with  hostile  savages.  It  was  impossible,  sir,  that  this 
little  army,  worn  down  by  fatigue,  by  sickness,  by  wounds,  and  deaths,  could  have  supported  itself  not  only  against  the 
collected  force  of  all  the  Northern  nations  of  Indians,  but  against  the  united  strength  of  Upper  Canada,  whose  popula 
tion  consists  of  more  than  twenty  times  the  number  contained  in  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  aided  by  the  principal  part 
of  the  regular  forces  of  the  province,  and  the  wealth  and  influence  of  the  Northwest  and  other  trading  establishments 
among  the  Indians,  which  have  in  their  employment  more  than  two  thousand  while  men." 

After  alluding  to  Colonels  M'Arthur,  Findlay,  Cass,  and  Miller  in  commendatory  terms,  he  said  :  "  If  aught  has  taken 
place  during  the  campaign  which  is  honorable  to  the  army,  these  officers  are  entitled  to  a  large  share  of  it.  If  the  last 
act  should  be  disapproved,  no  part  of  the  censure  belongs  to  them."  He  closed  his  dispatch  by  soliciting  an  early  in 
vestigation  of  his  conduct,  and  requesting  the  government  not  to  be  unmindful  of  his  associates  in  captivity,  and  of  the 
families  of  the  brave  men  who  had  fallen  in  the  contest. 

5  It  was  stipulated  that  the  fort  at  Detroit,  with  all  its  dependencies,  and  the  troops  there,  excepting  such  of  the  mili 
tia  of  Michigan  Territory  who  had  not  joined  the  army,  should  be  surrendered,  with  all  public  property  of  every  kind. 
The  command  of  Captain  Brush  at  the  River  Raisin,  and  M'Arthur's  then  away  from  Detroit,  were,  at  the  request  of 
Hull,  included  in  the  capitulation,  while  the  Ohio  militia,  who  had  not  yet  joined  the  army,  were  paroled  on  condition 
that  they  should  return  home,  and  not  serve  during  the  war. 


290  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Position  of  M 'Arthur  and  Cass.  Escape  of  Captain  Brush  and  his  Command.  Result  of  the  Surrender. 

messenger  with  a  note  to  Colonel  M' Arthur  (who,  with  Colonel  Cass  and  the  detach 
ment  sent  toward  the  Raisin,  were,  as  we  have  seen,  hastening  back  to  Detroit)  in 
forming  him  of  the  surrender,  and  that  he  and  his  command  were  included  in  the  ca 
pitulation  as  prisoners  of  war.1  They  had  arrived  in  sight  of  Detroit  at  about  the 
time  when  the  American  white  flags  had  silenced  the  British  cannon,2  thoroughly 
exhausted  by  rapid  and  fatiguing  marches  and  lack  of  food,  for  they  had  tasted  noth 
ing  for  more  than  forty-eight  hours,  excepting  some  green  pumpkins  and  potatoes 
found  in  the  fields.  They  had  observed  the  enemy,  and  the  ease  with  which,  in  con 
nection  with  the  army  at  Detroit,  they  might  capture  him  by  falling  up<jn  his  rear. 
But  all  was  silent.  That  fact  was  a  sealed  enigma.  There  were  two  armies  within 
half  cannon-shot  of  each  other,  and  yet,  to  the  ears  of  these  listeners,  they-both  seem 
ed  as  silent  as  the  grave.  Had  there  been  firing,  or  any  signs  of  resistance,  M' Arthur 
would  have  fallen  upon  the  rear  of  the  invaders  even  without  orders.  But  all  was 
mystery  until  the  arrival  of  Hull's  courier  writh  the  unwelcome  tidings. 

M' Arthur  attempted  to  communicate  with  Hull,  but  failed.  He  sent  a  message  to 
Captain  Brush  with  Hull's  note,  saying,  "  By  the  within  letter  you  will  see  that  the 
army  under  General  Hull  has  been  surrendered.  By  the  articles  you  will  see  that 
provision  has  been  made  for  the  detachment  under  your  command ;  you  will  there 
fore,  I  hope,  return  to  Ohio  with  us."3 

At  sunset  Colonel  Elliott  came  to  M'Arthur  from  the  fort  with  the  articles  of  capit 
ulation,  and  with  authority  from  Brock  to  receive  tokens  of  the  submission  of  the 
detachment.  The  dark,  lustrous  eyes  «f  M'Arthur  flashed  with  indignation  at  the 
demand.  As  they  filled  with  tears  of  deepest  mortification,  he  thrust  his  sword  into 
the  ground,  and  broke  it  in  pieces,  and  then  tore  his  epaulettes  from  his  shoulders. 
This  paroxysm  of  feeling  was  soon  succeeded  by  dignified  calmness  ;  and  in  the  dim 
twilight  M'Arthur  and  Cass,  with  their  whole  detachment,  were  marched  into  the 
fort,  where  the  arms  of  the  soldiers  were  stacked.  Before  the  curtain  of  night  had 
been  fairly  drawn  over  the  humiliating  scene  the  act  of  capitulation  and  surrender 
was  completed — an  act  which  produced  universal  mortification  and  intense  indigna 
tion  throughout  the  country.4  In  less  than  two  months  after  war  was  declared,  and 
the  favorite  scheme  of  an  invasion  of  the  enemy's  provinces  had  been  set  in  motion, 
a  strong  military  post,  a  spirited  army,  and  a  magnificent  territory,  Avith  all  its  in 
habitants,5  had  been  given  up  without  an  effort  to  save  them,  or  a  moment's  waiting 
for  the  arrival  of  powerful  re-enforcements  and  ample  supplies,  then  on  their  way 
from  the  southward.  About  two  thousand  men  in  all6  became  prisoners  of  war. 

1  "  Such  part  of  the  Ohio  militia,"  he  said,  "  as  have  not  joined  the  army  [meaning  Brush's  detachment  at  the  Raisin] 
will  be  permitted  to  return  to  their  homes,  on  condition  that  they  will  not  serve  during  the  war.    Their  arms,  how 
ever,  will  be  delivered  up,  if  belonging  to  the  public." 

2  They  had  been  discovered  by  Brock's  scouts,  and  their  presence  in  the  rear  caused  the  British  general  to  move  to 
the  attack  sooner  than  he  intAided  to.    "Hearing,"  says  Brock,  in  his  official  dispatch,  "that  his  [M'Arthur's]  cavalry 
had  been  seen  that  morning  three  miles  in  our  rear,  I  decided  on  an  immediate  attack." 

3  On  the  evening  of  the  17th,  Captain  Elliott,  son  of  Colonel  Elliott,  with  a  Frenchman  and  Wyandot  Indian,  ap 
proached  Brush's  encampment  at  the  Raisin  bearing  a  flag  of  truce,  a  copy  of  the  capitulation  at  Detroit,  and  authority 
to  receive  the  surrender  of  Brush  and  his  command.    Lieutenant  Couthier,  of  the  Raisin,  the  officer  of  the  day,  blind 
folded  Elliott,  and  led  him  to  the  block-house.    Brush  was  not  satisfied  that  his  visit  was  by  authority,  or  that  the  doc 
ument  was  genuine,  so  he  ordered  Elliott's  arrest  and  confinement.    M'Arthur's  letter  testified  to  the  genuineness  of 
Elliott's  document  and  authority,  when  Brush  hastily  packed  up  the  public  property  at  the  Raisin,  and,  with  his  whole 
command  and  his  cattle,  started  for  Ohio,  directing  Elliott  to  be  released  the  next  day.    The  angry  Elliott  sent  for  Te- 
cumtha  to  pursue  Brush.    It  was  too  late.— Statement  of  Peter  Navarre  (who  was  an  eye-witness)  to  the  Author  in  Sep 
tember,  I860 ;  Letter  to  the  Author  from  the  Hon.  Elisha  Whittlesey,  of  Ohio. 

4  Among  other  demonstrations  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  the  newspapers  of  the  day  noticed  that  at  Greens- 
borough,  North  Carolina,  General  Hull  was  hung  and  burnt  in  effigy,  "  in  accordance  with  the  prescription  of  a  public 
meeting." 

5  The  whole  white  population  of  Michigan  at  that  time  was  between  four  and  five  thousand.    The  greater  part  were 
Canadians.    Their  settlements  were  chiefly  on  the  Maumee,  Raisin,  Ecorce,  Rouge,  Detroit  River,  Lake  St.  Clair,  and 
the  island  of  Mackinack.    They  paid  very  little  attention  to  agriculture,  being  engaged  chiefly  in  hunting,  fishing,  and 
trading  with  the  Indians.    They  did  not  produce  sufficient  from  the  earth  to  give  themselves  sustenance  ;  and  their  beef, 
pork,  corn,  and  flour  were  brought  from  a  distance. 

6  Estimates  of  the  number  actually  included  in  the  capitulation  vary  from  1800  to  2500.    I  have  examined  all,  and 
think  the  number  was  not  far  from  2000. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


Effect  of  the  Surrender.  Incidents.  Disposal  of  the  Prisoners. 

These  consisted  of  two  squadrons  of  cavalry,  one  company  of  artillery,  the  4th  United 
States  Regiment,  and  detachments  from  the  1  st  and  3d ;  three  regiments  of  Ohio  Volun 
teers,  and  one  regiment  of  the  Michigan  militia.  The  British  obtained  by  this  capit 
ulation  (for  it  was  not 'a  victory)  a  large  amount  of  arms,  ammunition,  and  stores,  all 
of  which,  especially  arms,  were  greatly  needed  in  Upper  Canada.1  It  was  a  godsend 
to  the  provinces  in  every  aspect.  The  surrender  caused  months  of  delay  before 
another  invading  army  could  be  brought  into  the  field,  and  thus  gave  the  British 
time  for  preparation  ;  and  it  secured  the  friendship  and  alliance  of  savage  tribes, 
who,  as  usual,  were  ready  to  join  whatever  side  seemed  to  be  the  stronger  party, 
and  safest  as  an  ally. 

The  formal  surrender  of  the  fort  and  garrison  took  place  at  meridian,  on  the  16th.2 
At  the  same  hour  the  next  day  (Monday,  the  17th)  General  Brock  and  his  staff, 
with  other  officers,  appeared  in  full  uniform,  and  in  their  presence  a  salute  was  fired 
from  the  esplanade  in  front  of  the  fort,  with  one  of  the  brass  cannon  included  in  the 
capitulation.  It  bore  the  following  inscription:  "  TAKEN  AT  SARATOGA  ox  THE  17TH 
OF  OCTOBER,  1777."  When  the  British  officers  saw  this,  they  were  so  delighted  that 
some  of  them  greeted  the  old  British  captive,  now  released,  with  kisses ;  and  one  of 
them  remarked  to  Colonel  Hatch,  from  whose  manuscript  narrative  I  have  gained  the 
facts,  "  we  must  have  an  addition  put  to  that  inscription,  namely,  '  RETAKEN  AT  DE 
TROIT  AUGUST  16, 1812.' "3  The  salute  was  answered  by  Dixon's  battery  on  the 
Canada  shore,  and  by  the  Queen  Charlotte,  which  came  sweeping  up  the  middle  of 
the  river  from  the  waters  between  Spring  Wells  and  Sandwich, 'and  took  position  di 
rectly  in  front  of  the  town.4 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  General  Brock  paid  marked  respect  to  Tecumtha. 
He  took  off  his  own  rich  crimson  silk  sash  and  publicly  placed  it  round  the  waist  of 
the  chief.  Tecumtha  received  it  with  dignity  and  great  satisfaction  ;  but  the  follow 
ing  day  he  appeared  without  the  badge  of  honor.  Brock  apprehended  that  some  of 
fense  had  been  given  to  the  chief,  but,  on  inquiry,  he  found  that  Tecumtha,  Avith  great 
modesty  and  with  the  most  delicate  exhibition  of  praise,  had  placed  the  sash  upon  the 
body  of  Round  Head,  a  celebrated  and  remarkable  Wyandot  warrior,  saying,  "  I  do 
not  want  to  wear  such  a  mark  of  distinction,  when  an  older  and  abler  warrior  than 
myself  is  present." 

The  volunteers  and  militia  who  were  made  prisoners,  and  some  minor  regular 
officers,  were  permitted  to  return  home  on  parole.  Those  of  Michigan  were  dis 
charged  at  Detroit,  and  the  Ohio  Volunteers  were  borne  in  vessels  to  Cleveland,  from 
which  point  they  made  their  way  home.  General  Hull  and  the  regulars  were  held 
as  prisoners  of  war,  and  sent  to  Montreal.  They  were  taken  to  Maiden,  and  there 
embarked  on  board  the  Queen  Charlotte,  Hunter,  and  other  public  vessels,  and  con 
veyed  to  Fort  Erie,  opposite  Buffalo.  From  that  point  they  were  marched  to  Fort 
George,  where  they  were  again  placed  in  vessels  and  sent  to  Kingston.  From  that 
post  they  were  escorted  by  land  to  Montreal. 

General  Hull  and  his  fellow-prisoners  reached  Fort  George,  on  the  Niagara,  on  the 
26th  of  August,  when  the  commander  immediately  wrote  a  lengthy  report  of  the 
surrender  and  attendant  events,  but  was  not  permitted  to  forward  it,  until  hf^  ar 
rival  at  Montreal.5  Information  of  the  disaster  had  already  reached  General  Van 

1  The  spoils  were  2500  stand  of  arms ;  twenty-five  iron,  and  eight  brass  pieces  of  ordnance ;  forty  barrels  of  gun 
powder,  a  stand  of  colors,  and  a  great  quantity  and  variety  of  military  stores.    The  armed  brig  Adams  also  became  a 
prize.    She  was  immediately  put  in  complete  order,  and  her  name  changed  to  Detroit,  under  which  title  we  shall  meet 
her  hereafter,  in  the  British  service. 

2  The  garrison  flag  surrendered  on  that  occasion  was  taken  to  Montreal  by  Captain  Glegg,  Brock's  aid-de-camp. 

s  This  cannon  was  retaken  from  the  British  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  in  October,  1S18.  I  saw  it  in  the  state  arse 
nal  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  when  I  visited  that  city  in  April,  1861.  It  is  a  small  three-pounder,  three  feet  four  inches 
in  length.  It  has  the  British  mark  of  the  broad  arrow  upon  it,  and  the  date  of"  1775." 

*  After  the  surrender,  General  Hull  returned  to  his  own  house,  where  he  had  resided  as  Governor  of  Michigan.  It 
was  then  occupied  by  Mr.  Hickman,  his  son-in-law.  A  British  guard  attended  him.— Wallace. 

5  It  was  Hull's  intention  to  forward  his  dispatch  from  Fort  George  by  Major  Witherell,  of  the  Michigan  Volunteers  ;. 


292 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


A  Courier's  remarkable  Ride. 


British  Occupation  of  Detroit  and  Michigan. 


General  Brock  knighted. 


1  August  16, 
1812. 


Rensselaer,  at  Lewiston,  and  he  had 
promptly  sent^the  news  by  express  to 
General  Dearborn,  the  senior  command 
er  in  the  army,  whose  head-quarters  at 
that  time  were  at  Greenbush,  opposite 
Albany,  on  the  Hudson  River.  For 
this  important  errand  Van  Rensselaer 
employed  Captain  Darby  Noon,  the 
leader  of  a  fine  company  of  Albany 
Volunteers,  who  were  then  stationed  at 
or  near  Fort  Niagara.  Captain  Noon 
was  a  man  of  great  energy,  and  he  per 
formed  the  service  in  an  incredibly 
short  space  of  time.  He  rode  express 
all  the  way,  changing  his  horses  by  im 
pressing  them  when  necessary,  assur 
ing  the  owners  of  remuneration  from 
the  government.  He  neither  slept  on 
the  way,  nor  tasted  food,  excepting 
what  he  ate  on  horseback.  When  he 
arrived  at  Greenbush,  he  was  so  much 
exhausted  that  he  had  to  be  lifted  from 
his  horse,  and  he  was  compelled  to  re 
main  in  his  bed  for  several  days.1 

On  the  day  of  the  surrender,*  General  Brock  issued  a  proclamation  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Michigan,  in  which  they  were  assured  of  protection  in 
life,  property,  and  religious  observances,  and  were  called  upon  to  give  up  all  public 
property  in  the  Territory.  Having  made  arrangements  for  the  civil  and  military  oc 
cupation  of  the  Territory,  and  leaving  Colonel  Proctor  in  command  of  a  garrison  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men  at  Detroit,  he  hastened  back  to  York,  where  he  arrived 
on  the  27th,b  and  was  received  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm  by  the  people, 
who  regarded  him  as  the  savior  of  the  province.  In  the  short  space  of 
nineteen  days  he  had  met  the  Legislature,  arranged  the  public  affairs  of  the  prov 
ince,  traveled  about  three  hundred  miles  to  confront  an  invader,  and  returned  the 
possessor  of  that  invader's  whole  army  and  a  vast  territory,  about  equal  in  area  to 
Upper  Canada.  Henceforth,  during  his  brief  career,  he  was  the  idol  of  the  Canadi 
ans,  and  the  Prince  Regent,  representing  the  majesty  of  Great  Britain,  cre- 

« October  10.  '  J        J 

ated  him  a  baronet.02 

While  General  Hull  was  on  his  way  toward  Montreal,  Colonel  Cass,  at  the  request 
of  Colonel  M' Arthur,  was  hasting  to  Washington  City, "  for  the  purpose,"  as  he  said, 
"  of  communicating  to  the  government  such  particulars  respecting  the  expedition 
lately  commanded  by  Brigadier  General  Hull,  and  its  disastrous  results,  as  might  en 
able  them  correctly  to  appreciate  the  conduct  of  the  officers  and  men,  and  to  develop 
the  pluses  which  produced  so  foul  a  stain  upon  the  national  character."3  This  corn- 
but  Brock  having  gone  directly  to  York,  the  commander  of  the  post  would  not  take  the  responsibility  of  allowing  his 
prisoner  to  correspond  with  his  government.  From  Montreal  he  sent  his  dispatch,  dated  August  26th,  by  Lieutenant 
Anderson,  of  the  Artillery,  to  the  Secretary  of  War.— Hull's  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  Montreal,  September  8, 1812. 

1  Darby  Noon  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  a  man  of  great  personal  worth.    He  raised  and  equipped  a  volunteer  com 
pany  at  Albany,  almost  entirely  at  his  own  expense,  and  in  1813  was  commissioned  a  ma.ior  in  the  41st  Regiment  of 
New  York  State  Militia.    His  wife  was  Caroline  Broome,  daughter  of  Lieutenant  Governor  Broome,  of  New  York.    Ma 
jor  Noon  survived  the  war  only  eight  years,  dying  in  September,  1823.    From  his  widow,  who  died  in  1861, 1  received 
the  above  portrait  of  the  gallant  officer. 

2  General  Brock's  dispatches  and  the  colors  of  the  United  States  4th  Regiment  reached  London  on  the  Cth  of  Octo 
ber,  the  anniversary  of  his  birth,  where,  in  honor  of  his  achievement  at  Detroit,  the  Park  and  Town  guns  were  fired. 
Only  a  week  later,  and  the  gallant  general  was  no  more. 

J  Ex-Governor  Samuel  Huntington  was  at  Cleveland,  a  volunteer,  when  Colonel  Cass  arrived  there  on  his  way  to  the 


1  August. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  293 


Colonel  Cass's  Statement  about  the  Surrender  of  Detroit.  Public  Indignation.  A  mischievous  Armistice. 

munication  was  made  in  writing  on  the  10th  of  September,  in  which  was  given  an 
outline  history  of  events  near  Detroit,  from  the  landing  in  Canada  until  the  surrender. 
It  exhibited  much  warmth  of  feeling,  and  its  circulation  in  print  prejudiced  the  pub 
lic  mind  against  Hull,  and  intensified  the  indignant  reproaches  which  the  first  intel 
ligence  of  the  surrender  had  caused  to  be  hurled  at  the  head  of  the  unfortunate  gen 
eral.  It  also  diverted  public  attention  for  the  moment  from  the  palpable  inefficiency 
of  the  War  Department,1  the  effects  of  the  armistice,  and  the  injurious  delays  of 
General  Dearborn,2  to  which  much  of  the  disaster  should  properly  be  charged.  Col 
onel  Cass's  opinions,  as  well  as  facts,  were  eagerly  accepted  by  the  excited  public  as 
veritable  history,  and  few  had  words  of  palliation  to  offer  for  the  captive  veteran 
when  they  read  the  following  glowing,  dogmatic  words  at  the  conclusion  of  the  young 
colonel's  letter :  "  To  see  the  whole  of  our  men,  flushed  with  the  hope  of  victory, 
eagerly  awaiting  the  approaching  contest — to  see  them  afterward  dispirited,  hope 
less,  and  desponding,  at  least  five  hundred  shedding  tears,  because  they  were  not  al 
lowed  to  meet  their  country's  foe  and  to  fight  their  country's  battles,  excited  sensa 
tions  which  no  American  has  ever  before  had  cause  to  feel,  and  which,  I  trust  in  God, 
will  never  again  be  felt  while  our  men  remain  to  defend  the  standard  of  the  Union. 

Confident  I  am  that,  had  the  courage  and  conduct  of  the  general  been  equal 

to  the  spirit  and  zeal  of  the  troops,  the  event  would  have  been  as  brilliant  and  suc 
cessful  as  it  is  disastrous  and  dishonorable.3 

General  Hull  and  his  fellow-captiA'es  arrived  at  Montreal  on  Sunday  afternoon,  the 
6th  of  September,  and  attracted  much  attention.  The  prisoners  numbered,  rank  and 
file,  three  hundred  and  fifty.  They  were  escorted  from  Kingston  by  one  hundred  and 
thirty  men,  under  Major  Heathcote,  of  the  Newfoundland  Regiment.  At  Cornwall, 
opposite  St.  Regis,  they  were  met  by  Captain  Gray,  of  the  Quarter-master's  depart 
ment,  who  took  formal  charge  of  the  prisoners.  They  had  other  escorts  of  troops  until 

seat  of  government.  Huntington  accompanied  him  to  Washington,  at  the  request  of  General  Wadsworth.  When 
within  two  days  ride  of  the  national  capital,  Cass  was  prostrated  by  sickness.  Huntington  pressed  forward,  and  wan 
the  first  to  give  positive  information  of  Hull's  surrender,  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  This  made  Dr.  Eustis  impatient  for 
the  arrival  of  Cass.  "  The  Secretary  at  War,"  wrote  Huntington,  "  was  very  desirous  to  see  him,  and  requested  me  to 
go  after  him  in  a  carriage.  I  met  him  the  first  day,  about  thirty-five  miles  from  this.  He  had  recovered  sufficiently  to 
pursue  the  journey." — Autograph  Letter  of  Governor  Huntington  to  General  Meigs,  Washington  City,  September 
12, 1812. 

J  Secretary  Eustis  seems  to  have  been  so  conscious  of  his  fatal  mistake  in  not  sending  his  letter  to  Hull,  announcing 
the  declaration  of  war,  by  which  his  vessel  and  its  precious  contents,  captured  at  Maiden  at  the  beginning  of  July,  might 
have  been  saved,  that,  as  late  as  the  18th  of  December,  four  months  after  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  he  gave  evidence  of 
his  belief  that  public  opinion  would  lay  the  responsibility  of  the  disaster  upon  him.  In  a  letter  to  General  Dearborn 
of  that  date,  he  said :  "  Fortunately  for  you,  the  want  of  success  which  has  attended  the  campaign  will  be  attributed 
to  the  Secretary  of  War.  So  long  as  you  enjoy  the  confidence  of  the  government,  the  clamor  of  the  discontented  should 
uot  be  regarded."  Governor  Huntington,  in  his  letter  to  Governor  Meigs,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note,  said :  "  The 
whole  blame  is  laid  at  the  door  of  the  present  administration,  and  we  are  told  that  if  De  Witt  Clinton  had  been  our 
president,  the  campaign  would  have  been  short  and  glorious— it  would  have  been  short,  no  doubt,  and  terminated  by  an 
inglorious  peace."— Autograph  Letter,  Washington  City,  September  12, 1812. 

2  General  Dearborn,  early  in  August,  signed  an  armistice,  entered  into  between  himself  and  Sir  George  Prevost,  for  a 
cessation  of  hostilities  until  the  will  of  the  United  States  government  should  be  known,  there  then  being,  it  was  supposed, 
propositions  for  peace  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  before  the  Cabinet  at  Washington.    On  this  account  Sir  George  had 
issued  positive  instructions  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities.    Dearborn  signed  the  armistice  on  the  Oth  of  August.    Had  he 
sent  a  notice  of  it  by  express  to  Hull,  as  that  officer  did  of  his  surrender  to  Dearborn,  Detroit  might  have  been  saved, 
for  it  would  have  reached  Hull  before  the  15th  of  August,  and  the  imperative  commands  of  Prevost  would  have  pre 
vented  Brock's  acting  on  the  offensive.    Meanwhile  Hull's  supplies  and  re-enforcements  would  have  arrived  from  Ohio, 
and  made  him  strong  enough  to  invade  Canada  again  at  the  conclusion  of  the  armistice.    But  instead  of  sending  a 
notice  of  the  armistice  to  Hull  by  express,  Dearborn,  like  the  Secretary  of  War  with  his  more  important  dispatches, 
intrusted  his  letter  to  the  irregular  mails,  and  it  was  actually  nine  days  going  from  Albany  to  Buffalo !    The  first 
intimation  of  an  armistice  which  Hull  received  was  while  on  his  way  toward  the  Niagara  as  a  prisoner  of  war. 

3  Lewis  Cass  was  born  at  Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  9th  of  October,  1782.    At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he 
crossed  the  Alleghany  Mountains  on  foot,  and  settled  in  Marietta,  Ohio,  where  he  studied  law,  and  was  active  in  pro 
ceedings  against  Aaron  Burr.    Jefferson  appointed  him  Marshal  of  Ohio  in  180T.    He  took  an  active  part  in  the  war  of 
1812  in  the  West,  and,  late  in  1813,  President  Madison  appointed  him  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan.    He  held 
that  position  till  1831,  when  he  was  called  to  the  Cabinet  of  President  Jackson  as  Secretary  of  War.    In  1836  he  went 
to  France  as  American  Minister  at  the  Court  of  St.  Cloud.    He  returned  home  in  1842.    He  was  elected  United  States 
Senator  by  the  Legislature  of  Michigan  in  1845,  and  he  held  that  position  until  called  to  Buchanan's  Cabinet  in  1857.   He 
resigned  that  position  at  near  the  close  of  I860,  because  he  could  not  remain  associated  with  the  President's  confidential 
advisers,  who,  he  was  satisfied,  were  plotting  treason  against  his  country.    He  retired  from  public  life,  and  died  at 
Detroit  on  the  17th  of  June,  1S6G,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years. 


294 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Hull  in  Captivity. 


A  Court-martial  called  to  Try  him. 


Its  Composition  and  Decision. 


they  reached  the  vicinity  of  Montreal, 
when  they  were  left  in  charge  of  the 
militia  until  preparations  could  be  made 
for  the  formal  entrance  into  the  city. 
This  was  not  accomplished  until  quite 
late  in  the  evening,  when  they  were 
marched  in  in  the  presence  of  a  great 
concourse  of  rejoicing  people,  who  had 
illuminated  the  streets  through  which 
the  triumphal  procession  passed.  Gen 
eral  Hull  was  received  with  great  polite 
ness  by  Sir  George  Prevost,  the  Gov 
ernor  General  and  Commander-in-chief, 
and  invited  to  make  his  residence  at  his 
mansion  during  his  stay  in  Montreal. 
On  Thursday  following,*1 

J  "  September  10, 

General  Hull  and  eight  of  1812. 

his  officers  set  out  for  the  United  States 
on  their  parole. 

General  Hull  retired  to  his  farm  at 
Newton,  Massachusetts,  from  which  he 
Avas  summoned  to  appear  before  a  court- 
martial  at  Philadelphia  on  the  25th  of 
February,  1813,  of  which  General  Wade 
Hampton  was  appointed  president.  The  members  appointed  consisted  of  three 
brigadier  generals,  nine  colonels,  and  three  lieutenant  colonels ;  and  the  eminent  A.  J. 
Dallas,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  judge  advocate.  This  court  was  dissolved  by  the  Presi 
dent  without  giving  a  reason  for  the  act ;  and,  almost  a  year  afterward,  Hull  was 
summoned  to  appear  before  another,  to  convene  at  Albany,  New  York.  It  met  on 
the  3d  of  January,  1814.  General  Dearborn  was  the  president,  and  he  was  assisted 
by  three  brigadier  generals,  four  colonels,  and  five  lieutenant  colonels.1  Again  Mr. 
Dallas  was  judge  advocate.  As  Hull  blamed  Dearborn  for  his  negligence,  and  as  his 
own  acquittal  would  condemn  that  officer,  he  might  very  properly  have  objected  to 
the  appointed  president  of  the  court ;  but  he  was  anxious  for  a  trial,  and  he  waived 
all  feeling.  He  was  charged  with  treason,  cowardice,  and  neglect  of  duty  and  unof- 
ficer-like  conduct  from  the  9th  of  April  to  the  16th  of  August,  1812.2  General  Hull 
objected  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  on  the  first  charge — treason — as  a  matter 
of  civil  cognizance  only.  The  court  concurred  in  this  view,  and  he  was  tried  only  on 
the  other  charges.  After  a  session  of  eighty  days,  the  court  decided"  that 
he  was  not  guilty  of  treason,3  but  found  him  guilty  of  the  second  and  third 
charges,  namely,  cowardice,  and  neglect  of  duty  and  unofficer-like  conduct.  He  was 
sentenced  to  be  shot  dead,  and  his  name  to  be  struck  from  the  rolls  of  the  army.* 


March  26. 


1  Generals  Bloomfleld,  Parker,  and  Covington  ;    Colonels  Femvick,  Carberry,  Little,  and  Irvine ;   and  Lieutenant 
Colonels  Dennis,  Connor,  Davis,  Scott,  and  Stewart. 

2  The  specifications  under  the  charge  of  TREASON  were,  1st.  "  Hiring  the  vessel  to  transport  his  sick  men  and  bag 
gage  from  the  Miami  to  Detroit."    2d.  "Not  attacking  the  enemy's  fort  at  Maiden,  and  retreating  to  Detroit."    3d. 
"Not  strengthening  the  fort  of  Detroit,  and  surrendering." 

The  specifications  under  the  charge  of  COWARDICE  were,  1st.  "  Not  attacking  Maiden,  and  retreating  to  Detroit."  2d. 
"Appearances  of  alarm  during  the  cannonade."  3d.  "Appearances  of  alarm  on  the  day  of  the  surrender."  4th.  "  Sur 
rendering  of  Detroit."  The  specifications  under  the  third  charge  were  similar  to  those  under  the  second. 

3  It  is  perhaps  not  technically  true  that  the  court  decided  that  he  was  not  guilty  of  treason.    They  determined  that 
they  could  not  try  him  on  that  charge,  but  said  "  the  evidence  on  the  subject  having  been  publicly  given,  the  court  deem 
it  proper,  injustice  to  the  accused,  to  say  that  they  do  not  believe,  from  any  thing  that  has  appeared  before  them,  that 
General  William  Hull  has  committed  treason  against  the  United  States." 

4  The  President  approved  the  sentence  on  the  25th  of  April,  and  on  the  same  day  the  following  general  order  was 
issued: 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  295 

Hull  pardoned  by  the  President.  A  Consideration  of  Hull's  public  Character.  His  own  Defense. 

The  court  strongly  recommended  him  to  the  mercy  of  the  President,  on  account  of 
his  age  and  his  revolutionary  services.  Mr.  Madison  pardoned  him,  and  he  retired 
to  his  farm,  to  live  in  comparative  obscurity,  under  a  cloud  of  almost  universal  re 
proach,  for  about  twelve  years.  He  wrote  a  vindication  of  his  conduct  in  the  cam 
paign  of  1812,  in  a  series  of  letters,  published  in  the  American  Statesman  newspaper 
in  Boston,1  and  on  his  dying  bed  he  declared  his  belief  that  he  was  right,  as  a  sol 
dier  and  a  man,  in  surrendering  Detroit.  He  had  the  consolation  of  feeling,  before 
his  death,  a  growing  sympathy  for  him  in  the  partially  disabused  public  mind,  which 
prophesied  of  future  vindication  and  just  appreciation.2 

I  have  given,  in  this  and  the  preceding  chapter,  as  faithful  a  general  history  of 
Hull's  campaign  as  a  careful  and  dispassionate  study  of  documentary  and  other  con 
temporaneous  narratives,  written  and  verbal,  have  enabled  me  to  do.  I  have  record 
ed  what  I  believe  to  be  undoubted  facts.  As  they  stand  in  the  narrative,  unattended 
by  analysis,  comparison,  or  argument,  they  present  General  Hull  in  his  conduct  of  the 
campaign  in  some  instances  in  an  unfavorable  light :  not  as  a  traitor — not  as  an  act 
ual  coward,  but  as  bearing  to  the  superficial  reader  the  semblance  of  both.  But, 
after  weighing  and  estimating  the  value  of  these  facts  in  connection  with  current  cir 
cumstances  to  which  they  bore  positive  relationship — after  observing  the  composition 
of  the  court-martial,  the  peculiar  relations  of  the  court  and  the  witnesses  to  the  ac 
cused,  and  the  testimony  in  detail,  the  writer  is  constrained  to  believe  that  General 
Hull  was  actuated  throughout  the  campaign  by  the  purest  impulses  of  patriotism  and 
humanity.  That  he  wras  tceak,  we  may  allow ;  that  he  was  wicked,  we  can  not  be 
lieve.  His  weakness,  evinced  at  times  by  vacillation,  was  not  the  child  of  cowardice, 
but  of  excessive  prudence  and  caution,  born  of  the  noblest  sentiments  of  the  human 
heart.  These,  in  his  case,  were  doubtless  enhanced  by  the  disabilities  of  waning 
physical  vigor.3  He  was  thus  far  down  the  western  slope  of  life,  when  men  counsel 
more  than  act.  The  perils  and  fatigues  of  the  journey  from  Dayton  to  Detroit  had 
affected  him,  and  the  anxieties  arising  from  his  responsibilities  bore  heavily  upon 
his  judgment.  These  difficulties  his  young,  vigorous,  ambitious,  daring  officers  could 
not  understand ;  and  while  they  were  cursing  him,  they  should  have  been  kindly 
cherishing  him.  When  he  could  perceive  no  alternative  but  surrender  or  destruc 
tion,  he  bravely  determined  to  choose  the  most  courageous  and  humane  course ;  so 
he  faced  the  taunts  of  his  soldiers,  and  the  expected  scorn  of  his  countrymen,  rather 
than  fill  the  beautiful  land  of  the  Ohio,  and  the  settlements  of  Michigan,  with  mourn 
ing. 

Hull  had  wrarned  the  government  of  the  folly  of  attempting  the  conquest  of  Can- 

"  Washington  City,  April  25, 1814. 

"The  rolls  of  the  army  are  to  be  no  longer  disgraced  by  having  upon  them  the  name  of  Brigadier  General  William 
Hull.    The  general  court-martial,  of  which  General  Dearborn  is  president,  is  hereby  dissolved. 

"  By  order,  "  J.  B.  WAT.BAOH,  Adjutant  General." 

1  These  were  published  in  a  volume  of  three  hundred  and  ten  pages,  entitled,  Memoirs  of  the  Campaign  of  the  North 
western  Army  of  the  United  States.    A.D.  1812.    General  Hull's  long  silence  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  his  papers  were 
burnt  in  the  vessel  in  which  they  were  sent  from  Detroit  to  Buffalo,  after  the  surrender,  and  that  during  two  adminis 
trations  he  vainly  applied  to  the  War  Department  at  Washington  for  copies  of  papers  necessary  for  his  defense.    It  was 
not  until  John  C.  Calhoun  became  Secretary  of  War  that  any  notice  was  taken  of  his  application.    That  officer  promptly 
caused  copies  to  be  made  of  all  papers  that  General  Hull  desired,  when  he  commenced  his  vindication  in  his  memoir 
just  mentioned. 

2  He  was  always  calm,  tranquil,  and  happy.    He  knew  that  his  country  would  one  day  also  understand  him,  and  that 
history  would  at  last  do  him  justice.    He  was  asked,  on  his  death-bed,  whether  he  still  believed  he  had  done  right  in 
the  surrender  of  Detroit,  and  he  replied  that  he  did,  and  was  thankful  that  he  had  been  enabled  to  do  it.— History  of 
the  Campaign  of  1S12,  by  his  grandson,  James  Freeman  Clark,  page  365.    Mr.  Wallace,  one  of  his  aids,  says  that  when  he 
parted  with  the  general  at  Detroit  to  return  home,  the  white-haired  veteran  said,  "  God  bless  you,  my  young  friend  ! 
You  return  to  your  family  without  a  stain  ;  as  for  myself,  I  have  sacrificed  a  reputation  dearer  to  me  than  life,  but  I 
have  saved  the  inhabitants  of  Detr6it,  and  my  heart  approves  the  act." 

3  Mr.  Wallace,  one  of  Hull's  aids,  whose  testimony  we  have  before  alluded  to,  says  :  "  General  Cass  has  since  declared 
to  me  that  he  thought  the  main  defect  of  General  Hull  was  the  '  imbecility  of  age,'  and  it  was  the  defect  of  all  the  old 
veterans  who  took  the  field  in  the  late  war.    A  peaceful  government  like  ours  must  always  labor  under  similar  disad 
vantages.    Our  superannuated  officers  must  be  called  into  service,  or  men  without  experience  must  command  our  arm 
ies." 


296  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Government  more  to  blame  than  Hull.  A  Scape-goat  wanted,  and  found.  Biographical  Sketch  of  Hull. 

ada  without  better  preparation.  But  the  young  hot-bloods  of  the  administration — 
Clay,  and  others — could  not  wait ;  and  the  President  and  his  Cabinet,  lacking  all  the 
essential  knowledge  for  planning  a  campaign,  had  sent  him  on  an  errand  of  vast  im 
portance  and  difficulty  without  seeming  to  comprehend  its  vastness,  or  estimating  the 
means  necessary  for  its  accomplishment.  The  conception  of  the  campaign  was  a  huge 
blunder,  and  Hull  saw  it ;  and  the  failure  to  put  in  vigorous  motion  for  his  support 
auxiliary  and  co-operative  forces,  was  criminal  neglect.  When  the  result  was  found 
to  be  failure  and  humiliation,  the  administration  perceived  this,  and  sought  a  refuge. 
Public  indignation  must  be  appeased — the  lightning  of  the  public  wrath  must  be 
averted.  General  Hull  was  made  the  chosen  victim  for  the  peace-offering — the  sin- 
bearing  scape-goat ;  and  on  his  head  the  fiery  thunderbolts  were  hurled.  The  grass 
has  grown  greenly  upon  his  grave  for  more  than  forty  years.  Let  his  faults  (for,  like- 
all  men,  he  was  not  immaculate)  also  be  covered  with  the  verdure  of  blind  Charity.1 
Two  generations  have  passed  away  since  the  dark  cloud  first  brooded  over  his  fair 
fame.  We  may  all  see,  if  we  will,  with  eyes  unfilmed  by  prejudice,  the  silver  edging 
which  tells  of  the  brightness  of  good  intentions  behind  it,  and  prophesies  of  evanish- 
ment  and  a  clear  sky.  Let  History  be  just,  in  spite  of  the  clamors  of  hoary  Error. 

" '  Tis  strange  how  many  unimagiued  charges 
Caii  swarm  upon  a  man,  when  once  the  lid 
Of  the  Pandora-box  of  contumely 
Is  open'd  o'er  his  head."— SHAKSPEARE. 

• 

1  William  Hull  was  born  in  Derby,  Connecticut,  on  the  24th  of  June,  1753.  He  was  graduated  with  honor  at  Yale  Col 
lege  when  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age.  He  first  studied  divinity,  but  left  it  for  the  law.  He  was  a  meritorious  soldier 
and  officer  throughout  the  Revolution,  and  participated  in  nine  battles.  He  went  to  Canada  on  an  Indian  commission 
in  1792.  He  held  judicial  and  representative  offices  in  Massachusetts,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  was  placed  in  a  responsible 
military  and  civil  station  at  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  1812.  He  died  at  Newton,  Massachusetts,  in  November,  1825. 
I  am  indebted  to  General  Hull's  granddaughter,  Miss  Sarah  A.  Clarke,  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  for  a  copy  of  his  por 
trait,  painted  by  Stuart,  from  which  our  engraving  was  made.  The  signature  is  copied  from  a  letter  in  my  possession, 
written  at  White  Plains,  New  York,  in  the  autumn  of  1778. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  297 


Journey  from  Chicago  to  Detroit.  A  Sabbath  in  Detroit. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

"And  who  supplies  the  murderous  eteel  ? 

And  who  prepares  the  base  reward 
That  wakes  to  deeds  of  desperate  zeal 
The  fnry  of  each  slumbering  horde? 
From  Britain  comes  each  fatal  blow  ; 
From  Britain,  still  our  deadliest  foe." 

THE  KENTUCKY  VOLUNTEER  ;  BY  A  LADY. 

"T  was  a  beautiful,  clear,  breezy  morning,  early  in  October,  1860,  when 
the  writer  left  Chicago,  with  his  family,  to  visit  the  theatre 
of  events  described  in  the  two  preceding  chapters.  We  took 
the  Michigan  Central  train  for  Detroit,  and  soon  lost  sight  of 
the  marvelous  metropolis  of  Illinois,  and  Lake  Michigan,  on 
which  it  stands.1  We  swept  rapidly  around  the  magnificent 
curve  of  the  head  of  the  lake,  and  after  leaving  the  sand  dunes 
of  Michigan  City,  and  the  withered  bud  of  a  prospective  great 
mart  of  commerce  at  New  Buffalo,  traversed  a  beautiful  and  fertile  country  in  the 
western  half  of  the  lower  part  of  the  peninsula  and  State  of  Michigan.  Large  streams 
of  water,  mills,  neat  villages,  broad  fields  covered  with  ripe  corn,  spacious  barns,  and 
hardy  people,  seen  all  along  the  way  to  Marshall,  where  we  dined,  and  beyond,  pro 
claimed  general  prosperity.  Among  the  most  considerable  streams  crossed  during 
the  day  were  the  St.  Joseph,  Kalamazoo,  Battle  Creek,  and  Huron.  Over  the  latter, 
in  its  crooked  course,  we  passed  several  times  when  approaching  the  metropolis 
(Lansing  is  the  capital)  of  Michigan.  It  was  the  dusk  of  mere  starlight  when  we 
traveled  over  that  section  of  the  route,  and  it  was  late  in  the  evening  when  we  reach 
ed  Detroit,  and  found  a  pleasant  home  at  the  Russell  House  for  the  few  days  of  our 
sojourn  in  that  neighborhood. 

The  following  day  was  the  Sabbath.  The  air  was  as  warm  as  in  early  June.  A 
drizzling  rain  moistened  all  the  streets  and  caused  small  congregations  in  the  church 
es.  We  listened  to  the  full,  powerful  voice  of  Bishop  M'Coskry  in  the  morning,  and 
in  the  afternoon  strolled  with  a  friend  far  down  beautiful  Fort  Street,2  and  enjoyed 
the  prospect  of  fine  residences  and  ornamental  gardens.  The  sun  shone  brightly  all 
the  afternoon,  but  in  the  evening  heavy  clouds  came  rolling  up  from  the  southwest. 
At  nine  ^clock  a  thunder-storm  burst  over  the  city,  which  sent  down  lightning  and 
rain  untirpast  midnight.  No  traces  of  this  elemental  tumult  were  seen  above  in  the 
morning — 

"The  thunder,  tramping  deep  and  loud, 
Had  left  no  foot-marks  there." 

The  sky  was  cloudless,  and  a  cool  breeze  from  the  northwest — cooler  than  any  we 
had  felt  since  the  dog-days — reminded  us  that  autumn  had  succeeded  summer.  It 
came  from  the  far-off  region  beyond  Mackinack,  where  snow  had  already  whitened 
the  hills.  ' 

At  an  early  hour  I  started  for  Monroe,  on  the  site  of  old  Frenchtown,  on  the  river 

1  This  is  the  largest  of  the  lakes  that  lie  wholly  within  the  United  States.    It  is  330  miles  long,  and  has  an  average 
width  of  60  miles.    It  contains  16,981  square  miles,  or  10,868,000  acres.    Its  average  depth  is  about  900  feet,  and  its  ele 
vation  above  tide  water  is  about  300  feet. 

2  The  residence  of  the  late  General  Cass  was  on  this  street.    It  was  a  spacious  but  very  modest  wooden  building,  on 
the  corner  of  Fort  and  Cass  Streets,  a  little  westward  of  the  site  of  the  old  fort.    His  former  residence— a  small,  low, 
one-storied  building,  with  four  dormer  windows—was  yet  standing,  on  the  west  side  of  Lamed  Street,  near  the  corner 
of  Second  Street. 


298  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

A  Trip  from  Detroit  to  Amherstburg.  One  of  the  "oldest  Inhabitant's"  Recollections  of  the  War  of  1812. 

Raisin,  to  visit  the  places  of  histoi'ic  interest  in  that  vicinity,  where  I  spent  the  day 
pleasantly  and  profitably.  Of  the  events  of  that  day  I  shall  write  hereafter.  On  the 
.  October  6  following  morninga  I  procured  a  horse  and  light  wagon,  crossed  the  ferry 
18(5°-  to  the  Canada  shore  at  Windsor,  and  started  for  Amherstburg,  eighteen 
miles  down  the  stream  toward  Lake  Erie.  In  the  lower  part  of  Windsor  I  sketched 
Colonel  Babie's  house,  delineated  on  page  262,  and  then  rode  on  to  Sandwich,  two 
miles  below,  where  I  met  one  of  that  famous  class  known  as  "  the  oldest  inhabitants" 
in  the  person  of  Mr.  John  B.  Laughton,  who  was  born  in  Detroit,  but  who  has  been  a 
British  subject  from  his  early  years.  When,  in  1796,  the  post  of  Detroit  was  evacu 
ated  by  the  British,  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  1783,  many  residents 

of  English,  Irish,  and  Scottish  line 
age,  preferring  "  not  to  be  Yankees," 
as  Mr.  Laughton  said,  crossed  the 
river  and  settled  along  its  Canada 
shore.  Mr.  Laughton  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Kent  militia  in  1812  ;  and  from  Sandwich  he  saw  the  white  flag  that  pro 
claimed  the  surrender  of  Detroit.  He  was  then  a  young  man  twenty-two  years  of 
age.  He  was  afterward  in  the  affair  known  as  the  battle  of  the  Long  Woods,  in 
Canada  ;  also  at  the  battle  of  Chippewa,  where  he  lost  a  brother  killed  ;  and  at  that 
of  Niagara,  where  he  lost  his  own  liberty,  and  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  Greenbush,  op 
posite  Albany.  He  related  many  interesting  circumstances  connected  with  the  sur 
render.  He  spoke  of  the  Canadian  Volunteers  in  the  uniforms  of  regulars,  by  which 
Hull  was  deceived ;  and  said  that  among  the  Indians  who  followed  Brock  into  the 
fort  at  Detroit  were  several  Canadians,  painted  and  dressed  like  the  savages,  who 
each  held  up  a  white  arm  to  show  Hull  that  they  had  defied  the  menace  in  his  proc 
lamation  respecting  the  treatment  of  such  offenders. 

Sandwich  was  an  exceedingly  pleasant  village.  Around  it  were  orchards  of  pear 
and  apple  trees  of  great  size,  which  attested  the  fact  that  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  settle 
ments  in  Canada.  Here  the  disbanded  French  soldiers  settled  after  the  peace  of 
Paris  in  1763.  The  houses  had  pleasant  gardens  attached  to  them;  and  as  the  town 
was  the  capital  of  Essex  County,  it  contained  a  jail  and  court-house,  and  the  resi 
dence  of  the  county  officers'. 

I  left  Sandwich  toward  noon,  and  a  little  past  meridian  crossed  Turkey  Creek. 
For  several  miles  below  Sandwich  the  banks  of  Detroit  are  low  and  sandy.  The 
road,  lying  much  of  the  way  in  sight  of  the  river,  was  in  excellent  condition,  and 
with  the  picturesque  and  interesting  scenery  forms  a  most  attractive  drive  in  pleasant 
weather.  Passing  through  the  Petit  Cote  settlement,  I  arrived  at  a  neat  little  tavern 
near  the  northern  bank  of  the  Aux  Canards,  where  I  met  an  old  French  Canadian 
who  was  present  when  Cass,  and  Findlay,  and  M' Arthur,  and  Snelling  DMide  their 
military  visits  there  in  1812.  He  was  loyal  then,  but  quiet ;  and  when  re  was  safe 
to  do  so,  in  the  absence  of  the  Americans,  he  furnished  the  Queen  Charlotte  with 
vegetables.  He  pointed  out  the  ridge  from  which  M' Arthur  reconnoitred  the  whole 
position,  and  also  the  spot  where  Colonel  Cass  planted  his  six-pounder,  and  "blazed 
away"  at  the  enemy  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  stream.  The  bridge  seen  in  the 
centre  of  the  picture  on  page  264  was  upon  the  site  of  the  old  one,  and,  like  it,  was 
reached  by  a  causeway  at  both  ends.  I  sketched  the  scene,  then  crossed  the  Aux 
Canards  over  the  causeway  and  the  bridge,  and  hastened  on  to  Amherstburg,  for 
the  day  was  rapidly  wearing  away.  Most  of  the  way  from  Aux  Canards,  or  Ta- 
ron-tee,  to  Amherstbm-g,  the  river  bank  is  high,  and  the  road  passing  along  its  margin 
was  thickly  settled,  for  the  farms  were  narrow.  Most  of  the  houses  were  large,  with 
fine  gardens  around  them.  Among  the  most  attractive  of  these  was  "  Rosebank," 
the  residence  of  Mr.  James  Dougall,  an  eminent  horticulturist,  about  three  miles  from 
Amherstburg. 


OF   THE  WAR   OF    1812.  ,  299 

The  Vicinity  of  Amherstburg.  Historical  Localities. 

It  was  nearly  three  o'clock  when  the  steeples  of  Amherstburg  announced  its  pres 
ence.  I  soon  crossed  a  beautiful  open  plain,  whereon  cattle  were  grazing,  bounded 
on  the  left  by  streets  of  neat  log  cottages,  whitewashed  and  embowered,  each  a  story 
in  height,  with  two  acres  of  land  attached.  The  plain  was  a  military  reserve  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  acres,  and  the  cottages  were  the  dAvellings  of  pensioners — super 
annuated  British  soldiers — who  were  well  cared  for  by  their  government.  On  the 
right  of  the  road,  in  the  upper  part  of  Amherstburg,  within  a  high  picket  inclosure, 
was  Fort  Maiden;  its  chief  building  (barracks)  were  then  devoted  to  more  humane 
purposes  than  war.  It  wTas  used  for  the  insane  in  Canada  West,  as  a  branch  of  a 
parent  asylum  for  such  unfortunates  situated  at  Toronto.  No  part  of  the  old  fort 
remained.  The  new  one  was  constructed  during  the  excitement  incident  to  the 
"  Patriot  War,"  or  "  Rebellion,"  as  men  of  different  bias  respectively  call  an  out 
break  in  the  Canadas  in  1838.  It  was  constructed  in  1839. 

Amherstburg  had  an  antiquated  appearance,  the  houses  having  been  chiefly  built 
by  the  French.  The  streets  were  narrow,  and  the  side-walks  were  mostly  paved  with 
irregular  stones.  I  had  but  little  time  to  devote  to  an  inspection  of  the  place.  After 
ordering  dinner  at  Salmoni's,  I  went  out  with  an  intelligent  lad,  and  visited  the  fort 
and  other  places  of  interest  along  the  shore.  The  ship-yard,  Avhere  a  part  of  Barclay's 
fleet  on  Lake  Erie  was  built,  was  a  few  rods  above  Salmoni's ;  and  from  the  corner  of 
a  large  red  stone  house,  overlooking  the  whole  locality,  and  commanding  quite  an  ex- 


YIE\V   OF   MALDEN,  WHERE   THE   BRITISH   SHIPS    WERE   BUILT. 


tensive  view  of  the  river  southward,  with  Elliott's  Point  on  the  left  and  Bois  Blanc 
Island  on  the  right,  I  made  the  accompanying  sketch.  The  wharf,  then  used  chiefly 
for  wood,  was  precisely  where  the  British  vessels  were  launched.  In  the  direction  of 
the  ship  under  sail  (seen  in  the  picture),  just  oif  Elliott's  Point  on  the  left,  is  seen  Lake 
Erie.  Looking  a  little  farther  to  the  right,  on  Bois  Blanc  Island,  is  seen  the  light 
house,  near  which  was  a  block-house  and  battery  in  1812  ;  and  on  each  side  of  the 
group  of  sails  at  the  wharf  is  seen  a  block-house,  both  erected  in  1838.  There  was 
a  block-house  on  the  right  of  Salmoni's  Hotel,  and  another  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
ship-yard,  near  the  fort,  in  1812. 

After  dinner  I  visited  the  venerable  Robert  Reynolds,  living  in  a  fine  brick  man 
sion,  surrounded  by  charming  grounds,  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  just  below  Amherst 
burg.  From  his  grounds  there  is  a  view  of  Elliott's  Point,  where  Colonel  Elliott,  al- 


300  ,  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

A  veteran  British  Officer.  Return  to  Detroit.  Equine  Entertainment  at  "Windsor  Castle." 

ready  mentioned  frequently,  resided.  Just  below  it,  three  or  four  miles  from  Am- 
herstburg,  is  Hartley's  Point,  where  General  Harrison  landed  when  he  invaded  Cana 
da  in  1813.  Mr.  Reynolds  was  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age  when  I  visited  him. 
His  sister,  but  little  his  junior,  lived  with  him.  They  were  born  in  Detroit.  He 
was  deputy  assist-  sen's  on  the  day  of 

ant  commissary  gen-        fx_^>n      /  /  y^^l.  ;?     /  the    battle    of    the 

eral   in   the  British  //TA^fr^///  ////)  /w    /&]         Thames.  From  that 

army  in  the  War  of          (/I/I/  (/  'L^y  /w(/  (^  time  until  the  peace 

1812,  and  was  at  the "~^TS=S— - ^  '""' -===^~~ •>  ne  was  stationed  at 

taking    of   Detroit.  ^y"""5"^ Burlington  Heights, 

He  was  also  at  Dol-  at  the  west  end  of 

Lake  Ontario.  His  sister  told  me  that  she  distinctly  heard  the  firing  between  the 
fleets  of  Perry  and  Barclay  in  the  memorable  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  in  September,  1813  ; 
and  that  she  also  saw  from  her  residence  the  vessels  conveying  Harrison's  army  from 
the  Raisin  to  the  Canada  shore.  Mr.  Reynolds  knew  Proctor  and  Tecumtha  well,  and 
seemed  to  have  a  very  unfavorable  opinion  of  the  former  as  a  commander.  He  spoke 
of  his  conduct  at  the  Thames  as  "  shameful,"  and  justified  the  strictures  of  Te 
cumtha. 

It  was  sunset  when  I  left  Amherstburg  for  Detroit.  In  the  western  sky,  as  I  looked 
over  the  fields  where  Van  Home  and  Miller  had  wrestled  with  the  mongrel  foe,  when 
the  country  was  almost  a  wilderness,  were  seen  gorgeous  cloud-bars  of  crimson  and 
gold.  These  faded  into  dull  lead ;  and  just  as  daylight  yielded  the  sceptre  to  star 
light,  I  crossed  the  sluggish  Ta-ron-tee.  It  was  a  summer-like  evening,  and  before  I 
reached  the  slope  of  the  highway  leading  up  to  Sandwich,  the  lights  of  Detroit  gave 
pleasant  indications  that  the  end  of  the  journey  was  near.  It  was  nine  o'clock  when 
I  entered  Windsor,  and  on  inquiring  of  a  man,  standing  on  the  piazza  of  a  large 
wooden  building,  for  the  proper  turn  to  the  Ferry,  I  was  told  that  the  boat  had 
ceased  running  for  the  night.  For  a  moment  I  was  perplexed.  I  did  not  wish  to  re 
main  all  night  in  Windsor  when  Detroit  was  so  near.  "  Where  can  I  leave  my  horse 
and  wagon  in  safety,"  I  inquired.  "  At  this  house,"  the  man  replied.  "  What  is  the 
name  of  it  ?"  I  asked.  "  Windsor  Castle,"  he  answered.  The  name  and  the  building 
were  in  ludicrous  contrast.  But  my  business  was  not  to  criticise ;  so  I  left  the  horse 
in  care  of  the  groom  of  the  stables  of  Windsor  Castle,  crossed  the  dark  and  swift- 
flowing  waters  to  Detroit  in  a  light  skiff  hired  for  the  occasion,  and  wondered  all  the 
way  at  my  confidence  in  a  stranger  whose  face  I  could  not  see  in  the  darkness.  But 
horse  and  wagon  were  found  the  next  morning  well  cared  for  at  "  Windsor  Castle." 
I  spent  Wednesday,  the  7th  of  October,  in  visiting  places  of  interest  in  Detroit 
under  the  kind  guidance  of  Mr.  Moore,  of  that  city.  We  first  went  to  the  wharves  in 
rear  of  the  warehouses  of  Messrs.  Mooney  and  Foote,  and  Sheldon,  to  see  three  iron 
cannon  that  were  captured  from  the  British  in  the  naval  battle  on  Lake  Erie,  where 
Perry  was  victorious.  They  were  then  put  to  the  more  commendable  use  of  posts 

for  fastening  vessels  to  the  wharves.  One  of  them  was 
a  long  tweiity-four-pounder,  and  the  other*  two  were 
thirty-two-pound  carronades.  After  visiting  the  rooms 
of  the  Michigan  Historical  Society,  where  I  found  noth 
ing  of  interest  connected  with  the  subject  of  my  re 
searches,  we  rode  out  on  the  noble  Jefferson  Avenue  to 
Bloody  Run,  stopping  on  the  way  for  a  brief  interview 
with  the  late  Honorable  B.  F.  H.  Witherell,  from  whose 
local  sketches  quotations  have  been  made  in  preceding 
Chapters.  Judge  Witherell  kindly  placed  in  my  hands 
much  valuable  historical  material,  the  fruit  of  his  own 

BRITISH  CANNON  AT  DETROIT.  , 

researches. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812.  301 

. . — — T 

Siege  of  Detroit  by  Pontiac.  Fight  at  Bloody  Bun.  Origin  of  the  Name.  Elmwood  Cemetery. 

Bloody  Run,  as  a  little  stream  that  comes  down  gently  to  the  great  avenue,  after 
beautifying  Elmwood  Cemetery,  is  called,  holds  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  annals  of 
Indian  wars.  The  event  which  gave  it  its  present  name  (it  was  formerly  known  as 
Parent's  Creek)  may  be  thus  briefly  stated :  We  have  already  alluded  to  the  con 
spiracy  of  Pontiac  in  1763.  He  had  said  to  some  Canadians  in  council:  "I  have 
told  you  before,  and  I  now  tell  you  again,  that  when  I  took  up  the  hatchet  it  was  for 
your  good.  This  year  the  English  must  all  perish  throughout  Canada.  The  Master 
of  Life  commands  it."  He  then  told  them  that  they  must  act  with  him,  or  he  would 
be  their  enemy.  They  cited  the  capitulation  at  Montreal,  which  transferred  Canada 
to  the  English,  and  refused  to  join  him.  He  pressed  forward  in  his  conspiracy  with 
out  them,  and  finally  invested  Detroit  with  a  formidable  force. 

In  July,  1763,  Pontiac  was  encamped  behind  a  swamp,  about  two  miles  north  of 
the  fort  at  Detroit.  Captain  Dalyell,1  who  had  ranged  with  Putnam  in  Northern 
New  York,  arrived  with  re-enforcements  for  the  fort  at  the  close  of  the  month,  and 
obtained  permission  of  the  commandant  to  attack  Pontiac  at  once.  A  perfidious  Ca 
nadian,  possessed  of  the  fact,  communicated  it  to  Pontiac,  and  he  made  ready  for  an 
attack. 

At  a  little  past  midnight,*  Dalyell  marched  to  Parent's  Creek.  The  dark-  » juiy  si, 
ness,  owing  to  a  storm,  was  intense.  Pontiac,  forewarned,  had  posted  his 
warriors  all  along  the  route  for  a  mile  in  front  of  his  camp,  so  that  a  thousand  eager 
ears  were  listening  for  the  approach  of  the  white  men.  Five  hundred  dusky  Avar- 
riors  were  lurking  near  the  rude  log  bridge,  at  the  mouth  of  the  wild  ravine,  through 
which  Parent's  Creek  flowed.  DalyelPs  advance  was  just  crossing  the  bridge  when 
terrific  yells  in  front,  and  a  bla-ze  of  musketry  on  the  left  flank,  revealed  the  presence 
of  the  wily  foe.  One  half  of  the  advanced  party  were  slain,  and  the  remainder  shrank 
back  appalled.  The  main  body  advancing  also  recoiled.  Then  came  another  vol 
ley,  when  the  voice  of  Dalyell  in  the  van  inspirited  his  men.  With  his  followers  he 
pushed  across  the  bridge,  and  charged  up  the  hill ;  but  in  the  blackness  the  skulking 
enemy  could  not  be  seen,  and  his  presence  was  known  only  by  the  flash  of  his  guns. 

Word  now  reached  Dalyell  that  the  Indians,  in  large  numbers,  had  gone  to  cut  off" 
his  communication  with  the  fort.  He  sounded  a  retreat,  and  in  good  order  pressed 
toward  Detroit,  exposed  to  a  most  perilous  enfilading  fire.  Day  dawned  with  a  thick 
fog  enveloping  all  objects,  and  now,  for  the  first  time,  dim  glimpses  of  the  enemy 
were  obtained.  They  came  darting  through  the  mist  on  flank  and  rear,  and  as  sud 
denly  disappeared  after  firing  deadly  shots  upon  the  English.  One  of  these  slew  Cap 
tain  Dalyell  while  he  was  attempting  to  bear  off  a  wounded  sergeant.  The  detach 
ment  finally  reached  the  fort,  having  lost  sixty-one  of  their  number  in  killed  and 
wounded.  Most  of  the  slain  fell  at  the  bridge.  Parent's  Creek  has  ever  since  been 
called,  from  that  circumstance,  Bloody  Run,  and  the  old  structure  was  always  called 
Bloody  Bridge.  That  bridge,  as  we  have  before  remarked,  was  much  nearer  the  De 
troit  than  Jefferson  Avenue.  At  the  ciilvert  where  that  avenue  crosses  Bloody  Run 
stands  a  huge  whitewood  tree,  delineated  on  page  261,  yet,  as  we  have  observed, 
scarred  by  the  bullets  that  were  fired  in  that  sanguinary  encounter  more  than  a  hund 
red  years  ago. 

On  leaving  Bloody  Run  we  rode  up  to  the  Elmwood  Cemetery,  and  made  the  tour 
of  those  hallowed  grounds,  where  taste  and  industry,  aided  by  natural  advantages, 
have  produced  one  of  the  most  charming  places  for  the  repose  of  mortality  with 
which  our  country  begins  to  abound.  We  lingered  there  for  more  :than  an  hour,  and 
returned  to  the  city  in  time  for  a  late  dinner,  and  a  visit  to  the  grave  of  Colonel 

i  This  name  is  frequently  written  Dalzell.  James  Dalyell  had  been  appointed  a  lieutenant  in  the  Sixtieth  Regiment 
of  Royal  Americans  in  1756,  and  obtained  the  command  of  a  company  in  the  second  battalion  of  the  First  Regiment 
of  Foot.  He  was  a  brave  and  efficient  officer,  and  had  performed  important  services  during  the  French  and  Indian 


302  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Interviews  with  Citizens  of  Detroit.  Chicago,  its  Name,  Settlement,  and  Position. 

Hamtramck,  with  Mr.  R.  M.  Lyon,1  to  whose  kind  attentions  while  in  Detroit  I  was 
much  indebted.  The  monument  that  covered  that  brave  soldier's  grave  is  delineated 
on  page  56. 

At  twilight  I  called  upon  the  Hon.  C.  Moran,  who,  though  only  a  lad  of  sixteen 
years,  was  performing       ^~-~~~T5  said   he    saw    General 

sentinel    duty    in    the  ^^"^       ^^  Hull  during  the  heavy 

fort  at  Detroit  when  it  ^-"^^^^^/^S^. ^&>Y^^s  cannonading,  just  be- 
was  surrendered.  He  *^  ^ ^  E-"£^  fore  the  white  flag  was 

run  up,  sitting  upon  the  grass  within  the  fort  apparently  unmoved  by  the  terrors  of 
the  scene.  He  related  many  interesting  particulars  of  occurrences  within  the  fort  at 
that  time,  and  it  was  with  real  regret  that  I  felt  compelled  to  make  the  interview 
short,  for  I  had  made  an  engagement  to  call  on  Mr.  Robert  M.  Eberts,  a  native  of  De 
troit,  and  a  resident  of  that  place  since  his  birth  in  1804.  Mr.  Eberts  was  full  of  in 
teresting  reminiscences,  and  the  half  hour  passed  with  him  was  one  of  real  pleasure 
and  profit.2  Late  in  the  evening  I  returned  to  the  Russell  House,  copied  the  picture 
of  Mackinack  on  page  267,  and  early  the  following  morning — a  cold,  blustering,  genu 
ine  late-November  kind  of  morning — crossed  the  Detroit,  and  proceeded  by  railway 
along  the  borders  of  Lake  St.  Clair  to  Chatham,  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  the  battle 
ground  of  the  Thames  or  Moravian  Towns.  Of. that  visit  I  shall  write  hereafter. 

I  have  said  that  we  went  from  Chicago  to  Detroit.    These  cities  bear  an  intimate  re- 

•  August  15,     latiori  in  the  history  of  the  period  we  are  considering,  for  on  the  very  daya 

when  Brock  demanded  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  the  little  garrison  of  Fort 

Dearborn,  at  Chicago,  compelled  to  leave  that  post,  set  out  upon  their  fatal  march 

toward  Fort  Wayne. 

The  site  of  Chicago  (spelt  by  the  early  settlers  Chigagua,  Chikakou,  and  Chikako) 
was  first  visited  by  a  white  man  in  1674,  when  leather  Marquette,  a  French  Jesuit 
priest,  built  a  cabin  there,  planted  a  missionary  station,  and  deposited  the  seed  of  the 
present  great  city.  It  lay  in  the  path  of  explorations  by  commercial  and  religious 
adventurers,  one  seeking  trade,  the  other  desiring  to  give  the  light  of  the  Gospel  .to 
the  heathen  of  the  New  World.  It  was  visited  in  turn  by  Marquette,  Allouez,  La 
Salle,  Durantaye,La  Hontan,Dc  St.  Come,  Gravier,  Charlevoix,  and  others  of  less  note. 
In  1685  Durantaye  built  a  fort  where,  eleven  years  before,  Marquette  erected  his  cabin. 
How  long  it  remained  a  missionary  station  it  is  difficult  now  to  determine.3 

"  The  first  white  man  who  settled  here  was  a  negro,"  the  Indians  of  Chicago  said, 
with  great  simplicity.  He  was  a  mulatto  from  St.  Domingo,  named  Jean  Baptiste 
Point  au  Sable,  who  found  his  way  to  that  far-off  wilderness  in  the  year  1796.  He 
did  not  remain  long,  and  the  improvements  which  he  had  commenced  fell  into  the 
hands  of  John  Kinzie,  a  native  of  Quebec,  and  for  nearly  twenty  years  the  only  white 
inhabitant  of  Northern  Illinois,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  American  soldiers.  He 
was  an  enterprising  trader  with  the  Indians,  and  in  1804  made  Chicago  his  home. 

1  Mr.  Lyon  was  a  Pension  and  Bounty  Land  Agent  in  Detroit.    He  informed  me  that  he  had  in  his  possession  com 
plete  copies  of  all  army  rolls  of  the  War  of  1812  for  Michigan,  Ohio,  New  York,  and  other  states,  besides  other  record 
evidence  of  service.    He  had  also  in  his  possession  muster-rolls  of  the  Black  Hawk.  Patriot,  and  Mexican  wars.    He 
was  probably  better  prepared,  by  the  amount  of  positive  information  in  his  possession,  and  the  devotion  of  undivided 
attention  to  the  subject,  to  serve  claimants  for  pensions  and  bounties  than  any  other  man  west  of  Lake  Erie. 

2  Positive  statements  made  to  me  by  Mr.  Eberts  and  Judge  Moran,  when  combined,  form  a  curious  subject  for  specu 
lation.    Mr  Eberts  assured  me  that  General  Brock  sent  a  hollow  silver  bullet  (repeating  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  famous 
act  in  17T7)  from  Fort  George  to  Major  Muir  at  Fort  Maiden,  containing  a  message,  and  that  the  major  sent  it  by  Rich 
ard  Eberts  (whom  I  saw  at  Chatham),  brother  of  my  informant,  to  Colonel  Askin,  a  British  officer  residing  at  Strahan 
in  Canada.    Askin's  son-in-law,  Colonel  Brush,  was  then  one  of  General  Hull's  aids-de-camp,  and  it  was  believed,  after 
the  surrender,  that  the  bullet  contained  a  communication  from  Brock  to  Brush.    Judge  Moran  told  me  that  on  one  oc 
casion  his  uncle  was  sent  by  Colonel  Brush  to  Askin,  his  father-in-law,  with  a  package,  and  that  he  was  made  a  pris 
oner,  and  detained  in  Canada  for  some  time.    The  bullet  and  the  package  seem  to  have  some  connection  in  the  matter. 

3  Chicagou  was  the  Indian  name  of  the  Illinois  River,  at  the  mouth  of  which  the  city  stands.    In  the  language  of  the 
Pottawatomies,  who  inhabited  that  region,  the  name  signifies  a  skunk  or  pole-cat—some  say  the  wild  onion,  both  of 
which  emit  unpleasant  odors,  and  were  abundant  there.    It  is  said  that  the  Pottawatomies  wore  garters  of  the  dried 
skunk's  skin. — Sketch  of  the  Early  History  of  Chicago,  by  John  Gilmartiu  Shea. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


303 


Fort  Dearborn. 


Kinzie's  Residence. 


The  Garrison  at  Chicago. 


During  the  two  previous  years  the  United  States  government  had  erected  a  stockade 
there,  and  on  the  4th  of  July  of  that  year  it  was  formally  named  Fort  Dearborn,  in 
honor  of  the  then  Secretary  of  War.  It  had  a  block-house  at  each  of  two  angles  on 
the  southern  side,  a  sally-port  and  covered  way  on  the  north  side,  that  led  down  to 
the  river,  for  the  double  purpose  of  providing  a  means  of  escape  and  for  receiving 
water  during  a  siege,  and  was  strongly  picketed.1  It  stood  upon  a  little  rise  of 


KINZIE   MANSION    AND   FORT   DEARBORN. 


ground  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Chicago  River,  about  half  a  mile  from  its  mouth. 
On  the  north  bank  of  that  stream,  directly  opposite  the  fort,  Mr.  Kinzie  enlarged 
into  a  spacious  but  very  modest  mansion  the  house  built  by  Jean  Baptiste  and  his 
immediate  successor,  Le  Mai.  Within  an  inclosed  green  in  front  he  planted  some 
Lombardy  poplars,  and  in  the  rear  was  a  fine  garden  and  growing  orchard.  There 
he  lived  with  his  young  family  for  eight  years,  isolated  from  society  excepting  that 
of  the  military,  but  enjoying  great  peace,  with  every  necessary  and  many  of  the  lux 
uries  of  life,  and  possessing  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  surrounding  Indians.  . 

The  peacefulness  of  the  current  of  life  at  Chicago  was  interrupted  in  the  spring  of 
1812.  The  garrison  was  commanded  by  Captain  Nathan  Heald,2  assisted  by  Lieu 
tenant  Linai  T.  Helm,3  a  son-in-law  of  Mrs.  Kinzie,  and  Ensign  George  Ronan.  The 
surgeon  was  Dr.  Van  Voorhees.  The  garrison  consisted  of  fifty-four  men.  The  only 
other  residents  of  the  post,  at  the  time  of  the  events  we  are  about  to  consider,  were 
Mr.  Kinzie  and  his  family,  the  wives  of  Captain  Heald  and  Lieutenant  Helm  and  of 
some  of  the  soldiers,  and  a  few  Canadian  voyageurs,  with  their  wives  and  children. 
The  officers  and  their  troops,  like  Mr.  Kinzie,  were  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with 

1  Fort  Dearborn  was  erected  under  the  superintendence  of  Major  John  Whistler,  who  was  also  the  overseer  of  the 
construction  of  Fort  Wayne,  at  the  forks  of  the  Maumee.    Major  WThistler  was  an  Englishman.   He  was  taken  prisoner 
with  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga  in  1777,  and  remained  in  the  United  States.    He  settled  in  Maryland,  and  in  1790-91  joined 
the  troops  under  General  St.  Clair,  and  was  with  him  at  his  defeat  on  the  Miami  in  November,  1791,  where  he  was  act 
ing  as  adjutant  and  was  wounded.    He  was  commissioned  an  ensign  of  the  First  Infantry  in  the  spring  of  1792,  and  in 
the  autumn  was  made  a  lieutenant  in  the  first  sub-legion.    He  passed  through  other  grades  of  service  until,  on  the  10th 
of  July,  1S12,  he  was  breveted  a  major.    He  was  disbanded  in  1815,  and  three  years  afterward  became  military  store 
keeper  at  St.  Louis.    He  died  at  Belle  Fontaine,  Missouri,  in  1S27. 

In  building  Fort  Dearborn,  Major  Whistler  had  no  oxen,  and  the  timber  was  all  dragged  to  the  spot  by  the  soldiers. 
He  worked  so  economically  that  the  fort,  Colonel  Johnston,  of  Dayton  (who  furnished  him  with  some  materials  from 
Fort  Wayne),  told  me,  did  not  cost  the  government  over  fifty  dollars.  For  a  while  the  garrison  could  get  no  corn,  and 
Whistler  and  his  men  subsisted  on  acorns. 

2  Heald,  who  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  joined  the  army  as  ensign  in  the  spring  of  1799.    He  became  a  first  lieu 
tenant  in  November  of  the  same  year.    In  January,  1S07,  he  was  commissioned  a  captain,  and  held  that  office  until  the 
•J6th  of  August,  1812,  when,  on  account  of  his  good  conduct  at  Chicago,  he  was  promoted  to  major.    He  was  disbanded 
in  1815. 

3  Helm,  of  Kentucky,  entered  the  army  as  ensign  in  December,  1807,  and  became  second  lieutenant  the  following  year. 
He  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant  in  January,  1813,  and  to  captain  in  April,  1814.    He  resigned  in  September  following. 


304  PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 

Signs  of  Trouble  with  the  Indians.  An  Indian  Raid.  Massacre  of  White  People. 

the  Pottawatomies  and  "Winnebagoes,  the  principal  tribes  in  that  neighborhood ;  yet 
they  could  not  win  them  from  their  decided  attachment  to  the  British,  from  whom, 
at  Fort  Maiden,  they  annually  received  large  presents  as  bribes  to  secure  their  alli- 
a  November,  ance-  After  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  the  previous  autumn,"  in  which  por- 

1811-  tions  of  their  tribes  were  engaged,  it  had  been  observed  that  the  leading 
chiefs  became  sullen,  and  suspicions  of  contemplated  hostility  sometimes  clouded  the 
minds  of  Heald  and  his  command.  One  day  in  the  spring  of  1812,  Nau-non-gee  and 
a  companion,  both  of  the  Calumet  band,  were  at  Fort  Dearborn.  When  passing 
through  the  quarters,  they  observed  Mrs.  Heald1  and  Mrs.  Helm2  playing  at  battle 
dore.  Turning  to  Mr.  Griffith,  the  interpreter,  Nau-non-gee  said :  "  The  white  chiefs' 
wives  are  amusing  themselves  very  much  ;  it  will  not  be  long  before  they  are  living 
in  our  corn-fields."  The  terrible  significance  of  these  words,  then  hidden,  was  made 
apparent  a  few  weeks  later. 

On  the  evening  of  the  7th  of  April,  1812,  Mr.  Kinzie's  children  were  dancing  before 
the  fire  to  the  music  of  their  father's  violin,  when  their  mother-  came  rushing  wildly 
in,  pale  with  terror,  and  exclaiming,  "  The  Indians !  the  Indians  !"  "  What  ?  where  ?" 
exclaimed  Mr.  Kinzie,  in  response.  "  Up  at  Lee's,  killing  and  scalping  !"  gasped  the 
affrighted  mother.  It  seems  that  the  alarm  had  been  given  by  a  man  and  boy,3  who 
had  been  fleeing  from  destination  down  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  had  shout 
ed  the  terrible  fact  to  the  family  of  Mr.  Burns,  half  a  mile  above  the  fort,  where  Mrs. 
Kinzie  was  in  attendance  upon  a  newly-made  mother.  Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost. 
Mr.  Kinzie  immediately  hurried  his  family  into  two  old  pirogues*  moored  in  front  of 
his  house,  and  conveyed  them  across  the  river  to  the  fort.  At  the  same  time  the  in 
trepid  Ensign  Ronan,  with  six  men,  started  up  the  river  in  a  scow  to  save  the  Burns 
family ;  and  a  cannon  was  fired  to  give  notice  of  danger  to  a  party  of  soldiers  who 
had  gone  up  the  river  to  catch  fish.  Mrs.  Burns,  with  an  infant  not  a  day  old,5  and 
the  rest  of  her  family,  were  taken  in  safety  to  the  fort ;  and  the  absent  soldiers,  who 
were  two  miles  above  Lee's,  made  their  way  back  in  the  darkness,  discovering  on 
their  way  the  bodies  of  murdered  and  scalped  persons  at  Lee's  Place.  These  were 
obtained  the  next  day,  and  were  buried  near  the  fort.  It  was  afterward  ascertained 
that  the  savage  scalping-party  were  Winnebagoes,  from  Rock  River,  who  had  come 
with  the  intention  of  destroying  every  white  person  outside  of  the  fort.  The  noise 
of  the  cjmnon  frightened  them,  and  they  fled  back  to  their  homes. 

1  Eebecca  Heald  was  a  daughter  of  General  Samuel  Wells,  of  Kentucky  (one  of  the  heroes  of  Tippecanoe),  and  niece 
of  Captain  William  Wells,  who  will  appear  prominently  in  our  narrative.    She  was  with  her  uncle  at  Fort  Wayne  two 
or  three  years  before  the  war,  where  Captain  Heald  became  acquainted  with  her.    Their  acquaintance  ripened  into  mu 
tual  attachment.    He  taught  her  the  use  of  the  rifle,  in  which  she  became  very  expert.    They  were  married  in  1810  or 
1811,  and  she  accompanied  her  husband  to  Port  Dearborn. 

2  Mrs.  Helm  was  a  daughter  of  Colonel  M'Killup,  a  British  officer  attached  to  one  of  the  companies  who  were  station 
ed  at  Fort  Miami,  on  the  Maumee,  at  the  time  of  Wayne's  appearance  there  in  1794.    While  reconnoitring  one  night,  he 
was  mistaken  for  an  enemy,  and  mortally  wounded.    His  widow  married  Mr.  Kiuzie,  with  whom,  and  this  daughter,  she 
removed  to  Chicago  in  1803.    Here  the  daughter,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  married  Lieutenant  Helm,  of  Kentucky, 
in  1811.    She  died  suddenly  at  Waterville,  in  Michigan,  in  1844.—  Pioneer  Women  of  the  West,  by  Mrs.  E.  F.  Ellet. 

3  These  were  a  discharged  soldier'and  a  son  of  Mr.  Lee,  who  lived  near  the  fort,  and  cultivated  a  farm  about  three 
miles  up  the  south  branch  of  the  Chicago  River,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  point  where  Halstead  Street  now  crosses  that 
stream.    See  map  on  page  266.    This  was  known  as  Lee's  Place.    Lee  and  all  his  family,  except  Mrs.  Lee  and  her  infant, 
perished  in  the  massacre  at  Chicago  on  the  15th  of  August. 

*  Pirogue,  or  piragua,  originally  meant  a  canoe  formed  out  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  or  two  canoes  united.  A  vessel 
used  in  this  country  as  a  narrow  ferry-boat,  carrying  two  masts  and  a  lee-board,  is  called  piragua. 

5  The  main  facts  of  this  narrative  of  affairs  at  Chicago,  in  1812,  are  derived  from  a  most  interesting  account  from 
the  pen  of  Mrs.  John  II.  Kinzie,  of  Chicago,  published  in  pamphlet  form  in  1844,  and  repeated  substantially  in  a 
charming  history  of  personal  adventures  on  the  northwestern  frontier,  by  the  same  accomplished  lady,  in  a  volume 
published  in  1856,  entitled,  Wau-bun,  the  "  Early  Day"  in  the  Northwest.  Mrs.  Kinzie  is  a  daughter-in-law  of  Mr.  John 
Kinzie,  the  trader  just  mentioned,  and  much  of  the  narrative  of  the  events  which  we  are  considering  she  received  from 
Mrs.  Helm,  an  actor  in  the  events.  Of  this  infant  of  Mrs.  Burns  she  gives  a  few  words  of  interesting  narrative.  The 
mother  and  child  were  made  pi'isoners  at  Chicago  by  a  chief,  and  carried  to  his  village.  His  attentions  to  them  aroused 
the  jealousy  of  his  spouse,  and  one  day  she  spitefully  struck  the  infant  with  a  tomahawk  with  the  intention  of  killing 
it.  The  blow  took  off  some  of  the  scalp.  "  Thirty-two  years  after  this,"  says  Mrs.  Kinzie,  "  as  I  was  on  a  journey  to 
Chicago  in  the  steamer  Uncle  Sam,  a  young  woman,  hearing  my  name,  introduced  herself  to  me,  and,  raising  the 
hair  from  her  forehead,  showed  me  the  mark  of  the  tomahawk  which  had  so  nearly  been  fatal  to  her."—  Wau-bun, 
page  £44. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  305 

Order  for  the  Evacuation  of  Chicago.  Danger  in  the  Movement.  The  Commandant  warned  against  it. 

All  of  the  inhabitants  of  Chicago  not  belonging  to  the  garrison  now  took  refuge  in 
the  Agency  House,  which  stood  upon  the  esplanade,  about  twenty  rods  west  from 
the  fort,  on  the  site  of  the  present  light-house,  and  there  intrenched  themselves.  This 
was  an  old-fashioned  log  house,  with  a  passage  running  through  the  centre,  and  piaz 
zas  extending  the  whole  length  of  the  building,  front  and  rear.  These  were  planked 
up.  Port-holes  were  cut  in  the  barricade,  and  sentinels  were  posted  there  every 
night.  For  some  time  hostile  Indians  hovered  around  the  post  and  committed  dep 
redations  ;  but  at  last  they  disappeared,  and  for  several  weeks  the  dwellers  at  Chi 
cago  experienced  no  alarm. 

Toward  the  evening  of  the  7th  of  August,a  Win-ne-meg,  or  The  Catfish,  a  ,  Igl2 
friendly  Pottawatomie  chief,  who  was  intimate  with  Mr.  Kinzie,  came  to  Chi 
cago  from  Fort  Wayne  as  the  bearer  of  a  dispatch  from  General  Hull  to  Captain  Heald, 
in  which  the  former  announced  his  arrival  at  Detroit  with  an  army,  the  declaration  of 
war,  the  invasion  of  Canada,  and  the  loss  "of  Mackinack.  It  also  conveyed  an  order 
to  Captain  Heald  to  evacuate  Fort  Dearborn,  if  practicable,  and  to  distribute,  in  that 
event,  "  all  the  United  States  property  contained  in  the  fort,  and  in  the  government 
factory  or  agency,  among  the  Indians  in  the  neighborhood."  This  was  doubtless  in 
tended  to  be  a  peace-offering  to  the  savages,  to  prevent  their  joining  the  British,  then 
menacing  Detroit.  • 

Win-ne-meg,  who  knew  the  purport  of  the  order,  begged  Mr.  Kinzie  to  advise  Cap 
tain  Heald  not  to  evacuate  the  fort,  or  the  movement  would  be  difficult  and  dangerous. 
The  Indians  had  already  received  information  from  Tecumtha  of  the  disasters  to  the 
American  arms,  and  the  withdrawal  of  Hull's  army  from  Canada,  and  were  becoming 
daily  more  restless  and  insolent.  Heald  had  an  ample  supply  of  ammunition  and  pro 
visions  for  six  months ;  why  not  hold  out  until  relief  could  be  sent  from  the  south 
ward  ?  Win-ne-meg  farther  urged  that,  if  Captain  Heald  should  resolve  to  evacuate, 
it  should  be  done  immediately,  before  the  Indians  should  be  informed  of  the  order,  or 
could  prepare  for  formidable  resistance.  "  Leave  the  fort  and  stores  as  they  are,"  he 
said,  "  and  let  them  make  distributions  for  themselves  ;  and  while  the  Indians  are  en 
gaged  in  that  business,  the  white  people  may  make  their  way  in  safety  to  Fort 
Wayne." 

Mr.  Kinzie  readily  perceived  the  wisdom  of  Win-ne-meg's  advice,  and  so  did  Cap 
tain  Heald's  officers,  but  the  commander  resolved  to  obey  Hull's  order  strictly  as  to 
evacuation  and  the  distribution  of  the  public  property.  He  caused  that  order  to  be 
read  to  the  troops  on  the  morning  of  the  8th,b  and  then  assumed  the  whole 
responsibility.  His  officers  expected  to  be  summoned  to  a  council,  but  were 
disappointed.  Toward  evening  they  called  upon  the  commander,  and,  when  informed 
of  his  determination,  they  remonstrated  with  him.  The  march,  they  said,  must  neces 
sarily  be  slow,  on  account  of  the  women  and  children  and  infirm  persons,  and  there 
fore,  under  the  circumstances,  extremely  perilous.  Hull's  order,  they  said,  left  it  to 
the  discretion  of  the  commander  to  go  or  to  stay ;  and  they  thought  it  much  better 
to  strengthen  the  fort,  defy  the  savages,  and  endure  a  siege  until  relief  should  reach 
them.  Heald  argued  in  reply  that  special  orders  had  been  issued  by  the  War  De 
partment  that  no  post  should  be  surrendered  without  battle  having  been  given  by 
the  assailed,  and  that  his  force  was  totally  inadequate  to  an  engagement  with  the 
Indians.  He  should  expect  the  censure  of  his  government,  he  said,  if  he  remained ; 
and  having  full  confidence  in  the  professions  of  friendship  of  many  of  the  chiefs  about 
him,  he  should  call  them  together,  make  the  required  distribution,  and  take  up  his 
march  for  Fort  Wayne.  After  that  his  officers  had  no  more  communications  with  him 
on  the  subject.  The  Indians  became  more  unruly  every  hour,  and  yet  Heald,  with 
fatal  procrastination,  postponed  the  assembling  of  the  savages  for  two  or  three  days. 
They  finally  met  near  the  fort  on  the  afternoon  of  the  12th,c  and  there  the 
commander  held  a  farewell  council  with  them. 

U 


306 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  Treaty  with  the  Indians. 


Their  Faithlessness  known. 


Solemn  Warnings  unheeded. 


Heald  invited  the  officers  to  join  him  in  the  council,  but  they  refused.  They  had  re 
ceived  intimations  that  treachery  was  designed — that  the  Indians  intended  to  murder 
them  in  the  council-circle,  and  then  destroy  the  inmates  of  the  fort.  The  officers  re 
mained  within  the  pickets,  and,  opening  the  port  of  one  of  the  block-houses  so  as  to 
expose  the  cannon  pointed  directly  upon  the  group  in  council,  they  secured  the  safety 
of  Captain  Heald.  The  Indians  were  intimidated  by  the  menacing  monster,  and  ac 
cepted  Heald's  offers  with  many  protestations  of  friendship.  He  agreed  to  distribute 
among  them  not  only  the  goods  in  the  public  store — blankets,  broadcloths,  calicoes, 
paints,  etc. — but  also  the  arms,  ammunition,  and  provisions  not  necessary  for  the  use 
of  the  garrison  on  its  march.  It  was  stipulated  that  the  distribution  should  take 
place  the  next  day,  soon  after  which  the  garrison  and  white  inhabitants  would  leave 
the  works.  The  Pottawatomies  agreed,  on  their  part,  to  furnish  a  proper  escort  for 
them  through  the  wilderness  to  Fort  Wayne,  on  condition  of  being  liberally  reward 
ed  on  their  arrival  there. 

When  the  result  of  the  council  was  made  known,  Mr.  Kinzie  warmly  remonstrated 
with  Captain  Heald.  He  knew  the  Indians  well,  and  their  weakness  in  the  presence 
of  great  temptations  to  do  wrong.  He  begged  the  commander  not  to  confide  in  their 
promises  at  a  moment  so  inauspicious  for  faithfulness  to  treaties.  He  especially  en 
treated  him  not  to  place  in  their  hands  arms  and  ammunition,  for  it  would  fearfully 
increase  their  power  to  carry  on  those  murderous  raids  which  for  months  had  spread 
terror  throughout  the  frontier  settlements.  Heald  perceived  his  folly,  and  resolved 
to  violate  the  treaty  so  far  as  arms  and  ammunition  were  concerned. 

On  that  very  evening,  when  the  chiefs  of  the  council  seemed  most  friendly,  a  cir 
cumstance  occurred  which  should  have  made  Captain  Heald  shut  his  gates  to  his 
dusky  neighbors,  and  resolve  not  to  leave  the  fort.  Black  Partridge,  a  hitherto  friend 
ly  chief,  and  a  man  of  much  influence,  came  quietly  to  the  commander  and  said :  "  Fa 
ther,  I  come  to  deliver  to  you  the  medal  I  wear.  It  was  given  me  by  the  Americans, 


THE  m.Acfk  PAKTEITIGE'B  MEDAL. 

and  I  have  long  worn  it  in  token  of  our  mutual  friendship.  But  our  young  men  are 
resolved  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  the  white  people.  I  can  not  restrain 
them,  and  I  will  not  wear  a  token  of  peace  while  I  am  compelled  to  act  as  an  ene 
my."1  This  solemn  and  authentic  warning  was  strangely  unheeded. 

i  This  medal,  as  I  have  been  informed,  was  received  by  the  Black  Partridge  at  the  treaty  of  Fort  Wayne,  on  the  30tb 
of  September,  1800,  mentioned  on  page  190.  It  was  of  silver.  The  engraving  is  the  exact  size  of  the  original.  It  was 
copied  from  one  in  the  possession  of  the  widow  of  General  Jacob  Brown,  of  Brownsville,  New  York,  where  I  saw  It  in 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  3Q7 


Another  Warning.    ,  Arms,  Powder,  and  Whisky  destroyed.  Arrival  of  Re-enforcementg.  Too  late. 

The  morning  of  the  1 3th  was  bright  and  cool.  The  Indians  assembled  in  great 
numbers  to  receive  their  presents.  Nothing  but  the  goods  in  the  store  were  distrib 
uted  that  day ;  and  in  the  evening  the  Black  Partridge  said  to  Mr.  Griffith,  the  in 
terpreter,  "  Linden  birds  have  been  singing  in  my  ears  to-day ;  be  careful  on  the 
march  you  are  going  to  take."  This  was  another  solemn  warning,  and  it  was  com 
municated  to  Captain  Heald.  It,  too,  was  unheeded ;  and  at  midnight,  when  the 
sentinels  were  all  posted  and  the  Indians  were  in  their  camps,  a  portion  of  the  pow 
der  and  liquor  in  the  fort  was  cast  into  a  well  near  the  sally-port,  and  the  remainder 
into  a  canal  that  came  up  from  the  river  far  under  the  covered  way.  The  muskets 
not  reserved  for  the  garrison  were  broken  up,  and  these,  with  shot,  bullets,  flints, 
gun-screws,  and  every  thing  else  pertaining  to  fire-arms,  were  also  thrown  into  the 
well.  A  large  quantity  of  alcohol  belonging  to  Mr.  Kinzie  was  poured  into  the  river, 
and  before  morning  the  destruction  was  complete.  But  the  work  had  not  been  done 
in  secret.  The  night  was  dark,  and  vigilant  Indians  had  crept  to  the  fort  as  noise 
lessly  as  serpents,  and  their  quick  senses  had  perceived  the  destruction  of  what,  un 
der  the  treaty,  they  claimed  as  their  own.  In  the  morning  the  work  of  the  night 
was  made  more  manifest.  The  powder  was  seen  floating  upon  the  surface  of  the 
river,  and  the  sluggish  water  had  been  converted  by  the  whisky  and  the  alcohol  ii^to 
"  strong  grog,"  as  an  eye-witness  remarked.  Complaints  and  threatenings  were  loud 
among  the  savages  because  of  this  breach  of  faith  j1  and  the  dwellers  in  the  fort  were 
impressed  with  a  dreadful  sense  of  impending  destruction,  when  the  brave  Captain 
Wells,  Mrs.  Heald's  uncle,  and  adopted  son  of  the  Little  Turtle,  was  discovered  upon 
the  Indian  trail  near  the  Sand  Hills,  on  the  border  of  the  lake  not  far  distant,  with  a 
band  of  mounted  Miamis,  of  whose  tribe  he  was  a  chief.2  He  had  heard  at  Fort 
Wayne  of  the  orders  of  Hull  to  evacuate  Fort  Dearborn,  and,  being  fully  aware  of 
the  hostilities  of  the  Pottawatomies,  he  had  made  a  rapid  march  across  the  country 
to  re-enforce  Captain  Heald,  assist  in  defending  the  fort,  or  prevent  his  exposure  to 
certain  destruction  by  an  attempt  to  reach  the  head  of  the  Maumee.  But  he  was  too 
late.  All  means  for  maintaining  a  siege  had  been  destroyed  a  few  hours  before,  and 
every  preparation  had  been  made  for  leaving  the  post  the  next  day. 

When  the  morning  of  the  15th  arrived,  there  were  positive  indications  that  the  In 
dians  intended  to  massacre  all  the  white  people.  They  were  overwhelming  in  num 
bers,  and  held  the  fate  of  the  devoted  band  in  their  grasp.  When,  at  nine  o'clock, 
the  appointed  hour,  the  gate  was  thrown  open,  and  the  march  commenced,  it  was  like 
a  funeral  procession.  The  band  struck  up  the  Dead  March  in  Saul.  Captain  Wells, 

the  summer  of  1860.    She  also  had  a  smaller  medal  of  the  same  kind,  struck  for  the  same  occasion.    These  were  distrib 
uted  among  the  Inferior  chiefs. 

1  The  celebrated  chief  Black  Hawk,  who  was  among  the  Indians  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  at  Chicago,  declared  that, 
had  the  treaty  been  fully  carried  out,  the  white  people  would  not  have  been  attacked.    And  such  has  been  the  general 
impression  of  students.    But  the  conduct  of  Black  Partridge  before  the  powder  and  liquor  were  destroyed  disproves 
this.    No  doubt  the  massacre  had  been  determined  on  as  soon  as  the  order  for  the  evacuation  was  made  known  to  the 
Indians. 

2  When  in  Toledo,  Ohio,  in  the  autumn  of  1860, 1  spent  an  hour  pleasantly  and  profitably  with  General  John  E.  Hunt, 
a  brother-in-law  of  General  Cass,  whose  early  life  was  spent  among  the  stirring  scenes  of  the  frontier.    He  was  in  the 
fort  at  Detroit  when  it  was  surrendered.    He  knew  Captain  William  Wells,  and  from  his  lips  the  substance  of  the  fol 
lowing  brief  notice  was  communicated  :  When  a  child,  Wells  was  living  with  his  relative,  Hon.  Nathaniel  Pope,  of  Ken 
tucky,  where  he  was  stolen  by  a  band  of  Miami  Indians  and  taken  to  the  Maumee  country.    He  was  adopted  by  Little 
Turtle,  the  eminent  Miami  chief.    He  was  rescued  by  his  relatives,  but  had  become  so  attached  to  his  Indian  friends  and 
their  mode  of  life  that  he  returned  to  them.    He  was  compelled  to  go  upon  the  war-path  when  Harrison  invaded  that 
region,  and  was  with  the  Indians  who  defeated  St.  Clair.    No  doubt  he  swayed  the  mind  of  Little  Turtle  when  Wayne 
appeared  in  that  region,  for  that  chief  was  favorable  to  peace  with  the  great  Blacksnake,  as  they  called  him.    Well* 
saw  clearly  the  weakness  of  the  Indians  ;  and  one  day,  while  in  the  woods,  he  suddenly  informed  his  foster-father  that 
he  should  leave  him,  to  join  the  army  of  Wayne.    "I  now  leave  your  nation  for  my  own  people,"  said  Wells.    "We 
have  long  been  friends.    We  are  friends  yet,  until  the  sun  reaches  there,"  pointing  to  a  place  in  the  heavens.    "  Prom 
that  time  we  are  enemies.    Then,  if  you  wish  to  kill  me,  you  may;  if  I  want  to  kill  you,  I  may."    At  the  hour  named, 
Wells  crossed  the  Maumee,  and,  asking  the  direction  toward  Wayne's  army,  disappeared  in  the  forest.    In  Wayne's  army 
he  commanded  a  company  of  the  spies.    When  peace  was  restored,  after  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  in  17!»5,  he  and  the 
Little  Turtle  became  good  friends.    He  married  the  Little  Turtle's  sister,  a  Miami  girl,  and  became  a  chief  of  that  na 
tion.    One  of  his  daughters  was  the  wife  of  Judge  Wolcott,  of  Maumee  City,  Ohio.    Wells  was  Indian  Agent  at  Fort 
Wayne  when  the  War  of  1812  broke  out.    He  had  lived  there  since  1804. 


308 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  solemn  March  out  of  the  Fort. 


Treachery  of  the  Indians. 


Massacre,of  the  White  People. 


with  his  face  blackened  with  wet  gunpowder  in  token  of  his  impending  fate,  took  the 
lead  with  his  friendly  Miamis,  followed  by  Captain  Heald,  and  his  heroic  wife  by  his 
side.  Mr.  Kinzie  accompanied  them,  hoping,  by  his  personal  influence,  to  soften,  if  he 
could  not  avert,  the  impending  blow.  His  family  were  left  in  a  boat,  in  charge  of  a 
friendly  Indian,  to  be  conveyed  around  the  head  of  the  lake  to  Kinzie's  trading  sta 
tion,  on  the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Niles,  in  Michigan. 

Slowly  the  procession  moved  along  the  lake  shore  until  they  came  to  the  Sand 
Hills,  between  the  prairie  and  the  beach,  when  the  escort  of  Pottawatomies,  about 
five  hundred  in  number,  under  The  Black-bird,  filed  to  the  right,  and  placed  those  hills 
between  themselves  and  the  white  people.  Wells  and  his  Miamis  had  kept  in  the 
advance  ;  suddenly  they  came  dashing  back,  the  leader  shouting,  "  They  are  about  to 
attack  us :  form,  instantly !"  These  startling  words  were  scarcely  uttered  when  a 
storm  of  bullets  came  from  the  Sand  Hills,  but  without  serious  effect.  The  treacher 
ous  and  cowardly  Pottawatomies  had  made  those  hillocks  their  cover  for  a  murder 
ous  attack.  The  troops,  hastily  brought  into  line,  charged  up  the  bank,  when  one  of 
their  number,  a  white-haired  man  of  seventy  years,  fell  dead  from  his  horse,  the  first 
victim.  The  Indians  were  driven  back,  and  the  battle  was  waged  on  the  open  prai- 
rig  between  fifty-four  soldiers,  twelve  civilians,  and  three  or  four  women,  against  about 
five  hundred  Indian  warriors.  Of  course,  the  conflict  was  hopeless  on  the  part  of  the 
white  people  ;  but  they  resolved  to  make  the  butchers  pay  dearly  for  every  life  which 
they  destroyed.1 

The  cowardly  Miamis  fled  at  the  first  onset.  Their  chief  rode  up  to  the  Pottawat 
omies,  charged  them  with  perfidy,  and,  brandishing  his  glittering  tomahawk,  declared 
that  he  would  be  the  first  to  lead  Americans  to  punish  them.  He  then  wheeled  and 
dashed  after  his  fugitive  companions,  who  were  scurrying  over  the  prairie  as  if  the 
Evil  Spirit  was  at  their  heels. 


5>*  fa*       -1   Te> 


INDIAN     TRAIL 


SITE   OF  CHICAGO  AND   OF   EVENTS  THERE   IN   1812. 

The  conflict  was  short,  desperate,  and  bloody.  Two  thirds  of  the  white  people 
were  slain  or  wounded,  and  all  the  horses,  provisions,  and  baggage  were  lost.  Only 
twenty-eight  strong  men  remained  to  brave  the  fury  of  about  five  hundred  Indians, 
who  had  lost  but  fifteen  in  the  conflict.  The  devoted  band  had  succeeded  in  break 
ing  through  the  ranks  of  the  assassins,  who  gave  way  in  front  and  rallied  on  the  flank, 

1  The  place  of  conflict  at  the  Sand  Hills  was  on  the  site  of  a  lot  (vacant  when  I  visited  it  in  I860)  in  the  rear  of  the 
honse  of  the  late  Widow  Clark,  between  Indiana  and  Michigan  Avenues,  just  south  of  North  Street,  and  about  fifty  rods 
fr  jm  the  lake. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  309 


Incidents  of  the  Conflict  with  the  Savages.  Death  of  Captain  Wells.  Bravery  of  Women. 

and  gained  a  slight  eminence  on  the  prairie  near  a  grove  called  The  Oak  Woods. 
The  savages  did  not  pursue.  They  gathered  upon  the  Sand  Hills  in  consultation,  and 
gave  signs  of  willingness  to  parley.  Farther  conflict  with  them  would  be  rashness  ; 
so  Captain  Heald,  accompanied  by  Perish  Le  Clerc,  a  half-breed  boy  in  Mr.  Kinzie's 
service,  went  forward,  met  Black-bird  on  the  open  prairie,  and  arranged  terms  for  a 
surrender.  It  was  agreed  that  all  the  arms  should  be  given  up  to  Black-bird,  and 
that  the  survivors  should  become  prisoners  of  war,  to  be  exchanged  for  ransoms  as 
soon  as  practicable.  With  this  understanding,  captured  and  captors  all  started  for 
the  Indian  encampment  near  the  fort.1 

So  overwhelming  was  the  savage  force  at  the  Sand  Hills,  that  the  conflict,  after  the 
first  desperate  charge,  became  an  exhibition  of  individual  prowess — a  life-and-death 
struggle,  in  which  no  one  could  render  any  assistance  to  his  neighbor,  for  all  were 
principals.  In  this  conflict  women  bore  a  conspicuous  part.  All  fought  gallantly  so 
long  as  strength  permitted  them.  The  brave  Ensign  Ronan  wielded  his  weapon  even 
when  falling  upon  his  knees  because  of  loss  of  blood.2  Captain  Wells  displayed  the 
greatest  coolness  and  gallantry.  He  wras  by  the  side  of  his  niece  when  the  conflict 
began.  "  We  have  not  the  slightest  chance  for  life,"  he  said.  "  We  must  part,  to 
meet  no  more  in  this  world ;  God  bless  you."  With  these  words,  he  dashed  forward 
with  the  rest.  In  the  midst  of  the  fight  he  saw  a  young  warrior,  painted  like  a  de 
mon,  climb  into  a  wagon  in  which  were  twelve  children  of  the  white  people,  and  tom 
ahawk  them  all !  Forgetting  his  own  immediate  danger,  Wells  exclaimed,  "  If  that 
is  their  game,  butchering  women  and  children,  I'll  kill  too."  He  instantly  dashed  to 
ward  the  Indian  camp,  where  they  had  left  their  squaws  and  little  ones,  hotly  pur 
sued  by  swift-footed  young  warriors,  who  sent  many  a  rifle  ball  after  him.  He  lay 
close  to  his  horse's  neck,  and  turned  and  fired  occasionally  upon  his  pursuers.  When 
he  had  got  almost  beyond  the  range  of  their  rifles,  a  ball  killed  his  horse  and  wound 
ed  himself  severely  in  the  leg.  The  young  savages  rushed  forward  with  a  demoniac 
yell  to  make  him  a  prisoner  and  reserve  him  for  the  torture,  for  he  was  to  them  an 
arch  offender.  His  friends  Win-ne-meg  and  Wau-ban-see  vainly  attempted  to  save 
him  from  his  fate.  He  knew  the  temper  and  the  practices  of  the  savages  well,  and 
resolved  not  to  be  made  a  captive.  He  taunted  them  with  the  most  insulting  epi 
thets  to  provoke  them  to  kill  him  instantly.  At  length  he  called  one  of  the  fiery 
young  warriors  (Per-so-tum)  a  squaw,  which  so  enraged  him  that  he  killed  Wells  in 
stantly  writh  a  tomahawk,  jumped  upon  his  body,  cut  out  his  heart,  and  ate  a  portion 
ofthe  warm  and  half-palpitating  morsel  with  savage  delight.3 

The  wife  of  Captain  Heald,*who  was  expert  with  the  rifle  and  an  excellent  eques 
trian,  deported  herself  bravely.  She  received  severe  wounds.  Faint  arid  bleeding, 
she  managed  to  keep  the  saddle.  A  savage  raised  his  tomahawk  to  kill  her,  when 
she  looked  him  full  in  the  face,  and,  with  a  sweet,  melancholy  smile,  said,  in  the  Indian 
tongue,  "  Surely  you  will  not  kill  a  squaw !"  The  appeal  was  effectual.  The  arm 
of  the  savage  fell,  and  the  life  of  the  heroic  woman  was  saved.  Mrs.  Helm,  the  step 
daughter  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  had  a  severe  personal  encounter  with  a  stalwart  young 
Indian,  who  attempted  to  tomahawk  her.  She  sprang  on  one  side,  and  received  the 
blow  intended  for  her  head  upon  her  shoulder,  and  at  the  same  instant  she  seized  the 
savage  around  the  neck,  and  endeavored  to  get  hold  of  his  scalping-knife,  which  hung 
in  a  sheath  upon  his  breast.  While  thus  struggling,  she  was  dragged  from  her  antag- 

1  Captain  Heald's  dispatch  to  Adjutant  General  dishing,  October  23, 1812. 

2  Mrs.  Helm  speaks  of  the  terror  of  Dr.  Van  Voorhees  at  that  time.    He  was  badly  wounded.   His  horse  had  been  shot 
under  him.     "  Do  you  think,"  he  said  to  Mrs.  Helm,  "  they  will  take  our  lives  ?"  and  then  talked  of  offering  a  large  ran 
som  for  existence.    She  advised  him  not  to  think  of  life,  but  of  inevitable  death.    "  Oh  !"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  can  not  die. 
I  am  not  fit  to  die.    If  I  had  only  a  short  time  to  prepare  for  it— death  is  awful !"    She  pointed  to  the  falling  Ronan, 
and  said,  "  Look  at  that  man  !  at  least  he  dies  like  a  soldier."    "  Yes,"  gasped  the  terrified  surgeon,  "  but  he  has  no  ter 
ror  of  the  future— he  is  an  unbeliever !"    At  that  moment  Mrs.  Helm  had  a  deadly  struggle  with  a  young  Indian,  and  a 
moment  afterward  she  saw  the  dead  body  of  the  surgeon.    He  had  been  slain  by  a  tomahawk. 

3  Statement  of  Colonel  John  Johnston,  of  Dayton,  to  the  author. 


310  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Act  of  a  friendly  Indian.        The  Wounded  butchered  for  their  Scalps.        Scalps  purchased  by  the  British  Commander. 

onist  by  another  Indian,  who  bore  her,  spite  of  her  desperate  resistance,  to  the 
margin  of  the  lake,  and  plunged  her  in,  at  the  same  time,  to  her  astonishment,  hold 
ing  her  so  that  she  would  not  drown.  She  soon  perceived  that  she  was  held  by  a 
friendly  hand.  It  was  that  of  the  Black  Partridge  who  had  saved  her.  When  the 
firing  ceased  and  the  capitulation  was  concluded,  he  conducted  her  to  the  prairie, 
where  she  met  her  father,  and  heard  that  her  husband  was  safe.  Bleeding  and  suf 
fering,  she  was  conducted  to  the  Indian  camp  by  the  Black  Partridge  and  Per-so-tum, 
the  latter  carrying  in  his  hand  a  scalp  which  she  knew  to  be  that  of  Captain  Wells 
by  the  black  ribbon  that  bound  the  queue. 

The  wife  of  a  soldier  named  Corbord,  believing  that  all  prisoners  were  reserved 
for  torture,  fought  desperately,  and  suifered  herself  to  be  literally  cut  in  pieces  rather 
than  surrender.  The  wife  of  Sergeant  Holt,  who  was  badly  wounded  in  his  neck  at 
the  beginning  of  the  engagement,  received  from  him  his  sword,  and  behaved  as 
bravely  as  an  Amazon.  She  was  a  large  and  powerful  woman,  and  rode  a  fine,  high- 
spirited  horse,  which  the  Indians  coveted.  Several  of  them  attacked  her  with  the 
butts  of  their  guns,  for  the  purpose  of  dismounting  her,  but  she  used  her  sword  so 
skillfully  that  she  foiled  them.  She  suddenly  wheeled  her  horse  and  dashed  over  the 
prairie,  followed  by  a  large  number,  who  shouted,  "  The  brave  woman  !  the  brave 
woman  !  don't  hurt  her  !"  They  finally  overtook  her,  and,  while  two  or  three  were 
engaging  her  in  front,  a  powerful  savage  seized  her  by  her  neck,  and  dragged  her 
backward  to  the  ground.  The  horse  and  woman  became  prizes.  The  latter  was 
afterward  ransomed. 

When  the  captives  were  taken  to  the  Indian  camp  a  new  scene  of  horrors  was 
opened.  The  wounded,  according  to  the  Indians'  interpretation  of  the  capitulation, 
were  not  included  in  the  terms  of  the  surrender.  Proctor  had  oifered  a  liberal  sum 
for  scalps  delivered  at  Maiden;  so, nearly  all  the  wounded  men  were  killed,  and  the 
value  of  British  bounty,  such  as  is  sometimes  offered  for  the  destruction  of  wolves, 
was  taken  from  each  head.1  In  this  tragedy  Mrs.  Heald  played  a  part,  but  fortunate 
ly  escaped  scalping.  In  order  to  save  her  fine  horse,  the  Indians  had  aimed  at  the 
rider.  Seven  bullets  took  effect  upon  her  person.  Her  captor,  who  was  about  to  slay 
her  upon  the  battle-field,  as  we  have  seen,  left  her  in  the  saddle,  and  led  the  horse  to 
ward  the  camp.  When  in  sight  of  the  fort  his  acquisitiveness  overpowered  his  gal 
lantry,  and  he  was  taking  her  bonnet  from  her  head  in  order  to  scalp  her,  when  she 
was  discovered  by  Mrs.  Kinzie,  who  was  yet  sitting  in  the  boat,  and  who  had  heard 
the  tumult  of  the  conflict,  but  without  any  intimation  of  the  result  until  she  saw  tlie 
wounded  woman  in  the  hands  of  her  savage  captive.*  "  Run !  run,  Chandonnai !" 
exclaimed  Mrs.  Kinzie  to  one  of  her  husband's  clerks,  who  was  standing  on  the  beach. 
"  That  is  Mrs.  Heald.  He  is  going  to  kill  her !  Take  that  mule,  and  offer  it  as  a 
ransom."  Chandonnai  promptly  obeyed,  and  increased  the  bribe  by  offering  in  ad 
dition  two  bottles  of  whisky.  These  were  worth  more  than  Proctor's  bounty,  and 
Mrs.  Heald  was  released.  She  was  placed  in  Mrs.  Kinzie's  boat,  and  there  concealed 
from  the  prying  eyes  of  other  scalp-hunters. 

Toward  evening  the   family  of  Mr.  Kinzie2  were  allowed  to  return  to  their  own 

1  A  writer,  signing  his  communication  "  An  Officer,"  under  date  of  "Buffalo,  March  8,  1813,"  speaks  of  the  arrival 
there  of  Mrs.  Helm,  and  her  narrative  of  sufferings  at  and  after  the  massacre  at  Chicago.     "She  knows  the  fact,"  he 
says,  "  that  Colonel  Proctor,  the  British  commander  at  Maiden,  bought  the  scalps  of  our  murdered  garrison  at  Chicago, 
and,  thanks  to  her  noble  spirit,  she  boldly  charged  him  with  the  infamy  in  his  own  house."    This  independence  was 
probably  the  cause  of  the  cruel  treatment  which  she  and  her  husband  received  at  the  hands  of  Proctor.    She  and  her 
husband,  after  several  weeks  of  captivity  among  the  Indians,  were  united  at  Detroit,  where  Proctor  caused  them  both 
to  be  arrested,  and  sent  on  horseback,  in  the  dead  of  a  Canadian  winter,  across  the  wilderness  to  Fort  George,  on  the 
Niagara  frontier.    The  writer  farther  says  concerning  the  statements  of  Mrs.  Heald,  "  She  knows,  from  the  tribe  with 
whom  she  was  a  prisoner,  and  who  were  the  perpetrators  of  those  murders,  that  they  intended  to  remain  true,  but  that 
they  received  orders  from  the  British  to  cut  off  our  garrison  whom  they  were  to  escort." — Niles's  Weekly  Register,  April  3, 
1813. 

2  John  Kinzie,  who  bore  so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  events  we  are  considering,  was  born  in  Quebec,  in  1763,  and 
was  the  only  offspring  of  his  mother's  second  marriage.    His  father  died  while  he  was  an  infant,  and  his  mother  mar 
ried  a  third  time,  and  with  her  husband  (Mr.  Forsythe)  removed  to  the  city  of  New  York.    At  the  age  of  ten  years 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  311 

Survivors  of  the  Massacre  at  Chicago.  Sketch  of  Mr.  Kinzie.  Remains  of  the  Fort. 

house,  where  they  were  greeted  by  the  friendly  Black  Partridge.  Mrs.  Helm  was 
placed  in  the  house  of  Ouilmette,  a  Frenchman,  by  the  same  friendly  hand.  But  these 
and  all  the  other  prisoners  were  exposed  to  great  jeopardy  by  the  arrival  of  a  band 
of  fierce  Pottawatomies  from  the  Wabash,  who  yearned  for  blood  and  plunder.  They 
searched  the  houses  for  prisoners  with  keen  vision,  and  when  no  farther  concealment 
and  safety  seemed  possible,  some  friendly  Indians  arrived,  and  so  turned  the  tide  of 
affairs  that  the  Wabash  savages  were  ashamed  to  own  their  blood-thirsty  inten 
tions.  ] 

In  this  terrible  tragedy  in  the  wilderness  fifty-five  years  ago,  twelve  children,  all 
the  masculine  civilians  but  Mr.  Kinzie  and  his  sons,  Captain  Wells,  Surgeon  Van  Voor- 
hees,2  Ensign  Ronan,  and  twenty-six  private  soldiers,  were  murdered.  The  prison 
ers  were  divided  among  the  captors,3  and  were  finally  reunited,  or  restored  to  their 
friends  and  families.  A  few  of  them  have  survived  until  our  day.  Mrs.  Rebecca 
Heald  died  at  the  St.  Charles  Mission,  in 'Missouri,  in  the  year  1860.  Major  John  H. 
Kinzie,  of  Chicago  (husband  of  the  writer  of"  Wau-bun"),  his  brother  Major  Robert 
A.  Kinzie,  and  Mrs.  Hunter,  wife  of  General  David  Hunter,  of  the  National  Army,  are 
[1867]  surviving  children  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  and  were  with  their  mother  in  the  boat 
The  brothers  were  both  officers  of  Volunteers  during  the  late  Civil  War ;  and  a  most 
promising  son  of  John  Kinzie  became  a  martyr  for  his  country  in  that  war.  Paul  de 
Garmo,  another  survivor,  was  living  at  Maumee  City,  Ohio,  when  I  visited  that  place 
in  1860,  but  I  was  not  aware  of  the  fact  until  after  I  had  left.  Jack  Smith,  a  sailor 
on  the  lakes,  who  was  a  drummer-boy  at  the  time,  was  alive  within  the  last  two  or 
three  years.  It  is  believed  that  no  other  survivors  of  the  massacre  are  now  [1867] 
living. 

On  the  morning  after  the  massacre  the  fort  was  burned  by  the  Indians,  and  Chi 
cago  remained  a  desolation  for  about  four  years.  In  1816  the  Pottawatomies  ceded 
to  the  United  States  all  the  land  on  which  Chicago  now  stands,  when  the  fort  was 
rebuilt  on  a  some  what  more  extended  scale,  and  the  bones  of  the  massacred  were  col 
lected  and  buried.  One  of  the  block-houses  of  the  new  fort  remained,  near  the  bank 
of  the  river,  until  1856,  when  it  was  demolished.  The  view  here  given  (by  whom 

young  Kinzie  was  placed  in  a  school  in  Williamsbnrg,  near  Long  Island.  One  day  he  made  his  way  to  the  North  River, 
got  on  board  of  an  Albany  sloop,  and  started  for  Quebec.  Fortunately  for  him,  he  found  a  passenger  who  was  on  his 
way  to  that  city,  who  took  charge  of  him.  At  Quebec  the  boy  apprenticed  himself  to  a  silversmith.  Three  years  after 
ward,  his  family,  having  returned  to  Canada  for  the  purpose  of  moving  to  Detroit,  discovered  him.  They  had  supposed 
him  lost  forever.  When  he  grew  up  he  loved  the  wilds.  He  became  a  trader,  and  lived  most  of  the  time  on  the  frontier 
and  among  the  Indians.  He  established  trading-houses.  He  married  the  widow  of  a  British  officer  in  1SOO,  and  settled 
at  Chicago  in  1804.  There  he  became  a  captain  in  1812,  and  in  January,  1813,  joined  his  family  at  Detroit.  There  he 
was  badly  treated  by  General  Proctor,  who  cast  him  into  prison  at  Maiden.  He  was  finally  sent  to  Quebec,  to  be  for 
warded  to  England,  for  what  purpose  was  never  known.  The  vessel  in  which  he  sailed  was  compelled  to  put  back, 
when  he  was  released  and  returned  to  Detroit,  where  he  found  General  Harris  in  possession.  He  and  his  family  re 
turned  to  Chicago  in  1816,  when  the  fort  was  rebuilt.  Mr.  Kinzie  died  there  on  the  6th  of  January,  182S,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-five  years.  This  was  two  years  before  the  town  of  Chicago  was  laid  out  into  lots  by  commissioners  appointed  by 
the  state. 

1  The  leader  of  the  friendly  party  was  Billy  Caldwell,  a  half-breed  and  a  chief.    The  Black  Partridge  told  him  of  the 
evident  intentions  of  the  Wabash  Indians.    They  had  blackened  their  faces,  and  were  then  seated  sullenly  in  Mr. 
Kinzie's  parlor,  preparatory  to  a  general  massacre  of  all  the  remaining  white  people.    Billy  went  in,  took  off  his  ac 
coutrements,  and  said,  in  a  careless  way,  "  How  now,  my  friends  !    A  good  day  to  you.    I  was  told  there  were  enemies 
here,  but  I  am  glad  to  find  only  friends.    Why  have  yon  blackened  your  faces  ?    Is  it  that  yon  are  mourning  for  your 
friends  lost  in  battle  ?    Or  is  it  that  you  are  fasting?    If  so,  ask  our  friend  here  (Mr.  Kinzie),  and  he  will  give  you  to 
eat.    He  is  the  Indian's  friend,  and  never  yet  refused  them  what  they  had  need  of."    The  hostile  savages  were  sur 
prised  and  overwhelmed  with  shame.— Mrs.  Kinzie's  Wau-bun,  page  238. 

2  John  Cooper,  M.D.,  of  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  was  the  immediate  predecessor  of  Doctor  Van  Voorhees  at  Fort 
Dearborn.    They  were  natives  of  the  same  town  (Fishkill,  Dutchess  County,  New  York)  and  class-mates.    Van  Voor 
hees  was  a  young  man  of  great  powers.    Dr.  Cooper  left  the  fort  in  1811,  tendered  his  resignation,  and  left  the  army. 
He  died  at  Poughkeepsie  in  1863,  where  he  had  been  for  many  years  the  oldest  medical  practitioner  in  the  place. 

3  Captain  Heald  was  quite  severely  wounded  and  made  a  prisoner  by  an  Indian  from  the  Kankakee,  who  had  a  strong 
personal  regard  for  him,  but  who,  on  seeing  the  feeble  state  of  Mrs.  Heald,  released  him  and  allowed  him  to  accompany 
her  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph's,  in  Michigan.    On  returning  to  his  village,  the  Indian  found  himself  an  object  of 
great  dissatisfaction  because  he  had  released  his  prisoner ;  so  he  resolved  to  go  to  St.  Joseph  and  reclaim  him.  Friend 
ly  Indians  gave  Heald  warning,  and  he  and  his  wife  went  to  far-off  Mackinack  in  an  open  boat,  and  surrendered  them 
selves  to  the  British  commander  there  as  prisoners  of  war.    This  kept  them  out  of  the  hands  of  the  savages.— Wau-bun, 
page  243. 


312 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Block-house  at  Chicago. 


The  Author  of  Wau-ltm. 


Amazing  Growth  of  Chicago. 


BLOOK-UOUttE   AT   C1UOAUO. 


sketched  I  know  not)  was  drawn  not  long  before  the  demolition.  On  the  left  of  the 
picture  is  seen  the  light-house  and  a  steam-boat  in  the  Chicago  River,  above  the  Rush 
Street  bridge,  at  the  termination  and  junction  of  Wabash  Avenue  and  River  Street. 
On  the  right,  across  the  river,  not  far  from  the  site  of  the  Kinzie  mansion,  is  seen  the 
hotel  called  the  Lake  House,  and  in  the  foreground,  on  the  right,  is  seen  two  vener 
able  trees,  one  of  which  was  standing  on  the  vacant  lot  where  the  block-house  was 
when  I  visited  Chicago  in  1860.  At  that  time  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Mrs. 
John  H.  Kinzie,  the  author  of  Wait-bun,  at  her  own  house,  and  heard  from  her  own 
lips  interesting  reminiscences  of  Chicago  in  1831,  the  year  after  state  commissioners 
laid  it  out  into  town  lots.  To  Mrs.  Kinzie's  skillful  pencil  we  are  indebted  for  the 
sketch  of  Fort  Dearborn  and  the  Kinzie  mansion  printed  on  page  303 ;  also  for  the 
map  on  page  308.  Although  she  was  a  woman  of  about  middle  age,  she  and  her  hus 
band  were  the  "  oldest  inhabitants"  of  Chicago.  They  are  the  only  persons  now  [1867] 
living  there  who  were  residents  of  Chicago  in  1831,  within  the  present  city  limits. 
There  were  two  settlers  living  without  the  city  limits  in  1860  who  resided  on  the 
same  spot  in  1831.  These  were  Archie  Clybourn  and  John  Clack,  the  latter  generally 
known  as  "  Old  Hunter  Clack."  They  were  originally  from  the  Kanawha  Valley,  in 
Virginia.  These  had  been  witnesses  of  its  marvelous  growth  from  a  stockade  fort 
in  the  wilderness,  and  a  few  rude  houses,  to  a  city  of  almost  two  hundred  thousand 
inhabitants  in  the  course  of  only  thirty-six  years !  Chicago  is  now  the  great  en- 
ti'epot  for  the  grain  of  the  teeming  Northwest — the  central  point  to  which  about  a 
dozen  important  railways  converge1 — and  yet  there,  only  thirty-six  years  ago,  Mrs. 
Kinzie  and  her  family,  during  a  whole  winter,  were  compelled  to  use  the  greatest 
economy  for  fear  they  might  exhaust  their  slender  stock  of  flour  and  meal  before  it 
could  be  replenished  from  "  below  !"  At  the  same  time,  the  Indians  of  that  neigh 
borhood  were  famishing — "  dying  in  companies  from  mere  destitution Soup 

made  from  the  bark  of  the  slippery  elm,  or  stewed  acorns,  was  the  only  food  that 
many  had  subsisted  on  for  weeks."2 

1  The  Michigan  Central ;  the  Michigan  Southern  and  Northern  Indiana ;  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne,  and  Chicago ;  the 
Chicago  branch  of  the  Illinois  Central ;  the  St.  Louis,  Alton,  and  Chicago :  the  Chicago  and  Rock  Island  ;  the  Illinois 
Grand  Trunk;  the  Chicago,  Fulton,  and  Iowa  ;  the  Galena,  Chicago,  and  Union  ;  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  ;  and 
the  Chicago  and  Milwaukee,  with  numerous  tributaries. 

2  For  a  full  description  of  Chicago  in  1831,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  Mrs.  Kenzie 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  313 


Chicago  a  Generation  ago.        Its  historical  Localities.        Tecumtha's  Hopes  revived.        Designs  against  Fort  Wayne. 

The  city  of  Chicago  now  covers  the  entire  theatre  of  the  events  just  described. 
The  old  channel  of  the  river,  from  the  fort  to  its  mouth,  has  been  filled  or  covered, 
and  the  present  harbor  constructed.  The  Sand  Hills  have  been  leveled ;  and  where 
the  battle  on  the  prairie — the  struggles  of  brave  warriors,  and  the  chase  and  murder 
of  Wells — occurred,  populated  streets  now  lie.  It  was  while  passing  along  one  of 
these  (Michigan  Avenue) — the  finest  in  point  of  beauty,  taste,  and  prospect  in  all  the 
West,  when  on  our  way  out  to  the  pleasant  suburban  village  of  Hyde  Park,  on  the 
lake  shore,  to  visit  some  old  friends,  that  we  were  directed  to  the  site  of  the  Sand 
Hills,  the  Oak  Woods,  and  Lee's  Place.  Very  near  the  spot  where  the  Kinzie  man 
sion  stood — where  food  was  so  scarce  only  thirty  years  ago,  immense  "  elevators"- 
the  largest  in  the  world — receive,  weigh,  arid  send  off  annually  millions  of  bushels  of 
the  surplus  grain  of  the  Northwest !  This  transformation  is  the  work  of  a  single 
generation.  It  seems  like  a  magic  product  evolved  by  the  attrition  of  Aladdin's 
lamp.1 

When  the  work  of  destruction,  and  the  final  disposition  of  the  prisoners  at  Chi 
cago  were  completed,  The  Black-bird  and  his  savage  horde  pressed  toward  Fort 
Wayne.  The  fall  of  Mackinack  and  Detroit,  and  the  destruction  of  the  military  post 
at  Chicago,  so  completely  broke  the  power  of  the  United  States  in  the  Northwest  for 
the  moment,  that  the  Indians,  believing  that  there  would  be  perfect  safety  in  openly 
joining  the  British,  did  so.  Tecumtha's  hopes  of  establishing  a  confederacy  of  the 
Indians  to  drive  the  white  people  from  the  country  north  of  the  Ohio  revived.  The 
prospect  of  success  seemed  brighter  than  ever,  and,  with  the  energy  of  a  patriot  and 
enthusiast,  he  sent  emissaries  among  all  the  tribes  to  invite  them  to  take  the  war 
path,  with  the  sole  intent  of  complete  expulsion  or  utter  extermination.  The  Win- 
nebagoes,  Pottawatomies,  Kickapoos,  Ottawas,  Shawnoese,  and  less  powerful  tribes, 
gladly  listened  ;  and  all  over  the  region  south  of  Lake  Erie,  far  toward  the  Ohio,  the 
young  men  were  speedily  engaged  in  the  war-dance. 

Proctor  and  Tecumtha  resolved  to  reduce  Forts  Wayne  and  Harrison  immediately. 
The  former,  as  we  have  seen,  was  at  the  head  of  the  Maumee,2  and  the  latter  on  the 
Wabash.3  Major  Muir,  with  British  regulars  and  Indians,  were  to  proceed  from  Mai 
den  up  the  Maumee  Valley  to  co-operate  with  the  Indians ;  and  the  1st  of  September 
was  appointed  as  the  day  when  Fort  Wayne  should  be  invested  by  them.  The  gar 
rison  consisted  of  only  seventy  men,  under  Captain  James  Rhea,4  with  four  small 
field-pieces.  The  savages  were  there  as  early  as  the  28th  of  August,a  and  at 
about  the  same  time  hostile  bands,  for  the  purpose  of  diverting  attention  from 
Forts  Wayne  and  Harrison,  and  preventing  their  garrisons  being  re-enforced,  were 
directed  to  prosecute  warfare  at  distant  points  in  their  usual  mode — murdering  iso 
lated  settlers,  with  their  women  and  children.  Pursuant  to  these  instructions,  a 
scalping-party  of  Shawnoese  fell  upon  "  The  Pigeon  Roost  Settlement,"  on  a  tribu- 

1  I  am  indebted  to  the  accurate  knowledge  and  kind  courtesy  of  Mrs.  Kinzie  for  the  following  information  respecting 
the  localities  of  acts  in  the  events  we  have  just  recorded,  as  indicated  by  places  to-day : 

The  "  Kinzie  mansion"  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  Chicago  River,  at  the  intersection  of  Pine  and  North  Water 
Streets,  as  they  now  are  in  "  Kinzie's  addition,"  and  about  eighty  feet  east  of  the  Lake  House. 

The  house  of  Ouilmette  was  between  what  are  now  Rush  and  Cass  Streets,  on  North  Water  Street.  Burns's  was  near 
the  foot  of  Wolcott  Street,  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  The  east  end  of  the  Chicago  and  Galena  Freight  Depot  covers  the 
spot. 

The  place  where  the  fight  commenced  was  between  the  Widow  Clarke's  and  the  lake.  The  trees  are  still  standing 
which  stood  there  at  that  day. 

"Lee's  Place"  was  about  a  fourth  of  a  mile  above  where  Halstead  Street  crosses  the  South  Branch. 

Captain  Wells  was  killed  near  the  foot  of  Twelfth  Street,  on  the  Lake  Shore  path. 

The  "Oak  Woods"  were,  in  1862,  "Camp  Douglas,"  just  beyond  the  southern  limits  of  the  city,  on  the  Lake  Shore. 
"Chicago  University"  and  the  grave  of  the  late  Stephen  A.Douglas,  who  owned  the  property,  occupy  a  portion  of  the 
tract. 

The  place  of  the  parley  was  about  at  the  intersection  of  the  Archer  Road  and  Clarke  Street. 

2  See  page  56.  3  See  page  197. 

*  James  Rhea  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  was  lieutenant  and  adjutant  of  "Rhea's  levies"  in  1791.  He  was  en 
sign  and  second  lieutenant  of  infantry  in  1799,  and  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant  in  1800.  He  was  commissioned  a 
captain  in  July,  1S07,  and  resigned  at  Fort  Wayne  at  the  close  of  1812.—  Gardner's  Dictionary  of  the  Army,  page  377. 


314  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Massacre  of  Settlers.  Attack  on  Fort  Wayne.         .  "  Quaker  Guns."  The  Garrison  firm. 

tary  of  the  White  River,  within  the  limits  of  the  present  Scott  County,  in  Southern 
Indiana,  on  the  3d  of  September/  They  first  killed  two  bee-hunters  of  the  set 
tlement  ;]  and  between  sunset  and  dark  they  murdered  one  man,  five  women, 
and  sixteen  children.2  Only  two  men  and  five  children  escaped.3  '  These  made  their 
way,  under  the  cover  of  the  night,  to  the  house  of  a  settler  six  miles  distant.  One 
hundred  and  fifty  mounted  riflemen,  under  Major  John  M'Coy,  gave  chase  to  the 
"  September  4.  murderers  the  next  day.b  They  followed  them  twenty  miles,  but  they 
escaped  during  the  night.  The  militia  of  Scott,  Jefferson,  Clarke,  and 
c  September  T.  j£nox  Counties  were  soon  assembled,  and  were  joinedc  by  about  three 
hundred  and  fifty  volunteers  from  Kentucky,  under  Colonel  Geiger,  for  the  purpose 
of  destroying  the  towns  of  the  Dela wares,  on  the  White  River,  who  were  suspected 
of  being  the  murderers.  Evidence  of  the  innocence  and  even  friendliness  of  those  In 
dians  was  not  wanting,  and  they  were  spared.  From  that  time  until  the  close  of 
the  war,  the  settlers  in  that  region  lived  in  a  continual  state  of  fear  and  excitement.4 
For  several  days  the  Indians,  in  large  numbers,  had  been  seen  hovering  in  the  woods 
around  Fort  Wayne,  and  on  the  night  of  the  5th  of  September  they  commenced  a  se 
ries  of  attacks  by  firing  upon  the  sentinels,  without  effect.  Up  to  that  time,  the  Mi- 
amis  in  the  neighborhood,  who  had  resolved  to  join  the  British,  had  made  great  pro 
fessions  of  friendship,  hoping,  no  doubt,  to  gain  possession  of  the  fort  by  a  surprise. 
This  hypocrisy  availed  them  nothing,  so  they  cast  off  all  disguise  and  opened  hostili 
ties.  On  the  morning  of  the  6th  they  were  invisible,  and  some  of  the  soldiers  ven 
tured  out  of  the  fort.  They  had  not  proceeded  seventy  yards  when  bullets  from  a 
concealed  foe  killed  two  of  their  number.  Their  companions  hastened  back,  carrying 
the  bodies  of  their  comrades  with  them. 

On  the  night  of  the  6th  the  whole  body  of  Indians,  supposed  to  have  been  six  hund 
red  strong,  attacked  the  fort.  They  attempted  to  scale  the  palisades,  but  so  vigilant 
and  skillful  were  the  garrison  that  the  savages  were  not  permitted  to  do  the  least 
damage.  Perceiving  such  assaults  to  be  useless,  they  resolved  to  employ  strategy  in 
the  morning.  Two  logs  were  formed  into  the  shape  of  cannon,  and  placed  in  battery 
before  the  fort.  A  half-breed,  with  a  flag,  approached  and  informed  the  commandant 
that  the  British,  then  on  their  march,  had  sent  them  two  battery  cannon,  and  that  if 
a  surrender  was  not  immediately  made,  the  fort  would  be  battered  down.  He  also 
threatened  a  general  massacre  of  the  garrison  within  three  days,  as  a  re-enforcement 
of  seven  hundred  Indian  warriors  were  expected  the  next  day.  The  troops  were  not 
frightened  by  the  "  Quaker  guns."  They  were  aware  that  friends  were  on  the  way 
to  relieve  them,5  and  resolved  to  hold  out  while  their  provisions  lasted.  For  nearly 
three  days  after  the  menace  there  was  quiet.  Then  the  savages  renewed  the  at- 

1  Jeremiah  Payne  and  Frederick  Kaupfman. 

2  These  were  Henry  Collings  and  his  wife  ;  the  wife  of  Jeremiah  Payne  and  eight  of  her  children  ;  Mrs.  Richard  Col- 
lings  and  seven  of  her  children  ;  Mrs.  John  Morris  and  her  only  child,  and  Mrs.  Morris,  the  mother  of  her  husband. 

3  Mrs.  Jane  Biggs  and  her  three  children,  and  the  aged  William  Collings  and  Captain  John  Morris,  with  two  of  the 
children  (John  and  Lydia)  of  Mrs.  Collings  who  was  murdered.    They  all  escaped  to  the  house  of  Zebulon  Collings. — 
Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  page  492. 

4  Mr.  Zebulon  Collings,  to  whose  house  the  fugitives  from  The  Pigeon  Roost  escaped,  has  left  on  record  the  following 
vivid  account  of  the  sense  of  peril  felt  by  the  settlers  during  those  dark  days  between  the  summer  of  1S12  and  1815 : 
"  The  manner  in  which  I  used  to  work  was  as  follows :  on  all  occasions  I  carried  my  rifle,  tomahawk,  and  butcher-knife, 
with  a  loaded  pistol  in  my  belt.    When  I  went  to  plow,  I  laid  my  gun  on  the  plowed  ground,  and  stuck  up  a  stick  by 
it  for  a  mark,  so  that  I  could  get  it  quick  in  case  it  was  wanted.    I  had  two  good  dogs.    I  took  one  into  the  house,  leav 
ing  the  other  out.    The  one  outside  was  expected  to  give  the  alarm,  which  would  cause  the  one  inside  to  bark,  by  which 
I  would  be  awakened,  having  my  arms  always  loaded.    I  kept  my  horses  in  a  stable  close  to  the  house,  having  a  port 
hole  so  that  I  could  shoot  to  the  stable-door.    During  two  years  I  never  went  from  home  with  a  certainty  of  returning, 
not  knowing  the  minute  I  might  receive  a  ball  from  an  unknown  hand ;  but,  in  the  midst  of  all  these  dangers,  that  God 
who  never  sleeps  nor  slumbers  has  kept  me." — Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  page  493. 

5  General  Harrison,  then  at  Piqua  in  command  of  Kentucky  troops,  sent  Major  William  Oliver,  a  gallant  officer,  with 
four  Shawnoese,  to  Fort  Wayne  to  assure  the  garrrison  of  speedy  re-enforcement.    They  pushed  through  the  wilderness 
for  about  sixty  miles.    Oliver  was  in  Indian  costume.    When  they  approached  the  fort  they  came  upon  the  out-guards 
of  the  savages.    With  great  skill  they  evaded  them,  made  their  way  through  the  lines  of  the  besiegers,  and,  with  fleet 
foot,  gained  the  fort.    Oliver  and  his  companions  remained  there  until  the  close  of  the  siege.  —Early  History  of  the  Man- 
mee  Valley,  by  H.  L.  Hosmer,  page  32. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


315 


Siege  of  Fort  Wayne  raised. 


Eavages  of  the  Indians. 


The  Grave  of  Little  Turtle. 


September  9, 
1812. 


tack,a  and  kept  up  a  fire  at  intervals  for  twelve  hours.  On  the  following 
day  they  raised  a  tremendous  war-whoop,  to  frighten  the  garrison,  and 
again  commenced  an  assault,  with  as  little  success  as  on  previous  occasions.  The 
patient  little  garrison  remained  unharmed ;  and  on  the  12th,  the  besiegers  fled  precip 
itately,  having  heard  of  the  approach  of  a  large  re-enforcement  for  the  fort.  That 
evening  the  deliverers  arrived,  and  Fort  Wayne  was  saved.1 


I'OKT   WAYXE   IN    1S12. 


Before  they  left,  the  Indians  destroyed  every  thing  outside  the  fort — live-stock, 
crops,  and  dwellings.  Among  the  latter  was  the  house  of  Captain  Wells,  who  was 
killed  at  Chicago.  It  was  on  his  reservation  of  rich  bottom  lands  on  the  north  side 
of  the  St.  Mary's  River,  opposite  the  present  city  of  Fort  Wayne,  and  not  more  than 
half  a  mile  distant  from  it.  When  I  visited  the  spot  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  in  com 
pany  with  the  venerable  Mr.  Hedges,  already  mentioned,2  and  the  Hon.  I.  D.  G.  Nel 
son,  more  than  twenty  apple-trees  of  an  orchard  planted  by  Captain  Wells — the  old 
est  in  Northern  Indiana,  having  been  set  out  in  1804  or  1805 — were  yet  standing, 


shorn  of  beauty,  huge, 
gnarled,  and  fantastic 
al,  but  fruit  -  bearing 
still.  They  were  .  on 
the  land  of  Mr.  Edward 
Smith,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  road  from  Fort 
Wayne  to  White  Pig 
eon.  In  Mr.  Smith's 
garden,  which  was 
within  the  inclosure  of 
the  orchard,  only  a  few 
yards  westward  of  a 
group  of  larger  trees, 
was  the  grave  of  the 
Little  Turtle.  Its  place 
is  marked  in  our  little 
sketch  of  that  group 


T11E    LITTLE    TURTLE  8    GKAVE. 


of  five  apple-trees  by 
the  figures  in  the  fore 
ground.  There  the  Lit 
tle  Turtle  was  buried 
in  the  middle  of  July, 
1812,  and  his  nephew, 
Co-is-see,  pronounced  a 
funeral  oration  at  his 
grave.  His  residence 
was  then  at  Eel  River, 
about  fi  f t  e  e  n  miles 
northwest  of  Fort 
Wayne.  He  had  come 
to  the  fort  to  be  treat 
ed  by  the  garrison  sur 
geon  for  the  gout,  and 
died  there.3  Mr.  Hedg 
es  was  at  his  funeral. 


i  Thomson's  Sketches  of  the  War,  page  56 ;  M'Afee,  page  12T.  2  See  page  44. 

3  Mr.  Drake,  in  his  Book  of  the  Indians,  quotes  the  following  notice  of  the  Little  Turtle's  death  from  one  of  the  public 
prints  of  the  day :  "Fort  Wayne,  21  July,  1812.— On  the  14th  instant  the  celebrated  Miami  chief,  the  Little  Turtle,  died 
at  this  place,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years.  Perhaps  there  is  not  left  on  this  continent  one  of  his  color  so  distinguished 
in  council  and  in  war.  His  disorder  was  the  gout.  He  died  in  a  camp,  because  he  chose  to  be  in  the  open  air.  He  met 


316  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Forts  Wayne  and  Miami,  Treachery  of  the  Indians.  Site  of  Fort  Wayne. 

By  the  side  of  his  remains  reposed  those  of  his  sister,  the  wife  of  Captain  Wells. 
Their  graves  were  unhonored,  but  I  was  informed  that^the  kinsfolk  of  the  noted 
man  were  about  to  erect  a  neat  monument  to  mark  the  place  of  their  sepulture. 

Fort  Wayne,  delineated  on  page  315,  was  built,  as  we  have  seen  (page  56),  in  the 
autumn  of  1794.  It  was  not  on  the  site  of  the  old  French  stockade,  known  as  Fort 
Miami  ;*  nor  on  that  of  the  one  which  was  occupied  by  an  English  garrison,  consist 
ing  of  a  captain's  command,  at  the  time  of  Pontiac's  conspiracy  in  1 763.  At  that  time 
the  old  Fort  Miami  was  a  ruin,  and  the  stockade  to  which  reference  is  here  made  was 
in  perfect  order.  It  was  about  half  a  mile  from  the  present  bridge  across  the  Mau- 
mee,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  St.  Joseph.  The  commander  was  a  surgeon,  and  his  pro 
fession  was  the  cause  of  his  own  death  and  the  capture  of  the  garrison  by  the  Indians 
at  that  time.  He  was  asked  by  an  Indian  girl  to  go  out  of  the  fort  to  see  a  sick  sav 
age  at  the  Miami  village  near  by,  where  a  young  woman  of  the  tribe,  chosen  for  the 
purpose,  to  show  the  contempt  of  the  savages  for  the  English,  murdered  him.  The 
garrison  became  prisoners  to  the  Miamis.2  When,  three  years  later,  George  Croghan 
visited  the  spot,  the  fort  was  "  somewhat  ruinous."  He  found  forty  or  fifty  Indian 
cabins  at  the  village  across  the  Maumee  (that  "  stood  on  both  sides  of  the  St.  Joseph"), 
besides  "nine  or  ten  French  houses."  Among  the  latter  was  that  of  Drouet  de  Kich- 
ardville,  a  French  trader,  and  father  of  Chief  Richardville,- already  mentioned  as  the 
successor  of  the  Little  Turtle.3  The  fort  of  1794-1812  stood  on  the  bank  of  the  Man- 


BRIDGE   AT   TIIE   HEAD   OF   TUE  MAUMEE,  AT    FOKT   WAY.SE. 

mee  (see  map  on  page  266),  at  the  junction  of  the  present  Main  and  Clay  Streets, 
Fort  Wayne.  The  Wabash  and  Erie  Canal  passes  through  a  portion  of  it.  It  was  a 

his  death  with  great  firmness.  The  Agent  for  Indian  Affairs  had  him  buried  with  the  honors  of  war,  and  other  marks 
of  distinction  suited  to  his  character."  A  writer,  quoted  by  Mr.  Drake,  says  that  he  saw  the  Little  Turtle,  soon  after  St. 
Clair's  defeat,  at  Montreal,  and  described  him  as  about  six  feet  in  height,  sour  and  morose,  and  apparently  crafty  and 
subtle.  He  wore  Indian  moccasins,  a  blue  petticoat  that  came  half  way  down  his  thighs,  and  a  European  waistcoat  and 
surtout.  On  his  head  was  a  cap  that  hung  half  way  down  his  back,  bespangled  with  about  two  hundred  silver  brooches. 
In  each  ear  were  two  rings,  the  upper  parts  of  each  bearing  three  silver  medals  about  the  size  of  a  dollar,  and  the  lower 
parts  quarters  of  a  dollar.  They  fell  more  than  twelve  inches  from  his  ears.  One  from  each  ear  fell  over  his  breast, 
the  others  over  his  back.  He  also  had  three  large  nose  jewels  of  silver,  cunningly  painted.  Little  Turtle  was  of  mixed 
blood— half  Mohican  and  half  Miami.  Colonel  Johnston,  who  knew  him  well,  called  him  "  the  gentleman  of  his  race." 

1  The  French  governor  of  Louisiana  mentioned  this  stockade  in  a  letter  in  1751.    It  was  situated  near  the  St.  Mary's, 
probably  in  the  vicinity  of  the  canal  aqueduct.    The  dim  outlines  of  this  fort  were  traced  by  Wayne  in  1794,  and  by 
Colonel  Johnston  in  1800.— Lecture  by  J.  L.  Williams  before  the  congregation  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Fort 
Wayne,  March  7th,  1860. 

2  Oral  statement  of  Colonel  John  Johnston,  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  to  the  writer,  who  knew  the  murderess,  she  being  a  resi 
dent  of  the  Miami  village  when  he  went  to  Fort  Wayne  in  the  year  1800.    Colonel  Johnston  gave  me  the  names  of  the 
United  States  commanders  of  the  fort  in  regular  succession,  as  follows  ;  Colonels  J.  F.  Hamtramck,  and  Thomas  Hunt ; 
Majors  John  Whistler,  Thomas  Pasteaur,  and  Zebulou  M.  Pike ;  Captains  Nathan  Heald,  James  Rhea,  and  Hugh  Moore ; 
and  Colonel  Joseph  H.  Vose.    The  fort  was  abandoned  in  ISIS.    Captain  Vose  was  a  citizen  of  Manchester,  and  had  been 
commissioned  a  captain  in  the  Twenty-first  Infantry  in  April,  1812.    Colonel  Johnston,  in  a  letter  written  in  1S59,  said 
that  Captain  Vose  was  the  only  army  officer  within  his  knowledge,  in  1S12,  who  publicly  professed  Christiauny.    He 
was  in  the  constant  habit  of  assembling  his  men  on  the  Sabbath  and  reading  the  Scriptures  to  them,  and  conversing 
with  them  on  religious  subjects.— Williams's  Lecture,  p.  12.    Captain  Vose  was  promoted  to  major  during  the  War  of 
1812.    In  1842  he  received  the  commission  of  colonel.    He  died  at  the  New  Orleans  barracks,  just  below  the  city,  on  the 
I5th  of  July,  1S45.  a  Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  p.  403. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  317 


Fort  Harrison  besieged.  Perils  of  the  Garrison.  Firmness  and  Courage  of  Captain  Taylor. 

well-built  stockade,  with  two  block-houses  and  comfortable  barracks,  and  of  sufficient 
strength  to  defy  the  Indians,  but  not  the  British  with  cannon.  A  large  and  substan 
tial  bridge  now  spans  the  Maumee  from  near  the  site  of  Fort  Wayne  to  the  plains  on 
which  the  Miami  village  stood.  The  sketch  on  page  316  was  taken  from  near  the 
line  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  fort.  At  the  centre  of  the  picture  is  seen  the  point  of 
confluence  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  the  St.  Joseph's  rivers,  which  form  the  Maumee. 

While  these  demonstrations  against  Fort  Wayne  were  in  progress,  similar  efforts 
were  made  against  Fort  Harrison,  on  the  Wabash.  At  sunset  on  the  day  of  the 
Pigeon  Roost  massacre,a  two  young  haymakers  near  Fort  Harrison  were  « September  3, 
killed  and  scalped  by  a  party  of  Indians.  The  crack  of  the  murderers' 
muskets  was  heard  at  the  fort,  and  excited  the  vigilance  of  Captain  Zachary  Taylor, 
the  commander  of  the  garrison,  who  was  just  recovering  from  an  attack  of  bilious 
fever.  On  the  following  morning  the  bodies  of  the  young  men  were  taken  to  the  fort 
and  buried.  Late  that  evening1*  old  Joseph  Lenar  came  to  the  fort  with  „  ge  iem^r  4 
a  flag,  followed  by  about  forty  Indians,  one  fourth  of  them  women.  The 
men  were  chiefs  of  the  several  tribes — Winnebagoes,  Kickapoos,  Pottawatomies,  Shaw- 
noese,  and  some  Miamis — who  still  adhered  to  the  fortunes  of  the  Prophet.  They 
came  from  his  town  near  Tippecanoe,  on  the  Wabash,  where  he  was  still  busy  in  stir 
ring  up  the  Indians  against  the  white  people.  One  of  Lenar's  party,  a  Shawnoese 
who  could  speak  English,  told  Taylor  that  their  leader  would  speak  to  him  in  the 
morning  about  food  for  his  company.  Friendly  Miamis  had  warned  Taylor  of  the 
hostile  disposition  of  all  the  neighboring  tribes,  and  he  was  perfectly  on  his  guard. 

The  garrison  consisted  of  only  about  fifty  men,  of  whom,  on  account  of  the  prevail 
ing  fevers,  not  much  more  than  a  dozen  were  free  from  the  care  of  Dr.  Clark,  the  sur 
geon.  Only  six  privates  and  two  non-commissioned  officers  could  mount  guard  at  a 
time.  Yet  now,  in  the  presence  of  impending  danger,  some  of  the  convalescents  went 
freely  upon  duty.  The  arms  of  the  garrison  were  examined  with  great  care  that 
evening ;  and,  when  every  thing  necessary  for  watchfulness  and  security  had  been 
arranged,  the  commander,  weak  and  exhausted,  lay  down  and  fell  asleep.  His  slum 
bers  were  short.  Toward  midnight  he  was  aroused  by  the  firing  of  his  sentinels. 
Springing  from  his  couch,  he  hastened  to  the  parade  and  ordered  every  man  to  his 
post.  It  was  soon  ascertained  that  the  lower  block-house  (on  the  left  of  the  picture 
of  the  fort  on  page  315),  had  been  set  on  fire  by  the  savages.  It  was  the  most  im- 
important  point  in  the  fort  excepting  the  magazine,  for  there  were  the  contractor's 
stores — the  supplies  for  the  garrison.  The  guns,  at  this  time,  had  "begun  to  fire 
pretty  smartly"  on  both  sides,  and  the  attack  and  defense  were  fairly  begun  at  a 
little  past  eleven,  with  great  vigor. 

The  chief  efforts  of  the  commander  were  directed  to  the  extinguishment  of  the  fire. 
General  confusion  reigned,  and  efforts  for  the  safety  of  the  fort  were,  for  a  while,  put 
forth  feebly.  The  entire  garrison  were  either  sick  or  faint  with  fatigue,  and  for  a 
time  the  utter  destruction  of  the  whole  fortification  seemed  inevitable.  The  block 
house  was  consumed,  and  the  fort  was  thus  opened  to  the  savage  foe.  This  exposure 
and  their  horrid  yells  dismayed  the  little  garrison,  and  for  a  moment  they  regarded 
all  as  lost,  and  gave  up  in  despair.  Two  of  the  stoutest  and  most  trusted  of  the  sol 
diers  leaped  the  palisades,  and  attempted  to  escape,  leaving  their  companions  to  their 
fate.  Nothing  saved  the  fort  and  garrison  but  the  presence  of  mind,  courage,  pru 
dence,  and  energy  of  the  commander.  The  fire  was  about  to  communicate  to  the 
barracks,  when  he  shouted,  "Pull  off  the  roofs  nearest  the  block-house,  pour  on  wa 
ter,  and  all  will  be  well !"  His  voice  gave  new  courage  to  his  troops.  Water  was 
brought  in  buckets,  and  several  of  the  men,  led  by  Dr.  Clark,  climbed  to  the  roof,  cut 
off  the  boards,  and  by  great  exertions,  in  the  face  of  bullets  and  arrows,  they  sub 
dued  the  flames,  and  saved  the  menaced  buildings.  Only  eighteen  or  twenty  feet  of 
the  fort  was  opened  by  the  fire,  and  up  to  this  time  only  one  man  had  been  killed 


318 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


September, 
1812. 


The  Indians  driven  from  Port  Harrison.         Relief  sent  to  the  Garrison.         Character  and  Services  of  Captain  Taylor. 

and  two  wounded.  Before  daylight  the  breach  was  covered  by  a  breastwork  as  high 
as  a  man's  head,  in  spite  of  the  incessant  firing  of  the  foe,  and  only  one  man  was 
killed  (none  wounded)  in  the  fort.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the  garrison 
returned  the  fire  more  briskly,  after  a  conflict  of  almost  eight  hours,  the  savages  re 
tired  beyond  the  reach  of  the  guns  of  the  fort,  and  then  proceeded  to  destroy  or  drive 
off  the  live-stock — horses,  hogs,  and  cattle — found  in  the  neighborhood.  Fortunately 
for  the  garrison,  the  standing  corn  around  the  fort  was  left  unharmed.  Their  food 
having  been  destroyed  with  the  block-house  that  contained  it,  and  their  cattle  being 
driven  away,  they  were  compelled  to  subsist  for  several  days  on  that  delicious  and 
nourishing  green  corn. 

One  of  the  men  who  leaped  the  pickets  and  fled  from  the  fort  returned  toward 
morning  badly  wounded.  He  approached  the  gate,  and  begged, "  for  God's  sake," 
to  be  let  in.  Captain  Taylor  was  near,  but,  not  recognizing  the  voice,  and  believing 
it  <to  be  a  trick  of  the  Indians  to  get  the  gate  open,  he  ordered  the  soldiers  near  to 
shoot  the  man.  Fortunately  for  him,  he  had  run  to  the  other  bastion  with  the  same 
supplication,  where  his  voice  was  recognized,  and  he  was  told  to  lie  quietly  behind 
some  empty  barrels  at  the  foot  of  the  pickets  until  morning.  He  did  so,  and  was 
saved.  His  companion  had  been  literally  cut  in  pieces  by  the  savages  within  a  few 
yards  of  the  fort.  The  entire  loss  of  the  garrison  was  only  three  men  killed  and  three 
wounded,  and  all  but  two  of  the  latter  met  with  disaster  because  of  disobedience  of 
orders.1 

On  the  5tha  Captain  Tay 
lor  effectually  repaired  the 
breach  in  the  fort  made  by  the  fire  by 
placing  in  the  opening  strong  pickets 
made  of  the  logs  of  the  guard  -  house ; 
and  he  furnished  a  messenger  with  dis 
patches  for  Vincennes,  asking  for  relief. 
This  was  a  difficult  task,  for  the  Indians 
hovered  about  the  fort  for  several  days. 
At  length  the  messenger  made  his  way 
through  their  circumvallating  line,  dur 
ing  a  dark  night,  and  soon  afterward 
General  Hopkins,  with  Kentucky  Volun 
teers,  marched  up  the  valley  on  an  ex 
pedition  against  the  Indians  on  the  head 
waters  of  the  Wabash,  and  gave  ample 
relief  to  the  sick,  weary,  and  worn  sol 
diers  at  Fort  Harrison. 

The  soldierly  qualities  displayed  by 
Captain  Taylor  in  the  defense  of  his  post 
against  such  fearful  odds  won  for  him 
promotion  to  a  major  by  brevet,  and 
from  that  time  until  his  death,  nearly 
forty  years  afterward,  which  occurred 
while  he  was  President  of  the  United 
States,  he  was  one  of  the  most  reliable, 


useful,  and  modest  of  public  officers.2 


'  Captain  Taylor's  Dispatch  to  Governor  Harrison,  dated  "Fort  Harrison,  September  10, 1812." 

2  Zachary  Taylor  was  bom  in  Orange  County, Virginia,  on  the  24th  of  September,  1784.  His  father  removed  with  his 
family  to  Kentucky  the  following  year,  and  settled  near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Louisville,  then  known  as  The 
Falls  of  the  Ohio.  Zachary  entered  the  army  when  about  twenty-five  years  of  age  as  first  lieutenant  of  infantry.  Two 
years  afterward  (May,  1810)  he  was  promoted  to  captain,  and  at  about  the  same  time  he  was  married  to  Margaret  Smith, 
a  young  lady  of  good  family  in  Maryland.  When  war  was  declared  he  was  in  command  of  Fort  Harrison,  and  for  his 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


319 


Attack  on  Fort  Madison. 


Repulse  of  the  Savages. 


Biography  of  Zachary  Taylor. 


1812. 


Simultaneous  with  the  attack  on  Fort  Harrison,  an  attempt  was  made  by  a  party 
of  the  British  allies  to  capture  a  small  military  post  a  short  distance  from  the  site  of 
the  present  city  of  St.  Louis,  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The  place  was 
called  Bellevue,  and  the  stockade  Fort  Madison.  The  post  was  very  ineligibly  situ 
ated,  and  totally  unfitted  for  defense.  The  savages  appeared  before  it  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  5th  of  September.11  They  were  fierce  Winnebagoes,  two  hundred  strong. 
The  garrison,  under  Lieutenants  Hamilton  and  Vasques,  consisted  of  a  small 
party  of  the  First  Regiment  of  United  States  Light  Infantry.  The  approach  of  the  foe 
was  heralded  by  the  shooting  and  scalping  of  one  of  the  garrison  within  thirty  yards 
of  the  fort.  For  three  days  the  Indians  kept  up  the  assault,  with  frequent  attempts 
to  fire  the  block-houses  and  barracks.  Buildings  outside  were  burnt,  and  all  the  live 
stock  were  slaughtered.  The  gallant  little  garrison  defended  the  imperiled  fort,  with 
great  spirit  and  perseverance,  until  ten  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  8th,  when  the 
enemy  withdrew.  With  the  exception  of  the  man  murdered  at  the  commencement 
of  the  attack,  not  one  of  the  garrison  was  seriously  injured.  One  of  the  men  was 
slightly  Avounded  in  the  nose. 


services  there  in  defending  it,  in  September,  1812,  he  was  breveted  a  major.  He  was  an  active  and  useful  officer  in  the 
West  during  the  remainder  of  the  war.  When  the  army  was  reduced  at  the  close  of  the  contest,  he  was  deprived  of  his 
commission  of  major,  and  recommissioned  a  captain,  in  consequence  of  which  he  resigned.  He  was  soon  afterward 
called  back  to  the  service  by  President  Madison,  and  commissioned  a  major  in  the  Third  Infantry,  and  placed  in  com 
mand  of  a  post  at  Green  Bay.  In  1S19  he  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  colonel,  and  in  Jhat  position  he  remained  until 
1832,  when  President  Jackson  commissioned  him  a  colonel.  He  served  with  distinction  in  the  "  Black  Hawk  War"  that 
year,  and  remained  in  command  of  Fort  Crawford,  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  until  1S36,  when  he  was  sent  to  Florida  to  op 
erate  against  the  Seminole  Indians.  His  services  there  were  of  great  importance,  and  at  the  close  of  1837  he  was  bre 
veted  brigadier  general.  He  remained  in  charge  of  all  the  troops  in  Florida  until  1840,  when  he  was  appointed  to  the 
command  of  the  southwestern  division  of  the  army.  Fort  Gibson  was  made  his  head-quarters  in  1841,  and  the  same 
year  he  purchased  an  estate  near  Baton  Rouge,  Louisiana,  and  placed  his  family  there.  When,  in  1845,  war  with  Mexi- 


GENEKAI,  TAYLOK'S  RESIDENCE  AT  BATON  KOTTGE. 

co  was  imminent,  he  was  ordered  to  take  post  in  Texas  with  an  army  of  observation,  as  it  was  called.  It  soon  became 
an  army  of  invasion.  In  the  war  that  ensued  he  gained,  in  quick  succession,  several  brilliant  battles ;  and  when  the 
conflict  was  ended,  and  he  returned  home,  he  was  greeted  with  the  wildest  enthusiasm.  Congress  honored  him  with 
the  commission,  by  brevet,  of  major  general,  its  thanks,  and  also  with  a  ponderous  gold  medal,  "in  the  name  of  the  re 
public,  as  a  tribute  due  to  his  gallant  conduct,  valor,  and  generosity  to  the  vanquished."  The  "Whig"  party  nominated 
him  for  the  presidency  of  the  grateful  republic,  and  he  was  elected  to  that  high  office  in  November,  1848.  He  entered 
upon  the  exalted  duties  of  his  office  on  the  4th  of  March,  1849,  and  died  at  the  presidential  mansion,  in  Washington 
City,  on  the  Oth  of  July,  1850,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years. 

The  portrait  of  General  Taylor,  given  on  page  318,  is  from  a  daguerreotype  taken  after  his  return  from  Mexico.  The 
picture  of  his  residence  is  a  fac-simile  of  a  pencil-sketch  made  by  the  venerated  hero  himself  for  the  author,  in  Novem 
ber,  1848.  In  his  letter  covering  the  drawing,  he  says,  "The  sketch,  you  will  perceive,  is  rude,  but  the  best  I  can  offer  to 
you  at  this  time.  Indeed,  the  building  is  rude  in  itself,  and  scarcely  worthy  of  being  sketched.  I  hope,  however,  that 
this  may  be  suited  to  your  purposes."  It  was  the  residence  of  Colonel  Dixon,  the  English  commander  at  Baton  Rouge, 
when  the  fort  there  was  taken  by  the  Spaniards,  under  Don  Bernardo  de  Galvez,  in  1779,  and  that  commander  then  made 
it  his  residence.  It  was  demolished  in  1859. 


320  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Nation  aroused.  Enthusiasm  of  the  People.  Volunteers  in  Abundance. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

'They  rise,  by  stream  and  yellow  shore, 

By  mountain,  moor,  and  fen  ; 
By  weedy  rock  and  torrent  hoar, 

And  lonesome  forest  glen  ! 
From  many  a  moody,  moss-grown  mound, 

Start  forth  a  war-worn  baud, 
As  when,  of  old,  they  caught  the  sound 
Of  hostile  arms,  and  closed  around, 

To  guard  their  native  land." 

J.  M 'LEI. LAN,  JR. 

fE  have  observed  that  troops,  in  ample  numbers,  were  sent  to  the 
relief  of  Forts  Harrison  and  Wayne.  Whence  came  they  ? 
What  spirit  animated  them  when  pushing  eagerly  into  the 
wilderness  amonsc  hostile  Indians,  after  the  disasters  in  the 

O  ' 

Northwest  —  the  utter  failure  of  Hull's  campaign,  which  had 
created  such  great  expectations  on  the  part  of  both  govern 
ment  and 'people?  Let  us  consult  contemporary  records  and 
traditions  for  an  answer. 
Those  sad  disasters  on  the  Northwestern  frontier,  aroused,  as  we  have  before  ob 
served,  the  most  intense  feelings  of  indignation  and  mortified  pride  throughout  the 
whole  country,  and  especially  in  the  region  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  and 
beyond  the  Ohio  River,  which  was  thereby  exposed  to  Indian  raids  and  British  inva 
sion.  When  intelligence  of  those  disasters  spread  over  that  region,  a  burning  desire 
to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  was  universal ;  and  there  was  a  general  uprising  of  senti 
ment  and  action  for  the  recovery  of  all  that  had  been  lost,  the  extermination  of  the 
brutal  savages,  and  the  expulsion  of  their  British  allies  from  the  soil  of  the  Re 
public.  l 

Even  before  the  formal  declaration  of  war  Kentucky  had  made  military  prepara 
tions  for  the  event.  Her  quota  of  the  one  hundred  thousand  detached  militia  which 
the  President  was  authorized  to  summon  to  the  field  was  almost  ready  when  the  fiat 
went  forth.  Early  in  May,  Governor  Scott,2  in  obedience  to  instructions  from  the 
War  Department,  had  organized  ten  regiments  (the  quota  of  his  state),  and  filled 

i  "  The  War,"  a  weekly  paper,  published  in  the  City  of  New  York,  by  Samuel  Woodworth,  the  poet,  gives  the  follow 
ing  glimpses  of  the  spirit  of  the  people  at  that  time  in  its  issue  of  September  19, 1812 :  "  The  citizens  of  Albany,  im 
mediately  on  hearing  of  the  surrender  of  General  Hull,  commenced  a  subscription  for  raising  a  regiment  of  volunteers. 
Very  liberal  subscriptions  were  made  for  the  comfort  and  convenience  of  those  who  might  offer  their  services.  A  regi 
ment  of  volunteers  is  also  raising  in  the  City  of  Baltimore,  and  $15,000  have  already  been  subscribed  for  the  purpose 
of  furnishing  the  men  with  every  thing  necessary  for  their  comfort.  Fifteen  hundred  men  are  immediately  to  march 
from  Virginia,  to  rendezvous  at  Point  Pleasant,  on  the  Ohio.  The  ladies  of  Richmond  volunteered  their  services  to 
make  tents,  knapsacks,  etc.,  for  the  soldiers,  and  in  five  days  all  things  were  ready.  When  the  news  of  the  fall  of 
Detroit  reached  Lexington,  in  Kentucky,  instead  of  deploring  the  loss,  the  citizens  immediately  set  about  repairing  it. 
An  immense  number  of  volunteers  immediately  came  forward,  among  whom  were  several  members  of  Congress,  and 
shouldered  their  muskets  in  their  country's  cause.  The  greatest  enthusiasm  prevails  throughout  the  whole  Western 
country ;  almost  every  man  has  volunteered  his  services,  and,  if  we  may  judge  from  appearances,  it  will  not  be  long  be 
fore  our  Western  brethren  will  wipe  away  the  stain  upon  the  American  arms  by  the  ignominious  surrender  of  Detroit 
and  the  American  army  under  General  Hull. 

"  The  citizens  of  New  York  are  forming  patriotic  associations  for  the  purpose  of  raising  funds  to  assist  the  families 
of  volunteers  and  drafts  detached  for  the  defense  of  the  borders,  who  may  be  in  want  during  their  absence  on  duty. 
Large  supplies  of  vegetables,  coffee,  tea,  chocolate,  sugar,  etc.,  have  also  been  sent  to  the  troops  stationed  in  and  about 
the  harbor.  This  conduct  is  worthy  of  imitation." 

=  Charles  Scott  was  a  native  of  Cumberland  County,  Virginia.  He  was  a  corporal  in  a  militia  company  under  Brad- 
dock  in  the  campaign  of  1T55,  and  was  a  distinguished  officer  in  the  Revolution.  See  Lossing's  Field-Eook  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  For  a  brief  biographical  sketch  of  him  and  his  signature,  see  the  same,  Note  3,  ii.,  147. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  321 


Governors  Meigs  and  Harrison  active.  Harrison  in  Kentucky.  Volunteers  flocking  to  the  Camp. 

them  without  difficulty  with  volunteers,  making  an  effective  force  of  five  thousand 
five  hundred  men. 

Governor  Meigs,  of  Ohio,  was  equally  active  and  vigilant.  He  promptly  responded 
to  the  call  for  troops  to  accompany  Hull  to  Detroit,  as  we  have  seen  ;  and  when  he 
was  informed  of  the  danger  that  menaced  Hull's  command,  he  immediately  ordered 
out  the  remaining  portion  of  the  quota  of  detached  militia,  twelve  hundred  in  num 
ber,  to  rendezvous  at  Urbana,  on  the  border  of  the  wilderness,  under  Brigadier  Gen 
eral  Tupper.  And  when  the  fall  of  Detroit  was  known,  he  sent  expresses  in  every 
direction  to  the  militia  generals  of  the  frontier,  with  orders  to  adopt  energetic  meas 
ures  for  defense  within  their  respective  commands,  and  to  advise  the  inhabitants  on 
the  borders  of  the  wilderness  to  associate  and  erect  block-houses  for  the  defense  and 
accommodation  of  families.  He  also  sent  arms  and  ammunition  to  different  parts 
from  the  public  stores  at  Urbana.1 

Governor  Harrison,  of  Indiana,  with  his  usual  vigilance,  promptness,  and  forecast, 
had  already  caused  block-houses  and  stockades  to  be  erected  in  various  parts  of  his 
territory  as  defenses  against  the  hostile  Indians,  and  the  militia  were  placed  in  a 
state  of  preparation  for  immediate  action  when  called  upon.  He  had  been  authorized 
by  the  national  government  to  take  command  of  all  the  troops  of  the  territories  of 
Indiana  and  Illinois  in  prosecuting  the  war  against  the  Indians  commenced  in  the 
autumn  of  1811,  and  to  call  on  the  Governor  of  Kentucky  for  any  portion  of  the  con 
tingent  of  that  state  which  was  not  in  service.  Under  that  authority  he  went  to 
Kentucky,  by  invitation  of  Governor  Scott,  to  confer  respecting  the  troops  of  that 
state.  Kentucky  was  forever  freed  from  apprehensions  of  Indian  incursions,  and  her 
sons,  who  had  suffered,  were  eager  to  assist  their  neighbors  over  the  Ohio  in  their 
efforts  to  drive  the  murderous  hordes  back  into  the  wilderness. 

Harrison  repaired  to  Frankfort,  where  the  military  were  paraded  and  he  was  hon 
ored  with  a  public  reception.  He  remained  there  several  days,  and  met  many  of  the 
most  eminent  military  men  and  civilians  in  the  state.  He  comprehended  in  all  its 
length  and  breadth  the  difficulties  and  dangers  to  which  Hull  wTas  exposed,  and  ex 
pressed  his  opinions  freely  at  a  dinner-party  in  Lexington,  whereat  Henry  Clay  was 
one  of  the  guests.  That  gentleman  and  others  urged  him  to  present  his  views  to  the 
government.2  He  did  so  in  a  letter,  dated  the  10th  of  August,  in  which  he  suggested 
a  system  of  military  operations  in  the  Northwest.  He  expressed  his  fears  of  the  re 
sult  of  the  fall  of  Mackinack,  by  which  the  Indian  tribes  might  be  let  loose  upon  De 
troit,  and  "  meet,  and  perhaps  overpower,  the  convoys  and  re-enforcements"  which 
had  been,  or  might  be,  sent  to  Hull.  After  speaking  of  those  re-enforcements,  he  said : 
"  I  rely  greatly  upon  the  valor  of  these  troops ;  but  it  is  possible  that  the  event  may 
be  adverse  to  us,  and  if  it  is,  Detroit  must  fall,  and  with  it  every  hope  of  re-establish 
ing  our  affairs  in  that  quarter  until  the  next  year." 

Before  this  letter  reached  the  War  Department,  Detroit  had  fallen,  and  Chicago 
too,  and  the  worst  fears  of  the  people  of  the  West  were  realized.  But  these  disas 
ters,  instead  of  depressing  them,  gave  them  increased  elasticity  and  strength.  The 
whole  total  of  society  bordering  upon  the  Ohio  River  heaved,  like  a  storm-smitten 
ocean  in  its  wrath,  with  patriotic  emotions.  The  murders  by  the  Indians  which  soon 
followed,  and  the  alliance  of  the  British  with  such  fierce  barbarians,  excited  a  vehe 
ment  cry  for  retributive  justice.  Christian  civilization,  national  pride,  and  an  enlight 
ened  patriotism,  all  pleaded  for  vindication,  and  nobly  was  that  plea  responded  to. 
When  a  call  for  troops  was  made,  men  of  every  class  and  condition  of  life — farmers, 
merchants,  lawyers,  physicians,  and  young  men  innumerable — flocked  to  the  recruiting 
stations  and  offered  their  services.  Tenfold  more  men  than  were  needed  might  have 

1  Beply  of  Governor  Meigs  to  the  memorial  of  the  citizens  of  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  on  the  subject  of  protecting  the  fron 
tier.— Niles's  Weekly  Register,  September  26, 1812. 
1  Memoirs  of  the  Public  Services  of  William  Henry  Harrison,  by  James  Hall,  p.  160. 


322  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Governor  Shelby  and  his  Recommendations.  Governor  Harrison  at  the  Head  of  Kentucky  Troops. 

been  mustered  in  Kentucky  alone.  Nor  was  Ohio,  in  proportion  to  its  population,  be 
hind  its  elder  sister  state  in  practical  enthusiasm.  Governor  Meigs  was  indefatigable 
in  his  efforts ;  and  the  people  every  where  responded  to  the  call  of  local  officers,  as 
well  as  of  the  chief  magistrate,  with  the  greatest  alacrity,  to  form  an  ample  army  for 
botli  protection  and  conquest.  It  was  resolved  to  recover  all  that  had  been  lost  with 
in  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  to  take  Maiden,  the  focus  of  the  British-In 
dian  power  in  the  Northwest. 

At  this  moment  the  venerable  Isaac  Shelby,  one  of  the  heroes  of  King's  Mountain, 
appears  upon  the  stirring  scene  as  the  successor  of  General  Scott  in  the  executive 
chair  of  the  State  of  Kentucky.  With  his  usual  sagacity,  he  surveyed  the  field  of 
operations  determined  upon,  and  strongly  recommended  the  government  to  appoint  a 
Board  of  War  for  the  region  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  to  prevent  the  delays  caused  by 
the  operations  of  what  is  termed,  in  our  day, "  red-tape  policy" — in  other  words,  the 
absolute  control,  by  a  central  power  hundreds  of  miles  away,  of  minor  movements 
which  the  exigency  of  the  hour  might  demand  as  of  vast  importance.  "  If  such  a 
board,"  he  said, "  was  now  organized,  and  I  had  the  control  of  the  present  armament, 
I  would  pledge  myself  the  Indians  would  have  cause  to  lament  this  campaign,  and 
their  temerity  in  joining  the  British  and  deserting  the  friendship  of  the  United  States." 
Governor  Shelby's  advice  was  not  utterly  disregarded  ;  but  no  practical  results  fol 
lowed.  The  War  Department  promised  to  "  think  about  it,"  and  no  conclusion  seems 
ever  to  have  been  reached. 

Governor  Harrison  was  very  popular,  and  it  was  the  general  desire  of  the  volun 
teers  and  militia  of  the  West,  who  had  been  gathering  at  different  points  since  the 
declaration  of  war  was  made,  that  he  who  had  shown  such  soldierly  qualities  in  the 
little  campaign  that  ended  at  Tippecanoe  the  previous  year,  should  now  be  their  lead 
er  against  the  British  and  Indians.  Govenior  Scott,  Harrison's  warm  personal  friend, 
was  anxious  to  place  him  in  chief  command  of  all  the  Kentucky  troops,  but  he  could 
not  do  so  legally,  for  the  Governor  of  Indiana  was  not  a  citizen  of  that  state.  But 
Scott  was  not  a  man  to  allow  technicalities  to  interfere  with  great  concerns  in  time 
of  danger ;  so  he  invited  several  prominent  men,  among  whom  were  Shelby  (the  gov 
ernor  elect),  Henry  Clay  (the  Speaker  of  the  National  House  of  Eepresentatives),  and 
Thomas  Todd,  Judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court,  to  meet  him  and  consult 
upon  the  subject.  They  unanimously  requested  the  governor  to  make  the  appoint- 
a  Auo-ust  25,  m©nt ;  and  accordingly  he  issued  a  commissiona  to  Harrison,  by  which  he 

1812.  -yyag  invested  with  the  title  of  "  Major  General  of  the  Militia  of  Kentucky" 
by  brevet.  By  a  commission  dated  three  days  earlier,  President  Madison  appointed 
him  a  brigadier  general  in  the  Army  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  27th  of  August  Harrison  was  at  Cincinnati,  and  in  a  letter  of  that  date  to 
Governor  Meigs,  after  mentioning  his  appointment,  he  said :  "  It  remains  for  your  ex 
cellency  to  determine  what  assistance  I  shall  derive  from  your  state.  The  Kentucky 
troops  which  are  placed  at  my  disposal  are  two  regiments  of  infantry  and  one  of  rifle 
men,  now  at  this  place ;  three  regiments  of  infantry,  one  of  dragoons,  and  one  of 
mounted  riflemen,  in  full  march  to  join  me,  and  making  in  the  aggregate  upward  of 
four  thousand  men.  The  three  regiments  which  are  now  here  will  march  immediate 
ly  for  Urbana ;  and  should  the  report  of  the  capture  of  General  Hull's  army  prove 
untrue,  I  shall  join  them  either  at  that  place  or  before  they  reach  it,  and  proceed  to 
Detroit  without  waiting  for  the  regiments  in  my  rear."1 

In  addition  to  the  Kentucky  troops  here  referred  to,  others  were  dispatched  for  the 
protection  of  the  Territories  of  Illinois  and  Indiana.2  Some  of  those  destined  for  the 

1  Autograph  letter,  August  27,  1812. 

2  "The  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Barbour,"  says  M'Afee,  "when  ordered  into  service  at  the  call  of  Governor 
Harrison,  was  directed  to  rendezvous  at  the  Red  Barracks,  with  a.  view  of  marching  to  the  aid  of  Governor  Edwards,  at 
Ruskin's,  in  the  Illinois  Territory.    The  regiments  of  Colonels  Wilcox  and  Miller  were  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Louis- 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  323 


Gathering  of  Troops.  Departure  for  the  Wilderness.  Harrison  commissioned  a  Brigadier  General. 

latter  region  having  been  called,  by  the  exigencies  of  current  events,  to  Ohio,  Harrison 
thought  it  desirable  to  raise  an  additional  force  for  Indiana.  In  compliance  with  his 
request,  Governor  Shelby  issued  a  proclamation  early  in  September  for  the  raising 
of  a  large  corps  of  mounted  volunteers,  to  repair  immediately  to  Vincennes ;  and  all 
of  the  Kentucky  troops  destined  for  that  post  were  placed  under  the  command  of 
the  venerable  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  Brigadier  General  Samuel  Hopkins.  That 
proclamation  brought  hundreds  of  Kentuckians,  from  all  parts  of  the  state,  to  the 
standard  of  the  Union.  Every  body  seemed  willing  to  march  for  the  defense  of  the 
frontiers ;  and  the  question  was  not,  Who  will  go  ?  but,  Who  shall  stay  ?J  Before 
the  1st  of  October,  Kentucky  had  more  than  seven  thousand  of  her  sons  in  the  field. 
At  about  the  same  time,  in  obedience  to  an  order  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  two 
thousand  troops  under  General  Robert  Crooks,  from  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  fifteen 
hundred  under  General  Joel  Leftwich,2  from  Western  Virginia,  proceeded  to  join  the 
Army  of  the  Northwest. 

Before  leaving  Frankfort,  General  Harrison  had  issued  an  address  to  the  people  of 
Kentucky,  accompanied  by  another  from  General  Scott,  calling  for  five  hundred 
mounted  volunteers.  The  Honorable  Richard  M.  Johnson,  who  had  distinguished 

'  O 

himself  in  Congress,  also  issued  an  address  for  the  same  purpose ;  and  they  had  the 
desired  eifect.  The  latter  gentleman,  and  John  Logan,  and  William  S.  Hunter,  Esqs., 
were  appointed  aids  to  the  general;  and  when  he  departed  for. Cincinnati,  Johnson 
was  left  to  lead  on  such  mounted  troops  as  might  be  raised  by  the  1  st  of  September. 

On  the  28th  of  August  Harrison  issued  a  general  order  from  his  head-quarters  at 
Cincinnati,  directing  all  the  troops  under  his  command  to  continue  their  march  to 
ward  Dayton  on  the  following  morning,  and  prescribing  in  detail  the  discipline  and 
tactics  to  be  observed.3  The  troops  marched  early ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  31st, 
when  they  had  passed  Lebanon  a  short  distance,  forty  miles  from  Cincinnati,  Harrison 
overtook  them,  and  was  received  with  the  most  hearty  cheers  of  welcome  from  the 
whole  line.  They  reached  Dayton  on  Tuesday,  the  1st  of  September,  and  while  on 
his  march  toward  Piqua  the  following  day  the  commanding  general  was  overtaken 
by  an  express  bearing  to  him  the  commission  of  brigadier  general  from  the  President, 
with  instructions  to  take  command  of  all  the  forces  in  the  Territories  of  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  and  to  co-operate  with  General  Hull,  and  with  Governor  Howard  of  the  Mis 
souri  Territory. 

Harrison  was  embarrassed  by  the  instructions  which  accompanied  the  appointment, 
and  he  refrained  from  accepting  it  until  he  should  have  definite  information  from  the 
War  Department  as  to  his  relations  to  General  Winchester,  of  the  Regulars,  to  whom 

ville  and  on  the  Ohio  below,  for  the  purpose  of  marching  to  Viucennes  to  protect  the  Indiana  Territory.  Colonels  Barbee 
and  Jennings  were  at  first  ordered  to  the  same  place  ;  but,  in  consequence  of  the  perilous  situation  of  the  Northwestern 
Army,  they  were  now  directed,  by  express,  to  rendezvous  at  Georgetown  on  the  1st  of  September,  and  pursue  the  other 
regiments,  by  the  way  of  Newport  and  Cincinnati,  for  the  Northwestern  frontiers.  The  regiment  of  Colonel  Poague 
was  called  to  rendezvous  at  Newport,  on  its  way  to  the  Northwestern  Army ;  and  a  regiment  of  dragoons,  under  Colonel 
Simrall,  was  likewise  directed  to  proceed  for  the  same  destination."— History  of  the  Late  War  in  the  Western  Country, 
page  109.  i  M'Afee,  page  111.  2  Died  April  20, 1S46. 

3  On  the  same  day  General  Harrison,  who  had  heard  of  the  fall  of  Detroit  and  Chicago,  and  knew  the  danger  to 
which  Fort  Wayne  would  be  exposed,  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Secretary  of  War:  "  I  shall  march  to-morrow  morning 
with  the  troops  I  have  here,  taking  the  route  of  Dayton  and  Piqua.  The  relief  of  Fort  Wayne  will  be  my  first  object, 
and  my  after  operations  will  be  guided  by  circumstances  until  I  receive  your  instructions.  Considering  my  command 
as  merely  provisional,  I  shall  cheerfully  conform  to  any  other  arrangements  which  the  government  may  think  proper 
to  make.  The  troops  which  I  have  with  me,  and  those  which  are  coming  from  Kentucky,  are  perhaps  the  best  ma 
terials  for  forming  an  army  that  the  world  has  produced.  But  no  equal  number  of  men  was  ever  collected  who  knew 
so  little  of  military  discipline,  nor  have  I  any  assistants  that  can  give  me  the  least  aid,  if  there  was  even  time  for  it, 
but  Captain  Adams,  of  the  4th  Regiment,  who  was  left  here  sick,  and  whom  I  have  appointed  deputy  adjutant  general 
until  the  pleasure  of  the  President  can  be  known.  No  arms  for  cavalry  have  yet  arrived  at  Newport,  and  I  shall  be 
f  jrced  to  put  muskets  in  the  hands  of  all  the  dragoons.  I  have  written  to  the  quarter-master  at  Pittsbnrg  to  request 
him  to  forward  all  supplies  of  arms,  equipments,  and  quarter-master's  stores  as  soon  as  possible.  I  have  also  requested 
him  to  send  down  a  few  pieces  of  artillery  without  waiting  your  order,  and  wait  your  instruction  as  to  a  farther  number 
There  is  but  one  piece  of  artillery,  one  iron  four-pounder,  auy  where  that  I  can  hear  of  in  the  country.  If  it  is  intended 
to  retake  the  posts  that  we  have  lust,  and  reduce  Maiden  this  season,  the  artillery  must  be  sent  on  as  soon  as  possible." 
He  also  complained  of  a  want  of  facility  for  getting  money  on  drafts.  Such  were  the  inadequate  preparations  made  by 
the  government  for  the  promotion  of  the  war  in  the  Northwest,  when  it  was  first  commenced. 


324  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

A  divided  Command  deprecated.          Winchester  and  Harrison.  Crowds  of  Volunteers.  Harrison's  Influence. 

had  been  assigned  the  chief  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Northwest.  The  original 
object  in  the  formation  of  that  army  having  been  co-operation  with  Hull  in  the  cap 
ture  of  Maiden,  and  the  reduction  and  occupation  of  Canada  West,  the  whole  aspect 
of  affairs  had  been  changed  by  the  loss  of  Hull  and  his  army.  Harrison  suggested 
to  the  Department  the  importance  of  having  one  military  head  in  the  Northwest ; 
and,  with  the  justification  of  pressing  necessity,  he  laid  aside  his  usual  modesty,  and 
preferred  his  own  claim  to  that  distinction,  on  the  ground  of  his  superior  knowledge 
of  the  country  and  the  savages  with  whom  they  had  to  contend,  and  the  universally 
expressed  desire  of  the  troops  that  he  should  be  their  chief  leader.  Having  made 
this  response  to  the  government  by  the  express  who  brought  his  commission  and  in 
structions,  Harrison  pressed  forward  in  the  path  of  duty  to  Piqua,  on  the  bank  of 
the  Great  Miami,  with  the  intention  of  there  resigning  his  command  into  the  hands 
of  General  Winchester.  He  had  two  thousand  troops  with  him,  and  two  thousand 
were  on  their  way  to  join  him. 

Piqua  was  reached  on  the  3d  of  September,  and  there  Harrison  was  informed  of  the 
critical  situation  of  Fort  Wayne,  and  of  the  rumored  marching  from  Maiden,  on  the 
18th  of  August,  of  a  large  force  of  British  and  Indians  under  Major  Muir,  with  the  in 
tention  of  joining  the  savages  in  the  siege  of  that  place.  Winchester,  to  whom  Har 
rison  had  written,  had  not  arrived.  There  would  be  great  danger  in  delay,  and  Har 
rison  resolved  not  to  wait  for  his  superior,  but,  retaining  command,  send  detachments 
immediately  forward  to  the  relief  of  the  menaced  garrison.  For  this  purpose  he  de 
tached  Lieutenant  Colonel  John  Allen's  regiment  of  Regulars,  with  two  companies 
from  Lewis's  and  one  from  Scott's  regiments,  writh  instructions  to  make  forced  marches 
until  their  object  should  be  accomplished.1  At  the  same  time  he  dispatched  a  mes 
senger,  as.  we  have  seen,  to  assure  the  garrison  of  Fort  Wayne  of  approaching  relief.2 
Already  seven  hundred  mounted  men,  under  Colonel  Adams,  had  advanced  to  Shaw's 
Crossing  of  the  St.  Mary's  River,  not  far  from  Fort  Wayne.  The  troop  was  composed 
of  citizens  of  Ohio  of  all  ages  and  conditions,  who,  in  hearing  of  the  disasters  north 
ward,  and  the  perils  of  Fort  Wayne,  had  hastened  to  the  field.  "  Such,  indeed,  was 
the  ardor  of  the  citizens,"  says  a  contemporary, "  that  every  road  leading  to  the 
frontiers  was  invaded  with  unsolicited  volunteers."3  The  exasperation  in  the  West 
against  the  British  and  Indians  was  intense. 

Harrison  had  observed  some  restlessness  among  the  troops  under  the  restraints 
a  September,  of  discipline.  On  the  morning  of  the  5tha  he  addressed  them  briefly,  read 
the  Articles  of  War,  endeavored  to  impress  their  minds  with  the  import 
ance  of  discipline  and  obedience,  told  them  that  the  danger  to  which  Fort  Wayne 
was  then  exposed  demanded  an  immediate  forced  march  for  its  relief,  and  request 
ed  those  who  could  not  endure  the  life  of  a  true  soldier  to  leave  the  ranks.  Only  one 
man  did  so,  when  his  companions,  thinking  him  too  feeble  to  walk,  carried  him  on  a 
rail  to  the  banks  of  the  Great  Miami,  and  gave  him  a  "  plunge  bath,"  not,  perhaps,  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  fashion  prescribed  by  Priessnitz.  The  effect  was  salutary, 
and  murmurings  ceased.  Such  discipline,  exercised  by  the  soldiers  themselves,  was 
a  hopeful  sign  for  the  commander. 

Colonel  John  Johnston,  the  Indian  agent,  was  residing  at  Piqua.4  At  the  request 
of  Harrison,  he  sent  some  Shawnoese  to  old  Fort  Defiance,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Au 
Glaize  River,  to  ascertain  whether  any  British  troops  had  gone  up  the  Maumee  Val 
ley.  Logan,  a  powerful  half-breed,  was  sent  to  Fort  Wayne  for  information.  Both 
parties  were  successful,  and  returned  writh  important  messages.  No  British  troops 
had  passed  up  the  Maumee,  and  Fort  Wayne  was  closely  besieged  by  the  savages. 

i  M'Afee,  page  121.  2  See  note  5,  page  314.  3  M'Afee,  page  121. 

*  For  the  purpose  of  neutralizing,  if  possible,  the  effects  of  British  influence  over  the  tribes  of  Ohio,  a  council  had 
been  held  at  Piqna  on  the  15th  of  August.  Governor  Meigs,  Thomas  Worthington,  and  Jeremiah  Morrow  were  the 
commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  Every  thing  promised  success ;  but  while  the  council  was  in  progress 
news  of  the  fall  of  Detroit  and  Chicago  reached  Piqua,  and  frustrated  the  plans  of  the  white  people. 


OF   THE  WAR    OF   1812.  325 


The  Army  in  the  Wilderness.         Preparations  for  Battle.         Fort  Wayne  relieved.         Destruction  of  Indian  Towns. 

Harrison  was  compelled  to  wait  at  the  Piqua  until  the  morning  of  the  6tha  a  sept-i 
for  flints.  At  dawn  of  that  day  his  forces  were  under  motion,  and  before  1812- 
eight  o'clock  they  had  fairly  plunged  into  the  great  wilderness  beyond  the  borders 
of  civilization.  In  order  to  inarch  rapidly  and  easily,  the  troops  had  left  most  of  then- 
clothing  and  baggage  at  Piqua;  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  8th,  they  overtook  Al 
len's  regiment  at  St.  Mary,  sometimes  called  "  Girty's  Town,"1  or  the  First  Cross 
ing  of  the  St.  Mary  River,  There  they  were  joined  by  Major  R.  M.  Johnson,  with  a 
corps  of  mounted  volunteers.  The  army  in  the  wilderness  numbered  two  thousand 
two  hundred  men.  Indian  spies  were  seen  hovering  around  the  camp  that  night, 
who,  it  was  afterward  said,  reported  that  "  Kentuck  was  crossing  as  numerous  as 
the  trees." 

The  morning  of  the  9th  was  dark  and  lowering,  but  the  troops  were  in  good  spir 
its,  and  reached  Shane's,  or  the  Second  Crossing  of  the  St.  Mary,  before  sunset,  where 
they  found  Colonel  Adams,  with  his  mounted  Ohio  Volunteers.  Being  now  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fort  Wayne,  the  army  marched  in  battle  order  on  the  following  day,  ex 
pecting  an  attack.  They  moved  slowly  and  cautiously.  Scouts  were  out  continu 
ally,  and  Logan  and  another  Shawnoe  acted  as  guides.  On  the  night  of  the  llth 
they  fortified  their  camp  in  expectation  of  an  attack,  and  many  alarms  occurred  dur 
ing  the  darkness,  caused  by  the  discovery  of  Indian  spies  who  were  lurking  around 
the  verge  of  the  pickets. 

The  inarch  was  resumed  at  a  very  early  hour  on  the  morning  of  the  1 2th  in  battle 
order.  An  encounter  was  expected  at  a  swamp  five  miles  from  Fort  Wayne.  But 
no  foe  was  visible  there.  The  savages  had  all  fled,  as  we  have  before  observed,2  and 
Fort  Wayne,  on  that  warm,  bright  September  day,  was  the  scene  of  great  rejoicing. 
The  liberating  army  encamped  around  the  fort  that  night,  excepting  a  party  of  horse 
men,  who  made  an  unsuccessful  pursuit  of  the  savages ;  and  on  the  following  morn 
ing,  reconnoitring  parties  were  sent  out  in  every  direction,  but  did  not  discover  the 
dusky  foe. 

Harrison  now  called  a  council  of  officers,  to  whom  he  submitted  a  plan  of  opera 
tions,  which  was  adopted.  He  had  determined  to  strike  the  neighboring  Indians 
with  terror  by  a  display  of  power.  He  accordingly  divided  his  army,  and  sent  out 
detachments  to  destroy  whatever  of  Indian  possessions  might  be  found.  One  detach 
ment,  under  Colonel  Simrall  (who  arrived  in  camp  with  three  hundred  and  twenty 
dragoons  on  the  17th),  laid  waste  the  Little  Turtle's  town,  on  the  Eel  Run,b 
excepting  the  buildings  erected  by  the  United  States  for  the  now  deceased 
chief,  on  account  of  his  friendship  since  the  treaty  of  Greenville  in  1794.3  Another 
detachment,  under  Colonel  Samuel  Wells,  was  sent  to  the  Elk  Hart  River,  a  tribu 
tary  of  the  St.  Joseph,  of  Michigan  (sometimes  called  the  St.  Joseph  of  the  Lake), 
sixty  miles  distant,  to  destroy  the  town  of  the  Pottawatomie  chief  O-nox-see,  or 
Five  Medals,4  which  was  accomplished  ;c  and  Colonel  Payne,  with  an-  « September  ie. 
other  detachment,  to  the  forks  of  the  Wabash,  and  laid  in  ashesd  a  Mi-  d  September  15. 
ami  village  there,  and  several  others  lower  down.5  Around  all  of  these  villages  were 
corn-fields  and  gardens,  but  no  living  thing  was  seen.  The  Indians  had  deserted 

i  Now  the  village  of  St.  Mary,  in  Mercer  County,  Ohio,  on  the  site  of  Fort  St.  Mary,  erected  by  Wayne,  and  command 
ed  by  Captain  John  Whistler  before  he  built  Fort  Dearborn  at  Chicago.  The  notorious  Simon  Girty  occupied  a  cabin 
at  that  place  for  some  time.  2  gee  pa<re  315. 

3  While  the  Little  Turtle  lived  most  of  the  Miamis  remained  faithful  to  the  Americans,  but  soon  after  his  death,  in  the 
summer  of  1S12,  the  great  body  of  them  joined  the  hostile  savages. 

This  village,  like  all  the  others,  was  deserted.    Before  the  door  of  the  chief,  upon  a  pole,  hnng  a  red  flag,  with  a 

room  tied  above  it;  and  at  the  tent  of  an  old  warrior  a  white  flag  was  flying  from  a  pole.    The  body  ofthe  old  warrior 

was  in  a  sitting  posture,  the  face  toward  the  east,  and  a  bucket  containing  trinkets  by  its  side.    In  one  of  the  huts  was 

found  a  Cincinnati  newspaper  containing  an  account  of  General  Harrison's  army.    The  troops  found  a  large  quantity  of 

dried  corn,  beans,  and  potatoes,  which  furnished  them  and  their  horses  with  food. 

*  In  one  of  these  was  found  the  tomb  of  a  chief,  built  of  logs  and  daubed  with  clay.  His  body  was  laid  on  a  blanket, 
with  his  gun  and  his  pipe  by  his  side,  a  small  tin  pan  on  his  breast  containing  a  wooden  spoon,  and  a  number  of  ear 
rings  and  brooches. 


326  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


General  Winchester.       Attachment  of  Troops  to  Harrison.       Harrison  in  chief  Command  of  the  Northwestern  Army. 

them.  The  severest  blow  that  a  savage  can  receive,  especially  at  that  season  of  the 
year,  is  to  deprive  him  of  food  and  shelter.  So,  when  the  torch  was  applied  to  the 
cabins,  the  knife  destroyed  the  corn  and  the  vegetables. 

GeneralJames  Winchester  arrived  at  Fort  Wayne  on  the  18th  of  September,  and 
on  the  following  day  General  Harrison  formally  resigned  all  command  into  his  hands. 
The  change  produced  almost  a  mutiny  among  the  soldiers.  They  were  greatly  at 
tached  to  Harrison.  Winchester  was  a  wealthy  citizen  of  Tennessee,  and  had  not  for 
many  years  had  any  military  experience.  He  had  been  a  subordinate  officer  in  the 
army  of  the  Revolution,  but  for  thirty  years  had  lived  in  ease  and  opulence  in  Ten 
nessee.  His  deportment  was  too  aristocratic  to  please  the  great  mass  of  the  troops, 
and  this,  added  to  their  expectations  of  more  severe  discipline  from  an  officer  of  the 
Regulars,  caused  a  large  number  of  them  to  positively  refuse  at  first  to  serve  under 
the  new  commander.  It  required  all  the  address  of  Harrison  (popular  as  he  was,  and 
as  ready  as  were  his  followers  to  comply  with  all  his  wishes),  together  with  the  per 
suasions  of  the  other  officers,  to  reconcile  them  to  the  change.  It  was  effected,  but 

'  O 

only  when  they  were  allowed  to  indulge  the  hope  that  their  beloved  general  might 

be  reinstated  in  command.1 

a  September,         Harrison  left  Fort  Wayne  on  the  evening  of  the  1 9th,a  and  returned  to 

St.  Mary,  where  he  intended  to  collect  the  mounted  men  from  Kentucky, 
and  prepare  for  an  expedition  against  Detroit.  "  From  Fort  Wayne,"  he  wrote, 
"  there  is  a  path,  which  has  been  sometimes  used  by  the  Indians,  leading  up  the  St. 
Joseph's,  and  from  thence,  by  the  head  waters  of  the  River  Rezin  [Raisin],  to  Detroit. 
By  this  route  it  appears  to  me  very  practicable  to  effect  a  coup-de-main  upon  that 
place,  and  if  I  can  collect  a  few  hundred  more  mounted  men,  I  shall  attempt  it."2  To 
the  accomplishment  of  this  design  he  prepared  to  lend  all  his  energies.  Already  there 
was  a  respectable  force  of  mounted  men  at  St.  Mary,  and  others  were  on  the  march 
to  that  place. 
"  Se  tember  Harrison  went  to  Piqua  to  perfect  his  arrangements.  There,  on  the  24th,b 

he  received  a  dispatch  from  the  Secretary  of  War  in  reference  to  his  let 
ter  concerning  the  acceptance  of  a  brigadier's  commission,  which  opened  thus : 

"  The  President  is  pleased  to  assign  to  you  the  command  of  the  Northwestern 
Army,  which,  in  addition  to  the  regular  troops  and  rangers  in  that  quarter,  will  con 
sist  of  the  volunteers  and  militia  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  and  three  thousand  from  Virginia 
and  Pennsylvania,  making  your  whole  force  ten  thousand  men."  It  then  went  on  to 
instruct  him  to  first  provide  for  the  defense  of  the  frontiers,  and  then  to  retake  De 
troit  with  a  view  to  the  conquest  of  Canada.  He  was  assured  that  every  exertion 
would  be  made  to  send  him  a  train  of  artillery  from  Pittsburg,  in  charge  of  Captain 
Gratiot,  of  the  Engineers,  who  would  report  to  him  as  soon  as  some  of  the  pieces  could 
be  got  ready.  He  was  also  informed  that  Major  Ball,  of  the  2d  Regiment  of  Dragoons, 
would  join  him ;  and  that  such  staff  officers  as  he  might  legally  appoint  would  be  ap 
proved  by  the  President.  "  Colonel  Buford,  deputy  commissioner  at  Lexington,"  he 
said, "  is  furnished  with  funds,  and  is  subject  to  your  orders."  More  ample  powers 
than  had  ever  been  given  to  any  officer  of  the  American  army  since  Washington  was 
invested  with  the  authority  of  a  military  dictator  wrere  intrusted  to  him  in  the  fol 
lowing  closing  sentence  in  the  dispatch :  "  You  will  command  such  means  as  may  be 

1  At  St.  Mary's,  Harrison  wrote  to  Governor  Shelby  as  follows :  "  My  situation  here  is  very  embarrassing,  so  much 
so  that  I  have  determined  within  the  two  hours  past  to  propose  to  General  Winchester  to  recognize  me  as  commander- 
in-chief,  or  to  relinquish  all  command  whatever,  unless  it  is  of  the  mounted  forces  which  I  have  prepared,  and  with  which 
I  shall  strike  a  stroke  somewhere.    You  will  hear  from  another  quarter  the  very  serious  difficulty  which  was  to  be  en 
countered  before  the  men  of  Scott's,  Allen's,  and  Lewis's  regiments  could  be  reconciled  to  the  command  of  General 
Winchester.    I  fear  that  the  other  three  regiments  will  prove  still  more  refractory." — Autograph  Letter,  September 
22d,  1S12. 

2  Autograph  Letter  to  General  Shelby,  dated  "St.  Mary,  22d  Septeml  e-,  1S12."    I  have  before  me  an  autograph  note 
from  General  Harrison  to  Governor  Meigs,  of  similar  purport,  dated  at  St.  Mary,  the  20th  of  September.    "But  it  must 
be  kept  profoundly  secret,"  he  wrote. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  327 

Winchester's  March  through  the  Wilderness.          Confronted  by  British  and  Indians.          Sudden  Flight  of  the  latter. 

practicable.  Exercise  your  own  discretion,  and  act  in  all  cases  according  to  your  own 
judgment."  With  such  ample  powers  invested  in  a  commander-in-chief,  Shelby's 
"  Board  of  War"  would  have  been  quite  useless.  Harrison  had  reason  to  be  proud 
of  the  honor  conferred,  and  the  "  special  trust  and  confidence"  reposed  in  him ;  while 
his  soldiers,  rejoicing  in  the  fact,  appeared  ready  and  eager  to  follow  whithersoever 
he  might  lead. 

General  Winchester,  with  about  two  thousand  men,  left  Fort  Wayne  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  22d  of  September  (each  soldier  carrying  six  days'  provisions)  for  the  Mau- 
rnee  Rapids.  He  moved  cautiously  down  the  left  bank  of  that  river,  to  avoid  a  sur 
prise,  in  three  divisions,  his  baggage  in  the  centre,  and  a  volunteer  company  of  spies, 
under  Captain  Ballard,  supported  by  Garrard's  dragoons,  moving  about  two  miles 
in  advance.  Winchester  intended  to  halt  at  Fort  Defiance,  at  the  confluence  of 
the  Maumee  and  Au  Glaize  Rivers,  fifty  miles  from  Fort  Wayne,  and  there  await 
re-enforcements  from  Harrison  at  St.  Mary.  They  encountered  Indians  on  the  way. 
Some  of  the  spies  were  killed ;  among  them  Ensign  Leggett,  of  the  Seventeenth 
United  States  Infantry,  who,  with  four  others  of  a  Woodford  (Kentucky)  company, 
had  been  permitted  to  push  forward  to  reconnoitre  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Defiance. 
They  were  all  killed  and  scalped.  When  their  fate  was  made  known  in  the  camp, 
Captain  Ballard1  was  ordered  out  with  his  spies  and  forty  of  Garrard's  dragoons 
to  bury  the  bodies.  This  sad  office  they  undertook  on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  and 
when  within  two  miles  of  the  place  of  the  massacre  they  discovered  an  Indian  am 
buscade.  A  conflict  ensued.  Garrard's  troops  charged  upon  the  savages,  when  they 
fled  in  dismay,  closely  pursued  for  some  distance,  and  found  refuge  in  the  swamps, 
where  cavalry  could  not  penetrate. 

These  Indians  were  the  advance  of  a  heavy  force — heavy  by  comparison  only — 
under  Major  Muir,  consisting  of  two  hundred  British  regulars,  one  thousand  savages, 
under  Colonel  Elliott,  and  four  pieces  of  cannon.  They  were  making  their  way  up 
the  Maumee  on  its  southern  side  to  attack  Fort  Wayne.  Their  artillery  and  bag 
gage  had  been  brought  to  Defiance  in  boats  from  Maiden,  and  with  them  they  were 
marching  by  land  to  Fort  Wayne.  Fortunately  for  the  little  army  under  Winches 
ter,  a  shrewd  subaltern  of  Scott's  regiment  (Sergeant  M'Coy)  had  been  captured  and 
taken  before  Muir,  who  was  then  twelve  miles  above  Fort  Defiance.  He  was  ques 
tioned  closely,  and  in  his  answer  he  magnified  Winchester's  army  fourfold.  He  also 
told  Muir  that  another  army  equally  large  was  coming  down  the  Au  Glaize  to  join 
Winchester.  The  exaggerated  facts  given  to  the  British  commander  by  his  own 
credulous  and  excited  scouts  made  him  believe  the  stories  of  M'Coy ;  and  when  he 
heard  of  the  defeat  of  his  advance  by  Ballard  and  Garrard,  he  ordered  a  retreat  to 
Fort  Defiance,  where  he  re-embarked  his  artillery  and  baggage. 

Relying  upon  his  boats  for  facility  in  retreating,  in  the  event  of  a  defeat,  Muir  re 
solved  to  give  battle  about  four  miles  above  Fort  Defiance,  at  the  ford  of  a  creek  on 
the  north  side  of  the  Maumee,  where  Wayne  crossed  in  1794  ;  but  when,  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  28th,  he  attempted  to  form  his  line  of  battle  there,  he- found,  to  his  great 
mortification  and  alarm,  that  about  three  fourths  of  his  Indian  allies  had  deserted 
him.  They  had  heard  of  M'Coy's  stories,  and,  associating  them  with  Muir's  retro 
grade  movement,  and  the  re-embarkation  of  his  artillery  and  baggage,  they  became 
greatly  alarmed,  and  abandoned  the  expedition.  Thus  weakened,  Muir  conceived 
himself  to  be  in  great  danger.  He  hastened  back  to  Defiance,  and  fled  twenty  miles 

'•  Captain  Bland  Ballard  was  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Kentucky.    He  was  born  in  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  October 

16,  1(61   and  at  this  time  was  just  past  fifty  years  of  age.    He  had  been  in  Kentucky  since  17T9.    He  was  with  General 

•k  when  he  invaded  the  Ohio  country  in  1TS1,  where  he  was  severely  wounded.    In  all  that  service,  as  a  spy  and 

otherwise,  Ballard  was  exceedingly  active.    He  was  with  Wayne  in  his  campaigns.    He  joined  Allen's  regiment  in 


328  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Winchester  arrives  at  Fort  Defiance.  Re-enforcements  gathering.  Their  March  toward  Fort  Defiance. 

down  the  Maumee  before  he  halted,  leaving  some  faithful  mounted  Indians  behind 
to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Americans. 

Winchester,  in  the  mean  time,  was  moving  cautiously  forward.  He  could  receive 
no  certain  intelligence  concerning  the  force  and  position  of  the  enemy.  Two  scouts 
(Hickman  and  Riddle)  had  gone  completely  around  the  invaders  on  the  26th  with- 
» September,  out  seeing  them,1  and  others  were  equally  unsuccessful  on  the  27th  and 
28th.a  When  the  army  approached  the  creek  where  Muir  expected  to 
make  a  stand,  Winchester  was  informed  of  its  advantageous  position  for  the  enemy, 
and  crossed  to  the  southeast  side  of  the  Maumee  to  avoid  him.  There  they  discov 
ered  the  trail  of  the  invader,  with  his  artillery.  Ignorant  of  the  alarm  of  Muir,  they 
encamped  on  a  rise  of  ground  and  fortified  their  position.  Then  a  council  of  war 
was  held.  Some  officers  were  in  favor  of  sending  a  detachment  in  pursuit  of  the  re 
treating  foe,  but  the  general  and  a  majority  determined  otherwise.  Their  provisions 
were  almost  exhausted,  and  the  unknown  force  of  the  enemy  caused  prudence  to  ask 
for  strength  in  re-enforcements.2  Several  mounted  parties  were  sent  out  to  recon 
noitre,  and  expresses  were  detached  to  General  Harrison  at  St.  Mary,  asking  for  re 
lief  by  sending  men  and  food.  It  was  soon  ascertained  that  the  enemy  had  left  Fort 
Defiance,  and  on  the  30th  Winchester  moved  down  the  river  to  a  high  bank  of  the 
Maumee,  within  a  mile  of  the  fort,  and  again  formed  a  fortified  camp.  On  the  1st  of 
October  Colonel  Lewis  made  a  reconnoissance  in  force,  and  ascertained  that  the  ene 
my  was  entirely  gone.3 

While  Winchester  was  making  his  way  toward  Fort  Defiance,  the  troops  that  were 
gathering  in  the  rear  of  the  army  had  mostly  arrived  at  St.  Mary.  These  consisted  of 
three  regiments  from  Kentucky,  commanded  respectively  by  Colonels  Joshua  Barbee, 
Robert  Poague,  and  William  Jennings  (the  latter  riflemen),  and  three  companies  of 
mounted  riflemen,  from  the  same  state,  under  Captains  Roper,  Bacon,  and  Clark. 
Also  a  corps  of  mounted  men  from  Ohio,  under  Colonel  Findlay,  who,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  been  active  with  General  Hull.  These  had  been  raised  pursuant  to  a  call 
of  Governor  Meigs  and  General  Harrison,  at  the  beginning  of  September,  and  rendez 
voused  as  early  as  the  15th  at  Dayton.  They  were  intended  to  operate  against  some 
of  the  hostile  Indian  towns. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  Harrison  ordered  Colonel  Jennings  to  proceed  with  his 
regiment  down  the  Au  Glaize  to  establish  an  intermediate  post  between  St.  Mary  and 
Fort  Defiance,  and  to  escort  provisions  to  the  latter  place  for  the  use  of  Winchester 
on  his  route  to  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee.  When  Jennings  had  marched  between 
thirty  and  forty  miles,  he  found  the  Indians  hovering  round  his  camp  at  night,  and 
his  scouts  brought  intelligence  that  they  were  in  considerable  force  toward  Fort  De 
fiance  ;  so  he  halted  and  constructed  a  stockade  on  the  bank  of  the  Ottawa  River,  a 
tributary  of  the  Au  Glaize,  not  far  from  the  present  Kalida  (the  Greek  for  beautiful), 
the  capital  of  Putnam  County,  Ohio.  It  was  named  Fort  Jennings,  in  honor  of  the 
commander  of  the  detachment.  At  the  same  time  Colonel  Findlay  was  ordered  to 
attack  some  Ottawa  towns4  farther  eastward,  on  Blanchard's  Fork,  below  Fort  Find- 
lay,  in  the  same  county.5 

b  Se  tember         Winchester  was  informed  of  the  march  of  Jennings  with  provisions,  and 
on  the  29th,b  his   army  being  half  famished,  he    sent  Captain  Garrard 

1  They  crossed  the  Maumee  to  the  south  side,  and  took  as  direct  a  route  as  they  could  to  the  Au  Glaize.  They 
crossed  that  stream,  and  descended  it  along  its  eastern  shore  to  its  mouth  at  Defiance.  Two  miles  below  the  conflu 
ence  of  the  streams  they  crossed  the  Maumee,  and  returned  up  the  north  side  to  the  army. 

5  At  about  this  time  Peter  Navarre  (whom  we  shall  meet  hereafter),  who  had  piloted  the  British  as  far  as  the  Rap 
ids,  deserted  them,  and  pushed  on  to  meet  Winchester  and  inform  him  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy.— Hosmer's  Early 
History  of  the  Maumee  Valley,  page  34. 

3  M'Afee,  pages  102-138,  inclusive ;  Thomson's  Sketches  of  the  Late  War,  ch.  iv. ;  Perkins's  History,  etc.,  of  the  Late 
War;  Brackenridge's  History  of  the  Late  War,  pages  55-58,  inclusive. 

*  The  emphasis  in  the  word  Ottawa  being  in  the  middle  syllable,  these  were  called  'Tawa  towns.  The  Lower  'Tawa 
town  was  on  Blanchard's  Fork,  on  the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Ottawa,  two  miles  below  the  Upper  'Tawa  town. 

5  See  page  257. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  329 


Harrison's  Autumn  Campaign  arranged.         Patriotism  of  the  Women  of  Kentucky.         Troops  ready  for  an  Advance. 

with  dragoons  to  assist  in  escorting  to  his  camp  a  brigade  of  pack-horses  with 
supplies.  Garrard  was  successful,  and  returned,  after  a  tour  of  thirty-six  hours,  in  a 
drenching  rain.  Winchester  was  still  in  his  fortified  camp  near  Fort  Defiance,  and 
Garrard  was  received  at  that  beautiful  spot  in  the  wilderness  with  the  lively  satis 
faction  of  the  famished  when  fed. 

During  the  few  days  of  suspense  concerning  the  extent  of  his  command  General 
Harrison  formed  projects  for  the  immediate  future,  which  inexorable  circumstances 
compelled  him  to  abandon,  to  some  extent.  He  had  now,  as  commander-in-chief,  ar 
ranged  with  care  the  plan  for  an  autumn  campaign,  which  contemplated  the  seizure 
and  occupation  of  the  strategic  position  at  the  foot  of  the  Maumee  Rapids,  and  pos 
sibly  the  capture  of  Detroit  and  Maiden.  His  base  of  military  operations,  having  the 
Rapids  as  the  first  object  to  be  possessed,  was  a  line  drawn  along  the  margin  of  the 
swampy  region  from  St.  Mary  to  Upper  Sandusky,  the  former  to  be  the  principal  de 
posit  for  provisions,  and  the  latter  for  artillery  and  military  stores.  He  intended  to 
march  his  army  in  three  divisions :  the  right  column  to  be  composed  of  the  Virginia 
and  Pennsylvania  troops,  to  rendezvous  at  Wooster,  the  capital  of  the  present  Wayne 
County,  Ohio,  and  proceed  from  thence,  by  Upper  Sandusky,  to  the  Rapids.  The 
centre  column,  to  consist  of  twelve  hundred  Ohio  militia,  to  march  from  Urbana, 
where  they  were  then  collected,  to  Fort  M' Arthur,  and  follow  Hull's  road  to  the 
Rapids.  The  left  column,  to  be  composed  of  the  regulars  under  Colonel  Wells  and 
four  regiments  of  Kentucky  volunteers,  to  proceed  down  the  Au  Glaize  to  the  Mau 
mee  from  St.  Mary,  and  from  their  confluence  pass  on  toward  the  Rapids.  He  designed 
to  send  the  mounted  horsemen,  by  way  of  the  St.  Joseph  of  the  Lake,  to  make  the 
coup-de-main  on  Detroit,  already  alluded  to ;  but  this  project  was  abandoned,  for, 
should  they  take  that  post  without  the  support  of  infantry,  they  might  be  compelled 
to  abandon  it,  and  would  thereby  expose  the  inhabitants  to  the  fury  of  the  Indians, 
who  must  be  exasperated  by  the  movement.  Harrison  therefore  determined  to  em 
ploy  them  in  making  destructive  forays  upon  Indian  towns,  and  sweep  the  savages 
from  the  line  of  march  from  the  Rapids  to  Detroit,  when  the  troops  should  all  be 
ready  to  move. 

Harrison  now  made  urgent  appeals  for  supplies  of  every  kind.  He  sent  an  express 
to  Pittsburg  to  hurry  forward  the  cannon  and  ordnance  stores  to  Wooster ;  and,  as 
the  troops  were  nearly  destitute  of  winter  clothing,  he  and  Governor  Shelby  appealed 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Kentucky  for  voluntary  contributions.  It  was  generously  re 
sponded  to.  A  thousand  needles  were  speedily  put  in  motion  in  fair  hands ;  and 
many  a  poor  soldier,  as  he  stood  sentry  on  the  banks  of  the  Maumee  or  the  Raisin  a 
few  weeks  later,  had  reason  to  feel  grateful  to  the  patriotic  women  of  Kentucky. 

On  the  1st  of  October  there  were  nearly  three  thousand  troops  at  St.  Mary.  Har 
rison  resolved  to  employ  the  portion  of  the  left  wing,  under  Winchester,  at  Defiance, 
as  a  corps  of  observation,  and  to  make  that  place  an  important  deposit  for  provisions, 
preparatory  to  the  advance  of  that  corps  upon  the  Rapids.  This  movement  was  to 
commence  as  soon  as  the  artillery  should  arrive  at  Upper  Sandusky,  and  the  other 
supplies  had  accumulated  along  the  base  of  operation.  A  corps  of  observation  was 
also  to  be  placed  at  Lower  Sandusky,  which,  with  Defiance,  would  form  the  extremi 
ties  of  a  second  base  when  the  Rapids  should  be  occupied.  These  arrangements  for 
operations  were  exceedingly  judicious  for  an  economical  use  of  supplies,  and  a  per 
fect  defense  of  the  frontier  while  the  troops  were  concentrating  at  the  Rapids. 

The  mounted  men,  consisting  of  the  companies  of  Roper,  Clark,  and  Bacon,  and  the 
volunteers  under  Major  Richard  M.  Johnson,  were  formed  into  a  regiment.  They 
elected  Johnson  their  colonel ;  and  these,  with  the  Ohio  mounted  men  under  Find- 
lay,  formed  a  small  brigade,  which  Harrison  placed  in  charge  of  General  Edward  W. 
Tupper,  of  Gallia  County,  Ohio,  a  gentleman  about  fifty  years  of  age,  who  had,  by  his 
own  exertions,  raised  about  a  thousand  men  for  the  service.  This  brigade  was  des- 


330 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


A  great  Stir  in  Camp. 


Rapid  forward  Movement. 


Harrison  at  Fort  Defiance. 


tined  for  the  expedition  against  Deti-oit,  by  way  of  the  St.  Joseph,  which  the  general 
hoped  to  set  in  motion  soon.  A  few  hours  after  it  was  organized,  an  express  from 
Winchester  reached  Harrison  with  the  intelligence  of  his  encounter  with  the  invad 
ing  force  under  Muir.  At  almost  the  same  moment,  an  express  arrived  from  Gov 
ernor  Meigs,  with  a  letter  to  him  from  General  Kelso,  who  was  in  command  of  some 
Pennsylvania  troops  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  informing  him  that,  as  late  as  the 
16th  of  September,  some  British  regulars,  Canadian  militia,  and  two  thousand  In 
dians,  had  left  Maiden  with  two  pieces  of  artillery  for  Fort  Wayne. 

These  dispatches  created  a  great  stir  in  camp.  Three  days'  cooked  provisions,  with 
ammunition  and  other  military  stores,  were  immediately  issued  to  the  troops,  and  a 
command  for  a  forced  march  was  given.  Three  hours  afterward  General  Harrison 
was  in  the  saddle,  and  his  whole  corps  were  following  him  toward  the  wilderness  in 
a  drenching  rain,  and  the  road  filled  with  deep  mud.  They  reached  the  camp  of  Col 
onel  Jennings  at  twilight,  and  officers  and  men,  from  the  general  down,  slept  in  the 
cold,  damp  air,  without  tents,  and  nothing  between  them  and  the  water-pools  on  the 
surface  of  the  flat  ground  but  brush  from  the  beech-trees.  There  Harrison  was  met 
by  another  express  from  Winchester,  notifying  him  of  the  flight  of  the  enemy  down 
the  Maumee.  The  rapid  march  was  stayed.  Barbee's  regiment  was  ordered  back 
to  St.  Mary,  and  Poague's  was  directed  to  cut  a  road  to  Fort  Defiance  from  Camp 

Jennings.  The  mounted  men,  more  than  a  thou 
sand  in  number,  pressed  forward  in  five  lines,  mak 
ing  an  imposing  appearance  in  the  stately  forest, 
where  the  leaves  were  just  assuming  the  gorgeous 
autumnal  hues.  The  troops  were  disappointed  and 
depressed  because  of  the  flight  of  the  enemy  ;  and 
the  commanding  general  was  vexed  when  he  dis 
covered  that  Winchester's  alarm  was  quite  unnec 
essary.  He  reached  that  officer's  camp  at  sunset. 
His  soldiers  bivouacked  three  miles  in  the  rear. 
Early  the  next  morning  they  marched  down  to  the 
confluence  of  the  Maumee  and  Au  Glaize,  and  en 
camped  there  around  the  ruined  mtrenchments  of 
old  Fort  Defiance. 

Harrison  found  the  troops  under  Winchester  in 
a  deplorable  condition,  and  one  regiment  in  a  state 
of  open  mutiny.  He  ordered  the  "  alarm"  instead 
of  the  "reveille"  to  be  beaten  on  the  following 

O 

morning.  This  brought  all  the  troops  to  arms. 
They  were  drawn  up  in  a  hollow  square,  when,  to 
the  surprise  and  delight  of  the  soldiers,  Harrison, 
their  beloved  general,  appeared  among  them.  It 
was  with  difficulty  that  they  restrained  their 
voices,  for  shouts  of  welcome  were  ready  to  burst 
from  their  lips.  He  addressed  them  as  a  kind  fa- 
thci'  would  talk  to  his  children.  He  shamed  the 
malcontents  by  saying  that  while  he  lamented  the  fact  of  their  mutiny,  and  was  mor- 

1  This  fort  was  constructed  of  earth  and  logs,  with  a  ditch  extending  around  it,  except  on  the  Au  Glaize  side.  At 
each  angle  was  a  block-house,  connected  by  a  line  of  pickets  at  their  nearest  angles.  Outside  the  fort  there  was  a  glacis, 
or  sloping  wall  of  earth,  eight  feet  thick,  and  outside  of  this  the  ditch,  fifteen  feet  wide  and  eight  feet  deep.  The  glad* 
next  to  the  ditch  was  supported  by  a  log  wall,  and  by  fascines,  or  fagots,  on  the  side  next  to  the  Au  Glaize.  Pickets, 
eleven  feet  long  and  one  foot  apart  projected  from  the  wall  diagonally  over  the  ditch,  forming  a  /raise  of  formidable 
appearance.  The  diagram,  showing  the  relative  position  of  the  fort  to  the  two  rivers  at  their  confluence,  and  to  a  new 
fort  afterward  built  by  Winchester,  may  be  explained  as  follows  :  A,  officers'  quarters  ;  B,  store-houses  ;  C  C  C  C,  the 
ditch  ;  E  E,  gateways  ;  P,  a  dry  ditch,  eight  feet  deep,  used  for  the  safe  procurement  of  water  from  the  river,  with  pick 
ets  (a  a)  guarding  it;  G,  draw-bridge. 


FORT  DEFIANCE.  i 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  331 

Harrison's  Address  to  his  Troops.  Erection  of  new  Forts  ordered.  Troubles  among  Leaders. 

tified  on  their  account,  it  was  of  no  consequence  to  the  government,  as  he  had  now 
more  troops  than  he  needed,  and  was  in  expectation  daily  of  receiving  large  re-en 
forcements  from  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  As  they  had  come  to  the  woods  ex 
pecting  to  find  all  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  home,  they  must  be  disappointed,  and 
he  gave  them  liberty  to  return.  But  he  could  not  refrain  from  alluding  to  the  mor 
tification  which  he  anticipated  they  would  experience  from  the  reception  they  would 
meet  from  the  old  and  the  young,  who  had  greeted  them  on  their  march  to  the  scene 
of  war  as  their  gallant  neighbors.  Then  he  appealed  to  their  pride  as  soldiers  and 
their  patriotism  as  citizens.  He  told  them  that  his  government  had  made  him  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  army  in  which  they  were  serving,  and  assured  them  that  am 
ple  supplies  of  provisions  and  other  stores  were  on  the  way.  When  he  had  con 
cluded,  and  the  veteran  Scott  addressed  them,  saying,  "  You,  my  boys,  will  prove 
your  attachment  for  the  service  of  your  country  and  your  general  by  giving  him 
three  cheers,"  the  wilderness  instantly  rang  with  shouts  of  applause,  and  before 
the  sun  went  down  perfect  harmony  and  good  feeling  prevailed  in  the  camp. 

General  Harrison  selected  a  site  for  a  new  fort  on  the  bank  of  the  Au  Glaize,  about 
eighty  yards  above  Old  Fort  Defiance,  and  ordered  the  immediate  assignment  of 
fatigue  parties  to  construct  it.  General  Winchester  at  the  same  time  moved  his  camp 
from  the  Mauraee  to  the  Au  Glaize,  about  half  a  mile  above  the  site  of  the  new  fort. 
This  movement  was  made  on  the  4th  of  October.  That  evening  Harrison,  accom 
panied  by  Colonel  Johnson  and  his  original  battalion  (composed  of  Johnson's,  Ward's, 
and  Ellison's  companies),  turned  their  faces  toward  St.  Mary,  where,  three  days  after 
ward,  their  term  of  enlistment  having  expired,  they  were  discharged.  Poague's  regi 
ment  was  directed  to  return  to  the  old  Ottawa  towns,  twelve  miles  from  St.  Mary, 
after  the  road  to  Defiance  should  be  completed,  and  erect  a  stockade  there.  They 
did  so,  and  Poague  named  it  Fort  Amanda,  in  honor  of  a  loved  one  in  Kentucky. 
General  Winchester  was  left  in  command  of  the  left  wing  of  the  army,  with  instruc 
tions  to  facilitate  the  transportation  of  supplies  to  Fort  Defiance,  and  to  occupy  a 
position  at  the  Maumee  Rapids  as  speedily  as  possible.  When  he  left  Winchester, 
Harrison  expected  to'have  all  necessary  supplies  for  advancing  against  Detroit  within 
a  fortnight. 

Before  leaving  Fort  Defiance  Harrison  ordered  General  Tupper  to  lead  the  mounted 
men,  then  over  nine  hundred  in  number,  down  the  Maumee  to  the  Rapids,  and  beyond 
if  desirable,  to  disperse  any  detachments  of  the  enemy,  civilized  or  savage,  that  might 
be  found,  and  to  return  to  St.  Mary  by  the  "  'Tawa"  or  Ottawa  towns  on  Blanchard's 
Fork  of  the  Au  Glaize.  But  this  order  was  not  executed  on  account  of  several  dis 
turbing  causes,  namely,  extensive  damage  to  powder  and  scarcity  of  food,  which 
made  it  difficult  to  provide  adequate  supplies  for  an  expedition  that  might  occupy  a 
week  or  ten  days;  the  sudden  appearance  of  hostile  Indians,  who  menaced  Winchester's 
camp ;  dissatisfaction  of  some  of  the  Kentucky  troops  with  Tupper  and  his  command ; 
misunderstanding  between  Winchester  and  Tupper,  and  the  unfriendly  conduct  of  the 
former  toward  the  latter;  the  weakening  of  Tapper's  forces  by  the  withdrawal  of  Ken 
tucky  troops  and  Simrall's  dragoons ;  and  finally  the  dismissal  of  Tupper  from  the 
command  of  the  expedition  by  Winchester,  who  gave  it  to  Colonel  Allen,  of  the  reg 
ulars,  and  which  caused  the  Ohio  troops  to  cross  the  Au  Glaize,  and  positively  refuse 
to  march  under  any  other  than  their  own  chosen  leader.1  The  chief  difficulty  seems 
to  have  arisen  from  conflict  between  regular  officers  and  volunteers ;  and  thus  termin 
ated  the  expedition,  said  Tupper,  "  at  one  time  capable  of  tearing  the  British  flag  from 
the  walls  of  Detroit."2 

1  M'Afee,  pages  148,  149 ;  Tupper's  Letter  to  General  Harrison  from  Urbana,  October  12, 1812 ;  Brackeuridge,  page  59  ; 
Perkins,  page  97. 

2  Letter  to  General  Harrison  from  Urbana,  dated  October  12th,  1812.    M'Afee,  who  gives  a  more  detailed  account 
of  this  affair  than  any  other  writer,  says,  "  Some  of  the  Kentuckians  were  not  inclined  to  march  under  Tupper  unless 


332  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Conduct  of  Colonel  Tupper.  Expeditions  against  the  Indians.  Harrison  in  Central  Ohio. 

Instead  of  returning  to  St.  Mary,  Tupper  took  the  most  direct  route  to  Urbana  by 
way  of  Hull's  road,  from  near  the  present  town  of  Kenton,  where  he  immediately  pre 
pared  for  another  and  independent  expedition  to  the  Rapids.  Winchester  preferred 
charges  against  him  for  alleged  misconduct  at  Defiance,  and  Harrison  ordered  his  ar 
rest,  but  the  accused  being  far  on  his  way  toward  the  Rapids,  as  we  shall  observe 
presently,  when  the  order  was  given,  the  prosecution  was  stayed.  At  Tupper's  re 
quest  a  court  of  inquiry  afterward  investigated  the  matter,  and  he  was  honorably 
acquitted. 

While  on  his  way  from  Defiance  to  St.  Mary,  General  Harrison  was  informed,  by  ex 
press  from  Fort  Wayne,  that  the  Indians  wTere  again  menacing  that  post.  At  St.  Mary 
he  found  Colonel  Allen  Trimble  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  mounted  men  of  Ohio,  who 
came  to  join  Tupper  in  the  expedition  against  Detroit.  These  were  immediately  dis 
patched  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Wayne,  with  instructions  to  proceed  to  the  St.  Joseph  of 
the  Lake,  about  sixty  miles  distant,  and  destroy  the  town  of  the  hostile  Pottawatomie 
chief  White  Pigeon.  The  troops  were  disappointed,  and  at  Fort  Wayne  about  one 
half  of  Trimble's  command  refused  to  go  farther.  The  gallant  colonel  pushed  on  with 
the  remainder,  destroyed  two  Pottawatomie  villages,  and  would  have  killed  or  cap 
tured  the  inhabitants  had  not  a  treacherous  guide  given  them  timely  warning  of 
danger. 

At  St.  Mary  Harrison  found  some  penitent  Miami  chiefs  who  had  joined  the  enemy. 
They  had  come  at  the  summons  of  messengers,  and  were  prepared  to  deny  their  guilti 
ness,  or  to  palliate  it,  as  circumstances  might  dictate.  They  found  Harrison  well  in 
formed  concerning  their  bad  conduct,  and  they  cast  themselves  upon  the  mercy  of 
the  government.  As  proof  of  their  sincerity,  they  sent  five  chiefs  to  Piqua  as  host 
ages  until  the  decision  of  the  President  should  be  made  known.  Thither  General 
Harrison  repaired,  where  he  found  some  of  Tupper's  troops.  He  passed  over  to  Urba 
na,  and  then  southeastward  to  Franklinton,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Scioto,  opposite 
the  present  city  of  Columbus,  the  capital  of  Ohio,  whose  site  was  then  covered  by 
the  primeval  forest.  There,  in  the  heart  of  Ohio,  and  at  a  convenient  point  for  the 
concentration  of  troops  and  supplies  from  a  distance,  Harrison  established  his  head 
quarters,  and  occupied  much  of  the  remainder  of  the  autumn  and  early  winter  in 
laborious  preparations  for  an  advance  on  Detroit  and  Canada — collecting  troops  and 
creating  depots  for  supplies,  building  stockades  and  block-houses,  cutting  roads,  and 
dispersing  or  overawing  the  hostile  Indians,  who  might  be  excessively  mischievous 
on  the  flank  and  rear.  Poague  speedily  completed  Fort  Amanda  on  the  Au  Glaize, 
Colonel  Barbee  erected  another  at  St.  Mary,  which  was  called  Fort  Barbee,  and  be 
fore  the  1st  of  November  the  new  stockade  at  Defiance,  built  chiefly  of  logs,  was 
completed  and  named  Fort  Winchester. 

I  visited  the  ruins  of  Fort  Defiance  on  a  warm  sunny  day  late  in  September,  1860. 
I  came  up  the  Maumee  Valley  by  railway  from  Toledo  on  the  previous  evening,  and 
arrived  at  Defiance  Station  at  midnight.  The  village  of  Defiance,1  lying  mostly  on 
the  Maumee,  upon  the  beautiful  plain  at  the  confluence  of  that  river  and  Au  Glaize, 
was  shrouded  in  a  chilling  fog.  Warned  of  the  danger  of  the  night  air  in  that  valley 

accompanied  by  some  field  officer  from  Winchester's  command.  Colonel  Allen  therefore  tendered  his  services  to  ac 
company  General  Tupper  in  any  capacity  he  might  choose  to  receive  him.  The  offer  was  accepted.  But  General  Win 
chester,  having  misunderstood  the  nature  of  the  arrangement  between  them,  issued  an  order  directing  Colonel  Allen  to 
take  the  command  and  march  toward  the  Rapids.  This  caused  a  serious  misunderstanding  between  the  two  generals. 
Colonel  Allen,  however,  having  informed  General  Winchester  correctly  on  the  subject,  the  order  was  immediately  re 
scinded.  The  greater  part  of  the  men  having  by  this  time  refused  to  proceed  directly  to  the  Rapids,  General  Tupper 
marched  them  over  the  Au  Glaize,  and  proceeded  to  the  Ottawa  towns,  where  he  professed  to  expect  re-enforcements 
from  Ohio."  This  account  agrees  substantially  with  that  of  Tupper  in  his  letter  to  Harrison,  in  which  he  says,  "  It  is  a 
duty  I  owe  to  Colonel  Allen  to  say  that  I  have  not  the  smallest  reason  to  believe  he  was  privy  to  the  orders  of  General 
Winchester." 

1  Defiance  is  the  county  seat  of  Defiance  County,  about  fifty  miles  northeastward  from  Fort  Wayne.  It  was  laid  out 
in  1822,  and  from  its  eligible  situation  and  fertility  of  the  country  around— the  rich  Black  Swamp  region— seems  destined 
to  become  a  place  of  much  importance. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


333 


Remains  of  Forts  Defiance  and  Winchester. 


Their  Location  and  Appearance. 


An  ancient  Apple-tree. 


at  that  season  of  the  year,  I  felt  as  if  fever  and  ague  were  inhaled  at  every  inspira 
tion  while  walking  a  long  distance  to  a  hotel.  There  all  was  darkness.  A  slumber 
ing  attendant  was  finally  aroused,  and  I  was  directed  by  the  feeble  light  of  a  small 
candle  to  a  most  cheerless  bedroom  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning.  After  an  early 
breakfast  I  went  out  to  find  the  historical  localities  of  the  place,  and  was  fortunate 
enough  to  be  introduced  to  Mr.  E.  H.  Leland  and  Doctor  John  Paul,  who  kindly  ac 
companied  me  to  them.  We  first  visited  the  interesting  remains  of  Fort  Wayne  on 
the  point  of  land  where  the  two  ruins  meet.  We  found  the  form  of  the  glacis  and 
ditch  very  distinctly  marked,  the  remains  of  the  former  rising  six  or  eight  feet  above 
the  bottom  of  the  latter.  The  shape  of  the  fort  was  perfectly  delineated  by  those 
mounds  and  the  ditch.  Some  large  honey-locust-trees  were  growing  among  the 
ruins.  These  have  appeared  since  the  fort  was  abandoned  in  1795.  One  of  them, 
with  a  triple  stem,  standing  in  the  southeastern  angle  of  the  fort,  measured  fifteen 
feet  in  circumference.  These  ruins  are  likely  to  be  preserved.  The  banks  were 
covered  with  a  fine  sward,  and  they  were  within  an  inclosure  containing  about  two 
acres  of  land,  which  the  heirs  qf  the  late  Curtis  Holgate  presented  to  the  town. 

We  visited  the  site  of  Fort  Winchester,  a  little  above  Defiance,  on  the  bank  of  the 
Au  Glaize,  and  found  the  remains  of  many  of  the  pickets  protruding  from  the  ground. 
Across  a  ravine,  just  above  the  fort,  was  the  garrison  burying-ground.  We  returned 
to  the  village,  crossed  the  long  bridge  which  spans  the  Maumee,  and  from  the  heights 
of  Fail's  Grove,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  obtained  a  comprehensive  view  of  the 
two  streams  at  their  confluence,  the  site  of  the  fort,  and  the  village  of  Defiance.  The 

sketch  there  made  is  here 
given.  The  meeting  of  the 
waters  is  seen  toward  the 
left,  those  of  the  Maumee 
flowing  in  from  the  right 
to  meet  those  of  the  Au 
Glaize,  over  which,  in  the 
distance,  a  bridge  is  seen. 
The  group  of  trees  (the  hon 
ey-locusts  spoken  of)  seen 
near  the  centre  of  the  pic 
ture  mark  the  site  of  Fort 
Defiance.  In  the  foreground 
is  seen  a  garden  extending 
from  the  highway  at  the 
foot  of  the  heights  of  Fail's 
Grove  to  the  bank  of 
the  Maumee,  with  waving 
broom  corn  then  ripe  and 
ready  for  the  knife. 

On  our  return  to  the  village  we  visited  on  the  way,  near  the  margin  of  the  Maumee, 
an  aged  and  gigantic  apple-tree,  coeval,  no  doubt,  with  the  one  near  Fort  Wayne.1 
We  found  it  carefully  guarded,  as  a  sort  of  "  lion"  of  the  place,  by  a  high  board  fence, 
the  ground  around  it,  within  the  inclosure,  thickly  covered  with  burr-bearing  weeds. 
It  was  upon  the  Southworth  estate,  and  access  to  it  might  be  had  only  through  a 
small  house  near.  That  tree  was  a  living  monument  of  the  French  occupation  of  the 
spot,  as  a  trading  station,  long  before  any  other  Europeans  had  penetrated  that  re 
mote  wilderness.  It  measured  about  fifteen  feet  in  circumference  eighteen  inches 
from  the  ground.  The  figure  standing  by  it  affords  a  fair  criterion  for  judging  of 


SITE   OF   FOET   DEF1ANOE. 


See  page  334. 


334  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Events  nearer  the  Mississippi.  The  Indians  generally  hostile.  Shelby's  Appeal  to  the  Kentuckians. 

its  size,  by  comparison  with  the  body  of  a  stout  man. 
We  returned  to  Defiance  in  time  for  dinner,  and  left 
with  the  early  train  for  Fort  Wayne.1 

Let  us  resume  the  narrative  of  events  in  the  North 
west  in  the  autumn  of  1812. 

We  left  General  Harrison  at  Franklinton,  General 
Tupper  at  Urba-na,  and  General  Winchester  at  Fort  De 
fiance,  all  engaged  in  preparations  to  move  forward 
to  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee,  and  thence  to  Detroit. 
While  the  movement  of  the  troops  in  Western  Ohio  and 
Eastern  Indiana,  just  related,  were  in  progress,  stirring 
API-I.E-TEEE  AT  BEPiANOB.  e^enis  of  a  like  ™ture  occurred  in  the  region  nearer 

the  Mississippi  River. 

We  have  already  noticed  the  departure  of  troops  from  Kentucky  for  Vincennes, 
and  the  messengers  sent  to  that  post  by  Captain  Taylor,  asking  immediate  aid  for 
Fort  Harrison  on  the  Wabash.2  This  call  was  immediately  responded  to.  Colonel 
William  Russell,  of  the  Seventh  United  States  Regiment  of  Infantry,  just  arrived  at 
Vincennes,  departed  at  once  for  Fort  Harrison  with  about  twelve  hundred  men,  con 
sisting  of  three  companies  of  Rangers,  two  regiments  of  Indiana  militia,  under  Colo 
nels  Jordan  and  Evans,  and  Colonel  Wilcox's  regiment  of  Kentucky  Volunteers. 
Lieutenant  Richardson,  of  the  regulars,  was  directed  to  follow  with  eleven  men  as 
an  escort  for  provisions.  By  a  forced  march  Russell  and  his  party  reached  Fort  Har 
rison  on  the  16th,  much  to  the  joy  of  Captain  Taylor,  without  encountering  the  foe. 
Not  so  the  provision  escort.  That  was  attacked  by  the  savages  on  the  15th,  who 
killed  more  than  one  half  of  the  detachment  and  captured  all  of  the  provisions.  An 
other  provision  train  that  followed  immediately  afterward  was  more  fortunate.  The 
savages  were  not  seen.  The  great  body  of  the  Indians  seemed  to  have  fled  from  the 
vicinity,  and  Russell  and  his  troops,  except  Wilcox's  regiment,  returned  to  Vincennes. 
At  about  this  time  the  Indians  of  Illinois  and  Northern  Indiana,  persuaded,  like 
the  rest  of  the  savages  under  the  influence  of  Tecumtha,  after  the  fall  of  Mackinaw, 
Detroit,  and  Chicago,  that  the  time  was  at  hand  when  the  white  people  might  be 
driven  beyond  the  Ohio  River,  every  where  showed  signs  of  hostilities.  These 
were  so  menacing  that  Ninian  Edwards,  the  Governor  of  the  Illinois  Territory,  called 
on  the  executive  of  Kentucky  for  aid.  That  aid  was  on  its  way  in  the  person  of 
Colonel  Barbour  and  his  command,  when  it  was  diverted  to  Vincennes,  on  account 
of  the  dangers  impending  over  Fort  Harrison.  Edwards  had  sent  out  spies,  and  was 
persuaded  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost  in  making  preparations  for  offensive  and  de 
fensive  operations  against  the  savages.  He  combined  the  scattered  militia  of  his 
Territory,  and  caused  several  companies  of  Rangers  to  be  encamped  on  the  Missis 
sippi,  above  St.  Louis,  and  on  the  Illinois  River.  These  served  to  keep  the  Indians  in 
a  September  8,  check  for  a  time.  Meanwhile  Governor  Shelby  had  made  the  stirring 
appeal1  to  the  Kentuckians  already  alluded  to.3  He  told  them  of  the 
"  extensive  combination  of  the  savages,  aided  by  the  British  from  Canada,"  who  were 
momentarily  expected  on  the  frontier  settlements  of  Illinois  and  Indiana.  Twenty- 
one  persons,  he  said,  had  already  been  murdered  not  more  than  twenty  miles  north 
of  the  Ohio  !  "  It  is  hoped,"  he  remarked,  "  that  it  will  rouse  the  spirit  and  indigna 
tion  of  the  freemen  of  Kentucky,  and  induce  a  sufficient  number  of  them  to  give  tljeir 
services  to  their  country  for  a  short  period."  He  asked  them  to  rendezvous  at  Louis 
ville  on  the  1 8th  of  the  month,  with  thirty  days'  provisions.  "  Kentuckians,"  he 
said,  "  ever  pre-eminent  for  their  patriotism,  bravery,  and  good  conduct,  will,  I  am 
persuaded,  on  this  occasion,  give  to  the  world  a  new  evidence  of  their  love  of  coun- 

1  See  page  43.  2  See  page  107.  3  See  page  323. 


OF  THE  WAR  OF  1812.  335 


Wealth  arid  Patriotism  of  Kentucky  illustrated.       Hopkins's  Expedition  against  Illinois  Indians.       Insubordination. 

try,  and  a  determination,  at  every  hazard,  to  rescue  their  fellow-men  from  the  mur 
ders  and  devastations  of  a  cruel  and  barbarous  enemy."1 

This  address,  as  we  have  seen,  was  responded  to  with  wonderful  alacrity.  Hund 
reds  more  than  were  needed  were  at  Louisville  on  the  appointed  day,  and  were  turned 
back  with  feelings  of  the  keenest  disappointment.  One  old  veteran,  who  had  suf 
fered  from  savage  cruelty,  and  had  fought  the  dusky  foe  in  the  early  days  of  Ken 
tucky  settlement,  although  greatly  chagrined  when  he  found  his  company  rejected, 
said,  "  Well,  well,  Kentucky  has  often  glutted  the  market  with  hemp,  flour,  and  to 
bacco,  and  now  she  has  done  so  with  volunteers."  This  was  a  truthful  exposition, 
in  few  words,  of  the  wealth  and  patriotism  of  Kentucky. 

General  Samuel  Hopkins,  under  whom  the  Kentucky  Volunteers  were  placed,  made 
his  head-quarters  at  Vincennes.  The  troops  continued  to  arrive  and  were  mustered 
into  the  service  from  the  21st  of  September  until  the  2d  of  October,  when  Hopkins, 
then  convalescing  after  a  severe  attack  of  fever,  found  himself  at  the  head  of  almost 
four  thousand  men,  about  two  thousand  of  them  expert  riflemen,  on  horseback.  His 
little  army  was  speedily  organized,2  and  on  the  10th  of  September  he  started  with 
the  mounted  riflemen  for  the  Indian  country  by  the  way  of  Fort  Harrison.  The  chief 
design  of  the  expedition  was  to  march  an  annihilating  force  upon  the  principal  Kick- 
apoo  and  Peoria  Indian  villages  on  the  waters  of  the  Illinois  River,  the  former  sup 
posed  to  be  about  eighty  miles  distant,  and  the  latter  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles. 

Hopkins  and  his  two  thousand  horsemen  crossed  the  Wabash  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  14th,a  and  made  their  first  encampment  that  night  three  miles  from  Fort  « October, 
Harrison.  Before  them  lay  magnificent  level  prairies,  covered  with  tall 
grass,  both  dry  and  green.  The  guides  passed  a  satisfactory  examination  as  to  their 
knowledge  of  the  route,  and  the  plans  of  the  general  were  unanimously  approved  by 
a  council  of  officers.  On  resuming  the  second  day's  march,  every  thing  promised 
well  excepting  the  lack  of  discipline  and  evident  restlessness  under  restraint  manifest 
ed  by  the  troops.  Indeed,  so  far  as  military  discipline  was  concerned,  they  constituted 
little  more  than  a  vast  mob,  and  it  was  soon  found  that  every  man  was  disposed  to 
be  a  law  unto  himself.  Every  hour  of  the  march  revealed  to  the  commanding  gen 
eral  evidences  of  the  fact  that  his  army  was  as  combustible  as  the  dry  grass  around 
them.  The  symptoms  of  discontent,  seen  even  at  Vincennes,  now  assumed  the  posi 
tive  forms  of  complaint  and  murmuring.  The  guides  were  suspected  of  ignorance  or 
disloyalty;  and  food  and  forage,  it  was  alleged,  were  becoming  alarmingly  scarce. 
Finally,  while  halting  on  the  fourth  day's  march,  a  major,  whose  name  is  withheld, 
rode  up  to  the  commanding  general,  and  in  an  insolent  manner  peremptorily  ordered 
him  to  march  the  troops  back  to  Fort  Harrison.  Not  long  afterward  a  violent  wind 
arose  that  blew  directly  toward  them,  and  very  soon  it  was  discovered  that  the 
prairie  was  on  fire  at  the  windward.  They  saved  themselves  by  burning  the  grass 
around  their  camp.  It  was  believed  that  this  was  the  work  of  the  Indians,  and  it 
gave  the  finishing  blow  to  the  expedition.  The  troops  would  not  march  farther. 
Hopkins  called  a  council  of  officers,b  when  it  was  decided  by  them  to  re 
turn,  as  their  men  were  utterly  unmanageable.  The  mortified  commander 
then  called  for  five  hundred  volunteers  to  follow  him  to  the  Illinois.  Not  one  re 
sponded  to  his  summons.  His  authority  had  vanished.  They  even  refused  to  sub- 

1  Address  of  Governor  Shelby,  issued  at  Frankfort  September  8,  1S12. 

2  Four  regiments  were  at  first  formed,  to  be  commanded  respectively  by  Colonels  Samuel  Caldwell,  John  Thomas, 
James  Allen,  and  Young  Ewing.    These  constituted  two  brigades,  the  first  to  be  commanded  by  General  James  Ray, 
an  early  adventurer  in  Kentucky  and  experienced  Indian  fighter,*  and  the  other  by  General  Jonathan  Ramsey.    After 
this  arrangement  was  made,  another,  under  Colonel  Samuel  South,  was  organized.    George  Walker  was  appointed 
judge  advocate  of  the  little  army,  Pierce  Butler  adjutant  general,  Majors  William  Trigg  and  William  A.  Lee  aids  to 
General  Hopkins,  William  Blair  and  Joseph  Weisiger  volunteer  aids,  and  John  C.  Breckiuridge  the  general's  secretary. 

*  For  an  account  of  the  early  adventures  of  General  Kay,  see  Collias's  Kentucky,  its  History,  Antiquities,  and  Biogra 
phy,  page  45S. 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Russell's  co-operating  Expedition  in  Illinois.  Hopkius's  Expedition  to  the  Wabash  Region.          His  new  Troops. 

mit  to  his  leadership  on  their  return,  and  he  followed  his  army  back  to  Fort  Harrison, 
where  they  arrived  on  the  25th.1  Thus  ended  an  apparently  formidable  and  promis 
ing  expedition.  Yet  it  was  not  unfruitful  of  good.  It  alarmed  the  Indians,  gave 
them  a  sense  of  the  real  power  of  the  white  people,  and  made  them  more  cautious 
and  circumspect.  That  imposing  force  had  marched  eighty  or  ninety  miles  in  the  In 
dian  country  without  show  of  opposition  any  where. 

While  Hopkins's  expedition  was  in  motion,  another,  under  Colonel  Russell,  coni- 
»  October  ii,  posed  of  two  small  companies  of  United  States  Rangers,  marched  from 
Vincennesa  to  unite  with  a  small  body  of  mounted  militia  under  Gover 
nor  Edwards  (who  assumed  the  chief  command),  for  the  purpose  of  penetrating  the 
region  toward  which  General  Hopkins  was  marching,  and  to  co-operate  with  him. 
Their  combined  force  numbered  nearly  four  hundred  men,  rank  and  file.  They  pen 
etrated  deeply  into  the  Indian  country,  but,  hearing  nothing  of  Hopkins,  and  being 
too  few  to  attempt  much,  they  contented  themselves  with  some  minor  exploits. 
They  fell  suddenly  and  furiously  upon  the  principal  Kickapoo  town,  twenty  miles 
above  Peoria,  at  the  head  of  Peoria  Lake,  and  drove  the  Indian  inhabitants  into  a 
swamp,  through  which  for  three  miles  they  were  vigorously  pursued,  the  invaders 
finding  themselves  frequently  waist-deep  in  mud  and  water.  The  fugitives  fled  in 
dismay  across  the  Illinois  River.  Many  of  the  pursuers  passed  over,  and  brought 
back  canoes  with  dead  Indians  in  them.  Twenty  lifeless  warriors  lay  prone  in  the 
path  of  the  returning  victors.  Doubtless  many  more  perished  in  the  morass  and  the 
stream.  The  town,  with  a  large  quantity  of  corn  and  other  property,  was  destroyed. 
The  spoils  brought  away  were  eighty  horses,  and  the  dried  scalps  of  several  white 
persons  who  had  been  murdered  by  the  savages.2  The  expedition  returned,  after  an 
absence  of  thirteen  days,  with  no  other  serious  casualty  than  four  men  wounded,  not 
one  of  them  mortally. 

General  Hopkins  discharged  the  mutinous  mounted  men,  and  organized  another 
expedition  against  the  Indians.  This  force,  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  strong,  was 
composed  chiefly  of  foot  soldiers,  and  the  object  of  the  expedition  was  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  Prophet's  town,  and  other  Indian  villages  on  the  Upper  Wabash.  His 
troops  consisted  of  three  regiments  of  Kentucky  militia,  commanded  respectively  by 
Colonels  Barbour,  Miller,  and  Wilcox ;  a  small  company  of  regulars,  under  Captain 
Zachary  Taylor ;  'a  company  of  Rangers,  commanded  by  Captain  Beckers  ;  and  a  com 
pany  of  scouts  or  spies,  led  by  Captain  Washburne.  The  greater  portion  of  them 
rendezvoused  at  Vincennes,  and  moved  up  the  Wabash  Valley  to  Fort  Harrison, 
where  they  arrived  on  the  5th  of  November.  Six  days  afterward  they  marched  from 
the  fort  up  the  road  made  by  Harrison  a  year  before,  and,  at  the  same  time,  seven 
boats,  filled  with  provisions,  forage,  and  military  stores,  well  guarded  by  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Barbour  with  a  battalion  of  his  regiment,  moved  up  the  river.  The  Indians 
were  supposed  to  be  on  the  alert,  and  the  march  was  cautiously  pursued.  The 
streams  were  full  of  water,  and  the  passage  of  swamps  and  low  lands  was  extremely 
difficult  and  fatiguing.  They  did  not  cross  the  Wabash  as  Harrison  did,  but,  for  suf 
ficient  reasons,  marched  up  the  east  side  of  that  stream. 

So  difficult  was  the  march  that  the  expedition  did  not  reach  the  Prophet's  town 
until  the  19th,  when  Hopkins  dispatched  Adjutant  General  Butler,  with  three  hund 
red  men,  to  surprise  a  Winnebago  village  of  about  forty  houses  on  the  present  Wild 
Cat  Creek,  a  mile  from  the  Wabash,  and  about  four  miles  below  the  Prophet's  town. 
The  village  was  deserted.  Flames  soon  laid  it  in  ashes.  The  Prophet's  town,  about 
equal  in  size,  and  a  large  Kickapoo  village  just  below  it,  containing  about  one  hund- 

1  Hopkins's  Report  to  Governor  Shelby,  dated  Fort  Harrison,  October  26, 1812 ;  Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  page 
497;  M'Afee,  page  158. 

2  Colonel  William  Russell's  Letter  to  Geueral  Gibson,  the  acting  governor  of  Indiana,  dated  "  Camp  Russell,  October 
31, 1812." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  337 


The  Indians  attack  a  Burial  Party.  Sufferings  of  the  Kentucky  Soldiers.  Close  of  Hopkins's  military  Career. 

red  and  sixty  huts,  with  all  their  winter  provision  of  corn  and  beans,  were  utterly 
destroyed. 

It  was  not  until  the  21st  that  any  Indians  were  discovered.  On  that  day  they 
fired  upon  a  small  party  of  soldiers,  and  killed  one  man.  On  the  following  morning 
sixty  horsemen,  under  Colonels  Miller  and  Wilcox,  went  out  to  bury  the  dead,  when 
they  were  suddenly  attacked  by  Indians  in  ambush,  and  lost  eighteen  men,  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing,  in  the  skirmish  that  ensued.1  The  rendezvous  of  the  savages, 
in  a  strong  position  on  the  Wild  Cat,  was  soon  discovered,  and  preparations  were 
made  for  dislodging  them,  when  they  decamped  and  disappeared.  The  season  was 
far  advanced,  the  cold  was  increasing,  and  ice  was  beginning  to  form  in  the  river. 
These  circumstances,  and  the  fact  that  many  of  the  troops,  especially  the  Kentuck- 
ians,  were  "  shoeless  and  shirtless" — clad  in  the  remnants  of  their  summer  clothes, 
caused  an  order  to  be  issued  on  the  25th  for  a  return  to  Fort  Harrison  and  Vincennes.2 
"  We  all  suffered  very  much,"  said  Pierre  La  Plante,  of  Vincennes,  who  was  one  of 
the  troops,  "  but  I  pitied  the  poor  Kentuckians.  They  were  almost  naked  and  bare 
foot — only  their  linen  hunting-shirts — the  ground  covered  with  snow,  and  the  Wabash 
freezing  up."3 

With  this  more  successful  expedition  ended  General  Hopkins's  military  career.  In 
general  orders,  issued  at  Vincennes  on  the  18th  of  December  following,  he  said :  "  The 
commander-in-chief  now  closes  his  command,  and,  in  all  probability,  his  military  serv 
ices  forever."  Most  of  the  volunteers  were  now  discharged,  and  Illinois  and  Indiana 
experienced  a  season  of  comparative  repose. 

1  This  detachment  was  composed  of  Captain  Beckers's  company  of  Rangers,  a  small  number  of  mounted  militia,  and 
several  army  officers. 

2  General  Hopkins's  Letter  to  Governor  Shelby,  November  27, 1812. 

3  Dillon's  H'ixtory  of  Indiana,  Note,  page  502. 


338 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Impatience  of  the  People. 


Harrison's  Difficulties. 


He  is  Hopeful  and  Cheerful. 


•  1812. 


CHAPTER 

"How  dread  was  the  conflict,  how  bloody  the  fray, 
Told  the  banks  of  the  Raisin  at  the  dawn  of  the  day ; 
While  the  gush  from  the  wounds  of  the  dying  and  dead 
Had  thaw'd  for  the  warrior  a  snow-sheeted  bed. 

"But  where  is  the  pride  that  a  soldier  can  feel, 
To  temper  with  mercy  the  wrath  of  the  steel, 
While  Proctor,  victorious,  denies  to  the  brave 
Who  had  fallen  in  battle,  the  gift  of  a  grave  ?" 

LL  through  the  months  of  October,  November,  and  De- 
cember,a  General  Harrison  labored  incessantly  and  in 
tensely  in  making  preparations  for  a  winter  campaign  in  the 
Northwest.  The  nation  was  feverish  and  impatient.  Igno 
rance  of  military  necessities  allowed  unjust  and  injurious  cen- 
^_  sures  and  criticisms  to  be  made — unjust  to  the  officers  and  sol 
diers  in  the  field,  and  injurious  to  the  cause.  The  desire  of  the 
people  to  recover  all  that  Hull  had  lost  would  brook  no  re 
straint,  nor  listen  to  any  excuse  for  delay.  A  winter  campaign  was  demanded,  and 
Harrison  was  not  a  man  to  shrink  from  any  required  duty.  He  knew  that  much 
was  expected  of  him ;  and  day  and  night  his  head  and  hands  were  at  work,  with 
only  the  intermissions  required  by  the  necessity  for  taking  food,  indulging  in  sleep, 
and  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath.  Taking  all  things  into  consideration,  his  task 
was  Herculean,  and  to  some  men  would  have  been  appalling.  He  was  compelled  {o 
create  an  army  out  of  good  but  exceedingly  crude  materials.  He  was  compelled  to 
reconcile  many  differences  and  difficulties  in  order  to  insure  the  harmony  arising 
from  perfect  discipline.  He  was  compelled  to  concentrate  forces  and  supplies  at 
some  eligible  point,  like  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee,  while  perplexed  with  the  great 
est  impediments.  His  operations  were  necessarily  threefold  in  character  —  prepara 
tive,  offensive,  and  defensive,  in  a  wilderness  filled  with  hostile  savages  controlled 
and  supported  by  British  regulars.  A  frontier,  hundreds  of  miles  in  extent,  must  be 
protected  at  all  hazards  from  the  hatchet  and  the  knife.  The  season  was  becoming 
more  and  more  inclement.  From  the  fortieth  degree  of  latitude  northward  (the  di 
rection  of  his  projected,  march)  was  a  region  of  dark  forests  and  black  swamps.  The 
autumnal  rains  had  commenced,  filling  every  stream,  and  making  every  morass  brim 
ful  of  water.  Through  these,  roads  and  causeways  for  wagons  and  pack-horses  must 
be  cut  and  constructed,  over  which  supplies  of  every  kind,  with  men  and  artillery, 
must  be  conveyed.  Block-houses  were  to  be  built,  magazines  of  provisions  estab 
lished,  and  a  vigilant  watch  kept  upon  the  savages  who  might  prowl  upon  flanks  and 
rear.  All  this  had  to  be  done  with  undisciplined  troops  prone  to  self-reliance  and 
independence,  with  great  uncertainty  whether  volunteers  would  swell  his  army  for 
invasion  to  the  promised  dimensions  often  thousand  men. 

Yet,  in  view  of  all  these  labors  and  difficulties,  Harrison  was  cheerful  and  hopeful. 
"  I  am  fully  sensible  of  the  responsibility  invested  in  me,"  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary 
of  War  on  the  13th  of  October.  "I  accepted  it  with  full  confidence  of  being  able  to 
effect  the  wishes  of  the  President,  or  to  show  unequivocally  their  impracticability. 
If  the  fall  should  be  very  dry,  I  will  take  Detroit  before  the  winter  sets  in ;  but  if  we 
should  have  much  rain,  it  will  be  necessary  to  wait  at  the  Rapids  until  the  Mi- 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  339 


Objections  to  a  Winter  Campaign.  Difficulties  of  Transportation.  General  Simon  Perkins. 

ami  of  the  Lake  [Maumee,  or  Miami  of  the  Lakes]  is  sufficiently  frozen  over  to  bear 
the  army  and  its  baggage." 

]S'iue  days  later  Harrison  wrote,  "I  am  not  able  to  fix  any  period  for  the  advance 
of  the  troops  to  Detroit.  It  is  pretty  evident  that  it  can  not  be  done  upon  proper 
principles  until  the  frost  shall  become  so  severe  as  to  enable  us  to  use  the  rivers  and 
the  margin  of  the  lake  for  transportation  of  the  baggage  and  artillery  upon  the  ice. 
To  get  them  forward  through  a  swampy  wilderness  of  near  two  hundred  miles,  in 
wagons  or  on  pack-horses,  which  are  to  carry  their  own  provisions,  is  absolutely  im 
possible."  He  then  referred  to  a  suggestion  of  a  Congressman  that  the  possession 
of  Detroit  by  the  enemy  would  probably  be  the  most  effectual  bar  to  the  attainment 
of  peace,  then  hoped  for,  and  observed,  "  If  this  were  really  the  case,  I  would  under 
take  to  recover  it  with  a  detachment  of  the  army  at  any  time.  A  few  hundred  pack- 
horses,  with  a  drove  of  beeves  (without  artillery  or  heavy  baggage),  would  subsist 
the  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand  men  which  I  would  select  for  the  purpose  until 
the  residue  of  the  army  could  arrive.  But,  having  in  view  offensive  operations  from 
Detroit,  an  advance  of  this  sort  would  be  premature,  and  ultimately  disadvantageous. 
No  species  of  supplies  are  calculated  on  being  found  in  the  Michigan  Territory.  The 
farms  upon  the  Raisin,  which  might  have  afforded  a  quantity  of  forage,  are  nearly  all 
broken  up  and  destroyed.  This  article,  then,  as  well  as  the  provisions  for  the  men, 
is  to  be  taken  from  this  state — a  circumstance  which  must  at  once  put  to  rest  every 
idea  for  a  land  conveyance  at  this  season,  since  it  would  require  at  least  two  wagons 
with  forage  for  each  one  that  is  loaded  with  provisions  and  other  articles.  My 
present  plan  is,"  he  continued,  "  to  occupy  Upper  Sandusky,  and  accumulate  at  that 
place  as  much  provision  and  forage  as  possible,  to  be  taken  from  thence  upon  sleds  to 
the  River  Raisin.  At  Defiance,  Fort  Jennings,  and  St.  Mary,  boats  and  sleds  are  pre 
paring  to  take  advantage  of  a  rise  of  water  or  a  fall  of  snow." 

At  this  time,  the  troops  moving  on  the  line  of  operations  which  passed  from  Frank- 
linton  (head-quarters)  and  Delaware,  by  Upper  to  Lower  Sandusky,  composed  of  the 
brigades  from  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  and  one  of  Ohio,  under  General  Simon 
Perkins,1  were  designated  in  general  orders,  and  known  as  the  right  wing  of  the  army ; 

1  Simon  Perkins  was  born  at  Norwich,  Connecticut,  on  the  17th  of  September,  1771.  His  father  was  a  captain  in  the 
army  of  the1  Revolution,  and  died  in  camp.  He  emigrated  to  Oswego,  New-York,  in  1795,  where  he  spent  three  years  in 
extensive  land  operations.  A  portion  of  the  "  Western  Reserve,"  in  Ohio,  having  been  sold  by  the  State  of  Connecti 
cut,  the  new  proprietors  invited  Mr.  Perkins  to  explore  the  domain,  and  report  a  plan  for  the  sale  and  settlement  of  the 
lands.  He  went  to  Ohio  for  that  purpose  in  the  spring  of  1798.  He  spent  the  summer  there  in  the  performance  of  the 
duties  of  his  agency,  and  returned  to  Connecticut  in  the  autumn.  This  excursion  and  these  duties  were  repeated  by 
him  for  several  successive  summers.  He  finally  married  in  1804,  and  settled  on  the  "Reserve"  at  Warren.  So  ex 
tensive  were  the  land  agencies  intrusted  to  him,  that  in  1S15  the  state  land-tax  paid  by  him  into  the  public  treasury 
was  one  seventh  of  the  entire  revenue  of  the  state.  Mr.  Perkins  was  the  first  post-master  on  the  "Reserve,"  and  to 
him  the  post-master  general  intrusted  the  arrangement  of  post-offices  in  that  region.  For  twenty-eight  years  he  re 
ceived  and  merited  the  confidence  of  the  department  and  the  people.  At  the  request  of  the  government,  in  1807  he 
established  expresses  through  the  Indian  country  to  Detroit.  His  efforts  led  to  the  treaty  of  Brownsville  in  the  autumn 
of  1SOS,  when  the  Indians  ceded  lands  for  a  road  from  the  "Reserve"  to  the  Maumee,  or  Miami  of  the  Lakes.  In  May 
of  that  year  he  was  commissioned  a  brigadier  general  of  militia,  in  the  division  commanded  by  Major  General  Wads- 
worth,  On  hearing  of  the  disaster  to  Hull's  army  at  Detroit,  he  issued  orders  to  his  colonels  to  prepare  their  regiments 
for  active  duty.  To  him  was  assigned  the  duty  of  protecting  a  large  portion  of  the  Northwestern  frontier.  "To  the 
care  of  Brigadier  General  Simon  Perkins  I  commit  you,"  said  Wadsworth  on  parting  with  the  troops  of  the  Reserve, 
"  who  will  be  your  commander  and  your  friend.  In  his  integrity,  skill,  and  courage,  we  all  have  the  utmost  confidence." 
He  was  exceedingly  active.  His  scouts  were  out,  far  and  near,  continually.  His  public  accounts  were  kept  with  the 
greatest  clearness  and  accuracy  for  more  than  forty  years.  "  No  two  officers  in  the  public  service  at  that  time,"  testifies 
the  Honorable  Elisha  WThittlesey,  "were  more  energetic  or  economical  than  Generals  Harrison  and  Perkins."  When, 
in  1813,  General  Harrison  was  sufficiently  re-enforced  to  dispense  with  Perkins's  command,  he  left  the  service  [February 
28, 1813],  bearing  the  highest  encomiums  of  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  of  the  Northwest.  President  Madi 
son,  at  the  suggestion  of  Harrison  and  others,  sent  him  the  commission  of  colonel  in  the  regular  army,  but  duty  to  his 
family  and  the  demands  of  a  greatly  increasing  business  caused  him  to  decline  it. 

General  Perkins  was  intrusted  with  the  arrangement  and  execution,  at  the  head  of  a  commission,  of  the  extensive  ca 
nal  system  of  Ohio.  From  1826  until  1838  he  was  an  active  member  of  the  "Board  of  Canal  Fund  Commissioners."  They 
were  under  no  bonds  and  received  no  pecuniary  reward.  In  the  course  of  about  seven  years  they  issued  and  sold  state 
bonds  for  the  public  improvements  to  the  amount  of  four  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars.  Among  the  remarkable  men 
who  settled  the  "Western  Reserve,"  General  Simon  Perkins  ever  held  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  places,  and  his  in 
fluence  in  social  and  moral  life  is  felt  in  that  region  to  this  day.  He  died  at  Warren,  Ohio,  on  the  19th  of  November, 
1844.  His  widow  long  survived  him.  She  died  at  the  same  place  in  April,  1862.  To  their  sou,  Joseph  Perkins,  Esq., 
of  Cleveland,  I  am  indebted  for  the  materials  for  this  brief  sketch,  and  the  likeness  of  the  patriot  on  the  next  page. 


340 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Divisions  of  the  Army  of  the  Northwest. 


Employment  of  the  Troops. 


The  Western  Reserve. 


Tupper's  brigade,  that  was  to  move  on 
Hull's  road,  by  Fort  M'Arthur,  was  called 
the  centre;  and  the  Kentuckians  under 
Winchester  were  styled  the  left  wing. 
The  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  troops 
were  employed  in  escorting  the  artillery 
and  military  stores  toward  Upper  San- 
dusky;  the  Ohio  troops  conveyed  pro 
visions  from  Manary's  Block-house,  near 
the  head  of  the  Great  Miami,  twenty  miles 
north  of  Urbana,  to  Forts  M'Arthur  and 
Findlay,  on  Hull's  road ;  while  the  Ken 
tuckians  were  traversing  the  swamps  of 
the  St.  Mary  and  the  Au  Glaize,  and  de 
scending  those  rivers  in  small  craft,  to 

O  J 

carry  provisions  to  Fort  Winchester  (De 
fiance)  on  the  left  wing.1 

Northwestern  Ohio,  particularly  the 
settlements  on  the  Western  Reserve?  had 
been  alive  with  excitement  and  patriotic 
zeal  during  all  the  autumn, 
and  General  Wadsworth,  com 
mander  of  the  4th  Division  of 
the  Ohio  Militia  (the  boundaries 
of  which  comprised  the  counties 
of  Jefferson  and  Turnbull,  thus 
embracing  at  least  one  third  of  the  state)  was  continually,  vigilantly,  and  efficiently 
employed  in  the  promotion  of  measures  for  the  defense  of  the  frontier  from  the  Maumee 
to  Erie,  and  for  the  recovery  of  Michigan.  In  politics  General  Wadsworth  was  a 
Democrat  of  the  Jefferson  school.  He  had  watched  with  interest  and  indignation 
the  course  of  Great  Britain  for  many  years,  and  when  the  Congress  of  the  nation  de 
clared  war  against  her,  he  rejoiced  in  fhe  act  as  a  righteous  and  necessary  one.  He 
had  been  an  active  soldier  of  the  Revolution,3  and  now,  when  his  country  needed  his 

i  M'Afee,  pages  103, 104. 

=  The  charter  of  Connecticut,  granted  in  1602,  covered  the  country  from  Rhode  Island,  or,  as  expressed,  "  Narragan- 
set  River,"  on  the  east,  to  the  Pacific  on  the  west.  When  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania  claimed  dominion 
above  the  line  of  the  southern  boundary  of  the  province,  difficulties  appeared.  These  were  disposed  of.  In  1786  the 
State  of  Connecticut  ceded  to  the  United  States  all  the  lands  within  the  charter  limits  westward  of  Pennsylvania,  ex 
cepting  a  tract  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  length  westward,  adjoining  that  state.  The  cession  was  accepted. 
This  was  tailed  the  Connecticut  or  Western  Reserve ;  and  many  settlers  went  there  from  the  State  of  Connecticut.  A  part 
of  the  Reserve,  containing  half  a  million  of  acres,  was  granted  by  the  state  to  the  inhabitants  of  New  London,  Pair- 
field,  aud  Norwalk,  whose  property  had  been  burnt  by  the  British  during  the  Revolution.  This  was  known  as  The  Fire 
Lands.  The  remainder  of  the  Reserve  was  sold  in  1T95,  and  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  were  devoted  to  the  formation  of 
the  present  school  fund  of  Connecticut. 

3  Elijah  Wadsworth  was  born  in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  on  the  4th  of  November,  174T,  and  became  a  resident  of  Litch- 


field  before  the  Revolution.  After  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill  he  volunteered  to  go  to  Boston,  but  his  purpose  was 
frustrated,  when  he  engaged  heartily  in  raising  Colonel  Elisha  Sheldon's  troop  of  light-horsemen.  He  was  commis 
sioned  a  lieutenant  of  the  company  of  which  Benjamin  Tallmadge  was  captain.  He  served  with  zeal  during  the  entire 
war.  He  commanded  the  guard  in  whose  custody  Major  Andro  was  placed  immediately  after  his  arrest. 

Wadsworth  was  a  man  of  great  energy.    He  went  early  to  Ohio,  and  was  part  owner  of  the  ' '  Western  Reserve."    He 
made  his  residence  at  Canfield,  Ohio,  in  1802,  and  was  always  a  leading  man  in  that  section  of  the  new  state,  and  was 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


341 


Elisha  Whittlesey. 


Alarming  Rumors  about  Hull's  Surrender. 


Preparations  against  Invasion. 


services,  he  cheerfully  offered  them. 
Although  he  was  sixty-five  years  of 
age,  he  entered  upon  active  military 
duties  with  energy  with  the  late 
venerable  Elisha  Whittlesey,  of  Can- 
field,1  and  the  late  Honorable  Ben 
jamin  Tappen,  of  Steubenville,  Ohio, 
as  his  aid-de-camp.  The  former  ac 
companied  him  to  Cleveland  from 
Canfield,2  and  the  latter  soon  joined 
him  there. 

General  Wadsworth   was   at  his 
house  in  Canfield  when  intelligence 

O 

of  the  surrender  of  Hull  reached  him.3 
The  alarming  rumors  that  prevailed 
concerning  the  imminence  of  an  in 
vasion  called  for  immediate  and  en 
ergetic  action.     Wadsworth  at  once 
issued  orders  to  the  several  brigadier 
generals  of  his  division  to  muster  the 
militia  for  the  protection  of  the  fron- 
d C^/s~^i  t^er  from  ^e  imme(liate  incursions 
/f     S   of  the  British  and  their  savage  allies. 
//  Already  citizens  of  the  region  adja- 

(/  cent  to  Canfield  had  formed  a  corps 

of  dragoons,  under  Captain  James  Dowd.  This  company  was  ordered  into  the  serv 
ice  ;  and  so  promptly  did  it  respond  to  the  call,  that  by  noon  the  following  day  (Sun 
day,  August  23d,  1812),  it  was  on  its  march  toward  Cleveland  as  an  honorary  escort 


very  efficient  in  the  organization  of  the  crude  material  of  pioneer  life  into  well-balanced  society,  the  establishment  of 
schools,  etc.  His  aid  was  essential  in  the  establishment  of  the  state  government,  and  when  the  militia  was  enrolled  he 
was  chosen  major  general  of  the  4th  Division.  In  that  office  he  was  found  when  war  broke  out  in  1812.  His  services 
iu  the  war  are  recorded  in  the  text.  On  his  tomb-stone  at  Canfield  are  the  following  words:  "Major  General  Elijah. 
Wadsworth  moved  into  Canfield  in  October  A.D.  1802,  and  died  December  30, 181T,  aged  70  years,  1  month,  and  IT  days." 

1  Elisha  Whittlesey  was  born  in  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  on  the  19th  of  October,  1T83.    His  father,  a  practical 
farmer,  was  a  member  of  the  Connecticut  Legislature  seventeen  consecutive  sessions,  and  was  a  member  of  the  State 
Convention  that  ratified  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.    The  subject  of  this  brief  memoir  was  a  pupil  of  Rev. 
Thomas  Robbins,  of  Danbury,  Connecticut,  who  died  only  a  few  years  ago,  and  also  of  the  eminent  Moses  Stuart,  of 
Andover.    He  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  at  Fair-field  in  the  winter  of  1805.    He  commenced  practice  at 
New  Milford,  but  in  June,  1S06,  he  emigrated  to  Ohio,  and  settled  at  Canfield,  Turnbull  County,  which  place  was  his 
home  when  in  private  life.    In  the  autumn  of  that  year  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  and 
at  the  first  session  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  thereafter  he  was  appointed  prosecuting  attorney,  which  office  he  held 
sixteen  years.    When  the  war  broke  out  he  was  appointed  aid  to  General  Wadsworth.    On  the  retirement  of  General 
Wadsworth  from  the  service,  Mr.  Whittlesey  was  appointed  brigade  major  in  General  Simon  Perkins's  corps,  and  was 
with  that  officer  during  the  remainder  of  his  campaign  in  Northern  Ohio  in  1S12-'13.    He  was  sent  by  General  Harrison 
from  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee,  after  the  defeat  of  General  Winchester  at  the  Raisin,  to  ask  the  Legislature  of  Ohio 
to  pass  a  law  providing  for  the  payment  of  such  Ohio  troops  as  should  remain  in  service  after  their  time  of  enlistment 
should  expire.    He  was  successful. 

Mr.  Whittlesey  resumed  his  profession  after  the  war.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Legislature  from  1820  to 
1822  inclusive,  when  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  in  which  he  served  fourteen  consecutive  years.  During  all  that  time  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Claims,  full  one  half  of  that  time  its  chairman,  and  was  never  absent,  excepting  on 
public  business,  but  for  one  dav/,  for  which,  in  the  settlement  of  his  accounts,  he  deducted  the  sum  of  eight  dollars — a 
day's  salary  !  President  Harrison  appointed  him  auditor  of  the  treasury  of  the  Post-office  Department  in  March,  1841 
He  resigned  it  in  1843.  President  Taylor  appointed  him  comptroller  of  the  treasury  in  June,  1849.  He  offered  his  re 
signation  to  President  Pierce,  but  that  gentleman,  knowing  the  value  of  an  honest  man  in  that  responsible  station, 
would  not  accept  it.  In  March,  1S5T,  he  tendered  his  resignation  to  President  Buchanan.  He  accepted  it  in  May,  say 
ing,  "The  Lord  knows  I  do  not  wish  you  to  resign  at  all."  On  the  10th  of  April,  1SG1,  President  Lincoln  called  him 
from  his  home  to  occupy  the  same  responsible  position.  He  cheerfully  responded  to  the  call  of  his  country,  although 
seventy-eight  years  of  age,  and  faithfully  discharged  the  duties  of  his  office  until  a  few  days  before  his  death,  which 
occurred  on  Wednesday,  the  7th  day  of  January,  1863,  when  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age. 

2  Canfield,  the  capital  of  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  was  then  the  residence  of  General  Wadsworth,  and  also  of  Mr. 
Whittlesey. 

3  It  came  in  the  form  of  a  letter  written  by  Alfred  Kelley,  and  signed  by  twelve  other  citizens  of  Cleveland.    B.  Fitch, 
of  Ellsworth,  was  the  bearer  of  it. 


342  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Troops  welcomed  to  Cleveland.  Energy  of  General  Wadsworth.  Distress  on  the  Raisin  River. 

for  the  commanding  general.  They  marched  by  the  way  of  Hudson,1  twenty-five  miles 
•  August,  fr°m  Cleveland,  and  breakfasted  there,  at  Oviatt's,on  the  morning  of  the  24th. a 
18*2-  Soon  after  resuming  their  march  they  met  some  of  Hull's  paroled  army,  who 
had  been  landed  from  British  boats  at  Cleveland.  Their  stories  increased  the  panic 
caused  by  startling  rumors,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  along  the  lake  were  flee 
ing  from  their  homes  eastward  or  toward  the  Ohio,  to  avoid  the  apprehended  on 
coming  evils.  Wadsworth  tried  to  allay  the  excitement,  but  it  was  rolling  over  the 
frontier  in  an  almost  resistless  flood.  When  the  cavalcade  entered  Cleveland  that 
afternoon  at  four  o'clock,  it  created  great  joy  among  the  few  inhabitants  there.  Two 
or  three  hours  later  Colonel  Cass  arrived  at  Cleveland  from  Detroit  on  his  way  to 
Washington  City,  and  at  the  request  of  General  Wadsworth  he  was  accompanied  to 
the  seat  of  government  by  ex-governor  Samuel  Huntington,  then  at  Cleveland,2  as 
bearer  of  an  important  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  In  that  letter  Wadsworth 
informed  the  secretary  that  he  had  called  out  about  three  thousand  of  the  militia  of 
his  division,  to  rendezvous  at  Cleveland,  but  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  them 
destitute  of  arms,  ammunition,  and  proper  equipments  for  a  campaign,  as  well  as  the 
difficulty  of  feeding  them.  Properly  estimating  the  value  of  the  great  Northwest  to 
the  Union,  and  the  importance  of  these  troops  for  its  protection,  as  well  as  in  the  ef 
forts  to  be  made  for  the  recovery  of  Michigan,  "  so  dishonorably  given  up  to  the  en- 
<emy,"  he  urged  the  government  to  extend  its  immediate  and  unceasing  aid  in  sup 
plying  the  wants  of  this  little  army  then  hastening  to  the  field.  ""The  fate  of  the 
Western  country,"  he  said, "  is  suspended  on  the  decision  the  government  shall  make 
to  this  .application."3 

General  Wadsworth  did  not  wait  for  a  reply.  Necessity  demanded  instant  action. 
He  took  the  responsibility  of  appointing  commissioners  of  supplies,  and  giving  re 
ceipts  to  those  who  furnished  them  in  the  name  of  the  government.4  The  people, 
with  equal  faith  in  the  wisdom  of  the  general  and  the  justice  of  the  government,  re 
sponded  without  hesitation  to  the  call  for  provisions  and  forage.  Nor  was  that  faith 
disappointed.  By  a  letter  dated  the  5th  of  September,  Wadsworth's  course  was 
sanctioned  by  the  War  Department,  and  he  wTas  invested  with  full  power  to  take 
measures  for  supplying  his  troops  and  giving  efficiency  to  their  service. 

Intelligence  came  to  Wadsworth  almost  hourly  of  the  distress  of  the  inhabitants 
on  the  Raisin,  and  along  the  lake  shore  eastward  as  far  as  the  Huron  River,  who,  in 
violation  of  the  agreements  of  the  capitulations  at  Detroit,  were  being  plundered  by 
the  Indians  even  of  their  boots  and  shoes.  Their  homes  were  broken  up  by  the  ma 
rauders,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  were  fleeing  for  their  lives.  The  benevolent 
Wadsworth  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  send  them  relief,  and  it  was  with  real  joy 
that  he  Welcomed  the  arrival  at  Cleveland,  on  the  26th  of  August,  of  General  Simon 
Perkins  with  a  large  body  of  troops.  He  resolved  to  send  him  forward  to  the  Huron 
immediately  with  a  thousand  men,  to  erect  block-houses  and  protect  the  inhabitants. 

1  The  capital  of  the  present  Summit  County,  Ohio.    It  was  the  first  settlement  made  in  the  county.    In  the  division 
of  the  Western  Reserve  among  the  purchasers  from  Connecticut,  this  section  fell  to  the  lot  of  David  Hudson,  who  com 
menced  a  settlement  in  the  year  1SOO.    Mr. 'Hudson  died  in  March,  1836,  aged  seventy-five  years. 

2  Huntington  was  governor  of  Ohio  from  1808  to  1810.    In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  resided  at  Painesville,  in  Lake 
County,  where  he  died  in  1S1T.    He  lived  in  Cleveland  for  a  while  before  making  his  residence  at  Painesville.    As  an 
illustration  of  the  wonderful  growth  of  American  cities,  and  the  rapid  settlement  and  clearing  of  the  country  westward 
of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  I  mention  the  fact  that  Governor  Huntington,  when  approaching  Cleveland  from  the  east 
one  night,  and  only  two  miles  from  it,  was  attacked  by  a  pack  of  wolves.    He  beat  them  off  with  his  umbrella,  and 
made  his  escape  to  the  town  through  the  fleetness  of  his  horse.    That  was  only  about  fifty  years  ago.    Cleveland-now 
[186T]  contains  more  than  50,000  inhabitants. 

3  MS.  Letter  of  General  Wadsworth  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  dated  Cleveland,  August  25,  1812. 

4  The  commissioners  appointed  were  Aaron  Norton,  Eleazer  Hicock,  and  Ebenezer  Murray.    The  people  sold  to 
them,  on  the  terms  offered,  as  cheaply  as  if  paid  in  gold  and  silver.    They  gave  a  certificate  in  writing  stating  the  arti 
cle  furnished,  its  quantity  and  value,  with  a  promise  to  pay  for  it  when  the  government  should  remit  funds  for  the 

purpose.  Property  abandoned  by  frightened  inhabitants  was  taken,  appraised,  and  inventoried.  A  fatigue  party 
would  harvest  a  field  of  grain,  while  an  officer  kept  an  exact  account  of  the  whole  matter,  and  the  owners  were  after 
ward  remunerated.  In  the  final  settlement  hardly  a  single  case  of  dissatisfaction  occurred.— Statement  of  Hon.  Elisha 
Whittlesey  to  the  author. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  343 


Re-enforcements  for  Winchester.  March  to  Detroit  suspended.  Attempted  Lodgment  at  the  Maumee  Rapids. 

General  Reazin  Beall1  was  also  directed  to  go  westward  on  a  similar  errand ;  and 
preparations  for  their  departure  were  nearly  completed,  when  "VVadsworth  received 
dispatches  from  the  Secretary  of  War  saying  that  the  President  intended  to  adopt 
the  most  vigorous  measures  "  to  repair  the  disasters  at  Detroit,"  and  to  prosecute 
with  increased  ardor  the  important  objects  of  the  campaign.  Wadsworth  was  di 
rected  to  forward  fifteen  hundred  men  to  the  frontier  as  quickly  as  possible,  with 
directions  to  "  report  to  General  Winchester,  or  officer  commanding"  there,  at  the 
same  time  promising  an  adequate  supply  of  arms  and  ammunition.  Arrangements 
for  the  movement  were  speedily  made,  and  Perkins  and  Beall,  who  had  been  em 
ployed  by  Governor  Meigs  in  opening  a  road  from  Mansfield,  in  the  interior  of  Ohio 
(now  capital  of  Richland  County),  to  Lower  Sandusky,  were  ordered  toward  the  lat 
ter  place.  Some  clashing  of  authority  between  Wadsworth  and  Meigs,  and  some 
complaints  concerning  affairs  in  the  region  bordering  on  Lake  Erie,  caused  Harrison, 
who  (as  we  have  seen)  was  made  commander-in-chief  of  the  Northwestern  Army,  to 
make  a  personal  examination  of  matters  there  toward  the  close  of  October.  He  found 
General  Wadsworth  near  the  mouth  of  the  Huron  River,  at  the  head  of  eight  hund 
red  men.  Beall,  with  about  five  hundred,  was  at  Mansfield.  The  two  corps  were 
consolidated  and  placed  under  General  Perkins,  with  orders  to  proceed  to  Lower 
Sandusky,  and  open  a  road  thence  to  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee ;  a  severe  task,  for 
it  was  necessary  to  causeway  it  about  fifteen  miles.  This  was  accomplished.  Har 
rison  returned  to  his  head-quarters  at  Franklinton  early  in  November,  and  on  the 
15th  of  that  month  was  compelled  to  inform  the  War  Department  that  he  doubted 
the  propriety  of  attempting  to  penetrate  Canada,  or  to  proceed  farther  than  the 
Rapids  during  the  winter,  owing  to  the  insurmountable  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
transporting  forage  and  supplies.  "  I  know  it  will  be  mortifying  to  Kentucky," 
Harrison  wrote  to  Governor  Shelby,  "  for  this  army  to  return  without  doing  any 
thing ;  but  it  is  better  to  do  that  than  to  attempt  impossibilities.  I  wish  to  God  the 
public  mind  were  informed  of  our  difficulties,  and  gradually  prepared  for  this  course. 
In  my  opinion,  we  should  in  this  quarter  disband  all  but  those  sufficient  for  a  strong 
frontier  guard,  convoys,  etc.,  and  prepare  for  the  next  season." 

General  Tupper  had  made  another  unsuccessful  attempt  to  establish  a  permanent 
lodgment  at  the  Maumee  Rapids,  and  this  failure  doubtless  gave  nerve  to  Harrison's 
convictions.  We  left  Tupper  at  Urbana,  after  his  difficulties  with  Winchester  at 
Defiance.  He  pushed  forward  along  Hull's  road  to  Fort  M'Arthur,  and  there  he 
speedily  prepared  an  expedition  to  the  Rapids,  consisting  of  six  hundred  and  fifty 
mounted  men  who  volunteered  for  the  service.  He  had  sent  Captain  Hinkson,  at 
the  head  of  a  company  of  spies,  to  reconnoitre  at  the  Rapids,  who  returned  with  a 
British  captain,  named  Clarke,  as  his  prisoner.  The  result  of  the  reconnoissance  was 
information  that  there  were  three  or  four  hundred  Indians,  and  about  seventy-five 
British  regulars  at  the  Rapids,  who  were  there  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  off  a  quan 
tity  of  corn  at  that  post.  Tupper  immediately  notified  General  Winchester  of  his 
intended  expedition,  and,  on  the  10th,a  moved  forward  with  his  command  .November, 
along  Hull's  road  toward  the  Rapids,  taking  with  him  a  light  six-pounder,  1812- 
and  five  days'  provisions  in  the  knapsacks  of  the  men. 

The  roads  were  wretched,  and  Tupper  was  compelled  to  leave  his  little  cannon  at 
a  block-house  on  the  way.  From  Portage  River,  twenty  miles  from  the  Rapids,  he 
sent  forwai-d  a  reconnoitring  party,  following  slowly  with  his  whole  command. 
Within  a  few  miles  of  the  Rapids  he  met  his  spies  returning  with  information  that 
the  enemy  were  still  there.  Halting  until  twilight,  he  marched  forward  to  a  ford 

1  Reazin  Beall,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  an  ensign  in  the  United  States  Infantry  in  1792,  and  was  in  the  third  sub-legion 
the  same  year.  He  was  adjntant  and  quartermaster  the  following  year.  He  served  under  Wayne  for  a  while,  and  re 
signed  at  the'beginning  of  1794.  From  the  Sth  of  September  till  the  3d  of  November,  1812,  he  was  a  brigadier  general 
of  Ohio  volunteers.  He  represented  Ohio  in  Congress  from  1S13  till  1815.  He  died  on  the  20th  of  February,  1842.— 
Gardner's  Dictionary  of  the  Army,  page  59. 


344  PICTOEIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Stirring  Events  at  the  Rapids.  Fight  with  Indians.  Relief  for  Ohio  Troops.  A  Menace. 

about  two  miles  above  the  Rapids.  Thence  spies  were  again  sent  forward,  and  re 
turned,  saying, "  They  are  closely  encamped,  and  are  singing  and  dancing."  Tupper 
resolved  to  attack  them  at  dawn,  and  orders  were  given  to  cross  the  river  imme 
diately.  The  sky  was  clear,  and  the  weather  intensely  cold.  The  men  were  much 
fatigued,  yet  the  excitement  gave  them  strength.  Tupper  dashed  into  the  icy  flood 
at  the  head  of  his  men,  and  crossed  with  the  first  section  in  safety ;  but  the  water, 
waist-deep  at  times,  and  flowing  in  a  swift  current,  confused  and  swept  from  their 
feet  many  of  the  next  division.  They  were  exposed  to  great  perils,  but  none  were 
lost.  After  ineffectual  attempts  to  accomplish  the  undertaking,  those  who  had  cross 
ed  were  recalled,  and  the  whole  body  retired  to  the  woods  and  encamped. 

Early  the  next  morning  Tupper  sent  to  Winchester  for  re-enforcements  and  food  ; 
and  some  spies  went  down  the  river,  showed  themselves  opposite  the  enemy's  camp, 
and  tried  to  entice  them  across.  They  failed,  when  Tupper  moved  down  with  his 
whole  body,  and  displayed  the  heads  of  his  columns  in  the  open  space  between  the 
river  and  the  woods.  This  frightened  the  enemy.  "  The  squaws,"  said  a  contem 
porary  writer,1  "  ran  to  the  woods ;  the  British  ran  to  their  boats,  and  escaped.  The 
Indians,  more  brave  than  their  allies,  paraded,  and  fired  across  the  river,  but  without 
effect."  They  used  muskets  and  a  four-pound  cannon.  Tupper  then  fell  back,  hop 
ing  the  savages  in  a  body  would  venture  across  the  Maumee,  but  they  did  not. 
Some  mounted  Indians  were  seen  to  go  up  the  stream,  and  at  the  same  time  some  of 
Tupper's  men,  contrary  to  orders,  entered  a  field  to  pull  corn,  while  others  pursued  a 
drove  of  hogs  in  the  same  direction.  The  latter  were  suddenly  assailed  by  a  party 
of  mounted  savages  who  had  crossed  unperceived,  and  four  of  Tupper's  men  were 
killed.  The  Indians,  excited  by  the  shedding  of  blood,  fell  upon  the  left  flank  of  the 
white  army,  but  were  repulsed.  Almost  at  the  same  moment,  a  large  body  of  the 
savages,  under  the  notable  chief  Split-Log,  who  rode  a  fine  white  horse,  crossed  the 
river  above  the  advance  of  Tupper's  column.  They  were  driven  back  by  Bentley's 
battalion  with  some  loss,  and  the  Ohio  troops  were  not  again  annoyed  by  them. 
Late  in  the  evening  Tupper  and  his  men  turned  their  faces  toward  Fort  M' Arthur, 
for  their  provisions  were  almost  exhausted,  and  their  nearest  point  of  sure  supply 
was  forty  miles  distant. 

Winchester,  in  the  mean  time,  having  received  Tupper's  first  message,  had  sent  a 
detachment,  under  Colonel  Lewis,  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  men,  to  co-operate  with 
the  Ohio  troops.  Tupper's  appeal  for  men  and  food,  which  reached  him  later,  was 
forwarded  to  Lewis  as  soon  as  it  was  received  by  Winchester,  and  the  former  pushed 
forward  by  a  forced  march  to  the  relief  of  the  imperiled  ones.  Finding  Tupper's 
camp  deserted,  apparently  with  haste,  and  in  it  two  dead  men  scalped,  Lewis  sup 
posed  he  had  been  defeated.  Under  this  impression,  he  retreated  to  Winchester's 
camp.  Thus  ended  this  bold  attempt  to  take  position  at  the  Rapids.  The  inten 
tions  of  the  projector  failed,  but  the  expedition  had  the  effect  to  frighten  the  British 
and  Indians  away  before  they  had  gathered  up  the  corn ;  and  averted,  for  the  time, 
a  contemplated  blow  by  the  savages  upon  the  alarmed- French  settlements  on  the 
Raisin,  at  the  instigation  of  their  British  allies.2 

1  M'Afee,  page  170.    See  also  Brackenridge,  page  61. 

2  Just  before  the  approach  of  Tupper  the  following  note  (of  course,  written  by  one  of  the  British  allies)  from  the  In 
dians  was  sent  to  the  inhabitants  on  the  Raisin : 

"  The  Hurons  and  other  tribes  of  Tndiam,  assembled  at  the  Miami  Rapids,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  River  Raisin. 
"  FEIENDS, — Listen  :  you  have  always  told  us  that  yon  would  give  us  any  assistance  in  your  power.    We  therefore,  as 
the  enemy  is  approaching  us,  within  twenty-five  miles,  call  upon  you  all  to  rise  up  and  come  here  immediately,  bring 
ing  your  arms  along  with  you.    Should  you  fail  at  this  time,  we  will  not  consider  you  in  future  as  friends,  and  the  con 
sequences  may  be  very  unpleasant.    We  are  well  convinced  that  you  have  no  writing  forbidding  you  to  assist  us. 

his 

"We  are  your  friends  at  present.  "Rot/nn  +  HEAD, 

mark, 
his 

"WALK-IN-  -f-  THE-WATEE." 
mark. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  345 


Services  of  Captain  Logan.  His  Death.  Wa-pagh-ko-netta  and  its  notable  Indians. 

At  about  this  time  the  American  service  in  the  Northwest  lost  a  valuable  friend. 
It  was  the  settled  policy  of  the  government  not  to  employ  the  Indians  in  war,  but 
there  were  occasions  when  exceptions  to  the  rule  became  a  necessity.  It  was  so  in 
Ohio.  There  was  an  active,  intelligent,  and  influential  chief,  a  nephew  of  Tecum- 
tha  (son  of  his  sister),  who,  when  a  boy,  having  been  captui-ed  by  General  John  Lo 
gan,  of  Kentucky,  received  that  gentleman's  name,  and  bore  it  through  life.  His  wife 
had  also  been  a  captive  to  a  Kentuckian  (Colonel  Hardin),  and  both  felt  a  warm  at 
tachment  to  the  white  people.  Major  Hardin  (then  in  the  Army  of  the  Northwest, 
and  son  of  Colonel  Hardin)  and  Logan  were  true  friends,  and  highly  esteemed  each 
other.  Logan  had  much  influence  with  his  tribe,  and  when  the  war  broke  out  he 
asked  for  employment  in  the  American  service.  It  was  granted,  because  he  might 
have  been  made  an  enemy.  He  accompanied  Hull  to  Detroit,  and  was  exceedingly 
active  as  a  scout.  We  have  also  seen  that  Harrison  employed  him  on  a  mission  to 
Fort  Wayne. 

Soon  after  the  return  of  Tupper  from  the  Rapids,  Logan  and  his  followers  were 
sent  toward  that  post  to  reconnoitre.  They  met  a  strong  opposing  party,  and,  to 
save  themselves,  scattered  in  every  direction.  Captain  Logan,  with  two  friends 
(Captains  John  and  Bright  Horn),  made  his  way  to  Winchester's  camp,  where  he  re 
lated  their  adventures.  His  fidelity  was  ungenerously  suspected,  and  he  was  believed 
to  be  a  spy.  His  pride  and  every  sentiment  of  manhood  were  deeply  wounded  by 
the  suspicion,  and  he  resolved  to  vindicate  his  character  by  actions  rather  than  by 
words.  He  started*  with  his  two  friends  for  the  Rapids,  with  the  de-  "November  22, 
termination  to  bring  in  a  prisoner  or  a  Scalp.  They  had  not  gone  far  when 
they  were  made  prisoners  themselves  by  a  son  of  Colonel  Elliott  and  some  Indians, 
among  whom  was  Win-ne-meg,  or  Win-ne-mac — the  Pottawatomie  chief  who  bore 
Hull's  dispatch  from  Fort  Wayne  to  Chicago.1  He  was  now  an  ally  of  the  British. 
He  knew  Logan  well,  and  rejoiced  in  being  the  captor  of  an  old  enemy.  The  latter 
resolved  to  make  a  desperate  effort  for  liberty.  His  companions  were  made  to  un 
derstand  significant  signs,  and  at  a  concerted  signal  they  attacked  their  captors. 
Logan  shot  Win-ne-meg  dead.  Elliott  and  a  young  Ottawa  chief  were  also  slain. 
Logan  was  badly  wounded,  so  was  Bright  Horn  ;  but  they  leaped  upon  the  backs  of 
horses  of  the.  enemy  and  escaped  to  Winchester's  camp.  Captain  John  followed 
the  next  morning  with  the  scalp  of  the  Ottawa.  Logan's  honor  and  fidelity  were 
fully  vindicated,  but  at  the  cost  of  his  life — his  wound  was  mortal.  After  he  had 
suffered  great  agony  for  two  days,  his  spirit  returned  to  the  Great  Master  of  Life. 
Proctor  had  offered,  it  is  said,  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  his  scalp.  It  was 
never  taken  from  his  head.  His  body  was  carried  in  moumful  procession,  by  Major 
Hardin  and  others,  to  Wa-pagh-ko-netta,2  where  his  family  resided,  and  was  buried 

1  See  page  305. 

3  This  is  a  small  village  in  Allen  County,  Ohio,  on  the  An  Glaize  River,  about  ten  miles  from  St.  Mary.  After  the 
Shawnoese  were  driven  from  Piqua  by  General  Clark  in  17SO,  they  established  a  village  here,  and  named  it  Wa-pagh- 
ko-netta,  in  honor  of  a  chief  of  that  name.  Colonel  John  Johnston  informed  me  that  he  knew  the  chief  well.  He  said 
he  had  a  club-foot,  and  thinks  the  name  had  some  relation  to  that  deformity.  Colonel  Johnston  resided  at  Wa-pagh- 
ko-netta  for  some  time.  The  Society  of  Friends,  or  Quakers,  had  a  mission  there  for  a  number  of  years.  It  was  the 
home  of  Blue  Jacket,  spoken  of  in  our  account  of  the  invasion  of  the  country  by  Wayne,  in  1T94.  Buckongahelos  also 
resided  there ;  also  the  celebrated  Black  Hoof,  who  was  a  native  of  Florida,  whose  birthplace  was  on  the  Suwanee.  He 
remembered  the  removal  of  that  tribe  from  their  southern  home  to  the  forests  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio.  He  was  at 
the  defeat  of  Braddock  in  1755.  In  all  the  wars  with  the  white  people  in  his  region,  from  that  time  until  the  treaty  of 
Greenville  in  1795,  he  was  a  popular  leader,  and  could  always  command  as  many  men  for  the  war-path  as  he  desired. 
He  was  a  party  to  the  treaty  at  Greenville,  and  was  ever  faithful  to  his  pledges  there  made.  Tecumtha  could  not  se 
duce  him,  and  he  was  the  faithful  friend  of  the  Americans  in  the  war  with  Great  Britain  which  we  are  now  considering. 
A  few  weeks  after  the  burial  of  Logan  [January,  1813],  he  visited  General  Tupper's  camp  at  Fort  M' Arthur.  While 
sitting  by  the  fire  with  the  general,  a  scoundrel  militia-man,  Colonel  Johnston  informed  me,  fired  a  pistol  ball  at  him 
through  the  logs  of  the  block-house,  which  entered  his  cheek,  passed  through  his  mouth,  cut  off  his  palate,  and  lodged 
in  his  neck.  He  would  never  have  the  ball  removed,  but  would  call  the  children  to  feel  of  it,  and  then  would  tell  them 
of  his  wrongs.  Colonel  Johnston  gave  him  a  healing  plaster  for  his  wound  in  the  form  of  a  bank-note  of  the  denomi 
nation  of  one  hundred  dollars.  Colonel  Johnston  says  he  was  one  of  the  most  perfectly  formed  men  he  ever  saw.  He 
was  naturally  cheerful  and  good-natured.  He  lived  with  his  wife  faithfully  for  forty  years.  His  stature  was  small,  and 
his  eyesight  remained  perfect  during  his  whole  life. 


346  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Expedition  against  Miamis  and  Delawares.  Friends  to  be  spared.  Campbell  on  the  Mississiniwa. 

there  with  mingled  savage  rites  and  military  honors.  The  scalp  of  the  slain  Ottawa, 
raised  upon  a  pole,  was  carried  in  the  funeral  procession  and  then  taken  to  the  coun 
cil-house.  Logan's  death  was  mourned  as  a  public  calamity,  for  he  was  one  of  the 
most  intelligent,  active,  and  trustworthy  of  Harrison's  scouts. 

At  this  time  the  Miamis,  nearly  all  of  whom  had  become  wedded  to  the  interests 
of  the  British,  were  assembled,  with  some  Delawares  from  White  River,  in  towns  on 
the  Mississiniwa,  a  tributary  of  the  Wabash,  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  from  its  conflu 
ence  with  the  latter  stream,  near  the  boundary-line  between  the  present  Wabash  and 
Grant  Counties,  Indiana.  They  were  evidently  there  for  hostile  purposes,  and  Gen 
eral  Harrison  resolved  to  destroy  or  disperse  them.  He  detached  for  the  purpose 
Lieutenant  Colonel  John  B.  Campbell,  of  the  Nineteenth  Regiment  of  United  States 
Infantry,1  composed  mainly  of  Colonel  Simrall's  regiment  of  Kentucky  dragoons ;  a 
squadron  of  United  States  volunteer  dragoons,  commanded  by  Major  James  V.  Ball; 
and  a  corps  of  infantry,  consisting  of  Captain  Elliott's  company  of  the  Nineteenth 
United  States  Regiment,  Butler's  Pittsburg  Blues,  and  Alexander's  Pennsylvania 
Riflemen.  A  small  company  of  spies  and  guides  were  attached  to  the  expedition. 

Campbell  left  Franklinton,  the  head-quarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Northwest,  on 
the  25th  of  November,  with  his  troops,  instructed  by  Harrison  to  march  for  the  Mis 
sissiniwa  by  way  of  Springfield,  Xenia,  Dayton,  Eaton,  and  Greenville,  so  as  to  avoid 
the  Delaware  towns.  He  was  also  instructed  to  save,  if  he  could  do  so  without  risk 
to  the  expedition,  Chiefs  Richardville  (then  second  chief  of  the  Miamis),  Silver  Heels, 
and  the  White  Lion,  all  of  which,  with  Pecan,  the  principal  chief  of  the  Miamis,  and 
Charley,  the  leader  of  the  Eel  River  tribe,  were  known  to  be  friendly  to  the  white 
people.  The  son  and  brother  of  Little  Turtle  were  also  to  be  saved,  if  possible ;  also 
old  Godfrey  and  his  wife,  who  were  true  friends  of  the  Americans. 

It  was  the  middle  of  December  before  the  expedition  left  Dayton,  on  account  of 
delay  in  procuring  horses.  Their  destination  was  eighty  miles  distant.  Each  sol 
dier  was  required  to  carry  twelve  days'  rations,  and  a  bushel  of  corn  for  forage. 
The  ground  was  hard  frozen  and  covered  with  snow,  and  the  weather  was  intensely 
cold,  yet  they  marched  forty  miles  the  first  two  days.  On  the  third  they  made  a 
forced  march,  and  during  that  day  and  night  they  advanced  another  forty  miles, 
when  they  reached  the  Mississiniwa,  and  fell  upon  a  town  inhabited  by.  a  number  of 
Miamis  and  Delawares.  Eight  warriors  were  slain,  and  eight  others,  with  thirty- 
two  women  and  children,  were  made  prisoners.  The  town  was  laid  in  ashes  with 
the  exception  of  two  houses,  which  were  left  for  the  shelter  of  the  captives.  Cattle 
and  other  stock  were  slaughtered. 

Campbell  left  the  prisoners  in  charge  of  a  sufficient  guard,  and  pushed  on  down  the 
river  three  miles  to  Silver  Heels's  village  with  Simrall's  and  Ball's  dragoons.  It  was 
deserted ;  so  also  were  two  other  towns  near.  These  were  destroyed,  with  many 
cattle.  They  captured  several  horses,  and  with  these  and  a  very  small  quantity  of 
corn  they  returned  to  the  scene  of  their  first  victory,  and  encamped  for  the  night  on 
the  shore  of  the  Mississiniwa.  The  camp  was  about  two  hundred  yards  square,  and 
fortified  with  a  small  redoubt  at  each  angle.  The  infantry  and  riflemen  were  posted 
in  front,  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  Captain  Elliott's  company  on  the  right,  Butler's  in 
the  centre,  and  Alexander's  on  the  left.  Major  Ball's  squadron  occupied  the  right 

Black  Hoof  was  often  asked  to  sing  the  songs  of  the  worship  of  his  people,  but  nothing  could  induce  him  to  do  so. 
He  would  not  even  repeat  the  words  to  the  white  man.  His  was  like  the  refusal  of  the  Hebrew  captive  to  sing  the 
songs  of  Zion  on  the  banks  of  the  rivers  of  Babylon.  Black  Hoof  was  the  principal  chief  of  the  Shawnoese  for  many 
years  before  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Wa-pagh-ko-netta  about  the  year  1S30,  at  the  age,  it  was  believed,  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  years. 

1  John  B.  Campbell  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  nephew  of  Colonel  Campbell,  who  was  distinguished  at  the  battle 
of  King's  Mountain  in  1780.  He  was  commissioned  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Nineteenth  Regiment  of  Infantry  in 
March,  1812.  For  his  good  conduct  in  the  expedition  mentioned  above  he  was  breveted  a  colonel.  In  April,  1814,  he 
was  commissioned  a  colonel  in  the  Eleventh  Infantry,  and  was  distinguished  and  severely  wounded  in  the  battle  of 
Chippewa  on  the  5th  of  July  following.  He  died  of  his  wounds  on  the  28th  of  August,  1814. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  347 

Attack  on  Campbell's  Camp.  A  desperate  Fight.  Distressing  Retreat  to  Greenville. 

and  one  half  of  the  rear  line,  and  Colonel  SimralPs  regiment  the  left  and  other  half  of 
the  rear  line.  Between  Ball's  right  and  Simrall's  left  there  was  a  considerable  open 
ing.  Major  Ball  was"  the  officer  of  the  day. 

At  midnight  the  sentinels  reported  the  presence  of  Indians,  and  a  fire  was  seen 
down  the  river.  The  greatest  vigilance  was  exercised,  and  the  reveille  was  beaten 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Adjutant  Payne  immediately  summoned  the  field 
officers  to  a  council  at  the  fire  of  the  commander  to  consult  upon  the  propriety  of 
going  on  twelve  miles  farther  down  the  river,  to  attack  one  of  the  principal  towns 
there.  While  the  officers  were  in  council,  half  an  hour  before  dawn,a  ,  j)ecember  is 
the  camp  was  startled  by  terrific  yells,  followed  immediately  by  a  1812- 

furious  attack  of  a  large  body  of  savages  who  had  crept  stealthily  along  the  margin 
of  the  river.  Every  officer  flew  to  his  post,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  lines  were 
formed,  and  the  Indians  were  confi'onted  with  a  heavy  fire.  The  attack  was  made 
upon  the  angle  of  the  camp,  formed  by  the  left  of  Captain  Hopkins's  troops  and  the 
right  of  Captain  Garrard's  dragoons  of  Simrall's  regiment.  Captain  Pierce,  who  com 
manded  at  the  redoubt  there,  was  shot  and  tomahawked,  and  his  guard  retreated  to 
the  lines.  The  conflict  soon  became  general  along  the  right  flank  and  part  of  the 
rear.  The  Pittsburg  Blues  promptly  re-enforced  the  point  assailed,  and  gallantly 
kept  the  savages  at  bay.  For  an  hour  the  battle  raged  furiously.  It  was  finally 
terminated,  between  dawn  and  sunrise,  by  'a  well-directed  fire  from  Butler's  Pitts- 
burg  corps,  and  desperate  charges  of  cavalry  under  Captains  Trotter,  Markle,1  and 
Johnson,  when  the  Indians  fled  in  dismay,  leaving  fifteen  of  their  warriors  dead  on 
the  field.  Campbell  had  lost  eight  killed  and  forty-two  wounded.  Several  of  the 
latter  afterward  died  of  their  wounds.2  Campbell  had  one  hundred  and  seven  horses 
killed.  What  the  whole  loss  of.  the  Indians  was  could  not  be  ascertained,  but  it  is 
supposed  that  they  carried  away  as  many  mortally  wounded  as  they  left  dead  on  the 
field.  Little  Thunder,  a  nephew  of  Little  Turtle,  was  in  the  engagement,  and  per 
formed  great  service  in  inspiring  his  people  with  confidence  by  stirring  words  and 
gallant  deeds.  Although  Silver  Heels,  a  friend  of  the  Americans  (and  who  was  with 
their  army  on  the  Niagara  frontier  the  following  year),  was  not  present,  nearly  all  of 
the  prisoners  were  of  his  band.  He  did  every  thing  in  his  power  to  persuade  his 
young  warriors  to  remain  neutral,  but  in  vain. 

Rumors  reached  Campbell  immediately  after  the  battle  that  Tecumtha,  with  five 
or  six  hundred  warriors,  was  on  the  Mississiniwa,  only  eighteen  miles  below.  With 
out  calling  a  council,  the  commander  immediately  ordered  a  retreat  for  Greenville. 
He  sent  a  messenger  (Captain  Hite)  thither  for  re-enforcements  and  supplies,  for  he 
expected  to  be  attacked  on  the  way.  Fortunately  the  savages  did  not  pursue.  It 
was  a  dreadful  journey,  especially  for  the  sick  and  wounded,  in  that  keen  winter  air. 
They  moved  slowly,  for  seventeen  men  had  to  be  conveyed  on  litters.  Every  night 
the  camp  was  fortified  by  a  breastwork.  At  length,  wearied  and  with  little  food, 
they  met  provisions  with  an  escort  of  ninety  men  under  Major  Adams.  The  relief 
was  timely  and  most  grateful.  All  moved  forward  together,  and  on  the  25th,  with 
three  hundred  men  so  frostbitten  as  to  be  unfit  for  duty,  the  expedition  arrived  at 
Greenville.  More  than  one  half  the  corps  that  a  month  before  had  gone  gayly  to  the 
wilderness  were  now  lost  to  the  service  for  a  while.  They  had  accomplished  their 
errand,  but  at  a  great  cost.3  The  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  of  the  Northwest, 

1  Joseph  Markle,  afterward  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Pennsylvania.    He  died  in  1867. 

2  Lieutenant  Colonel  Campbell's  official  report  to  General  Harrison,  dated  at  Greenville,  December25th,  1812  ;  M'Afee, 
page  ITS  ;  Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  page  510  ;  Thompson's  Sketches  of  the  War,  page  62.    Lieutenant  Colonel  Camp 
bell  sent  a  brief  dispatch  to  Harrison  on  the  morning  after  the  battle,  misdated  December  12th  instead  of  December 
18th,  and  addressed  from  "Two  miles  above  Silver  Heels." 

3  "  I  have  on  this  occasion,"  wrote  Campbell  to  Harrison,  "  to  lament  the  loss  of  several  brave  men  and  many  wound 
ed.    Among  the  former  are  Captain  Pierce,  of  the  Ohio  Volunteers,  and  Lieutenant  Waltz,  of  Markle's  troops.    Pierce 
was  from  Zanesville ;  Lieutenant  Waltz  was  of  the  Pennsylvania  corps.    He  was  first  shot  through  the  arm,  and  then 
through  the  head.    Captain  Trotter  was  wounded  in  the  head."    Lieutenant  Colonel  Campbell  highly  commended  these 


PICTOKIAL  FIP:LD-BOOK 


Good  Effects  of  the  Chastisement  of  the  Indians.       Sufferings  and  Difficulties  of  Harrison's  Army.      Waste  of  Horses. 

in  a  general  order,  congratulated  Lieutenant  Colonel  Campbell  on  his  success,  and 
commended  him  for  his  obedience  to  orders,  his  gallantry,  and  his  magnanimity.1 

These  expeditions  against  the  savages  produced  salutary  effects,  and  smoothed  the 
way  for  the  final  recovery  of  Michigan.  They  separated  the  friends  and  enemies  of 
the  Americans  effectually.  The  line  between  them  was  distinctly  drawn.  There 
were  no  middle-men  left.  The  Delawares  on  the  White  River,  and  others  who  de 
sired  to  be  friendly,  and  who  had  been  invited  to  settle  on  the  Au  Glaize  in  Ohio, 
now  accepted  the  invitation.2  The  other  tribes,  who  had  cast  their  lot  with  the  Brit 
ish,  were  made  to  feel  the  miseries  of  war,  and  to  repent  of  their  folly.  So  severe 
had  been  the  chastisement,  and  so  alarmed  were  the  tribes  farther  north,  who  re 
ceived  the  fugitives  from  the  desolated  villages  on  the  Wabash  and  the  Illinois  at 
the  close  of  1812,  that  Tecumtha's  dream  of  a  confederacy  of  Indians  that  should 
drive  the  white  man  across  the  Ohio  was  rapidly  fading  as  he  awoke  to  the  reality  . 
of  an  unsuspected  power  before  him,  and  the  folly  of  putting  his  trust  in  princes — in 
other  words,  relying  upon  the  promises  of  the  representatives  of  the  sovereignty  of 
England  to  aid  him  in  his  patriotic  schemes.  Before  the  war  was  fairly  commenced, 
the  spirits  of  the  Indians,  so  buoyant  because  of  the  recent  misfortunes  of  the  Amer 
icans  in  the  Northwest,  were  broken,  and  doubt  and  dismay  filled  the  minds  of  all 
excepting  those  who  were  under  the  immediate  command  and  influence  of  the  great 
Shawnoese  leader. 

As  winter  came  on  the  sufferings  and  difficulties  of  Harrison's  invading  army  were 
terrible,  especially  that  of  the  left  wing  under  Winchester,  which  was  the  most  ad 
vanced,  and  the  most  remote  from  supplies.  Early  in  November  typhus  fever  was 
slaying  three  or  four  of  his  small  command  daily,  and  three  hundred  were  upon  the 
sick-list  at  one  time.  So  discouraging  became  the  prospect  at  the  beginning  of  De 
cember  of  reaching  even  the  Rapids,  that,  having  pi-oceeded  about  six  miles  below 
the  Au  Glaize,  Winchester,  partly  from  necessity  and  partly  to  deceive  the  enemy, 
ordered  huts  to  be  built  for  the  winter  shelter  of  the  troops.  Clothing  was  scanty, 
and  at  times  the  Avhole  corps  would  be  withotit  flour  for  several  days.  These  pri 
vations  were  owing  chiefly  to  the  difficulty  of  transportation.  The  roads  were 
wretched  beyond  the  conception  of  those  who  have  not  been  in  that  region  at  the 
same  season  of  the  year.  It  was  swamp,  swamp,  swamp,  "with  only  here  and  there  a 
strip  of  terra  firma  in  plight  almost  as  wretched.  The  pack-horses  sank  to  their 
knees,  and  wagon-wheels  to  their  hubs  in  the  mud.  Wasting  weariness  fell  upon 
man  and  beast  in  the  struggle,  and  the  destruction  of  horses  was  prodigious.  "  The 
fine  teams  which  arrived  on  the  10th  at  Sandusky  with  the  artillery,"  wrote  Harri 
son  to  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  12th  of  December, "  are  entirely  worn  down  ;  and 
two  trips  from  M' Arthur's  block-house,  our  nearest  deposit  to  the  Rapids,  will  com 
pletely  destroy  a  brigade  of  pack-horses."  It  was  sometimes  found  impossible  to  get 
even  empty  wagons  through  the  mire,  and  they  were  abandoned,  the  teamsters  being 
glad  to  get  out  with  their  horses  alive ;  and  sometimes  the  quarter-master,  taking 
advantage  of  suddenly  frozen  mud,  would  send  off  a  quantity  of  provisions,  which 

officers,  also  Lieutenant  Colonel  Simrall,  Major  M'Donnell,  Captains  Hite  and  Smith,  and  Captains  Markle,  M'Clelland, 
Garrard,  and  Hopkins.  Lieutenants  Hedges,  Basye,  and  Hickman  were  among  the  wounded. 

1  "It  is  with  the  sincerest  pleasure,"  said  General  Harrison,  in  a  general  order,  "  that  the  general  has  heard  that  the 
most  punctual  obedience  was  paid  to  his  orders  in  not  only  saving  all  the  women  and  children,  hut  in  sparing  all  the 
warriors  who  ceased  to  resist,  and  that,  even  when  vigorously  attacked  by  the  enemy,  the  claims  of  mercy  prevailed 
over  every  sense  of  their  own  danger,  and  this  heroic  baud  respected  the  lives  of  their  prisoners.  Let  an  account  of 
murdered  innocence  be  opened  in  the  records  of  Heaven  against  our  enemies  alone.  The  American  soldier  will  follow 
the  example  of  his  government,  and  the  sword  of  the  one  will  not  be  raised  against  the  fallen  and  the  helpless,  nor  the 
gold  of  the  other  be  paid  for  the  scalps  of  a  massacred  enemy." 

-  The  Delawares  had  emigrated  from  Pennsylvania  about  fifty  years  before,  where  they  had  had  an  acquaintance 
with  the  white  people  for  as  long  a  period  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances.  They  had  experienced  the  justice 
and  kindness  of  William  Penn  and  his  immediate  successors.  They  were  settled  on  the  Au  Glaize,  about  halfway  be 
tween  Piqua  and  Wa-pagh-ko-netta.  Some  of  them  went  farther  east,  and  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Scioto,  within 
the  limits  of  the  present  Delaware  country,  whose  name  is  derived  from  these  Indians.  Buckongahelos,  already  men 
tioned,  and  an  eminent  chief  named  Kill-buck,  were  of  this  tribe. 


OF   THE   WAB    OF    1812.  349 


Transportation  in  the  Wilderness.  Harrison's  Instructions.  The  effective  Force  in  the  Northwest. 

would  be  swamped  and  lost  by  a  sudden  thaw.  Water  transportation  was  quite  as 
difficult.  Sometimes  the  streams  would  be  too  low  for  loaded  boats  to  navigate; 
then  they  would  be  found  crooked,  narrow,  and  obstructed  by  logs ;  and  again  sud 
den  cold  would  produce  so  much  ice  that  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  move  for 
ward.  Then  sleds  would  be  resorted  to  until  a  thaw  would  drive  the  precious  freight 
to  floating  vessels  again.  Such  is  a  glimpse  of  the  difficulties  encountered  in  that 
wilderness  of  Northern  Ohio;  but  it  affords  a  faint  idea  of  the  hardships  of  the  little 
invading  army  trying  to  make  its  way  toward  Detroit.  All  this  was  endured  by  the 
patriotic  soldiers  without  scarcely  a  murmur. 

In  view  of  all  these  difficulties,  the  enormous  expense  of  transportation,  and  the 
advantages  which  dishonest  contractors  were  continually  taking,  Harrison  suggested 
to  the  War  Department,  at  about  the  middle  of  December,  that  if  there  existed  no 
urgent  political  necessity  for  the  recovering  of  Michigan  and  the  invasion  of  Canada 
during  the  winter,  the  amount  of  increased  expenditure  of  transportation  at  that  sea 
son  of  the  year  might  be  better  applied  to  the  construction  of  a  small  fleet  that  should 
command  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie — a  suggestion  made  by  Hull,  but  little  heeded,  ear 
ly  in  the  year.1  The  response  came  from  the  pen  of  a  new  head  of  the  War  Depart 
ment.  Dr.  Eustis2  had  resigned,  and  James  Monroe,  the  only  man  in  the  cabinet  who 
had  experienced  actual  military  service,  had  succeeded  him.  With  a  more  perfect 
knowledge  of  military  affairs,  he  better  comprehended  the  character  of  the  campaign ; 
and,  having  perfect  confidence  in  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Northwestern  Army, 
he  reiterated  the  instructions  of  his  predecessor  to  Harrison,  directing  him  to  conduct 
the  campaign  according  to  his  own  judgment,  promising,  at  the  same  time,  that  the 
government  would  take  immediate  measures  for  securing  the  command  of  Lake  Erie. 
Only  on  two  points  were  positive  instructions  given:  First,  in  the  event  of  penetrat 
ing  Canada,  not  to  promise  the  inhabitants  any  thing  but  the  protection  of  life,  lib 
erty,  and  property ;  and,  secondly,  not  to  make  any  temporary  acquisitions,  but  to  pro 
ceed  so  surely  that  any  position  which  he  might  obtain  would  be  absolutely  permanent. 

Early  in  December  a  detachment  of  General  Perkins's  brigade  reached  Lower  San- 
dusky  (now  Fremont,  Ohio),  and  repaired  an  old  stockade  there  which  had  protected 
an  Indian  store.  The  remainder  of  the  brigade  arrived  soon  afterward.  On  the  10th 
a  battalion  of  Pennsylvania  troops  made  their  appearance  there,  with  twenty-one 
pieces  of  artillery,  which  had  been  escorted  from  Pittsburg  by  Lieutenant  Hukfal. 
Very  soon  afterward  a  regiment  of  the  same  troops  and  part  of  a  Virginia  brigade 
arrived,  speedily  followed  by  General  Harrison,  who  made  his  head-quarters  there  on 
the  20th.  He  remained  but  a  little  while.  There  he  received  the  second  dispatch 
[December  25th]  from  Lieutenant  Colonel  Campbell,  giving  a  more  detailed  account 
of  his  expedition  to  the  Mississiniwa.  Harrison  at  once  repaired  to  Chillicothe  to 
consult  with  Governor  Meigs  on  the  propriety  of  fitting  out  another  expedition  in 
the  same  direction,  to  complete  the  work  begun  by  destroying  the  lower  Mississini 
wa  towns.  The  project  was  abandoned. 

The  whole  effective  force  in  the  Northwest  did  not  exceed  six  thousand  three 
hundred  infantry,3  and  a  small  artillery  and  cavalry  force ;  yet  Harrison  determined 


1  See  page  251. 

2  William  Eustis  was  born  in  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  on  the  10th  of  June,  1153.    He  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  was  at  the  Robinson  House,  oppo- 
chose  the  practice  of  medicine  for           ./^^ "*f  /I  s~\  S~*\  8^e  ^rest  P°int>  while  Arnold  occu- 
his  profession.    He  entered  the  Con-       j*         ////V_                 *      J     '        pied  it  as  his  head  -  quarters.    He 
tinental  Army  of  the  Revolution  as    '             v^f     r~  /   /  „/     /~~f     J       commenced  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
a  regimental  surgeon,  and  served  in                    /        f  ^-    f     ^                      ^       fession  at  Boston  at  the  close  of  the 
that  capacity  during  the  war.    He  war.    He  was  an  ardent  politician, 
and  was  a  representative  of  Massachusetts  in  the  National  Congress,  of  the  Republican  party,  from  1801  till  1S05.   Presi 
dent  Madison  appointed  him  Secretary  of  War  in  1S09,  and  he  retained  the  office  until  the  autumn  of  1S12,  when  he  re 
signed.    He  was  appointed  minister  to  Holland  in  1814.    After  his  return  he  was  chosen  to  a  seat  in  Congress  again, 
which  he  held  for  nearly  two  terms  from  1820.    In  1823  he  was  chosen  governor  of  Massachusetts.    He  was  then  sev 
enty  years  of  age.    He  died  in  1825,  while  holding  that  office,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 

3  Harrison's  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  January  4,  1813. 


350  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Movements  ordered.  The  Mission  and  Sufferings  of  Captain  Combs.  The  Army  at  the  Maumee  Rapids. 

to  press  forward  to  the  Rapids,  and  beyond  if  possible.  From  Lower  Sandusky  he 
dispatched  Ensign  Charles  S.  Todd,  then  division  judge  advocate  of  the  Kentucky 
troops,  to  communicate  instructions  to  Winchester.  He  was  accompanied  by  two 
white  men  and  three  Wyandottes.  He  bore  oral  instructions  from  General  Har 
rison  to  General  Winchester,  directing  the  latter  to  advance  toward  the  Rapids 
when  he  should  have  accumulated  twenty  days'  provisions,  and  there  commence 
building  huts,  to  deceive  the  enemy  into  the  belief  that  he  intended  to  winter  there ; 
at  the  same  time  to  prepare  sleds  for  an  advance  toward  Maiden,  but  to  conceal  from 
his  troops  their  intended  use.  He  was  also  to  inform  Winchester  that  the  difierent 
lines  of  the  army  would  be  concentrated  at  the  Rapids,  and  all  would  proceed  from 
thence  toward  Maiden,  if  the  ice  on  the  Detroit  River  should  be  found  strong  enough 
to  bear  them.  Young  Todd  performed  this  dangerous  and  delicate  duty  with  such 
success  that  he  received  the  highest  commendations  of  his  general. 

Meanwhile  Leslie  Combs,  another  Kentuckian,  a  brave  and  spirited  young  man  of 
scarcely  nineteen  years,  who  had  joined  Winchester's  army  as  a  volunteer  on  its 
march  from  Fort  Wayne  to  Defiance,  had  been  sent  by  Winchester  to  Harrison  on 
an  errand  fraught  with  equal  peril.  He  bore  a  dispatch  to  Harrison  communicating 
the  fact  that  the  left  wing  had  moved  toward  the  Rapids  on  the  30th  of  December. 
Combs  traversed  the  pathless  wilderness  on  foot,  accompanied  by  a  single  guide 
(A.  Ruddle),  through  snow  and  water,  for  at  least  one  hundred  miles,  enduring  pri 
vations  which  almost  destroyed  him.  He,  too,  performed  his  mission  so  gallantly  and 
satisfactorily  that  his  general  thanked  him.  These  two  messengers,  who  passed  each 
other  in  the  mazes  of  the  great  Black  Swamp  fifty  years  ago — young,  ambitious,  pa 
triotic,  and  daring — performed  other  excellent  service  during  the  war,  as  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  observe.  Combs  and  Todd  are  still  [1867]  living;  both  residents 
of  Kentucky,  enjoying  a  green  old  age,  and  wearing  the  honors  of  their  country's 
gratitude.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  them  both  during  1861,  and  listening  to 
interesting  narrations  of  their  experiences  in  that  war.  Portraits  and  biographical 
sketches  of  these  heroes  may  be  found  in  future  pages  of  this  work.1 

While  on  his  march  toward  the  Rapids,  Winchester  received  a  letter  from  Harri 
son  recommending  him  to  abandon  the  movement,  because,  if,  as  Lieutenant  Colonel 
a  De  ember  25  Campbell,  in  his  second  dispatch,a  had  been  informed,  Tecumtha  was  on 
the  Wabash  with  five  or  six  hundred  followers,  he  might  advance  rapid 
ly  and  capture  or  destroy  all  the  provisions  in  Winchester's  rear.  It  was  this  sec 
ond  dispatch  of  Campbell,  as  we  have  seen,  that  sent  Harrison  in  such  haste  back  to 
Chillicothe,  to  consult  with  Governor  Meigs. 

Winchester  did  not  heed  the  cautious  suggestions  of  his  superior,  but  pressed  on 
toward  the  Rapids.  General  Payne,  with  six  hundred  and  seventy  men,  was  sent 
forward  to  clear  the  way.  Payne  went  down  the  Maumee  several  miles  below  old 
Fort  Miami,  but  saw  no  signs  of  an  enemy.  The  remainder  of  the  army  arrived  at 
the  Rapids  on  the  10th  of  January,  1813,  and  established  a  fortified  camp  on  a  pleas 
ant  eminence  of  an  oval  form,  covered  with  trees  and  having  a  prairie  in  the  rear. 
This  was  a  little  above  Wayne's  battle-ground  in  1794,  opposite  the  camp-ground  of 
Hull  at  the  close  of  June,  1812,  and  known  as  Presque  Isle  Hill.2  On  the  day  of 
their  arrival,  an  Indian  camp,  lately  deserted,  was  discovered.  Captain  Williams, 
with  a  small  detachment,  gave  chase  to  the  fugitives,  whom  he  overtook  and  routed. 

1  Combs's  sufferings  were  very  severe.  He  carried  a  heavy  musket  and  accoutrements,  a  blanket,  and  four  days' 
provisions.  The  snow  commenced  falling  on  the  morning  after  his  departure,  and  continued  without  intermission  for 
two  days  and  nights.  On  the  third  day  of  their  march  Combs  and  his  companion  found  the  snow  over  two  feet  deep 
in  the  dense  forest.  Ruddle  had  been  a  captive  among  the  Indians  in  this  region  and  knew  the  way,  and  the  method 
of  encountering  such  hardships  as  they  were  now  called  upon  to  confront.  The  storm  detained  them,  their  provisions 
became  scarce,  and  for  several  nights  they  could  find  no  place  to  lie  down,  and  sat  up  and  slept.  Hunger  came  to  both 
on  the  sixth  day  of  their  journey,  and  illness  to  young  Combs.  Nothing  but  his  ever  unfliching  resolution  kept  him 
up.  On  the  ninth  evening  they  reached  Fort  M'Arthur,  and  were  well  cared  for  by  General  Tupper.  Combs  lay  pros 
trated  with  sickness  for  several  days.  2  See  page  257,  and  map  of  the  Maumee  in  this  vicinity,  page  55. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  351 

Troops  re-enlisted.  The  Settlement  of  Frenchtown  threatened.  Winchester  sends  them  Defenders. 

The  enlistments  of  the  Kentucky  troops  would  expire  in  February,  and  Harrison 
had  requested  Winchester  to  endeavor  to-  raise  a  new  regiment  among  them  to  serve 
six  months  longer.  Inaction  and  suffering  had  greatly  demoralized  them.  There 
was  so  much  insubordination  among  them  that  Winchester  had  little  confidence  in 
their  strength.  Harrison,  on  the  contrary,  believed  that  active  service  would  quick 
en  them  into  good  soldiers,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  include  them  in  those  on  whom 
he  would  most  rely  in  his  expedition  against  Maiden.  Events  justified  that  faith 
and  confidence. 

Winchester  was  now  satisfied  that  the  pleadings  of  humanity  would  speedily  sum 
mon  him  to  the  Raisin.  First  came  rumors  that  the  enemy,  exasperated  by  their 
want  of  success  in  their  recent  movements,  were  preparing  at  Maiden  an  expedition 
to  move  upon  Frenchtown,  on  the  Raisin,  for  the  purpose  of  intercepting  the  expedi 
tion  from  Ohio  on  its  way  to  Detroit.  These  rumors  were  speedily  followed  by  mes 
sengers  from  Frenchtown,a  made  almost  breathless  by  alarm  and  rapid  « January  is, 
traveling,  bringing  intelligence  that  the  Indians  whom  Williams  had  scat 
tered  had  passed  them  on  their  way  to  Maiden,  uttering  threats  of  a  sweeping  destruc 
tion  of  the  inhabitants  and  their  habitations  on  the  Raisin.  Others  soon  follow- 
ed,b  deeply  agitated  by  alarm,  and,  like  the  first,  earnestly  pleaded  for  b  January 
the  shield  of  military  power  to  avert  the  impending  blow.  The  troops, 
moved  by  the  most  generous  impulses,  were  anxious  to  march  instantly  to  the  de 
fense  of  the  alarmed  people.  Harrison,  the  commander-in-chief,  was  at  Upper  San- 
dusky,1  sixty-five  miles  distant,  and  could  not  be  consulted.  Winchester  called  a 
council  of  officers.  The  majority  advised  an  immediate  march  toward  the  Raisin, 
between  thirty-five  and  forty  miles  distant  by  the  route  to  be  traveled.  This  decis 
ion  was  approved  by  Winchester's  judgment  and  humane  impulses,  and  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  17th  he  detailed  Colonel  Lewis  and  five  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  that  di 
rection.  A  few  hours  afterward  Colonel  Allen  was  sent  with  one  hundred  and  ten 
men.  Lewis's  instructions  were  "  to  attack  the  enemy,  beat  them,  and  take  posses 
sion  of  Frenchtown  and  hold  it."  These  overtook  Lewis  and  his  party  at  Presque 
Isle,  a  point  on  Maumee  Bay  a  little  below,  opposite  the  present  city  of  Toledo,  about 
twenty  miles  from  the  Rapids.  There  Lewis  was  told  that  there  were  four  hundred 
British  Indians  at  the  Raisin,  and  that  Colonel  Elliott  was  expected  with  a  detach 
ment  from  Maiden  to  attack  Winchester's  camp  at  the  Rapids.  This  information 
was  sent  by  express  to  General  Winchester,  whose  courier  was  on  the  point  of  start 
ing  with  a  message  to  General  Harrison,  informing  him  of  the  movement  toward  the 
Raisin,  and  suggesting  the  probable  necessity  of  a  co-operating  force  from  the  right 
wing. 

Colonel  Lewis  remained  all  night  at  Presque  Isle.  The  weather  was  intensely 
cold,  and  strong  ice  covered  Maumee  Bay  and  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie.  On  that  glit 
tering  bridge  the  Americans  moved  early  and  rapidly  on  the  morning  of  the  18th, 
and  were  within  six  miles  of  their  destination  before  they  were  discovered  by  the 
scouts  of  the  enemy.  On  the  shore  of  the  lake,  in  snow  several  inches  in  depth,  the 
little  army  calmly  breakfasted,  and  then  marched  steadily  forward  through  timber 
lands  to  an  open  savanna  in  three  lines,  so  arranged  as  to  fall  into  battle  order  in  a 
moment.  The  right,  composed  of  the  companies  of  M'Cracken,  Bledsoe,  and  Matson, 

i  Upper  Sandusky,  the  present  capital  of  Wyandot  County,  Ohio,  is  not  the  place  above  alluded  to.  The  "Upper 
Sandusky"  made  famous  during  the  Indian  wars,  and  as  the  rendezvous  of  Americans  in  the  war  of  1812,  was  at  Crane 
Town  (so  called  from  an  eminent  chief  named  Tarhe  or  Crane),  four  miles  northeast  from  the  court-house  in  the  pres 
ent  village  of  Upper  Sandusky.  After  the  death  of  Tarhe  in  1818,  the  Indians  transferred  their  council-house  to  the 
site  of  the  modern  Upper  Sandusky,  gave  it  its  present  name,  and  called  the  old  place  Crane  Town. 

Old  Upper  Sandusky  was  a  place  of  much  note  in  the  early  history  of  the  country.  It  was  a  favorite  residence  of  the 
Wyandot  Indians,  and  near  it  Colonel  Crawford  had  a  battle  with  them  and  was  defeated  in  June,  1T82.  Crawford 
was  murdered  by  fire  and  other  slow  tortures  which  the  savages  inflicted  on  leading  prisoners.  A  full  account  of 
events  in  this  vicinity  may  be  found  in  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio. 

General  Harrison  built  Fort  Ferree,  a  stockade  about  fifty  rods  northeast  of  the  court-house  in  the  present  Upper 
Sandusky. 


352  PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 

Frenchtown  and  its  suffering  Inhabitants.  Arrival  of  Winchester's  relief  Party.  Battle  and  Massacre. 

was  commanded  by  Colonel  Allen ;  the  left,  led  by  Major  Green,  was  composed  of 
the  companies  of  Hamilton,  Williams,  and  Kelley ;  and  the  centre,  under  Major  Madi 
son,  contained  the  corps  of  Captains  Hightown,  Collier,  and  Sebrees.  The  advanced 
guard  was  composed  of  the  companies  of  Captains  Hickman,  Glaives,  and  James,  and 
were  under  the  command  of  Captain  Ballard,  acting  as  major.  The  chief  of  the  lit 
tle  army  was  Colonel  Lewis.  ' 

Frenchtown,1  at  the  time  in  question,  was  a  flourishing  settlement  containing  thir 
ty-three  families,  twenty-two  of  whom  resided  on  the  north  side  of  the  Raisin.  Gar 
dens  and  orchards  were  attached  to  their  houses,  and  these  were  inclosed  with  heavy 
pickets,  called  "  puncheons,"  made  of  sapling  logs  split  in  two,  driven  in  the  ground, 
and  sometimes  sharpened  at  top.  The  houses  were  built  of  logs  of  good  size,  and 
furnished  with  most  of  the  conveniences  of  domestic  life.  Two  days  after  the  sur 
render  of  Detroit,  as  we  have  seen,  this  place  was  taken  possession  of  by  Colonel 
Elliott,  who  came  from  Maiden  for  the  purpose  with  authority  from  General  Brock. 
The  weapons  and  horses  of  the  inhabitants  were  left  on  parole,  and  protection  to  life 
and  property  was  promised.  The  protection  was  not  given,  and  for  a  long  time  the 
inhabitants  were  plundered  not  only  by  the  Indians,  but  by  Canadians,  French,  and 
British,2  and  were  kept  in  a  state  of  almost  continual  alarm  by  their  threats.  In  the 
autumn  two  companies  of  the  Essex  (Canadian)  militia,  two  hundred  in  number,  un 
der  Major  Reynolds,  and  about  four  hundred  Indians,  led  by  Round-head  and  Walk- 
in-the-water,3  were  stationed  there,  and  these  composed  the  force  that  confronted 
Colonel  Lewis  when  he  approached  Frenchtown  on  the  18th  of  January,  1813,  and 
formed  a  line  of  battle  on  the  south  side  of  the  Raisin,  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of 
the  village.  Lewis's  force  numbered  less  than  seven  hundred  men,  armed  only  with 
muskets  and  other  light  weapons.  The  enemy  had  a  howitzer4  in  position,  directed 
by  bombardier  Kitson,  of  the  Royal  Artillery. 

When  within  three  miles  of  Frenchtown  Colonel  Lewis  was  informed  that  the  ene 
my  was  on  the  alert  and  ready  to  receive  him ;  and  as  the  Americans  approached  the 
village  on  the  south  side,  the  howitzer  of  the  foe  was  opened  upon  the  advancing 
column,  but  without  effect.  Lewis's  line  of  battle  was  instantly  formed,  and  the 
whole  detachment  moved  steadily  forward  to  the  river,  which  was  hard  frozen,  and 
in  many  places  very  slippery.  They  crossed  it  in  the  face  of  blazing  muskets,  and 
then  the  long  roll  was  beaten,  and  a  general  charge  was  executed.  The  Americans 
rushed  gallantly  up  the  bank,  leaped  the  garden  pickets,  dislodged  the  enemy,  and 
drove  him  back  toward  the  forests.  Majors  Graves  and  Madison  attempted  to  cap 
ture  the  howitzer,  but  failed.  Meanwhile  the  allies  were  retreating  in  a  line  inclin- 

•  O 

ing  eastward,  when  they  were  attacked  on  their  left  by  Colonel  Allen,  who  pursued 
them  more  than  half  a  mile  to  the  woods.  There  they  made  a  stand  with  their 
howitzer  and  small-arms,  covered  by  a  chain  of  inclosed  lots  and  groups  of  houses, 
and  having  in  their  rear  a  thick,  brushy  wood,  full  of  fallen  timber.  While  in  this 
position  Majors  Graves  and  Madison  moved  upon  the  enemy's  right,  while  Allen  was 
sorely  pressing  his  left.  The  enemy  fell  back  into  the  wood,  closely  pursued,  and 
the  conflict  became  extremely  hot  on  the  right  wing  of  the  Americans,  where  both 
whites  and  Indians  were  concentrated.  The  contest  lasted  from  three  o'clock  until 
dark,  the  enemy  all  the  while  slowly  retreating  over  a  space  of  not  less  than  two 
miles,  gallantly  contesting  every  foot  of  the  ground.  The  detachments  returned  to 
the  village  in  the  evening,  and  encamped  for  the  night  on  the  ground  which  the  ene- 

1  The  Raisin,  on  which  Frenchtown  was  situated,  was  called  Sturgeon  River  by  the  Indians,  because  of  the  abund 
ance  of  that  fish  in  its  waters.    It  flowed  through  a  fertile  and  attractive  region,  and  late  in  the  last  century  a  number 
of  French  families  settled  upon  its  banks,  and  engaged  in  farming,  and  trading  with  the  Indians.    Because  of  the 
abundance  of  grapes  on  the  borders  of  the  stream  they  called  it  Riviere  aux  Raisins,  and  on  account  of  the  nationality 
of  the  settlers  the  village  was  called  Frenchtown.    It  is  now  Monroe,  Michigan. 

2  Statement  to  the  author  by  the  Hon.  Laurent  Durocher,  of  Monroe  (Frenchtown),  who  was  an  actor  in  the  scenes 
there  during  the  war  of  1812.   '  a  See  note  3,  page  279. 

*  A  howitz  or  howitzer  is  a  kind  of  mortar  or  short  gun,  mounted  on  a  carriage,  and  used  for  throwing  bomb-shells. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  353 

Frenchtown  to  be  held.  Winchester  arrives  with  Re-enforcements.  Position  of  Troops  there. 

my  had  occupied.  American  officers  occupied  the  same  buildings  in  which  the  Brit 
ish  officers  had  lived.  The  troops  had  behaved  nobly.  There  had  not  been  a  single 
case  of  delinquency.  "  This  amply  supported,"  as  was  said,  "  the  double  character 
of  Americans  and  Kentuckians,"  and  fully  vindicated  the  faith  and  judgment  of  Gen 
eral  Harrison.  Twelve  of  the  Americans  were  killed  and  fifty-five  wounded.  Among 
the  latter  was  Captain  B.  W.  Ballard,1  who  gallantly  led  the  van  in  the  fight ;  also 
Captains  Paschal,  Hickman,2  and  Richard  Matson.3  The  loss  of  the  enemy  must  have 
been  much  greater,  for  they  left  fifteen  dead  in  the  open  field,  while  the  most  san 
guinary  portion  of  the  conflict  occurred  in  the  wood.  That  night  the  Indians  gather 
ed  their  dead  and  wounded,  and,  on  their  retreat  toward  Maiden,  killed  some  of  the 
inhabitants  and  pillaged  their  houses. 

As  soon  as  his  little  army  was  safely  encamped  in  the  village  gardens,  behind  the 
strong  "  puncheon"  pickets,  and  his  wounded  men  comfortably  housed,  on  the  night 
of  the  battle,a  Colonel  Lewis  sent  a  messenger  to  General  Winchester  with  a  january  is, 
a  brief  report  of  the  action  and  his  situation.4  He  arrived  at  Winchester's 
camp  before  dawn,  and  an  express  was  immediately  dispatched  to  General  Harrison 
with  the  tidings. 

Lewis  called  a  council  of  officers  in  the  morning,  when  it  was  resolved  to  hold  the 
place  and  wait  for  re-enforcements  from  the  Rapids.  They  were  not  long  waiting. 
From  the  moment  when  intelligence  of  the  affair  at  Frenchtown  was  known  in  Win 
chester's  camp,  the  troops  were  in  a  perfect  ferment.  All  were  eager  to  press  north 
ward,  not  doubting  that  the  victory  at  the  Raisin  was  the  harbinger  of  continued 
success  until  Detroit  and  Maiden  should  be  in  the  possession  of  the  Americans.  It 
was  also  apparent  that  Lewis's  detachment  was  in  a  critical  situation ;  for  Maiden,  the 
principal  rendezvous  of  the  British  and  Indians  in  the  Northwest,  was  only  eighteen 
miles  from  Frenchtown,  and  that  every  possible  method  would  be  instantly  put  forth 
to  recover  what  had  been  lost,  and  bar  farther  progress  toward  Detroit.  Accordingly, 
on  the  evening  of  the  19th,b  General  Winchester,  accompanied  by  Colonel 
Samuel  Wells,  of  Tippecanoe  fame,  marched  from  the  Maumee  toward 
Frenchtown  with  less  than  three  hundred  men,  it  being  unsafe  to  withdraw  more 
from  the  camp  at  the  Rapids.  He  arrived  at  Frenchtown  at  three  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  of  the  next  day,  crossed  the  river,  and  encamped  the  troops  in  an  open  field  on 
the  right  of  Lewis's  forces,5  excepting  a  small  detachment  under  Captain  Morris,  left 
behind  as  a  rear-guard  with  the  baggage.  Leaving  Colonel  Wells  in  command  of  the 
re-enforcements,  after  suggesting  the  propriety  of  a  fortified  camp,  Winchester,  with 
his  staff,  recrossed  the  Raisin,  and  established  his  head-quarters  at  the  house  of 
Colonel  Francis  Navarre,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  and  more  than  half  a  mile 
from  the  American  lines.6 

1  Captain  Bland  W.  Ballard  was  a  son  of  Captain  Ballard,  of  Winchester's  army.    He  was  acting  major  at  the  time 
when  he  was  wounded. 

2  Hickman  led  a  party  of  spies  under  Wayne  from  December,  1794,  until  June,  1795. 

3  Matson  was  afterward  with  Colonel  R.  M.  Johnson  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames. 

4  Colonel  Lewis's  full  report  to  General  Winchester  was  written  two  days  afterward,  dated  "Camp  at  Frenchtown, 
January  20, 1313,  on  the  River  Raisin."    The  facts  in  our  narrative  of  the  battle  were  drawn  chiefly  from  this  report. 

5  It  is  asserted  that  Colonel  Lewis  recommended  the  encamping  of  the  re-enforcements  within  the  picketed  gardens, 
there  being  plenty  of  room  on  his  left.    Wells  being  of  the  regular  army,  precedence  gave  him  the  right  of  Lewis,  and 
military  rule  would  not  allow  him  to  take  position  on  his  left.    This  observance  of  etiquette  proved  to  be  exceedingly 
mischievous. 

6  The  view  of  Colonel  Navarre's  house,  the  head-quarters  of  Winchester,  given  on  page  354,  represents  it  as  it  ap 
peared  in  1813,  with  a  "puncheon"  fence  in  front.    General  Winchester  occupied  the  room  on  the  left  of  the  entrance- 
door.    The  room  was  a  long  one,  fronting  east  (we  are  looking  at  the  house  in  a  southeast  direction),  and  had  a  large 
fireplace.    In  this  room  the  Indians  who  came  to  trade  with  Navarre  rested  and  slept.    The  trees  seen  on  the  west 
side  of  the  house  are  still  there— venerable  pear-trees  (originally  brought  from  Normandy),  which  were  planted  there 
by  the  early  settlers.    Those  which  remain  still  bear  fruit.    In  1830  the  old  Navarre  House  was  altered  by  the  son  of 
the  owner  in  1813.    He  made  additions  to  it,  and  raised  the  roof  so  as  to  make  it  two  stories  in  height.    Like  the  original, 
the  structure  of  1830  was  a  log  edifice.    When  I  visited  the  spot  in  the  autumn  of  I860,  it  had  undergone  another  change 
The  log-house  of  1830  had  been  clap-boarded,  and  it  was  then  the  residence  of  the  rector  of  the  Episcopal  church  in 
Monroe.    It  stood  back  a  little  from  Front  Street,  within  the  square  bordered  by  Front,  Murray,  Humphrey,  and  Wads- 


354 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Winchester's  Lack  of  Vigilance. 


Warnings  of  Danger  unheeded  by  Winchester. 


Other  Officers  on  the  Alert. 


WINCHESTERS   HEAD-QUARTERS. 


According  to  the  testimony  of  an  officer 
of  the  expedition,  very  little  vigilance 
was  exercised  by  General  Winchester. 
Spies  were  not  sent  out  to  reconnoitre, 
nor  any  measures  adopted  for  strength 
ening  the  camp.  A  large  quantity  of 
fixed  ammunition,  sent  to  Winchester's 
quarters  from  the  Rapids,  was  not  dis 
tributed,  although  the  re-enforcements 
had  only  ten  rounds  of  cartridges  each ; 
and  the  urgent  recommendation  of 
Colonel  Wells  that  the  quarters  of  the 
commander-in-chief  and  the  principal 
officers  should  be  with  the  troops  was 
unheeded.1 

On  the  morning  of  the  21st  Winchester 
requested  Peter  Navarre  and  his  four 
brothers  to  go  on  a"  scout  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Detroit  River.  Peter  was  still 
living  when  I  visited  the  Maumee  Valley  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  and  accompanied 
me  from  Toledo  to  the  Rapids.  He  was  a  young  man  at  the  time  in  question,  full 
of  courage  and  physical  strength.  He  and  his  brothers  complied  with  Winchester's 
request  with  alacrity.  They  saw  a  man,  far  distant,  coming  toward  them  on  the  ice. 
He  proved  to  be  Joseph  Bordeau,  whose  daughter  Peter  afterward  married.  He  had 
escaped  from  Maiden,  and  was  bringing  the  news  that  the  British  would  be  at  the 
Raisin,  with  a  large  body  of  Indians,  that  night.  Peter  hastened  back  to  Winchester 
with  this  intelligence.  Jacques  La  Salle,  a  resident  of  Frenchtown,  in  the  interest  of 
the  British,  was  present,  and  asserted,  in  the  most  positive  language,  that  it  must  be 
a  mistake.  Winchester's  fears  were  allayed.  Peter  was  dismissed  with  a  laugh,  and 
no  precautions  to  insure  safety  were  taken  by  the  general.2  Another  scout  confirmed 
this  intelligence  during  the  afternoon.  The  general  was  still  incredulous.  Late  in 
the  evening  news  came  to  Lewis's  camp  that  a  very  large  force  of  British  and  In 
dians,  with  several  pieces  of  heavy  artillery,  were  at  Stony  Creek,  only  a  few  miles 
distant,  and  would  be  at  Frenchtown  before  morning.  The  picket-guard  was  im 
mediately  doubled,  and  word  was  sent  to  the  commanding  general.  He  did  not  be 
lieve  a  word  of  it ;  but  Colonel  Wells,  who  did  believe  the  first  rumor  brought  by 
Bordeau,  had  meanwhile  hastened  to  the  Rapids  with  Captain  Lanham  for  re-enforce 
ments,  leaving  his  detachment  in  charge  of  Major  M'Clanahan. 

When  the  late  evening  rumors  had  been  communicated  to  Winchester,  the  field 
officers  remained  up,  expecting  every  moment  to  receiA^e  a  summons  to  attend  a 
council  at  head-quarters.  They  were  disappointed.  The  general  disbelieved  the 
alarming  rumors ;  and  before  midnight  a  deep  repose  rested  upon  the  camp,  as  if 
some  trusted  power  had  guaranteed  perfect  security.  The  sentinels,  as  we  have  ob 
served,  were  well  posted,  but,  owing  to  the  severity  of  the  weather,  no  pickets  were 
sent  out  upon  the  roads  leading  to  the  town.  All  but  the  chief  officers  in  Lewis's 
camp  and  some  better-informed  inhabitants  seemed  perfectly  free  from  apprehension. 
At  head-quarters  the  night  was  passed  by  the  general  and  his  staff  in  sweet  slumber ; 
but  just  as  the  reveille  was  beaten,  between  four  and  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
the  drummer-boy  was  playing  the  Three  Camps,  the  sharp  crack  of  the  sentinels' 

worth  Streets.    I  am  indebted  to  the  kind  courtesy  of  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Noble,  of  Monroe  (Frenchtown),  Michigan,  for  the 
foregoing  facts,  and  for  the  above  sketch  of  Winchester's  quarters  as  it  appeared  in  1813. 

1  Major  Elijah  M'Clanahan  to  General  Harrison,  dated  "  Camp  on  Carrying  River,  January  2<5, 1813."    Carrying  River 
was  eighteen  miles  from  Winchester's  camp,  on  the  Maumee,  on  the  way  toward  the  Raisin. 

2  Oral  statement  of  Peter  Navarre  to  the  author. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  355 


Attack  on  Frenchtown  by  Proctor  and  his  Fellow-savages.  A  terrible  Struggle.  A  Panic  and  Massacre. 

muskets  firing  an  alarm  was  heard  by  still  dull  ears.  These  were  followed  im 
mediately  by  a  shower  of  bombshells  and  canister-shot  hurled  from  several  pieces  of 
ordnance,  accompanied  by  a  furious  charge  of  almost  invisible  British  regulars,  and 
the  terrible  yells  of  painted  savages.  The  sounds  and  missiles  fell  upon  the  startled 
camp  with  appall  ing  suddenness,  giving  fearful  significance  to  the  warnings,  and  a 
terrible  fulfillment  of  the  predictions  uttered  the  previous  evening.  Night  had  not 
yet  yielded  its  gloomy  sceptre  to  Day.  The  character  and  number  of  assailants 
were  unknown.  All  was  mystery,  terrible  and  profound;  and  the  Americans  had 
nothing  else  to  do  but  to  oppose  force  to  force,  as  gallantly  as  possible,  until  the  rev 
elations  of  daylight  should  point  to  strategy,  skill,  or  prowess  for  safety  and  vic 
tory. 

The  exposed  re-enforcements  in  the  open  field  were  driven  in  toward  Lewis's  picket 
ed  camp,  after  bravely  maintaining  a  severe  conflict  for  some  time.  At  this  moment 
General  Winchester  arrived,  and  endeavored  to  rally  the  retreating  troops  behind  a 
"  puncheon"  fence  and  second  bank  of  the  Raisin,  so  that  they  might  incline  to  the 
right,  and  find  shelter  behind  Lewis's  camp.  His  efforts  were  vain.  The  British  and 
their  savage  allies  were  pressing  too  heavily  upon  the  fugitives ;  and  when  at  length 
a  large  body  of  Indians  gained  their  right  flank,  they  were  thrown  into  the  greatest 
confusion,  and  fled  pell-mell  across  the  river,  carrying  with  them  a  detachment  of  one 
hundred  men  which  Lewis  had  sent  out  for  their  support.  Seeing  this,  Lewis  and 
Allen  joined  Winchester  in  his  attempt  to  rally  the  troops  behind  the  houses  and 
fences  on  the  south  side  of  the  Raisin,  leaving  the  camp  in  the  gardens  in  charge  of 
Majors  Graves  and  Madison.  But  all  efforts  to  stop  the  flight  of  the  soldiers  were 
vain.  The  Indians,  more  fleet  than  they,  had  gained  their  flank,  and  swarmed  in  the 
woods  on  the  line  of  their  retreat,  while  those  who  made  their  way  along  a  narrow 
lane  leading  from  the  village  to  the  road  from  the  Rapids  were  shot  down  and  scalped 
by  the  savages  skulking  behind  the  trees  and  fences.  Others,  who  rushed  into  the 
woods  hoping  to  find  shelter  there  from  the  fury  of  the  terrible  storm,  were  met  at 
every  turn  by  the  bloody  butchers,  and  scarcely  one  escaped.  Within  the  space  of 
a  hundred  yards,  near  Plum  or  Mill  Creek,  nearly  one  hundred  Kentuckians  fell  under 
the  hatchets  of  hired  savages,  who  snatched  the  "  scalp-locks"  from  their  heads,  and 
afterward  bore  them  in  triumph  to  Fort  Maiden  to  receive  the  market  price  for  that 
precious  article  of  commerce.1  Death  and  mutilation  met  the  fugitives  on  every  side, 
whether  in  flight  or  in  submission,  and  all  about  that  little  village  the  snow  was 
crimsoned  with  human  blood.  On  that  dreadful  morning  it  was  on  the  part  of  the 
allies  of  the  British  a  war  of  extermination.2 

1  "  Never,  dear  mother,  if  I  should  live  a  thousand  years,  can  I  forget  the  frightful  sight  of  this  morning,  when  hand 
somely-painted  Indians  came  into  the  fort,  some  of  them  carrying  half  a  dozen  scalps  of  my  countrymen  fastened  upon 
sticks,  and  yet  covered  with  blood,  and  were  congratulated  by  Colonel  Proctor  for  their  bravery !    I  heard  a  British 
officer,  who,  I  was  told,  was  Lieutenant  Colonel  St.  George,  tell  another  officer,  who,  I  believe,  was  Colonel  Vincent,  that 
Proctor  was  a  disgrace  to  the  British  army— that  such  encouragements  to  devils  was  a  blot  upon  the  British  character." 
— Letter  of  A.  G.  Tustin,  of  Bardstown,  Kentucky,  to  his  mother,  dated  Fort  Maiden,  January  23, 1813. 

2  No  rule  of  civilized  warfare  was  observed.    Blood  and  scalps  were  the  chief  objects  for  which  the  Indians  fought. 
They  seemed  disposed  not  to  take  any  prisoners.    A  party  of  fifteen  or  twenty,  under  Lieutenant  Garrett,  after  retreat 
ing  about  a  mile,  were  compelled  to  surrender,  when  all  but  the  young  commander  were  killed  and  scalped.    Another 
party,  of  forty  men,  were  more  than  one  half  murdered  under  similar  circumstances.   Colonel  Allen,  who  had  been 
wounded  in  the  thigh  in  the  attempt  to  rally  the  troops,  after  abandoning  all  hope,  and  escaping  about  two  miles  in  the 
direction  of  the  Maumee,  was  compelled,  by  sheer  exhaustion,  to  sit  down  upon  a  log.    He  was  observed  by  an  Indian 
chief,  who,  perceiving  his  rank,  promised  him  his  protection  if  he  would  surrender  without  resistance.    He  did  so.    At 
the  same  moment  two  other  savages  approached  with  murderous  intent,  when,  with  a  single  blow  of  his  sword,  Allen 
laid  one  of  them  dead  upon  the  ground.    His  companion  instantly  shot  the  colonel  dead.    "He  had  the  honor,"  says 
M'Afee,  "  of  shooting  one  of  the  first  and  greatest  citizens  of  Kentucky." 

John  Allen  was  born  in  Rockbridge  County,  Virginia,  on  the  30th  of  December,  1772.  His  father  emigrated  with  him 
to  Kentucky  in  17SO,  and  settled  about  a  mile  and  a  half  below  the  present  town  of  Danville,  in  Boyle  County.  In  1784 
the  family  removed  to  another  part,  five  miles  from  Bardstown,  and  in  a  school  in  that  then  rude  village  young  Allen 
received  his  education.  He  studied  law  in  Staunton,  Virginia,  for  four  years,  and  commenced  its  practice  in  Shelbyville, 
Kentucky,  in  1795.  He  was  following  his  profession  successfully  there  when  the  war  broke  out  in  1812,  when  he  raised 
a  regiment  of  riflemen  for  service  under  Harrison.  He  was  killed,  as  we  have  seen,  at  the  massacre  on  the  River 
Raisin,  on  the  22d  of  January,  1813,  at  the  age  of  forty-one  years.  Allen  County,  Kentucky,  was  so  named  in  his 
honor. 


356  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Winchester  made  Prisoner.          Proctor  repulsed.          Winchester  forced  to  surrender  his  Army.          Major  Madison. 

General  Winchester  and  Colonel  Lewis  were  made  prisoners  by  Round-head,1  at  a 
bridge  about  three  fourths  of  a  mile  from  the  village,  stripped  of  their  clothes  except 
shirt,  pantaloons,  and  boots,  and  in  this  plight  were  taken  to  the  quarters  of  the  British 
commander,  who  proved  to  be  Colonel  Proctor,  the  unworthy  successor  of  the  worthy 
Brock  in  the  command  at  Detroit  and  Amherstburg.  He  was  in  Fort  Maiden,  at  the 
latter  place,  when  intelligence  of  Lewis's  occupation  of  Frenchtown  reached  him,  and 
he  made  immediate  preparations  to  drive  the  Americans  back.  The  British  and  In 
dians  expelled  from  Frenchtown  on  the  1 8th  had  fallen  back  with  their  howitzer  to 
Brownstown,  where  Proctor  joined  them,  on  the  evening  of  the  20th,  with  a  detach 
ment  of  the  41st  Regiment,  one  hundred  and  forty  in  number,  under  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  St.  George ;  the  Royal  Newfoundland  Regiment,  under  Colonel  Vincent ;  and  a 
part  of  the  10th  Veteran  Battalion  and  some  seamen.  These,  with  Reynolds's  militia 
and  a  party  of  the  Royal  Artillery,  with  three  three-pounders  and  the  howitzer  already 
mentioned,  made  a  white  force  about  five  hundred  strong.  The  Indians,  under  Round 
head  and  Walk-in-the-Water,  numbered  about  six  hundred.  With  these  Proctor  ad 
vanced  from  Brownstown  on  the  morning  of  the  21st,  and  halted  at  Swan  Creek, 
twelve  miles  on  the  way.  There  he  remained  until  dusk,  when  the  march  was  re 
sumed.  So  great  was  the  lack  of  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  Americans  that  Proc 
tor's  troops  and  guns  were  made  ready  for  assault  before  their  presence  was  positively 
known.  Then  followed  the  attack  just  recorded. 

While  the  right  wing  of  Lewis's  army  and  Winchester's  re-enforcements  were  suf 
fering  destruction,  the  left  and  centre,  under  Majors  Graves  and  Madison,  were  nobly 
defending  themselves  in  the  garden  picketed  camp.  They  maintained  their  position 
manfully  against  the  powerful  assault  of  the  enemy.  The  British  had  planted  their 
howitzer  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the  camp  (and  eastward  of  it),  behind  a  small 
house  about  forty  rods  from  the  river,  upon  the  road  to  Detroit.  It  was  a  formidable 
assailant,  but  it  was  soon  silenced  by  the  Kentucky  sharp-shooters  behind  the  pickets, 
who  first  killed  the  horse  and  driver  of  the  sleigh  that  conveyed  ammunition,  and 
then  picked  off  thirteen  of  the  sixteen  men  in  charge  of  the  gun.  It  was  soon  drawn 
back  so  far  that  its  shot  had  no  effect  on  the  "  puncheon  ;"  and  at  ten  o'clock,  perceiv 
ing  all  efforts  of  his  white  troops  to  dislodge  the  Americans  to  be  fruitless,  Proctor 
withdrew  his  forces  to  the  woods,  with  the  intention  of  either  abandoning  the  contest, 
or  awaiting  the  return  of  his  savage  allies,  who  were  having  their  feast  of  blood 
beyond  the  Raisin.  When  the  assailants  withdrew,  the  Americans  quietly  break 
fasted. 

While  the  troops  were  eating,  a  white  flag  was  seen  approaching  from  the  British 
line.  Major  Madison,  believing  it  to  be  a  token  of  truce  while  the  British  might  bury 
their  dead,  went  out  to  meet  it.  It  was  borne  by  Major  Overton,  one  of  General  Win 
chester's  staff,  who  was  accompanied  by  Colonel  Proctor.  He  brought  an  order  from 
General  Winchester  directing  the  unconditional  surrender  of  all  the  troops  as  prisoners 
of  war.  This  was  the  first  intelligence  received  by  the  gallant  left  wing  that  their 
chief  was  a  captive.  Proctor  had  dishonorably  taken  advantage  of  his  situation  to 
extort  that  order  from  him.  He  assured  Winchester  that  as  soon  as  the  Indians,  fresh 
from  the  massacre  from  which  he  had  escaped,  should  join  his  camp,  the  remainder 
of  the  Americans  would  be  easily  captured,  concealing  from  him  the  fact  that  they 
had  already  driven  the  British  back  to  the  woods.  He  represented  to  the  general 
that,  in  such  an  event,  "  nothing  would  save  the  Americans  from  an  indiscriminate 
massacre  by  the  Indians."  Totally  ignorant  of  the  condition  of  the  remnant  of  his 
little  army,  and  horrified  by  the  butchery  of  which  he  had  just  been  a  witness,  Win 
chester  yielded,  and  sent  Major  Overton  with  the  orders  just  mentioned. 

Madison,  surprised  and  mortified,  refused  to  obey  the  order  except  on  conditions. 

1  See  page  291.  It  was  with  great  difficulty  that.  Proctor  persuaded  Round-head  to  release  his  prisoner,  or  to  give  up 
the  military  suit  he  had  stripped  from  him. 


OF   THE    WAR    0  F    1  8  1  2.  357 


Proctor  quails  before  a  true  Man.  His  Perfidy,  Cowardice,  and  Inhumanity.  A  fearful  Night  at  Freuchtown. 

"  It  has  been  customary  for  the  Indians,"  he  observed,  "  to  massacre  the  wounded  and 
prisoners  after  a  surrender ;  I  shall  therefore  not  agree  to  any  capitulation  which  Gen 
eral  Winchester  may  direct,  unless  the  safety  and  protection  of  all  the  prisoners  shall 
be  stipulated."  The  haughty  Proctor  stamped  his  foot,  and  said,  with  a  supercilious 
air,  "  Sir,  do  you  mean  to  dictate  to  me  /"  "  I  mean  to  dictate  for  myself,"  Madison 
replied,  with  firmness.  "  We  prefer  selling  our  lives  as  dearly  as  possible  rather  than 
be  massacred  in  cold  blood."  Proctor,  who  was  scorned  by  Brock  for  his  jealousy 
and  innate  meanness,  and  is  remembered  with  dislike  by  the  Canadians,  who  knew 
him  as  innately  cruel  and  cowardly,1  quailed  before  the  honest,  manly  bravery  of 
Madison,  and  solemnly  agreed  that  all  private  property  should  be  respected ;  that 
sleds  should  be  sent  the  next  morning  to  remove  the  sick  and  wounded  to  Amherst- 
burg ;  that  the  disabled  should  be  protected  by  a  proper  guard ;  and  that  the  side- 
arms  of  the  officers  should  be  returned  when  the  captives  should  reach  Maiden. 
Proctor  refused  to  commit  these  conditions  to  writing,  but  pledged  his  honor  as  a 
soldier  and  a  gentleman  that  they  should  be  observed.  Madison  was  ignorant  of 
Proctor's  poverty  in  all  that  constituted  a  soldier  and  man  of  honor,  and  trusted  to 
his  promises.  On  the  conditions  named,  he  and  his  officers  agreed  to  surrender  them 
selves  and  their  men  prisoners  of  war. 

Before  the  surrender  was  fairly  completed  the  Indians  began  to  plunder,  when 
Major  Madison  ordered  his  men  to  resist  them,  even  with  ball  and  bayonet.  The 
cowardly  savages  quailed  before  the  courage  of  the  white  captives,  and  none  of  the 
prisoners  were  again  molested  by  them  while  on  their  way  to  Maiden.  Quite  differ 
ent  was  the  fate  of  the  poor  wounded  men  who  were  left  behind.  Having  secured 
his  object,  Proctor  violated  his  word  of  honor,  and  left  them  exposed  to  savage  cruelty. 
Rumors  came  that  Harrison  was  approaching,  and  the  British  commander,  more  intent 
on  securing  personal  safety  than  the  fulfillment  of  solemn  promises,  left  for  Maiden 
with  most  of  his  savage  allies,  within  an  hour  after  the  surrender,  leaving  as  a  "guard", 
only  Major  Reynolds  and  two  or  three  interpreters.  Proctor  did  not  even  name  a 
guard,  nor  spoke  of  conveyances  for  the  wounded  after  leaving  Frenchtown ;  and 
when  both  Winchester  and  Madison  reminded  him  of  his  promises  and  the  peril  of 
the  wounded,  he  refused  to  hear  them.  It  is  evident  that  from  the  first  that  inhuman 
officer  intended  to  abandon  the  wounded  prisoners  to  their  fate.  Among  them  was 
Captain  Hart,  brother-in-law  of  Henry  Clay,  and  inspector  general  of  the  Army  of 
the  Northwest.  He  was  anxious  to  accompany  the  prisoners  to  Maiden,  but  Captain 
Elliott,  son  of  the  notorious  Colonel  Elliott,  who  had  known  Hart  intimately  in  Ken 
tucky,  assured  him  of  perfect  safety  at  Frenchtown,  and  promised  to  send  his  own 
conveyance  for  him  the  next  morning.  Elliott  assured  all  the  wounded  that  they 
need  not  apprehend  danger,  and  that  sleds  from  Maiden  would  come  for  them  in  the 
morning. 

The  wounded  were  taken  into  the  houses  of  the  kind-hearted  villagers,  and  cared 
for  by  Drs.  Todd  and  Bowers,  of  the  Kentucky  Volunteers,  who  were  left  behind  for 
the  purpose.  In  every  mind  there  was  an  indefinable  dread  when  Proctor  and  his 
motley  crew  departed;  and  when  it  was  known  that  he  had  promised  his  savage 
allies  a  "  frolic"  at  Stony  Creek,  only  about  six  miles  from  the  Raisin,  not  only  the 
wounded  soldiers,  but  the  villagers,  and  Major  Reynolds  himself,  felt  a  thrill  of  horror,, 
for  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  drunken  Indians,  after  their  debauch,  would  re 
turn  to  Frenchtown  to  glut  their  appetites  for  blood  and  plunder.  Even  those  who 
remained  went  from  house  to  house,  after  Proctor's  departure,  in  search  of  plunder. 

The  night  following  the  battle  was  a  fearful  one  at  Frenchtown.  .January  23, 
Day  dawned  with  hope,  but  the  sun  at  his  risinga  found  the  inhabitants 

1  Tecumtha,  as  we  shall  observe  hereafter,  regarded  Proctor  as  a  coward,  and  by  threats  compelled  him  to  make  a 
stand  on  the  Thames;  and  the  venerable  Robert  Reynolds,  of  Amherstburg,  and  other  survivors  of  the  British  army  in 
Canada  with  whom  I  have  conversed,  spoke  of  him  with  contempt  as  a  boasting  coward. 


358 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Massacre  and  Scalping  of  wounded  Prisoners  allowed  by  Proctor. 


Incidents  of  the  horrible  Event. 


and  prisoners  in  despair.     Instead  of  the  promised  sleds  from  Maiden,  about  two  hund 
red  half-drunken  savages,  with  their  faces  painted  red  and  black  in  token  of  their 

fiendish  purposes,  came  into 
the  village.  The  chiefs  held  a 
brief  council,  and  determined 
to  kill  and  scalp  all  the  wound 
ed  who  were  unable  to  travel, 
in  revenge  for  the  many  com 
rades  they  had  lost  in  the  fight. 
This  decision  was  announced  by 
horrid  yells,  and  the  savages 
went  out  upon  their  bloody 
errand.  They  first  plundered 
the  village;  then  they  broke 
into  the  houses  where  the 
wounded  lay,  stripped  them 
of  every  thing,  and  then  toma 
hawked  and  scalped  them.  The 
houses  of  Jean  B.  Jereaume  and 
Gabriel  Godfrey,  that  stood 
near  the  present  dwelling  of 
Matthew  Gibson,  sheltered  a 
large  number  of  prisoners.  In 
the  cellar  of  Jereaume' s  house 
was  stored  a  large  quantity  of 
whisky.  This  the  savages  took 
in  sufficient  quantities  to  mad 
den  them,  when  they  set  both 
dwellings  on  fire.  A  number  of 
the  wounded,  unable  to  move, 
were  consumed.  Others,  at 
tempting  to  escape  by  the  doors 
and  windows,  were  tomahawk 
ed  and  scalped.  Others,  out 
side,  were  scalped  and  cast  into 
the  flames,  and  the  remainder, 
who  could  walk,  were  marched 
off  toward  Maiden.  When  any 
of  them  sank  from  exhaustion, 
they  were  killed  and  scalped. 
Doctor  Todd,  who  had  been  tied  and  carried  to  Stony  Creek,  informed  Elliott  of 
what  was  going  on  at  the  Raisin,  and  begged  him  to  send  conveyances  for  the 
wounded,  especially  for  Captain  Hart ;  but  that  young  officer  coolly  replied,  "  Charity 
begins  at  home ;  my  own  wounded  must  be  carried  to  Maiden  first."  He  well  knew 
that  an  hour  more  would  be  too  late  for  rescue.2 

Major  Graves  was  never  heard  of  after  the  Maumee.     Captain  Hickman  was  mur 
dered  in  Jereaume's  house.     Captain  Hart  was  removed  from  that  house  by  Doctor 

1  This  is  from  a  sketch  sent  to  Colonel  William  H.  Winder  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Boerstler,  in  a  letter  dated  "  Buffalo, 
17th  February,  1813.    I  send  you,"  he  says,  "  a  hasty  sketch  of  the  situation  of  the  troops  at  Frenchtown."    He  obtained 
it  from  some  subordinate  officer  among  the  prisoners  from  the  Raisin,  who  were  paroled,  and  passed  through  Buffalo. 
He  says,  "The  prisoners  have  passed  through  to  the  number  of  four  hundred  and  sixty-two.    The  general  and  field 
officers  are  not  yet  sent  across." — Autograph  Letter. 

2  Elliott  had  been  in  Lexington,  where  he  was  very  ill  of  fever  for  a  long  time  in  the  family  of  Colonel  Thomas  Hart, 
the  father  of  Captain  Hart.    During  that  illness  he  had  received  many  attentions  from  the  young  man  whom  he  now 
basely  deserted  in  his  hour  of  greatest  need. 


MOVEMENTS  AT  FKENOHTOWN.1 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


359 


The  Death  of  Captain  Hart. 


Sketch  of  his  Life. 


The  British  ashamed  to  call  the  Indians  their  Allies. 


Todd,  before  the  massacre  was  commenced,  to  the  dwelling  of  Jacques  Navarre,  about 
a  mile  up  the  river  (now  the  Wads  worth  brick  house),  under  the  charge  of  a  friendly 
Pottawatomie  chief.  Hart  offered  him  one  hundred  dollars  to  convey  him  in  safety 
to  Maiden.  The  chief  attempted  it.  Hart  was  placed  on  a  horse,  and  when  passing 
through  the  village,  near  the  house  of  Franyois  La  Salle1  (who  was  suspected  of  com 
plicity  with  the  British),  a  Wyandot 
savage  came  out,  and  claimed  the  cap 
tain  as  his  prisoner.  A  dispute  arose,  and 
they  finally  settled  it  by  agreeing  to  kill 
the  prisoner,  and  dividing  his  money  and 
clothes  between  them.  So  says  the  most 
reliable  recorded  history.2  Local  tradi 
tion  declares  that  the  Pottawatomie  at 
tempted  to  defend  Captain  Hart  when 
the  Wyandot  shot  and  scalped  him. 
There  are  many  versions  of  the  tragedy. 
He  was  buried  near  the  place  of  his 
murder,  but  the  exact  spot  is  not  known. 
Proctor  arrived  with  his  prisoners  at 
Amherstburg  on  the  morning  of  the  23d 
of  January,  and  on  the  26th  proceeded 
to  Sandwich  and  Detroit.3  Some  of 
them  were  sent  to  Detroit,  and  others  were  forwarded  to  Fort  George,  on  the  Niagara, 
by  way  of  the  Thames.  These  suffered  much  from  the  severity  of  the  weather  and 
bad  treatment  of  their  guards.  At  Fort  George  they  were  mostly  paroled,  on  con 
dition  that  they  should  not  "  bear  arms  against  his  majesty  or  his  allies  during  the 
war,  or  until  exchanged."  "  Who  are  his  majesty's  allies  ?"  inquired  Major  Madison. 
The  officer  addressed,  doubtless  ashamed  to  own  the  disgrace  in  words,  said,  "  His 
majesty's  allies  are  known."  General  Winchester,  Colonel  Lewis,4  and  Major  Madi 
son,5  were  sent  to  Quebec,  and  at  Beauport,  near  that  city,  they  were  confined  until 
the  spring  of  1814,  when  a  general  exchange  of  prisoners  took  place. 


EE81DESCE   OF   LA   SALLE. 


1  I  am  indebted  to  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Noble  for  this  sketch  of  La  Salle's  house,  as  it  appeared  at  the  time.    It  stood  in 
front  of  the  ford,  was  built  of  logs,  and  between  it  and  the  river  was  a  "puncheon"  fence.    The  "  Laselle  Farm"  was 
known  some  time  as  the  "  Humphrey  Farm."    It  is  now  [1S67]  the  property  of  the  Honorable  D.  A.  Noble. 

2  Nathaniel  G.  T.  Hart  was  a  son  of  Colonel  Thomas  Hart,  who  emigrated  to  Kentucky  from  Maryland,  and  settled 
in  Lexington.    Captain  Hart  was  born  at  Hagerstown,  in  Maryland.    One  of  his  sisters  married  Henry  Clay,  another 
married  James  Brown,  long  the  United  States  minister  at  the  French  Court.    Hart  was  making  a  fortune  in  mercantile 
pursuits  when  the  war  of  1S12  broke  out,  when  (at  the  age  of  about  twenty-seven  years)  he  was  in  command  of  the 
Lexington  Light  Infantry,  a  company  which  was  organized  by  General  James  Wilkinson,  who  was  its  first  captain,  in 
17ST.    Under  its  fourth  captain  (Beatty)  it  was  with  Wayne  in  the  campaign  of  1794.    Hart  was  its  seventh  captain,  and 
was  at  the  head  of  it  in  the  expedition  to  the  Raisin.    When  I  visited  Lexington  in  April,  1861, 1  called  on  the  then 
commander  of  the  company,  Captain  Samuel  D.  M'Cullough,  who  showed  me  the  crimson  silk  sash  of  Captain  Hart  in 
his  possession,  which  was  torn  and  had  blood-stains  upon  it.    Cassius  M.  Clay,  now  [1S67]  American  minister  to  the 
Court  of  St.  Petersburg,  commanded  this  company  in  the  United  States  army  in  Mexico.    In  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista 
its  flag  was  the  regimental  color  of  the  Kentucky  cavalry.    On  the  18th  of  January,  1861,  a  flag  was  presented  to  this 
company  (now  called  the  "Lexington  Old  Infantry")  at  the  Odd  Fellows  Hall  in  Lexington,  by  General  Leslie  Combs, 
in  behalf  of  the  donor,  David  A.  Sayre.    On  that  occasion  the  United  States  band  from  the  barracks  at  Newport,  Ken 
tucky,  performed  the  musical  part  of  the  ceremonies.    The  Star-spangled  Bamur  was  sung,  and  the  roll  of  all  the  captains, 
from  1789  to  1SG1,  was  called.    The  only  survivors  of  the  company  when  Hart  was  captain,  who  were  present,  were, 
Thomas  Smith,  of  Louisville  ;  Lawrence  Daly,  of  Fayette  County ;  and  Judge  Levi  L.  Todd,  of  Indianapolis.    The  latter, 
who  was  Hart's  successor  as  captain,  gave  the  opening  address. 

3  A  few  days  after  the  massacre  at  the  Raisin  Proctor  ordered  all  the  inhabitants  there  to  leave  their  houses  and 
move  to  Detroit.    It  was  mid-winter  and  severely  cold.    The  snow  was  very  deep,  and  they  suffered  dreadfully.    Some 
conveyances  were  sent  down  from  Detroit  for  them.    For  a  while  Frenchtown  was  a  desolation,  and  the  remains  of  the 
massacred  were  unburied. 

4  William  Lewis  was  in  Gaither's  battalion  at  St.  Clare's  defeat  in  1791.    He  was  then  captain,  and  was  appointed  to 
the  same  position  in  the  3d  Regiment  of  Infantry  the  following  year.    He  resigned  in  1797.    In  August,  1S12,  he  was  com 
missioned  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Kentucky  Volunteers,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  behaved  gallantly  at  Frenchtown.    He 
was  a  native  of  Virginia.    His  death  occurred  near  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1S25. 

5  George  Madison  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  where  he  was  born  in  1763.    He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  although 
he  was  only  a  lad  of  twelve  years  when  it  broke  out.    He  was  with  General  Clarke  in  the  Northwest,  and  was  at  the 
head  of  a  company  in  St.  Clair's  defeat  in  1791,  where  he  was  wounded.    He  was  also  wounded  in  an  attack  by  the  In- 


360  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

War-cry  of  the  Kentuckians.      Honor  conferred  on  Proctor.     Shamefulness  of  the  Act.      "  Guardians  of  Civilization." 

The  loss  of  the  Americans  in  the  affair  at  the  Raisin  was  nine  hundred  and  thirty- 
four.  Of  these,  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  were  killed  and  missing ;  the  remainder 
were  made  prisoners.  Of  the  whole  army  of  about  a  thousand  men,  only  thirty-three 
escaped.  The  loss  of  the  British,  according  to  Proctor's  report,  was  twenty-four 
killed,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  wounded.  The  loss  of  their  Indian  allies  is 
not  known.  The  event  was  a  terrible  blow  to  Kentucky.  It  caused  mourning  in  al 
most  every  family.  The  first  shock  of  grief  was  succeeded  by  intense  exasperation, 
and  the  war-cry  of  Kentucky  soldiers  after  that  was,  Remember  the  River  Raisin  ! 
•January 20,  At  Sandwich  Proctor  wrote  his  dispatch1  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  the 
commander-in-chief  in  Canada,  giving  an  account  of  his  expedition  to 
Frenchtown,  and  highly  commending  the  conduct  of  his  savage  allies.1  His  private 
representations  were  such  that  the  evidently  deceived  Assembly  of  Lower  Canada 
passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  him  and  his  men,  and  the  equally  duped  Sir  George 
promoted  him  to  the  rank  of  brigadier  general  "  until  the  pleasure  of  the  Prince  Re 
gent  should  be  known."2  That  "pleasure"  was  to  confirm  the  appointment,  and  there 
by  the  British  government  indorsed  his  conduct. 

I  visited  Frenchtown  (now  Monroe),  in  Michigan,  early  in  October,  1860.  I  went 
down  from  Detroit  by  railway  early  in  the  morning,  after  a  night  of  tempest — min 
gled  lightning,  wind,  and  rain.  The  air  was  cool  and  pure,  and  the  firmament  was 
overhung  with  beautiful  cloud-pictures.  I  bore  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Honor 
able  D.  S.  Bacon,  a  resident  of  the  place  for  almost  forty  years,  who  kindly  spent  the 
day  with  me  in  visiting  persons  and  places  of  interest  on  that  memorable  spot. 

Crossing  the  bridge  to  the  north  side  of  the  stream,  we  passed  doAvn  Water  Street 
toward  the  site  of  La  Salle's,  the  camp  of  Colonel  Lewis,  and  other  places  connected 
with  the  battle  and  massacre  already  described.  We  met  the  venerable  Judge  Du- 

dians  in  the  camp  of  Major  John  Adair  the  following  year.  For  more  than  twenty  years  he  was  auditor  of  public  ac 
counts  in  Kentucky.  When  Kentucky  was  asked  for  troops  in  1812  he  took  the  field.  He  was  kept  a  prisoner  at  Quebec 
for  some  time.  In  1816  he  was  nominated  for  the  office  of  governor  of  Kentucky.  He  was  so  beloved  and  popular  that 
his  opponent  withdrew  in  the  heat  of  the  canvass,  declaring  that  nobody  could  resist  that  popularity.  He  was  elected, 
but  died  on  the  14th  of  October  the  same  year. 

1  "The  zeal  and  courage  of  the  Indian  Department,"  he  said,  "were  never  more  conspicuous  than  on  this  occasion, 
and  the  Indian  warriors. fought  with  their  usual  bravery." 

2  It  seems  hardly  possible  that  the  Canadian  Assembly  or  Sir  George  Prevost  could  have  known  the  facts  of  the  hor 
rors  of  Frenchtown,  and  Proctor's  inhuman  abandonment  of  the  prisoners,  or  they  would  have  punished  rather  than 
rewarded  the  commander  on  that  occasion.    Sir  George,  in  his  general  order  announcing  the  promotion  of  Proctor,  ac 
tually  said,  "  On  this  occasion  the  gallantry  of  Colonel  Proctor  was  most  nobly  displayed  in  his  humane  and  unwearied 
exertions,  which  succeeded  in  rescuing  the  vanquished  from  the  revenge  of  the  Indian  warriors .'" 

British  writers,  unable  to  offer  the  shadow  of  an  excuse  for  Proctor's  conduct,  either  avoid  all  mention  of  the  massa 
cre,  or  endeavor  to  shield  him  from  the  scourge  of  just  criticism  by  affecting  to  disbelieve  the  fact  that  he  agreed  to 
give  protection  to  the  wounded,  or  accepted  the  surrender  on  any  conditions  whatever.  "  Indeed,"  says  James,  with 
an  air  of  triumph  in  discussion,  "General  Winchester  was  not  in  a  condition  to  dictate  terms,"  because  he  was  "strip 
ped  to  his  shirt  and  trowsers,  and  suffering  exceedingly  from  the  cold."— Account  of  the  Military  Occurrences  of  the  Late 
War,  etc.,  i.,  188.  But  the  testimony  of  eye  and  ear  witnesses  to  the  fact  are  too  abundant  for  any  honest-minded  man 
to  doubt.  Before  all  his  men,  in  the  presence  of  Colonel  Proctor,  not  twenty  rods  from  the  house  of  Francois  Lasalle, 
Major  Madison  declared  the  conditions  that  had  been  agreed  upon.  The  late  Judge  Durocher,  who  was  present,  in 
formed  me  that  he  heard  these  conditions  announced,  and  that  Proctor  assented  to  them  by  his  silence.  This  is  in  con 
firmation  of  Winchester's  statement  in  his  report,  written  at  Maiden  on  the  23d  of  January,  the  day  after  the  surrender. 

It  gives  the  writer  no  pleasure  to  record  the  cruelties  of  savages  and  the  unchristian  conduct  of  British  commanders 
who  employed  them.  He  would  prefer  to  bury  the  knowledge  of  these  things  in  oblivion,  and  let  the  animosities  which 
they  engender  die  with  the  generation  of  men  who  were  actors  in  the  scenes ;  but  when  a  Pharisee,  affecting  to  be  the 
"guardian  of  civilization,"  preaches  censorious  homilies  to  an  equal  in  virtue  and  dignity,  it  is  sometimes  a  wholesome 
service  to  prick  the  bubble  of  his  pride  with  the  bodkin  of  just  exposure.  When  the  British  government,  in  its  pride 
or  blindness,  lectures  that  of  the  United  States  on  lust  for  power,  barbarity  in  warfare,  and  kindred  subjects,  as  it  did 
during  the  late  civil  war  in  the  United  States,  an  occasional  lifting  of  the  veil  from  the  records  of  the  censor's  own 
shortcomings  may  be  productive  of  a  wholesome  humility  and  a  practical  desire  for  reform.  Posterity  will  point  the 
finger  of  scorn  toward  the  conduct  of  the  government  of  that  empire,  and  the  journalists  and  publicists  in  its  interest, 
during  the  trials  of  the  government  and  loyal  people  of  the  United  States  in  their  late  struggles  against  foul  conspiracy 
and  frightful  rebellion,  as  unworthy  of  an  enlightened  and  Christian  nation.  That  conduct— the  manifestation  of  the 
intense  selfishness  of  the  aristocracy  of  rank  and  wealth  which  have  ever  ruled  England— will  always  appear  darkly  in  ' 
the  history  of  nations  as  a  crime  against  humanity,  and  a  libel  upon  the  character  of  the  overwhelming  majority  of  the 
English  people.  The  employment  of  bloody  savages  to  butcher  their  relatives  in  America ;  the  demoniac  treatment  of 
captive  Sepoys  in  India;  the  encouragement  of  frightful  atrocities  in  China,  and  the  open  sympathy  with  conspirators 
against  a  beneficent  government  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  establishing  a  despotism  whose  corner-stone  should  be 
HUMAN  SLAVERY,  should  forever  close  the  lips  of  the  English  government  when  it  attempts  to  lecture  others  ou  human 
ity,  or  claims  to  be,  par  excellence,  the  "guardian  of  civilization." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


361 


Visit  to  the  Raisin. 


The  historical  Localities  there. 


Survivors  of  the  War. 


rocher,  already  mentioned  in  the  narrative  as  one  of  the  actors  in  the  scenes  there — 
a  short,  dark-complexioned  man  of  French  descent — who  pointed  out  the  spot,  in  an 
open  lot  between  Water  Street  and  the  river,  not  far  from  where  we  were  standing, 
a  little  westward  of  La  Salle's  house,  where  Captain  Hart  was  murdered  by  the  In 
dians.  Promising  me  another  and  longer  interview  at  his  office,  we  left  Judge  Du- 
rocher,  and  passed  on  to  the  site  of  La  Salle's  dwelling,  then  the  property  of  Hon.  D. 
S.  Noble,  delineated  on  page  359,  apart  of  which  yet  remains,  with  a  pear-tree  plant 
ed  there  during  the  last  century.  Not  far  below  this  we  came  to  the  railway  and 
the  common  road  leading  from  the  Raisin  to  Detroit.  On  the  corner  of  the  latter, 
not  far  from  the  site  of  the  houses  of  Godfrey  and  Jereaume,  where  the  wounded 
were  burned  and  massacred,  was  a  large  brick  house,  the  residence  of  Matthew  Gib 
son.  Very  near  it,  in  an  orchard,  might  be  seen  the  remains  of  the  cellars  of  those 
buildings.  From  that  point,  around  which  the  battle  was  fought,  and  near  which  the 


MOSEOE,  FROM   THE   BATTLE-GEOtTNl). 

Americans  were  driven  across  the  Raisin  just  before  the  massacre  on  the  south  side 
of  the  stream,  I  made  the  above  sketch  (looking  westward)  of  the  river,  the  railway 
bridge,  and  the  distant  town.  Gibson's  house  is  seen  in  the  foreground,  on  the  right ; 
the  railway  bridge,  on  four  piers  in  the  water,  with  the  town  beyond  it,  is  seen  in 
the  centre  ;  and  by  the  distant  trees,  seen  immediately  beyond  the  point  on  the  left, 
is  indicated  the  spot  near  which  Winchester  was  captured.  Returning  to  the  village, 
I  called  upon  Judge  Durocher,  who,  in  the  course  of  a  pleasant  interview  of  an  hour, 
gave  me  many  items  of  information  concerning  the  events  we  have  been  considering. 
'  He  spoke  of  Winchester  as  a  "  fussy  man,"  quite  heavy  in  person,  and  illy  fitted  for 
the  peculiar  service  in  which  he  was  engaged.  He  also  assured  me  that  after  the  de 
feat  of  the  Americans  at  Frenchtown,  Proctor  endeavored  to  persuade  the  Indians  to 
destroy  the  French  settlements  there,  because  he  believed  the  inhabitants  to  be  favor 
able  to  the  United  States.  It  was  even  proposed  to  the  Indians  in  council,  and  an 
other  cold-blooded  massacre,  not  by  the  permission,  but  at  the  instigation  of  Proctor, 
was  only  prevented  by  the  firmness  of  the  friendship  which  the  Pottawatomies  bore 
to  the  inhabitants  on  the  Raisin.  Judge  Durocher  was  seventy-four  years  of  age 
when  I  visited  him.  A  little  less  than  a  year  afterward  he  was  borne  to  the  grave.1 

1  Laurent  Durocher  was  the  son  of  a  French  Canadian,  and  was  born  at  St.  Genevieve  Mission,  in  Missouri,  in  1786. 
His  father  died  when  he  was  young,  and  his  uncle  sent  him  to  a  college  in  Montreal  to  be  educated.    At  the  close  of  his 


362  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  valiant  James  Knaggs.  His  public  Career.  His  Relations  with  the  Indians. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  head-quarters  of  Winchester,  delineated  on  page  354, 
which  was  occupied  by  the  rector  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  in  Monroe.  It 
was  too  unlike  the  original  to  claim  the  service  of  the  pencil,  and  we  proceeded  to 
the  house  of  James  Knaggs,  one  of  the  oldest  inhabitants  of  that  region,  and  a  re 
markable  character,  who,  as  an  Indian  fighter  and  volunteer  soldier,  performed  good 
service  during  the  war  of  1812.  He  had  just  returned  from  some  toil  at  a  distance, 
and,  octogenarian  as  he  was,  he  seemed  vigorous  in  mind  and  body.  He  was  a  stout- 
built  man,  about  eighty  years  of  age.  His  birth-place  was  at  Roche  de  Bout,  on  the 
Maumee,  a  little  above  the  present  village  of  Waterville.  His  father  was  an  English 
man,  and  his  mother  a  Mohawk  Valley  Dutch  woman.1  From  early  life  he  was  fa 
miliar  with  the  Indians  and  the  woods.  He  had  been  a  witness  of  the  treachery  and 
cruelty  of  the  savages,  and  his  family  had  suffered  severely  at  their  hands.  When 
speaking  of  the  Indians  and  his  personal  contests  with  them,  his  vengeful  feelings 
could  hardly  be  repressed,  and  he  talked  with  almost  savage  delight  of  the  manner 
in  which  he  had  disposed  of  some  of  them.2 

Soon  after  Wayne's  campaign  Knaggs  settled  at  Frenchtown,  and  became  a  farmer. 
In  1811  he  established  a  regular  ferry  at  the  Huron  River,  on  the  road  to  Detroit, 
with  only  Indians  as  companions  and  neighbors.  These,  excited  against  all  Ameri 
cans  by  British  emissaries,  Avere  very  troublesome,  and  Knaggs  had  frequent  conflicts 
with  them  in  some  form.  When  Hull  Avas  on  his  Avay  toward  Detroit,  Knaggs  joined 
the  army  as  a  private  in  Captain  Lee's  company  of  dragoons — "  River  Raisin  men 
the  best  troops  in  the  world,"  as  Harrison  said3 — and  became  very  expert  and  efficient 
in  the  spy,  scout,  or  ranger  service.  He  was  engaged  in  the  various  conflicts  near 
the  Detroit  River,  already  described,  and  in  1813  was  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames, 
under  Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson.  While  Avith  Hull  at  SandAvich,  attached  to  Col 
onel  M' Arthur's  regiment,  he  performed  important  scout  serAdce.  On  one  occasion, 
accompanied  by  four  men.  he  penetrated  the  country  as  far  as  the  site  of  the  present 
village  of  Chatham,  on  the  Thames,  and  there  captured  a  Colonel  M'Gregor,  a  burly 
British  officer,  and  a  Jew  named  Jacobs,  and  carried  them  to  Hull's  camp.  He  tied 
M'Gregor  to  a  horse,  and  thus  took  him  to  the  head-quarters  of  his  chief.  After  the 
surrender  M'Gregor  offered  five  hundred  dollars  for  the  capture  of  Knaggs,  dead 
or  aliATe.  The  Indians  were  constantly  on  the  watch  for  him,  and  he  had  many 

studies,  in  1805,  he  settled  at  Frenchtown.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  of  1812,  he,  with  other  young  Frenchmen  of  that 
region,  joined  the  army  of  General  icau  commander  with  several  im- 

Hull  for  a  year.    They  were  at  the  -  s*      N  portant   trusts.     When,  in    1818, 

Raisin  when  Hull  surrendered,  and  M  j    D   /f  Monroe   County  was    organized, 

gave  themselves  up  to  Captain  El-    _^^  ^\ — x^/2.        ^.^  Durocher  was  chosen  its  clerk.  He 

liott.  During  the  remainder  of  the  OCfitM/t&vVf  O&6t/Z£&r24/ts'  held  that  office  for  about  twenty 
war  he  was  charged  by  the  Amer-  years.  He  was  for  six  years  a 

member  of  the  Territorial  Council  of  Michigan,  and  in  1835  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  that  framed  the  state  Con 
stitution.  He  was  a  member  of  the  state  Legislature,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  judge  of  probate,  and  circuit  judge,  and  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  on  the  21st  of  September,  1SG1,  was  clerk  of  the  city  of  Monroe.  The  funeral  services  at  the  time 
of  his  burial  were  held  in  St.  Anne's  Catholic  church  of  Monroe,  where  Father  Joos  officiated. 

1  Knaggs's  mother  lived  at  or  near  Freuchtown  at  the  time  of  the  battle  there,  and  was  one  of  those  whom  Proctor 
ordered  to  Detroit.    She  was  then  eighty  years  of  age.    Thinly  clad  (having  been  robbed  by  the  Indians),  she  proceeded 
in  an  open  traineau,  and  reached  Detroit  in  safety.    When  asked  how  it  happened  that  she  did  not  perish,  she  replied, 
"  My  spunk  kept  me  warm." 

2  On  one  occasion,  as  he  informed  me,  while  he  kept  the  ferry  on  the  Huron,  he  flogged  a  troublesome  Indian  very 
severely.    That  night  a  brother  of  the  savage  came  to  Knaggs's  cabin  at  a  late  hour  to  avenge  the  insult.    Hearing  a 
summons,  but  not  knowing  the  visitor,  Knaggs  went  out,  when  the  gleam  of  a  knife-blade  in  the  starlight  warned 
him  of  danger.    He  ran  to  a  spot  where  he  had  a  large  club,  pursued  by  a  savage,  who,  in  striking  at  him  with  his  knife, 
cut  off  the  skirt  of  the  only  garment  that  Knaggs  had  on.    The  latter  seized  the  club,  turned  upon  his  assailant,  felled 
him  to  the  ground,  and  beat  him  until  every  bone  in  his  body  was  broken.    Although  nearly  fifty  years  had  elapsed 
since  the  occurrence,  Mr.  Knaggs  became  much  excited  while  relating  it. 

3  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Lyon,  of  Detroit,  for  the  following  copy  of  the  first  muster-roll  of  the  "Raisin  men,"  under 
Cornet  Isaac  Lee : 

Cornet,  Isaac  Lee.  Serrieant,  James  Bentley.  Corporal,  John  Ruland.  Privates,  James  Knaggs,  Louis  Dronillard, 
Orrin  Rhodes,  Michael  M'Dermot,  Scott  Rolle,  Samuel  Dibble,  Robert  Glass,  Cyrus  Hunter,  James  Rolle,  Silas  Lewis, 
Samuel  Youngs,  John  Murphy,  Thomas  Noble,  Francis  Moffatt,  Daniel  Hull,  John  Reddull,  John  Creamer. 

From  October,  1813,  to  April,  1814,  Captain  Lee  commanded  a  large  company  of  dragoons.  His  lieutenants  were 
George  Johnson  and  John  Ruland.  The  late  Judge  Laurent  Durocher  was  cornet.  Johnson  was  a  very  brave  officer, 
and  in  the  battle  of  Maguaga  he  actually  commanded  Smyth's  dragoons. 


OF   THE  WAR    OF    1812. 


363 


The  patriotic  Knaggs  Family. 


Harrison  unjustly  censured. 


His  Efforts  to  relieve  Winchester  at  the  Raisin. 


narrow  escapes.     This  made  him  feel  bit 
terly  toward  them. 

At  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  Knaggs 
identified  the  body  of  Tecumtha,  it  is  said, 
he  having  been  long  acquainted  with  the 
great  Shawnoe.  He  was  absent  in  Ohio 
on  his  parole  when  the  battle  of  the  Raisin 
occurred.  He  was  the  youngest  of  five 
brothers,  all  of  whom  were  active  in  mili 
tary  service.  His  four  brothers  served 
as  spies  with  Captain  Wells,  who  was 
killed  at  Chicago.  One  of  them  was 
captured  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  carried 
a  prisoner  to  Halifax.  They  were  all  men 
of  strong  convictions,  and  each,  until  the 
day  of  his  death,  hated  both  the  British 
and  their  Indian  allies,  for  they  had  all 
suffered  at  their  hands. 

Mr.  Knaggs  seemed  in  fine 
health  and  spirits  \vhen  I 
visited  him ;  but,  a  little  more 
than  three  months  afterward, 
he  died  suddenly.  His  death 
occurred  on  the  23d  of  De 
cember,  I860.1 

I  returned  to  Detroit  by  the  evening  train,  filled  with  reflections  concerning  the 
events  of  the  day,  and  those  which  made  the  Raisin  terribly  conspicuous  in  the  annals 
of  the  war.  I  remembered  that  some  of  the  newspapers  of  the  day  censured  Harri 
son  for  not  promptly  supporting  Winchester ;  and  that  in  the  political  campaign  of 
1840,  when  Harrison  was  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  his  enemies  cited 
his  alleged  shortcomings  on  this  occasion  as  evidence  that  his  military  genius  and 
services,  on  which  his  fame  mostly  rested,  were  myths.  But  contemporary  history, 
and  the  well-settled  convictions  of  his  surviving  companions  in  arms  whom  I  met  in 
the  Northwest,  as  well  as  the  gallant  engineer,  Colonel  Wood,  who  afterward  fell  at 
Fort  Erie,2  fully  acquit  General  Harrison  of  all  blame  or  lack  of  soldierly  qualities 
on  that  occasion.  It  was  not  until  the  night  of  the  16th  that  he  was  informed  by  a 
messenger  that  General  Winchester  had  arrived  at  the  Rapids,  and  meditated  a  for 
ward  movement.  The  latter  intimation  alarmed  Harrison,  and  he  made  every  exer 
tion  to  push  troops  forward  from  Upper  Sandusky,  where  he  was  then  quartered, 
sixty  miles  from  the  Rapids  by  way  of  the  Portage  River,  and  seventy-six  miles  by 
Lower  Sandusky.  He  immediately  ordered  his  artillery  to  advance  by  way  of  the 
Portage,  with  an  escort  of  three  hundred  men,  under  Major  Orr,  with  provisions ;  and 
he  pressed  forward  himself,  as  speedily  as  possible,  by  the  way  of  Lower  Sandusky, 
where  one  regiment  and  a  battalion  were  stationed,  under  the  command  of  General 
Perkins.  This  battalion  was  ordered  to  march  immediately,  under  Major  Cotgrove, 
and  Harrison  determined  to  follow  it  the  next  morning.  He  was  just  rising  from  his 

1  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  William  H.  Bowlsby,  a  photographer  in  Monroe,  for  the  likeness  of  Mr.  Knaggs.    It  was  taken 
from  life  by  that  gentleman.    The  signature  was  written  in  my  note-book  by  Mr.  Knaggs  when  I  visited  him. 

2  Lieutenant  Colonel'Wood,  then  Harrison's  chief  engineer,  with  the  rank  of  captain,  afterward  said,  "  What  human 
means  within  the  control  of  General  Harrison  could  prevent  the  anticipated  disaster,  and  save  that  corps  which  was  al 
ready  looked  upon  as  lost,  as  doomed  to  inevitable  destruction  ?    Certainly  none,  because  neither  orders  to  halt  nor 
troops  to  succor  him  [Winchester]  could  be  received  in  time,  or  at  least  that  was  the  expectation.    He  was  already  in 
motion,  and  General  Harrison  still  at  Upper  Sandusky,  seventy  miles  in  his  rear.    The  weather  was  inclement,  the  snow 
was  deep,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  Black  Swamp  was  yet  open.    What  would  a  Turenue  or  a  Eugene  have  done, 
under  such  a  pressure  of  embarrassing  circumstances,  more  than  Harrison  did  ?" 


364  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Harrison  at  the  Maumee  Rapids.          He  assists  the  Fugitives  from  the  Raisin.          His  Army  at  the  Maumee  Rapids. 

bed  when  a  messenger  came  with  the  tidings  of  the  advance  of  Lewis  upon  French- 
town.  Perkins  was  immediately  ordered  to  pi-ess  forward  to  the  Rapids  the  remain 
ing  troops  under  his  command.  After  hastily  breakfasting,  he  and  Perkins  proceeded 
in  a  sleigh.  They  were  met  on  the  way  by  an  express  with  intelligence  of  Lewis's 
victory  at  the  Raisin.  This  nerved  Harrison  to  greater  exertions.  He  pushed  for 
ward  alone  and  on  horseback,  through  the  swamps  filled  with  snow,  in  daylight  and 
in  darkness,  and,  after  almost  superhuman  efforts,  he  reached  the  Rapids  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  20th.  Winchester  had  departed  for  the  Raisin  the  previous  evening, 
and  Harrison  could  do  nothing  better  than  wait  for  his  oncoming  troops,  under  Perkins 
and  Cotgrove,  and  the  artillery  by  the  Portage.  What  remained  at  the  Rapids  of 
Winchester's  army,  under  Colonel  Payne,  were  sent  forward  toward  the  Raisin,  and 
Captain  Hart,  the  inspector  general,  was  sent  to  inform  Winchester  of  the  supporting 
movements  in  his  rear. 

Alas !  the  roads  were  so  almost  impassable  that  the  troops  moved  very  slowly. 
After  the  utmost  exertions  they  were  too  late.  News  came  to  Harrison,  at  ten 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  of  the  attack  of  the  British  and  Indians  on  the 
Americans  at  Frenchtown.  The  fraction  of  Perkins's  brigade  which  had  arrived  at 
the  Rapids  was  sent  forward,  and  Harrison  himself  hastened  toward  the  Raisin.  He 
met  the  affrighted  fugitives,  who  told  doleful  stories  of  the  scenes  of  the  morning, 
and  assured  the  commander  that  tKe  British  and  Indians  were  in  pursuit  of  the 
broken  army  of  Winchester  toward  the  Rapids.  This  intelligence  spurred  on  the 
re-enforcements.  Other  fugitives  were  soon  met,  who  declared  that  the  defeat  of 
Winchester  was  total  and  irretrievable,  and  that  no  aid  in  Harrison's  power  could 
win  back  the  victory  of  the  enemy.  A  council  of  officers  was  held  at  Harrison's 
head-quarters  in  the  saddle,  when  it  was  decided  that  a  farther  advance  would  be 
useless  and  imprudent.  A  few  active  men  were  sent  forward  to  assist  the  fugitives 
in  escaping,  while  the  main  body  returned  to  the  Rapids.  There  another  council  was 
held,  which  resulted  in  an  order  for  the  troops,  numbering  not  more  than  nine  hund 
red  men,  to  fall  back  to  the  Portage  (about  eighteen  miles),  establish  there  a  forti 
fied  camp,  wait  for  the  arrival  of  the  artillery  and  accompanying  troops,  and  then  to 
push  forward  to  the  Rapids  again. 

The  latter  movement  was  delayed  on  account  of  heavy  rains.  On  the  30th  of  Jan 
uary  Colonel  Leftwitch  arrived  with  his  brigade,  a  regiment  of  Pennsylvania  troops, 
and  a  greater  part  of  the  artillery,  and  on  the  1st  of  February  General  Harrison 
moved  toward  the  Rapids  with  seventeen  hundred  men.  He  took  post  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  river,  upon  high  and  commanding  ground,  at  the  foot  of  the  Rapids,  and 
there  established  a  foi'tified  camp,  to  which  was  afterward  given,  in  honor  of  the  gov 
ernor  of  Ohio,  the  name  of  Fort  Meigs.  All  the  troops  that  could  be  spared  from 
other  posts  were  ordered  there,  with  the  design  of  pressing  on  toward  Maiden  before 
the  middle  of  February  ;  but  circumstances  caused  delay,  and  the  Army  of  the  North 
west  tarried  for  some  time  on  the  bank  of  the  Maumee  before  opening  the  campaign 
of  1813  in  that  region. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


305 


Events  on  the  Northern  Frontier. 


First  warlike  Measures  there. 


Enforcement  of  the  Revenue  Laws. 


CHAPTER 

'  Oh  !  now  the  time  has  come,  my  boys,  to  cross  the  Yankee  line, 
We  remember  they  were  rebels  once,  and  conquered  John  Burgoyne ; 
We'll  subdue  those  mighty  Democrats,  and  pull  their  dwellings  down, 
And  we'll  have  the  States  inhabited  with  subjects  to  the  crown." 

SONG — THE  NOBLE  LADS  OF  CANADA. 

N  preceding  chapters  the  military  events  in  the  Northwest, 
where  the  war  was  first  commenced  in  earnest,  have  been  con 
sidered  in  a  group,  as  forming  a  distinct  episode  in  the  history. 
By  such  grouping,  in  proper  order,  the  reader  may  obtain  a 
comprehensive  view  of  the  entire  campaign  of  1812  in  that  re 
gion,  which  ended  with  the  establishment  of  General  Harrison's 
head-quarters  on  the  banks  of  the  Maumee  early  in  February, 
1813. 

We  will  now  consider  the  next  series  of  events,  in  the  order  of  time,  in  the  cam 
paign  of  1812,  which  occurred  on  the  Northern  frontier,  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  River 
St.  Lawrence.  The  movements  in  the  Northwest  already  recorded  claim  precedence, 
in  point  of  time,  over  those  on  the  Northern  frontier  of  only  seven  days,  Hull  having 
initiated  the  former  by  the  invasion  of  Canada  on  the  12th  of  July,  and  a  squadron 
of  British  vessels  having  opened  the  latter  by  an  attack  on  Sackett's  Harbor  on  the 
1 9th  of  the  same  month.  The  parties  in  these  movements,  between  the  scenes  of 
which  lay  an  almost  unbroken  wilderness  of  wood  and  water  of  several  hundred 
miles,  were  absolutely  independent  of  each  other  in  immediate  impulse  and  action. 

When  war  was  declared  the  United  States  possessed  small  means  on  the  north 
ern  frontier  for  offensive  or  defensive  operations.  The  first  warlike  measure  was 
the  construction,  at  Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario,  of  the  brig  Oneida,  by  Christian  Berg 
and  Henry  Eckford,  under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  Melancthon  Woolsey,  of  the 
United  States  Navy.  She  was  commenced  in  1808,  and  was  launched  early  in  1809. 
She  was  intended  chiefly  for  employment  in  the  enforcement  of  the  revenue  laws 
on  the  frontier,  under  the  early  embargo  acts.  For  a  similar  purpose,  a  company 
of  infantry  and  some  artillery  were  posted  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  at  the  eastern  end 
of  Lake  Ontario,1  in  1808;  and  in  March,  1809,  militia  detachments  were  stationed 
on  the  southern  shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  opposite  Kingston,  to  prevent  smug 
gling.  This  duty  gave  rise  to  many  stirring  scenes  on  the  frontier  in  the  violation 
and  vindication  of  the  revenue  laws,  which  were  generally  evaded  or  openly  defied 
until  the  spring  of  1812,  when  a  more  stringent  embargo  act  was  passed.a  "April 4, 

The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  as  vigilant  as  the  national       1S12- 
government,  took  measures  early  for  enforcing  the  laws  on  the  Canada  frontier  of 
that  commonwealth.     In  February,  1808,  the  governor  ordered  five  hundred  stand  of 
arms  to  be  deposited  at  Champion,  in  the  present  county  of  Jefferson ;  and  the  fol 
lowing  year  an  arsenal  was  built  at  Watertown,2  on  the  Black  River,  twelve  miles 

1  The  Indians  gave  this  an  almost  unpronounceable  and  interminable  name,  which  signified  "Fort  at  the  mouth  of 
Great  River."    It  received  its  name  from  Augustus  Sackett,  the  first  settler.    It  was  constituted  an  election  district  in 
1S05,  and  in  1S14  it  was  incorporated  a  village.    During  the  war  of  1812  it  was  the  chief  military  post  on  the  Northern 
frontier.    Millions  of  dollars  have  been  expended  there  for  fortifications  and  war  vessels,  yet  prosperity  as  a  village 
seems  not  to  have  been  its  lot.    It  contains  less  than  one  thousand  inhabitants. 

2  The  engraving  of  the  Arsenal  Building  on  the  following  pace  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  writer  in  1S55.    It  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  about  two  thousand  dollars.    It  is  still  [1S6T]  standing,  on  the  south  side  of  Arsenal  (formerly  Co 
lumbia)  Street,  between  Benedict  and  Madison  Streets.    It  was  maintained  by  the  state  as  an  arsenal  until  1S50,  when 
it  was  sold.    . 


366 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


ARSENAL   BUILDING,  WATKKTOWN. 


War  Materials  at  Watertown.      The  Militia  there  in  Command  of  General  Brown.      The  detached  Militia  of  the  State. 

eastward  of  Sackett's  Harbor,  under  the  di 
rection  of  Hart  Massey,1  where  arms,  fixed 
ammunition,  accoutrements,  and  other  war 
supplies  were  speedily  gathered  for  use  on 
the  Northern  frontier.     In  May,  1812,  a  reg 
iment  of  militia,  under  Colonel  Christopher 
P.  Bellinger,  was  stationed  at  Sackett's  Har 
bor,  a  part  of  which  was  kept  on  duty  at 
Cape  Vincent.     Jacob  Brown,  an  enterpris 
ing  farmer  from  Pennsylvania,  who  had  set 
tled  on  the  borders  of  the  Black  River  about 
four  miles  from  WatertOAvn,  and  had  been 
appointed  a  brigadier  general  of  militia  in 
1811,  was  then  in  command  of  the  first  de 
tachment  of  New  York's  quota  of  the  one  hundred  thousand  militia  which  the  Presi- 
» April  10,     dent  was  authorized  to  call  out  by  act  of  Congress. a     When  war  was  de- 
812'        clared  he  was  charged  with  the  defense  of  the  frontier  from  Oswego  to  Lake 
St.  Francis,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  miles.2 

1  Mr.  Massey  was  one  of  the  earlier  settlers  of  Watertown.    The  first  religious  meeting  there  was  held  in  his  house. 
He  was  collector  of  the  port  of  Sackett's  Harbor  at  the  time  in  question,  and  held  that  office  all  through  what  was  call 
ed  "  Embargo  times"  and  the  War.    He  died  at  Watertown  in  March,  1853,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two  years. 

2  By  a  General  Order  issued  from  the  War  Department  on  the  21st  of  April,  1812,  the  detached  militia  of  the  State  of 
New  York  were  arranged  in  two  divisions  and  eight  brigades.    STEPHEN  VAN  RENESELAEB,  of  Albany,  was  appointed 
major  general,  and  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  First  Division ;  and  BENJAMIN  MOOERS,  of  Plattsburg,  was  ap 
pointed  to  the  same  office,  and  placed  in  command  of  the  Second  Division. 

The  eight  brigadiers  commissioned  for  the  service  were  assigned  to  the  several  brigades  as  follows :  1st  brigade, 
GERAED  STEDDIFOED,  of  the  city  of  New  York ;  2d,  REUBEN  HOPKINS,  of  Goshen,  Orange  County ;  3d,  MICAJAU  PETTIS, 
of  Queensbury,  Washington  County ;  4th,  RICHARD  DODGE,  of  Johnstown,  Montgomery  County ;  5th,  JACOB  BBOWN,  of 
Brownsville,  Jefferson  County  ;  6th,  DANIEL  MILLER,  of  Homer,  Cortland  County ;  7th,  WILLIAM  WADSWOETH,  of  Gen- 
eseo,  Ontario  County;  8th,  GEORGE  M'CLURE,  of  Bath,  Steubeu  County. 

This  force  was  farther  subdivided  into  twenty  regiments,  and  to  the  command  of  each  a  lieutenant  colonel  was  as 
signed,  as  follows : 

First  Brigade :  1st  regiment,  Beekman  M.  Van  Buren,  of  the  city  of  New  York ;  2d,  Jonas  Napes,  of  the  city  of  New 
York;  3d,  John  Ditmas,  of  Jamaica,  Queens  County. 

Second  Brigade:  4th  regiment,  Abraham  J.  Hardenbergh,  of  Shawangunk,  Ulster  County;  5th,  Martin Heermance,  of 
Rhinebeck,  Duchess  County;  6th,  Abraham  Van  Wyek,  of  Fishkill,  Duchess  County. 

Third  Brigade :  7th  regiment,  James  Green,  of  Argyle,  Washington  County ;  8th,  Thomas  Miller,  of  Plattsburg,  Clin 
ton  County;  9th,  Peter  I.  Vosburgh,  of  Kiuderhook,  Columbia  County. 

Fourth  Brigade  :  10th  regiment,  John  Prior,  of  Greenfield,  Saratoga  County,  and  llth,  Calvin  Rich,  of  Sharon,  Scho- 
harie  County,  to  be  attached  to  the  regiments  from  General  Veeder's  division ;  12th,  John  T.  VanDalfsen,  of  Coeyman's, 
Albany  County,  and  13th,  Putnam  Farrington,  of  Delhi,  Delaware  County,  to  be  attached  to  the  regiments  from  Gen 
eral  Todd's  division. 

Fifth  Brigade-:  14th  regiment,  William  Stone,  of  Whitestown,  Oneida  County ;  15th,  Thomas  B.  Benedict,  of  De  Kalb, 
St.  Lawrence  County. 

Sixth  Brigade:  16th  regiment,  Farrand  Stranahan,  of  Cooperstown,  Otsego  County;  17th,  Thomas  Mead,  of  Norwich, 
Chenango  County. 

Seventh  Brigade :  18th  regiment,  Hugh  W.  Dobbin,  of  Junius,  Seneca  County ;  19th,  Henry  Bloom,  of  Geneva,  Cayu- 
ga  County  ;  20th,  Peter  Allen,  of  Bloomfield,  Ontario  County. 

To  the  Eighth  Brigade  was  assigned  the  regiment  of  light  infantry  under  Colonel  Jeremiah  Johnson,  of  Brooklyn, 
Kings  County,  and  the  regiment  of  riflemen  under  Colonel  Francis  M'Clure,  of  the  city  of  New  York. 

General  Van  Rensselaer  assigned  to  the  several  brigades  the  following  staff  officers : 


Brigades. 

Brigade  Majors  and  Inspectors. 

Brigade  Quartermasters. 

Brigades. 

Brigade  Majors  and  Inspectors. 

Brigade  Quartermasters. 

1 
2 
3 
4 

Theophilus  Pierce. 
John  Dill. 
Michael  S.  Van  der  Cock. 
Moses  S.  Cantine. 

Charles  Graham. 
Robert  Heart. 
Dean  Edson. 
Leon'd  H.  Gansevoort. 

5 
6 

7 
8 

Robert  Shoemaker. 
Thomas  Greenley. 
Julius  Keyes. 
Joseph  Lad. 

Henry  Seymour. 
Nathaniel  R.  Packard. 
Henry  Wells. 
Jeremiah  Anderson. 

I  have  compiled  the  above  statement  from  General  Van  Rensselaer's  first  General  Order,  issued  from  his  head-quar 
ters  at  Albany  on  the  18th  of  June,  1812.*  The  following  paragraph  from  his  second  General  Order,  issued  on  the  13th 
of  July,  indicates  the  special  field  of  operations  to  which  General  Van  Rensselaer  was  assigned :  "  Major  General  Ste 
phen  Van  Rensselaer  having  been  requested  to  repair  to  the  command  of  the  militia  heretofore  ordered  into  the  service, 
and  to  be  hereafter  ordered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  for  the  defense  of  the  Northern  and  Western  frontiers 
of  this  state  between  St.  Regis  and  Pennsylvania,  enters  upon  his  command  this  day."  In  the  same  Order  General  Van 
Rensselaer  declared  that  all  the  militia  comprehended  in  the  brigades  organized  by  his  General  Order  of  the  18th  of 
June,  "  together  with  the  corps  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonels  Swift,  Flemming,  and  Bellinger,  were  subject  to 
his  division  orders." 


General  Van  Rensselaer's  MS.  Order  Book  from  June  18th  to  October  1st,  1812. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


Seizure  of  British  Vessels  on  Lake  Ontario.  Retaliation  expected.  Northern  Militia  called  out. 

In  May,  1812,  the  schooner  Lord  Nelson,  owned  by  parties  at  Niagara,  Upper 
Canada,  and  laden  with  flour  and  merchandise,  sailed  from  that  port  for  Kingston. 
She  was  found  in  American  waters,  captured  by  the  Oneida,  under  Lieutenant  Com 
manding  Woolsey,  and  condemned  as  a  lawful  prize  for  a  violation  of  the  Embargo 
Act.  About  a  month  later,a  another  British  schooner,  the  Ontario,  was  cap-  -June  14, 
tured  at  St.  Vincent,  but  was  soon  afterward  discharged ;  and  at  about  the 
same  time,  still  another  British  schooner,  named  Niagara,  was  seized,  and  sold  because 
of  a  violation  of  the  revenue  laws.  These  events,  as  was  expected,  soon  led  to  retal 
iation.  When  news  of  the  declaration  of  war  reached  Ogdensburg,  on  the  St.  Law 
rence,  eight  American  schooners — trading  vessels — lay  in  its  harbor.  They  endeav 
ored  to  escape1*  to  Lake  Ontario,  bearing  away  affrighted  families  and  their  b 
effects.  An  active  Canadian  partisan  named  Jones,  living  not  far  from  the 
present  village  of  Maitland,  had  raised  a  company  of  volunteers  to  capture  them.  He 
gave  chase  in  boats,  overtook  the  fugitive  unarmed  flotilla  at  the  foot  of  the  Thousand 
Islands,1  a  little  above  Brockville,  captured  two  of  the  schooners  (Sophia  and  Island 
Packet),  and  emptied  and  burned  them.  The  remainder  retreated  to  Ogdensburg.2 

It  was  believed  that  this  movement  was  only  the  beginning  of  more  active  and  ex 
tensive  ones,  offensive  and  defensive,  on  the  part  of  the  British — that  several  of  the 
Thousand  Islands  were  about  to  be  fortified,  and  that  expeditions  of  armed  men  in 
boats  were  to  be  sent  over  to  devastate  the  country  along  the  northern  frontier. 
General  Brown  and  Commander  Woolsey,  vested  with  full  authority,  took  active 
measures  to  repel  invasion  and  protect  the  lake  coast  and  river  shores.  In  a  letter 
to  the  former,  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  Governor  of  ISFew  York,  informed  him  of  the  dec 
laration  of  war,  and  directed  him  to  call  out  re-enforcements  for  Bellinger  from  the 
militia  of  Jefferson,  Lewis,  and  St.  Lawrence  Counties,  and  to  arm  and  equip  them, 
if  necessary,  from  _the  arsenals  at  Watertown,  and  at  Russel,  farther  north  on  the 
Grosse  River.  Colonel  Benedict,  of 
St.  Lawrence,  was  ordered  to  guard 
the  frontier  from  Ogdensburg  to  St. 
Regis.  Measures  were  also  taken  to  concentrate  a  considerable  force  at  Ogdensburg 
and  Cape  Vincent,  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  guarding  the  frontier  and  keeping- 
Kingston  in  a  state  of  alarm,  that  being  the  chief  naval  station  where  the  British 
built  vessels  for  service  on  Lake  Ontario. 

On  the  llth  of  July  the  inhabitants  on  the  frontier  were  alarmed  by  a  rumor  that 
Commander  Woolsey  and  his  Oneida  had  been  captured  by  the  enemy,  and  that  a 
squadron  of  British  vessels  were  on  their  way  from  Kingston  to  recapture  the  Lord 
Nelson  and  destroy  Sackett's  Harbor.  General  Brown  immediately  repaired  to  the 
Harbor.  The  rumor  was  a  false  one,  but  a  part  of  it  was  the  precursor  of  truth  in  a 
similar  form.  Eighteen  days  afterward  Commander  Woolsey  saw  from  his  mast-head, 
at  early  dawn,  a  squadron  of  five  British  vessels  of  war  off  Stony  Island,  beating  to 
ward  the  Harbor  with  the  wind  dead  ahead.  These  proved  to  be  the  Royal  George, 
24;  Prince  Eegent,  22;  Earl  of  Moira,  20;  Simcoe,  12;  and  Seneca,  4,  under  the 
command  of  Commodore  Earle,  a  Canadian.  On  the  way  up  they  captured  a  boat 
returning  from  Cape  Vincent ;  and  by  the  crew  (who  were  released),  they  sent  word 
to  Bellinger,  the  commandant  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  that  all  they  wanted  was  the 

1  This  group  of  islands,  lying  in  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  just  below  the  foot  of  Lake  Ontario,  fill  that  river  for  twenty- 
seven  miles  along  its  course,  and  number  more  than  fifteen  hundred.    A  few  of  them  are  large  and  cultivated,  but  the 
most  of  them  are  mere  rocky  islets,  covered  generally  with  stunted  hemlocks  and  cedar-trees,  which  extend  to  the  - 
water's  edge.    Some  of  them  contain  an  area  of  only  a  few  square  yards,  while  others  present  many  superficial  square 
miles.    Canoes  and  small  boats  may  pass  in  safety  among  all  of  them,  and  there  is  a  deep  channel  for  steamboats  and 
other  large  vessels,  which  never  varies  in  depth  or  position,  the  bottom  being  rocky.    The  St.  Lawrence  here  varies 
from  two  to  nine  miles  in  width.    The  boundary-line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada  passes  among  them.    It 
was  determined  in  1818.    The  largest  of  the  islands  are  Grand  and  Howe,  belonging  to  Canada,  and  CarUton,  Grindstone, 
and  Wells's,  belonging  to  the  United  States.    They  have  been  the  theatre  of  many  historic  scenes  and  legendary  tales 
during  two  centuries  and  a  half. 

2  History  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Franklin  Counties,  by  Franklin  Hough,  M.D.,  pages  620,  621. 


368 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Preparations  for  Battle. 


Approach  of  the  British  Squadron. 


A  brief  Skirmish. 


Captain  Vaaghan. 


Oneida  and  the  Lord  Nelson,  at  the  same  time  warning  the  inhabitants  that  if  the 
squadron  should  be  fired  upon,  the  town  should  be  burned. 

Perceiving  the  peril  to  which  the  Oneida  was  exposed,  Woolsey  weighed  anchor 
and  attempted  to  gain  the  lake.  He  failed,  returned,  and  moored  his  vessel  just  out 
side  of  Navy  Point,  on  which  the  ship-house  now  [1867]  stands,  in  such  position  that 
her  broadside  of  nine  guns  might  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  enemy.  The  remainder 
of  her  guns  were  taken  out,  to  be  placed  in  battery  on  land.  An  iron  thirty-two- 
pounder,  designed  for  the  Oneida,  but  found  to  be  too  heavy,  had  already  been  placed 
on  a  battery  of  three  nine-pounders  upon  the  bluff  at  the  foot  of  the  main  street  of 
ithe  village,  on  which  the  dwelling  of  the  commander  of  the  naval  station  there  now 
stands.  That  heavy  gun  had  been  lying  near  the  shore,  partly  imbedded  in  the  mud, 
for  some  time,  and  from  that  circumstance  had  acquired  the  name  of  The  Old  Sow. 
These  cannon,  Avith  two  brass  nine-pounders  in  charge  of  an  artillery  company  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Elisha  Camp,  and  two  sixes  fished  out  of  the  lake  from  the 
wreck  of  an  English  ship  near  Duck  Island,  composed  the  heavy  metal  with  which 
to  combat  the  approaching  British  squadron.  The  soldiers  for  the  same  purpose 
comprised  only  a  part  of  Bellinger's  regiment,  Camp's  Sackett's  Harbor  Artillery, 
which  promptly  volunteered  for  thirty  days'  service,  the  crew  of  the  Oneida,  and 
three  hundred  militia.  At  the  first  appearance  of  the  enemy  alarm-guns  were  fired, 
and  couriers  were  sent  into  the  country  in  all  directions  to  arouse  the  militia.  At 
sunset  nearly  three  thousand  had  arrived  or  were  near,  but  they  were  too  late.  Vic 
tory  had  been  lost  and  won  early  in  the  day. 

Woolsey,  the  best  engineer  officer  present,  left  his  brig  in  charge  of  his  lieutenant, 


and  took  the  general 
command  on  shore.  He 
placed  the  32-pound  er 
in  charge  of  Captain 
William  Vaughan,  a 
sailing-master  of  emi 
nence  then  living  at 
Sackett's  Harbor,1  and 
directed  Captain  Camp 
to  manage  the  others 
in  battery.  Meanwhile 
the  enemy  were  slowly 
drawing  near ;  and  by 
the  time  Woolsey  was 
prepared  to  receive 
them,  the  British  flag 
ship  Royal  George, 
closely  followed  by  the 
Prince  Regent,  were 
close  enough  for  ac 
tion.  Vaughan  opened 


WILLIAM  VAUGHAN. 


it  at  eight  o'clock  by 
a  shot  from  the  big 
gun,  which  was  harm 
less,  and  drew  from 
the  people  on  the 
Royal  George  a  re 
sponse  of  derisive 
laughter,  which  could 
be  plainly  heard  on 
the  shore.  This  was 
followed  by  some  shots 
from  those  two  vessels 
in  the  advance  at  the 
distance  of  a  mile, 
which  were  quickly 
answered  by  Vaughan. 
The  firing  was  kept  up 
for  about  two  hours, 
the  squadron  standing 
off  and  on,  out  of  ransje 

*  o 

of  the    smaller   guns. 


1  From  the  widow  of  Captain  Vaughan,  yet  [1867]  living  at  Sackett's  Ilarbor,  I  received  the  following  brief  sketch 
of  his  life :  He  was  born  in  the  middle  of  August,  1776,  at  Wilkes-Barre,  in  the  Valley  of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania.  He 
was  two  years  old  when  the  massacre  took  place  there,  and  his  mother  fled  with  him  over  the  mountains.  At  the  age 
of  eighteen  years  he  visited  Canada.  The  posts  of  Oswego,  Fort  Carleton,  and  Presentation,  or  Oswegatchie,  were  then 
held  by  the  British,  and  he  was  compelled  to  have  a  passport  to  go  from  post  to  post  on  the  soil  of  the  United  States. 
He  returned  to  Canada  in  1797,  after  these  posts  were  given  up,  and  engaged  in  lake  navigation.  He  was  a  pilot  on 
Lake  Ontario  for  many  years,  and  when  the  war  broke  out  he  was  appointed  a  sailing-master.  He  served  with  great 
activity  during  the  war.  We  shall  meet  him  occasionally  in  the  course  of  our  narrative.  After  the  war  he  returned  to 
the  occupation  of  mariner,  and  was  master,  at  different  times,  of  six  steamboats  on  Lake  Ontario.  About  the  year  1850 
his  spine  received  an  injury  by  his  falling  on  the  ice  while  rescuing  a  man  and  two  women  from  destruction  among 
floating  ice  agitated  by  high  winds.  He  never  recovered.  He  died  at  Sackett's  Ilarbor  on  the  10th  of  December,  1857, 
aged  eighty-one  years. 


OF    THE  WAR    OF   1812.  369 

Fatal  Rebound  of  a  British  Shot.  The  Squadron  repulsed.  Preparations  for  War  on  Lake  Ontario. 

The  most  of  the  enemy's  shot  fell  against  the  rocks  below  the  battery.  One  of  these 
(a  thirty-two-pound  ball)  came  over  the  bluff,  struck  the  earth  not  far  from  Sackett's 
mansion  (then  occupied  by  Vaughan's  family),  and  plowed  a  deep  furrow  into  the 
door-yard.1  It  was  immediately  caught  up  by  Sergeant  Spier,  who  ran  with  it  to 
Captain  Vaughan,  exclaiming,  "  I've  been  playing  ball  with  the  red-coats,  and  have 
caught  'em  out.  See  if  the  British  can  catch  back  again."  At  that  moment  the 
Royal  George  was  wearing  to  give  a  broadside,  when  Vaughan's  gun  sent  back  the 
captive  ball  with  such  force  and  precision2  that  it  struck  her  stern,  raked  her  com 
pletely,  sent  splinters  as  high  as  her  mizzen  top-sail  yard,  killed  fourteen  men,  and 
wounded  eighteen  !3  The  flag-ship  had  already  received  a  shot  that  went  through 
her  sides,  and  another  between  wind  and  water.  The  Prince  Regent  had  lost  her  fore- 
topgallant-mast,  and  the  EarlofMoira  had  been  hulled.  The  laughter  of  the  enemy 
had  been  changed  into  wailing.  Disaster  suggested  the  exercise  of  discretion,  and  a 
signal  of  retreat  was  speedily  given  after  the  returned  ball  had  made  its  destructive 
passage  through  the  ship.  The  squadron  put  about  and  sailed  out  of  the  harbor, 
while  the  band  on  shore  played  Yankee  Doodle,  and  the  troops  and  the  citizens 
greeted  their  departure  with  loud  cheers.  Nothing,  animate  or  inanimate,  on  shore 
had  been  injured  in  the  least  by  the  cannonading  of  two  hours'  duration.4  It  was  a 
serene  Sabbath  morning,  and  the  village  at  evening  was  as  quiet  as  if  nothing  re 
markable  had  happened. 

The  command  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Ontario  was  now  an  object  of  great  import 
ance  to  both  parties.  To  obtain  this  advantage  required  the  speediest  preparation 
of  armed  vessels.  The  British  had  several  afloat  already ;  the  Americans  had  but 
one.  The  only  hope  of  the  latter  of  securing  the  supremacy  of  the  lake  rested  upon 
their  ability  to  convert  merchant  vessels  afloat  into  warriors.  These  were  schooners 
varying  in  size  from  thirty  to  one  hundred  tons  burden,  and  susceptible  of  being 
changed  into  active  gun-boats.  Eight  of  them,  as  we  have  observed,  were  at  Ogdens- 
burg  when  war  was  declared.  Two  had  been  destroyed,  and  six  now  remained.  To 
capture  and  destroy  them  was  an  important  object  to  the  British ;  to  save  and  arm 
them  was  a  more  important  object  to  the  Americans.  To  accomplish  the  former  re 
sult,  the  British  sent  the  Earl  of  Moira,  14,  and  Duke  of  Gloucester,  10,  down  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  Prescott,  opposite  Ogdensburg,  to  watch  or  seize  the  imprisoned  ves 
sels.  To  accomplish  the  latter,  the  Americans  sent  a  small  force  in  the  same  direc 
tion,  consisting  of  the  schooner  Julia  (built  by  the  late  venerable  Matthew  M'Nair, 
of  Oswego,  and  named  in  honor  of  his  daughter),  armed  with  a  long  thirty -two 
and  two  long  sixes,  bearing  about  sixty  volunteers,  under  the  command  of  Lieu 
tenant  H.  "W.  "Wells,  from  the  Oneida,  with  Captains  Vaughan  and  Dixon ;  also  a 
rifle  corps  under  Noadiah  Hubbard,  in  a  Durham  boat.  These  sailed  from  Sackett's 
Harbor  on  the  evening  of  the  30th  of  July,  unmindful  of  the  superior  force  of  the 
enemy.  "  Our  means  are  humble,"  General  Brown  wrote  to  Governor  Tomp-  ,  July  30) 
kins  on  that  day,a  "  but,  with  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  this  republican  gun-  1812- 

1  One  of  Captain  Vaughan's  gunners  was  Julius  Torrey,  a  negro,  who  was  a  great  favorite,  and  known  in  camp  as 
Black  Julius.    He  served  at  his  post  with  the  greatest  courage  and  activity.    As  the  enemy  was  beyond  the  reach  of 
small-arms,  most  of  the  troops  were  inactive  spectators  of  the  scene. — Hough's  History  of  Jefferson  County,  page  464. 

2  Although  the  gun  was  well  managed,  the  range  of  the  shot  had  been  a  little  wild  because  of  their  size.    The  gun 
was  a  thirty-two-pounder,  but  the  largest  balls  to  be  found  at  Sackett's  Harbor  were  twenty-fours.    These  were  made 
to  fit  by  wrapping  them  in  pieces  of  carpet.    The  British  thirty-two  was  just  the  shot  needed  for  precision.    The  small 
er  shot  used  on  that  occasion  were  brought  from  the  Taberg  Works,  near  Rome,  only  a  week  before. 

3  On  my  way  to  Sackett's  Harbor  in  the  summer  of  I860,  I  saw  at  Big  Sandy  Creek  an  old  seaman  named  Jehaziel 
Howard,  who  was  at  Sackett's  Harbor  at  this  time,  and  from  him  I  learned  some  of  the  facts  above  stated.    His  state 
ment  concerning  the  number  of  killed  and  wounded  by  that  last  shot  from  the  thirty-two-pounder  was  made  on  the 
authority  of  James  Button,  who  deserted  to  the  British  a  few  days  before  the  battle.    Button  told  the  British  com 
mander  that  the  Americans  were  very  weak,  and  had  no  cannon.    Their  experience  in  the  action  made  them  suspect 
him  of  being  a  spy.    They  threatened  to  have  him  tried  as  such.    Taking  counsel  of  his  fears,  he  deserted  from  the 
British  and  returned  to  the  American  camp.    He  was  on  the  Royal  George  at  the  time  of  the  action. 

*  The  War,  i.,  82 ;  Cooper's  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  326,  327 ;  Hough's  History  of  Je/erson  County,  462-464 ; 
oral  statements  to  the  author  by  Captain  (now  Colonel)  Camp,  the  late  Amasa  Trowbridge,  M.B.,  and  Jehaziel 
Howard. 

AA 


370  PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 

A  Fight  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  Riflemen  at  Sackett's  Harbor.  Chauncey  chief  Commander  on  Lake  Ontario. 

boat  may  give  a  good  account  of  the  Duke  and  the  Earl ;  and  a  successful  termina 
tion  of  this  enterprise  will  give  us  an  equal  chance  for  the  command  of  the  lake." 

The  Julia  and  her  Durham  consort  went  to  the  St.  Lawrence  that  night.  Although 
it  was  very  dark,  they  arrived  in  safety  at  Cape  Vincent.  At  early  dawn,  under  a 
deeply-clouded  sky,  they  pressed  forward  among  the  Thousand  Islands,  the  wind 
a  July  si,  blowing  down  the  river,  and,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,a  met  the  two 

isi2.  British  vessels  off  Morristown,  eleven  miles  above  Ogdensburg.  They  an 
chored  at  once,  and  opened  fire  upon  each  other.  The  action  lasted  more  than  three 
hours,  during  which  the  cannonading  was  almost  incessant,  and  yet  the  Julia  was 
only  slightly  injured  by  a  single  shot,  and  not  one  of  the  Americans  was  killed  or 
wounded.  The  Earl  of  Moira  was  hulled  several  times,  and  both  of  the  British  ves 
sels  withdrew  toward  the  Canada  shore.  Night  came  with  intense  darkness,  but  fre 
quent  flashes  of  lightning  in  the  southern  horizon  revealed  surrounding  objects  for  a 
moment.  With  the  aid  of  the  Durham  and  her  own  yawl,  the  Julia  made  her  way 
to  Ogdensburg  before  morning,b  when  Lieutenant  Wells  left  her  in  charge 

b    An frust  1 

of  Captain  Vaughan,  and  returned  to  Sackett's  Harbor.  The  armistice 
that  soon  followed1  enabled  the  Julia,  with  the  six  schooners  in  her  wake,  to  make 
her  way  to  the  lake.c  Meanwhile  the  guns  of  the  Earl  and  Duke  were 
landed  at  Elizabethtown  (now  Brockville),  and  placed  in  battery  there.2 
Early  in  August  Captain  Benjamin  Forsyth  arrived  at  Sackett's  Harbor  with  a 
well-drilled  company  of  riflemen.  These  were  the  first  regulaf  troops  seen  on  that 
frontier,  and  were  welcomed  with  much  satisfaction.  General  Brown  urged  Forsyth 
to  open  a  recruiting  station  at  once,  hoping  to  enlist  two  full  companies  of  the  sharp 
shooters.  At  the  same  time,  the  national  government  was  putting  forth  vigorous  ef 
forts  for  acquiring  the  supremacy  of  the  lakes.  The  appointment  of  a  proper  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  navy  to  be  created  on  them,  who  might  properly  superintend 
its  formation,  was  the  first  and  most  important  measure.  Fortunately  for  the  service, 
Captain  Isaac  Chauncey  was  chosen  for  this  responsible  and  arduous  duty.  He  was 
then  at  the  head  of  the  navy  yard  at  Brooklyn,  New  York.  He  was  one  of  the  best 
practical  seamen  of  his  time,  possessed  a  thorough  knowledge  of  ships  in  whole  and 
in  detail,  and  was  in  the  constant  exercise  of  energy  and  industry  of  the  highest  or 
der.  On  the  31st  of  August  he  was  commissioned  for  that  special  service,  and  on  the 
following  day,  Paul  Hamilton,  the  then  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  sent  him  a  cipher 
alphabet  and  numerals,  by  which  he  might  make  secret  communications  to  the  De 
partment.3 


CIPHER  ALPHABET   ANI>   NUMERALS. 


1  See  note  2,  page  293. 

2  Letter  of  General  Brown  to  Governor  Tompkins,  August  4, 1812.    Hough's  History  of  Jefferson  County,  page  465,  466. 
Hough's  History  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Franklin  Counties,  page  622.    Written  Statement  to  the  Author  by  the  late  Amasa 
Trowbridge,  M.D. 

3  "After  your  arrival  upon  the  lakes,"  wrote  Mr.  Hamilton,  "  yon  may  experience  some  difficulty  and  risk  in  sending 

your  dispatches  to  me ;  and  you  may  find  it  necessary  to 
employ  a  cipher  in  your  communications,  especially  such 
of  them  as  might  do  the  service  an  injury  by  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Under  such  circumstances,  you 
will  communicate  to  me  in  cipher  by  the  following  alphabet  whenever  you  may  judge  it  expedient."  Here  follows  the 
cipher  alphabet  and  numerals,  of  which  a  fac-simile  is  above  given.  The  original  is  in  the  possession  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society.  It  was  presented  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Chauncey,  a  son  of  the  commodore,  on  the  5th  of  February,  1861. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


American  and  British  Squadrons  on  Lake  Ontario.  Elliott  sent  to  Lake  Erie.  Chauncey's  first  Cruise. 

Chauncey  entered  upon  his  new  duties  immediately  after  the  receipt  of  his  orders. 
In  the  first  week  in  September  he  sent  forward  forty  ship-carpenters,  with  Henry 
Eckford  at  their  head.  Others  soon  followed ;  and  Commander  Woolsey  was  direct 
ed  to  purchase  some  merchant  vessels  for  the  service.  On  the  18th  of  the  same 
month,  one  hundred  officers  and  seamen,  with  guns  and  other  munitions  of  war,  left 
'New  York  for  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  Chauncey  arrived  there  himself  on  the  6th  of 
October.  The  schooners  Genesee  Packet,  Experiment,  Collector,  Lord  Nelson,  Charles 
and  Ann,  and  Diana,  were  purchased,  and  manned  and  named  respectively  in  the 
same  order,  Conquest,  Growler,  Pert,  Scourge,  Governor  Tompkins,  and  Hamilton. 
Their  armament  consisted  principally  of  long  guns  mounted  on  circles,  with  a  few 
lighter  ones  that  could  be  of  very  little  service.  Add  to  these  the  Oneida  and  Julia 
already  in  the  service,  and  the  entire  flotilla,  exclusive  of  the  Madison,  24  (whose 
keel  was  laid  before  Chauncey's  arrival1),  mounted  only  forty  guns,  and  was  manned 
by  four  hundred  and  thirty  men,  the  marines  included.  The  Oneida  carried  sixteen 
guns,  therefore  there  was  an  average  of  only  five  guns  each  among  the  remainder  of 
the  squadron.  The  British,  at  the  same  time,  had  made  for  service,  on  Lake  Ontario, 
the  ships  Royal  George,  22,  and  Earl  of  Moira,  14;  and  schooners  Prince  Regent,  16, 
Duke  of  Gloucester,  14,  Simcoe,  12,  and  Seneca,  4.  These,  in  weight  of  metal,  were 
double  the  power  of  the  American,  while  there  was  a  corresponding  disparity  in  the 
number  of  men.2 

Lake  Erie,  over  which  also  Chauncey  was  appointed  commander,  was  separated 
from  Ontario  by  the  impassable  cataract  of  Niagara,  and  vessels  for  use  on  the  wa 
ters  of  the  former  had  to  be  constructed  on  its  shores,  or  at  Detroit,  where  the  unfin 
ished  brig  Adams,  captured  at  the  surrender  of  Hull,  had  been  built.  For  the  pur 
pose  of  creating  a  fleet  there,  Chauncey  sent  Lieutenant  Jesse  D.  Elliott  with  orders 
for  purchasing  vessels  similar  to  those  given  to  Commander  Woolsey.  We  shall 
consider  some  of  Elliott's  earlier  operations  presently. 

Chauncey  first  appeared  on  Lake  Ontario  as  the  commander  of  a  squadron  on  the 
8th  of  November,  a  cold,  raw,  blustery  day,  with  his  broad  pennant  fluttering  over 
the  Oneida,  his  flag-ship,  accompanied  by  six  small  vessels,3  and  bound  on  an  expe 
dition  to  intercept  the  entire  British  squadron  on  their  return  from  Fort  George,  on 
the  Niagara  River,  whither  they  had  gone  from  Kingston  with  troops  and  munitions 
of  war.  Chauncey  took  his  station  near  the  False  Ducks,  some  small  islands  nearly 
due  west  from  Sackett's  Harbor,  on  the  track  to  Kingston,  and  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  9tha  fell  in  with  the  Royal  George,  Commodore  Earl's  flag-ship,  mak-  a  November, 
ing  her  way  for  the  latter  place.  Chauncey  chased  her  into  the  Bay  of 
Quinte,  and  lost  sight  of  her  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  that  soon  followed.  On  the 
morning  of  the  10thb  he  captured  and  burnt  a  small  schooner,  and  soon  vember 
afterward  espied  the  Royal  George  headed  for  Kingston.  He  gave  chase 
with  most  of  his  squadron,4  followed  her  into  Kingston  Harbor,  and  there  engaged 
both  her  and  five  land  batteries5  for  almost  an  hour.  These  were  more  formidable 
than  Chauncey  supposed ;  and  a  brisk  Avind  having  arisen,  and  the  night  coming  on, 
he  withdrew  and  anchored.  The  breeze  had  become  almost  a  gale  the  next  morn 
ing,0  so  Chauncey  weighed  anchor  and  stood  out  lakeward.  The  Tomp-  c  „  emijer  n 
kins,  Hamilton,  and  Julia  chased  the  Simcoe  over  a  reef  of  rocks,  and  so 

1  The  Madison  was  launched  on  the  26th  of  November,  only  forty-five  days  after  her  keel  was  laid.    Henry  Eckford 
was  her  constructor. 

2  Cooper's  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii..  328. 

3  The  Oneida  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Woolsey ;  the  Conquest  by  Lieutenant  Elliott ;  the  Hamilton  by  Lieuten 
ant  M'Pherson  ;  the  Governor  Tompkins  by  Lieutenant  Brown  ;  the  Pert  by  Mr.  Arundel ;  the  Julia  by  Mr.Trant ;  and 
the  Growler  by  Mr.  Mix.    The  last  three  named  were  sailing-masters. 

*  In  this  chase  Captain  Elliott,  in  the  Conqitest,  gallantly  led,  followed  by  the  Julia,  Pert,  and  Growler.  The  Oneida 
brought  up  the  rear.  She  allowed  the  smaller  vessels  to  make  the  attack.  When,  at  half  past  three,  she  opened  her 
carronades  on  the  Royal  George,  that  vessel  was  quick  to  cut  her  cables,  and  run  up  to  the  town. 

5  There  was  a  battery  on  both  India  and  Navy  Points.  Three  others  guarded  the  town  ;  and  some  movable  cannon 
were  brought  to  bear  on  the  American  vessels. 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Operations  near  Kingston.  Chauncey's  Prizes.  Forsyth's  Expedition. 

riddled  her  that  she  sank  before  reaching  Kingston.  Soon  afterward  the  Hamilton 
captured  a  large  schooner  from  Niagara.  The  prize  was  sent  past  Kingston  under 
convoy  of  the  Growler,  hoping  to  bring  out  the  lioyal  George,  but  that  vessel  had 
been  so  much  damaged  in  the  action  that  she  was  compelled  to  haul  on  shore  to 
keep  from  sinking.  She  had  received  several  shots  between  wind  and  water,  some 
of  her  guns  were  disabled,  and  a  number  of  her  crew  had  been  killed. 

The  gale  continued  on  the  12th,  and  during  the  following  night  a  heavy  snow 
storm  set  in.  Chauncey  was  undismayed  by  the  fury  of  the  elements.  He  had  set 
his  heart  on  obtaining  the  supremacy  of  the  lake  at  all  hazards,  and  he  continued  his 
cruise.  Informed  that  the  Earl  of  Moira  was  off  the  Real  Ducks,  he  attempted  to 
capture  her.  She  was  on  the  alert.  A  schooner  that  she  was  convoying  was  seized, 
but  the  warrior  escaped.  During  the  day  Chauncey  saw  the  lioyal  George,  and  two 
schooners  that  he  supposed  to  be  the  Prince  Regent  and  Duke  of  Gloucester,  but  they 
did  not  seem  disposed  to  meet  him. 

In  this  short  cruise  Commodore  Chauncey  captured  three  merchant  vessels,  destroy 
ed  one  armed  schooner,  and  disabled  the  British  flag-ship,  and  took  several  prisoners,1 
with  a  loss  on  his  part  of  only  one  man  killed  and  four  wounded.2  The  loss  of  the 
British  is  not  found  on  record. 

Leaving  the  Governor  Tompkins,  Conquest,  Hamilton,  and  Growler  to  blockade 
Kingston  harbor  until  the  ice  should  do  so  effectually,  Chauncey  sailed  on  the  19th, 
in  the  Oneida,  for  the  head  of  the  lake,  accompanied  by  the  remainder  of  the  squad 
ron.  "  I  am  in  great  hopes,"  he  wrote  to  Governor  Tompkins,  "  that  I  shall  fall  in 
with  the  Prince  Regent,  or  some  of  the  royal  family  which  are  cruising  about  York. 
Had  we  been  one  month  sooner,  we  could  have  taken  every  town  on  this  lake  in 
three  weeks ;  but  the  season  is  now  so  tempestuous  that  I  am  apprehensive  we  can 
not  do  much  more  this  winter."  His  anticipations  were  realized.  He  was  driven 
back  by  a  gale  in  which  the  Growler  was  dismasted,  and  the  ice  formed  so  fast  that 
all  the  vessels  were  in  danger.  He  retired  to  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  early  in  Decem 
ber  the  lake  navigation  was  closed  by  the  frost.3 

While  Chauncey  was  commencing  vigorous  measures  for  the  construction  of  a  navy 
at  the  east  end  of  Lake  Ontario,  the  land  forces  there  and  on  the  St.  Lawrence  were 
not  idle,  although  no  very  important  service  was  performed  there  during  the  remain 
der  of  1812.  The  vigilant  Captain  Forsyth  made  a  bold  dash  into  Canada  late  in 
September.  Having  been  informed  that  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition  and  other 
munitions  of  war  were  in  a  British  store-house  at  Gananoqui,  on  the  shores  of  the  Lake 
of  the  Thousand  Islands,  in  Canada,4  and  not  heavily  guarded,  Forsyth  asked  and 
obtained  permission  of  General  Brown  to  make  an  attempt  to  capture  them.  He  or 
ganized  an  expedition  of  one  hundred  and  four  men,  consisting  of  seventy  riflemen 
and  thirty-four  militia,  the  latter  officered  by  Captain  Samuel  M'Nitt,  Lieutenant 
Brown,  and  Ensigns  Hawkins  and  Johnson.  They  set  out  from  Sackett's  Harbor  on 
the  18th  of  September,  and  on  the  night  of  the  20th  they  left  Cape  Vincent  in  boats, 
threading  their  way  in  the  dark  among  the  upper  group  of  the  Thousand  Islands. 
They  landed  'a  short  distance  from  the  village  of  Gananoqui,  only  ninety-five  strong, 
without  opposition ;  but  as  they  approached  the  town  they  were  confronted  by  a 
party  of  sixty  British  regulars  and  fifty  Canadian  militia  drawn  up  in  battle  order, 
who  poured  heavy  volleys  upon  them.  Forsyth  dashed  forward  with  his  men  with- 

1  Among  the  prisoners  was  Captain  Brock,  brother  of  Major  General  Brock,  who  had  been  killed  recently  at  Queens- 
town.    He  had  some  of  his  brother's  baggage  with  him. 

2  Mr.  Arundel,  the  commander  of  the  Pert,  was  badly  injured  by  the  bursting  of  one  of  her  guns,  and  a  midshipman 
and  three  seamen  were  slightly  wounded.    Mr.  Arundel  refused  to  leave  the  deck,  and  was  afterward  knocked  over 
board  by  accident  and  drowned. 

3  Chauncey's  Letter  to  Governor  Tompkins,  November  15,  1812;  Cooper's  Naval  History,  ii.,  333  to  337  inclusive. 

4  Gananoqui  is  pleasantly  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gananoqui  River,  where  it  enters  the  upper  portion  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  known  as  the  Lake  of  the  Thousand  Islands.    It  is  in  the  town  of  Leeds,  in  Canada  West,  nenrly  opposite 
the  town  of  Clayton  (old  French  Creek),  New  York. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


373 


Spoils  taken  at  Ganauoqui. 


General  Brown  sent  to  Ogdensburg. 


Hostile  Movements  there. 


out  firing  a  shot  until  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  enemy,  when  the  latter  fled  pell- 
mell  to  the  town,  closely  pursued  by  the  invaders.  There  the  fugitives  rallied  and 
renewed  the  engagement,  when  they  were  again  compelled  to  flee,  leaving  ten  of 
their  number  dead  on  the  field,  several  wounded,  and  eight  regulars  and  four  militia 
men  as  prisoners.  Forsyth  lost  only  one  man  killed  and  one  slightly  wounded.  For 
his  own  safety,  he  broke  up  the  bridge  over  which  he  had  pursued  the  enemy,  and 
then  returned  to  his  boats,  bearing  away,  as  the  spoils  of  victory,  the  eight  regu 
lars,  sixty  stand  of  arms,  two  barrels  of  fixed  ammunition  comprising  three  thousand 
ball-cartridges,  one  barrel  of  gunpowder,  one  of  flints,  forty-one  muskets,  and  some 
other  public  property.  In  the  store-house  were  found  one  hundred  and  fifty  barrels  of 
provisions,  but,  having  no  means  of  carrying  them  away,  Captain  Forsyth  applied  the 
torch,  and  store-house  and  provisions  were  consumed.1  The  public  property  secured 
on  this  occasion  was  given  to  the  soldiers  of  the  expedition  as  a  reward  for  their  valor. 
While  Forsyth  was  away  on  his  expedition,  Brigadier  General  Richard  Dodge  ar- 
•  September  21,  rived  at  Watertowna  with  a 
1812<  detachment  of  Mohawk  Val 

ley  militia.  He  outranked  General  Brown, 
and  on  his  arrival  he  ordered  that  officer 
to  proceed  to  Ogdensburg,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Oswegatchie  River,  to  garrison  old  Fort  Presentation,  or  Oswegatchie,  at  that 
place.2  General  Brown  was  chagrined  by  this  unlooked-for  order,  but,  like  a  true 
soldier,  he  immediate 
ly  obeyed  it.  A  part 
of  Captain  Forsyth's 
company  went  with 
him ;  and  three  weeks 
later,  at  the  request 
of  the  governor,  Gen 
eral  Dodge  sent  to 

•October  12.  Brown"  the 
remainder 
of  the  riflemen,  and 
the    artillery  compa- 


APPEAKANCE   OF   FOET   OSWEGATCHIE  IN 


nies  of  Captains  Brown,  King,  and  Foot,  in  all  one  hundred  and  sixty  men,  with  two 
brass  9  -pound  cannon,  one  4,  and  an  ample  supply  of  muskets  and  munitions  of  war. 

General  Brown  arrived  at  Ogdensburg  on  the  1st  of  October.  Already  the  militia 
had  been  employed  in  some  hostile  movements.  At  about  the  middle  of  September 
information  reached  Ogdensburg  that  some  British  bateaux,  laden  with  stores,  were 
ascending  the  St.  Lawrence.  It  was  resolved  to  capture  them.  A  gun-boat,  with  a 
brass  six-pounder  and  eighteen  men,  under  Adjutant  Daniel  W.  Church,  accompanied 
by  a  party  under  Captain  Griffin,  in  a  Durham  boat,  went  down  the  river  in  the 
night,  and  encountered  the  enemy  near  Toussaint  Island.  The  Durham  boat  was  lost 
in  the  affray,  and  the  gun-boat  was  in  great  peril  at  one  time.  It  was  saved,  how 
ever.  The  expedition  was  a  failure.  Five  of  Church's  men  were  wounded,  and  one 
was  killed.  The  British  lost  several  in  killed  and  wounded.  They  were  led  by  Ad 
jutant  Fitzgibbon.3 

On  the  day  after  General  Brown's  arrival  at  Ogdensburg,0  about  forty 
British  bateaux,  escorted  by  a  gun-boat,  were  seen  approaching  Prescott 
from  below,  and  as  they  neared  the  town  a  battery  at  that  place  opened  upon  Og- 


•  °f  General  Brown  to  Governor  Tompkins,  September  23,  1812;  Letter  from  Utica,  September  29,  1S12,  pub 

lished  in  The  War,  page  71.    The  same  letter  appears  in  Niles's  Weekly  Register,  October  10,  1812 

2  A  particular  account  of  this  fort  will  be  given  hereafter. 

3  Hough's  History  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Franklin  Counties,  page  624. 


374  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

A  British  Expedition  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  It  attacks  Ogdensburg.  The  British  repulsed. 

densburg  to  cover  the  flotilla.1  The  heavy  guns  at  the  latter  place  consisted  of  a 
brass  six-pounder  under  the  charge  of  Adjutant  Church,  and  an  iron  twelve-pounder 
managed  by  Joseph  York,  sheriff  of  the  county,  and  a  volunteer  citizen.  These  re 
plied  to  the  British  battery  for  a  while.  On  the  following  day  the  firing  from  Pres- 
» October,  c°tt  was  renewed, but  was  not  answered;  and  on  Sunday  morning,  the  4th, a 

1812,  two  gun-boats  and  twenty-five  bateaux,  filled  with  about  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  armed  men,  under  Colonels  Lethbridge  and  Breckinridge,  went  up  the  river 
almost  a  mile,  and  then  turned  their  prows  toward  Ogdensburg,  with  the  evident 
intention  of  attacking  it.  Forsyth's  riflemen  were  encamped  at  the  time  near  the 
old  fort  on  the  west  side  of  the  Oswegatchie,  and  General  Brown,  with  regulars  and 
militia,  were  stationed  in  the  town.2  The  whole  American  force  amounted  to  about 
twelve  hundred  effective  men.  These  were  immediately  drawn  up  in  battle  order  to 
receive  the  invaders.  When  the  latter  had  approached  to  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
of  the  town,  nearly  in  mid-channel,  the  Americans  opened  such  a  severe  fire  from 
their  two  cannon  that  the  enemy  retreated  in  confusion  and  precipitation,  with  the 
loss  of  three  men  killed  and  four  wounded.3  About  thirty  rounds  were  fired  from 
each  of  the  two  camion,  and  the  action  lasted  two  hours.4  Not  one  of  the  Ameri 
cans  was  injured  in  the  action,  but  some  damage  was  done  to  the  town  by  the  can 
non-shot  of  the  British.  "  This  enterprise,"  says  Christie,  a  British  author,  "  under 
taken  without  the  sanction  of  the  commander  of  the  forces,  was  censured  by  him,  and 
the  public  opinion  condemned  it  as  rash  and  premature."5 

Eighteen  days  after  the  repulse  of  the  British  at  Ogdensburg,  Major  Guilford  Dud 
ley  Young,  and  a  small  detachment  of  militia,  who  were  chiefly  from  Troy,  New 
York,  performed  a  gallant  exploit  at  St.  Regis,  an  Indian  village  lying  upon  the 
boundary-line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada.  The  dusky  inhabitants  of 
that  settlement  were  placed  in  a  very  embarrassing  position  when  war  was  declared. 
Their  village  lay  within  the  boundaries  of  both  governments,  and  up  to  that  time 
the  administration  of  their  internal  affairs,  managed  by  twelve  chiefs,  had  been  nom 
inally  independent  of  both.  The  annuities  and  presents  from  both  governments  were 
equally  divided  among  them,  and  in  all  matters  of  business  and  profits  every  thing 
was  in  common.  That  this  relation  should  not  be  disturbed,  commissioners,  appoint 
ed  by  the  two  governments,  agreed  that  the  Indians  should  remain  neutral,  and  that 
the  troops  of  both  parties  should  avoid  intrusion  of  their  reservation.  But  they  be 
came  objects  of  suspicion  and  dread.  The  settlers  in  that  region  had  been  horrified 
with  tales  of  Indian  massacres  remotely  and  recently,  and  these  people  could  not  pass 
the  boundaries  of  their  domain  without  being  regarded  as  possible  enemies.  So  vig 
ilant  was  this  general  fear  that  the  Indians  were  compelled,  when  they  went  abroad, 
to  carry  a  pass  from  some  well-known  white  inhabitant,  among  the  most  prominent 
of  whom,  appointed  by  the  chiefs,  was  Captain  Policy,  late  of  Massena  Springs.6 

i  William E.  Guest,  Esq.,  whom  Imet  at Ogdenebnrg in  the  summer  of  1860,  in  some  ofhis  published  "Recollections" 
of  that  place,  speaking  of  the  affair,  says,  "  The  villagers  came  out  in  large  numbers,  and  stood  in  Washington  Street,  near 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Parish.  Among  them  were  a  number  of  ladies,  who  felt  safe,  as  no  balls  had  as  yet  come  into  the 
village.  While  all  were  intently  watching,  with  great  excitement,  the  movements  of  the  contending  parties,  a  12-pourfd 
shot,  with  its  clear,  singing,  humming  sound,  passed  over  our  heads,  in  the  line  of  State  Street,  as  near  as  we  could  judge, 
and  fell  in  the  rear  of  the  village.  A  sudden  change  came  over  the  scene.  It  became  an  intimate  matter  to  all,  and  the 
ladies  beat  a  rapid  retreat."  When  I  was  in  Ogdensburg  in  1855,  and  made  a  sketch  of  the  old  Court 
house,  printed  in  a  note  in  Chapter  XXVII.  of  this  work,  I  was  informed  that  that  ball  passed  through 
the  building,  and  a  hole  made  by  it  was  pointed  out  to  me. 

2  The  subordinate  commanders  on  this  occasion  were  Colonel  Benedict,  Major  Dimock,  Adjutant 
Hoskiu,  and  Captains  Forsyth,  Griffin,  Hubbard,  Benedict,  and  M'Nitt.  —  Ogdensburg  Palladium,  Oc 
tober  6,  quoted  in  The  War,  L,  78. 

3  One  account  says  that  one  of  their  gun-boats  was  disabled,  and  another  that  "  two  of  their  boats 
were  so  knocked  to  pieces  as  to  render  it  necessary  to  abandon  them." 

4  Hough's  History  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Franklin  Counties,  page  625.    Letter  from  Plattsburg,  dated 
October  9,  in  Niles's  Weekly  Register,  iii.,  126.    Christie's  Military  Operations  in  Canada,  page  81. 

5  Christie's  Military  Operations  in  Canada,  page  81. 

6  These  passes  stated  that  the  bearer  was  a  quiet,  peaceable  person.    It  was  their  custom  to  hold 
these  passes  up  on  approaching  a  white  person  that  they  might  not  be  alarmed.    On  the  other  hand, 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  375 


The  British  violate  a  Neutrality  Agreement.  British  Troops  occupy  St.  Regis.  Its  Capture  by  the  Americans. 

These  restrictions  curtailed  their  hunting  and  fishing,  and  they  were  reduced  to  such 
great  extremities  that  they  were  compelled  to  apply  to  Governor  Tompkins  for  re 
lief.  l  The  governor  listened  to  their  request,  and  during  the  war  they  received  about 
five  hundred  rations  daily  from  the  United  States  government  stores  at  French  Mills,-2 
now  Fort  Covington,  on  the  Salmon  River. 

The  neutrality  agreement  was  violated  by  Sir  George  Prevost,  the  British  com- 
mander-in-chief  in  Canada,  who  placed  Captain  M'Donell  and  a  party  of  armed  Cana 
dian  voyageurs  in  the  village  of  St.  Regis  "  for  the  security  of  that  post,"  to  "  guard 
against  any  predatory  incursions  of  the  enemy,  to  inspire  confidence  in  the  Indians," 
and  to  give  "  support  and  countenance"  to  "  Monsieur  de  Montigny,  captain  and  res 
ident  agent  at  the  village."3  The  real  object  appears  to  have  been  the  seduction  of 
the  Indians  from  their  neutrality  by  persuading  them  to  join  the  British  standard. 
In  this  they  were  successful,  as  the  presence  of  more  than  eighty  St.  Regis  warriors 
in  the  British  army  at  different  places  on  the  frontiers  subsequently  fully  proves.4 

Major  Young  was  stationed  at  French  Mills  when  M'Donell  took  post  at  St.  Regis, 
and  he  wished  to  attempt  the  capture  of  the  whole  party  at  about  the  1st  of  October. 
William  L.  Gray,  an  Indian  interpreter,  was  then  running  a  mill  on  the  site  of  the 
present  village  of  Hogansburg,  two  miles  above  St.  Regis,  and  consented  to  be  Young's 
guide.  He  took  him  and  his  command  along  an  unfrequented  way,  that  brought 
them  out  suddenly  upon  the  eastern  banks  of  the  St.  Regis,  opposite  the  village.  The 
stream  was  too  deep  to  ford,  and,  having  no  boats,  Major  Young  was  compelled  to 
abandon  the  project  at  that  time.  The  British  intruders  were  alarmed ;  but  as  day 
after  day  wore  away  without  farther  molestation,  M'Donell  settled  down  into  a  feel 
ing  of  absolute  security.  From  that  state  he  was  soon  aroused.  Young  left  French 
Mills,  with  about  two  hundred  men,  on  the  night  of  the  21st  of  October,  at  eleven 
o'clock,  crossed  the  St.  Regis,  at  Gray's  Mills,  at  half  past  three  in  the  a  October  22, 
morning,a  in  a  boat  and  canoe  and  a  hastily-constructed  raft,  and  before 
dawn  arrived  within  half  a  mile  of  St.  Regis,  where  they  concealed  themselves,  while 
taking  some  rest  and  refreshment,  behind  a  gentle  hill  westward  of  the  village.  Hav 
ing  carefully  reconnoitred  the  position,  the  little  party  moved  in  three  columns  to 
ward  the  British  part  of  the  village,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  which,  not  far  from 
the  ancient  and  famous  church,  stood  the  houses  of  Montigny  and  M'Donell,  in  which 
the  oificers  and  many  of  the  men  of  the  British  detachment  were  stationed.  Captain 
Lyon,  editor  of  the  Troy  Budget,  moved  with  his  company  along  the  road  upon  the 
bank  of  the  St.  Regis,  so  as  to  gain  the  rear  of  Montigny's  house  and  a  small  block 
house,  while  Captain  Tilden  and  his  company  made  a  detour  westward,  partly  in 
rear  of  M'Donell's,  for  the  purpose  of  reaching  the  St.  Lawrence  and  securing  the  boats 
of  the  enemy.  Major  Young,  with  the  companies  of  Captains  Higbie  and  M'Neil, 
moved  through  the  village  in  front.  Thus  the  enemy  was  surrounded.  Lyon  was 
first  discovered  by  the  British  sentinel  and  attacked.  Young  was  then  within  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  Montigny's  house.  At  that  instant  an  ensign  of  the  enemy, 
attempting  to  pass  in  front  after  being  ordered  to  stand,  was  shot  dead ;  and  a  few 
minutes  afterward  complete  success  crowned  the  enterprise  of  the  gallant  major. 
Forty  prisoners  (exclusive  of  the  commander  and  the  Catholic  priest),  with  their  arms 
and  accoutrements,  thirty-eight  muskets,  two  bateaux,  a  flag,  and  a  quantity  of  bag- 

the  Indians  required  persons  traveling  across  their  domain  to  exhibit  passes.  As  few  of  these  Indians  could  read,  a  de 
vice  (see  preceding  page)  was  adopted  to  obviate  the  difficulties  which  that  deficiency  Might  give  rise  to.  If  a  parson 
was  going  through  to  French  Mills,  a  simple  bow  was  drawn  on  the  paper;  if  he  was  intending  to  visit  St.  Regis  vil 
lage,  an  arrow  was  added  to  the  bow. 

1  The  letter  written  to  Tompkins  for  that  purpose  was  signed  by  the  mark  and  name  of  Lewis  Cook,  one  of  the  chiefs 
of  the  St.  Regis  Indians,  and  a  colonel  in  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

2  Hough's  History  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Franklin  Counties,  page  156. 

3  Letter  of  Adjutant  Baynes  to  Captain  M^)onell. 

*  Le  Clerc,  who  succeeded  Montigny  as  agent,  raised  a  company  of  warriors  there,  and  crossed  over  to  Cornwall. 
These  participated  in  several  engagements  during  the  war.— Hough's  St.  Lawrence  and  Franklin  Counties,  page  156. 


3Y6  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

First  Trophy-flag  of  the  War  taken  on  Land.          Its  public  Reception  at  Albany.          Sketch  of  Colonel  G.  D.  Young. 

gage,  including  eight  hundred  blankets  found  at  the  Indian  agent's  house,  were  the 
fruits  of  the  victory.  The  British  had  seven  men  killed,  including  a  lieutenant,  en 
sign,  and  sergeant,  while  the  Americans  were  all  unhurt.  The  late  distinguished 
civilian,  William  L.  Marcy,1  who  was  a  lieutenant  in  Lyon's  company,  and  assailed 
the  block-house,  was  the  captor  of  the  flag  that  waved  over  it.  He  bore  it  in  triumph 
back  to  French  Mills,  where  Young  and  his  party  arrived  the  same  day,  at  eleven 
o'clock,  with  the  prisoners  and  spoils  —  the  latter  in  the  captured  bateaux,  by  way 
of  Salmon  River.2  ^ ^^  Young  and  his  de- 

The  prisoners  were  J^^--^^1^^^^^^^^^'  tachment  returned 

sent  to  Bloomfield's  ____£^— ~/^^^~  *°  r^roy>  an<^  with 

head  -  quarters  at  '^•-'^  ~~~^^^ — •» ^  "^  ^  his  own  hand  pre- 

Plattsburg.  Early  — <^—  sented  that  British 

in  January  Major  flag  —  the  first  tro 

phy  of  the  kind  that  had  ever  been  taken  on  land — to  the  people  of  the  State  of  New 
York  in  the  capital  at  Albany.3 

Soon,  after  the  affair  at  St.  Regis  the  British  retaliated  by  an  expedition  to  French 
Mills,  which  captured  the  company  of  Captain  Tilden  stationed  there.  Le  Clerc  also 
captured  Mr.  Gray,  the  interpreter,  and  sent  him  to  Quebec,  where  he  died  in  the 
hospital. 

During  a  brief  sojourn  at  the  Massena  Springs,  on  the  Racquette  River,  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1855,  I  visited  St. Regis,  or  Ak-wis-sas-ne,  the  place  "where  the  partridge 
drums,"  as  the  Indians  called  it.4  I  rode  out  to  Hogansburg,  ten  miles  eastward  of 

1  The  public  career  of  Mr.  Marcy  is  too  well  known  to  require  more  than  a  passing  notice  here.  He  was  then  twenty- 
six  years  of  age,  and  had  studied  law,  and  was  practicing  it  in  Troy.  He  served  with  credit  in  the  New  York  State  mi 
litia  during  a  greater  part  of  the  war.  In  1821  he  was  appointed  adjutant  general  of  the  state.  In  1829  he  was  made 
a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state.  In  1831  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and  in  1833, 
governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  which  office  he  held,  by  re-election,  six  years.  In  1845  President  Polk  called  him 
to  his  cabinet  as  Secretary  of  War,  and  in  1853  he  became  one  of  President  Pierce's  constitutional  advisers  as  Secretary 
of  State.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1857,  he  retired  to  private  life,  and  just  four  months  afterward  he  died  suddenly  at  Balls- 
ton,  New  York,  while  reading  in  his  bed,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years. 

!  Major  Young's  dispatch  to  General  Bloomfleld,  October  24,  1812 ;  Thomson's  Historical  Sketches,  etc. ;  Hough's 
History  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Franklin  Counties;  statement  of  Rev.  Eleazer  Williams  to  the  author. 

3  That  ceremony  took  place  on  the  5th  of  January,  1813,  at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Major  Young,  with  a  de 
tachment  of  his  Troy  volunteers,  entered  Albany.  The  soldiers  bore  two  fine  living  eagles  in  the  centre  of  the  detach 
ment,  and  the  trophy-colors  in  the  rear,  while  a  band  played  Yankee  Doodle.  They  passed  through  Market  Street  (near 
Broadway),  and  up  State  Street,  to  the  Capitol,  where  they  were  greeted  by  an  immense  crowd  who  thronged  the  build 
ing.  The  governor  was  too  ill  to  be  present,  and  Colonels  Lamb  and  Lusk  acted  as  his  representatives.  Major  Young, 
after  an  appropriate  speech,  delivered  the  trophy  to  those  gentlemen,  and  received  from  Colonel  Lusk  a  complimentary 
response. 

Guilford  Dudley  Young  was  born  at  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  in  June,  1770,  and  in  1798  married  Miss  Betsey  Huntiugton, 
of  Norwich.  In  1805  he  settled  in  Troy,  New  York,  where  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  He  raised  a  corps  of 
volunteers  in  the  summer  of  1812,  and  joined  the  service  on  the  St.  Lawrence  frontier  under  Colonel  Benedict.  Be 
cause  of  his  exploit  at  St.  Regis  he  was  promoted  to  major  in  the  29th  Regular  Infantry  in  February,  1813,  and  was 
raised  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel  two  months  afterward.  He  was  disbanded  in  1815,  and  soon  afterward  joined 
Miranda's  Mexican  expedition.  He  left  New  York  for  that  purpose  in  July,  1816.  In  August,  the  following  year,  he  was 
in  Fort  Sombrero,  with  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  men,  when  it  was  encircled  by  three  thousand  five  hundred  Royal 
ists.  While  standing  exposed  on  the  ramparts  on  the  18th  of  August,  1818,  a  cannon-shot  from  the  enemy  took  off  his 
head. 

*  During  the  colonial  period,  when  the  northern  frontiers  of  New  England  were  harassed  by  savages,  three  children, 
were  carried  off  by  them  from  Groton,  Massachusetts.  They  consisted  of  two  boys  and  a  girl  named  Tarbell.  The  girl 
escaped  and  returned  home,  but  the  boys  were  taken  to  Canada  and  adopted  into  the  families  of  their  captors— some 
Caughnawaga  Indians,  near  Montreal.  In  the  course  of  time  they  married  daughters  of  chiefs.  Their  intercourse  with 
the  savages  was  not  very  pleasant,  and  the  village  priest  advised  them  to  seek  new  homes.  They,  with  their  wives  and 
wives'  parents  (four  families)  departed  in  a  bark  canoe,  went  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  landed  upon  the  beautiful  point 
on  which  St.  Regis  stands.  There  they  resolved  to  remain.  They  called  the  place,  on  account  of  the  abundance  of  par 
tridges,  as  above  noticed.  In  1760,  when  they  had  made  themselves  comfortable  houses,  with  cultivated  fields  around 
them,  they  were  joined  by  Father  Anthony  Gordon,  a  Jesuit  priest,  and  a  colony  from  Caughnawaga.  Gordon  named 
the  place  St.  Regis.  Gordon  erected  a  church  of  logs  and  covered  it  with  bark.  This  was  burned  two  years  afterward, 
\\hsn  a  small  wooden  church  was  erected  in  its  place,  and  the  first  bell  ever  heard  in  St.  Regis  was  hung  in  its  tower. 
The  common  belief  has  been  that  this  was  the  bell  carried  off  from  Deerfield  by  the  Indians,  after  the  destruction  of  that 
village  by  fire  in  1704 ;  and  with  that  belief  Mrs.  Sigouruey  wrote  her  beautiful  poem  entitled  THE  BELI.  OF  ST.  REGIS,  in 
which  occurs  these  stirring  lines  : 

"Then  down  from  the  burning  church  they  tore  .    - 

The  bell  of  tuneful  sound ; 
And  on  with  their  captive  train  they4)ore 
That  wonderful  thing  toward  their  native  shore, 
The  rude  Canadian  bound. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


377 


Eleazer  Williams,  or  "  The  Lost  Prince." 


A  strange  Story. 


The  Bell  at  St.  Regis. 


A  Visit  to  St.  Eegis. 


Massena,  with  some 
friends,  over  a  new 
ly  cleared  but  pleas 
ant  country,  with  the 
great  Wilderness  of 
Northern  New  York 
lying  on  our  right, 
and  far  in  the  south 
east  the  blue  sum 
mits  of  the  Green 
Mountains  bounding 
the  horizon.  We 
dined  at  Hogans- 
burg  in  company 
with  the  late  Rev. 
Eleazer  Williams, 
the  reputed  "  Lost 
Prince"  of  the  house 
of  Bourbon,  who  was 
then  pastor  of  a  lit 
tle  congregation  of 
Episcopalians,  whose 


place  of  worship  had 
just  been  erected  in  a 
pleasant  pine  grove 
on  the  borders  of 
that  village  of  two 
hundred  inhabitants. 
Mr.  Williams  was 
connected  with  the 
Indians  in  that  re 
gion  during  the  War 
of  1812.  He  was 
with  Major  Young 
in  his  first  attempt 
to  surprise  the  Brit 
ish  at  St.  Regis,  and 
was  afterward  in 
military  service  at 
Plattsburg,  in  a  com 
pany  of  volunteer 
Rangers.  He  gave 
me  some  useful  in 
formation 


concern- 

ing^the  events  of  the  war  in  that  region,  and  showed  me  a  portrait  of  himself,  painted 
in  water-colors  in  1814,  in  which  he  appears  in  military  costume,  and  his  features  and 
complexion  not  exhibiting  the  least  indication  of  Indian  blood.  Mr.  Williams's  biog 
raphy,  written  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hanson,  and  published  under  the  title  of  The  Lost 
Prince,  is  a  remarkable  book.  It  contains  a  most  strange  story.1 

From  Hogansburg  we  rode  up  to  St.  Regis,  a  poor-looking  village  situated  upon  a 
gently  elevated  plain  at  the  head  of  Lake  St.  Francis,  just  below  the  foot  of  the  Long 
Saut  Rapid,  on  a  point  between"  the  mouths  of  the  St.  Regis  and  Racquette  Rivers. 
It  is  surrounded  by  broad  commons,  used  as  a  public  pasture,  with  small  gardens 
near  the  houses.  In  front  of  the  village,  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  lie  some  beautiful  and 
fertile  islands,  upon  which  is  raised  the  grain  for  the  subsistence  of  the  villagers ; 
and  on  the  opposite  shore  of  the  great  river  is  the  Canadian  village  of  Cornwall.  We 
first  visited  the  remains  of  the  cellar  of  Montigny's  house,  where  Captain  M'Donell 
and  some  of  the  British  soldiers  were  captured  by  Young,  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 


It  spake  no  more  till  St.  Regis's  tower 
In  northern  skies  appeared  ; 

And  their  legends  extol  that  pow-wow's  power, 

Which  lulled  that  knell  like  a  poppy-flower, 

As  conscience  now  slumbereth  a  little  hour 

In  the  cell  of  a  heart  that's  seared." 

The  bell  carried  from  Deerfleld  was  taken  to  Caughnawaga,  and  hung  in  the  church  of  St.  Louis  there,  where  it  still 
remains. 

i  A  dark  mystery  has  ever  brooded  over  the  fate  of  the  eldest  son  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  King  of  France,  who  was 
ten  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  murder  by  the  Jacobins.  The  Revolutionists,  after  the  downfall  of  Robes 
pierre  and  his  fellows,  declared  that  he  died  in  prison,  while  the  Royalists  believed  that  he  was  sent  to  America.  Cu 
rious  facts  and  circumstances  pointed  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Williams,  a  reputed  half-breed  Indian  of  the  Canghnawaga  tribe, 
as  the  surviving  prince,  who  for  almost  sixty  years  had  been  hidden  from  the'world  in  that  disguise.  The  claim  that 
he  was  the  Dauphin— the  "Lost  Prince"— was  set  up  for  him,  and  the  fact  that  he  was  not  possessed  of  Indian  blood 
was  fairly  established  by  physiological  proofs.  Scars  produced  by  scrofula  and  inoculation  for  the  small-pox,  described 
as  marking  the  person  of  the  Dauphin,  marked  the  person  of  Mr.  Williams  with  remarkable  exactness.  The  book  in 
question  brings  all  of  these  proofs  of  identity  to  view.  But  the  world  was  incredulous.  The  word  of  the  Prince  de  Join- 
ville,  an  interested  son  of  Louis  Philippe,  was  put  in  the  balance  against  that  of  a  poor  missionary  of  the  Episcopal 
church  in  America,  and  the  latter  was  outweighed.  Mr.  Williams  died  in  1S59,  in  that  obscurity  in  which  his  life  had 
been  passed.  The  question  that  so  excited  the  American  public  a  few  years  ago — "  Have  we  a  Bourbon  among  us  ?" — 
has  not  been  asked  for  a  long  time.  The  remains  of  the  reputed  "Lost  Prince"  rest  in  peace  near  the  banks  of  the 
St.  Regie. 


378 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  Parish  Priest  at  a  Horse-race. 


The  old  Church  in  St.  Regis. 


Pleasant  Memories  of  the  Visit. 


Regis.  We  then  called  at  the  house  of  the  parish  priest  (Father  Francis  Marcoux), 
but  had  not  the  pleasure  of  seeing  him,  he  having  gone  over  to  Cornwall,  his  servant 
said,  to  attend  a  horse-race.  The  gray  old  church,  built  of  massive  stone,  its  walls 
five  feet  thick,  its  roof  covered  with  shingles  and  its  belfry  with  glittering  tin-plate, 
stood  near.  Its  portal  was  invitingly  open,  and  we  entered.  We  found  it  quite  plain 
in  general  construction,  but  the  altar  and  its  vicinity  were  highly  ornamented  and 
gilded.  Upon  the  walls  hung  some  rude  pictures.  Across  the  end  over  the  entrance 
was  a  gallery  for  the  use  of  strangers.  The  Indian  worshipers  usually  kneel  or  sit  on 
the  floor  during  the  service.  The  full  liturgy  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  used 
there,  and  the  preaching  was  in  the  Mohawk  language.1  The  present  church  edifice 
was  erected  in  1792.  The  dilapidated  spire  had  lately  been  taken  down,  and  the  bel 
fry  was  covered  with  a  cupola  surmounted  by  a  glittering  cross.  Near  the  vestry- 
room,  within  the  inclosure,  was  a  frame-work  on  which  hung  three  bells ;  the  two 
upper  ones  made  of  the  first  one  ever  heard  in  St.  Regis,  mentioned  in  note  4,  page 
376. 2  The  lower  and  larger  one  was  cast  in  Troy  in  1852,  and  had  not  yet  been 
placed  in  the  tower. 


OLD   C11CKOII   IN   ST.  KEGIi 


While  sketching  the  old  church3  I  was  surrounded  by  the  Indian  children,  all  cu 
rious  to  know  what  I  was  about ;  while  an  old  Indian  woman  stood  in  the  door  of  a 
miserable  log  house  near  by,  looking  so  intently  with  mute  wonder,  apparently,  that 
I  think  she  did  not  move  during  the  half  hour  I  was  engaged  with  the  pencil.  The 
children  kept  up  a  continual  conversation,  intermingled  with  laughter,  all  of  which 
came  to  the  ear  in  sweet,  low,  musical  cadences,  like  the  murmuring  of  brooks.  This 
is  in  the  British  portion  of  the  town. 

Just  after  leaving  the  church  we  met  the  venerable  Captain  Le  Clerc,  already  men 
tioned,  who  had  lived  in  St.  Regis  fifty-seven  years.  He  accompanied  us  to  the  house 
of  Fran9ois  Dupuy,  one  of  the  two  merchants  then  in  St.  Regis.  Dupuy's  store  and 

1  A  full  and  interesting  account  of  St.  Regis  may  be  found  in  Hough's  History  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Franklin  Counties. 

2  This  bell  became  cracked  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  and  it  was  recast  in  two  small  ones.    The  Indians,  suspicious 
that  some  of  the  (to  them)  sacred  metal  might  be  abstracted  at  the  bell-founder's,  sent  a  deputation  to  watch  the  pro 
cess,  and  see  that  every  particle  of  the  old  bell  went  into  the  crucible. 

3  In  this  view  is  seen  the  old  church  on  the  right,  a  specimen  of  many  of  the  houses  in  the  village  on  the  left,  and  in 
the  extreme  distance,  near  the  centre,  the  dwelling  of  the  parish  priest.   A  tall  flag-staff  stands  near  the  inclosure.    The 
bells  mentioned  in  the  text  are  just  behind  the  two  Lombardy  poplars  on  the  right. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


The  Boundary  Line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada. 


Captain  Polly. 


Buffalo  in  1812. 


dwelling  were  on  the  forty-fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  which  is  the  dividing-line 
here  between  the  United  States  and  Canada.  That  line  passed  through  his  house ; 
and  while  an  attendant  was  preparing  some  lemonade  for  us  within  the  dominions  of 


Queen  Victoria,  we  were  sitting 
in  the  United  States,  but  in  the 
same  room,  waiting  to  be  served. 
On  the  margin  of  the  street  op 
posite  Dupuy's  stood  one  of  the 
cast-iron  obelisks,  three  feet  and 
a  half  in  height,  which  are  placed 
at  certain  intervals  along  that 
frontier  line  as  boundary  monu 
ments.  Upon  its  four  sides  were 
cast  appropriate  inscriptions,  in 
raised  letters.1 

We  left  St.  Regis  toward  the 
evening  of  a  delightful  day,  and 
reached  Massena  just  as  the 
guests  of  the  hotel  were  assem 
bling  at  the  supper -table.  At 


BOUNDARY  MONUMENT. 


twilight  I  walked  leisurely  down 
to  the  springs  on  the  margin  of 
the  swift -flowing  Racquette,  and 
under  the  pavilion  that  covers 
the  principal  fountain  of  health  I 
met  a  venei'able  man,  who  in 
formed  me  that  he  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  that  region. 
He  was  in  the  War  of  1812  as  a 
soldier,  and  fought  in  some  of  the 
battles  on  the  Niagara  frontier. 
He  was  badly  wounded  at  Black 
Rock  by  the  explosion  of  a  bomb 
shell  that  came  from  a  battery 
on  the  Canada  side.  "I  was 
knocked  down,"  he  said,  "had 
my  breast -bone  stove  in,  and 


three  ribs  broken."  He  was  at  Fort  Erie  at  the  time  of  the  sanguinary  sortie,  but 
was  unable  to  walk  on  account  of  his  wounds.  That  veteran  was  Captain  John  Policy, 
already  mentioned.  He  was  then  seventy-two  years  of  age.  He  had  seen  all  the 
country  around  him  bloom  out  of  the  wilderness,  and  had  outlived  most  of  the  com 
panions  of  his  youth. 

Let  us  resume  the  historical  narrative : 

While  active  operations  were  in  progress  at  the  eastern  end  of  Lake  Ontario  and 
along  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  important  events  were  transpiring  toward  the  western 
end  of  the  lake  and  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  That  frontier,  extending  along  the  Ni 
agara  River  from  Lake  Erie  to  Lake  Ontario,  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles,  was  the 
theatre  of  many  stirring  scenes  during  the  war  we  are  considering.  The  Niagara 
River  is  the  grand  outlet  of  the  waters  of  the  upper  lakes  into  Ontario,  and  divides 
a  portion  of  the  State  of  New  York  from  that  of  Canada.  Half  way  between  the  two 
lakes  that  immense  body  of  water  pours  over  a  limestone  precipice  in  two  mighty 
cataracts,  unequaled  in  sublimity  by  any  others  on  the  surface  of  the  globe. 

At  the  time  we  are  considering  that  frontier  was  sparsely  settled.  Buffalo2  was  a 
little  scattered  village  of  about  one  hundred  houses  and  stores,  and  a  military  post 
of  sufficient  consequence  to  invite  the  torch  of  British  incendiaries  at  the  close  of 
1813,  when  all  but  two  dwellings  were  laid  in  ashes.  It  was  only  about  sixty 
years  ago  that  the  tiny  seed  was  planted  of  that  now  immense  mart  of  inland  com 
merce,  containing  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  Where  now  are  long  lines  of 
wharves,  with  forests  of  masts  and  stately  warehouses,  was  seen  a  sinuous  creek,  nav 
igable  for  small  vessels  only,  winding  its  way  through  marshy  ground  into  the  lake, 
its  low  banks  fringed  with  trees  and  tangled  shrubbery.  In  1814  it  was  a  desola 
tion,  and  the  harbor  presented  the  appearance  delineated  in  the  engraving  on  the  fol 
lowing  page. 

A  little  south  of  Buffalo,  st  ret  chin  o-  alone  Buffalo  Creek,  were  the  villages  of  the 

O  T       1  • 

Seneca  Indians,  on  a  reservation  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  acres  of  land, 
and  then  inhabited  by  about  seven  hundred  souls.  Two  miles  below  Buffalo  was 
Black  Rock,  a  hamlet  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie  and  of  powerful  rapids,  where  there 

1  On  the  west  face,  "BOUNDARY,  AUGUST  9, 1842."   On  the  east,  "TREATY  OF  WASHINGTON."   On  the  north,  "LIEUTEN 
ANT  COLONEL  I.  B.  B.  ESTCOURT,  H.  B.  M.  COMMISSIONER."    On  the  south,  "  ALBERT  SMITH,  U.  S.  COMMISSIONER." 
'  Buffalo  was  laid  out  by  the  Holland  Land  Company  in  1S01,  and  was  called  New  Amsterdam. 


380 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Settlements  along  the  Niagara  Frontier  in  1*12.       Remains  of  Fort  Schlosser.       Destruction  of  the  Steamer  Caroline. 


TUB   POET   OF   BUFFALO   IN   1813. 


was  a  ferry ;  and  almost  opposite  was  Fort  Erie,  a  British  post  of  considerable 
strength.  Nine  miles  below,  at  the  Falls  of  Elliott's  Creek,  was  the  village  of  Wil- 
liamsville ;  and  at  the  head  of  the  rapids,  above  Niagara  Falls,  were  the  remains  of 

old  Fort  Schlosser,  about  a  mile  below  Schlos 
ser  Landing,  near  which  is  yet  standing  an 
immense  chimney  that  belonged  to  the  En 
glish  "  mess-house,"  or  dining-hall  of  the  gar 
rison  that  were  stationed  there  several  years 
before  the  Revolution.1  Opposite  Schlosser, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Chippewa  Creek,  was  the 
small  village  of  Chippewa,  inhabited  by  Cana 
dians  and  Indians.  At  the  Falls,  on  the  Amer 
ican  side,  was  the  hamlet  of  Manchester ;  and 
seven  miles  below,  at  the  foot  of  the  Lower 
Rapids,  was  Lewiston,  a  little  village,  with  a 
convenient  landing  at  the  base  of  a  bluff.  Op 
posite  Lewiston  was  Queenston,  overlooked 
from  the  south  by  lofty  heights,  sometimes 
called  The  Mountain.  It  was  the  landing- 
place  for  goods  brought  over  Lake  Ontario 
for  the  inhabitants  above.  At  the  mouth  of 


BEMA1NS  AT   FOET   SCULOSSEK. 


1  The  English  built  a  stockade  here  in  the  year  17GO,  and  named  it  Fort  Schlosser,  in  honor  of  the  meritorious  officer 
who  was  in  command  there  at  the  time.  It  was  about  a  mile  from  the  Niagara  River.  The  frame  of  the  mess-house 
was  prepared  at  Fort  Niagara,  at  tLe  mouth  of  the  river,  while  the  French  were  in  possession  there.  It  was  intended 
for  a  Catholic  church  at  that  place.  The  English  took  it  to  the  site  of  the  new  fort,  and  put  it  up  there.  It  disappeared 
in  the  course  of  time,  leaving  nothing  but  the  huge  chimney.  Around  it  a  small  building  was  erected,  in  which  Judge 
Porter  resided  for  several  years  after  his  removal  to  the  Niagara  frontier.  The  building  was  consumed  when  the  Brit 
ish  devastated  that  shore  in  1813.  Slight  traces  of  old  French  works  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  of  Fort  Schlosser, 
more  in  the  interior,  may  now  be  seen.  I  am  indebted  to  the  late  Colonel  P.  A.  Porter,  of  Niagara  Falls  village  (who  was 
killed  in  battle  during  the  late  Civil  War),  for  the  above  sketch  of  the  great  chimney  and  the  little  building  attached  to  it 

Schlosser  Landing  was  made  famous  at  the  close  of  1S3T  by  the  destruction  there  of  the  American  steamer  Caroline^ 
a  party  of  British  from  Canada.  At  that  time  a  portion  of  both  Canadian  provinces  were  in  insurrection  against  the 
British  government.  Navy  Island,  on  the  Niagara  River,  just  above  Schlosser,  was  made  a  rendezvous  for  the  insur 
gents  of  that  neighborhood  and  their  American  sympathizers,  and  the  steamboat  Caroline  was  brought  down  from  Buf 
falo  to  be  used  as  a  ferry-boat  between  the  island  and  Schlosser  Landing.  On  the  night  of  the  29th  of  December,  1837, 
she  was  moored  at  Porter's  store-house,  Schlosser's  Landing,  having  crossed  the  ferry  several  times  during  the  day. 


OF   THE    WAE    OF    1812.  381 

General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer.  Weakness  of  the  Niagara  Frontier.  General  Dearborn's  Instructions. 

Niagara  River,  on  the  American  side,  was  (and  still  is)  Fort  Niagara,  a  strong  post, 
erected  by  the  combined  skill  and  labor  of  the  French  and  English  engineers  and 
troops  at  different  times.1  Just  above  the  fort  was  the  little  village  of  Youngstown; 
and  opposite  this,  on  the  Canada  shore,  was  Fort  George.  Between  the  fort  and  the 
lake  was  the  village  of  Newark,  now  Niagara.  Along  both  banks  of  the  river,  its 
whole  length,  a  farming  population  was  scattered.  Such  was  the  Niagara  frontier 
at  the  opening  of  the  war  of  1812.  The  reader  will  have  occasion  frequently  to  re 
fer  to  the  map  of  it  on  the  following  page. 

Major  General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  appointed  by  Governor  Tompkins  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  detached  militia  of  the  state,  with  Solomon  Van  Rensse 
laer,  the  adjutant  general  of  New  York,  as  his  aid  and  military  adviser,2  and  John 
Lovett,  of  Troy,  as  his  secretary,  arrived  at  Fort  Niagara  on  the  13th  of  August,3 
and  assumed  command  of  the  forces  on  that  frontier.  On  the  following  day  he  made 
his  head-quarters  at  Lewiston,  seven  miles  farther  up  the  river.  General  Amos  Hall, 
commander  of  the  militia  of  Western  New  York,  was  .then  at  the  little  hamlet  of 
Manchester,  at  Niagara  Falls,  with  a  few  troops ;  and  detachments  of  the  same  kind 
were  scattered  along  the  whole  line  of  the  river,  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles.  But 
the  Avhole  force  in  'the  field,  to  guard  that  frontier  from  a  threatened  invasion  of  the 
enemy,  did  not  amount  to  more  than  a  thousand  men.4  These  were  scantily  clothed, 
indifferently  fed,  and  were  clamorous  for  pay.  There  was  not  a  single  piece  of  heavy 
ordnance  along  the  entire  frontier,  nor  artillerists  to  man  the  light  field-pieces  in  their 
possession.  Of  ammunition  there  were  not  ten  rounds  for  each  man.  They  had  no 
tents.  The  medical  department  was  in  a  most  destitute  condition,  and  insubordina 
tion  was  the  rule  and  not  the  exception.5 

General  Dearborn  had  been  instructed1  to  make  such  demonstrations  on  a  June  2c, 
the  frontier  as  should  /^SSTC  ^ie  British,  or 

prevent  re-enforcements  /yy  ;*s) j>  .&s^>4  y£&-^4^i^7  their  making  a  formida- 
being  sent  to  Maiden  by  ts  '  c^€^f^Z^^~  ^£>  hle  movement  against 
Hull  at  Detroit.  This  duty  was  wholly  neglected,  and,  as  late  as  the  8th  of  Au 
gust,  the  commanding  general  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  saying,  "  Till  now 
I  did  not  consider  the  Niagara  frontier  as  coming  within  the  limits  of  my  com 
mand."  This  extraordinary  assertion  was  made  in  the  face  of  no  less  than  five  dis 
patches  from  the  War  Department,  in  which  such  allusions  were  made  to  that  frontier 
as  to  expressly,  or  by  implication,  give  him  to  understand  that  the  entire  line  of  the 
Niagara  River  and  the  lakes  were  under  his  jurisdiction.6  And  on  the  very  next 

The  tavern  there  being  crowded,  several  persons  went  on  the  boat  to  lodge  for  the  night.  At  midnight  a  body  of 
armed  men  from  the  Canada  shore  came  in  a  boat,  rushed  on  board,  exclaiming  "  Cut  them  down  !  give  no  quarter  !"  and 
chased  the  unarmed  occupants  astern.  Some  were  severely  injured,  one  man  was  shot  dead  on  the  wharf,  and  twelve 
more  were  never  heard  of  afterward.  The  boat  was  towed  out  into  the  river,  set  on  fire,  and  left  to  the  current  above 
the  cataract.  It  sunk  near  Iris  Island,  and  on  the  following  morning  charred  remains  of  the  vessel  were  seen  below 
the  Falls.  It  was  supposed  that  more  than  one  of  the  missing  men  perished  in  the  flames  or  the  turbulent  waters.  At 
one  time  the  diplomatic  correspondence  between  the  two  governments  concerning  this  outrage  threatened  a  war. 

1  A  particular  account  of  the  fort  will  be  given  hereafter. 

2  General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  was  not  a  military  man.    He  was  possessed  of  great  wealth,  extensive  social  influ 
ence,  and  was  a  leading  Federalist.    His  appointment  was  a  stroke  of  policy  to  secure  friends  to  the  war  among  that 
party.    It  was  only  on  condition  that  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  who  had  been  in  military  service,  should  accompany 
him,  that  he  consented  to  take  the  post.    It  was  well  understood  that  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  would  be  the  general,  in 
a  practical  military  point  of  view. 

3  On  reaching  Utica,  on  his  way  westward,  General  Van  Rensselaer  was  called  to  Sackett's  Harbor  by  rumors  of  hos 
tile  movements  in  that  quarter.    From  there  he  went  on  a  tour  of  inspection  along  the  frontier  to  Ogdensburg,  to  learn 
the  condition  of  troops,  and  the  means  for  offensive  or  defensive  operatfons  along  the  St.  Lawrence  frontier. 

*  See  note  2,  page  366. 

s  Narrative  of  the  Affair  at  Queenstmon  in  the  War  of  1S12,  by  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  page  10. 

6  On  the  26th  of  June  the  Secretary  of  War  wrote  to  General  Dearborn,  then  at  Albany :  "  Your  preparations,  it  is  pre 
sumed,  will  be  made  to  move  in  a  direction  for  Niagara,  Kingston,  and  Montreal."  On  July  15th  he  wrote :  "  On  your 
arrival  at  Albany  your  attention  will  be  directed  to  the  security  of  the  -northern  frontier  6w  the  lakes."  On  the  20th  he 
wrote  more  explicitly,  saying:  "You  will  make  such  arrangements  with  Governor  Tompkins  as  will  place  the  militia 
detached  6j/  him  for  the  Niagara,  and  other  posts  on  the  lake  under  your  control."1  July  29th  he  wrote  :  "  Should  it  be  ad 
visable  to  make  any  other  disposition  of  these  restless  people  [the  warriors  of  the  Seneca  Indians],  you  will  give  orders 
to  Mr.  Granger  and  the  commanding  officer  at  Niaaara."  On  the  1st  of  August  the  same  functionary  wrote :  "You  will 
make  a  diversion  in  favor  of  him  [General  Hull]  at  Niagara  and  Kingston  as  soon  as  may  be  practicable."  Yet,  with  these 


382 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


The  Niagara  Frontier. 


letters  in  his  possession,  General  Dearborn,  on  the  Sth  of  August,  declared  that  until  then  he  did  "not  consider  the  Ni 
agara  frontier  as  coming  within  the  limits  of  his  command !" 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  383 


Effect  of  the  Armistice.    Solomon  Van  Rensselaer's  Diplomacy.    Service  expected  of  the  Army  on  the  Niagara  Frontier. 

daya  he  signed  an  armistice  agreeing  to  a  cessation  of  hostilities  along  that  » August  9, 
entire  dividing  line  between  the  two  countries.  That  armistice  still  far 
ther  delayed  preparations  for  offensive  or  defensive  operations  on  the  part  of  the 
Americans,  and,  on  the  1st  of  September,  the  entire  effective  force  under  General  Van 
Rensselaer  on  the  Niagara  frontier  was  only  six  hundred  and  ninety-one  men,  instead 
of  five  thousand,  as  he  had  been  promised  I1  Notwithstanding  Dearborn  had  been 
ordered  peremptorily  to  put  an  end  to  the  armistice,  he  continued  it  until  the  29th 
of  August,2  for  the  purpose,  as  he  alleged,3  of  forwarding  stores  to  Sackett's  Harbor 
—a  matter  of  small  moment  compared  with  the  accruing  disadvantages.  Within  the 
period  of  the  armistice,  Brock  was  enabled,  after  the  capture  of  Hull  and  the  Terri 
tory  of  Michigan,  to  return  leisurely  with  his  troops  and  prisoners  to  the  Niagara 
frontier.  When  the  armistice  was  ended,  and  Van  Rensselaer  was  so  weak  in  men 
and  munitions  of  war,  the  British  confronted  him,  on  the  opposite  side  of  a  narrow 
river,  with  a  well-appointed  and  disciplined,  though  small  army,  commanded  by  skill 
ful  and  experienced  officers,  while  every  important  point  from  Lake  Ontario  to  Lake 
Erie,  along  the  British  side  of  the  Niagara,  was  carefully  guarded  or  had  been  mate 
rially  strengthened. 

Some  of  the  most  disastrous  effects  of  the  armistice  were  parried  by  a  successful 
effort  at  diplomacy  on  the  part  of  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  the  commanding 
general's  aid,  who  was  sent  to  Fort  George  to  confer  with  the  British  general,  Sheaffe, 
on  the  details  of  the  operations  of  that  agreement.  Van  Rensselaer  insisted  upon  the 
unrestricted  navigation  of  Lake  Ontario  for  both  parties,  and  this  point  was  unex 
pectedly  yielded,4  restrictions  upon  the  movements  of  troops,  stores,  etc.,  being  con 
fined  to  the  country  above  Fort  Erie.  This  was  of  vital  importance  to  the  Ameri 
cans  ;  for  the  much-needed  supplies  for  the  army,  ordnance,  and  other  munitions  of 
war  collected  at  Oswego  could  only  be  taken  to  the  Niagara  by  water,  the  roads 
were  in  such  a  wretched  condition.  By  this  arrangement,  the  vessels  at  Ogdensburg, 
already  mentioned,  were  released,5  to  be  converted  into  warriors ;  and  Colonel  Fen- 
wick,  at  Oswego,  moved  forward  over  the  lake  to  Niagara  with  a  large  quantity  of 
supplies. 

General  Van  Rensselaer6  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  not  only  defending  the 
frontier  from  invasion,  but  of  an  actual  invasion  of  Canada  himself.  This  was  a  part 
of  the  original  plan  of  the  campaign.  While  Hull  invaded  the  province  from  De 
troit,  it  was  to  be  penetrated  on  the  Niagara  and  St.  Lawrence  frontiers.  But  Van 
Rensselaer  found  himself  in  a  most  critical  situation,  and  doubtful  whether  he  could 
even  protect  the  soil  of  his  own  state  from  the  foot  of  the  invader.  The  arrival  of 

1  Van  Rensselaer's  Narrative,  etc.,  p.  10. 

2  On  the  29th  of  August  General  Dearborn  issued  an  order  in  which  he  declared  the  armistice  at  an  end,  and  yet  the 
express  bearing  the  order  to  the  Niagara  frontier  did  not  reach  General  Van  Rensselaer  until  the  12th  of  September.— 
MS.  Letter  of  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer  to  his  Wife,  dated  Lewiston,  September  12, 1S12. 

3  Dearborn  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  August  27, 1812. 

*  This  was  on  the  21st  of  August.  Four  days  afterward  General  Brock  arrived  with  Hull  and  the  regulars  of  his  army 
as  prisoners. 

5  As  soon  as  Van  Rensselaer  obtained  the  concession,  an  express  was  sent  to  Oswego,  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  Ogdens 
burg,  ordering  those  vessels  up. 

6  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  was  the  fifth  in  lineal  descent  from  Killian  Van  Rensselaer,  the  earliest  and  best  known 
of  the  American  Patroons.    He  was  born  at  the  manor-house  in  Albany,  New  York,  on  the  first  of  November,  1TC4.    Be 
ing  the  eldest  son,  he  inherited  the  immense  estate  of  his  father,  and  was  the  last  of  the  Patroons.    He  was  educated  first 
at  Princeton  College  and  then  at  Harvard  University.    He  was  graduated  at  the  latter  institution  in  1782.    He  became 
an  active  politician,  and  was  a  warm  supporter  of  Washington  and  the  national  Constitution.    In  1795  he  was  elected 
lieutenant  governor  of  his  native  state,  and  held  the  office  six  consecutive  years.    He  was  a  rising  man  in  the  political 
scale,  when  the  overthrow  of  the  Federal  party  in  1800  impeded  his  advancement.    Although  a  Federalist  and  opposed 
to  the  war  in  1S12,  when  his  country  was  committed  to  the  measure  he  patriotically  laid  aside  all  party  feelings  and 
gave  it  his  hearty  support.    He  was  not  a  military  man,  and  his  appointment  to  the  major  generalship  of  the  detached 
militia  was  a  stroke  of  policy  rather  than  the  deliberate  choice  of  a  good  military  leader.    He  did  not  long  remain  in 
the  service.    He  was  in  Congress  during  several  consecutive  sessions,  and  by  his  casting  vote  in  the  delegation  of  New 
York  he  gave  the  presidency  to  John  Quincy  Adams  in  1824.    Then  his  political  life  closed.    He  was  foremost  in  good 
works.    The  "  Rensselaer  School"  at  Troy,  New  York,  attests  his  liberality,  and  his  activity  in  religious  societies  was 
marked  and  useful.    For  many  years  he  was  President  of  the  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners.    That  was  his  position 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  2Cth  of  January,  1S40,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age. 


384 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Van  Rensselaer  calls  for  Re-enforcements.       They  come.       Proposition  to  invade  Canada.      Van  Rensselaer'e  Letter. 

Colonel  Fenwick,  on  the  4th  of  September,  with  ordnance  and  stores  gave  some  re 
lief,  but  the  evidence  of  preparations  for  invasion  on  the  part  of  the  British  became 
daily  more  and  more  positive  and  alarming. 

At  the  middle  of  September  Van 
Rensselaer  informed  both  Governor 
Tompkins  and  General  Dearborn  of 
the  gloomy  prospects  before  him,  and 
pleaded  for  re-enforcements,  saying,  "A 
retrograde  movement  of  this  army  up- 
on  the  back  of  that  disaster  which  has 
befallen  the  one  at  Detroit  would  stamp 
a  stigma  upon  the  national  character 
which  time  would  never  wipe  away. 
I  shall  therefore  try  to  hold  out  against 
superior  force  and  every  disadvantage 
until  I  shall  be  re-enforced."1  But  as 
late  as  the  26th  of  September  General 
Dearborn  could  give  him  no  sure  prom 
ises  of  timely  re-enforcements,  while  in 
the  same  letter  that  officer  expressed 
a  hope  that  Van  Rensselaer  would  not 
only  be  able  to  meet  the  enemy,  but 
to  carry  the  war  into  Canada.  "  At  all 
events,"  he  said,  "we  must  calculate 
on  possessing  Upper  Canada  be 
fore  winter  sets  in."2 

Soon  after  this  regular  troops 
and  militia  began  to  arrive  on 
the  Niagara  frontier.  The  for 
mer  assembled  at  Buffalo  and  its 
vicinity,  the  latter  at  Lewiston  ; 
"  October  5,  and  when,  in  the  first  week  of  October,*  General  Van  Rensselaer  invited 
Major  General  Hall,  of  the  militia  of  Western  New  York,  Brigadier  Gen 
eral  Smythe,  of  the  regular  army  and  then  inspector  general,  and  the  commandants 
of  the  United  States  regiments  to  meet  him  in  council,  he  proposed  a  speedy  invasion 
of  Canada.  "  I  propose,"  he  said,  "  that  we  immediately  concentrate  the  regular 
force  in  the  neighborhood  of  Niagara  and  the  militia  here  [Lewiston],  make  the  best 
possible  dispositions,  and  at  the  same  time  the  regulars  shall  pass  from  Four-mile 
Creek  to  a  point  in  the  rear  of  the  works  of  Fort  George  and  take  it  by  storm ;  I  will 
pass  the  river  here,  and  carry  the  heights  of  Queenstown.  Should  we  succeed,  we 
shall  effect  a  great  discomfiture  of  the  enemy  by  breaking  their  line  of  communica 
tion,  driving  their  shipping  from  the  mouth  of  this  [Niagara]  river,  leaving  them  no 
rallying-point  in  this  part  of  the  country,  appalling  the  minds  of  the  Canadians,  and 
opening  a  wide  and  safe  communication  for  our  supplies.  We  shall  save  our  land, 
wipe  away  part  of  the  score  of  our  past  disgrace,  get  excellent  barracks  and  winter 
quarters,  and  at  least  be  prepared  for  an  early  campaign  another  year."3  This  pro 
posed  council  was  not  held,  owing  to  the  failure  of  General  Smyth  to  comply  with 
the  request  of  General  Van  Rensselaer,4  and  the  latter  was  left  wrholly  to  the  re 
sources  of  himself  and  his  military  family  in  forming  his  plans.  They  were  delib 
erately  matured,  and  preparations  for  invading  Canada  went  vigorously  on.  T6- 


1  Letter  to  Governor  Tompkius,  September  17, 1812.  2  Dearborn  to  Van  Rensselaer,  September  2G,  1812. 

3  Letter  of  General  Van  Rensselaer  to  General  Dearborn,  Lewiston,  October  8, 1812. 
*  This  will  be  noticed  in  the  next  chapter. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  385 

Lieutenant  Elliott  on  Lake  Erie.  Preparations  for  capturing  British  Vessels.  Cp-operation  of  the  Military. 

ward  the  middle  of  October  the  American  forces  on  the  frontier  were  considered  suf 
ficient  to  warrant  the  undertaking. 

While  these  preparations  were  in  progress,  a  daring  and  successful  exploit  was  per 
formed  near  Buffalo,  that  won  great  applause  for  the  actors  and  infused  new  spirit 
into  the  troops.  We  have  already  observed  that  Lieutenant  Jesse  D.  Elliott,  of  the 
United  States  Navy,  was  sent  by  Commodore  Chauncey  to  superintend  the  erection 
of  a  fleet  on  Lake  Erie.  By  a  letter  from  the  commander,  dated  the  7th  of  September, 
he  was  instructed  to  report  himself  to  General  Van  Rensselaer,  on  the  Niagara  frontier, 
consult  with  him  as  to  "  the  best  position  to  build,  repair,  and  fit  for  service"  such 
vessels  as  might  be  required  to  retain  the  command  of  Lake  Erie,  and,  after  selecting 
such  place,  to  "  purchase  any  number  of  merchant  vessels  or  boats  that  might  be  con 
verted  into  vessels  of  war  or  gun-boats,"  with  the  advice  of  General  Van  Rensselaer, 
and  to  commence  their  equipment  immediately.  He  was  also  instructed  to  take 
measures  for  the  construction  of  two  vessels  of  three  hundred  tons  each,  six  boats  of 
considerable  size,  and  quarters  for  three  hundred  men.  These,  and  a  variety  of  other 
relevant  duties,  were  committed  to  the  charge  of  Lieutenant  Elliott  by  Chauncey, 
who  said,  "  Knowing  your  zeal  for  the  service  and  your  discretion  as  an  officer,  I  feel 
every  confidence  in  your  industry  and  exertions  to  accomplish  the  object  of  your  mis 
sion  in  the  shortest  time  possible."1  Elliott  was  then  twenty-seven  years  of  age. 

Black  Rock,  two  miles  below  Buffalo,  was  selected  as  the  place  for  Lake  Erie's  first 
clock-yard  in  fitting  out  a  navy.  While  busily  engaged  there,  early  in  October,  in  the 
duties  of  his  office,  Elliott  was  informed  that  two  British  armed  vessels  had  come 
down  the  lake,  and  anchored  under  the  guns  of  Fort  Erie.  These  were  the  brigs 
Adams,  Lieutenant  Rolette  commander,  and  Caledonia,  commanded  by  Mr.  Irvine,  the 
former  a  prize  captured  when  Hull  surrendered,  and  its  name  was  changed  to  Detroit, 
the  latter  a  vessel  owned  and  employed  by  the  Northwestern  Fur  Company  on  the 
Upper  Lakes.2  They  were  both  well  armed  and  manned,3  and  it  was  understood 
that  the  Caledonia  bore  a  valuable  cargo  of  skins  from  the  forest.  They  appeared  in 
front  of  Fort  Erie  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  October,  and  the  zealous  Elliott,  em 
ulous  of  distinction,  immediately  conceived  a  plan  for  their  capture.  Timely  aid 
offered.  On  that  very  day  a  detachment  of  seamen  for  service  under  him  arrived 
from  New  York.  They  were  unarmed,  and  Elliott  turned  to  the  military  authorities 
for  assistance.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Winfield  Scott  was  at  Black  Rock.  He  entered 
warmly  into  Elliott's  plans,  and  readily  obtained  the  consent  of  General  Smyth,  his 
commanding  officer,  to  lend  his  aid.  Captain  Towson,  of  the  Engineers'  Corps  (2d 
Regiment  of  Artillery),  was  detailed,  with  fifty  men,  for  the  service,  and  the  cordial 
acquiescence  of  General  Smyth  was  evinced  by  a  note,  marked  "  confidential,"  to  Col 
onel  Winder,  of  the  14th  Regiment,  then  encamped  near  Buffalo,  in  which  he  said, 
"Be  pleased  to  turn  out  the  hardy  sailors  in  your  regiment,  and  let  them  appear, 
under  the  care  of  a  non-commissioned  officer,  in  front  of  my  quarters,  precisely  at  three 
o'clock  this  evening.  Send  also  all  the  pistols,  swords,  and  sabres  you  can  borrow  at 
the  risk  of  the  lenders,  and  such  public  swords  as  you  have."4 

Towson  joined  Elliott  with  arms  and  ammunition  for  the  seamen,  and  both  were 
accompanied  by  citizens.  The  combined  force,  rank  and  file,  Avas  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  men.5  All  the  preparations  for  the  enterprise  were  completed  by  four 

i  Letter  of  Chauncey  to  Elliott,  "  Navy  Yard,  New  York,  September  7, 1812."  2  See  page  270. 

3  The  Detroit  mounted  six  6-pounders  and  mustered  fifty-six  men,  besides  thirty  American  prisoners.    The  Caledo 
nia  mounted  two  small  guns  and  mustered  twelve  men,  besides  ten  American  prisoners. 

4  Manuscript  Letter  of  General  Smyth  to  Colonel  Winder,  October  8, 1812.    It  is  proper  here  to  remark  that,  through 
the  kind  offices  of  Mrs.  Aurelia  Winder  Townsend,  of  Oyster  Bay,  Long  Island,  daughter  of  General  Winder,  the  papers 
of  that  gallant  officer  were  placed  in  my  possession.    Free  use  has  been  made  of  them  in  the  course  of  this  work. 

6  Lieutenant  Elliott,  in  his  official  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  October  9, 1812,  says  there  were  one  hundred 
in  the  expedition— fifty  in  each  boat.  The  list  furnished  by  him,  and  here  given  in  fall,  makes  the  number  one  hund 
red  and  twenty-four,  as  follows  : 

Commajulcrs,  Jesse  D.  Elliott,  Isaac  Chauncey. 

Sailing-masters,  George  Watts,  Alexander  Sisson. 

BB 


386  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Capture  of  the  Adams  and  Caledonia.  Names  of  the  Captors.  Excitement  at  Buffalo.  Isaac  Roach. 

o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Two  large  boats  had  been  fitted  up  at  Shogeoquady1  Creek, 
just  below  Black  Rock,  and  then  were  taken  to  the  mouth  of  Buffalo  Creek  in  the 
evening.  The  expedition  embarked  at  midnight,  and  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
•  October  9,  inga  it  left  the  creek  silently,  while  scores  of  people  on  shore,  who  knew 
that  an  important  movement  was  on  foot,  waited  with  anxiety  in  the 
gloom.  At  three  o'clock  the  sharp  crack  of  a  pistol,  followed  by  the  flash  and  roll 
of  a  volley  of  musketry,  a  dead  silence,  and  the  moving  of  two  dark  objects  down  the 
river,  proclaimed  that  the  enterprise  had  been  successful.  A  shout  of  joy  rang  out 
upon  the  night  air  from  the  shore  between  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock,  and  lanterns  and 
torches  in  abundance  flashed  light  across  the  stream  to  illuminate  the  way  of  the 
victors.2  The  surprise  and  success  were  complete.  The  vessels  were  captured  and 
the  men  in  them  made  prisoners.  "  In  less  than  ten  minutes,"  wrote  Elliott,  "  I  had 
the  prisoners  all  seized,  the  topsails  sheeted  home,  and  the  vessels  under  weigh."3 
The  Detroit  was  taken  by  the  boat  conducted  by  Elliott  in  person,  assisted  by  Lieu 
tenant  Roach,4  of  the  Engineers,  and  the  Caledonia  by  the  other  boat  conducted  by 
Sailing-master  Watts,5  assisted  by  the  military  under  Captain  ToAvson.  The  first 
Avas  taken  Avith  scarcely  any  opposition,  the  second  after  very  brief  resistance.  The 
wind  was  light — too  light  to  allow  the  ATessels  thereby  to  stem  the  current  and  reach 
the  open  lake ;  so  they  ran  doAvn  the  stream  in  the  darkness,  but  not  without  annoy 
ance.  The  turmoil  of  the  capture,  the  shouts  of  the  citizens  at  Black  Rock  and  Buf 
falo,  and  the  display  of  lights  along  the  American  shore,  called  every  British  officer 
and  soldier  to  his  post.  The  guns  of  Fort  Erie,  of  tAvo  or  three  batteries,  and  of  fly- 

Captain  of  Engineers  and  Marines,  N.  Towson. 

Lieutenant  of  Engineers  and  Marines,  Isaac  Roach. 

Master's  Mates,  William  Peckham,  J.  E.  M'Douald,  John  S.  Cummings,  Edward  Wilcox. 

Ensign,  William  Presman. 

Boatswain's  Mates,  Lawrence  Hanson,  John  Rack,  James  Morrell. 

Quarter  Gunners,  Benjamin  Tallman,  Bird,  Hawk,  Noland,  Vincent,  Osborn,  M'Cobbin,  John  Wheeler. 

Seamen,  Edward  Police,  James  Williams,  Robert  Craig,  John  M'Intire,  Elisha  Atwood,  AVilliam  Edward,  Michael  S. 
Brooks,  William  Roe,  Henry  Anderson,  Christopher  Bailey,  John  Exon,  John  Lewis.William  Barker,  Peter  Davis,  Peter 
Deist,  Lemuel  Smith,  Abraham  Patch,  Benjamin  Myrick,  Robert  Peterson,  Benjamin  Fleming,  Gardiner  Gaskill,  An 
thony  De  Kruse,  William  Dickson,  Thomas  Hill,  John  Reynolds,  Abraham  Fish,  Jerome  Sardie,  John  Tockum,  William 
Anderson,  John  Jockings,  Thomas  Bradley,  Hatten  Armstrong. 

Soldiers,  Jacob  Webber,  Jesse  Green,  Henry  Thomas,  George  Gladden,  James  Murray,  Samuel  Baldwin,  John  Hen- 
drick,  Peter  Evans,  William  Fortune,  Daniel  Martin,  John  M'Guard,  Samuel  Fortune,  John  Garling,  Zachariah  Wise,  John 
Kearns,  Thomas  Wallager,  Thomas  Houragna,  Peter  Peroe,  Edward  Mahoney,  Daniel  Holland,  Mathias  Wineman,  Mo 
ses  Goodwin,  Lishurway  Lewis,  AVilliam  Fisher,  John  Fritch,  James  Roy,  James  M'Gee,  James  M'Crossan,  AVilliam  Wei- 
mer,  Thomas  Leister,  Joseph  Davis,  Benjamin  Thomas,  James  M'Donald,  Thomas  Ruark,  J.  Wicklin,  AV.  Richards, 
James  Tomlin,  James  Boyd,  James  Neal,  John  Gidleman, William  Knight,  M.  Parish,  James  M'Coy,  Daniel  Fraser,  John 
House,  Jacob  Stewart,  William  Kemp,  Hugh  Robb,  Anson  Crosswell,  Charles  Lewis,  John  Shields,  Charles  Le  Forge, 
John  Joseph,  Henry  Berthold,  James  Lee,  Isaac  Murrows,  George  Eaton,  Thomas  C.  Leader,  William  Cowenhoven, 
John  J.  Lord,  Charles  Le  Frand,  Elisha  Cook,  John  Tolenson,  John  G.  Stewart,  William  Fryer,  Cyreuus  Chapin,  Alex 
ander  M'Comb,  Thomas  Davis,  Peter  Orenstock,  William  C.  Johnson. 

I  am  indebted  to  Colonel  Gleason  F.  Lewis,  of  Cleveland,  for  the  above  "  Roll  of  Honor,"  and  I  take  pleasure  in  here 
acknowledging  my  indebtedness  to  that  gentleman  for  many  kind  services  in  aid  of  my  labors.  His  attention  to  the 
business  of  procuring  pensions  and  bounties  for  the  soldiers  of  the  War  of  1S12  and  their  families  for  many  years,  gives 
him,  probably,  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  that  subject,  as  relates  to  the  Army  of  the  Northwest,  than  any  other 
man  in  the  country. 

1  This  is  an  Indian  word,  and  is  variously  spelled  Shogeoquady,  Shojeoquady,  Seajaquady,  and  Skajoekuda. 

=  Reminiscences  of  Buffalo,  by  Henry  Lovejoy.  3  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  October  9, 1812. 

*  Isaac  Roach  was  born  in  the  District  of  Southwark,  Philadelphia,  on  the  24th  of  February,  1786.  After  the  attack 
on  the  Cltesapeake  in  1807  [see  page  157],  Roach,  then  twenty-one  years  of  age,  organized  an  artillery  company  in  Phil 
adelphia.  In  1812  he  obtained  the  appointment  of  second  lieutenant  in  the  Second  Regiment  U.  S.  Artillery,  and  joined 
that  regiment  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott  in  July.  He  volunteered  to  accompany  the  expedition  against  the  Brit 
ish  brigs,  and  led  fifty  of  his  associates  in  the  attack.  He  was  then  adjutant  of  the  regiment ;  and  so  anxious  were  the 
men  to  accompany  him,  that  when  he  passed  along  the  line  to  select  them,  his  ears  were  saluted  with  the  exclamations, 
"  Can't  I  go,  sir  ?"— "  Take  me,  Adjutant"—"  Don't  forget  M'Gee"—"  I'm  a  Philadelphia  boy,"  etc.  Roach  was  wound 
ed  in  the  battle  at  Q.ueenstown  soon  afterward,  and  he  returned  home.  He  soon  afterward  joined  the  staff  of  General 
Izard.  He  was  made  a  prisoner  at  the  Beaver  Dams  the  next  year.  He  had  many  adventures  in  attempts  to  escape, 
and  was  finally  successful.  He  was  about  to  take  the  field  under  General  Scott  as  assistant  adjutant  general,  when 
peace  came.  He  commanded  successively  Forts  M'Heury,  Columbus,  and  Mifflin,  until  1823,  when  he  was  commissioned 
major  by  brevet.  He  retired  from  the  army  in  1824.  In  1838  he  was  elected  Mayor  of  Philadelphia,  and  was  appointed 
Treasurer  of  the  Mint  soon  afterward.  lie  died  December  29,  1S4S. 

5  Watts  was  killed  on  the  28th  of  November  following,  while  assisting  Lieutenant  Holdup  and  others  in  spiking  some 
cannon  at  the  little  village  of  Waterloo,  on  the  Canada  side  of  the  Niagara,  a  short  distance  below  Fort  Erie.  The  ball 
that  killed  Watts  passed  through  Holdup's  hand.  The  former  died  in  the  arms  of  the  latter. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


A  Struggle  for  the  Possession  of  a  Vessel.  Gallantry  of  the  Combatants.  Losses  of  Men  in  the  Conflict. 

ing  artillery,  all  guided  by  the  lights  that  gleamed  over  the  waters,  were  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  vessels.1  The  Detroit  was  compelled  to  anchor  within  reach  of  the 
enemy's  guns,  while  the  Caledonia  ran  ashore,  and  was  beached  under  the  protection 
of  the  guns  of  an  American  battery  between  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock.2  The  guns  of 
the  Detroit  were  all  removed  to  her  larboard  side,  and  a  mutual  cannonading  was 
kept  up  for  some  time.3  Efforts  were  made  by  tow-line  and  warps  to  haul  her  to  the 
American  shore.  These  failed ;  and,  regarding  the  destruction  of  the  Detroit  as  cer 
tain  in  her  exposed  position,  Elliott  cut  her  cable  and  set  her  adrift.  At  that  mo 
ment  he  discovered  that  his  pilot  had  left.  For  ten  minutes  she  went  blindly  down 
the  swift  current,  and  then  brought  up  on  the  west  side  of  Squaw  Island,  near  the 
American  shore,  but  still  exposed  to  the  guns  of  the  enemy.4  The  prisoners,  forty- 
six  in  number,  were  immediately  landed  below  Squaw  Island,  but  the  current  was  so 
strong  that  the  boats  could  not  return  to  the  vessel.  She  was  soon  boarded  by  a 
party  of  the  British  Forty-ninth  Regiment,  then  stationed  at  Fort  Erie,  but  they  were 
driven  off  by  some  citizen  soldiers  of  Buffalo,  who,  with  a  six-pound  field-piece,  crossed 
over  to  Squaw  Island  in  a  scow  and  boldly  attacked  them.5  She  was  then  placed 
in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott,  at  Black  Rock,  who  gallantly  defended  her. 
Each  party  resolved  that  the  other  should  not  possess  her,  and  the  cannons  of  both 
were  brought  to  bear  upon  the  doomed  vessel  during  the  remainder  of  the  day.  At 
a  little  after  sunset  Sir  Isaac  Brock  arrived,  and  made  preparations  to  renew  the  at 
tempt  to  recover  the  Detroit,  with  the  aid  of  the  crew  of  the  Lady  Prevost ;  but  be 
fore  these  were  perfected  a  party  of  the  Fifth  United  States  Infantry  set  her  on  fire 
and  she  was  consumed.6  The  Caledonia  was  saved,  and  afterward  performed  good 
service  in  Perry's  fleet  on  Lake  Erie. 

In  this  really  brilliant  affair  the  Americans  lost  only  two  killed  and  five  wounded. 
The  loss  of  the  British  is  not  known.7  The  Caledonia  was  a  rich  prize,  her  cargo 

1  The  movements  on  the  Canadian  shore  were  under  the  direction  of  the  gallant  Major  Ormsby,  the  British  com 
mandant  there.    The  first  shot  from  the  flying  artil 
lery  crossed  the  river  and  instantly  killed  the  brave 

Major  William  Howe  Cuyler,  of  Ontario,  General 
Hall's  aid-de-camp,  who  had  taken  a  deep  interest 
in  the  expedition.    He  had  been  in  the  saddle  all 
night,  and  had  just  left  a  warehouse  where  rigging 
was  procured  for  warping  in  the  Detroit,  and  was 
guiding  the  vessels  with  a  lantern  in  his  hand,  when 
the  fatal  ball  struck  him  and  he  fell  dead.    His 
body  was  carried  by  Captain  Benjamin  Bidwell  and  others  to  the  house  of  Nathaniel  Sill.    The  death  of  the  gallant  and 
accomplished  Cuyler  was  widely  mourned.    Obituary  notices  appeared  in  the  newspapers ;  and  "  The  War,"  printed  in 
Kew  York,  published  a  poem  'To  the  Memory  of  Major  Cuyler,"  in  six  stanzas,  in  which  the  following  lines  occur: 
"In  Freedom's  virtuous  cause  alert  he  rose, 

In  Freedom's  virtuous  cause  undaunted  bled ; 
He  died  for  Freedom  'midst  a  host  of  foes, 

And  found  on  Erie's  beach  an  honored  bed." 

2  She  was  grounded  a  little  above  what  is  now  the  foot  of  Albany  Street.    The  injured  on  board  the  Caledonia  were 
brought  on  shore  in  a  boat.    It  could  not  quite  reach  the  land  on  account  of  shoal  water,  when  Doctor  Josiah  Trow- 
bridge,  yet  [186T]  a  resident  of  Buffalo,  waded  in  and  bore  some  of  them  to  dry  land  011  his  back.    They  were  taken  to 
the  house  of  Orange  Dean,  at  the  old  ferry  (now  foot  of  Fort  Street,  opposite  the  angle  in  Niagara  Street),  and  well 
cared  for.    While  Doctor  Trowbridge  was  taking  a  musket-ball  from  the  neck  of  a  wounded  man,  a  twenty- four-pound 
shot  entered  the  house,  struck  a  chimney  just  over  their  heads,  and  covered  them  with  bricks,  mortar,  and  splinters. 
Another  shot  of  the  same  weight  demolished  a  trunk  on  the  deck  of  the  Caledonia,  scattered  its  contents,  consisting  of 
ladies'  wearing  apparel,  among  the  rigging,  passed  on,  and  was  buried  in  the  banks  of  the  river.   Two  small  boys  (Cyrus 
K.  St.  John  and  Henry  Lovejoy),  who  came  down  from  Buffalo  to  see  the  fight,  exhumed  the  shot  and  carried  it  home 
as  a  trophy  of  thejr  valor. — Narrative  of  Henry  Lovejoy. 

3  Elliott,  who  was  on  board  the  Detroit,  hailed  the  British  commander,  and  threatened  to  place  his  prisoners  on  the 
decks  if  he  did  not  cease  firing.    The  enemy  disregarded  the  menace.    "One  single  moment's  reflection,"  said  Elliott 
in  his  official  dispatch,  "  determined  me  not  to  commit  an  act  that  would  subject  me  to  the  imputation  of  barbarity." 

4  Her  position  was  nearly  opposite  Pratt's  Iron  Works. 

5  These  were  principally  members  of  an  independent  volunteer  company  of  Buffalo,  of  which  the  late  Ebenezer  Wai- 
den  was  commander.    They  first  brought  their  six-pounder  to  bear  upon  the  enemy  at  the  point  where  the  Black  Rock 
Ice-house  stood  in  1SGO,  Doctor  Trowbridge  acting  as  gunner.    When  the  regular  gunner  came  they  crossed  over  to 
Squaw  Island.— Statement  of  Doctor  Trowbridge  to  the  Author. 

«  Through  the  intrepidity  of  Sailing-master  Watts,  some  of  her  guns  were  taken  out  of  her  during  the  cannonade,  and 
saved  to  do  excellent  duty  in  a  land-battery  between  Black  Rock  and  Buffalo. 

'  Elliott's  official  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  October  9, 1812 ;  Cooper's  Naval  Hwtory,  ii.,  B31 ;  Letter  of  Gen 
eral  Sir  Isaac  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  October  11, 1S12,  quoted  in  Tupper's  Life  of  Brock,  page  313. 


388 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Elliott  and  his  Companions. 


Expression  of  the  Gratitude  of  the  Nation  by  Congress. 


Jan.  26, 
1813. 


being  valued  at  two  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
and  British — on  this 
occasion  was  highly 
commendable.  El 
liott1  made  special 
mention  of  several  of 
his  companions,2  and 

Congress,* 

by  a  vote, 
awarded  to  that  offi 
cer  their  thanks,  and 
a  sword,  with  suita 
ble  emblems  and  de 
vices.3  The  exploit 
sent  a  thrill  of  joy 
throughout  the  Unit 
ed  States,  because  it 
promised  speedy  suc 
cess  in  efforts  to  ob 
tain  the  mastery  of 


.Ti:ssi:   1).   KLLIOTT. 


The  gallantry  of  all — Americans 
Lake  Erie,  while  it 
produced  a  corre 
sponding  depression 
on  the  other  side,  for 
a  similar  reason. 
"  The  event  is  partic 
ularly  unfortunate," 
wrote  General  Brock, 
"and  may  reduce  us 
to  incalculable  dis 
tress.  The  enemy  is 
making  every  exer 
tion  to  gain  a  naval 
superiority  on  both 
lakes,  which,  if  they 
accomplish  it,  I  do 
not  see  how  we  can 
possibly  retain  the 
country."4 


1  Jesse  Duncan  Elliott  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1T85.  He  entered  the  naval  service  of  the  United  States  as  midship 
man  in  April,  180C,  and  in  1810  was  promoted  to  lieutenant.  After  his  gallant  exploit  near  Buffalo  he  joined  Chauncey 
at  Sackettjs  Harbor.  In  July,  1813,  he  was  promoted  to  master  commandant  over  thirty  lieutenants,  and  appointed  to 
the  comin'and  of  the  brig  Niagara,  20,  built  on  Lake  Erie.  He  was  second  in  command  in  Perry's  engagement  on  the 


10th  of  September,  1813, 
and  for  his  conduct  on 
that  occasion  Congress 
voted  him  a  gold  medal. 
After  that  battle  he  re 
turned  to  Lake  Ontario, 
and  was  there  actively 


employed  until  Novem 
ber  the  same  year,  when 
he  was  assigned  the  com 
mand  of  the  sloop-of-war 
Ontario,  then  just  com 
pleted  at  Baltimore.  This 
vessel  was  one  of  Deca- 


tur's  squadron  that  performed  good  service  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea  in  1S15.  Elliott  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  cap 
tain  in  1818,  and  subsequently  had  command  of  squadrons  on  several  stations,  as  well  as  of  the  navy  yards  at  Boston 
and  Philadelphia.  On  account  of  alleged  misconduct  in  the  Mediterranean,  he  was  tried  by  a  court-martial  in  1S40.  The 
result  was  a  sentence  of  four  years'  suspension  from  the  service.  In  1843  the  President  remitted  the  remainder  of  his 
suspension.  He  died  on  the  18th  of  December,  1845.  Commodore  Elliott  became  involved  in  a  controversy  concern 
ing  his  conduct  in  the  Battle  of  Lake  Erie,  which  ceased  only  with  his  death.  That  controversy,  and  the  excitement 
growing  out  of  his  placing  an  image  of  President  Jackson  on  the  Constitution  frigate  as  a  figure-head,  will  be  noticed 
hereafter. 

3  He  specially  commended  for  their  gallant  services  Captain  Towson  and  Lieutenant  Roach,  of  the  Second  Regiment 
of  Artillery  ;  Ensign  Prestman,  of  the  Infantry :  Captain  Chapin,  and  Messrs.  John  Macomb,  John  Town,  Thomas  Dain, 
Peter  Overstocks,  and  James  Sloan,  residents  of  Buffalo.  He  also  particularly  noticed  Sailing-master  Watts,  who  com 
manded  the  boat  that  boarded  the  Caledonia. 

3  Journal  of  Congress,  January  26, 1813. 
,    *  Letter  of  General  Brock  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  October  11, 1812. 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  389 


Impatience  of  the  People  and  the  Troops.       Bad  Conduct  of  General  Smyth.       His  Letter  to  General  Van  Rensselaer. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

"  September  the  thirteenth,  at  midnight  so  dark, 
Our  troops  on  the  River  Niagara  embark'd ; 
The  standard  of  Britain  resolved  to  pull  down, 
And  drive  the  proud  foes  from  the  heights  of  Queenstown." 

OLD  SONG — TIIE  HEKOES  OF  QUEENSTOWN. 

^  several  weeks  General  Van  Rensselaer  had  felt  the  pressure 
of  public  impatience,  manifested  by  letters  and  the  press.  It 
had  been  engendered  by  the  extreme  tardiness  displayed  in  the 
collection  of  troops  on  the  frontier  for  the  invasion  of  Canada, 
about  which  much  had  been  said  and  written  menacingly,  boast 
fully,  and  deprecatory.  That  impatience  had  begun  to  be  seri 
ously  manifested  by  his  troops  early  in  October.1  Homesick 
ness,  domestic  claims,  idleness  in  the  camp,  and  bodily  sufferings 
and  growing  inclemency  of  the  season,  combined  to  affect  the  temper  of  the  men 
most  injuriously.  Their  calls  to  be  led  to  battle  became  daily  more  and  more  urgent 
and  imperious,  until  the  volcanic  fires  of  mutiny  completely  undermined  the  camp, 
and  threatened  a  total  overthrow  of  the  general's  authority.  He  perceived  the  ne 
cessity  of  striking  the  enemy  at  once  at  some  point,  or  allow  his  army  to  dissolve,  and 
all  the  toils  and  expenses  of  the  campaign  to  be  lost.  He  formed  his  plans,  and,  as 
we  have  observed,  endeavored  to  counsel  with  the  field  officers  under  his  command, 
but  failed.  General  Alexander  Smyth,  his  second  in  command,  had  lately  arrived. 
He  was  a  proud  *  pirant  for  the 

Virginian,      an  ///7  /?  //     chief  command 

officer    of    the    .^^/(M/  Q  ^7  ;Mr S  on  *^e  fr°ntier- 

regular  army  (_^/  *&&£  &r?^&-^y  J#y?rvy/'/C.S  Unlike  the  true 
(inspector  gen-  /f  soldier  and  pat- 

eral),  and  an  as-  riot,  he    could 

not  bend  to  the  necessity  of  obedience  to  a  militia  general,  especially  one  of  Northern 
birth  and  a  leading  Federalist,  who,  for  the  time,  was  made  his  superior  in  rank  and 
position.  His  temper  was  exhibited  in  his  letter  to  Van  Rensselaera  ,  september  20, 
announcing  his  arrival  on  the  frontier.2  It  was  supercilious,  dictatorial,  1812- 

1  General  Van  Rensselaer  was  placed  in  a  most  delicate  situation.    It  was  well  known  that,  politically,  both  he  and 
his  aid,  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  had  been  opposed  to  the  war,  and  the  unavoidable  delays  were  construed  by 
some  into  intentional  immobility  in  order  to  frustrate  the  designs  of  the  government.    These  suspicions  were  unjust 
and  ungenerous  in  the  extreme,  for  no  purer  patriot  and  conscientious  and  truthful  man  than  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer 
ever  lived.     "A  flood  of  circumstances,"  wrote  Lovett,  Van  Rensselaer's  secretary,  "such  as  a  great  desire  for  forage, 
for  provisions,  for  every  thing  to  make  man  comfortable  ;  the  most  inclement  storm  which  I  ever  experienced  at  this 
season  of  the  year ;  indeed,  innumerable  circumstances  had  convinced  the  general,  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the 
month,  that  a  blow  must  be  struck,  or  the  army  would  break  up  in  confusion,  with  intolerable  imputations  on  his  own 
character."— Manuscript  Letter  to  Abraham  Van  Vechten,  Buffalo,  October,  21, 1812. 

2  The  following  is  a  copy  of  General  Smyth's  letter : 

"  I  have  been  ordered  by  Major  General  Dearborn  to  Niagara,  to  take  command  of  a  brigade  of  United  States  troops, 
and  directed,  on  my  arrival  in  the  vicinity  of  vonr  quarters,  to  report  myself  to  you,  which  I  now  do.  I  intended  to  have 
reported  myself  personally,  but  the  conclusions  I  have  drawn  as  to  the  interests  of  the  service  have  determined  me  to 
stop  at  this  place  for  the  present.  From  the  description  I  have  had  of  the  river  below  the  Falls,  the  view  of  the  shore 
below  Fort  Erie,  and  the  information  received  as  to  the  preparations  of  the  enemy,  I  am  of  opinion  that  our  crossing 
should  be  effected  between  Fort  Erie  and  Chippewa.  It  has,  therefore,  seemed  to  me  proper  to  encamp  the  United 
States  troops  near  Buffalo,  there  to  prepare  for  offensive  operations.  Your  instructions  or  better  information  may  decide 
you  to  give  me  different  orders,  which  I  will  await." 

This  letter  was  offensive,  first,  because  the  subordinate  officer  not  only  failed  to  report  himself  in  person,  as  he  was 
bound  in  duty  to  do,  but  assumed  perfect  independence  by  choosing  his  own  theatre  of  action  ;  and,  secondly,  because 
the  writer,  an  entire  stranger  to  the  country,  just  arrived,  went  out  of  his  way  to  intrude  his  opinions  upon  his  com 
manding  general  as  to  military  operations,  when  he  knew  that  that  general  had  been  there  for  weeks,  and  was  neces- 


390 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Smyth's  Insubordination. 


Van  Kensselaer  prepares  to  attack  Queenston. 


His  effective  Force. 


and  inipertinent,  and  gave  ample  assurance  that  he  would  not  cordially  co-operate 
with  the  chief  in  command.  So  undutiful  was  his  conduct  that  many  were  of  opinion 
that  coercive  measures  should  be  used  to  bring  him  to  a  sense  of  duty.1  When  polite 
ly  requested  by  Van  Rensselaer  to  name  a  day  for  a  council  of  officers,  he  neglected 
to  do  so.  Day  after  day  passed,  and  Smyth  made  no  definite  reply,  when  the  com 
manding  general  resolved  to  act  upon  his  own  responsibility,  and  "  gratify  his  own 
inclinations  and  that  of  his  army"  by  commencing  offensive  operations  at  once.  On 
the  10th  of  October  he  pi-epared  to  attack  the  British  at  Queenston,  opposite  Lewis- 
ton,  before  dawn  the  next  morning.2 


QUEENSTON   IN 


Van  Rensselaer  considered  his  forces  ample  to  assure  him  of  success.  They  num 
bered  more  than  six  thousand.  Sixteen  hundred  and  fifty  regulars,  under  General 
Smyth,  were  between  Black  Rock  and  Buffalo,  commanded  by  Colonels  Winder,  Park 
er,  and  Milton,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott.  In  the  vicinity  were  three  hundred 
and  eighty-six  militia,  under  Lieutenant  Colonels  Swift  and  Hopkins.  At  Lewiston, 
where  Van  Rensselaer  had  his  head-quarters,  Brigadier  General  Wadsworth  com- 

sarily  familiar  with  every  rood  of  the  ground  and  every  disposition  of  the  enemy.  Van  Rensselaer,  true  gentleman  as 
he  was,  quietly  rebuked  the  impertinence  by  informing  General  Smyth  that  for  many  years  he  had  had  "  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  banks  of  the  Niagara  Eiver  and  of  the  adjacent  country  on  the  Canada  shore,"  and  that  he  had  now 
"  attentively  explored  the  American  side  with  the  view  of  military  operations."  "  However  willing  I  may  be,"  he  said, 
"  as  a  citizen  soldier,  to  surrender  my  opinion  to  a  professional  one,  I  commonly  make  such  surrender  to  an  opinion  de 
liberately  formed  upon  a  view  of  the  whole  ground All  my  past  measures  have  been  calculated  for  one  point, 

and  I  now  only  wait  for  a' competent  force.  As  the  season  of  the  year  and  every  consideration  urges  me  to  act  with 
promptness,  I  can  not  hastily  listen  to  a  change  of  position,  mainly  connected  with  a  new  system  of  measures  and  the 
very  great  inconvenience  of  the  troops."—  Van  Rensselaer  to  Smyth,  30th  September,  1812. 

Speaking  of  the  conduct  of  General  Smyth  on  this  occasion,  a  contemporary  officer  says,  "It  is  presumed  this  temper 
produced  a  spirit  of  insubordination  destructive  to  the  harmony  and  concert  which  is  essential  to  cordial  co-operation, 
and  that  the  public  service  was  sacrificed  to  personal  sensibility."—  Wilkinson's  Memoir,  i.,  5G6.  "Was  I  to  hazard  an 
opinion,"  says  Wilkinson  in  another  place,  "it  should  be  that  his  designs  were  patriotic,  but  that  his  ardor  obscured 
his  judgment,  and  that  he  was  more  indiscreet  than  culpable." — Memoirs,  i.,  581. 

1  A  Narrative  of  the  Affair  at  Queemtown  in  the  War  of  1812,  by  Solomon  Van  Eensselaer,  page  19. 

2  Queenston  (originally  Queen's  Town)  was  at  this  time  a  thriving  little  village,  and  one  of  the  principal  depots  for 
merchandise  and  grain  in  that  region.    Its  prosperity  was  paralyzed  by  the  Welland  Canal,  which  cut  off  most  of  its 
trade.     The  view  here  given  is  from  a  sketch  made  in  1812,  from  the  north  part  of  the  village,  looking  southward 
up  the  Niagara  River.    On  the  right  are  seen  the  Heights  of  Queenston,  and  on  the  left  the  heights  of  Lewiston.    The 
river  is  here  about  six  hundred  feet  in  width.    The  village  was  upon  a  plain  of  uneven  surface  at  the  foot  of  the  Heights. 
This  plain  at  Queenston  is  seventy  feet  above  the  river,  and  slopes  gradually  to  the  lake,  where  the  bank  is  only  a  few 
feet  above  the  water.    The  Heights  rise  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet  above  the  river. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


391 


The  British  Force  on  the  Niagara  Frontier. 


Van  Rensselaer's  Knowledge  of  the  Situation. 


manded  a  corps  of  militia  almost  seventeen  hundred  strong,  and  near  him  was  the 
camp  of  Brigadier  General  Miller,  with  almost  six  hundred  men.     Five  hundred 

and  fifty  regulars  under         ^  under    Major    Mullany, 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Fen-      /  /^     /^J^^^  *  /?    were  in  garrison  at  Fort 

wick,  and  eight  hundred  \/^rl^L^^.'y^^'.  t+J t^C//^   Xiagara.     There    were, 
of  the  same  class  of  troops  ***    in  the   aggregate,  three 

thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty  regulars,  and  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty 
militia. 

The  British  force  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Niagara  River,  regular  militia  and  In 
dians,  numbered  about  fifteen  hundred.  Their  Indian  allies,  under  John  Brant,  were 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  strong.  Small  garrisons  held  Fort  Erie,  at  the  foot  of 
Lake  Erie,  and  two  or  three  batteries,  on  rising  ground,  opposite  Black  Rock.  The 
erection  of  Fort  Erie  had  then  just  been  commenced,  but  for  want  of  funds  had  been 
left  unfinished.  Major  Armand  commanded  there.  A  small  detachment  of  the  41st 
Regiment,  under  Captain  Bullock,  and  the  flank  companies  of  the  2d  Regiment  of  the 
Lincoln  Militia,  under  Captains  Hamilton  and  Roe,  was  at  Chippewa,  where  there  was 
a  dilapidated  old  block-house  called  Fort  Welland.  The  flank  companies  of  the  49th 
Regiment,  under  Captains  Dennis  and  Williams,  and  a  considerable  body  of  militia, 
were  at  Queenston,  and,  with  the  exception  of  detached  parties  of  militia  along  the 
whole  line  of  the  river  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Americans,  the  remainder  were 

at  Fort  George,  the 
head-quarters  of  Ma 
jor  General  Brock,un- 
der  General  Sheaffe. 
At  every  mile  be 
tween  Fort  George 
and  Queenston,  bat 
teries  were  thrown 
up.  On  Queenston 
Heights,  south  of 
the  village,  and  half 
way  up  the  mount 
ain,  was  a  redan  bat 
tery,  mounting  some 
1 8-pounders  and  two 
howitzers ;  and  on 
Vrooman '  s  Point, 1 
about  a  mile  below, 
was  another  battery, 
on  which  was  mount 
ed  a  twenty  -  four  - 
pound  carronade  en 
barbette.  This  gun  commanded  both  Lewiston  and  Queenston  Landing. 

Van  Rensselaer  had  made. himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  condition  of  the 
enemy.  His  officers,  while  on  official  visits  to  the  various  posts,  had  been  vigilant 
and  observing,2  and  he  was  so  well  satisfied  that  a  favorable  time  for  an  invasion  of 

1  The  picture  represents  a  view  of  the  Niagara  River  and  shores  from  Vroomau's  Point.    In  the  foreground  are 
the  remains  of  the  battery.    On  the  right  is  seen  Queenston  and  the  Heights,  with  Brock's  monument ;  on  the  left, 
Lewiston  and  its  heights ;  and  in  the  centre,  Niagara  River  and  the  Lewiston  Suspension  Bridge.    We  are  looking 
southward,  up  the  Niagara  River. 

2  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  who  visited  the  British  head-qnarters  on  business  several  times,  says  that  on 
the  last  occasion  he  saw  two  beautiful  brass  howitzers,  of  small  size,  calculated  to  be  carried  on  pack-horses,  the 
wheels  about  the  size  of  a  wheel-barrow.    He  remarked  to  Colonel  M'Donell  and  other  British  officers  who  accompanied 
him,  "  These,  at  all  events,  are  old  acquaintances  of  mine.    I  feel  partial  to  them,  and  must  try  to  take  them  back."    He 
recognized  them  as  formerly  belonging  to  Wayne's  army  when  he  was  in  service  under  him.    They  were  among  the 


VIEW   FBOM   THE    SITE   OF   VKOOMAN'S   BATTERY. 


392  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Preparations  to  cross  the  River.      Treason  or  Cowardice  of  Lieutenant  Sims.      The  Expedition  delayed.      A  Council. 

Canada  had  arrived  that  he  made  arrangements  on  the  10th  of  October  to  assail 
Queenston  at  three  o'clock  the  next  morning.1  During  that  evening  thirteen  large 
boats,  capable  of  bearing  three  hundred  and  forty  full-armed  and  equipped  men,  were 
brought  down  on  wagons  from  Gill's  Creek,  two  miles  above  the  Falls,  and  placed  in 
the  river  at  Lewiston  Landing,  under  cover  of  intense  darkness.  The  flying  artillery 
under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Fen  wick,  and  a  detachment  of  regulars  under  his  command, 
were  ordered  up  from  Fort  Niagara,  and  General  Smyth  was  directed  to  send  down 
detachments  from  his  brigade  at  Buffalo  to  support  the  movement.  Colonel  Solomon 
Van  Rensselaer  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  invading  force,2  an  arrange 
ment  which  seems  to  have  given  umbrage  to  some  of  the  officers  of  the  regular  army 
on  the  frontier. 

The  river  at  Lewiston,  at  the  foot  of  the  lower  rapids,  is  always  a  sheet  of  violent 
eddies,  the  middle  current  running  about  four  miles  an  hour.  To  prevent  confusion 
and  disaster,  experienced  boatmen  were  procured,  and  the  command  of  the  flotilla 
was  intrusted  to  Lieutenant  Sims,  who  was  considered  "  the  man  of  the  greatest  skill 
for  the  service."3  Before  midnight  every  thing  was  in  readiness.  Clouds  had  been 
gathering  in  immense  masses  all  the  evening,  and  at  one  in  the  morning  a  furious 
northeast  storm  of  wind  and  rain  was  sweeping  over  the  country.  But  the  zeal  of 
the  troops  was  not  cooled  by  the  drenching  rain.  At  the  appointed  hour  they  were 
all  at  the  place  of  debarkation,  with  Van  Rensselaer  at  their  head.  Lieutenant  Sims 
entered  the  foremost  boat,  and  soon  disappeared  in  the  gloom.  The  others  could  not 
follow,  for  he  had  taken  nearly  all  the  oars  with  him !  They  waited  for  him  to  dis 
cover  and  correct  his  mistake,  but  in  vain.  He  went  far  above  the  intended  crossing- 
place,  moored  his  boat  to  the  shore,  and  fled  as  fast  as  the  legs  of  a  traitor  or  coward 
could  carry  him.  The  soldiers  endured  the  fierce  blasts  and  the  falling  flood  until 
almost  daylight,  when  they  were  marched  to  their  respective  cantonments,  and  the 
enterprise  was  for  a  moment  abandoned.  The  storm  continued  unabated  twenty- 
eight  hours,  and  during  that  time  all  the  soldiers  remained  in  their  deluged  camps. 

The  general-in-chief  again  determined  to  seek  the  council  of  his  brother  officers, 
hoping  the  patience  of  his  troops  would  brook  farther  delay.  He  was  mistaken.  The 
miscarriage  and  the  desertion  of  Sims  increased  their  ardor,  and  Van  Rensselaer 

O  ' 

found  himself  compelled  to  renew  the  attempt  at  invasion  immediately.  He  was 
willing,  for  valuable  re-enforcements  were  near.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Chrystie  had 

arrived  at  Four-mile  Creek 
late  in  the  evening  of  the 
10th,Avith  three  hundred  and 
fifty  newly  -  enlisted  regu 
lars,  a  part  of  the  Thirteenth 
Regiment  of  Infantry,  com 
manded  respectively  by  Captains  Wool,  Ogilvie,  Malcolm,  Lawrence,  and  Armstrong, 
with  thirty  boats  and  military  stores.  Chrystie  had  hastened  to  head-quarters,  and 
offered  the  services  of  himself  and  men  in  the  execution  of  the  enterprise  in  hand,  but 
he  was  too  late.  Every  arrangement  was  completed.  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  was 

British  trophies  of  victory  taken  at  Detroit,  and  were  brought  down  to  be  sent  to  England.  Nicholas  Gray,  who  was 
inspector  general  of  New  York  the  following  year,  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  and  who  was  then  acting  engineer,  made 
a  valuable  reconnoissance  of  the  whole  frontier.  His  manuscript  report  to  General  Van  Rensselaer  is  before  me.  His 
outline  map,  accompanying  the  report,  I  found  useful  in  constructing  the  Map  of  the  Niagara  Frontier  on  page  382. 

1  Van  Rensselaer  was  deceived  by  an  erroneous  report  of  a  spy  whom  he  had  sent  across  the  river  on  the  morning  of 
the  10th  to  gain  information.    He  returned  with  the  false  report  that  General  Brock,  with  all  his  disposable  force,  had 
moved  off  in  the  direction  of  Detroit. 

2  General  Van  Rensselaer's  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  October  14, 1S12. 

3  On  that  evening  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  wrote  to  his  wife :  "  I  go  to  storm  an  important  post  of  the  enemy.    Young 
Lush  and  Gansevoort  attend  me.    I  must  succeed,  or  you,  my  dear  Harriet,  will  never  see  me  again.    If  so,  let  me  en 
treat  you  to  meet  my  fall  with  fortitude ;  and  be  assured,  my  dear,  lovely,  but  unfortunate  wife,  that  my  last  prayer 
will  be  for  you  and  my  dear  children." — MS.  Letter,  Lewiston,  October  10, 1812.    This  letter  is  before  me.    It  is  mucli 
blotted  by  the  tears  of  the  soldier's  wife,  as  I  was  informed  by  her  daughter. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  393 

Second  Attempt  to  invade  Canada.  Military  Etiquette.  Colonel  Scott  at  Schlosser. 

moving  with  his  men  to  the  landing-place,  where  only  boats  enough  for  the  transpor 
tation  of  the  troops  appointed  for  the  perilous  service  had  been  provided. 

When  the  storm  abated  immediate  preparations  were  made  for  the"  second  attempt 
at  invasion.  Brock  was  watching  the  Americans  with  the  eye  of  a  vigilant  and  skill 
ful  commander.  The  river  that  divided  the  belligerents  was  narrow,  and  every  open 
movement  by  each  party  might  be  observed  by  the  other.  Preparations  were  there 
fore  made  with  great  caution.  Brock  was  deceived.  The  strong  force  at  Fort  Ni- 

o  o 

agara,  and  the  detention  of  Chrystie's  troops  at  Four-mile  Creek,  made  him  suspect 
that  an  attack,  if  made  soon,  would  be  upon  Fort  George. 

Three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  13th  was  the  appointed  hour  for  the  expedi 
tion  to  embark  from  the  old  Ferry -house  at  Lewiston  Landing  for  the  base  of  Queens- 
ton  Heights.  The  command  was  again  intrusted  to  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensse- 
laer.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Chrystie  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  have  the  honor  of 
chief  in  the  enterprise,  and  pleaded  his  rank  and  experience,  as  compared  with  that 
of  the  aid-de-camp  of  the  general-in-chief,  in  favor  of  his  claim.  But  Van  Rensselaer 
would  not  change  his  general  arrangements.  It  was  agreed,  however,  that  Colonel 
Van  Rensselaer  should  lead  a  column  of  three  hundred  militia,  and  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  Chrystie  should  lead  another  composed  of  the  same  number  of  regulars,  so  that 
each  might  share  in  the  hazards  and  glory  of  the  expedition.  Chrystie  refused  to 
waive  his  rank  in  favor  of  Van  Rensselaer,  but  consented  to  receive  orders  from  him. 
This  technical  distinction  between  waiving  of  rank  and  yielding  obedience  may  be 
clear  to  military  minds,  but  it  is  quite  imperceptible  to  the  common  sense  of  a  ci 
vilian. 

At  an  early  hour  in  the  evening  of  the  12th,a  Chrystie  marched  with  three  a  October, 
hundred  men  from  Fort  Niagara  by  an  interior  road,  and  reached  Lewiston 
before  midnight.  Lieutenant  Colonels  Stranahan,  Mead,  and  Bloom,  with  three  regi 
ments,  marched  at  about  the  same  time  from  Niagara  Falls,1  and  also  reached  Lew 
iston  in  good  season.  Meanwhile  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott  had  arrived  at  Schlosser, 
two  miles  above  the  Falls,  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  where  he  was  informed  that 
an  expedition  against  the  enemy  of  some  kind  was  in  motion  at  Lewiston.2  Young, 

1  To  avoid  attracting  the  attention  of  the  British,  these  regiments  left  the  Falls  at  different  hours ;  Stranahan's  start 
ed  at  seven  in  the  evening,  Mead's  at  eight,  and  Bloom's  at  nine. 

2  This  fact  was  communicated  to  Scott  by  Colonel  James  Collier,  now  (1SGT)  a  citizen  of  Steubenville,  Ohio.     "He 
was  adjutant  of  the  same  regiment  (Colonel  Henry  Bloom's)  wherein  I  was  paymaster,"  wrote  Arad  Joy,  Esq.,  of  Ovid, 
New  York,  to  the  author  in  March,  1352.    In  a  letter  to  me,  written  on  the  20th  of  February,  1SCO,  Colonel  Collier  says : 
"The  regiment  to  which  I  was  attached  was  stationed  at  the  Falls.    I  had  been  down  to  head-quarters  at  Lewiston, 
seven  miles  below,  on  the  12th  of  October,  and  the  orders  for  the  marching  of  the  troops  at  the  Falls  for  that  place  were 
confided  to  me.    About  sunset  I  rode  up  to  the  head  of  the  Rapids,  a  mile  above  our  camp,  and  was  surprised  to  see  a 
detachment  of  troops  pitching  their  tents.    The  officer  in  command,  whom  I  did  not  then  know,  but  who,  I  thought, 
was  the  finest  specimen  of  a  man  I  ever  saw,  was  standing  alongside  of  his  horse  near  by.    His  rank  I  knew  from 
his  dress.    I  rode  up  to  him  and  inquired  if  he  was  encamping  for  the  night.    'Yes,'  he  replied.    'Then,  sir,'  I  said, 
'  I  think  you  can  not  we  were  to  cross  the 
know  what  is  to  be  go-                          .f                                                                                         river  the  next  morn 
ing  on  in  the  morn-                      /V                                                     ^^                   ^             ing  and  attack  the  en- 
ing.'     'No,   sir,'    he                    (f          /O^o           />               .^^a^/-^/                   emy  on  the  Heights  of 

said, '  I  have  not  heard  ^J  t^s  4^    *^i      «•— ^      y    ^^^^^\^^} Queenston;  that  I  had 

from  head-quarters  for          Sjf  I  the  o  r  d  e  r  s  for  the 

several  days.    Is  there    //  I  marching  of  the  troops 

any  thing  in  the  wind,    (^  ^---  to  that  post,  but  that, 

sir?'    I  remarked  that  of  course,  they  did  not 

include  his  command.    'I  am  Colonel  Scott,'  he  said ;  'will  you  allow  me  to  look  at  your  orders?'    They  were  hand 
ed  to  him,  and  the  moment  he  had  read  them  he  was  in  the  saddle,  his  tenis  were  struck,  and  his  command  under  , 
marching  orders.    The  next  I  saw  of  the  gallant  soldier  was  on  the  Heights  of  Queenston  in  a  perfect  blaze  of  fire,  and 
then,  as  now,  head  and  shoulders  taller  than  any  man  in  the  country." 

Many  years  afterward,  when  Scott,  as  a  major  general,  was  bearing  more  years  and  many  honors,  Colonel  Collier  met 
him  in  Washington  City,  and  the  first  words  Scott  addressed  to  him  were,  "  I  was  indebted  to  you  for  my  first  fight.  I 
have  always  felt  under  great  obligations  to  you.  If  it  had  not  been  for  you,  colonel,  what  would  have  been  my  posi 
tion  ?  Seven  miles  from  the  battle-field,  sir,  and  the  first  battle  of  a  campaign  !  Why,  sir,  I  should  never  have  got  over 
it  during  my  life  !"  "  It  is  pleasant  now,"  wrote  Colonel  Collier,  "  in  the  sunset  of  my  days,  to  recall  this  little  inci 
dent,  connected  as  it  is  with  the  greatest  captain  of  the  age  in  which  he  lives."  A  few  months  after  receiving  this  let 
ter,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  spending  a  day  or  two  with  Colonel  Collier  at  Cleveland,  on  the  occasion  of  the  inauguration 
of  the  statue  of  Commodore  Perry.  He  is  a  hale,  erect  gentleman,  of  what  is  called  "  the  old  school"  in  manners,  and 
most  delightful  entertainer  of  company  in  conversation. 


394  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Colonel  Scott  on  Lewiston  Heights.      Passage  of  the  River  in  the  Dark.      Landing  at  the  Foot  of  Queenston  Heights. 

ardent,  and  eager  for  adventure  and  glory,  he  immediately  mounted  his  horse,  and 
dashed  toward  head-quarters  as  speedily  as  the  horrid  condition  of  the  road  would 
allow.  He  presented  himself  to  the  commanding  general,  and  earnestly  solicited  the 
privilege  of  taking  a  part  in  the  invasion  with  his  command.  "  The  arrangements 
for  the  expedition  are  all  completed,  sir,"  said  General  Van  Rensselaer.  "  Colonel 
Van  Rensselaer  is  in  chief  command.  Lieutenant  Colonels  Chrystie  and'  Fenwick 
have  waived  their  rank  for  the  occasion,  and  you  may  join  the  expedition  as  a  volun 
teer,  if  you  will  do  the  same."  Van  Rensselaer  wisely  determined  not  to  have  a  di 
vided  command.  Scott  was  unwilling  to  yield  his  rank ;  but  he  pressed  his  suit  so 
warmly  that  it  was  agreed  that  he  should  bring  on  his  regiment,  take  position  on  the 
heights  of  Lewiston  with  his  cannon,  and  co-operate  in  the  attack  as  circumstances 
might  warrant.  Scott  hastened  back  to  Schlosser,  put  his  regiment  in  motion,  and 
by  a  forced  march  through  the  deep  mud  reached  Lewiston  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
a  October  is,  morning. a  Again  he  importuned  for  permission  to  participate  directly  in 
the  enterprise,  but  in  vain.  His  rank  would  be  equal,  on  the  field,  to  that 
of  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer,  who  had  originated  and  planned  the  whole  aflair,1  and 
who  the  commanding  general  resolved  should  have  the  honor  of  winning  the  laurels 
to  be  obtained  by  leadership. 

The  night  of  the  12th  was  intensely  dark,  yet  every  thing  was  in  readiness  for  the 
invasion  at  a  little  after  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. b  Mr.  Cook,  a  citi 
zen  of  Lewiston,  had  assumed  the  direction  of  the  boats,  and  provided 
men  to  man  them ;  Mr.  Lovett,  Van  Rensselaer's  secretary,  had  been  placed  in  charge 
of  an  eighteen-pound  gun  in  battery  on  Lewiston  Heights,  with  instructions  to  cover 
the  landing  of  the  Americans  on  the  Canada  shore;  and  the  six  hundred  men,  under 
Van  Rensselaer  and  Chrystie,  were  standing  in  a  cold  storm  of  wind  and  rain  at  the 
place  of  embarkation.  It  had  been  arranged  for  them  to  cross  over  and  storm  and 
take  possession  of  Queenston  Heights,  when  the  remainder  of  the  troops  were  to  fol 
low  in  a  body  and  drive  the  British  from  the  town.  But  there  were  only  thirteen 
boats,  and  these  were  not  sufficient  to  carry  more  than  about  one  half  of  the  troops 
intended  for  the  capture  of  the  Heights.2  The  regulars  having  reached  the  boats 
first,  the  companies  of  Wool,  Malcolm,  and  Armstrong  were  immediately  embarked, 
with  forty  picked  men  from  Captain  Leonard's  company  of  artillery  at  Fort  Niagara, 
under  Lieutenants  Gansevoort  and  Rathbone,  and  about  sixty  militia.  When  all 
were  ready,  Van  Rensselaer  gave  the  word  to  advance,  and  leaped  into  the  boat  con 
taining  the  artillerists.  Major  Morrison  was  ordered  to  follow  with  the  remainder 
of  the  troops  on  the  return  of  the  boats. 

The  struggle  with  the  eddies  was  brief.  Within  ten  minutes  after  leaving  Lewis- 
ton  Landing  the  boats  struck  the  Canada  shore  "at  the  identical  spot  aimed  at,"  just 
above  a  huge  rock  now  seen  lying  in  the  edge  of  the  water  under  the  Lewiston  sus 
pension  bridge.  There  the  militia  were  landed ;  the  regulars  debarked  a  little  be 
low  the  rock.3  Three  of  the  thirteen  boats  had  lost  their  way;  the  remaining  ten 
now  returned  to  the  American  shore. 

The  enemy  were  on  the  alert.     The  movements  of  the  Americans  had  been  discov- 

i  See  note  2,  page  381. 

•  2  This  inadequate  number  of  boats  seems  to  have  been  owing  to  remissness  in  Quarter-master-general  Porter's  de 
partment.  The  quarter-master,  then  stationed  at  the  Falls,  had  written  to  Van  Rensselaer,  "I  can  furnish  you  boats 
at  two  or  three  days'  notice  to  carry  over  1200  or  1400  men."  A  sufficient  number  for  six  or  seven  hundred  were  or 
dered,  and  the  matter  was  left  in  charge  of  Judge  Barton,  the  quarter-master's  .agent.  He  had  forwarded  only  thirteen 
at  the  appointed  hour.  General  Van  Rensselaer  has  been  censured  for  not  having  boats  enough.  It  was  no  fault  of  his. 

3  The  view  of  the  landing-place  seen  on  the  next  page  I  sketched  from  a  point  a  few  yards  below  the  Canadian  end 
of  the  Lewiston  Suspension  Bridge.  The  rock  mentioned  in  the  text  is  a  prominent  object  in  the  picture.  It  is  at  the 
foot  of  the  rapids,  where  the  river  sweeps  in  a  curve  around  Queenston  Heights,  a  portion  of  which  occupies  a  large 
part  of  the  sketch.  Above  is  seen  the  suspension  bridge,  with  its  steadying-chains  attached  to  the  shore ;  and  on  the 
side  of  the  opposite  bank,  looking  up  the  river,  the  position  of  the  railway,  that  lies  upon  a  narrow  shelf  cut  in  the  al 
most  perpendicular  shore  of  the  river,  is  marked  by  a  train  of  cars.  The  toll-house  seen  at  the  end  of  the  bridge,  on 
the  right,  shows  the  direction  of  the  road  from  the  bridge  to  the  village  of  Queenston,  not  an  eighth  of  a  mile  distant. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


395 


Opposition  to  the  Invaders. 


A  Skirmish  near  Queenston  Village. 


American  Officers  killed  and  wounded. 


ered  by  the  sentinels,  and  Captain  Dennis,  of  the  Forty-ninth  Regiment  of  British 


Regulars,  stationed 

~  ' 

at  Queenston,  with 
sixty  gi-enadiers  of 
that  corps,  Captain 
Hatt's  company  of 
York  volunteer  mili 
tia,1  a  small  body  of 
Indians,  and  a  three- 
pound  field-piece, 
took  position  on  the 
sloping  shore,  a  lit 
tle  north  of  the  site 
of  the  suspension 
bridge,  to  resist  the 
debarkation.  Their 
presence  was  first 
made  known  by  a 
broad  flash,  then  a 
volley  of  musketry 
that  mortally 
wounded  Lieuten 
ant  Rathbone,  by 
the  side  of  Colonel 
Van  Rensselaer,  be 


fore  landing,  and 
random  shots  from 
the  field-piece  along 
the  line  of  the  ferry 
at  the  moment  when 
the  boats  touched 
the  shore.  These 
were  answered  by 
Lovett's  battery  on 
Lewiston  Heights, 
when  the  enemy 
turned  and  fled  up 
the  hill  toward 
Queenston,  pursued 
by  the  regulars  of 
the  Thirteenth,  un 
der  Captain  "Wool, 
the  senior  officer 
present,  in  the  ab 
sence  of  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Chrystie, 
who  was  in  one  of 
the  missing  boats.2 


LAMH.NG-l'LACE   OF   Tllli  A.ME1UCANS   AT   QCEliNSTON. 


On  the   margin   of 

the  plateau  on  which  Queenston  stands  Wool  ceased  pursuit,  drew  his  men  up  in 
battle  order,  and  was  about  to  send  to  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  for  directions,  when 
that  officer's  aid,  Judge  Advocate  Lush,  came  hurrying  up  with  orders  to  prepare  to 
storm  the  Heights.  "  We  are  ready,"  promptly  responded  the  gallant  Wool.  Lush 
hastened  back  to  the  chief  commander  on  the  shore,  and  in  a  few  minutes  returned 
with  orders  for  Wool  to  advance.  He  was  moving  rapidly  over  the  plateau  toward 
the  foot  of  the  Heights,  when  the  order  for  storming  was  countermanded,  and  the 
troops  \vere  brought  to  a  halt  near  the  present  entrance  to  the  village  from  the  bridge. 
Captain  Dennis,  meanwhile,  had  been  strengthened  by  the  arrival  on  the  Heights  of 
the  Light  Infantry  under  Captain  Williams,  and  a  company  of  the  York  militia  un 
der  Captain  Chisholrn;  and  just  as  Wool's  command  had  taken  their  resting  position 
in  battle  order,  Dennis  and  his  full  force,  already  mentioned,  fell  heavily  on  the  right 
flank  of  the  Americans.  At  the  same  time,  Williams  and  Chisholm  opened  a  severe 
fire  in  their  front  from  the  brow  of  the  Heights.  Without  waiting  for  farther  orders, 
Wool  wheeled  his  column  to  the  right  and  confronted  the  force  of  the  enemy  on  the 
plain,  where  with  deadly  aim  his  men  poured  a  very  severe  fire  into  their  ranks. 
Van  Rensselaer  and  the  militia  had  taken  a  position  on  the  left  of  the  Thirteenth  in 
the  mean  time.  The  engagement  was  severe  but  short,  and  the  enemy  were  com 
pelled  to  fall  back  to  Queenston.  Both  parties  suffered  much — the  Americans  most 
severely.  Of  the  ten  officers  of  the  Thirteenth  who  were  present,  two  were  killed 
and  five  were  seriously  wounded.  The  former  were  Lieutenant  Valleau3  and  En 
sign  Morris  ;4  the  latter  were  Captains  Wool,  Malcolm,  and  Armstrong,  and  Ensign 

1  Captain  Samuel  Hatt  was  one  of  the  most  esteemed  and  richest  men  in  the  province.    He  entered  the  service  under 
the  impulses  of  the  purest  patriotism  only,  and  took  this  subordinate  station. 

2  The  three  missing  boats  were  commanded  respectively  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Chrystie,  Captain  Lawrence,  and  an 
unknown  subaltern.    Chrystie's  boat  was  driven  by  the  currents  and  eddies  upon  the  New  York  shore,  and  he  ordered 
Lawrence's  back,  while  the  third  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  it  having  struck  the  shore  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek, 
just  north  of  Queenston. 

3  John  Valleau  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant  of  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  on  the  24th  of  March,  1812. 
*  Robert  Morris,  appointed  ensign  in  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  March,  12, 1812. 


396 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Van  Rensselaer  and  Wool  wounded.       Van  Reiisselaer  borne  away.       Wool  takes  the  Command.       Sketch  of  Wool. 

Lent.1  The  militia  suffered  very  little;  but  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  was  so  badly 
wounded  in  several  places  that  he  was  compelled  to  relinquish  the  command.  A  bul 
let  passed  through  both  of  Wool's  thighs,  and  both  Malcolm2  and  Armstrong3  were 
wounded  in  the  left  thigh.  A  considerable  number  of  the  Americans  were  made  pris 
oners. 

While  Wool  and  his  command  were  engaged  with  the  enemy  on  the  plain,  those 
upon  the  Heights  kept  up  a  desultory  fire  upon  the  Americans,  which  the  latter  could 
not  well  respond  to.  Perceiving  this,  Van  Rensselaer  ordered  the  whole  detachment 
to  fall  back  to  the  beach  below  the  hill,  in  a  place  of  more  security.  They  did  so,  but 
were  not  absolutely  sheltered  from  the  fire  of  the  enemy  above.  One  man  was  killed 
and  several  were  wounded  by  their  shots. 

It  was  now  broad  daylight,  and  the  storm  had  ceased.  While  the  detachment  was 
forming  for  farther  action  on  the  margin  of  the  river,  a  fourth  company  of  the  13th, 
under  Captain  Ogilvie,  crossed  and  joined  them.  No  time  was  to  be  lost.  The 
Heights  must  be  stormed  and  taken,  or  the  expedition  would  be  a  failure.  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Chrystie  had  not  been  heard  from.  Van  Rensselaer  was  disabled.  All 
the  other  officers  were  young  men.  Not  a  single  commission  was  more  than  six 
months  old,  and  Captain  Wool,  the  senior  of  them  all  in  rank,  was  only  twenty-three 
years  of  age — too  young,  Van  Rensselaer  thought,  to  be  intrusted  with  an  undertak 
ing  so  important.  He  had  never  been  under  fire  before  that  morning,  and  was  already 
badly  wounded.  True,  in  the  fight  just  ended,  his  metal  had  given  out  the  ring  of 
that  of  a  true  soldier.  The  alternative  was  great  risk  and  a  chance  for  honor,  or  total 
abandonment  of  the  enterprise  and  the  pointings  of  the  finger  of  scorn.  The  choice 
was  soon  made.  Wool  had  asked  for  orders ;  had  been  told  that  the  capture  of  the 
Heights  was  the  great  object  of  the  expedition  ;  and,  notwithstanding  his  severe  flesh 
wounds  and  the  inexperience  of  himself  and  his  men,  he  had  expressed  his  eagerness 
to  make  the  attempt.  Van  Rensselaer  ordered  him  to  that  duty,  and  at  the  same 
time  he  directed  his  aid-de-camp  Lush  to  follow  the  little  column  and  shoot  every 
man  who  should  falter,  for  symptoms  of  weak  courage  had  already  appeared. 

Elated  with  the  order,  young  Wool  almost  forgot  his  bleeding  wounds.  He  was 
light  and  lithe  in  person,  full  of  ambition  and  enthusiasm,  and  beloved  by  his  com 
panions  in  arms.4  All  followed  him  cheerfully.  Ordering  Captain  Ogilvie,  with  his 

1  James  W.  Lent,  Jr.,  appointed  ensign  in  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  May  1, 1812.    In  March,  1813,  he  was  promoted  to 
first  lieutenant  of  artillery.    He  was  retained  in  1815,  and  became  active  in  the  quarter-master's  department  in  1810. 
Left  the  service  in  1817. 

2  Richard  M.  Malcolm  was  commissioned  captain  in  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  of  Infantry  on  the  8th  of  April,  1812. 
In  March,  1813,  he  was  promoted  to  major,  and  in  June,  1814,  to  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  same  regiment.    He  was  dis 
banded  in  June,  1815. — Gardner's  Dictionary  of  the  Army,  page  SOT. 

3  Henry  B.  Armstrong,  yet  [1867]  living,  is  a  son  of  General  John  Armstrong,  the  Secretary  of  War  in  1814.    He  was 
commissioned  a  captain  in  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  in  April,  1812 ;  promoted  to  major  the  following  year ;'  in  June, 
1813,  distinguished  himself  at  Stony  Creek ;  became  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  First  Rifle  Regiment  in  September,  1813, 
and  was  disbanded  in  June,  1815.    Although  nearly  eighty  years  of  age  when  the  Great  Rebellion  broke  out  in  1S61,  he 
went  to  Washington  City  and  tendered  to  the  government  the  services  of  himself  and  two  sous.    He  then  resided  ou 
an  ample  estate  in  Red  Hook,  Duchess  County,  New  York. 

John  Ellis  Wool,  now  (1867)  a  major  general  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  is  a  son  of  a  soldier  of  the  Revolu 


tion  who  was  with  General  Wayne  at  the 
taking  of  Stony  Point  in  the  summer  of 
1779.  He  was  born  in  Newburg,  Orange 
County,  New  York,  in  1788.  His  father 
died  when  he  was  only  four  years  of  age, 
when  he  was  taken  into  the  family  of  his 
grandfather,  James  Wool,  five  of  whose 
sons  bore  arms  in  the  old  war  for  inde 
pendence.  During  his  residence  with  hi.*  i 
grandfather  in  Rensselaer  County,  young 
Wool  attended  a  common  country  school. 
At  the  age  of  twelve  years,  with  a  slender 
education,  he  entered  the  service  of  a 
merchant  in  Troy,  New  York,  as  clerk. 
At  eighteen  he  engaged  in  the  business  of 
selling  books  and  stationery  in  the  same 


RUSSELL'S  LAW  OFFICE. 


town,  and  continued  in  that  avocation  un 
til  fire  swept  away  all  his  worldly  goods. 
He  then  commenced  the  study  of  law  with 
John  Russell,  in  Troy,  in  a  small  building 
recently  standing  on  Second  Street,  near 
ly  opposite  General  Wool's  present  resi 
dence.  War  with  Great  Britain  was  soon 
afterward  looked  upon  as  inevitable,  and 
young  Wool,  feeling  the  old  fire  of  his 
father  stirring  within  him,  left  his  books 
to  seek  usefulness  and  honor  in  the  field. 
Upon  the  recommendation  of  De  Witt 
Clinton  he  obtained  a  commission  as  cap 
tain  in  the  13th  United  States  Regiment 
in  the  spring  of  1812.  It  is  dated  March 
14, 1812.  War  was  declared  in  little  more 


than  ninety  days  afterward,  and  in  September  his  regiment,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Chrystie,  was  ordered  to  the 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


397 


Scaling  Queenston  Heights. 


General  Brock  at  Fort  George. 


His  Expectation  of  an  Invasion. 


fresh  troops  to  take  the  right  of  the  column, 
he  sprang  forward  and  commenced  the 
perilous  ascent,  guided  by  Lieutenants 
Gansevoort  and  Randolph,  who  were  well 
acquainted  with  the  way.  The  picked  ar 
tillerists  led  the  column;  and  in  many 
places  the  precipice  was  so  steep  that  the 
troops  were  compelled  to  pull  themselves 
up  by  means  of  bushes.  They  were  con 
cealed  from  the  enemy  by  the  shelter  of 
the  rocks  and  shrubbery;  and  near  the 
top  of  the  acclivity  they  struck  a  fisher 
man's  path,  which  the  enemy  supposed  to 
be  impassable,  and  had  neglected  to  guard 
it. 

"While  Wool  and  his  little  band  were  scal- 
ino-  the  Heights,  the  British  were  making 

,.-« 

movements  under  great  uncertainty.  The 
vigilant  Sir  Isaac  Brock  at  Fort  George, 
about  seven  miles  distant,  had  heard  the 
cannonading  before  dawn.  He  aroused  his 
aid-de-camp,  Major  Glegg,  and  called  for 
Alfred,  his  favorite  horse,  presented  to  him 
by  Sir  James  Craig.  He  had  been  in  expectation  of  an  invasion  at  some  point  for  sev 
eral  days,  and  only  the  night  before  he  had  given  each  of  his  staff  special  instructions.1 

Niagara  frontier.  His  gallant  bearing  there  is  recorded  in  the  text.  Because  of  his  bravery  at  Queenston  he  was  pro 
moted  to  major  in  the  29th  Regiment  of  Infantry  in  April,  1813.  For  his  gallant  conduct  at  Plattsburg,  in  September, 
1814,  he  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  colonel  in  December  following.  He  was  retained  in  the  army  in  1815,  and  on  the 
29th  of  September,  181G,  was  appointed  inspector  general  of  division,  and  in  1821  inspector  general  of  the  army  of  the 
United  States,  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  In  1826  he  was  made  a  brigadier  general  by  brevet  "for  ten  years'  faithful 
service."  His  reports  to  the  government  on  matters  pertainin^to  the  service  were  always  models  of  their  kind,  and 
always  elicited  encomiums.  His  discipline  was  always  perfect  and  most  efficient,  and  his  sleepless  vigilance  has  made 
him  on  all  occasions  one  of  the  most  trusted  officers  in  the  service. 

In  1832,  General  Wool  was  sent  to  Europe  to  collect  information  connected  with  military  science.  He  received  great 
attention,  especially  in  France,  where,  on  one  occasion,  he  formed  one  of  the  suite  of  Louis  Philippe  at  a  grand  review 
of  70,000  men.  In  November  of  the  same  year  he  accompanied  the  King  of  Belgium  at  a  review  of  100,000  troops, 
and  visited  the  fortifications  of  Antwerp.  In  1S35,  when  hostilities  with  France  were  anticipated,  General  Wool  made 
a  thorough  inspection  of  all  the  sea-coast  defenses,  and  submitted  an  admirable  report  to  government.  In  1S36  he 
was  ordered  to  the  service  of  removing  the  €herokee  Indians  to  Arkansas.  In  that  mission  he  displayed  some  of  the 
highest  traits  of  a  soldier  and  statesman.  In  1838,  while  the  Canadian  provinces  were  disturbed  by  insurrection,  Wool 
was  sent  to  the  wilds  of  Maine  to  look  after  the  defenses  of  the  border.  In  the  Mexican  war  his  services  as  a  tactician, 
disciplinarian,  and  as  an  administrative  and  executive  officer  in  the  field  were  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  country. 
These  are  all  recorded  by  the  pen  of  the  grateful  historian.  For  his  gallant  conduct  in  that  war  he  was  breveted  a 
major  general,  and  on  his  return  home  he  was  every  where  met  with  the  most  enthusiastic  greetings.  As  tokens  of 
approbation,  three  swords  were  presented  to  him,  one  by  the  citizens  of  Troy,  another  by  the  State  of  New  York,  and  a 
third  by  the  United  States. 

Toward  the  close  of  1853,  when  filibustering  expeditions  were  fitted  out  on  the  Western  coast,  the  command  of  the 
Department  of  the  Pacific  was  intrusted  to  General  Wool.  It  was  a  post  of  great  labor  and  trust,  involving  as  it  did  in 
ternational  questions  of  a  delicate  nature,  and  peculiar  relations  with  Indian  tribes.  His  activity,  vigilance,  and  un 
tiring  energy  in  that  field  were  wonderful.  In  the  spring  of  1855  he  made  a  tour  of  inspection  and  reconnoissance 
through  the  distant  Territories  of  Oregon  and  Washington.  On  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  in  that  region  in  the 
fall  of  1855,  Wool  repaired  to  the  scene  of  trouble,  and  was  efficient  in  ending  them.  He  remained  in  California  until 
near  the  close  of  President  Pierce's  administration,  when  he  was  relieved,  and  placed  in  command  of  the  Department 
of  the  East,  comprising  the  whole  country  eastward  of  the  Mississippi  River.  He  was  every  where  received  with  the 
greatest  enthusiasm,  and  especially  at  Troy,  his  place  of  residence.  He  was  there  engaged  in  the  quiet  routine  of  his 
office  when  the  rising  tide  of  the  great  rebellion,  that.broke  out  at  the  close  of  I860,  commanded  his  attention.  With 
his  wonted  energy,  he  warned  and  entreated  the  national  government  to  prepare  for  a  great  emergency  :  and  when,  in 
April,  1S61,  Fort  Sumter  was  attacked,  and  the  national  capital"  was  menaced  by  the  rebels,  General  Wool  conceived 
and  executed  such  efficient  measures  at  New  York,  that  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  he  was  one  of  the  chief  instru 
ments  in  the  salvation  of  the  republic  from  the  hand  of  the  destroyer.  In  July  he  entered  upon  active  service  at  Fort 
ress  Monroe  as  commander  of  that  post,  where  he  stood  in  the  delicate  and  most  important  position  of  sentinel  at  the 
portal  opening  between  the  loyal  and  disloyal  territories  of  the  republic.  He  remained  there  almost  a  year,  when  he 
was  commissioned  a  full  major  general  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and  transferred  to  the  command  at  Baltimore 
and  vicinity.  In  1863  he  retired  to  private  life. 

1  Beacons  had  been  placed  at  convenient  distances  between  Kingston  and  Fort  George  to  giv£  notice  in  the  event  of 
an  invasion,  but  in  the  confusion  they  were  not  lighted.  The  late  Honorable  William  Hamilton  Merritt,  M.P.,  then  a 


398  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Brock  hastens  toward  Queenston.  His  perilous  Position.  Attack  on  Wool.  Death  of  Brock. 

But  so  confident  was  he  that  the  attack  would  be  made  from  Fort  Niagara,  that  he 
considered  the  demonstration  above  as  only  a  feint  to  conceal  that  movement ;  yet, 
as  a  vigilant  soldier,  he  instantly  resolved  to  obtain  personal  knowledge  of  the  situa 
tion  of  affairs.  Mounting  Alfred,  he  pushed  toward  Queenston  at  full  speed,  follow 
ed  by  his  aids,  Major  Glegg  and  Colonel  M'Donell.  The  journey  of  seven  miles  was 
made  in  little  more  than  half  an  hour.  Arriving  at  Queenston,  Sir  Isaac  and  his  com 
panions  rode  up  the  Heights  at  full  gallop,  exposed  to  a  severe  enfilading  fire  of  ar 
tillery  from  the  American  shore.  On  reaching  the  redan  battery,  half  way  up  the 
Heights,1  they  dismounted,  took  a  general  view  of  affairs,  and  pronounced  them  fa 
vorable.  Suddenly  the  crack  of  musketry  in  their  rear  startled  them.  Wool  and 
his  followers  had  successfully  scaled  the  Heights,  and  were  close  upon  them.  Brock 
and  his  aids  had  not  time  to  remount.  Leading  their  horses  at  full  gallop,  they  fled 
down  the  slope  to  the  village,  followed  by  the  twelve  men  who  manned  the  battery. 
A  few  minutes  afterward  the  Stars  and  Stripes — the  symbol  of  the  Union — the  in 
signia  of  the  Republic — were  waving  over  the  captured  redan,  and  greeting  the  rays 
of  the  early  morning  sun,  then  struggling  in  fitful  gleams  through  the  breaking 
clouds.  This  was  the  third  time  within  three  months  that  the  standard  of  the  United 
States  had  been  victoriously  displayed  on  the  soil  of  Canada.2  Wool's  triumph  for 
the  moment  was  complete. 

Brock  immediately  dispatched  a  courier  to  General  Sheaffe  at  Fort  George  with 
orders  to  push  forward  re-enforcements,  and,  at  the  same  time,  open  fire  upon  Fort 
Niagara.  He  then  took  command  of  Captain  Williams's  detachment  of  one  hundred 
men,  and  hastened  up  the  slope  toward  the  battery,  behind  which  Captain  Wool  had 
placed  his  little  band,  with  their  faces  toward  Queenston,  to  await  an  attack.  Den 
nis  soon  joined  Brock  with  his  detachment,  when  a  movement  was  made  to  turn  the 
American  flank.  The  vigilant  Wool  perceived  it,  and  immediately  sent  out  fifty  men 
to  keep  the  flanking  party  in  check,  and  to  take  possession  of  the  "  Mountain,"  or 
crown  of  the  Heights,  where  the  monument  now  stands.  But  they  were  too  few  for 
the  purpose,  and  even  when  re-enforced  they  were  too  weak  to  stem  the  steady  ad 
vance  of  the  veteran  enemy.  The  wht>le  detachment  fell  back  with  some  confusion. 
The  enemy,  inspirited  by  this  movement,  pressed  forward,  and  pushed  the  Americans 
to  the  verge  of  the  precipice,  which  overlooks  the  deep  chasm  of  the  swift-floAving 
river  more  than  two  hundred  feet  below.  Wool's  little  band  was  in  a  most  perilous 
position.  Death  by  ball,  bayonet,  or  flood  seemed  inevitable,  and  Captain  Ogilvie 
raised  a  white  handkerchief  on  the  point  of  a  bayonet  in  token  of  surrender.  The  in 
censed  Wool  sprang  forward,  snatched  away  that  token  of  submission,  addressed  a 
few  spirited  words  to  his  officers  and  soldiers,  begging  them  to  fight  on  so  long  as 
the  ammunition  should  last,  and  then  resort  to  the  bayonet.  Waving  his  sword,  he 
led  his  inspirited  comrades  to  a  renewal  of  the  conflict  with  so  much  impetuosity  that 
the  enemy  broke  and  fled  down  the  Heights  in  dismay,  and  took  shelter  in  and  be 
hind  a  large  stone  building  near  the  edge  of  the  river.  Sir  Isaac  was  amazed  and 
mortified ;  and  to  his  favorite  grenadiers  he  shouted, "  This  is  the  first  time  I  have 
seen  the  Forty-ninth  turn  their  backs !"  His  voice  and  the  stinging  rebuke  of  his 
words  checked  them.  At  the  same  time  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Donell  brought  up 
two  flank  companies  of  York  Volunteers,  under  Captains  Cameron  and  Howard, 
which  had  just  arrived  from  Brown's  Point,  three  miles  below.  The  fugitives  had 
rallied,  and  Sir  Isaac  turned  to  lead  them  up  the  Heights.  His  tall  figure  was  a  con 
spicuous  object  for  the  American  sharp-shooters.  First  a  bullet  struck  his  wrist, 
wounding  it  slightly.  A  moment  afterward,  as  he  shouted  "  Push  on  the  York  Vol 
unteers,"  another  bullet  entered  his  breast,  passed  out  through  his  side,  and  left  a 

major  at  the  head  of  a  corps  of  cavalry,  called  the  Niagara  Dragoons,  immediately  dispatched  a  courier  to  Brock.  He 
reached  Fort  George  early,  but  found  Brock  about  ready  to  take  the  saddle. 

1  A  redan  is  a  rampart  in  the  following  form,  V>  having  its  angle  toward  the  enemy,  and  open  in  the  rear. 

2  At  Sandwich  by  Hull  (see  page  202) ;  at  Gananoqui  by  Forsyth  (see  page  373) ;  and  at  Queenston  by  Wool. 


OP   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  399 

Capture  of  Queenston  Heights.  Character  of  the  Exploit.  Passage  of  the  River  by  Re-euforcements. 

death-wound.  He  fell  from  his  horse  at  the  foot  of  the  slope,  and  lived  long  enough 
to  request  those  around  him  to  conceal  his  death  from  the  troops,  and  to  send  some 
token  of  his  remembrance  to  his  sister  in  England.  But  his  death  could  not  be  con 
cealed  more  than  a  few  minutes.  When  it  became  known,  the  bitter  words  "  Revenge 
the  general !"  burst  from  the  lips  of  the  Forty-ninth.  M'Donell  assumed  the  com 
mand,  and,  at  the  head  of  them  and  the  York  Militia,  one  hundred  and  ninety  strong, 
he  charged  up  the  hill  to  dispute  with  Wool  the  mastery  of  the  Heights.  The  strug 
gle  was  desperate,  and  the  Americans,  doubtful  of  the  issue,  spiked  the  cannon  in  the 
redan.  Both  parties  were  led  gallantly  and  fought  bravely.  But  when  M'Donell 
fell  mortally  wounded,1  and  Dennis  and  Williams  were  both  severely  injured,  and 
were  compelled  to  leave  the  field,  the  British  fell  back  in  some  confusion  to  Vroo- 
man's  Point,  a  mile  below,  leaving  the  young  American  commander  and  his  little 
band  of  two  hundred  and  forty  men  masters  of  Queenston  Heights,  after  three  dis 
tinct  and  bloody  battles,  fought  within  the  space  of  about  five  hours.  Taking  all 
things  into  consideration — the  passage  of  the  river,  the  nature  of  the  ground,  the  raw 
ness  of  the  troops  (for  most  of  the  regulars  were  raw  recruits),  the  absence  of  cannon, 
and  the  youth  and  wounds  of  the  American  Commander,  the  events  of  that  morning 
were, "  indeed,  a  display  of  intrepidity,"  as  Wilkinson  afterward  wrote, "  rarely  exhib 
ited,  in  which  the  conduct  and  the  execution  were  equally  conspicuous.  .  .  .  Under 
all  the  circumstances,  and  on  the  scale  of  the  operations,  the  impartial  soldier  and 
competent  judge  will  name  this  brilliant  affair  a  chef-cVceuvre  of  the  war."2 

It  was  now  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Although  bleeding  and  in  mucli 
pain,  Wool  would  not  leave  the  field,  but  kept  vigorously  at  work  in  preparations  to 
defend  the  position  he  had  gained.  He  drew  his  troops  up  in  line  on  the  Heights 
fronting  the  village,  ordered  Gansevoort  and  Randolph  to  drill  out  the  spiked  can 
non  in  the  redan,  and  bring  it  to  "bear  upon  the  enemy  near  Vrooman's,  and  sent  out 
scouts  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  foe. 

Meanwhile  re-enforcements  and  supplies  were  slowly  crossing  the  river.  In  the 
passage  they  were  greatly  annoyed  by  the  fire  from  the  one-gun  battery  on  Vroo 
man's  Point.  The  first  that  arrived  on  the  Heights  was  a  detachment  of  the  Sixth 
Regiment  under  Captain  M'Chesney ;  another,  of  the  Thirteenth,  under  Captain  Law 
rence  ;  and  a  party  of  New  York  state  riflemen,  under  Lieutenant  Smith.  These 
were  immediately  detached  as  flanking  parties.  They  were  soon  followed  by  oth 
ers,  and  before  noon  Major  General  Van 
Rensselaer,  Brigadier  General  Wads  worth, 
Lieutenant  Colonels  Scott,  Fenwick,  Stran- 
ahan,  and  Major  Mullany,  were  on  the 
Heights,  while  a  few  militia  were  slowly 

t  Lieutenant  M'Donell  was  a  brilliant  and  promising  young  man.  He  was  the  attorney  general  of  Upper  Canada,  and 
was  only  twenty-five  years  of  age.  He  was  wounded  in  five  places,  one  bullet  passing  through  his  body,  yet  he  survived 
twenty  hours  in  great  agony.  During  that  time  he  constantly  lamented  the  fall  of  his  commander.— Tupper's  Life,  etc., 
of  Brock,  page  322. 

2  Wilkinson's  Memoirs,  i.,  577.  The  officers  who  participated  with  Captain  Wool,  and  received  from  him,  in  his  re 
port  to  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer,  special  commendation,  were  Captain  Peter  Ogilvie,  and  Lieutenants  Kearney,  Hugunin, 
Carr,  and  Sammons.  of  the  Thirteenth,  Lieutenants  Gansevoort  and  Randolph,  of  the  light  artillery,  and  Major  Lush, 
of  the  militia.  Captain  Ogilvie  resigned  in  June,  1813.  Lieutenant  Stephen  Watts  Kearney,  who  was  a  native  of  New 
Jersey,  was  retained  in  the  service  in  1S15,  having  risen  to  the  rank  of  captain.  He  was  made  a  major  by  brevet  in 
1323,  and  full  major  in  1829.  In  the  spring  of  1833  he  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  colonel  of  dragoons,  and  to  colonel 
of  the  same  in  1S36.  In  1S4G  he  was  promoted  to  brigadier  general,  went  into  the  war  with  Mexico,  and  made  conquest 
of  the  province  of  New  Mexico.  For  his  gallant  conduct  there  and  in  California  he  was  made  major  general  by  brevet. 
In  March,  1847,  he  was  appointed  Governor  of  California.  He  died  in  October,  1S4S.  His  brother,  Philip  Kearney,  who 
lost  an  arm  in  the  battles  before  the  city  of  Mexico,  was  a  brigadier  general  in  the  army  raised  to  put  down  the  Great 
Rebellion  in  1861,  and  was  killed  in  battle  near  Fairfax  Court-house,  in  Virginia,  September  1, 1SG2.  Lieutenant  Daniel 
Hugunin  was  a  representative  in  Congress  for  New  York  from  1825  to  1827.  He  died  in  Wisconsin  in  1850.  Lieutenant 
Gansevoort,  who  had  been  in  the  artillery  service  since  1806,  was  distinguished  a  little  more  than  a  month  later  at  Fort 
Niagara.  He  became  captain  of  artillery  in  May,  1813,  and  left  the  service  in  March,  1814.  Lieutenant  Thomas  Beverly 
Randolph  was  aid-de-camp  to  General  Carrington  and  captain  of  infantry  in  the  spring  of  1813.  He  resigned  in  1815. 
He  was  lieutenant  colonel  of  Hamtramck's  regiment  of  Virginia  volunteers  in  Mexico  in  1847.  Lieutenant  Stephen  Lush 
(acting  major  at  Queenston)  was  aid  to  General  Izard,  arid  dangerously  wounded  before  Chippewa  in  October,  1814. 


400  PICTOKIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Colonel  Scott  on  Queenston  Heights.  Wadsworth's  Generosity.          Indians  on  the  Field.          Influence  of  Scott. 

passing  over  the  river.  Van  Rensselaer  took  immediate  steps  for  fortifying  the  po 
sition,  under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  Totten,  of  the  Engineers,  and  dispatched  an 
aid-de-camp  to  hasten  the  passage  of  the  militia. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott,  as  we  have  observed,  arrived  at  Lewiston  with  his  com 
mand  at  four  o'clock  that  morning.  He  placed  his  heavy  guns  in  battery  on  the 
shore  under  the  immediate  command  of  Captains  Towson  and  Barker.  Having  re 
ceived  permission  from  Van  Rensselaer  to  cross  over  as  a  volunteer  and  take  com- 
«nand  of  the  troops  on  the  Heights,  he  reached  the  Canada  shore,  with  his  adjutant 
Roach,  just  after  Wads  worth,  with  a  small  detachment  of  volunteers,  had  crossed 
without  orders.  He  unexpectedly  found  that  officer  upon  the  mountain,  and  imme 
diately  proposed  to  limit  his  own  command  to  the  regulars;  but  the  generous  and 
patriotic  Wadsworth  promptly  waived  his  rank,  and  said,  "  You,  sir,  know  profes 
sionally  what  ought  to  be  done.  I  am  here  for  the  honor  of  my  country  and  that 
of  the  New  York  militia."  Scott  at  once  assumed  the  general  command,  at  the  head 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  regulars  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  volunteers,  the  latter 
under  General  Wadsworth  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Stranahan.  Assisted  by  the  skill 
ful  Lieutenant  Totten,  Scott  placed  them  in  the  strongest  possible  position  to  receive 
the  enemy  and  to  cover  the  ferry,  expecting  to  be  re-enforced  at  once  by  the  militia 
from  the  opposite  shore.  He  was  doomed  to  most  profound  mortification  and  disap 
pointment. 

While  Scott  was  absent  for  a  short  time,  superintending  the  unspiking  of  the  can 
non  in  the  redan,  a  troop  of  Indians  suddenly  appeared  on  the  left,  led  by  Captain 
Norton,  a  half-breed,  but  under  the  general  command  of  Chief  John  Brant,  a  young, 
lithe,  and  graceful  son  of  the  great  Mohawk  warrior  and  British  ally  of  that  name  in 
the  Revolution.  Brant  made  his  first  appearance  in  the  field  on  this  occasion.  He 
was  dressed,  painted,  and  plumed  in  Indian  style  from  head  to  foot.  His  lieutenant 
and  most  valued  companion  was  a  dark,  powerfully-built  chief  known  as  Captain  Ja 
cobs.  Another  was  Norton,  the  .half-breed  just  mentioned.  They  and  their  follow 
ers  Avere  the  allies  of  the  British,  and  came  mostly  from  the  settlements  of  the  Six 
Nations,  on  the  Grand  River,  in  Canada.1 

It  was  between  one  and  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  this  cloud  of  dusky 
warriors  swept  along  the  brow  of  the  mountain  in  portentous  fury,  with  gleaming 
tomahawks  and  other  savage  weapons,  and  fell  upon  the  American  pickets,  driving 
them  in  upon  the  main  line  of  the  militia  in  great  confusion.  The  fearful  war-whoop 
struck  terror  to  many  a  white  man's  heart,  and  the  militia  were  about  to  fly  ignobly, 
Avhen  Scott  appeared,  his  tall  form — head  and  shoulders  above  all  others — attracting 
every  eye,  and  his  trumpet-voice  commanding  the  attention  of  every  ear.  He  in 
stantly  brought  order  out  of  confusion.  He  suddenly  changed  the  front  of  his  line ; 
and  his  troops,  catching  inspiration  from  his  voice  and  acts,  raised  a  shout  and  fell 
with  such  fury  upon  the  Indians  that  they  fled  in  dismay  to  the  woods  after  a  sharp, 
short  engagement.  But  they  were  soon  rallied  by  the  dauntless  Brant,2  and  contin- 

1  The  British  found  considerable  difficulty  in  inducing  these  Indians  to  join  them.    The  authorities  of  the  United 
States  used  every  effort  in  their  power  to  keep  the  Indians  from  the  contest  on  both  sides,  knowing  their  cruel  mode 
of  warfare.    Cornplanter,  the  venerable  Seneca  chief,  did  all  in  his  power  to  keep  his  race  neutral.    At  the  request  of 
the  United  States  government,  he  induced  their  influential  chiefs,  named  respectively  Blue  Eyes,  Johnson,  Silver  Heels, 
and  Jacob  Snow,  to  visit  the  Indians  on  the  Grand  River,  talk  with  them  about  remaining  neutral,  and  bring  back  an 
answer.    In  a  manuscript  letter  before  me  from  Robert  Hoops  to  Major  Van  Campan,  is  an  interesting  account  of  a 
meeting  at  Cornplauter's  to  hear  their  report.    Mr.  Hoops,  Francis  King,  and  John  Watson  were  the  white  representa 
tives  present.    Blue  Eyes  made  the  report.    He  said  the  Indians  told  him  that  they  did  not  want  to  go  to  war,  but  re 
marked,  "  It  is  the  President  of  the  United  States  makes  war  upon  us.    We  know  not  your  disputes.    The  British  talk 
much  against  the  Americans,  and  the  Americans  talk  much  against  the  British.    We  know  not  which  is  right.    The 
British  say  the  Americans  want  to  take  our  lands.    We  do  not  want  to  fight,  nor  do  we  intend  to  disturb  you ;  but  if 
you  come  to  take  our  land,  we  are  determined  to  defend  ourselves."    The  three  commissioners  cautioned  the  Senecas 
not  to  use  strong  drinks,  to  keep  quietly  at  home,  and  refrain  from  engaging  in  the  war.    Had  the  British  been  equally 
mindful  of  the  claims  of  civilization,  the  historian  would  have  many  less  atrocities  to  record. 

2  John  Brant,  whose  Indian  name  was  Ahyouwaighs,  was  a  son  of  Joseph  Brant,  or  Thayendanegea,  and  was  born  at 
the  Mohawk  village,  on  the  Grand  River,  in  Canada,  on  the  27th  of  September,  1794,  and  was  only  eighteen  years  of 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


401 


Approach  of  British  under  Sheaffe. 


Chrystie  takes  Wool's  Place. 


Sheaffe's  Re-enforcements. 


ued  to  annoy  the  Americans  until  Scott, 
at  the  head  of  a  considerable  portion  of 
his  army,  made  a  general  assault  upon 
them,  and  drove  them  from  the  Heights. 
At  the  same  time,  General  Sheaffe  was 
seen  cautiously  approaching  with  re-en 
forcements  from  Fort  George,  his  troops 
making  the  road  near  Vrooman's  all 
aglow  with  scarlet.  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Chrystie  had  just  arrived  upon  the  bat 
tle-field  for  the  first  time.  He  had  cross 
ed  and  recrossed  the  river,  but  did  not 
appear  upon  the  Heights  until  in  the  af 
ternoon,1  when  he  took  command  of  the 
Thirteenth  Regiment,  and  ordered  Cap 
tain  Wool,  who  had  endured  toil  and  suf 
fering  for  more  than  twelve  hours,  to 
the  American  shore  to  have  his  wounds 
dressed. 

At  Vrooman's,  General  Sheaffe,  who 
had  succeeded  Brock  in  command,  join 
ed  the  fragments  of  the  different 
corps  who  had  been  driven  from  ^ 

the  Heights  when  Brock  was  kill-  / 
ed,  with  heavy  re  -  enforcements.  .S  * 


age  when  he  appeared  as  leader  on  the  battle-field  at  Queenston.  He  received  a  good  English  education  at  Ancaster 
and  Niagara,  and  was  a  diligent  student  of  English  authors.  He  loved  nature,  and  studied  its  phenomena  with  dis 
crimination.  He  was  manly  and  amiable,  and  at  the  time  in  question  was  in  every  respect  an  accomplished  gentleman. 
On  the  death  of  his  father  in  1SOT,  he  became  the  Tekarihoyea,  or  principal  chief  of  the  Six  Nations,  although  he  was 
the  fourth  and  youngest  son.  As  such  he  took  the  field  in  1S12  in  the  British  interest,  and  was  engaged  in  most  of 
the  military  events  on  the  Niagara  frontier  during  the  war.  At  the  close  of  the  contest  he  and  his  young  sister  Eliza 
beth  took  up  their  residence  at  the  home  of  their  father,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario,  where  they  lived  in  the  English 


style,  and  dispensed  hospi 
talities  with  a  liberal  hand. 
The  reader  will  find  a  full 
account  of  this  residence  and 
of  the  family  at  the  time  in 
question  in  Stone's  Life  of 
Joseph  Brant.  Young  Brant 
went  to  England  in  1821  on 
business  for  the  Six  Na 
tions,  and  there  took  occa 
sion  to  defend  the  character 
of  his  father  from  aspersions 
in  Campbell's  Gertrude  of 
Wyoming.  He  was  success 
ful  in  his  proof,  but  the  poet 
had  not  the  generosity  or 
manliness  to  strike  the  cal 
umnies  from  his  poem,  and 
there  they  remain  to  this 
day.  On  his  return  Brant 
went  to  work  zealously  for 
the  moral  improvement  of 
his  people,  in  which  he  was 
successful.  In  1S27  Governor 
Dalhousie  appointed  him  to 
the  rank  of  captain  in  the 
represented  in  the  engravin 


BRANT'S  MONUMENT. 


British  army  and  Superin 
tendent  of  the  Six  Nations. 
He  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Provincial  Parliament  in 
1S32  for  the  county  of  Hal- 
dimand,  which  comprehend 
ed  a  good  portion  of  the  ter 
ritory  originally  granted  to 
the  Mohawks.  Technical  dis 
ability  gave  the  seat  to  an 
other,  after  he  had  filled  it 
for  a  while.  But  during  that 
very  summer  the  competitors 
were  both  laid  in  the  grave 
by  that  terrible  scourge, 
Asiatic  cholera.  He  died  at 
the  Mohawk  village  where 
he  was  born,  at  the  age  of 
forty -eight  years,  and  was 
buried  in  the  same  vault  with 
his  father,  in  the  burying- 
ground  of  the  Mohawk 
Church,  a  short  distance 
from  Brantford,  in  Canada, 
over  which  has  been  erected 


a    substantial    mausoleum, 

This  monument  will  be  noticed  more  particularly  presently. 

The  conduct  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Chrystie  on  this  occasion  was  not  wholly  reconcilable  with  our  ideas  of  a  true 
soldier.  In  a  manuscript  letter  before  me,  written  by  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer  to  General  Wilkinson  in  Janu 
ary,  1316,  he  accuses  Chrystie  with  cowardice,  and  says  Captain  Lawrence,  whose  boat  Chrystie  ordered  back  at  the 
crossing  (see  note  2,  page  395),  openly  charged  him  with  it.  Van  Rensselaer  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  much  of  the 
bad  conduct  of  the  militia  in  refusing  to  cross  the  river  in  the  afternoon  was  owing  to  the  example  of  this  officer.  On 
the  other  hand,  General  Van  Rensselaer  makes  honorable  mention  of  him  in  his  report  written  the  next  day,  and  he 

Cc 


402  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Sheaffe's  flank  Movement.  Bad  Conduct  of  the  New  York  Militia.  Scott's  Harangue. 

He  moved  cautiously.  Near  Vrooman's  he  left  two  pieces  of  artillery  to  command 
the  town,  filed  to  the  right,  and  crossed  the  country  to  the  little  village  of  St.  Da 
vid's,  three  miles  westward  of  Queenston,  and  by  that  circuitous  route,  after  marching 
and  countermarching  as  if  reconnoitring  the  American  lines,  he  gained  the  rear  of 
that  portion  of  the  Heights  on  which  they  were  posted,  and  formed  in  Elijah  Phelps's 
fields  on  the  Chippewa  road.1  There  he  was  joined  by  the  41st  Grenadiers  and  some 
militia 'and  Indians  from  Chippewa,  when  the  whole  British  army  confronting  that 
of  the  Americans  was  more  than  one  thousand  strong,  exclusive  of  their  dusky  allies.2 
The  Americans,  according  to  the  most  careful  estimate,  did  not  exceed  six  hundred 
in  number. 

When  Sheaffe  appeared,  General  Van  Rensselaer  was  on  the  Heights.  He  im 
mediately  crossed  the  river  to  push  forward  re-enforcements.  He  failed.  The  mili 
tia,  who  had  been  so  brave  in  speech  and  clamorous  to  be  led  against  the  enemy, 
refused  to  cross.  The  smell  of  gunpowder,  even  from  afar,  seems  to  have  paralyzed 
their  honor  and  their  courage.  Van  Rensselaer  rode  up  and  down  among  them, 
alternately  threatening  and  imploring.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bloom,  who  had  been 
wounded  in  action  and  had  returned,  and  Judge  Peck,  who  happened  to  be  at  Lewis- 
ton,  did  the  same,  but  without  effect.  Van  Rensselaer  appealed  to  their  patriotism, 
their  honor,  and  their  humanity,  but  in  vain.  They  pleaded  their  exemption  as  mili 
tia,  under  the  Constitution  and  laws,  from  being  taken  out  of  their  own  state  !  and 
Under  that  miserable  shield  they  hoped  to  find  shelter  from  the  storm  of  indignation 
which  their  cowardice  was  sure  to  evoke.  Like  poltroons  as  they  were,  they  stood 
on  the  shore  at  Lewiston  while  their  brave  companions  in  arms  on  Queenston  Heights 
were  menaced  with  inevitable  destruction  or  captivity.  All  that  Van  Rensselaer 
could  do  was  to  send  over  some  munitions  of  war,  with  a  letter  to  General  Wads- 
wrorth,  ordering  him  to  retreat  if  in  his  judgment  the  salvation  of  the  troops  depend 
ed  upon  such  movement,  and  promising  him  a  supply  of  boats  for  the  purpose.  But 
this  promise  he  could  not  fulfill.  The  boatmen  on  the  shore  were  as  cowardly  as  the 
militia  on  the  plain  above.  Many  of  them  had  fled  panic-stricken,  and  the  boats  were 
dispersed. 

Wadsworth  communicated  Van  Rensselaer's  letter  to  the  field  officers.  They  per 
ceived  no  chance  for  re-enforcements,  no  means  for  a  retreat,  and  no  hope  of  succor 
from  any  human  source  except  their  own  valor  and  vigorous  arms.  They  resolved  to 
meet  the  oncoming  overwhelming  force  like  brave  soldiers.  Scott  sprang  upon  a  log, 
his  tall  form  towering  conspicuous  above  all,3  and  addressed  the  little  army  in  a  few 
stirring  words  as  the  British  came  thundering  on.  "The  enemy's  balls,"  he  said, be 
gin  to  thin  our  ranks.  His  numbers  are  overwhelming.  In  a  moment  the  shock 
must  come,  and  there  is  no  retreat.  We  are  in  the  beginning  of  a  national  war. 
Hull's  surrender  is  to  be  redeemed.  Let  us,  then,  die  arms  in  hand.  The  country  de 
mands  the  sacrifice.  The  example  will  not  be  lost.  The  blood  of  the  slain  will  make 
heroes  of  the  living.  Those  who  follow  will  avenge  our  fall  and  their  country's 
wrongs.  Who  dare  to  stand  ?"  "  All !  all !"  was  the  generous  response  ;  and 
in  that  spirit  they  received  the  first  heavy  blow  of  the  enemy  on  their  right  wing.4 

was  promoted  to  the  office  of  inspector  general.  He  did  not  live  long  enough  to  test  his  mettle  fairly.  He  died  at  Fort 
George,  in  Canada,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1813.  '  MS.  Journal  of  Captain  William  Hamilton  Merritt. 

2  Sheaffe's  re-enforcements,  with  whom  he  marched  from  Fort  George,  consisted  of  almost  four  hundred  of  the  41st  Regi 
ment,  under  Captain  Derenzy,  and  about  three  hundred  militia.    The  latter  consisted  of  the  flank  companies  of  the  1st 
Regiment  of  Lincoln  Militia,  under  Captains  J.  Crooks  and  M'Ewen;  the  flank  companies  of  the  4th  Regiment  of  Lin 
coln  Militia,  under  Captains  Nellis  and  W.  Crooks ;  Captains  Hall's,  Durand's,  and  Applegarth's  companies  of  the  5th 
Regiment  of  Lincoln  Militia :  Major  Merritt's  Yeomanry  Corps,  and  a  body  of  Swayzee's  Militia  Artillery  under  Cap 
tains  Powell  and  Cameron.    Those  from  Chippewa  were  commanded  by  Colonel  Clark,  and  consisted  of  Captain  Bul 
lock's  company  of  Grenadiers  of  the  41st  Regiment ;  the  flank  companies  of  the  2d  Lincoln  Regiment,  under  Captains 
Hamilton  and  Rowe,  and  the  Volunteer  Sedentary  Militia.    Brant  and  Jacobs  commanded  the  Indians.    Two  three- 
pounders,  under  the  charge  of  Lieutenant  Crowther,  of  the  41st  Regiment,  accompanied  the  troops. 

3  General  Scott  was  six  feet  five  inches  in  height.    He  was  then  slender,  graceful,  and  commanding  in  form ;  for 
several  years  before  his  death  he  was  ponderous,  yet  exceedingly  dignified  in  his  appearance. 

4  Scott  was  in  full-dress  uniform,  and,  being  taller  than  his  companions,  was  a  conspicuous  and  important  mark  for 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  403 


Battle  on  Queenstou  Heights.  Perils  of  the  Americans.  Heroes  and  Cowards  made  Prisoners  of  War. 

Sheaffe  opened  the  battle  at  about  four  o'clock  by  directing  Lieutenant  M'Intyre, 
with  the  Light  Company  of  the  41st  on  the  left  of  his  column,  supported  by  a  body 
of  militia,  Indians,  and  negroes  under  Captain  Runchey,  to  fall  upon  the  American 
right.  They  fired  a  single  volley  with  considerable  execution,  and  then  charged  with 
a  tremendous  tumult,  the  white  men  shouting  and  the  Indians  ringing  out  the  fear 
ful  war-whoop  and  hideous  yells.  The  Americans  were  overpowered  by  the  onslaught 
and  gave  way,  for  their  whole  available  force  did  not  much  exceed  three  hundred 
men.  Perceiving  this,  Sheaffe  ordered  his  entire  line  to  charge,  while  the  two  field- 
pieces  were  brought  to  bear  upon  the  American  ranks.  The  effect  was  powerful. 
The  Americans  yielded  and  fled  in  utter  confusion  toward  the  river,  down  the  slope 
by  the  redan,  and  along  the  road  leading  from  Queenston  to  the  Falls.  The  latter 
were  cut  off  by  the  Indians,  and  forced  through  the  woods  toward  the  precipices  along 
the  bank  of  the  river.  Others,  who  had  reached  the  water's  edge,  were  also  cut  off 
from  farther  retreat  by  a  lack  of  boats.  Meanwhile  the  American  commander  had 
sent  several  messengers  with  flags,  bearing  offers  to  capitulate.  The  Indians  shot 
them  all,  and  continued  a  murderous  onslaught  upon  the  terrified  fugitives.  Some 
of  them  were  killed  in  the  woods,  some  were  driven  over  the  precipices  and  perished 
on,  the  rocks  or  in  the  rushing  river  below,  while  others  escaped  by  letting  themselves 
down  from  bush  to  bush,  and  swimming  the  flood.  At  length  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Scott,  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  peril,  reached  the  British  commanding  general,  and 
offered  to  surrender  the  whole  force.1  The  Indians  were  called  from  their  bloody 
work,  terms  of  capitulation  were  soon  agreed  to,  and  all  the  Americans  on  the  British 
side  became  prisoners  of  war.  These,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  their  own  com 
manders,  amounted  to  about  nine  hundred,  when  not  more  than  six  hundred,  regu 
lars  and  militia,  were  known  to  have  been  on  the  Canada  shore  at  any  time  dur 
ing  the  day,  and  not  more  than  half  that  number  were  engaged  in  the  fight  on  the 
Heights.  The  mystery  was  soon  explained.  Several  hundred  militia  had  crossed 
over  during  the  morning.  Two  hundred  of  them,  under  Major  Mullany,  who  crossed 
early  in  the  day,  were  forced  by  the  current  of  the  river  under  the  range  of  Vroo- 
man's  battery,  and  were  captured.  Two  hundred  and  ninety-three,  who  were  in  the 
battle,  were  surrendered  ;  and  the  remainder,  having  seen  the  wounded  crossing  the 
river,  the  painted  Indians,  and  the  "  green  tigers,"  as  they  called  the  49th,  whose 
coats  were  faced  with  green,  skulked  below  the  banks,  and  had  no  more  to  do  with 
the  battle  than  spectators  in  a  balloon  might  have  claimed.  But  they  were  a  part  of 
the  invading  army,  were  found  on  British  soil,  and  were  properly  prisoners  of  war. 
The  British  soldiers,  after  the  battle,  plucked  them  from  their  hiding-places,  and  made 
them  a  part  of  the  triumphal  procession  with  which  General  Sheaffe  returned  to  Fort 
George.2 

the  enemy.    He  was  urged  to  change  his  dress.    "No,"  he  said,  smiling,  "I  will  die  in  my  robes."    As  in  the  case  of 
Washington  on  the  field  of  Monongahela,  the  Indians  took  special  aim  at  Scott,  but  could  not  hit  him. 

1  Scott  fixed  a  white  cravat  on  the  point  of  his  sword  as  a  flag  of  truce,  and,  accompanied  by  Captains  Totten  (from 

whose  neck  the  "flag  was  taken)  wrench  his  sword  from  him,  when 

and  Gibson,  made  his  way  along  .. —  \  Totten   and  Gibson  drew   theirs. 

the  river  shore,  under  shelter  of  s'          •*       ~^—~       '^'ne  Indians,  who  were  armed  with 

the  precipice,  to  a  gentle  slope,  up           M                f        ^_£*  rifles,  instantly  fired,  but  without 
which  they  hastened  to  the  road         l^jt^^     ^—Ss7/^7 —  effect,  and  were  about  to  use  their 
leading  from  the  village    to   the     /7/J             /Ss/ClsC^f                    knives  and  tomahawks,    when  a 
Heights,  exposed  to  the  random  ^  *   *^f'        sf                                                    British  sergeant,  accompanied  by  a 
fire  of  the  Indians.    Just  as  they                        /7 -v    guard,  seeing  the  encounter,  rush- 
reached  the  road  they  were  met       ^— — — (^^-^—^  ' —           ~^t ec*  forward,  crying  Honor !  honor ! 

by  two  Indians,  who  sprang  upon  ^ *  took  the  Americans  under  his  pro- 

them  like  tigers.     They  would  .*  ^ — • ~~>  tection,  and  conducted  them  to 

not  listen  to  Scott's  declaration  //       ^^\jt—~^ —  tne  Presence  of  General  Sheaffe. 

that  he  was  under  the  protec- ^<£_— -  ^^~*~S~s  •  ^S      / ~)    —Life  and  Services  of  General 

tion  of  a  flag  and  was  going  to    C  ^**^  *       *~/'S^^.sJ£S^A^_ '     WinfiM  Scott,  by  Edward  Mans- 

surrender.     They  attempted  to  field,  page  44. 

2  The  authorities  consulted  in  compiling  the  foregoing  account  of  events  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  in  this  and  the 
preceding  chapter,  are  as  follows :  Official  Reports  of  Generals  Van  Rensselaer  and  Sheaffe,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Chrystie 
and  Captain  Wool ;  oral  and  written  statements  of  Captain  (now  Major  General)  Wool  to  the  Author;  MS.  Order  and 


404  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Losses  in  the  Battle  of  Queenston.        The  Surrender.       Justice  and  Injustice  to  the  Meritorious.       Scott  at  Niagara. 

The  entire  loss  of  the  Americans  during  that  eventful  day,  according  to  the  most 
careful  estimates,  was  ninety  killed,  about  one  hundred  wounded,  and  between  eight 
and  nine  hundred  made  prisoners,  causing  an  entire  loss,  in  rank  and  file,  of  about 
eleven  hundred  men.  The  British  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners  (the  latter 
taken  in  the  morning),  was  about  one  hundred  and  thirty.  The  number  of  Indians 
engaged  and  their  loss  is  not  positively  known.1  Captain  Norton  was  wounded,  but 
not  severely.  All  parties  engaged  in  the  fight  on  that  day  behaved  with  exemplary 
courage,  and  deserved,  as  they  received,  the  encomiums  of  their  respective  generals, 
and  the  thanks  of  their  respective  governments.2 

Brigadier  General  Wadsworth  was  in  command  when  the  army  was  surrendered. 
He  delivered  his  sword  to  General  Sheaffe  in  person.  The  ceremony  of  formal  sur 
render  occurred  at  near  sunset,  when  the  prisoners,  officers,  and  men  were  marched 
to  the  village  of  Newark  (now  Niagara),  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River.  There 
the  officers  were  quartered  in  a  small  tavern,  and  placed  under  guard.  While  wait 
ing  for  an  escort  to  conduct  them  to  the  head-quarters  of  General  Sheaffe,  a  little  girl 
entered  the  parlor  and  said  that  somebody  in  the  hall  wanted  to  see  the  "  tall  officer." 
Scott,  who  was  unarmed,  immediately  went  out,  when  he  was  confronted  by  the  two 
Indians  who  had  made  such  a  violent  assault  upon  him  while  bearing  a  flag  of  truqe. 
Young  Brant  immediately  stepped  up  to  Scott  and  inquired  how  many  balls  had 
passed  through  his  clothing,  as  they  had  both  fired  at  him  incessantly,  and  had  been 
astonished  continually  at  not  seeing  him  fall.  Jacobs,  at  the  same  time,  seized  Scott 
rudely,  and  attempted  to  whirl  him  around,  exclaiming,  "Me  shoot  so  often,  me  sure 

Letter  Books  of  General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer ;  MS.  correspondence  of  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer ;  Oral  Nar 
ratives  of  Soldiers  in  the  Battle  at  Queeuston,  living  in  Canada  in  1800;  Perkins's  History  of  the  Late  War ;  Bracken- 
ridge's  History  of  the  Late  War ;  Thornton's  Historical  Sketches  of  the  Late  War ;  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer's  Nar 
rative  of  the  Affair  at  Queenston;  Ingersoll's  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Second  War,  etc.;  Niles's  Weekly  Register;  the  War; 
Stone's  Life  of  Brant;  Sketches  of  the  War,  by  an  anonymous  writer;  Armstrong's  Notices  of  the  War  of  1812;  Mansfield's 
Life  and  Services  of  General  Winfield  Scott;  Baylis's  Battle  of  Queenston;  Files  of  the  New  York  Herald,  or  semi-weekly 
Evening  Post;  James's  Military  Occurrences  of  the  Late  War;  Auchinleck's  History  of  the  War  c/1812;  Tupper's  Life 
and  Correspondence  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock ;  Christie's  Military  Operations  in  Canada ;  Jarvis's  Narrative ;  Manuscript  Jour 
nal  of  Major  Merritt;  Symonds's  Battle  of  Queenston  Heights. 

1  British  writers  widely  disagree  in  their  estimates  concerning  the  Indian  force  on  that  occasion.    It  is  known  that 
there  were  some  with  Dennis  in  the  morning,  that  others  accompanied  Sheaffe  from  Fort  George  in  the  afternoon,  and 
that  he  was  joined  on  the  Heights  by  others  from  Chippewa.    I  think  the  Six  Nations  were  represented  on  that  day  by 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  warriors. 

2  General  Sheaffe  named  almost  every  commissioned  officer  engaged  in  the  battle  as  entitled  to  high  praise.    He  spe 
cially  commended  Captain  Holcroft,  of  the  Royal  Artillery,  for  his  skillful  and  judicious  use  of  the  ordnance  in  his 
charge  ;  also  Lieutenant  Crowther  for  similar  service.    He  gave  credit  to  Captain  Glegg,  Brock's  aid-de-camp,  for  great 
assistance ;  also  to  Lieutenant  Fowler,  assistant  deputy  quarter-master  general,  Lieutenant  Kerr,  of  the  Gleugary  Fen- 
cibles,  Lieutenant  Colonels  Butler  and  Clarke,  and  Captains  Hall,  Durand,  Rowe,  Applegarth,  James  Crooks,  Cooper, 
Robert  Hamilton,  M'Ewen,  andDuncan  Cameron.    Lieutenants  Richardson  and  Thomas  Butler,  and  Major  Merritt,  of 
the  Niagara  Dragoons,  were  all  highly  spoken  of.    He  added  to  the  list  of  honor  the  names  of  Volunteers  Shaw,  Thom 
son,  and  Jarvis.    The  latter  (G.  S.  Jarvis)  wrote  an  interesting  account  of  the  battle.    He  was  attached  to  the  light  com 
pany  of  the  Forty-ninth  Regiment.    Upon  Major  General  Brock,  his  slain  aid-de-camp  (Colonel  M'Donell),  and  Captains 
Dennis  and  Williams,  he  bestowed  special  and  deserved  encomium  for  their  gallantry. 

In  contrast  with  this  dispatch  of  General  Sheaffe  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  written  at  Fort  George  on  the  evening  of  the 
day  of  battle,  is  that  ot  General  Van  Rensselaer  to  General  Dearborn,  written  at  Lewiston  on  the  following  day.  He 
gives  a  general  statement  of  important  events  connected  with  the  battle,  but  when  he  comes  to  distribute  the  honors 
among  those  who  are  entitled  to  receive  them,  he  omits  the  name  of  every  officer  who  was  engaged  in  storming  and 
carrying  the  Heights  of  Queenston,  the  chief  object  of  the  expedition.  The  name  of  Captain  Wool,  the  hero  of  the  day 
until  the  tide  of  victory  was  turned  against  the  Americans,  is  not  even  mentioned.  Byron  defined  military  glory  as 
"  being  shot  through  the  body,  and  having  one's  name  spelled  wrong  in  the  gazettes."  Worse  fate  than  that  would 
have  been  that  of  Wool  and  the  storming-party  had  History  confined  her  investigations  to  Van  Rensselaer's  report. 
He  expressed  his  great  obligations  to  General  Wadsworth,  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer,  Lieutenant  Colonels  Scott,  Chrys- 
tie,  and  Fen  wick,  and  Captain  Gibson,  all  of  whom  were  gallant  men,  and  performed  their  duties  nobly  in  the  after  part 
of  the  day,  but  not  one  of  them  had  a  share  in  the  capture  of  the  Heights,  the  defeat  of  Major  General  Brock,  and  the 
winnings  of  victory.  Van  Rensselaer  was  wounded  and  taken  to  Lewiston  before  daylight.  Fenwick  was  wounded 
while  crossing  the  river  and  taken  prisoner.  Chrystie  was  not  on  the  battle-field  until  the  morning  victories  were  all 
won  under  Wool.  How  General  Van  Rensselaer  could  have  made  such  a  report  is  a  mystery.  It  is  due  to  his  candor 
and  sense  of  justice  to  say  that  he  was  doubtless  misled  by  the  reports  of  interested  parties,  for  as  soon  as  he  perceived 
the  injustice  that  was  done  to  brave  officers,  he  did  all  in  his  power  to  remedy  the  evil.  In  his  report  to  Colonel  Van 
Rensselaer,  on  the  23d  of  October,  Captain  Wool  made  special  mention  of  the  officers  who  acted  with  him  on  that  day, 
and  these  General  Van  Rensselaer  took  occasion  to  name  in  a  special  manner  in  a  letter  to  Brigadier  General  Smyth 
announcing  his  resignation,  written  at  Buffalo  bn  the  24th.  In  a  letter  to  Captain  Wool  in  December  following,  Gen 
eral  Van  Rensselaer  said,  "I  was  not  sufficiently  informed  to  do  justice  to  your  bravery  and  good  conduct  in  the  attack 
of  the  enemy  on  the  Heights  of  Queenston."  He  then  expressed  the  hope  that  the  government  would  notice  his  merits 
on  that  occasion. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


405 


Scott's  Encounter  with  Indians. 


Object  of  their  Visit. 


A  combined  Triumphal  and  Funeral  Procession. 


to  have  hit  somewhere  !"  The  indignant  officer  thrust  the  savage  from  him,  ex 
claiming,  "  Hands  off,  you  villain  !  You  fired  like  a  squaAV  !"  Both  assailants  im 
mediately  loosened  their  knives  and  tomahawks  from  their  girdles,  and  were  about 
to  spring  upon  Scott,  while  Jacobs  exclaimed, "  We  kill  you  now  !'"  when  the  assailed 
rushed  to  the  end  of  the  hall,  where  the  swords  of  the  captured  officers  stood,  seized 
the  first  one,  drew  the  blade  from  its  steel  scabbard  as  quick  as  lightning,  arid  was 
about  to  bring  the  heavy  weapon  with  deadly  force  upon  the  Indians,  when  a  British 
officer  entered,  seized  Jacobs  by  the  arms,  and  shouted  for  the  guard.1  Jacobs  turned 
fiercely  upon  the  officer,  exclaiming,  "  I  kill  you,"  when  Scott,  with  the  heavy  sabre 
raised,  called  out,  "If  you  strike  I'll  kill  you  both."  For  a  moment  the  eyes  of  the 
group  gleamed  with  fury  upon  their  antagonist,  and  a  scene  was  presented  equal  to 
any  thing  in  the  songs  of  the  Troubadours  or  the  sagas  of  the  Norsemen.  The  gust 
of  passion  was  momentary,  and  then  the  Indians  put  up  their  weapons  and  slowly  re 
tired,  muttering  imprecations  on  all  white  men  and  all  the  laws  of  war.2  "  Beyond 
doubt,"  says  his  biographer,3 "  it  was  no  part  of  the  young  chief's  design  to  inflict  in 
jury  upon  the  captive  American  commander.  His  whole  character  forbids  the  idea, 
for  he  was  as  generous  and  benevolent  in  his  feelings  as  he  was  brave."  It  is  be 
lieved  that  their  visit  to  Scott  was  one  of  curiosity  only,  for,  having  tried  so  repeat 
edly  to  hit  him  with  their  bullets,  they  were  anxious  to  know  how  nearly  they  had 
accomplished  their  object.  But  it  can  not  be  denied  that  the  exasperation  of  the  In 
dians  against  Scott,  because  of  their  losses  on  the  Heights,  was  very  great — so  great 
that  while  he  remained  at  Niagara  he  could  not  move  from  his  lodgings  in  safety, 
even  to  visit  the  head-quarters  of  General  Sheaffe,4  without  a  guard. 


When  General 
Sheaffe  marched  in 
triumph  from 
Queenston  to  New 
ark,  he  took  with 
him  the  body  of 
the  slain  General 
Brock,  which  had 
been  concealed  in  a 
house  near  where  he 
fell.  The  march  had 
a  twofold  aspect.  It 
was  a  triumphal  and 
a  funeral  procession. 
At  Newark  the  body 
was  placed  in  the 
government  hoiise, 


October  1C, 
1812. 


NEW  MAGAZINE  AT  FOKT  GEORGE. 


and  there  it  lay  in 
state  three  days, 
when  it  was  bu 
ried*  in  a 
new  cav 
alier  bastion  in 
Fort  George,  whose 
erection  he  had  su 
perintended  with 
great  interest.  By 
the  side  of  Brock's 
remains  were  laid 
those  of  his  provin 
cial  aid  -  de  -  camp. 
Lieutenant  Colonel 
M'Donell.5  The  fu 
neral  ceremonies 


1  This  was  Colonel  Coffin,  who  had  been  sent  by  General  Sheaffe,  with  a  guard,  to  invite  the  American  officers  to  hit* 
table  at  his  quarters.  2  Stone's  Life  of  Brant,  ii.,  514 ;  Mansfield's  Life  of  Scott,  page  46. 

3  William  L.  Stone.    At  the  close  of  his  Life,  of  Joseph  Brant,  Stone  gives  an  interesting  sketch  of  the  life  of  John 
Brant. 

*  Roger  H.  Sheaffe  was  a  native  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  was  a  lad  living  there  with  his  widowed  mother  at  the 
opening  of  the  Revolution.     Earl  ^^  nation  to  provide  for  him.    He  gave 

Percy's  head-quarters  were  at  their        *• — /^~t  _  /^}  him  a  military  education,  placed  him 

house  while  the  British  occupied  the     [     S/^/~^7/  ^^^  in  the  army,  and  procured  commis- 

town,  and  his  lordship  became  much 

attached  to  the  boy ;  so  much  so  that, 

with  the  consent  of  his  mother,  tie 

took  him  away  with  him  at  the  evac- 

tioned  iu  Canada  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.    He  at  once  stated  frankly  his  reluctance  to  serve  against  his  native 

country,  and  solicited  a  transfer  to  some  other  field  of  duty.    His  request  was  not  granted.    For  his  gallant  conduct. 

and  winning  victory  on  the  Heights  of  Queeuston,  he  was  created  a  baronet,  and  ever  afterward  was  known  as  Sir 

Roger  Sheaffe.    General  Sheaffe  was  bora  on  the  17th  of  July,  1TG3,  and  entered  the  British  army  on  the  1st  of  May. 

1TT8. 

5  The  cavalier  bastion  where  Brock  and  his  aid  were  buried  is  near  what  is  known  as  the  new  magazine,  in  Fort 


s^     ^    sions  and  promotions  for  him  as  fast 

{/Lff^-^/     as  possible.    His  promotion  to  ma- 

///  jor  general  was  acquired  on  account 

of  meritorious  service.    He  was  sta- 


406 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Respect  for  Brock  awarded  by  the  Americans.       Brock's  Funeral.       Honored  by  his  Government  and  the  Canadians. 

were  arranged  by  his  other  aid,  Captain  Glegg  ;T  and  when  they  were  over,  the 
Americans  at  Fort  Niagara  and  at  Lewiston  fired  minute-guns,  as  a  mark  of  respect 
due  to  a  brave  enemy,  by  command  of  Major  General  Van  Rensselaer.  An  armistice 
for  a  few  days  had  been  agreed  upon  by  Van  Rensselaer  and  Sheaffe,  which  gave  the 

George.  That  magazine  is  represented  in  the  engraving  on  the  preceding  page.  Behind  it  are  seen  the  earthen  ram 
parts  of  the  fort  as  they  appeared  when  I  visited  it  in  I860.  The  place  of  the  bastion  is  indicated  by  the  hollow  and 
opening  in  the  fence  on  the  right  of  the  picture. 

i  The  following  was  the  order  of  the  procession :  1.  Fort-major  Campbell.  2.  Sixty  men  of  the  Forty-first  Regiment, 
commanded  by  a  subaltern.  3.  Sixty  of  the  militia,  commanded  by  a  captain.  4.  Two  six-pounders  firing  minute-guns. 
5.  Remaining  corps  and  detachments  of  the  garrison,  with  about  two  hundred  Indians,  in  reverse  order,  forming  a  street 
through  which  the  procession  passed,  extending  from  the  government  house  to  the  garrison.  6.  Baud  of  the  Forty-first 
Regiment.  1.  Drums,  covered  with  black  cloth  and  muffled.  8.  Late  general's  horse,  fully  caparisoned,  led  by  four 
grooms.  9.  Servants  of  the  general.  10.  The  general's  body-servant.  11.  Surgeon  Muirhead,  Doctor  Moore,  Doctor 
Kerr,  and  Staff-surgeon  Thorn.  11.  Rev.  Mr.  Addison.  Then  followed  the  body  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Donell,  with 
the  following  gentlemen  as  pall-bearers:  Captain  A.  Cameron,  Lieutenant  Robinson  (late  chief  justice  of  Canada), 
J.  Edwards,  Lieutenant  Jarvis,  Lieutenant  Ridout,  and  Captain  Crooks.  The  chief  mourner  was  the  brother  of  the 
deceased. 

The  body  of  General  Brock  followed,  with  the  following  pall-bearers :  Mr.  James  Coffin,  Captains  Vigoreaux,  Derenzy, 
Dennis,  Holcroft,  and  Williams,  Major  Merritt,  Lieutenant  Colonels  Clarke  and  Butler,  and  Colonel  Claus,  supported  by 
Brigade  Major  Evans  and  Captain  Glegg.  The  chief  mourners  were  Major  General  Sheaffe,  Ensign  Coffin,  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Myers,  and  Lieutenant  Fowler.  These  were  followed  by  the  civil  staff,  friends  of  the  deceased,  and  the  inhab 
itants. 

General  Brock  had  become  greatly  endeared  to  the  Canadians.  Gentlemanly  deportment,  kind  and  conciliating  man 
ners,  and  unrestrained  benevolence  were  his  prominent  characteristics.  He  died  unmarried,  precisely  a  week  after  he 
had  completed  his  forty-third  year.  His  dignity  of  person  has  already  been  described.  I  have  been  unable,  after  dil- 
igent  efforts,  to  obtain  his  portrait  or  his  autograph.  His  contemporaries  gave  many  tokens  of  respect  to  his  memory 
after  his  death.  "  Canadian  farmers,"  says  Howison,  in  his  Sketches  of  Canada,  "  are  not  overburdened  with  sensibility, 
yet  I  have  seen  several  of  them  shed  tears  when  a  eulogium  was  pronounced  upon  the  immortal  and  generous-minded 
deliverer  of  their  country."  The  Prince  Regent,  in  an  official  bulletin,  spoke  of  his  death  as  having  been  "sufficient  to 
have  clouded  a  victory  of  much  greater  importance."  The  muse  was  invoked  in  expressions  of  sympathy  and  sorrow. 
Among  poetical  effusions  which  the  occasion  elicited  was  the  following,  written  by  Miss  Ann  Bruyeres,  "an  extraor 
dinary  child  of  thirteen  years  old,"  the  daughter  of  the  general's  warm  friend,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bruyeres,  of  the  Royal 
Engineers : 

"  As  Fame  alighted  on  the  mountain's  crest, 
She  loudly  blew  her  trumpet's  mighty  blast ; 
Ere  she  repeated  Victory's  notes,  she  cast 
A  look  around  and  stopped.    Of  power  bereft, 
Her  bosom  heaved,  her  breath  she  drew  with  pain, 
Her  favorite  Brock  lay  slaughtered  on  the  plain  ! 
Glory  threw  on  his  grave  a  laurel  wreath, 
And  Fame  proclaims,  '  A  hero  sleeps  beneath.'  " 

Brock's  biographer  observes,  in  alluding  to  Fame  being  twice  mentioned  in  the  above  lines,  that  it  was  singular  that 
"  the  mournful  intelligence  of  Sir  Isaac  Brock's  death  was  brought  from  Quebec  to  Guernsey  [his  native  country]  by  the 
ship  Fame,  belonging  to  that  island,  on  the  24th  of  November,  two  days  before  it  was  known  in  London." — Tupper's 
Life  of  Brock,  page  330. 

By  direction  of  a  resolution  of  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  20th  of  July,  1813,  a  military  monument  by  Westmacott 
was  erected  to  his  memory  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London,  at  a  cost  of  nearly  eight  thousand  dollars.  It  is  in  the 
western  ambulatory  of  the  south  transept,  and  contains  an  effigy  of  the  hero's  body  reclining  in  the  arms  of  a  British 
soldier,  while  an  Indian  pays  the  last  tribute  of  respect.  The  monument  bears  the  following  inscription :  "  Erected,  at 

the  public  expense,  to  the  memory  of  MAJOR  GENERAL  SIR  ISAAC 
BROCK,  who  gloriously  fell  on  the  13th  of  October,  MDCCCXIL,  in 
resisting  an  attack  on  Queenston,  in  Upper  Canada."  In  addition 
to  this,  twelve  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Upper  Canada  were  be 
stowed  on  the  four  surviving  brothers  of  General  Brock,  and  each 
were  allowed  a  pension  of  one  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  life,  by 
a  vote  of  the  British  Parliament. 

The  Canadians  could  never  seem  to 
honor  him  enough.  In  1816  they  struck 
a  small  medal  to  his  memory :  and  soon 
afterward  steps  were  taken  in  the  prov 
ince  to  erect  a  suitable  monument  on 
Queenston  Heights,  not  far  from  the  spot 

where  he  fell.  They  raised  a  lofty  Tuscan  column,  135  feet  in  height  from  the  base  to  the 
summit.  The  diameter  of  the  base  of  the  column  was  seventeen  and  a  half  feet.  On  the 
summit  was  a  pedestal  for  a  statue.  Within  was  a  spiral  staircase  around  a  central  shaft.  In 
the  base  was  a  tomb.'-in  which  the  coflins  containing  the  remains  of  Brock  and  M'Donell 
were  deposited  on  the  13th  of  October,  1824.  Their  remains  were  conveyed  from  Fort  George 
to  their  last  resting-place  in  a  hearse  drawn  by  four  black  horses,  followed  by  an  immense 
military  and  civic  procession,  while  artillery  fired  a  salute  of  minute-guns.  This  monument 
stood,  the  pride  of  the  Canadians,  until  the  middle  of  April,  1840,  when  a  miscreant  named 
Lett,  a  fugitive  from  Canada,  who  had  become  implicated  in  the  disturbances  there  in  1837  and 
1838,  attempted  to  destroy  it  with  gunpowder.  He  succeeded  in  so  injuring  it  that  it  became 
necessary  to  pull  it  down.  A  meeting  was  held  on  the  Heights  in  July  following,  at  which 
the  late  Sir  Allan  M'Nab  made  a  stirring  speech,  when  it  was  resolved  to  erect  a  new  monument.  It  was  estimated 
that  eight  thousand  persons  were  present,  and  a  salute  was  fired  by  the  Royal  Artillery.  That  meeting  and  the  new 
monument  will  be  considered  in  the  next  chapter. 


IN  MEMORY   OP   GENERAL   BROCK. 


BROCK'S  MONUMENT. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


407 


Lovett  on  Lewiston  Heights.          Transfer  of  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  from  Queenston  to  Albany.  His  Reception. 

two  commanders  an  opportunity  for  the  exchange  of  those  humane  courtesies  which 
should  never  be  lost  sight  of  amid  the  tumults  of  war.1 

Let  us  turn  back  and  consider  for  a  moment  what  occurred  on  the  American  side 
in  connection  with  the  battle  of  Queenston.  At  Lewiston,  Lovett,2  as  we  have  seen, 
was  placed  in  charge  of  an  eighteen-pounder  in  battery  on  the  Heights,3  where  he  per 
formed  good  service  in  covering  the  par 
ty  that  crossed  before  daylight.  It  be 
ing  dark,  he  stooped  close  to  the  gun  to 
observe  its  aim,  when  it  was  discharged, 
and  the  concussion  so  injured  his  ears 
that  he  was  much  deaf  ever  afterward. 
Soon  after  this  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer 
was  brought  over  from  the  Canada  shore 
with  five  bleeding  wounds.  He  had  been 
sick  with  fever,  and  had  left  his  bed  to 
attend  to  preparations  for  the  invasion. 
The  disease  and  his  wounds  so  prostrated 
him  that  for  several  days  his  life  was  in 
extreme  peril.4  It  was  not  until  five 
days  after  the  battle  that  he  could  be 
moved  from  Lewiston.  Then  a  cot  was 
rigged  with  cross-bars  and  side-poles,  on 
'October,  which  he  was  carried,  on  the 

1812-  '  18th,a  to  Schlosser  by  a  detach 
ment  of  Major  Moseby's  militia  riflemen. 
On  the  following  day  he  was  / 

taken  by  the  same  party  by  land  JS 
and  water  to  Buffalo.5  There  he  C~^^)  l_ 
remained  until  the  9th  of  Novem 
ber,  and  was  then  conveyed  to  his  home  at  Mount  Hope,  near  Albany,  accompanied, 
as  he  had  been  since  his  removal  from  Lewiston,  by  Mr.  Lovett.  They  were  met  in 
the  suburbs  of  Albany  by  a  cavalcade  of  citizens,  and  Van  Rensselaer  was  received 
with  the  honors  of  a  victor.6 


1  The  correspondence  between  the  generals  may  be  found  in  Van  Rensselaer's  Narrative,  already  alluded  to. 

2  John  Lovett  was  a  resident  of  Albany  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  was  a  leading  man  in  the  profession  of  the  law 


there.  General  Van  Rensse 
laer,  his  early  friend,  invited 
him  to  become  his  aid  and 
military  secretary.  "  I  am  not 
a  soldier," said  Lovett.  "It  is 
not  your  sword,  but  your  pen 
that  I  want,"  replied  Van 
Rensselaer.  Mr.  Lovett  was 
elected  to  a  seat  in  Congress 


in  1S13,  when  he  renewed  his 
acquaintance  with  Governor 
Meigs,  and  through  his  influ 
ence  purchased  a  tract  of  land 
on  the  Maumee,  and  com 
menced  a  settlement  which 
he  named  Perrysburg,  in  hon 
or  of  the  gallant  hero  of  Lake 
Erie.  There  he  resided,  but 


he  was  early  cut  off  by  the  prevailing  fever  of  the  country.  He  died  at  Fort  Meigs  in  August,  1818,  at  the  early  age  of 
fifty-two  years.  For  a  more  extended  sketch  of  Mr.  Lovett's  life,  see  Reminiscences  of  Troy,  by  John  Woodworth. 

3  This  battery  was  called  Fort  Gray,  in  honor  of  Nicholas  Gray,  acting  engineer,  under  whose  supervision  it  was 
arranged.  ' 

*  Arad  Joy,  Esq.,  who  was  paymaster  of  Colonel  Henry  Bloom's  regiment,  and  acting  quartermaster  on  the  day  of 
the  battle,  wrote  to  me  on  the  15th  of  March,  1852,  giving  me  an  account  of  his  experience  on  the  Lewiston  side  of  the 
river.  He  had  charge  of  the  wagons  that  conveyed  the  wounded  to  the  hospital  on  the  ridge  road,  two  miles  from  the 
village.  Of  Van  Rensselaer  he  says :  "  The  loss  of  blood  caused  him  to  be  chilly.  He  sat  upon  a  board  across  the  top 
of  the  wagon-box,  without  a  groan  ;  and  as  we  met  the  soldiers  going  to  the  river  to  cross,  he  would  call  out  at  the  top 
of  his  voice,  'Go  on,  my  brave  fellows,  the  day  is  our  own.1  It  cheered  up  and  encouraged  them.  He  was  taken  to 
good  quarters  in  a  private  house.  The  head  surgeon,  with  his  instruments,  was  along.  We  carried  him  into  the  house 
and  seated  him  on  a  chair.  His  boots  were  filled  with  blood,  which  was  gushing  from  his  thigh,  and  plainly  to  be  seen 
through  his  pantaloons.  The  boots,  at  Van  Rensselaer's  request,  were  cut  from  his  feet." 

5  At  Buffalo,  on  the  24th,  Van  Rensselaer  used  a  pen  for  the  first  time  since  receiving  his  wounds,  and  wrote  to  his 
wife.    That  letter  is  before  me.    It  is  filled  with  expressions  of  gratitude  toward  General  Van  Rensselaer,  and  con 
cludes  by  saying :  "  I  congratulate  you  on  the  birth  of  our  little  boy.    That  this  should  have  taken  place  on  the  same 
night  I  made  the  attack  on  the  British  is  singular.    He  must  be  a  soldier." 

6  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer  was  born  in  Greenbush,  opposite  Albany,  in  the  old  house  known  as  the  Garret  mansion, 


408  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Events  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Niagara  River.  Account  of  Port  Niagara.  Disposal  of  the  American  Prisoners. 

While  the  stirring  events  at  Queenston  were  in  progress  in  the  morning,  there  was 
a  lively  time  at  Forts  George  and  Niagara.1  So  soon  as  Brock  heard  the  state  of 
affairs  at  Queenston,  he  sent  down  word  to  Brigade  Major  Evans,  who  had  been  left 
in  charge  of  Fort  George,  to  open  a  cannonade  upon  Fort  Niagara.  He  did  so,  and 
received  a  sharp  reply  from  the  south  block-house  of  the  American  fortress,  which 
was  in  charge  of  Captain  M'Keon.  That  officer  turned  his  guns  upon  the  village  of 
Newark  also  when  charged  with  hot  shot,  and  «everal  buildings  were  set  on  fire.  The 
cannonade  continued  some  time,  when  Evans,  aided  by  Colonel  Claus  and  Captain 
Vigoreux,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  opened  a  severe  bombardment  upon  Fort  Niagara. 
Already  the  bursting  of  a  twelve-pounder  had  deprived  the  Americans  of  their  best 
weapon.  This  fact,  and  the  exposed  condition  of  the  fort  under  the  attack  of  shells, 
caused  Captain  Leonard,  the  commandant  of  the  garrison,  to  abandon  it.  The  troops 
had  not  proceeded  far  when  they  observed  British  boats,  filled  with  armed  men,  leaving 
the  Canada  shore  for  Fort  Niagara,  evidently  with  the  intention  of  securing  a  lodg 
ment  there.  M'Keon  immediately  returned  with  his  little  force,  remained  there  unmo 
lested  over  night,  and  was  joined  by  the  remainder  of  the  garrison  the  next  morning. 

The  American  militia  officers  and  privates  captured  at  Queenston  were  paroled  and 
sent  across  the  river,  but  those  of  the  regular  army  were  detained  as  prisoners  of  war 
for  exchange.2  These  were  sent  to  Quebec,  and  from  there,  in  a  cartel?  to  Boston,  ex 
cept  twenty-three,  who  were  claimed  as  British  subjects,  and  were  sent  to  England 
to  be  tried  for  treason.4  The  energetic  action  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott  then  and 

in  1774.  His  father  was  a  brave  officer  of  the  Revolution  (Henry  Killiau  Van  Rensselaer),  who  was  severely  wounded 
in  the  thigh  in  a  battle  near  Fort  Ann  in  17T7.  He  was  then  a  colonel.  The  bullet,  which  was  not  extracted  until  after 
his  death,  forty  years  later,  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  family.  It  was  flattened  by  striking  the  thigh  bone.  His  son 
Solomon  inherited  his  military  disposition,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  entered  the  army  under  Wayne  as  a  cornet 
of  cavalry  in  the  same  battalion  with  the  late  President  Harrison.  He  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  a  troop  [July 
1, 1798]  before  he  was  twenty.  He  was  shot  through  the  lungs  in  the  battle  at  the  Rapids  of  the  Miami  or  Maumee  in 
August,  1794.  In  1798,  when  war  with  France  seemed  inevitable,  Washington  sent  for  Van  Rensselaer,  inquired  about 
the  state  of  his  wounds,  and  soon  afterward  [January,  1800]  he  was  appointed  a  major  of  cavalry.  When  the  army  was 
disbanded  he  went  into  civil  pursuits,  but  was  called  to  the  responsible  post  of  Adjutant  General  of  New  York  in  Janu 
ary,  1801.  He  held  that  office  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  at  the  solicitation  of  his  uncle,  General  Van  Reusselaer,  he 
took  a  position  on  his  staff.  His  services  at  Queenston  have  been  recorded  in  the  text.  That  event  closed  his  military 
life,  except  as  major  general  of  the  militia  in  1819.  Monroe  appointed  him  post-master  at  Albany,  and  he  held  that  po 
sition  until  removed  by  Van  Buren.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Whig  Convention  that  nominated  his  friend  Harrison 
for  the  presidency  in  1839.  Harrison  reinstated  him  in  the  post-office  at  Albany,  from  which  ho  was  removed  by  John 
Tyler.  He  died  at  his  residence  at  Cherry  Hill,  about  a  mile  south  of  State  Street,  Albany,  on  the  24th  of  April,  1852,  in 
the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age.  Cherry  Hill  is  a  most  beautiful  spot,  westward  of  the  rural  extension  of  Pearl  Street. 
It  overlooks  the  Hudson,  and  commands  a  fine  view  of  the  country  eastward  of  the  river.  I  remember  a  visit  to  that 
mansion  several  years  ago  (then  occupied  by  his  daughters)  with  much  pleasure.  His  residence  during  the  war  of  1812 
was  called  Mount  Hope,  and  is  a  little  south  of  Cherry  Hill. 

1  Fort  Niagara  was  commenced  as  early  as  1G79,  when  La  Salle,  a  French  explorer,  inclosed  a  small  spot  there  with 
palisades.    In  1GS7,  DeNonville,  a  French  commander,  constructed  a  quadrangular  fort  there  with  four  bastions.    The 
Senecas  attacked,  a  fatal  disease  followed,  and  the  fort  was  abandoned.    In  17'25,  the  French,  who  still  occupied  the  spot, 
built  quite  a  strong  fortification  there.    It  was  taken  from  them  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  with  a  force  of  British  and 
Indians,  in  1759.    It  then  covered  about  eight  acres,  having  been  enlarged  and  strengthened  from  time  to  time  until  it 
had  become  a  regular  fort  of  great  resisting  power.    It  never  again  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  French.    During  the 
Revolution  it  was  the  rendezvous  of  the  Tories  and  Indians,  who  desolated  Central  New  York,  and  sent  predatory  parties 
into  Pennsylvania.    "It  was  the  head-quarters,"  says  Deveaux,  "of  all  that  was  barbarous,  unrelenting,  and  cruel.    There 
were  congregated  the  leaders  and  chiefs  of  those  bands  of  murderers  and  miscreants  who  carried  death  and  desolation 
into  the  remote  American  settlements.    There  civilized  Europe  reveled  with  savage  Americans,  and  ladies  of  educa 
tion  and  refinement  mingled  in  the  society  of  those  whose  only  distinction  was  to  wield  the  bloody  tomahawk  and  the 
scalping-knife.    There  the  squaws  of  the  forests  were  raised  to  eminence,  and  the  most  unholy  unions  between  them 
and  officers  of  highest  rank  smiled  upon  and  countenanced.    There,  in  the  strong-hold,  like  a  nest  of  vultures,  securely 
for  some  years  they  sallied  forth  and  preyed  upon  the  distant  settlements  of  the  Mohawk  and  Susquehanna  valleys. 
It  was  the  depot  of  their  plunder.    There  they  planned  their  forays,  and  there  they  returned  to  feast  until  the  time  of 
action  came  again."— Deveaux's  Falls  of  Niagara.    Fort  Niagara  remained  in  possession  of  the  British  until  179G.    It  was 
then  commanded  by  Colonel  Smith,  who  led  the  British  in  the  fight  at  Concord  in  1775.    It  has  been  well  observed  that 
"Colonel  Smith  may  with  propriety  be  said  to  have  participated  in  both  the  opening  and  closing  acts  of  the  American 
revolution." 

2  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  regular  officers  who  were  surrendered :  Colonel  Scott,  Lieutenant  Colonels  Christie  and 
Fenwick  (the  former  slightly,  the  latter  badly  wounded),  Major  Mnllany,  Captains  Gibson,  M'Chesney,  and  Ogilvie,  Lieu- 
Tenants  Randolph,  Kearney,  Sammons,  Huguuin,  Fink,  Carr,  Turner,  Totten,  Bailey,  Phelps,  Clarke  (wounded),  and 
M'Carty,  and  Ensign  Reeve. 

3  A  cartel  ship  is  a  vessel  commissioned  in  time  of  war  to  carry  prisoners  for  exchange,  or  messages  from  one  belliger 
ent  to  another. 

*  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  American  prisoners  were  cruelly  treated.    Much  testimony  on  the  subject  was  col 
lected  by  a  committee  of  Congress,  appointed  for  the  purpose,  in  the  summer  of  1813.    It  was  in  evidence  that  when 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  409 


Scott's  bold  Protection  of  Fellow-prisoners.     Retaliation  authorized  by  Congress.     Concerning  Perpetual  Allegiance. 

afterward  saved  them  from  death.  When  the  prisoners  were  about  to  sail  from  Que 
bec,  a  party  of  British  officers  came  on  board  the  cartel,  mustered  the  captives,  and 
commenced  separating  from  the  rest  those  who,  by  their  accent,  were  found  to  be 
Irishmen.  These  they  intended  to  send  to  England  for  trial  as  traitors  in  a  frigate 
lying  near,  in  accordance  with  the  doctrine  that  a  British  subject  can  not  expatriate 
himself.1  Scott,  who  was  below,  hearing  a  tumult  on  deck,  went 'up.  He  was  soon 
informed  of  the  cause,  and  at  once  entered  a  vehement  protest  against  the  proceed 
ings.  He  commanded  his  soldiers  to  be  absolutely  silent,  that  their  accent  might  not 
betray  them.  He  was  repeatedly  ordered  to  go  below,  and  as  repeatedly  refused. 
The  soldiers  obeyed  him.  Twenty-three  had  already  been  detected  as  Irishmen,  but 
not  another  one  became  a  victim.  The  twenty-three  were  taken  on  board  the  frigate 
in  irons.  Scott  boldly  assured  them  that  if  the  British  government  dared  to  injure  a 
hair  of  their  heads,  his  own  government  would  fully  avenge  the  outrage.  He  at  the 
same  time  as  boldly  defied  the  menacing  officers,  and  comforted  the  manacled  prison 
ers  in  every  possible  way.  Scott  was  exchanged  in  January,  1813,  and  at  once  sent 
a  full  report  of  this  affair  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  He  hastened  to  Washington  in 
person,  and  pressed  the  subject  upon  the  attention  of  Congress.  A  bill  was  intro 
duced  to  vest  "  the  President  of  the  United  States  with  powers  of  retaliation."2  It 
originated  in  the  Senate,  and  would  have  passed  both  houses  but  for  the  conceded 
fact  that  such  powers  were  already  fully  contained  in  the  general  constitutional 
powers  of  the  President  to  conduct  the  war.  Fortunately  for  the  credit  of  common 
humanity,  the  President  never  had  occasion  to  exercise  that  power  to  the  extent  of 
life-taking,  for  the  British  government  wisely  and  prudently  abstained  from  carrying 
out  in  practice,  in  the  case  of  American  prisoners,  its  cherished  doctrine  of  perpetual 
allegiance.3 

prisoners  arrived  at  Plymouth  they  were  sent  to  Mill  prison  for  one  day  and  night,  and  all  the  food  allowed  them  "  for 
the  twenty-four  hours  were  three  small  salt  herrings,  or  about  the  same  weight  of  salted  codfish,  or  half  a  pound  of 
beef,  one  and  a  half  pounds  of  black  bread,  a  little  salt,  etc."  On  the  second  day  they  were  paroled,  and  sent  twenty- 
four  miles  from  Plymouth,  at  the  expense  of  the  prisoners,  where  they  were  allowed  scarcely  sufficient  to  drive  starva 
tion  away.  It  was  testified  that  the  prisoners  were  kept  in  a  half-starved  state,  it  being  "the  policy  of  the  British 
government,"  according  to  the  memorial  of  "James  Orne,  Joseph  B.  Cook,  Thomas  Humphries,  and  others,"  as  they 
solemnly  believed,  "  to  select  the  sickly  to  be  first  sent  in  cartels,  and  keep  the  hale  and  hardy  seamen  until  they  become 
sickly,  thus  rendering  the  whole  of  these  gallant  sous  of  Neptune  who  escape  death,  when  they  return  to  their  homes,  at 
least  for  some  time,  perfectly  useless  to  themselves,  and  quite  so  to  their  country,  from  their  debilitated  state." 

American  prisoners  were  actually  hired  out  in  the  British  service,  as  appears  by  the  following  advertisement  in  a 
Jamaica  paper: 

"Port  Royal,  25th  Nov.,  1812. 

"  Masters  of  vessels  about  to  proceed  to  England  with  convoy  are  informed  that  they  may  be  supplied  with  a  limited 
number  of  American  seamen  (prisoners  of  war)  to  assist  in  navigating  their  vessels,  on  the  usual  terms,  by  applying  to 

"GEOKGE  MAUDE,  Agent." 
.     i  See  page  85. 

3  Only  two  months  after  the  passage  of  the  act,  Scott  himself,  as  commander  in  the  capture  of  Fort  George,  selected 
from  his  prisoners  twenty-three,  to  be  confined  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  to  abide  the  fate  of  those  sent  to  England 
from  Quebec. 

3  The  British  government  had  a  precedent  not  only  in  a  notable  case  in  its  own  history,  but  in  the  action  of  a  neigh 
boring  nation.  In  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  Doctor  Storey,  a  native  of  England,  quitted  his  country  and  became  a 
subject  of  Spain.  He  was  received  at  the  English  Court  as  embassador  from  his  adopted  country.  He  was  indicted  in 
England  for  treason,  when  he  pleaded  his  Spanish  citizenship.  It  availed  him  nothing.  His  plea  was  overruled,  and 
he  was  condemned  and  executed.  Colonel  Towuley,  an  Englishman  born,  became  naturalized  in  France,  but  on  being 
seized  while  bearing  arms  against  England,  was  executed  for  treason.  The  French  decree  of  Trianon  declared  that  no 
Frenchman  could  be  naturalized  abroad  without  the  consent  of  the  emperor,  and  that  such  that  may  be  naturalized 
abroad  without  his  consent  could  not  bear  arms  against  France.  The  American  judiciary  had  also  furnished  a  pre 
cedent.  Isaac  Williams,  an  American,  received  a  lieutenant's  commission  from  the  French  government  in  1792,  and 
served  in  the  French  navy.  In  1799  he  was  tried  before  Chief  Justice  Ellsworth  for  having  accepted  a  privateer's  com 
mission  from  the  French  Republic  to  commit  acts  of  hostility  against  Great  Britain,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  late  treaty  with  Great  Britain.  The  judge  decided  that  the  prisoner  was  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  the  emigration  of  a  citizen  implies  no  consent  of  the  government  that  he  should  expatriate  himself.— See  Per 
kins's  History  of  the  Political  and  Military  Events  of  the  Late  War,  page  2SS.  A  farther  notice  of  this  subject,  and  the 
views  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  expressed  by  Secretary  Monroe,  will  be  found  in  another  portion  of  this 
work. — See  Index. 

The  final  result  of  Scott's  humane  and  courageous  conduct  in  this  matter  was  very  gratifying  to  himself.  Almost  three 
years  after  the  event  at  Quebec  he  was  greeted  by  loud  huzzas  as  he  was  passing  a  wharf  on  the  East  River  side  of 
New  York  City.  It  came  from  a  group  of  Irishmen  who  had  just  landed  from  an  emigrant  ship.  They  were  twenty- 
one  of  the  twenty-three  prisoners  for  whom  he  had  cared  so  tenderly.  They  had  just  returned  after  a  long  confinement 
in  English  prisons.  They  recognized  their  benefactor,  and,  says  Scott's  biographer,  "  nearly  crushed  him  by  their  warm 
hearted  embraces."— Mansfield's  Lift  of  Scott. 


410  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Resignation  of  General  Van  Rensselaer.  Smyth  his  Successor.  Smyth's  pompous  Proclamations. 

General  Van  Rensselaer  was  disgusted  with  the  jealousies  of  some  of  the  regular 
officers  and  the  conduct  of  the  militia.  He  was  also  convinced  that  the  profession 
of  arms  was  not  the  sphere  in  which  he  would  be  most  useful.  On  the  24th  of  Octo 
ber  he  resigned  the  command  of  the  troops  on  the  Niagara  frontier  to  General  Smyth, 
and  soon  afterward  obtained  from  Governor  Tompkins  permission  to  leave  the  serv 
ice.1  Smyth's  pride  was  gratified,  and  it  was  soon  displayed  in  a  series  of  pompous 
proclamations,  which  created  both  merriment  and  disgust.  He  promised  so  largely 
and  performed  so  little  that  he  became  the  target  for  ridicule  and  satire  by  all  par 
ties.  In  his  first  proclamation,  issued  on  the  10th  of  November,  he  displayed  a  lack 
of  common  courtesy  and  good  taste  by  offensive  reflections  upon  Generals  Hull  and 
Van  Rensselaer.2  "  One  army,"  he  said,  "  has  been  disgracefully  surrendered  and 
lost.  Another  has  been  sacrificed  by  a  precipitate  attempt  to  pass  it  over  at  the 
strongest  point  of  the  enemy's  lines  with  most  incompetent  means.  The  cause  of 
these  miscarriages  is  apparent.  The  commanders  were  popular  men,  destitute  alike 
of  theory  and  experience  in  the  art  of  war."  "In  a  few  days,"  he  continued,  "the 
troops  under  my  command  will  plant  the  American  standard  in  Canada.  They  are 
men  accustomed  to  obedience,  silence,  and  steadiness.  They  will  conquer  or  they  will 
die.  Will  you  stand  with  your  arms  folded  and  look  on  this  interesting  struggle  ? 
Must  I  turn  from  you,  and  ask  men  of  the  Six  Nations  to  support  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  ?  Shall  I  imitate  the  officers  of  the  British  king,  and 
suffer  our  ungathered  laurels  to  be  tarnished  by  ruthless  deeds  ?3  Shame,  where  is 
thy  blush  ?  No.  Where  I  command,  the  vanquished  and  the  peaceful  man,  the  child, 
the  maid,  and  the  matron,  shall  be  secure  from  wrong.  The  present  is  the  hour  for 
renown.  Have  you  not  a  wish  for  fame  ?  Would  you  not  choose  in  future  times  to  be 
named  as  one  of  those  who,  imitating  the  heroes  whom  Montgomery  led,  have,  in  spite 
of  the  seasons,  visited  the  tomb  of  the  chief,  and  conquered  the  country  where  he  lies  ?" 

1  General  Van  Rensselaer  reached  Albany  on  Saturday  morning,  the  31st  of  October,  when  he  was  honored  by  a  pub 
lic  reception.   On  the  30th  the  Common  Council  of  Albany  appointed  three  of  their  members,  namely,  Tennis  Van  Vechten, 
Isaac  Hausen,  and  Peter  Boyd,  a  committee  for  the  purpose.    These  on  the  same  day  issued  a  little  handbill,  calling  upon 
the  people  to  meet  at  the  public  square  the  next  morning  at  eight  o'clock.    The  committee  also  recommended  that  such 
"  as  are  accommodated  with  horses  or  carriages  to  repair  to  the  house  of  Widow  Douw,  on  the  Albany  and  Schenectady 
turnpike,  for  the  purpose  of  escorting  Major  General  Van  Rensselaer  to  his  mansion-house  ;  and  the  residue  of  the  citi 
zens  are  requested  to  proceed  to  the  hay-scales,  and  there  join  the  escort."    The  reception  was  imposing,  and  highly 
gratifying  to  the  general.    Two  days  afterward  he  received  a  letter  from  the  debtors  in  the  Albany  jail,  who  had  expe 
rienced  his  bounty,  congratulating  him  on  his  return. 

2  "I  take  the  liberty,"  wrote  a  correspondent  of  General  Van  Rensselaer  from  Geneseo,  "to  inclose  you  a  copy  of  a 
handbill  from  General  Smyth,  which  was  circulated  yesterday  and  the  day  before  about  Batavia.    As  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  observe,  men  of  all  parties  unite  in  reprobating  the  attack  he  makes  upon  other  commanders.    I  suspect,  indeed, 
that  the  attack  is  the  main,  real  object  of  the  handbill."— Autograph  Letter  of  Samuel  M.  Hopkins,  November  14, 1812. 

3  Soon  after  the  commencement  of  hostilities  it  was  rumored  at  Buffalo  that  the  British  had  taken  possession  of  Grand 
Island,  in  the  Niagara  River,  which  belonged  to  the  Senecas,  one  of  the  Six  Nations.    Red  Jacket,  the  chief  of  the  Sen- 
ecas,  called  the  nation  to  a  council,  and  thereat  a  desire  was  expressed  to  go  and  drive  the  invaders  off.    At  a  subse 
quent  council,  where  there  was  a  large  attendance  of  the  nation,  a  formal  declaration  of  war  against  the  Canadas  was 
made  in  these  words : 

"We,  the  chiefs  and  councilors  of  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians,  residing  in  the  State  of  New  York,  do  hereby  proclaim 
to  all  the  war-chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  Six  Nations  that  war  is  declared  on  our  part  against  the  provinces  of  Upper 
and  Lower  Canada.  Therefore  we  hereby  command  and  advise  all  the  war-chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  Six  Nations  to 
call  forth  immediately  the  warriors  under  them,  and  put  them  in  motion  to  protect  their  rights  and  liberties,  which  our 
brethren,  the  Americans,  are  now  defending."* 

This  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  Indian  declaration  of  war  ever  committed  to  writing.  Although  the  services 
of  the  Indians  were  offered  to  General  Smyth,  he  declined  them,  because  the  government  of  the  United  States,  acting 
in  the  interest  of  common  humanity,  had  resolved  not  to  employ  the  savages  in  the  war  unless  compelled  to. 

*  Alluding  to  this  council,  Mr.  Lovett,  General  Van  Rensselaer's  military  secretary,  then  in  attendance  at  Buffalo  on 
Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  said:  "The  spirit  of  insubordination  seems  to  have  wound  its  way  among  the  sons 
of  Belial,  our  red  brethren.  Without  the  leave  or  knowledge  of  Mr.  Granger  [the  Indian  Superintendent],  they  have 
had  a  great  council  back  in  the  bush.  To  purge  away  this  horrid  sin  of  disobedience,  Mr.  G.,  the  good  Moses  of  these 
shabby  Israelites,  ordered  them  to  tread  back  their  steps  unsanctifled  by  his  behests,  and  to  cast  to  the  wind  the  wam 
pum,  and  the  belts,  and  all  the  records  of  their  abominable  council,  and  to  repair,  one  and  all,  before  the  high-priest  of 
the  temple  at  Buffalo,  to  have  their  souls  scrubbed  from  all  political  sins.  The  day  before  yesterday  hither  they  came— 
sachems,  chiefs,  and  warriors — old  and  young,  squaws  and  pappooses — with  all  of. intermediate  grades.  Such  a  thor 
ough  shaking  of  the  beggar-bag  of  poor  motley  human  nature  I  never  before  saw.  With  great  humility  all  confessed 
their  sins,  received  absolution,  and  washed  their  souls  in  whisky.  All  got  drunk,  wallowed  all  night  in  the  mud,  and 
the  next  day  went  home  to  their  wigwams  pure  and  humble,  chanting  the  praises  of  IMoses."— Autograph  Letter  to 
General  Van  Rensselacr,  November  6, 1812. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  411 

Smyth  and  his  Proclamations  ridiculed. 

In  another  proclamation  he  said :  "  Companions  in  arms  !  the  time  is  at  hand  when 
you  will  cross  the  stream  of  Niagara  to  conquer  Canada,  and  to  secure  the  peace  of 
the  American  frontier.  You  will  enter  a  country  that  is  to  be  one  of  the  United 

States Whatever  is  booty  by  the  usages  of  war  shall  be  yours."  He  offered 

two  hundred  dollars  apiece  for  horses  for  artillery  that  might  be  captured.  He  then 
boasted  of  the  superiority  of  the  American  soldiers  and  weapons,  and  unnecessarily 
offended  the  Federalists,  many  of  whom  were  in  the  ranks,  by  saying  to  the  volun 
teers,  "  Disloyal  and  traitorous  men  have  endeavored  to  dissuade  you  from  doing 
your  duty."  In  his  address  to  "  The  Army  of  the  Centre,"  as  he  called  the  little  force 
under  his  command,  he  said :  "  Soldiers  of  every  corps  !  it  is  in  your  power  to  retrieve 
the  honor  of  your  country,  and  to  cover  yourselves  with  glory.  Every  man  who  per 
forms  a  gallant  action  shall  have  his  name  made  known  to  the  nation.  Rewards  and 
honors  await  the  brave,  infamy  and  contempt  are  reserved  for  cowards.  Compan 
ions  in  arms  !  you  come  to  vanquish  a  valiant  foe.  I  know  the  choice  you  will  make. 
Come  on,  my  heroes  !  and  when  you  attack  the  enemy's  batteries,  let  your  rallying- 
word  be,  'The  cannon  lost  at  Detroit,  or  death  !'  'n 

When  these  proclamations  in  quick  succession  appeared,  the  general's  friends  smiled, 
the  enemy  laughed,  and  the  Opposition  press  teemed  with  squibs  and  epigrams.  He 
was  called  "  Alexander  the  Great,"  "  Napoleon  the  Second,"  etc.  A  wag  in  the  New 
York  Evening  Post  wrote  of  "  General  Smyth's  Bulletin  No.  2 :" 

"Just  so !  (and  every  wiser  head 

The  likeness  can  discover) 
We  put  a  chestnut  in  the  fire, 

And  pull  the  embers  over ; 
A  while  it  waxes  hot  and  hotter, 

And  eke  begins  to  hop, 
Aud  after  much  confounded  pother, 

Explodes  a  mighty  Pop .' ! .'" 

General  Smyth's  invasion  of  Canada  will  be  noticed  presently. 

i  General  Smyth's  magniloquence  was  equaled  only  by  Ross  Bird's,  a  captain  of  the  Third  United  States  Infantry, 
who,  in  great  indignation  because  of  some  offense,  offered  to  resign  his  commission.  His  letter  closed  with  the  follow 
ing  words  :  "  In  leaving  the  service  I  am  not  abandoning  the  cause  of  Republicanism,  but  yet  hope  to  brandish  the  glit 
tering  steel  in  the  field,  and  carve  my  way  to  a  name  which  shall  prove  my  country's  neglect ;  and  when  this  mortal 
shall  be  closeted  in  the  dust,  and  the  soul  shall  wing  its  flight  to  the  regions  above,  in  passing  by  the  pale-faced  moon 
I  shall  hang  my  hat  on  brilliant  Mars,  and  make  a  report  to  each  superlative  star,  and,  arriving  at  the  portals  of  heav 
en's  high  chancery,  shall  demand  of  the  attending  angel  to  be  ushered  into  the  presence  of  Washington ! 

"  Ross  BIED,  Captain. 
"Washington,  September  13, 1813. 

"  To  Lieutenant  Colonel  C.  C.  Russell." 

Captain  Bird  had  been  in  the  army  as  early  as  1791,  and  had  lately  been  promoted  to  major  of  infantry  in  the  new 
army. 


412  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Arrival  at  Niagara  Falls.  Departure  for  Qvteenston.  An  undesirable  Horse  and  Driver. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

"Alas  for  them  '  their  day  is  o'er, 
Their  fires  are  out  from  shore  to  shore ; 
No  more  for  them  the  wild  deer  bounds— 
The  plow  is  on  their  hunting-grounds." 

CIIAKLES  SPRA.GUE. 

the  middle  of  August,  1860, 1  visited  the  theatre  of  events  de- 
scr-ibed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  I  went  down  to  Niagara 
Falls  from  Buffalo  in  a  railway  train  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
16th.  A  violent  thunder-storm  greeted  our  arrival  at  five 
o'clock.  As  business,  not  pleasure,  was  my  errand  to  that  great 
gathering-place  of  the  fashionable  and  of  tourists  in  summer,  I 
rode  to  the  northern  part  of  the  village,  and  took  lodgings  at 
the  quiet  "  Niagara  House,"  where  I  found  room  in  abundance 
in  chamber  and  at  table.  On  the  following  morning,  accompanied  by  the  late  Colo 
nel  P.  A.  Porter,  then  a  resident  of  Niagara  Falls  village,  I  crossed  the  suspension 
bridge,  rode  up  the  western  bank  of  the  river  to  Street's  Creek,  opposite  Navy  Isl 
and,  and  visited  the  battle-ground  of  Chippewa  with  Colonel  Cummings,  a  surviving 
aid  of  the  British  general  Riall,  who  commanded  in  that  engagement.  Of  that  visit 
and  its  results  I  shall  write  hereafter. 

I  returned  to  the  Niagara  House  in  time  for  dinner,  and  at  four  o'clock  started  in 
an  old,  dusty  light  wagon,  with  a  jaded  horse,  for  Lewiston,  seven  miles  down  the 
river.  It  was  at  an  hour  when  every  body  was  on  the  road,  and  every  horse  and 
vehicle  were  employed.  I  was  left  without  choice,  and  felt  thankful  that  I  was  not 
compelled  to  go  afoot.  The  driver  was  a  rather  rough-cast  boy  of  sixteen  years,  with 
a  freckled  face,  a  turned-up  nose,  a  mischievous  gray  eye,  sandy  hair,  and  rather  in 
telligent,  but  uneducated.  The  horse  seemed  tipsy  as  well  as  tired,  for  he  was  con 
stantly  leaving  the  right  lines  of  the  highway.  His  coat  was  an  uncertain  brick 
color,  and  rough ;  the  harness  had  dotted  him  with  black  bare  spots ;  his  tail  and 
mane  were  thin  and  frizzled ;  one  of  his  ears  drooped,  and  his  gait,  at  best,  was  de 
cidedly  "gawky."  I  was  anxious  to  reach  Lewiston  in  time  to  cross  the  suspension 
bridge  to  Queenston,  and  visit  places  of  interest  there  before  sunset,  and  at  the  start 
the  boy  commenced  lashing  the  beast  unmercifully.  I  remonstrated.  "  Hain't  ye 
in  a  hurry?"  he  asked.  "Yes,  but  you  shall  not  torture  the  poor  horse  in  that  way," 
I  replied.  Such  mercy  surprised  him.  "  Why,  darn  it,"  he  said,  impatiently, "  I'm  so 
used  to  whippin'  I  can't  help  it.  I  never  knowed  a  man  afore  who  cared  a  whip-snap 
for  a  hired  hoss.  He  is  lazy,  mister — lazy,"  and  he  gave  the  poor  animal  another 
severe  stroke.  So  inveterate  was  the  boy's  cruel  habit  that  he  would  not  relinquish 
it  until  I  took  the  whip  from  him,  and  threatened  to  leave  him  by  the  road  side. 
Even  then  he  would  rise  occasionally  and  kick  the  horse  ;  harmlessly,  however,  for 
his  toes  were  ambitiously  getting  ahead  of  his  shoes. 

We  jogged  on  at  a  fair  rate  of  speed,  and  met  numerous  "  turn-outs"  superior  to 
our  own,  of  which  we  were  not  specially  proud.  Among  them  was  a  jaunty  little 
wagon  and  a  span  of  black  ponies,  driven  at  full  speed  by  the  owner,  the  wife  of  a 
New  York  city  editor.  Her  establishment  was  the  "  observed  of  all  observers,"  but 
we  were  not  jealous ;  indeed,  all  thoughts  of  the  road  and  its  frequenters  soon  faded 
when,  at  five  o'clock,  we  reached  the  brow  of  Lewiston  Heights  and  beheld  the  mag- 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  413 

Lewiston  Heights,  and  the  View  from  them.  Villages  of  Lewiston  and  Queenston.  The  Suspension  Bridge. 

nificent  panorama  before  us.  At  the  turn  of  the  road,  where  it  descends  the  Heights, 
I  alighted,  and  from  the  site  of  Fort  Gray,1  now  marked  by  slight  mounds,  I  obtained 
a  view  of  land  and  water  both  grand  and  beautiful.  On  the  left  was  seen  Queenston 
Heights,  on  which  stands  the  new  monument  erected  to  the  memory  of  General 
Brock.  At  their  base  lay  the  village  of  Queenston.  Farther  westward  a  glimpse 
of  St.  David's  was  obtained ;  and  northwestward,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  the 
level  country  was  dotted  with  woods  and  well-cultivated  farms.  At  our  feet  lay 
the  village  of  Lewiston;  and  stretching  away  to  the  northeast  was  the  vast  plain, 
much  of  it  covered  with  the  primeval  forest.  In  the  centre  was  the  glittering  line 
of  the  blue  Niagara  River.  Near  its  mouth  the  eye  could  discern  the  spires  of  Ni 
agara  (old  Newark),  on  the  Canada  side,  and  the  village  of  Youngstown,  with  the 
mass  of  old  Fort  Niagara  beyond,  on  the  American  side.  The  whole  horizon  north 
ward  was  bounded  by  the  dark  line  of  Lake  Ontario,  over  which  was  brooding  a 
thunder-storm,  flashing  fire  and  bellowing  angrily  as  it  moved  sullenly  eastward. 

Leaving  this  grand  observatory  with  reluctance,  we  made  our  way  down  the  sinu 
ous  road  to  Lewiston,  every  where  meeting,  in  the  descent,  geological  evidences  that 
this  bank  was  the  shore  of  an  ancient  lake  when  the  Falls  of  Niagara  were  doubtless 
at  this  place,  and  that  the  plain  on  which  the  village  stands  was  its  bed.  The  ridge 
is  composed  of  sand  and  gravel,  and  the  usual  debris  thrown  up  by  a  large  body  of 
water  in  character  essentially  different  from  the  surrounding  surface.  The  summit 
.of  the  Heights  is  here  thirty-four  feet  above  the  level  of  Lake  Erie.2 

We  passed  through  Lewiston3  (a  village  of  about  one  thousand  souls,  very  pleas 
antly  situated)  without  halting,  and  crossed  the  Niagara  River  to  Queenston,  over 
the  suspension  bridge,  a  magnificent  structure,  with  a  roadway  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  length,  twenty  feet  in  width,  and  sixty  feet  above  the  water.4  We  were 
at  Wadsworth's  Tavern,  in  Queenston,  and  had  engaged  lodgings  for  the  night  before 
six  o'clock;  and  we  immediately  rode  from  there  up  the  Heights  to  Brock's  Monu 
ment,  near  the  summit.  A  short  distance  above  the  residence  of  David  Thorburn, 
Esq.  (then  the  superintendent  of  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians  in  Canada),  at  the  turn 
of  the  road  from  the  highway  to  the  Falls,  well  up  the  acclivity,  we  passed  a  bury- 
ing-ground  which  marks  the  site  of  the  redan  battery.5  Soon  after  passing  this,  we 
came  to  the  eastern  entrance  to  the  monument  grounds  (about  forty  acres  in  extent), 
and  the  lodge  of  the  keeper,  George  Playter,  a  loyal  old  man,  whose  kind  courtesies 
I  remember  with  pleasure.  The  gate  is  of  wrought  iron,  highly  ornamented,  with 
cut-stone  piers  surmounted  with  the  arms  of  the  hero.  The  lodge  is  also  of  cut  stone. 
From  the  entrance  an  easy  carriage-way  winds  up  the  hill  to  an  avenue  one  hundred 
feet  wide,  which  terminates  at  the  monument  in  a  circle  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet 
in  diameter. 

1  See  note  3,  page  40T. 

2  Lake  Ontario  is  334  feet  lower  than  Lake  Erie.    The  current  of  the  Niagara  River  that  connects  them  is  not  very 
rapid  ahove  Schlosser  and  below  Lewiston,  and  the  river  makes  nearly  the  whole  of  that  descent  in  the  space  of  nine 
miles.    It  falls  perpendicularly  at  the  great  cataracts,  154  feet  on  the  Canada  side  of  Goat  Island,  and  163  feet  on  the 
American  side.    It  is  supposed  that  the  river  originally  flowed  over  the  face  of  the  precipice  at  Lewistou.    By  the  grad 
ual  wearing  away  of  the  rocks  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  the  Falls  have  receded  seven  miles,  becoming  continually  lower. 
"  The  precipice  over  which  the  present  Falls  flow  is  composed  of  solid  limestone,  with  shale  above  and  below.    The 
wearing  away  of  the  shale  above  has  formed  the  Rapids,  and  the  disintegration  of  that  below  has  left  the  limestone  in 
overhanging  masses  until  they  break  off  with  their  own  weight."— French's  Gazetteer  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

3  Lewiston  was  so  named  in  honor  of  Morgan  Lewis,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  Revolution,  and  governor  of  the  State 
of  New  York  in  1804. 

*  This  bridge  was  destroyed  by  a  gale  of  wind  at  the  close  of  1863.  Fortunately  no  life  was  lost.  The  Lockport  Jour 
nal  relates  the  following  incident  in  connection  with  its  destruction  :  "  During  the  day  upon  which  the  Lewiston  bridge 
was  carried  off  by  the  wind,  a  boy,  whose  parents  reside  in  Canada,  but  is  at  work  in  Lewiston,  went  over  to  Canada  on 
a  short  visit  to  his  parents.  Just  before  the  bridge  went  down,  the  boy  proposed  starting  for  his  place  of  business  ill 
Lewiston.  His  father  accompanied  him.  As  they  reached  the  bridge  it  was  swaying  to  and  fro  over  the  boiling  waters 
far  beneath.  The  boy  hesitated  a  moment,  but,  as  this  motion  of  the  bridge  was  not  unusual,  he  stepped  upon  it,  his  fa 
ther  still  with  him,  and  proceeded  to  cross.  They  both  went  to  about  the  middle,  when  the  rapid  and  unusual  motion 
of  the  bridge  greatly  increased  their  fear.  The  father  turned  about,  and  the  boy  went  on,  both  running  at  their  fastest 
speed  for  the  opposite  shore.  They  had  just  time  to  reach  the  shore  on  each  side  before  the  structure  was  borne  away." 

5  See  page  398. 


414 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


The  Monument  on  Queenston  Heights. 


The  monument  is  built  of  the  limestone 
is  placed  upon  a  slightly-raised  plat 
form  within  a  dwarf-walled  inclos- 
ure,  seventy-five  feet  square,  with  a 
fosse  around  the  interior.  At  each 
angle  of  this  inclosure  is  placed  mass 
ive  military  trophies,  wrought  out  of 
the  same  stone  as  that  of  the  monu 
ment,  and  about  twenty  feet  in  height. 
The  monument  is  built  upon  a  foun 
dation  of  wrought  stone  forty  feet 
square  and  ten  feet  thick,  resting 
upon  the  solid  rock  of  the  mountain. 
Upon  this  stands,  in  a  grooved  plinth, 
a  basement,  thirty-eight  feet  square 
and  twenty-seven  feet  in  height,  un 
der  which,  in  heavy  stone  sarcopha 
gi,  are  the  remains  of  General  Brock 

O    t 

and  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Donell. 
On  the  exterior  angles  of  this  base 
ment  are  placed  well-carved  lions 
rampant,  seven  feet  in  height,  sup 
porting  shields  with  the  armorial 
bearings  of  the  hero.  On  the  north 


of  the  Heights,  quarried  near  the  spot.  It 
side  of  this  basement  is 
an  inscription  in  bold 
letters,1  and  upon  brass 
plates  in  the  interior  of 
the  column  are  epitaph- 
ic  inscriptions.2 

Upon  the  basement  is 
the  pedestal  of  the  col 
umn,  little  more  than 
sixteen  feet  square,  and 
just  thirty-eight  feet  in 
height.  Upon  a  panel 
on  each  of  three  sides 
of  this  pedestal  is  an 
emblem  in  low  relief, 
and  on  the  north  side, 
facing  Queenston,  is  a 
representation  of  a  bat 
tle  scene  in  high  relief, 
in  which  Brock  is  rep 
resented  at  the  head  of 
his  troops,  wounded. 
The  column  is  of  the 


BKOCK'8   MONUMENT   ON   QUEENSTON    HEIGHTS. 


Roman  composite  order,  ninety-five  feet  in  height.  The  shaft  is  fluted,  and  is  ten 
feet  in  diameter  at  its  base,  with  an  enriched  plinth,  on  which  are  carved  the  heads 
of  lions  and  wreaths  in  bold  relief.  The  flutes  terminate  in  palms.  The  capital  of 

1  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  inscription  : 

"  UPPER  CANADA  has  dedicated  this  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  late  MAJOR  GENERAL  SIR  ISAAC  BROCK,  K.B., 
Provincial  Lieutenant  Governor  and  Commander  of  the  Forces  in  this  Province,  whose  remains  are  deposited  in  the 
vault  beneath.  Opposing  the  invading  enemy,  he  fell  in  action  near  these  Heights  on  the  13th  of  October,  1S12,  in  the 
forty-third  year  of  his  age.  Revered  and  lamented  by  the  people  whom  he  governed,  and  deplored  by  the  sovereign  to 
whose  service  his  life  had  been  devoted." 

2  On  one  plate  is  the  following: 

"In  a  vault  underneath  are  deposited  the  mortal  remains  of  MAJOR  GENERAL  SIR  ISAAC  BROCK,  K.B.,  who  fell  in  ac 
tion  near  these  Heights  on  13th  October,  1812,  and  was  entombed  on  the  16th  of  October  at  the  bastion  of  Fort  Geonre, 
Niagara,  removed  from  thence,  and  reinterred  under  a  monument  to  the  eastward  of  this  site,  on  the  13th  October,  1824; 
and,  in  consequence  of  that  monument  having  received  irreparable  injury  by  a  lawless  act  on  the  17th  of  April,  1S40,  it 
was  found  requisite  to  take  down  the  former  structure  and  erect  this  monument ;  the  foundation-stone  being  laid,  and 
the  remains  again  reinterred  with  due  solemnity,  on  13th  October,  1853." 

The  other  plate  has  the  following  inscription : 

"In  a  vault  beneath  are  deposited  the  mortal  remains  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  JOHN  M'DONELL,  P.A.D.C.,  and  Aid-de 
camp  to  the  lamented  MAJOR  GENERAL  SIR  ISAAC  BROCK,  K.B.,  who  fell  mortally  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Qncenston, 
on  the  13th  October,  1812,  and  died  on  the  following  day.  His  remains  were  removed  and  reinterred  with  due  solem 
nity,  on  13th  October,  1S53." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  415 

Descriptor!  of  Brock's  Monument.       Ceremonies  at  the  laying  of  the  Corner-stone.       Evening  on  Queenstou  Heights. 

the  column  is  sixteen  feet  square,  and  twelve  feet  six  inches  in  height.  On  each  face 
is  sculptured  a  figure  of  Victory,  ten  feet  six  inches  in  height,  with  extended  arms 
grasping  military  shields  as  volutes.  The  acanthus  and  palm  leaves  are  enwreathed 
in  antique  style.  From  the  ground  to  the  gallery  at  the  top  of  the  column  is  a  spiral 
staircase  of  cut  stone,  comprising  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  steps,  lighted  by  loop 
holes  in  the  flutings  of  the  column.  On  the  abacus  is  a  cippus  upon  which  stands  a 
statue  of  BROCK,  in  military  costume,  seventeen  feet  in  height,  the  left  hand  resting 
on  a  sword,  and  the  right  arm  extended  with  a  baton.1  This  monumental  column  is 
exceeded  in  height  by  only  one  of  a  similar  character  in  the  world.  That  is  the  one 
erected  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  in  London,  to  commemorate  the  great  fire  that  des 
olated  that  city  in  1666.  It  is  only  twelve  feet  higher  than  Brock's.2 

It  was  sunset  when  I  completed  the  sketch  of  the  monument,  in  which  is  included 
a  distant  view  of  Lewiston  Heights,  seen  on  the  right,  and  the  village  of  Lewiston 
and  the  plain  beyond,  seen  on  the  left.  Heavy  clouds  rolling  up  from  the  west,  and 
rumbling  thunder  in  the  distance,  gave  warning  of  an  approaching  storm.  This 
fact  and  the  lateness  of  the  hour  prevented  my  ascending  the  shaft  to  obtain  the 
magnificent  panoramic  view  from  its  summit,  from  which,  it  is  said,  small  villages 
may  be  seen  southward,  the  battle-ground  of  Lundy's  Lane  or  Niagara,  the  white  spray 
from  the  cataract,  and  the  turmoil  of  the  great  whirlpool,  in  addition  to  the  vast 
stretch  of  land  and  water  seen  at  other  parts  of  the  compass. 

We  made  our  way  down  the  Heights  to  the  village  just  in  time  to  avoid  the  storm 
which  fell  simultaneously  with  the  darkness.  It  was  severe,  but  short.  The  stars 
were  visible  soon  after  it  passed  by,  and  I  found  my  way  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Joseph 
Winn,  on  the  road  to  the  suspension  bridge.  He  was  an  old  resident  of  Queenston, 
and  familiar  with  every  locality  there  connected  with  the  battle,  although  he  was  not 
in  the  engagement.  He  kindly  offered  to  be  my  guide  in  the  morning.  The  night 
was  a  tempestuous  one,  but  the  sky  was  cloudless  at  dawn.  At  an  early  hour  I 
visited  the  landing-place  of  the  Americans  near  the  suspension  bridge,  and  made  the 
sketch  printed  on  page  395.  I  then  followed  the  high  bank  of  the  river  some  distance, 
and  made  my  way  to  the  stone  building  in  which  the  British  took  refuge  after  being 
repulsed  by  Wool  ;3  but  the  sketch  I  then  made  was  lost  a  few  days  afterward. 

>  This  monument  was  designed  by  W.  Thomas,  Esq.,  of  Toronto,  and  was  erected  under  his  superintendence.  The 
contractor  was  Mr.  J.  Worthingtou. 

2  We  have  observed  that  .a  former  monument  to  the  memory  of  Brock  was  shattered  by  powder  in  1840.    The  act 
produced  the  greatest  iiidignation  throughout  Canada.    A  meeting  was  held  on  Queenston  Heights  in  June  following, 
composed  of  about  eight  thousand  people.    One  of  the  most  active  men  on  that  occasion  was  the  late  Sir' Allan  M'Nab. 
There  was  a  military  parade  and  salutes  with  artillery.    In  Toronto  the  day  was  observed  as  a  solemn  holiday.    All  the 
public  offices  were  closed,  and  business  was  generally  suspended.    Delegations  and  crowds  of  citizens  flocked  to  Queens- 
ton  from  Kingston,  Toronto,  Cobourg,  and  Hamilton.    The  lieutenant  governor,  Sir  George  Arthur,  and  his  staff,  were 
there.    Sir  George  presided.    He  addressed  the  meeting.    Chief  Justice  Robinson,  Sir  Allan  M'Nab,  and  several  oth 
ers,  also  made  speeches.    A  number  of  Brock's  surviving  soldiers  were  also  present.    Resolutions  were  passed ;  and 
when  the  public  proceedings  were  ended,  six  hundred  persons  sat  down  to  a  dinner  under  a  pavilion  erected  on  the  spot 
where  the  hero  fell,  at  which  Chief  Justice  Robinson  presided.    The  result  of  the  affair  was  the  formation  of  a  building 
committee  for  the  erection  of  a  new  monument,  of  which  Sir  Allan  M'Nab  was  chairman.*    The  money  for  the  purpose 
was  raised  by  the  voluntary  subscriptions  of  the  militia  and  Indian  warriors  of  the  province.    A  grant  from  the  Pro 
vincial  Parliament  enabled  the  committee  to  lay  out  the  grounds,  and  erect  the  gate  and  keeper's  lodge.    The  foun 
dation-stone  was  laid  on  the  13th  of  October,  1853,  and  on  the  same  day  the  remains  of  Brock  and  M'Donell  were  rein- 
terred  with  imposing  ceremonies.    The  day  was  very  fine.    There  were  pall-bearers  and  chief  mourners.t    When  the 
remains  were  deposited  in  their  last  resting-place,  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Donell,  brother 
of  one  of  the  dead  heroes.    The  late  Honorable  William  Hamilton  Merritt,  M.P.,  delivered  an  address,  in  which  he 
spoke  highly  of  the  character  and  services  of  the  Indians  in  the  War  of  1812.    Mr.  Thorburn,  Indian  agent,  responded 
in  their  behalf,  and  read  an  address  from  the  chiefs  present,  which  breathed  sentiments  of  loyalty  and  affection  for  the 
English  queen.    As  a  mark  of  respect,  an  American  steam-boat  at  Lewiston  lowered  its  flag  to  half  mast. 

3  See  page  398. 

*  The  following  named  gentlemen  constituted  that  committee :  Sir  Allan  M'Nab,  M.  P. ;  Chief  Justice  Sir  John  Brush 
Robinson ;  Honorable  Mr.  Justice  M'Lean  ;  Honorable  Walter  H.  Dickson,  M.  L.  C. ;  Honorable  William  Hamilton  Mer 
ritt,  M.  P.;  Honorable  Thomas  Clark  Street,  M.  P. ;  Colonel  James  Kerby ;  Colonel  John  M'Dougal ;  David  Thorburn, 
Esq. ;  Lieutenant  Garrett ;  Colonel  Robert  Hamilton  ;  and  Captain  H.  Munro. 

t  The  pall-bearers  were  Colonels  E.  W.  Thompson,  W.  Thompson,  Duggan,  Stanton,  Kerby,  Crooks,  Zimmerman, 
Carori,  Thome,  Servos,  Clark,  Wakefield,  and  Miller.  Among  the  chief  mourners  were  Colonel  Donald  M'Donell,  the 
deputy  adjutant  general  for  Canada  East,  Colonel  Tache,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Irvine,  the  survivors  of  1812,  and  the  chiefs 
of  the  Six  Nations. 


416 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  Veteran  of  1812. 


The  Chief  of  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians. 


The  Place  where  Brock  fell. 


From  the  river  I  went  up  the  Heights  to  the  site  of  the  redan,  and  then  to  the  point 
where  the  Americans  were  crowded  to  the  verge  of  the  precipice.  This  was  ac 
complished  before  breakfast. 

When  I  came  out  of  the  dining-room  at  Wads  worth's,  I  found  the  venerable  Major 
Adam  Brown  in  the  little  parlor.  He  was  a  native  of  Queenston.  At  the  time  of 
the  battle  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  1st  Battalion  of  the  Lincoln  Militia  under  Col 
onel  Glaus,  then  at  Fort  George,  and  was  not  in  the  engagement.  He  was  in  com 
mand  of  a  hundred  men  at  the  battle  of  Niagara  (Lundy's  Lane),  and  was  in  active 
service  during  a  greater  part  of  the  war.  While  I  was  writing  some  memoranda  of 
his  conversation  in  my  note-book,  he  spoke  to  a  person  behind  me  whom  I  had  not 
noticed,  and  asked,  "  Were  you  the  chief  who  was  with  the  Indians  at  the  dedication 
of  the  monument  ?"  "  I  was,  sir,"  replied  a  pleasant  voice.  I  turned  and  observed  a 
fine-looking,  dark-complexioned,  well-dressed  man,  whose  features  and  expression  re 
vealed  traces  of  the  Indian  race.  We  both  arose  at  the  same  moment.  I  introduced 
myself  and  inquired  his  name.  He  informed  me  that  he  was  George  Henry  Martin 
Johnson,  a  descendant,  in  the  fourth  generation,  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  of  the  Mo 
hawk  Valley,  and  now  Tekarihogea,  or  commander-in-chief  of  the  Six  Nations  of  In 
dians  in  Canada,  his  father  having  been  the  official  successor  of  John  Brant.  To  me 
this  meeting  was  interesting  and  fortunate.  I  intended  to  visit  the  settlements  of 
the  Six  Nations,  on  the  Grand  River,  during  this  tour,  but  was  doubtful  concerning 
the  best  route,  and  the  most  important  place  for  obtaining  desired  information.  All 
was  now  plain,  and,  before  we  parted,  arrangements  were  made  for  Mr.  Johnson  to 
meet  me  at  Brantford  a  few  days  later. 

On  the  day  of  my  arrival  at  Queenston,  a  committee,  appointed  for  the  purpose, 

had  decided  upon  the  exact  spot  where 
Brock  fell.  I  visited  it  in  company  with 
Major  Brown.  A  space  sixty  feet 
square,  within  which  was  to  be  placed 
a  memorial-stone,  had  been  staked  out, 
and  in  the  centre,  the  very  spot,  as  the 
committee  supposed,  where  the  hero 
fell,  was  marked.1  As  early  as  1821, 
John  Howison,  in  his  Sketches  of  Upper 
Canada,  had  said, "  General  Brock 'was 
killed  close  to  the  road  that  leads 
through  Queenston  village,  and  an  aged 
thorn-bush  now  marks  the  place  where 
he  fell  when  the  fatal  ball  entered  his 
vitals."  The  spot  marked  by  the  com 
mittee  is  about  twenty  rods  west  of 
the  "  road  that  leads  through  Queens- 
ton,"  and  a  little  eastward  of  the  "  aged 
thorn-bush,"  which  had  become  a  tree 
twenty  feet  in  height,  with  two  large 
stems,  when  I  saw  it.  Near  the  site  a 
workman  was  fashioning  the  blocks 
of  freestone  of  which  the  monument 
was  to  be  composed,  and  from  him  I 
obtained  a  sketch  of  it.  After  making 


MONUMENT   WHERE   BROOK   PEJ.L. 


1 1  was  told  that  some  old  residents  of  the  village  declared  that  the  place  where  Brock  fell  was  westward  of  the 
thorn-tree,  and  at  least  twenty  paces  from  the  spot  selected.  James  Cooper,  a  blacksmith,  who  was  within  six  feet  of 
Brock  when  he  fell,  said  it  was  west  of  the  thorn-tree;  and  Henry  Stone,  who  lived  in  the  stone  house  near  the  field, 
declared  that  he  saw  the  blood  of  Brock  on  rocks  west  of  the  tree. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  417 


Journey  from  Queenstou  to  Niagara.  Solomon  Vroomau.  Appearance  of  the  Country. 

a  drawing  of  the  spot,  showing  the  old  thorn-tree  on  the  right,  and  the  stately  mon 
ument  on  the  Heights  in  the  distance,  I  introduced,  in  proper  place  and  propor 
tions,  the  sketch  of  the  memorial-stone  to  mark  the  place  which  Howison  said  "may 
be  called  classic  ground.'"  It  is  a  small  affair,  being  only  about  four  feet  in  height. 
The  ground  around  it  was  to  be  inclosed  in  an  iron  railing.  The  Prince  of  Wales 
(Albert  Edward)  was  at  that  timea  making  a  tour  in  Canada,  receiving  .  August, 
tokens  of  loyalty  every  where.  He  visited  Queenston  very  soon  after  I 
was  there,  and  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  little  monument  with  imposing  cere 


monies. 


I  left  Queenston  for  Niagara  at  about  nine  o'clock,  after  riding  to  the  point  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  village  where  the  "  old  fort,"  or  barracks,  were  situated,  near  the 
residence  of  Mr.  E.  Clements,  of  the  Customs.  We  immediately  passed  a  creek  and 
deep  ravine,  and  soon  came  to  the  first  brick  house  below  Queenston,  on  the  left  of 
the  road,  the  residence  of  the  venerable  Solomon  Vrooman,  pleasantly  situated,  and 
surrounded  by  evidences  of  the  highest  and  most  thrifty  cultivation.  He  was  the 
owner  of  the  point  on  which  the  battery  bearing  his  name  was  situated,2  and  partici 
pated  in  the  battle  by  assisting  in  manning  the  nine-pounder  that  was  mounted  there. 
I  called  to  see  him,  and  spent  half  an  hour  with  him  most  agreeably.  He  was  a 
slender  man,  seventy-six  years  of  age.  His  native  place  was  ^in  the  Mohawk  Valley, 
but  he  had  lived  in  Canada  since  the  days  of  his  young  manhood.  He  went  with  me 
to  the  spot  where  the  battery  was,  and  pointed  out  the  very  prominent  mounds  that 
yet  remain,  near  a  barn,  from  which  I  made  the  sketch  printed  on  page  391.  He 

told  me  that  one  hundred 
were  thrown 

from  that  battery  during 
the  day,  wholly  for  the  pur 
pose  of  obstructing  the  passage  of  the  river  by  the  Americans.3  Its  range  of  the  old 
ferry  and  the  new  crossing- pi  ace  at  the  present  suspension  bridge  was  point-blank  and 
effectual.  On  one  occasion  during  the  afternoon,  some  Americans,  trying  to  escape 
from  Queenston  by  swimming  the  river,  were  brought  by  the  current  within  rifle-shot 
distance  of  the  battery,  when  one  of  the  men  in  his  company  raised  his  piece  to  fire. 
Vrooman  knocked  up  the  piece,  exclaiming  indignantly,  "  Shame  on  you !  none  but  a 
coward  would  fire  upon  men  thus  struggling  for  their  lives !" 

The  road  from  Vrooman's  to  Niagara  was  one  of  the  most  delightful  that  I  had 

o  -  O       - 

ever  traveled.  Most  of  the  way  it  skirted  the  high  bank  of  the  winding  river,  which 
was  covered  with  stately  trees,  through  which  continual  glimpses  of  the  American 
shore  could  be  obtained.  Landward  were  seen  broad  fields,  from  which  bountiful 
harvests  were  pouring  into  barns,  or  green  waving  Indian  corn,  or  numerous  orchards, 
whose  trees  were  so  heavily  laden  with  fruit  that  they  drooped  like  weeping  willows. 
As  we  approached  Niagara  we  passed  through  first  an  aromatic  pine  grove,  and  theij 
a  narrow  forest  of  oaks,  beeches,  maples,  and  evergreens,  and  emerged  upon  an  open 
plain,  the  property  of  the  government,  with  the  mounds  of  abandoned  Fort  George, 

1  The  Prince  of  Wales  arrived  at  Queenston  on  the  17th  of  September,  and  on  the  following  day  he  laid-the  corner 
stone  of  the  little  monument.  Near  the  spot  was  erected  a  triumphal  arch,  on  which,  in  large  letters,  were  the  words 
"  VIOTOEIA.— WELCOME."  The  veterans  of  1S12,  who  were  present,  formed  a  guard  of  honor  for  the  young  prince.  In  the 
background  were  the  St.  Catharine's  Riflemen  with  a  brass  band.  A  silver  trowel  was  presented  to  the  prince  with  which 
to  perform  the  ceremony.  Upon  it  was  engraved  the  following  inscription  :  "  Presented  to  His  Royal  Highness  ALBEET 
EnwAED,  Prince  of  Wales,  by  the  Brock  Monument  Committee,  on  Queeuston  Heights,  ISth  September,  1S60."  On  one 
side  of  the  monument  was  placed  the  following  inscription  :  "This  stone  was  placed  by  his  Royal  Highness  ALBEET 
EDWAED,  Prince  of  Wales,  on  the  ISth  of  September,  1SCO."  On  the  other  side,  "Near  this  spot  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  K.B., 
Provisional  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Upper  Canada,  fell  on  the  13th  of  October,  1812,  while  advancing  to  repel  the  inva 
sion  of  the  enemy."  2  See  Map  on  page  382. 

3  The  battery  was  crescent-shaped.  Engineer  Gray,  in  his  manuscript  report  now  before  me,  thus  describes  if :  "  It 
is  built  en  barbette  (that  is,  without  embrasures),  and  has  a  high  breastwork  to  the  river.  On  the  north,  a  frame  house, 
intended  for  a  barn  ;  on  the  west  is  a  gun,  mounted  en  barbette  (on  the  top  of  the  breastwork),  and  flanked  by  the  skele 
ton  of  a  house.  Within  five  rods  of  this  runs  the  highway  to  Fort  George." 

I)  U 


418 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  Visit  to  Port  George. 


Remains  of  the  French  Magazine  there. 


Hospitality  of  Mrs.  Lee. 


3'HESENT   OUTLINES  OF  FOKT   GEOKGE. 


on  the  bank  of  the  river,  breaking  the  monotony  of  the  level  far  to  the  right.  There 
were  no  fences  to  obstruct  the  view  or  the  travel  on  the  plain.  Cattle  were  feeding 
on  the  short  grass,  and  here  and  there  a  footman  or  a  horseman  might  be  seen.  We 

turned  out  of  the  beaten  road  to  the 
right,  and  drove  across  the  plain  to  one 
of  the  angles  of  the  fort.  There  I  left 
horse  and  driver,  clambered  up  the 
steep  grassy  sides  of  the  embankment, 
and  commenced  a  hasty  exploration  of 
the  interior  of  the  fort.  The  breast 
works  in  all  directions  were  quite  per 
fect,  and  the  entire  form  of  the  fort 
could  be  traced  without  difficulty. 
There  were  two  or  three  houses  within 
the  works,  and  the  parade  and  other 
portions  were  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  garden  vegetables. 

In  the  most  southerly 
part  of  the  fort,  about  three 
hundred  yards  from  the  riv 
er,  is  an  old  powder  maga 
zine,  built  by  the  French 
within  a  stockade.  It  was 

occupied  as  a  dwelling  by  j^^H^^,^^^-^' -«^K§?>,, 
the  family  of  an  Jinghsh  sol 
dier  named  Lee  when  I  was 
there  in  1860.  The  higher 
building  seen  in  the  picture 
is  the  old  magazine.  It  was 
covered  with  slate,  and  its 
walls,  four  and  a  half  feet 
thick,  were  supported  by 
three  buttresses  on  each  side.  The  buildings  on  the  left  are  more  modern.  The  in 
terior  of  the  magazine  is  arched,  and  the  doors  were  originally  covered  with  plates 
of  copper  fastened  by  copper  nails. 

Mrs.  Lee  was  an  intelligent  woman,  very  communicative,  and  free  in  the  dispensa 
tion  of  the  hospitalities  of  her  humble  abode.  We  were  refreshed  with  cakes,  har 
vest-apples,  and  cold  spring-water.  She  filled  a  small  basket  with  copper  coins  and 
other  relics,  and  as  I  parted  with  her  she  wished  me  good  luck  in  my  journeyings. 
I  clambered  over  an  irregular  and  steep  bank  northward  of  the  old  magazine,  visit 
ed  the  site  of  the  "  cavalier  battery"  where  Brock  and  M'Donell  were  buried,  and 
sketched  the  "new  magazine,"  erected  by  the  British  in  181 2,  delineated  on  page  405. 
It  is  of  brick.  Near  it  was  a  small  house  occupied  by  an  Irish  family,  and  the  maga 
zine  was  used  as  a  pig-sty. 

From  Fort  George  we  rode  to  Niagara,  half  a  mile  below,  halted  long  enough  to 
obtain  refreshments  for  ourselves  and  the  horse,  and  then  rode  out  over  the  garrison 
reservation,  northeastward  of  the  town,  to  Fort  Mississaga,1  a  strong  earth-work  with 
a  castle,  which  was  constructed  by  the  British  during  the  war  of  1812.  Cattle  were 
grazing  upon  the  plain  ;  the  waters  of  Lake  Ontario,  ruffled  b  j  a  breeze,  were  spark 
ling  in  the  distance,  and  the  whole  scene  was  one  of  quiet  and  repose.  Such,  indeed,  is 

1  Mississaria  or  Has&asauga  is  the  Indian  name  of  a  small  black  or  dark  brown  rattlesnake,  twelve  or  fourteen  inches 
in  length,  which  usually  inhabits  tamarack  and  cranberry  swamps  in  Northwestern  Ohio  and  Canada  West.  This  is  the 
name  of  an  Indian  tribe ;  also  of  a  large  stream  in  Canada  West  that  empties  into  Lake  Huron.  In  the  little  view  of 
Fort  Miesissaga  given  on  the  next  page,  Fort  Niagara  is  seen  on  the  right  in  the  distance,  and  Lake  Ontario  on  the  west. 


FEENOH  MAGAZINE  AT   FOET   GEOEGE. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


419 


Fort  Misstmaga  iu  18(50. 


Return  to  Niagara  Falls. 


Departure  for  the  Grand  River. 


the  impression  on  the 
mind  in  Canada,  as 
compared  with  "the 
States."  The  turmoil 
and  bustle  that  marks 
an  American  popula 
tion  in  large  or  small 
numbers,  was  but 
slightly  manifested 
there.  I  found  appa 
rent  stagnation  in 
Queenston;  and  Ni 
agara,  though  a  fine 


DISTANT   VIEW    OF   FOKT   MISSISSAGA. 


and  pleasant  town  in 
appearance,  with  a 
population  of  about 
twenty-five  hundred, 
seemed  to  be  repos 
ing  in  almost  perfect 
rest.  It  was  former 
ly  called  Newark,  and 
the  present  city  oc 
cupies  the  site  of  the 
little  village  which 
the  Americans  de 
stroyed  in  1813.  It 


•  1791. 


was  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  the  province,  having  been  settled  by  Colonel  Simcoe 
when  he  was  the  lieutenant  governor. a     It  was  a  place  of  considerable  trade 
before  the  opening  of  the  Welland  Canal,  about  thirty  years  ago,  and  is  now, 
as  then,  the  capital  of  the  Niagara  District. 
We  found  the  gate  of  Fort  Mississaga  wide  open,  and  walked  in  without  leave. 

Not  a  human  face  was  visible.  I  went 
up  to  and  around  the  ramparts,  and, 
taking  a  position  over  the  entrance- 
gate,  from  which  I  could  see  most  of 
the  interior  and  Fort  Niagara  beyond, 
I  sketched  the  scene.  In  this  view  are 
seen  the  barracks  and  the  castle,  with 
Fort  Niagara  across  the  river  in  the 
extreme  distance.  The  castle  is  built 
of  brick.  The  walls  are  eight  feet  in 
thickness,  and  covered  with  stucco. 
While  engaged  with  the  sketch  I  was 
startled  by  a  voice  near  me.  It  was 
that  of  the  whole  garrison,  comprised 
in  the  person  of  Patrick  Burns,  who 
told  me  to  make  as  many  sketches  as 
I  pleased,  for  the  fort  was  uninhabited 
except  by  his  own  family. 

At  an  early  hour  we  started  on  our 
return  to  Niagara  Falls.  I  attempted 
to  drive,  but  soon  became  discouraged 
by  the  eccentric  movements  of  the 
horse,  when  the  boy  told  me  for  the 
first  time  that  he  was  "  as  blind  as  a  bat."  But  I  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  the 
animal,  for  he  carried  us  back  in  safety,  and  in  time  for  dinner  and  for  departure  by 
the  evening  train  for  the  West.  Having  placed  my  luggage  in  charge  of  a  proper 
person  at  the  suspension  bridge  station,  I  ci'ossed  that  marvelous  hanging  viaduct  on 
foot,  along  the  carriage-road  under  the  railway  gallery,  with  my  satchel  in  hand.  As 
I  left  the  bridge  to  ascend  to  the  station  on  the  Canada  shore  I  was  hailed  by  a 
custom-house  officer,  of  whose  business  I  had  not  the  least  suspicion  until  informed 
by  him.  Believing  my  assurance  that  the  satchel  contained  nothing  contraband,  he 
allowed  me  to  pass,  after  I  had  expressed  a  wish,  good-naturedly,  that  the  United 
States  might  soon  be  annexed  to  Canada,  so  that  revenue  officers  might  be  allowed 
to  engage  in  some  other  employment. 

On  entering  the  cars  on  the  Canada  side  I  met  Chief  Johnson.     We  traveled  to- 


INTERIOR  VIEW — FOKT   MISSISSAGA   IN  1SGO. 


420  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

St.  Catharine.  Hamilton,  Paris,  and  Brantford.  Chief  Johnson  and  the  Indian  Reservation. 

gether  as  far  as  St.  Catharine,  eleven  miles,  where  I  intended  to  spend  a  day  or  two, 
and  agreed  upon  the  time  when  we  should  meet  at  Brantford.  The  impressions  made 
by  the  time  spent  at  St.  Catharine,  the  persons  I  met  at  that  famous  gathering  of  in 
valids  around  a  mineral  spring,  a  visit  to  the  battle-ground  of  the  Beaver  Dams,  the 
journey  to  Hamilton,  and  a  ride  to  Stony  Creek,  a  place  made  famous  in  the  annals 
of  the  war  we  are  now  considering  by  a  conflict  and  the  capture  of  two  American 
generals,  are  always  summoned  by  memory  with  great  pleasure.  Of  these  I  shall 
hereafter  write. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  the  20th  of  August,  I  arrived  at  Hamilton,  at  the  head  of 
Lake  Ontario,  by  the  Great  Western  Railway,  and  spent  the  night  at  the  "  Royal 
Hotel."  Early  on  the  following  morning  I  rode  out  to  Stony  Creek,  seven  miles,  and 
returned  in  time  to  take  the  cars  at  meridian  for  Paris  in  company  with  a  young 
Quadroon  chief  of  the  Six  Nations,  named  M'Murray,  whose  mother,  wife  of  the  Rev 
erend  Dr.  M'Murray,  of  Niagara,  was  a  half-breed  Indian  woman,  and  sister  to  the  first 
wife  of  H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  Esq.  He  was  one  of  the  finest  formed  and  most  attractive 
young  men,  in  person  and  feature,  I  have  ever  met. 

The  road  from  Hamilton  to  Paris,  nearly  thirty  miles,  passes  through  a  very  pic 
turesque  country.  For  five  miles  it  skirts  the  northern  high  bank  of  the  great 
marsh  that  extends  from  Burlington  Bay  to  Dundas,  and  follows,  a  greater  portion  of 
the  way,  a  line  parallel  with  Dundas  Street,  or  the  Governor's  Road.  At  Paris,1  a 
large  town,  situated  partly  on  a  high  rolling  plain,  and  partly  in  a  deep  valley,  on 
Smith's  Creek  and  the  Grand  River,  I  left  the  Great  Western  Railway,  and  took 
passage  for  Brantford,  seven  miles  southward,  on  the  Buffalo  and  Huron  Road,  which 
here  intersects  it.  The  country  was  hilly  most  of  the  way,  but  at  Brantford  it  spreads 
out  into  a  beautiful  plain,  or  high  gravelly  ridge,  overhanging  an  extensive  and  well- 
cultivated  region.  The  town  derives  its  name  from  the  great  Mohawk2  chief,  the  In 
dians  having  a  ford  across  the  Grand  River  here,  which  they  called  "  Brant's  Ford," 
it  being  near  his  residence.3  The  situation  of  the  town,  on  the  north  or  right  bank 
of  the  Grand  River,  is  a  healthful  one.  That  river  is  navigable  to  within  less  than 
three  miles  of  the  village.  The  deficiency  in  that  distance  is  supplied  by  a  canal. 
The  population  is  about  four  thousand. 

Early  on  the  morning  after  my  arrival  at  Brantford  I  was  met  by  Chief  Johnson, 
who  had  come  up  to  the  village  the  previous  evening  for  the  purpose.  We  left  at 
six  o'clock  for  the  Onondaga  Station,  about  nine  miles  below,  from  which  we  walked 
to  Mr.  Johnson's  house,  half  way  between  the  villages  of  Onondaga  and  Tuscarora, 
the  former  inhabited  by  white  people,  and  the  latter  wholly  by  the  Indians.  Onon 
daga  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  and  Tuscarora  on  the  south.  We  passed  sev 
eral  pure-blooded  Indians  on  the  way,  some  of  them,  who  remain  pagans,  wearing- 
portions  of  the  ancient  savage  costume ;  but  most  of  them,  men  and  women,  were 
dressed  in  the  style  of  the  white  people  around  them. 

1  Paris  was  so  named  on  account  of  the  gypsnm,  or  "plaster  of  Paris,"  which  abounds  there. 

2  The  word  Mohawk,  in  that  language,  signifies  "  flint  and  steel." 

3  Those  of  the  Six  Nations  who  joined  the  British  during  the  Revolution  were  promised  by  the  governors  of  Canada, 
Carleton  and  Haldimand,  that  they  should  be  well  provided  for  at  the  close  of  the  war.    But  in  the  treaty  of  peace  in 
1783,  no  provision  was  made  for  the  Indians.    At  that  time  the  Mohawks,  with  Brant  at  their  head,  were  temporarily 
residing  on  the  American  side  of  the  Niagara  River,  near  its  mouth.    The  Senecas  offered  them  a  home  in  the  Genesee 
Valley,  but  Brant  and  his  followers  had  resolved  not  to  live  in  the  United  States.    He  went  to  Quebec  to  claim  from  Gov 
ernor  Haldimand  the  fulfillment  of  his  promise.    He  had  fixed  his  eye  upon  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  Bay  of  Quinte. 
But  the  Senecas  did  not  wish  them  to  go  so  far  away,  and  they  chose  a  large  tract  on  the  Grand  River.    This  matter 
being  settled,  Brant  went  to  England  at  the  close  of  17T5,  and  during  the  remainder  of  his  life  he  devoted  much  of  his 
time  to  the  moral  improvement  of  his  people. 

The  grant  of  land  on  the  Ouise,  or  Grand  River,  which  Brant,  in  the  behalf  of  the  Indians,  procured  in  1784,  com 
prised  an  area  of  twelve  hundred  square  miles,  or,  as  Brant  expressed  it  when  asked  how  much  would  satisfy  them, 
"six  miles  each  side  of  the  river  from  its  mouth  to  its  source."  The  whole  country  thus  granted  was  fertile  and  beau 
tiful.  Of  all  that  splendid  domain,  running  up  into  the  country  from  Lake  Erie  toward  Lake  Huron  to  the  Falls  of 
Elora,  the  Indians  now  retain  only  comparatively  small  tracts  in  the  vicinity  of  Brantford.  In  1S30  the  Indians  made 
a  surrender  to  the  government  of  the  town  plot  of  Brautford,  when  it  was  surveyed  and  sold  to  actual  settlers.  It  soon 
grew  into  a  large  and  thriving  village. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


421 


Mission-house  on  Grand  River. 


Costume  of  the  Chief  of  the  Six  Nations. 


Indian  Weapons. 


MISSION-HOUSE   ON    T1IE   GKANL)   KIVEK. 


On  our  way  we  also  passed  the  old  mission-house,  constructed  of  logs  in  1827,  for 
the  residence  of  the  Reverend 
Robert  Lugger,  the  predecessor 
of  the  present  missionary  among 
the  Indians  there.  It  is  near  the 
left  bank  of  the  Grand  River; 
and  from  the  road  where  the 
sketch  was  made  is  a  fine  view 
of  the  beautiful  valley  through 
which  that  stream  winds  its  way 
toward  Lake  Erie. 

A  walk  of  a  mile  and  a  half 
brought  us  to  "  Chiefswood,"  the  residence  of  Mr.  Johnson,  situated  on  a  gentle  em 
inence,  with  beautiful  grounds  sloping  to  the  banks  of  the  Grand  River,  and  sur 
rounded  by  his  farm  of  two  hundred  acres  of  excellent  land.  It  is  a  modest,  square 

mansion,  two  stories  in  height,  built  of 
brick,  and  stuccoed.  There  I  was  cor 
dially  welcomed  by  Mrs.  Johnson,  a 
handsome  and  well-educated  woman, 
daughter  of  a  clergyman  of  the  Church 
of  Ens-land,  and  the  mother  of  three 

O  ' 

fine-looking,  healthy  children.  While 
awaiting  preparations  for  breakfast, 
Mr.  Johnson  proceeded  to  his  business 
office,  leaving  me  to  amuse  myself  with 
the  curiosities  which  adorned  the  little 
parlor.  On  a  table  were  several  rare 
Indian  relics,  and  the  daguerreotypes 
of  some  Indian  chiefs.  Among  the  lat 
ter  was  one  of  Mr.  Johnson  himself,  in 
the  military  costume  of  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Six  Nations,  as  seen  in  the 
engraving.  In  precisely  this  garb  he 
appeared,  in  compliment  to  my  curi 
osity,  when  he  came  to  invite  me  to 
breakfast.  The  coat  and  breeches  were 
white  cloth,  and  the  scarf  and  sash 
were  rich  specimens  of  Indian  work, 
composed  of  cloth,  ribbons,  beads,  and 


porcupine  quills.  In  one  hand  he  holds  a  hand 
some  curled-maple  handled,  silver-mounted  pipe- 
tomahawk,2  and  in  the  other  a  most  formidable 
weapon,  composed  of  the  shank  of  a  deer,  with  the 
bare  shin-bone  for  a  handle,  dried  in  the  ansrular 

'  ~ 

position  seen  in  the  small  engraving  on  the  follow 
ing  page,  and  holding  a  thick  glittering  blade,  which  may  be  used  either  in  giving  deadly 


ORNAMENTAL   TOMAHAWK. 


1  It  will  be  observed,  in  the  signature  of  Mr.  Johnson,  that  a  character  in  the  form  of  a  Z  precedes  the  word  "chief." 
This  indicates  an  arm  bent  at  the  elbow,  and  signifies  that  the  head  chief  is  the  right  arm  of  the  nation. 

2  These  ornamental  tomahawks  are  not  for  practical  use.    The  handle,  fourteen  inches  in  length,  contains  a  tube  that 
answers  the  purpose  of  the  stem  of  a  pipe,  and  the  head  of  the  tomahawk  is  arranged  as  a  pipe-bowl.    In  this  specimen 
the  blade  and  handle  are  connected  by  a  silver  chain.    The  blade  is  brass  except  the  steel  edge. 


422 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  Silver  Calumet. 


Ancient  Scalping-knife  and  its  History. 


Number  and  Character  of  the  Indians. 


blows  or  as  a  scalping-knife.     These,  with  a  silver  calumet,  or  pipe  of  peace,  compose 
a  part  of  the  regalia  of  the  civil  and  military  heads  of  the  Six  Nations.     These  arti- 


SILVEK  CALUMET. 


DEER-SHANK   WEAPON. 


cles  had  been  long  in  possession  of  the  nation.1  On  the  table  was  also  a  daguerre 
otype  of  Oshawahnah,  the  lieutenant  of  Tecumtha  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  and 
who  in  1861  was  yet  living  on  Walpole  Island,  in  Lake  St.  Clair,  off  the  coast  of 'Mich 
igan.  Mr.  Johnson  kindly  presented  to  me  the  likeness  of  himself  and  of  that  venera 
ble  chief.  That  of  the  latter,  with  some  facts  concerning  him,  will  be  given  hereafter. 
By  the  side  of  the  fireplace  hung  an  undressed  deerskin  sheath  which  attracted 
my  attention.  I  drew  from  it  an  ancient  scalping-knife,  half  consumed  by  rust,  as 
seen  in  the  little  picture.  ^^^^^^^^  a^ou^  to  break  ground 

me   by   Mr.  Johnson,  is  his  house,  two  or  three 

curious.     When  he  was  ANCIENT  SCALPING-KNIFB.  years    previous    to    my 

» August,  visit,a  the  venerable  Whitecoat,  a  centenarian  chief  then  living  at  Tusca- 
SGO-  rora  Village,  came  to  him,  and,  pointing  to  the  huge  stump  of  a  tree  that  had 
been  felled  within  the  pi-escribed  lines  of  the  building,  said,  "Dig  there,  and  you  will 
find  a  scalping-knife  that  I  buried  seventy  years  ago.  You  know,"  he  continued,  "  that 
before  the  laws  of  the  white  man  governed  us,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  nearest  of  kin 
of  a  wounded  man  to  aA^enge  his  death  by  shedding  the  blood  of  the  murderer  in  like 
manner,  and  that  the  weapon  so  employed  was  never  afterward  used,  but  buried.  I 
thus  took  vengeance  for  my  brother's  blood,  and  at  the  foot  of  that  tree  I  buried  the 
fatal  knife.  Dig,  and  you'll  find  it."  Johnson  did  so,  and  found  nothing  but  the  rusty 
blade,  to  which  he  has  affixed  a  wooden  handle,  made  like  the  original.  Whitecoat 
was  among  the  warriors  who  were  in  the  battle  at  Queenston.  More  than  twenty 
of  his  companions  on  that  occasion  were  living  in  the  Grand  River  settlements  in 
1860.  The  whole  number  of  the  Six  Nations,  with  the  Chippewas,  in  those  settle 
ments  was  about  three  thousand.  Of  these  about  five  hundred  were  pagans.  The  lat 
ter  are  chiefly  Cayugas,  who  are  usually  of  purer  blood  than  the  others,  and  conse 
quently  retain  more  of  the  Indian  feeling  and  dislike  of  the  Christians — the  personifi 
cation  of  hated  civilization. 

1  I  saw  and  sketched  these  objects  at  the  store  of  Mr.  Allan  Cleghorn,  in  Brantford,  whose  great  interest  in  the  wel 
fare  of  the  Indians  in  that  vicinity  caused  him  to  be  elected  to  a  chieftaincy  among  them,  according  to  the  old  Indian 
custom— a  compliment  equivalent  to  the  presentation  of  the  "freedom  of  a  city"  to  meritorious  men. 

The  silver  calumet,  or  pipe  of  peace,  used  at  councils  and  in  making  treaties,  above  delineated,  was  quite  old.  On  the 
broad,  ornamented  silver  plate  under  the  bowl  and  part  of  the  stem  was  the  following  inscription:  "To  the  Mohawk 
Indians,  from  the  Nine  Patentees  of  the  Tract  near  Schoharie,  granted  in  1769."  On  one  side  of  the  bowl  was  the  figure 
of  a  white  man,  and  on  the  other  that  of  an  Indian.  These  were  connected  with  the  representation  of  the  sail  on  the 
front  of  the  bowl  by  a  union  chain.  Suspended  from  the  stem  in  a  festoon  was,  first,  a  silver  chain,  and  then  strings  of 
wampum.  The  stem  was  eighteen  inches  in  length. 

The  sword  seen  in  the  picture  was  presented  to  Mr.  Johnson  in  1849  by  T.  D.  Beverly,  Esq.,  of  Three  Rivers,  Canada, 
because  of  the  chief's  speech  to  the  Six  Nations  (when  assembled  on  the  queen's  birthday),  in  deprecation  of  the  action 
of  the  Canadian  Parliament  in  paying  Mr. M'Kenzie  and  "other  rebels"  for  their  losses  during  the  civil  war  in  1837 
and  1838.  It  was  an  elegant  sword. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  born  near  Brantford  on  the  7th  of  October,  1818.  He  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Sir  William  John 
son,  through  Sir  John  Johnson,  whose  son  Jacob  was  his  grandfather.  His  military  commission  as  chief  of  the  Six 
Nations  gave  him  the  rank  and  pay  of  colonel.  His  influence  was  powerful,  and  he  had  the  esteem  of  his  people  and 
of  the  white  inhabitants. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


423 


Village  of  Ouondaga  aud  Mohawk. 


The  Mohawk  Church. 


Appearance  of  the  Interior. 


Immediately  after  breakfast  I  bade  adieu  to  Mrs.  Johnson  and  her  interesting  little 
family,  and  left  "  Chiefswood"  for  Brantford,  accompanied  by  the  kind-hearted  leader 
in  his  own  conveyance.  We  went  by  the  way  of  Onondaga  and  Mohawk  or  "The 
Institute,"  where  Brant  first  settled.  Near  the  former  village  Mr.  Johnson  has  a 
farm,  on  the  verge  of  which,  and  close  by  the  town,  is  a  free  Episcopal  church,  built 
of  brick,  and  devoted  to  the  use  of  the 
poor  white  people  of  that  section.  For 
that  noble  purpose  Mr.  Johnson  gave 
the  ground  and  a  considerable  sum  of 
money.  In  the  village,  which  is  pleas 
antly  situated  on  a  plain,  is  a  small 
Methodist  chapel  and  some  neat  cot 
tages.  Only  here  and  there  an  Indian 
family  were  seen,  and  these  were  found 
in  a  state  of  excitement  and  grief  be 
cause  of  the  death  of  a  fine  lad,  a  grand 
son  of  Brant,  who  had  been  killed  by 
being  thrown  from  a  horse  that  morn 
ing. 

We  reached  the  old  Mohawk  church 
(the  first  of  the  kind  erected  in  the 
province)  toward  noon,  found  the  door 
open,  and  entered.  Some  carpenters 
were  at  work  repairing  the  exterior, 
but  in  no  way  changing  its  form  from 
what  it  was  originally.  It  is  of  wood, 
and  was  erected  in  the  year  1783.  It 
is  a  very  plain,  unpretending  structure 
within  and  without.  The  only  ornament,  except  the  upholstery  of  the  pulpit  and 

the  upper  part  of  the  frames 
inclosing  the  Ten  Command 
ments,  is  a  representation  of 
the  royal  arms  of  England, 
handsomely  carved  and  gilt, 
attached  to  the  wall  over 
the  entrance  -  door,  inside. 
Back  of  the  pulpit  are  two 
black  tablets  with  the  Com 
mandments  inscribed  upon 
them.  On  the  right  of  it  is 
another  tablet,  on  which  is 
written  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
and  on  the  left  another,  with 
the  Apostles'  Creed,  all  in 
the  Mohawk  language.1  In 
front  of  the  little  chancel  is 
a  neat  font.  The  seats  have 
high  backs.  The  one  seen  in 
the  corner,  at  the  right  of  the  pulpit,  was  pointed  out  to  me  as  that  which  Brant  and 

i  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  as  written  upon  the  tablet  in  the  old  Mohawk  church  : 

"Shoegwauiha  Karouhyakonh  teghsiderouh,  Wagwaghseanadokeaghdiste ;  Sayanertsherah  aodaweghti;  Tsineagh- 

sereh  egh  neayaweane  ne  oughweatsyake  tsioni  nityouht  ne  Karouhyakouh.    Takyouh  ne  Keah  weghniserate  ne  ni- 

yadeweghniserake  oegwanadarok :  Neoni  toedagwarighwyastea  ne  tsiniyoegwatswatouh,  tsiniyouht  ne  oekyouhha 

tsitsyakhirighwiyoesteanis  ne  waonkhiyatswatea.   Neoni  toghsa  tagwaghsharinet  tewadadeanakeraghtoeke :  Nok  toe- 


s. 


1MEEIOE  OF  MOHAWK   CIIUEOH. 


424  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Building  of  the  Mohawk  Church.  Its  Bell.  Tomb  of  the  Brant  Family.  The  "  Mohawk  Institute." 

his  family  occupied  when  he  resided  there.  The  area  of  the  interior  is  only  about 
thirty  by  forty  feet,  and  is  lighted  by  four  arched  windows  on  each  side.  The  tim 
ber  for  the  church  was  floated  down  the  Grand  River,  sawed  and  dressed  by  hand, 
and  carried  to  the  spot  by  the  Indians.  The  communion  service,  still  used  in  the 
church,  was  presented  to  the  Mohawks  by  Queen  Anne.  It  has  been  generally  sup 
posed  that  the  bell  was  also  a  gift  of  the  royal  lady ;  but,  on  examination,  I  found  the 
following  "  card"  of  the  manufacturer  cast  upon  it :  "  John  Warner,  Fleet  Street,  Lon 
don,  1786."  It  was  doubtless  brought  from  England  at  about  that  time  by  Brant. 

Near  the  south  side  of  the  church  is  the  tomb  of  Brant  and  his  son  and  official  suc 
cessors.  His  original  family  vault  was  built  of  wood.  It  fell  into  decay,  and  in  1850 
the  inhabitants  of  the  vicinity  erected  a  new  and  substantial  tomb,  composed  of  light 
brown  sandstone.  The  public  ceremonies  on  the  occasion  were  conducted  chiefly 
by  the  Freemasons  (Brant  being  a  member  of  that  order),  assisted  by  a  large  gather 
ing  of  the  people  from  the  surrounding  country  and  from  the  States,  especially  from 
the  Mohawk  Valley,  full  five  thousand  in  number.  Upon  a  massive  slab  which  com 
poses  the  top  of  the  tomb  are  appropriate  inscriptions  commemorative  of  both  father 
and  son.1  A  picture  of  the  tomb  may  be  seen  on  page  401.  In  front  of  the  church, 
near  the  entrance-gate  to  the  grounds,  is  the  grave  of  the  maternal  grandfather  of 
Chief  Johnson,  who  was  in  the  train  of  young  Brant  at  the  battle  of  Queenston.  A 
stone  slab,  with  an  appropriate  inscription,  covers  his  grave.2 

After  sketching  the  exterior  and  interior  of  the  ancient  church  and  Brant's  tomb, 
and  visiting  the  much-altered  house,  a  few  rods  distant,  where  the  great  chieftain 
lived,  we  went  to  the  "Mohawk  Institute,"  the  central  point  of  missionary  effort  among 
the  Six  Nations,  commenced  and  continued  by  "  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts."3  Their  first  missionary  to  the  Mohawks  was  sent  in 
the  year  1702,  and  from  that  time  to  this  they  have  followed  the  waning  tribe  and 
its  confederates  in  the  old  league  with  motherly  solicitude.  This  company  have 
maintained  a  missionary  among  the  Six  Nations  in  Canada  ever  since  their  migration 
thither.  They  have  contributed  largely  to  the  repairs  of  the  old  Mohawk  church, 
erected  a  new  one  in  Tuscarora  Village,  and  now  maintain  at  the  "  Institute"  about 
sixty  Indian  scholars.  These  were  under  the  charge  of  the  Reverend  Abraham  Nelles, 
the  missionary  of  the  station,  and  his  excellent  wife,  who  had  been  in  that  useful 
field  of  labor  since  1829.  His  family  had  had  ecclesiastical  connection  with  the  Six 

dagwayadakoh  tsinoewe  niyodaxheah:  Ikea  iese  saweauk  ne  kayanertsherah,  neoni  ue  kashatsteaghsera,  neoni  ne 
ceweseaghtshera,  tsiniyeaheawe  neoni  tsiniyeaheawe.  Amen." 

1  The  following  are  copies  of  the  inscriptions : 

"This  tomb  is  erected  to  the  memory  of  TIIAYE>-I>ANEGEA,  or  Captain  JOSEPH  BKANT,  Principal  Chief  and  Warrior 
of  the  Six  Nations  Indians,  by  his  Fellow-Subjects,  admirers  of  his  fidelity  and  attachment  to  the  British  Crown.  Born 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  River,  1742 ;  died  at  Wellington  Square.*  U.  C.,  1SOT. 

"It  also  contains  the  Remains  of  his  Son  AHYOUWAIGHS,  or  Captain  JOHN  BRANT,  who  succeeded  his  Father  as  Te- 
karihogea,  and  distinguished  himself  in  the  war  of  1812-15.  Born  at  the  Mohawk  Village,  U.  C.,  1794 ;  died  at  the  same 
place,1833.  Erected  1850." 

The  tomb  is  surrounded  by  a  heavy  wooden  fence. 

2  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  inscription : 

"In  memory  of  GEOKGE  MARTIN,  Mohawk  Chief.  Born  at  Kanajohara,  U.  S.,  Dec.  23, 1 767 ;  died  at  Grand  River, 
C.  W.,  Feb.  18, 1853,  aged  SC  years." 

Chief  Johnson  has  in  his  possession  a  silver  medal,  presented  to  his  grandfather  more  than  seventy  years  ago  by 
George  the  Third.  On  one  side  is  a  profile  of  the  king.  On  the  other  is  a  landscape.  In  the  foreground  is  a  lion  in 
repose,  and  a  wolf  approaching  him  with  awe.  In  the  distance  is  a  representation  of  the  Mohawk  church  on  Grand 
River  and  the  mission-house  near. 

3  This  society  was  incorporated  by  Parliament  in  1701.    It  is  the  successor  or  continuation  of  an  earlier  one,  in  15C1, 
under  the  title  of  The  Company  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Xew  England  and  Parts  Adjacent  in  America.    It 
was  composed  partly  of  members  of  the  Church  of  England  and  partly  of  Protestant  Dissenters. 

*  Wellington  Square  is  a  pleasant  little  village  in  Nelson  Township,  situated  ou  Lake  Ontario,  eight  miles  from  Hamil 
ton,  and  now  (1SG7)  contains  between  four  and  five  hundred  inhabitants.  There,  north  of  the  beach  which  divides  Lake 
Ontario  from  Burlington  Bay,  Brant  made  his  abode,  in  a  handsome  two-storied  mansion,  beautifully  situated,  long  be 
fore  the  present  village  had  existence.  There  he  lived,  in  the  English  style,  until  his  death.  His  widow  (third  wife), 
Catharine,  was  forty-eight  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death.  She  preferred  the  customs  of  her  people,  and  soon 
after  her  husband's  departure  she  left  Lake  Ontario  and  returned  to  Mohawk,  on  the  Grand  River.  Her  son  and 
daughter  remained  at  the  "  Brant  house"  on  Lake  Ontario,  and  lived  in  elegant  style  for  several  years. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


425 


COMMUNION   PLATE. 


The  Work  of  the  "  Institute."    The  Communion  Plate  of  the  Mohawk  Church.    A  pleasant  Day  with  the  Six  Nations. 

Nations  for  a  century  and  a  half.  His  faithfulness  as  a  teacher  of  temporal  and  spir 
itual  things  merits  and  receives  the  highest  commendations.  He  resided  at  the  old 
mission-house,  near  Tuscarora,  delineated  on  page  241,  until  1837,  when  he  took  up 
his  abode  at  Mohawk. 

Unfortunately,  our  visit  was  at  vacation  time,  and  we  were  deprived  of  the  coveted 
pleasure  of  seeing  a  group  of  threescore  Indian  children  under  instruction.  We 
spent  two  hours  very  agreeably  with  the  kind  missionary  and  his  family  at  the  "  In 
stitute"  and  the  parsonage  at  the  glebe.  These  have  each  two  hundred  acres  of 
fertile  land,  at  the  head  of  the  Grand  River,  attached  to  them,  and  are  separated  by 
the  canal,  which  carries  the  navigation  of  the  river  up  to  Brantford.  We  crossed  the 
canal  in  a  canoe,  and  at  the  parsonage,  an  old-fashioned  dwelling  near  the  old  "  Insti 
tute"  building,  with  beautiful  grounds 
around  it,  we  saw  many  curious  things 
connected  with  the  mission.  Among 
them  was  one  half  of  the  massive  silver 
communion  plate  presented  by  Queen 
Anne  to  the  Mohawks  in  1 71 2.  The  other 
half,  a  duplicate  of  this,  was  lent  to  a 
church  on  the  Bay  of  Quinte.  Upon  each 
was  engraved  the  royal  arms  of  England 
and  "A.  R." — Anne  Regina — with  the  fol 
lowing  inscription  in  double  lines  around 
them :  "  THE  GIFT  OF  HER  MAJESTY  ANNE, 

BY  THE  GRACE  OF  GOD,  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN,  FRANCE,  AND  IRELAND,  AND  OF  HER 
PLANTATIONS  IN  NORTH  AMERICA,  QUEEN,  TO  HER  INDIAN  CHAPEL  OF  THE  MOHAWKS." 

In  addition  to  the  three  pieces  given  in  the  picture  was  a  plate,  nine  inches  in  di 
ameter,  for  receiving  collections.  Mr.  Nelles  also  showed  us  a  well-preserved  folio 
Bible,  which  was  printed  in  London  in  1701,  and  was  sent  to  the  MohaAvks  with  the 
communion  plate.  On  the  cover  are  the  following  words  in  gilt  letters :  "  FOR  HER 
MAJESTY'S  CHURCH  OF  THE  MOHAWKS,  1712." 

We  dined  with  the  excellent  missionaries,  and  then  rode  to  Brantford,  a  mile  and 
a  half  distant,  where,  after  a  brief  tarry,  I  bade  adieu  to  Mr.  Johnson  and  the  Six 
Nations,  when  I  had  only  an  hour  in  which  to  ti'avel  seven  miles  to  Paris  to  take  the 
evening  train  for  Hamilton  or  Toronto.  I  had  procui'ed  a  fleet  and  powerful  horse, 
and  in  a  light  wagon,  with  a  small  boy  as  driver,  I  traveled  the  excellent  stone  road, 
or  "  pike,"  between  the  two  places  on  that  hot  afternoon  with  the  speed  of  the  trot- 
ting-course,  yet  with  apparent  ease  to  the  splendid  animal.  I  had  four  minutes  to 
spare  at  Paris. 

That  beautiful  day,  spent  with  the  Six  Nations  and  their  military  chief  and  spiritual 
guide,  will  ever  remain  a  precious  treasure  in  the  store-house  of  memory.  I  could 
think  of  little  else  while  on  my  journey  that  evening  from  Paris  to  Toronto.  Of  my 
visit  to  that  former  capital  of  Upper  Canada,  known  as  York  in  the  War  of  1812, 1  shall 
hereafter  write.1 

Let  us  rettarn  from  our  digression  from  the  strict  path  of  history  to  the  Niagara 
frontier,  which  we  so  recently  left,  and  consider  the  record  of  events  there  during  the 
remainder  of  1812,  after  the  battle  at  Queenston. 

The  British  had  erected  some  batteries  on  the  high  banks,  a  little  back  of  the 
Niagara  River,  just  below  Fort  Erie,  at  a  point  where  an  invasion  by  the  Americans 

1  The  Indian  name  was  Darondo  or  Tarnnto,  signifying  "Trees  on  the  Water."  This  was  in  allusion  to  the  long,  low, 
sandy  point  (now  an  island),  within  which  was  the  Bay  of  Toronto.  On  that  point  were,  and  still  are,  many  trees.  The 
distance  is  so  great  that  from  the  shore  at  the  city  they  seem  to  be  on  the  water.  When  Colonel  Simcoe  became  lien- 
tenant  governor  of  the  Upper  Province  he  endeavored  to  Anglicize  the  settlers  by  making  them  familiar  with  English 
names  and  things.  With  this  object  in  view  he  gave  English  names  to  all  places,  and  the  Indian  name  of  Taronto  was 
changed  to  York,  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  York.  It  was  known  for  many  years  as  Little  York. 


426  PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 

Black  Rock  and  Porter's  Residence.  Attack  on  the  Works  there.  Bombardment  of  Fort  Niagara. 

might  be  reasonably  expected.  From  these  batteries  they  opened  a  severe  fire  on  the 
morning  of  the  1 7th  of  November  upon  Black  Rock  opposite,  then  a  place  of  quite  as 
much  importance  as  Buffalo  in  some  respects.  There  were  the  head-quarters  of  the 
little  army  under  General  Smyth,  and  there  was  the  fine  residence  of  General  Peter 
B.  Porter,  who  was  then  in  command  there  of  a  body  of  New  York  militia,  and  made 

that  dwelling  his  head 
quarters.  There  were  some 
slight  fortifications  near 
Black  Rock,  but  the  heavi 
est  cannon  upon  the  breast 
work  was  a  six -pounder. 
All  day  long,  at  intervals, 
the  British  kept  up  the  fire, 
;.  at  one  time  hurling  a  25- 
pound  shot  against  the 
upper  loft  of  Porter's  resi- 
— . =__ _=_— — ^ — .  dence,  and  soon  afterward 

GENERAL   PORTER'S   RESIDENCE,   ULACK    ROCK.1  J  ,.rkt->T,:rl  ,_       on/^Viav     llnll        r\f 

LllUpplUii       dllOtilt;!       U«lll,     Ul 

the  same  weight,  through  the  roof,  while  he  was  there  at  dinner.  At  length  a  bomb 
shell  was  sent  into  the  east  barrack  with  destructive  power.  It  exploded  the  maga 
zine,  fired  the  buildings,  and  destroyed  a  portion  of  the  valuable  furs  captured  on 
•  October  9,  board  the  Caledonia  a  few  days  before.a  This  exploit  being  one  of  the 

chief  objects  of  the  cannonade  and  bombardment,  both  ceased  at  sunset. 
Very  little  noise  was  heard  along  that  frontier  for  a  month  afterward  except  the 
sonorous  cadences  of  General  Smyth's  proclamations.  At  length  British  cannon 
opened  their  thunders.  Breastworks  had  been  raised  in  front  of  Newark,  opposite 
Fort  Niagara,  at  intervals  all  the  way  up  to  Fort  George,  and  behind  them  mortars 
and  a  long  train  of  battery  cannon  had  been  placed.  At  six  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  21st  of  November  these  commenced  a  fierce  bombardment  of  Fort  Niagara, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  cannonade  was  opened  from  Fort  George  and  its  vicinity. 
From  dawn  until  the  evening  twilight  there  was  a  continual  roar  from  five  detached 
batteries  on  the  Canada  shore,  two  of  them  mounting  twenty-four-pounders.  From 
these  batteries  two  thousand  red-hot  shot  were  poured  upon  the  American  works, 
while  the  mortars,  from  five  and  a  half  to  ten  and  a  half  inches  calibre,  were  shower 
ing  bomb-shells  all  day  long.  The  latter  were  almost  harmless,  but  the  former  set  fire 
to  several  buildings  within  the  fort,  which,  by  the  greatest  exertions,  were  saved. 
The  garrison,  meanwhile,  performed  their  duty  nobly.  They  were  quite  sufficient  in 
number,  but  lacked  artillery  and  ammunition.  The  gallant  Lieutenant  Colonel  George 
M'Feely2  was  the  commander,  and  Major  Armistead, 
of  the  United  States  Engineer  Corps,  performed  the 
most  important  services  at  the  guns  and  in  extinguish 
ing  the  flames.  Captain  M'Keon  commanded  a  1 2- 
pounder  in  the  southeast  block-house ;  Captain  Jacks, 
of  the  7th  Regiment  of  Militia  Artillery,  was  in  charge  of  the  north  »block-house, 
where  he  was  greatly  exposed  to  a  raking  fire  of  the  enemy ;  and  Lieutenant  Rees, 
of  the  3d  United  States  Artillery,  managed  an  eighteen-pounder  in  the  southeast  bat 
tery,  which  told  heavily  upon  a  British  battery  with  a  twenty-four-pounder  en  bar 
bette.  He  was  soon  badly  wounded  in  the  shoulder  by  the  falling  of  a  part  of  the 
parapet.  On  the  west  battery  an  eighteen  and  a  four  pounder  were  directed  by  Lieu- 

1  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  writer  in  the  summer  of  1860,  from  a  pier  in  the  Niagara  River.    The  house  is 
upon  the  high  shore  of  the  river.    It  was  then  owned  by  Mr.  Lewis  F.  Allen. 

2  M'Feely  was  commissioned  a  major  in  March,  1S12,  and  in  July  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  colonel.    He  became 
colonel  of  infantry  in  April,  1S14,  and  was  disbanded  in  June,  1815. 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812.  427 

Artillery  Duel  at  Fort  Niagara.  A  heavy  Force  near  Buffalo.  Orders  for  Invading  Canada  at  that  Point. 

tenant  "Wendal,  and  on  the  mess-house,1  Doctor  Hooper,  of  the  New  York  Militia, 
had  charge  of  a  six-pounder.  South  of  Fort  Niagara,  and  a  dependency  of  it,  was  the 
"  Salt  Battery,"  so  called,  mounting  an  eighteen  and  a  four  pounder.  It  was  directly 
in  range  of  Fort  George,  and  annoyed  the  garrison  there  exceedingly.  It  was  com 
manded  by  Lieutenants  Gansevoort  and  Harris,  of  the  1st  Artillery.  From  these 
several  batteries  on  the  American  side  many  a  destructive  missile  went  on  terrible 
errands  during  the  day.  Newark  was  on  fire  several  times  before  night,  and  the 
buildings  in  Fort  George  were  also  fired,  and  one  of  its  batteries  was  silenced.2 
During  the  day  an  American  twelve-pounder  burst  and  killed  two  men.  Two  others 
were  killed  by  the  enemy's  fire,  and  a  lieutenant  and  four  men  were  wounded.  These 
were  the  casualties  of  the  day  on  the  American  side.  What  injury  was  done  to  the 
British  is  not  known.  A  shot  from  the  Salt  Battery  sunk  a  sloop  lying  at  the  wharf 
on  the  Canada  side.  Night  ended  the  artillery  duel,  and  it  was  not  renewed  in  the 
morning. 

We  have  observed  that  General  Smyth  expressed  his  opinion  to  General  Van  Rens- 
selaer,  on  his  arrival  on  the  frontier,  that  the  proper  place  to  cross  the  Niagara  River 
for  the  invasion  of  Canada  was  somewhere  between  Fort  Erie  and  Chippewa.3  A 
few  days  after  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Niagara,  Smyth  attempted  to  act  upon  that 
opinion.  His  proclamation  had  stirred  the  people  of  Western  New  York,  and  large 
numbers  had  flocked  to  his  standard ;  for  his  flaming  sentences  warmed  their  zeal, 
and  they  believed  that  all  his  glowing  hopes  would  be  realized  and  his  flattering 
promises  would  be  fulfilled.  On  the  27th  of  November,  when  Smyth  called  the  troops 
to  a  general  rendezvous  at  Black  Rock,  they  numbered  about  four  thousand  five  hund 
red.  They  were  composed  of  his  own  regulars,  and  the  Baltimore  Volunteers  under 
Colonel  Winder,  the  Pennsylvania  Volunteers  under  General  Tannehill,  and  the  New 
York  Volunteers  under  General  Peter  B.  Porter.  With  these  he  felt  competent  to 
invade  Canada  successfully. 

As  early  as  the  25th,  General  Smyth  issued  orders  for  "  the  whole  army  to  be  ready 
to  march  at  a  moment's  warning."  "  The  tents,"  he  said,  "  will  be  left  standing.  Offi 
cers  will  carry  their  knapsacks.  The  baggage  will  follow  in  convenient  time."  After 
giving  directions  for  the  embarkation  of  the  troops  in  the  boats  provided  by  Colonel 
Winder,  to  whom  that  important  service  was  intrusted,  he  gave  the  following  direc 
tions  for  forming  the  troops  in  battle  order  on  the  Canada  shore :  "  Beginning  on  the 
right,  as  follows :  Captain  Gibson's  Artillery ;  the  Sixth  and  Thirteenth  Infantry ; 
Captain  Towson's  Artillery ;  the  Fourteenth  and  Twenty-third  Infantry  as  one  regi 
ment  ;  Captain  Barker's  and  Captain  Branch's  Artillery ;  the  Twelfth  and  Twentieth 
Infantry;  Captain  Archer's  Artillery;  General  Tannehill's  Infantry;  a  company  of 
Riflemen ;  the  Infantry  of  Colonel  Swift  and  Colonel  M'Clure ;  a  company  of  Rifle 
men  ;  General  Porter's  Infantry ;  Captain  Leonard's  Artillery ;  a  battalion  of  Rifle 
men  on  each  flank,  in  a  line  perpendicular  to  that  formed  by  the  main  army,  extend 
ing  to  the  front  and  rear."4 

1  The  Indians  were  jealous  of  any  attempts  of  the  French  to  build  any  thing  like  a  fort  among  them.    The  French 
succeeded  by  stratagem.    They  obtained  permission  to  erect  a  great  wigwam,  or  dwelling,  and  then  induced  the  In 
dians  to  go  on  a  long  hunt.    When  they  returned  the  walls  were  so  advanced  that  they  might  defy  the  savages.    They 
completed  the  building  in  a  way  that  they  might  plant  cannon  on  the  top,  and  used  it  as  a  mess-house.    Under  it  was 
a  deep  dungeon,  and  in  that  dungeon  was  a  well.    It  is  believed  that  political  prisoners  from  France  were  confined 
in  that  dark  prison.    The  water  of  the  well  was  poisoned  at  one  time,  and  a  story  was  believed  by  superstitious  sol 
diers  that  at  midnight  the  headless  body  of  a  Frenchman  might  be  seen  sitting  on  the  margin  of  the  well,  where  he 
had  been  murdered. 

2  Thompson,  in  his  Historical  Sketches  of  the  Late  War,  page  SO,  says,  "Such  was  the  spirited  earnestness  of  both  officers 
and  men  at  this  battery,  that  when,  in  the  most  tremendous  of  the  bombardment,  they  had  flred  away  all  their  car 
tridges,  they  cut  up  their  flannel  waistcoats  and  shirts,  and  the  soldiers  their  trowsers,  to  supply  their  guns."    He  also 
speaks  of  the  wife  of  an  Irish  artilleryman,  named  Doyle,  who  had  been  made  a  prisoner  at  Qneenston,  and  to  whom  a 
parole  had  been  refused,  determined  to  resent  the  act  by  taking  her  husband's  place  as  far  as  possible.    On  the  occasion 
now  under  consideration  she  took  her  place  at  the  mess-house,  and  supplied  the  six-ponnder  there  with  hot  shot.    Re 
gardless  of  the  shot  and  shell  that  fell  around  her,  she  never  quitted  her  station  until  the  last  gun  had  been  fired. 

3  See  Smyth's  letter  to  Van  Rensselaer,  note  2,  page  389. 

*  Manuscript  order,  November  25, 1812 :  Winder  Papers.    In  that  order  the  directions  for  attack  were  given  as  follows : 


428  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Arrangements  for  Crossing  the  Niagara  River.          The  British,  forewarned,  are  forearmed.          Passage  of  the  River. 

•November  Every  thing  was  in  readiness  on  the  27tha  for  invasion,  and  arrange- 
isi2.  ments  Avere  made  for  the  expedition  to  embark  at  the  navy  yard  beloAV 
Black  Rock  at  reveille  on  the  morning  of  the  28th.  Seventy  public  boats,  capable  of 
carrying  forty  men  each ;  five  large  private  boats,  in  which  one  hundred  men  each 
could  be  borne ;  and  ten  scows  for  artillery,  with  many  small  boats,  were  pressed  into 
the  service,  so  that  three  thousand  troops,  the  Avhole  number  to  be  employed  in  the 
invasion,  might  cross  at  once.  That  evening  Smyth  issued  his  final  order,  directing 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Boerstler  to  cross  over  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  Avith  the 
effective  men  of  Colonel  Winder's  regiment,  and  destroy  a  bridge  about  five  miles 
beloAV  Fort  Erie,  capture  the  guard  stationed  there,  kill  or  take  the  artillery  horses, 
and,  Avith  the  captives,  if  any,  return  to  the  American  shore.  Captain  King  was  di 
rected  to  cross  at  the  same  time  at  the  "  Red  House,"  higher  up  the  river,  to  storm 
the  British  batteries.  It  Avas  left  to  the  discretion  of  Boerstler  to  march  up  the  Can 
ada  shore  to  assist  King,  or  to  return  immediately  after  performing  his  allotted  Avork 
at  the  bridge.  "It  is  not  intended  to  keep  possession,"  said  the  order.  "Let  the 
wounded  be  kept  from  the  public  eye  to-morrOAV.  You  [Colonel  Winder]  Avill  remain 
on  this  bank  and  give  directions."1 

General  Smyth  had  so  long  and  loudly  proclaimed  his  designs  against  Canada,  and 
had  so  fairly  indicated  his  probable  point  of  hiATasion,  that  the  authorities  on  the  other 
side  AA^ere  prepared  to  meet  him  at  any  place  between  Fort  Erie  and  Chippewa.  Ma 
jor  Ormsby,  of  the  Forty-ninth,  with  a  detachment  of  that  and  the  Newfoundland 
regiment,  Avas  at  the  fort.  The  ferry  opposite  Black  Rock  Avas  occupied  by  tAVO  com 
panies  of  militia  under  Captain  Bostwick.  TAVO  and  a  half  miles  from  Fort  Erie,  at  a 
house  on  the  Chippewa  road,  Avas  Lieutenant  Lamont,  with  a  detachment  of  the  Forty- 
ninth,  and  Lieutenant  King,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  Avith  a  three  and  six  pounder, 
and  some  militia  artillerymen.  Near  the  same  spot  were  two  batteries,  one  mount 
ing  an  eighteen  and  the  other  a  tAventy-four  pound  cannon,  also  under  Lamont.  A 
mile  farther  doAvn  was  a  post  occupied  by  a  detachment  under  Lieutenant  Bartley; 
and  on  Frenchman's  Creek,  four  and  a  half  miles  from  Fort  Erie,  was  a  party  of  sev 
enty  under  Lieutenant  ^_  a  part  of  the  Forty-first 

M'Intyre.       Lieutenant   -7^^   ^^  ^7  •  /    S  _s  •,.     Regulars,  some   militia 

r\  i        i.-n     -i    r>-     i,  I  Z^£-^-   r^£~^>  Sts&-7Lsftj  '    . 

Colonel  Cecil  Bisshopp    I*-*  ^^  //          and     militia     artillery, 

Avas  at  ChippCAva  Avith  and  near  him  Avas  Major 

Hatt  Avith  a  small  detachment  of  militia.  The  whole  number  of  British  troops,  scat 
tered  along  a  line  of  tAventy  miles,  did  not,  according  to  the  most  reliable  estimates, 
exceed  one  thousand  men. 

Before  the  appointed  hour  on  the  morning  of  the  28th,b  the  boats  Avere 

November 

in  readiness  under  the  general  superintendence  of  Lieutenant  Angus,  of 
the  navy,  at  the  head  of  a  .  ter  Watts,  of  Caledonia 

corps  of  marines  and  sea-    ,  -^y/*/        /3/J  s  fame,2  and  several  other 

men,  assisted  by  Lieiiten-  \^s  (£/?¥"''  ISi/l^LCj  /t^//  naval  officers.  It  was  a 
ant  Dudley,  Sailing-mas-  '  cold  and  dreary  night. 

At  three  in  the  morning6  the  advanced  parties  left  the  American  shore 

c  November  29.  .        ,       r       . 

for  their  respective  destinations.  One,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Boerst 
ler,  consisted  of  about  tAvo  hundred  men  of  Colonel  Winder's  regiment,  in  eleven 
boats ;  and  the  other,  under  Captain  King,  AAras  composed  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
regular  soldiers,  and  seArenty  sailors  under  Lieutenant  Angus,  in  ten  boats.  King's 
party  were  discoA'ered  upon  the  Avater  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  Avere 

"1.  The  artillery  will  spend  some  of  their  first  shot  on  the  enemy's  artillery,  and  then  aim  at  the  infantry,  raking  them 
where  it  is  practicable.  2.  The  firing  of  musketry  by  wings  or  companies  will  begin  at  the  distance  of  two  hundred 
yards,  aiming  at  the  middle  and  firing  deliberately.  3.  At  twenty  yards'  distance  the  soldiers  will  be  ordered  to  trail 
arms,  advance  with  shouts,  fire  at  five  paces'  distance,  and  charge  bayonets.  4.  The  soldiers  will  be  silent,  above  all 
things,  attentive  at  the  word  of  command,  load  quick  and  well,  and  aim  low." 
1  Manuscript  order  of  General  Smyth  to  Colonel  Winder,  November  27, 1S12 :  Winder  Papers.  »  See  page  386. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812.  429 


Incidents  of  the  Attempt  to  invade  Canada  on  the  Upper  Niagara. 


so  warmly  assailed  by  volleys  of  musketry  and  shot  from  a  field-piece  at  the  Red 
House,  that  six  of  the  ten  boats  were  compelled  to  return.  The  other  four  resolutely 
landed  in  good  order,  in  the  face  of  the  storm  of  bullets  and  grape-shot  from  flying 
artillery ;  and  before  King  could  form  his  troops  on  the  shore,  Angus  and  his  seamen, 
with  characteristic  impetuosity,  rushed  into  the  hottest  fire  and  suffered  considerably. 
King  formed  his  corps  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  the  enemy  were  soon  dispersed. 
He  then  proceeded  to  storm  and  take  in  quick  succession  two  British  batteries  above 
the  landing-place,  while  Angiis  and  his  seamen  rushed  upon  the  field-pieces  at  the 
Red  House,  captured  and  spiked  them,  and  cast  them,  with  their  caissons,1  into  the 
river.  In  this  assault  Sailing-master  Watts  was  mortally  wounded  while  leading  on 
the  seamen.2  Angus  and  his  party  returned  to  the  landing-place,  with  Lieutenant 
King,  of  the  Royal  Artillery,  wounded  and  a  prisoner.  Supposing  the  other  six  boats 
had  landed  (for  it  Avas  too  dark  to  see  far  along  the  shore),  and  that  Captain  King 
and  his  party  had  been  taken  prisoners,  Angus  crossed  to  the  American  shore  in  the 
four  boats.  This  unfortunate  mistake  left  King,  with  Captains  Morgan  and  Sproull, 
Lieutenant  Houston,  and  Samuel  Swartwout,  of  New  York,  who  had  volunteered  for 
the  service  with  the  little  party  of  regulars,  without  any  means  of  crossing.  King 
waited  a  while  for  re-enforcements.  None  came,  and  he  went  to  the  landing-place  for 
the  purpose  of  crossing,  with  a  number  of  the  British  artillerists  whom  he  had  made 
prisoners.  To  his  dismay,  he  discovered  the  absence  of  all  the  boats.  He  pushed 
down  the  river  in  the  dark  for  about  two  miles,  when  he  found  two  large  ones.  Into 
these  he  placed  all  of  his  officers,  the  prisoners,  and  one  half  of  his  men.  These  had 
not  reached  the  American  shore  when  King  and  the  remainder  of  his  troops  were 
taken  prisoners  by  a  superior  force. 

Boerstler  and  his  party,  in  the  mean  time,  had  been  placed  in  much  peril.  The 
firing  upon  King  had  aroused  the  enemy  all  along  the  Canada  shore,  and  they  were 
on  the  alert.  Boerstler's  boats  became  separated  in  the  darkness.  Seven  of  them 
landed  above  the  bridge,  to  be  destroyed,  while  four  others,  that  approached  the  des 
ignated  landing-place,  were  driven  off  by  a  party  of  the  enemy.  Boerstler  landed 
boldly  alone,  under  fire  from  a  foe  of  unknown  numbers,  and  drove  them  to  the  bridge 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Orders  were  then  given  for  the  destruction  of  that  struc 
ture,  but,  owing  to  the  confusion  at  the  time  of  landing,  the  axes  had  been  left  in  the 
boat.  The  bridge  was  only  partially  destroyed,  and  one  great  object  of  this  advance 
party  of  the  invading  army  was  not  accomplished.  Boerstler  was  about  to  return  to 
his  boats  and  recross  the  river,  because  of  the  evident  concentration  of  troops  to  that 
point  in  overwhelming  numbers,  when  he  was  compelled  to  form  his  lines  for  imme 
diate  battle.  Intelligence  came  from  the  commander  of  the  boat-guard  that  they  had 
captured  two  British  soldiers,  who  informed  them  that  the  whole  garrison  at  Fort 
Erie  was  approaching,  and  that  the  advance  guard  was  not  five  minutes  distant. 
This  intelligence  was  correct.  Darkness  covered  every  thing,  and  Boerstler  resorted 
to  stratagem  when  he  heard  the  tramp  of  the  approaching  foe.  He  gave  command 
ing  orders  in  a  loud  voice,  addressing  his  subordinates  as  field  officers.  The  British 
were  deceived.  They  believed  the  Americans  to  be  in  much  greater  force  than  they 
really  were.  A  collision  immediately  ensued  in  the  gloom.  Boerstler  ordered  the 
discharge  of  a  single  volley,  and  then  a  bayonet  charge.  The  enemy  broke  and  fled 
in  confusion,. and  Boerstler  crossed  the  river  without  annoyance.3 

1  A  caisson  is  an  ammunition  chest  or  wagon  hi  which  powder  and  bomb-shells  are  carried.  2  Sec  page  386. 

3  Colonel  Winder's  manuscript  report  to  General  Smyth,  December  7, 1812.  Winder  had  attempted  to  re-enforce  the 
troops  on  the  Canada  shore,  but  failed.  On  the  return  of  Angus  and  his  party,  he  was  ordered  to  cross  the  river  with 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men.  Within  twenty  minutes  after  the  order  was  given,  he  and  his  troops  were  battling  with 
the  current  and  the  floating  ice.  Winder's  boat  was  the  first  and  only  one  that  touched  the  Canada  shore,  the  current 
having  carried  the  others  below.  The  enemy,  with  strong  force  and  a  piece  of  artillery,  disputed  his  landing.  Resist 
ance  would  be  vain,  and  Winder  ordered  a  retreat,  after  losing  six  men  killed  and  twenty-two  wounded.  On  his  return 
he  formed  his  regiment  at  once,  tojoiu  in  the  embarkation  at  dawn. 

In  the  report  above  cited  Colonel  Winder  paid  the  following  compliment  to  Captain  Totten,  of  the  Engineers,  who, 


430  PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 

General  Smyth's  Incompetence.  His  foolish  Swaggering.  Another  Attempt  to  cross  the  River. 

It  was  sunrise  when  the  troops  began  to  embark,  and  so  tardy  were  the  movements 
that  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  all  were  ready.  General  Smyth  did  not  make 
his  appearance  during  the  day,1  and  all  the  movements  were  under  the  direction  of  his 
subordinates.  A  number  of  boats  had  been  left  to  strand  upon  the  shore,  and  became 
filled  with  water,  snow,  and  ice ;  and  as  hour  after  hour  passed  by,  dreariness  and  dis 
appointment  weighed  heavily  upon  the  spirits  of  the  shivering  troops.  Meanwhile  the 
enemy  had  collected  in  force  on  the  opposite  shore,  and  were  watching  every  move 
ment.  At  length,  wrhen  all  seemed  ready,  and  impatience  had  yielded  to  hope,  an 
order  came  from  the  commanding  general  "to  disembark  and  dine!'1'1'2'  The  wearied 
and  worried  troops  were  deeply  exasperated  by  this  order,  and  nothing  but  the  most 
positive  assurances  that  the  undertaking  would  be  immediately  resumed  kept  them 
from  open  mutiny.  The  different  regiments  retired  sullenly  to  their  respective 
quarters,  and  General  Porter,  with  his  dispirited  New  York  Volunteers,  marched  in 
disgust  to  Buffalo. 

*  November  28,  Smyth  now  called  a  council  of  officers. a  They  could  not  agree.  The 
best  of  them  urged  the  necessity  and  expediency  of  crossing  in  force  at 
once,  before  the  enemy  could  make  formidable  preparations  for  their  reception.  The 
general  decided  otherwise,  and  doubt  and  despondency  brooded  over  the  camp  that 
night.  The  ensuing  Sabbath  dawn  brought  no  relief.  Preparations  for  another  em 
barkation  were  indeed  in  progress,  while  the  enemy,  too,  was  busy  in  opposing  labor. 
It  was  evident  to  every  spectator  of  judgment  that  the  invasion  must  be  attempted 
at  another  point  of  the  river,  when,  toward  evening,  to  the  astonishment  of  all,  the 
general  issued  an  order,  perfectly  characteristic  of  the  man,  for  the  troops  to  be  ready 
at  the  navy  yard,  at  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning,b  for  embarkation. 

November  30 

"  The  general  will  be  on  board,"  he  pompously  proclaimed.  "  Neither 
rain,  snow,  or  frost  will  prevent  the  embarkation,"  he  said.  "  The  cavalry  will  scour 
the  fields  from  Black  Rock  to  the  bridge,  and  suffer  no  idle  spectators.  While  em 
barking,  the  music  will  play  martial  airs.  Yankee  Doodle  will  be  the  signal  to  get 
under  way.  .  .  .  The  landing  will  be  effected  in  despite  of  cannon.  The  whole  army 
has  seen  that  cannon  is  to  be  little  dreaded.  .  .  .  Hearts  of  War!  to-morrow  will 
be  memorable  in  the  annals  of  the  United  States."3 

"  To-morrow"  came,  but  not  the  promised  achievement.  All  the  officers  disapproved 
of  the  time  and  manner  of  the  proposed  embarkation,  and  expressed  their  opinions 
freely.  At  General  Porter's  quarters  a  change  was  agreed  upon.  Porter  proposed 
deferring  the  embarkation  until  Tuesday  morning,  the  1st  of  December,  an  hour  or 
two  before  daylight,  and  to  make  the  landing-place  a  little  below  the  upper  end  of 
Grand  Island.  Winder  suggested  the  propriety  of  making  a  descent  directly  upon 
Chippewa, "  the  key  of  the  country."  This  Smyth  consented  to  attempt,  intending, 
as  he  said,  if  successful,  to  march  down  through  Queenston,  and  lay  siege  to  Fort 
George.4  Orders  were  accordingly  given  for  a  general  rendezvous  at  the  navy  yard 
at  three  o'clock  on  Tuesday  morning,  and  that  the  troops  should  be  collected  in  the 
woods  near  by  on  Monday,  where  they  should  build  fires  and  await  the  signal  for 
gathering  on  the  shore  of  the  river.  The  hour  arrived,  but  when  day  dawned  only 
fifteen  hundred  were  embarked.  Tannehill's  Pennsylvania  Brigade  were  not  present. 
Before  their  arrival  rumors  had  reached  the  camp  that  they,  too,  like  Van  Rensselaer's 
militia  at  Lewiston,  had  raised  a  constitutional  question  about  being  led  out  of  their 
state.  Yet  their  scruples  seem  to  have  been  overcome  at  this  time,  and  they  would 

at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1864,  was  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States:  "It  is  with  great  pleasure  I  ac 
knowledge  the  intelligence  and  skill  which  Captain  Totten,  of  the  Engineers,  has  yielded  to  the  works  which  are  rais 
ing.  To  him  shall  we  be  indebted  for  what  I  believe  will  be  a  respectable  state  of  preparation  in  a  short  time." 

1  Thomson's  Historical  Sketches,  etc.,  page  S5. 

5  General  Smyth's  dispatch  to  General  Dearborn,  December  4, 1812. 

3  Autograph  order,  Winder  Papers,  dated  "  Head-quarters,  Camp  near  Buffalo,  Nov.  29, 1812." 

*  Smyth's  dispatch  to  General  Dearboru,  December  4, 1812. 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812.  431 

Smyth's  Council  of  Officers.      The  Invasion  of  Canada  abandoned.       Disappointment  and  Indignation  of  the  Troops. 

have  invaded  Canada  cheerfully  under  other  auspices.  But  distrust  of  their  leader, 
created  by  the  events  of  the  last  forty-eight  hours,  had  demoralized  nearly  the  whole 
army.  They  had  made  so  much  noise  in  the  embarkation  that  the  startled  enemy 
had  sounded  his  alarm  bugle  and  discharged  signal-guns  from  Fort  Erie  to  Chippewa. 
Tannehill's  Pennsylvanians  had  not  appeared,  and  many  other  troops  lingered  upon 
the  shore,  loth  to  embark.  In  this  dilemma  Smyth  hastily  called  a  council  of  the  reg 
ular  officers,  utterly  excluding  those  of  the  volunteers  from  the  conference,  and  the 
first  intimation  of  the  result  of  that  council  was  an  order  from  the  commanding  gen 
eral,  sent  to  General  Porter,  who  was  in  a  boat  with  the  pilot,  a  fourth  of  a  mile  from 
shore,  in  the  van  of  the  impatient  flotilla,  directing  the  whole  army  to  debark  and  re 
pair  to  their  quarters.1  This  was  accompanied  by  a  declaration  that  the  invasion  of 
Canada  was  abandoned  at  present,  pleading,  in  bar  of  just  censure,  that  his  orders  from 
his  superiors  were  not  to  attempt  it  with  less  than  three  thousand  men.2  The  reg 
ulars  were  ordered  into  winter  quarters,  and  the  volunteers  were  dismissed  to  their 
homes. 

This  order  for  debarkation,  and  the  fact  that  just  previously  a  British  major,  bear 
ing  a  flag  of  truce,  had  crossed  the  river  and  held  an  interview  with  General  Smyth, 
caused  the  most  intense  indignation,  and  the  most  fearful  suspicions  of  his  loyalty3 
in  the  army,  especially  among  the  volunteers,  whose  officers  he  had  insulted  by  neg 
lect.  The  troops,  without  order  or  restraint,  discharged  their  muskets  in  all  direc 
tions,  and  a  scene  of  insubordination  and  utter  confusion  followed.  At  least  a  thou 
sand  of  the  volunteers  had  come  from  their  homes  in  response  to  his  invitation,  and 
the  promise  that  they  should  certainly  be  led  into  Canada  by  a  victor.  They  had 
imposed  implicit  confidence  in  his  ability  and  the  sincerity  of  his  great  words,  and  in 
proportion  to  their  faith  and  zeal  were  now  their  disappointment  and  resentment. 
Unwilling  to  have  their  errand  to  the  frontier  fruitless  of  all  but  disgrace,  the  volun 
teers  earnestly  requested  permission  to  be  led  into  Canada  under  General  Porter, 
promising  the  commanding  general  the  speedy  capture  of  Fort  Erie  if  he  would  fur 
nish  them  with  four  pieces  of  artillery.  But  Smyth  evaded  their  request,  and  the 
volunteers  were  sent  home  uttering  imprecations  against  a  man  whom  they  consid 
ered  a  mere  blusterer  without  courage,  and  a  conceited  deceiver  without  honor.  They 
felt  themselves  betrayed,  and  the  inhabitants  in  the  vicinity  sympathized  with  them. 
Their  indignation  was  greatly  increased  by  ill-timed  and  ungenerous  charges  made 
by  Smyth,  in  his  report  to  General  Dearborn,  against  General  Porter,  in  whom  the 
volunteers  had  the  greatest  confidence.4  His  person  was  for  some  time  in  danger. 
He  was  compelled  to  double  the  guards  around  his  tent,  and  to  move  it  from  place 
to  place  to  avoid  continual  insults.5  He  was  several  times  fired  at  when  he  ventured 
out  of  his  marquee.  Porter  openly  attributed  the  abandonment  of  the  invasion  of 
Canada  to  the  cowardice  of  Smyth.  A  bitter  quarrel  ensued,  and  soon  resulted  in  a 
challenge  by  the  general-in-chief  for  his  second  in  command  to  test  the  courage  of 
both  by  a  duel.6  In  direct  violation  of  the  Articles  of  War,  these  superior  officers  of 

1  Autograph  statement  of  Colonel  Winder. 

2  General  Smyth's  report  to  General  Dearborn,  December  4, 1812. 

3  It  is  proper  to  say,  in  justice  to  General  Smyth,  that  there  were  no  just  grounds  because  of  that  event  for  any  sus 
picions  of  his  loyalty.    Colonel  Winder  had  been  to  the  British  camp  with  a  flag  two  days  before,  to  make  some  ar 
rangement  about  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  this  visit  of  the  British  major  was  doubtless  in  response. 

*  General  Porter  was  a  partner  in  business  with  Mr.  Barton,  the  army  contractor  for  the  Niagara  frontier,  and  General 
Smyth  alluded  to  him  in  his  report  as  "the  contractor's  agent."  He  charged  him  with  "exciting  some  clamor"  against 
the  measures  of  General  Smyth,  and  said,  "He  finds  the  contract  a  losing  one  at  this  time,  and  would  wish  to  see  the 
army  in  Canada,  that  he  might  not  be  bound  to  supply  it." 

5  His  friend  Colonel  Parker,  a  Virginian,  in  an  autograph  letter  before  me,  written  to  Colonel  Winder  on  the  second 
of  December,  said :  "  Major  Campbell  will  inform  you  of  the  insult  offered  to  the  general  last  evening,  and  of  the  inter 
ruption  to  our  repose  last  night.    God  grant  us  a  speedy  relief  from  such  neighbors  !" — Winder  Papers. 

6  There  appears  to  have  been  much  quarreling  among  the  officers  on  that  frontier  during  the  autumn  of  1812.    Only 
three  months  before,  Porter  and  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer  had  such  a  bitter  dispute  that  it  resulted  in  a  chal 
lenge  from  Porter,  but  they  never  reached  the  dueling-ground  on  Grand  Island.    General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer 
watched  them  closely  after  he  heard  of  the  challenge,  and  was  prepared  to  arrest  them  both  when  they  should  attempt 
to  go  to  the  island.— Statement  of  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  among  the  Van  Rensselaer  papers. 


432  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

A  harmless  Duel  between  Porter  and  Smyth.        A  solemn  Farce.         Smyth  disbanded.         His  Petition  to  Congress. 

the  Army  of  the  Centre,  with  friends,  and  seconds,1  and  surgeons,2  put  off  in  boats 
from  the  shore  near  Black  Rock,  in  the  presence  of  their  troops,  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  12th  of  December,  to  meet  each  other  in  mortal  combat  on  Grand 
Island.3  They  exchanged  shots  at  twelve  paces'  distance.  Nobody  was  hurt.  An 
expected  tragedy  proved  to  be  a  solemn  comedy.  The  affair  took  the  usual  ridicu 
lous  course.  The  seconds  reconciled  the  belligerents.  General  Porter  acknowledged 

o  * 

his  conviction  that  General  Smyth  was  "  a  man  of  courage,"  and  General  Smyth  was 
convinced  that  General  Porter  was  "  above  suspicion  as  a  gentleman  and  an  officer."4 
Tims  ended  the  melodrama  of  Smyth's  invasion  of  Canada.  The  whole  affair  was 
disgraceful  and  humiliating.  "  What  wretched  work  Smyth  and  Porter  have  made 
of  it,"  wrote  General  Wadsworth  to  General  Van  Rensselaer  from  his  home  at  Gene- 
seo,  at  the  close  of  the  year.  "  I  wish  those  who  are  disposed  to  find  so  much  fault 
could  know  the  state  of  the  militia  since  the  day  you  gave  up  the  command.  It 
has  been  'confusion  worse  confounded.'"5  The  day  that  saw  Smyth's  failure  was 
indeed  "  memorable  in  the  annals  of  the  United  States,"  as  well  as  in  his  own  pri 
vate  history.  Confidence  in  his  military  ability  was  destroyed,  and  three  months 
afterward  he  was  "  disbanded,"  as  the  Army  Register  says ;  in  other  words,  he  was 
deposed  without  a  trial,  and  excluded  from  the  army.6  Yet  he  had  many  warm 
friends  who  clung  to  him  in  his  misfortunes,  for  he  possessed  many  excellent  social 
qualities.  He  was  a  faithful  representative  of  the  constituency  of  a  district  'of  Vir 
ginia  in  the  national  Congress  from  1817  to  1825,  and  again  from  1827  until  his  death, 
in  April,  1830. 

1  Lieutenant  Colonel  Winder  was  Smyth's  second,  and  Lieutenant  Angus  was  Porter's. 

8  The  surgeon  on  that  occasion  was  Dr.  Roberts,  and  the  assistant  surgeon  was  Dr.  Parsons,  afterward  surgeon  of 
Perry's  flag-ship  Lawrence,  in  the  battle  on  Lake  Erie,  and  now  [1SC7]  a  resident  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 

3  This  is  a  large  island,  containing  20,000  acres,  dividing  the  Niagara  River  into  two  channels.    (See  map  on  page  382.) 
On  this  island  the  late  Mordecai  Manasseh  Noah  proposed  to  found  a  city  of  refuge  for  his  co-religionists,  the  Jews,  and 
memorialized  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  on  the  subject  in  1S20.    The  project  failed  because  the  chief 
rabbi  in  Europe  disapproved  of  it.   Noah  erected  a  commemorative  monument  there,  but  it  and  his  scheme  have  passed 
away. 

4  In  a  letter  of  Lieutenant  Angus  to  Colonel  Winder  the  next  day,  he  said :  "  A  meeting  took  place  between  General 
Smyth  and  General  Porter  yesterday  afternoon  on  Grand  Island,  in  pursuance  of  previous  arrangements.    They  met  at 
Dayton's  tavern,  and  crossed  the  river  with  their  friends  and  surgeons.    Both  gentlemen  behaved  with  the  utmost  cool 
ness  and  unconcern.    A  shot  was  exchanged  in  as  intrepid  and  firm  a  manner  as  possible  by  each  gentleman,  but  with 
out  effect The  hand  of  reconciliation  was  then  offered  and  received."— Autograph  letter,  Winder  Papers.    An 
other  account  says  that  the  party  returned  to  Dayton's,  where  they  supped  and  spent  a  convivial  evening  together. 

5  Autograph  letter  to  General  Van  Rensselaer,  December  30, 1812. 

6  General  Smyth  petitioned  the  House  of  Representatives  to  reinstate  him  in  the  army.    That  body  referred  the  peti 
tion  to  the  Secretary  of  War — the  general's  executioner  '.    Of  course,  its  prayer  was  not  answered.    In  that  petition  he 
asked  for  the  privilege  of  "dying  for  his  country."    This  phrase  was  a  subject  for  much  ridicule.    At  a  public  celebra 
tion  of  Washington's  birthday  in  1814  at  Georgetown,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  following  sentiment  was  offered 
at  the  table  during  the  presentation  of  toasts :  "  General  Smyth's  petition  to  Congress  to  '  die  for  his  country :'  May  it 
be  ordered  that  the  prayer  of  said  petition  be  granted." 

A  wag  wrote  on  a  panel  of  one  of  the  doors  of  the  Hall  of  Representatives — 

"All  hail,  great  chief!  who  quailed  before 
A  Bisshopp  on  Niagara's  shore  ; 
But  looks  on  Death  with  dauntless  eye, 
And  begs  for  leave  to  bleed  and  die. 
Oh  myl 


OF   THE  WAR    OF   1812.  433 

Failures  of  the  Armies.    Acknowledged  Naval  Superiority  of  Great  Britain.    British  Contempt  for  the  American  Navy. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

' '  By  the  trident  of  Neptune,'  brave  Hull  cried,  '  let's  steer ; 
It  points  out  the  track  of  the  bullying  Giierriere: 
Should  we  meet  her,  brave  boys,  "  Seamen's  rights  !"  be  our  cry  : 
We  fight  to  defend  them,  to  live  free  or  die.' 
The  famed  Constitution  through  the  billows  now  flew, 
While  the  spray  to  the  tars  was  refreshing  as  dew, 
To  quicken  the  sense  of  the  insult  they  felt, 
In  the  boast  of  the  Guerriere'a  not  being  the  Belt." 

SONG,  "  CONSTITUTION  AND  GTTEREIERE." 

"Ye  brave  Sons  of  Freedom,  whose  bosoms  beat  high 
For  your  country  with  patriot  pride  and  emotion, 
Attend  while  1  sing  of  a  wonderful  Wasp, 
And  the  Frolic  she  gallantly  took  on  the  ocean." 

OLD  SONG. 

preceding  chapters  we  have  considered  the  prominent  events 
of  the  war  on  land,  and  perceive  in  the  record  very  little  where 
of  Americans  should  boast  as  military  achievements.  The  war 
had  heen  commenced  without  adequate  preparations,  and  had 
been  carried  on  by  inexperienced  and  incompetent  men  in  the 
Council  and  in  the  Field.  Brilliant  theories  had  been  promul- 
gated  and  splendid  expectations  had  been  indulged,  while  Phi- 
\~  losophy  and  Experience  spoke  monitorily,  but  in  vain.  The  vis 
ions  of  the  theorists  proved  to  be  "  dissolving  views" — unsub 
stantial  and  deceptive — when  tested  by  the  standard  of  practical  results.  At  the 
close  of  the  campaign  in  1812,  the  Army  of  the  Northwest,  first  under  Hull  and  then 
under  Harrison,  was  occupying  a  defensive  position  among  the  snows  of  the  wilder 
ness  on  the  banks  of  the  Maumee ;  the  Army  of  the  Centre,  first  under  Van  Rensse- 
laer  and  then  under  Smyth,  had  experienced  a  series  of  misfortunes  and  disappoint 
ments  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  and  was  also  resting  on  the  defensive ;  while  the 
Army  of  the  JVorth,  under  Bloomfield,  whose  head-quarters  were  at  Plattsburg,  had 
made  less  efforts  to  accomplish  great  things,  and  had  less  to  regret  and  more  to  boast 
of  than  the  others.  Yet  it,  too,  was  standing  on  the  defensive  when  the  snows  of 
December  fell. 

Different  was  the  aspect  of  affairs  on  the  water.  The  hitherto  neglected  navy  had 
been  aggressive  and  generally  successful.  We  have  already  observed  the  operations 
of  one  branch  of  it,  with  feeble  means,  in  the  narrow  waters  of  Lake  Ontario,  under 
Chauncey  ;T  let  us  now  take  a  view  of  its  exploits  on  the  broad  ocean,  where  Thom 
son  had  declared  in  son<?, 

O  7 

"  Britannia  rules  the  waves." 

The  naval  superiority  of  England  was  every  where  acknowledged ;  and  the  idea  of 
the  omnipotence  of  her  power  on  the  sea  was  so  universal  in  the  American  mind,  that 
serious  expectations  of  success  in  a  contest  with  her  on  that  theatre  were  regarded 
as  absurd.  The  American  newspapers — then,  as  now,  the  chief  vehicles  of  popular 
information — had  always  been  filled  with  praises  of  England's  naval  puissance  and 
*  examples  of  her  prowess ;  while  the  British  newspapers,  reflecting  the  mind  of  the 
ruling  classes  of  that  empire,  were  filled  with  boastings  of  England's  power,  abuse  of 
all  other  people,  and  supercilious  sneers  at  the  navies  of  every  other  nation  on  the 

i  See  page  3T1. 

EE 


434 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Number  and  Character  of  the  American  War  Marine.      Distribution  and  Condition.      American  Merchantmen  saved. 

face  of  the  earth.  That  of  the  United  States,  her  rapidly  growing  rival  in  national 
greatness  and  ever  the  object  of  her  keenest  jealousy,  was  made  the  special  tar 
get  for  the  indecorous  jeers  of  her  public  writers  and  speakers.  The  Constitution, 
one  of  the  finest  vessels  in  the  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  which  was  among  the 
first  to  humble  the  arrogance  of  British  cruisers,  was  spoken  of  as  "  a  bundle  of  pine 
boards,  sailing  under  a  bit  of  striped  bunting ;"  and  it  was  asserted  that "  a  few  broad 
sides  from  England's  wooden  walls  would  drive  the  paltry  striped  bunting  from  the 
ocean."1  It  was  with  erroneous  opinions  like  these  that  the  commander  of  the  Alert 
-August is,  attacked  the  JSssexf  and,  as  we  shall  observe  presently,  was  undeceived 
by  a  conclusive  argument.  Yet,  in  spite  of  conscious  inferiority  of  strength 
in  men  and  metal,  the  distrust  of  the  nation,  and  the  defiant  contempt  of  the  foe,  the 
little  navy  of  the  United  States  went  boldly  out  upon  the  ocean  to  dispute  with  En 
gland's  cruisers  the  supremacy  of  the  sea.2 

When  war  was  declared,  the  public  vessels  of  the  United  States,  exclusive  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy  gun-boats,  numbered  only  twenty,  with  an  aggregate  armament 
of  litle  more  than  five  hundred  guns.  These  were  scattered.  Four  of  them  had 
wintered  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island;  four  others  in  Hampton  Roads,  Virginia;  two 
were  away  on  foreign  service  ;  two  were  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina ;  two  were  at 
New  Orleans ;  one  was  on  Lake  Ontario ;  and  five  were  laid  up  "  in  ordinary."3  In 
view  of  this  evident  inefficiency  of  the  Ame-rican  navy  to  protect  its  commerce,  there 
was  much  alarm  among  the  few  merchants  whose  ships  had  gone  abroad  before  the 
laying  of  the  embargo,  which  saved  many  hundreds  of  detained  vessels  from  exposure 
to  capture  or  destruction,  and  thus  furnished  materials  for  the  privateers  that  soon 
swarmed  upon  the  ocean.  These  merchants  sent  a  swift-sailing  pilot -boat  to  the 
(toasts  of  Northern  Europe  with  the  news  of  the  declaration  of  war,  and  with  direc 
tions  for  the  American  commercial  marine  in  the  harbors  of  Russia,  Sweden,  Denmark, 
and  Prussia,  to  remain  there  until  the  war  should  cease.  By  this  timely  movement 
:i  greater  part  of  the  American  shipping  in  those  ports  was  saved  from  the  perils  of 
British  privateering.  A  sketch  of  that  important  branch  of  the  American  naval  serv 
ice  during  the, war  will  be  presented  in  a  group  in  another  part  of  this  work.  It  is 

1  This  was  alluded  to  in  the  following  stanzas  of  a  song  of  the  time : 

"  Too  long  our  tars  have  borne  in  peace 

With  British  domineering ; 
But  now  they've  sworn  the  trade  should  cease — 

For  vengeance  they  are  steering. 
First  gallant  Hull,  he  was  the  lad 

Who  sailed  a  tyrant-hunting, 
And  swaggering  Dacres  soon  was  glad 

To  strike  to  '  strijied  bunting.' " 

a  "While,  therefore,"  says  an  English  writer,  "  a  feeling  toward  Americans  bordering  on  contempt  had  unhappily  pos 
sessed  the  mind  of  the  British  naval  officer,  rendering  him  more  than  usually  careless  and  opinionative,  the  American 
naval  officer,  having  been  taught  to  regard  his  new  foe  with  a  feeling  of  dread,  sailed  forth  to  meet  him  with  the  whole 
of  his  energies  aroused."— Naval  Occurrences  of  the  Late  War,  etc.,  by  William  James. 

3  The  following  is  a  list  of  those  vessels,  their  rated  and  actual  armament,  the  names  of  the  commanders  of  those 
afloat,  and  the  designation  of  those  in  "ordinary,"  or  laid  up  for  repairs  or  other  purposes  : 


Name. 

Rated. 

ing. 

Employed. 

Name. 

Rated. 

Mount 
ing. 

Employed. 

44 

44 
44 
36 
36 
06 
30 
32 
32 
32 

58 
5S 
5S 
44 
44 
44 
44 

Capt.  Hull. 
Capt.  Decatur. 
Com.  Rodgers. 
Ordinary. 
Ordinary. 
Ordinary. 
Capt.  Smith. 
Ordinary. 
Capt.  Porter. 
Ordinary. 

26 

16 
16 
16 
lii 
16 
12 
19 
12 
12 

18 
18 

Capt.  Ludlow. 
Capt.  Jones. 
Capt.  Lawrence. 
Lieut.  Carroll. 
Crane. 
Wool?ey. 
Gadsden. 
Sinclair. 
Blukely. 
Bain  bridge. 

United  States  

President  

Hornet  

New  York  

Adams  

Viper  

There  were  four  bomb-vessels  in  ordinary,  named  respectively  Vengeance,  Spitfire,  ^Etna,  and  Vesuvius.  The  gun 
boats  were  all  numbered,  from  "  1"  to  "  170,"  and  during  the  War  of  1S12  were  distributed  as  follows  : 

In  New  York,  54 :  New  Orleans,  26  ;  Norfolk,  14 ;  Charleston,  S.  C.,  2 ;  Wilmington,  N.  C.,  2 ;  St.  Mary's,  11 ;  Washing 
ton,  10;  Portland,  S;  Boston,  2;  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  4;  Philadelphia,  20;  Baltimore,  10.  Of  these  only 
sixty-two  were  in  commission.  Eighty-six  were  in  ordinary,  and  some  were  undergoing  repairs.  There  had  been  an 
increase  of  five  to  the  number,  and  some  slight  changes  of  position,  when  the  war  broke  out. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812.  435 


Commodore  Rodgers's  Squadron.         Cruise  of  the  President.         First  Shot  on  the  Water.          Chase  of  the  Belvidera. 

proposed  now  to  consider  the  events  of  the  regular  service  only,  excepting  where 
necessity  may  compel  an  incidental  allusion  to  the  other. 

At  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  war,  Commodore  Rodgers,  with  his  flag-ship  .Pres 
ident,  44  ;  Essex,  32,  Captain  Porter;  and  Hornet,  18,  Captain  Lawrence,  was  in  the 
port  of  New  York.  The  Essex  was  overhauling  her  rigging ;  the  others  might  be 
ready  for  service  at  an  hour's  notice.  On  the  21st  of  June  Rodgers  received  the  news 
of  the  declaration  of  war,  and  with  it  orders  for  sailing  immediately.  He  had  drop 
ped  down  the  bay  that  morning  with  the  President  and  Hornet,  and  toward  noon  had 
been  joined  by  a  small  squadron  under  Commodore  Decatur,  whose  broad  pennon 
floated  from  the  United  States,  44.  Her  companions  were  the  Congress,  38,  Captain 
Smith,  and  Argus,  16,  Lieutenant  Commandant  St.  Clair. 

Rodgers  had  received  information  that  a  large  fleet  of  Jamaica-men  had  sailed  for 
England  under  a  strong  convoy,  and  he  believed  that  they  must  then  be  sweeping 
along  the  American  coast  in  the  current  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  When  his  sailing  orders 
arrived  he  resolved  to  make  a  dash  at  that  convoy,  and  within  an  hour  after  receiving 
his  dispatch  from  the  Navy  Department  he  had  weighed  anchor.  With  the  united 
squadron  he  passed  Sandy  Hook  that  afternoon.  In  the  evening  he  spoke  an  Ameri 
can  merchantman  that  had  seen  the  Jamaica  fleet,  and  had  been  boarded  by  the  Brit 
ish  frigate  Belvidera,  36.  Rodgers  crowded  sail  and  commenced  pursuit.  Thirty-six 
hours  elapsed,  and  the  enemy  were  yet  invisible ;  but  an  English  war-vessel  was 
espied  on  the  northeastern  horizon,  and  a  general  chase  of  the  whole  squadron  com 
menced  in  that  direction.  The  wind  was  fresh,  and  the  enemy  was  standing  before 
it.1  The  fleet  President  outstripped  her  companions,  and  rapidly  gained  on  the  fu 
gitive.  At  four  o'clock  she  was  within  gun-shot  of  the  enemy,  off  Nantucket  Shoals, 
when  the  wind  fell,  and  the  heavier  President  —  heavier,  because  she  had  just  left 
port — began  to  fall  behind. 

To  cripple  the  stranger  was  now  Rodgers's  only  hope  of  success.  With  his  own 
hand  he  pointed  and  discharged  one  of  his  forecastle  chase-guns,  the  first  hostile  shot 
of  the  war  fired  afloat?  It  went  crashing  through  the  stern-frame  of  the  stranger 
and  into  the  gun-room  with  destructive  effect,  driving  her  people  from  the  after  part 
of  the  vessel.  This  was  immediately  followed  by  a  shot  from  the  first  division  below, 
directed  by  Lieutenant  Gamble,  which  struck  and  damaged  one  of  the  stranger's 
stern-chasers.  Rodgers  fired  again,  and  was  followed  immediately  by  Gamble,  whose 
gun  bursted,  and  killed  and  wounded  sixteen  men.  It  blew  up  the  forecastle  of  the 
President,  and  threw  Rodgers  several  feet  into  the  air.  In  his  descent  one  of  his  legs 
was  broken.  This  accident  caused  a  pause  in  the  firing,  when  a  shot  from  a  stern- 
chaser  of  the  stranger  came  plunging  along  the  Presidents  deck,  killing  a  midship 
man  and  one  or  two  men.  t 

It  was  now  twilight,  and  the  British  ship  having  her  spars  and  rigging  imperiled 
by  the  Presidents  fire,  that  vessel  having  yawed3  for  the  purpose,  began  to  lighten 
by  cutting  away  her  anchors,  staving  and  throwing  overboard  her  boats,  and  starting 
two  tons  of  water.  She  gained  headway  ;  and,  as  a  last  resort,  the  President  fired 
three  broadsides,  but  with  little  effect.  Unwilling  to  lighten  his  own  ship,  as  it 
would  impair  his  ability  for  a  cruise,  Rodgers  ordered  the  pursuit  to  be  abandoned 
at  midnight.a  The  British  vessel,  it  was  afterward  ascertained,  was  the  mjnne23, 
frigate  Belvidera,  36,  Captain  Richard  Byron,  that  had  boarded  the  Ameri-  1812- 
can  merchantman  just  mentioned.  Her  commander  displayed  great  skill  in  saving 
his  vessel.  She  sailed  for  Halifax  for  repairs,4  and  gave  the  first  information  there 

1  The  commander  of  the  English  vessel  had  uot  heard  of  the  declaration  of  war,  and  when  he  saw  the  squadron  he 
stood  toward  it.    But  when  he  saw  them  suddenly  take  in  their  studding-sails  and  haul  up  in  chase  of  him,  frequently 
wetting  the  sails  to  profit  by  the  lightness  of  the  wind,  he  suspected  hostility. 

2  The  first  on  land  was  in  the  amphibious  fight  at  Sackett's  Harbor  a  month  later.    See  page  368. 

3  To  yaw  is  to  steer  wild,  or  out  of  the  line  of  the  ship's  course. 

*  The  Belvidera  was  badly  injured  in  her  hull,  spars,  and  rigging.    The  President  received  a  number  of  shots  in  her 
sails  and  rigging,  but  was  not  materially  injured. 


436 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Chase  of  the  Jamaica  Merchant  Fleet. 


British  Squadron  at  Halifax. 


Capture  of  the  Nautilus. 


of  the  actual  existence  of  war,  so  positively  communicated  to  her  by  the  President. 
In  this  action  the  American  bursting    of  the   gun.     The 

^y)         iL 

frigate  had  twenty-two  men     //?' /r3  /?   -Belvidera  lost   seven  killed 

killed  and  wounded,  sixteen    "<-^  t/C/YSW   ^j         an(j   wounded  by  shot,  and 
of  whom  were  injured  by  the  #  several  others  by  splinters. 

Captain  Byron  was  wounded  in  the  thigh  by  the  latter.1 

Kodgers  now  continued  the  chase  after  the  Jamaica-men.  Cocoanut  shells,  orange 
skins,  and  other  evidences  of  his  being  in  their  track,  were  seen  upon  the  water  off 
the  Banks  of  Newfoundland  on  the  first  of  July.  On  the  ninth  the  commander  of  an 
English  letter-of-marque  captured  by  the  Hornet  reported  that  he  had  seen  the  fleet 
on  the  previous  evening,  when  he  counted  eighty-five  sail,  convoyed  by  a  two-deck 
ship,  a  frigate,  a  sloop-of-war,  and  a  brig.  This  intelligence  stimulated  Rodgers  to 
greater  exertions,  and  he  continued  the  chase,  ineffectually  on  account  of  fogs,  un 
til  the  13th,  when  he  was  within  a  day's  sail  of  the  chops  of  the  Irish  Channel.  Then 
he  relinquished  pursuit,  sailed  southwardly,  and  passed  within  thirty  miles  of  the  Rock 
of  Lisbon,  in  sight  of  Madeira,  the  Western  Islands,  and  the  Grand  Banks  of  New 
foundland,  without  falling  in  with  a  single  vessel  of  war,  and  entered  Boston  Harbor 
after  a  cruise  of  seventy  days.  He  had  captured  seven  English  merchantmen,  recap 
tured  an  American  vessel  from  a  British  cruiser,  and  brought  in  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  prisoners.  Many  of  the  seamen  of  the  squadron  were  sick  of  the  scurvy, 
and  several  had  died. 

The  news  carried  into  Halifax  by  the  J3elvidera  created  a  profound  sensation  there. 
The  commandant  of  that  naval  station,  Rear  Admiral  Sawyer,  took  measures  imme 
diately  to  collect  a  squadron  for  the  purpose  of  cruising  in  search  of  Rodgers's  ships 
or  any  other  American  vessels.  Within  a  week,  the  African,  64,  Captain  Bustard ;  the 
Shannon,  38,  Captain  Broke ;  the  Guerriere,  38,  Captain  Dacres  ;  the  Belmdera,  36, 
Captain  Byron ;  and  the  ^Eolus,  32,  Captain  Lord  James  Townsend,  were  united  in 
one  squadron,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Broke,  the  senior  officer,  who  made  the 
Shannon  his  flag-ship.  This  force  appeared  off  New  York  early  in  July,  and  made 
several  captures,  among  them  the  United  States  brig  Nautilus,  14,  of  Tripolitan  fame,2 
Lieutenant  Commandant  Crane.  She  had  arrived  at  New  York  just  after  Rodgers 

left,  and  went  out  immediately  for  the 
purpose  of  cruising  in  the  track  of  the 
English  West  Indiamen.  On  the  very 
next  day  she  fell  in  with  the  British 
squadron,  and,  after  a  short  and  vigor 
ous  chase,  was  compelled  to  strike  her 
colors  to  ^he  Shannon,  and  surrender  one 
hundred  and  six  men.  The  Nautilus  was 
the  first  vessel  of  war  taken  on  either  side 
in  that  contest.  A  prize  crew  was  placed 
in  her,  and  she  was  made  one  of  Brokers 
squadron.3  She  was  afterward  fitted 
with  sixteen  24-pound  carronades,  and 
commissioned  as  a  cruiser. 

The   Constitution,  44,4  Captain  Isaac 


THE   CONSTITUTION   IN  1800. 


'  Rodgers's  journal  and  British  account  of  the  engagement, in  Niles's  Weekly  Register,  iii.,  26  ;  American  account  in 
the  Boston  Centinel,  by  an  officer  of  the  squadron  ;  Cooper's  Naval  History,  ii.,  150.  .  2  See  page  120. 

3  In  naval  nomenclature,  a  number  of  vessels  under  one  commander,  less  than  ten,  are  called  a  squadron;  more  than 
ten,  a  fleet. 

*  The  Constitution  was  built  at  Hart's  ship-yard,  in  Boston,  where  Constitution  Wharf  now  is,  at  a  cost  of  $302,718. 
She  was  made  very  strong.  Her  frame  was  of  live-oak,  and  her  planks  were  bent  on  without  steam,  as  it  was  thought 
that  process  softened  and  weakened  the  wood.  She  was  launched  on  the  21st  of  October,  1707  (see  page  100),  in  the 
presence  of  a  great  gathering  of  people.  She  did  not  start  upon  a  cruise  until  the  following  season,  when  she  was  com 
manded  by  Captain  James  Nicholson,  who  died  in  New  York  on  Sunday,  the  2d  of  September,  1804,  in  the  sixty-ninth 


.   OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  437 

Cruise  of  the  Constitution.  She  meets  a  British  Squadron.  An  exciting  Chase  begun. 

Hull,  returned  from  foreign  service  at  about  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  war,  and 
went  into  Chesapeake  Bay,  where  she  shipped  a  new  crew,  and  on  the  12th  of  July 
sailed  from  Annapolis  on  a  cruise  to  the  northward.1  She  was  out  of  sight  of  land 
on  the  17th,  sailing  under  easy  canvas  with  a  light  breeze,  when,  at  one  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  she  descried  four  vessels  northward,  heading  westward.  At  four  o'clock  she 
discovered  a  fifth  sail  in  a  similar  direction,  which  had  the  appearance  of  a  vessel  of 
war.  By  this  time  the  other  four  wrere  so  near  that  they  were  distinguished  as  three 
ships  and  a  brig.  They  were  in  sight  all  the  afternoon,  evidently  watching  the  Con 
stitution.  At  half  past  six  a  breeze  sprang  up  from  the  southward,  which  brought 
the  latter  to  the  windward  of  the  last  discovered  vessel.  She  was  a  British  frigate. 
Hull  determined  to  bear  down  upon  and  speak  to  her ;  and,  to  be  ready  for  any  emer 
gency,  he  beat  to  quarters,  and  prepared  his  ship  for  action.  The  wind  was  very  light, 
and  the  two  frigates  slowly  approached  each  other  during  the  evening.  At  ten  o'clock 
the  Constitution  shortened  sail  and  displayed  a  private  signal.  The  lights  were  kept 
aloft  for  an  hour  without  receiving  an  answer.  At  a  quarter  past  eleven  they  were 
lowered,  and  the  Constitution  made  sail  again  under  a  light  breeze  that  prevailed  all 
night.  Just  before  dawn  the  stranger  tacked,  wore  entirely  round,  threw  up  a  rocket, 
and  fired  two  signal-guns. 

In  the  gray  of  early  morning  three  other  vessels  were  discovered  on  the  starboard 
quarter  of  the  Constitution,  and  three  more  astern,  and  at  five  o'clock  a  fourth  was 
seen  in  the  latter  direction.  The  American  cruiser  had  fallen  in  with  Broke's  squad 
ron,  and  the  vessel  with  which  she  had  been  mano3uvring  all  night  was  the  Guerriere, 
38,  Captain  Dacres.  The  squadron  was  just  out  of  gun-shot  distance  from  the  Con 
stitution,  and  the  latter  found  herself  in  the  perilous  position  of  having  two  frigates 
on  her  lee  quarter,  and  a  ship  of  the  line,  two  frigates,  a  brig,  and  a  schooner  astern. 
The  brig  was  the  captured  Nautilus. 

Now  commenced  one  of  the  most  remarkable  naval  retreats  and  pursuits  ever  re 
corded.  The  Constitution  was  not  powerful  enough  to  fight  the  overwhelming  force 
closing  around  her,  and  Hull  perceived  that  her  safety  depended  upon  celerity  in 
flight.  There  was  almost  a  dead  calm.  Her  sails  flapped  lazily,  and  she  floated  al 
most  independently  of  the  helm  on  the  slowly  undulating  bosom  of  the  sea.  In  this 

year  of  his  age.  She  was  so  stanch  a  ship  that  the  name  of  Ironsides  was  given  her.  She  always  was  favored  with 
excellent  commanders  and  performed  gallant  service.  Some  years  ago  the  Navy  Department  concluded  to  break  her 
up  and  sell  her  timbers,  as  she  was  thought  to  be  a  decided  "invalid."  The  order  had  gone  forth,  when  the  execution 
of  it  was  arrested  by  the  voice  of  public  opinion,  called  forth  by  the  magic  wand  of  a  poet — the  pen  of  Dr.  Oliver  Wen 
dell  Holmes,  who  wrote  and  published  the  following  stirring  protest  against  making  merchandise  of  her : 
"Ay,  tear  her  tattered  ensign  down !  No  more  shall  feel  the  victor's  tread, 

Long  has  it  waved  on  high,  Or  know  the  conquered  knee ; 

And  many  an  eye  has  danced  to  see  The  harpies  of  the  shore  shall  pluck 

That  banner  in  the  sky.  The  eagle  of  the  sea ! 

Beneath  it  rung  the  battle-shout,  o  !  better  that  her  shattered  hulk 

And  burst  the  cannon's  roar ;  Should  sink  beneath  the  wave ; 

The  meteor  of  the  ocean  air  Her  thunders  shook  the  mighty  deep, 

Shall  sweep  the  clouds  no  more.  And  there  snou]d  be  her  grave. 

Her  deck,  once  red  with  heroes'  blood—  Nail  to  the  mast  her  holy  flag, 

Where  knelt  the  vanquished  foe,  Set  every  threadbare  sail, 

When  winds  were  humming  o'er  the  flood,  And  give  her  to  the  God  of  Storms, 

And  waves  were  white  below —  The  lightning  and  the  gale  1" 

"  Old  Ironsides"  was  saved,  repaired,  and  converted  into  a  school-ship.  Such  is  her  vocation  now  [1867].  She  was 
lying  at  Annapolis  in  that  capacity  when  the  Great  Rebellion  broke  out  in  1861.  Our  little  sketch  exhibits  her  under 
full  sail,  as  she  appeared  there  in  the  autumn  of  I860.  When  the  Naval  Academy  was  temporarily  removed  from  An 
napolis  to  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  on  account  of  the  Rebellion,  the  Constitution  took  her  place  at  the  latter  station. 
Her  latest  commander  in  the  war  of  1S12-'15,  Rear  Admiral  Charles  Stewart,  yet  [1867]  survives,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
one  years.  He  is  sometimes  called  Old  Ironsides.  His  achievements  in  the  Constitution  will  be  notfced  hereafter. 

1  The  following  is  a  list  of  the'offlcers  of  the  Constitution  at  that  time :  Captain,  Isaac  Hull ;  Lieutenants,  Charles  Mor 
ris,  Alexander  S.  Wadsworth,  Beekman  V.  Hoffman,  George  C.  Read,  John  T.  Shubrick,  Charles  W.  Morgan  ;  Sailing- 
master,  John  C.  Alwyn  ;  Lieutenants  of  Marines,  William  S.  Bush,  John  Contee ;  Surgeon,  Amos  E.  Evans ;  Surgeon's 
Mates,  John  D.  Armstrong,  Donaldson  Yeates  ;  Purser,  Thomas  J.  Chew;  Midshipmen,  Henry  Gilliam,  Thomas  Beatty, 
William  D.  Salter,  Lewis  Germain,  William  L.  Gordon,  Ambrose  L.  Field,  Frederick  Baury,  Joseph  Cross,  Alexander 
Belcher,  William  Taylor,  Alexander  Eskriclge,  James  W.  Delancy,  James  Greenleaf,  Allen  Griffin,  John  Taylor ;  Boat 
swain,  Peter  Adams ;  Gunner,  Robert  Anderson. 


438  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Methods  for  Flight.  How  the  Constitution  eluded  her  Pursuers.  Her  final  Escape. 

listlessness  there  was  danger.  Down  went  her  boats  with  long  lines  attached,  and 
the  sweeps  were  bent  in  towing  her  with  the  energy  of  men  struggling  for  life  and 
liberty.  Up  from  her  gun-deck  was  brought  a  long  eighteen-pounder,  and  placed  on 
her  spar-deck  as  a  stern-chaser,  while  another,  of  the  same  weight  of  metal  and  for  a 
similar  purpose,  was  pointed  off  the  forecastle.  Out  of  the  cabin  windows,  when  saws 
and  axes  had  made  them  broad  enough,  two  twenty-four  pounders  were  run,  and  all 
the  light  cannon  that  would  draw  was  set.  She  was  just  beginning  to  get  under 
headway,  with  a  gentle  northwest  wind  blowing,  when  exertion  was  stimulated  by 
the  booming  of  the  bow-guns  of  the  Shannon.  For  ten  minutes  she  sent  forth  her 
shot,  but  without  effect,  for  she  was  yet  beyond  range.  Again  the  breeze  died  away. 
Soundings  showed  twenty  fathoms  of  water.  A  kedge1  might  be  used.  All  spare 
rope  was  spliced  and  attached  to  one  which  was  carried  out  half  a  mile  ahead  and 
cast  into  the  deep.  Quickly  and  strongly  the  crew  "  clapped  on  and  walked  away 
with  the  ship,  overrunning  and  tripping  the  kedge  as  she  came  up  with  the  end  of 
the  line."2  This  was  frequently  repeated,  and  the  frigate  moved  off  in  a  manner  most 
mysterious  to  her  pursuers.  At  length  they  discovered  the  secret  and  adopted  the 
method,  when  the  Constitution,  having  a  little  breeze,  fired  a  shot  at  the  Shannon, 
the  nearest  ship  astern.  At  nine  o'clock  that  vessel,  employing  a  large  number  of 
men  in  boats  and  with  a  kedge,  was  gaining  rapidly  on  the  flying  frigate.  A  conflict, 
unequal  and  terrible,  seemed  impending  and  inevitable,  yet  on  board  the  Constitution 
the  best  spirit  prevailed.  Nearer  and  nearer  drew  the  Shannon,  and  almost  as  closely 
the  Guerriere  was  now  pursuing  on  the  larboard  quarter  of  the  imperiled  vessel.  All 
hope  was  fading,  when  a  light  breeze  from  the  south  struck  the  Constitution  and 
brought  her  to  windward.  With  such  consummate  skill  did  Captain  Hull  take  ad 
vantage  of  the  wind  and  bear  gallantly  away,  that  the  admiration  of  the  enemy  was 
excited  in  the  highest  degree.  As  she  came  by  the  wind  she  brought  the  Guerriere 
nearly  on  her  lee  beam,  when  that  vessel  opened  a  fire  from  a  broadside.  The  shot 
fell- short,  the  blessed  breeze  that  had  come  like  a  Providence  at  the  critical  moment 
died  away,  and  the  boats  were  again  got  out  to  tow  by  both  parties.  So  anxious  was 
Broke  to  get  the  Shannon  near  enough  for  action,  that  nearly  all  the  boats  of  the 
squadron  were  employed  for  the  purpose,3  while  the  men  of  the  Constitution  made 
up  in  spirit  what  they  lacked  in  numbers.  Thus  the  race  continued  hour  after  hour 
all  that  day  and  night,  the  pursuers  and  the  pursued  sometimes  towing,  sometimes 
kedging. 

The  dawn  of  the  second  day  of  the  chase  was  glorious.  The  sun  rose  with  un 
usual  splendor.  Not  a  cloud  was  seen  in  the  firmament.  The  sea  was  smooth,  and 
a  gentle  wind  was  abroad,  sufficient  to  make  the  murmur  of  ripples  under  the  bow  of 
the  vessels  fall  pleasantly  on  the  ear.  All  of  the  ships  were  on  the  same  tack,  and 
three  of  the  English  frigates  were  within  long  gun-shot  of  the  Constitution  on  her  lee 
quarter.  The  five  frigates  were  clouded  with  canvas  from  their  truck  to  their  decks. 
Eleven  sail  were  in  sight.  The  scene  was  a  most  beautiful  and  exciting  one.  No 
guns  were  fired,  for  the  distance  between  the  belligerents  widened.  Either  better 
sailing  qualities  or  superior  seamanship  gave  advantage  to  the  Constitution.  With 
that  pleasant  breeze  she  gained  on  her  antagonists,  and  at  four  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  she  was  four  miles  ahead  of  the  Belvidera,  the  neai'est  English  ghip.  At  seven 
heavy  clouds  began  to  brood  over  the  sea,  with  indications  of  a  squall.  The  Consti 
tution  prepared  for  it.  It  burst  with  fury — wind,  lightning,  and  rain — but  left  that 

1  Kedge,  or  kedger,  is  a  small  anchor  with  an  iron  stock,  used  for  keeping  a  vessel  steady  or  warping  it  along. 

2  Cooper,  ii.,  156. 

3  Coggeshall,  in  his  History  of  tht  American  Privateers  mid  Letters  of  Marque,  relates  (page  12)  that  his  friend,  Captain 
Brown,  who  was  a  prisoner  on  board  the  Shannon,  was  amused  to  hear  Captain  Broke  and  his  officers  converse  about 
the  "Yankee  frigate."    At  one  period  of  the  chase  they  were  so  confident  of  capturing  her  that  a  prize-crew  were  al 
ready  appointed  to  conduct  her  in  triumph  to  Halifax.    To  all  their  questions  about  her,  as  she  was  seen  speeding  be 
fore  them,  Captain  Brown  had  but  one  answer,  namely,  "Gentlemen,  you  will  never  take  that  frigate." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  439 


End  of  the  Chase  after  the  Constitution.  The  Essex  starts  on  a  Cruise.  She  captures  the  Alert. 

good  frigate  unharmed.  The  pursuers  and  the  pursued  lost  sight  of  each  other  for 
a  while  in  the  murky  vapor.  In  less  than  an  hour  the  squall  had  passed  to  leeward, 
and  the  Constitution,  sheeted  home,  her  main  and  top-gallant  sails  set,  was  flying 
away  from  the  enemy  at  the  rate  of  eleven  knots.  At  twilight  the  pursuers  were  in 
sight,  and  at  near  midnight  they  fired  two  guns.  Away  went  the  Constitution  before- 
the  wind,  and  at  six  in  the  morning  the  topsails  of  the  British  vessel  were  seen  from 
the  American,  beginning  to  dip  below  the  horizon.  At  a  quarter  past  eight  the  En 
glishman  relinquished  the  pursuit,  and  hauled  off  to  the  northward ;  and  a  few  days 
afterward  the  British  fleet  separated  for  the  purpose  of  cruising  in  different  directions. 
Thus  ended  a  chase  of  sixty-four  hours,  chiefly  off  the  New  England  coast,  remarkable 
alike  for  its  length,  closeness,  and  activity.  It  was  a  theme  for  much  newspaper  com 
ment,  and  a  poet  of  the  day,  singing  of  the  exploits  of  the  Constitution,  referred  to  this 
as  follows : 

"  'Neath  Hull's  command,  with  a  tough  band, 

And  naught  beside  to  back  her, 
Upon  a  day,  as  log-books  say, 

A  fleet  bore  down  to  thwack  her. 
A  fleet,  you  know,  is  odds,  or  so, 

Against  a  single  ship,  sirs ; 
So  'cross  the  tide  her  legs  she  tried, 

And  gave  the  rogues  the  slip,  sirs." 

A  few  days  after  Rodgers  left  New  York,  Captain  Porter  sailed  from  that  harbor 
in  the  Essex,  32,  from  the  mast-head  of  which  fluttered  a  flag  bearing  conspicuously 
the  words,  "  FREE  TRADE  AND  SAILORS'  RIGHTS."  He  captured  several  English  mer 
chant  vessels  soon  after  leaving  Sandy  Hook,  making  trophy  bonfires  of  most  of  them 
on  the  ocean,  and  their  crews  his  prisoners.  After  cruising  southward  for  some  weeks 
in  disguise,  capturing  a  prize  now  and  then,  he  turned  northward  again,  and  met  with 
increased  success.  One  night,  by  the  dim  light  of  a  mist-veiled  moon,  he  chased  u 
fleet  of  English  transports  bearing  a  thousand  soldiers  toward  Halifax  or  the  St.  Law 
rence,  convoyed  by  the  frigate  Mercury,  36,  and  a  bomb  vessel.  They  were  sailing 
wide,  and  he  captured  one  of  the  transports,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  before 
dawn,  without  attracting  the  attention  of  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  for  no  guns  were  fired. 

A  few  days  after  this,a  while  sailing  in  the  disguise  of  a  merchantman,  a  August  is, 
her  gun-deck  ports  in,  top-gallant  masts  housed,  and  sails  trimmed  in  a 
slovenly  manner,  the  Essex  fell  in  Avith  a  sail  to  windward.  The  stranger  came  bear 
ing  down  gallantly,  when  the  Essex  showed  an  American  ensign,  and  kept  away  un 
der  short  sail,  as  if  trying  to  avoid  a  contest.  This  emboldened  the  English  vessel. 
She  followed  the  Essex  for  some  time,  and  finally  running  down  on  her  weather  quar 
ter,  set  her  national  colors,  and,  with  three  cheers  from  her  people,  opened  fire.  She 
was  soon  undeceived,  and  her  temerity  was  severely  punished.  The  ports  of  the 
Essex  were  knocked  out  in  an  instant,  and  the  fire  of  the  enemy  was  responded  to 
with  terrible  effect.  The  assailant  was  so  damaged  and  disconcerted  that  the  con 
flict  was  made  short.  It  was  a  complete  surprise.  A  panic  seized  her  people,  and, 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  her  officers,  they  fled  below  for  safety.1  Scarcely  eight  min 
utes  had  elapsed  from  the  firing  of  the  first  gun,  when  the  stranger,  which  proved  to 
be  the  British  ship  Alert,  Captain  T.  L.  P.  Laugharne,  mounting  twenty  18-pound  car- 
ronades  and  six  smaller  guns,  struck  her  colors  and  was  reported  to  be  in  a  sinking 
condition.  When  Lieutenant  Finch,  of  the  Essex,  went  on  board  to  receive  her  flag, 
he  found  seven  feet  water  in  the  hold.  She  was  a  stanch  vessel,  and  had  been  built 
for  the  coal  trade.  She  was  purchased  for  the  British  navy  in  1804,  and  the  comple 
ment  of  her  crew  was  one  hundred  and  thirty  men  and  boys.  She  Avas  every  way  in 
ferior  to  the  Essex,  whose  armament  was  forty  32-pound  carronades  and  six  long 
twelves,  and  her  complement  of  men  was  three  hundred  and  twenty-five.  The  cap 
ture  of  the  Alert  possesses  no  special  historical  interest  excepting  from  the  fact  that 

1  It  is  said  that  some  of  them,  after  their  exchange,  were  executed  for  deserting  their  guns. 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  Cartel-ship  sent  into  Newfoundland.  The  Ease.x  chases  British  Vessels. 

she  was  the  first  British  national  vessel  captured  in  the  war.  The  Alert  Ifod  three 
men  wounded,  while  the  Essex  sustained  no  injury  whatever. 

The  Essex  was  now  crowded  with  prisoners,  and  Porter  became  conscious  of  the 
fact  that  they  had  entered  into  a  plot  to  rise  and  take  the  vessel  from  him.  The 
leaks  of  the  Alert  being  stopped,  and  all  things  put  in  fair  seaworthy  condition,  Por 
ter  made  an  arrangement  with  Captain  Laugharne1  to  convert  her  into  a  cartel  ship. 
When  this  was  accomplished,  the  prisoners  were  placed  on  board  of  her,  and  she  was 
sent  into  St.  John's,  Newfoundland.  On  her  return  to  the  United  States  she  was  fit 
ted  up  for  the  government  service. 

The  Essex  continued  her  cruise  to  the  southward,  and  on  the  thirtieth  of  August, 
just  at  twilight,  fell  in  with  a  British  frigate  in  latitude  36°  N.  and  longitude  62°  W.2 
Porter  prepared  for  action,  and  the  two  vessels  stood  for  each  other.  Night  fell,  and 
Porter,  anxious  for  combat,  ran  up  a  light.  It  was  answered  at  the  distance  of  about 
four  miles.  The  Essex  sought  the  stranger  in  that  direction,  but  in  vain,  and  when 
the  day  dawned  she  had  disappeared.  Five  days  afterward  Porter  fell  in  with  "  two 
ships  of  war  to  the  southward  and  a  brig  to  the  northward — the  brig  in  chase  of  an 
American  merchant  ship."3  The  Essex  pursued,  when  the  brig  attempted  to  pass 
and  join  the  other  two  vessels.  The  Essex  headed  her,  turned  her  course  northward, 
and  continued  the  chase  until  abreast  the  merchantman,  when,  the  wind  being  light, 
the  brig  escaped  by  the  use  of  her  sweeps. 

When  the  Essex  showed  her  colors  to  the  merchantman,  the  two  British  vessels  at 
the  southward  discovered  them,  fired  signal-guns,  and  gave  chase.  At  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  they  were  in  the  wake  of  the  Essex  and  rapidly  gaining  upon  her, 
when  Porter  hoisted  the  American  colors,  and  fired  a  gun  to  the  windward,  expecting 
to  escape  by  some  manoeuvre  in  the  approaching  darkness.  At  sunset  the  larger  of 
the  two  vessels  was  within  five  miles,  and  rapidly  shortening  the  distance  between 
her  and  the  Essex.  Porter  determined  to  heave  about  after  dark,  and,  if  he  could 
not  pass  his  pursuer,  give  her  a  broadside  and  lay  her  or  board.  The  crew  were  in 
fine  spirits,  and  when  this  movement  was  proposed  to  them  they  gave  three  hearty 
cheers.  Preparations  for  action  were  immediately  made.  The  Essex  hove  round  and 
bore  away  to  the  southwest,  but  the  night  being  dark  and  squally,  Porter  saw  no 
more  of  the  enemy.  Supposing  himself  cut  off  from  New  York  and  Boston  by  a 
British  squadron,  he  made  for  the  Delaware.4 

Soon  after  Captain  Porter  reached  the  Delaware  a  circumstance  occurred  which 
created  quite  a  sensation  in  the  public  mind  for  a  few  days.  A  week  after  the  dec 
laration  of  war  a  writer  in  a  New  York  paper  charged  Captain  Porter  with  cruelly 
treating  an  English  seaman  on  board  of  the  Essex  who  refused  to  fight  against  his 
countrymen,  pleading,  among  other  reasons,  that  if  caught  he  would  be  hung  as  a  de 
serter  from  the  British  navy.  This  story  reached  Sir  James  Lucas  Yeo,  commander 
of  the  frigate  /Southampton,  then  on  the  West  India  station.  By  a  prisoner  in  his 
hands,  who  was  sent  home  on  parole,  he  forwarded  a  message  to  Porter  which  ap- 

1  Thomas  Lamb  Polden  Langharne  entered  the  British  navy  in  179S,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years.    He  was  a  most  faith 
ful  and  active  officer,  and  advanced  steadily  to  the  post  of  commander,  which  he  attained  in  1811.    He  was  appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  sloop  Alert  in  February,  1812.    His  last  appointment  afloat  was  to  the  Achates,  18,  in  which  he 
cruised  in  the  Channel  until  November,  1815.    In  1823  he  became  inspecting  commander  in  the  coast-guard,  was  ad 
vanced  to  post-captain,  when  he  retired  from  the  service  on  half-pay.    He  is  yet  [1867]  living. 

2  The  reader  who  may  consult  a  modern  map  while  studying  this  account  should  remember  that  at  that  time  the  lon 
gitude  was  calculated  from  the  meridian  of  Greenwich,  in  England.    In  modern  American  maps  it  is  calculated  from 
Washington  City,  the  national  capital. 

3  Manuscript  letter  of  Captain  Porter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  dated  "At  sea,  September  5, 1812." 

4  Porter's  manuscript  letter,  September  5, 1S12.    That  letter  is  before  me.    It  contains  a  rough  sketch  of  the  nautical 
movement  just  described.    "Considering  this  escape  a  very  extraordinary  one,"  he  wrote,  "I  have  the  honor  to  in 
close  you  a  sketch  of  the  position  of  the  ships  at  three  different  periods,  by  which  you  will  perceive  at  once  the  plan 
of  effecting  it."    According  to  a  letter  from  an  officer  of  the  Shannon,  that  frigate  was  the  larger  of  the  two  vessels  that 
chased  the  Essex  on  that  occasion,  and  the  other  vessel,  instead  of  being  a  "  ship  of  war,"  as  Porter  supposed,  was  the 
Planter,  a  recaptured  West  Indiaman.    In  the  light  of  this  fact  we  perceive  that  Porter's  escape  was  not  very  "extra 
ordinary."    The  American  merchantman  mentioned  in  the  text  was  the  Minerva,  from  Cadiz.    She  was  burnt  by  the 
English  on  the  morning  succeeding  the  chase. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


441 


Yeo's  Challeiige  and  Porter's  Acceptance.          The  Motto  of  the  Essex.          The  Constitution  starts  on  another  Cruise. 

peared  in  the  following  language  on  the  18th 
of  September,  1812,  in  the  Democratic  Press, 
printed  in  Philadelphia :  "  A  passenger  of  the 
brig  Lyon,  from  Havana  to  New  York,  cap 
tured  by  the  frigate  Southampton,  Sir  James 
Yeo  commander,  is  requested  by  Sir  James 
Yeo  to  present  his  compliments  to  Captain 
Porter,  commander  of  the  American  frigate 
Essex — would  be  glad  to  have  a  tete-a-tete  any 
ivhere  between  the  Capes  of  Delaware  and  the 
Havana,  where  he  would  have  the  pleasure 
to  break  his  own  sword  over  his  damned  head, 
and  put  him  down  forward  in  irons." 

To  this  indecorous  challenge  Captain  Porter 
replied  as  follows  on  the  same  day :  "  Captain 
Porter,  of  the  United  States  frigate  Essex, 
presents  his  compliments  to  Sir  James  Yeo, 
commanding  H.  B.  M.'s  frigate  Southampton, 
and  accepts  with  pleasure  his  polite  invita 
tion.  If  agreeable  to  Sir  James,  Captain  Porter 
would  prefer  meeting  near  the  Delaware,  where 
Captain  P.  pledges  his  honor  to  Sir  James  that 
no  other  American  vessel  shall  interrupt  their 
tete-a-tete.  The  Essex  may  be  known  by  a  flag 
bearing  the  motto  FREE  TRADE  AND  SAILORS' 
RIGHTS,  and  when  that  is  struck  to  the  South 
ampton  Captain  P.  will  deserve  the  treatment 
promised  by  Sir  James.1  Here  the  matter 
ended.  The  coveted  tete-a-tete  never  occur 
red. 

The  Constitution  did  not  long  continue  idle 
after  her  escape  from  Broke's  squadron.  She 
remained  a  short  time  in  Boston  to  recuperate, 
and  on  the  2d  of  August  sailed  eastward  in 
hope  of  falling  in  with  some  one  of  the  En 
glish  vessels  of  war  supposed  to  be  hovering 
along  the  coast  from  Nantucket  to  Halifax. 
Hull,2  her  commander,  was  specially  anxious 


1  The  original  of  Porter's  acceptance  is  in  the  possession  of 
Doctor  Leonard  D.  Koecker,  of  Philadelphia,  who  kindly  allowed 
me  to  make  from  it  the  fac-simile  of  the  paragraph  given  in  the 

text 

2  Isaac  Hull  was  born  at  Derby,  Connecticut,  in  17T5.    He  first 
entered  the  merchant  service,  and  in  1798  became  a  fourth  lieu 
tenant  in  the  infant  navy  of  the  United  States,  under  Commodore 
Nicholson.    In  1SOO  he  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant  under 
Commodore  Talbot.    In  1804  he  commanded  the  brig  Argus,  and 
distinguished  himself  at  the  storming  of  Tripoli  and  the  reduc 
tion  of  Derne.    He  was  made  captain  in  180C,  and  was  in  com 
mand  ofthe  Constitution  when  the  war  broke  out.    Ofhisachieve- 
ments  in  her  the  text  furnishes  a  detailed  account.    Commodore 
Hull  served  in  the  American  navy,  afloat  and  ashore,  with  the 
rank  of  captain,  thirty-seven  years.   He  commanded  in  the  Med 
iterranean  and  Pacific,  and  had  charge  of  the  navy  yards  at  Bog- 
ton  and  Washington.    He  was  a  member  of  the  Naval  Board  for 

several  years.  Commodore  Hull  died  at  his  residence  in  Philadelphia  on  the  9th  of  February,  1843.  His  remains  rest 
in  Laurel  Hill  Cemetery,  and  over  them  is  a  beautiful  altar-tomb  of  Italian  marble,  made  by  John  Struthers  and  Sons. 
It  is  a  copy  of  the  tonib  of  Scipio  Barbato  at  Rome,  chas'tely  ornamented,  and  surmounted  by  an  American  eagle  in 


442 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Guerriere. 


The  CmiMtutimi  off  the  Eastern  Coast. 


She  chases  a  strange  Vessel. 


to  fall  in  with  that  famous  frigate  before 
whom  he  had  been  compelled  to  fly  when 
she  was  part  of  a  squadron,  and  of  whom 
it  had  been  said, 

"  Long  the  tyrant  of  our  coast 

Reigned  the  famous  Guerriere; 
Our  little  navy  she  defied, 

Public  ship  and  privateer : 
On  her  sails,  in  letters  red, 

To  our  captains  were  displayed 
Words  of  warning,  words  of  dread: 

'  All  who  meet  me  have  a  care  ! 

I  am  England's  Guerriere.'  "' 

The  commander  of  the  Guerriere  had 
boastfully  enjoined  the  Americans  to  re 
member  that  she  was  not  the  Little  2telt,2 
and  this  offensive  form  of  menace  in 
creased  Hull's  desire  to  meet  her  and 
measure  strength  with  her. 

The  Constitution  ran  not  far  from  the 
shore  down  to  the  Bay  of  Fundy  with 
out  meeting  a  single  armed  vessel.  She 
then  bore  away  southward  offCape  Sable, 
and  eastward  to  the  region  of  Halifax, 
but  with  a  like  result.  Hull  now  determ 
ined  to  cruise  eastward  of  Nova  Scotia 

to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  with  the  hope  of  interrupting  vessels  making  their  way  to 
Halifax  or  Quebec.  In  this  new  field  he  made  some  winnings,  but  the  promise  of 
much  harvest  was  too  small  to  detain  him.  He  turned  his  prow  southward,  and  on 
the  nineteenth,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  latitude  41°  40',  and  longitude  55° 
48',3  his  heart  was  gladdened  by  the  discovery  of  a  sail  from  his  mast-head,  too  re 
mote,  however,  for  her  character  to  be  determined. 

The  Constitution  immediately  gave  chase  to  the  stranger,  and  at  half  past  three 
o'clock  it  was  discovered  that  she  was  a  frigate,  and  doubtless  an  enemy.  Hull  let 
his  ship  run  free  until  within  a  league  of  the  stranger  to  leeward,  when  he  began  to 
shorten  sail  and  deliberately  prepare  for  action.  The  stranger  at  once  showed  signs 
of  willingness  for  a  fight.  Hull  cleared  his  ship,  beat  to  quarters,  hoisted  the  Amer 
ican  colors,  and  bore  down  gallantly  on  the  enemy,  with  the  intention  of  bringing 
her  into  close  combat  immediately. 


full  relief,  in  the  aUitude  of  defending  the  na 
tional  flag,  on  which  it  stands.  There  is  a  can 
non-ball  under  the  flag,  on  which  rests  one  of 
the  eagle's  talons.  Upon  the  south  side  of  the 
tomb  is  the  name  of  ISAAC  HULL.  On  the  north 
side  is  the  following  inscription,  written  by  his 
friend  Horace  Binuey,  Esq. :  "  FEJJRUAKY  ix., 
MDOOOXLIII.  In  affectionate  devotion  to  the 
private  virtues  of  ISAAC  HTTLT,,  his  widow  has 
erected  this  monument."  The  above  likeness 
of  Hull  is  from  an  engraving  by  Edwin,  from  a 
painting  by  Stewart. 

1  A  feminine  warrior— an  Amazon.    The  Guer 
riere  was  originally  a  French  ship,  and  was  cap 
tured  on  the  19th  of  July,  180C,  by  the  British 
ship  Blanche,  Captain  Lavie.    She  was  built  at 
L'Orient  upon  a  sudden   emergency,  and  her 
timbers,  not  having  been  well  seasoned,  were  iu 
a  somewhat  decaying  state  at  this  time,  it  is 
said. 

2  See  page  184. 

3  See  note  2,  page  440. 


HULL'S  MONUMENT. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  443 


The  Guerriere  fires  on  the  Constitution.  Hull's  Coolness.  Terrible  Response  of  the  Constitution. 

"  '  Clear  ship  for  action  !'  sounds  the  boatswain's  call ; 
'Clear  ship  for  action  !'  his  three  mimics  bawl. 
Swift  round  the  decks  see  war's  dread  weapons  hurled, 
And  floating  ruins  strew  the  watery  world. 
'  All  hands  to  quarters  !'  fore  and  aft  resounds, 
Thrills  from  the  fife,  and  from  the  drum-head  bounds ; 
From  crowded  hatchways  scores  on  scores  arise, 
Spring  up  the  shrouds,  and  vault  into  the  skies. 
Firm  at  his  quarters  each  bold  gunner  stands, 
The  death-fraught  lightning  flashing  from  his  hands." 

Comprehending  Hull's  movement,  the  Englishman  hoisted  three  national  ensigns,1 
fired  a  broadside  of  grape-shot,  filled  away,  and  gave  another  broadside  on  the  other 
tack,  but  without  effect.  The  missiles  all  fell  short.  The  stranger  continued  to  ma 
noeuvre  for  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  endeavoring  to  get  in  a  position  to  rake 
and  prevent  being  raked,  when,  disappointed,  she  bore  up  and  ran  under  topsails  and 
jib,  with  the  wind  on  the  quarter.  The  Constitution,  following  closely,  yawed  occa 
sionally  to  rake  and  avoid  being  raked,  and  firing  only  a  few  guns  as  they  bore,  as 
she  did  not  wish  to  engage  in  a  serious  conflict  until  they  were  close  to  each  other. 

It  was  now  about  six  in  the  evening.  These  indications  on  the  part  of  the  enemy 
to  engage  in  a  fair  yard-arm  and  yard-arm  fight  caused  the  Constitution  to  press  all 
sail  to  get  alongside  of  the  foe.  At  a  little  after  six  the  bows  of  the  American  be- 
gan  to  double  the  quarter  of  the  Englishman.  Hull  had  been  walking  the  quarter 
deck,  keenly  watching  every  movement.  He  was  quite  fat,  and  wore  very  tight 
breeches.  As  the  shot  of  the  Guertiere  began  to  tell  upon  the  Constitution,  the  gal 
lant  Lieutenant  Morris,  Hull's  second  in  command,  came  to  the  captain  and  asked 
permission  to  open  fire.  "  Not  yet,"  quietly  responded  Hull.  Nearer  and  nearer  the 
vessels  drew  toward  each  other,  and  the  request  was  repeated.  "Not  yet,"  said  Hull 
again,  very  quietly.  When  the  Constitution  reached  the  point  we  have  just  men 
tioned,  Hull,  filled  with  sudden  and  intense  excitement,  bent  himself  twice  to  the 
'deck,  and  then  shouted,  "Now,  boys,  pour  it  into  them!"  The  command  was  in 
stantly  obeyed.  The  Constitution  opened  her  forward  guns,  which  were  double  shot 
ted  with  round  and  grape,  with  terrible  effect.  When  the  smoke  that  followed  the 
result  of  that  order  cleared  away,  it  was  discovered  that  the  commander,  in  his  ener 
getic  movements,  had  split  his  tight  breeches  from  waistband  to  knee,  but  he  did  not 
stop  to  change  them  during  the  action.2 

The  concussion  of  Hull's  broadside  was  tremendous.  It  cast  those  in  the  cockpit 
of  the  enemy  from  one  side  of  the  room  to  the  other,  and,  before  they  could  adjust 
themselves,  the  blood  came  streaming  from  above,  and  numbers,  dreadfully  mutilated, 
were  handed  down  to  the  surgeons.  The  enemy  at  the  same  time  was  pouring  heavy 
metal  into  the  Constitution.  They  were  only  half  pistol-shot  from  each  other,  and 
the  destruction  was  terrible.  Within  fifteen  minutes  after  the  contest  commenced 
the  stranger's  mizzen-mast  was  shot  away,  her  main  yard  was  in  slings,  and  her  hull, 
spars,  sails,  and  rigging  were  torn  in  pieces.  The  English  vessel  brought  up  in  the 
wind  as  her  mizzen-mast  gave  way,  when  the  Constitution  passed  slowly  ahead,  poured 
in  a  tremendous  fire  as  her  guns  bore,  luffed  short  round  the  bows  of  her  antagonist 
to  prevent  being  raked,  and  fell  foul  of  her  foe,  her  bowsprit  running  into  the  larboard 
quarter  of  the  stranger.  In  this  situation  the  cabin  of  the  Constitution  was  set  on 
fire  by  the  explosion  of  the  forward  guns  of  her  enemy,  but  the  flames  were  soon  ex 
tinguished. 

Both  parties  now  attempted  to  board.     The  roar  of  great  guns  was  terrible,  and 

1  This  is  alluded  to  in  an  old  song  called  "Halifax  Station,"  written  and  very  extensively  sung  soon  after  the  event 
commemorated  occurred : 

"Then  up  to  each  mast-head  he  straight  sent  a  flag, 
Which  shows  on  the  ocean  a  proud  British  brag; 
But  Hull,  being  pleasant,  he  sent  up  but  one, 
And  told  every  seaman  to  stand  true  to  his  gua." 

2  Statement  of  Lieutenant  B.  V.  Hoffman. 


444 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Attempts  at  Boarding. 


The  Guerriere  suddenly  made  a  Wreck. 


Dacres  surrenders  to  Hull. 


the  fierce  volleys  of  musketry  on  both  sides,  together  with  the  heavy  sea  that  was 
running,  made  that  movement  impossible.  The  English  piped  all  hands  from  below, 
and  mounted  them  on  the  forward  deck  for  the  purpose;  and  Lieutenant  Morris, 
Alwyn,  the  master,  and  Lieutenant  Bush,  of  the  Marines,  sprang  upon  the  taffrail  of 
the  Constitution  to  lead  their  men  to  the  same  work.  Morris  was  severely  but  not 
fatally  shot  through  the  body ;  Alwyn  was  wounded  in  the  shoulder ;  and  a  bullet 
through  his  brain  brought  Bush  dead  to  the  deck.  Just  then  the  sails  of  the  Consti 
tution  were  filled,  and  as  she  shot  ahead  and  clear  of  her  antagonist,  whose  fore-mast 
had  been  severely  wounded,  that  spar  fell,  carrying  with  it  the  main-mast,  and  leav 
ing  the  hapless  vessel  a  shivering,  shorn,  and  helpless  wreck,  rolling  like  a  log  in  the 
trough  of  the  sea,  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  billows. 

"  Quick  as  lightning,  and  fatal  as  its  dreaded  power, 
Destruction  and  death  on  the  Guerriere  did  shower, 
While  the  groans  of  the  dying  were  heard  on  the  blast. 
The  word  was,  'Take  aim,  boys,  away  with  the  mast !' 
The  genius  of  Britain  will  long  rue  the  day. 

The  Guerriere 's  a  wreck  in  the  trough  of  the  sea ;  • 

Her  laurels  are  withered,  her  boasting  is  done  ; 
Submissive,  to  leeward  she  fires  her  last  gun."— OLD  SONG. 

The  Constitution  hauled  off  a  short  distance,  secured  her  own  masts,  rove  new  rig 
ging,  and  at  sunset  wore  round  and  took  a  favorable  position  for  raking  the  wreck. 

A  jack  that  had  been  kept  flying  on  the 
stump  of  the  enemy's  mizzen-mast  was 
now  lowered,  and  the  late  Commodore 
George  C.  Read,  then  a  third  lieutenant, 
was  sent  on  board  of  the  prize.  She  was 
found  to  be  the  Guerriere,  38,  Captain 
James  Richards  Dacres,  one  of  the  vessels 
which  had  so  lately  been  engaged  in  the 
memorable  chase  of  her  present  conquer 
or,  and  which  Hull  was  anxious  to  meet. 
The  lieutenant  asked  for  the  commander 
of  the  prize,  when  Captain  Dacres  ap 
peared.  "  Commodore  Hull's  compli 
ments,"  said  Read,  "  and  wishes  to  know 
if  you  have  struck  your  flag  ?"  Captain 
Daci'es,  looking  up  and  down,  coolly  and 
dryly  remarked,  "  Well,  I  don't  know ; 
our  mizzen-mast  is  gone,  our  main-mast  is 
gone,  and,  upon  the  whole,  you  may  say 
we  have  struck  our  flag."  Read  then  said, 
"  Commodore  Hull's  compliments,  and  wishes  to  know  whether  you  need  the  assist 
ance  of  a  surgeon  or  surgeon's  mate  ?"  Dacres  replied,  "  Well,  I  should  suppose  you 
had  on  board  your  own  ship  business  enough  for  all  your  medical  officers."  Read 
replied,  "  Oh  no ;  we  have  only  seven  wounded,  and  they  were  dressed  half  an  hour 
ago."1 

i  Statement  of  Captain  William  B.  Orne,  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post.    He  commanded  the  American  brig  Betsey, 


JAMEd   RICHARD   UACRE8. 


changed  !    You  are  now  free,  and  I  am  a  prisoner." 

James  Richard  Dacres  was  a  son  of  Vice  Admiral  J.  R.  Dacres,  who  was  in  command  of  the  British  schooner  Carlctan, 
on  Lake  Champlain,  in  the  fight  with  Arnold's  flotilla  in  1776.  Young  Dacres  entered  the  royal  navy  in  1790,  on  board 
the  Sceptre,  64,  commanded  by  his  father.  His  first  service  was  against  the  French,  in  which  he  exhibited  excellent 
qualities.  He  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  the  sloop  Elk  in  1805,  and  the  next  year  was  transferred  to  the  Bacchante, 
24.  He  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Guerriere  in  March,  1811.  She  then  carried  48  guns,  and  was  called  "a 
worn-out  frigate."  See  O'Byrne's  Naval  Biography.  He  was  wounded  in  the  action  with  the  Constitution.  He  was 
unanimously  acquitted  by  the  court-martial  at  Halifax  that  tried  him  for  surrendering  his  ship.  He  commanded  the 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  445 


Destruction  of  the  Guerriere.  Effect  of  the  News  of  the  Victory.  Hull's  Reception  in  Boston. 


The  Constitution  kept  near  her  prize  all  night.  At  two  in  the  morning  a  strange 
sail  was  seen  closing  upon  them,  when  she  cleared  for  action,  but  an  hour  later  the 
intruder  stood  off  and  disappeared.  At  dawn  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  Guerriere 
hailed  to  say  that  she  had  four  feet  water  in  her  hold  and  was  in  danger  of  sinking. 
Hull  immediately  sent  all  his  boats  to  bring  off  the  prisoners  and  their  effects. l  That 
duty  was  accomplished  by  noon,  and  at  three  o'clock  the  prize  ci-ew  was  recalled. 
The  Guerriere  was  too  much  damaged  to  be  saved ;  so  she  was  set  on  fire,  and  fifteen 
minutes  afterward  she  blew  up,  scattering  widely  upon  the  subsiding  billows  all  that 
was  left  of  the  boastful  cruiser  that  was  "  not  the  Little  Belt?n 

"Isaac  did  so  maul  and  rake  her, 
That  the  decks  of  Captain  Dacre 
Were  in  such  a  woful  pickle 
As  if  Death,  with  scythe  and  sickle, 
With  his  sling  or  with  his  shaft, 
Had  cut  his  harvest  fore  and  aft. 
Thus,  in  thirty  minutes,  ended 
Mischiefs  that  couldjiot  he  mended; 
Masts,  and  yards,  and  ship  descended 
All  to  David  Jones's  locker — 
Such  a  ship,  in  such  a  pucker !" — Oi,i>  SONG. 

The  Constitution  arrived  at  Boston  on  the  30th  of  August,  and  on  that  day  Cap 
tain  Hull  wrote  his  official  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  dated  "  U.  S.  frigate 
Constitution,  off  Boston  Light."  He  was  the  first  to  announce  to  his  countrymen 
the  intelligence  of  his  owTn  victory.  That  intelligence  was  received  with  the  most 
lively  demonstrations  of  joy  in  every  part  of  the  republic,  and  dispelled  for  a  mo 
ment  the  gloom  occasioned  by  the  recent  disasters  at  Detroit  in  the  surrender  of 
General  Hull.  When  the  Constitution  appeai-ed  in  Boston  Harbor,  she  was  surround 
ed  by  a  flotilla  of  gayly-decorated  small  boats,  and  the  hundreds  of  people  who  filled 
them  made  the  air  tremble  with  their  loud  huzzas.  At  the  wharf  where  he  landed 
he  was  received  with  a  national  salute  by  an  artillery  company,  which  was  returned 
by  the  Constitution.  An  immense  assemblage  of  citizens  were  there  to  greet  him 
and  escort  him  to  quarters  prepared  for  him  in  the  city,  and  the  whole  town  was 
filled  with  tumultuous  joy.  The  streets  through  which  the  triumphal  procession 
passed  were  decorated  with  flags  and  banners.  From  almost  every  window  ladies 
waved  their  white  handkerchiefs,  and  from  the  crowded  side-pavements  shout  after 
shout  of  the  citizens  greeted  the  hero.  Men  of  all  ranks  hastened  to  pay  homage  to 
the  conqueror.  A  splendid  public  entertainment  was  given  him  and  his  officers  by 
the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  and  almost  six  hundred  citizens,  of  both  political  parties, 
sat  down  to  the  banquet  in  token  of  their  appreciation  of  the  gallant  commander's 

Tiber  from  1814  to  181S.  He  continued  in  service  afloat.  In  1838  he  attained  flag  rank,  answering  to  our  commodore, 
and  in  1845  was  appointed  commander-in-chief  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  his  flag-ship  being  the  President,  50.  Vice 
Admiral  Dacres  died  in  England,  at  an  advanced  age,  on  the  4th  of  December,  1853.  The  preceding  likeness  of  Captain 
Dacres  (Vice  Admiral  of  the  Red)  is  from  a  print  published  in  London  in  October,  1831. 

1  "I  feel  it  my  duty  to  state  that  the  conduct  of  Captain  Hull  and  his  officers  to  our  men  has  been  that  of  a  brave 
euemy,  the  greatest  care  being  taken  to  prevent  our  men  losing  the  smallest  trifle,  and  the  greatest  attention  being 
paid  to  the  wounded."— Captain  Dacres's  Report  to  Vice  Admiral  Sawyer,  September  7, 1812. 

2  Three  days  before  the  action  between  the  Constitution  and  Guerriere,  the  John  Adams,  Captain  Fash,  from  Liverpool, 
was  spoken  by  the  English  frigate.    Upon  Fash's  register,  which  he  deposited  at  the  New  York  Custom-house,  the  fol 
lowing  lines  were  found  written : 

"  Captain  Dacres,  commander  of  his  Britannic  majesty's  frigate  Guerriere,  of  44  guns,  presents  his  compliments  to 
Commodore  Rodgers.  of  the  United  States  frigate  President,  and  will  be  very  happy  to  meet  him,  or  any  other  American 
frigate  of  equal  force  to  the  President,  oft"  Sandy  Hook,  for  the  purpose  of  having  a  few  minutes'  t^te-^-tste." 
To  this  fact  a  poet  of  the  day,  an  American  gentleman  then  living  at  St.  Bartholomew's,  thus  alluded  : 

"This  Briton  oft  had  made  his  boast 
He'd  with  his  crew,  a  chosen  host, 
Pour  fell  destruction  roiind  our  coast, 

And  work  a  revolution  ; 
Urged  by  his  pride,  a  challenge  sent 
Bold  Rodgers,  in  the  President, 
Wishing  to  meet 
Him  t'-te-d-t'-tp, 

Or  one  his  equal  from  our  fleet — 
Such  was  the  Constitution." 


446 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Tributes  of  Honor  by  Citizens  and  Public  Bodies. 


Congress  presents  Hull  with  a  Gold  Medal. 


services.1  The  citizens  of  New  York  raised  money  for  the  purchase  of  swords  to  be 
presented  to  Captain  Hull  and  his  officers ;  and  the  Corporation  offered  the  gallant 
•  December  28,  victor  the  freedom  of  the  city  in  a  gold  "box,a  with  an  appropriate  in 
scription.2  Hull  was  also  requested  by  the  same  Corporation  to  sit  for 
his  portrait,  to  be  hung  in  the  picture-gallery  of  the  City  Hall.3  In  Philadelphia  the 
citizens,  at  a  general  meeting,  resolved  to  present  to  Captain  Hull  "  a  piece  of  plate 
of  the  most  elegant  workmanship,  with  appropriate  emblems,  devices,  and  inscrip 
tions,"  and  that  "a  like  piece  of  plate  be  presented  to  Lieutenant  Morris,  in  the  name 
of  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia."  They  also  resolved  to  present  tokens  of  their  grati 
tude  to  the  other  officers  of  the  Constitution.  The  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by 
resolution,  voted  a  gold  medal  to  Captain  Hull,4  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  be  dis- 


1  A  stirring  ode  was  sung  at  the  table.    It  was  written  for  the  occasion  by  the  late  L.  M.  Sargent,  Esq.,  then  an  emi 
nent  and  highly  esteemed  citizen  of  Boston.    The  victory  of  Hull,  so  complete,  and  obtained  over  a  foe  so  nearly  equal 
in  strength,  gave  promise  of  future  successes  on  the  ocean,  and  inspired  the  most  doubting  heart  with  hope.    This  hope 
was  expressed  ill  the  following  closing  stanza  of  Mr.  Sargent's  ode : 

"Hence  be  our  floating  bulwarks 

Those  oaks  our  mountains  yield ; 
'Tis  mighty  Heaven's  plain  decree — 

Then  take  the  watery  field  ! 
To  ocean's  farthest  barriers,  then, 

Your  whitening  sails  shall  pour ; 
Safe  they'll  ride  o'er  the  tide 

While  Columbia's  thunders  roar ; 
While  her  cannon's  fire  is  flashing  fast, 

And  her  Yankee  thunders  roar." 

2  This  is  a  merely  complimentary  act,  by  which  a  person,  for  gallant  or  useful  services,  is  honored  with  the  nominal 
right  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  a  citizen  by  the  government  of  a  city.    When  Andrew  Hamilton,  of  Phila 
delphia,  nobly  defended  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and  procured  the  acquittal  of  John  Peter  Zeuger,  a  New  York  printer, 
who  was  accused  of  libel  by  the  governor  in  1735,  the  Corporation  of  New  York  presented  that  able  lawyer  the  freedom 
of  the  city  in  a  gold  box  for  his  noble  advocacy  of  popular  rights.    When  Washington  Irving  returned  to  New  York, 
after  twenty  years'  absence  in  Europe,  the  freedom  of  the  city  was  given  to  him  as  a  compliment  for  his  distinction  as 
an  American  author  when  successful  ones  were  rare. 

The  ceremony  of  presentation  to  Captain  Hull  took  place  in  the  Common  Council  Chamber  of  the  City  Hall.  A  com 
mittee,  consisting  of  Aldermen  Fish  and  Mesier,  and  General  Morton,  introduced  Hull  to  the  Common  Council,  when 
De  Witt  Clinton,  the  mayor,  arose  and  addressed  him.  He  then  presented  him  with  the  diploma,  elegantly  executed  in 
vellum,*  and  a  richly-embossed  gold  box,  with  a  representation  of  the  battle  between  the  Constitution  and  Guerriere 
painted  in  enamel.  Hull  responded  in  a  few  low  and  modest  words,  after  which  the  mayor  administered  to  him  the 
freeman's  oath. 

3  In  that  gallery  hang  the  portraits  of  the  successive  governors  of  the  State  of  New  York.    On  that  account  it  is  known 
as  the  Governors'  Room. 

4  On  one  side  of  this  medal,  represented  of  the  exact  size  of  the  original  in  the  above  engraving,  is  seen  the  likeness 
of  Captain  Hull  in  profile,  with  the  legend  ISACDS  HULL  PF.RITOS  AKTK  BUPERAT  JUL.  MDOOCXTI.  ANO.  OERTAMINE  FORTES. 
This  legend  (and  date)  seems  to  refer  to  the  skill  of  Hull  in  escaping  from  the  British  fleet  the  previous  month,  for  it 
asserts  ^hat  his  stratagem  overmatched  the  experienced  English.    On  the  reverse  of  the  medal  is  seen  a  naval  engage 
ment,  in  which  the  Guerriere  is  represented  as  receiving  the  deadly  shots  that  cut  away  her  mizzen-mast.    The  legend 
is  HOR,K  MOMENTO  VICTORIA,  and  the  exergue  INTEK  CONST.  NAV.  AMER  ET  GUKR.  NAV.  ANGL. — the  abbreviation  of  words 
indicating  action  "between  the  American  ship  Constitution  and  the  English  ship  Guerriere." 

*  The  form  of  words  in  which  this  instrument  is  expressed  will  be  found  in  another  part  of  this  work,  where  an  ac 
count  is  given  of  a  similar  honor  conferred  on  General  Jacob  Brown. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  447 

Effect  of  the  Victory  on  the  British.  Estimates  of  its  Importance.  Remarks  of  the  London  Times. 

tributed  as  prize-money  among  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  victor,  whose  example 
was  "highly  honorable  to  the  American  character  and  instructive  to  our  rising 
navy."1 

It  is  difficult  to  comprehend  at  this  time  the  feeling  which  this  victory  of  the 
Americans  created  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  British,  as  we  have  observed, 
looked  with  contempt  upon  the  American  navy,  while  the  Americans  looked  upon  that 
of  England  with  dread.  The  naval  flag  of  England  had  seldom  been  lowered  to  an 
enemy  during  the  lapse  of  a  century,  and  the  peopla  had  come  to  believe  her  "  wooden 
walls"  to  be  impregnable.  Dacres  himself,  though  less  a  boaster  than  most  of  his 
countrymen  in  command,  had  similar  faith.  He  believed  that  an  easy  victory  awaited 
him  whenever  he  should  be  so  fortunate  as  to  meet  any  American  vessel  in  conflict ; 
and  he  constantly  expressed  a  desire  to  show  how  quickly  he  would  make  the  "striped 
bunting"  trail  in  his  presence.  Very  great,  then,  was  the  disappointment  of  the  com 
mander  of  the  Guerriere,  the  service,  and  the  British  people,  when  Hull's  victory  was 
accomplished.  The  Americans,  on  the  other  hand,  as  we  have  observed,  had  little 
confidence  in  the  power  of  their  navy,  and  at  that  time  they  were  cast  down  by  the 
heavy  blow  to  their  hopes  in  the  misfortunes  of  the  Army  of  the  Northwest  at 
Detroit.  This  victory,  therefore,  so  unexpected  and  so  complete, was  like  the  sudden 
bursting  forth  of  the  morning  sun,  without  preceding  twilight,  after  a  night  of  tem 
pest,  and  the  joy  of  the  whole  people  was  unbounded.  It  was  natural  for  them  to 
indulge  in  many  extravagances,  yet  these  were  only  the  mere  demonstrative  evidences 
of  a  new-born  faith  that  had  taken  hold  of  the  American  mind.  This  victory  was, 
therefore,  of  immense  importance,  inasmuch  as  it  gave  the  Americans  confidence,  and 
dispelled  the  idea  of  the  absolute  omnipotence  of  the  British  navy.  Its  momentous 
bearing  upon  the  future  of  the  war  was  at  once  perceived  by  statesmen  and  publicists 
on  both  sides,  and  zealous  discussions  at  once  arose  concerning  the  relative  strength, 
and  force,  and  armament  of  the  two  vessels,  and  the  comparative  merits  of  the  two 
commanders  as  exhibited  in  their  conduct  before  and  during  the  action. 

There  was  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  Americans  to  overestimate  the  importance 
of  the  victory  and  the  powers  of  their  seamen,  and  there  was  an  equal  tendency  of 
the  organs  of  British  opinion  to  underestimate  it,  and  to  detract  from  the  merits  of 
the  conqueror  by  disparaging  the  strength  and  condition  of  the  Guerriere.  The  very 
writers  who  had  spoken  of  the  Constitution  as  "  a  bundle  of  pine-boards"  now  called 
her  one  of  the  stanchest  vessels  afloat ;  and  the  Guerriere,  which  they  had  praised 
as  a  frigate  worthy  of  the  exhibition  of  British  valor  when  she  was  captured  from 
the  French,  and  able  to  drive  "  the  insolent  striped  bunting  from  the  seas,"  was  now 
spoken  of  as  "an  old  worn-out  frigate,"  with  damaged  masts,  a  reduced  complement, 
and  "  in  absolute  need  of  thorough  refit,"  for  which  "  she  was  then  on  her  way  to  Hal 
ifax."  Yet  the  London  Times,  then,  as  now,  the  leading  journal  in  England,  and  then, 
as  now,  the  bitter  enemy  of  the  United  States,  and  implacable  foe  of  every  supposed 
rival  or  competitor  of  England,  was  compelled,  in  deep  mortification,  to  view  the 
affair  as  a  severe  blow  struck  at  Britain's  boasted  supremacy  of  the  seas.  "We  have 
been  accused  of  sentiments  unworthy  of  Englishmen,"  it  said,  "  because  we  described 
what  we  saw  and  felt  on  the  occasion  of  the  captiire  of  the  Guerriere.  We  witnessed 
the  gloom  which  that  event  cast  over  high  and  honorable  minds ;  we  participated  in 
the  vexation  and  regret ;  and  it  is  the  first  time  we  have  ever  heard  that  the  striking 
of  the  English  flag  on  the  high  seas  to  any  thing  like  an  equal  force  should  be  regard 
ed  by  Englishmen  with  complacency  and  satisfaction It  is  not  merely  that  an 

English  frigate  has  been  taken,  after,  what  we  are  free  to  confess,  may  be  called  a 
brave  resistance,  but  that  it  has  been  taken  by  a  new  enemy,  an  enemy  unaccustomed 
to  such  triumphs,  and  likely  to  be  rendered  insolent  and  confident  by  them.  He  must 

i  Resolutions  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  November  5, 1S12. 


448  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Surprise  and  Chagrin  of  the  British.  The  two  Vessels  compared.  Commodore  Hull's  Generosity. 

be  a  weak  politician  who  does  not  see  how  important -the  first  triumph  is  in  giving  a 
tone  and  character  to  the  war.  Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  world  did  an  En 
glish  frigate  strike  to  an  American  •  and  though  we  can  not  say  that  Captain  Dacres, 
under  all  circumstances,  is  punishable  for  this  act,  yet  we  do  say  that  there  are  com 
manders  in  the  English  navy  who  would  a  thousand  times  rather  have  gone  down 
with  their  colors  flying  than  have  set  their  brother-officers  so  fatal  an  example." 
William  James,  one  of  the  most  bitterly  partisan  and  unscrupulous  historians  of  the 
war,  was  constrained  to  say,  "  There  is  no  question  that  our  vanity  received  a  wound 
in  the  loss  of  the  Guerriere.  But,  poignant  as  were  the  national  feelings,  reflecting 
men  hailed  the  19th  of  August,  181 2,  as  the  commencement  of  an  era  of  renovation  to 
the  navy  of  England."1 

The  advantage  in  the  action,  in  guns,  men,  and  stanchness,  was  undoubtedly  on 
the  side  of  the  Constitution,  yet  not  so  much  as  to  make  the  contest  really  an  unequal 
one.  The  vessels  rated  respectively  44  and  38,  while  the  Constitution  actually  car 
ried  in  the  action  56,  and  the  Guerriere  49.  The  latter  was  pierced  for  54  and  car 
ried  50  when  she  was  captured  from  the  French.2  Her  gun-deck  metal  was  lighter 
than  that  of  the  Constitution,  but  the  rest  of  her  armament  was  the  same.  Notwith 
standing  this  disparity,  the  weight  of  the  respective  broadsides,  according  to  the 
most  authentic  account,  could  not  have  varied  very  materially.3  The  crew  of  the 
Constitution  greatly  outnumbered  that  of  the  Guerriere,  being  468  against  253.  That 
of  the  latter  had  a  great  advantage  in  experience  and  discipline ;  for  they  had  been 
long  in  naval  service,  while  the  crew  of  the  Constitution  was  newly  shipped  for  this 
cruise,  and  mostly  from  the  merchant  service. 

According  to  the  official  report  of  Captain  Hull,  the  action  lasted  thirty  minutes, 
while  Dacres  said  its  duration  was  two  hours  and  twelve  minutes.  This  discrepancv 
may  be  reconciled  by  the  consideration  that  the  British  commander  probably  counted 
from  the  time  when  the  Guerriere  fired  her  first  gun,  which  the  Constitution  did  not 
respond  to,  and  the  American  commander  computed  from  the  moment  when  he  poured 
in  his  first  broadside.  The  Guerriere  was  made  a  wreck — the  Constitution  was  se 
verely  wounded  in  spars  and  rigging.  The  American  loss  was  seven  killed  and  seven 
wounded.  The  British  loss  was  fifteen  killed,  forty-four  wounded,  and  twenty-four 
(including  two  officers)  missing.  Dacres  was  severely  wounded  in  the  back. 

At  that  time  there  were  more  captains  in  the  navy  than  vessels  for  them  to  com 
mand  ;  and  Captain  Hull,  with  noble  generosity  and  rare  contentment  with  the  laurels 
already  won,  gave  up  the  command  of  his  frigate  for  the  sole  purpose  of  giving  oth 
ers  a  chance  to  distinguish  themselves.  Captain  Bainbridge,  one  of  the  oldest  officers 
in  the  service,  and  then  in  command  of  the  Constellation,  38,  which  was  fitting  out  for 
sea  at  Washington,  was  appointed  Hull's  successor.  He  was  made  a  flag  officer,  and 
the  Essex,  32,  and  Hornet,  28,  was  placed  under  his  command.  He  hoisted  his  broad 
pennant  on  board  the  Constitution,  and  sailed  from  Boston  on  a  cruise  on  the  15th  of 
September.  Captain  Charles  Stewart  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Constella 
tion  /  and  not  long  afterward,  Lieutenant  Morris,  Hull's  second  in  command,  who  wTas 
severely  wounded  when  gallantly  attempting  to  lead  a  boarding-party  to  the  decks 
of  the  Giierriere,  was  promoted  to  captain.  Of  Bainbridge's  cruise  I  shall  write  pres 
ently.  Let  us  now  consider  a  most  gallant  exploit  of  the  Wasp,  an  inferior  member 
of  the  United  States  Navy. 

The  sloop-of-war  Wasp,  18,  was  considered  one  of  the  finest  and  fastest  sailers  of  her 
class.  She  was  built  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  war  with  Tripoli,  and  was  thor- 

1  Naval  Occurrences,  page  116. 

2  Captain  Lavie's  Letter  to  Lord  Keith,  July  20, 1806.    " Le  Guerriere,"  he  said,  "is  of  the  largest  class  of  frigates, 
mounting  fifty  guns,  with  a  complement  of  317  men." 

3  By  actual  weighing  of  the  balls  of  both  ships  by  an  officer  of  the  Constitution,  it  was  found  that  the  American  24's 
were  only  three  pounds  heavier  than  the  English  IS's  on  that  occasion,  and  that  there  was  nearly  the  same  difference 
iu  favor  of  the  Intter's  32's.—  Cooper's  Naval  History,  etc.,  ii.,  173,  Note  *. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


449 


Cruise  of  the  Wasp. 


She  encounters  a  Gale. 


Chases  a  Vessel. 


Captain  Jones. 


oroughly  manned  and  equipped.  She  mount 
ed  sixteen  32-pound  carronades  and  two  long 
12's,  and  also  carried,  usually,  two  small  brass 
cannon  in  her  tops.  Her  officers  were  always 
proud  of  her,  as  an  admirable  specimen  of 
their  country's  naval  architecture.  At  the 
kindling  of  the  war  she  was  on  the  European 
coast,  the  only  government  vessel,  excepting 
the  Constitution,  then  abroad ;  and  at  the  time 
of  the  declaration  of  hostilities  by  the  Ameri 
can  Congress,  she  was  on  her  way  home  as  bear 
er  of  dispatches  from  the  diplomatic  represent 
atives  of  the  United  States  in  Europe.  Her 
commander  was  Captain  Jacob  Jones,  a  brave 
officer,  in  whose  veins  ran  much  pure,  indom 
itable  Welsh  blood.1 

On  the  thirteenth  of  October,  1812,  the 
Wasp  left  the  Delaware  on  a  cruise,  with  a 
full  complement  of  men,  about  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  in  number.  She  ran  off  south 
easterly  to  clear  the  coast  and  strike  the 
tracks  of  vessels  that  might  be  steering  north 
for  the  West  Indies,  and  on  the  sixteenth  encountered  a  heavy  gale,  which  carried 
away  her  jib-boom,  and  with  it  two  of  her  crew.  The  storm  abated  on  the  following 
day  ;a  and  toward  midnight,  when  in  latitude  thirty -seven  north,  and  » October  is, 
longitude  sixty-five  west,  his  watch  discovered  several  sail,  two  of  them 
appearing  to  be  large  vessels.  Ignorant  of  the  true  character  of  the  strangers,  Cap 
tain  Jones  thought  it  prudent  to  keep  at  a  respectful  distance  until  the  morning  light 
should  give  him  better  information.  All  night  the  Wasp  kept  a  course  parallel  with 
that  of  the  stranger  vessels.  At  dawn  she  gave  chase,  and  it  was  soon  discovered 
that  the  strangers  were  a  fleet  of  armed  merchant  vessels  under  the  protection  of 
the  British  sloop-of-war  Frolic,  mounting  sixteen  thirty-two-pound  carronades,  two 
long  six-pounders,  and  two  twelve-pound  carronades  on  her  forecastle.  She  was 
manned  with  a  crew  of  one  hundred  and  eight  persons,  under  Captain  Thomas 
Whinyates,2  who  had  been  her  commander  for  more  than  five  years.  She  was  con- 


1  Jacob  Jones  was  born  in  the  year  17TO,  near  the  village  of  Smyrna,  Kent  County,  Delaware.    His  father  was  a  fann 
er,  and  the  maiden  name  of  his  mother  was  likewise  Jones.    He  received  a  good  academic  education,  and  at  the  age 
of  eighteen  years  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  and  surgery.    He  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Dover,  in 
his  native  state,  but  did  not  pursue  it  long.    He  found  the  field  well  occupied,  and,  being  active  and  ambitious,  resolved 
to  abandon  his  profession  for  one  more  lucrative.    He  received  the  appointment  of  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  Kent 
County.    Of  this  business  he  became  wearied,  and  entered  the  service  of  his  country  as  a  midshipman  in  the  year  1799. 
He  made  his  first  cruise  under  Commodore  Barry,  and  was  on  board  the  frigate  United  States  when  she  bore  Ellsworth 
and  Davie  to  France  as  envoys  extraordinary  of  the  United  States  to  the  government  of  that  country.    He  was  promot 
ed  to  lieutenant  in  February,  1801.    When  the  war  with  Tripoli  broke  out  he  sailed  in  the  Philadelphia  under  Bain- 
bridge,  and  after  the  disaster  that  befell  that  vessel  he  was  twenty  mouths  a  captive  among  the  semi-barbarians  of 
Northern  Africa.    He  was  commissioned  master  commandant  in  April,  1S10,  and  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
brig  A rgus,  which  was  stationed  for  the  protection  of  onr  commerce  on  our  southern  maritime  frontier.   In  1S11  he  wa? 
transferred  to  the  command  of  the  Waftp,  and  in  the  spring  of  1812  was  dispatched  with  communications  from  the  United 
States  government  to  its  embassadors  in  France  and  England.   While  on  that  duty  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  was  declared  by  the  former.    Soon  after  his  return,  he  went  on  the  cruise  which  resulted  in  his  capture 
of  the  Frolic,  and  the  recapture  of  his  own  and  the  prize  vessel  by  a  British  frigate.    In  March,  1S13,  he  was  promoted 
to  captain,  and  ever  afterward  bore  the  title  of  Commodore.    After  the  peace  he  was  employed  alternately  at  home  and 
abroad ;  and,  finally,  in  his  declining  years,  he  retired  to  his  farm  in  his  native  state,  where  he  enjoyed  a  serene  old  age. 
He  died  at  Philadelphia  in  July,  1850,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years.    The  likeness  is  copied  from  an  engraving  by  Edwin, 
from  a  portrait  painted  by  the  late  Rembrandt  Peale. 

2  Thomas  Whinyates  entered  the  British  navy 
in  1798,  and  obtained  his  first  commission  in  Sep 
tember,  1799.    He  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
commander  in  May,  1805,  and,  after  having  com 
mand  of  the  bomb  Zebra  almost  two  years,  he 
was  promoted  to  the  command  of  the  Frolic  in 


450  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Fight  between  the  Wa«p  and  the  Frolic.  The  Frolic  boarded.  Terrible  Scenes  on  her  Deck. 

voying  six  merchantmen  from  Honduras.     Four  of  these  vessels  were  large,  and 
mounted  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  guns  each.1 

It  was  Sunday  morning.  The  sky  was  cloudless,  the  atmosphere  balmy,  and  a 
stiff  and  increasing  breeze  from  the  northwest  was  giving  white  crests  to  the  billows. 

Jones  soon  perceived  that  the  hostile  sloop  was  disposed  to  fight,  and  was  taking 
position  so  as  to  allow  the  merchantmen  to  escape  Inflight  during  the  engagement. 
The  top-gallant  yards  of  the  Wasp  were  immediately  sent  down,  her  top-sails  were 
close-reefed,  and  she  was  otherwise  brought  under  short  fighting  canvas.  The  Frolic 
also  carried  very  little  sail,  and  in  this  condition  they  commenced  a  severe  engage 
ment  at  half  past  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  Wasp  ranged  close  up  on  the  star 
board  side  of  the  Frolic,  after  receiving  a  broadside  from  her  at  the  distance  of  fifty 
or  sixty  yards,  and  then  instantly  delivered  her  own  broadside,  when  the  fire  of  the 
Englishman  became  so  accelerated  that  the  Frolic  appeared  to  fire  three  guns  to 
the  Wasp's  two.  The  breeze  had  increased,  and  the  sea  was  rolling  heavily. 

Within  five  minutes  after  the  action  commenced  the  main-top-mast  of  the  Wasp 
was  shot  away.  It  fell,  with  the  main-top-sail  yard,  and  lodged  across  the  larboard 
and  fore  and  fore-top-sail  braces,  rendering  the  head  yards  unmanageable  during  the 
remainder  of  the  action.  In  the  course  of  three  minutes  more  her  gaff  and  main-top- 
gallant-mast  was  shot  away,  and  fell  heavily  to  the  deck ;  and  at  the  end  of  twenty 
minutes  from  the  opening  of  the  engagement,  every  brace  and  most  of  the  rigging 
was  disabled.  She  was  in  a  forlorn  condition  indeed,  and  had  few  promises  of  vic 
tory. 

But,  while  the  Wasp  was  receiving  these  serious  damages  in  her  rigging  and  tops, 
the  Frolic  was  more  seriously  injured  in  her  hull.  The  latter  generally  fired  when 
on  the  crest  of  the  wave,  while  the  former  fired  from  the  trough  of  the  sea,  and  sent 
her  missiles  through  the  hull  of  her  antagonist  with  destructive  force.  The  two  ves 
sels  gradually  approached  each  other  until  the  bends  of  the  Wasp  rubbed  against 
the  Frolic's  bows  ;  and,  in  loading  for  the  last  broadside,  the  rammers  of  the  Wasp's 
gunners  were  shoved  against  the  sides  of  the  Frolic.2  Finally,  the  combatants  ran 
foul  of  each  other,  the  bowsprit  of  the  Frolic  passing  in  over  the  quarter-deck  of  the 
Wasp,  and  forcing  her  bows  up  into  the  wind.  This  enabled  the  latter  to  throw  in 
a  close  raking  broadside  that  produced  dreadful  havoc. 

The  crew  of  the  Wasp  was  now  in  a  state  of  the  highest  excitement,  and  could  no 
longer  be  restrained.  With  wild  shouts  they  leaped  into  the  tangled  rigging  before 
Captain  Jones  could  throw  in  another  broadside,  as  he  intended  before  boarding  his 
enemy,  and  made  their  way  to  the  decks  of  the  Frolic,  with  Lieutenants  Biddle  and 
Rodgers,  who,  with  Lieutenants  Booth,  Claxton,3  and  Rapp,  had  exhibited  the  most 
undaunted  courage  throughout  the  action.4  But  there  was  no  one  to  oppose  them. 
The  last  broadside  had  carried  death  and  dismay  into  the  Frolic,  and  almost  cleared 
her  decks  of  active  men.  The  wounded,  dying,  and  dead  were  strewn  in  every  di- 

March,  1867.    He  was  commissioned  a  post-captain  in  August,  1S13,  and  in  1846  was  placed  on  the  list  of  retired  rear 
admirals. 

1  The  Frolic  had  left  the  Bay  of  Honduras  with  about  fourteen  sail  under  convoy.    When  off  Havana  her  command 
er  first  heard  of  the  declaration  of  war.    The  British  vessels  experienced  the  same  gale  which  the  Frolic  encountered, 
and  they  were  separated.    The  Frolic  sustained  quite  serious  damage,  having  had  her  main  yard  broken  in  two  places, 
and  her  maiii-top-mast  badly  sprung,  besides  other  injuries.    In  this  condition  she  entered  upon  the  engagement.    Dur 
ing  the  engagement  the  merchant  vessels  with  the  Frolic  escaped.    See  James's  Naval  Occurrences. 

2  Captain  Jones's  Report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  November  24, 1812. 

3  "  Lieutenant  Claxton,"  says  Captain  Jones,  in  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  "  who  was  confined  by  sick 
ness,  left  his  bed  a  little  previous  to  the  engagement,  and,  though  too  indisposed  to  be  at  his  division,  remained  upon 
deck,  and  showed,  by  his  composed  manner  of  noticing  its  incidents,  that  we  had  lost  by  his  illness  the  services  of  a 
brave  officer." 

*  John  (or,  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  Jack)  Lang,  a  seaman  of  the  Wasp,  who  had  once  been  impressed  into  the  Brit 
ish  service,  and  was  hot  with  the  fire  of  retaliation,  jumped  on  a  gun  with  his  cutlass,  and  was  springing  on  board  the 
Frolic,  when  Captain  Jones,  wishing  to  give  the  enemy  another  broadside,  called  him  down.  But  his  impetuosity  over 
came  his  sense  of  obedience,  and  in  a  moment  he  leaped  upon  the  bowsprit  of  the  Frolic.  The  crew  were  all  alive  with 
excitement.  Seeing  this,  Lieutenant  Biddle  mounted  the  hammock-cloth  to  board.  The  crew  caught  the  signal,  and 
followed  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Lang  was  from  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  451 

Surrender  of  the  Frolic.  Both  Vessels  captured  by  the  Poictiers.  Captain  Jones  applauded. 

rection.  Several  surviving  officers  were  standing  aft,  the  most  of  them  bleeding,  and 
not  a  common  seaman  or  marine  was  at  his  station,  except  an  old  tar  at  the  wheel, 
who  had  kept  his  post  throughout  the  terrible  encounter.  All  who  were  able  had 
rushed  below  to  escape  the  raking  fire  of  the  Wasp. 

The  English  officers  cast  down  their  swords  in  submission,  and  Lieutenant  Biddle, 
who  led  the  boarding-party,  springing  into  the  main  rigging,  struck  the  colors  of  the 
Frolic  with  his  own  hand,  not  one  of  the  enemy  being  able  to  do  so.  The  prize  pass 
ed  into  the  possession  of  the  conquerors  after  a  contest  of  three  quarters  of  an  hour, 
when  every  one  of  her  officers  were  wounded,  and  a  greater  part  of  her  men  were 
either  killed  or  severely  injured.  Not  twenty  persons  on  board  of  her  remained  un 
hurt.1  Her  aggregate  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  estimated  at  ninety  men.  The 
Wasp  had  only  five  killed  and  five  wounded. 

The  frolic  was  so  injured  that  when  the  two  vessels  separated  both  her  masts  fell, 
and  with  tattered  sails  and  broken  rigging  covered  the  dead  on  her  decks.  She  had 
been  hulled  at  almost  every  discharge  from  the  Wasp,  and  was  virtually  a  wreck  be 
fore  her  colors  were  struck. 

The  heat  of  the  battle  was  scarcely  over  when  Captain  Jones  prepared  to  continue 
his  cruise  in  his  victorious  little  vessel.  He  had  placed  Lieutenant  Biddle  in  com 
mand  of  the  shattered  Frolic,  with  orders  to  take  her  into  Charleston,  or  some  other 
Southern  port,  and  was  about  to  part  company  with  his  prize,  when  a  strange  vessel 
was  seen  bearing  down  upon  them.  Neither  the  Wasp  nor  her  prize  was  in  a  condi 
tion  to  resist  or  flee.  The  rigging  of  the  latter  was  so  cut,  and  her  top-sails  so  nearly 
in  ribbons,  that  it  would  have  been  folly  to  attempt  either. 

The  strange  sail  drew  near,  and  heaving  a  shot  over  the  Frolic,  and  ranging  up 
near  the  Wasp,  convinced  them  both  that  the  most  prudent  course  would  be  to  sub 
mit  at  once.  Within  two  hours  after  the  gallant  Jones  had  gained  his  victory  he  was 
compelled  to  surrender  his  own  noble  vessel  and  her  prize.  The  captor  was  the 
British  ship-of-war  Poictiers,  of  seventy-four  guns,  commanded  by  Captain  John  Poo 
Beresford.2  She  proceeded  to  Bermuda  with  her  prizes,  where  the  American  prison- 

ers  were  exchanged,  and  departed  for  home.  From 
York  Captain  Jones  sent  his  account  of  the 
occurrences  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy — a  report 
that  was  received  with  the  greatest  satisfaction.3 
The  victory  of  the  Wasp  over  the  Frolic — the  result  of  the  first  combat  between 
the  vessels  of  the  two  nations  of  a  force  nearly  equal — occasioned  much  exultation  in 
the  United  States.  The  press  teemed  with  laudations  of  Captain  Jones  and  his  gallant 
companions,  and  a  stirring  song  commemorative  of  the  event  was  soon  upon  the  lips 
of  singers  at  public  gatherings,  in  bar-rooms,  workshops,  and  even  by  ragged  urchins 
in  the  streets.  The  name  of  the  author,  if  ever  known,  has  been  long  forgotten, 
but  the  following  lines  are  remembered  by  many  a  gray -haired  survivor  of  the 
War : 

"  The  foe  bravely  fought,  but  his  arms  were  all  broken, 

.  And  he  fled  from  his  death-wound  aghast  and  affrighted ; 

But  the  Wasp  darted  forward  her  death-doing  sting, 

And  full  on  his  bosom,  like  lightning,  alighted. 
She  pierced  through  his  entrails,  she  maddened  his  brain, 
And  he  writhed  and  he  groan'd  as  if  torn  with  the  colic  ; 
And  long  shall  John  Bull  rue  the  terrible  day 
He  met  the  American  Wasp  on  a  Frolic." 

1  Captain  Whinyates's  dispatch  to  Admiral  Sir  J.  Borlase  Warren,  from  the  ship  Poictiers,  October  23, 1812.    The  loss 
of  the  Frolic  must  have  been  about  one  hundred. 

2  Report  of  Captain  Jones  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  November  24, 1S12  ;  Whinyates's  dispatch  to  Admiral  Warren, 
October  23, 1S12. 

3  According  to  general  usage,  a  court  of  inquiry  was  held  on  the  conduct  of  Captain  Jones  in  giving  up  the  Wasp  and 
her  prize.    The  opinion  of  the  court  was,  "That  the  conduct  of  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Wasp  was  eminently  dis 
tinguished  for  firmness  and  gallantry  in  making  every  preparation  and  exertion  of  which  their  situation  would 
admit." 


452 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Caricature  of  "A  Wasp  on  a  Frolic." 


Honors  to  Captain  Jones. 


A  Medal  presented  to  him  by  Congress. 


Charles,  the  Philadelphia  caricaturist,  ma 
terialized  the  idea,  and  sent  forth  a  colored 
picture,  called  A  WASP  ON  A  FKOLIC,  OR  A 
STING  FOR  JOHN  BULL,  that  sold  by  hundreds 
during  the  excitement  in  the  public  mind.1 

Captain  Jones  was  everywhere  received  with 
demonstrations  of  gratitude  and  admiration  on 
his  return  to  the  United  States.  In  the  cities 
through  which  he  had  occasion  to  pass,  brilliant 
entertainments  were  given  in  his  honor.  The 
Legislature  of  Delaware,  his  native  state,  ap 
pointed  a  committee  to  wait  on  him  with  their 
thanks,  and  to  express  "  the  pride  and  pleasure" 
they  felt  in  recognizing  him  as  a  native  of  their 
state,  and  at  the  same  time  voted  him  thanks, 
an  elegant  sword,  and  a  piece  of  silver  plate 
with  appropriate  engravings.  The  Common 
Council  of  New  York,  on  motion  of  Alderman 
Lawrence,  voted  him  a  sword,  and  also  the 
"  freedom  of  the  city."  The  Congress  of  the  United  States,  on  motion  of  James  A. 
Bayard,  of  Delaware,  appropriated  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  as  a  compensation  to 
Captain  Jones  and  his  companions  for  their  loss  of  prize-money  occasioned  by  the  re 
capture  of  the  Frolic.  They  also  ordered  a  gold  medal  to  be  presented  to  the  cap- 


A    WASP  ON   A   FROI.TC. 


GOLD  MEDAL  AWARDED   BY   CONGRESS   TO   CAPTAIN   JONES. 

tain,  and  a  silver  one  to  each  of  his  officers.  The  captain  also  received  a  more  sub 
stantial  token  of  his  country's  approbation  by  being  promoted  by  Congress  to  the 
command  of  the  frigate  Macedonian,  which  had  lately  been  captured  from  the  Brit 
ish  and  taken  into  the  service.2 

1  Under  the  picture  were  the  following  lines  : 

"  A  Wasp  took  a  Frolic,  and  met  Johnny  Bull, 
Who  always  fights  best  when  his  belly  is  full. 
The  Wasp  thought  him  hungry  by  his  mouth  open  wide, 
So,  his  belly  to  fill,  put  a  sting  in  his  side." 

2  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  officers  of  the  Wasp  at  the  time  of  the  action  :  Jacob  Jones,  Commander ;  George 
W.  Rodgers,  James  Biddle,  Benjamin  Booth,  Alexander  Claxton,  and  Henry  B.  Rapp,  Lieutenants;  William  Knight,  Sail 
ing-master;  Thomas  Harris,  Surgeon;  George  S.  Wise,  Purser ;  John  M'Cloud,  Boatswain;  George  Jackson,  Gunner; 
George  Van  Cleve,  A.  S.  Ten  Eyck,  Richard  Brashear,  John  Holcomb,  William  J.  M'Cluney,  C.  J.  Baker,  and  Charles 
Gaunt,  Midshipmen ;  Walter  W.  New,  Surgeon's  Mate. 

The  engraving  is  a  representation  of  the  medal,  full  size.    On  one  side  is  a  bust  of  Captain  Jones.    Legend— JAOOIIKK 
JONES,  VIRTUS  IN  ARDUA  TENDiT.    On  the  reverse  are  seen  two  ships  closely  engaged,  the  bowsprit  of  the  Wasp  between 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


453 


Lieutenant  Bjddle  honored  and  rewarded. 


Lieutenant  Biddle  shared 
i  11  the  honors.  The  Legisla 
ture  of  Pennsylvania  voted 
him  thanks  and  a  sword, 
and  a  number  of  leading 
men  in  Philadelphia  pre 
sented  him  with  a  silver 
urn,  bearing  an  appropriate 
inscription,  and  a  repre 
sentation  of  the  action  be 
tween  the  Wasp  and  the 
Frolic.1  He  was  shortly 
afterward  promoted  to  the 


THE  BIDDLE   UBS. 


rank  of  master  command 
ant,  and  received  com 
mand  of  the  Hornet  sloop- 
of-war.  Poetry  wreathed 
coronals  for  the  brows  of 
all  the  braves  of  that  fight, 
and  in  the  Portfolio  for 
January,  1813,  a  rather 
doleful  poem  appeared  in 
commemoration  of  the  gal 
lantry  of  Biddle,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  speci 
men: 


"Nor  shall  thy  merits,  Biddle,  pass  untold. 

When  covered  with  the  cannon's  flaming  breath, 
Onward  he  pressed,  unconquerably  bold  ; 
He  feared  dishonor,  but  he  spurned  at  death." 


the  masts  of  the  Frolic.    Men  on  the  bow  of  the  Wasp  in  the  act  of  boarding  the  Frolic.    The  main-top-mast  of  the  Wasp 
shot  away.    Legend — VICTORIAM  UOSTI  MAJOKI  CELEKKIME  KAPUIT.    Exergue — INTER  WASP.  NAV.  AMERI.  ET  FKOLIC  NAV. 

ANG.  DIE  XVIII  OCT.  MDCCOXII. 

1  This  urn  and  the  silver  medal  presented  to  Lieutenant  Biddle  for  his  share  in  the  capture  of  the  Frolic  are  in  pos 
session  of  Lieutenant  James  S.  Biddle,  of  Philadelphia.  Also  the  gold  medal  afterward  presented  to  the  hero  in  ac 
knowledgment  of  his  services  in  capturing  the  Penguin.  The  following  is  the  inscription  on  the  urn  : 

"  To  Lieutenant  James  Biddle,  United  States  Navy,  from  the  early  friends  and  companions  of  his  youth,  who,  while 
their  country  rewards  his  public  services,  present  this  testimonial  of  their  esteem  for  his  private  worth.  Philadelphia, 
1813." 


454 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Second  Cruise  of  the  President. 


She  chases  a  strange  War-vessel. 


A  severe  Battle. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


"The  chiefs  who  our  freedom  sustained  on  the  land, 

Fame's  far-spreadiug  voice  has  eternized  in  story  ; 
By  the  roar  of  our  cannon  now  called  to  the  strand, 
She  beholds  on  the  ocean  their  rivals  in  glory. 
Her  sons  there  she  owns, 
And  her  clarion's  bold  tones 

Tell  of  Hull  and  Decatur,  of  Bainbridge  and  Jones ; 
For  the  tars  of  Columbia  are  lords  of  the  wave, 
And  have  sworn  that  old  Ocean's  their  throne  or  their  grave." 

HE  victory  won  by  the  Wasp  was  followed,  precisely  a  week 
later,a  by  another  more  important.  Commodore  Rodg-  .  October  25, 
ers  sailed  in  the  President  from  Boston  on  a  second 
cruise,  after  refitting,  accompanied  by  the  United  States,  44,  Cap 
tain  Decatur,  and  Argus,  16,  Lieutenant  Commanding  Sinclair, 
leaving  the  Hornet  in  port.  The  President  parted  company  with 
her  companions  on  the  12th  of  October,  and  on  the  17th  fell  in 
with  and  captured  the  British  packet  Swallow.  The  United  States 
and  Argus,  meanwhile,  had  also  parted  company  with  each  other, 
and  the  former  had  sailed  to  the  southward  and  eastward,  hoping 
to  intercept  British  West  Indiamen.  Decatur  was  soon  gratified  by  better  fortune 
^  ,_  in  the  estimation  of  a  soldier.  At  dawn  on  Sunday  morning,  the  25th,b 

October. 

when  in  latitude  29°  and  west  longitude  29°  30",  not  far  from  the  island  of 
Madeira,  the  watch  at  the  main-top  discovered  a  sail  to  windward.  There  was  a 
stiff  breeze  and  a  heavy  sea  on  at  the  time.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  the  stranger 
was  an  English  ship-of-war,  under  a  heavy  press  of  sail.  Decatur  resolved  to  over 
take  and  engage  her,  and  for  that  purpose  he  spread  all  his  canvas.  The  United  States 
was  a  good  sailer,  and  she  rapidly  reduced  the  distance  between  herself  and  the  fugi 
tive  she  was  pursuing.  The  enthusiasm  of  her  officers  and  men  was  unbounded ;  and 
as  the  gallant  ship  drew  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  enemy,  shouts  went  up  from  the 
decks  of  the  United  States  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  the  British  before  the  Ameri 
can  vessel  was  near  enough  to  bring  her  guns  to  bear. 

At  about  nine  in  the  morning  Decatur  had  so  nearly  overtaken  his  prospective  an 
tagonist  that  he  opened  a  broadside  upon  her.  The  balls  fell  short.  The  United 
States  was  soon  much  nearer,  when  she  opened  another  broadside  with  effect.  This 
was  responded  to  in  kind.  Both  vessels  were  now  on  the  same  tack,  and  continued 
the  action  with  a  heavy  and  steady  cannonade  with  the  long  guns  of  both,  the  dis 
tance  between  them  being  so  great  that  carronades  and  muskets  were  of  no  avail  for 
some  time.  Almost  every  shot  of  the  United  States  fell  fearfully  on  the  enemy,  who 
finally  perceived  that  safety  from  utter  destruction  might  only  be  found  in  closer 
quarters.  When  the  contest  had  lasted  about  half  an  hour,  the  stranger,  with  muti 
lated  spars  and  riddled  sails,  bore  up  gallantly  for  close  action.  The  United  States 
readily  accepted  the  challenge,  and  very  soon  afterward  her  shot,  sent  by  the  direc 
tion  of  splendid  gunnery,  cut  the  enemy's  mizzen-mast  so  that  it  fell  overboard.  Not 
long  afterward  the  main  yard  of  the  foe  was  seen  hanging  in  two  pieces,  her  main 
and  fore  top-masts  were  gone,  her  fore-mast  was  tottering,  no  colors  were  seen  float 
ing  over  her  deck,  and  her  main-mast  and  bowsprit  were  severely  wrounded,  while 
the  United  States  remained  almost  unhurt.  The  stranger's  fire  had  become  feeble, 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  455 

Capture  of  the  Macedonian.  Incidents  of  the  Battle.  Comparison  of  the  United  States  and  Macedonian. 

and  Decatur  filled  his  mizzen-top-sail,  gathered  fresh  way,  tacked,  and  came  up  un 
der  the  lee  of  the  English  ship,  to  the  utter  discomfiture  of  her  commander,  who,  when 
he  saw  the  American  frigate  bear  away,  supposed  she  was  severely  injured  and  about 
to  flee  from  him.  \Yith  that  impression  her  crew  gave  three  cheers  j1  but  when  the 
United  States  tacked  and  brought  up  in  a  position  for  more  effectual  action  than  be 
fore,  the  British  commander,  perceiving  farther  resistance  to  be  vain,  struck  her  col 
ors  and  surrendered.  As  the  United  States  crossed  the  stem  of  the  vanquished  ves 
sel,  Decatur  hailed  and  demanded  her  name.  "  His  majesty's  frigate  Macedonian,  38, 
Captain  John  S.  Garden,"  was  the  response.  An  officer  was  immediately  sent  on  board. 
She  had  suffered  terribly  in  every  part  during  a  combat  of  almost  two  hours.  She 
had  received  no  less  than  one  hundred  round  shot  in  her  hull  alone,  many  of  them  be 
tween  wind  and  water.  She  had  nothing  standing  but  her  fore  and  main  masts  and 
fore  yard.  All  her  boats  were  rendered  useless  except  one.  Of  her  officers  and  crew, 
three  hundred  in  number,  thirty-six  were  killed  and  sixty-eight  were  wounded.2  The 
loss  of  the  United  States  was  only  five  killed  and  six  wounded.3  The  Macedonian 
was  a  very  fine  vessel  of  her  class,  only  two  years  old,  and,  though  rated  at  36,  she 
carried  forty-nine  guns — eighteen  on  her  gun-deck  and  thirty-two  pound  carronades 
above.  The  United  States  mounted  thirty  long  24's  on  her  main  deck,  and  twenty- 
two  42-pound  carronades  and  two  long  24's  on  her  quarter-deck  and  forecastle.  She 

1  The  cannonade  by  the  United  States  was  so  incessant  that  her  side  toward  the  enemy  seemed  to  be  in  a  blaze. 
Garden  supposed  she  was  on  fire,  and  this  belief  caused  the  exultation  on  his  ship.    A  contemporary  rhymer  wrote  as 
follows  : 

"For  Carden  thought  he  had  us  tight, 

Just  so  did  Dacres  too,  sirs, 
But  brave  Decatur  put  him  right 
With  Yankee  doodle  doo,  sirs. 
They  thought  they  saw  our  ship  in  flame, 

Which  made  them  all  huzza,  sirs, 
But  when  the  second  broadside  came, 
It  made  them  hold  their  jaws,  sirs." 
See  an  allusion  to  this  battle  in  Isote  1,  page  140,  quoted  from  Cobbett's  Register. 

2  Captain  Carden  thus  stated  his  casualties:  "Killed:  1  master's  mate,  the  school-master,  23  petty  officers  and  sea- 
meu,  2  boys,  1  sergeant,  and  7  privates  of  marines — total,  3G.    Wounded  dangerously :  7  petty  officers  and  seamen.   Severe- 
Ill  :  1  lieutenant,  1  midshipman,  IS  petty  officers  and  seamen,  4  boys,  and  5  private  marines— total,  dangerously  and  se 
verely,  36.    Wounded  slightly :  1  lieutenant,  1  master's  mate,  26  petty  officers  and  seamen,  and  4  private  marines— total,  32. 
According  to  the  muster-roll  found  on  board  of  the  Macedonian,  she  had  seven  impressed  American  seamen  among  her 
crew,  two  of  whom  were  killed  in  the  action.   Another  had  been  drowned  at  sea,  while  compelled  to  assist  in  boarding 
an  American  vessel.    Their  names  were  Christopher  Dodge,  Peter  Johnson,  John  Alexander,  C.  Dolphin,  Mayer  Cook, 
William  Thompson,  John  Wallis,  and  John  Card.    During  the  whole  war,  American  seamen,  similarly  situated,  were 
compelled  to  fight  against  their  countrymen.    When  the  fact  became  known  that  there  were  impressed  Americans  on 
the  Macedonian,  the  exasperation  of  the  people  against  Great  Britain,  because  of  her  nefarious  practice,  was  intensified. 

3  Killed:  Boatswain's  mate,  1  seaman,  and  3  marines.    Wounded:  1  lieutenant,  4  seamen,  and  1  marine.    The  lieuten 
ant  (John  M.  Funk)  and  one  seaman  (John  Archibald)  died  of  their  wounds. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  officers  of  the  United  States :  Commander,  Stephen  Decatur.  Lieutenants,  William  H. 
Allen,  John  Gallagher,  John  M.  Funk,  George  C.  Read,  Walter  Wooster,  John  B.  Nicholson.  Sailing-master,  John  D. 
Sloat.  Surgeon,  Samuel  R.  Trevitt.  Surgeon's  Mate,  Samuel  Vernon.  Purser,  John  B.  Timberlake.  Midshipmen,  John 
Stansbury,  Joseph  Cassin,  Philip  Voorhees,  John  P.  Zantzinger,  Richard  Delphy,  Dugan  Taylor,  Richard  S.  Heath,  Ed 
ward  F.  Howell,  Archibald  Hamilton,  John  M'Can,  H.  Z.  W.  Harrington,  William  Jamieson,  Lewis  Hiuchman,  Benja 
min  S.  Williams.  Gunner,  Thomas  Barry.  Lieutenants  of  Marines,  William  Anderson,  James  L.  Edwards. 

There  was  a  boy  only  twelve  years  of  age  on  board  the  United  States,  the  son  of  a  brave  seaman,  whose  death  had  left 
the  lad's  mother  in  poverty.  When  the  crew  were  clearing  the  ship  for  action,  the  boy  stepped  up  to  Decatur  and  said, 
'•  I  wish  my  name  may  be  put  down  on  the  roll,  sir."  "  Why  so,  my  lad  ?"  asked  the  commander.  "  So  that  I  may  have 
a  share  of  the  prize-money,"  was  the  earnest  reply.  Pleased  with  the  spirit  of  the  boy,  Decatur  granted  his  request.  The 
boy  behaved  gallantly  throughout  the  contest.  At  the  close  of  the  action  Decatur  said  to  him,  "Well,  Bill,  we  have 
taken  the  ship,  and  your  share  of  the  prize-money  may  be  about  two  hundred  dollars  ;*  what  will  you  do  with  it?"  "I 
will  send  half  to  my  mother,  and  the  other  half  shall  send  me  to  school."  The  commander  was  so  pleased  with  the 
right  spirit  of  the  boy  that  he  took  him  under  his  protection,  procured  a  midshipman's  berth  for  him,  and  superintend 
ed  his  education.— Putnam's  Life  of  Decatur,  page  193. 

*  Congress  decreed  that  in  the  distribution  of  prize-money  arising  from  capture  by  national  vessels,  one  half  should 
go  to  the  United.  States,  and  the  other  half,  divided  into  twenty  equal  parts,  should  be  distributed  in  the  following  man 
ner:  to  captains,  3  parts;  to  the  sea  lieutenants  and  sailing-masters,  2  parts;  to  the  marine  officers,  surgeons,  pursers, 
boatswains,  gunners,  carpenters,  master's  mates,  and  chaplains,  2  parts;  to  midshipmen,  surgeon's  mates,  captain's 
clerks,  school-master,  boatswain's  mates,  gunner's  mates,  carpenter's  mates,  steward,  sail-makers,  master  at  arms,  arm 
orers,  and  coxswains,  3  parts ;  to  gunner's  yeomen,  boatswain's  yeomen,  quarter-masters,  quarter-gunners,  coopers,  sail- 
maker's  mates,  sergeants  and  corporals  of  marines,  drummers  and  lifers,  and  extra  petty  officers,  3  parts ;  to  seamen, 
ordinary  seamen,  marines,  and  boys,  7  parts. 


456  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Decatur's  Courtesy.  His  Arrival  with  his  Prize.  The  Macedonian  at  New  York. 

was  manned  with  a  crew  of  four  hundred  and  seventy-eight.  In  men  and  metal  the 
United  States  was  heavier  than  the  Macedonian,  "  but,"  says  Cooper,  "  the  dispropor 
tion  between  the  force  of  the  two  vessels  was  much  less  than  that  between  the  exe 
cution."1 

Captain  Garden  fought  his  ship  skillfully  and  bravely,  and  when  he  came  on  board 
the  United  States,  and  offered  his  sword  to  Captain  Decatur,  the  latter  genfc-ously  re 
marked,  "  Sir,  I  can  not  receive  the  sword  of  a  man  who  has  so  bravely  defended  his 
ship,  but  I  will  receive  your  hand."  Suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  Decatur  took 
the  gallant  Garden's  hand,  and  led  him.  to  his  cabin,  where  refreshments  were  set  out 
and  partaken  of  in  a  friendly  spirit  by  the  two  commanders.2 

When  he  took  possession  of  his  prize,  Decatur  found  her  not  fatally  injured,  and  he 
determined  to  abandon  his  cruise  and  take  her  into  an  American  port.  His  own  ves 
sel  was  speedily  repaired.  The  Macedonian  was  placed  in  the  charge  of  Lieutenant 
Allen,  who,  with  much  ingenuity,  so  rigged  her  as  to  convert  her  into  a  barque,  when 
captor  and  captive  sailed  for  the  United  States.  Decatur  arrived  off  New  London  on 
the  4th  of  December,3  and  at  about  the  same  time  his  prize  entered  Newport  Harbor. 

"Then  quickly  met  our  nation's  eyes 

The  noblest  sight  in  nature — 
A  first-rate  frigate  as  a  prize 
Brought  home  by  brave  DEOATTTE." — OLD  SONG. 

Both  vessels  made  their  way  through  Long  Island  Sound,  the  East  River,  and  Hell 
Gate,  at  the  close  of  the  month,  and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1813,  the  Macedonian  an 
chored  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  where  she  was  greeted  with  great  joy  as  a  "  New- 
year's  gift."  "  A  more  acceptable  compliment  could  not  have  been  presented  to  a 
joyous  people,"  said  one  of  the  newspapers.  "She  comes  with  the  compliments  of 
the  season  from  Old  Neptune,"  said  another.  "Janus,  the  peace-loving,  smiled," 
said  a  third,  more  classical.  The  excitement  of  a  feast  had  then  scarcely  died  away, 

1  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  179.    See  the  official  dispatches  of  Decatur  and  Garden ;  Clark's  Naval  History; 
Waldo's  Life  of  Stephen  Decatur ;  The  War ;  Niles's  Register ;  Memoir  of  Decatur,  in  the  Aiialectic  Magazine,  i.,  502. 

2  All  of  the  private  property  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Macedonian  was  given  up  to  them.    Among  other  things 
claimed  and  received  by  Captain  Carden  was  a  baud  of  music  and  several  casks  of  wine,  the  whole  valued  at  eight  hund 
red  dollars.    Of  this  generous  conduct  Captain  Carden  spoke  in  the  highest  terms.    Hull's  generosity  to  Captain  Dacres, 
as  we  have  seen,  elicited  the  praise  of  that  officer.    The  American  newspapers  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Brit 
ish  commander  of  the  Poictiers,  when  he  captured  the  Wasp  and  her  prize  from  Jones,  would  not  permit  officers  or  men 
to  retain  any  thing  except  the  clothes  on  their  backs.    See  The  War,  i.,  115. 

Decatur  and  Carden  had  met  before.  It  was  in  the  harbor  of  Norfolk,  just  before  the  beginning  of  the  war,  that  they 
were  introduced  to  each  other.  Before  they  parted  Carden  said  to  Decatur,  "  We  now  meet  as  friends ;  God  grant  we 
may  never  meet  as  enemies  ;  but  we  are  siibject  to  the  orders  of  our  governments,  and  must  obey  them."  "I  heartily 
reciprocate  the  sentiment,"  replied  Decatur.  "  But  what,  sir,"  said  Carden,  "  would  be  the  consequence  to  yourself  and 
the  force  you  command  if  we  should  meet  as  enemies  ?"  "  Why,  sir,"  responded  Decatur,  in  the  same  playful  spirit,  "if 
we  meet  with  forces  that  might  be  fairly  called  equal,  the  conflict. would  be  severe,  but  the  flag  of  my  country  on  the 
ship  I  command  shall  never  leave  the  staff  on  which  it  waves  as  long  as  there  is  a  hull  to  support  it."  They  parted,  and 
their  next  meeting  was  on  the  deck  of  the  United  States,  under  the  circumstances  recorded  in  the  text. 

John  Surman  Carden  was  born  on  the  15th  of  August,  1771,  at  Templemore,  Ireland.  His  father,  Major  Carden,  of  the 
British  army,  perished  in  the  ^  ceived  the  commission  of  corn- 

war  of  the  American  Revolution,  sy  mauder  in  1798.  He  was  ap- 

This,  his  eldest  son,  entered  the  //  tf  ^-^  pointed  to  the  command  of  the 

British  navy  as  captain's  servant  (/  xv/  /^  S  /?  s  Ville&e  Paris  in  1S08,  and  in  1811 

in  1788  in  the  ship  Edgar.  In  /ffl///  (  <^i^2  /fl^/£?  to  tnat  of  the  Macedonian.  He 

1790  he  became  midshipman  in  //  //•  ~^  —  '  was  acquitted  of  all  blame  in  the 

the  Perseverance  frigate.  He  was  I/  _^_ — -£/- " -^  surrender  of  his  ship  to  Decatur. 

made  lieutenant  in  1794.  He  re-  Parliament  was  full  of  his  praise, 

and  the  cities  of  Worcester  and  Gloucester,  and  the  borough  of  Tewksbury,  honored  him  with  their  "freedom."  He 
was  made  a  rear  admiral  in  1S40,  and  died  at  Bonnycastle,  Antrim,  Ireland,  in  May,  1858,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven 
years. 

3  Decatur'e  official  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  dated  "  At  Sea,  October  30, 1812.   Lieutenant  Hamilton, 
a  son  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  was  sent  with  it  to  his  father,  at  Washington,  immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the 
United  States  at  New  London.    He  bore  the  flag  of  the  Macedonian  to  the  seat  of  government,  where  he  arrived  on  the 
evening  of  the  8th  of  December,  at  which  time  a  ball  was  in  progress  which  had  been  given  in  honor  of  the  naval  offi 
cers.    The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  (Paul  Hamilton)  and  his  wife  and  daughter  were  present.    The  first  intimation  of  the 
arrival  of  their  son  and  brother  was  his  entrance  into  the  hall  of  the  brilliant  assembly,  bearing  the  trophy.    Captains 
Hull  and  Stewart  received  it,  and  bore  it  to  the  accomplished  wife  of  President  Madison,  who  was  present.    The  pleas 
ure  of  the  occasion  was  changed  to  patriotic  joy,  and  at  the  supper  one  of  the  managers  offered  as  a  toast,  "  Commodore 
Decatur,  and  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  frigate  United  States." 

Decatur's  arrival  at  New  London  was  hailed  with  joyful  demonstrations.  The  city  authorities  presented  him  the  pub 
lic  thanks,  and  a  ball  was  given  in  his  honor. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  457 


Celebration  of  Decatur's  Victory.  Banquets  in  the  City  of  New  ~5tork.  Public  Honors  given  to  Decatur. 

for  only  three  days  beforea  a  splendid  banquet  had  been  given,  at  Gib-  a  December  20, 
son's  City  Hotel,  to  Hull,  Jones,  and  Decatur,  by  the  Corporation  and 
citizens  of  New  York,1  and  the  newspapers  of  the  land  speedily  became  the  vehicles 
of  the  "  eifusions"  of  a  score  of  poets,  who  caught  inspiration  from  the  shoiits  of  tri 
umph  that  filled  the  air.  Woodworth,  the  printer-poet,  and  author  of  Tfie  Old  Oaken 
Bucket, "  threw  together,  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,"  as  he  said,  a  dozen  stirring 
stanzas,  of  which  the  following  is  the  first : 

"  The  banner  of  Freedom  high  floated  unfurl'd, 
While  the  silver-tipp'd  surges  in  low  homage  curl'd, 
Flashing  bright  round  the  bow  of  Decatur's  brave  bark, 
In  contest  an  eagle— in  chasing,  a  lark." 

And  J.  R.  Calvert  wrote  a  banquet-song,  which  became  immensely  popular,  of  which 
the  following  is  the  closing  stanza : 

"Now  charge  all  your  glasses  with  pure  sparkling  wine, 
And  toast  our  brave  tars  who  so  bravely  defend  us  ; 
While  our  naval  commanders  so  nobly  combine, 
We  defy  all  the  ills  haughty  foes  e'er  can  send  us ! 
While  our  goblets  do  flow, 
The  praises  we  owe 

To  Valor  and  Skill  we  will  gladly  bestow. 
And  may  grateful  the  sons  of  Columbia  be 
To  DECATUR,  whom  Neptune  crowns  Lord  of  the  Sea .'" 

Decatur's  victory,  following  so  closely  upon  others  equally  brilliant,  produced  the 
most  profound  sensations  in  the  United  States  and  in  England.  In  the  former  they 
were  impressions  of  encouragement  and  joy;  in  the  latter,  of  disappointment  and 
sorrow.  The  victor  was  highly  applauded  for  his  soldierly  qualities  and  generosity 
by  each  service ;  and  he  was  spoken  of  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm  by  his  country 
men.  Public  bodies,  and  the  Legislatures  of  Massachusetts,  New  York,  Maryland, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia  gave  him  thanks,  and  to  these  each  of  the  two  latter  add 
ed  a  sword.  The  same  kind  of  weapon  was  presented  to  him  by  the  city  of  Phila 
delphia  ;  and  the  city  of  New  York  voteda  him  the  freedom  of  the  city 

*  December   IT. 

in  addition  to  the  honor  of  a  banquet  jointly  with  Hull  and  Jones,  and 
requested  his  portrait  for  the  picture  gallery  in  the  City  Hall.     The  Corporation  of 
New  York  also  gave  the  gallant  crew  of  the  United  States  a  banquet  at  the  City 
Hotel.2    The  national  Congress,  by  unanimous  vote,  thanked  Decatur,  and  gave  him 

1  This  banquet  was  given  on  the  day  after  the  freedom  of  the  city  was  presented  to  Captain  Hull.  He  and  Decatur 
were  present,  but  Jones  was  absent.  At  five  o'clock  about  five  hundred  gentlemen  sat  down  at  the  tables.  De  Witt 
Clinton,  the  mayor,  presided.  The  room  "had  the  appearance  of  a  marine  palace,"  said  an  eye-witness.  It  was  "  col 
onnaded  round  with  the  masts  of  ships,  entwined  with  laurels,  and  bearing  the  national  flags  of  all  the  world.  Every 
table  had  upon  it  a  ship  in  miniature,  with  the  American  flag  displayed.  In  front,  where  the  President  sat,  with  the 
officers  of  the  navy  and  other  guests,  and  which  was  raised  about  three  feet,  there  appeared  an  area  of  about  twenty 
feet  by  ten  covered  with  green  sward,  and  in  the  midst  of  it  was  a  real  lake  of  water,  in  which  floated  a  miniature 
frigate.  Back  of  all  this  hung  a  main-sail  of  a  ship  thirty-three  by  sixteen  feet."— The  War,  i.,  119.  Decatur  sat  on  the 
right  of  the  President,  and  Hull  on  the  left.  When  the  third  toast— "  Our  Navy"— was  given  with  three  cheers,  the  great 
main-sail  was  furled,  and  revealed  an  immense  transparent  painting,  representing  the  three  naval  battles  in  which  Hull, 
Jones,  and  Decatur  were  respectively  engaged.  Other  surprises  of  a  similar  nature  were  vouchsafed  to  the  guests,  and 
the  whole  affair  was  one  long  to  be  remembered  by  the  participants. 

a  This  banquet  was  given  on  Thursday,  the  7th  of  January,  1813,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  under  the  direction 
of  Aldermen  Van  Der  Bilt,  Buckmaster,  and  King.  The  room  had  the  same  decoration  as  at  the  time  of  the  banquet 
given  to  Hull,  Jones,  and  Decatur,  a  few  days  before.  The  sailors,  numbering  about  four  hundred,  marched  to  the  hotel 
in  pairs,  and  were  greeted  by  crowds  of  men  and  women  in  the  streets,  loud  cheers  from  the  multitude,  and  the  waving 
of  haudkerchiefs  from  the  windows.  The  band  of  the  llth  Eegimeut,  among  whom  was  an  old  trumpeter  who  had 
served  under  Washington,  received  them  with  music  at  the  door.  At  the  table  they  were  addressed  by  Alderman  Van 
Der  Bilt,  who  was  responded  to  by  the  boatswain  of  the  United  States.  In  the  evening  they  went  to  the  theatre  by  in 
vitation  of  the  manager,  which  was  communicated  to  them  in  person  by  Decatur.  The  whole  pit  was  reserved  for 
them.  The  orchestra  opened  with  Yankee  Doodle.  The  drop  curtain,  in  the  form  of  a  transparency,  had  on  it  a  repre 
sentation  of  the  fight  between  the  United  States  and  Macedonian.  Children  danced  on  the  stage.  They  bore  large 
letters  of  the  alphabet  in  their  hands,  which,  being  joined  in  the  course  of  the  dance,  produced  in  transparency  the 
names  of  HULL,  JONF.S,  and  DECATUK.  Then  Mr.  M'Farlaud,  as  an  Irish  clown,  came  forward  and  sang  a  comic  song 
of  seven  stanzas,  written  for  this  occasion,  beginning, 

"  No  more  of  your  blathering  nonsense 

'Bout  Nelsons  of  old  Johnny  Bull ; 
I'll  sing  you  a  song,  by  my  conscience, 
'Bout  JONES,  and  DECATUK,  and  HULL. 


PICTORIAL   FrELD-BOOK 


Gold  Medal  presented  to  Decatur  by  Congres*          Bainbridge  in  Command  of  a  Squadron.  Biographical  Sketch. 

a  splendid  gold  medal,  with  appropriate  devices  and  inscriptions.1     From  that  time 
until  now  that  commander's  name  is  the  synonym  of  honor  and  gallantry  in  the  es- 


GOLD   MEDAL   AWARDED   TO   DECATUR. 

timation  of  his  countrymen.  His  subsequent  career  added  lustre  to  his  renown  as 
the  conqueror  of  the  Macedonian. 

We  have  already  observed  that  Hull  generously  retired  from  the  command  of  the 
Constitution  for  the  purpose  of  giving  some  brother-officer  an  opportunity  for  gallant 
achievements  in  her,  and  that  Captain  Bainbridge  was  his  appointed  successor.  A 
small  squadron,  consisting  of  the  Constitution,  44;  Essex,  32;  and  Hornet,  IS,  were 
placed  in  his  charge.  When  Bainbridge  entered  upon  his  duty  in  the  new  sphere  of 
flag-officer,  the  Constitution  and  Hornet  were  lying  in  Boston  Harbor,  and  the  Essex, 
Captain  Porter,  was  in  the  Delaware.  Orders  were  sent  to  the  latter  to  cruise  in  the 
track  of  the  English  West  Indiamen,  and  at  a  specified  time  to  rendezvous  at  certain 
ports,  when,  if  he  should  not  fall  in  with  the  flag-ship  of  the  squadron,  he  would  be  at 
liberty  to  follow  the  dictates  of  his  own  judgment.  Such  contingency  occurred,  and 
the  Essex  sailed  on  a  very  long  and  most  eventful  cruise  in  the  South  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  Oceans.  That  cruise  will  form  the  subject  of  a  portion  of  a  future  chapter. 

Bainbridge2  sailed  from  Boston  with  the  Constitution  and  Hornet  on  the  26th  of 

Dad  Neptune  has  long,  with  vexation, 

Beheld  with  what  insolent  pride 

The  turbulent,  billow-washed  nation 

Has  aimed  to  control  the  salt  tide. 

CIIORUS— Sing  lather  away,  jonteel  and  aisy, 

By  my  soul,  at  the  game  hob-or-nob, 
In  a  very  few  minutes  we'll  plase  ye, 
Because  we  take  work  by  the  job." 

3  On  one  side  of  the  medal  is  a  profile  of  Decatur's  bust,  with  the  legend  STEPHANTTS  DECATUE  NAVAEOHUS,  FITGNIS 
PLUKIBUS  VIOTOK.  On  the  reverse  is  a  representation  of  a  naval  engagement,  one  of  the  vessels  representing  the  Mace 
donian  much  injured  in  spars  and  rigging.  Over  them  is  the  legend  OCCIDIT  SIGNUM  HOSTILE  BIDEEA  SCTIGITNT.  Ex 
ergue — INTEB  8TA.  TTNI.  NAV.  AMEKI.  ET  MACEDO.  NAV.  ANG.  DIE  XXV  OCTOHRIS  MDCOCXII. 

2  William  Bainbridge  was  born  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  on  the  7th  of  May,  1774,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years  went 
to  sea  as  a  common  sailor.  He  was  promoted  to  mate  in  the  course  of  three  years,  and  became  a  captain  at  the  age  of 
nineteen.  When  war  with  the  French  became  probable,  he  entered  the  navy  with  the  commission  of  a  lieutenant  but 
the  position  of  a  commander,  his  first  cruise  being  in  the  Retaliation,  which  was  captured.  He  was  promoted  to  post- 
captain  for  good  service  in  the  year  1800,  and  took  command  of  the  frigate  Washington.  His  career  in  the  Mediterranean 
has  been  already  mentioned  in  preceding  chapters  of  this  work.  Between  the  war  with  Tripoli  and  that  of  1812  Cap 
tain  Bainbridge  was  employed  alternately  in  the  naval  and  merchant  service.  After  the  successful  cruise  of  the  Consti 
tution  in  1812,  he  took  command  of  the  navy  yard  at  Charlestown,  Massachusetts.  After  the  war  he  went  twice  to  the 
Mediterranean  in  command  of  squadrons  to  protect  American  commerce  there.  For  three  years  he  was  president  of 
the  Board  of  Navy  Commissioners,  and  he  prepared  the  signals  which  were  in  use  in  our  navy  until  lately.  For  several 
years  Commodore  Bainbridge  suffered  severely  from  bodily  ill  health,  and  finally  died  at  his  residence  in  Philadelphia, 
on  the  27th  of  July,  1833,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine  years.  His  funeral  was  celebrated  on  the  31st.  The  Cincinnati  Society 
attended,  with  a  large  concourse  of  citizens,  and  his  body  was  laid  in  the  earth  with  military  honors  by  the  United  States 
Marines  and  a  fine  brigade  of  infantry,  under  the  command  of  the  late  Colonel  J.  G.  Watmough.  His  remains  rest 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


459 


Bainbridge  on  the  Coast  of  Brazil.    The  Hornet  challenges  a  British  Vessel.    Cruise  of  the  Constitution  down  the  Coast. 


October. a  He  touched  at  the  appointed  rendezvous,1  and  arrived  off  Bahia,  or 
San  Salvador,  Brazil,2  on  the  13th  of  December.  He  immediately  sent  in  Cap 
tain  Lawrence,  with  the  Hornet,  to  commu 
nicate  with  the  American  consul  there, 
when  that  commander  discovered  in  the 
port  the  English  sloop-of-war  Bonne  Ci- 
toyenne,  18,  Captain  Greene,  about  to  sail 
for  England  with  a  very  large  amount  of 
specie.  Lawrence  invited  Greene  to  go  out 
upon  the  open  sea  with  his  vessel  and  fight, 
pledging  himself  that  the  Constitution 
should  take  no  part  in  the  combat,  but  the 
British  commander  prudently  declined  the 
invitation.  The  Hornet  then  took  a  posi 
tion  to  blockade  the  English  sloop,  and  the 
Constitution  departed5  for  a 

b  December  26.  .        ,,  „  -„ 

cruise  down  the  coast  01  Bra 
zil,  keeping  the  land  aboard.  Three  days 
afterward,  at  about  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  when  in  latitude  13°  6'  south  and 
longitude  38°  west,  or  about  thirty  miles 
from  shore,  southeasterly  of  San  Salvador, 
Bainbridge  discovered  twro  vessels  in  shore 
and  to  the  windward.  The  larger  one  was 
seen  to  alter  her  course,  with  an  evident 
desire  for  a  meeting  with  the  Constitution. 
The  latter  was  willing  to  gratify  her,  and 
for  that  purpose  tacked  and  stood  toward 
the  stranger.  At  meridian  they  both  showed  their  colors  and  displayed  signal 


1812. 


s,  but 


BAINBK1DGK  b   MONUMENT. 


beneath  a  plain  white  marble  obelisk  in  Christ  Church 
yard  in  Philadelphia,  and  near  it  is  a  modest  monument 
to  mark  the  resting-place  of  his  wife,  Susaii  Heyleger. 
The  following  is  the  inscription  on  Baiubridge's  mon 
ument:  "WILLIAM  BAIUUKIDGE,  United  States  Navy. 
Born  in  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  7th  of  May,  1774.  Died 
in  Philadelphia  2Sth  of  July,  1S33.  PATBIA  VICTISQUE 
LAUDATUS."  See  the  Medal,  page  4C3. 

Bainbridge  was  about  six  feet  in  height,  and  well  built. 
His  complexion  was  fair,  his  eyes  black  and  very  ex 
pressive,  and  his  hair  and  whiskers  very  dark.  He  was 
considered  a  model  as  an  officer  and  a  man  iii  the 
navy. 

1  The  places  specified  were  Port  Praya,  in  the  island 
of  St.  Jago,  and  Fernando  de  Noronha,  an  island  in  the 
Atlantic  125  miles  from  the  extreme  eastern  cape  of  Bra 
zil.    It  is  now  used  as  a  place  of  banishment  by  the  Bra 
zilian  government.    The  Constitution  and  Hornet  appear 
ed  in  the  character  of  British  vessels,  and  at  both  places 
letters  were  left,  directed  to  Sir  James  L.  Yeo,  of  the 
Southampton.    They  contained  commonplace  remarks, 
and  also  orders,  in  sympathetic  ink,  for  Captain  Porter, 
should  they  fall  into  his  hands,  he  having  been  informed 
that  letters  at  those  places  for  him  would  be  directed  to 
Yeo.    The  stratagem  succeeded.    The  whole  transaction 
was  in  accordance  with  the  privileges  of  war,  and  yet  a 
writer  in  the  London  Quarterly  Review  charged  Porter 
with  being  guilty  of  an  improper  act  in  opening  a  letter 
directed  to  another  person  I 

2  This  is  one  of  the  most  important  places  in  South 
America,  and  until  17C3  was  the  seat  of  the  viceroyalty 
of  Brazil,  when  it  was  transferred  to  Rio  de  Janeiro.    It 
contains  a  population  of  100,000,  of  whom  one  third  are 
white,  one  third  mulattoes,  and  the  remainder  negroes. 


460  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Battle  between  the  Constitution  and  the  Java.  Incidents  of  the  Battle.  Wreck  and  Capture  of  the  Java. 

the  latter  were  mutually  unintelligible.  The  stranger  was  seen  to  be  an  English 
frigate.  Bainbridge  at  once  prepared  for  action,  when  the  Englishman  hauled  down 
his  colors,  but  left  a  jack  flying.  Both  ships  ran  upon  the  same  tack,  about  a  mile 
apart,  when,  at  almost  two  o'clock,  the  British  frigate  bore  down  upon  the  Constitu 
tion  with  the  intention  of  raking  her.  The  latter  wore  and  avoided  the  calamity,  and 
at  two  o'clock,  both  ships  being  on  the  same  tack,  the  Constitution  fired  a  single  gun 
across  the  enemy's  bow  to  draw  out  her  ensign  again.  A  general  cannonade  from 
both  vessels  immediately  ensued,  and  a  furious  battle  was  commenced.  When  it  had 
raged  half  an  hour  the  wheel  of  the  Constitution  was  shot  away,  and  her  antagonist, 
being  the  better  sailer,  had  a  great  advantage  for  a  time.  But  Bainbridge  managed 
his  crippled  ship  with  such  skill  that  she  was  the  first  in  coming  to  the  wind  on  the 
other  tack,  and  speedily  obtained  a  position  for  giving  her  opponent  a  terrible  raking 
fire.  The  combatants  now  ran  free  with  the  wind  on  their  quarter,  the  stranger  be 
ing  to  the  windward  of  the  Constitution.  At  about  three  o'clock  the  stranger  at- 

^j  o 

tempted  to  close  by  running  down  on  the  Constitution'1 's  quarter.  Her  jib-boom  pen 
etrated  the  latter's  mizzen  rigging,  but  suffered  most  severely  without  receiving  the 
least  advantage.  She  lost  her  jib-boom  and  the  head  of  her  bowsprit  by  shots  from 
the  Constitution,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  latter  poured  a  heavy  raking  broadside 
into  the  stern  of  her  antagonist.  This  was  followed  by  another,  when  the  fore-mast 
of  the  English  frigate  went  by  the  board,  crashing  through  the  forecastle  and  main 
deck  in  its  passage.  At  that  moment  the  Constitution  shot  ahead,  keeping  away  to 
avoid  being  raked,  and  finally,  after  manoeuvring  for  the  greater  part  of  an  hour,  she 
forereached  her  antagonist,  wore,  passed  her,  and  luffed  up  under  her  quarter.  Then 
the  two  vessels  lay  broadside  to  broadside,  engaged  in  deadly  conflict,  yard-arm  to 
yard-arm.  Very  soon  the  enemy's  mizzen-mast  was  shot  away,  leaving  nothing  stand 
ing  but  the  main-mast,  whose  yard  had  been  carried  away  near  the  slings.  The 
stranger's  fire  now  ceased,  and  the  Constitution  passed  out  of  the  combat  of  almost 
two  hours'  duration  at  a  few  minutes  past  four  o'clock,  with  the  impression  on  the 
mind  of  her  commander  that  the  colors  of  the  English  frigate  had  been  struck.  Be 
ing  in  a  favorable  weatherly  position,  Bainbridge  occupied  an  hour  in  repairing  dam 
ages  and  securing  his  masts,  when  he  observed  an  ensign  still  fluttering  on  board  of 
liis  antagonist.  He  immediately  ordered  the  Constitution  to  wear  round  and  renew 
the  conflict.  Perceiving  this  movement,  the  Englishman  hauled  down  his  colors,  and 
at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  First  Liexitenant  George  Parker1  was  sent  on  board  to 
inquire  her  name  and  to  take  possession  of  her  as  a  prize.2  She  proved  to  be  the 
Java,  38,  Captain  Henry  Lambert,  and  one  of  the  finest  frigates  in  the  British  navy. 
She  was  bearing,  as  passenger  to  the  East  Indies,  Lieutenant  General  Hyslop  (just 
appointed  governor  general  of  Bombay),  and  his  staff,  Captain  Marshall  and  Lieuten 
ant  Saunders,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  and  more  than  one  hundred  other  officers  and  men 
destined  for  service  in  the  East  Indies. 

The  Java  was  a  wreck.  Her  main-mast  had  gone  overboard  during  the  hour  that 
Bainbridge  was  repairing.  Her  mizzen-mast  was  shot  out  of  the  ship  close  by  the 
deck,  and  the  fore-mast  was  carried  away  about  twenty-five  feet  above  it.  The  bow 
sprit  was  cut  off  near  the  cap,  and  she  was  found  to  be  leaking  badly  on  account  of 
wounds  in  her  hull  by  round  shot.  The  Constitution  was  very  much  cut  in  her  sails 

1  The  officers  of  the  Constitution  in  this  action  were—  Captain,  William  Bainbridge.    Lieutenants,  George  Parker, 
Beekman  T.  Hoffman,  John  T.  Shubrick,  Charles  W.  Morgan.   Sailing-masters,  John  C.  Alwin,  John  Nichols.    Chaplain, 
John  Carletou.    Lieutenants  of  Marines,  William  H.  Freeman,  John  Coulee.    Surgeon,  Amos  A.  Evans.    Surgeon's  Mates, 
John  D.  Armstrong,  Donaldson  Yeates.    Purser,  Robert  C.  Ludlow.   Midshipmen,  Thomas  Beatty,  Lewis  Germain,  Wil 
liam  L.  Gordon,  Ambrose  L.  Fields,  Frederick  Banry,  Joseph  Cross,  Alexander  Belcher,  William  Taylor,  Alexander  Esk- 
ridge,  James  W.  Delancy,  James  Greeuleaf,  William  D.  M'Carty,  Z.  W.  Nixon,  John  A.  Wish,  Dulaney  Forest,  George 
Leverett,  Henry  Ward,  John  C.  Long,  John  Packet,  Richard  Winter.    Boatsivain,  Peter  Adams.    Gunner,  Ezekiel  Dar 
ling.    Acting  Midshipman,  John  C.  Cnmings. 

2  On  this  very  day,  and  at  that  very  hour,  Hull  and  Decatur  were  at  the  public  banquet  given  them  in  the  city  of  New 
York.    See  page  457. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812.  461 


The  Losses  of  the  Java.  Comparison  of  the  two  Vessels.  Arrival  of  the  Constitution  at  Boston. 

and  rigging.  Many  of  her  spars  were  injured,  but  not  one  was  lost.  She  went  into 
the  action  with  her  royal  yards  across,  and  came  out  of  it  with  all  three  of  them  in 
their  proper  places.  There  are  conflicting  accounts  concerning  the  loss  of  the  Java 
in  men.  Her  commander,  Captain  Lambert,  was  mortally  wounded,  and  her  other 
officers  were  cautious  about  the  number  of  her  men  and  her  casualties.  Accordinp;  to 

~ 

a  muster-roll  found  on  board  of  her,  made  out  five  days  after  she  sailed,  her  officers 
and  crew  numbered  four  hundred  and  forty-six.  These  were  exclusive  of  the  more 
than  one  hundred  passengers,  many  of  whom  assisted  in  the  engagement,  and  of 
whom  thirteen  were  killed.  The  British  published  account  states  the  loss  of  men  on 
the  Java  to  have  been  twenty-two  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  one  wounded,  while 
Bainbridge  reported  her  loss,  as  nearly  as  he  could  ascertain  from  the  British  officers 
at  the  time,  at  sixty  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  one  wounded.  This  was,  doubtless, 
below  the  real  number.  Indeed,  Bainbridge  inclosed  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
evidences  of  a  much  larger  loss  in  wounded.  It  was  a  letter,  written  by  one  of  the 
officers  of  the  Java  to  a  friend,  and  accidentally  dropped  on  the  deck  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  where  it  was  found  and  handed  to  Bainbridge.  The  writer,  who  had  no  motive 
of  public  policy  for  concealing  any  thing  from  his  friend,  stated  the  loss  to  be  sixty- 
five  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy  wounded.1  The  Constitution  lost  only  nine 
killed  and  twenty-five  wounded.  Bainbridge  was  slightly  hurt  in  the  hip  by  a 
musket-ball ;  and  the  shot  that  carried  away  the  wheel  of  the  Constitution  drove  a 
small  copper  bolt  into  his  thigh,  which  inflicted  a  dangerous  wound,  but  did  not 
cause  him  to  leave  the  deck  before  midnight. 

The  Java,  as  has  been  observed,  was  a  superior  frigate  of  her  class.  She  was  rated 
at  thirty-eight,  but  carried  forty-nine.  The  Constitution  carried  at  that  time  forty- 
five  guns,  and  had  one  man  less  at  each  than  the  Java.  On  the  whole,  the  preponder 
ance  of  strength  was  with  the  latter.  Bainbridge  might  have  saved  the  hull  of  his 
prize  by  taking  it  into  San  Salvador,  but,  having  proof  that  the  Brazilian  government 
was  favorable  to  that  of  Great  Britain,  he  would  not  trust  the  captured  frigate  there. 
He  was  too  far  from  home  to  think  of  conducting  her  to  an  American  port ;  so,  after 
lying  by  the  Java  for  two  days,  until  the  wounded  and  prisoners,  with  their  baggage, 
could  all  be  transferred  to  the  Constitution,  he  ordered  the  battered  frigate  to  be 
fired.  She  blew  up  on  the  31st,  when  Bainbridge  proceeded  to  San  Salvador  with  his 
prisoners,  and  found  the  Bonne  Citoyenne  about  to  attempt  passing  the  Hornet  and 
putting  to  sea.  His  arrival  frustrated  the  plan.  Having  landed  and  paroled  his 
prisoners,11  Bainbridge  sailed  for  the  United  States  on  the  6th  of  January,  .  January  3, 
1813.2  1S13- 

The  Constitution  arrived  at  Boston  on  Monday,  the  15th  of  February,  and  Bain 
bridge  immediately  dispatched  Lieutenant  Ludlow  with  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy.  When  Bainbridge  landed  he  was  greeted  with  the  roar  of  artillery  and  the 
acclamations  of  thousands  of  citizens.  A  procession  was  formed,  and  he  was  escorted 
to  the  Exchange  Coffee-house,  the  bands  playing  Yankee  Doodle,  and  the  throngs  in 

1  Letter  from  H.  D.  Corneck  to  Lieutenant  Peter  V.  Wood,  in  the  Isle  of  France,  dated  on  board  the  Constitution, 
January  1, 1S13.  After  speaking  of  the  death  of  a  friend  in  the  battle,  he  said,  "  Four  other  of  his  messmates  shared 
the  same  fate,  together  with  sixty  men  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy  wounded." 

3  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  British  military  and  naval  officers  paroled :  Military,  one  lieutenant  general,  one  major, 
one  captain.  Xaval,  one  post  captain,  one  master  and  commander,  five  lieutenants,  three  lieutenants  of  marine,  one 
surgeon,  two  assistant  surgeons,  one  purser,  fifteen  midshipmen,  one  gunner,  one  boatswain,  one  ship  carpenter,  two 
captain's  clerks — total,  thirty-eight.  Captain  Lambert  died  on  the  day  after  the  landing  (January  4).  Bainbridge  treated 
nil  of  his  prisoners  with  the  greatest  tenderness  and  consideration.  Silver  plate  to  a  large  amount,  presented  to  Gen 
eral  Hyslop  by  the  colony  of  Demarara,  and  which  would  have  been  lawful  prize,  was  returned  to  that  gentleman,  who 
thanked  Baiubridge  for  his  kind  courtesy,  and  presented  him  his  sword  (which  Bainbridge  would  not  receive  when  it 
was  offered  in  token  of  surrender)  in  farther  testimony  of  his  gratitude.  And  yet,  in  the  face  of  all  this,  James,  the 
earliest,  as  he  was  the  most  mendacious  of  the  British  historians  of  the  war,  and  one  most  quoted  by  British  writers 
now,  says  (Xaval  Occurrences,  etc.,  page  1SS),  "  The  mauuer  in  which  the  Java's  men  were  treated  by  the  American 
officers  reflects  upon  the  latter  the  highest  disgrace."  In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  written  when  homeward  bound,  Bain 
bridge  exhibited  his  goodness  of  heart  in  thus  speaking  of  the  death  of  his  antagonist:  "Poor  Lambert,  whose  death  I 
sincerely  regret,  was  a  distinguished,  gallant,  and  worthy  man.  lie  has  left  a  widow  and  two  helpless  children  I  But 
his  country  makes  provision  for  such  sad  events." 


462 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Honors  given  to  Baiiibridge. 


Public  Banquet  in  Boston. 


Gifts  of  the  Cities  of  New  York  and  Albany. 


the  streets,  balconies,  and  windows  cheering  loudly,  the  ladies  waving  their  handker 
chiefs.  The  streets  were  strung  with  banners  and  streamers,  and  Commodores  Rodg- 
ers  and  Hull,  who  walked  with  Bainbridge  in  the  procession,  received  a  share  of  the 
popular  honors.  The  victory  was  announced  at  the  theatre  that  night,  and  produced 
the  wildest  enthusiasm.  The  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  being  in  session,  they 
passed  a  resolution  of  thanks  to  Bainbridge  and  his  officers  and  crew,1  and  on  the 
2d  of  March  a  splendid  banquet  was  given  at  the  Exchange  Coffee-house  to  Bain 
bridge  and  the  officers  of  the  Constitution? 

The  capture  of  the  Java,  the  fourth  brilliant  naval  victory  in  a  brief  space  of 
time,  caused  great  exultation  throughout  the  United  States,  and  the  Constitution  was 
popularly  called  from  that  time  Old  Ironsides.  Orators  and  rhymers,  the  pulpit  and 
the  press,  made  the  gallant  exploits  of  Bainbridge  the  theme  of  many  words  in  verse 
and  prose.3  The  Common  Council  of  New  York  presented  to  him  the  freedom  of  the 
city  in  a  gold  box,4  and  ordered  his  portrait  painted  for  the  picture-gallery  in  the 
City  Hall.5  The  city  of  Albany  did  the  same;6  and  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  pre- 


NEW   YORK   GOLD   liOX. 


ALBANY   GOLD   liOX. 


sented  him  with  an  elegant  service  of  silver  plate,  the  most  costly  piece  of  which  was 
a  massive  urn,  elegantly  wrought.7     The  Congress  of  the  United  States  voted  their 

1  By  the  Senate  on  the  19th  of  February,  and  by  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  20th. 

2  The  procession  was  formed  in  Faneuil  Hall  by  Major  Tildeu,  and  was  escorted  by  the  Boston  Light  Infantry  and  the 
Winslow  Bhies,  under  Colonel  Sargent.    The  Honorable  Christopher  Gore  presided  at  the  table,  assisted  by  Harrison 
Grey  Otis,  Israel  Thorndike,  Arnold  Willis,  Thomas  L.  Wiuthrop,  Peter  C.  Brooks,  and  William  Sullivan  as  vice-presi 
dents.    Intelligence  had  just  come  that  the  British  Orders  in  Council  had  been  repealed,  and  that  peace  might  be  soon 
expected.    Elated  by  this  news,  the  Honorable  Timothy  Dexter  offered  the  following  toast:  "The  British  Orders  in 
Council  revoked,  and  our  national  honor  gallantly  retrieved.    Now  let  us  shut  the  temple  of  Janus  till  his  double  face 
goes  out  of  fashion."    An  ode  was  sung  at  the  banquet,  written,  on  request  of  the  committee  of  arrangements,  by  the 
late  L.  M.  Sargent,  Esq. 

3  One  of  the  most  popular  songs  of  the  day  was  composed  in  honor  of  the  capture  of  the  Java,  and  called  "Bain- 
bridge's  Tid  re  I,"  in  which,  after  every  verse,  the  singer  gives  a  sentence  in  prose,  winding  up  with  the  chorus  "Tid 
re  I,  Tid  re  I,  Tid  re  id  re  I  do."    The  following  is  a  specimen  of  that  kind  of  song, 'once  so  popular : 

"  Come,  lads,  draw  near,  and  you  shall  hear, 

In  truth  as  chaste  as  Dian,  O ! 
How  Baiubridge  true,  and  his  bold  crew, 

Again  have  tamed  the  lion,  O  ! 
'Twas  off  Brazil  he  got  the  pill 

Which  made.him  cry  pcccavi,  O 
But  hours  two,  the  Java  new, 

Maintained  the  battle  bravely,  O  ! 

"But  our  gallant  tars,  as  soon  as  they  were  piped  to  quarters, gave  three  cheers,  and  boldly  swore, by  the  blood  of 
the  heroes  of  Tripoli,  that,  sooner  than  strike,  they'd  go  the  bottom  singing 

Tid  re  I,  Tid  re  I,  Tid  re  id  re  I  do." 

*  This  box  is  three  inches  in  diameter  and  one  inch  in  depth.    On  the  inside  of  the  lid  is  the  following  inscription  : 
"The  Corporation  of  the  City  of  New  York  to  Commodore  William  Baiubridge,  of  the  United  States  frigate  Constitu 
tion,  in  testimony  of  the  high  sense  they  entertain  of  his  gallantry  and  skill  in  the  capture  of  his  Britannic  Majesty's 
ship  JAVA  on  the  29th  of  December,  1812." 
*>  The  portrait  was  painted  by  John  Wesley  Jarvis.    The  engraving  on  page  459  is  from  a  copy  of  that  picture. 

6  The  box  presented  by  the  city  of  Albany  is  of  oblong  form,  and  is  faithfully  delineated  in  the  engraving.    It  is  three 
inches  and  a  half  long  and  three  fourths  of  an  inch  deep.    On  the  inside  of  the  lid  is  the  following  inscription  :  "A  trib 
ute  of  respect  by  the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Albany  to  Commodore  William  Baiubridge  for  his  gallant  naval 
services  in  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain."    This  box  is  in  the  possession  of  the  gallant  commander's  daughter,  Mrs. 
(Mary  Bainbridge)  Charles  Jundou,  of  Philadelphia. 

7  This  urn  is  eighteen  inches  in  height.    The  lid  is  surmounted  by  an  eagle  about  to  soar.    Below  each  massive  ban- 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


463 


Medal  presented  to  Bainbridge  by  Congress. 


Effect  of  the  naval  Battles  in  America  and  Great  Britain. 


thanks  to  Bainbridge  and  his  companions  in  arms,  and  also  fifty  thousand  dollars  in 
money,  because  of  the  necessary  destruction  of  their  prize.  They  also  ordered  a  gold 
medal  to  be  struck  in  honor  of  the  commander,1  and  silver  ones  for  each  of  his  offi 
cers,  in  token  of  the  national  approbation  of  their  conduct. 


BAINBRIDGE   MEDAL. 


The  conflict  between  the  Constitution  and  Java  was  the  closing  naval  engagement 
of  the  year,  and,  with  the  previous  victories  won  by  the  Americans,  made  the  deep 
est  impressions  upon  the  public  mind  in  both  hemispheres.  The  United  States  cruis 
ers,  public  and  private,  had  captured  about  three  hundred  prizes  from  the  British 
during  that  first  six  months  of  war.  The  American  war-party — indeed,  the  whole 
American  people,  excepting  a  few  Submissionists,  were  made  exultant  by  these  events, 
and  the  gloom  caused  by  the  failure  of  the  land  forces  w"as  dispelled.  The  views  of 
the  Federalists,  who  had  always  favored  a  navy,  were  justified,  and  the  opposition  to 
it,  on  the  part  of  the  Democrats,  ceased.  The  British  people  were  astounded  by  these 
heavy  and  ominous  blows  dealt  at  their  supremacy  of  the  seas,  and  some  of  the  lead 
ing  newspapers  scattered  curses  broadcast.  One  of  them,  a  leading  London  paper, 
with  that  vulgarity  which  too  often  disgraced  journalism  on  both  sides  of  the  At 
lantic  at  that  time,  petulantly  expressed  its  apprehensions  that  England  might  be 
stripped  of  her  maritime  superiority  "  by  a  piece  of  striped  bunting  flying  at  the 
mast-head  of  a  few  fir-built  frigates,  manned  by  a  handful  of  bastards  and  outlaws  !" 

But  this  impotent  rage  soon  subsided,  and  British  writers  and  speakers,  compelled 
to  acknowledge  the  equality  of  the  American  people  in  all  that  constitutes  the  true 


die  is  a  head  of  Neptune.  On  one  side 
of  the  urn  is  the  representation  of  the 
wrecked  Java  and  the  triumphant  Con 
stitution,  and  on  the  other  the  following 
inscription :  "  Presented  by  the  citizens 
of  Philadelphia  to  Commodore  William 
Bainbridge,  of  the  U.  S.  frigate  Constitu 
tion,  as  a  testimonial  of  the  high  sense 
they  entertain  of  his  skill  and  gallantry 
in  the  capture  of  the  British  frigate  Java, 
of  49  guns  and  500  men,  and  of  their  ad 
miration  of  his  generous  and  magnani 
mous  conduct  toward  the  vanquished 
foe.  Loss  in  the  action  of  29th  Decem 
ber,  1812— C.,  9  killed,  25  wounded ;  J., 
CO  killed,  101  wounded." 

After  the  death  of  Bainbridge's  wid 
ow,  his  plate  was  distributed  among 
his  surviving  children.  The  urn  and 
other  silver  pieces,  and  the  New  York 
gold  box,  belong  to  Mrs.  Susan  (Bain- 


BAINBRIDGE   UEN. 


bridge)  Hayes,  widow  of  Captain  Thom 
as  Hayes,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  a 
resident  of  Philadelphia.  To  her  kiud 
courtesy  I  am  indebted  for  the  privilege 
of  making  sketches  of  the  urn  and  box 
es.  She  also  has  in  her  possession  the 
sword  presented  to  Bainbridge  by  Hy- 
slop  (see  Note  2,  page  461).  It  is  a  straight 
dress  sword,  in  a  black  leather  scabbard. 
Also  another  sword,  with  basket  guard 
and  elegant  gilt  mountings.  Also  a 
Turkish  cimeter. 

1  On  one  side  of  the  medal  is  a  bust  of 
Bainbridge,  and  the  legend  "GULIELMUK 

H.UNBRIDGE  FATRIA  VICTOKISQUE  I.AUDA- 

TUS."  Reverse,  a  ship,  the  stumps  of 
her  three  masts  standing,  and  her  con 
queror  with  only  a  few  shot-holes  in  her 
sails.  Legend — "PUGNANDO."  Exergue 

— "  INTER  CONST.  NAV.  AMERI.  ET  JAV. 
NAV.  ANGL.  DIE  XXIX.  DECF.M.  ilDCCCXII." 


464  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

James's  so-called  "  Histories"  of  the  War.  Meeting  of  the  Twelfth  Congress. 

greatness  of  a  nation,  labored  hard  to  show  that  in  all  cases  the  American  vessels,  in 
force  of  men  and  metal,  were  greatly  superior  to  those  of  the  British  encountered. 
They  even  went  so  far  as  to  assert  that  the  American  frigates  were  all "  seventy-fours 
in  disguise  !"  These  assertions  were  iterated  arid  reiterated  long  after  the  war  had 
ceased,  to  the  amusement  of  thoughtful  men,  who  clearly  perceived  the  truth  when  the 
smoke  had  cleared  away.  The  most  notable  exhibition  of  this  folly  is  seen  in  three 
volumes,  one  on  the  naval  and  two  on  the  military  occurrences  of  that  war,  written 
by  William  James.  These,  as  we  have  observed,  were"  among  the  earliest  of  the 
elaborate  writings  concerning  that  wrar,  and  have,  ever  since  their  appearance,  been 
the  most  frequently  quoted  by  those  British  and  British-American  writers  and  speak 
ers  who  delight  in  abusing  the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States.  The 
spirit  manifested  on  every  page  bears  evidence  of  the  poverty  of  the  author  in  all  that 
constitutes  a  candid  and  veracious  historian.1 

Having  now  considered  in  groups  the  military  and  naval  events  of  the  war  during 
the  first  year  of  the  contest,  excepting  those  in  the  extreme  southern  boundaries  of 
the  Republic,  which  will  be  noticed  hereafter,  let  us  glance  at  the  civil  affairs  of  the 
United  States,  having  relation  to  the  subject  in  question,  before  entering  upon  a  de 
scription  of  the  stirring  campaign  of  1813. 

The  second  session  of  the  Twelfth  Congress  commenced  on  the  2d  day  of  No- 
» 1812  vember.a  It  was  the  eve  of  the  popular  election  of  Presidential  electors. 
President  Madison  had  been  nominated  for  the  office  for  a  second  term  by  a 
Congressional  caucus,  as  we  have  already  observed,2  as  the  Democratic  candidate ; 
and  the  Legislature  of  New  York  had  nominated  De  Witt  Clinton,  a  nephew  of  the 
late  Vice-president,  and  of  the  same  political  faith,  for  the  same  office.  The  Federal 
ists,  conscious  of  their  inability  to  elect  a  candidate  of  their  own,  coalesced  with  the 
Clintonian  Democrats.  This  course  was  decided  upon  in  a  Convention  of  Federalist 
leaders  from  all  the  states  north  of  the  Potomac,  held  in  secret  session,  in  the  city  of 
„  12  New  York,  in  September.13  If  the  war  must  go  on,  they  regarded  Clinton  as 
the  possessor  of  greater  executive  ability  than  Madison,  and  better  able  to 
conduct  it  vigorously ;  but  their  chief  desire  and  hope  was  to  bring  about  an  early 
peace  by  the  defeat  of  Madison,  the  repeal  of  the  British  Orders  in  Council3  having 
opened  a  door  for  that  consummation  so  devoutly  wished  for.  Jared  Ingersoll,  of 
Pennsylvania,  a  moderate  Federalist,  was  nominated  by  the  Convention  for  Vice- 
president.  George  Clinton  having  died,  Elbridge  Gerry,  as  we  have  seen,4  was  nom 
inated  for  Vice-president  by  the  Madisonians. 

When  the  elections  occurred,  nearly  all  the  Federalists  and  a  fraction  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  voted  for  the  Clintonian  electors.  All  of  the  New  England  States,  ex 
cepting  Vermont,  chose  such  electors.5  New  York  did  the  same,  in  consequence  of  the 
adroit  management  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  a  politician  thirty  years  of  age,  who  then 
appeared  prominently  for  the  first  time.6  There  was  a  similar  result  in  New  Jersey, 

1  William  James  was  an  English  emigrant  to  the  United  States  early  in  the  present  century.  He  was  a  veterinary 
surgeon  (or  "horse  doctor,"  as  they  are  called  in  this  country)  in  Philadelphia,  but  was  unsuccessful  in  his  profession, 
lie  left  that  city  for  his  native  country,  thoroughly  disgusted  with  every  thing  American,  because  the  people  had  not 
appreciated  his  talents.  His  chief  employment  after  his  return  seems  to  have  been  abuse  of  the  Americans,  their  public 
men,  their  government,  and  their  writers.  He  wrote  angry  reviews  of  some  American  books  on  the  naval  and  military 
history  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  these  were  published,  in  1817  and  1818,  in  three  volumes.  The  first  was  entitled  "A 
Full  and  Correct  Account  of  the  NAVAL  OOOURKENCES  of  the  Late  War,  etc.,"  and  the  other  two,  "A  Full  and  Correct  Ac 
count  of  the  MIT.ITAEY  OOOUBBENOES  of  the  Late  War,  etc."  They  are  not  histories,  but  violent  tirades,  and  manifest,  as 
the  Edinlwrg  Review  remarked,  "  bitter  and  persevering  antipathy"  to  the  Americans.  "Almost  every  original  remark 
made  by  the  author  upon  them,"  said  the  Iteview,  "bears  traces  of  the  unworthy  feeling  we  have  just  mentioned."  In 
considering  his  performance  in  the  light  of  two  generations  of  thought  and  investigation,  the  truth  of  the  motto  on  the 
title-page  of  his  volume  on  the  Xaval  Occurrences,  quoted  from  Murphy's  Tacitus,  is  very  manifest.  "Truth  is  always 
brought  to  light  by  time  and  reflection,  while  the  lie  of  the  day  lives  by  bustle,  noise,  and  precipitation."  James  died  in 
1827.  2  See  page  225.  3  See  page  245.  *  See  page  226. 

5  In  Massachusetts,  so  strongly  Democratic,  only  a  few  months  before,  the  "peace  electors,"  as  the  Clintonians  were 
called,  obtained  a  majority  of  24,000. 

6  Owing  to  the  dissonance  iu  the  Democratic  party  in  New  York,  caused  by  the  dissensions  between  the  Madisonians 
and  Cliutouiaus,  the  Federalists  chose  nineteen  out  of  the  twenty-three  members  of  Congress.    Those  of  New  Hamp- 


OF  THE  WAK   OF  1812.  465 

The  Administration  sustained.  Madison  re-elected.  Threats  of  Josiah  Quincy  in  Congress. 

and  for  a  time  the  re-election  of  Madison  appeared  doubtful.  But  before  Congress 
had  been  in  session  six  weeks  it  was  definitely  ascertained,  from  the  official  canvass, 
that  Madison  had  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  out  of  the  two  hundred  and  eighteen 
electors  chosen,  and  that  a  large  majority  of  the  Congressmen  elect  were  friends  of 
the  administration.  This  result  was  regarded,  under  the  circumstances,  as  a  very 
strong  expression  of  the  public  in  favor  of  the  war ;  and  the  war-party  in  and  out  of 
Congress  were  greatly  strengthened.  They  were  also  encouraged  by  the  aspect  of 
affairs  abroad.  Intelligence  of  apparent  disasters  to  the  English  in  Spain,  the  triumph 
of  Bonaparte  in  the  terrible  battle  of  Borodino,  and  his  victorious  march  upon  Moscow, 
filled  them  with  the  hope  that  England,  struggling  with  all  Europe  against  her,  must 
speedily  be  compelled  to  withdraw  her  soldiers  and  seamen  from  America,  and  give 
up  the  contest  here,  or  else  fall  a  prey  to  the  conquering  Corsican.  But  they  were 
doomed  to  an  early  disappointment  of  their  hopes  by  disasters  that  fell  thick  and  fast 
upon  the  French  army,  exposed  to  Russian  snows  and  Russian  cohorts.  It  was  evi 
dent,  too,  from  the  returns  of  the  late  elections,  that  the  Opposition  were  growing 
stronger  every  day. 

Among  the  earliest  national  measures  proposed  in  Congress  was  a  plan  for  increas 
ing  the  army  twenty  thousand  men,  making  the  whole  establishment  fifty-six  thou 
sand.  The  President,  in  his  fourth  annual  message,a  after  giving  a  gen-  >  November  4, 
eral  statement  of  the  position  of  affairs  in  relation  to  the  war,  called  the 
attention  of  the  national  Legislature  to  the  necessity  of  measures  for  the  vigorous 
prosecution  of  it.  A  bill  was  introduced  into  the  House  of  Representatives  to  raise 
the  pay  of  private  soldiers  from  six  to  eight  dollars  a  month,  to  guarantee  recruits 
against  arrest  for  debt,  and  to  give  them  their  option  to  enlist  for  five  years  or  for 
the  war.  In  the  same  bill  was  a  clause  allowing  the  enlistment  of  minors  without  the 
consent  of  their  parents  or  masters.  This  elicited  a  very  spirited  debate,  in  which 
Josiah  Quincy  engaged  with  his  usual  vigor.  He  declared  it  to  be  an  interference 
with  the  rights  of  parents  and  masters,  and  warned  the  House  that  if  the  bill  passed 
with  that  "  atrocious  principle"  contained  in  it,  it  would  be  met  in  New  England  by 
the  state  laws  against  kidnapping  and  man-stealing.  He  opposed  it  as  bearing  par 
ticularly  hard  upon  the  North,  where  the  laborers  are  the  yeomanry  and  the  minors, 
while  at  the  South  the  laborers  were  slaves,  and  exempted  by  law  from  military  duty. 
The  planter  of  the  South,  he  said,  can  look  around  upon  his  fifty,  his  hundred,  and 
his  thousand  human  beings,  and  say,  "These  are  my  property1"1 — property  tilling  the 
land,  and  em-iching  the  owner  in  war  as  well  as  in  peace ;  while  the  farmer  of  the 
North  has  "  only  one  or  two  ewe  lambs — his  children,  of  which  he  can  say,  and  say 
with  pride,  like  the  Roman  matron,  'These  are  my  ornaments.'"  These,  by  the  pro 
posed  law,  might  be  taken  from  him,  and  his  land  must  remain  untilled.1 

Williams,  of  South  Carolina,  the  chairman  of  the  Military  Committee,  retorted 
fiercely.  In  reply  to  Quincy's  assertion  that  the  bill  contained  an  "  atrocious  princi 
ple,"  he  charged  the  great  Federal  leader  with  uttering  an  "atrocious  falsehood." 
His  language  was  so  offensively  supercilious  that  it  drew  admonitions  even  from 
John  Randolph.  He  argued  well  in  favor  of  an  increase  of  the  army.  "  The  British 
regular  force  in  the  Canadas,"  he  said,  "  could  not  be  estimated  less  than  twelve 
thousand  men.  In  addition  to  these  were  the  Canadian  militia,  amounting  to  several 
thousands,  and  three  thousand  regulars  at  Halifax.  To  drive  this  force  from  the  field, 
the  St.  Lawrence  must  be  crossed  with  a  well-appointed  army  of  twenty  thousand 
men,  supported  by  an  army  of  reserve  of  ten  thousand.  Peace  is  not  to  be  expected 

shire  were  all  Federalists,  and  that  party  carried  the  Legislature  of  New  Jersey  and  more  than  half  of  its  Congressional 
delegation. 

1  A  question  upon  similar  premises  arose  in  the  Convention  of  1787,  when  it  was  proposed  to  make  three  out  of  every 
five  slaves  count  as  persons  in  determining  the  representation  of  the  states  in  Congress.  It  was  observed  that  while 
the  slaves  were  called  persons  for  a  political  purpose,  they  were  only  chattels  at  other  times,  and  could  not  be  called  into 
the  military  service  of  the  country.  This  was  a  grievous  wrong  toward  the  nou-slaveholding  states. 

GG 


466  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Policy  and  Leaders  of  the  War  Party  denounced  by  Quincy.  Response  by  Henry  Clay. 

but  at  the  expense  of  a  vigorous  and  successful  war.  Administrations  have  in  vain 
mied  for  it,  even  at  the  expense  of  the  sarcastic  sneers  of  the  British  minister.  The 
campaign  of  1813  must  open  in  a  style  and  vigor  calculated  to  inspire  confidence  in 
ourselves  and  awe  in  the  enemy.  Nothing  must  be  left  to  chance  ;  our  movements 
must  every  where  be  in  concert.  At  the  same  moment  we  move  on  Canada,  a  corps 
of  ten  thousand  men  must  threaten  Halifax  from  the  province  of  Maine.  The  honor 
and  character  of  the  nation  require  that  the  British  power  on  our  borders  should  be 
annihilated  the  next  campaign.  Her  American  provinces  once  wrested  from  her,  ev 
ery  attempt  to  recover  them  will  be  chimerical,  except  by  negotiation.  The  road  to 
peace  thus  lies  through  Canada."  The  bill  passed  the  House  of  Representatives,  but 
the  objectionable  clause  received  only  four  votes  in  the  Senate. 

The  expensive  volunteer  system  was  taken  up  in  Congress,  and  the  law  authorizing 
the  employment  of  that  species  of  soldiers  was  repealed.  Another  was  substituted, 
which  authorized  the  enlistment  of  twenty  regiments  of  regulars  to  serve  twelve 
months,  to  whom  a  bounty  of  sixteen  dollars  should  be  given.  It  also  provided  for 
the  appointment  of  six  major  generals  and  six  brigadier  generals,  and  a  correspond 
ing  increase  of  subordinate  officers.  Party  spirit  was  aroused  in  the  debate  that  en 
sued,  and  the  discussion  took  a  range  so  wide  as  to  include  the  whole  policy  and 
«•  Januarys,  conduct  of  the  war.  Mr.  Quincy  led  offa  with  great  bitterness  and  the 
keenest  sarcasm.  "  He  denounced  the  invasion  of  Canada,"  says  Hildreth,1 
"  as  a  cruel,  wanton,  senseless,  and  wicked  attack,  in  which  neither  plunder  nor  glory 
was  to  be  gained,  upon  an  unoffending  people,  bound  to  us  by  ties  of  blood  and  good 
neighborhood ;  undertaken  for  the  punishment,  over  their  shoulders,  of  another  peo 
ple  three  thousand  miles  off,  by  young  politicians  fluttering  and  cackling  on  the  floor 
of  that  house,  half  hatched,  the  shell  still  on  their  heads,  and  their  pin-feathers  not 
yet  shed — politicians  to  whom  reason,  justice,  pity,  were  nothing,  revenge  every  thing; 
bad  policy,  too,  since  the  display  of  such  a  grasping  spirit  only  tended  to  alienate 
from  us  that  large  minority  of  the  British  people  anxious  to  compel  their  ministers 
to  respect  our  maritime  rights.  So  thought  the  people  of  New  England,  and  hence 
the  difficulty  of  getting  recruits.  The  toad-eaters  of  the  palace — party  men  in  pur 
suit  of  commissions,  fat  contracts,  judgeships,  and  offices  for  themselves,  their  fathers, 
sons,  brothers,  uncles,  and  cousins — might  assert  otherwise,  but  the  people  had  spoken 
in  the  late  elections.  There  were  in  New  England  multitudes  of  judicious,  patriotic, 
honest,  sober  men,  who,  if  their  judgments  and  their  consciences  went  with  the  war, 
would  rush  to  the  standard  of  their  country  at  the  winding  of  a  horn,  but  to  whom 

the  present  call  sounded  rather  as  a  jewsharp  or  a  banjo If  the  government 

would  confine  itself  to  a  war  of  defense,  it  should  have  his  support  ;  but  for  a  war  of 
conquest  and  annexation,  whether  in  East -Florida2  or  Canada,  he  would  not  contrib 
ute  a  single  dollar.  Nor  was  he  to  be  frightened  from  this  ground  by  the  old  state 
cry  of  British  connection,  raised  anew  by  a  pack  of  mangy,  mongrel  blood-hounds,  for 
the  most  part  of  very  recent  importation,  their  necks  still  marked  with  the  collar,  and 
their  backs  sore  with  the  stripes  of  European  castigation,  kept  in  pay  by  the  admin 
istration  to  hunt  down  all  who  opposed  the  court." 

This  contemptuous  speech  drew  a  most  vigorous  reply  from  Mr.  Clay,  the  Speaker 
of  the  House,  who  felt  himself  specially  aimed  at  by  the  expression  "  unfledged  poli 
ticians."  He  charged  the  Federalists,  says  Hildreth,  "  with  always,  throughout  the 
whole  controversy  with  Great  Britain,  thwarting  the  plans  of  their  6wrn  government ; 
clamoring  alike  against  the  embargo,  against  the  non-intercourse,  against  the  non-im- 

o  ~  ~      7       O  /        ~ 

portation ;  when  the  government  were  at  peace,  crying  out  for  war ;  and,  now  the 
government  were  at  war,  crying  out  for  peace ;  falsely  charging  the  President  with 

1  History  of  the  United  States,  second  series,  iii.,  381. 

2  The  revolutionary  and  military  operations  in  that  quarter  will  be  noticed  hereafter. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF    1812.  467 

Clay's  Speech  in  Opposition  to  Quincy.       Measures  for  strengthening  the  Army  and  Navy.        Government  Expenses. 

being  under  French  influence  ;J  heaping  all  kinds  of  abuse  on  Bonaparte ;  assailing 
Jefferson  with  impotent  rage ;  spiriting  up  chimeras  of  Southern  influence  and  Vir 
ginia  dictation,  as  if  the  people  did  not  choose  their  own  presidents;  going  even  so 
far  as  to  plot  the  dissolution  of  the  Union."  Mr.  Clay  then  presented  a  most  pathetic 
picture  of  the  wrongs  inflicted  upon,  and  miseries  endured  by,  American  seamen  un 
der  the  operations  of  the  impressment  system,  to  Avhich  Great  Britain  clung  tena 
ciously.  "  As  to  the  gentleman's  sentimental  protest  against  the  invasion  of  Canada," 
he  said  in  substance, "  was  Canada  so  innocent,  after  all  ?  Was  it  not  in  Canada  that 
the  Indian  tomahawks  were  Avhetted  ?  Was  it  not  from  Maiden  and  other  Canadian 
magazines  that  the  supplies  had  issued  which  had  enabled  the  savage  bands  to  butch 
er  the  garrison  of  Chicago?  Was  it  not  by  a  joint  attack  of  Canadians  and  Indians 
that  Michillimackinac  had  been  reduced  ?  What  does  a  state  of  war  present  ?  The 
combined  energies  of  one  people  arrayed  against  the  combined  energies  of  another, 
each  aiming  to  inflict  all  the  injury  it  can,  whether  by  sea  or  land,  upon  the  territo 
ries,  property,  and  persons  of  the  other,  subject  only  to  those  mitigated  usages  prac 
ticed  among  civilized  nations.  The  gentleman  would  not  touch  the  British  Continent 
al  possessions,  nor,  for  the  same  reason,  it  was  supposed,  her  West  India  islands.  By 
the  same  rule,  her  innocent  soldiers  and  sailors  ought  to  be  protected ;  and  as,  accord 
ing  to  a  well-known  maxim,  the  king  could  do  no  wrong,  there  would  seem  to  be 
nobody  left  whom,  on  the  gentleman's  principles,  we  could  attack,  unless  it  were  Mr. 
Stephen,2  the  reputed  author  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  or  the  Board  of  Admiralty, 
under  whose  authority  our  seamen  were  impressed."  ....  Mr.  Clay's  "  plan  was," 
he  said,  "  to  call  out  the  ample  resources  of  the  country  to  the  fullest  extent,  to  strike 
wherever  the  enemy  could  be  reached,  by  sea  or  land,  and  to  negotiate  a  peace  at 
Quebec  or  Halifax." 

Measures  were  adopted  for  strengthening  both  the  army  and  navy,  and  the  more 
perfect  organization  of  each.  The  President  was  authorized  to  cause  the  construc 
tion  of  four  ships  of  seventy-four  guns  each,  and  six  frigates  and  six  sloops-of-war  ;3  to 
issue  treasury  notes  to  the  amount  of  five  millions  of  dollars,  and  to  create  a  new 
stock  for  a  loan  of  sixteen  millions  of  dollars.4  A  bill  was  also  passed,  chiefly  through 
the  untiring  efforts  of  Langdon  Cheves  and  John  C.  Calhoun,  representatives  from 
South  Carolina,  by  which  the  bonds  of  merchants  given  for  goods  imported  from 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  after  the  declaration  of  war,  and  seized  under  the  provi 
sions  of  the  Non-importation  Act,  were  canceled.  For  six  weeks  after  the  news  of 
war  reached  England  exportations  had  been  allowed  to  go  on  ;5  and  the  goods  to 
Avhich  the  law  in  question  would  apply  were  valued,  at  invoice  prices,  at  more  than 

'!  Quincy  had  said,  in  the  speech  just  quoted  from,  that  the  "  administration,  under  French  influence  and  dictation, 
had  for  twelve  years  ruled  the  country  with  authority  little  short  of  despotic ;"  and  then  referred  to  the  continuous  rule 
of  "  a  narrow  Virginia  clique,  to  the  exclusion  from  office  and  influence  of  all  men  of  talents,  even  of  their  own  party, 
not  connected  with  that  clique."  2  Author  of  War  in  Disguise.  See  page  140. 

3  According  to  a  careful  estimate  made  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the  force  of  three  frigates  would  not  be  more 
than  equal  to  one  74-gun  ship.    The  expense  of  building  and  equipping  a  frigate  of  44  guns,  estimated  from  the  actual 
cost  of  the  President,  was  $220,910 ;  the  cost  of  a  74,  $333,000.    The  annual  expense  of  keeping  a  frigate  of  that  size  in 
service  was  estimated  at  $110,000,  and  that  of  a  74  at  $210,110.    The  result  from  these  'calculations  was,  that  while  the 
expenses  of  a  74  were  something  less  than  those  of  two  frigates  of  44  guns  each,  her  value  in  service  was  equal  to  three 
frigates. — See  Perkins's  History  of  the  Political  and  Military  Events  of  the  Late  War,  page  150.    This  estimate  determined 
Congress  to  build  74's. 

4  The  following  were  the  Treasury  estimates  of  expenditures  for  the  year  1813 : 

For  the  civil  list,  and  interest  and  reimbursement  of  a  part  of  the  principal  of  the  public  debt $8,500,000 

For  the  army,  not  including  the  new  levies 17,000,000 

For  the  navy,  not  including  the  proposed  increase 4,925,000 

Total $30,425,000 

The  total  appropriations  made  for  the  service  of  the  year  amounted  to  $39,975,000.  Such  was  the  amount  necessary  to 
meet  the  entire  expenses  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  fifty  years  ago,  when  it  was  waging  a  war  with  Great 
Britain.  The  expenditures  of  the  government  for  a  j-ear  (1863)  during  the  late  civil  war  was  $865,234,000. 

5  This  was  under  a  false  impression  made  by  Mr.  Russell,  the  American  Charge  ff  Affaires,  that  in  consequence  of 
the  repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council  the  Non-intercourse  Act  would  be  suspended.    Immediately  after  the  repeal  (June 
23d,  1812),  all  the  American  ships  then  in  British  ports  commenced  loading  with  British  goods. 


468  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Retaliatory  Law.  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations. 

eighteen  millions  of  dollars,  and 'were  worth  double  that  amount  in  the  American 
market.  This  act  conciliated  the  mercantile  interest. 

Cheves,  who  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  endeavored  to 
procure  a  partial  repeal  of  the  Non-importation  Act,  but  failed.  The  restrictive  sys 
tem  was  regarded  with  great  favor  as  a  powerful  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  Ameri 
cans,  and  its  friends  adhered  to  it  with  the  greatest  tenacity,  believing  it  to  be  a  pol 
icy  potent  in  hastening  the  ruin  of  England.  The  Federalists  failed  to  support  the 
measure  because  the  repeal  was  not  complete,  and  on  account  of  the  provision  in  it 
for  the  more  strict  enforcement  of  what  was  left. 

We  have  already  observed  that  a  retaliatory  law,  first  suggested  by  Colonel  Scott 
on  account  of  some  prisoners  taken  at  Queenston,  and  who  had  been  sent  to  England 
as  deserters  because  they  were  Irishmen,  was  passed.1  It  was  so  framed  as  not  only 
to  meet  the  special  case  of  those  persons,  but  such  Indian  outrages  under  British  sanc 
tion  as  had  been  committed  at  the  River  Raisin.2  Happily,  there  was  no  occasion 
for  enforcing  the  law. 

On  the  1 3th  of  January,  Mr.  Calhoun,  from  the  Committee  on .  Foreign  Relations, 
made  an  able  report.  It  had  been  looked  for  with  great  interest.  In  that  report 
the  subject  of  impressment  held  a  conspicuous  place.  The  President,  as  we  have  ob- 
a  June  26,  served,  only  a  week  after  the  declaration  of  war,a  proposed  an  immediate 

1812-  armistice,  on  conditions  at  once  just  and  honorable  to  both  nations.  It  was 
rejected  by  the  British  in  terms  of  peculiar  reproach  and  insult.  At  about  the  same 
time  the  British  Orders  in  Council  were  repealed  conditionally,  but  the  practice  of 
impressment  was  defended  as  just  and  expedient,  and  would  not  be  allowed  to  be 
come  a  subject  for  negotiation  by  the  British  authorities.  Thus  matters  stood  when 
the  Report  on  Foreign  Relations  was  presented.  After  alluding  to  the  above  facts, 
the  committee  proceeded  to  say  that  "  the  impressment  of  our  seamen,  being  de 
servedly  considered  a  principal  cause  of  the  war,  the  war  ought  to  be  prosecuted  un 
til  that  cause  be  removed.  To  appeal  to  arms  in  defense  of  a  right,  and  to  lay  them 
down  without  securing  it,  or  a  satisfactory  evidence  of  a  good  disposition  in  the  op 
posite  party  to  secure  it,  would  be  considered  in  no  other  light  than  a  relinquishment 
of  it.  ...  The  manner  in  which  the  friendly  advances  and  liberal  propositions  of  the 
Executive  have  been  received  by  the  British  government  has,  in  a  great  measure,  ex 
tinguished  the  hope  of  amicable  accommodations.  .  .  .  War  having  been  declared, 
and  the  case  of  impressment  being  necessarily  included  as  one  of  the  most  important 
causes,  it  is  evident  it  must  be  provided  for  in  the  pacification.  The  omission  of  it 
in  a  treaty  of  peace  would  not  leave  it  on  its  former  ground ;  it  would,  in  effect,  be 
an  absolute  relinquishment,  an  idea  at  which  the  feelings  of  every  American  must  re 
volt.  The  seamen  of  the  United  States  have  a  claim  on  their  country  for  protection, 
and  they  must  be  protected.  If  a  single  ship  is  taken  at  sea,  and  the  property  of  an 
American  citizen  wrested  from  him  unjustly,  it  rouses  the  indignation  of  the  coun 
try.  How  much  more  deeply,  then,  ought  wre  to  be  excited  when  we  behold  so  many 
of  this  gallant  and  highly  meritorious  class  of  our  fellow-citizens  snatched  from  their 
families  and  country,  and  carried  into  a  cruel  and  afflicting  bondage  ?  It  is  an  evil 
which  ought  not,  which  can  not  be  longer  tolerated.  Without  dwelling  on  the  suf 
ferings  of  the  victims,  or  on  that  wide  scene  of  distress  which  it  spreads  among  their 
relatives  through  the  country,  the  practice  is,  in  itself,  in  the  highest  degree  degrad 
ing  to  the  United  States  as  a  nation.  It  is  incompatible  with  their  sovereignty;  it 
is  subversive  of  the  main  pillars  of  their  independence.  The  forbearance  of  the  Unit 
ed  States  under  it  has  been  mistaken  for  pusillanimity." 

To  effect  a  change  in  the  British  policy  respecting  impressments,  the  committee 

1  See  page  408. 

2  The  British  authorities  excused  themselves  on  the  plea  that  they  could  not  restrain  the  Indians.    This  was  DO  jus 
tification.    The  root  of  the  iniquity  was  in  the  employment  of  the  savages  as  allies. 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812.  469 


Manifesto  of  the  Priiice  Begent.  Charges  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

recommended  the  passage  of  an  act,  which  was  appended  to  their  report,  similar  to 
one  proposed  by  Mr.  Russell  to  Lord  Castlereagh  several  months  before,  prohibiting, 
after  the  close  of  the  present  war,  the  employment,  in  public  or  private  vessels,  of  any 
persons  except  American  citizens,  this  prohibition  to  extend  only  to  the  subjects  or 
citizens  of  such  states  as  should  make  reciprocal  regulations.  An  act  to  that  effect, 
which  passed  the  House  on  the  12th  of  February,  was  adopted  by  the  Senate  on  the 
last  day  of  the  session,a  against  very  warm  opposition  of  some  of  the  war-  a  March  3, 
party,  who  considered  it  as  a'humiliating  concession. 

Only  four  days  before  the  presentation  of  their  reportb  by  the  Commit 
tee  on  Foreign  Relations,  the  Prince  Regent,  acting  sovereign  of  Great 
Britain,  issued  a  manifesto0  concerning  the  causes  of  the  war,  and  the  sub 
jects  of  blockade  and  impressment.  He  declared  that  the  war  was  not 
the  consequence  of  any  fault  of  Great  Britain,  but  that  it  had  been  brought  on  by 
the  partial  conduct  of  the  American  government  in  overlooking  the  aggressions  of 
the  French,  and  in  their  negotiations  with  them.  He  alleged  that  a  quarrel  with 
Great  Britain  had  been  sought  because  she  had  adopted  measures  solely  as  retalia- 
tive  as  toward  France ;  and  that,  as  those  measures  had  been  abandoned  by  a  repeal 
of  the  Orders  in  Council,  the  war  was  now  continued  on  the  question  of  impressment 
and  search.  On  this  point  the  Prince  Regent  took  such  a  decisive  position,  that  the 
door  for  negotiation  which  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Aifairs 
proposed  to  open  seemed  irrevocably  shut.  "  His  royal  highness,"  said  the  manifesto 
from  his  palace  at  Westminster,  "  can  never  admit  that  in  the  exercise  of  the  un 
doubted  and  hitherto  undisputed1  right  of  searching  neutral  merchant  vessels  in  time 
of  wai',  and  the  impressment  of  British  seamen  when  found  therein,  can  be  deemed 
any  violation  of  a  neutral  flag,  neither  can  he  admit  the  taking  of  such  seamen 
from  on  board  such  vessels  can  be  considered  by  any  neutral  state  as  a  hostile  meas 
ure  or  a  justifiable  cause  of  war."  After  reaffirming  the  old  English  doctrine  of  the 
impossibility  of  self-expatriation  of  a  British  subject,  the  manifesto  continued:  "But 
if,  to  the  practice  of  the  United  States  to  harbor  British  seamen,  be  added  their  as 
sumed  right  to  transfer  the  allegiance  of  British  subjects,  and  thus  to  cancel  the  ju 
risdiction  of  their  legitimate  sovereign  by  acts  of  naturalization  and  certificates  of 
citizenship,  which  they  pretend  to  be  as  valid  out  of  their  own  territory  as  within  it,2 
it  is  obvious  thai  to  abandon  this  ancient  right  of  Great  Britain,  and  to  admit  these 
naval  pretensions  of  the  United  States,  would  be  to  expose  the  very  foundations  of 
our  maritime  strength." 

The  manifesto  charged  the  United  States  government  with  systematic  efforts  to 
inflame  their  people  against  Great  Britain,  of  ungenerous  conduct  toward  Spain,  Great 
Britain's  ally,  and  of  deserting  the  cause  of  neutrality.  "  This  disposition  of  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States — this  complete  subserviency  to  the  ruler  of  France — 
this  hostile  temper  toward  Great  Britain,"  said  the  prince, "  are  evident  in  almost  ev 
ery  page  of  the  official  correspondence  of  the  American  with  the  French  government. 
Against  this  course  of  conduct,  the  real  cause  of  the  present  war,  the  Prince  Regent 
solemnly  protests.  While  contending  against  France  in  defense  not  only  of  the  lib 
erties  of  Great  Britain,  but  of  the  world,  his  Royal  Highness  was  entitled  to  look  for 
a  far  different  result.  From  their  common  origin — from  their  common  interest — from 
their  professed  principles  of  freedom  and  independence,  the  United  States  was  the 
last  power  in  which  Great  Britain  could  have  expected  to  find  a  willing  instrument 
and  abettor  of  French  tyranny."3 

1  For  a  refutation  of  this  erroneous  assertion,  see  Chapter  VII. 

2  This  right  of  citizenship,  acquired  by  naturalization  and  the  transfer  of  allegiance,  has  long  ago  been  tacitly  ac 
knowledged  by  the  British  authorities.    Indeed,  the  claim  set  up  by  the  Prince  Regent  was  practically  abandoned  dur 
ing  the  War  of  1812,  for,  excepting  in  the  case  of  the  Irishmen  made  prisoners  with  Colonel  Scott,  the  British  never 
claimed  British-born  prisoners  as  subjects.    See  page  40S. 

3  In  the  manifesto  the  Prince  Eegent  also  solemnly  declared  that  "the  charge  of  exciting  the  Indians  to  offensive 


470  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Proposition  from  Russia  to  mediate.  The  Proposition  entertained.  Napoleon's  Invasion  of  Russia. 

This  manifesto,  adroitly  framed  for  effect  in  the  United  States  as  well  as  at  home, 
was  approved  by  both  houses  of  Parliament,  and  sustained  in  an  address  to  the  throne. 
It  reached  America  at  about  the  close  of  the  twelfth  Congress,  and  its  avowals  of  the 
intended  adherence  of  the  British  government  to  the  practice  of  impressment  stood 
before  the  people  side  by  side  with  the  declarations  of  the  report  of  their  Committee 
on  Foreign  Affairs,  in  which  it  was  declared  that  it  was  against  that  practice  the  war 
was  waging,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  waged  until  the  nefarious  business  was  aban 
doned  by  the  enemy. 

While  pondering  these  documents,  the  Americans  were  suddenly  called  by  the 
march  of  events  to  contemplate  other  most  important  subjects  in  connection  with  the 
war.  John  Quincy  Adams  was  then  the  American  minister  at  the  Russian  court. 
His  relations  with  the  Emperor  Alexander  were  intimate  and  cordial.  When  intel 
ligence  of  the  declaration  of  war  reached  St.  Petersburg  the  Czar  expressed  his  regret. 
On  account  of  the  French  invasion  of  his  territory  he  was  on  friendly  terms  with  Great 
"September  20,  Britain,  and  his  prime  minister,  Romanzoff,  suggested  to  Mr.  Adamsa  the 
expediency  of  tendering  the  mediation  of  Russia  for  the  purpose  of  ef 
fecting  a  reconciliation.  Mr.  Adams  favored  it,  but  for  a  while  the  victorious  march 
of  Bonaparte  toward  Moscow,  the  heart  of  the  Russian  empire,  delayed  the  measure. 
The  final  defeat  of  the  invader  secured  present  tranquillity  to  the  Czar,  and  he  sent 
instructions  to  M.  Daschkoff,  his  representative  at  Washington,  to  offer  to  the  United 
States  his  friendly  services  in  bringing  about  a  peace.  This  was  formally  done  on 
the  8th  of  March,  1813,  only  four  days  after  President  Madison,  in  his  second  inaugu 
ral  address,  had  laudably  endeavored  to  excite  anew  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people  in 
the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war. 

At  about  this  time  official  intelligence  had  been  received  by  the  government  of  the 
result  of  Napoleon's  invasion  of  Russia.  He  had  indeed  reached  Moscow  after  fear 
ful  sufferings  and  losses,  but  when  he  rode  into  that  ancient  capital  of  the  Muscovites 
at  the  head  of  his  staff,  on  the  15th  of  September,  it  was  as  silent  as  the  Petrified  City 
of  the  Eastern  tale.  The  inhabitants  had  withdrawn,  and  the  great  Kremlin  in  which 
he  slept  that  night  was  as  cheerless  as  a  magnificent  mausoleum.  Hi's  slumbers  were 
soon  disturbed.  The  Russians  had  not  all  left.  For  hours  a  hundred  unlighted  torch 
es  had  been  held  by  the  hands  of  Russian  incendiaries.  When  the  great  bell  of  the 
metropolitan  cathedral  tolled  out  the  hour  of  midnight,  these  were  kindled  by  flint 
and  steel,  and  instantly  a  hundred  fires  glared  fearfully  from  every  direction  upon 
the  couch  of  the  great  Corsican.  The  city  was  every  where  in  flames,  and  the  wea 
ried  French  army  were  compelled  to  seek  shelter  in  the  desolate  country  around  the 
blackened  ruins  of  that  splendid  town. 

On  that  fearful  night  the  star  of  Napoleon's  destiny  had  reached  its  meridian. 
Ever  afterward  it  was  seen  slowly  descending,  in  waning  splendor,  the  paths  of  the 
western  sky.  He  perceived  in  the  destruction  of  Moscow  the  fearful  perils  of  his  sit- 
tiation,  and  sought  to  avert  them.  He  proposed  terms  of  peaceful  adjustment,  but 
the  emperor  flung  them  back  with  scorn.  Retreat  or  destruction  was  the  alternative. 
He  chose  the  former;  and  late  in  October,  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
men,  he  turned  his  face  toward  France.  For  a  few  days  the  sky  was  clear  and  the 
atmosphere  was  genial.  Then  came  biting  frosts  and  blinding  snow-storms,  while 
clouds  of  fiery  Cossacks  smote  his  legions  on  flank  and  rear  with  deadly  blows.  Suf- 

measures  against  the  United  States  is  equally  void  of  foundation."  This  denial  was  iterated  and  reiterated  by  British 
statesmen  and  publicists,  and  has  been  ever  since.  It  is  very  natural  for  a  civilized  and  Christian  people  to  repel  the 
charge  of  complicity  with  savage  pagans  in  the  practices  of  merciless  and  barbarous  warfare.  It  is  commendable,  and 
evinces  a  proper  sense  of  the  heinousness  of  the  offense  against  civilization ;  but  the  official  declarations  of  even  a 
prince,  were  he  many  times  more  virtuous  than  that  libertine  regent  of  England,  can  not  set  aside  the  indelible  records 
of  history  or  the  verdict  of  mankind.  There  are  too  many  positive  statements  concerning  such  complicity  to  doubt  it. 
In  addition  to  those  given  in  the  preceding  pages  of  this  work,  many  more  may  be  found  in  Niles's  Weekly  Register, 
ii.,  342. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  471 

Napoleon's  Disasters  in  Russia.  Rejoicings  of  the  American  Peace-party.  Commissioners  to  treat  for  Peace. 

fering  and  death  held  high  carnival  among  the  fugitives.  Bonaparte  saw  that  all  was 
lost,  and  he  hastened  to  France,  bearing  almost  the  first  intelligence  of  the  terrible 
disaster.  He  lost  during  the  campaign  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  slain 
in  battle,  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand  by  fatigue,  hunger,  disease,  and  cold, 
and  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  thousand  made  prisoners ;  in  all,  four  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  men  !  Notwithstanding  this  fearful  loss  of  life,  he  had  scarcely  reach 
ed  Paris  when  he  issued  an  order  for  a  general  conscription,  in  number  sufficient  to 
take  the  places  of  the  dead.  At  the  same  time  Russia,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Prussia, 
and  Spain  coalesced  for  the  purpose  of  striking  the  crippled  conqueror  a  crushing 
blow,  and  early  in  1813  they  sent  large  armies  toward  the  Elbe  to  oppose  him.  His 
conscripts  were  already  in  the  field,  and  with  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men 
he  invaded  Germany,  fought  and  won  the  great  battle  of  Lutzen,a  and,  after  » May  2, 
other  conflicts,  seated  himself  in  Dresden,  agreeably  to  an  armistice,  and  list 
ened  to  offers  of  mediation  on  the  part  of  Austria,  with  a  view  to  closing  the  war. 

The  intelligence  from  Europe  was  disheartening  to  the  war-party,  for  it  was  evi 
dent  that  the  coalition  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe  against  the  French  would  so 
relieve  England  that  she  might  prosecute  the  war  in  America  with  great  vigor.  The 
President  had  been  at  all  times  anxious  for  peace  on  honorable  terms.  He  perceived 
a  chance  for  its  accomplishment  through  Russian  mediation,  and  he  at  once  accepted 
the  offer  of  M.  Daschkoff.  That  acceptance  was  followed  by  the  nomination  of  Al 
bert  Gallatin,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  James  A.  Bayard,  a  representative 
of  Delaware  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  as  commissioners  or  envoys  extraor 
dinary,  to  act  jointly  with  Mr.  Adams  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Great 
Britain  at  St.  Petersburg.  At  the  same  time,  William  H.  Crawford,v of  Georgia,  a 
Peace  Democrat,  was  appointed  to  succeed  the  lately  deceased  Joel  Barlow1  as  min 
ister  at  the  French  court.  Of  the  result  of  the  efforts  for  peace  through  Russian 
mediation  I  shall  hereafter  write. 

The  reverses  of  Napoleon,  as  we  have  observed,  discouraged  the  war-party,  and 
gave  corresponding  joy  to  the  Federalists,  especially  to  the  wing  of  that  organization 
known  as  the  Peace-party,  whose  head-quarters  were  at  Boston.  There  they  cele 
brated  the  Russian  triumphs  with  public  rejoicings.2  In  other  places,  too,  these  vic- 

"•  Mr.  Barlow,  as  we  have  seen,  was  an  ardent  Republican  (see  page  94).  In  October,  1812,  the  Duke  de  Bassano,  at 
Napoleon's  request,  invited  Barlow  to  meet  the  emperor  at  Wilua,  in  Poland,  the  nominal  object  of  which  was  to  com 
plete  a  commercial  treaty  with  the  United  States,  for  which  the  American  minister  had  long  importuned.  It  was  be 
lieved  by  some  that  the  real  object  was  to  make  an  arrangement  by  which  French  ships,  manned  by  American  sailors, 
might  be  brought  into  play  against  Great  Britain.  Whatever  was  the  object  remains  a  mystery.  Barlow  obeyed  the 
royal  summons  immediately,  and  traveled  day  and  night.  The  weather  was  very  inclement.  The  country  had  been 
wasted  by  war,  and  he  suffered  many  privations.  In  consequence  of  these  and  exposure  to  the  weather,  he  was  attacked 
with  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  which  caused  his  death  in  the  cottage  of  a  Jew  at  Zarnowice,  near  Cracow,  on  the  22d 
of  December,  1812.  Of  course,  the  object  of  his  mission  was  not  accomplished.  His  last  poem,  dictated,  it  is  said,  from 
his  death-bed,  was  a  withering  expression  of  resentment  against  Napoleon  for  the  hopes  which  he  had  disappointed. 

2  Services  were  held  in  King's  Chapel,  on  the  2Cth  of  March,  1813,  in  commemoration  of  the  victories  of  the  Russians 
over  Napoleon,  who  aimed,  it  was  said,  "at  the  empire  of  the  world."  One  hundred  and  fifty  amateurs  and  professional 
gentlemen  assisted  in  the  performance  of  sacred  music.  Among  other  pieces  sung  was  the  following  recitative,  com 
posed  for  the  occasion :  "  For  the  hosts  of  Gallia  went  in  with  their  chariots  and  with  their  horsemen  into  the  North, 
and  the  Lord  chased  them  with  fierce  warriors,  winter  blasts,  and  famine  ;  but  the  children  of  Sclavia,  safe  and  unhurt, 
through  all  the  danger  passed."  The  closing  prayer  was  made  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Chauncey. 

The  services  in  the  church  were  held  in  the  forenoon.  In  the  afternoon  many  hundreds  of  the  citizens  of  Boston  and 
the  neighboring  country  sat  down  to  a  public  dinner.  M.  Eustaphieve,  the  Russian  consul  for  New  England,  was  a 
guest.  The  room  was  appropriately  decorated.  Among  the  ornaments  was  a  portrait  of  the  Russian  emperor,  with  the 
words,  "Alexander,  the  deliverer  of  Europe."  Harrison  Gray  Otis  made  a  speech  on  the  occasion,  in  which  he  declared 
his  conviction  that  the  check  given  to  Napoleon  by  Russia  had  rescued  our  country  from  its  greatest  danger— the  influ 
ence  of  the  French  policy.  Several  songs  were  sung.  One  of  them  contained  the  following  verse : 

"  Hail,  Russia  !  may  thy  conq'ring  bands 
Sad  Europe  from  her  chains  release ; 
•  Exalt  the  hopes  of  farthest  lands, 

And  give  us  back  an  exiled  PEACE  '." 

An  ode  was  sung,  to  the  air  of  "Ye  Mariners  of  England,"  which  concluded  thus: 

"  Then  fill  to  Alexander  ! 

For  him  a  garland  twine, 
While  shaded  by  our  oaks,  we  taste 
The  virtues  of  the  vine. 


472  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Cabinet  Changes.  Armstrong  chosen  Secretary  of  War. 

tories  were  hailed  with  joy,  and  became  the  themes  for  song  and  oratory,1  to  the  great 
disgust  of  the  war-party  and  their  newspaper  organs,  who  censured  the  President  for 
his  haste  in  snatching  at  Russian  mediation. 

During  the  session  of  Congress  which  closed  on  the  3d  of  March,  1813,  there  had 
been  some  important  changes  in  President  Madison's  Cabinet.  Public  clamor  against 
him  had  caused  Dr.  Eustis  to  resign  the  War  bureau,  and  the  aifairs  of  that  depart 
ment  were  conducted  for  several  weeks  by  Mr.  Monroe,  the  Secretary  of  State.  John 
Armstrong,  who  had  been  appointed  a  brigadier  general  in  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  and  succeeded  General  Bloomfield  in  command  at  New  York,  was  appointed 
» January  is,  Secretary  of  War,a  and  Paul  Hamilton  was  dismissed  from  the  Navy  De 
partment  to  make  way  for  William  Jones,b  who  had  been  a  ship-master 
2'  in  earlier  life,  was  an  active  Philadelphia  politician  of  the  Democratic 
school,  and  at  the  time  was  Commissary  of  Purchases  for  the  army.  Madison's  Cab 
inet,  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign  of  1813,  was  composed  as  follows:  James  Mon 
roe,  Secretary  of  State ;  John  Armstrong,  Secretary  of  War ;  William  Jones,  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy;  Albert  Gallatin,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  and  William  Pinkney, 
Attorney  General. 

Arid  when  those  oaks  adorn  our  hills, 
Or  bear  our  thunders  far, 
Let  each  soul 
Fill  his  bowl 
To  vict'ry  and  the  Czar— 
And  give  a  long  and  loud  huzza 

To  vict'ry  and  the  Czar." 

i  On  the  5th  of  June,  1813,  the  late  G.  W.  P.  Custis,  the  adopted  son  of  Washington,  addressed  a  large  audience  at 
Georgetown,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  on  the  Russian  victories.  That  address  drew  from  the  Russian  minister  at 
Washington  a  very  complimentary  letter,  and  a  request  for  a  copy  to  be  transmitted  to  Russia.  That  letter,  dated 
"  June  21, 1813,"  was  accompanied  by  a  small  medal  containing  a  likeness  of  the  Emperor  Alexander.  "  Permit  me  t& 
express  to  you  my  gratitude,"  said  M.  Daschkoff,  "that  of  my  family,  and  of  all  my  countrymen  who  shall  peruse  your 
oration,  for  the  zeal  and  interest  you  have  displayed  in  our  cause ;  and  allow  me  to  send  you  a  small  medal,  with  the 
likeness  of  Alexander  the  First,  the  only  one  which  is  now  in  my  possession." — MS.  Letter. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


473 


Harrison's  Position  on  the  Maumee. 


Expedition  against  Maiden. 


Its  Failure. 


CHAPTER 

"  Oh,  lonely  is  our  old  green  fort, 

Where  oft,  in  days  of  old, 
Our  gallant  soldiers  bravely  fought 

'Gainst  savage  allies  bold  ; 
But  with  the  change  of  years  have  passed 

That  unrelenting  foe, 
Since  we  fought  here  with  Harrison, 

A  long  time  ago."  SONG — OLD  FORT  MEIGS. 

OTHING  of  importance  in  military  movements  occurred  during 
the  dead  of  winter,  in  1813,  excepting  the  terrible  affair  at 
Frenchtown,  on  the  River  Raisin,  already  described,1  and  some 
hostile  demonstrations  on  the  St.  Lawrence  frontier  at  Elizabeth- 
town  and  Ogdensburg  by  the  opposing  parties.  The  campaign 
of  that  year  opened  almost  simultaneously  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Ontario,  in  the  Valley  of  the  Maumee,  and  on  the  coasts  of  Vir 
ginia. 

Let  us  first  consider  the  military  events  in  the  Northwest,  where  we  left  General 
Harrison,  with  a  portion  of  his  gallant  little  army,  encamped  amid  the  snows  in  the 
dark  forests  that  skirted  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee.2 

The  position  chosen  by  Harrison  for  a  strong  advanced  post,  which  would  give  him 
facilities  for  keeping  open  a  communication  with  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  allow  him 
to  afford  protection  to  the  inhabitants  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Erie,  and  to  operate 
against  Detroit  and  Maiden,  was  one  of  the  most  eligible  in  the  Northwest,  and  its 
possession  gave  the  British  much  uneasiness.  Harrison's  plan  was  to  form  simply  a 
fortified  camp,  and  to  prosecute  the  winter  campaign  with  vigor.  For  this  purpose 
he  endeavored  to  concentrate  troops  there,  and  prepared  to  push  on  to  the  vicinity 
of  Brownstown,  for  the  purpose  of  operating  directly  against  Maiden  while  the  De 
troit  River  was  bridged  with  ice.  Considering  the  destruction  of  the  enemy's  ves 
sels,  frozen  up  in  the  vicinity  of  Maiden,  of  great  importance,  he  sent  a  small  force, 
under  Captain  Langham,3  to  perform  that  service.  On  the  2d  of  March*  they 
set  off  in  sleighs,  with  six  days'  provisions,  and  well  equipped  with  combusti 
bles.  The  party  was  one  hundred  and  seventy  strong.  The  particular  incendiaries 
were  under  the  immediate  command  of  M.  Madis,  a  Frenchman  of  European  military 
experience,  then  conductor  of  artillery.  They  were  instructed  to  leave  the  sleighs 
at  Middle  Bass  Island,  and,  with  their  feet  muffled  in  moccasins,  proceed  noiselessly, 
under  cover  of  night,  to  the  work  of  destruction.  Harrison  advanced  with  a  support 
ing  detachment,  but  on  his  arrival  at  Maumee  Bay,b  not  far  below  the  pres 
ent  city  of  Toledo,  he  met  Langham  and  his  party  returning.  They  had 
found  the  lake  open,  and  of  course  the  plan  of  the  expedition  was  frustrated.  The 
mildness  of  the  winter  had  been  remarkable ;  the  roads  were  consequently  almost 
impassable.  There  was  no  ice  competent  to  bear  troops  and  munitions  of  war. 

Harrison  now  abandoned  all  hopes  of  moving  forward  until  spring,  and  continued 
the  work  of  fortifying  his  camp  with  great  vigor,  for  the  preservation  of  his  stores, 

i  See  Chapter  XX.  =  See  page  364. 

3  Augustus  L.  Langham,  of  Ohio,  was  an  ensign  in  a  rifle  corps  in  1808.  He  resigned  in  1809,  and  in  March,  1812,  was 
commissioned  a  captain  in  the  Nineteenth  Regiment  of  Infantry.  He  distinguished  himself  at  Fort  Meigs.  In  August 
following  he  was  promoted  to  major,  was  retained  in  1815,  and  resigned  in  October,  181C. 


1 1813. 


b  March  3. 


474  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Fortified  Camp  at  the  Maumee  Rapids.  Remissness  of  the  commanding  Officer.  A  weak  Garrison. 

collected  there  in  great  quantity.  His  troops  were  then  about  eighteen  hundred  in 
number,  and  were  employed  on  the  works  under  the  skillful  direction  of  that  com 
petent  officer,  Captain  Wood,  the  chief 
engineer  of  Harrison's  army,  Captain 
Gratiot,1  then  lying  prostrate  with  ill 
ness  that  long  continued.  "The  camp," 
said  Captain  Wood,  was  about  twenty- 
five  hundred  yards  in  circumference,  the  whole  of  which,  with  the  exception  of  sev 
eral  small  intervals  left  for  batteries  and  block-houses,  was  to  be  picketed  with  tim 
ber  fifteen  feet  long,  from  ten  to  twelve  inches  in  diameter,  and  set  three  feet  in  the 
ground.  Such  were  the  instructions  of  the  engineer ;  and  so  soon  as  the  lines  of  the 
camp  were  designated,  large  portions  of  the  labor  were  assigned  to  each  corps  in  the 
army,  by  which  means  a  very  laudable  emulation  was  easily  excited.  To  complete 
the  picketing,  to  put  up  eight  block-houses  of  double  timbers,  to  elevate  four  large 
batteries,  to  build  all  the  store-houses  and  magazines  required  to  contain  the  supplies 
of  the  army,  together  with  the  ordinary  fatigues  of  the  camp,  was  an  undertaking  of 
no  small  magnitude.  Besides,  an  immense  deal  of  labor  was  likewise  required  in  ex 
cavating  ditches,  making  abatis,  and  clearing  away  the  wood  about  the  camp ;  and 
all  this  was  to  be  done,  too,  at  a  time  when  the  weather  was  inclement,  and  the  ground 
so  hard  that  it  could  scarcely  be  opened  with  the  mattock  and  pickaxe.  But  in  the 
use  of  the  axe,  mattock,  and  spade  consisted  the  chief  military  knowledge  of  our 
army ;  and  even  that  knowledge,  however  trifling  it  may  be  supposed  by  some,  is 
of  the  utmost  importance  in  many  situations,  and  in  ours  was  the  salvation  of  the 
army.  So  we  fell  to  work,  heard  nothing  of  the  enemy,  and  endeavored  to  bury  our 
selves  as  soon  as  possible."2 

But  the  work  so  vigorously  commenced  was  abandoned  soon  afterward,  when  the 
general  and  the  engineer  left  the  camp — the  former  to  visit  his,  sick  family  at  Cincin 
nati,  and  to  urge  forward  troops  and  supplies  for  his  army;  the  latter  to  superintend 
the  erection  of  defensive  works  at  Sandusky.  The  camp  at  the  Rapids  was  left  in 
charge  of  Colonel  Leftwich,  of  the  Virginia  militia,  who  appears  to  have  resolved  to 
desert  the  post  as  soon  as  possible.  Regardless  of  the  danger  to  the  stores,  and 
comfort  and  safety  of  those  he  might  leave  behind,  he  not  only  allowed  all  work 
upon  the  fortifications  to  cease,  but  permitted  the  soldiers  to  burn  the  collected  pick- 
etings  for  fuel,  instead  of  getting  it  from  the  woods  within  pistol-shot  of  the  camp. 
On  his  return  from  Sandusky  on  the  20th  of  February,  Captain  Wood,  to  his  great 
mortification,  perceived  the  utter  neglect  of  Leftwich,  and  the  destruction  of  the 
works  on  the  lines  commenced  before  he  left.  The  consequence  of  this  conduct  of 
Leftwich,  whom  Wood  called  "  an  old  phlegmatic  Dutchman,  who  was  not  even  fit 
for  a  pack-horse  master,  much  less  to  be  intrusted  with  such  an  important  command," 
was  great  exposure  of  the  gai'rison  to  the  inclement  weather,  and  the  stores  to  immi 
nent  peril  from  the  enemy.  When,  on  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  enlistment,  the 
Virginia  troops  under  Leftwich,  and  others  from  Pennsylvania,  left  for  home,  only 
about  five  hundred  men  remained  at  the  Rapids  under  Major  Stoddard,  with  which 
to  maintain  possession  of  an  unfinished  line  of  circumvallation  calculated  to  contain 
an  army  of  two  thousand  men. 

Harrison's  greatest  concern  during  the  winter  of  1813  was  the  possibility  of  not 
keeping  soldiers  enough  in  the  field  for  the  spring  campaign,  as  the  terms  of  the  en- 

1  Charles  Gratiot  was  a  native  of  Missouri,  and  was  appointed  second  lieutenant  of  Engineers  in  October,  1806,  and 
captain  in  180S.    Harrison  appointed  him  his  chief  engineer  in  1812.    He  was  promoted  to  major  in  1815,  lieutenant 
colonel  in  1819,  colonel  and  principal  engineer  in  1828,  and  on  the  same  day  (May  24)  was  breveted  brigadier  general. 
He  left  the  service  in  December,  1838. 

2  The  lines  of  the  camp,  inclosing  about  eight  acres,  were  very  irregular.    They  were  upon  a  high  bank,  about  one 
hundred  feet  above  the  river  and  three  hundred  yards  from  it.    On  the  land  side,  commencing  at  the  run,  was  a  deep 
ravine  that  swept  in  a  crescent  form  quite  round  to  the  rear. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF   1812.  475 


A  Call  for  Volunteers  nobly  answered.          Armstrong's  Interference  with  Harrison's  Plans.  Harrison's  Protest. 

listment  of  different  corps  would  soon  expire.  To  provide  for  such  contingency,  he 
called  for  volunteers  from  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  and  met  with  cordial  responses.1  He 
was  preparing  to  collect  about  four  thousand  men  at  the  Rapids  for  an  early  move 
ment  against  Maiden,  when  he  received  instructions  from  General  Armstrong,  the 
new  Secretary  of  War,  which  deranged  all  his  plans.  By  these  he  was  directed  to 
continue  his  demonstrations  against  Maiden,  but  only  as  a  diversion  in  favor  of  at 
tempts  to  be  made  upon  Canada  farther  down.  He  was  enjoined  not  to  make  an 
actual  attack  upon  the  enemy  until  the  consummation  of  measures  for  securing  the 
command  of  Lake  Erie,  then  just  inaugurated,  and  to  be  completed  at  Presque  Isle 
(now  Erie,  Pennsylvania)  by  the  middle  of  the  ensuing  May.  Much  to  his  mortifica 
tion  and  alarm,  he  was  directed  to  dispense  with  militia  as  much  as  possible,  and  to 
fill  up  the  17th,  19th,  and  24th  Regiments  of  Regulars  for  service  in  the  ensuing 
campaign.  He  was  informed  that  two  other  regiments  of  regulars  had  been  ordered 
to  be  raised,  one  in  Kentucky  and  the  other  in  Ohio.  Should  the  old  regiments  not 
be  filled  in.  time,  he  was  permitted  to  make  up  the  deficiencies  from  the  militia.  With 
these  he  was  to  garrison  the  different  posts,  hold  the  position  at  the  Rapids,  and 
amuse  the  enemy  by  feints. 

This  interference  with  his  plans  annoyed  Harrison  exceedingly,  and  he  ventured  to 
remonstrate  with  the  Secretary  of  War.  He  gave  him  his  viewsa  very  aMai.cni8) 
freely,  and  with  them  some  valuable  and  much-needed  information  concern 
ing  the  country  to  be  defended  and  the  Indian  tribes  in  alliance  with  the  British.  He 
explained  the  causes  of  apprehended  danger  in  attempting  to  carry  out  the  new  pro 
gramme,  and  assured  the  Secretary  of  War  that  the  regular  force  to  be  relied  on 
could  not  be  raised  in  time  for  needed  service,  and  that,  even  if  it  should,  it  would  be 
too  small  for  the  required  duty — so  evidently  inadequate  that  enlistments  would  be 
discouraged.2  Armstrong,  who  seldom  bore  opposition  patiently,  did  not  like  to  be 
remonstrated  with,  but  he  prudently  forbore  farther  interference  in  the  conduct  of 
the  campaign  in  the  Northwest  at  that  time.3 

General  Harrison  was  yet  at  Cincinnati  late  in  March,  actively  engaged  in  endeavors 
to  forward  troops  and  supplies  to  the  Rapids.  Informed  that  the  lake  was  almost  free 
of  ice,  that  the  Virginia  and  most  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops  would  leave  at  the  ex- 

1  Harrison  requested  that  a  corps  of  fifteen  hundred  men  might  be  raised  in  Kentucky  immediately,  and  marched  to 
his  head-quarters  without  delay.    The  Legislature  of  Kentucky  was  then  in  session,  and  Harrison's  request  was  sub 
mitted  to  them  in  a  confidential  message  by  Governor  Shelby.    A  law  was  immediately  passed  offering  additional  pay 
of  seven  dollars  a  mouth  to  any  fifteen  hundred  Kentuckians  who  would  remain  in  the  service  till  a  corps  could  be 
sent  to  relieve  them.    This  offer  was  accompanied  by  an  appeal  to  their  patriotism  from  the  Legislature,  which  reached 
them  on  the  Sth  of  February.    They  had  suffered  much,  and  were  very  anxious  to  return  home,  so  they  would  only 
promise  to  remain  an  indefinite  time,  but  said  that  if  the  general  was  ready  to  lead  them  against  the  enemy  they  would 
follow  him  without  additional  pay.    Similar  appeal  to  the  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  troops  met  with  similar  success, 
but  the  Virginians  would  not  remain.    Meanwhile  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  passed  an  act  for  detailing  three  thou 
sand  men  from  the  militia,  of  which  fifteen  hundred  were  to  march  for  Harrison's  camp,  and  Governor  Meigs  ordered 
two  regiments  to  be  organized  for  the  same  service. 

2  In  a  letter  to  Governor  Shelby,  at  about  this  time,  Harrison  said :  "  Last  night's  mail  brought  me  a  letter  from  the 
Secretary  of  War  in  which  I  am  restricted  to  the  employment  of  the  regular  troops  raised  in  this  state  to  re-enforce  the 
post  at  the  Eapids.    There  are  scattered  through  this  state  about  one  hundred  and  forty  recruits  of  the  19th  Regiment, 
and  with  these  I  am  to  supply  the  place  of  the  brigades  from  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  whose  time  of  service  will 
now  be  daily  expiring.    By  a  letter  from  Governor  Meigs  I  am  informed  that  the  Secretary  of  War  disapproved  the  call 
for  militia  which  I  had  made  on  this  state  and  Kentucky,  and  was  on  the  point  of  countermanding  the  orders.    I  will 
just  mention  one  fact,  which  will  show  the  consequences  of  such  a  countermand.    There  are  upon  the  Au  Glaize  and 
St.  Mary's  Rivers  eight  forts,  which  contain  within  their  walls  property  to  the  amount  of  half  a  million  of  dollars  from 
actual  cost,  and  worth  now  to  the  United  States  four  times  that  sum.    The  whole  force  which  would  have  had  charge 
of  all  these  forts  and  property  would  have  amounted  to  less  th.an  twenty  invalid  soldiers."— Autograph  Letter,  March 
21, 1813. 

3  Armstrong  attempted  to  arrange  the  military  force  of  the  country  on  the  plan  adopted  by  General  Washington  in 
the  Revolution.    On  the  19th  of  March  he  promulgated  a  general  order,  dividing  the  whole  United  States  into  nine 
military  districts,  as  follows :  1,  Massachusetts,  with  Maine  and  New  Hampshire ;   2,  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut ; 
3,  New  York  below  the  Highlands  and  New  Jersey ;  4,  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware :  5,  Maryland  -and  Virginia ;  6, 
Georgia  ;  7,  Louisiana.    The  rest  of  the  States  and  Territories  being  divided  between  the  Sth  and  9th,  the  first  embraced 
the  seat  of  war  at  the  west  end  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  other  the  Niagara  portion,  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  St.  Law 
rence  and  Lake  Champlain. 

On  the  12th  of  March  commissions  were  issued  for  eight  new  brigadiers,  namely,  Cushing,  Parker,  Izard,  and  Pike, 
of  the  old  army,  and  Winder,  M'Arthur,  Cass,  Howard,  and  Swartwout.  The  latter  succeeded  Morgan  Lewis  as 
quarter-master  with  the  rank  of  brigadier. 


476 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Brigade  of  General  Green  Clay. 


Their  Rendezvous  and  March  toward  the  Maumee. 


Cincinnati  in  1812. 


piration  of  their  term  on  the  2d  of  April, 
and  that  the  enemy  were  doubtless  in 
formed  of  the  situation  of  affairs  at  the 
Rapids  by  a  soldier  who  had  been  made 
a  prisoner  by  them,  he  anticipated  an 
early  attack  upon  his  camp  there.  It 
was,  therefore,  with  the  greatest  anxiety 
that  he  awaited  promised  re-enforce 
ments  from  Kentucky.  The  governor 
had  ordered  a  draft  of  three  thousand 
militia  (fifteen  hundred  of  them  for 
Harrison's  army)  as  early  as  the  middle 
of  February,  to  be  organized  into  four 
regiments,  under  Colonels  Bos  well,  Dud 
ley,  Cox,  and  Caldwell,  forming  a  bri 
gade  to  be  commanded  by  Brigadier 
General  Green  Clay.1  The  regiments 
under  the  first  two  named  officers  ren 
dezvoused  at  Newport,  opposite  to  Cin 
cinnati,  at  about  the  first  of  April. 
Those  companies  which  had  arrived 
there  earlier  had  been  sent  forward  to 
the  Rapids  on  forced  marches,  by  the 
way  of  Urbana  and  "Hull's  Trace,"  and 
the  commander-in-chief  followed  soon 
afterward,  leaving  the  remainder  of  the 
Kentuckians  designed  for  his  command 
to  be  forwarded  as  quickly  as  possible. 
He  arrived  at  camp  on  the  12th  of  April,  and  was  gratified  by  finding  more  than  two 


VIEW   OF   CINCINNATI   FBOM  NEWPORT    IN   1812. 


1  In  a  letter  dated  at  "Frankfort,  March  5,  1813,"  Governor  Shelby  invited  Mr.  Clay  to  accept  the  command  of  the 
brigade  as  brigadier  general.    Clay  accepted  the  office,  and  in  a  letter,  dated  on  the  16th  of  the  same  month,  the  gov 
ernor  sent  him  his  commission.    In  the  first  letter,  now  before  me,  the  governor  said  that,  had  it  been  designed  to 
cross  into  Canada  at  once,  he  should  have  taken  command  of  the  Kentucky  troops  in  person. 

2  This  view  of  Cincinnati  in  1812  is  from  an  old  print.    It  then  contained  about  two  thousand  inhabitants. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


477 


Fort  Meigs  and  its  Vicinity.    Harrison  assumes  Responsibility.     Proctor's  Preparations  to  invade  the  Maumee  Valley. 

hundred  patriotic  Pennsylvanians  remaining,  who  had  been  persuaded  to  do  so  by 
their  chaplain,  Dr.  Hersey.1 

Under  the  direction  of  Captain  Wood,  the  for 
tified  camp,  which  had  been  named  in  honor  of 
the  governor  of  Ohio,  had  assumed  many  of  the 
features  of  a  regular  fortification,  and  was  digni 
fied  with  the  name  of  Fort  Meigs.  It  was  evi 
dent  that  its  defense  would  be  the  chief  event  in 
the  opening  of  the  campaign.  Harrison  had  been 
informed  while  on  his  way  of  the  frequent  ap 
pearance  of  Indian  scouts  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Rapids,  and  of  little  skirmishes  with  what 
he  supposed  to  be  the  advance  of  a  more  power 
ful  force.  Alarmed  by  these  demonstrations,  he 
dispatched  a  messenger  from  Fort  Amanda  with 
a  letter  to  Governor  Shelby,  urging  him  to  send 
to  the  Maumee  the  whole  of  the  three  thousand 
militia  drafted  in  Kentucky.  This  was  in  viola 
tion  of  his  instructions  from  the  War  Department 
respecting  the  employment  of  militia,  but  the 
seeming  peril  demanding  such  violation,  he  did 
not  hesitate  for  a  moment.  Expecting  to  find 
Fort  Meigs  invested  by  the  British  and  Indians, 
he  took  with  him  from  Fort  Amanda  all  the  troops 
that  could  be  spared  from  the  posts  on  the  St. 
Mary  and  the  Au  Glaize,  about  three  hundred  in 
all,  and  descended  by  water  from  his  point  of  de 
parture  with  the  intention  of  storming  any  British 
batteries  which  he  might  find  employed  against 
his  camp.  He  was  agreeably  disappointed  on  his 
arrival  by  the  discovery  that  the  enemy  was  not 
near  in  great  force.  But  that  enemy,  vigilant  and 
determined,  was  preparing  to  strike  at  Fort  Meigs 
a  destructive  blow. 

When  the  ice  began  to  move  in  the  Detroit 
River  and  the  lake,  Proctor  formed  his  plans  for 
an  early  invasion  of  the  Maumee  Valley.  Ever 
since  his  sanguinary  operations  at  Frenchtown 
he  had  been  using  every  art  and  appliance  in  his 
power  to  concentrate  at  Amherstburg  a  large  In 
dian  force  for  the  purpose.  He  fired  the  zeal  of 
Tecumtha  and  the  Prophet  by  promises  of  future 
success  in  all  their  schemes  for  confederating  the 
savage  tribes,  and  by  boasting  of  his  ample  pow 
er  to  place  in  the  hands  of  his  Indian  allies  Fort 
Meigs,  its  garrison,  and  immense  stores.  So  stim 
ulative  were  his  promises  that,  at  the  beginning 
of  April,  Tecumtha  was  at  Fort  Maiden  with  al 
most  fifteen  hundred  Indians.  Full  six  hundred 
of  them  were  drawn  from  the  country  between 


i  These  patriotic  men  informed  the  general  that  they  were  very  anxious  to  go  home  to  put  in  their  spring  seeds,  but 
that  they  would  never  leave  him  until  he  thought  that  their  services  could  be  spared  without  danger  to  the  cause.  On 
the  arrival  of  the  three  Kentucky  companies  he  discharged  the  Pennsylvauians. 


478  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Proctor  calls  Savages  to  Maiden.  Expedition  against  Fort  Meigs.  Harrison's  Precautions. 

Lake  Michigan  and  the  Wabash,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  Harrison  when  he  dis 
covered  the  fact,  for  it  so  relieved  him  of  apprehensions  of  peril  to  his  posts  from  that 
direction  that  he  countermanded  his  requisition  on  Governor  Shelby  for  all  the  draft 
ed  men  from  Kentucky. 

Proctor  was  delighted  with  the  response  of  the  savages  to  his  call,  and  visions  of 
speedy  victory,  personal  glory,  and  official  promotion  filled  his  mind.  He  became 
more  boastful  than  ever,  and  more  supercilious  toward  the  Americans  at  Detroit. 
MS13.  He  ordered  the  Canadian  militia  to  assemble  at  Sandwich  on  the  7th  of  April,a 
when  he  assured  them  that  the  campaign  would  be  short,  decisive,  suc- 
o  April,  cessful,  and  profitable.  On  the  23db  his  army  and  that  of  his  savage  allies, 
more  than  two  thousand  in  number,1  were  in  readiness  at  Amherstburg ;  and  on  that 
day  they  embarked  on  a  brig  and  several  smaller  vessels,  accompanied  by  two  gun 
boats  and  some  artillery.  On  the  26th  they  appeared  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee, 
about  twelve  miles  below  Fort  Meigs;  and  on  the  28th  they  landed  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  river,  near  old  Fort  Miami,  and  established  their  main  camp  there.2  From 
that  point  Proctor  and  Tecumtha,  who  were  well  mounted,  rode  up  the  river  to  a 
point  opposite  Fort  Meigs  to  reconnoitre.  They  were  discovered  at  the  fort,  when  a 
shot  from  one  of  the  batteries  sent  them  back  in  haste.3  Captain  Dixon,  of  the  Royal 
Engineers,  was  immediately  sent  up  with  a  fatigue  party  to  construct  batteries  upon 
a  commanding  elevation  neai-ly  opposite  the  fort,  in  front  of  the  present  Maumee 
City,  but  incessant  rains,  and  the  wretched  condition  of  the  roads,  so  retarded  the  prog 
ress  of  the  work  that  they  were  not  ready  for  operations  until  the  first  day  of  May. 

The  approach  of  the  enemy  in  force  had  been  discovered  by  Captain  Hamilton,  of 
the  Ohio  troops,  on  the  28th,  while  reconnoitring  down  the  river  with  a  small  force. 
Peter  Navarre,  one  of  Harrison's  most  trustworthy  scouts,  yet  (1867)  living  in  Ohio, 
first  saw  them.  Hamilton  sent  him  in  haste  to  Fort  Meigs  with  the  intelligence, 
when  Harrison  instantly  dispatched  him  with  three  letters,  one  for  Upper  Sandusky, 
one  for  Lower  Sandusky,  and  one  for  Governor  Meigs,  at  Urbana.4  Although  Fort 
Meigs  was  quite  strong,  several  block-houses  having  been  erected  in  connection  with 
the  lines  of  intrenchment  and  pickets,  and  a  good  supply  of  field-pieces  had  been 
mounted,  Harrison  was  convinced,  from  the  character  and  strength  of  the  enemy,  that 
his  post  was  in  imminent  peril.  He  knew  that  General  Green  Clay  was  on  his  march 
with  Kentuckians;  and  as  soon  as  Navarre  was  furnished  with  his  letters,  he  dis 
patched  Captain  William  Oliver,  the  commissary  to  the  fort,  an  intelligent,  brave,  and 
judicious  officer  (who  had  performed  similar  service  for  him),  with  an  oral  message 
to  Clay,  urging  him  to  press  forward  by  forced  marches.  Oliver  bore  to  Clay  the 
following  simple  note  of  introduction  :5 

"  Head-quarters,  Camp  Meigs,  28th  April,  1813. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  send  Mr.  Oliver  to  you,  to  give  yon  an  account  of  what  is  passing 
here.  You  may  rely  implicitly  upon  him.  Yours, 

"  WILLIAM   HENRY   HARRISON." 

Oliver  was  accompanied  by  a  single  white  man  and  an  Indian.     He  was  escorted 

1  The  combined  force  under  Proctor  consisted  of  522  regulars,  461  militia,  and  about  1500  Indians ;  total,  2482.    The 
Americans  at  Fort  Meigs  did  not  exceed  1100  effective  men. 

2  See  the  map  on  the  preceding  page,  which  covers  the  entire  historic  ground  at  and  around  the  Maumee  Rapids  from 
Roche  de  Bout— perpendicular  rock— where  the  river  has  a  considerable  fall,  and  where  Wayne  was  encamped  in  1704 
(see  page  54),  to  Proctor's  encampment  near  Fort  Miami  at  the  time  we  are  considering.    It  shows  the  place  of  Hull's 
encampment  in  1812  (see  page  257),  and  Wayne's  battle-ground  in  1794  (see  page  55),  with  the  site  of  Fort  Meigs,  and 
of  incidents  connected  with  the  siege  about  to  be  described  in  the  text ;  also  the  present  Maumee  City  on  one  side  of  the 
river,  Perryville  on  the  other,  and  the  rail  and  wagon  bridges  across.    Between  Fort  Meigs  and  Perryville  is  seen  a 
stream.    It  courses  through  the  ravine  mentioned  in  Note  2,  page  474. 

3  Statement  of  Reverend  A.  M.  Lorraine,  in  the  Ladies'  Repository,  March,  1845. 
*  Oral  statement  of  Navarre  to  the  author. 

5  The  original  is  before  me,  and  a  fac-simile  of  it  appears  on  the  opposite  page.  It  is  one  of  the  papers  of  General  Clay 
kindly  placed  in  my  hands  by  his  son,  General  Cassius  M.  Clay,  our  late  minister  at  the  Russian  Court.  It  is  written 
on  a  half  sheet  of  foolscap  paper,  and  is  thoroughly  soiled  by  contact  with  mud  and  water. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


479 


General  Harrison's  Note  to  General  Clay. 


beyond  the  immediate  danger  that  surrounded  the  camp  by  a  company  of  dragoons 
under  Captain  Garrard.  He  found  General  Clay  at  Fort  Winchester  (Defiance)  with 
twelve  hundred  Kentuckians,  three  companies  of  his  command,  as  we  have  observed,1 
having  been  sent  forward  by  Harrison  at  the  close  of  March.  Clay  had  left  Cincin- 


1  See  page  470. 


480 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Combs  commissioned  a  Captain  of  Spies. 


He  goes  on  a  perilous  Expedition. 


Biographical  Sketch  of  Combs. 


1  April  7, 
1813. 


nati  early  in  April,  after  issuing  a  stirring  address1  to  his  troopsa  in  General 
Orders,  and  followed  Winchester's  route  to  the  Maumee.2  At  Dayton  he 
was  overtaken  by  Leslie  Combs,  of  Kentucky,  a  bold  and  ardent  young  man  of  nine 
teen  years,  whose  services  as  scout  and  messenger  in  the  late  campaign,  which  ended 
so  disastrously  at  the  Raisin,  were  well  known  to  General  Clay.  He  at  once  com 
missioned  Combs  captain  of  a  company  of-  riflemen  as  spies  or  scouts,  to  be  selected 
by  him  from  Dudley's  corps. 

At  St.  Mary's  block-house  Clay  divided  his  brigade.  He  sent  Dudley  to  the  Au 
Glaize,  while  he  descended  the  St.  Mary  himself  with  Colonel  Boswell's  corps.  Both 
divisions  were  to  meet  at  Defiance.  While  on  their  way  down  the  Au  Glaize,  intel 
ligence  reached  Dudley  of  the  perilous  condition  of  Harrison  at  Fort  Meigs.  At  a 
council  of  officers  it  was  resolved  to  apprise  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  near  ap 
proach  of  succor.  Who  shall  under 
take  the  perilous  mission?  was  the  im 
portant  question.  It  required  some  per 
son  acquainted  with  the  country.  Young 
Combs,  eager  for  patriotic  duty  and  dis 
tinction,  volunteered  to  go.  "  When  we 
reach  Fort  Defiance,"  he  said,  "  if  you 
will  furnish- me  a  good  canoe,  I  will  carry 
your  dispatches  to  General  Harrison,  and 
return  with  his  orders.  I  shall  only  re 
quire  four  or  five,  volunteers  from  my 
own  company,  and  one  of  my  Indian 
guides  to  accompany  me."  A  murmur 
of  approbation  ran  thro-ughthe  company, 
and  his  offer  was  joyfully  accepted  by 
Dudley  with  words  of  compliment  and 
gratitude.3  They  reached  Defiance  the 
following  morning.  It  was  the  first 
of  May.  As  soon  as  a  canoe  could  be 
procured  Combs  embarked  on  his  peril 
ous  mission,  accompanied  by  two  broth 
ers  named  Walker,  and  two  others 
named  respectively  Paxton  and  John- 

1  "  Keutuckians,"  he  said,  "  stand  high  in  the  estimation  of  our  common  country.    Our  brothers  in  arms  who  have 
gone  before  us  to  the  scene  of  action  have  acquired  a  fame  which  should  never  be  forgotten  by  you — a  fame  worthy 

your  emulation Should  we  encounter  the  enemy,  remember  the  fate  of  your  .BUTCHERED  BROTHERS  at  the  River 

Raisin— that  British  treachery  produced  their  slaughter  !" 

2  As  it  may  be  interesting  to  the  reader  to  know  what  constituted  the  private  outfit  of  an  officer  of  the  army  at  that 
time  for  service  in  the  field,  I  subjoin  the  following  "  list  of  articles  for  camp"  prepared  for  General  Clay: 

"  Trunk,  portmanteau  and  fixtures,  flat-iron,  coffee-mill,  razor-strop,  box,  etc.,  inkstand  and  bundle  of  quills,  ream 
of  paper,  three  halters,  shoe-brushes,  blacking,  saddle  and  bridle,  tortoise-shell  comb  and  case,  box  of  mercurial  oint 
ment,  silver  spoon,  mattress  and  pillow,  three  blankets,  three  sheet?,  two  towels,  linen  for  a  cot,  two  volumes  M'Kenzie's 
Travels,  two  maps,  spy-glass,  gold  watch,  brace  of  silver-mounted  pistols,  umbrella,  sword,  two  pairs  of  spurs— one  of 
silver.  CLOTHES  :  Hat,  one  pair  of  shoes,  one  pair  of  boots,  regimental  coat,  great-coat,  bottle-green  coat,  scarlet  waist 
coat,  blue  cassimere  and  buff  cassimere  waistcoat,  striped  jean  waistcoat,  two  pair  cotton  colored  pantaloons,  one  pair 
bottle-green  pantaloons,  one  pair  queen-cord  pantaloons,  one  pair  buff  short  breeches,  one  pair  red  flannel  drawers,  one 
red  flannel  waistcoat,  red  flannel  shirt,  five  white  linen  shirts,  two  check  shirts,  nine  cravats,  six  chamois,  two  pair 
thread  stockings,  three  pair  of  thread  socks,  hunting  shirt,  one  pair  of  woolen  gloves,  one  pair  of  leather  gloves." 

"A  complete  ration"  at  that  time  was  estimated  at  fifteen  cents,  and  was  composed  and  charged  as  follows:  meat, 
five  cents  ;  flour,  six  cents  ;  whisky,  three  cents  ;  salt,  soap,  candles,  and  vinegar,  one  fourth  of  a  cent  each. 

3  Captain  Combs  is  yet  (1867)  living  in  his  native  state  of  Kentucky,  vigorous  in  mind  and  body,  and  bearing  the  title 
of  general  by  virtue  of  his  commission  as  such  in  the  militia  of  his  state.    He  is  descended,  on  his  mother's  side,  from 
a  Quaker  family  of  Maryland.    His  father,  a  Virginian,  was  a  "Revolutionary  Officer  and  a  Hunter  of  Kentucky."    So 
says  a  simple  inscription  on  his  tomb-stone.    Leslie  was  the  youngest  of  twelve  children.    He  joined  the  army  in  1812, 
when  just  past  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  was  at  once  distinguished  for  his  energy  and  bravery.    He  was  employed,  as 
we  have  seen  (page  350),  on  perilous  duty,  and  never  disappointed  those  who  relied  upon  him.    He  was  made  a  captain 
and  wounded  near  Fort  Meigs,  and  narrowly  escaped  death.    He  was  paroled,  and  late  in  May,  1813,  returned  home. 
He  commenced  the  study  of  law,  and  was  not  again  in  the  field  until  ISJSC.Trhen  he  raised  a  regiment  for  the  south 
western  frontier  at  the  time  of  the  revolution  in  Texas.    He  became  very  active  in  political  life.    His  home  was  Lex- 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  481 


Combs's  Voyage  down  the  Maumee  River.  Greeting  of  the  Flag  at  Port  Meigs.  Combs  attacked  by  Indians. 

son;  also  by  young  Black  Fish,  a  Shawnoese  warrior.1  With  the  latter  at  the  helm, 
the  other  four  engaged  with  the  rowing,  and  himself  at  the  bow  in  charge  of  the  rifles 
and  ammunition  of  the  party,  Combs  pushed  off  from  Defiance,  amid  cheers  and  sad 
adieus  (for  few  expected  to  see  them  again),  determined  to  reach  Fort  Meigs  before 
daylight  the  next  morning.  The  voyage  was  full  of  danger.  Rain  was  falling  theavi- 
ly,  and  the  night  was  intensely  black.  They  passed  the  Rapids  in  safety,  but  not  until 
quite  late  in  the  morning,  when  heavy  cannonading  was  heard  in  the  direction  of  the 
fort.  It  was  evident  that  the  expected  siege  had  commenced,  and  that  the  perils  of 
the  mission  were  increased  manifold.  For  a  moment  Combs  was  perplexed.  To  re 
turn  would  be  prudent,  but  would  expose  his  courage  to  doubts ;  to  remain  until  the 
next  night,  or  proceed  at  once,  seemed  equally  hazardous.  A  decision  was  soon  made 
by  the  brave  youth.  "  We  must  go  on,  boys,"  he  said ;  "  and  if  you  expect  the  honor 
of  taking  coffee  with  General  Harrison  this  morning,  you  must  work  hard  for  it." 
He  went  forward  with  many  misgivings,  for  he  knew  the  weakness  of  the  garrison, 
and  doubted  its  ability  to  hold  out  long.  Great  was  his  satisfaction,  therefore,  when, 
on  sweeping  around  Turkey  Point,2  at  the  last  bend  in  the  river  by  which  the  fort 
was  hidden  from  his  view,  he  saw  the  stripes  and  stars  waving  over  the  beleaguered 


UP  THE   MADMEK   VAM.KY. 


camp.  Their  joy  was  evinced  by  a  suppressed  shout.  Suddenly  a  solitary  Indian 
appeared  in  the  edge  of  the  woods,  and  a  moment  afterward  a  large  body  of  them 
were  observed  in  the  gray  shadows  of  the  forest,  running  eagerly  to  a  point  below 
to  cut  off  Combs  and  his  party  from  the  fort.  The  gallant  captain  attempted  to  dart 
by  them  on  the  swift  current,  when  a  volley  of  bullets  from  the  savages  severely 
wounded  Johnson  and  Paxton — the  former  mortally.  The  fire  was  returned  with 
effect,  when  the  Shawnoese  at  the  helm  turned  the  prow  toward  the  opposite  shore.3 
There  the  voyagers  abandoned  the  canoe,  and,  with  their  faces  toward  Defiance,  sought 
safety  in  flight.  After  vainly  attempting  to  take  Johnson  and  Paxton  with  them, 
Combs  and  Black  Fish  left  them  to  become  captives,  and  at  the  end  of  two  days  and 
two  nights  the  captain  reached  Defiance,  whereat  General  Clay  had  just  arrived.  The 
Walkers  were  also  there,  having  fled  more  swiftly,  because  unencumbered.  Combs 
and  his  dusky  companion  had  suffered  terribly.4  The  former  was  unable  to  assume 

ingtoi),  and  he  was  a  neighbor  and  warm  personal  friend  of  Henry  Clay  throughout  the  long  public  career  of  that  great 
man.  The  friendship  was  mutual,  and  Clay  always  felt  and  acknowledged  the  power  of  General  Combs.  He  was  al  way;- 
a  fluent,  eloquent,  and  most  effective  speaker,  and  now,  when  he  has  passed  the  goal  of  "threescore  and  ten  years," 
he  never  fails  to  charm  any  audience  by  his  words  of  power,  his  apt  illustrations,  and  genial  humor. 

1  He  was  a  grandson  of  Black  Fish,  a  noted  warrior  who  led  the  Indians  in  the  attack  on  Boonsboro',  in  Kentucky, 
in  17T8. 

a  In  the  above  picture,  a  view  of  a  portion  of  the  Maumee  Valley,  as  seen  from  the  northwest  angle  of  Fort  Meigs, 
looking  up  the  river,  Turkey  Point  is  seen  near  the  centre,  behind  the  head  of  Hollister's  Island,  that  divides  the  river. 
A  clump  of  trees,  a  little  to  the  right  of  the  three  small  trees  in  a  row  near  the  bank  of  the  river,  marks  the  place.  The 
Maumee  is  seen  flowing  to  the  right,  and  to  the  left  the  plain,  when  I  made  the  sketch  in  the  autumn  of  I860,  was 
covered  with  Indian  corn,  some  standing  and  some  in  the 'shocks.  A  canal  for  hydraulic  purposes  is  seen  in  the  fore 
ground.  It  flows  immediately  below  the  ruins  of  Fort  Meigs. 

3  It  was  first  thought  that  the  Indians  were  friendly  Shawnoese.  So  thought  Black  Fish ;  but  when  he  discovered  his 
mistake,  he  exclaimed,  "  Pottawatomie,  God  damn  !" 

*  Paxton  was  shot  through  the  body,  but  recovered.    During  the  political  campaign  of  1S40,  when  General  Harrison 

HH 


482  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Preparations  for  assailing  Fort  Meigs.  Harrison's  Speech  to  his  Soldiers.  Fort  Meigs  strengthened. 

the  command  of  his  company,  but  he  went  down  the  river  with  the  re-enforcements, 
and  took  an  active  part  in  the  conflict  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Meigs.  There  we  shall 
meet  him  again  presently.1 

The  British  had  completed  two  batteries  nearly  opposite  to  Fort  Meigs  on  the 


SITE   OF  THE   BKITISH  BATTERIES   FROM    FORT  MEIGS.2 

"  April,  morning  of  the  30th,a  and  had  mounted  their  ordnance.  One  of  them  bore 
813'  two  twenty-four-pounders,  and  the  other  three  howitzers — one  eight  inches, 
and  the  other  two  five  and  a  half  inches  calibre.  In  this  labor  they  had  lost  some 
men  by  well-directed  round  shot  from  the  fort,  but  neither  these  missiles  nor  the 
drenching  rain  drove  them  away.  Harrison  had  not  been  idle  in  the  mean  time. 
His  force  was  much  inferior  to  that  of  the  enemy  in  numbers,  but  was  animated  by 
the  best  spirit.  On  the  morning  after  the  British  made  their  appearance  near,  he  ad 
dressed  his  soldiers  eloquently  in  a  General  Order  ;3  and  when  he  discovered  the  foe 
busy  in  erecting  batteries  on  the  opposite  shore  that  would  command  his  works,  he 
began  the  construction  of  a  traverse,  or  wall  of  earth,  on  the  most  elevated  ground 
through  the  middle  of  his  camp,  twelve  feet  in  height,  on  a  base  of  twenty  feet,  and 
three  hundred  yards  in  length.  During  its  construction  it  was  concealed  by  the 
tents.  When  these  were  suddenly  removed  to  the  rear  of  the  traverse,  the  British 
engineer,  to  his  great  mortification,  perceived  that  his  labor  had  been  almost  in  vain. 
Instead  of  an  exposed  camp,  from  which  Proctor  had  boasted  he  would  soon  "  smoke 

was  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  General  Combs  spoke  to  scores  of  vast  assemblies  in  his  favor.  On  one 
occasion  he  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Paxton's  residence,  who  took  a  seat  on  the  platform  by  the  side  of  the  speaker. 
Combs  related  the  incident  of  the  voyage  down  the  Manmee  and  their  joy  at  the  sight  of  the  old  flag  on  that  morning. 
"  Here,"  said  he,  "  is  the  man  who  was  shot  through  the  body.  Stand  up,  Joe,  and  tell  me  how  many  bullets  it  would 
have  taken  to  have  killed  you  at  that  measure."  "  More  than  a  peck .'"  exclaimed  Paxton. 

1  I  met  General  Combs  at  Sandusky  City  in  the  autumn  of  I860,  when  he  gave  me  an  interesting  account  of  his  opera 
tions  in  the  Maumee  Valley  at  that  time.    Speaking  of  his  return  to  Defiance,  he  said,  "Black  Fish  made  his  way  to  his 
native  village,  while  I  pushed  on  toward  Defiance.    It  rained  incessantly.    1  was  compelled  to  swim  several  swollen 
tributaries  to  the  Maumee,  and  was  dreadfully  chafed  by  walking  in  wet  clothes.    My  feet  were  lacerated  by  traveling 
in  moccasins  over  burnt  prairies,  and  my  mouth  and  throat  were  excoriated  by  eating  bitter  hickory-buds,  the  only 
food  that  I  tasted  for  forty-eight  hours.    For  days  afterward  I  could  not  eat  any  solid  food.    I  was  placed  on  a  cot  in  a 
boat,  and  in  that  manner  descended  the  river  with  my  gallant  Kentucky  friends." 

2  The  above  little  picture,  sketched  in  the  autumn  of  1800  from  the  ruins  of  Croghan  Battery  (so  named  in  honor  of 
the  gallant  defender  of  Fort  Stephenson),  Fort  Meigs,  looking  northwest,  shows  the  scattered  village  of  Maumee  City 
in  the  distance,  with  the  site  of  the  British  batteries  in  front  of  it.    This  is  indicated  in  the  picture  by  the  distant  bluff 
with  two  houses  upon  it,  immediately  beyond  the  two  little  figures  at  the  end  of  the  railway-bridge  in  the  middle- 
ground.    When  I  visited  the  spot  in  1860,  the  ridge  on  which  the  cannon  were  planted,  lower  than  the  plain  on  which 
the  village  stands,  was  very  prominent.    Behind  it  was  a  deep  hollow,  in  which  the  British  artillerymen  were  securely 
posted.    On  the  brow  of  the  plain,  just  back  of  the  British  batteries,  indicated  by  the  second  bluff  with  one  house  upon 
it,  was  afterward  the  place  of  encampment  of  Colonel  Johnson.    The  railway-bridge,  seen  in  the  middle-ground  of  this 
picture,  has  a  common  passenger-bridge  by  the  side  of  it.    Between  the  extreme  foreground  and  the  railway  embank 
ment  is  the  ravine  mentioned  in  a  description  of  Fort  Meigs  on  page  474,  and  indicated  in  the  map  on  page  488  by  a 
stream  of  water. 

3  "  Can  the  citizens  of  a  free  country,"  he  said,  "  who  have  taken  arms  to  defend  its  rights,  think  of  submitting  to  an 
army  composed  of  mercenary  soldiers,  reluctant  Canadians,  goaded  to  the  field  by  the  bayonet,  and  of  wretched,  naked 
savages  ?    Can  the  breast  of  an  American  soldier,  when  he  casts  his  eyes  to  the  opposite  shore,  the  scene  of  his  coun 
try's  triumphs  over  the  same  foe,  be  influenced  by  any  other  feelings  than  the  hope  of  glory?    Is  not  this  army  com 
posed  of  the  same,  materials  with  that  which  fought  and  conquered  under  the  immortal  Wayne  ?    Yes,  fellow-soldiers, 
your  general  sees  your  countenances  beam  with  the  same  fire  that  he  witnessed  on  that  glorious  occasion  ;  and,  al 
though  it  would  be  the  height  of  presumption  to  compare  himself  with  that  hero,  he  boasts  of  being  that  hero's  pupil.* 
To  your  posts,  then,  fellow-citizens,  and  remember  that  the  eyes  of  your  country  are  upon  you  !" 

*  Wayne's  battle-ground  in  1704,  and  the  theatre  of  his  victory,  were  in  sight  of  the  soldiers  thus  addressed.    Harri 
son  "was  Wayne's  aid-de-camp  on  that  occasion,  and.  as  we  have  observed  on  page  53,  was  one  of  his  most  useful  officers. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


483 


British  and  Indians  cross  the  River. 


A  Gun-boat. 


Fort  Meigs  attacked. 


Colonel  Christy. 


out  the  Yankees" — in  other  words,  speedily  destroy  it  with  shot  and  shell,  he  saw 
nothing  but  an  immense  shield  of  earth,  behind  which  the  Americans  were  invisible 
and  thoroughly  sheltered.  Proctor  accordingly  modified  his  plans,  and  sent  a  con 
siderable  force  of  white  men  under  Captain  Muir,  and  Indians  under  Tecumtha,  to 
the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  under  cover  of  the  gun-boats,  with  the  evident  intention 
of  preparing  for  an  attack  on  the  fort  in  the  rear.  When  night  fell  the  British  bat 
teries  were  yet  silent,  and  remained .;  so  ;  but  a  gun-boat,  to  wed;  up.  the  river  near  the 
fort  under,  cover  of  the  darkness,  fired  thirty  shots  without  making  any  other  im 
pression  than  increasing  the  vigilance  of  the  Americans,  who  reposed  on  their  arms. 
Early  in  the  morning  the  gun-boat  went  down  the  river  barren  of  all  honor. 

Late  in  the  morning  on  the  1st  of  May,a. not  withstanding  heavy  rain-clouds 
were  driving  down  the  Maumee:  Valley,  and  drenching  every  thing,  with  fitful 
discharges,  the  British  opened  a  severe  cannonade  and  bombardment  upon  Fort  Meigs, 
and  continued  the  assault,  with  slight  intermissions,  for  about  five  days,1  but  without 
much  injury  to  the  fort  and  garrison.  The  fire  was  returned  occasionally  by  eight- 
een-pounders.  The  supply  of  shot  for  these  and  the  twelve-pounders  was  very  small, 
there  not  being  more  than  three  hundred  and  sixty  of  each.  They  were  used  with 
judicious  parsimony,  for  it  was  not  known  how  long  the  siege  might  last.  The  Brit 
ish,  on  the  contrary,  appeared  to  have  powder,  balls,  and  shells  in  great  abundance, 
and  they  poured  a  perfect  storm  of  missiles — not  less  than  five  hundred — upon  the 


1 1813. 


1  A  survivor  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  one  of  the  most  active  and  remarkable  men  of  the  day  when  the  late  civil  war 
broke  out,  was  Colonel  William  Christy.  He  was  acting 
quarter-master  at  Fort  Meigs,  and  had  charge  of  all  the 
stores  and  flags  there  at  that  time.  He  was  only  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  yet  he  had,  by  his  energy  and  patriot 
ism,  secured  the  love  and  confidence  of  General  Harrison 
in  a  remarkable  degree.  When  the  first  gun  was  fired 
upon  Fort  Meigs,  Harrison  called  him  to  his  side,  and 
said,  "  Sir,  go  and  nail  a  banner  on  every  battery,  where 
they  shall  wave  so  long  as  an  enemy  is  in  view."  Chris 
ty  obeyed,  and  there  the  flags  remained  during  the  en 
tire  siege. 

Mr.  Christy  was  born  in  Georgetown,  Kentucky,  on  the 
6th  of  December,  1791.  At  an  early  age  he  went  with  his 
father  to  reside  near  the  Ohio,  not  far  distant  from  Cin 
cinnati.  He  was  left  an  orphan  at  the  age  ot  fourteen 
years.  He  studied  law,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of 
that  profession  in  1811.  When  war  was  declared  he  join 
ed  the  army  under  Harrison.  That  officer  knew  his  fa 
ther,  and  kindly  gave  the  son  of  his  old  friend  a  place  in 
his  military  family  as  aid-de-camp,  and,  as  we  have  just 
observed,  he  was  made  acting  quarter-master  at  Fort 
Meigs.  He  behaved  gallantly  there  in  the  sortie  in  which 
Captain  Silver  was  engaged,  and  in  which  his  company 
suffered  terribly.  Christy  was  in  subordinate  command 
in  that  fight,  and  received  the  commendations  of  his  gen 
eral.  He  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  in  the  old  First 
Regiment  of  United  States  Infantry.  After  the  close  of 
the  Harrison  campaign,  which  resulted  in  victory  at  the 
Thames,  he  was  ordered  to  join  his  regiment,  then  at 
Sackett's  Harbor.  There  General  Brown  appointed  him 
adjutant,  and  he  was  in  active  service  in  Northern  New 
York  for  some  time.  When  the  army  was  disband 
ed,  Christy  was  retained,  and  was  stationed  for  a  while 
in  New  Orleans.  He  left  the  army  in  1810,  and  com 
menced  the  career  of  a  commission  merchant  in  New  Or 
leans.  He  married  there,  and  soon  amassed  a  fortune, 
which  he  lost,  however,  by  the  dishonesty  of  a  partner. 
He  resumed  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  in  1826  published 
his  "Digest"  of  the  Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana.  Again  he  amassed  a  large  for 
tune.  He  espoused  the  cause  of  Texas,  and  soon  after 
ward  lost  his  property,  but  gained  the  praiee  of  being  "  the  first  filibuster  in  the  United  States."  His  nature  was  im 
pulsive,  and  during  his  residence  of  more  than  forty  years  in  New  Orleans  he  had  several  "affairs  of  honor,"  growing 
out  of  political  quarrels  chiefly.  He  was  a  ready  and  fluent  speaker,  and  during  the  campaign  when  Harrison  was 
candidate  for  the  Presidency,  Colonel  Christy  accompanied  his  chief  in  person  throughout  Ohio,  and  made  more  than 
one  hundred  speeches  in  his  behalf.  His  kindness  of  heart  and  ungrudging  hospitality  ever  gained  him  hosts  of  warm 
friends. 


484 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


New  Battery  opened  on  Fort  Meigs. 


Harrison's  Defenses. 


Critical  Situation  of  the  Fort  and  Garrison. 


MORTAR  BATTERY 


fort  all  of  the  first  day,  and  until  eleven  o'clock  at  night.1  One  or  two  of  the  garri 
son  were  killed,  and  Major  Stoddard,  of  the  First  Regiment,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  who -commanded  the  fort  when  Left  witch  retired,  was  so  badly  wounded  by  a 
fragment  of  a  shell  that  he  died  ten  days  afterward.2 

On  the  morning  of  the  2d  the  British  opened  a  third  battery  of  three  twelve- 
pounders  upon  the  fort  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  which  they  had  completed 
during  the  night,  and  all  that  day  the  cannonade  was  kept  up  briskly.  Within  the 
next  twenty-four  hours  a  fourth  battery  was  opened.3  That  night  a  detachment  of 
artillerists  and  engineers  crossed  the  river,  and  mounted  guns  and  mortars  upon  two 
mounds  for  batteries  already  constructed  in  the  thickets  by  the  party  that  crossed  on 
the  30th,  within  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  the  rear  angles  of  the  fort.  One  of 
these,  nearest  the  ravine  already  mentioned,  was  a  mortar  battery ;  the  other,  a  few 
rods  farther  southward,  was  a  three-gun  battery.  Expecting  an  operation  of  this 
kind,  the  Americans  had  constructed  traverses  in  time  to  foil  the  enemy ;  and  when, 
toward  noon  of  the  3d,  the  three  cannon  and  the  howitzer  opened  suddenly  upon  the 
rear  angles  of  the  fort,  their  fire  was  almost  harmless.  A  few  shots  from  eighteen- 

pounders,  directed  by  Gratiot,  who 
was  convalescing,  soon  silenced  the 
gun -battery,  and  the  pieces  were 
hastily  drawn  off  and  placed  in  posi 
tion  near  the  ravine. 

Shot  and  shell  were  hurled  upon 
the  fort  more  thickly  and  steadily 
on  the  3d  than  at  any  other  time, 
but  with  very  little  effect.  This 
seemed  to  discourage  the  besiegers, 
and  on  the  4th  the  fire  was  materially 
slackened.  Then  Proctor  sent  Major  Chambers  with  a  demand  for  the  surrender  of 
the  post.  "  Tell  General  Proctor,"  responded  Harrison,  promptly,  "  that  if  he  shall 
take  the  fort  it  will  be  under  circumstances  that  will  do  him  more  honor  than  a  thou 
sand  surrenders."  Meanwhile  the  cannonading  from  the  fort  was  feeble,  because  of 

O  7 

the  scarcity  of  ammunition.  "  With  plenty  of  it,"  wrote  Captain  Wood,  "  we  should 
have  blown  John  Bull  from  the  Miami."  The  guns  were  admirably  managed,  and 
did  good  execution  at  every  discharge.  The  Americans  were  well  supplied  with 
food  and  water5  for  a  long  siege,  and  could  well  afford  to  spend  time  and  weary  the 
assailants  by  merely  defensive  warfare  sufficient  to  keep  the  foe  at  bay.  They  ex 
hibited  their  confidence  and  spirit  by  frequently  mounting  the  ramparts,  swinging 
their  hats,  and  shouting  defiance  to  their  besiegers.  Nevertheless,  Harrison  was 
anxious.  Hull  and  Winchester  had  failed  and  suffered.  The  foe  was  strong,  wily, 
and  confident.  So  he  looked  hourly  and  anxiously  up  the  Maumee  for  the  hoped-for 
re-enforcements.  Since  Navarre  and  Oliver  went  out,  he  had  heard  nothing  from 

1  As  the  enemy  were  throwing  large  numbers  of  cannon-balls  into  the  fort  from  their  batteries,  Harrison  offered  a  gill 
of  whisky  for  every  one  delivered  to  the  magazine-keeper,  Thomas  L.  Hawkins.    Over  one  thousand  gills  were  thus 
earned  by  the  soldiers. — Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  page  532.    An  eyewitness  (Reverend  A.  M.  Lorraine)  re 
lates  that  one  of  the  militia  took  his  station  on  the  embankment,  watched  every  shot,  and  forewarned  the  garrison 
thus :  "  Shot,"  or  "bomb,"  as  the  case  might  be  ;  sometimes  "  Block-house  No.  1,"  or  "Look  out,  main  battery,"  "Now 
for  the  meat-house,"  "  Good-by,  if  yon  will  pass."    At  last  a  shot  hit  him  and  killed  him  instantly. 

2  Amos  Stoddard  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  commissioned  a  captain  of  artillery  in  179S.    He  was  re 
tained  in  1802.    In  1804  and  '05  he  was  governor  of  the  Missouri  Territory.    He  was  promoted  to  major  in  1807.    He 
was  deputy  quarter-master  in  1S12,  but  left  the  staff  in  December  of  that  year.    He  died  of  tetanus,  or  lockjaw,  on  the 
llth  of  May,  1813.    He  was  the  author  of  "Sketches  of  Louisiana,"  published  in  1810. 

3  These  were  named  as  follows,  as  indicated  on  the  above  map  :  a,  Mortar ;  6,  Queen's  ;  c,  Sailor's ;  and  d,  King's. 

*  This  plan  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  Joseph  H.  Larwell,  on  the  19th  of  July,  1813.  All  the  dotted  lines  represent  the 
traverses,  a  a  a  a  a  indicate  the  block-houses ;  b  b,  the  magazines ;  c  c  c  c,  minor  batteries.  The  grand  and  mortar 
batteries  and  the  well  are  indicated  by  name. 

5  During  the  first  three  days  of  the  siege  the  Americans  were  wholly  dependent  upon  the  rain  for  water.  Those  who 
were  sent  to  fetch  it  were  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  On  the  fourth  they  had  completed  a  well  within  the  fort 
which  gave  them  an  ample  supply. 


PLAN   OF   FOKT  MEIGS.4 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  485 

General  Clay  moving  down  the  Maumee.  Harrison's  Plans  developed.  Movements  near  Fort  Meigs. 

abroad.  His  suspense  was  ended  at  near  midnight  on  the  4th,  when  Captain  Oliver, 
with  Major  David  Trimble  and  fifteen  men  who  had  come  down  the  river  in  a  boat, 
made  their  way  into  the  fort  as  bearers  of  the  glad  tidings  that  General  Clay  and 
eleven  hundred  Kentuckians  were  only  eighteen  miles  distant,  and  would  probably 
reach  the  post  before  morning. 

Captain  Oliver  had  found  Clay  at  Fort  "Winchester  on  the  3d.  The  cannonading 
at  Fort  Meigs  was  distinctly  heard  there,  and  Clay  pressed  forward  as  speedily  as 
possible  with  eighteen  large  flat  scows,  whose  sides  were  furnished  with  shields 
against  the  bullets  of  Indians  who  might  infest  the  shores  of  the  river.  It  was  late 
in  the  evening  when  the  flotilla  reached  the  head  of  the  Rapids,  eighteen  miles  from 
the  scene  of  conflict.  The  moon  had  gone  down,  and  the  overcast  sky  made  the  night 
so  intensely  dark  that  the  pilot  refused  to  proceed  before  daylight.  It  was  then  that 
Trimble  and  his  brave  fifteen  volunteered  to  accompany  Captain  Oliver  to  the  fort, 
to  cheer  the  hearts  of  Harrison  and  his  men  by  the  tidings  of  succor  near.  It  did 
cheer  them.  Harrison  immediately  conceived  a  plan  of  operations  for  Clay,  and  dis 
patched  Captain  Hamilton  and  a  subaltern  in  a  canoe  to  meet  the  general,  and  say  to 
him  with  delegated  authority, "  You  must  detach  about  eight  hundred  men  from  your 
brigade,  and  land  them  at  a  point  I  will  show  you,  about  a  mile  or  a  mile  and  a  half 
above  Camp  Meigs.  I  will  then  conduct  the  detachment  to  the  British  batteries  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  river.  The  batteries  must  be  taken,  the  cannon  spiked,  and 
carriages  cut  down,  and  the  troops  must  then  return  to  the  boats  and  cross  over  to 
the  fort.  The  balance  of  your  men  must  land  on  the  fort  side  of  the  river,  opposite 
the  first  landing,  and  fight  their  way  into  the  fort  through  the  Indians.  The  route 
they  must  take  will  be  pointed  out  by  a  subaltern  officer  now  with  me,  who  will  land 
the  canoe  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  to  point  out  the  landing  for  the  boats." 

This  explicit  order  reveals  much  of  Harrison's  well-devised  plan.  He  knew  that 
the  British  force  at  the  batteries  was  inconsiderable,  for  the  main  body  were  still 
near  old  Fort  Miami,  and  the  bulk  of  the  Indians  with  Tecumtha  were  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  river.  His  object  was  to  strike  simultaneous  and  effectual  blows  on  both 
banks  of  the  stream.  While  Dudley  was  demolishing  the  British  batteries  on  the 
left  bank,  and  Clay  was  fighting  the  Indians  on  the  right,  he  intended  to  make  a  gen 
eral  sally  from  the  fort,  destroy  the  batteries  in  the  rear,  and  disperse  or  capture  the 
whole  British  force  on  that  side  of  the  river. 

It  was  almost  sunrise  when  Clay  left  the  head  of  the  Rapids.  He  descended  the 
river  with  his  boats  arranged  in  solid  column,  as  in  a  line  of  march,  each  officer  hav 
ing  position  according  to  rank.  Dudley,  being  the  senior  colonel,  led  the  van. 
Hamilton  met  them,  in  this  order,  ajbout  five  miles  above  the  fort.  Clay  was  in  the 
thirteenth  boat  from  the  front.  When  Harrison's  orders  were  delivered,  he  directed 
Dudley  to  take  the  twelve  front  boats  and  execute  the  commands  of  the  chief  con 
cerning  the  British  batteries,  while  he  should  press  forward  and  perform  the  part  as 
signed  to  himself. 

Colonel  Dudley  executed  his  prescribed  task  most  gallantly  and  successfully.  The 
current  was  swift,  and  the  shores  were  rough,  but  his  detachment  effected  a  landing 
.in  fair  order.  They  ascended  to  the  plain  on  which  Maumee  City  stands  unobserved 
by  the  enemy,  and  were  there  formed  for  marching  in  three  parallel  columns,  the 
right  led  by  Dudley,  the  left  by  Major  Shelby,  and  the  centre,  as  a  reserve,  by  Acting 
Major  Morrison.  Captain  Combs,  with  thirty  riflemen,  including  seven  friendly  In 
dians,  flanked  in  front  full  a  hundred  yards  distant.1  In  this  order  they  moved  through 
the  woods  a  mile  and  a  half  toward  the  British  batteries,  which  were  playing  briskly 
upon  Fort  Meigs,  when  the  columns  were  so  disposed  as  to  inclose  the  enemy  in  a 

1  At  the  request  of  General  Clay,  Captain  Combs  furnished  him  with  minute  information  respecting  the  operations 
nnder  Dudley,  in  a  letter  dated  May  6, 1815.  The  writer  has  kindly  furnished  me  with  a  copy  of  that  letter,  from  which 
the  main  facts  of  this  portion  of  the  narrative  have  been  drawn. 


486  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Dudley  half  wins  Victory,  and  loses  it.     Sad  Result  of  Zeal  and  Humanity.     Americans  defeated  and  made  Prisoners. 

crescent,  with  every  prospect  of  capturing  the  whole  force.  Dudley  had  failed  to  in 
form  his  subalterns  of  his  exact  plans,  and  that  remissness  was  a  fatal  mistake.  Shel 
by's  column,  by  his  order,  penetrated  to  a  point  between  the  batteries  and  the  Brjt- 
ish  camp  below,  when  the  right  column,  led  by  Dudley  in  person,  raised  the  horrid 
Indian  yell,  rushed  forward,  charged  upon  the  enemy  with  wild  vehemence,  captured 
the  heavy  guns  and  spiked  eleven  of  them  without  losing  a  man.  The  riflemen, 
meanwhile,  had  been  attacked  by  the  Indians,  and,  not  aware  of  Dudley's  designs, 
thought  it  their  duty  to  fight  instead  of  falling  back  upon  the  main  body.  This  was 
the  fatal  mistake.  The  main  object  of  the  expedition  was  fully  accomplished,  al 
though  the  batteries  were  not  destroyed.  The  British  flag  was  pulled  down,  and  as 
it  trailed  to  earth  loud  huzzas  went  up  from  the  beleaguered  fort. 

Harrison  had  watched  the  moment  with  intense  interest  from  his  chief  battery,  and 
when  he  saw  the  British  flag  lowered,  he  signaled  Dudley  to  fall  back  to  his  boats 
and  cross  the  river,  according  to  explicit  orders.  Yet  the  victors  lingered,  and  sharp 
firing  was  heard  in  the  woods  in  the  rear  of  the  captured  batteries.  Harrison  was 
indignant  because  of  the  disobedience.  Lieutenant  Campbell  volunteered  to  carry  a 
peremptory  order  across  to  Dudley  to  retreat,  but  when  he  arrived  the  victory  so 
gloriously  won  was  changed  into  a  sad  defeat.  Humanity  had  caused  disobedience, 
and  terrible  was  the  penalty.  At  the  moment  when  the  batteries  were  taken,  as  we 
have  just  observed,  Indians  in  ambush  attacked  Combs  and  his  riflemen.  With  quick 
and  generous  impulse,  Dudley  ordered  them  to  be  re-enforced.  A  greater  part  of 
the  right  and  centre  columns  instantly  rushed  into  the  woods  in  considerable  dis 
order,  accompanied  by  their  colonel.  Thirty  days  in  camp  had  given  them  very  little 
discipline.  It  Avas  of  little  account  at  the  outset,  for,  disorderly  as  they  were,  they 
soon  put  the  Indians  to  flight,  and  relieved  Combs  and  his  little  party.  That  work 
accomplished,  discipline  should  have  ruled.  It  did  not.  Impelled  by  the  enthusiasm 
and  confidence  which  is  born  of  victory,  and  forgetful  of  all  the  maxims  of  prudence, 
they  pursued  the  flying  savages  almost  to  the  British  camp.  Shelby's  column  still 
held  possession  of  the  batteries  when  this  pursuit  commenced,  but  the  British  artil 
lerists,  largely  re-enforced,  and  led  by  the  gallant  Captain  Dixon,  soon  returned  and 
recaptured  them,  taking  some  of  the  Kentuckians  prisoners,  and  driving  the  others 
toward  their  boats.1  Meanwhile  the  Indians  had  been  re-enforced,  and  had  turned 
fiercely  upon  Dudley.  His  men  were  in  utter  confusion,  and  all  attempts  at  command 
were  futile.  Shelby  had  rallied  the  remnant  of  his  column  and  marched  to  the  aid 
of  Dudley,  but  he  only  participated  in  the  confusion  and  flight.  The  Kentuckians 
were  scattered  in  every  direction  through  the  woods  back  of  where  Maumee  City  now 
stands,  making  but  feeble  resistance,  and  exposed  to  the  deadly  fire  of  the  skulking 
savages.  The  flight  became  a  rout,  precipitate  and  disorderly,  and  a  greater  part 
of  Dudley's  command  were  killed  or  captured,  after  a  contest  of  about  three  hours. 
Dudley,  who  was  a  heavy,  fleshy  man,  was  overtaken,  tomahawked,  and  scalped,  and 
his  captive  companions,  including  Captain  Combs  and  his  spies,  were  marched  to  old 
Fort  Miami  as  prisoners  of  war.  Of  the  eight  hundred2  who  followed  him  from  the 
boats,  only  one  hundred  and  seventy  escaped  to  Fort  Meigs.3 

1  When  Proctor  was  apprised  of  the  approach  of  the  detachment  under  Dudley,  he  supposed  it  to  be  the  advance  of 
the  main  American  army,  and  he  immediately  recalled  a  large  portion  of  his  force  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river. 
About  seven  hundred  Indians  were  among  them,  led  by  Tecumtha.  They  did  not  arrive  in  time  to  participate  iu  the 
battle,  but  they  allowed  Proctor  to  send  large  re-enforcements  from  his  camp. 

3  The  exact  number  of  officers  and  private  soldiers  were,  of  Dudley's  regiment,  761 ;  Boswell's,  CO,  and  regulars,  45— 
total,  SCO.— Manuscript  Reports  among  the  Clay  papers. 

3  General  Harrison  censured  Colonel  Dudley's  men  in  General  Orders  on  the  9th  of  May,  signed  by  John  O'Fallon, 
his  acting  assistant  adjutant  general.  "  It  rarely  occurs,"  he  said,  "  that  a  general  has  to  complain  of  the  excessive 
ardor  of  his  men,  yet  such  appears  always  to  be  the  case  whenever  the  Kentucky  militia  are  engaged.  Indeed,  it  is 
the  source  of  all  their  misfortunes."  After  speaking  of  the  rash  act  in  pursuing  the  enemy,  he  remarked,  "  Such  temer 
ity,  although  not  so  disgraceful,  is  scarcely  less  fatal  than  cowardice."  In  a  letter  to  Governor  Shelby  on  the  18th,  Gen 
eral  Harrison  censured  Colonel  Dudley.  "  Had  he  retreated,"  he  said,  "  after  taking  the  batteries,  or  had  he  made  a 
disposition  to  retreat  in  case  of  defeat,  all  would  have  been  well.  He  could  have  crossed  the  river,  and  even  if  he  had 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812.  487 


Clay's  Encounter  with  the  Indians.  A  Sally  ing-party  and  their  Perils.  A  gallant  Messenger. 

While  these  tragic  scenes  were  transpiring  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  others 
equally  stirring  were  in  progression  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Meigs.  General  Clay  had 
attempted  to  land  the  six  remaining  boats  under  his  command  nearly  opposite  the 
place  of  Dudley's  debarkation,  but  the  swiftness  of  the  current,  swollen  by  the  heavy 
rains,  drove  five  of  them  ashore.  The  other,  containing  General  Clay,  with  Captain 
Peter  Dudley  and  fifty  men,  kept  the  stream,  separated  from  the  rest,  and  finally  land 
ed  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river  opposite  to  Hollister's  Island.  There  they  were 
assailed  by  musketry  from  a  cloud  of  Indians  on  the  left  flank  of  the  fort,  and  by 
round  shot  from  the  batteries  opposite.  Notwithstanding  the  great  peril,  Clay  and 
his  party  returned  the  Indians'  attack  with  spirit,  and  reached  the  fort  without  the 
loss  of  a  man. 

Colonel  Boswell's  command  in  the  other  boats,  consisting  of  a  part  of  the  battalions 
of  Kentucky  militia  under  Major 
William  Johnson,  and  two  other 
companies  of  Kentucky  levies,  land- 
ed  near  Turkey  Point.  He.  was  im 
mediately  ordered  by  Captain  Hamilton,  General  Harrison's  representative,  to  fight 
his  way  into  the  fort.  The  same  Indians  who  assailed  Clay  disputed  his  passage. 
Boswell  arranged  his  men  in  open  order,  marched  boldly  over  the  low  plain,1  engaged 
the  savages  on  the  slopes  and  brow  of  the  high  plateau  most  gallantly,  and  reached 
the  fort  without  suffering  very  serious  loss.  There  he  was  greeted  by  thanks  and 
shouts  of  applause,  and  met  by  a  sallying-party2  coming  out  to  join  him  in  an  imme 
diate  attack  upon  that  portion  of  the  enemy  with  whom  he  had  just  been  engaged, 
pursuant  to  Harrison's  original  plan  of  assailing  the  foe  on  both  sides  of  the  river  at 
the  same  time.  There  was  but  a  moment's  delay.  Boswell  on  the  right,  Major  Al 
exander  and  his  volunteers  on  the  left,  and  Major  Johnson  in  the  centre,  was  the  or 
der  in  which  the  party  advanced  against  their  dusky  foe.  They  fell  upon  the  sav 
ages  furiously,  drove  them  half  a  mile  into  the  woods  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and 
utterly  routed  them.  In  their  zeal  the  victors  were  pursuing  with  a  recklessness  that, 
if  continued,  would  have  resulted  in  disaster  like  that  which  overwhelmed  Dudley. 
Fortunately,  General  Harrison,  always  on  the  alert,  had  taken  a  stand,  with  a  spy 
glass,  on  one  of  his  batteries,  from  which  he  could  survey  the  whole  field  of  opera 
tions.  He  discovered  a  body  of  British  and  Indians  gliding  swiftly  along  the  bor 
ders  of  the  woods  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  pursuers,  when  he  dispatched  a  volun 
teer  aid  (John  T.  Johnson,  Esq.)  to  recall  his  troops.  It  was  a  perilous  undertaking. 
The  gallant  aid-de-camp  had  a  horse  shot  under  him,  but  he  succeeded  in  communi 
cating  the  general's  orders  in  time  to  allow  the  imperiled  detachment  to  return  with 
out  much  loss. 

General  Harrison  now  ordered  a  sortie  from  the  fort  against  the  enemy's  works  on 
.the  right,  near  the  deep  ravine.  For  this  purpose  three  hundred  and  fifty  men  were 

lost  one  or  two  hundred  men,  he  would  have  brought  over  a  re-enforcement  of  six  hundred,  which  would  have  enabled 
me  to  take  the  whole  British  force  on  this  side  of  the  river."  Harrison  did  not  then  know  that  Dudley  had  sacrificed 
the  greater  portion  of  his  little  army  and  his  own  life  in  the  humane  attempt  to  save  Combs  and  his  party  from  destruc 
tion.  Combs  afterward  called  General  Harrison's  attention  to  the  injustice  of  his  censure.  It  was  too  late ;  it  had 
passed  into  history,  and  has  been  perpetuated  by  the  pens  of  successive  chroniclers. 

William  Dudley  was  a  citizen  of  Fayette  County,  Kentucky,  at  that  time,  but  was  a  native  of  Spottsylvania  County, 
Virginia.  He  was  a  magistrate  in  Kentucky  formally  years,  and  was  highly  esteemed.  He  was  overtaken,  as  we  have 
observed  in  the  text,  by  the  Indians,  and  shot  in  the  body  and  thigh.  When  last  seen  he  was  sitting  on  a  stump  in  a 
swamp,  defending  himself  against  a  swarm  of  savages.  He  was  finally  killed,  and  his  body  was  dreadfully  mutilated. 
I  was  informed  by  Abraham  Miley,  of  Batavia,  Ohio,  who  was  in  Fort  Meigs  at  the  time  of  the  siege,  that  when  the  body 
of  Dudley  was  found  a  large  piece  had  been  cut  from  the  fleshy  part  of  his  thigh  by  the  savages,  which  they  doubt 
less  ate.  , 

1  See  picture  on  page  481,  and  note  2  on  the  same  page. 

2  Composed  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  Volunteers  (the  former,  except  a  small  company,  known  as  the  Pittsburg 
Slues,  and  the  latter  the  Petersburg  Volunteers),  a  company  of  the  Nineteenth  United  States  Regiment  under  Captain 
Waring,  and  Captain  Dudley's  company,  who  had  followed  Clay  into  the  fort.    The  Pittsburg  Blues  were  commanded  by 
Captain  James  Butler,  son  of  the  General  Butler  who  fell  at  St.  Clair's  defeat  in  1791.    See  pages  47  and  48.    The  Vir 
ginians  were  under  Captain  M'Crea. 


488 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Sortie  from  Port  Meigs. 


Proctor  disheartened. 


He  is  deserted  by  his  Fellow-savages. 


detailed,  and  placed  under  the  command  of  Colonel  John  Miller,1  of  the  regular  serv 
ice.  They  consisted  of  the  companies  of  United  States  troops  under  Captains  Lang- 
ham,  Croghan,  Bradford,  Nearing,2  Elliott,3  and  Gwynne,4  and  Lieutenant  Campbell ; 
Major  Alexander's5  volunteers,  and  a  company  of  Kentucky  militia  under  Captain  Se- 
bree.6  Miller  was  accompanied  by  Major  George  Todd,  of  the  Nineteenth  Infantry, 
and  led  his  command  with  the  greatest  bravery.  They  charged  with  the  fiercest  im 
petuosity  upon  the  motley  foe,  eight  hundred  and  fifty  strong,  drove  them  from  their 
batteries  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  spiked  their  guns,  and  scattered  them  in  confu 
sion  in  the  woods  beyond  the  ravine  toward  the  site  of  the  present  village»of  Perrys- 
burg.  The  enemy  fought  desperately,  and  Miller  lost  several  of  his  brave  men.  At 
one  moment  the  utter  destruction  of  Sebree's  company  seemed  inevitable.  They  were 
surrounded  by  four  times  their  number  of  Indians,  when  Gwynne,  of  the  Nineteenth, 
perceiving  their  peril,  rushed  to  their  rescue  with  a  part  of  Elliott's  company.  They 
were  saved.  The  object  of  the  sortie  was  accomplished,  and  the  victors  returned  to 
the  fort  with  forty-three  prisoners,  followed  by  the  enemy,  who  had  rallied  in  con 
siderable  force.1 

After  these  sorties  on  the  5th  the  siege  of  Fort  Meigs  was  virtually  abandoned  by 

Proctor.  The  result  of  that 
day's  fighting,  combined  with 
the  ill  success  of  all  preceding 
efforts  to  reduce  the  fort,  were 
so  disheartening  that  his  In 
dian  allies  deserted  him,  and 
the  Canadian  militia  turned 
their  faces  homeward.8  The 
splendid  Territory  of  Michi 
gan  had  been  promised  to  the 
Prophet  as  a  reward  for  his 
services  in  the  capture  of  Fort 
Meigs,  and  Tecumtha  was  to 
have  the  person  of  General 
Harrison,  whom  he  had  hated 
intensely  since  the  battle  of 
Tippecanoe  in  1811,  as  his  pe 
culiar  trophy.  These  prom- 


8LEGB   OF   FORT   MEIGS. 


1  Colonel  of  the  Nineteenth  Eegiment  of  Kegulars.    He  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  was  commissioned  colonel  on  the 
6th  of  July,  1812.    He  was  transferred  to  the  Seventeenth  Infantry  in  May,  1814.    In  1818  he  left  the  army.    He  was  gov 
ernor  of  Missouri  from  1828  to  1832,  and  a  representative  in  Congress  from  1837  to  1843.    He  died  at  Florisant,  Missouri, 
on  the  18th  of  March,  1846. 

2  Abel  Nearing  was  from  Connecticut.    He  survived  the  siege,  but  died  on  the  13th  of  September  following  from  the 
effects  of  fever. 

3  Captain  Elliott  was  a  nephew  of  the  notorious  Colonel  Elliott  in  the  British  service,  and  then  with  Proctor,  and  of 
Captain  Jesse  Elliott,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  on  Lake  Erie  at  that  time. 

*  David  Gwynne,  as  first  lieutenant  and  regimental  paymaster,  had  accompanied  Colonel  J.  B.  Campbell  against  the 
Mississinawa  Towns  (see  page  346).  He  was  made  captain  in  March,  1813.  In  August  he  was  made  brigade  major  to 
General  M'Arthur,  and  in  1814  was  raised  to  major  of  riflemen.  He  left  the  army  in  1816,  and  died  near  St.  Louis  in  1849. 

s  Major  Alexander  was  a  brave  officer.  He  commanded  a  rifle  company,  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  in  Campbell's  ex 
pedition  against  the  Mississinawa  towns  in  December,  1812. 

6  Uriel  Sebree  was  a  captain  in  Scott's  Kentucky  Volunteers  in  August,  1812,  and  was  with  Major  Madison  at  French- 
town,  under  Winchester.    He  was  a  gallant  officer. 

7  The  Americans  lost  in  this  sortie  28  killed  and  25  wounded.—  MS.  Report. 

8  "I  had  not  the  option  of  retaining  my  position  on  the  Miami.    Half  of  the  militia  had  left  us.  ...  Before  the  ord 
nance  could  be  withdrawn  from  the  batteries  I  was  left  with  Tecumtha  and  less  than  twenty  chiefs  and  warriors— a 
circumstance  which  strongly  proves  that,  under  present,  circumstances  at  least,  our  Indian  force  is  not  a  disposable  one,  or 
permanent,  though  occasionally  a  most  powerful  aid."— Proctor's  Dispatch  to  Governor  Prevost. 

In  his  dispatch  to  Sir  George  Prevost  from  Sandwich  on  the  14th  of  May  Proctor  fairly  acknowledged  himself  defeat 
ed,  and,  admitting  that  he  had  no  data  for  judging  how  many  the  Americans  had  lost  in  killed,  "  conceived"  the  num 
ber  to  have  been  between  a  thousand  and  twelve  hundred  ;  whereupon  Sir  George  deceived  the  Canadians  and  falsified 
history  by  asserting,  in  a  General  Order,  he  had  "  great  satisfaction  in  announcing  to  the  troops  the  brilliant  result  of 
an  action  which  took  place  on  the  banks  of  the  Miami  River,"  and  ""which  terminated  in  the  complete  defeat  of  the  ene 
my,  and  capture,  dispersion,  or  destruction  of  thirteen  hundred  men  !"  By  a  comparison  of  the  most  reliable  accounts 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


489 


Flight  of  the  British  and  Indians. 


Massacre  of  Prisoners  at  Fort  Miami. 


Tecumtha's  Rebuke  of  Pro<*or. 


ises  were  all  unfulfilled.  The  Indians  left  in  disgust,  and  probably  nothing  but  Te 
cumtha's  commission  and  pay  as  brigadier  in  the  British  army  secured  his  farther 
services  in  the  cause. 

Proctor's  eyes  saw  his  savage  allies  leaving  him  and  his  Canadian  militia  discon 
tented,  and  his  ears  heard  the  startling  intelligence  that  Fort  George,  on  the  Niagara 
frontier,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Americans,  and  that  re-enforcements  were  coming 
from  Ohio  for  the  little  army  at  Fort  Meigs.1  He  saw  nothing  before  him,  if  he  re 
mained,  but  the  capture  or  dispersion  of  his  troops,  and  he  resolved  to  flee.  With 
the  design  of  concealing  this  fact  that  he  might  move  off  with  safety,  he  again  sent 
Captain  Chambers  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  fort.  Harrison  regarded  the  ab 
surd  message  as  an  intended  insult,  and  requested  that  it  should  not  be  repeated.  It 
was  the  last  friendly  communication  between  the  belligerents.2 

Proctor  attempted  to  bear  away  from  his  batteries  his  unharmed  cannon,  but  a  few 
shots  from  Fort  Meigs  made  him  withdraw  speedily.  A  parting  response  in  kind 
from  one  of  his  gun-boats,  in  return,  slew  several,  among  them  Lieutenant  Robert 
Walker,  of  the  Pittsburg  ^  returned  to  Amherstburg 

with  the  remains  of  his  lit 
tle  army,  leaving  behind 
him  a  record  of  infamy  on 
the  shores  of  that  stream 
in  the  wilderness  equal  in 
blackness  to  that  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Raisin.4  Here, 
in  few  words,  is  the  record, 
attested  by  Captain  Wood, 

On  the  surrender  of  Dudley's  command  the  prisoners 
were  marched  down  to  Fort  Miami  with  an  escort,  and  there,  under  the  eye  of  Proc 
tor  and  his  officers,  the  Indians,  who  had  already  plundered  them  and  murdered  many 
on  the  way,6  were  allowed  to  shoot,  tomahawk,  and  scalp  more  than  twenty  of  them. 
This  butchery  was  stopped  by  Tecumtha,  who  proved  himself  to  be  more  humane 
than  his  British  ally  and  brother  officer,  Henry  Proctor.7 


Blues,  whose  grave  may  yet 
be  identified  within  the  re 
mains  of  the  fort  by  a  plain, 
rough  stone,  with  a  simple 
inscription,  that  stands  at 
its  head.3  This  was  the  last 
life  lost  in  the  siege.  In  the 
same  vessels  that  brought 
him  to  the  Maumee,  Proctor 
of  the  Engineers,  and  others.5 


REMAINS   OF    WALKER  S   MOXC.MENT. 


on  both  sides,  the  loss  of  the  Americans  during  the  siege  may  fairly,  it  seems,  be  put  down  at  about  80  killed,  270  wound 
ed,  and  470  prisoners.    The  British  loss  was  15  killed,  47  wounded,  and  44  made  prisoners. 

1  We  have  observed  (page  478)  that  Peter  Navarre  was  sent  from  Fort  Meigs  with  a  letter  to  the  Governor  of  Ohio. 
That  energetic  man  immediately  sent  messengers  in  all  directions  for  volunteers,  and  he  was  very  soon  on  his  way  to 
the  relief  of  the  beleaguered  garrison.    His  march  was  arrested  by  the  flight  of  the  besiegers. 

2  Harrison's  dispatches  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  May  9, 1813  ;  Proctor's  dispatch  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  May  14, 1813 ; 
M'Aiee's  History  of  the  Late  War;  Perkins's  and  Thomson's  Sketches,  etc. ;  Captain  Wood's  Narrative,  cited  by  M'Afee : 
Major  Richardson's  Narrative  ;  Auchinleck's  History  of  the  War  of  1812 ;  General  Clay's  Letter  to  General  Harrison,  May 
13,  1813 ;  Captain  Combs's  Letter  to  General  Clay,  May  5, 1815 ;  General  Harrison  to  Governor  Shelby,  May  18, 1813 ; 
Armstrong's  Notices  of  the  War  of  1812 ;  Onderdonk's  MS.  Life  of  Tecumseh;  Speech  of  Elentheros  Cook,  Esq.,  of  San- 
dnsky  City,  at  Fort  Meigs,  June  11, 1840;  Narratives  of  Rev.  A.  M.  Lorraine  and  Joseph  R.  Underwood,  eyewitnesses, 
quoted  by  Howe  ;  Hosmer's  Early  History  of  the  Maumee  Valley;  oral  statements  to  the  Author  by  Peter  Navarre. 

3  The  little  monument,  which  contained  only  the  words,  Lieutenant  Walker,  May  9, 1813,  had  been  greatly  mutilated, 
when  I  visited  the  spot  in  the  autumn  of  1800,  by  relic-seekers,  those  modern  iconoclasts  whose  business,  when  thus 
pursued,  is  simply  infamous.    The  remains  of  the  stone,  as  delineated  in  the  picture,  was  only  about  five  inches  above 
the  ground.    It  is  of  limestone,  and  was  wrought  by  a  stone-cutter  in  the  garrison  not  long  after  his  burial.    A  few  rods 
east  of  it  is  the  grave  of  Lieutenant  M'Culloch,  who  was  killed  during  the  summer  by  Indians  while  out  hunting. 

*  See  the  close  of  Chapter  XVII. 

5  In  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  page  533,  may  be  found  a  very  interesting  narrative  of  the  horrid  events  at 
Fort  Miami,  by  Joseph  R.  Underwood,  who  was  present.    It  is  more  circumstantial  than  the  letter  of  Captain  Combs 
to  General  Clay,  mentioned  below. 

6  Major  Richardson,  of  the  British  army,  who  wrote  an  account  of  events  under  Brock  and  Proctor  in  the  West,  says 
that  the  Indians  who  made  the  attack,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  guard,  were  some  who  had  taken  no  part  in  the  bat 
tle.    "An  old  and  excellent  soldier,"  he  says,  "of  the  name  01  Russell,  of  the  Forty-first,  was  shot  through  the  heart 
while  endeavoring  to  wrest  a  victim  from  the  grasp  of  his  assailant." 

3  Major  Richardson,  just  quoted,  says,  in  speaking  of  the  massacre :  "  More  than  forty  of  these  unhappy  men  had  fall 
en  beneath  the  steel  of  the  infuriated  party,  when  Tecumtha,  apprised  of  what  was  doing,  rode  up  at  full  speed,  and, 
raising  his  tomahawk,  threatened  to  destroy  the  first  man  who  resisted  his  injunction  to  desist. 

General  Leslie  Combs,  then,  as  we  have  seen,  a  captain  of  spies,  and  one  of  the  prisoners,  in  a  letter  to  General  Clay, 
already  alluded  to,  gave  a  very  particular  account  of  the  affair.  A  copy  of  that  letter,  furnished  by  General  Combs  in 
1861,  is  before  me.  He  says  that  the  prisoners,  on  their  march  toward  Fort  Meigs,  met  a  body  of  Indians,  who,  in  the 


490 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


A  'Wsit  to  the  Maumee  Valley. 


Interesting  traveling  Companions. 


Peter  Navarre. 


PETER  MAVAKUE. 


I  visited  the  theatre  of  events  just  de 
scribed,  on  the  24th  of  September,  1860, 
and  had  the  singular  good  fortune  to  be 
accompanied  by  L.  H.  Hosmer,  Esq.,  of  To 
ledo,  author  of  The  Early  History  of  the 
Maumee  Valley,  and  the  venerable  Peter 
Nav.arre  (a  Canadian  Frenchman),  General 
Harrison's  trusty  scout,  already  mention 
ed.1  Navarre  resided  about  twenty  miles 
from  Toledo,  and  had  come  into  the  city 
on  business  two  or  three  days  before.  Mr. 
Hosmer,  aware  of  my  intended  visit  at  that 
time,  had  kindly  detained  him  until  my  ar 
rival.  Only  two  days  before,  I  had  enjoyed 
a  long  conversation  at  the  "  West  House," 
in  Sandusky  City,  with  General  Leslie 
Combs,  who  had  just  visited  Fort  Meigs 
for  the  first  time ,  since  he  was  there  as  a 
soldier  and  prisoner,  in  1813.  That  visit 
had  recalled  the  incidents  of  the  campaign 
most  vividly  to  his  mind,  and  he  related  them  to  me  with  his  usual  enthusiasm  and 
perspicuity.  With  the  soldier's  description  in  my  memory,  and  the  historian  and 
scout  at  my  side,  I  visited  Fort  Meigs  and  its  historical  surroundings  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances. 

The  night  of  my  arrival  at  Toledo  had  been  a  tempestuous  one — wind,  lightning, 
rain,  and  a  sprinkle  of  hail.  The  following  morning  was  clear  and  cool,  with  a  blus 
tering  wind  from  the  southwest.  We  left  the  city  for  our  ride  up  the  Maumee  Val 
ley  at  nine  o'clock,  in  a  light  carriage  and  a  strong  team  of  horses.  Mr.  Hosmer  vol 
unteered  to  be  coachman.  Our  road  lay  on  the  right  side  of  the  river ;  and  when 
nearly  seven  miles  from  Toledo  we  came  to  the  site  of  Proctor's  encampment,  on  a 
level  plateau  a  short  distance  from  the  Maumee,  upon  land  owned,  when  we  visited 

presence  and  without  the  interference  of  General  Proctor,  Colonel  Elliott,  and  other  officers,  as  well  as  the  British 
guard,  commenced  robbing  the  captives  of  clothes,  money,  watches,  etc.  Combs  showed  his  wound  as  a  plea  for  con 
sideration,  but  without  effect.  He  too  was  stripped.  As  they  passed  on,  the  prisoners  saw  ten  or  twelve  dead  men, 
naked  and  scalped,  and  near  them  two  lines  of  Indians  were  formed  from  the  entrance  of  a  triangular  ditch  in  front  to 
the  old  gate  of  the  fort,  a  distance  of  forty  or  fifty  feet.  Between  these  the  prisoners  were  compelled  to  run  the  gaunt 
let,  and  in  that  race  many  were  killed  or  maimed  with  pistols,  war-clubs,  scalping-kuives,  and  tomahawks.  The  num 
ber  of  prisoners  thus  slaughtered,  without  Proctor's  attempt  at  interference,  was  estimated  at  a  number  nearly,  if  not 
quite  equal  to  those  slain  in  battle. 

When  the  surviving  prisoners  were  all  inside,  the  savages  raised  the  war-whoop  and  commenced  loading  their  guns. 
The  massacre  already  accomplished,  and  this  preparation  for  a  renewal  of  it,  were  made  known  to  Tecumtha,  who  has 
tened  to  the  fort  with  all  the  rapidity  of  his  horse's  speed,  and,  more  humane  than  his  white  ally,  instantly  interposed 
and  saved  the  lives  of  the  remainder.  Elliott  then  rode  in,  waved  his  sword,  and  the  savages  retired. 

Drake,  in  his  Life  of  Tecumtha,  says  that  the  warrior  authoritaively  demanded,  "Where  is  General  Proctor?"  Seeing 
him  near,  he  sternly  inquired  of  him  why  he  had  not  put  a  stop  to  the  massacre.  "Your  Indians  can  not  be  command 
ed,"  replied  Proctor,  who  trembled  with  fear  in  the  presence  of  the  enraged  chief.  "Begone  !"  retorted  Tecumtha,  in 
perfect  disdain.  "  You  are  unfit  to  command ;  go  and  put  on  petticoats !" 

The  half-naked  prisoners  were  taKen  in  a  cold  rain-storm  that  night,  in  open  boats,  to  the  mouth  of  Swan  Creek,  and 
thence  to  Maiden.  After  a  brief  confinement  there  they  were  sent  across  the  river,  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  Huron  were 
left  to  find  their  way  to  the  nearest  settlement  in  Ohio,  fifty  miles  distant. 

1  Peter  Navarre  was  a  grandson  of  Robert  Navarre,  a  French  officer  who  came  to  America  in  1745.  He  settled  at  De 
troit,  and  there  Peter  was  born  about  the  year  1790,  and,with  his  father  and  family,  settled  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee 
in  1807.  At  that  time  Kan-tiuk-ee-mm,  the  widow  of  Pontiac,  was  living  there  with  her  son,  Otussa.  She  was  very  old, 
and  was  held  in  great  reverence.  Navarre  was  at  the  Prophet's  Town,  on  the  Wabash,  with  a  French  trader,  when  Har 
rison  arrived  there  just  before  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  but  escaped.  He  joined  Hull's  army  at  the  Rapids,  was  with 
him  at  Detroit,  and,  after  the  surrender,  returned  to  the  Raisin  and  enlisted  in  Colonel  Anderson's  regiment.  He  was 
there  when  Brock  was  ordered  to  surrender  (see  page  201),  but  was  afterward  compelled  to  accompany  the  British  as  a 
guide  up  the  Maumee,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  he  deserted  and  fled  to  Winchester's  camp.  He  was  an  eyewitness  of 
the  massacre  at  the  River  Raisin.  After  that,  Navarre  and  his  brothers  were  employed  as  scouts,  and  performed  ex 
cellent  service.  He  is  a  stout-built  man,  of  dark  complexion,  and  is  now  [1807]  about  eighty  years  of  age.  He  speaks 
English  imperfectly,  as  the  Canadian  French  usually  do.  The  above  portrait  is  from  a  daguerreotype  taken  in  Toledo 
when  he  was  about  seventy  years  of  age,  and  kindly  presented  to  me  by  Mr.  Hosmer. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


491 


Remains  of  Port  Miami. 


Maumee  City  and  its  historical  Elm-tree. 


Presque  Isle  Hill. 


KUINS   OF   FORT   MIAMI. 


it,  by  Henry  W.  Horton.  Across  a  small  ravine,  a  few  rods  farther  southward,  were 
the  remains  of  old  Fort  Miami,  famous,  as  we  have  seen,  in  Wayne's  time,  as  one  of 
the  outposts  of  the  British, 
impudently  erected  in  the 
Indian  country  within  the 
acknowledged  territory  of 
the  United  States.1  It  was 
upon  the  land  of  Benjamin 
Starbird,  whose  dwelling 
was  just  beyond  the  south 
ern  side  of  the  fort.  It  was 
a  regular  w^ork,  and  covered 
about  two  acres  of  land.  The 
embankments  were  from  fif 
teen  to  twenty  feet  in  height. 
They  were  covered  with 
heavy  sward,  and  fine  hon 
ey-locust  and  hickory  trees 
were  growing  upon  them. 
These  were  in  full  leaf,  and 
the  grass  was  very  green, 
when  we  were  there.  From  the  northwest  angle  of  the  fort  I  made  the  accompany 
ing  sketch,  which  includes  the  general  appearance  of  the  mounds.  On  the  right  is 
seen  a  barn,  which  stands  within  the  triangular  outwork,  at  the  sally-port  mentioned 
by  Captain  Combs-  in  his  narrative,  substantially  given  in  Note  7,  page  489,  where  he 
was  compelled  to  run  the  gauntlet  for  his  life ;  and  on  the  left  a  glimpse  of  the  Mau 
mee.  All  about  the  old  fort  is  now  quiet.  For  more  than  fifty  years  peace  has  smiled 
upon  the  Maumee  Valley ;  and  Proctor  and  Tecumtha,  Elliott  and  The  Prophet,  and 
the  other  savages  of  the  war,  white  and  red,  are  almost  forgotten,  except  by  those 
families  who  suffered  from  their  cruelty. 

From  Fort  Miami  we  rode  up  to  Maumee  City,  opposite  Fort  Meigs,  a  pleasant  lit 
tle  village  of  about  two  thousand  inhabitants,  situated  at  the  head  of  river  naviga 
tion,  eight  miles  from  Toledo.  It  is  the  capital  of  Lucas  County,  Ohio,  and  was  laid 
out  in  1817  by  Major  William  Oliver  and  others,  within  a  reservation  of  twelve  miles 
square.  The  bank  of  the  river,  curving  gracefully  inward  here,  is  almost  one  hund 
red  feet  in  height.  Nearly  opposite  lies  the  little  village  of  Perry  sburg,  and  between 
them  is  a  fertile,  cultivated  island  of  two  hundred  acres,  with  smaller  islands  around 
it.  Directly  in  front  are  seen  the  mounds  of  Fort  Meigs  and  a  forest  back  of  them ; 
and  up  the  Maumee  are  the  considerable  islands  known  respectively  as  Hollister's  and 
Buttonwood,  or  Peninsula.  The  latter  view  is  delineated  in  the  sketch  on  the  next 
page,  taken  from  the  main  road  along  the  brow  of  the  river  bank  in  front  of  the 
village.  In  it  is  seen  the  magnificent  elm-tree  that  stood  near  the  old  "  Jefferson 
Tavern ;"  and  in  the  middle,  in  the  distance,  over  Hollister's  Island,  is  seen  Turkey 
Point,  memorable  in  connection  with  the  adventures  of  Combs  and  the  landing  of 
Boswell.  That  elm  is  famous.  We  have  observed  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
siege,  the  water  used  by  the  garrison  was  taken  from  the  riA^er  at  great  risk.  From 
the  thick  foliage  of  this  elm  several  bullets  from  rifles  in  the  hands  of  Indians  went 
on  death-errands  across  the  river  to  the  water-carriers.  These  were  returned  by 
Kentucky  riflemen,  and  tradition  says  that  not  less  than  six  savages  were  brought  to 
the  ground  out  of  that  tree  by  those  sharp-shooters. 

From  Maumee  City  we  rode  three  miles  up  to  Presque  Isle  Hill2  (the  scene  of 
Wayne's  operations),  wandered  over  the  battle-gnwnd  of  The  Fallen  Timber,3  and 


See  page  54. 


2  See  page  55. 


3  See  Map  on  page  55, 


492 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Remains  of  Fort  Meigs. 


The  Well. 


Political  Reminiscences. 


sketched  Turkey-Foot's  Rock,  given  on  page 
55.  We  then  returned  to  the  bridges  (com 
mon  carriage  and  railway  bridge),  and  crossed 
to  Fort  Meigs,  the  form  of  which  we  found  dis 
tinctly  marked  by  the  mounds  of  earth.  That 
of  the  Grand  Traverse1  was  from  four  to  six 
feet  in  height,  and  all  wrere  covered  with  green 
sward.  The  fort  originally  included  about 
ten  acres,  but  was  somewhat  reduced  in  size 
before  the  second  siege,  which  we  shall  no 
tice  presently.  The  places  of  the  block 
houses  were  visible,  and  the  situation  of  the 
well,  near  the  most  easterly  angle  of  tlje  fort, 
was  marked  by  a  shallow  pit,  and  a  log  in  an 
upright  position,  seven  or  eight  feet  in  height.2 


UP   THE  MAUMEE,  FEOM   MATJMEE   CITY. 

On  leaving  the  fort  we  strolled  along  the  ravine  on  its  right  and  rear  to  the  site  of 
the  British  battery  captured  by  Colonel  Miller.  There  yet  stood  the  primeval  for 
est-trees — the  very  woods  in  which  Tecumtha  and  his  Indians  were  concealed.  A 
little  brook  was  flowing  peacefully  through  the  shallow  glen,  and  the  high  wind  that 

1  See  Plan  of  Fort  Meigs  on  page  484. 

2  That  log  has  a  history.  In  1840,  General  Harrison,  then  living  at  North 
Bend,  on  the  Ohio,  was  nominated  for  President  of  the  United  States.  It 
was  said  that  the  hero  lived  ill  a  log  cabin,  was  very  hospitable,  and  was  ever 
ready  to  give  the  traveler  a  draught  of  hard  cider.  Politicians,  who  are  al 
ways  anxious  to  find  something  to  charm  the  popular  mind,  took  the  hint, 
and  when  the  partisans  of  the  general,  during  the  political  canvass  that  en 
sued,  held  large  meetings,  they  erected  a  log  cabin,  and  had  a  barrel  of  cider 
for  the  refreshment  of  all  comers.  In  a  short  time  there  were  log  cabins  in 
every  city  and  village  in  the  land.  The  partisans  of  the  general  made  a  cap 
ital  "  hit,"  and  he  was  elected  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  During  that 
canvass  a  mass  meeting  of  his  partisans  in  Northern  Ohio  was  appointed  to 
be  held  at  Fort  Meigs,  and,  on  the  day  previous  to  the  time  appointed  for  it, 
logs  were  taken  there  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  cabin.  On  that  night 
some  political  opponents  in  the  neighborhood  spoiled  the  logs  by  sawing 
them  in  two.  The  cabin-building  was  'abandoned.  One  of  the  logs  was 
placed  in  an  upright  position  in  the  nearly-filled  old  well,  a  large  hole  was 
bored  in  the  end,  a  small  pole  was  inserted,  and  upon  it  was  raised  a  banner 
before  the  eyes  of  the  assembled  multitude,*  having  on  it  a  rude  picture  of  a 
man  sawing  a  log,  and  the  words  "1.000  FOOO  ZEAL."  In  those  days  the  Dem 
ocratic  party  were  called  Loco  Focos,  the  origin  of  which  name  was  as  follows :  A  faction  of  the  Democratic  party  met 
to  organize  in  the  city  of  New  York,  when  some  opponents  suddenly  turned  off  the  gas.  This  trick  had  been  played  be 
fore,  and  they  were  prepared.  In  an  instant  loco  foco  matches  were  produced  from  their  pockets,  and  the  gas-lamps 
relighted.  From  that  time  they  were  called  the  Loco  Foco  Party,  and  it  became  the  general  name,  in  derision,  of  the 
whole  Democratic  party. 

*  This  meeting  was  held  on  the  llth  day  of  June.  It  was  estimated  that  forty  thousand  persons  were  present.  The 
orator  of  the  day  was  Elentheros  Cooke,  Esq.,  of  Sandusky  City.  The  Reverend  Mr.  Badeau,  the  clergyman  who  offi 
ciated,  was  the  chaplain  of  Harrison's  army,  and  in  the  fort  at  the  siege. 


WELL   AT   FOKT   MEIGS. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


493 


Visit  to  Fort  Meigs  and  its  Vicinity. 


Journey  back  to  Toledo. 


Adieu  to  the  Guide  and  Historian. 


made  the  great  trees  rock  was  scarcely  felt  in  the  quiet  nook.  There  we  three — his 
torian,  scout,  and  traveler — had  a  "  p*icnic"  on  food  brought  from  Toledo,  and  clear 
water  from  the  brook,  and  at  one  o'clock  we  departed  for  the  city,  passing  clown  the 
right  bank  of  the  Maumee.  Just  after  leaving  the  fort  we  rode  through  Perrysburg, 
a  pleasant  village  about  the  size  of  Maumee  City,  and  the  capital  of  Wood  County, 
Ohio.  It  was  laid  out  in  1816,  and  named  in  honor  of  the  gallant  victor  on  Lake 
Erie  three  years  before. 

When  we  arrived  at  the  ferry  station  opposite  Toledo,  the  boat  had  ceased  running 
because  of  low  water.  The  wind  had  been  blowing  stiffly  toward  the  lake  all  day, 
and  expelled  so  much  water  from  the  river  that  the  boat  grounded  in  attempting  to 
cross,  so  we  left  our  team  to  be  sent  for,  were  borne  over  in  a  skiff  at  the  moderate 
price  of  three  cents  apiece,  and  were  at  the  "  Oliver  House"  in  time  for  a  late  dinner, 
and  a  stroll  about  the  really  fine  little  city  of  Toledo1  before  sunset.  At  that  hour  I 
parted  company  with  Mr.  Navarre,  with  heartfelt  thanks  for  his  services,  for  he  had 
been  an  authentic  and  intelligent  guide  to  every  place  of  interest  at  and  around  Fort 
Meigs.  I  spent  a  portion  of  the  evening  with  General  John  E.  Hunt  (a  brother-in- 
law  of  General  Cass),  who  was  born  in  Fort  Wayne  in  1798.  His  father  was  an  offi 
cer  under  General  Wayne  at  the  capture  of  Stony  Point,  on  the  Hudson,  in  1779,  and 
composed  one  of  the  "  forlorn  hope"  on  that  occasion.  Although  General  Hunt  was 
only  a  boy  at  the  time,  he  was  attached  to  General  Hull's  military  family  during  the 
entire  campaign  which  ended  so  disastrously  at  Detroit  at  midsummer. 

At  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  I  bade  good-by  to  kind  Mr.  Hosmer,  and  went  up  the 
Maumee  Valley  by  railway  to  Defiance,  where  I  landed  at  midnight,  as  already  men 
tioned,2  in  a  chilling  fog. 

1  Toledo  is  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Maumee  River,  near  its  entrance  into  Maumee  Bay,  at  the  lake  terminus  of  the 
Wabash  and  Erie  Canal.  It  covers  the  site  of  Fort  Industry,  a  stockade  erected  there  about  the  year  1800,  near  what  is 
now  Summit  Street.  It  stretches  along  the  river  for  nearly  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  the  business  was  originally  concen 
trated  at  two  points,  which  were  two  distinct  settlements,  known  respectively  as  Port  Lawrence  and  Vistula.  Toledo 
was  incorporated  as  a  city  in  1836,  and  has  now  [186T]  almost  twenty  thousand  inhabitants.  Little  more  than  thirty 
years  ago  Ohio  and  Michigan  disputed  firmly  for  the  possession  of  Toledo — a  prize  worth  contending  for,  for  it  is  a  poit 
of  great  importance.  They  armed,  and  an  inter-state  war  seemed  inevitable  for  a  while.  It  was  finally  settled  by  Con 
gress,  and  Toledo  is  within  the  boundaries  of  Ohio.  For  a  full  account  of  this  "  war,"  see  Howe's  Historical  Collections 
of  Ohio,  and  Major  Stickney's  narrative  in  Hosmer's  Early  History  of  the  Maumee  Valley.  2  See  page  332. 


494  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Harrison's  Provision  for  the  frontier  Defence.    At  his  Head-quarters  in  Ohio.    Colonel  Johnson's  proposed  Campaign. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

"Sound,  oh  sound  Columbia's  shell ! 
High  the  thundering  psean  raise ! 
Let  the  echoing  bugle's  swell, 

Loudly  answering,  sound  his  praise  ! 
'Tis  Sandusky's  warlike  boy, 

Crowned  with  Victory's  trophies,  comes  ! 
High  arise,  ye  shouts  of  joy, 
Sound  the  loud  triumphant  sound, 

And  beat  the  drums."  C.  L.  S.  JONES. 

S  soon  as  General  Harrison  was  certain  that  Proctor  had  abandoned 
the  attempt  to  gain  possession  of  the  Maumee  Valley  and  had  re 
turned  to  Maiden,  he  placed  the  command  of  the  troops  at  Fort 
Meigs  in  charge  of  the  competent  General  Clay,  and  started  for 
Lower  Sandusky  and  the  interior,  to  make  provision  for  the  de 
fense  of  the  Erie  frontier  against  the  exasperated  foe.  He  left  the 
fort  under  an  escort  of  cavalry  commanded  by  Major  Ball,  whose 
horses  had  been  sheltered  by  the  traverses  during  the  sie«-e.  He 

•/  O  O 

arrived  at  Lower  Sandusky  on  the  12th  of  May,  where  he  met 
Governor  Meigs  with  a  large  body  of  Ohio  volunteers  pressing 
forward  to  his  relief.  Believing  that  their  services  would  not  be  needed  immediate 
ly,  he  thanked  them  cordially  for  their  promptness  and  zeal,  and  directed  them  to  be 
disbanded.  He  then  hastened  toward  Cleveland,  and  ordered  the  country  along  the 
shores  of  Lake  Erie,  from  the  Maumee  to  the  Cuyahoga,  to  be  thoroughly  reconnoi 
tred.  Having  thus  provided  for  the  immediate  safety  of  the  frontier  settlements,  he 
took  up  his  quarters  again  at  Franklinton,  and  inaugurated  measures  for  meeting  the 
future  exigencies  of  the  service  in  that  region  by  the  establishment  of  military  posts 
not  far  from  the  lake,  one  of  the  most  important  of  which  was  at  Lower  Sandusky. 
The  general  was  delighted  with  the  evidences  of  spirit,  courage,  and  patriotism  that 
appeared  on  every  side.  The  Ohio  settlements  were  alive  with  enthusiasm.  The 
advance  of  Proctor  had  spread  general  alarm  throughout  the  state,  and  hundreds, 
discerning  the  peril  that  menaced  their  homes,  had  hastened  to  the  field  at  the  call 
of  the  patriotic  Governor  Meigs.  These  revelations  of  strength  and  will  assured 
Harrison  that  when  he  should  call  for  aid,  the  sons  of  Ohio  would  immediately  ap 
pear  in  power. 

While  these  events  were  occurring  in  the  extreme  Northwest,  the  naval  prepara 
tions  were  going  on  vigorously  at  Presque  Isle  (Erie),  and  another  and  efficient  arm 
of  the  service  had  been  created,  or  rather  materially  strengthened.  Richard  M.  John 
son,  a  representative  of  Kentucky  in  Congress,  who  had  been  with  Harrison  the  pre 
vious  autumn,  had  proposed  to  the  Secretary  of  "War  the  raising  of  a  regiment  of 
mounted  men  in  his  state,  to  traverse  the  Indian  country  from  Fort  Wayne  along  the 
upper  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  round  by  the  Illinois  River,  and  back  to  the  Ohio  near 
Louisville.  The  secretary  approved  the  plan,  and  early  in  January*  laid  it 
before  Harrison.  The  general  pei'ceived  its  litter  impracticability  in  winter. 
Campbell's  expedition  to  the  Mississiniwa  Towns1  had  taught  him  that.  "  Such  an 
expedition  in  the  summer  and  fall,"  he  said,  "  would  be  highly  advantageous,  because 
the  Indians  are  then  at  their  towns,  and  their  corn  can  be  destroyed.  An  attack  upon 

1  See  page  347. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  495 


Johnson's  Mounted  Kentuckians.  Dissatisfaction  of  the  Volunteers.  Proctor  and  the  Indians. 

a  particular  town  in  the  winter,  when  the  inhabitants  are  at  it,  as  we  know  they  are 
at  Mississiniwa,  and  which  is  so  near  as  to  enable  the  detachment  to  reach  it  with 
out  killing  their  horses,  is  not  only  practicable,  but,  if  the  snow  is  on  the  ground,  is 
perhaps  the  most  favorable.  But  the  expedition  is  impracticable  to  the  extent  pro 
posed."1 

The  projected  incursion  was  abandoned,  but  Johnson  was  authorized*    .  February  20, 
to  raise  a  full  regiment  of  mounted  men  in  Kentucky,  to  serve  under  Gen-         lsl3- 
oral  Harrison.     As  soon  as  Congress  adjourned,  he  hastened  homeward  and  entered 
zealously  upon  the  business  of  recruiting.    He  published  his  authority  with  a  stirring 
address.b     The  regiment  was  soon  raised :  and  toward  the  close  of  May, 

.  b  March  2° 

Johnson  was  at  the  head  of  several  companies,  on  their  way  to  the  appoint 
ed  general  rendezvous  at  Newport,  opposite  Cincinnati,  when  a  note  from  one  of 
General  Harrison's  aids  was  handed  to  him.  It  had  already  been  read  to  the  com 
manders  of  the  advanced  companies,  and  produced  the  greatest  dissatisfaction  among 
the  troops.  After  thanking  all  patriotic  citizens  who  had  taken  up  arms  in  defense 
of  the  country  in  general  terjns,  the  note  assured  them  that  as  the  enemy  had  "  fled 
with  precipitancy  from  Camp  Meigs,"  there  was  no  "present  necessity  for  their  longer 
continuance  in  the  field."  Disappointment,  chagrin,  anger,  and  depression  took  the 
place  of  patriotic  zeal  for  a  moment ;  but  Johnson  soon  allayed  these  feelings.  He- 
did  not  choose  to  regard  the  note  as  an  order  for  disbanding  his  troops,  and  he  pressed 
forward  to  Newport.  There  he  met  General  Harrison,  when  arrangements  were  made 
for  the  regiment  to  enter  the  United  States  service,  to  traverse  a  portion  of  the  Indian 
country  according  to  Johnson's  original  plan,  and  to  rendezvous  at  Fort  Winchester 
on  the  1 8th  of  June.  It  was  believed  that  the  fleet  on  Lake  Erie,  designed  to  co-op 
erate  with  the  army,  would  be  ready  at  that  time  for  a  movement  against  Maiden 
and  Detroit.  The  regiment  arrived  at  Dayton  on  the  28th  of  May,  and  there  the  final 
organization  was  completed.2  Under  the  brave  Johnson  that  regiment  performed  im 
portant  service.3 

Proctor  appears  to  have  been  disheartened,  for  the  moment,  by  his  failure  before 
Fort  Meigs,  and  on  his  return  to  Maiden  he  disbanded  the  Canadian  militia,  and  can 
toned  the  Indians  at  different  places  in  the  neighborhood.  Some  of  them  were  em 
ployed  as  scouts,  others  hunted,  but  the  most  of  them  lived  upon  rations  furnished 
by  the  British  commissariat.  Meanwhile  British  emissaries,  white  and  red,  were  busy 
among  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest,  stirring  them  up  to  make  war  on  the  Americans. 
A  Scotchman  and  Indian  trader,  named  Dickson,  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  of  these 
agents.  He  was  sent,  before  Proctor  moved  for  the  invasion  of  the  Maumee  Valley, 

•     '  General  Harrison's  Letter  to  the  War  Department,  January  4, 1813. 

3  Eichard  M.  Johnson  was  appointed  Colonel;  James  Johnson,  Lieutenant  Colonel;  Dnval  Payne  and  David  Thomp 
son,  Majors;  R.  B.  M'Afee  (the  author  of  a  History  of  the  War  in  the  West,  already  quoted  frequently),  Richard  Mat  son, 
Jacob  Elliston,  Benjamin  Wartield,  John  Payne,  Elijah  Craig,  Jacob  Stucker,  James  Davidson,  S.  R.  Combs,  W.  M. 
Price,  and  James  Coleman,  Captains;  Jeremiah  Kertly,  Adjutant;  B.  S.  Chambers,  Quarter-master;  Samuel  Theobalds, 
Judge  Advocate;  L.  Dickinson,  Sergeant-major ;  James  Suggett,  Chaplain  and  Major  of  the  Spies;  L.  Sandford,  Quarter 
master  general;  Doctors  Ewing,  Coburn,  and  Richardson,  Surgeons. 

3  Richard  Mentor  Johnson  was  born  at  Bryant's  Station,  five  miles  northeast  of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  on  the  17th  of 
October,  1781.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  years  he  acquired 
the  rudiments  of  the  Latin  language,  and  then  entered 
Transylvania  University  as  a  student.  His  mental  and 
physical  energies  were  remarkable.  He  chose  the  law 
for  a  profession,  and  he  soon  took  a  conspicuous  place 
in  that  avocation.  During  the  excitement  in  the  South- 
west  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  when 
hostilities  between  the  Spaniards  at  New  Orleans  and 
the  settlers  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  seemed  imminent, 
young  Johnson  took  an  active  part,  and  volunteered,  with  others,  to  make  an  armed  descent  on  New  Orleans.  Before 
he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  Kentucky  Legislature,  where  he  served  two  years.  He 
was  elected  to  Congress  in  1807,  and  took  his  seat  when  he  was  just  twenty-five  years  of  age.  He  took  a  prominent  pos> 
tion  from  the  beginning.  He  held  that  seat  by  continued  re-election  until  1819.  In  the  debates  in  Congress  and  move 
ments  in  the  field  he  was  very  active  during  the  Second  War  for  Independence.  These  will  find  proper  notice  in  the 
text. 

When,  in  1S19,  Colonel  Johnson  retired  from  Congress,  he  was  immediately  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  Kentucky  Legislature. 
He  was  chosen  a  representative  of  his  state  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  where  he  served  his  country  faithfully 


496 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Dickson  and  his  Savages. 


Tecumtha  restive  in  Inaction. 


Fort  Melgs  to  be  again  attacked. 


1813. 


to  visit  all  the  tribes  for  that  purpose  on  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  from 
Prairie  du  Chien  to  Green  Bay,  making  desolated  Chicago  the  grand  rendezvous  for 
his  savage  recruits.  There  he  had  collected  more  than  one  thousand  of  them  early 
in  June.a  He  marched  them  across  Michigan  to  Detroit,  and  barely  missed 
falling  in  with  Colonel  Johnson  and  his  mounted  men  at  White  Pigeon's  Town 
on  the  way.1  His  influence  had  been  such  that  the  Indians  were  incited  to  many 
acts  of  violence  in  the  Territories  of  Illinois  and  Missouri.  They  were  even  so  bold 
as  to  invest  Fort  Madison,  and  at  one  time  it  was  apprehended  that  the  powerful 
Osage  nation  Avould  rise  in  open  war  against  the  Western  frontier.  But  that  calam 
ity  was  arrested  by  prompt  measures  in  Illinois  and  Missouri. 

Tecumtha  had  not  ceased,  since  their  return  to  Maiden,  to  urge  Proctor  to  renew 
the  attempt  to  take  Fort  Meigs.  Proctor  was  reluctant ;  but,  toward  the  close  of 
June,  he  consented,  and  an  expedition  was  organized  for  the  purpose.  At  about  that 
time,  a  Frenchman,  taken  prisoner  on  the  field  of  Dudley's  defeat,  and  kept  at  Mai 
den  ever  since,  escaped.  As  the  enemy  suspected,  he  fled  to  Fort  Meigs,  and  inform 
ed  General  Clay  of  the  preparations  to  attack  him.  Clay  immediately  communicated 
the  fact  to  Harrison  at  Franklinton,  and  Governor  Meigs  at  Chillicothe.  It  was  ru 
mored  that  the  expected  invading  force  was  composed  of  nearly  four  thousand  In 
dians  and  some  regulars  from  the  Niagara  frontier.  The  vigilant  Harrison  was 
quickly  in  the  saddle.  He  did  not  believe  Fort  Meigs  to  be  the  object  of  attack,  but 
the  weaker  posts  of  Lower  Sandusky,  Cleveland,  or  Erie.  He  ordered  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Regiment  of  United  States  Infantry,  under  Colonel  Anderson,  then  at  Upper 
Sandusky,  to  proceed  immediately  to  Lower  Sandusky.  Major  Croghan,  with  a  part 
of  the  Seventeenth,  was  ordered  to  the  same  post,  and  also  Colonel  Ball  with  his 
squadron  of  cavalry.2  Harrison  followed,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  26th  he  over- 


ten  years.  Then  [1820]  he  again 
took  a  seat  in  the  Lower  House, 
and  held  that  position  until  ISiiT, 
when,  having  been  elected  Vice- 
president  of  the  United  States, 
he  took  his  place  as  President 
of  the  Senate.  At  the  end  of  his 
official  term  he  retired  from  pub 
lic  life,  and  passed  the  remain 
der  of  his  days  on  his  farm  in 
Scott  County,  Kentucky,  except 
ing  a  brief  period,  when  he  was 
again  in  the  Legislature  of  that 
state.  While  engaged  in  that 
service  at  Frankfort,  he  was 
prostrated  by  paralysis,  and  ex 
pired  on  the  15th  of  November, 
1850.  In  the  cemetery  near 
Frankfort,  Kentucky,  is  a  splen 
did  monument  erected  to  the 
memory  of  soldiers  of  the  Com 
monwealth  who  had  fallen  in 
battle.  Within  its  inclosure  is 
a  beautiful  monument,  made  of 
slightly  clouded  Italian  marble, 
to  the  memory  of  Colonel  John 
son,  bearing  the  following  in 
scriptions:  on  one  side  of  the 
pedestal,  "  RIOUARU  MENTOR 
JOHNSON,  born  at  Bryant's  Sta 
tion,  Kentucky,  on  the  17th  day 
of  October,  1781 ;  died  in  Frank 
fort,  Kentucky,  on  the  15th  of 


JOHNSON'S  MONUMENT. 


November,  1850."  On  the  oppo 
site  side:  "To  the  memory  of 
Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson,  a 
faithful  public  servant  for  near 
ly  half  a  century,  as  a  member 
of  the  Kentucky  Legislature, 
and  Representative  and  Senator 
in  Congress  ;  author  of  the  Sun 
day  Mail  Report,  and  of  the  laws 
for  abolishing  imprisonment  for 
debt  in  Kentucky  and  in  the 
United  States.  Distinguished  by 
his  valor  as  colonel  of  a  Ken 
tucky  regiment  at  the  battle 
of  the  Thames.  For  four  years 
Vice-president  of  the  United 
States.  Kentucky,  his  native 
state,  to  mark  her  sense  of  his 
eminent  services  in  the  cabinet 
and  in  the  field,  has  erected  this 
monument  in  the  resting-place 
of  her  illustrious  dead." 

On  the  northeast  side  of  the 
pedestal  is  a  bust  of  Johnson  in 
low  relief;  and  on  the  southwest 
side  an  historical  group,  in  the 
same  style,  in  which  he  is  repre 
sented  as  shooting  Tecumtha  at 
the  battle  of  the  Thames.  Some 
remarks  on  that  subject  will  be 
found  in  our  account  of  that  bat 
tle. 

1  Dickson's  recruits  are  repre- 
The  principal  chief  among  them  was  Ma- 
"It  is  remarkable,"  says  M'Afee, 


sented  by  eyewitnesses  as  being  the  most  savage  and  cruel  in  their  nature. 
i-pock,  whose  girdle  was  covered  with  human  scalps  as  trophies  of  his  prowess, 
"that  after  the  savages  joined  the  British  standard  to  combat  for  'the  Defenders  of  the  Faith,'  victory  never  again  de 
clared  for  the  allies  in  the  Northwest.    For  the  cruelties  they  had  already  committed,  and  those  which  were  threat 
ened  by  this  inhuman  association,  a  just  God  frowned  indignant  on  all  their  subsequent  operations." — History  of  the, 
Latf,  War,  page  208. 
'  General  Harrison  had  just  held  an  important  council  with  the  Shawnoese,  Delaware,  Wyandot,  and  Seneca  Indians 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  497 

Johnson's  Reconnoissance  to  the  Raisin.  At  Fort  Stephenson.  Departure  for  the  Wilderness,  and  Recall. 

took  Colonel  Anderson.  Scouts  had  reported  the  appearance  of  numerous  Indians 
on  the  Lower  Maumee,  and  the  general  selected  three  hundred  men  to  make  a  forced 
march  to  Fort  Meigs.  He  arrived  there  himself  on  the  28th,  and  then  ordered  Col 
onel  Johnson,  who  had  come  down  from  Fort  Winchester  with  his  seven  hundred 
men  after  forty  days  of  hard  service  in  traversing  the  Wilderness,  to  make  a  recon- 
noissance  toward  the  Raisin  to  procure  intelligence.  Obedience  followed  command. 
The  movement  was  successful.  Johnson  ascertained  that  there  was  no  immediate 
danger  of  an  invasion  from  Maiden  in  force.  Satisfied  of  this,  Harrison  left  Fort 
Meigs  on  the  1st  of  July,  escorted  by  seventy  mounted  men  under  Captain  M'Afee 
as  far  as  Lower  Sandusky.  From  there  he  went  to  Cleveland,  escorted  by  Colonel 
Ball,  to  make  farther  defensive  provisions.  There  he  left  Ball  and  his  cavalry  in 
charge,  and  returned  to  his  head-quarters  after  ordering  Colonel  Johnson,  with  his 
mounted  men,  to  take  post  at  the  Huron  River.  That  efficient  officer  again  prompt 
ly  obeyed.  He  arrived  at  Lower  Sandusky  on  the  4th  of  July.  Flags  were  flying, 
and  music  filled  the  air.  The  garrison  of  Fort  Stephenson,1  under  Major  Croghan, 
were  about  to  celebrate  the  day  with  appropriate  ceremonies,  and,  at  their  request, 
Colonel  Johnson  delivered  a  patriotic  oration.  Toasts  were  given,  and  good  cheer 
abounded.  But  duty  called  from  pleasure,  and  the  mounted  men  resumed  their  sad 
dles  to  press  onward  to  the  Huron.  An  order  from  the  War  Department  arrested 
them.  Johnson  was  dii-ected  to  turn  back,  and  hasten  to  the  defense  of  the  Illinois 
and  Missouri  Territories,  then,  in  the  opinion  of  the  authorities  there,  seriously  men 
aced  by  Dickson  and  his  savage  folloAvers.  He  was  disappointed  and  mortified ;  but, 
after  writing  to  Harrison  expressing  his  strong  desire  to  remain  in  the  army  destined 
for  Detroit  and  Maiden,  he  turned  his  horse's  head  again  toward  the  Wilderness. 
The  commander-in-chief  urged  the  Department  to  comply  with  Johnson's  wishes,  as 
suring  the  Secretary  that  Dickson's  savages  were  on  the  Detroit.  The  order  was 
countermanded,  and,  when  far  on  his  way  toward  the  Mississippi  as  an  obedient  sol 
dier,  Johnson  was  recalled.  It  was  well  for  the  country  that  he  was  left  to  serve 
under  the  direct  command  of  General  Harrison  at  that  time. 

Late  in  July  the  British  had  collected  on  the  banks  of  the  Detroit  nearly  all  of  the 
warriors  of  the  Northwest,  full  twenty-five  hundred  in  number.  These,  with  Proc 
tor's  motley  force  already  there,  made  an  army  of  about  five  thousand  men.  Early 
in  the  month  bands  of  Indians  began  to  appear  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Meigs,  killing 
and  plundering  whenever  opportunity  offered.  Tecumtha,  meamvhile,  had  become 

at  his  head-quarters  at  Franklinton.  Circumstances  had  made  him  suspect  their  fidelity  to  their  promises  of  strict  neu 
trality.  It  was  a  crisis  when  all  should  be  made  plain.  He  required  them  to  take  a  decided  stand  for  or  against  the 
Americans ;  to  remove  their  families  into  the  interior,  or  the  warriors  must  accompany  him  in  the  ensuing  campaign,  and 
fight  for  the  United  States.  The  venerable  Ta-he,  who  was  the  acknowledged  representative  of  them  all,  assured  the 
general  of  their  unflinching  friendship,  and  that  the  chiefs  and  warriors  were  anxious  to  take  part  in  the  campaign.  He 
accepted  their  assurances  as  true,  and  told  them  he  would  let  them  know  when  he  wanted  them.  "  But,"  he  said,  "  you 
must  conform  to  our  mode  of  warfare.  You  are  not  to  kill  defenseless  prisoners,  old  men,  women,  or  children.  By  your 
good  conduct  I  shall  be  able  to  tell  whether  the  British  can  restrain  their  Indians  if  they  wish  to  do  so."  He  then  told 
them  that  he  had  heard  of  Proctor's  promise  to  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  Tecumtha.  "Now,"  he  said,  jocularly, 
"if  I  can  succeed  in  taking  Proctor,  you  shall  have  him  for  your  prisoner,  provided  you  will  treat  him  as  a  squaw,  and 
only  put  petticoats  upon  him,  for  he  must  be  a  coward  who  would  kill  a  defenseless  prisoner." 

1  Fort  Stephenson  was  erected  in  the  summer  of  1S12.  Lower  Sandusky  (now  the  village  of  Fremont)  was  a  mere 
trading-post,  the  only  buildings  being  a  government  store  and  a  Roman  Catholic  mission-house  in  charge  of  two  priests. 
Thomas  Butler,  who  had  been  in  Wayne's  army,  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  selecting  the  site  and  superintending  the 
construction  of  a  stockade  at  that  place.  He  drew  the  lines  of  the  fort  around  the  store-house,  about  one  hundred 
yards  in  one  direction,  and  about  fifty  yards  in  the  other.  The  men  employed  in  the  work  were  a  company  under  Cap 
tain  Norton,  of  Connecticut,  who  were  ordered  to  Lower  Sandusky  by  Governor  Meigs  for  the  purpose.  Sergeant  Eras- 
tus  Bowe,  of  Tiffin,  Ohio,  one  of  the  three  known  survivors  of  the  detachment  ill  1860,  was  the  first  to  break  ground, 
saying,  "  Captain,  I  don't  think  there  will  be  much  fighting  here,  but  I  believe  I  will  make  a  hole  here."  His  remark 
was  caused  by  the  general  belief  that  the  British  would  never  be  able  to  penetrate  so  far.  The  pickets  for  the  fort 
were  cut  near  the  present  railway  station,  and  in  the  course  of  twenty-five  days  they  were  all  set.  A  block-house  was 
constructed  on  the  northeast  corner,  and  another  in  the  middle  of  the  north  side  of  the  fort.  Croghan  strengthened  the 
fort  in  the  summer  of  1813  by  the  erection  of  two  more  block-houses,  one  of  which  was  built  against  the  middle  block 
house  on  the  north  side,  and  the  other  on  the  southwest  corner.  He  also  constructed  an  embankment  and  ditch,  and  in 
the  block-house  on  the  northeast  angle  placed  his  six-pounder. — Statement  of  Erastus  Bowe  in  the  "Sandusky  Demo 
crat,"  July  27, 18CO.  The  other  two  known  survivors  of  the  constructors  of  the  fort  at  that  time  were  Samuel  Scribner, 
of  Marion,  and  Ira  Carpenter,  of  Delaware,  Ohio. 

-  Ti 


498  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Tecumtha's  Plan  for  Capturing  Fort  Meigs.  Vigilance  of  the  Americans.  The  Attempt  a  Failure. 

very  restive  under  the  restraints  of  inaction,  especially  when  he  saw  so  large  a  body 
of  his  countrymen  ready  for  the  war-path,  and  he  at  last  demanded  that  another  at 
tempt  should  be  made  to  capture  Fort  Meigs.  He  submitted  to  Proctor  an  ingenious 
plan  by  which  to  take  the  garrison  by  stratagem  and  surprise.  He  proposed  to  land 
the  Indians  several  miles  below  the  fort,  march  through  the  woods,  unobserved  by 
the  garrison,  to  the  road  leading  from  the  Maumee  to  Lower  Sandusky  in  the  rear, 
and  there  engage  in  a  sham-fight.  This  would  give  Clay  an  idea  that  some  approach 
ing  re-enforcements  had  been  attacked,  and  he  would  immediately  sally  out  with  the 
garrison  to  their  aid.  The  Indians  would  form  an  ambuscade,  rise,  and  attack  the 
unsuspecting  Americans  in  their  rear,  cut  off  their  retreat,  and,  rushing  to  the  fort, 
gain  an  entrance  before  the  gates  could  be  closed.1  Proctor  accepted  the  plan  and 
arranged  for  the  expedition,  but  the  vigilance  and  firmness  of  General  Clay  defeated 
the  well-devised  scheme  and  saved  the  fort. 

On  the  20th  of  July  Proctor  and  Tecumtha  appeared  with  their  combined  forces, 
.about  five  thousand  strong,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee.2  General  Clay  immediately 
dispatched  a  messenger  to  Harrison,  at  Lower  Sandusky,  with  the  information.  The 
commander-in-chief,  doubtful  what  post  the  enemy  intended  to  attack,  sent  the  mes 
senger  (Captain  M'Cune)  back  with  an  assurance  for  General  Clay  that  he  should 
have  re-enforcements  if  needed,  and  a  warning  to  beware  of  a  surprise.  He  then  re 
moved  his  head-quarters  to  Seneca  Town,3  nine  miles  farther  up  the  Sandusky  River, 
from  which  point  he  might  co-operate  with  Fort  Meigs  or  Fort  Stephenson,  as  cir 
cumstances  should  require.  There,  with  one  hundred  and  forty  regulars,  he  com 
menced  fortifying  his  camp,  and  was  speedily  joined  by  four  hundred  and  fifty  more 
United  States  troops  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Paul,4  of  the  infantry,  and  Ball,  of 
the  dragoons;  also  by  M* Arthur  and  Cass,  of  Ohio,  who  had  each  been  promoted  to 
brigadier,  general.  Colonel  Theodore  Deye  Owings  was  also  approaching  with  five 
hundred  regulars  from  Fort'Massac,  on  the  Ohio  River. 

Tecumtha  attempted  ,to  execute  his  strategic  plan.  On  the  afternoon  of  the 
"July,  25th,a  while  the  British  were  concealed  in  the  ravine  already  described,  just 
1813-  below  Fort  Meigs,  the  Indians  took  their  prescribed  station  on  the  Sandusky 
road,  and  at  sunset  commenced  their  sham-fight.  It  was  so  spirited,  and  the  yells 
of  the  savages  were  so  powerful,  that  the  garrison  had  no  doubt  that  the  command 
er-in-chief,  with  re-enforcements,  had  been  attacked.  They  were  exceedingly  anxious 
to  go  out  to  their  aid.  Fortunately,  General  Clay  was  better  informed.  Captain 
M'Cune  had  just  returned  from  a  second  errand  to  General  Harrison,- after  many  hair 
breadth  escapes  in  penetrating  the  lines  of  the  Indians  swarming  in  the  woods.  Al 
though  Clay  could  not  account  for  the  firing,  yet  he  was  so  certain  that  no  Americans 
were  engaged  in  the  contest,  whatever  it  might  be,  that  he  remained  firm,  even  when 
officers  of  high  rank  demanded  permission  to  lead  their  men  to  the  succor  of  their 
friends,  and  the  troops  were  almost  mutinous  because  of  the  restraint.  Clay's  firm 
ness  saved  them  from  utter  destruction.  A  heavy  shower  of  rain,  and  a  few  cannon- 

1  Statement  of  Major  Richardson,  of  the  British  army. 

2  Proctor  commanded  the  white  troops  in  person.    Dixou,  of  the  Royal  Artillery,  commanded  the  Mackinaw  and  oth 
er  Northern  tribes  ;  Tecumtha  those  of  the  Wabash,  Illinois,  and  St.  Joseph ;  and  Round-Head  (see  page  291)  those  of 
the  Chippewas,  Ottawas,  and  Pottawatomies  of  Michigan.— Harrison's  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  Seneca  Town, 
August  4, 1813. 

3  The  Indians  who  occupied  this  region  were  called  "the  Senecas  of  Sandnsky"— why  does  not  appear,  for  they  were 
composed  of  Cayugas  chiefly,  with  a  few  Oneidas,  Mohawks,  Ouondagas,  Tuscaroras,  and  Wyandots.    They  numbered 
about  four  hundred  souls  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  were  the  remnant  of  the  tribe  of  Logan,  the  chief  immortalized 
by  Mr.  Jefferson.    In  1817  and  ISIS  forty  thousand  acres  of  land  lying  on  the  east  side  of  the  Sandusky  River  were 
granted  to  them.   In  1S31  they  ceded  their  lands  to  the  United  States,  and  went  west  of  the  Mississippi.    Seneca  County, 
of  which  Tiffin  is  the  county  seat,  derived  its  name  from  these  so-called  Seneca  Indians.    The  fortified  camp  of  Harri 
son  assumed  the  form  of  a  regular  work  known  as  Fort  Seneca,  having  a  stockade  and  ditch,  and  occupied  several  acres 
of  a  plain  on  the  bank  of  the  Sandusky.    Slight  remains  of  the  work  were  yet  visible  in  1800. 

4  George  Paul  was  a  major  of  Pennsylvania  militia  under  General  Harrison.    He  afterward  resided  in  Ohio,  and  en 
tered  the  service  again  early  in  the  war.    He  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  colonel  in  April,  1S13,  and  colonel  at  the 
close  of  June'following.    He  resigned  in  October,  1814. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


499 


Fort  Stephenson  to  be  attacked. 


Major  Croghan's  Instructions. 


A  Council  of  War. 


shot  hurled  from  the  fort  in  the  direction  of  the  supposed  fight,  put  an  end  to  the 
firing,  and  that  night  was  as  quiet  at  Fort  Meigs  as  in  a  time  of  peace.  The  strategy 
of  Tecumtha  had  failed,  to  the  great  mortification  of  the  enemy.  Ignorant  of  the 
strength  of  the  fort  and  garrison,1  they  did  not  attempt  an  assault.  After  lingering 
around  their  coveted  prize  about  thirty  hours,  the  besiegers  withdrewa  to  «juiy27, 
Proctor's  old  encampment,  near  Fort  Miami,  and  on  the  28th  the  British 
embarked  with  their  stores  and  sailed  for  Sandusky  Bay,  with  the  intention  of  at 
tacking  Fort  Stephenson.  A  large  number  of  their  savage  allies  marched  across  the 
country  for  the  purpose  of  co-operating  with  Proctor  in  the  siege.  Intelligence  of 
this  movement  was  promptly  communicated  to  Harrison  by  General  Clay. 

Fort  Stephenson  was  garrisoned  by  one 
hundred  and  sixty  men,  under  the  command, 
as  we  have  observed,  of  a  gallant  young  Ken- 
tuckian,  Major  George  Croghan,  of  the  Regu 
lar  Army,  then  only  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
Their  only  ordnance  was  an  iron  six-pounder 
cannon,  and  their  chief  defenses  were  three 
block  -  houses,  circumvallating  pickets  from 
fourteen  to  sixteen  feet  in  height,  and  a  ditch 
about  eight  feet  in  width  and  of  equal  depth. 

Already  an  examination  of  Fort  Stephenson 
by  General  Harrison  had  convinced  him  that 
it  would  be  untenable  against  heavy  artillery, 
and,  in  orders  left  with  Major  Croghan,  he 
said, "  Should  the  British  troops  approach  you 
in  force  with  cannon,  and  you  can  discover 
them  in  time  to  effect  a  retreat,  you  will  do 
so  immediately,  destroying  all  the  public 
stores.  You  must  be  aware  that  to  attempt 
to  retreat  in  the  face  of  an  Indian  force  would 
be  vain.  Against  such  an  enemy  your  gar 
rison  would  be  safe,  however  great  the  num 
ber." 

On  the  receipt  of  the  intelligence  from 
General  Clay,  General  Harrison  called  around 

him  in  council  M'Arthur,  Cass,  Ball,  Wood,  Hukill^aul,  Holmes,  and  Gra 
ham,  and  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  Fort  Stephenson  was  untenable, 
and  that,  as  the  approaching  enemy  had  cannon,  Major  Croghan  ought  immediately 
to  comply  with  the  standing  order  of  his  general.  Believing  that  the  innate  bravery 
of  Croghan  would  make  him  hesitate,  General  Harrison  immediately  dispatched  to 
him  an  order  to  abandon  the  fort.2  The  bearers  started  at  midnight,  and  lost  their 
way  in  the  dark.  They  did  not  arrive  at  Fort  Stephenson  before  eleven  o'clock  the 
next  day,  when  the  forest  around  was  swarming  Avith  Indians. 

Major  Croghan  consulted  his  officers  concerning  a  retreat,  when  a  majority  agreed 
with  him  that  such  a  step  would  be  disastrous,  and  that  the  post  might  be  maintain 
ed.  A  few  moments  after  the  conference,  he  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  mes-  c  Jn]v  30 
sengers  from  General  Harrison  the  following  answer  to  his  chief:0  "  SIR, —  1813- 


C^vt^A^^u 
/'       ° 


"  July  29. 


1  The  garrison  numbered,  in  rank  and  file,  only  about  eighteen  hundred  men.    There  were  a  little  over  two  thousand 
at  the  close  of  May,  but  full  two  hundred  had  died  of  camp  fever. 

2  The  order  was  sent  by  a  white  man  (Conner)  and  two  Indians,  who  found  some  difficulty  in  the  performance  of  their 
mission.    The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  order:  "  SIR,— Immediately  on  receiving  this  letter  you  will  abandon  Fort 
Stepheusou,  set  fire  to  it,  and  repair  with  your  command  this  night  to  head-quarters.    Cross  the  river  and  come  up  on 
the  opposite  side.    If  you  should  deem  and  find  it  impracticable  to  make  good  your  march  to  this  place,  take  the  road 
to  Huron,  and  pursue  it  with  the  utmost  circumspection."    The  order  was  dated  29th  July. 


500 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Croghan  disobeys  Orders. 


His  Explanations  justify  the  Act. 


Colonel  Ball's  Fight  with  Indians. 


I  have  just  received  yours  of  yesterday,  ten  o'clock  P.M.,  ordering  me  to  destroy 
this  place  and  make  good  my  retreat,  which  was  received  too  late  to  be  carried 
into  execution.  We  have  determined  to  maintain  this  place,  and,  by  heavens !  we 
can." 

This  positive  disobedience  of  orders  was  not  intended  as  such.  The  gallant  young 
Kentuckian  gladly  perceived  sufficient  latitude  given  him  in  the  clause  of  the  earlier 
order,  in  which  the  danger  of  a  retreat  in  the  face  of  an  Indian  force  was  mentioned, 
to  justify  him  in  remaining,  especially  as  the  later  order  did  not  reach  him  until  such 
force  was  apparent.  But  the  general  could  not  permit  disobedience  to  pass  unno 
ticed,  and  he  immediately  ordered  Colonel  Wells  to  repair  to  Fort  Stephenson  and 
_s^^fe^^^.  supersede  Major  Croghan.1  The  latter  was  ordered 

to  head-quarters  at  Seneca  Town.  He  cheerfully 
obeyed  the  summons,  and  made  so  satisfactory  an 
explanation  to  General  Harrison  that  he  was  direct 
ed  to  resume  his  command  the  next  morning,  with 
written  instructions  similar  to  the  ones  he  had  be 
fore  received.  Croghan  was  now  more  determined 
than  ever  to  maintain  the  post. 

General  Harrison  kept  scouts  out  in  all  direc 
tions  watching  for  the  foe.  On  the  evening  of  Sat 
urday,  the  31st  of  July,  a  reconnoitring  party,  lin^ 


VIEW    AT   FREMONT,  OK  LOWEB   SANDCSKV.2 


1  Colonel  Wells  was  escorted  by  Colonel  Ball,  with  his  corps  of  dragoons,  arid  bore  the  following  letter  to  Major 
Croghan:  "i§m, — The  general  has  just  received  your  letter  of  this  date  informing  him  that  you  had  thought  proper  to 
disobey  the  order  issued  from  this  office,  and  delivered  to  you  this  morning.    It  appears  that  the  information  which 
dictated  the  order  was  incorrect,  and  as  you  did  not  receive  it  in  the  night,  as  was  expected,  it  might  have  been  proper 
that  you  should  have  reported  the  circumstances  and  your  situation  before  you  proceeded  to  its  execution.    This  might 
have  been  passed  over,  but  I  am  directed  to  say  to  you  that  an  officer  who  presumes  to  aver  that  he  has  made  his  res 
olution,  and  that  he  will  act  in  direct  opposition  to  the  orders  of  his  general,  pan  no  longer  be  intrusted  with  a  separate 
command.    Colonel  Wells  is  sent  to  relieve  you.    You  will  deliver  the  command  to  him,  and  repair,  with  Colonel  Ball's 
squadron,  to  this  place.    By  command,  etc.,  A.  H.  HOLMES,  Assistant  Adjutant  General." 

On  the  way,  about  half  a  mile  southwest  of  the  present  village  of  Ballsville,  Colonel  Ball's  detachment  were  attacked 
by  about  twenty  Indians,  and  quite  a  severe  skirmish  ensued.  Seventeen  of  the  Indians  were  killed ;  and,  until  within 
a  few  years,  an  oak-tree  stood  on  the  site  of  the  contest,  bearing  seventeen  marks  of  a  hatchet,  to  indicate  the  number 
of  Indians  slain. 

2  This  view  was  taken  from  the  verge  of  the  hill,  near  where  the  howitzer,  or  mortar,  of  the  British  was  planted  after 
landing,  so  as  to  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  fort.    In  the  front  is  seen  a  magnificent  elm-tree,  of  large  growth  at  the 
time  of  the  invasion.    Tradition  avers  that  an  Indian,  who  climbed  into  its  top  to  reconnoitre  Fort  Stephenson,  was 
shot  by  one  of  the  Kentucky  riflemen  in  the  garrison.    In  this  view  we  are  looking  down  the  Sandusky  River.    In  the 
little  cove,  seen  nearly  over  the  roof  of  the  small  building  nearest  the  left  of  the  picture,  is  the  place  where  the  British 
lauded.    The  island  opposite  is  seen  more  to  the  left.    In  the  extreme  distance  are  store-houses,  at  which  point  the 
British  gun-boats  were  first  discovered  by  the  garrison.    On  the  extreme  right  is  the  gas-house,  and  over  it,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river,  is  the  elevated  plain  where  Croghanville  was  laid  out,  and  where  the  Indians  were  first  seen. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  501 

Fort  Stephenson  summoned  to  surrender.  Incidents  under  a  Flag  of  Truce.  The  Surrender  refused. 

gering  upon  the  shores  of  Sandusky  Bay,  about  twenty  miles  from  Fort  Stephenson, 
discovered  the  approach  of  Proctor  by  water.    They  hastened  back,  stopping  at  the 
fort  on  the  way  at  about  noon  the  next  day.a    Croghan  was  on  the  alert. 
Already  many  Indians  had  appeared  upon  the  eminence  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  Sandusky  River  (where  Croghanville  Avas  laid  out  in  1817),  and  had  scamp 
ered  away  after  a  few  discharges  of  the  six-pounder  in  the  fort. 

At  four  o'clock  that  afternoon  the  British  gun-boats,  with  Proctor  and  his  men, 
appeared  at  a  turn  in  the  river  more  than  a  mile  distant.  In  the  face  of  shots  from 
the  six-pounder  they  advanced,  and,  in  a  cove  not  quite  a  mile  from  the  fort,  the  Brit 
ish  landed,  with  a  five-and-a-half-inch  howitzer,  opposite  a  small  island  in  the  stream. 
At  the  same  time  the  Indians  displayed  themselves  in  the  woods  in  all  directions,  to 
cut  off  a  retreat  of  the  garrison. 

General  Proctor  entered  immediately  upon  the  business  of  his  errand.  His  attack 
ing  force  consisted  of  a  portion  of  the  Forty-first  Regiment,  four  hundred  strong,  and 
several  hundred  Indians.  Tecumtha,  with  almost  two  thousand  more,  was  stationed 
upon  the  roads  leading  from  Fort  Meigs  and  Seneca  Town,  to  intercept  apprehended 
re-enforcements  from  those  directions. 

Having  disposed  of  his  forces  so  as  to  cut  off  Croghan's  retreat,  General  Proctor 
sent  Colonel  Elliott,  accompanied  by  Captain  Chambers  with  a  flag  of  .truce,  to  de 
mand  the  instant  surrender  of  the  fort.  These  officers  were  accompanied  by  Cap 
tain  Dixon,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Indian  allies. 

Major  Croghan  sent  out  Second  Lieutenant  Shipp,1  as  his  representative,  to  meet  the 
flair.  After  the  usual  salutations,  Colonel  Elliott  said  :  "I  am  instructed  to  demand 

O  ' 

the  instant  surrender  of  the  fort,  to  spare  the  effusion  of  blood,  which  we  can  not 
do  should  we  be  under  the  necessity  of  reducing  it  by  our  powerful  force  of  regulars, 
Indians,  and  artillery." 

"  My  commandant  and  the  garrison,"  replied  Shipp,  "  are  determined  to  defend  the 
post  to  the  last  extremity,  and  bury  themselves  in  its  ruins,  rather  than  surrender  it 
to  any  force  whatever." 

"Look  at  our  immense  body  of  Indians,"  interposed  Dixon.  "They  can  not  be 
restrained  from  massacring  the  whole  garrison,  in  the  event  of  our  undoubted  suc 
cess." 

"  Our  success  is  certain,"  eagerly  added  Chambers. 

"  It  is  a  great  pity,"  said  Dixon,  in  a  beseeching  tone,  "  that  so  fine  a  young  man 
as  you,  and  as  your  commander  is  represented  to  be,  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
savages.  Sir,  for  God's  sake,  surrender,  and  prevent  the  dreadful  massacre  that  will 
be  caused  by  your  resistance." 

Shipp,  who  had  lately  dealt  Avith  the  same  foe  at  Fort  Meigs,  coolly  replied :  "  When 
the  fort  shall  be  taken,  there  Avill  be  none  to  massacre.  It  Avill  not  be  given  up  Avhile 
a  man  is  able  to  resist." 

Shipp  was  just  turning  to  go  back  to  the  fort,  when  an  Indian  sprung  from  a  bushy 
ravine  near  and  attempted  to  snatch  his  sword  from  him.  The  indignant  American 
Avas  about  to  dispatch  the  savage,  when  Dixon  interfered.  Croghan,  Avho  had  stood 
upon  the  ramparts  during  the  conference,  observed  the  insult,  and  shouted,  "  Shipp, 
come  in,  and  we  will  blow  them  all  to  hell !"  The  ensign  hastened  into  the  fort,  the 
flag  returned,  and  the  British  opened  a  fire  immediately  from  their  gun-boats,  and 
from  the  five-and-a-half-inch  hoAvitzer  which  they  had  landed.  For  some  reason,  never 
. i 

1  Edmund  Shipp,  Jr.,  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  was  appointed  ensign  of  the  17th  regiment  of  infantry  in  May, 
1S12.  He  was  promoted  to  second  lieutenant  in  March,  1813,  and  distinguished  himself  in  the  defense  of  Fort  Meigs 
the  following  year.  After  the  affair  at  Fort  Stephenson  he  became  General  M'Arthnr's  brigade  major.  In  March, 
1814,  he  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant,  and  to  captain  in  May,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  was  retained  in  the  serv 
ice.  He  died  at  Bellefontaine,  Ohio,  on  the  22d  of  April,  1S17.  On  the  13th  of  February,  1S35,  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  voted  a  sword,  to  be  received  by  his  nearest  male  relative,  in  testimony  of  their  sense  of  his  services  at  Fort  Ste 
phenson.— Gardner's  Dictioimry  of  the  Army. 


502  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Fort  Stephenson  besieged.  The  Garrison.  Approach  for  an  Assault. 

until  recently  explained,  they  commenced  the  attack  in  great  haste,  before  proper  ar 
rangements  were  made.1 

All  night  long,  five  six-pounders,  which  had  been  landed  from  the  British  gun-boats, 
and  the  howitzer  upon  the  land,  played  upon  the  stockade  without  serious  effect. 
They  were  answered  occasionally  by  the  solitary  cannon  in  the  fort,  which  was  shift 
ed  from  one  block-house  to  another,  so  as  to  give  the  impression  that  the  garrison  had 
several  heavy  guns.  But  their  supply  of  ammunition  was  small,  and  Major  Croghan 
determined  to  use  his  powder  and  ball  to  better  advantage  than  firing  at  random  in 
the  dark.  He  silenced  the  gun,  and  ordered  Captain  Hunter,2  his  second  in  command, 
to  place  it  in  the  block-house  at  the  middle  of  the  north  side  of  the  fort,  so  as  to  rake 
the  ditch  in  the  direction  of  the  northwest  angle,  the  point  where  the  foe  would  doubt 
less  make  the  assault,  it  being  the  weakest  part.  This  was  accomplished  before  day 
light,  and  the  gun,  loaded  with  a  half  charge  of  powder  and  a  double  charge  of  slugs 
and  grapeshot,  was  completely  masked. 

During  the  night  the  British  had  dragged  three  six-pounders  to  a  point  of  woods 
on  ground  higher  than  the  fort,  and  abeut  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  it  (near 
the  spot  where  the  court-house  in  Fremont  now  stands,  westward  of  Croghan  Street), 
and  early  in  the  morning  they  opened  a  brisk  fire  \ipon  the  stockade  from  these  and 
the  howitzer.  .Their  cannonade  produced  but  little  effect,  and  for  many  hours  the 
little  garrison  made  no  reply.  Proctor  became  impatient.  That  long  day  in  August 
was  rapidly  passing  away,  and  he  saw  before  him  only  a  dreary  night  of  futile  effort 
in  his  present  position.  His  Indians  were  becoming  uneasy,  and  at  length  he  resolved 
to  storm  the  fort.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  he  concentrated  the  fire  of  all  his 
guns  upon  the  weak  northwest  angle.  His  suspected  purpose  was  now  apparent. 
Toward  that  weak  point  Croghan  directed  his  strengthening  efforts.  Bags  of  sand 
and  sacks  of  flour  were  piled  against  the  pickets  there,  and  the  force  of  the  cannon 
ade  was  materially  broken. 

At  five  o'clock,  while  the  bellowing  of  distant  thunder  in  the  western  horizon,  where 
a  dark  storm-cloud  was  brooding,  seemed  like  the  echo  of  the  great  guns  of  the  foe, 
the  British,  in  two  close  columns,  led  by  Brevet  Lieutenant  Colonel  Short  and  Lieu 
tenant  Gordon,  advanced  to  assail  the  works.  At  the  same  time  a  party  of  grena 
diers,  about  two  hundred  strong,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Warburton,  took  a  wide 
circuit  through  the  woods  to  make  a  feigned  attack  upon  the  southern  front  of  the 
fort,  where  Captain  Hunter  and  his  party  were  stationed.  Private  Brown,  of  the  Pe 
tersburg  Volunteers,  with  half  a  dozen  of  his  corps  and  Pittsburgh  Blues,  happened 
to  be  in  the  fort  at  the  time.  Brown  was  skilled  in  gunnery,  and  to  him  and  his  com 
panions  was  intrusted  the  management  of  the  six-pounder  in  the  fort. 

As  the  British  storming-party  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Short  advanced,  their  ar 
tillery  played  incessantly  upon  the  northwestern  angle  of  the  fort,  and,  under  cover 
of  the  dense  smoke,  they  approached  to  within  fifteen  or  twenty  paces  of  the  out 
works  before  they  were  discovered  by  the  garrison.  Every  man  within  the  fort  was 
at  his  post,  and  these  were  Kentucky  "  sharp-shooters  !"  They  instantly  poured  upon 
the  assailants  such  a  shower  of  rifle-balls,  sent  with  fatal  precision,  that  the  British 
line  was  thrown  into  momentary  confusion.  They  quickly  rallied.  The  axe-men 

1  The  late  Hon.  Elisha  Whittlesey,  in  his  address  at  Fremont  (Lower  Sandusky),  on  the  forty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
defense  of  Fort  Stephenson,  explained  the  cause.    Aaron  Norton,  of  Portage  County,  Ohio,  told  him  that  on  that  Sun 
day  afternoon,  in  total  ignorance  of  the  proximity  of  the  British  and  Indians,  he  was  approaching  the  fort  on  the  oppo 
site  side  of  the  Sanduskj,  when  he  discovered  quite  a  large  body  of  Indians  scattered  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  half 
concealed  by  bushes.    He  wheeled  his  horse  and  fled  in  the  direction  of  Seneca.    The  startled  Indians  fired  several 
shots  at  him,  but  without  effect.    This  occurrence  was  doubtless  communicated  to  the  British  commander.    He  knew 
Harrison  was  near,  and  feared  that  he  might  sally  forth  from  his  fortified  camp  with  re-enforcements  from  Cleveland 
or  Mansfield,  beat  back  Tecumtha,  and  fall  upon  him  at  Sandusky;  hence  his  haste  in  assailing  the  fort. 

2  James  Hunter  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  was  adjutant  of  the  Kentucky  mounted  riflemen  in  the  battle  of  Tip- 
pecanoe.    He  was  wounded  there.    He  was  promoted  to  captain  in  the  17th  regiment  of  infantry  in  March,  1812.    He 
left  the  army  in  May,  1814.    On  the  13th  of  February,  1835,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  voted  him  a  sword  be 
cause  of  his  distinguished  services  at  Fort  Stepheuson. — Gardner's  Dictionary  of  the  Army. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


503 


Storming  of  Fort  Stephenson. 


Slaughter  of  the  Assailants. 


The  British  and  Indians  repulsed. 


PLAN   OF   FOKT   STEPHEN  SON.1 


bravely  pushed  forward  over  the  glacis,  and  leaped  into  the  ditch  to  assail  the  pick 
ets.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Short  was  at  the  head  of  the  gallant  party,  and  when  a  suf 
ficient  number  of  men  were  in  the  ditch  behind  him,  he  shouted, "  Cut  away  the  pick 
ets,  my  brave  boys,  and  show  the  damned  Yankees  no  quarter !"  Now  was  the  mo 
ment  for  the  voice  of  the  unsuspected  six-pounder  to  be  heard.  The  masked  port  flew 
open  instantly.  The  gun  spoke  with  terrible  effect.  Slugs  and  grapeshot  streamed 
along  that  ditch  overflowing  with  human  life,  and  spread  terrible  havoc  there.  Few 
escaped.  A  similar  attempt  was  made  by  the  second  column  of  the  storming-party, 
when  another  discharge  from  the  six-pounder  and  a  destructive  volley  of  rifle-balls 
ended  the  contest.  Brevet  Lieutenant  Colonel  Short  and  Lieutenant  Gordon,  of  the 
Forty-first  Regiment,  Laussaussiege,  of  the  Indian  department,  and  twenty-five  pri- 
vate§,  were  left  dead  in  the  ditch,2  and  twenty-six  of  the  wounded  were  made  pris 
oners.  Captain  Dixon  and  Captain  Muir,  and  Lieutenant  M'Intyre,  of  the  Forty-first 
Regiment,  were  slightly  wounded  and  escaped.  A  precipitate  and  confused  retreat 
immediately  followed  this  repulse.  "Warburton  and  his  grenadiers  did  not  reach  the 
south  front  of  the  fort  until  after  the  disaster.  They  were  assailed  with  a  destruc 
tive  volley  from  Hunter's  corps,  and  fled  for  shelter  to  the  adjacent  woods. 

The  whole  loss  of  the  garrison  was  one  man  killed  and  seven  slightly  wounded. 
The  loss  of  the  British  in  killed  and  wounded,  according  to  the  most  careful  estimates, 
was  one  hundred  and  twenty.  The  cowardly  Indians,  as  usual  when  there  was  open 

1  EXPLANATION  or  THE  PLAN.—!,  line  of  pickets ;  2,  embankment  from  the  ditch  to  and  against  the  pickets;  3,  dry 
ditch  ;  4,  outward  embankment  or  glacis ;  A,  block-house  first  attacked  by  cannon  ;  B,  bastion  or  block-house  from 
which  the  ditch  was  raked  by  the  six-pounder  in  the  fort ;  C,  guard  block-house  ;  D,  hospital  while  attacked  ;  E  E  E, 
military  store-houses ;  F,  commissary's  store-house  ;  G,  magazine ;  H,  fort  gate ;  K  K  K,  wicker  gates ;  L,  partition  gate  : 
5,  position  of  the  five  six-pounders  of  the  British  on  the  night  of  the  2d  of  August ;  P,  the  graves  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Short  and  Lieutenant  Gordon,  who  were  killed  in  the  ditch.    The  mortar  or  howitzer  shifted  position,  as  indicated  on 
the  plan.    In  the  first  assault  there  were  four  six-pounders  in  battery,  only  one  being  left  in  the  first  position  near  the 
river.    This  Plan  was  first  published,  from  the  official  drawing,  in  the  Port  Folio  for  March,  1815,  and  soon  afterward  in 
Thomson's  carefully  prepared  Historical  Sketches  of  the  Late  War.   The  graves  of  the  two  British  officers  are  a  few  yards 
northeastward  from  the  junction  of  High  and  Market  Streets. 

2  It  is  said  that  Lieutenant  Colonel  Short,  when  he  fell,  twisted  a  white  handkerchief  on  the  end  of  his  sword  as  a 
supplication  for  that  mercy  which  his  battle-cry  a  moment  before  denied  to  his  foe. 


504  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Dead  and  Wounded  borne  away.  The  Night  succeeding  the  Struggle. 

fighting  or  great  guns  to  face,  kept  themselves  out  of  harm's  way  in  a  ravine  near 
by,  and  the  whole  battle  was  fought  by  the  small  British  force,  who  behaved  most 
gallantly.  During  the  night  Proctor  sent  Indians  to  gather  up  the  dead  and  wound 
ed,  and  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning*  the  invaders  sailed  down  the  San- 
dusky,  leaving  behind  them  a  vessel  containing  clothing  and  military  stores. 
At  about  the  same  hour  the  gallant  Major  Croghan  wrote  a  hurried  note  to  General 
Harrison,  informing  him  of  his  victory  and  the  retreat  of  Proctor. 

The  assault  lasted  only  about  half  an  hour.  The  dark  storm-cloud  in  the  west 
passed  northward,  the  setting  sun  beamed  out  with  peculiar  splendor,  a  gentle  breeze 
from  the  southwest  bore  the  smoke  of  battle  far  away  over  the  forest  toward  Lake 
Erie,  and  in  the  lovely  twilight  of  that  memorable  Sabbath  evening  the  brave  young 
Croghan  addressed  his  gallant  little  band  with  eloquent  words  of  praise  and  grateful 
thanksgiving.  As  the  night  and  the  silence  deepened,  and  the  groans  of  the  wound 
ed  in  the  ditch  fell  upon  his  ears,  his  generous  heart  beat  with  sympathy.  Buckets 
filled  with  water  were  let  down  by  ropes  from  the  outside  of  the  pickets ;  and  as  the 
gates  of  the  fort  could  not  be  opened  with  safety  during  the  night,  he  made  a  com 
munication  with  the  ditch  by  means  of  a  trench,  through  which  the  wounded  were 
borne  into  the  little  fortress  and  their  necessities  supplied.1 

Intelligence  of  this  gallant  defense  caused  the  liveliest  sentiments  of  admiration 
throughout  the  country,  and  congratulations  were  sent  to  Major  Croghan  from  every 
quarter.  His  general,  in  his  official  report,  spoke  of  him  in  words  of  highest  praise.2 
The  ladies*of  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  purchased  and  presented  to  him  an  elegant  sword  ;3 
and  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  voted  him  the  thanks  of  the  nation.4  Twenty- 
two  years  later  the  Congress  gave  him  a  gold  medal,  in  commemoration  of  his  signal 
service  on  that  day.  Posterity  will  ever  regard  his  name  with  honor.5 

1  Major  Croghan's  Report  to  General  Harrison,  August  5, 1813 :  General  Harrison's  Eeport  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
August  5, 1813 ;  M'Afee's  History  of  the  Late  War,  pages  322  to  328 ;  Auchinleck's  History  of  the  War  of  1812,  pages  184  to 
1ST ;  James's  Military  Occurrences,  etc.,  pages  262  to  260 ;  Niles's  Register,  August  14, 1813 ;  The  Port  Folio,  March,  1815 ; 
The  War,  volume  ii.,  pages  39,  43,  47,  49,  51,  Cl ;  Address  of  Colonel  Elisha  Whittlesey  at  Fremont,  August  2, 1858;  Ad 
dress  of  Homer  Everett,  Esq.,  at  Fremont,  February  24th  and  25th,  1860;  Perkins's  History  of  the  Late  War,  pages  223, 
224 ;  Sketches  of  the  War  (Rutland,  1815),  pages  166  to  168 ;  Atwater's  History  of  Ohio,  pages  22<i  to  229  ;  Dawson's  Life 
of  General  Harrison,  pages  249  to  251 ;  MS.  of  Dr.  Brainerd,  quoted  by  Homer  Everett,  Esq. 

2  "  I  am  sorry,"  wrote  General  Harrison  to  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  4th  of  August,  "that  I  can  not  transmit  you 
Major  Croghan's  official  report.    He  was  to  have  sent  it  to  me  this  morning,  but  I  have  just  heard  that  he  was  so  much 
exhausted  by  thirty-six  hours  of  continued  exertion  as  to  be  unable  to  make  it.    It  will  not  be  among  the  least  of  Gen 
eral  Proctor's  mortifications  to  find  that  he  has  been  baffled  by  a  youth  who  has  just  passed  his  twenty-first  year.    He 
is,  however,  a  hero  worthy  of  his  gallant  uncle,  General  George  Rogers  Clarke." 

3  This  gift,  at  their  request,  was  presented  to  him  by  Samuel  Finley  and  Joseph  Wheaton,  with  the  following  letter 
bearing  the  signatures  of  the  donors : 

"  CHIM.IOOTIIE,  August  13, 1813. 

"  SIB,— In  consequence  of  the  gallant  defense  which,  under  Divine  Providence,  was  effected  by  you  and  the  troops 
under  your  command,  of  Fort  Stephenson,  at  Lower  Sandusky,  on  the  evening  of  the  2d  inst.,  the  ladies  of  the  town  of 
Chillicothe,  whose  names  are  undersigned,  impressed  with  a  high  sense  of  your  merits  as  a  soldier  and  a  gentleman, 
and  with  great  confidence  in  your  patriotism  and  valor,  present  you  with  a  sword.  Mary  Finley,  Mary  Sterret,  Ann 
Creighton,  Eliza  Creiirhton,  Eleanor  Lamb,  Nancy  Waddle,  Eliza  Carlisle,  Mary  A.  Southward,  Susan  D.  Wheaton,  of 
Washington  City,  Richamah  Irwin,  Judith  Delano,  Margaret  M'Lauburg,  Margaret  Miller,  Elizabeth  Martin,  Nancy 
M'Arthur,  Jnne  M'Coy,  Lavina  Fulton,  Catharine  Fullerton,  Rebecca  M.  Orr,  Susan  Wake,  Ann  M.  Dunn,  Margaret 
Keys,  Charlotte  James,  Esther  Doolittle,  Eleanor  Buchannan,  Margaret  M'Farland,  Deborah  Ferree,  Jane  M.  Evans, 
Frances  Brush,  Mary  Curtis,  Mary  P.  Brown,  Jane  Heylin,  Nancy  Kerr,  Catharine  Hough,  Eleanor  Worthington,  Mar 
tha  Scott,  Sally  M'Lean." 

To  this  letter  Major  Croghan  replied  at  Lower  Sandusky  on  the  25th  of  August: 

"LABIES  OF  CHIT.I.ICOTIIE,— I  have  received  the  sword  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  present  to  me  as  a  testimonial 
of  your  approbation  of  my  conduct  on  the  2d  instant.  A  mark  of  distinction  so  flattering  and  unexpected  has  excited 
feelings  which  I  can  not  express.  Yet,  while  I  return  you  thanks  for  the  unmerited  gift  you  have  thus  bestowed,  I  feel 
well  aware  that  my  good  fortune  (which  was  bought  by  the  activity  of  the  brave  soldiers  under  my  command),  has 
raised  in  you  expectations  from  my  future  efforts  which  must,  I  fear,  be  sooner  or  later  disappointed.  Still,  I  pledge 
myself  (even  though  fortune  should  not  be  again  propitious)  that  my  exertions  shall  be  such  as  never  to  cause  you  in 
the  least  to  regret  the  honors  you  have  been  pleased  to  confer  on  your  'youthful  soldier.'  " 

*  On  the  8th  of  February,  1814,  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  reported  a  resolution,  among  others  similar,  to  re 
quest  the  President  to  present  an  elegant  sword  to  Colonel  Croghan.  This  resolution  was  passed  by  at  the  time,  and 
never  called  up  again. 

5  George  Croghan  was  a  son  of  Major  William  Croghan,  of  the  Revolutionary  army.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Ire 
land  ;  his  mother  was  a  sister  of  General  George  Rogers  Clarke,  sometimes  called  the  Father  of  the  Northwest.  He 
was  born  at  Locust  Grove,  near  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  (now  Louisville),  in  Kentucky,  on  the  15th  of  November,  1T91.  He 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


Medal  presented  to  Croghan. 


A  Visit  to  Sandusky. 


A  Ride  to  G'astaliau  Springs. 


September  24, 
1SCO. 


GOLD   MEDAL  AWARDED   TO   GENERAL  CEOGHAM.' 

It  was  a  soft,  hazy,  half  sunny  day,  late  in  September,*  when  I  visit 
ed  the  site  of  Fort  Stephenson  and  the  places  of  events  that  made  it  fa 
mous.  I  had  come  up  by  railway  during  the  early  hours  of  the  morning  from  pleas 
ant  Sandusky  City,  where  I  had  spent  two  or  three  days  with  friends,  vainly  en 
deavoring  to  visit  Put-in-Bay,  where  Perry's  fleet  rendezvoused  before  the  battle 
which  gave  him  victory  and  immortality.  The  excursion  steam-boat  to  that  and 
other  places  had  been  withdrawn  for  the  season,  and  the  wind  was  too  high  to  make 
a  voyage  thither  in  a  sail-boat  safe  or  pleasant.  I  was  less  disappointed  than  I  should 
otherwise  have  been,  by  the  discovery  that  an  artist  (Miss  C.  L.  Ransom),  then  in 
Sandusky  City,  had  made  careful  drawings  of  the  historical  points  about  Put-in-Bay. 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  her,  and  availing  myself  of  her  courteous  permission 
to  copy  such  of  her  drawings  as  I  desired.  Of  these  more  will  be  said  when  giving 
an  account  of  the  naval  battle  near  there. 

In  company  with  Mr.  Barney,  with  whom  I  was  staying,  I  visited  the  famous  Cas- 
talian  Springs,  at  the  village  of  Castalia,  five  or  six  miles  south  from  Sandusky  City. 
They  flow  up  from  subterranean  fountains,  almost  as  limpid  as  air,  and  in  volume  so 
great  that  along  the  outlet,  which  is  called  Cold  Creek,  in  its  course  of  three  miles 
through  a  beautiful  prairie  of  three  thousand  acres  to  Sandusky  Bay,  no  less  than 

was  graduated  at  William  and  Mary  College,  in  Virginia,  in  the  summer  of  1S10 ;  entered  its  law  school,  and  remained 
there  until  the  fall  of  1811,  when  he  joined  the  army  nuder  Harrison  at  Vincennes.  He  was  volunteer  aid  to  Colonel 
Boyd  at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  On  account  of  his  services  in  the  Wabash  expedition,  he  was  appointed  a  captain  of 
infantry  in  the  spring  of  1S12,  and  in  August  he  marched  with  the  forces  under  General  Winchester  to  the  relief  of  Gen 
eral  Hull  in  Canada.  In  March,  1813,  he  was  promoted  to  major,  and  became  aid-de-camp  to  General  Harrison.  In  that 
capacity  he  distinguished  himself  in  the  defense  of  Fort  Meigs,  and  the  sortie  on  the  5th  of  May  under  the  gallant  Col 
onel  Miller.  For  his  gallantry  at  Fort  Stephenson  he  was  breveted  a  lieutenant  colonel,  and  was  appointed  colonel  of 
a  rifle  corps  in  February,  1814.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  retained  in  service,  but  married  in  1817  and  resigned.  In 
1824  he  was  appointed  postmaster  at  New  Orleans,  and  returned  to  the  service  in  1825  as  inspector  general,  with  the 
rank  of  colonel.  In  1S35  Congress  awarded  him  a  gold  medal  for  his  gallantry  at  Fort  Stephenson.  He.  died  at  New 
Orleans  on  the  Sth  of  January,  1849. 

1  On  Tuesday,  the  27th  of  January,  1835,  a  joint  resolution  passed  the  House  of  Representatives,  authorizing  the  Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States  to  "  present  a  gold  medal  to  General  Croghan"  (he  was  then  inspector  general  of  the  army), 
and  swords  to  several  officers  under  his  command.  These  were  Captain  Jamss  Hunter,  an'd  Lieutenants  Benjamin 
Johnson  and  Cyras  A.  Baylor,  of  the  Seventeenth  Regiment,  Lieutenant  John  Meek,  of  the  Seventh  Regiment,  and  En 
signs  Edward  Shipp  and  Joseph  Duncan.  The  latter  was  afterward  Governor  of  Illinois. 

Lieutenant  Johnson  was  promoted  to  captain  of  a  rifle  corps  in  March,  1814,  and  left  the  service  at  the  close  of  the 
war.  Lieutenant  Baylor  also  left  the  service  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Lieutenant  Meek  resigned  in  May,  1814.  He  was 
appointed  military  store-keeper  at  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  in  the  summer  of  1S3S,  and  was  removed,  on  a  change  of  ad 
ministration,  in  1841.  Ensign  Duncan  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant  of  infantry  in  July,  1814,  and  was  disbanded  in 
1815.  He  was  a  representative  in  Congress  from  Illinois  from  1327  to  1835,  Governor  of  Illinois  from  1834  to  1S3S,  and 
died  at  Jacksonville  on  the  15th  of  January,  1844. 

It  is  proper  to  observe  that  the  representation  of  the  fort  and  its  surroundings,  on  this  medal,  presented  to  General 
Croghan,  is  incorrect.  It  was  not  a  regular  fort,  but  a  picketed  inclosure,  with  rudely-built  block-houses.  The  San 
dusky  River  is  here  a  narrow  stream,  and  not  such  an  expanse  of  water  as  the  place  of  the  vessels  represent.  It  may 
have  been  intended  for  Saudusky  Bay. 


506 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Appearance  and  Character  of  the  Castaliau  Springs. 


An  Evening  iu  Sandusky. 


Journey  to  Fremont. 


fourteen  sets  of  mill-stones  were  kept  in  motion  by  it. 


J.OWEU   OASTAMAN    SPRING. 


In  a  rough  scow  we  hovered 
over  the  centre  of  the 
spring,  and,  peering 
down  into  its  clear, 
mysterious  depths, 
saw  logs,  and  plants, 
>  and  earth  in  grotto 
form,  made  iridescent 
by  the  light  in  the 
aqueous  prism.1  We 
intended  to  visit  the 
somewhat  marvelous 
cave  in  the  range  of 
limestone  about  two 
miles  from  the  springs,  but  the  day  was  too  far  spent  when  I  had  completed  my 
sketch  of  the  fountains  to  allow  us  to  do  so.  We  returned  to  the  town  by  the  way  of 
Mr.  Barney's  fine  vineyard,  and  arrived  at  sunset.  I  spent  the  evening  with  General 
Leslie  Combs  at  the  "West  House,"  and  in  a  public  meeting.2  The  next  day  was 
the  Sabbath,  and  on  Monday  morning  I  started  by  railway  for  Lower  Sandusky  with 
impressions  which  have  crystallized  into  pleasant  memories  of  a  delightful  little  city 
on  a  slope  overlooking  one  of  the  finest  bays  that  indent  the  southern  shoi-es  of  Lake 
Erie.3  On  our  way  we  stopped  a  few  minutes  at  the  little  village  of  Clyde,  where 
the  railways  from  Cleveland  and  Toledo  and  from  Cincinnati  and  Sandusky  City 
cross  each  other.  There  a  crowd  had  collected  to  see  and  hear  the  late  Judge  Doug 
las,  then  one  of  the  candidates  for  the  presidency  of  the  United  States,  who  was  trav 
eling  for  his  political  health,  weary  and  wayworn.  Eager  eyes,  vociferous  shouts, 
loud  huzzas,  and  the  swaying  of  a  little  multitude,  is  the  picture  of  a  few  minutes  of 
time  impressed  upon  the  memory.  An  hour  later  I  was  in  Fremont,  as  the  old  vil 
lage  of  Lower  Sandusky  was  named  a  few  years  ago  in  honor  of  the  accomplished 
explorer  in  earlier  years,  and  general  in  the  army  of  the  republic  during  a  portion  of 
the  late  Civil  War. 

Very  soon  after  my  arrival  I  was  favored  with  the  company  of  Messrs.  Sardis  Birch- 
ard  and  Homer  Everett  (residents  of  the  village,  and  familiar  with  its  history)  in  a 
pilgrimage  to  places  of  interest  in  and  around  that  shire-town  of  Sandusky  County.4 

1  The  Castalian  Springs  are  great  natural  curiosities,  and  are  much  visited.  There  are  two,  known  respectively  as 
Upper  and  Lower.  They  are  about  one  fourth  of  a  mile  apart,  and  are  connected  by  a  race.  At  the  lower  one,  where 
Messrs.  Cochraue  and  Weston  had  a  flouring-mill,  a  dike  had  been  raised  (seen  in  the  above  sketch)  to  give  more  fall 
to  the  water.  The  two  springs  are  of  about  equal  dimensions.  That  of  the  lower  one,  which  I  visited,  is  about  sixty 
feet  in  depth.  The  water  is  so  limpid  that  a  white  object  an  inch  in  diameter  may  be  plainly  seen  lying  on  the  bottom. 
The  temperature  of  the  water  is  about  40°  Fahrenheit,  and  holds  in  solution  lime,  soda,  magnesia,  and  iron.  It  petri 
fies  every  thing  with  which  it  comes  in  contact.  This  process  makes  the  mill-wheels  indestructible.  About  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  the  springs  is  a  limestone  ridge  covered  with  alluvium.  From  beneath  this  these  springs  appear  to  flow, 
and  are  doubtless  the  first  appearance  on  the  earth  of  a  little  subterranean  river,  like  that  of  the  Eutaw  in  South  Caro 
lina.  2  See  page  490. 

3  Sandusky  City  is  the  capital  of  Erie  County,  Ohio.  It  was  named  Portland  when  it  was  first  laid  out  in  1817,  when 
there  were  only  two  log  houses  there,  one  on  the  site  of  the  "Veranda  Hotel,"  and  the  other  about  sixty  rods  east  of  it. 
The  town  stands  upon  an  inexhaustible  quarry  of  the  finest  limestone.  It  was  a  favorite  resort  of  the  Indians,  and 
previous  to  the  War  of  1812  it  was  known  as  Ogontz's  Place,  Ogontz  being  the  name  of  a  Wyandot  chief  who  resided 
there.  A  writer  in  the  American  Pioneer,  i.,  199,  says  the  name  of  Sandusky  is  derived  from  that  of  a  Polish  trader  who 
was  with  the  French  when  they  were  establishing  their  line  of  trading-posts  on  the  Maumee  and  Wabash  Rivers.  His 
name  was  Sanduski,  and  established  himself  near  the  present  village  of  Fremont.  His  trading  operations  were  con 
fined  to  the  river  and  bay  there,  and  these  became  known  to  both  Indians  and  Europeans  as  Sanduski's  River  and  San- 
duski's  Bay.  Sanduski  quarreled  with  the  Indians,  fled  to  Virginia,  and  was  there  killed  by  some  of  those  who  followed 
him. 

On  the  peninsula,  across  the  bay  opposite  Sandusky,  is  a  rough  monument,  erected  there  by  the  order  and  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  late  Honorable  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  spot  where  he  and  twenty-one  others 
had  a  skirmish  with  the  Indians  on  the  29th  of  September,  1812.  He  was  a  substitute  for  an  older  brother,  and  was  only 
fourteen  years  of  age.  The  regiment  to  which  he  belonged  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Richard  Hayes,  and  the  little 
company,  who  had  been  ordered  on  duty  on  the  peninsula  after  the  defeat  of  General  Hull,  was  led  by  Captain  Coltou. 
They  had  two  skirmishes  with  the  savages,  in  which,  of  the  twenty-two  soldiers,  six  were  killed,  and  an  equal  number 
were  wounded.  Mr.  Giddings  was  the  youngest  soldier  of  the  regiment. 

*  This  town  stands  at  the  head  of  the  navigation  of  Saudusky  River,  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  from  Sandusky  Bay 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


507 


Site  of  Fort  Stephenson. 


Its  Locality  and  Appearance. 


The  Six-pounder  "Good  Bess." 


The  site  of  Fort  Stephenson  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  village  of  Fremont.     It  occu 
pies  about  two  thirds  of  the  square  bounded  by  Croghan,  High,  Market,  and  Arch 


Streets.  The  dwelling  of  the  late  Honorable  Jacques  Hurlburd  stands  within  the 
area  of  the  old  stockade,  and  a  few  yards  south  of  the  block-house  in  which  was 
placed  the  cannon  that  swept  the  ditch.  The  northwest  angle,  where  the  British 
made  their  chief  assault,  is  at  the  junction  of  High  and  Croghan  Streets.  Near  the 
house  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Wilson,  on  Croghan  Street,  was  the  head  of  the  ravine  and  small 
stream  of  water  (see  Plan  of  Fort  Stephenson  on  page  503)  between  the  stockade  and 
the  British  battery.  It  was  to  the  shelter  of  that  ravine  that  the  affrighted  Indians 
fled  after  the  first  discharge  of  rifle-balls  from  the  garrison. 

From  the  site  of  the  fort  we  went  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  overlooking  the  landing- 
place  of  the  British.  When  I  had  finished  my  sketch  (printed  on  page  500)  we  vis 
ited  the  Good  jBess,  the  iron  six-pound  cannon  that  performed  such  fearful  service 
in  the  defense  of  the  fort.2  I  then  rode,  in  company  with  Mr.  Birchard,  to  old  Cro- 

by  its  course.  Here,  at  the  Lower  Rapids  of  the  Sandusky,  the  Indians  were  granted  a  reservation  by  the  treaty  of 
Greenville.  The  French  had  a  trading-station  here  at  an  early  day.  Here  was  the  residence  of  a  band  of  Wyandot  In 
dians,  called  the  Neutral  Nation.  They  had  two  villages.  They  were  "  cities  of  refuge"  for  all.  Whoever  sought  safe 
ty  in  them  found  it.  During  the  bloody  wars  between  the  Iroquois  and  the  Europeans,  this  band  of  Indians  were  al 
ways  peace-makers.  Their  two  towns  were  walled,  and  remains  of  their  works  may  yet  be  seen.  Indian  tribes  at  war 
recognized  them  as  neutral.  Those  coming  from  the  West  might  enter  the  Western  City,  and  those  from  the  East  the 
Eastern  City.  The  inhabitants  of  one  city  might  inform  those  of  the  other  that  war-parties  had  been  there,  but  who 
they  were,  or  where  from,  must  never  be  mentioned.  At  length  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  cities  quarreled,  and  one  de 
stroyed  or  dispersed  the  other. — Stickney's  Lecture  at  Toledo,  1S45,  quoted  by  Howe. 

i  This  view  is  from  the  northern  side  of  Croghan  Street,  opposite  the  residence  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Wilson.  The  building 
seen  in  the  centre  is  the  late  residence  of  Honora-  ^^  where  the  body  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Short  was 

ble  Jacques  Hurlburd.  Croghan  Street  descends 
to  the  left,  to  the  business  part  of  the  village,  and 
High  Street  passes  to  the  right.  On  the  extreme 
left,  on  High  Street,  is  seen  a  barn.  This  is  just 
beyond  the  southwest  angle  of  the  fort,  where 
Croghau  placed  a  block-house.  At  the  foot  of  the 
bank  on  Croghan  Street  is  the  site  of  the  ditch 

swept  by  the  six-pounder,  and  a  little  way  east-  PAKT  OF  SUl  8  longs  to  Chester  Edgcrton,  Esq.  The  citizens  have 
ward  from  the  corner  of  High  Street  is  the  place  81  x  manifested  a  laudable  desire  to  purchase  the  prop 

erty,  that  it  may  be  converted  into  a  public  square,  and  the  site  kept  free  from  buildings. 

3  The  garrison  named  the  piece  the  Good  Bess.  It  was  taken  to  Pittsburg,  where  it  remained  until  it  was  presented  to 
the  Corporation  of  Lower  Sandusky  (Fremont)  in  1850.  It  was  then  nicely  mounted  as  a  field-piece,  and  is  used  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  battle  for  salutes,  and  sometimes  by  political  parties.  The  breech  is  somewhat  mutilated,  it  having 
been  spiked  by  contending  political  parties  at  different  times.  It  was  carefully  preserved  in  a  small  building  on  Cro 
ghan  Street,  between  Forest  Street  and  the  site  of  the  fort. 


found.  In  1850,  when  the  street  and  side-walk 
were  being  regulated,  the  brass  piece  at  the  top 
of  a  sword-scabbard  was  found  upon  that  spot, 
supposed  to  have  belonged  to  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Short.  It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Sardis  Birch 
ard,  Esq.,  of  Fremont. 
The  ground  occupied  by  Fort  Stephenson  be 


508  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Works  of  Art.  Journey  to  Toledo.  General  Harrison's  Military  Character  assailed  and  vindicated. 

ghanville,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Sandusky,  and  afterward  to  the  place  of  Ball's 
skirmish  with  the  Indians,  mentioned  in  Note  1,  page  500.  It  was  between  the 
dwelling  of  Mr.  Villetti  (the  residence  of  Mr.  Birchard)  and  Mr.  Platt  Brush,  on  the 
road  from  Fremont  to  Tiffin  and  Columbus.  The  oak-tree,  with  the  hatchet-marks, 
stood  on  the  west  side  of  the  road,  near  Mr.  Brush's  house. 

At  Mr.  Villetti's  I  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  seeing  some  valuable  paintings  belong 
ing  to  Mr.  Bii-chard,  among  them  the  fine  picture  of  The  Dog  and  Dead  Duck,  a  work 
of  art  of  the  Dusseldorf  school  that  attracted  much  attention  during  the  exhibition 
in  the  Crystal  Palace  in  New  York  in  1854.  Leaving  his  attractive  gallery,  we  re 
turned  to  the  village,  stopping  on  the  way  in  the  "  Spiegel  Wood,"  a  lovely  spot  not 
far  from  the  banks  of  the  winding  Sandusky,  where  he  was  erecting  an  elegant  sum 
mer  mansion.  f 

The  day  was  now  far  spent.  Dark  clouds  were  gathering  in  the  western  sky,  and 
in  that  direction  I  was  soon  moving  swiftly  over  the  railway  toward  Toledo,  thirty 
miles  distant.  I  arrived  at  the  "  Oliver  House,"  in  that  city,  a  few  minutes  before  a 
heavy  thunder-storm  burst  upon  it  and  the  surrounding  country.  On  the  following 
day  I  made  the  visit  to  Fort  Meigs,  up  the  Maumee  Valley,  already  described  on 
pages  490  to  493  inclusive. 

After  the  repulse  of  the  British  at  Fort  Stephenson,  very  little  of  importance  oc 
curred  in  the  Northwest  until  the  battle  on  Lake  Erie,  at  near  the  middle  of  Septem 
ber,  when  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  that  quarter  wTas  entirely  changed.  Harrison's  reg 
ular  force  in  the  field  did  not  exceed  two  thousand  men,  yet  he  considered  them  suf 
ficient  for  all  present  purposes.  The  din  of  a  second  invasion  of  the  state  had  again 
aroused  the  people,  and  hundreds  of  volunteers  had  flocked  to  the  field  only  to  be 
again  disbanded.  These  volunteers  were  offended.  They  regarded  the  action  of  the 
general  as  an  indication  that  he  believed  them  to  be,  as  soldiers,  unworthy  of  his  con 
fidence  ;  and  their  indignant  officers,  in  published  resolutions,  attacked  the  military 
character  of  General  Harrison,  and  declared  that  they  would  never  again  rally  to  his 
flag.  His  personal  and  political  enemies  joined  in  the  hue  and  cry;  and  men  sitting 
at  home  in  ease,  utterly  ignorant  of  military  affairs,  assailed  him  with  jeers  as  an  im 
becile  or  a  coward,  because  he  did  not,  writh  his  handful  of  regulars  and  a  mass  of 
raw  troops,  push  forward  against  Maiden  and  Detroit,  before  the  tardily-building 
navy  was  completed.  Misrepresentation  followed  misrepresentation,  for  the  purpose 
of  poisoning  the  public  mind.  Fearing  their  effects,  his  general,  field,  and  staff  officers, 
"August  14,  fourteen  in  number,1  held  a  meeting  at  head-quarters,  Lower  Seneca  Town,a 
and  in  an  address  to  the  public,  drawn  up  by  General  Cass,  they  expressed 
their  entire  confidence  in  the  military  abilities  of  their  chief,  and  their  belief  that  his 
course  "  was  such  as  was  dictated  by  military  wisdom,  and  by  a  due  regard  to  our 
circumstances  and  to  the  situation  of  the  enemy." 

Up  to  this  time  General  Harrison's  efforts  had  been  mainly  directed  to  defensive 
measures ;  now,  the  fleet  at  Erie  being  nearly  ready,  and  Captain  Perry,  who  was  to 
command  it,  having  received  orders  to  co-operate  with  Harrison,  the  latter  bent  all 
his  energies  to  the  creation  of  a  well-appointed  army  for  another  invasion  of  Canada, 
Let  us  leave  General  Harrison  for  a  while  at  his  head-quarters  at  "Camp  Seneca," 
and  consider  the  naval  preparations  to  co-operate  with  him. 

We  have  observed  that  General  Hull's  advice  respecting  the  creation  of  a  fleet  on 
Lake  Erie,  before  attempting  an  invasion  of  Canada,  was  unheeded,2  and  that  the 
army  of  the  Northwest  was  involved  in  disaster,  and  its  commander  was  covered 
with  a  cloud  of  disgrace.  The  event  taught  the  rulers  wisdom,  and  they  profited  by 

1  'General  Cass ;  Colonels  Wells,  Owings,  Paul,  and  Bartlett ;  Lieutenant  Colonels  Ball  and  Morrison  ;  Majors  Todd, 
Trigg,  Smiley,  Graham,  Croghan,  Hukill,  and  Wood.  The  gallant  Croghan,  in  a  special  letter  on  the  27th,  silenced  the 
slanderers  who  were  making  political  capital  of  Harrison's  order  for  him  to  evacuate  Fort  Stephenson,  and  his  disobe 
dience.  "The  measures  recently  adopted  by  him,"  wrote  Croghan,  "  so  far  from  deserving  censure,  are  the  clearest  proof* 
of  his  keen  penetration  and  able  generalship."  2  See  page  251. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


509 


Captain  Perry  ordered  to  Lake  Erie. 


His  Journey  thither. 


Presqu'  Isle  and  Captain  Dobbins 


the  lesson.     They  resolved  to  dispute  the  supremacy  of  the  lakes  w.ith  the.  British, 
and  to  Commodore  Chauncey  was  intrusted  the  necessary  preparations. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1812,  Captain  Oliver  H.  Perry,  of  Rhode  Island, 
,  a  zealous  naval  officer  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  was  in  command  of  a  flotilla  of  gun 
boats  on  the  Newport  station.  He  was  very  anxious  for  service  in  a  wider  field  of 
action — on  the  lakes  or  the  broad  ocean — where  he  might  encounter  the  enemy  and 
win  distinction.  In  November11  he  offered  his  services  for  the  lakes ;  and  on  •  1812. 
the  first  of  February  following13  he  received  a  cordial  letter  from  Chauncey,  in  b  isis. 
which  that  gentleman  said, "  You  are  the  very  person  that  I  want  for  a  particular 
service,  in  which  you  may  gain  reputation  for  yourself  and  honor  for  your  country." 
This  service  was  the  command  of  a  naval  force  on  Lake  Erie.  Perry  was  delighted ; 
and  his  joy  was  complete  when,  on  the  17th  of  the  same  month,  he  received  orders 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  report  to  Commodore  Chauncey,  at  Sackett's  Har 
bor,  with  all  of  the  best  men  of  his  flotilla  in  Narraganset  Bay.  Before  sunset  that 
day  he  had  dispatched  Sailing-master  Almy,  Avith  fifty  men  and  officers,  for  the  east 
ern  shore  of  Lake  Ontario.  Two  days  afterward  an 
other  company  of  fifty  men  were  sent  to  the  same  des 
tination,  under  Sailing-master  Champlin ;  and  on  the 
21st  fifty  more,  under  Sailing-master  Taylor,  left 
Providence  and  followed  their  companions.  Twen 
ty  hours  later  Perry  left  his  pleasant  home  in  New 
port,  with  his  little  brother  Alexander,  then  only 
thirteen  years  of  age,  and  was  on  his  way  in  a  sleigh. 
He  stopped  part  of  a  day  at  Lebanon,  in  Connecticut, 
to  visit  his  parents,  and  on  the  28th  he  met  Chauncey 
at  Albany.  They  journeyed  together  northwardly 
through  the  Wilderness,  and  arrived  at  Sackett's  Har 
bor  on  the  evening  of  the  3d  of  March.  There  Perry 
remained  a  fortnight  on  account  of  an  expected  at 
tack  by  the  British.  The  menaces  of  danger  ceased,  and  the  young  commander  was 
ordered  to  proceed  to  Presqu'  Isle  (now  Erie),  and  hasten  the  equipment  of  a  little 
squadron  then  in  process  of  construction  there.2  He  arrived  at  Buffalo  on  the  24th, 

1  Perry's  house,  a  well-preserved  mansion,  stood,  when  the 
writer  sketched  it  in  1S48,  on  the  south  side  of  Washington 
Square,  Newport,  a  few  doors  from  Thames  Street.    It  was  a 
spacious,  square  building,  and  was  erected  almost  a  century  ago 
by  Mr.  Levi,  a  Jew.   To  that  house  Perry  took  his  bride,  a  daugh 
ter  of  Dr.  Mason,  of  Newport,  and  there  she  lived  a  widow  al 
most  forty  years.    She  died  in  February,  1S5S. 

2  Erie  was  chosen  for  this  purpose  on  the  recommendation  of 
Captain  Daniel  Dobbins,  one  of  the  most  experienced  naviga 
tors  on  Lake  Erie.    He  suggested  its  advantages  as  a  place  for 
building  gun-boats  early  in  the  autumn  of  1S12.    The  bay  being 
completely  land-locked,  and  its  only  entrance  too  shallow  for 
large  vessels  to  enter,  but  deep  enough  for  the  egress  of  gun 
boats,  he  regarded  it  as  the  safest  place  on  the  lake  for  the  con 
struction  of  small  vessels.    He  was  appointed  sailing-master  in 
the  navy  at  the  middle  of  September,  1812,*  and  received  instruc 
tions  from  the  government  to  commence  the  construction  of  gun 
boats  at  Erie.    On  the  12th  of  December  he  informed  the  De 
partment  that,  under  the  lead  of  Ebenezer  Crosby,  a  good  ship 
wright,  and  such  house-carpenters  as  he  could  supply,  he  had 
two  of  the  gun-boats— 50  feet  keel,  IT  feet  beam,  and  5  feet  hold 
— on  the  stocks,  and  would  engage  to  have  them  all  ready  by  the 
time  the  ice  was  out  of  the  lake. 

*  On  his  return  from  Detroit  he  was  sent  by  General  David 
Mead  with  dispatches  to  Washington.  There  he  was  summoned 
to  a  Cabinet  council,  and  was  fully  interrogated  concerning  the 
lakes.  His  opinions  were  received  with  deference ;  and  such  was 
the  confidence  of  the  Cabinet  in  his  judgment  that  he  was  ap 
pointed  sailing-master,  and  directed  to  construct  gun-boats  at 
Erie. 


PERRY'S  RESIDENCE.' 


510 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Harbor  of  Erie  or  Prescm'  Isle. 


History  of  the  Locality. 


Village  of  Erie. 


spent  the  next  day  in  examining  vessels  on  the  stocks  at  the  navy  yard  at  Black 
Hock,  then  superintended  by  Lieutenant  Pettigru,  and  made  arrangements  for  having 
stores  forwarded  to  him.  He  pressed  onward  by  land,  and  at  an  inn  on  the  way  he 
was  informed  by  the  keeper,  who  had  just  returned  from  Canada,  that  the  British . 
were  acquainted  with  the  movements  at  Erie,  and  would  doubtless  soon  attempt  to 
penetrate  the  hai'bor,  and  destroy  the  naval  materials  collected  there. 

The  harbor  of  Erie  is  a  large  bay,  within  the  embrace  of  a  low,  sandy  peninsula 
that  juts  five  miles  into  the  lake,  and  a  bluff  of  main  land  on  which  the  pleasant  vil 
lage  of  Erie,  the  capital  of  Erie  County,  Pennsylvania,  stands.  The  peninsula  has 
sometimes  been  an  island  when  its  neck  has  been  cleft  by  storms,  and  the  harbor  has 
been  entered  from  the  west  by  small  vessels.  Within  the  memory  of  living  men 
Presqu'  Isle  (the  peninsula)  has  been  a  barren  sand-bank;  now  it  is  covered  by  a 
growth  of  young  timber.  It  is  deeply  indented  toward  its  extremity  by  an  estuary 
called  Little  Bay.  The  harbor  is  one  of  the  finest  on  the  lake  when  gained,  but  at 
the  period  in  question,  and  until  lately,  its  entrance  was  by  a  shallow  channel,  tortu 
ous  and  difiicult  on  account  of  sand-bars  and  shoals.  Although  Presqu'  Isle  was  a 
place  of  historic  interest  in  colonial  times,1  it  was  an  insignificant  village  in  1812,  and 
less  than  twenty  years  of  age.2  Many  miles  of  wilderness,  or  a  very  sparsely-popu 
lated  country,  lay  between  it  and  the  thick  settlements ;  and  the  supplies  of  every 


Captain  Dobbins  was  an  efficient  man  and  faithful  officer.  He  was  duly  appointed  a  sailing-master  in  the  navy,  and 
was  highly  esteemed  by  Commodore  Perry.  He  was  born  in  Mifflin  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  5th  of  July,  177G,  aud 
tirst  visited  Erie,  with  a  party  of  surveyors,  in  179C.  It  was  then  a  wilderness.  He  was  there  with  General  Wayne  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  He  settled  there,  and  became  a  navigator  on  the  lakes.  He  was  at  Mackinaw  with  his  vessel, 
the  Salina,  when  that  place  was  captured  by  the  British  in  1S12,  and,  with  R.  S.  and  William  Reid,  of  Erie,  he  was  pa 
roled.  At  Detroit  he  was  again  made  prisoner,  and  paroled  unconditionally.  He  was  very  efficient  in  fitting  out  the 
squadron  at  Erie,  and  in  the  expedition,  under  Commodore  Sinclair,  that  attempted  to  retake  Mackinaw.  After  the  war 
he  was  in  command  of  the  Washington,  and  in  1S1G  he  conveyed  troops  in  her  to  Green  Bay.  She  was  the  first  vessel,  ex 
cept  a  canoe,  that  ever  entered  that  harbor.  A  group  of  islands  in  that  vicinity  were  named  Dobbins's  Islands  in  honor 
of  him.  He  was  ordered  to  sea  in  1S26,  when  he  resigned  his  commission  in  the  navy,  but  remained  in  the  government 
employment.  In  1S29  President  Jackson  appointed  him  commander  of  the  revenue  cutter  Rush.  He  left  active  service 
in  1849,  and  died  at  the  age  of  almost  eighty-one,  February  29, 1S5G.  The  likeness  of  Captain  Dobbins,  given  on  the  pre 
ceding  page,  is  from  a  portrait  painted  by  Moses  Billings,  of  Erie,  when  he  was  seventy-five  years  of  age. 

1  Here  was  erected  one  of  the  chain  of  French  forts  in  the  wilderness  which  first  excited  the  alarm  and  jealousy  of 
the  English  colonies  in  America  and  the  government  at  home.    The  remains  of  the  ramparts  and  ditches,  seen  iu  the 
sketch  on  the  opposite  page,  are  very  prominent  upon  a  point  overlooking  the  entrance  to  the  harbor,  which  it  com 
mands,  and  a  deep  ravine,  through  which  Mill  Creek  flows,  within  the  eastern  limits  of  the  borough  of  Erie.    The  fort 
is  supposed  to  have  been  erected  early  in  1749,  that  being  the  year  when  the  French  sent  armed  emissaries  throughout 
the.  Ohio  Valley  to  drive  off  the  English  traders.    It  was  constructed  under  the  direction  of  Jean  Ceeur  (commonly  writ 
ten  Joucaire  in  history),  an  influential  Indian  agent  of  the  French  governor  general  of  Canada.    This  was  intended 

by  the  French  for  an  important  entrepot  of  sup 
plies  for  the  interior  forts ;  but  when  Canada  passed 
into  the  possession  of  the  English,  a  hundred  years 
ago,  the  fort  was  abandoned,  and  fell  into  decay. 
General  Wayne  established  a  small  garrison  there 
in  1794,  and  caused  a  block-house  to  be  built  on 
the  bluff  part  of  Mill  Creek,  at  the  lake  shore  of 
Garrison  Hill.  On  his  return  as  victor  over  the 
Indians  in  the  Maumee  Valley,  he  occupied  a  log 
house  near  the  block-house.  There  he  died  of 
gout,  and,  at  his  own  request,  was  buried  at  the 
foot  of  the  flag-staff.  His  remains  were  removed 
to  Radnor  Church  -  yard,  Pennsylvania,  in  1S09. 
The  block-house  fell  into  decay,  and,  in  the  win 
ter  of  1S13-'14,  another  was  built  on  its  site ;  also 
one  on  the  Point  of  the  Peninsula  of  Presqu1  Isle. 
The  former  remained  until  1S53,  when  some  mis 
creant  burnt  it.  It  was  the  last  relic  of  the  War 
of  1S12  in  that  vicinity.  I  am  indebted  to  B.  F. 
Sloan,  Esq.,  editor  of  the  Erie  Observer,  for  the  ac 
companying  sketcTi  of  the  block-house,  made  by 
Mr.  Chevalier,  of  Erie.  The  view  is  from  the  edge 
of  the  water  at  the  mouth  of  Mill  Creek,  just  below  the  old  mill.  On  the  left  is  seen  the  open  lake,  and  on  the  right  of 
the  block-house,  where  a  small  building  is  seen,  was  the  place  of  the  flag-staff  and  Wayne's  grave. 

2  It  was  laid  out  in  1795,  when  reservations  were  made  of  certain  lots  for  the  use  of  the  United  States.    Theflrst  white 
settler  there  was  Colonel  John  Reid,  from  Rhode  Island,  who  built  a  log  cabin,  enlarged  it,  and  called  it  the  Presqu'  Me 
Hfitel,  entertained  travelers,  soldiers,  traders,  speculators,  and  Indians,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  large  fortune.    His 
sou  built  the  "Reid  House,"  in  Erie,  one  of  the  finest  hotels  iu  the  country  out  of  the  large  cities. 


WAYNE  8   BLOCK-HOUSE   AT   ERIE. 


OF   THE  WAR    OF   1812. 


511 


Perry's  Arrival  :u  Erie. 


Construction  of  a  Fleet  begun. 


Cascade  Creek,  and  Block-house  near. 


VIEW   OF  T1IE   SITE   OF   T11E   FEENCU   FOET  AN1)   ENTRANCE   TO   EKIE   HAEUOU.' 

kind,  but  timber,  for  naval  preparations,  had  to  be  brought  from  far-away  places  with 
great  labor.     Zeal  and  energy  overcame  all  difficulties. 

Perry  arrived  at  Erie,  as  we  have  observed,  on  the  27th  of  March.  He  established 
his  quai'ters  at  Duncan's  "  Erie  Hotel,"  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  important 
errand  by  calling  around  him  the  employes  of  the  government  there.  Much  pre 
liminary  work  had  al 
ready  been  done  under 
the  direction  of  the 
energetic  Sailing-mas 
ter  Dobbins  and  Noah 
Brown,  a  shipwright 
from  New  York.  For 
est-trees  around  Erie 
had  beeil  felled  and 
hewn ;  the  keels  of  two 
twenty-gun  brigs  and 
a  clipper  schooner  had 
been  laid  at  the  mouth 
of  Cascade  Creek; 
two  gun -boats  were 
nearly  planked  up  at 
the  mouth  of  Lee's 
Run,between  the  pres 
ent  Peach  and  Sassa 
fras  Streets ;  and  a 
third,  afterward  call- 

1  This  view  of  the  entrance  to  Erie  Harbor  was  taken  from  the  site  of  the  old 
French  Fort  dc  la  Presqu'  Isle,  mentioned  in  the  note  on  the  preceding  page.    The 
mounds  indicating  the  remains  of  the  fort  are  seen  on  the  right,  and  near  them, 
iu  the  centre  of  the  picture,  is  a  small  building  used  as  a  powder-house.    On  the 
bluff  on  the  extreme  right  is  seen  a  little  structure,  indicating  the  site  of  the 
block-house  mentioned  in  the  note  on  the  preceding  page,  which  is  not  far  from 
the  present  light-house.    On  the  left,  in  the  extreme  distance,  is  Presqu'  Isle 
Point,  and  in  the  water,  piers  that  have  been  constructed  for 'the  improvement  of 
the  entrance  channel,  and  a  light-house. 

2  This  is  a  view  of  the  site  of  the  n-ayy  yard  at  the  month-  of  the  Cascade  Creek, 
and  of  a  portion  of  the  harbor  of  Erie,  made  by  the  author  early  in  September, 
I860.    The  creek  and  the  gentle  cascade,  which  gives  its  appropriate  name,  are 
seen  in  the  foreground.    Beyond  it,  and  the  small  boats  seen  in  its  waters,  is  the 
beach  where  the  Lawrence,  Xiayara,  and  Ariel  were  built.    On  the  clay  and  gravel 
bluff  at  the  extreme  right,  the  fence  marks  the  site  of  a  block-house  built  to 
protect  the  ship-yard,  whose  stout  flag-staff,  with  cross-pieoes  for  steps,  served 
as  an  observatory.    From  its  top  a  full  view  of  the  lake  over  Presqu'  Isle  could 
be  seen.    The  lower  part  of  the  block-house  was  heavy,  rough  logs  ;  the  upper, 
or  battery  part,  was  made  of  hewn  timber. 

In  the  distance,  in  the  centre  of  the  picture,  is  seen  the  landing  at  Erie,  and  on  the  left  the  pier  and  light-house  at  the 
entrance  to  the  harbor.  Just  behind  the  bluff,  in  the  distance,  is  the  mouth  of  Lee's  Run,  where  the  Porcupine  and 
Tigress  were  built.  The  cascade  is  about  fifteen  feet  iu  perpendicular  fall  in  its  passage  over  a  ledge  of  slate  rock,  aud 
is  about  one  mile  from  the  public  square  in  Erie. 


MOUTH   OF   CASCADE   CREEK.2 


BLOCK-HI  >i  M 


512  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

A  Guard  at  Erie.  Perry  hastens  to  Chauncey.  Events  on  the  Niagara  Frontier. 

; _ . 

cd  Scorpion,  was  just  commenced.  To  guard  against  surprise  and  the  destruction 
of  the  vessels  by  the  British,  a  volunteer  company  of  sixty  men,  under  Captain  Fos 
ter,  had  been  organized.  Captain  Dobbins  had  also  formed  a  guard  of  the  ship-car 
penters  and  other  mechanics  engaged  on  the  vessels. 

On  the  arrival  of  Sailing-master  Taylor,  on  the  3d  of  March,  with  officers  and  men. 
Perry  hastened  to  Pittsburg  to  urge  forward  supplies  of  every  kind  for  the  comple 
tion  and  equipment  of  his  little  squadron.  He  had  already  ordered  Dobbins  to  Buf- 
a  April  10,  falo  f°r  men  and  munitions ;  and  on  his  returna  he  was  gratified  to  find  that 

S13>        faithful  officer  back  and  in  possession  of  a  twelve-pound  cannon,  four  chests 
of  small  arms,  and  ammunition.     The  vessels,  too,  were  in  a  satisfactory  state  of  for 
wardness.    They  were  soon  off  the  stocks.    Early  in  May  the  three  smaller  ones  were 
launched,  and  on  the  24th  of  the  same  month  the  two  brigs  were  put  afloat.1 
b  At  sunset  of  the  day  before  the  launching  of  the  brigs,b  Perry  left  Erie  in 

an  open  four-oared  boat,  to  join  Chauncey  in  an  attack  upon  Fort  George,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River.  The  commodore  had  promised  him  the  command 
of  the  marines  in  the  enterprise.  All  night  he  buffeted  the  angry  waves  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  arrived  at  Buffalo  the  next  day.  Perry  was  accompanied  from  Erie  as  far  as 
Lewiston  by  his  faithful  coadjutor,  Captain  Dobbins.  From  that  point  the  latter  was 
sent  back  to  Schlosser,  to  prepare  boats  for  seamen  who  were  to  be  sent  up  after  the 
reduction  of  Fort  George,  and  to  the  Black  Rock  navy  yard,  to  hasten  the  equipment 
of  some  government  vessels  that  were  to  join  the  growing  squadron  at  Erie. 

Fort  George  fell,0  Fort  Erie  was  evacuated  and  burnt,  and  the  British 
abandoned  the  entire  line  of  the  Niagara  River.  This  enabled  Perry  to  take 
safely  from  that  stream  into  Lake  Erie  and  the  sheltering  arms  of  Presqu'  Isle  five 
vessels  which  Henry  Eckford  had  prepared  for  warlike  service,  and  which  had  been 
detained  below  Buffalo  by  the  Canadian  batteries.  They  were  loaded  with  stores  at 
the  Black  Rock  navy  yard ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  June,  oxen,  seamen, 
and  two  hundred  soldiers,  under  Captains  Brevoort  and  Younge,  who  had  been  de 
tailed  to  accompany  Perry  to  Erie,  with  strong  ropes  over  willing  shoulders  com 
menced  warping  or  "tracking"  them  up  the  swift  current.  It  was  a  task  of  incredi 
ble  labor,  and  occupied  full  six  days. 

The  little  flotilla2  sailed  from  Buffalo  on  the  13th.  Perry  was  in  the  Caledonia, 
sick  with  symptoms  of  bilious  remittent  fever.  Head  winds  prevailed.  "  We  made 
twenty-five  miles  in  twenty-four  hours,"  wrote  Doctor  Usher  Parsons,  Perry's  sur 
geon,  in  his  diary.3  It  was  not  until  the  19th  that  they  entered  the  harbor  of  Erie, 
just  in  time  to  avoid  the  little  cruising  squadron  of  the  enemy  under  the  gallant 
Captain  Finnis,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  which  had  been  on  the  look-out  for  them.  Of 
this  Perry  had  been  informed,  on  his  way,  by  men  in  a  small  boat  that  shot  out  from 
the  southern  shore  of  the  lake,  and  he  had  prepared  to  fight.  When  the  last  vessel 
of  the  flotilla  had  crossed  the  bar  at  Erie,  the  squadron  of  the  enemy  hove  in  sight 
off  Presqu'  Isle  Point.4  Three  or  four  days  afterward  the  flotilla  went  up  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Cascade  Creek,  where  the  two  brigs  and  a  gim-boat  lay. 

Perry's  fleet  was  completed  and  finished  on  the  10th  of  July;  but,  alas!  he  had 

1  The  timber  for  the  vessels  was  found  on  the  spot.    Their  frames  were  made  of  white  and  black  oak  and  chestnut, 
the  outside  planking  of  oak,  and  the  decks  of  pine.    Many  trees  found  their  places  as  timber  in  the  vessels  on  the  very 
day  when  they  were  felled  iu  the  forest. 

2  It  consisted  of  the  prize  brig  Caledonia  (see  page  3S6) ;  the  schooner  Somers  (formerly  Catharine),  carrying  one  long 
24 ;  schooner  Amelia  (formerly  Tiriress),  carrying  one  long  IS ;  and  schooner  Ohio,  carrying  one  long  24  ;  the  sloop  Con 
tractor  (now  called  Trippc),  carrying  one  long  18.    The  commanders  of  this  flotilla  from  Buffalo  to  Erie  were  Perry, 
Almy,  Holdup,  Darling,  and  Dobbins. 

3  Doctor  Usher  Parsons,  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  is  the  last  surviving  commissioned  officer  of  Perry's  fleet.   I  am 
greatly  indebted  to  him  for  many  valuable  contributions  to  this  portion  of  my  work,  both  oral  and  written,  especially 
for  the  use  of  his  diary  kept  during  the  campaign  of  1813.    We  shall  meet  him  presently  as  the  surgeon  of  the  Law- 
rence,  Perry's  flag-ship,  in  the  battle  of  the  10th  of  September. 

4  This  cruising  squadron  consisted  of  the  ship  Queen  Charlotte,  mounting  17  guns ;  the  fine  schooner  Lady  Prcvost, 
mounting  13  guns  ;  the  brig  Hunter,  a  smaller  vessel  of  10  guns ;  the  schooner  Little  Belt,  of  3  guns ;  and  the  CMppcwa, 
of  1  gun. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  -  513 


Brig  Laicrence  to  be  the  Flag-ship.  Lack  of  Men.  Perry's  Earnestness  and  Unselfishness. 

only  men  enough  to  officer  and  man  one  of  the  brigs,  and  he  was  compelled  to  lie 
idle  in  the  harbor  of  Erie,  an  unwilling  witness  of  the  insolent  menaces  of  the  enemy 
on  the  open  lake.  The  brig  that  was  to  bear  his  broad  pennant  was  named  (by  order 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  received  on  the  12th)  Lawrence,  in  honor  of  the  gallant 
captain  of  the  Chesapeake,  who  had  just  given  his  life  to  his  country.a  The  .  ju,ie, 
other  brig  was  named  Niagara*,  and  the  smaller  vessels  constructed  at  Erie 
were  called  respectively  Ariel  (the  clipper  schooner),  Porcupine,  and  Tigress.  But 
what  availed  these  vessels  without  officers  and  crews?  The  two  hundred  soldiers 
lent  as  a  guard  for  the  flotilla  on  its  voyage  from  Buifalo  had  been  ordered  back. 
Only  Captain  Brevoort,  who  was  familiar  with  the  navigation  of  the  lake,  remained, 
and  he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  marines  of  the  Niagara.  Perry  was 
sick,  and  almost  one  fifth  of  his  men  were  subjects  for  the  hospital  in  the  court-house, 
under  Doctor  Horsley,  or  the  one  near  the  site  of  Wayne's  block-house,  under  Doctor 
Roberts.  And  yet  the  government,  remiss  itself  in  furnishing  Perry  with  men,  was 
calling  loudly  upon  him  to  co-operate  with  Harrison.  Twice  within  four  days  he  re 
ceived  orders  to  that  effect  "from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.b  Harri-  bju]  ^^ 
son,  too,  was  sending  messages  to  him  recounting  the  perils  of  the  situation 
of  his  little  army,  and  intelligence  came  that  a  new  and  powerful  vessel,  called  Detroit, 
was  nearly  ready  for  service  at  Maiden.  This  was  coupled  with  the  assurance  that 
the  veteran  Captain  Robert  H.  Barclay,  who  had  served  with  Nelson  at  Trafalgar, 
had  arrived  with  experienced  officers  and  men,  and  was  in  chief  command  of  the  hos 
tile  squadron  seen  off  Presqu'  Isle.  In  the  bitterness  of  a  mortified  spirit  Perry 
wrote  to  Chauncey,c  his  chief,  saying, "  The  enemy's  fleet  of  six  sail  are  now  c 
off  the  bar  of  this  harbor.  What  a  golden  opportunity,  if  we  had  men ! 
Their  object  is,  no  doubt,  either  to  blockade  or  attack  us,  or  to  carry  provisions  and 
re-enforcements  to  Maiden.  Should  it  be  to  attack  us,  we  are  ready  to  meet  them. 
I  am  constantly  looking  to  the  eastward ;  every  mail  and  every  traveler  from  that 
quarter  is  looked  to  as  the  harbinger  of  the  glad  tidings  of  our  men  being  on  the  way. 

Give  me  men,  sir,  and  I  will  acquire  both  for  you  and  myself  honor  and  glory 

on  this  lake,  or  perish  in  the  attempt.  Conceive  my  feelings : 'an  enemy  within  strik 
ing  distance,  my  vessels  ready,  and  not  men  enough  to  man  them.  Going  out  with 
those  I  now  have  is  out  of  the  question.  You  would  not  suffer  it  were  you  here. 
Think  of  my  situation :  the  enemy  in  sight,  the  vessels  under  my  command  more  than 
sufficient  and  ready  to  make  sail,  and  yet  obliged  to  bite  my  fingers  with  vexation 
for  want  of  men."1  Again,  on  the  23d  of  July,  when  Sailing-master  Champlin  had  ar 
rived  with  seventy  men,  Perry  wrote  to  Chauncey :  "For  God's  sake,  and  yours,  and 
mine,  send  me  men  and  officers,  and  I  will  have  them  all  [the  British  squadron]  in  a 

day  or  two.    Commodore  Barclay  keeps  just  out  of  the  reach  of  our  gun-boats 

The  vessels  are  all  ready  to  meet  the  enemy  the  moment  they  are  officered  and  man 
ned.  Our  sails  are  bent,  provisions  on  board,  and,  in  fact,  every  thing  is  ready.  Bar 
clay  has  been  bearding  me  for  several  days ;  I  long  to  be  at  him."  Then,  with  the 
most  generous  patriotism,  he  added,  "  However  anxious  I  am  to  reap  the  reward  of 
the  labor  and  anxiety  I  have  had  on  this  station,  I  shall  rejoice,  whoever  commands, 
to  see  this  force  on  the  lake,  and  surely  I  had  rather  be  commanded  by  my  friend 
than  by  any  other.  Come,  then,  and  the  business  is  decided  in  a  few  hours." 

Perry's  importunities  were  almost  in  vain.  Few  and  mostly  inferior  men  came  to 
him  from  Lake  Ontario,  and,  so  far  as  the  government  was  concerned,  he  was  left  to 
call  them  from  the  forest  or  the  deep.  When  he  gave  Harrison  the  true  reason  for 
failing  to  co-operate  with  him,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  reproved  him  for  exposing 

1  Two  days  afterward  [July  21]  the  enemy  were  becalmed  off  the  harbor,  when  Perry  went  out  with  three  gun-boats 
from  Cascade  Creek  to  attack  him.  Only  a  few  shots  were  exchanged,  at  the  distance  of  a  mile.  One  of  Perry's  shots 
struck  the  mizzeii-mast  of  the  Queen  Charlotte.  A  breeze  sprung  up,  and  the  enemy's  squadron  bore  away  to  the  open 
lake. 

KK 


514 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Relations  of  Chauncey  and  Perry. 


Erie  menaced. 


Preparations  for  an  Attack. 


his  weakness ;  and  when  he  complained  to  Chauncey  of  the  inferiority  of  the  men 
sent  to  him — "  a  motley  set,  blacks,  soldiers,  and  boys" — he  received  from  the  irritated 
commodore  a  letter  so  filled  with  caustic  but  half-concealed  irony,  that  he  felt  con 
strained  to  ask  for  a  removal  from  the  station,  because,  as  he  alleged,  he  "  could  not 
serve  longer  under  an  officer  who  had  been  so  totally  regardless  of  his  feelings."1  A 
manly,  generous  letter  from  Chauncey  soon  afterward  restored  the  kindliness  of  feel 
ing  between  them. 

In  the  mean  time  the  post  of  Erie  had  been  seriously  menaced.  General  Porter,  at 
Black  Rock,  sent  word  that  the  enemy  were  concentrating  at  Long  Point,  on  the 
Canada  shore  of  the  lake,  opposite  Erie.  At  about  the  same  time  a  hostile  movement 
was  made  toward  Fort  Meigs,  and  the  British  fleet  mysteriously  disappeared.  No 
doubt  was  entertained  of  a  design  to  attempt  the  capture  of  Erie,  with  the  vessels 
and  stores,  by  a  combined  land  and  naval  force.  A  panic  was  the  consequence.  The 
families  of  many  citizens  fled  with  their  valuables  to  the  interior.  Already  a  block- 


house  had  been  erected  on  the  bluff  east  of  Cascade  Creek  to  protect  the  ship-yard,2 
and  a  redoubt  mounting  three  long  twelve-pounders  had  been  planted  on  the  heights 
(now  called  Garrison  Hill),  near  the  present  light-house,  and  named  Fort  Wayne. 
Barracks  had  been  erected  in  the  village,3  and  a  regiment  of  Pennsylvania  militia 
were  encamped  near  Fort  Wayne.  The  vessels  were  as  well  manned  as  possible,  and 
boats  rowed  guard  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor.  But  these  means  of  defense  were 
not  considered  sufficient,  and  Perry  called  on  Major  General  David  Mead,  of  Mead- 
ville,  to  re-enforce  the  troops  with  his  militia.  This  was  done,4  and  in  the  course  of  a 
few  days  upward  of  fifteen  hundred  soldiers  were  concentrated  at  a  rendezvous  near. 
But  an  invasion  from  the  lake  was  not  attempted,  owing,  as  was  afterward  ascertain 
ed,  to  the  difficulty  of  collecting  a  sufficient  number  of  troops  in  time  at  Long  Point. 
At  the  close  of  July  Perry  had  about  three  hundred  effective  officers  and  men  at 

1  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  dated  on  board  the  Laicrence,  at  Erie,  August  10, 1S13. 

2  See  note  2,  page  511. 

3  These  occupied  a  portion  of  the  space  now  bounded  by  Third  and  Fifth  and  State  and  Sassafras  Streets.    These 
objects  and  localities,  and  others,  are  indicated  ou  the  above  map,  in  the  construction  of  which  I  acknowledge  aid 
kindly  afforded  me  by  Giles  Sanford,  Esq.,  of  Erie.    The  public  square  is  indicated  by  the  white  space  on  the  village 
plan,  and  the  court-house  by  the  shaded  square  within  it. 

*  Doctor  Parsons  wrote  iu  his  diary,  under  date  of  August  1, 1813,  "General  Mead,  of  Meadville,  arrived  two  or  three 
days  ago,  and,  with  his  suite,  came  ou  board  the  Laicrcnce  under  a  salute  of  thirty-two  guns." 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812.  515 

Passage  of  Vessels  over  Erie  Bar.  First  Cruise  of  Perry's  Fleet.  Re-enforcements  under  Captain  Elliott. 

Erie,  with  which  to  man  two  20-gun  brigs  and  eight  smaller  vessels.  The  enemy 
disappeared  and  the  lake  was  calm.  He  was  so  restive  under  the  bearding  of  Bar 
clay  and  the  chafing  from  superiors,  that  he  resolved  with  these  to  go  out  upon  the 
lake  and  try  the  fortune  of  war.  On  Sunday,  the  first  of  August,  he  moved  his  flo 
tilla  down  to  the  entrance  of  the  harbor,  intending  to  cross  early  the  next  morning. 
The  lake  was  lower  than  usual,  and  the  squadron  would  not  float  over  the  bar.  Even 
the  smaller  vessels  had  to  be  lightened  for  the  purpose,  and  at  one  time  it  was  con 
sidered  doubtful  whether  the  Lawrence  and  Niagara  could  be  taken  out  of  the  har 
bor  at  all.  The  flag-ship  was  tried  first.  Her  cannon,  not  "  loaded  and  shotted,"  as 
the  historians  have  said  (for  they  had  been  discharged  in  saluting  General  Mead), 
were  taken  out  and  placed  on  timbers  on  the  beach,  while  the  Niagara  and  smaller 
vessels  lay  with  their  broadsides  toward  the  lake  for  her  protection,  in  the  event  of 
the  reappearance  of  Barclay.1 

By  means  of  "  camels"2  the  Lawrence  was  floated  over  on  the  morning  of  the  4th, 
and  by  two  o'clock  that  day  her  armament  was  all  on  board  of  her,  mounted  and  pre 
pared  for  action.  The  Niagara  was  taken  over  in  the  same  way  with  very  little 
trouble,  and  the  smaller  vessels  reached  the  deep  water  outside*  without  a  ^£,^5, 
much  difficulty.  The  labor  of  this  movement  had  been  exciting  and  ex 
hausting,  and  the  young  commander  scarcely  slept  or  partook  of  food  during  the 
four  days.  The  enemy  was  exp'ected  every  moment.  Should  he  appear  while  the 
flotilla  was  on  the  bar,  all  might  be  lost.  Fortunately,  Commodore  Barclay's  social 
weakness — the  inordinate  love  of  public  festivities — prolonged  his  absence,  and  his 
squadron  did  not  heave  in  sight  until  the  5th,  just  as  the  Niagara  was  safely  moving 
into  deep  water.3  The  Ariel,  Lieutenant  Packet,  and  Scorpion,  Sailing-master  Cham- 
pliu,  were  sent  out  boldly  to  engage  and  detain  the  squadron.  Barclay  was  surprised 
at  this  movement,  and  perceiving  that  his  golden  opportunity  was  lost,  he  bore  away 
toward  Long  Point.  The  whole  of  Perry's  flotilla  was  in  perfect  preparation  before 
night.  That  evening  it  weighed  anchor,"  and  stood  toward  Long  Point 

0  *•— '  «— '  .  *  <^j 

on  its  first  cruise.    Perceiving  no  farther  use  for  the  militia,  who  were  anx 
ious  to  get  into  their  harvest-fields,  General  Mead  discharged  them,  and  the  armed 
citizens  of  Erie  resumed  their  accustomed  avocations. 

Perry  cruised  between  Erie  and  the  Canada  shore  for  two  or  three  days,  vainly 
searching  for  the  enemy,  who  had  gone  to  Maiden  to  await  the  completion  of  the 
Detroit,  a  ship  that  would  make  the  British  force  superior  to  that  of  the  Americans. 
But  the  latter  now  received  accessions  of  strength.  On  the  9th  the  squadron  was 
joined  at  Erie  by  Captain  Jesse  D.  Elliott,4  who  brought  with  him  about  one  hundred 
officers  and  superior  men.  With  these  he  manned  the  Niagara  and  assumed  com 
mand  of  her.  Thus  re-enforced,  Perry  resolved  to  sail  up  the  lake  and  report  himself 
ready  to  co-operate  with  Harrison. 

The  squadron  left  Erie  on  the  12thc  in  double  column,  one  line  in  regular  <  August. 
battle  order,5  and  rendezvoused  in  an  excellent  harbor  called  Put-in-Bay,d  "August  is. 

1  Manuscript  corrections  of  the  text  of  M'Kenzie's  Life  of  Perry,  by  Captain  Daniel  Dobbins,  -who  assisted  in  the 
movement.    I  am  indebted  for  the  use  of  these  notes  to  his  son,  Captain  W.  W.  Dobbins,  of  Erie,  Pennsylvania. 

2  A  "camel"  is  a  machine  invented  by  the  Dutch  for  carrying  vessels  over  shallow  places,  as  bars  at  the  entrance  of 
harbors.    It  is  a  huge  box  or  kind  of  scow,  so  arranged  that  water  may  be  let  in  or  pumped  out  at  pleasure.    One  of 
them  is  placed  on  each  side  of  a  vessel,  the  water  let  in,  and  the  camels  so  sunken  that,  by  means  of  ropes  under  the 
keel  and  windlasses,  the  vessel  may  be  placed  so  that  beams  may  bear  it,  resting  on  the  camels.     The  water  in  the 
camels  is  then  pumped  out,  they  float,  and  the  vessel,  raised  by  them,  is  carried  over  the  shallow  place. 

3  Captain  Dobbins,  in  his  MS.  notes  on  M'Kenzie's  Life  of  Commodore  Perry,  says  that  the  citizens  of  Port  Dover,  a 
small  village  on  Ryason's  Creek,  a  little  below  Long  Point,  in  Canada,  offered  Commodore  Barclay  and  his  officers  a 
public  dinner.    The  invitation  was  accepted.    While  that  dinner  was  being  attended  Perry  was  getting  his  vessels  over 
the  bar,  and  thereby  acquired  power  to  successfully  dispute  the  supremacy  of  Lake  Erie  with  the  British.    At  the  din 
ner  Captain  Barclay  remarked,  in  response  to  a  complimentary  toast,  "I  expect  to  find  the  Yankee  brigs  hard  and  fast 
on  the  bar  at  Erie  when  I  return,  in  which  predicament  it  will  be  but  a  small  job  to  destroy  them."    Had  Barclay  been 
more  mindful  of  duty,  his  expectations  might  have  been  realized.    Captain  Dobbins  makes  this  statement  on  the  au 
thority  of  an  old  lake  acquaintance,  Mr.  Ryasou,  who  was  at  the  dinner.  4  See  page  3SS. 

5  Perry's  aggregate  force  of  officers  and  men  was  less  than  f  :ur  hundred.    His  squadron  was  composed  as  follows: 


516 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Islands  around  Put-in-Bay. 


Harrison  visits  Perry  on  his  Flag-ship. 


Sickness  in  the  Fleet. 


formed  by  a  group  of  islands  known  as  the  North,  Middle,  and  South  Bass,  Put-in- 
Bay,  Sugar,  Gibraltar,  and  Strontian,1  and  numerous  small  islets,  some  of  them  con 
taining  not  more  than  half  an  acre.  These  lie  off  Port  Clinton,  the  capital  of  Ottawa 
County,  Ohio.  Nothing  was  seen  of  the  enemy ;  and  on  the  following  day,  toward 
evening,  the  squadron  weighed  anchor  and  sailed  for  Saridusky  Bay,  when  a  strange 
sail  was  discovered  off  Cunningham  (now  Kelly)  Island  by  Champlin,  of  the  Scor 
pion,  who  had  been  sent  out  -as  a  sort  of  scout.  He  signaled  and  gave  chase,  fol 
lowed  for  a  short  time  by  the  whole  squadron.  It  was-  a  British  schooner  reconnoi 
tring.  She  eluded  her  pursuers  by  darting  among  the  islands  that  form  Put-in-Bay, 
under  cover  of  the  night.  A  heavy  storm  of  wind  and  rain  came  with  the  darkness. 
The  Scorpion  partly  grounded,  the  schooner  ran  ashore  in  the  gale,  and  the  squadron 
lay  at  anchor  all  night.2  On  the  following  morning  the  point  of  the  peninsula  off 
Sandusky  Bay  was  reached,  when  Perry  fired  signal-guns,  according  to  agreement,  to 
apprise  Harrison  at  his  quarters  at  Camp  Seneca  of  his  presence.  That  evening  Col 
onel  E.  P.  Gaines,  Avith  a  few  officers  and  a  guard  of  Indians,  appeared  on  board  the 
Lawrence,  and  informed  Perry  that  Harrison,  with  eight  thousand  men — militia,  reg 
ulars,  and  Indians — was  only  twenty-seven  miles  distant.  Boats  were  immediately 
dispatched  to  bring  the  general  and  his  suite  on  board.  He  arrived  late  in  the  even 
ing  of  the  19th,  during  a  heavy  rain,  accompanied  by  his  aids,  M' Arthur  and  Cass, 
and  other  officers  composing  his  staff,  and  a  large  number  of  soldiers  and  Indians, 
twenty-six  of  the  latter  being  chiefs  of  the  neighboring  tribes,  whose  friendship  it 
was  thought  important  to  maintain.  The  plan  of  the  campaign  was  then  arranged 
a  August,  by  the  two  commanders.  The  20th,a  a  bright  and  beautiful  day,  was  spent 
S13-  in  reconnoitring  Put-in-Bay,  with  the  view  of  concentrating  the  army  there 
for  transportation  to  Maiden,  and  on  the  21st  the  general  returned  to  his  camp. 

As  Harrison  Avas  not  quite  ready  for 
the  forAvard  movement,  Perry 

.,     ,h  .     !  J       "August  23. 

sailed0  on  a  reconnoitring  ex 
pedition  toward  Maiden,  first  ordering  the 
ever-trusty  Captain  Dobbins  to  hasten 
with  the  Ohio  to  Erie  on  the  important 
errand  of  procuring  additional  stores.  He 
found  the  enemy  Avithin  the  mouth  of  the 
Detroit  River.  The  new  vessel  had  not 
yet  joined  the  squadron,  and  he  resohred 
to  strike  a  bold  bloAv.  Unfavorable  winds 
made  the  measure  very  perilous ;  and  be 
fore  the  elements  were  propitious  he  was 
prostrated  by  an  attack  of  bilious  remit 
tent  fever,  then  very  prevalent  in  the 
squadron.  His  surgeon  and  chaplain, 
and  his  young  brother  Alexander,  who 
had  accompanied  him  from  Rhode  Island, 
Avere  also  severely  ill,  and  the  assistant 
surgeon,  Doctor  Parsons,  Avas  too  weak 
from  a  similar  attack  to  Avalk.3  The  en 
terprise  was  abandoned  for  the  time,  and 


Lawrence,  commanded  by  Commodore  Perry;  Niagara,  Captain  Elliott;  Caledonia,  Purser  M'Grath;  Ariel,  Lieutenant 
Packet;  Somers,  Sailing-master  Almy;  Tigress,  Master's-mate  M'Donald;  Scorpion,  Sailing-master  Champliu;  Porcu 
pine,  Midshipman  Seuat;  Ohio,  Sailing-master  Dobbins;  Trippe,  Lieutenant  Smith. 

1  So  named  because  of  the  quantity  of  that  mineral  found  there. 

2  Parsons's  Diary.    MS.  statement  of  Captain  Champlin,  communicated  to  the  Author. 

3  "Though  so  ill  as  to  be  incapable  of  walking,"  says  M'Kenzie,  "with  a  humane  self-devotion  most  honorable  to 
him,  he  continued  to  attend  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  to  which  he  was  carried,  and  to  prescribe  for  them,  not  only  on 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


517 


Put-in-Bay. 


A  Reconnoissance  by  Perry. 


The  Circumspection  of  the  British  commander. 


on  the  27th,a  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  squadron  again  anchored     "Augus 
in  Put-in-Bay.     There,  on  the  31st,  Perry  received  from  Harrison  a  re-en-        1813- 


PUT-IX-liAY. 

forcement  of  thirty-six  men,  to  act  as  marines  and  supply  the  places  of  some  of  the 
sick. 

At  the  end  of  a  week's  confinement  Perry  gave  orders  for  another  cruise,  and  on 
the  first  of  September  the  squadron  weighed  anchor  and  sailed  again  for  Maiden, 
where  he  challenged  Barclay,  who  did  not  then  choose  to  respond,  but,  under  shore 
batteries,  lay  securely  and  unmoved.  On  the  following  morning  Perry  sailed  for 
Sandusky  Bay,  to  communicate  with  General  Harrison,  and  then,  with  his  whole 
squadron,  returned  to  anchorage  in  Put-in-Bay. l 

board  of  the  Lawrence,  but  of  the  smaller  vessels,  being  lifted  for  the  purpose  in  his  cot,  and  the  sick  brought  on  deck 
for  his  prescriptions." — Life  of  Perry,  L,  203. 

Usher  Parsons  was  born  at  Alfred,  Maine,  on  the  ISth  of  August,  1TS8.  He  chose  the  medical  profession  as  a  life- 
pursuit,  and  studied  with  Dr.  John  Warren,  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  On  the  promulgation  of  the  declaration  of 
war  he  entered  the  navy  as  surgeon's  mate.  He  volunteered  to  accompany  Perry  to  Lake  Erie  with  the  crew  of  the 
John  Adams.  In  the  battle  on  Lake  Erie,  described  in  the  next  chapter,  he  was  on  the  flag-ship  Lawrence  as  acting 
surgeon,  his  superior  being  too  ill  to  attend  to  his  duties.  Indeed,  the  duties  of  both  Dr.  Barton  and  Dr.  Horseley 
devolved  on  Dr.  Parsons  when  the  battle  was  over.  Speaking  of  him  in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Perry 
said:  "I  can  only  say  that  in  the  event  of  my  having  another  command,  I  should  consider  myself  particularly  fortu 
nate  in  having  him  with  me  as  a  surgeon."  In  1814  he  served  on  the  upper  lakes  under  Commodore  Sinclair.  At 
the  request  of  Perry,  Parsons  became  the  surgeon  of  the  new  frigate  Java,  44,  commanded  by  the  hero  of  Lake  Erie. 
After  ten  years'  service  in  the  navy  he  retired,  settled  as  a  physician  and  surgeon  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  was 
professor  in  Brown  University  and  other  colleges,  president  of  the  Rhode  Island  Medical  Society,  and  first  vice-presi 
dent  of  the  National  Medical  Society.  In  1822  he  married  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Holmes,  of  Cambridge,  the  author  of 
the  Annals  of  America.  She  died  three  years  afterward,  bearing  one  son,  Dr.  Charles  W.  Parsons,  now  [1SG7]  president 
of  the  Rhode  Island  Medical  Society.  Dr.  Parsons  is  the  author  of  several  medical  works  and  historical  discourses,  and 
a  well-written  Life  of  Sir  William  Peppcrell,  Dart.  Dr.  Parsons  is  still  [1SG7]  in  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  physical  and 
mental  health,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years. 

1  Put-in-Bay  Harbor  is  on  the  north  side  of  Put-in-Bay  Island,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  group  of  about  twenty  in  that 
neighborhood.  The  view  of  the  harbor  from  Put-in-Bay  Island,  given  above,  is  from  a  drawing  made  on  the  spot,  in 
September,  1S59,  by  Captain  Van  Cleve,  a  veteran  Lake  Ontario  steam-boat  commander,  who  kindly  presented  it  to  me. 
Directly  in  front  is  seen  Gibraltar  Island,  and  the  place  of  "Perry's  Look-out,"  delineated  in  the  little  picture  at  the 
beginning  of  the  next  chapter,  is  indicated  by  the  flag.  The  smoke  in  the  distance  points  out  the  place  of  the  battle, 
ten  miles  in  a  northwardly  direction  from  Put-in-Bay.  The  Bass  Islands  are  seen  on  the  right,  and  Rattlesnake  Island 
on  the  left.  The  beaches  of  all  are  chiefly  of  white  pebbles.  The  view  is  from  Put-iu-Bay  Island,  near  the  landing. 


518 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Perry's  Antagonist  m  Sight. 


Preparations  far  Battle. 


Rendezvous  at  Put-in-Bay. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

"  September  the  tenth,  full  well  I  ween, 
In  eighteen  hundred  and  thirteen, 
The  weather  mild,  the  sky  serene, 

Commanded  by  bold  Perry, 
Our  saucy  fleet  at  anchor  lay 
In  safety,  moor'd  at  Put-in-Bay ; 
'Twixt  sunrise  and  the  break  of  day, 
The  British  fleet 
We  chanced  to  meet ; 
Our  admiral  thought  he  would  them  greet 

With  a  welcome  oil  Lake  Erie." — OLD  SONG. 

AIL  ho !"  were  the  stirring  words  that  rang  out  loud  and  clear 
from  the  mast-head  of  the  Lawrence  on  the  warm  and  pleasant 
morning  of  the  10th  of  September,  1813.  That  herald's  proc 
lamation  was  not  unexpected  to  Perry.  Five  days  before  he 
had  received  direct  and  positive  information  from  Maiden  that 
Proctor's  army  were  so  short  of  provisions  that  Barclay  was 
preparing  to  go  out  upon  the  lake,  at  all  hazards,  to  open  a  com 
munication  with  Long  Point,  the  chief  deposit  of  supplies  for 
the  enemy  on  the  banks  of  the  Detroit  River.  Perry  had  made  preparations  accord 
ingly  ;  and,  day  after  day,  from  the  rocky  heights  of  Gibraltar  Island,  now  known  as 

"  Perry's  Look-out,"  he  had 
pointed  his  glass  anxiously 
in  the  direction  of  Maiden. l 
^     On  the  evening  of  the  9th 
m   he  called  around  him  the  offi- 
|  cers    of  his    squadron,  and 
I  gave  instructions  to  each  in 
I  writing,  for  he  was  determ- 
||  ined  to  attack  the  enemy  at 
his  anchorage  the  next  day 
if  he  did  not  come  out.    His 
plan  Avas  to  bring  on  a  close 
action  at  once,  so  as  not  to 
lose   the   advantage   of  his 

O 

short  carronades.  To  each 
vessel  its  antagonist  on  the 
British  side  was  assigned, 
the  size  and  character  of 

PERRY'S  LOOK-OUT,  GIBRALTAR  ISLAND,  PUT-IN-BAY.S  them  having  been  COmmum- 

1  Perry  also  kept  two  of  the  smaller  vessels  as  look-outs  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Sisters  Islands. 

2  This  little  picture  is  from  a  painting  made  on  the  spot  by  Miss  C.  L.  Ransom,  who  kindly  permitted  me  to  copy 
it  (see  page  505).    "Perry's  Look-out"  is  on  the  left,  and  is  composed  of  limestone  piled  about  fifty  feet  above  the  wa 
ter.    In  front  is  a  natural  arch.    On  the  summit  is  a  representation  of  a  monument  proposed  to  be  erected  there,  of 
which  the  corner-stone  was  laid  several  years  ago  with  imposing  ceremonies.    OH  the  left  are  seen  the  graves  of  some 
sailors  who  died  of  cholera.    In  the  middle  is  seen  Rattlesnake  Island.    On  the  right,  in  the  extreme  distance,  is  North 
Bass  Island,  and  between  the  two  is  the  passage  toward  Detroit.    The  Middle  Bass  is  also  seen  on  the  right.    Thisis 
a  faithful  copy  of  Miss  Ransom's  picture,  with  the  exception  of  time.    It  has  been  made  a  moonlight  scene,  for  effect, 
instead  of  a  daylight  one. 

Near  the  site  of  the  proposed  monument,  Jay  Cooke,  an  eminent  banker,  has  a  fine  dwelling,  and  on  the  foundations 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


519 


Perry's  Battle-flas 


His  final  Instructions. 


The  British  Fleet  in  Sight. 


PEKEY  S   BATTLE-FLAG.-1 


cated  to  him  by  Captain  Brevoort,1  whose  family  lived  in  Detroit.  The  Laicrence 
was  assigned  to  the  Detroit  •  the  Niagara  to  the  Queen  Charlotte,  and  so  on  ;  and 
to  each  officer  he  said,  in  substance,  Engage  your  antagonist  in  close  action,  keeping 
on  the  line  at  half-cable  length  from  the  vessel  of  our  squadron  ahead  of  you. 

It  was  about  ten  o'clock  when  the  conference  ended.  The  moon  was  at  its  full, 
and  it  was  a  splendid  autumn  night.  Just  before  they  parted,  Perry  brought  out  a 
large  square  battle-flag,  which,  at 
his  request,  Mr.  Hambleton,2  the 
purser,  had  caused  to  be  privately 
prepared  at  Erie.  It  was  blue, 
and  bore,  in  large  letters,  made  of 
white  muslin,  the  alleged  dying 
words  of  the  gallant  commander 
of  the  Chesapeake,  "  DON'T  GIVE 
UP  THE  SHIP  !"  "  When  this  flag 
shall  be  hoisted  to  the  main-royal 
mast-head,"  said  the  commodore, 
"  it  shall  be  your  signal  for  going 
into  action."  As  the  officers  were 
leaving,  he  said,  "  Gentlemen,  re 
member  your  instructions.  Nel 
son  has  expressed  my  idea  in  the 
words,  'If  you  lay  your  enemy 
close  alongside,  you  can  not  be  out 
of  your  place.'  Good-night." 

The  cry  of  "  Sail  ho  !"  was  soon 
followed  by  signals  to  the  fleet  of 
"  Enemy  in  sight ;"  "  Get  underweigh  ;"  and  the  voices  of  the  boatswains  sounding 
through  the  squadron  and  echoing  from  the  shoi-es  the  command,  "  All  hands  up 
anchor,  ahoy  !"  At  sunrise  the  British  vessels  were  all  seen  upon  the  northwestern 
horizon — 

"  Six  barques  trained  for  battle,  the  red  flag  displaying, 
By  Barclay  commanded,  their  wings  wide  outspread, 
Forsake  their  strong-hold,  on  broad  Erie  essaying 
To  meet  with  that  foe  they  so  lately  did  dread." — OLD  BALLAD. 

A  light  wind  was  blowing  from  the  southwest.  Clouds  came  upon  it  from  over  the 
Ohio  wilderness,  and  in  passing  dropped  a  light  shower  of  rain.  Soon  the  sky  be 
came  serene,  and  before  ten  o'clock,  when,  by  the  aid  of  the  gentle  breeze  in  beat- 
prepared  for  that  monument  he  caused  to  be  erected,  in  1SCC,  a  small  one,  composed  of  yellowish  limestone.  It  is  about 
ten  feet  in  height,  and  surmounted  by  a  bronze  vase  for  flowers.  On  its  sides  are  naval  devices  of  the  same  metal. 

1  Henry  Brevoort,  of  New  York,  was  commissioned  Second  Lieutenant  in  Third  Infantry  in  1801.    lie  commanded 
transports  on  Lake  Erie,  and  in  May,  1811,  was  promoted  to  captain.    He  distinguished  himself  in  the  battle  of  Magua- 
ga  (see  page  279),  and  also  as  commander  of  marines  in  the  Siagara  in  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie.    He  received  a  silver 
medal  for  his  gallantry  there.    He  was  promoted  to  major  in  1S14,  and  was  disbanded  in  1815.    In  1822  he  was  made 
United  States  Indian  Agent  at  Green  Bay.— Gardner's  Dictionary  of  the  Army. 

2  Samuel  Hambleton  was  a  native  of  Talbot  County,  Maryland,  where  he  was  born  in  1T7T.    He  was  first  a  merchant, 
then  a  clerk  in  the  Navy  Department,  and  in  1SOC  was  appointed  purser  in  the  navy.    After  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  the 
officers  and  crews  of  the  American  squadron  appointed  him  prize  agent,  and  more  than  $200,00(1  passed  through  his 
hands.    He  left  the  lake  in  1814,  and  performed  good  service  afloat  and  ashore  for  many  years.    He  died  at  his  resi 
dence  in  Maryland,  near  St.  Michael's,  called  "  Perry's  Cabin,"  January  17, 1851. 

3  This  is  a  picture  of  the  flag  as  seen  in  the  Trophy  Room  of  the  Sanitary  Fair  in  the  City  of  New  York  in  the  month 
of  April,  1SG4.    It  is  between  eight  and  nine  feet  square.    The  form  of  the  letters  is  preserved  in  the  engraving.    They 
are  about  a  foot  in  length,  and  might  be  seen  at  a  considerable  distance. 

The  following  lines,  in  allusion  to  this  flag,  are  from  a  fine  poem  on  The  Hero  of  Lake  Erie,  by  Henry  T.  Tuckerman, 
Esq.  : 

"Behold  the  chieftain's  glad,  prophetic  smile, 
As  a  new  banner  he  unrolls  the  while ; 
Hear  the  gay  shout  of  his  elated  crew 
When  the  dear  watchword  hovers  to  their  view, 
And  Lawrence,  silent  in  the  arms  of  death, 
Bequeaths  defiance  with  his  latest  breath  !" 


520  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Perry's  Determination  to  flght.  Names  and  Character  of  the  opposing  Vessels.  Signal  for  Battle. 

ing  and  strong  arms  with  oars,  the  squadron  had  passed  out  from  the  labyrinth  of 
islands  into  the  open  lake,  within  five  or  six  miles  of  the  enemy,  not  a  cloud  was 
hanging  in  the  firmament,  nor  a  fleck  of  mist  was  upon  the  waters.  It  was  a  splen 
did  September  day. 

Perry  was  yet  weak -from  illness  when  the  cry  of ''Sail  ho!"  was  repeated  to  him 
by  Lieutenant  Dulaney  Forrest.  That  announcement  gave  him  strength,  and  the  ex 
citement  of  the  hour  was  a  tonic  of  rare  virtue.  The  wind  was  variable,  and  he 
tried  in  vain  to  gain  the  weather  -  gage  of  the  enemy  by  beating  around  to  the  wind 
ward  of  some  of  the  islands.  He  was  too  impatient  to  fight  to  long  brook  the  waste 
of  precious  time  in  securing  an  advantage  so  small  with  a  wind  so  light.  "  Run  to 
the  leeward  of  the  islands,"  he  said  to  Taylor,  his  sailing-master.1  "Then  you  will 
have  to  engage  the  enemy  to  leeward,"  said  that  officer,  in  a  slightly  remonstrant 
manner.  "I  don't  care,"  quickly  responded  Perry;  "to  windward  or  to  leeward, 
they  shall  fight  to-day."  The  signal  to  wear  ship  followed  immediately,  when  the 
wind  shifted  suddenly  to  the  southeast,  and  enabled  the  squadron  to  clear  the  isl 
ands,  and  to  keep  the  weather  -  gage.  Perceiving  this,  Barclay  hove  to,  in  close  or 
der,  and  awaited  Perry's  attack.  His  vessels,  newly  painted  and  with  colors  flying, 
made  an  imposing  appearance.  They  were  six  in  number,2  and  bore  sixty-three  car 
riage-guns,  one  on  a  pivot,  two  swivels,  and  four  howitzers.  Perry's  squadron  num 
bered  nine  vessels,  and  bore  fifty-four  carriage-guns  and  two  swivels.3  Barclay  had 
thirty-five  long  guns  to  Perry's  fifteen,  and  possessed  greatly  the  advantage  in  action 
at  a  distance.  In  close  action,  the  weight  of  metal  was  with  the  Americans,  and  for 

o 

that  reason  Perry  had  resolved  to  close  upon  the  enemy  at  once.  The  British  com 
mander  had  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  from  the  royal  navy,  eighty  Canadian  sailors, 
two  hundred  and  forty  soldiers,  mostly  regulars,  and  some  Indians.  His  whole  force, 
officers  and  men,  was  a  little  more  than  five  hundred.  The  American  commander 
had  upon  his  muster-roll  four  hundred  and  ninety  names.  Of  these  the  bearers  of 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  were  sick,  and  most  of  them  too  weak  to  go  upon  deck. 
About  one  fourth  of  Perry's  crew  were  from  Rhode  Island;  one  fourth  were  regular 
seamen,  American  and  foreign ;  about  one  fourth  were  raw  volunteers,  chiefly  from 
Kentucky  ;  and  about  another  fourth  were  negroes.  , 

At  a  little  past  ten  o'clock  Perry's  line  was  formed  according  to  the  plan  arranged 
the  previous  evening,  the  Niagara  in  the  van.  The  Lawrence  was  cleared  for  ac 
tion,  and  the  battle-flag,  bearing  the  words  "  DOX'T  GIVE  UP  THE  SHIP,"  in  letters  large 
enough,  as  we  have  observed,  to  be  seen  by  the  whole  squadron,  was  brought  out 
and  displayed.  The  commodore  then  addressed  his  officers  and  crew  a  few  stirring 
words,  and  concluded  by  saying, "  My  brave  lads  !  this  flag  contains  the  last  words 
of  Captain  Lawrence.  Shall  I  hoist  it  ?"  "  Ay,  ay,  sir  !"  they  all.  shouted,  as  with 
one  voice,  and  in  a  moment  it  was  run  up  to  the  main-royal  mast-head  of  the  flag 
ship,  amid  cheer  after  cheer,  not  only  from  the  Lawrence,  but  the  whole  squadron. 
It  was  the  signal  for  battle. 

1  William  Vigeron  Taylor  was  of  French  descent.    He  was  a  captain  in  the  merchant  service,  and  entered  that  of  the 
navy  under  Perry  as  sailing-master.    Perry  esteemed  him  highly,  and  made  him  sailing-master  of  his  flag-ship  on  Lake 
Erie.    He  rendered  efficient  service  in  the  fitting  out  of  the  squadron.    In  the  battle  on  the  10th  of  September  he  re 
ceived  a  wound  in  the  thigh,  but  kept  the  deck  until  the  close.    On  the  return  of  the  Lawrence  to  Erie,  Mr.  Taylor  was 
sent  with  dispatches  to  Chauncey.    In  1S14  he  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy.    He  was  promoted  to  com 
mander  in  1831,  and  to  post  captain  in  1841.    He  commanded  the  sloops  Warren  and  Erie  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.    After 
his  promotion  to  post  captain  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  ship-of-the-liue  Ohio,  and  took  her  around  Cape  Horn  to 
the  Pacific.    He  was  then  sixty-eight  years  of  age.    On  the  llth  of  February,  1851,  he  died  of  apoplexy,  in  the  seventy- 
eighth  year  of  his  age. 

It  is  proper  here  to  mention  that  most  of  the  biographical  sketches  of  the  officers  of  Perry's  squadron  contained  in 
this  chapter  are  compiled  from  a  paper  on  the  subject  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Usher  Parsons,  published  in  the  2few  England 
Historical  and  Genealogical  Register  for  January,  1SG3. 

2  These  were  as  follows :  Ship  Detroit,  19  guns,  1  in  pivot,  and  2  howitzers ;  ship  Queen  Charlotte,  17,  and  1  howitzer  ; 
schooner  Lady  Prevost,  13,  and  1  howitzer ;  brig  Hunter,  10 ;  sloop  Little  Belt,  3 ;  and  schooner  Chippeu-a,  1,  and  2  swivels. 

3  These  were  as  follows:  Brig  Lawrence,  20  guns ;  brig  Niagara,  20  :  brig  Caledonia,  3;  schooner  Ariel,  4;  schooner 
Scorpion,  2,  and  2  swivels  ;  sloop  Trippe,  1 ;  schooner  Tigress,  1 ;  and  schooner  Porcupine,  1.    The  Ohio,  Captain  Dob 
bins,  had  gone  to  Erie  for  supplies,  and  was  not  in  the  action.  . 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


521 


Perry's  Care  for  his  Men. 


Change  hi  the  Order  of  Battle. 


Biographical  Sketch  of  Perry. 


OLIVER  11.   I'tKltY. 


As  the  dinner-hour  would  occur  at 
the  probable  time  of  action,  the  thought 
ful  Perry  ordered  refreshments  to  be  dis 
tributed.  The  decks  were  then  wetted 
and  sprinkled  with  sand  so  that  feet 
should  not  slip  when  blood  should  begin 
to  flow.  Then  every  man  was  placed 
in  proper  position.  As  the  squadron 
moved  slowly  and  silently  toward  the 
enemy,  with  a  gentle  breeze,  at  the  rate 
of  less  than  three  knots,  the  Niagara, 
Captain  Elliott,  leading  the  van,  it  was 
discovered  that  Barclay  had  made  a  dis 
position  of  his  force  that  required  a 
change  in  Perry's  prescribed  order  of 
battle.  It  was  instantly  made,  and  the 
American  squadron  moved  to  the  at 
tack  in  the  order  best  calculated  to  cope 
with  the  enemy.  Barclay's  vessels  were 
near  together.  The  flag-ship  Detroit, 


1  Oliver  Hazard  Perry  was  born  in  South  Kingston,  Rhode  Island,  on  the  23d  of  August,  17S5.    His  father  was  then 
in  the  naval  service  of  the  United  States.    He  entered  the  navy  as  midshipman  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  on  board  the 


8loop-of-war  General  Greene,  when  war 
with  France  seemed  inevitable.  He 
first  saw  active  service  before  Tripoli, 
in  the  squadron  of  Commodore  Preble. 
He  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in 
1810,  and  placed  in  command  of  the 
schooner  Revenge,  attached  to  Com 
modore  Rodgers's  squadron  in  Long 
Island  Sound.  She  was  wrecked,  but 
his  conduct  in  saving  public  property 
was  highly  applauded.  Early  in  1812 
he  was  placed  in  command  of  a  flotil 
la  of  gun-boats  in  Newport  Harbor. 
After  his  victorious  battle  on  Lake 
Erie  in  1S13,  he  was  promoted  to  post- 
captain,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  he 
•  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Java, 
44,  a  first-class  frigate,  and  sailed  with 
Decatur  for  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 


VIEW  OF  PEKRY'S 


On  his  return,  while  his  vessel  was 
lying  in  Newport  Harbor,  in  mid-win 
ter,  a  fearful  storm  arose.  He  heard 
of  the  wreck  of  a  merchant  vessel  upon 
a  reef  six  miles  distant.  He  immedi 
ately  manned  his  barge  and  said  to  his 
crew,  "  Come,  my  boys,  we  are  going 
to  the  relief  of  shipwrecked  seamen ; 
pull  away  !"  He  rescued  eleven  almost 
exhausted  seamen  from  death. 

On  account  of  piracies  in  the  West 
Indies,  the  United  States  government 
determined  to  send  a  little  squadron 
there  for  the  protection  of  American 
commerce.  Perry  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  it,  and  in  1819  he  sailed 
in  the  John  Adams,  accompanied  by 
the  Nonsuch.  In  August  he  was  at 
tacked  by  the  yellow  fever,  and  on  his 

birthday  (August  23d)  he  expired,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four  years.  He  was  bur 
ied  at  Port  Spain,  Trinidad,  with  military  honors.  His  death  produced  a  most 
profound  sensation  throughout  the  United  States,  for  it  was  regarded  as  a  great 
public  calamity.  Tributes 
of  national  grief  were  dis 
played,  and  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  made  a 
liberal  provision  for  his  fam 
ily,  and  his  mother,  who 
was  dependent  on  him  for 
support.  In  1S2G  his  remains 
were  conveyed  from  Trini 
dad  to  Newport  in  the  sloop- 
of-war  Lexington,  and  land 
ed  on  the  27th  of  Novem 
ber.  On  Monday  (December 
4th)  following  he  was  inter 
red  with  funeral  honors  due 
to  his  rank.  His  coffin  rest 
ed  in  a  sort  of  catafalto,  the 
lower  part  being  in  the  form 
of  a  boat.  The  canopy  was 
decorated  with  stars  and 

trimmed  with  black  curtains,  and  at  each  corner  were  black  plumes.  The  State  of  Rhode  Island  afterward  'caused  to 
be  erected  a  substantial  granite  monument  to  his  memory.  It  stands  upon  a  grassy  mound  on  the  west  side  of  the  Isl 
and  Cemetery,  and  at  the  base  rest  the  remains  of  the  commodore  and  the  deceased  of  his  family.  The  monument  bears 
the  following  inscriptions.  Kant  side:  "OLIVER  HAZARD  PERRV.  At  the  age  of  2T  years  he  achieved  the  victory  of  Lake 


CATAFALOO. 


PERRY S   MONUMENT. 


522  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Relative  Position  of  the  two  Squadrons.  Opening  of  Ihe  Battle.  Choice  of  Antagonists. 

1 9,  was  in  the  van  supported  by  the  schooner  Chippeica,  with  one  long  1 8  on  a  pivot, 
and  two  swivels.  Next  was  the  brig  Hunter,  10  ;  then  the  Queen  Charlotte,  17,  com 
manded  by  Finnis.  The  latter  was  flanked  by  the  schooner  Lady  Prevost,  13,  and 
the  Little  Belt,  3.  Perry,  in  the  brig  Lawrence,  20,  moved  forward,  flanked  on  the  left 
by  the  schooner  Scorpion,  under  Champlin,  bearing  two  long  guns  (32  and  12),  and 
the  schooner  Ariel,  Lieutenant  Packet,  which  carried  four  short  12's.  On  the  right 

of  the  Lawrence  was  the  brig 
Caledonia.  Captain  Turner, 

with  thre;  loi|  24,8>  Thes(: 

were  intended  to  encounter  the 
Chippewa,  Detroit,  and  Hunt 
er.  Captain  Elliott,  in  the  fine 
brig  Niagara,  20,  followed, 
with  instructions  to  fight  the 
Queen  Charlotte  ;  while  Almy, 

THE   TWO   SQUADBOS9   JCBT   BEFORE   THE   1SATTLE.  jn     ^Q    SomCTS,    With     tWO     lOllg 

32's  and  two  swivels,  Senat,  in  the  Porcupine,  with  one  long  32,  Conklin,  in  the  Ti 
gress,  with  one  long  24,  and  Holdup,  in  the  Trippe,  one  long  32,  were  left  in  the  rear 
to  engage  the  Lady  Prevost  and  Little  Belt.1 

The  sun  was  within  fifteen  minutes  of  meridian  when  a  bugle  sounded  on  board 
the  Detroit  as  a  signal  for  action,  and  the  bands  of  the  British  squadron  struck 
up  "Rule  Britannia."  A  shout  went  up  from  that  little  squadron,  and  a  24-pound 
shot  from  the  enemy's  flag-ship  was  sent  booming  over  the  water  toward  the  Law 
rence,  then  a  mile  and  a  half  distant.  It  was  evident  that  Barclay  appreciated  the 
advantage  of  his  long  guns,  and  Avished  to  fight  at  a  distance,  while  Perry  resolved 
to  press  to  close  quarters  before  opening  his  fire. 

That  first  shot  from  the  enemy  fell  short.  Another,  five  minutes  later,  went  crash 
ing  through  the  bulwarks  of  the  Lawrence.  It  stirred  the  blood  of  her  gallant  men, 
but,  at  the  command  of  Perry,  she  remained  silent.  "  Steady,  boys  !  steady  !"  he  said, 
while  his  dark  eye  flashed  with  the  excitement  of  the  moment  —  an  excitement 
which  was  half  smothered  by  his  judgment.  Slowly  the  American  line,  writh  the 
light  wind  abeam,  moved  toward  that  of  the  enemy,  the  two  forming  an  acute  angle 
of  about  fifteen  degrees. 

"Sublime  the  pause,  when  down  the  gleaming  tide 
The  virgin  galleys  to  the  conflict  glide ; 
The  very  wind,  as  if  in  awe  or  grief, 
Scarce  makes  a  ripple  or  disturbs  a  leaf." — II.  T.  TUCKEEMAN. 

Signals  were  given  for  each  vessel  to  engage  its  prescribed  antagonist.  At  five  min 
utes  before  twelve  the  Lawrence  had  reached  only  the  third  one  in  the  enemy's  line, 
and  was  almost  as  near  the  Qtteen  Charlotte  as  the  Detroit,  with  the  Caledonia  half- 
cable  length  behind,  and  the  Niagara  abaft  the  beam  of  the  Charlotte  and  opposite 
the  Lady  Prevost. 

The  battle  now  began  on  the  part  of  the  Americans.     The  gallant  young  Champlin, 

Erie,  September  10, 1813."  North  side:  "  Bora  in  South  Kingston,  R.  I.,  August  23, 1TS5.  Died  at  Port  Spain,  Trinidad, 
August  23, 1819,  aged  34  years."  West  side:  "  His  remains  were  conveyed  to  his  native  land  in  a  ship-of-war,  according 
to  a  resolution  of  Congress,  and  were  here  interred  December  4, 1S2C."  South  side:  "Erected  by  the  State  of  Rhode 
Island." 

In  person  Commodore  Perry  was  tall  and  well-proportioned,  of  exquisite  symmetry,  and  graceful  in  every  move 
ment.  He  was  every  inch  a  man.  He  possessed  splendid  talents ;  was  prudent  and  brave  in  the  highest  degree.  In 
private  life  he  was  gentle,  and  his  conjugal  love  and  faithfulness  were  perfect.  His  respect  for  his  wife  amounted  to 
reverence,  and  he  was  ever  ready  to  acknowledge  her  salutary  influence.  Doctor  Parsons  relates  that  his  first  remark 
on  regaining  the  Lawrence,  utter  the  battle,  was  addressed  to  his  friend  Hambleton,  the  purser.  He  said,  "  The  prayers 
of  my  wife  have  prevailed  in  saving  me." 

1  The  above  diagram  shows  the  position  of  the  two  squadrons  when  the  American  was  approaching  that  of  the  Brit 
ish  in  battle  order.  A  is  the  British  squadron,  and  its  vessels  are  designated  by  Roman  numerals.  I.,  Chippeu-a;  II., 
Detroit;  III.,  Hunter ;  IV.,  Queen  Charlotte;  V.,Lady  Prevost;  VI.,  Little  Belt.  B  is  the  American  squadron,  and  the 
vessels  are  designated  by  Arabic  numerals.  1,  Scorpion;  2,  Ariel;  3,  Lawrence;  4,  Caledonia;  5,  Xiayara;  6,  Somers;  7, 
Porcupine;  S,  Tigress;  9.  Trippe.  I  have  been  furnished  with  these  diagrams  by  Commodore  Stephen  Champlin,  of 
the  U.  S.  Navy,  the  commander  of  the  Scorpion  in  the  battle. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


523 


The  first  Shot  fired  by  the  Americans. 


Sailing-master  Champlin. 


First  Position  of  the  Vessels  in  the  Fight. 


then  less  than  twenty-four  years  of  age,  who 
still  (1867)  lives  to  enjoy  a  well-earned  reputa 
tion,1  had  already  fired  the  first  (as  he  did  the 
last)  shot  of  the  battle  from  the  guns  of  the 

Scorpion. 

"  But  see  that  silver  wreath  of  curling  smoke— 
Tis  Barclay's  gun  !    The  silence  now  is  broke. 
Champlin,  with  rapid  move  and  steady  eye, 
Sends  back  iu  thunder-tones  a  bold  reply." 

This  was  followed  by  a  cannonade  from  Pack 
et,2  of  the  Ariel;  arid  then  the  Lawrence, 
which  had  begun  to  suffer  considerably  from 
the  enemy's  missiles,  opened  fire  upon  the  De 
troit  with  her  long  bow-gun,  a  twelve-pounder. 
The  action  soon  became  general.  The  small 
er,  slow-sailing  vessels  had  fallen  in  the  rear, 
and  when  the  battle  began  the  Trippe  was 
more  than  two  miles  from  the  enemy. 

The  Scorpion  and  Arid,  both  without  bul 
warks,  fought  bravely,  and  kept  their  places 
with  the  Lawrence  throughout  the  entire  ac- 
tion.  They  did  not  suffer  much,  for  the  en- 
emy  concentrated  his  destructive  energies 
upon  the  Lawrence  and  neglected  the  others. 
From  the  Detroit,  the  Hunter,  the  Queen  Charlotte, 


FIE8T   POSITION    IN   THE   ACTION'.3 


and  even  from  the  Lady  Prevost, 
shots  were  hurled  upon  the  Amer 
ican  flag-ship,  with  the  determin 
ation  to  destroy  her  and  her  gal 
lant  commander,  and  then  to  cut 
up  the  squadron  in  detail.  No 
less  than  thirty-four  heavy  guns 
were  brought  to  bear  upon  her. 
The  Caledonia,  with  her  long 
guns,  wras  enabled  to  do  good  ex- 


1  Stephen  Champlin  was  bora  in  South  Kingston,  Rhode  Island,  on  the  17th  of  November,  1789.    His  father  was  a 
volunteer  soldier  in  the  Revolution.    His  mother  was  a  sister  of  Commodore  Perry's  father,  making  the  two  command 
ers  first  cousins.    He  went  to  sea  as  a  sailor  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  having  passed 
through  all  grades,  he  was  captain  of  a  ship  that  sailed  from  Norwich,  Connecticut.    On  the  22d  of  May,  1S12,  he  was 
appointed  sailing-master  in  the  navy,  and  commanded  a  gun-boat,  under  Perry,  at  Newport.    As  we  have  seen,  he  was 
sent  to  Lake  Erie.    On  his  arrival  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Scorpion,  which  he  gallantly  managed 
throughout  the  battle.    Subsequently  to  the  battle  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Queen  Charlotte  and  Detroit,  two 
prize-ships  taken  from  the  enemy.    In  the  spring  of  1814  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Tigress,  under  Commander 
Sinclair,  and,  with  Captain  Turner,  he  blockaded  the  port  of  Mackinaw.    His  services  on  the  Upper  Lake  will  be  noticed 
in  the  future  text.    Suffice  i't  to  say  here  that  he  was  severely  wounded  in  the  thigh  while  in  that  service  by  canister- 
shot,  and  takeu  prisoner.    That  wound  has  been  troublesome  to  him  until  this  hour.    In  1S1C  he  was  appointed  to  the 
command  of  the  Porcupine,  and  conveyed  a  party  of  topographical  engineers  to  the  Upper  Lakes,  who  were  to  consider 
the  boundary-line  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.    His  wound  prevented  his  doing  much  active  service. 
He  was  ordered  to  the  steam-ship  Fulton  at  New  York,  and  had  left  her  but  a  short  time  when  she  blew  up.    In  1842  he 
was  placed  in  command  of  the  naval  rendezvous  at  Buffalo,  and  was  successful  in  shipping  apprentices  for  the  service. 
In  1S45  he  was  ordered  to  the  command  of  the  Michigan  at  Erie,  and  continued  there  about  four  years  and  a  half.    A 
few  years  ago  he  was  placed  on  the  reserve  list,  with  full  pay,  and  remains  so.    He  now  bears  the  title  of  commodore. 
He  resides  at  Buffalo,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  sufferings  caused  by  his  wound,  he  is  in  the  enjoyment  of  fair  health, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years.    He  is  a  stout,  thick-set  man,  of  middle  size.    He  is  the  last  survivor  of  the  nine  com 
manders  in  Perry's  squadron  in  the  great  battle  in  1813. 

2  John  H.  Packet  was  a  native  of  Virginia.    He  received  his  warrant  as  midshipman  in  1809,  and  was  commissioned 
a  lieutenant  a  few  days  before  this  battle.    He  was  with  Bainbridge  when  the  Constitution  captured  the  Java.    He 
served  at  Erie  some  years  after  the  battle,  and  died  there  of  fever. 

The  acting  sailing-master  of  the  Ariel  in  the  battle,  Thomas  Brownell,  was  from  Rhode  Island,  and  went  to  Erie  as 
master's-mate,  where  he  was  promoted.  He  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  1843,  when  he  was  placed  on  the  retired 
list.  He  now  (186T)  resides  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  He  was  always  an  active  and  esteemed  officer. 

3  This  diagram  shows  the  position  of  the  vessels  at  the  beginning  of  the  action.    The  British  vessels,  A,  are  indicated 
by  Roman  numerals* and  the  American  vessels,  B,  by  Arabic.    I.,  Clajjpswa;  II.,  Detroit;   III.,  Hunter;  IV.,  Queen 


524  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Perry  closes  upon  Barclay.  Progress  of  the  Fight.  Scenes  on  board  the  Lawrence. 

ecution  from  the  beginning,  but  the  shot  of  the  carronades  from  the  Niagara  fell 
short  of  her  antagonist.  Of  her  twenty  guns,  only  a  long  12  was  serviceable  for  a 
while.  Shifting  another,  Elliott  brought  two  to  bear  with  effect,  and  these  were 
served  so  vigorously  that  nearly  all  of  the  shot  of  that  calibre  were  exhausted.  The 
smaller  vessels  meanwhile  were  too  far  astern  to  be  of  much  service. 

Perry  soon  perceived  that  he  was  yet  too  far  distant  to  damage  the  enemy  mate 
rially,  so  he  ordered  word  to  be  sent  from  vessel  to  vessel  by  trumpet  for  all  to 
make  sail,  bear  down  upon  Barclay,  and  engage  in  close  combat.  The  order  was 
transmitted  by  Captain  Elliott,  who  was  the  second  in  command,  but  he  failed  to 
obey  it  himself.1  His  vessel  was  a  fast  sailer,  and  his  men  were  the  best  in  the  squad 
ron,  but  he  kept  at  a  distance  from  the  enemy,  and  continued  firing  his  long  guns. 
Perry  meanwhile  pressed  on  with  the  Lawrence,  accompanied  by  the  Scorpion,  Ariel, 
and  Caledonia,  and  at  meridian  exactly,  when  he  supposed  he  was  near  enough  for 
execution  with  his  carronades,  he  opened  the  first  division  of  his  battery  on  the  star 
board  side  on  the  Detroit.  His  balls  fell  short,  while  his  antagonist  and  her  consorts 
poured  upon  the  Lawrence  a  heavy  storm  of  round  shot  from  their  long  guns,  still 
leaving  the  Scorpion  and  Ariel  almost  unnoticed.  The  Caledonia  meanwhile  en 
gaged  with  the  Hunter,  but  the  Niagara  kept  a  respectful  distance  from  the  Queen 
Charlotte,  and  gave  that  vessel  an  opportunity  to  go  to  the  assistance  of  the  Detroit. 
She  passed  the  Hunter,  and,  placing  herself  astern  of  the  Detroit,  opened  heavily  upon 
the  Lawrence,  now,  at  a  quarter  past  twelve,  only  musket-shot  distance  from  her 
chief  antagonist.  For  two  hours  the  gallant  Perry  and  his  devoted  ship  bore  the 
brunt  of  the  battle  with  twice  his  force,  aided  only  by  the  schooners  on  his  weather- 
bow  and  some  feeble  shots  from  the  distant  Caledonia  when  she  could  spare  them 
from  her  adversary  the  Hunter.  During  that  tempest  of  war  his  vessel  was  terribly 
shattered.  Her  rigging  was  nearly  all  shot  away ;  her  sails  were  torn  into  shreds ; 
her  spars  were  battered  into  splinters ;  her  guns  were  dismounted ;  and,  like  the  Guer- 
riere  when  disabled  by  the  Constitution,  she  lay  upon  the  waters  almost  a  helpless 
,  wreck.  The  carnage  on  her  deck  had  been  terrible.  Out  of  one  hundred  and  three 
sound  men  that  composed  her  officers  and  crew  when  she  went  into  action,  twenty- 
two  were  slain  and  sixty-one  were  wounded.  Perry's  little  brother  had  been  struck 
down  by  a  splinter  at  his  side,  but  soon  recovered.2  Yarnall,3  his  first  lieutenant,  had 
conie  to  him  bleeding,  his  nose  swelled  to  an  enormous  size,  it  having  been  perforated 
by  a  splinter,  and  his  whole  appearance  the  impersonation  of  carnage  and  ill  luck, 
and  said, "All  the  officers  in  my  division  are  cut  down;  can  I  have  others?"  They 
were  sent ;  but  Yarnall  soon  returned,  again  wounded  and  bleeding  profusely,  with 
the  same  sad  story.  "  I  have  no  more  officers  to  furnish  you,"  replied  Perry ;  "  vou 
must  endeavor  to  make  out  by  yourself."  The  brave  lieutenant  did  so.  Thrice 
wounded,  he  kept  the  deck,  and  directed  every  shot  from  his  battery  in  person. 
Forest,  the  second  lieutenant,  fell  stunned  at  Perry's  feet  ;4  and  the  gallant  Brooks, 

Charlotte;  V.,  Lady  Prevost;  VI.,  Little  Belt.  1,  Scorpion;  2,  Ariel;  3,  Lawrence;  4,  Caledonia;  5,  Niagara;  G,  Somers; 
1 ,  Porcupine ;  8,  Tigress;  $,Trippe. 

1  Dr.  Usher  Parsons's  Discourse  on  the  Battle  of  Lake  Erie,  delivered  before  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society,  Feb 
ruary  16, 1S52,  page  10. 

2  Two  musket-balls  had  already  passed  through  his  hat,  and  his  clothes  had  been  torn  by  splinters. 

3  John  J.  Yarnall  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  July,  1813,  having  been  in  the 
service  as  midshipman  since  1809.  lost  at  sea  with  all  on  board. 
Ten  days  after  the  battle  on  Lake           ^^-^              f  /2//y                     >^x5>       Tne  State  of  Virginia  presented 
Erie  he  was  sent  to  Erie  with  the      i^&ttw/      &/       CftX/l^?^.  -f£&'C.<f:^>  Lieutenant  Yarnall  with  a  sword 
Lawrence,  and   soon    afterward  (                                       ^  soon  after  the  battle  of  Lake 

was  ordered  to  the  John  Adams.   \         " «  •  ..  Erie.    It  was  exhibited  at  the 

lie  was  appointed  commander     ^v^^>//^\_J[£j__x^"vs^^X''^ — £S>^  head-quarters  of  the  Old  Soldiers 

of  the  Eperrrier  in  1S15.    She  was  at  Cleveland,  on  the  occasion  of 

the  dedication  of  the  statue  of  Perry  in  that  city  in  September,  I860.    I  copied  the  following  inscription  from  the  blade : 
"  In  testimony  of  the  undaunted  gallantry  of  Lieutenant  John  J.  Yarnall,  of  the  United  States  ship  Lan-rence,  under 
Commodore  Perry,  in  the  capture  of  the  whole  English  fleet  on  Lake  Erie,  September  10, 1813,  the  State  of  Virginia  be 
stows  this  sword."    It  was  brought  from  Wheeling  to  Cleveland  by  Mr.  Fleming,  of  the  former  place. 

*  He  was  struck  in  the  breast  by  a  spent  grape-shot.    Perry  raised  him  up,  assured  him  that  he  was  not  hurt,  as  there 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  525 


Death  of  Lieutenant  Brooks.  Terrible  Scenes  on  board  the  Lawrence.  Strange  Conduct  of  Captain  Elliott. 

so  remarkable  for  his  personal  beauty,1  a  son  of  an  honored  soldier  of  the  old  war  for 
independence,  and  once  governor  of  Massachusetts,  was  carried  in  a  dying  state  to 
the  cockpit,  where  balls  were  crashing  through,  his  mind  more  exercised  about  his  be 
loved  commander  and  the  fortunes  of  the  day  than  himself.  When  the  good  surgeon, 
Parsons,  who  had  hastened  to  the  deck  on  hearing  a  shout  of  victory,  returned  to 
cheer  the  youth  with  the  glorious  tidings,  the  young  hero's  ears  were  closed — the 
doors  of  the  earthly  dwelling  of  his  spirit  were  shut  forever.2 

While  the  Lawrence  was  being  thus  terribly  smitten,  officers  and  crew  were  anx 
iously  wondering  why  the  Niagara — the  swift,  stanch,  well-manned  Niagara — kept 
aloof,  not  only  from  her  prescribed  antagonist  the  Queen  Charlotte,  now  battling  the 
Lawrence,  but  the  other  assailants  of  the  flag-ship.  Her  commander  himself  had 
passed  the  order  for  close  conflict,  yet  he  kept  far  away ;  and  when  afterward  cen 
sured,  he  pleaded  in  justification  of  his  course  his  perfect  obedience  to  the  original 
order  to  keep  at  "half-cable  length  behind  the  Caledonia  on  the  line."  It  may  be 
said  that  his  orders  to  fight  the  Queen  Charlotte,  who  had  left  her  line  and  gone  into 
the  thickest  of  the  fight  with  the  Lawrence  and  her  supporting  schooners,  were  quite 
as  imperative,  and  that  it  was  his  duty  to  follow.  This  he  did  not  do  until'the  guns 
of  the  Laiorence  became  silent,  and  no  signals  were  displayed^  by,  nor  special  orders 
came  from  Perry.  These  significant  tokens  of  dissolution  doubtless  made  Elliott  be 
lieve  that  the  commodore  was  slain,  and  himself  had  become  the  chief  commander  of 
the  squadron.  He  then  hailed  the  Caledonia,  and  ordered  Lieutenant  Turner3  to 

were  no  signs  of  a  wound,  and,  thus  encouraged,  he  soon  recovered  from  the  shock.  The  ball  had  lodged  in  his  clothes. 
"I  am  not  hurt,  sir,"  he  said  to  the  commander,  "but  this  is  my  shot,"  and  coolly  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

1  John  Brooks  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts.    He  studied  medicine  with  his  father.    Having  a  military  taste,  he  ob 
tained  the  appointment  of  lieutenant  of  marines,  and  was  stationed  at  Washington  when  the  war  broke  out.    He  was 
sent  to  Lake  Erie  under  Perry ;  and  at  Erie,  while  the  squadron  was  a-bnilding,  he  was  engaged  in  recruiting  for  the 
service.    There  he  raised  a  company  of  marines  for  the  squadron.    He  was  an  excellent  drill  officer,  and  gave  great 
promise  of  future  distinction.    So  intense  was  his  agony  when  he  fell,  his  hip  having  been  shattered  by  a  cannon-ball, 
that  he  begged  Perry  to  shoot  him.    He  died  in  the  course  of  an  hour.    "Mr.  Brooks,"  says  Doctor  Parsons,  "  was  prob 
ably  surpassed  by  no  officer  in  the  navy  for  manly  beauty,  polished  manners,  and  elegant  personal  appearance." 

2  The  scenes  on  board  the  Lawrence,  as  described  to  me  by  Doctor  Parsons,  must  have  been  extremely  terrible.    The 
vessel  was  shallow,  and  the  ward-room,  used  as  a  cockpit,  to  which  the  wounded  were  taken,  was  mostly  above  water, 
and  exposed  to  the  shots  of  the  enemy ;  while  nothing  but  the  deck-planks  separated  it  from  the  terrible  tumult  above, 
caused  by  the  groans  and  shrieks  of  the  wounded  and  dying,  the  deep  rumbling  of  the  gun-carriages,  the  awful  explo 
sions  of  the  cannon,  the  crash  of  round-shot  as  they  splintered  spars,  stove  the  bulwarks,  dismounted  the  heavy  ord 
nance,  and  cut  the  rigging,  while  through  the  seams  of  the  deck  blood  streamed  into  the  surgeon's  room  in  many  a 
crimson  rill.    When  the  battle  had  raged  half  au  hour,  and  the  crew  of  the  Lawrence  were  falling  one  by  one,  the  com 
modore  called  from  the  small  skylight  for  the  doctor  to  send  up  one  of  his  six  assistants.    In  five  minutes  the  call  was 
repeated  and  obeyed,  and  again  repeated  and  obeyed,  until  Parsons  was  left  alone.     "  Can  any  of  the  wounded  pull  a 
rope?"  inquired  Perry.    The  question  was  answered  by  two  or  three  crawling  upon  deck  to  lend  a  feeble  hand  in  pull 
ing  at  the  last  guns  in  position. 

Midshipman  Lamb  had  his  arm  badly  shattered.  While  moving  forward  to  lie  down,  after  the  doctor  had  dressed  the 
wound,  a  round-shot  came  crashing  through  the  side  of  the  vessel,  struck  the  young  man  in  the  side,  dashed  him  across 
the  room,  and  killed  him  instantly.  Pohig,  a  Narraganset  Indian,  badly  wounded,  was  released  from  his  sufferings 
in  the  same  way  by  another  ball  that  passed  through  the  cockpit.  No  less  than  six  round-shot  entered  the  surgeon's 
room  during  the  action. 

Some  of  the  incidents  witnessed  by  the  doctor  were  not  so  painful.  A  cannon-ball  passed  through  a  closet  contain 
ing  all  the  brig's  crockery,  dashing  a  greater  portion  of  it  in  pieces.  It  was  an  illustration— that  ball  from  John  Bull — 
of  "a  bull  in  a  china-shop."  The  commodore's  dog  had  secreted  himself  in  that  closet  when  the  war  of  battle  com 
menced,  and  when  the  destructive  intruder  came  he  set  up  a  furious  barking — "a  protest,"  said  the  doctor,  "against 
the  right  of  such  an  invasion  of  his  chosen  retirement." 

We  have  observed  that  Lieutenant  Yarnall  was  wounded,  yet  kept  the  deck.  He  had  his  scalp  badly  torn,  and  "  came 
below,"  said  the  doctor,  "with  the  blood  streaming  over  his  face."  Some  lint  was  applied  to  the  wound  and  confined 
by  a  handkerchief,  and  the  lieutenant  was  then  directed  to  come  for  better  dressing  after  the  battle,  as  he  insisted  upon 
returning  to  the  deck.  It  was  not  long  before  he  again  made  his  appearance,  having  received  a  second  wound.  Ou  the 
deck  were  stowed  some  hammocks  stuffed  with  reed-tops,  or  "  cat-tails,"  as  they  are  popularly  called.  These  filled  the 
air  like  down,  and  had  settled  like  snow  upon  the  blood-wet  head  and  face  of  Yarnall.  When  he  made  his  appearance 
below,  his  visage  was  ludicrous  beyond  description ;  his  head  appeared  like  that  of  a  huge  owl.  The  wounded  roared 
with  laughter,  and  cried  out,  "The  devil  has  come  among  us  !" 

3  Daniel  Turner  was  a  native  of  New  York.    He  was  appointed  a  midshipman  in  1SOS,  and  in  1813  was  commissioned 
a  lieutenant.    He  was  efficient  in  getting  the  little  lake  squadron  ready  for  service.    In  its  first  cruise  across  the  lake, 
young  Turner,  less  than  twenty-one  years  of  age,  commanded  the  Xiagara.    On  the  arrival  of  Captain  Elliott,  he  was 
ordered  to  the  third  ship,  the  Caledonia,  and  managed  her  gallantly  during  the  action.    He  continued  in  the  lake  service 
the  following  year,  and  was  made  a  prisoner  and  sent  to  Montreal.    He  was  exchanged,  and  accompanied  Perry  in  the 
Java  to  the  Mediterranean.    For  his  services  in  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie  his  native  state  presented  him  with  an  elegant 
sword.    He  was  at  one  time  commander  of  the  naval  station  at  Portsmouth  ;  at  another  of  the  Pacific  squadron,  and 
always  performed  his  duties  with  the  greatest  promptness.    He  was  temperate,  brave,  generous,  and  genial.    He  was 


526  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Niagara's  Treatment  of  the  Lawrence,  Condition  of  the  Lawrence,.  Perry  abandons  her. 

T •  — 

leave  the  line  and  bear  down  upon  the  Hunter  for  close  conflict,  giving  the  Niagara 
a  chance  to  pass  for  the  relief  of  the  Lawrence.  The  gallant  Turner  instantly  obeyed, 
and  the  Caledonia  fought  her  adversary  nobly.  The  Niagara  spread  her  canvas  be 
fore  a  freshening  breeze  that  had  just  sprung  up,  but,  instead  of  going  to  the  relief  of 
the  Lawrence,  thus  silently  pleading  for  protection,  she  bore  away  toward  the  head 

of  the  enemy's  squadron,  pass- 
m»  the  American  flag-ship  to 

J&  the  windward,  and  leaving  her 

^f,  M  exposed  to   the   still  galling 

\      tp-B     <£ll -^-^•^•^ <Mj  fire  of  the  enemy,  because,  as 

"N*8 4       1*  &   7  •$£     /  r  *  was  alleged  in  extenuation  of 

^  ^i  ~^?      this  apparent  violation  of  the 

^2  rules   of  naval  warfare    and 

BECONI.  POSITION  IN  THE  BATTLE. i  the  ciaims  of  humanity,  both 

squadrons  had  caught  the  breeze  and  moved  forward,  and  left  the  crippled  vessel 
floating  astern.  Elliott  seemed  to  notice  her  only  by  sending  a  boat  to  bring  round 
shot  fronf  her  to  replenish  his  own  scanty  store. 

As  the  Niagara  bore  down  she  was  assailed  by  shots  from  the  Queen  Charlotte, 
Lady  Prevost,  and  Hunter,  and  returned  them  with  spirit.  It  was  while  she  was 
abreast  of  the  Lawrences  larboard  beam,  and  nearly  half  a  mile  distant,  that  Perry 
performed  the  gallant  feat  of  transferring  his  broad  pennant  from  one  vessel  to  the 
other.  He  had  fought  as  long  as  possible.  More  than  two  hours  had  worn  away  in 
the  conflict.  His  vessel  lay  helpless  and  silent  upon  the  almost  unruffled  bosom  of 
the  lake,  utterly  incapable  of  farther  defense.  His  last  effective  heavy  gun  had  been 
fired  by  himself,  assisted  by  his  purser  and  chaplain.  Only  fourteen  unhurt  persons 
remained  on  his  deck,  and  only  nine  of  these  were  seamen.  A  less  hopeful  man  would 
have  pulled  down  his  flag  in  despair;  but  Perry's  spirit  was  too  lofty  to  be  touched 
by  common  misfortunes.  From  his  mast-head  floated  the  admonition,  as  if  audibly 
spoken  by  the  gallant  Lawrence,  DON'T  GIVE  UP  THE  SHIP.  In  the  dash  of  the  Cal 
edonia  and  the  approach  of  the  long-lagging  Niagara  he  felt  the  inspiration  of  hope ; 
and  when  he  saw  the  latter,  like  the  priest  or  the  Levite,  about  to  "  pass  by  on  the 
other  side,"  unmindful  of  his  wounds,  resolutions  like  swift  intuitions  filled  his  mind, 
and  were  as  quickly  acted  upon.  The  Niagara  was  stanch,  swift,  and  apparently 
unhurt,  for  she  had  kept  far  away  from  great  danger.  He  determined  to  fly  to  her 
deck,  spread  all  needful  sail  to  catch  the  stiffening  breeze,  bear  down  swiftly  upon 
the  crippled  enemy,  break  his  line,  and  make  a  bold  stroke  for  victory. 

With  the  calmness  of  perfect  assurance,  Perry  laid  aside  his  blue  nankeen  sailor's 
jacket  which  he  had  worn  all  day,  and  put  on  the  uniform  of  his  rank,  as  if  conscious 
that  he  should  secure  a  victory,  and  have  occasion  to  receive  as  guests  the  conquered 
commander  and  officers  of  the  British  squadron.2  "  Yarnall,"  he  said,  "I  leave  the 
Lawrence  in  your  charge,  with  discretionary  powers.  You  may  hold  out  or  surren 
der,  as  your  judgment  and  the  circumstances  shall  dictate."  He  had  already  ordered 
his  boat  to  be  lowered,  his  broad  pennant,  and  the  banner  with  its  glorious  words,  to 
be  taken  down,3  but  leaving  the  Stars  and  Stripes  floating  defiantly  over  the  battered 

made  master  commander  in  1S25,  and  post-captain  in  1835.  He  died  on  the  4th  of  February,  1S50,  leaving  a  widow  and 
one  daughter,  who  still  survive  him. 

1  This  shows  the  relative  position  of  the  two  squadrons  at  the  time  when  the  Niagara  bore  down  upon  the  head  of  the 
British  line,  the  change  of  her  course  after  Perry  took  command  of  her,  and  the  penetration  of  that  line  by  her.    One 
dotted  line,  from  4  to  4,  shows  the  attack  of  the  Caledonia  on  the  Hunter,  and  the  other,  from  5  to  5,  the  coarse  of  the 
Niagara  as  described  on  this  and  the  next  page.    The  vessels  of  the  British  squadron,  A,  are  designated  by  Roman  nu 
merals,  thus :  I.,  Chippcwa;  II.,  Detroit;  III.,  Hunter;  IV.,  Queen  Charlotte ;  V.,  Lady  Prevost;  VI.,  Little  Belt.    Those  of 
the  American  squadron,  B,  are  designated  by  Arabic  numerals,  thus :  1,  Scorpion;  2,  Ariel;  3,  Lawrence;  4,  Caledonia; 
5,  yiatjara ;  6,  Somers ;  7,  Porcupine ;  8,  Tigress ;  9,  Trippe. 

2  Letter  of  Rev.  Francis  Vinton,  D.D.,  son-in-law  of  Commodore  Perry,  to  the  Author. 

3  This  was  rolled  up  and  cast  to  him,  after  he  had  entered  his  barge,  by  Hoeca  Sargent,  now  [18C7]  living  at  Cam 
bridge,  Massachusetts. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


527 


Perry's  Voyage  from  the  Lawrence  to  the  Niagara.          Its  Perils  and  its  Success 


A  British  Survivor  of  the  Battle. 


hulk.     With  these,  his  little  brother,  and  four  stout  seamen  for  the  oars,1  lie  started 
upon  his  perilous  voyage,  anxiously  watched  by  Yarnall  and  his  companions. 

"  A  soul  like  his  no  danger  fears ; 
His  pendant  from  the  mast  he  tears, 
And  in  his  gallant  bosom  bears, 

To  grace  the  bold  Niagara. 
See  !  he  quits  'the  Lawrences  side, 
And  trusts  him  to  the  foaming  tide, 
Where  thundering  navies  round  him  ride, 

And  flash  their  red  artillery." — OLD  SONG. 

He  stood  upright  in  his  boat,  the  pennant  and  the  banner  half  folded  around  him, 
a  mark  for  the  anxious  eyes  of  his  own  men  and  for  the  guns  of  the  enemy.2  The 
latter  discovered  the  movement.  Barclay,  who  was  badly  wounded,  and  whose  flag 
ship  was  almost  dismantled,  well  knew  that  if  Perry,  who  had  fought  the  Lawrence 
so  gallantly,  should  tread  the  quarter-deck  of  the  fresh  Niagara  as  commander,  his 
squadron  would  be  in  great  danger  of  defeat.  He  therefore  ordered  great  and  little 
guns  to  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  frail  but  richly-laden  vessel — laden  with  a  hero 
of  purest  mould.  Cannon-balls,  grape,  canister,  and  musket-shot  were  hurled  in  show 
ers  toward  the  little  boat  during  the  fifteen  minutes  that  it  was  making  its  Avay  from 
the  Lawrence  io  the  Niagara.3  The  oars  were  splintered,  bullets  traversed  the  boat, 
and  the  crew  were  covered  with  spray  caused  by  the  falling  of  heavy  round  and 
grape-shot  in  the  water  near.  Perry  stood  erect,  unmindful  of  danger.  His  men  en 
treated  him  to  be  seated,  for  his  life  at  that  critical  moment  seemed  too  precious  to 
be  needlessly  exposed  to  peril.  It  was  not  foolhardiness  nor  thoughtlessness,  but  the 
innately  brave  spirit  of  the  man,  that  kept  him  on  his  feet.  At  length,  when  his  oars 
men  threatened  to  cease  labor  if  he  did  not  sit  down,  he  consented  to  do  so.  A  few 
minutes  later  they  were  all  climbing  to  the  deck  of  the  Niagara,  entirely  imharmed, 
and  greeted  with  the  loud  cheers  of  the  Americans,  who  had  watched  the  movement 

1  One  of  these  was  Thomas  Penny,  who  died  in  the  Naval  Asylum,  near  Philadelphia,  in  1SG3,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one 
years. 

2  Perry's  portrait  belonging  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
hanging  in  the  Governor's  Room,  from  which  ours  on  page 
5-21  was  copied,  is  what  artists  call  a  kit-kat,  or  three-quar 
ters  length.    It  was  painted  by  John  Wesley  Jarvis,  and  rep 
resents  Perry  standing,  with  the  banner  floating  like  a  huge 
scarf  from  his  shoulders. 

3  Among  the  survivors  of  the  Battle  of  Lake  Erie  whom  I 
have  met  was  John  Chapman,  a  resident  of  Hudson,  Ohio,  a 
small,  energetic  man,  who  related  his  past  experience  in  an 
attractive,  dramatic  style.     He  was  in  the  British  fleet  as 
gunner,  maintop-man,  and  boarder  in  the  Queen  Charlotte, 
and  claimed  the  distinction  of  having  fired  the  first  shot  at 
the  Lawrence  from  a  24-ponnder.    He  also  said  that  he  aim 
ed  a  shot  at  Commodore  Perry  when  making  his  perilous 
passage  from  the  Lawrence  to  the  Xiagara.    Mr.  Chapman  was 
a  native  of  England.    He  came  from  there  in  the  transport 
Bostwick  early  in  1812,  and  lauded  at  Quebec.    From  that 
city  he  went  up  the  St.  Lawrence  in  May,  and  took  post  in 
Fort  George,  on  the  Niagara  River.    He  afterward  went  up 
to  assist  in  the  erection  of  Fort  Erie.    He  was  present  at  the 
surrender  of  Hull,  and  participated  in  the  battle  of  Queens- 
ton  Heights.    In  the  summer  of  1S13  he  was  placed  on  board 
the  schooner  Lady  Prevost,  at  Long  Point,  and  arrived  at 
Maiden  about  three  weeks  before  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie. 
He  was  with  Proctor  at  the  attack  on  Fort  Stephenson.    He 
was  one  of  the  survivors  in  the  fatal  ditch  (see  page  503),  and 
escaped  to  the  woods  under  cover  of  the  darkness.    On  the 
return  of  Proctor  to  Maiden  he  went  on  board  the  Qiiei-n 
Charlotte,  and  was  with  her  in  the  battle.    He  was  sent  to 
Ohio  with  other  prisoners,  and  was  one  <  f  those  who 

were  held  as  hostages  for  the  safety  of  tlie  Irishmen 
under  Scott  who  were  sent  to  England,  as  mentioned 
on  page  408.  He  was  released  on  the  20th  of  Octo 
ber,  at  Cleveland.  He  went  immediately  to  Hudson, 
a  few  miles  distant,  where  he  resided  until  his  death 

in  1SC5.    I  am  indebted  to  the  Rev.  T.  B.  Fairehild,  of  Hudson,  for  the  substance  of  the  above  brief  sketch  of  the  pub 
lic  career  of  Mr.  Chapman,  and  to  the  soldier  himself  for  his  likeness,  taken  in  the  spring  of  18(52. 


528  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Meeting  of  Perry  and  Elliott.  Surrender  of  the  helpless  Lawrence.  Perry  strikes  the  British  Line. 

with  breathless  anxiety.  Perry  was  met  at  the  gangway  by  the  astonished  Elliott. 
There  stood  the  hero  of  the  fight,  blackened  with  the  smoke  of  battle,  but  unharmed 
in  person  and  unflinching  in  his  determination  to  win  victory — he  whom  the  com 
mander  of  the  Niagara  thought  to  be  dead.  There  were  hurried  questions  and  an 
swers.  "How  goes  the  day?"  asked  Elliott.  " Bad  enough,"  responded  Perry ;  "why 
are  the  gun-boats  so  far  astern  ?"  "  I'll  bring  them  up,"  said  Elliott.  "  Do  so,"  respond 
ed  Perry.  Such  is  the  reported  substance  of  the  brief  conversation  of  the  two  command 
ers,1  at  the  close  of  which  Elliott  pushed  off  in  a  small  boat  to  hurry  up  the  lagging 
vessels.  Having  given  his  orders  to  each  to  use  sails  and  oars  with  the  greatest  vigor, 
he  went  on  board  the  Somers,  and  behaved  gallantly  until  the  close  of  the  action. 

At  a  glance  Perry  comprehended  the  condition  and  capabilities  of  the  Niagara. 
There  had  been  few  casualties  on  board  of  her,  and  she  was  in  perfect  order  for  con 
flict.  He  immediately  ran  up  his  pennant,  displayed  the  blue  banner,  hoisted  the 
signal  for  close  action,  and  received  quick  responses  and  cheers  from  the  whole  squad 
ron  ;  hove  to,  altered  the  course  of  the  vessel,  set  the  proper  sails,  and  bore  down  upon 
the  British  line,  which  lay  half  a  mile  distant.  Meanwhile  the  gallant  Yarnall,  after 
consulting  Lieutenant  Forrest  and  Sailing-master  Taylor,  had  struck  the  flag  of  the 
Lawrence,  for  she  was  utterly  helpless,  and  humanity  required  that  firing  upon  her 
should  cease.  As  the  starry  flag  trailed  to  the  deck  a  triumphant  shout  went  up 
from  the  British.  It  was  heard  by  the  wounded  on  the  Lawrence.  When  informed 
of  the  cause,  their  hearts  grew  almost  still,  and  in  the  anguish  of  chagrin  they  refused 
to  be  attended  by  the  surgeon,  and  cried  out,  "  Sink  the  ship  !  sink  the  ship  !  Let  us 
all  sink  together  !"2  Noble  fellows  !  they  were  worthy  of  their  commander.  In  less 
than  thirty  minutes  after  they  had  offered  themselves  a  willing  sacrifice  for  the  honor 
of  their  country's  flag,  they  were  made  joyful  by  hearing  the  step  and  voice  of  their 
beloved  commander  again  upon  the  deck  of  the  Lawrence. 

Perry's  movement  against  the  British  line  was  successful.  He  broke  it ;  passed  at 
half  pistol-shot  distance  between  the  Lady  Prevost3  and  Chippewa  on  his  larboard,  and 
the  Detroit,  Queen  Charlotte,  and  Hunter  on  his  starboard,  and  poured  in  tremendous 
broadsides  right  and  left  from  double-shotted  guns.  Ranging  ahead  of  the  vessels 
on  his  starboard,  he  rounded  to  and  raked  the  Detroit  and  Queen  Charlotte,  which  had 
got  foul  of  each  other.4  Close  and  deadly  was  his  fire  upon  them  with  great  guns 
and  musketry.  Meanwhile,  the  Lawrence  having  drifted  out  of  her  place  in  the  line, 
her  position  against  the  Detroit  was  taken  by  the  Caledonia,  Captain  Turner;  the 
latter's  place  in  line,  as  opposed  to  the  Hunter,  was  occupied  by  the  Trippe,  com 
manded  by  Lieutenant  Holdup.5  These  gallant  young  officers  had  exchanged  signals 

1  Mr.  Ilambleton,  the  purser  of  the  Lawrence,  has  left  on  record  ail  account  of  this  interview  between  Perry  and  El 
liott.    "As  Perry  reached  the  deck  of  the  Niagara,"  he  says,  "he  was  met  at  the  gangway  by  Captain  Elliott,  who  in 
quired  how  the  day  was  going.    Captain  Perry  replied,  Badly ;  that  he  had  lost  almost  all  of  his  men,  and  that  his  ship 
was  a  wreck,  and  asked  what  the  gun-boats  were  doing  so  far  astern.    Captain  Elliott  offered  to  go  and  bring  them 
up ;  and,  Captain  Perry  consenting,  he  sprang  into  the  boat  and  went  off  on  that  duty.— Hambleton's  Journal,  cited  by 
M'Kenzie. 

2  Oration  by  George  H.  Calvert,  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  on  the  10th  of  September,  1853,  on  the  occasion  of  the  cel 
ebration  of  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  the  Battle  of  Lake  Erie. 

3  Lieutenant  Buchan,  the  commander  of  the  Lady  Prevost,  was  shot  through  the  face  by  a  musket-ball  from  Perry's 
marines.    Perry  saw  him  standing  alone,  leaning  on  the  companion-way,  his  face  resting  on  his  hand,  and  looking  with 
fixed  gaze  toward  the  Xiagara.    His  companions,  unable  to  endure  the  terrible  fire,  had  all  fled  below.    Perry  immedi 
ately  silenced  the  marines  on  the  quarter-deck.    He  afterward  learned  that  the  strange  conduct  of  Buchan  was  owing 
to  sudden  derangement  caused  by  his  wound.    Poor  fellow !  he  was  a  brave  officer,  and  had  distinguished  himself  un 
der  Nelson. 

4  The  position  of  the  Detroit  and  Queen  Charlotte  at  this  time  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  II.  and  IV.  in  the  diagram 
on  page  526.    In  the  same  diagram  the  course  of  the  Niagara  in  breaking  the  British  line  may  be  seen  along  the  dotted 
line  from  5  to  5. 

5  Thomas  Holdup  was  a  native  of  Sonth 
Carolina,  and  was  an  inmate  and  pupil 
of  the  Orphan  Asylum  in  Charleston.  He 
became  a  protege  of  General  Stevens,  of 
that  city,  who  obtained  a  midshipman's 
warrant  for  him  in  1809.  He  was  on  board 
the  John  Adams,  at  Brooklyn,  in  3812, 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


529 


Perry  breaks  the  British  Line. 


British  Vessels  attempt  to  escape. 


Perry's  Victory  complete. 


to  board  the  Detroit,  when  they  saw  the  Niagara  with  the  commodore's  pennant 
bearing  down  to  break  the  British  line.  Turner  followed  her  closely  with  the  Cal 
edonia;  and  the  freshened  breeze  having  brought  up  the  Somers,  Mr.  Almy,1  the 
Tigress,  Lieutenant  Concklin,2  and  the  Porcupine,  Acting  Master  Senat,3  the  whole 
American  squadron  except  the  Laicrence  was,  for  the  first  time,  engaged  in  the  con 
flict.  The  fight  was  terrible  for  a  few  minutes,  and  the  combatants  were  completely 
enveloped  in  smoke. 

Eight  minutes  after  Perry  dashed  through  the  British  line  the  colors  of  the  De 
troit  were  struck,  and  her  example  was  speedily  followed  by  all  the  other  vessels  of 
,  t^  Barclay's  squadron,  excepting  the 

v^r          j*  Little  Belt  and  Chippewa  (I.  and 

si        H  rV".  in  the  annexed  diagram),  which 

7        s  .  .*,    .         .,  attempted  to   escape   to  leeward. 

jj\   4&       M,     .x&^^-v&JJ]  A\          Champlin  with  the  Scorpion,  and 


POSITION  OF  THE    8QTTADBONS  AT  TI1E   CLOSE  OF  THE  BATTLE.* 


Holdup   with    the    Trippe,  made 
chase  after  the  fugitives,  and  both 

^\T6rc  ovci*LciKcn.  <i  1 1  <  I  urouoflitj  D&CK 

o 

to  grace  the  triumph  of  the  victor,  the  Little  Belt  by  the  former,  and  the  Chippewa 
by  the  latter.  It  was  in  this  chase  that  Champlin  fired  the  last  gun  in  that  memo 
rable  battle.  "  So  near  were  they  to  making  their  escape,"  says  Champlin  in  a  letter 
to  the  author, "  that  it  was  1 0  o'clock  in  the  evening  before  I  carne  to  an  anchor  un 
der  the  stern  of  the  Lawrence  with  the  Little  Belt  in  tow." 

It  was  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  the  flag  of  the  Detroit  was  lowered. 
The  roar  of  cannon  ceased ;  and  as  the  blue  vapor  of  battle  was  borne  away  by  the 
breeze,  it  was  discovered  that  the  two  squadrons  were  intermingled.5    The  victory 
was  complete.     The  flag  of  the  Lawrence  had  indeed  been  struck  to  the  enemy,  but . 
she  had  not  been  taken  possession  of.     She  was  yet  free,  and,  with  a  feeble  shout 


and,  with  others,  volunteered  for  the  lake  service.    He  performed  gallant  service  near  Buffalo  toward  the  close  of  the 
year,  and  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant.    In  April,  1813,  he  went  to  Erie  with  men,  and  assisted  in  fitting  out  the 


squadron  there.  He  fought  his  vessel  brave 
ly  in  the  action  of  the  10th  of  September, 
and  he  and  Champlin  pursued  the  two  fugi 
tives  of  the  British  squadron.  He  was  in 
service  on  the  upper  lakes  the  following 
year,  and  there  was  invited  to  the  Java  by 
Perry.  He  had  married,  and  declined  the 
offer  of  a  good  post  on  that  vessel.  He  sub 
sequently  commanded  several  different  ves 
sels,  and  was  promoted  to  master  command 
ant  in  1825.  He  was  commissioned  post-cap 
tain  in  1S3G.  He  died  suddenly  while  in  com 
mand  of  the  Washington  Navy  Yard,  in  Jan 
uary,  1841.  His  widow,  who  was  a  Miss  Sage, 
died  soon  afterward.  By  act  of  the  Legisla 
ture  of  South  Carolina  he  assumed  the  name 
of  his  benefactor,  with  a  promise  that  he 
should  inherit  his  fortune.  From  that  time 
[1S15]  he  is  known  as  Thomas  Holdup  Ste 
vens.  He  was  possessed  of  a  high  order  of 
literary  ability,  and  was  beloved  by  all.  His 
son,  Thomas  Holdup  Stevens,  behaved  gal 
lantly  in  the  naval  action  off  Hilton  Head  in 
the  late  civil  war. 

1  Thomas  C.  Almy  was  a  native  of  Rhode 
Island,  of  Quaker  parentage.  He  became  a 
sailor  in  early  life,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years  he%ras  commander  of  a  ship.  He 
was  in  the  flotilla  at  Newport,  went  to  Lake 


ALMY  S   SWOKD. 


Erie,  and  was  efficient,  useful,  and  brave 
there.  He  died  at  Erie  in  December,  1813, 
only  three  months  after  the  battle  that  has 
made  his  name  immortal.  His  disease  was 
pneumonia. 

The  annexed  engraving  is  a  picture  of  the 
hilt  of  the  sword  awarded  to  Almy,  and 
which  was  given  to  his  next  of  kin.  On  one 
side  of  the  blade  are  the  words  "THOMAS  C. 
ALMY,  Sailing-master  commanding,  Lake 
Erie,  10th  September,  1813."  On  the  other 
side  the  words  "ALTICS  IBUNT  QUI  AD  SUM- 
MA  NITTJNTEK,"  with  a  little  view  of  ships-of- 
war. 

3  Augustus  H.  M.  Concklin  was  a  native  of 
Virginia.  He  was  appointed  midshipman  in 
1809,  and  lieutenant  in  1813.  He  followed  El 
liott  to  Erie.  On  a  dark  night  in  1814  his 
vessel  was  captured  by  a  party  in  boats  off 
Fort  Erie.  He  left  the  service  in  1820,  while 
stationed  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire. 

3  George  Senat  was  a  native  of  New  Or 
leans,  of  French  extraction.  He  commenced 
active  life  as  a  sailor,  but  of  his  career  pre 
vious  to  his  joining  the  squadron  at  Erie 
nothing  appears  on  record.  He  served  on 
the  upper  lakes  in  1814.  On  his  return  to 
Erie  he  became  involved  in  a  quarrel  with 
Sailing-master  M'Donald.  A  duel  ensued, 


and  young  Senat  was  killed.    They  fought  at  what  is  now  the  corner  of  Third  and  Sassafras  Streets,  Erie. 

*  In  this,  as  in  the  preceding  diagrams,  furnished  by  Commodore  Champlin,  the  British  vessels  are  designated  by  Ro 
man  numerals,  and  the  American  vessels  by  Arabic  numerals.  This  diagram  shows  the  relative  position  of  the  vessels 
of  the  two  squadrons  at  the  close  of  the  battle.  The  respective  numbers  indicate  the  same  vessels  as  in  the  other  dia 
grams.  5  See  the  above  diagram  and  note  of  explanation. 

L  L 


530  PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 

Perry's  Triumph  a  remarkable  one.  His  famous  Dispatch  to  Harrison.  His  Dispatch  to  his  Government. 

that  floated  not  far  over  the  waters,  her  exhausted  crew  flung  out  the  flag  of  their 
country  from  her  mast-head.1 

This  triumph  was  a  remarkable  one  in  American  and  British  history.  Never  be 
fore  had  an  American  fleet  or  squadron  encountered  an  enemy  in  regular  line  of  bat 
tle,  and  never  before,  since  England  created  a  navy,  and  boasted  that 

"  Britannia  rules  the  wave," 

had  a  whole  British  fleet  or  squadron  been  captured.     It  was  a  proud  moment  for 
Perry  and  his  companions. 

"  As  lifts  the  smoke,  what  tongue  can  fitly  tell 
The  transports  which  those  manly  bosoms  swell, 
When  Britain's  ensign  down  the  reeling  mast 
Sinks  to  proclaim  the  desperate  struggle  past ! 
Electric  cheers  along  the  shattered  fleet, 
With  rapturous  hail,  her  youthful  hero  greet ; 
Meek  in  his  triumph,  as  in  danger  calm, 
With  reverent  hands  he  takes  the  victor's  palm ; 
His  wreath  of  conquest  on  Faith's  altar  lays,2 
To  his  brave  comrades  yields  the  meed  of  praise."— II.  T.  TUCKERMAN. 

When  Perry's  eye  perceived  at  a  glance  that  victory  was  secure,  he  wrote,  in  pen 
cil,  on  the  back  of  an  old  letter,  resting  it  upon  his  navy  cap,  that  remarkable  dis 
patch  to  General  Harrison  whose  first  clause  has  been  so  often  quoted — 

"  We  have  met  the  enemy,  and  they  are  ours :  two  ships,  two  brigs,  one  schooner, 
and  one  sloop.  Yours,  with  great  respect  and  esteem,  O.  H.  PERRY." 


L    /Ms 


FAO-SIMILE  OP  PERRY'S  DISPATCH. 


A  few  minutes  afterward,  when,  as  Bancroft  says, "  a  religious  awe  seemed  to  come 
over  hhn  at  his  wonderful  preservation  in  the  midst  of  great  and  long-continued  dan 
ger,"3  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  as  follows : 

"  U.  S.  Brig  Niagara,  off  the  Western  Sister,*  Head  of  Lake  Erie,  September  10, 1813,  4  P.M. 

"  SIR, — It  has  pleased  the  Almighty  to  give  to  the  arms  of  the  United  States  a  sig 
nal  victory  over  their  enemies  on  this  lake.  The  British  squadron,  consisting  of  two 
ships,  two  brigs,  one  schooner,  and  one  sloop,  have  this  moment  surrendered  to  the 
force  under  my  command  after  a  sharp  conflict. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  O.  H.  PERRY. 

"Honorable  William  Jones,  Secretary  of  the  Navy." 

1  "  The  shattered  Lawrence,"  says  Dr.  Parsons,  "  lying  to  the  windward,  was  once  more  able  to  hoist  ifcr  flag,  which 
was  cheered  by  a  few  feeble  voices  on  board,  making  a  melancholy  sound  compared  with  the  boisterous  cheering  that 
preceded  the  battle."— -Discourse,  page  13. 

2  See  Perry's  Dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  printed  above.  3  New  York  Ledger. 

*  This  is  the  most  southwardly  of  three  islands  near  the  western  end  of  Lake  Erie,  named  respectively  Eastern  Sister, 
Middle  Sister,  and  Western  Sister,  lying  in  a  line  from  the  southwest  to  the  northeast.  It  was  a  little  westward  of  the 
island  named  in  the  dispatch  that  the  battle  occurred. 


OF    THE    WAE    OF    1812.  531 


Perry  returns  to  the  Lawrence.  Surrender  of  the  British  Officers.  Burial  of  the  Dead  in  the  Lake. 

These  hurried  but  admirably-worded  dispatches  were  sent  by  the  same  express  to 
both  Harrison  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.1  Then  the  ceremony  of  taking  pos 
session  of  the  conquered  vessels,  and  receiving  the  formal  submission  of  the  vanquish 
ed,  was  performed.  Perry  gave  the  signal  to  anchor,  and  started  for  his  battered 
flag-ship,  determined,  on  her  deck,  and  in  the  presence  of  her  surviving  officers  and 
crew,  to  receive  the  commanders  of  the  captured  squadron.  "It  was  a  time  of  con 
flicting  emotions,"  says  Dr.  Parsons,  "  when  he  stepped  upon  deck.  The  battle  was 
won  and  he  was  safe,  but  the  deck  was  slippery  with  blood,  and  strewn  with  the 
bodies  of  twenty  officers  and  men,  seven  of  whom  had  sat  at  table  with  us  at  our  last 
meal,  and  the  ship  resounded  every  where  with  the  groans  of  the  wounded.  Those 
of  us  who  were  spared  and  able  to  walk  met  him  at  the  gangway  to  welcome  him 
on  board,  but  the  salutation  was  a  silent  one  on  both  sides ;  not  a  word  could  find 
utterance."2 

The  next  movement  in  the  solemn  drama  was  the  reception  of  the  British  officers, 
one  from  each  of  the  captured  vessels.  Perry  stood  on  the  after-part  of  the  deck, 
and  his  sad  visitors  were  compelled  to  pick  their  way  to  him  among  the  slain.  He 
received  them  with  solemn  dignity  and  unaffected  kindness.  As  they  presented 
their  swords,  with  the  hilts  toward  the  victor,  he  spoke  in  a  low  but  firm  tone,  with 
out  the  betrayal  of  the  least  exultation,  and  requested  them  to  retain  their  weapons. 
He  inquired,  with  real  concern,  about  Commodore  Barclay  and  his  fellow-sufferers 
from  severe  wounds ;  and  he  made  every  captive  feel,  at  that  sad  and  solemn  mo 
ment,  the  thrill  of  pleasure  excited  by  the  conduct  of  a  Christian  gentleman  in  the 
moment  of  the  adversity  of  the  recipient  of  his  kindness. 

"  A  chastened  rapture,  Perry,  fills  thy  breast; 
Thy  sacred  tear  embalms  the  heroes  slain ; 
The  gem  of  pity  shines  in  glory's  crest 
More  brilliant  than  the  diamond  wreath  of  fame." 

When  this  sad  ceremony  was  over,  the  conqueroi',  exhausted  by  the  day's  work  upon 
which  he  had  entered  with  fever-enfeebled  body,  lay  down  upon  the  deck  in  the 
midst  of  his  dead  companions,  and,  surrounded  by  prisoners,  and  with  his  hands  fold 
ed  over  his  breast,  and  his  drawn  sword  held  in  one  of  them,  he  slept  as  sweetly  as  a 
wearied  child.3 

There  was  yet  another  sad  service  to  be  performed.  The  dead  of  the  two  squad 
rons  were  yet  unburied.  When  twilight — the  rich,  glowing  twilight  at  the  end  of  a 
gorgeous  September  day — lay  upon  the  bosom  of  the  lake  like  a  luminous,  deepening 
mist,  the  bodies  of  all  the  slain,  excepting  those  of  the  officers,  wrapped  in  rude 
shrouds,  and  with  a  cannon-ball  at  the  feet  of  each,  were  dropped,  one  by  one,  into 
the  bosom  of  the  clear  lake,  at  the  close  of  the  beautiful  and  impressive  burial  serv 
ice  of  the  Anglican  Church. 

"  'Neath  the  dark  waves  of  Erie  now  slumber  the  brave, 

In  the  bed  of  its  waters  forever  they  rest ; 
The  flag  of  their  glory  floats  over  their  grave  ; 
The  souls  of  the  heroes  in  memory  are  blessed."— W.  B.  TAPPAN. 

1  The  gallant  Lieutenant  Dulaney  Forrest  was  Perry's  chosen  courier.    He  was  a  native  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  had  been  in  the  service  since  1800,  when  he  was  appointed  midshipman.    He  was  with  Bainbridge  when  the  Con 
stitution  captured  the  Java.    He  was  acting  lieutenant  on  board  Perry's  flag-ship,  and  was  chief  signal  officer.    His  con 
duct  was  brave,  and  he  was  greatly  beloved  by  his  companions.    He  bore  to  Washington  not  only  the  dispatches  of  his 
commander,  but  the  flags  captured  from  the  British.    Forrest  also  took  with  him  the  blue  banner  with  the  words  of 
Lawrence,  mentioned  on  page  520.    Forrest  accompanied  Perry  to  the  Mediterranean  in  the  Java.    He  was  commission 
ed  a  lieutenant  at  that  time.    He  died  of  fever  in  1925. 

Colonel  Peter  Force,  of  Washington  City,  has  a  piece  of  every  flag  captured  in  this  battle,  and  of  nearly  every  trophy- 
flag  of  the  war.  They  were  all  taken  to  Washington,  where,  in  course  of  time,  through  neglect,  they  fell  into  decay. 
The  pieces  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Force  are  carefully  preserved  in  a  scrap-book,  with  the  place  and  date  of  their  cap 
ture  recorded,  and  make  an  interesting  collection  of  bits  of  bunting. 

The  intelligence  of  the  victory  on  Lake  Erie  was  carried  to  Pennsylvania  from  Detroit  by  Samuel  Doclue,  Samuel 
Burnett,  and  Cyrus  Bosworth.  The  first  was  a  mail-carrier  from  Detroit  to  Cleveland  ;  the  second  from  Cleveland  to 
Warren,  Ohio,  and  the  third  from  Warren  to  Pittsburg.  They  were  all  three  living  at  the  time  of  the  inauguration  of 
Perry's  statue  at  Cleveland  in  September,  1SGO.  Mr.  Bosworth  participated  in  that  celebration. 

2  Discourse,  page  14.  3  Calvert's  Oration,  page  21. 


532 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Burial  of  Officers  on  the  Shore. 


Sad  Effects  of  the  Battle. 


"Ill  luck"  of  the  British. 


September  "A, 
1S13. 


THE   UUIUA-L-PLAOK. 


The  moon  soon  spread  her  silver  sheen  over  their  common  grave,  and 
all  but  the  suffering  wounded  slumbered  until  the  dawn.a 
The  two  squadrons  weighed  anchor  at  nine  o'clock  and  sailed  into  Put-in-Bay  Har 
bor,  and  there,  twenty-four  hours  afterward,  on  the  margin  of  South  Bass  Island, 

from  which,  on  the  right,  may  be  seen  the 
channel  leading  out  toward  Canada,  and 
on  the  left  the  open  way  toward  Detroit, 
where  now  willow,  hickory,  and  maple- 
trees  cast  a  pleasant  shade  in  summer, 
three  American  and  three  British  officers1 
were  buriedb  with  the  same 

-,  f  i      ,A         .         ,          "September^. 

solemn  funeral  rites,  in  the 
presence  of  their  respective  countrymen.2 
The  light  of  the  morning  of  the  llth 
revealed  sad  sights  to  the  eyes  of  the  bel 
ligerents.  Vessels  of  both  squadrons  were 
dreadfully  shattered,  especially  the  two 
flag-ships.  Sixty-eight  persons  had  been 
killed  and  one  hundred  and  ninety  wound 
ed  during  the  three  hours  that  the  battle 
lasted.  Of  these,  the  Americans  lost  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three,  twenty-seven 
of  whom  were  killed ;  the  British  lost  one  hundred  and  thirty-five,  forty-one  of  whom 
were  killed.3  Barclay,  of  the  Detroit  (the  British  commander),  who  had  lost  an  arm 
at  Trafalgar,  was  first  wounded  in  the  thigh,  and  then  so  severely  injured  in  the 
shoulder  as  to  deprive  him  of  the  use  of  the  other  arm.  Finnis,  of  the  Queen  Char 
lotte,  the  second  in  command,  was  mortally  wounded,  and  died  that  evening.  Both 
were  gallant  men ;  and  justice  to  all  demands  the  acknowledgment  that  the  Ameri 
cans  and  British  carried  on  that  terrible  conflict  with  the  greatest  courage,  fortitude, 
and  skill.  It  is  also  just  to  say  that  the  British  experienced  what  is  called  "ill  luck" 
from  the  beginning.  First,  the  wind  suddenly  turned  in  favor  of  the  Americans  at 
the  commencement  of  the  action,  giving  them  the  weather -gage  ;  then  the  two  prin 
cipal  British  commanders  were  struck  down  early  in  the  action ;  then  the  rudder  of 
the  Lady  Prevost  was  disabled,  which  caused  her  to  drift  out  of  the  line ;  the  entan 
glement  of  the  Detroit  and  Queen  Charlotte  gave  the  Niagara,  under  Perry,  an  oppor 
tunity  to  rake  them  severely ;  and,  lastly,  the  men  of  the  British  squadron  had  not, 
with  the  exception  of  those  from  the  Royal  Navy,  received  the  training  with  guns 

1  These  were  Lieutenant  Brooks  and  Midshipmen  Luut  and  Clarke,  of  the  American  service,  and  Captain  Finuis  and 
Lieutenants  Stokoe  and  Garland,  of  the  British  service.    The  view  here  given  of  the  burial-place  of  these  officers  I  cop 
ied,  by  permission,  from  one  of  the  paintings  of  Miss  C.  L.  Ransom,  already  mentioned. 

2  Samuel  R.  Brown,  who  arrived  at  Put-in-Bay  Island  on  the  evening  of  the  9th,  and  from  the  head  of  it  was  a  wit 
ness  of  the  battle  at  about  ten  miles  distant,  was  present  at  the  burial.    "  An  opening  on  the  margin  of  the  bay,"  he 
says,  "  was  selected  for  the  interment  of  the  bodies.    The  crews  of  both  fleets  attended.    The  weather  was  fine ;  the 
elements  seemed  to  participate  in  the  solemnities  of  the  day,  for  every  breeze  was  hushed,  aud  not  a  wave  ruffled  the 
surface  of  the  water.    The  procession  of  boats— the  neat  appearance  of  the  officers  and  men — the  music — the  slow  and 
regulated  motion  of  the  oars,  striking  in  exact  time  with  the  notes  of  the  solemn  dirge— the  mournful  waving  of  the 
flags— the  sound  of  the  minute-guns  from  the  different  ships  in  the  harbor — the  wild  and  solitary  aspect  of  the  place — 
the  stillness  of  nature — gave  to  the  scene  an  air  of  melancholy  grandeur  better  felt  than  described.    All  acknowledged 
its  influence,  all  were  sensibly  affected." — Vine*  on  Lake  Erie,  printed  in  Albany  in  1814. 

3  The  American  Toss  was  distributed  as  follows :  On  the  Lawrence,  83 ;  Niagara,  27  ;  Caledonia,  3  ;  Sowers,  2 ;  Ariel,  4 ; 
Trippe  and  Scorpion,  2  each.    Besides  the  officers  mentioned  in  Note  1,  above,  the  British  lost  in  wounded  Midship 
man  Poster,  of  the  Queen  Charlotte;  Lieutenant  Commanding  Buchan  and  First  Lieutenant  Roulette,  of  the  Lady  Pre 
vost;  Lieutenant  Commandant  Brignall  and  Master's  Mate  Gateshill,  of  the  Hunter;  Master's  Mate  Campbell,  com 
manding  the  Cluppetva;  and  Purser  Iloffmeister,  of  the  Detroit. 

Doctor  Horseley,  the  surgeon  of  the  squadron,  being  ill,  the  duties  devolved  wholly  upon  his  young  assistant,  Doctor 
Usher  Parsons,  then  only  twenty-five  yefirs  of  age.  During  the  action  he  removed  six  legs,  which  were  nearly  divided 
by  cannon-balls.  On  the  morning  of  the  llth  he  went  on  board  the  Niagara  to  attend  to  her  wounded,  and  then  those 
of  the  other  vessels  requiring  surgical  attention  were  sent  to  the  Laiurence.  The  skill  of  Doctor  Parsons  is  attested  by 
the  fact  that  of  the  whole  ninety-six  wounded  only  three  died.  He  modestly  attributed  the  result  to  fresh  air,  good 
spirits  caused  by  the  victory,  and  the  "devoted  attention  of  the  commodore." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  533 


Importance  of  Perry's  Victory.  Its  Effects.  How  his  Cannon  were  afterward  used. 

that  most  of  the  Americans  had  just  experienced,  for  they  came  out  of  port  the  morn 
ing  of  the  battle.1 

Perry's  victory  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  events  of  the  war.  At 
that  moment  two  armies,  one  on  the  north  and  the  other  on  the  south  of  the  warring 
squadrons,  were  waiting  for  the  result  most  anxiously.  Should  the  victory  remain 
with  the  British,  Proctor  and  Tecumtha  were  ready  at  Maiden,  with  their  motley 
army  five  thousand  strong,  to  rush  forward  and  lay  waste  the  entire  frontier.  Should 
the  victory  rest  with  the  Americans,  Harrison,  with  his  army  in  the  vicinity  of  San- 
dusky  Bay,  was  prepared  to  press  forward  by  land  or  water  for  the  seizure  of  Maiden 
and  Detroit,  the  recovery  of  Michigan,  and  the  invasion  of  Canada.  All  along  the 
borders  of  the  lake  within  sound  of  the  cannon  in  the  battle  (and  they  were  heard 
from  Cleveland  to  Maiden2),  women  with  terrified  children,  and  decrepit  old  men,  sat 
listening  with  the  deepest  anxiety ;  for  they  knew  not  but  with  the  setting  sun  they 
would  be  compelled  to  flee  to  the  interior,  to  escape  the  fangs  of  the  red  blood-hounds 
who  were  ready  to  be  let  loose  upon  helpless  innocency  by  the  approved  servants  of 
a  government  that  boasted  of  its  civilization  and  Christianity.  Happily  for  Ameri 
ca — happily  for  the  fair  fame  of  Great  Britain — happily  for  the  cause  of  humanity — 
the  victory  was  left  with  the  Americans,  and  the  savage  allies  of  the  British  were 
not  allowed  to  repeat  the  tragedies  in  which  they  had  already  been  permitted  to  en 
gage.  Joy  spread  over  the  northwestern  frontier  as  the  glad  tidings  went  from  lip 
to  lip.  That  whole  region  was  instantly  relieved  of  the  most  gloomy  forebodings  of 
coming  evil.  That  victory  led  to  the  destruction  of  the  Indian  confederacy,  and  wiped 
out  the  stigma  of  the  surrender  at  Detroit  thirteen  months  before.  It  opened  the  way 
for  Harrison's  army  to  repossess  the  territory  then  surrendered,  and  to  penetrate  Can 
ada.  It  was  speedily  followed  by  the  overthrow  of  British  power  in  the  Canadian 
peninsula  and  the  country  bordering  on  the  upper  lakes,  and  the  absolute  security 
forever  of  the  whole  northwestern  frontier  from  British  invasion  and  Indian  depreda 
tions.  From  that  moment  no  one  doubted  the  ability  of  the  Americans  to  maintain 
the  mastery  of  our  great  inland  seas,  and  the  faith  of  the  people  in  this  ability  was 
well  expressed  by  a  poet  of  the  time,  who  concluded  an  epic  with  the  following  lines : 

"  And  though  Britons  may  brag  of  their  ruling  the  ocean, 
And  that  sort  of  thing — by  the  Lord  I've  a  notion — • 
I'll  bet  all  I'm  worth— who  takes  it  ?— who  takes  ?— 
Though  they're  lords  of  the  sea,  we'll  be  lords  of  the  lakes."3 

The  effect  of  this  victory  upon  the  whole  country  was  electric  and  amazingly  in- 

1  The  great  guns  used  by  Perry,  and  those  captured  by  him  from  the  British,  remained  in  the  United  States  Naval 
D^pot  at  Erie  until  the  autumn  of  1825,  when  they  were  transferred  to  the  Naval  Station  at  Brooklyn.    They  were 
about  to  be  removed  through  the  agency  of  Dows,  Cary,  and  Meech,  who  had  prepared  a  line  of  boats  for  the  just  com 
pleted  Erie  Canal.    The  happy  thought  occurred  to  some  one  that  these  cannon  might  be  used  for  telegraphic  purposes 
in  connection  with  the  celebration  of  the  first  opening  of  the  canal.    They  were  accordingly  placed  at  intervals  of  about 
ten  miles  along  the  whole  line  of  the  canal.    When  the  first  fleet  of  boats  left  Buffalo  on  that  occasion,  the  fact  was  an 
nounced  to  the  citizens  of  New  York  in  one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  by  the  serial  discharges  of  these  cannon.    This 
announcement,  literally  conveyed  in  "thunder-tones"  from  the  lake  to  the  sea-board,  was  responded  to  in  like  manner 
and  in  the  same  space  of  time.— Statement  of  Orlando  Allen  to  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society,  April,  1863. 

The  authorities  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  the  foregoing  account  of  the  Battle  of  Lake  Erie  are  the  official  dis 
patches  of  Perry  and  Barclay  :  Niles's  Register ;  The  War  ;  Port  Folio  ;  Analectic  Magazine  ;  Political  Register ;  M'Ken- 
zie's  Life  of  Perry;  Life  of  Elliott,  by  a  citizen  of  New  York;  Cooper's  Naval  History;  Discourses  by  Parsons,  Bur 
gess,  and  Calvert ;  oral  and  written  statements  communicated  to  the  author  by  the  survivors ;  Brown's  Views  mi  Lake 
Erie,  and  Log-book  of  the  Lawrence,  kept  by  Sailing-master  Taylor. 

2  I  was  informed  by  Captain  Levi  Johnson,  whom  I  met  at  Cleveland  in  the  autumn  of  I860,  that  he  and  others  were 
engaged  in  the  last  work  upon  the  new  court-house,  which  stood  in  front  of  the  present  First  Presbyterian  Church,  on 
the  day  of  the  battle.    They  thought  they  heard  thunder,  but,  seeing  no  clouds,  concluded  that  the  two  squadrons  had 
met.    He  and  several  others  went  down  to-the  lake  bank,  near  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  Whittaker,  on  Water  Street. 
Nearly  all  the  villagers  assembled  there,  numbering  about  thirty.    They  waited  until  the  firing  ceased.    Although  the 
distance  in  a  straight  line  was  full  seventy  miles,  they  could  easily  distinguish  the  sounds  of  the  heavier  and  lighter 
guns.    The  last  five  reports  were  from  the  heavy  guns.    Knowing  that  the  Americans  had  the  heaviest  ordnance,  they 
concluded  that  victory  remained  with  them,  and  with  that  conviction  they  gave  three  cheers  for  Perry.    Miss  Reynolds, 
sister  of  the  venerable  Robert  Reynolds,  of  the  British  army,  whom  I  also  visited  in  the  autumn  of  1SGO,  told  me  that 
she  listened  to  the  firing  during  the  whole  battle.    The  distance  was  less  than  forty  miles. 

A  letter  dated  at  Erie,  September  24, 1813,  says  that  a  gentleman  from  the  New  York  state  line  heard  at  his  house  the 
cannonading  on  the  lake  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  distant !  It  was  heard  at  Erie,  and  at  first  was  supposed  to  be 
distant  thunder.  3  Analectic  Magazine,  iii.,  84. 


534 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Exultation  of  the  Americans. 


Public  Celebrations. 


Songs  and  Caricatures. 


spiriting.  There  had  been  a  prevailing  apprehension  that  the  failures  of  1812  were 
to  be  repeated  in  1813.  This  victory  dissipated  those  forebodings,  and  kindled  hope 
and  joy  all  over  the  land. 

"O'er  the  mountains  the  sun  of  our  fame  was  declining, 

And  on  Thetis'  billowy  breast 
The  cold  orb  had  reposed,  all  his  splendor  resigning, 

Bedimmed  by  the  mists  of  the  West. 
The  prospect  that  rose  to  the  patriot's  sight 

Was  cheerless,  and  hopeless,  and  dreary  ; 
But  a  bolt  burst  the  cloud,  and  illumined  the  night 

That  enveloped  the  waters  of  Erie." — OLI>  SONG. 

It  is  difficult  at  this  time  to  imagine  the  exultation  then  felt  and  exhibited  every 
where.  Illuminations,1  bonfires,  salvos  of  artillery,  public  dinners,  orations,  and  songs 
were  the  visible  indications  of  the  popular  satisfaction  in  almost  every  city,  village, 
and  hamlet  within  the  bounds  of  the  republic.  The  newspapers  teemed  with  eulo 
gies  of  the  victor  and  his  companions,  and  the  pulpit  and  rostrum  were  resonant 
with  Avords  of  thanksgiving  and  praise.  The  lyre2  and  the  pencil3  made  many  con- 

1  The  City  Hall  and  other  buildings  in  New  York  were  splendidly  illuminated  on  the  evening  of  Saturday,  October 
23, 1813.    There  was  a  band  of  music  in  the  gallery  of  the  portico,  and  transparencies  were  exhibited  showing  naval 
battles:  also  the  words  of  Lawrence,  "DON'T  GIVE  UP  THE  SHIP,"  and  those  of  Perry's  dispatch,  "WE  HAVE  MET  THE 
ENEMY,  AND  THEY  AKE  onus."    The  last-named  transparency  was  exhibited  at  the. theatre,  with  a  picture  of  the  fight 
between  the  Hornet  and  Peacock. 

2  Many  songs  were  written  and  sung  in  commemoration  of  Perry's  victory.    One  of  the  most  popular  of  these  was 
American  Perry,  which  commences  thus : 

"Bold  Barclay  one  day  to  Proctor  did  say, 

I'm  tired  of  Jamaica  and  Cherry ; 
So  let  us  go  down  to  that  new  floating  town, 
And  get  some  American  Perry.* 
Oh,  cheap  American  Perry  ! 
Most  pleasant  American  Perry ! 
We  need  only  all  bear  down,  knock,  and  call, 
And  we'll  have  the  American  Perry." 

3  Among  the  caricatures  of  the  day  was  one  by  Charles,  of  Philadelphia,  representing  John  Bull,  in  the  person  of  the 
king,  seated,  with  his  hand  pressed  upon  his  stomach,  indicating  pain,  which  the  fresh  juice  of  the  pear,  called  perry, 


Oh  !  Terry  !/!  Curse 
—One  disaster  after  another^ 
-dhave  not  half  rcco  vend  oft/icS/iudif-mx 
"  -•-  L  s"   "-  Boxinq mulch! 


Queen  Charlotte  and  tfohnty  ftull  jot  their  dose  of  fferru. 


will  produce.  Queen  Charlotte,  the  king's  wife  (a  fair  likeness  of  whom  is  given),  enters  with  a  bottle  labeled  PEEEY, 
out  of  which  the  cork  has  flown,  and  in  the  foam  is  seen  the  names  of  the  vessels  composing  the  American  squad 
ron.  She  says,  "Johnny,  won't  you  have  some  more  Perry  ?"  John  Bull  replies,  while  writhing  in  pain  produced  by 
perry,  "  Oh  !  Perry  ! ! !  Curse  that  Perry  !  One  disaster  after  another — I  have  not  half  recovered  of  the  bloody  nose  I 
got  at  the  Boxing-match."  This  last  expression  refers  to  the  capture  of  the  Boxer  by  the  American  schooner  Enter 
prise.  This  caricature  is  entitled  "Queen  Charlotte  and  Johnny  Hull  got  their  dose  of  Perry."  This  will  be  better  per- 

*  See  the  next  note  on  this  page. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


535 


Honors  awarded  to  Perry. 


Congress  presents  a  Gold  Medal  to  both  Perry  and  Elliott. 


tributions  to  the  popular  demonstrations  of  joy,  and  public  bodies  testified  their  grat 
itude  by  appropriate  acts.  The  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  voted  thanks  and  a  gold 
medal  to  Perry;  also  thanks  and  a  silver  medal  to  every  man  engaged  in  the  battle.1 


INTIEB  CLASS.  AMERI. 
ET  BRET. DIE  X.  SEP. 


The  corporate. authorities  of  New  York  ordered  the  illumination  of  the  City  Hall  in 
honor  of  the  victory  ;2  and  the  National  Congress  voted  thanks  and  a  gold  medal  to 
both  Perry  and  Elliott,  to  be  adorned  with  appropriate  devices,3  and  silver  ones,  with 


THE  ELLIOTT   MEDAL. 


the  same  emblems,  to  the  nearest  male  relatives  of  Brooks,  Lamb,  Clarke,  and  Clax- 
ton,  who  were  slain.  Three  months'  extra  pay  was  also  voted  for  each  of  the  com 
missioned  officers  of  the  navy  and  army  who  served  in  the  battle,  and  a  sword  to 

ceived  by  remembering  that  one  of  the  principal  vessels  of  the  British  squadron  was  named  the  Queen  Charlotte,  in  honor 
of  the  royal  consort.  In  a  ballad  of  the  day  occurs  the  following  lines : 

"  On  Erie's  wave,  while  Barclay  brave, 

With  Charlotte,  making  merry, 
He  chanced  to  take  the  belly-ache, 

We  drenched  him  so  with  Perry." 

1  The  War,  page  127.  2  See  note  1,  page  534. 

3  On  one  side  of  Perry's  medal  is  a  bnst  of  the  commodore,  surrounded  by  the  following  words:  "OLIVEEUS  u. 
PEBEY.  PEINCEPB  6TAGNO  ERiENSE.  CLASSAM  TOTAM  ooNTUDiT."  Oil  the  reverse  a  squadron  of  vessels  closely  engaged, 
and  the  legend  "  VIAM  INVENIT  VIRTUS  AUT  FAOIT."  Exergue:  "INTER  CLASS.  AMEBI.  ET  BRIT.  DIB  x.  SEP.  MDCCCXIII." 
On  one  side  of  Elliott's  medal  is  a  bust  of  the  commander,  and  the  words  "JESSE  D.  ELLIOTT.  NIL  ACTCM  REPUTANS  si 
QUID.  SUPRESSET  AGENDUM."  On  the  reverse  a  squadron  engaged,  and  the  legend  "VIAM  INVENIT  VIRTUS  AUT  FACIT.',' 
The  exergue  the  same  as  on  Perry's. 


536  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Effect  of  the  Victory  on  the  British.  A  Plea  for  a  British-Indian  Alliance.  Washington  Irving's  Predictions. 

each  of  the  midshipmen  and  sailing-masters  "  who  so  nobly  distinguished  themselves 
on  that  memorable  occasion."1  In  after  years,  when  the  dead  body  of  Perry  was 
buried  in  the  soil  of  his  native  state,  her  Legislature  caused  a  monument  to  be  erect 
ed  to  his  memory,2  for  she  claimed,  with  much  justice,  a  large  share  of  the  glory  of 
the  battle  of  Lake  Erie  for  her  sons.3 

The  effect  of  this  victory  was  deeply  impressive  on  the  British  mind,  and  the  news 
papers  in  the  provinces  and  the  mother  country  indulged  in  lamentations  over  the 
want  of  vigor  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  manifested  by  the  ministry.  "  We  have 
»  October,  been  conquered  on  Lake  Erie,"  said  a  Halifax  paper,a  "  and  so  we  shall  be 

813-        on  every  other  lake,  if  we  take  as  little  care  to  protect  them.    Their  success 

is  less  owing  to  their  prowess  than  to  our  neglect."     A  London  paper  consoled  the 

<>  TST       h        people  by  saying,b  "  It  may,  however,  serve  to  diminish  our  vexation  at 

the  occurrence  to  leam  that  the  flotilla  in  question  was  not  any  branch 

of  the  British  Navy It  was  not  the  Royal  Navy,  but  a  local  force — a  kind  of 

mercantile  military."  Others,  conscious  of  the  inability  of  the  British  force  in  Can 
ada  to  cope  with  the  Americans,  urged  the  necessity  of  extending  the  alliance  with 
the  Indians.  "  We  dare  assert,"  said  a  writer  in  one  of  the  leading  British  Reviews,4 
"  and  recent  events  have  gone  far  in  establishing  the  truth  of  the  proposition,  that 
the  Canadas  can  not  be  effectually  and  durably  defended  without  the  friendship  of 
the  Indians,  and  command  of  the  lakes  and  the  River  St.  Lawrence."  He  urged  his 
countrymen  to  consider  the  interests  of  the  Indians  as  their  own ;  "  for  men,"  he  said, 
"  whose  very  name  is  so  very  formidable  to  an  American,  and  whose  friendship  has 
recently  been  shown  to  be  of  such  great  importance  to  us,  we  can  not  do  too  much." 

The  name  of  Perry  is  cherished  with  increasing  reverence  by  successive  genera 
tions  ;  and  the  vast  population  that  now  swarm  along  the  southern  borders  of  Lake 
Erie  regard  the  battle  that  has  made  its  name  immortal  in  history  as  a  classical  pos 
session  of  rare  value.  Only  a  few  weeks  after  the  victory,  Washington  Irving,  in  a 
chaste  biographical  sketch  of  Commodore  Perry,5  said :  "The  last  roar  of  cannon  that 
died  along  her  shores  was  the  expii-ing  note  of  British  domination.  Those  vast  in 
ternal  seas  will  perhaps  never  again  be  the  separating  space  between  contending  na 
tions,  but  will  be  embosomed  within  a  mighty  empire  ;6  and  this  victory,  which  de 
cided  their  fate,  will  stand  unrivaled  and  alone,  deriving  lustre  and  perpetuity  from 
its  singleness.  In  future  times,  when  the  shores  of  Erie  shall  hum  with  busy  popu 
lation  ;  when  towns  and  cities  shall  brighten  where  now  extend  the  dark  and  tangled 
forests ;  when  ports  shall  spread  their  arms,  and  lofty  barks  shall  ride  where  now  the 
canoe  is  fastened  to  the  stake ;  when  the  present  age  shall  have  grown  into  venera 
ble  antiquity,  and  the  mists  of  fable  begin  to  gather  round  its  history,  then  will  the 
inhabitants  look  back  to  this  battle  we  record  as  one  of  the  romantic  achievements 
of  the  days  of  yore.  It  will  stand  first  on  the  page  of  their  local  legends  and  in  the 
marvelous  tales  of  the  borders." 

This  prophecy  of  the  beloved  Irving  has  been  fulfilled.  The  archipelago  that  em 
braces  Put-in-Bay  has  become  a  classic  region.  At  Erie,  and  Cleveland,  and  San- 
dusky,  and  Toledo,  where  the  Indian  then  "  fastened  his  canoe  to  a  stake,"  "  ports 

i  We  have  observed  in  Note  2,  page  519,  that  Mr.  Hambleton,  purser  of  the  Lawrence,  was  chosen  prize  agent.  A 
board  of  officers  from  Lake  Ontario,  assisted  by  Henry  Eckford,  naval  constructor,  prized  the  captured  squadron  at 
$225,000.  Commodore  Chauncey,  the  commander-in-chief  on  the  lakes,  received  one  twentieth  of  the  whole  sum,  or 
$12,750.  Perry  and  Elliott  each  drew  $7140.  The  Congress  voted  Perry  $5000  in  addition.  Each  commander  of  a 
gun-boat,  sailing-master,  lieutenant,  and  captain  of  marines,  received  $2295  ;  each  midshipman,  $811 ;  each  petty  officer, 
$447;  and  each  marine  and  sailor,  $209.— Miss  Laura  G.  Sanford's  History  of  Erie,  page  273.  =  See  page  521. 

3  Perry  took  with  him  from  Rhode  Island,  as  we  have  seen  (page  509),  a  large  number  of  men  and  officers.  It  was  by 
them  chiefly  that  the  vessels  built  at  Erie  were  constructed.  The  commodore  and  three  of  his  commanders — Champlin, 
Almy,  and  Turner,  and  five  other  officers— Taylor,  Brownell,  Breese,  Dunham,  and  Alexander  Perry,  were  from  Rhode 
Island.  In  the  fight  forty-seven  of  the  fifty-five  guns  of  the  squadron  were  commanded  by  Rhode  Islanders. 

*  New  Quarterly  Review  and  British  Colonial  Register,  No.  4 ;  S.  M.  Richardson,  Cornhill,  London. 

5  Analectic  Magazine,  December,  1813. 

J  6  He  had  .just  heard  of  Harrison's  victorious  invasion  of  Canada,  and  it  was  believed  at  that  time  that  the  upper  prov 
ince  would  assuredly  become  a  portion  of  the  United  States. 


OF   THE  WAR    OF   1812.  537 


Journey  to  Cleveland.  Historic  Places  at  Erie.  Night  Travel. 

spread  their  arms ;"  and  every  year  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  is  somewhere  cel 
ebrated  with  appropriate  ceremonies.  Already  the  corner-stone  of  a  monumental 
shaft  in  commemoration  of  the  battle  has  been  laid  upon  Perry's  Look-out  on  Gibral 
tar  Island  ;a  and  in  the  beautiful  city  of  Cleveland — an  insignificant  hamlet  on  the 
bleak  lake  shore  in  1813,  now  [1867]  a  mart  of  commerce  with  about  fifty  thousand 
inhabitants — a  noble  statue  of  Perry,  wrought  of  the  purest  Parian  marble  by  a  resi 
dent  artist,  has  been  erected  by  the  city  authorities.2 

I  was  present,  as  an  invited  guest,  at  the  inauguration  of  that  statue  of  Perry  on 
the  10th  of  September,  1860.  Never  will  the  impressive  spectacles  of  that  day,  and 
the  influence  of  the  associations  connected  with  them,  be  effaced  from  memory.  The 
journey  thither,  the  mementoes  of  history  seen  on  the  way,  and  the  meeting  of  scores 
of  veterans  of  the  War  of  1812  at  the  great  gathering,  made  a  deep  impression  on 
the  mind.  I  left  my  home  on  the  Hudson,  with  my  family,  on  the  morning  of  the 
6th,a  with  the  intention  of  stopping  at  Erie  (where  a  portion  of  Perry's  » September, 
squadron  was  built)  on  my  way  to  Cleveland.  It  was  a  day  like  one  in 
midsummer — sultry  and  showery ;  yet  in  the  railway  carriage,  whose  steeds  never 
grow  weary,  and  wherein  shelter  from  sun  and  rain  are  ever  afforded,  we  traversed 
during  the  day,  with  very  little  fatigue  or  inconvenience,  more  than  the  entire  length 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  through  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  valleys  and  the  great 
levels  westward,  to  Buffalo,  a  distance  of  three  hundred  and  seventy  miles.  There 
I  left  my  family  in  charge  of  the  veteran  Captain  Champlin,  one  of  the  heroes  of 
the  fight,  to  accompany  him  by  water  to  Cleveland;  and  early  the  next  morn 
ing1'  I  pushed  on  by  railway  to  Erie,  where  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  b  gg  tember  T 
meet  Captain  W.  W.  Dobbins,  son  of  the  gallant  officer  of  that  name  al 
ready  mentioned.  He  kindly  accompanied  me  to  the  places  of  interest  about  Erie — 
the  site  of  Fort  Presqu'  Isle3 — of  Wayne's  block-house — of  Fort  Wayne,  on  Garrison 
Hill,  by  the  light-house4 — of  the  navy  yard  at  the  mouth  of  Cascade  Creek,5  and  the 
old  tavern  where  Perry  made  his  head-quarters  before  and  after  the  battle.  When, 
at  the  close  of  the  day,  we  returned  to  the  village,  heavy  black  clouds  were  brooding- 
over  the  lake  in  the  direction  of  the  great  conflict,  and  the  deep  bellowing  of  the  dis 
tant  thunder  gave  a  vivid  idea  of  the  tumult  of  the  battle  heard  from  that  very  spot 
almost  half  a  century  before.  I  had  completed  my  sketches  and  observations,  and  I 
spent  the  evening  pleasantly  and  profitably  with  Captain  Dobbins  and  his  venerable 
mother,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  kind  courtesies  and  valuable  information.6  At 
almost  two  o'clock  in  the  morning0  I  left  Erie  in  the  railway  cars  for 
Cleveland,  just  after  a  heavy  thunder-shower  had  passed  over  that  re 
gion,  making  the  night  intensely  dark,  and  drenching  the  country. 

We  arrived  at  Cleveland  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Heavy  mists  were  scurry 
ing  over  the  lake  upon  the  wings  of  fitful  gusts,  and  dashes  of  rain  came  down  fre 
quently  like  sudden  shower-baths.  For  almost  three  hours  I  waited  at  the  wharf 
where  the  passengers  on  the  boat  from  Buffalo  were  to  land.  She  was  The  Western 
Metropolis — a  magnificent  vessel — one  of  the  finest  ever  built  on  the  lakes.  All  night 

1  See  picture  on  page  518.    On  the  4th  of  July,  1852,  the  national  anniversary  was  celebrated  on  Put-in-Bay  Island  by 
five  companies  of  Ohio  volunteer  militia.    Their  encampment  was  the  first  ever  seen  there  since  Harrison  left  it  with 
his  troops  in  the  autumn  of  1S13.    At  that  time  it  was  agreed  to  take  measures  for  erecting  a  monument  in  commemo 
ration  of  the  victory,  and  The  Battle  of  Lake  Erie  Monument  Association  was  formed.    A  Constitution  was  adopted,  and 
General  Lewis  Cass,  of  Detroit,  was  appointed  president  of  the  association.    J.  G.  Camp,  E.  Cooke,  E.  Bill,  A.  P.  Ed 
wards,  and  J.  A.  Harris,  were  appointed  a  provisional  executive  committee. 

2  The  project  of  erecting  a  statue  of  Perry  at  Cleveland  originated  with  the  Hon.  Harvey  Rice,  of  that  city,  who,  as 
member  of  the  Common  Council,  brought  the  subject  before  that  body  in  June,  185T,  in  a  series  of  resolutions.    A  com 
mittee  was  appointed  to  take  the  matter  in  hand,  composed  of  Harvey  Rice,  O.  M.  Oviatt,  J.  M.  Coffinberry,  J.  Kirkpat- 
rick,  and  C.  D.  Williams.    They  contracted  with  T.  Jones  and  Sons,  of  Cleveland,  to  erect  a  monument  surmounted  by  a 
statue  of  Perry,  for  the  sum  of  eight  thousand  dollars.    The  designs  of  monument  and  statue  were  made  by  William 
Walcutt,  the  sculptor,  of  Cleveland,  and  the  figures  were  executed  by  him. 

3  See  page  511.  *  See  note  1,  page  510.  5  See  page  511. 

6  Mrs.  Dobbins  is  of  English  and  Irish  extraction,  and  was  married  to  Mr.  Dobbins  at  Cannonsburg,  Pennsylvania, 
early  in  the  year  1SOO,  by  whom  she  had  ten  children. 


538 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Pilot  of  the  Ariel. 


Crowds  fill  Cleveland. 


"  Camp  Perry"  on  Sunday. 


long  she  had  battled  with  the  storm,  yet  she  was  so  stanch  that  her  passengers  had 
slept  securely  and  soundly.  A  fine  state-room  had  been  assigned  to  Captain  Champ- 
lin.  Among  the  survivors  of  the  war  who  accompanied  him  was  Captain  Asel  Wil 
kinson,  of  Golden,  Erie  County,  New  York,  wrho  was  the  pilot  of  the  Ariel — a  tall, 
slender  man,  seventy-two  years  of  age.  He  stood  at  the  helm  of  his  vessel  all  through 

the  battle  of  the  10th  of  Sep 
tember.  His  cartridge  -  box 
was  shot  from  his  side  by  a 
cannon-ball,  and  the  thunder 
of  the  great  guns  brought  the  blood  from  his  ears  and  nose,  and  permanently  impair 
ed  his  hearing.  I  received  many  reminiscences  of  the  fight  from  his  lips  during  a 
brief  hour  that  I  spent  with  him.  His  vigor  of  mind  and  body  gave  promise  of  years 
of  future  usefulness,  but  his  days  were  nearly  numbered.  On  the  4th  of  July,  1861, 
he  was  in  Buffalo  with  his  wife  to  participate  in  the  celebration  of  the  day.  When 
they  were  passing  the  corner  of  Pearl  and  Mohawk  Streets  he  suddenly  fell  to  the 
pavement  and  expired. 

In  the  midst  of  a  furious  thunder-storm  we  rode  to  the  residence  of  a  gentleman  on 
Euclid  Street,  to  the  hospitalities  of  which  we  had  been  invited,  and  there  we  found 
a  pleasant  home  during  our  brief  sojourn  in  Cleveland.  It  was  the  last  day  of  the 
week.  On  Monday  the  appointed  ceremonies  were  to  be  performed,  and  visitors  were 
pouring  into  the  "Forest  City"  by  thousands  from  every  direction.  That  evening 
the  hotels  and  large  numbers  of  private  houses  were  filled  with  guests.  Mr.  Bancroft 
(the  historian),  who  was  one  of  the  chosen  orators  for  the  occasion,  had  arrived;  also 
a  large  delegation  from  Rhode  Island,  including  Governor  Sprague,  Mr.  Bartlett,  the 
Secretary  of  State,  Dr.  Parsons,  Bishop  Clarke,  and  Captain  Thomas  Brownell,  who 
was  the  acting  sailing-master  of  the  Arid  in  the  battle.  Members  of  the  Perry  fam 
ily  and  scores  of  the  survivors  of  the  war  were  also  there,  and  the  bright  and  beau 
tiful  Sabbath  found  Cleveland  full  of  strangers. 

It  was  indeed  a  bright  and  beautiful  Sabbath.     The  storm-clouds  were  gone,  and 
'   ^^^^^  the  first  cool  breath  of  autumn  came  from 

the  lake  and  gave  warning  of  the  ap 
proaching  season  of  hoar-frost.  At  an 
early  hour  Euclid  Street  —  magnificent 
Euclid  Street  —  was  full  of  animation. 
Crowds  were  making  their  way  to  "Camp 
Perry,"  on  the  county  fair-grounds,  the 
head-quarters  of  the  military,  who  were 
under  the  command  of  Brigadier  General 
J.  W.  Fitch.  In  the  spacious  marquee  of 
that  ofiicer  we  met,  just  before  the  hour 
for  morning  religious  services  (in  which 
Bishop  Clarke  led),  most  of  the  Rhode 
Island  delegation,  Governor  Dennison,  of 
Ohio,  and  his  staff,  and  Benjamin  Fleming, 
of  Erie,  a  lively  little  man,  then  seventy- 
eight  years  of  age,  who  was  a  maintop- 
man  in  the  Niagara  during  the  battle. 
He  was  yet  living  in  1863,  and  was  one 
of  three  survivors  of  the  battle  who  are 
residents  of  Erie.1  Fleming  was  a  native  of  Delaware.2  He  wras  dressed  in  full  sail- 


UENJAMIN   FLEMING. 


1  The  other  two  were  John  Murray,  a  marine  from  Pennsylvania,  aged  about  seventy-three,  and  Jesse  Wall,  a  colored 
man,  aged  about  seventy-four  years,  who  was  a  fifer  on  board  the  Niagara. 

2  Benjamin  Fleming  was  borii  in  Lewiston,  Delaware,  on  the  20th  of  July,  1TS2.    He  entered  the  naval  service  on 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


539 


Surviving  Soldiers  of  the  War  of  1S12. 


Inauguration  of  the  Statue  of  Perry. 


Preliminary  Proceedings. 


or's  costume,  and  on  his  right  breast,  in  the  form  of  a  shield,  on  which  was  inscribed  his 
name  and  the  occasion,  was  the  silver  medal  presented  by  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.1 


There  we  also  met  Dr.  Nathan 
Eastman,  of  Medina,  Ohio, 
who,  as  volunteer  surgeon,  as 
sisted  in  dressing  the  wounds 
of  those  injured  in  the  battle 
who  were  taken  to  the  marine 
hospital  at  Erie.  He  was  after 
ward  appointed  assistant  sur 
geon,  and  spent  the  dreary 
winter  of  1813— 14  in  that  ca 
pacity  on  board  the  prize-ships 
Detroit  and  Queen  Charlotte, 


PERRY'S  LANTERN. 


for  some  soldiers  were  on  those 
vessels  and  upon  Put-in-Bay 
Island.  There  was  also  Hosea 
Sargent,  of  Cambridge,  Mas 
sachusetts,  a  survivor  of  the 
Z,aicrence,  who  handed  Perry 
his  flag  as  he  was  leaving  his 
vessel  for  the  Niagara.  A 
mute  relic  of  the  battle  was 
also  on  the  ground.  It  was 
Perry's  signal  lantern,  and  be 
longed  to  Lieutenant  Selden, 
It  was  made  of  tin,  with  win- 


of  the  "  Wayne  Guards"  of  Erie,  who  were  present, 
dows  of  scraped  horn,  and  had  a  venerable  appearance. 

Monday  dawned  gloomily.  The  sky  was  lowering  with  heavy  clouds,  the  tem 
perature  was  chilling,  and  as  the  time  approached  for  the  commencement  of  the  pub 
lic  ceremonies  there  were  indications  of  early  rain.  But  these  hindered  nothing.  At 
an  early  hour  I  went  to  the  City  Hall,  the  head-quarters  of  the  "soldiers  of  1812," 
and  assisted  in  the  interesting  task  of  making  a  register  of  the  names  and  ages  of 
those  who  were  present,  about  three  hundred  in  number.2  The  air  was  full  of  mar 
tial  music,  the  streets  and  buildings  were  gay  with  banners,  and  as  the  appointed 
time  for  uncovering  the  statue  drew  near,  the  public  square  of  ten  acres,  in  the  cen 
tre  of  which  it  stood,  began  to  fill  with  people.  I  had  made  my  way  with  difficulty 
through  the  crowd  from  the  old  soldiers'  head-quarters  to  the  stage  erected  for  the 
conductors  of  the  pageant  and  invited  guests.  Mr.  Bancroft  soon  arrived,  alone,  but 
was  followed  almost  immediately  by  the  mayor  of  the  city,  the  committee  of  arrange 
ments,  Dr.  Parsons  (the  associate  orator),  the  Perry  family,  and  other  invited  guests. 
Very  soon  the  immense  military  and  civic  procession  came  filing  into  the  square  in 
gay  and  sombre  costumes,  accompanied  by  a  miniature  brig  Lawrence,  on  wheels, 
drawn  by  four  horses.  The  inclosure  was  filled  with  the  living  sea,  and  broad  On 
tario  and  Superior  Streets  were  crowded  Avith  people  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
"All  Cleveland  is  out!"  exclaimed  a  gentleman  at  my  elbow.  "All  creation,  you 
had  better  say,"  responded  another.  It  was  estimated  that  fifty  thousand  strangers 
were  present. 

The  ceremonies  before  the  statue  were  opened  by  prayer  from  the  lips  of  the  Rev 
erend  Dr.  Perry,  of  Natchez,  Mississippi.  Then  Mr.  Walcutt,  the  sculptor,  unveiled 
the  statue.  There  it  stood,  upon  a  green  mound,  surrounded  by  an  iron  railing,  im 
posing,  beautiful,  and  remarkable  because  of  its  extreme  whiteness.3  Tens  of  thou 
sands  of  voices  sent  up  loud  cheers  as  that  chaste  work  of  art  was  clearly  revealed, 
for,  just  as  the  covering  was  removed,  rays  of  sunlight,  that  had  struggled  through 

board  the  frigate  Essex  in  1811,  and  at  New  York  volunteered  for  the  lake  service.  He  was  wi,th  Elliott  At  the  capture 
of  the  Caledonia  and  A  dams.  See  list  of  names  in  Note  5,  page  3S5.  He  had  lived  in  Erie  ever  since  the  war.  Two 
of  his  sons  were  in  a  Pennsylvania  regiment  during  the  late  Civil  War,  and  both  were  wounded  in  the  battles  before 
Richmond.  ,  '  See  page  535. 

2  Among  these  were  Benjamin  Le  Reaux,  aged  seventy-seven  years.    He  was  from  La  Salle  City,  Illinois.    He  was  a 
small,  lively,  sparkling-faced  man,  and  was  dressed  in  the  same  military  suit  of  gray  in  which,  as  orderly  sergeant,  he 
fought  under  General  Scott  in  the  battle  of  Niagara,  or  Luudy's  Lane.    He  was  in  Jesup's  command.    A  history  of  that 
gray  uniform  will  be  given  hereafter.    Mr.  Le  Reaux's  father  was  a  Frenchman,  and  served  as  captain  under  Lafayette. 

3  The  monument  and  statue,  represented  on  the  following  page,  present  to  the  eye  one  of  the  most  chaste  memorials 
of  greatness  to  be  found  in  the  country.    Indeed,  it  is  believed  that  nothing  equals  it.    The  pedestal  is  of  Rhode  Island 
granite,  twelve  feet  in  height,  on  one  side  of  which  is  sculptured,  in  low  relief,  the  scene  of  Perry's  passage  from  the 
Lawrence  to  the  Niagara.    On  one  side  of  it  is  a  small  statue  of  a  Sailor-boi/,  bareheaded,  and  on  the  other  one  of  a  Mid 
shipman,  with  his  cap  on,  in  the  attitude  of  listening.    The  statue  is  of  Parian  marble,  and  remarkable  for  its  purity. 
It  is  eight  feet  in  height,  but  at  the  altitude  of  the  top  of  the  pedestal  or  monument  it  appears  life-size.    The  entire 
height  of  the  monument,  including  the  base,  is*  twenty-five  feet. 


540 


PICTOKIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


The  Statue  unveiled. 


Orations  by  Bancroft  and  Parsons. 


A  remarkable  Dinner  Party. 


the  clouds,  fell  full  upon  it.  Mr.  Walcutt 
made  a  brief  address,  which  was  responded 
to  by  Mayor  Senter.  Then  followed  Mr. 
Bancroft's  oration,1  and  an  historical  dis 
course  by  Dr.  Parsons.2  Oliver  Hazard  Per 
ry,  the  only  surviving  son  of  the  commo 
dore,  addressed  the  people  briefly,  when  the 
masonic  ceremonies  of  dedication  were  per 
formed.  The  proceedings  closed  with  a  song, 
written  by  E.  G.  Knowlton,  of  Cleveland, 
and  sung  by  Ossian  E.  Dodge. 

I  had  been  invited  to  dine  with  the  vet 
erans  of  1812,  and  when  the  ceremonies  be 
fore  the  statue  were  ended,  I  hastened  from 
the  crowded  city  to  the  old  soldiers'  ban 
quet-hall  in  the  railway  buildings  on  the 
margin  of  the  lake.  The  scene  was  a  most 
interesting  and  remarkable  one.  Almost 
three  hundred  survivors  of  the  war,  who  had 
been  participants  in  its  military  events,  were 
seated  at  the  table,  with  their  commander 
for  the  day  (General  J.  M.  Hughes),  and 
Deacon  Benjamin  Rouse,  the  president  of 
the  Old  Soldiers'  Association,  at  their  head. 
There  were  very  few  among  them  of  feeble 
step.  Upon  every  head  not  disfigured  by  a 
wig  lay  the  snows  that  never  melt.  It  was 
a  dinner-party,  I  venture  to  say,  that  has  no 
parallel  in  history.  The  ages  of  the  guests 
(excepting  a  few  younger  men,  like  myself, 
who  were  permitted  by  courtesy  to  be  pres 
ent)  ranged  from  fifty-seven  to  ninety  years.3 
The  average  was  about  seventy  years;  and 
the  aggregate  age  of  the  company  was  about 
twenty  thousand  years  ! 

When  I  left  the  banquet-hall  a  spectacle  of  rare  beauty  met  the  eye.  The  high 
banks  of  the  lake  in  front  of  the  cjty  were  covered  with  men,  women,  and  children, 
thousands  in  number,  who  had  come  out  to  be  witnesses  of  a  promised  sham-fight  on 
the  lake,  in  nearly  exact  imitation  of  the  real  one  forty-seven  years  before.  I  climbed 
the  steep  bank,  up  a  long  flight  of  stairs  at  the  foot  of  Warren  Street,  to  a  good  po 
sition  for  observation,  and  found  myself  by  the  side  of  Mr.  Fleming,  the  jolly  little 
maintop-man  of  the  Niagara,  with  his  sailor's  dress  and  silver  medal.  The  clouds 
had  dispersed,  and  the  afternoon  was  almost  as  bright  and  serene  as  when  the  old 
battle  was  waged.  One  by  one  the  vessels  representing  the  belligerent  squadrons  of 
Perry  and  Barclay  went  out  from  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga,  not  "  with  a  light 
breeze"  alone,  but  by  the  more  certain  power  of  steam-tugs.  Captain  Champlin  com 
manded  the  mock- American  squadron,  and  Mr.  Chapman4  that  of  the  mock-British.  ' 

1  Immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Bancroft's  address,  he  was  presented  with  a  cane,  made  of  the  timber  of  the 
Lawrence,  by  the  "Wayne  Guards,"  of  Erie.    The  head  is  of  gold,  and  the  ferule  a  spike  from  the  Lawrence. 

2  During  the  delivery  of  Dr.  Parsons's  discourse,  an  intelligent  old  man,  named  Quinn,  from  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania, 
came  upon  the  stand,  and  reported  himself  as  the  man  who  made  the  cordage  used  in  rigging  the  vessels  of  Perry's 
squadron.    He  had  with  him,  in  a  box,  the  identical  tools  that  were  used  in  that  service. 

3  The  oldest  man  among  them  was  a  colored  soldier  named  Abraham  Chase.    He  was  ninety.    Two  of  them  (S.  F. 
Whitney  and  Richard  M'Cready)  were  only  fifty-seven.    They  were  boys  in  the  service.  *  See  page  527. 


I'EERY  8   STATUE. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


541 


Sham  Battle  on  Lake  Erie. 


Visit  to  early  Residents  of  Cleveland. 


Captain  Stanton  Sholes. 


I860. 


A  singular  coincidence  occurred.  As  in  the  real  battle,  so  in  this,  there  was  a  light 
breeze  at  first,  which  freshened  before  the  close.  It  was  an  exciting  scene,  and  little 
Fleming  fairly  danced  with  exhilaration  as  he  observed  the  flashes — the  booming 
of  great  guns — the  fleet  enveloped  in  smoke — Champlin,  like  Perry,  leaving  the  Law 
rence  and  going  to  the  Niagara,  and  the  latter  sweeping  down,  breaking  the  Chap 
man-Barclay's  line  and  winning  victory.  With  this  extraordinary  pageant  closed  the 
public  ceremonies  of  the  day.1 

On  the  following  day,  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  T.  B.  Fairchild,  of  Hudson,  Ohio,  I 
visited  several  persons  and  places  in  'Cleveland  connected  with  its  history.  Among 
the  former  were  Judge  Barr,  to  whose  kind  courtesy,  through  the  medium  of  letters, 
I  was  under  many  obligations,  and  the  widow  of  Dr.  David  Long,  a  daughter  of  John 
Wadsworth,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  that  region.  She  was  a  resident  of  Cleve 
land  at  the  time  of  the  battle.2  When  I  visited  hera  she  and  Levi  John-  « September, 
son  and  his  wife  were  the  only  survivors  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  place 
in  1813.  At  the  time  of  Hull's  surrender 
there  was  great  alarm  at  Cleveland,  and 
Mrs.  Long  was  the  only  woman  who  re 
mained.  Her  husband  would  not  desert 
the  sick  there,  and  she  would  not  desert 
her  husband.  At  that  time  they  had  no 
military  protection,  but  in  the  spring  of 
1813  Major  Jesup  was  stationed  there 
with  two  companies  of  Ohio  militia. 
These  were  joined  in  May  by  Captain 
Stanton  Sholes,  now  [1867]  a  resident  of 
Columbus,  Ohio,3  with  a  company  of 
United  States  Artillery  from  Pennsylva 
nia.  He  was  cordially  welcomed  by 
Governor  Meigs,  and  made  his  quarters 
at  Major  Carter's  tavern.  He  immedi 
ately  set  about  felling  the  timber  on  the 
site  of  the  present  city  of  Cleveland,  with 
which  to  build  a  small  stockade  fort. 
This  was  erected  near  the  present  light 
house,  about  fifty  yards  from  the  lake. 


1  At  the  close  of  the  public  proceedings  the  members  of  the  Masonic  Order  who  were  present  dined  together  at  the 
Weddell  House.    H.  L.  Hosmer,  Deputy  Grand  Master  of  Ohio,  presided.   The  banqueters  were  enlivened  by  toasts  and 
speeches,  and  the  festivities  closed  with  a  song  written  for  the  occasion  by  William  Ross  Wallace,  and  sung  by  Ossian 
E.  Dodge— a  song  of  three  stanzas,  of  which  the  following  stirring  one  is  the  conclusion : 
"Roll,  roll,  ye  waves  !  eternal  roll ! 
For  ye  are  holy  from  his  might : 
Oh,  Banner,  that  his  valor  wreathed, 

Forever  keep  thy  victor-light ! 
And  if  upon  this  sacred  lake 

Should  ever  come  invading  powers, 
Like  him  may  we  exulting  cry, 

WE'VE  MET  THE  FOE,  AND  THEY  AKE  OFRS  !" 

3  Dr.  Long's  dwelling  was  on  the  site  of  the  present  light-house  at  Cleveland.  It  still  exists,  but  at  Borne  distance 
from  the  place  where  it  was  built.  It  now  stands  on  the  north  side  of  Frankfort  Street,  between  Bank  and  Water  Streets. 
It  is  a  small  building,  one  story,  about  20  by  20  feet  square. 

3  Mr.  Sholes  is  a  native  of  Connecticut,  born  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  is  now  [1SC7] 
about  ninety-six  years  of  age.  His  father  was  a  British  soldier  at  the  capture  of  Quebec  from  the  French,  and  served 
four  years  in  our  old  war  for  independence.  In  early  life  Captain  Sholes  engaged  in  the  business  of  a  sailor,  and  visited 
many  parts  of  the  world.  He  quit  the  ocean  in  1803,  and  settled  in  the  State  of  New  York.  After  a  few  years  he  took 
up  his  abode  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  River,  about  twenty  miles  below  Pittsburg.  In  May,  1812,  he  received  from  Pres 
ident  Madison  a  captain's  commission  in  the  second  division  United  States  Artillery,  with  orders  to  recruit  a  company 
of  one  hundred  men  for  five  years.  This  he  accomplished,  and  in  May,  1S13,  arrived  with  them  at  Cleveland,  as  we  have 
observed.  He  served  faithfully  in  the  Northwest,  during  the  hostilities  in  that  region,  under  Harrison.  I  am  indebted 
to  Captain  Sholes  for  much  valuable  information  concerning  operations  there.  He  is  an  honored  hero  of  two  wars,  for 
before  the  close  of  the  Revolution  he  ran  away  from  home,  and  entered  the  service  of  his  country  as  a  boy-soldier. 


542  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Perry  and  his  Captives.  Terrible  Storm  on  Lake  Erie.  Fate  of  the  chief  Vessels  in  the  Battle. 

He  also  erected  a  comfortable  hospital.  During  that  summer  he  was  on  active  duty 
there,  but  two  days  before  the  battle  on  the  lake  he  received  orders  from  General 
Harrison  to  break  up  his  encampment,  and,  with  his  company  and  all  the  government 
boats  at  Cleveland,  move  on  to  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee,  preparatory  to  a  speedy 
invasion  of  Canada. 

I  left  Cleveland  on  the  morning  of  the  1 2th  of  September1  for  Southern  Ohio, 

and  the  residence  and  tomb  of  General  Harrison.     Of  the  incidents  of  that 

journey  I  shall  hereafter  write.     Let  us  occupy  a  few  moments  in  considering  the 

farther  movements  of  the  lake  squadron  so  late*ly  in  battle.     We  left  them  in  Put-in- 

"  September,     Bay  on  the  morning  of  the  12th,b  after  the  sad  task  of  burying  the  slain 

officers  had  been  performed. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  after  the  battle  Perry  visited  the  wounded  Barclay  on 
board  the  battered  Detroit.  They  met  there  for  the  first  time  face  to  face,  and  it  was 
the  beginning  of  a  lasting  personal  friendship.  His  kindness  to  Barclay  and  his  men 
on  this  occasion  elicited  the  praises  of  that  officer  in  his  official  dispatch.  Every  thing 
that  friend  could  do  for  friend  was  performed  by  the  victor  toward  the  captive.1 

Perry  now  prepared  for  the  transportation  of  Harrison's  army  to  Canada.  For 
that  purpose  he  placed  all  the  wounded  Americans  on  board  the  Lawrence,  and  the 
wounded  British  on  board  the  Detroit  and  Queen  Charlotte,2  and  arranged  the  Ni 
agara  and  the  lighter  vessels  of  both  squadrons  as  transports.  He  made  the  Niag 
ara  his  flag-ship;  and  on  board  of  her,  on  the  13th,  while  a  furious  gale  from  the 
southwest  was  sweeping  over  the  lake,  he  wrote  a  detailed  account  of  the  battle  for 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.3  The  shattered  British  vessels  were  made  to  suffer  by 
that  storm.  It  drove  heavy  swells  into  the  harbor,  which  so  shook  the  Detroit  that 
her  masts  fell  upon  her  decks  with  a  terrible  crash,  wrecking  every  thing  near  them. 
The  main  and  mizzen  masts  of  the  Queen  Charlotte  also  fell ;  and  there  lay  the  three 
vessels  helpless  hulks.  They  were  converted  into  hospital  ships.  The  crippled  Law 
rence,  devoted  to  the  same  uses,  sailed  sluggishly  for  Erie  on  the  21st,c 

c  September.  * 

and  was  soon  followed  by  the  Detroit  and  Queen  Charlotte.^     She  arrived 

Captain  Sholes  is  the  subject  of  an  extraordinary  physiological  change.  For  fifty  years  he  was  bald  and  wore  a  wig. 
Then  he  was  afflicted  with  severe  headache,  for  the  relief  of  which  cloths  dipped  in  warm  water  and  wrung  out  were 
applied.  The  pain  ceased  and  a  new  growth  of  hair  commenced.  In  the  summer  of  1SG4,  as  I  was  informed  by  his  pas 
tor,  Rev.  Mr.  Byers,  his  head  was  thickly  covered  with  glossy,  snowy -white  hair,  so  long  that  it  was  combed  back  from 
the  forehead  and  tied  with  a  ribbon  at  his  neck.  His  face,  also,  which  was  formerly  much  wrinkled,  had  become  smooth, 
"with  much  of  the  restored  fairness  of  youth." 

1  While  Perry  was  on  the  Detroit,  two  savages,  who  had  been  concealed  in  the  hold  of  the  vessel,  were  brought  to  him. 
They  were  Indian  chiefs,  and  had  been  taken  on  board  clothed  in  sailors'  suits,  and,  with  others,  were  placed  in  the  tops 
as  sharp-shooters.    The  noise  of  great  guns  and  the  dangers  of  the  fight  unnerved  them,  and  they  had  fled  to  the  hold 
in  terror.    When  brought  before  Perry  they  expected  torture  or  scalping.    Their  astonishment  was  great  when  he  spoke 
kindly  to  them,  directed  them  to  be  fed,  and  sent  them  on  shore  with  assurances  of  protection  from  the  Indians  friendly 
to  the  Americans. 

2  The  prisoners  conveyed  to  Erie  were  sent  to  Pittsburg,  in  the  interior,  for  greater  security.    The  wounded  were 
well  cared  for. 

3  In  this  dispatch  Perry  spoke  in  terms  of  praise  of  all  his  officers  who  were  conspicuous  in  the  battle.    Captain  El 
liott  received  a  bountiful  share,  contrary  to  the  judgment  and  wishes  of  many  of  Perry's  officers.    They  expressed  their 
opinions  freely  in  disparagement  of  Elliott.    A  quarrel  between  the  two  commanders  and  their  friends  ensued.    The 
controversy  was  revived  in  after  years  by  Mr.  Cooper,  the  historian  of  the  United  States  Navy,  and  old  animosities  were 
awakened  to  unwonted  vigor.    They  have  ^^  Captain  George  Miles,  of  Erie.    They  were 
now  slept  for  many  years,  and  I  do  not                   «    J@?N  ^                       converted  into  merchant  ships,  but  in  the 
choose  to  disturb  them  by  any  remarks                  B^^BB                       course  of  five  or  six  years  they  became  use- 
here.    The  public  verdict  has  determined                                                          less.    The  Detroit  lay  at  Buffalo  some  time, 
the  relative  position  of  the  two  command-                   l!  |j •  \  j \  J\                      when  she  was  purchased  by  the  hotel-keep 
ers  in  the  history  of  the  country.    So  let  it                  lu}J™ ' '^'yE*  ~.~-  --—          ers  at  Niagara  Falls,  with  which  to  make  a 
be.                                                                                                                 ;]^a     spectacle  for  the  visitors  there  in  the  sum- 

4  The  Lawrence,  Detroit,  and  (Jueen  Char-  Hnaj^^.^  mer.    They  placed  a  live  bear  and  other 
lotte  were  afterward  sunk  in  Little  Bay  (see     i               fiB              ^^B      animals   on  board  of  her,  and  sent   her 
map  on  page  514),  on  the  northerly  side  of    -j  adrift  above  the  Falls,  in  the  presence  of  a 
the  harbor  of  Erie.    The  Niagara  was  kept    |         >     JpHMKf'H^^K      great  crowd  of  people,  who  expected  to  see 
at  Erie  as  a  receiving  ship  for  a  long  time.    1       K£.                                  ner  plunge  over  the  great  cataract.    But 
She  was  finally  abandoned,  and  also  sunk     tf^HH      ji^^^___T1       she  lodged  in  the  rapids  above,  and  there 
in  Little  Bay.     Here  her  bottom,  partly                                  Jjjjjijjg*       went  to  pieces.    Such  was  the  end  of  Corn- 
covered  by  sand,  may  still  be  seen.    In                                                          mander  Barclay's  flag-ship  Detroit.    Pieces 
1S3T  the  Detroit  and  Queen  Charlotte  were                        ^^pegg^r-  -<a,    of  the  Lawrence  have  been  sought  for  as 
purchased  of  the  government,  and  raised  by                                                       relics  by  the  curious,  and  many  canes  and 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


543 


Perry  and  Harrison  at  Erie. 


Their  Reception. 


Incidents  at  Erie. 


Execution  of  Bird. 


I'EURY'S   QUARTERS. 


at  Erie  on  the  23d,  and  was  greeted  by  a 
salute  of  seventeen  guns  on  shore.  A  month 
•  October  22,  later,a  when  Canada  Jhad  been 
successfully  invaded  by  Harri 
son,  and  Perry,  as  his  volunteer  aid,  had 
shared  in  the  honors  of  victory,  the  Ariel 
sailed  into  Erie  with  these  commanders, 
who  were  accompanied  by  Commodore 
Barclay,  then  admitted  to  his  parole,  and 
Colonel  E.  P.  Gaines.  These  officers  took 
lodgings  at  Duncan's,  Perry's  old  head 
quarters,  yet  standing  (glorious  because  of 
its  associations,  though  in  ruins),  on  the 
corner  of  Third  and  French  Streets.1  They 
were  received  with  the  booming  of  can 
non,  the  shouts  of  the  people,  and  the  kind 
ly  greeting  of  every  loyal  heart.  The  town 
was  illuminated  in  the  evening,  and  the  streets  were  enlivened  by  a  torch-light  pro 
cession,  bearing  transparencies,  made  at 
the  suggestion  and  under  the  direction 
of  the  accomplished  Lieutenant  Thomas 
Holdup.2  On  one  of  these  were  the  words 
"  Commodore  Perry,  10th  of  September, 
1813;"  on  another,  "  General  Harrison, 
5th  of  October,  1813;"  on  another, "  Free 
Trade  and  Sailors'  Rights;"  and  on  a 
fourth, "  Erie."  The  Niagara  arrived  the 
same  afternoon,  and  other  vessels  soon  fol 
lowed.3 

The  succeeding  winter  was  passed  in 
much  anxiety  by  the  inhabitants  of  Erie 
on  account  of  an  expected  attack  by  the 
British  and  Indians,  who,  it  was  reported, 
were  preparing  to  cross  the  lake  on  the 
ice  from  the  Canada  shore.  False  alarms 
were  frequent,  and  midnight  packings  of 
valuables  preparatory  to  an  exodus  were 
quite  common.  The  summer  brought 
guaranties  of  repose,  and  during  the  last 
half  of  the  year  1814  only  a  company  of 
volunteers  were  stationed  there,  most  of  them  at  the  block-house  at  Cascade  Creek.4 

other  articles  have  been  made  of  the  wood.  Captain  Champlin  and  Dr.  Parsons,  survivors  of  the  battle,  both  have 
chairs  made  from  the  oak  wood  of  the  flag-ship.  Our  little  engraving  on  the  opposite  page  shows  the  form  of  Cham- 
plin's  chair.  I  saw  the  stern-post  of  the  Lawrence  in  possession  of  Captain  W.  W.  Dobbins,  at  Erie. 

1  This  is  known  as  the  "Erie  Hotel."  The  above  picture  shows  its  appearance  when  I  sketched  it  in  September, 
1360.  The  most  distant  window  of  the  second  story,  seen  in  the  gable  of  the  main  building,  and  boarded  up,  was  point 
ed  out  to  me  as  the  one  that  lighted  the  room  occupied  by  Perry. 

3  See  Note  5,  page  528.  3  Doctor  Parsons's  Diary.    Miss  Laura  G.  Sanford's  History  of  Erie. 

4  Three  men  were  executed  at  Erie  for  desertion  in  the  autumn  of  1S14.    One  of  them  was  a  young  man  of  some 
standing,  named  Bird,  who  had  fought  gallantly  on  the  Niagara  in  the  battle  on  Lake  Erie.    His  offense  could  not  be 
overlooked,  and  he  was  shot.    It  was  thought  by  some  that  his  pardon,  under  the  circumstances,  might  not  have  been 
detrimental  to  the  public  good.    A  doleful  ballad,  called  The  mournful  Tragedy  of  James  Bird,  was  written,  and  became 
very  popular  throughout  the  country,  drawing  tears  from  unrefined  and  sensitive  listeners.    Older  readers  will  doubt 
less  remember  with  what  pathos  the  singers  would  chant  the  following,  which  was  the  last  of  the  eleven  verses  of  the 
ballad : 

"See,  he  kneels  upon  his  coffin  !  sure  his  death  can  do  no  good. 
Spare  him  !    Hark !    Oh  God  !  they've  shot  him  ;  his  bosom  streams  with  blood. 
Farewell,  Bird !  farewell  forever !    Friends  and  home  he'll  see  no  more  ! 
But  his  mangled  corpse  lies  buried  on  Lake  Erie's  distant  shore." 


THOMAS  notnrp  STEVENS. 


544  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Arrangements  for  Invading  Canada.  Harrison's  Disinterestedness.  Governor  Shelby  and  his  Followers. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

"  'Twas  on  La  Tranche's  fertile  banks 
A  gallant  host  appeared  ; 

But  fourteen  hundred  formed  their  ranks- 
No  chance  of  war  they  feared. 

Their  country's  cause  had  called  them  forth 
To  battle's  stormy  field  ; 

They  deemed  the  man  of  little  worth 
Whose  mind  but  thought  to  yield. 

There  our  Columbia's  warrior  bauds 
The  star-stud  ensign  bear, 

And  General  Harrison  commands 
The  men  to  valor  dear." 

HEN  Perry's  victory  gave  the  sovereignty  of  Lake  Erie  to  the 
Americans,  General  Harrison  had  completed  his  arrangements 
r\  -£  for  invading  Canada.  He  had  called  on  Governor  Shelby,  of 
••'  Kentucky,  for  fifteen  hundred  men,  and,  with  the  generosity  of 
an  unselfish  patriot  as  he  was,  invited  that  veteran  to  the  field 
and  to  the  chief  command,  saying, "  Why  not,  my  dear  sir,  come 
in  person  ?  You  would  not  object  to  a  command  that  would  be 
nominal  only.  I  have  such  confidence  in  your  wisdom,  that  you, 
in  fact,  should  '  be  the  guiding  head  and  I  the  hand.'  The  situation  you  would  be 
placed  in  would  not  be  without  its  parallel.  Scipio,  the  conqueror  of  Carthage,  did 
not  disdain  to  act  as  the  lieutenant  of  his  younger  and  less  experienced  brother, 
Lucius." 

This  invitation  roused  the  martial  spirit  of  Shelby,  and  he  resolved  to  lead,  not  to 
send  his  people  against  the  foe.  He  called  for  mounted  volunteers  to  assemble  at 
» July  31,  Newport,  opposite  Cincinnati,  at  the  close  of  July. a  "  I  Avill  meet  you  there 
isi3.  jn  persOn?"  ne  said ;  "  I  will  lead  you  to  the  field  of  battle,  and  share  with 
you  the  dangers  and  honors  of  the  campaign."  His  words  were  electrical ;  Kentucky 
instantly  blazed  with  enthusiasm.  "  Come,"  said  the  young  men  and  veterans,  "  let 
us  rally  round  the  eagle  of  our  country,  for  Old  King^s  Mountain^  will  certainly  lead 
us  to  victory  and  conquest."  Twice  the  required  number  flocked  to  his  standard ; 
and  with  Major  John  Adair,2  and  the  late  venerable  United  States  senator  John 
J.  Crittenden,3  as  his  aids,  and  wearing  upon  his  thigh  a  sword  just  presented  to 

1  Governor  Shelby  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  militia  who  defeated  the  banded  Tories  under  Major  Ferguson  on 
King's  Mountain,  on  the  upper  borders  of  South  Carolina,  on  the  7th  of  October,  1781.    Shelby's  valor  on  that  occasion 
was  conspicuous,  and  he  was  known  in  later  years  by  the  familiar  name  of  Old  King's  Mountain. 

2  John  Adair  was  a  North  Carolinian,  and  emigrated  to  Kentucky  in  1786,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one  years.    He  was  an 
active  officer  in  the  Indian  wars  on  the  Northwestern  frontier.    He  held  the  commission  of  major  in  1792.    He  was  pop 
ular  in  his  adopted  state  until  1807,  when  his  unfortunate  connection  with  Burr  obscured  his  reputation  for  a  while.  He 
seems  not  to  have  been  aware  (like  other  of  Burr's  dupes)  of  the  traitor's  real  designs.    In  politics  he  was  a  Federalist. 
His  conduct  during  the  campaign  of  1813  was  every  way  praiseworthy.    He  was  afterward  appointed  adjutant  general 
of  the  Kentucky  troops,  with  the  brevet  rank  of  brigadier  general.    In  that  capacity  he  commanded  the  Kentuckians 
in  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.    In  1820  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Kentucky,  and  was  often  a  member  of  the  State  Legis 
lature.    He  had  been  United  States  senator  in  1805 ;  in  1831  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  lower  house  of  Congress. 
He  died  on  the  19th  of  May,  1840,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years. 

3  John  J.  Crittenden  was  born  in  Woodford  County,  Kentucky,  in  September,  17SG.    His  father  was  an  early  settler 
in  that  state.    Young  Crittendeu  studied  law,  and  commenced  its  practice  in  Russellville,  Logan  County.    He  was  among 
the  first  volunteers  raised  by  Governor  Shelby  for  Harrison  in  1812.    He  accompanied  General  Hopkins  in  his  expedi 
tion  on  the  Wabash  (see  page  33G),  and  the  next  year  was  with  Harrison  on  the  Northwestern  frontier.    He  performed 
gallant  service  in  the  battle  on  the  Thames,  after  which  he  resumed  his  profession  at  Russellville.    He  was  several 
times  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  and  was  elected  United  States  senator  in  1S17.    He  afterward  removed  to 
Frankfort,  where  he  practiced  his  profession  until  1835,  serving  his  constituents  as  legislator  occasionally.    That  year 


OF   THE   WAK    OF    1812.  545 

Sword  presented  to  Governor  Shelby.  Army  of  the  Northwest  in  Motion.  Its  Embarkation  for  Canada. 

him  by  Henry  Clay,  in  the  name  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  in  testimony  of  ap 
preciation  of  his  services  in  the  old  war  for  independence,1  he  led  thirty-five  hund 
red  mounted  men,  including  Colonel  R.  M.  Johnson's  troop,  in  the  direction  of  Lake 
Erie.  At  Urbana  he  organized  his  volunteers  into  eleven  regiments,2  and  on  the  1 2th 
of  September  reached  Upper  Sandusky.  From  that  post  Shelby  pushed  forward  with 
his  staif,  and  at  Fort  Ball  (Tiffin)  he  heard  of  Perry's  victory.  He  dispatched  a  cour 
ier  to  Major  General  Henry,  whom  he  had  left  in  command  at  Lower  Sandusky,  giv 
ing  him  the  glorious  news,  and  directing  him  to  press  forward  with  the  troops  as  fast 
as  possible.  The  intelligence  of  success  nerved  them  to  more  vigorous  action ;  and 
on  the  15th  and  16tha  the  whole  army  of  the  Northwest,  excepting  the  •  September, 
troops  at  Fort  Meigs  and  minor  posts,  were  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Erie, 
on  the  pleasant  peninsula  between  Sandusky  Bay  and  the  lake  below  the  mouth  of 
the  Portage  River,  now  Port  Clinton.3  Shelby  arrived  there  on  the  14th,  a  few  min 
utes  before  a  part  of  Perry's  squadron  appeared  bearing  three  hundred  British  pris 
oners.  These  were  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Portage,  placed  in  charge  of  the  in 
fantry,  and  a  few  days  afterward  were  marched  to  Franklinton  and  Chillicothe,  es 
corted  by  a  guard  of  Kentucky  militia  under  Quartermaster  Payne. 

Preparations  were  now  made  for  the  embarkation  of  the  army.  Harrison  had  been 
joined  at  Seneca  by  about  two  hundred  and  sixty  friendly  Wyandot,  Shawnoese,  and 
Seneca  Indians  under  chiefs  Lewis,  Black  Hoof,4  and  Blacksnake.  General  M' Arthur, 
Clay's  successor  in  command  of  Fort  Meigs,  was  ordered  to  embark  artillery,  provis 
ions,  and  stores  from  that  now  reduced  post,  and  to  march  the  regulars  there,  with 
Clay's  Kentuckians,  to  the  Portage.  Colonel  Johnson  was  directed  to  remain  at  Fort 
Meigs  with  his  mounted  regiment  until  the  expedition  should  sail,  and  then  march 
toward  Detroit,  keeping  abreast  of  the  army  on  the  transports,  as  nearly  as  possible. 

The  embarkation  of  the  army  commenced  on  the  20th.b     The  weather 

ScDtctnl)cr 

was  delightful.     On  the  24th  the  troops  rendezvoused  on  Put-in-Bay  Isl- 

he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate.  He  was  called  to  the  cabinet  of  President  Harrison,  in  1841,  as  attorney 
general.  He  was  again  elected  to  the  Senate,  and  in  184S  was  chosen  Governor  of  Kentucky.  President  Fillmore  called 
him  to  his  cabinet  in  July,  1850,  as  attorney  general.  He  entered  the  United  States  Senate  again  as  a  member  in  1S54, 
and  held  his  seat  there  until  1SG1,  when  his  term  of  office  expired.  He  took  an  active  part,  as  a  Union  man,  in  legisla 
tive  measures  pertaining  to  the  Great  Rebellion,  and  his  proposition  for  conciliation  will  ever  be  known  in  history  as 
The  Crittenden  Compromise.  In  1S61  he  was  elected  a  representative  of  tke  lower  house  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress, 
which  position  he  occupied  until  the  close  of  the  session  on  the  3d  of  March,  1863,  when  he  w^s  again  put  in  nomina 
tion  for  the  same  office.  But  he  did  not  live  until  the  time  for  the  election.  His  physical  powers  had  been  gradually 
giving  way  for  some  time,  and  at  half  past  three  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  July  26, 1863,  he  died  at  his  residence  at 
Frankfort,  without  a  struggle,  at  the  age  of  almost  seventy-seven  years. 

1 1  have  before  me  Mr.  Clay's  autograph  letter  to  Governor  Shelby  on  the  subject.    The  following  is  a  copy : 

"LEXINGTON,  22d  August,  1813. 

"MY  DEAB  SIB,— I  have  seen  by  the  public  prints  that  you  intend  leading  a  detachment  from  this  state.  As  you  will 
want  a  sword,  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  I  am  charged  by  Governor  Turner  and  Mr.  Macon  with  delivering 
to  you  that  which  the  State  of  North  Carolina  voted  you  in  testimony  of  the  sense  it  entertained  of  your  conduct  at 
King's  Mountain.  I  would  take  it  with  me  to  Frankfort,  in  order  that  I  might  personally  execute  the  commission,  and 
at  the  same  time  have  the  gratification  of  seeing  you,  if  I  were  not  excessively  oppressed  with  fatigue.  I  shall  not  fail, 
however,  to  avail  myself  of  the  first  safe  conveyance,  and  if  any  should  ofler  to  you  I  will  thank  you  to  inform  me.  May 
it  acquire  additional  lustre  in  the  patriotic  and  hazardous  enterprise  in  which  you  are  embarking ! 

"Your  friend,  H.  CLAY." 

The  sword  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  W.  T.  Barry,  a  mutual  friend,  on  the  day  when  the  letter  was  written,  who 
conveyed  it  to  Governor  Shelby,  at  Frankfort. 

5  The  regiments  were  officered  respectively  as  follows:  Lieutenant  Colonels  Trotter,  Donaldson,  Poague,  Mouutjoy, 
Eeinick,  Davenport,  Paul,  Calloway,  Simrall,  Barbour,  and  Williams.  They  were  formed  into  five  brigades,  under  Brig 
adiers  Calmes,  Chiles,  King,  Allen,  and  Caldwell.  The  whole  were  formed  into  two  divisions,  under  Major  Generals 
William  Henry  and  Joseph  Desha.  W.  T.  Barry  was  appointed  the  governor's  secretary,  Thomas  T.  Barr  judge  advo 
cate  general,  and  Doctor  A.  J.  Mitchell  hospital  surgeon. 

3  The  Portage  is  a  deep,  sluggish  stream.    It  rises  in  the  Black  Swamp,  and  flows  between  thirty  and  forty  miles. 
There  is  a  good  harbor  at  Port  Clinton. 

4  Black  Hoof  was  a  famous  Shawnoese  chief.    He  was  born  in  Florida,  and  remembered  his  tribe  moving  from  there 
to  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio.    He  was  prominent  in  the  fight  against  Braddock  in  1755,  and  was  in  all  the  Indian  wars 
with  the  Americans  in  the  Northwest  toward  the  close  of  the  last  century,  until  the  treaty  of  Greenville  in  1795.    Up  to 
that  time  he  had  been  the  bitter  enemy  of  the  white  man ;  afterward  he  remained  faithful  to  that  treaty.    Tecumtha 
tried  to  seduce  him,  but  failed,  and  by  his  influence  he  kept  a  greater  portion  of  his  tribe  from  joining  the  British  in 
the  War  of  1812.   He  became  the  ally  of  the  United  States,  but  bodily  infirmity  kept  him  from  active  service.    In  the  in 
stance  of  his  friendship  just  mentioned,  he  simply  brought  his  people  to  camp,  and  left  younger  chiefs  to  conduct  them 
in  the  campaign. 

MM 


546  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

The  Army  crosses  Lake  Erie.        It  lands  without  Opposition.       Vengeance  of  the  Kentuckians  and  Fears  of  Proctor. 

and,  and  on  the  25th  they  were  upon  the  Middle  Sister,  an  island  containing  six  or 
seven  acres.  Upon  that  small  space  almost  five  thousand  men  were  encamped.  The 
Kentuckians  had  left  their  horses  on  the  peninsula,  and  were  acting  as  infantry.1  The 
elements  were  favoring.  There  was  a  fresh  breeze  from  the  south,  and  General  Har 
rison  and  Commodore  Perry  sailed  in  the  Ariel  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy  at  Maiden. 
They  accomplished  their  object  fully  and  returned  at  sunset.  Directions  were  at 
once  given  for  the  embarkation  of  the  troops  the  next  morning,  and  in  a  general  or 
der  issued  that  evening,  the  place  and  manner  of  landing,  the  arrangement  of  the 
order  of  march,  the  attack  on  the  foe,  and  other  particulars,  were  prescribed  with 
great  minuteness.  It  was  believed  that  the  enemy  would  meet  them  at  the  landing- 
place.  This  order  was  signed  by  E.  P.  Gaines,  the  adjutant  general,  and  contained 
the  following  exhortation :  "  The  general  entreats  his  brave  troops  to  remember  that 
they  are  the  sons  of  sires  whose  fame  is  immortal ;  that  they  are  to  fight  for  the  rights 
of  their  insulted  country,  while  their  opponents  combat  for  the  unjust  pretensions  of 
a  master.  Kentuckians  !  remember  the  River  Raisin !  but  remember  it  only  while 
victory  is  suspended.  The  revenge  of  a  soldier  can  not  be  gratified  upon  a  fallen 
enemy."2 

a  September,  The  final  embarkation  took  place  on  the  morning  of  the  27th.a  N~o  love 
lier  autumnal  day  ever  dawned  upon  the  earth.  The  sky  was  cloudless, 
the  atmosphere  balmy,  and  a  gentle  breeze  from  the  southwest  lightly  rippled  the 
waters.  In  sixteen  armed  vessels  and  almost  one  hundred  boats  that  little  army  was 
put  afloat.  All  was  in  motion  at  nine  o'clock,  and  as  the  great  flotilla  moved  north 
ward  toward  the  hostile  shore,  Harrison's  stirring  address  was  read  to  the  men  on 
each  vessel.  From  these  went  up  a  hearty  shout  of  Harrison  and  Victory,  and 
then  all  moved  on  silently  into  the  Detroit  River.  The  spectacle  was  beautiful  and 
sublime. 

Hartley's  Point,  three  or  four  miles  below  Amherstburg  (Maiden),  and  opposite 
the  lower  end  of  Bois  Blanc  Island,  had  been  selected  by  Harrison  and  Perry  as  the 
landing-place.  The  debarkation  took  place  at  about  four  o'clock,  on  a  low,  sandy 
beach  there,  which  stretched  out  in  front  of  high  sand-drifts,  behind  which  it  was  be 
lieved  the  enemy  lay  concealed.  The  army  landed  in  perfect  battle  order,  the  Ken 
tucky  Volunteers  on  the  right,  the  regulars  on  the  left,  and  Ball's  Legion  and  the 
friendly  Indians  in  the  centre.  But  no  enemy  was  there.  Proctor,  who  was  in  com 
mand  at  Maiden,  taking  counsel  of  Prudence  and  Fear,3  and  contrary  to  the  solemn 
advice,  earnest  entreaties,  and  indignant  remonstrances  of  his  more  courageous  broth 
er  officer  Tecumtha,4  had  fled  northward  with  his  army,  and  all  that  he  could  take 

1  There  were  not  vessels  enough  to  transport  the  horses  with  forage,  and  they  were  left  behind.    A  strong  fence  of 
brush  and  fallen  timber  was  constructed  across  the  isthmus  from  near  Port  Clinton,  a  distance  of  not  more  than  two 
miles,  making  the  whole  peninsula  an  inclosure  for  the  horses  to  pasture  in.    One  of  every  twenty  Kentuckians  were 
drafted  to  form  a  guard  for  the  horses,  and  these  were  placed  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Christopher  Rife. 

2  The  terrible  massacre  at  the  River  Raisin,  and  the  circumstances  attending  it,  inspired  the  Kentuckians  with  almost 
savage  desires  for  vengeance.    One  of  their  songs  sung  around  camp-fires  recounted  the  cruelties  of  the  Indians  and 
the  inhumanity  of  Proctor  on  that  occasion.    The  following  is  one  of  the  stanzas : 

"  Freemen !  no  longer  bear  such  slaughters ; 

Avenge  your  country's  cruel  woe ; 
Arouse,  and  save  your  wives  and  daughters ! 
Arouse,  and  smite  the  faithless  foe  1 

CHOKUS.— Scalps  are  bought  at  stated  prices, 
Maiden  pays  the  price  in  gold." 

3  Proctor,  like  the  Kentuckians,  remembered  the  River  Raisin,  and  was  afraid  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  those  whose 
sons  and  brothers  had  been  butchered  a  few  months  before  by  his  permission.    His  scouts  had  seen  the  Americans  on 
the  Sandusky  Peninsula,  and  had  reported  their  number  at  fifteen  thousand,  at  least  ten  thousand  of  whom  were  Ken 
tuckians  burning  with  revenge.    The  fear  of  these  gave  fleetness  to  his  feet. 

*  The  defeat  and  capture  of  the  British  squadron  had  been  foolishly  concealed  from'Tecumtha  for  fear  of  its  demoraliz 
ing  effect  on  his  savage  followers.  The  Indian  leader  was  therefore  greatly  astonished  when  he  observed  Proctor  prepar 
ing  to  flee.  He  had  been  delighted  when  the  British  vessels  went  out  to  fight.  He  crossed  over  to  Bois  Blanc  Island 
to  watch  the  first  appearance  of  them  returning  with  the  vanquished  American  squadron— an  apparition  which  Proc 
tor's  boasting  had  made  him  believe  would  certainly  be  revealed.  He  was  disappointed,  bewildered,  and  perplexed ; 
and,  with  great  vehemence  of  manner,  he  addressed  Proctor,  saying, 

"Father,  listen  !    Our  fleet  has  gone  out ;  we  know  they  have  fought ;  we  have  heard  the  great  guns ;  but  we  know 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  547 


Tecumtha's  scornful  Rebuke  of  Proctor.       The  British  and  Indians  fly  toward  the  Thames.       The  Americans  pursue. 

with  him,  leaving  Fort  Maiden,  the  navy  buildings,  and  the  store-houses  smoking 
ruins.  As  the  Americans  approached  the  town,  with  Governor  Shelby  in  advance, 
they  met,  not  valiant  British  regulars  nor  painted  savages,  but  a  troop  of  modest,  well- 
dressed  women,  who  came  to  implore  mercy  and  protection.  The  kind-hearted  vet 
eran  soon  calmed  their  fears.  The  army  entered  Amherstburg  with  the  bands  play 
ing  Yankee  Doodle.  The  loyal  inhabitants  had  fled  with  the  army.  The  ruins  of 
Fort  Maiden,  the  dock-yard,  and  the  public  stores  were  sending  up  huge  volumes  of 
smoke. 

Proctor  had  impressed  into  his  service  all  the  horses  of  the  inhabitants  to  facilitate 
his  flight,  yet  Harrison  wrote  courageously  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  on  the  evening 
after  his  arrival  at  Amherstburg,a  saying,  "  I  will  pursue  the  enemy  to-  » September  27, 
morrow,  although  there  is  no  probability  of  overtaking  him,  as  he  has 
upward  of  a  thousand  horses,  and  we  have  not  one  in  the  army.  I  shall  think  my 
self  fortunate  to  collect  a  sufficiency  to  mount  the  general  officers."  Only  one,  and 
that  a  Canadian  pony,  was  procured,  and  on  that  the  venerable  Shelby  was  mounted. 

When  Harrison's  vanguard  arrived  at  Amherstburg,  the  rear-guard  of  the  enemy 
had  not  been  gone  an  hour.  Colonel  Ball  immediately  sent  an  officer  and  twenty  of 
his  cavalry  after  them,  to  prevent  them  destroying  the  bridge  over  the  Aux  Canards, 
or  Ta-ron-tee.  They  had  just  fired  it  when  the  Americans  appeared.  A  single  vol 
ley  scattered  the  incendiaries,  and  the  bridge  was  saved.  The  next  morning  Harri 
son's  army,  excepting  a  regiment  of  riflemen  under  Colonel  Smith  left  at  Amherst 
burg,  crossed  it,  and  encamped  in  the  Petit  Cote  Settlement,1  and  at  two  o'clock  on 
the  29th  they  entered  Sandwich.  At  the  same  time  the  American  flotilla  reached 
Detroit ;  and  on  the  following  day,  Colonel  Johnson  and  his  mounted  regiment  ar 
rived  there.  M' Arthur,  with  seven  hundred  effective  men,  had  already  crossed  over, 
driven  off  a  body  of  Indians  who  were  hovering  around  the  place,  and  retaken  the 
town.  General  Harrison  had  also  declared  the  martial  law  enforced  by  Proctor  at 
an  end,  and  the  civil  government  of  Michigan  re-established,  to  the  great  joy  of  the 
inhabitants.2 

On  the  arrival  of  Johnson  the  general-in-chief  sent  on  one  of  his  aids-de-camp, 
Captain  C.  S.  Todd,3  to  order  the  colonel  to  cross  immediately  with  his  troops,  for  he 

nothing  of  what  has  happened  to  our  father  with  one  arm  [Captain  Barclay].  Our  ships  have  gone  one  way,  and  we 
are  much  astonished  to  see  our  father  tying  up  every  thing,  and  preparing  to  run  the  other  way,  without  letting  his  red 
children  know  what  his  intentions  are.  You  always  told  us  to  remain  here  and  take  care  of  our  lands.  You  always 
told  us  you  would  never  draw  your  foot  off  British  ground ;  but  now,  father,  we  see  you  are  drawing  back,  and  we  are 
sorry  to  see  our  father  doing  so  without  seeing  the  enemy.  We  must  compare  our  father's  conduct  to  a  fat  dog  that 
carries  its  tail  upon  its  back,  but  when  affrighted  it  drops  it  between  its  legs  and  runs  off. 

"Father,  listen!  The  Americans  have  not  yet  defeated  us  by  land,  neither  are  we  sure  that  they  have  done  so  by 
water  ;  we  therefore  wish  to  remain  here  and  fight  our  enemy,  should  they  make  their  appearance.  If  they  defeat  us  we  will 
then  retreat  with  our  father.  .  .  .  You  have  got  the  arms  and  ammunition  which  our  great  father,  the  king,  sent  for  his 
red  children.  If  you  have  an  idea  of  going  away,  give  them  to  us,  and  you  may  go  and  welcome  for  us.  Our  lives  are 
in  the  hands  of  the  Great  Spirit.  We  are  determined  to  defend  our  lands,  and,  if  it  be  his  will,  we  wish  to  leave  our 
bones  upon  them." 

This  speech  was  addressed  to  Proctor  at  a  council  held  on  the  18th  of  September  in  one  of  the  store-houses  at  Am 
herstburg.  Its  effect  was  powerful.  The  Indians  all  started  to  their  feet,  and  brandished  their  tomahawks  in  a  men 
acing  manner.  Proctor  had  resolved  to  flee  to  the  Niagara  frontier,  but  this  demonstration  made  him  hesitate.  He 
finally  quieted  Tecumtha  and  his  followers  by  promising  to  fall  back  only  to  the  Moravian  Towns,  on  the  Thames,  and 
there  make  a  stand.  These  were  about  halfway  between  Amherstburg  and  the  outposts  of  the  centre  division  of  the 
British  army,  on  the  western  borders  of  Lake  Ontario.  On  the  day  of  the  council  Proctor  left  Amherstburg  with  a  large 
portion  of  his  force.  Major  Warburton  remained,  charged  with  destroying  the  public  property  on  the  appearance  of 
the  Americans.  i  See  Map  on  page  266. 

2  Before  the  Americans  landed,  the  joyous  inhabitants  ran  np  the  United  States  flag.    They  had  suffered  dreadfully. 
For  months  the  insolent  savages  had  made  their  dwellings  free  quarters.    When  they  fled  the  Indians  fired  the  fort. 
The  flames  were  soon  extinguished. 

3  Harrison's  gallant  aid-de-camp,  Charles  Scott  Todd,  is  yet  [18C7]  living  in  his  native  state,  Kentucky,  where  he  was 
born  on  the  22d  of  January,  1791.    I  met  him  in  Washington  City  at  near  the  close  of  1861,  when  he  was  almost  seven 
ty-one  years  of  age.    His  mental  and  physical  vigor  seemed  equal  to  those  of  most  men  at  fifty.    He  was  there  to  offer 
his  services  in  the  field  to  his  government  in  its  war  against  the  Great  Rebellion.    Colonel  Todd  is  one  of  the  most  em 
inent  of  the  public  servants  of  this  country.    He  was  educated  at  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  in  Virginia,  where 
he  was  graduated  with  distinction  in  1S09.    Law  became  his  profession,  but  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  he  entered 
the  military  service  as  ensign  of  a  company  of  volunteers  raised  for  Harrison  at  Lexington,  where  he  was  enaraged  in 
his  profession.    He  became  acting  quarter-master  and  judge  advocate  of  Winchester's  wing  of  the  Northweste'rn  Army, 
and  was  exceedingly  active  in  the  wilderness.    "He  combined,"  said  Harrison  at  that  time,  "the  ardor  of  youth  with 


548 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Johnson  and  his  Horsemen  cross  Detroit  River.      Vigorous  Pursuit  of  the  British.      Perry's  Squadron  in  the  Thames. 

was  resolved  to  push  on  in  pursuit  of 
the  enemy  as  quickly  as  possible.  He 
called  a  council  of  his  general  officers, 
informed  them  of  his  intention,  and 
consulted  with  them  concerning  the 
best  route  to  pursue,  only  two  being 
feasible,  namely,  by  land  in  rear  of  the 
British,  or  by  Lake  Erie  to  Long  Point, 
where  the  Americans  might  make  a 
rapid  march  across  the  country,  and 
intercept  the  fugitives.  The  land  route 
was  chosen. 

Johnson  and  his  mounted  men  cross 
ed  the  river  to  Sandwich  on  the  even 
ing  of  the  lst,a  and  on  the  aOctober, 
following  morning  the  pur 
suit  was  commenced.  M' Arthur  and 
his  brigade  were  left  to  hold  Detroit ; 
Cass's  brigade  and  Ball's  regiment 

o  ~ 

were  left  at  Sandwich ;  and  about  one 
hundred  and  forty  regulars,  Johnson's 
mounted  corps,  and  such  of  Shelby's 
Kentucky  Volunteers  as  were  fit  for 
long  and  rapid  marches,  the  whole 
three  thousand  five  hundred  in  number,  left  Sandwich,  and  pressed  on  toward  Chat 
ham,  on  the  Thames,1  near  which,  it  was  alleged,  Proctor  was  encamped.  General 
Marquis  Calmes,  and  Adjutant  General  Gaines  were  compelled  by  illness  to  remain 
at  Sandwich ;  and  General  Cass  accompanied  Harrison  as  volunteer  aid. 

Information  had  been  received  two  days  beforeb  that  some  small  ves 
sels,  with  the  enemy's  artillery  and  baggage,  were  escaping  up  Lake  St. 
Clair  toward  the  Thames,  when  Commodore  Perry  dispatched  a  portion  of  his  squad 
ron,  consisting  of  the  Niagara,  Lady  Prevost,  Scorpion,  and  Tigress,  under  Captain 
Elliott,  in  pursuit.  Perry  soon  followed  in  the  Ariel,  accompanied  by  the  Caledonia  ; 
and  on  the  day  when  Harrison  left  Sandwich0  the  little  squadron  appeared 
off  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  having  in  charge  the  baggage,  provisions,  and 
ammunition-wagons  of  the  American  army.  The  enemy's  vessels,  having  much  the 
start,  escaped  up  the  Thames.2 

Proctor  seems  not  to  have  expected  pursuit  by  land,  and  the  Americans  found  all 
the  bridges  over  the  streams  that  fall  into  Lake  St.  Clair  uninjured.    Harrison  pressed 

the  maturity  of  age."  In  May,  1S13,  he  was  commissioned  a  captain  in  the  United  States  army,  and  Harrison  appointed 
him  his  aid.  His  conduct  in  the  campaign  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  was  highly  commended,  especially  at  the  battle 
on  the  Thames.  He  succeeded  Major  Hukill  as  deputy  inspector  general  of  the  Eighth  Military  District,  and  was  adju 
tant  general  of  the  district  the  following  year,  when  he  served  with  General  M'Arthur  with  great  acceptance.  He  be 
came  inspector  general  in  March,  1815,  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  but  left  the  army  in  June  following ;  and  after  the  war 
Harrison  said  that  "Colonel  Todd  was  equal  in  bravery  and  superior  in  intelligence  to  any  officer  of  his  rank  in  the 
army.""  He  resumed  his  practice  of  the  law  at  Frankfort,  where  he  married  a  daughter  of  Governor  Shelby.  He  soon 
became  secretary  of  state,  then  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  was  finally  sent  by  President  Monroe  on  a  confidential 
mission  to  Colombia,  South  America.  His  services  there  were  very  important.  In  the  spring  of  1840  he  assisted,  by  re 
quest,  in  the  preparation  of  a  Life  of  General  Harrison,  and,  as  editor  of  a  Cincinnati  paper,  he  warmly  advocated  the 
general's  election  to  the  presidency.  In  the  summer  of  1841  he  was  appointed  United  States  minister  to  Russia,  and 
served  his  country  in  that  capacity  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  both  governments.  It  was  while  he  was  there  that  the 
portrait  from  which  the  above  likeness  was  taken  was  painted.  In  private,  as  in  public  life,  Colonel  Todd  is  a  model 
of  a  Christian  gentleman. 

1  This  considerable  stream  was  called  La  Tranche  by  the  French.    It  is  sometimes  called  the  Trent,  but  now  is  known 
only  by  the  name  of  Thames.    In  the  poetic  epigraph  to  this  chapter  it  is  called  La  Tranche. 

2  M'Afee  (page  383)  says  that  when  the  American  army  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  an  eagle  was  seen  hov 
ering  oveV  it.     "That,"  said  Harrison,  "  is  a  presage  of  success."    Perry,  who  had  landed  and  was  with  the  general, 
remarked  that  an  eagle  hovered  over  his  squadron  on  the  morning  of  the  10th  of  September. 


h  September  30. 


•  October  2. 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812. 


Pursuit  up  the  Thames. 


A  Halt  at  Dolsen's. 


The  American  Troops  at  Chatham. 


forward  rapidly  along  the  good  road  by  the  borders  of  the  lake  for  twenty  miles, 
when  seven  British  deserters  informed  him  that  Proctor,  with  seven  hundred  white 
men  and  twelve  hundred  Indians,  was  encamped  at  Dolsen's  farm,  about  fifteen  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  on  its  right  or  northern  bank,  and  fifty-six  miles  from 
Detroit  by  water.  This  information  stimulated  the  Americans  to  greater  exertions, 
and  when  they  halted  at  night  on  the  banks  of  the  Ruscom,  they  had  marched  twen 
ty-five  miles  from  Sandwrich.  At  dawn  the  next  morning  the  pursuit  was  renewed, 
and  near  the  mouth  of  the  Thames  Johnson's  regiment  captured  a  lieutenant  of  dra 
goons  and  eleven  privates,  who  had  just  commenced  the  destruction  of  a  bridge  over 
a  small  tributary  of  the  river.  This  was  the  first  intimation  to  Harrison  that  Proc 
tor  was  aware  of  the  pursuit.  The  capture  of  this  little  party  was  considered  a  good 
omen.  The  pursuit  was  continued,  and  that  night  the  Americans  encamped  on  Drake's 
farm,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Thames,  about  four  miles  below  Dolsen's.  The  Scorpion, 
commanded  by  the  gallant  Champlin,  the  Tigress,  and  the  Porcupine,  had  followed 
the  army  up  the  river  as  convoys  to  the  transports,  and  to  cover  the  passage  of  the 
troops  over  the  mouths  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Thames,  or  of  the  river  itself.  At 
this  point  the  character  of  the  stream  and  its  banks  changed.  Below,  the  channel 
was  broad,  the  cur 
rent  sluggish,  and  the 
shores  were  extended 
flat  prairies ;  here  the 
country  became  hilly, 
the  banks  high  and 
precipitous,  the  chan 
nel  narrow,  and  the 
current  rapid.  On 
these  accounts,  and 
because  of  the  expo 
sure  of  the  decks  to 
Indian  sharp-shooters 
from  the  lofty  wooded 
banks,  it  was  conclud 
ed  not  to  take  the  ves 
sels  higher  than  Dol 
sen's.  Perry  now  left 
the  vessels,  offered  his 
services  as  volunteer 
aid  to  General  Harri 
son,  and  joined  the  army  in  the  exciting  pursuit  of  the  fugitives. 

Harrison  pressed  forward  on  the  morning  of  the  4th.  Proctor  fled  up  the  Thames 
from  Dolsen's,  cursed  by  Tecumtha  for  his  cowardice,  to  Chatham,  two  and  a  half 
miles,  where  an  impassable  stream,  called  M'Gregor's  Creek,  flows  into  the  Thames 
between  steep  banks.  There  Proctor  promised  Tecumtha  he  would  make  a  final 
stand.  "  Here,"  he  said  on  his  arrival,  "  we  will  defeat  Harrison  or  lay  our  bones." 
These  words  pleased  the  warrior,  and  he  regarded  the  position  as  a  most  favorable 
one.  "  When  I  look  on  these  two  streams,"  he  said,  "  I  shall  think  of  the  "Wabash  and 
the  Tippecanoe."  A  bridge  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  and  another  at  M'Gregor's 
mill,  a  mile  above,  had  been  partially  destroyed,  and  a  considerable  body  of  Indians 

1  The  above  sketch  is  a  view  of  Dolsen's  house,  made  when  I  visited  the  spot  in  the  autumn  of  1860.  It  is  a  hewn 
log  structure,  and  stands  very  near  the  right  or  north  hank  of  the  Thames.  It  is  about  two  miles  and  a  half  below 
Chatham.  The  owner  and  resident  there  in  1813,  Isaac  Dolsen,  Esq.,  was  then  living  in  Chatham,  but  was  absent  at 
the  time  of  my  visit.  He  was  then  about  eighty  years  of  age.  He  and  his  brother  John  were  natives  of  the  Mohawk 
Valley,  of  Dutch  descent.  On  their  return,  after  the  battle  some  miles  above,  the  American  army  encamped  on  the  farm 
of  John,  half  a  mile  below  Isaac's.  The  Thames  is  here  sluggish,  and  about  three  hundred  yards  wide. 


DOLSEN'S.1 


550 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Skirmish  at  M'Gregor's  Mill. 


Destruction  of  Property. 


The  British  nearly  overtaken. 


VIEW   AT  JUNCTION   OF   TIIE   THAMES  AND  M'GREGOB'S   CREEK.1 


were  at  each,  to  dispute  the 
passage  of  the  pursuers  or 
their  attempts  to  make  re 
pairs.  Two  six-pound  can 
nons,  under  the  direction  of 
Major  Wood,  soon  drove 
the  savages  from  the  bridge 
at  Chatham,  and  a  dash  of 
Colonel  Johnson  and  his 
horsemen  upon  the  dusky 
foe  at  M'Gregor's  also  sent 
them  flying  after  Proctor. 
Johnson  lost  two  men  kill 
ed  and  six  or  seven  wound 
ed.  The  Indians  had  thir 
teen  killed  and  a  large 
number  wounded. 

Both  bridges  were  speed 
ily  repaired,  and  the  troops 
were  about  to  push  forward,  when  Walk-in-the-water,  the  Wyandot  chief  already 
mentioned,  who  had  left  the  banner  of 
Proctor  with  sixty  warriors,  came  to  Har 
rison  and  offered  to  join  his  army  condi 
tionally.   The  general  had  no  time  to  treat 
with  the  savage,  so  he  told  him  that  if  he 
left  Tecumtha  he  must  keep  out  of  the  way 
of  the  American  army.    He  did  so,  and  re 
turned  to  the  Detroit  River. 

The  enemy  spread  destruction  in  their 
flight.  Near  Chatham  they  fired  a  house 
containing  almost  a  thousand  muskets. 
The  flames  were  quenched  and  the  arms 
were  saved.  Half  a  mile  farther  up  the 
river  they  burned  one  of  their  own  ves 
sels  laden  with  ordnance  and  military 
stores ;  and  opposite  Bowles's  farm,  where 
Harrison  encamped,  two  more  vessels  and 
a  distillery,  containing  ordnance,  naval  and  military  stores,  and  other  property  of  great 
value,  were  in  flames.  The  Americans  secured  two  24-pounders  and  a  quantity  of 
shot  and  shell.  Certain  intelligence  was  received  that  the  enemy  were  only  a  few 
miles  distant,  and  that  night  Harrison  intrenched  his  camp  and  set  a  double  guard. 
At  midnight  Proctor  and  Tecumtha  reconnoitred  the  camp,  but  prudently  refrained 
from  attacking  it. 

1  This  sketch  is  a  view  of  the  junction  of  the  Thames  and  M'Gregor's  Creek,  from  the  present  hridge  at  Chatham, 
looking  up  the  river.    The  Thames  is  seen  on  the  left,  and  M'Gregor's  Creek  on  the  right.    The  upper  termination  of 
the  bridge,  mentioned  in  the  text,  was  between  the  two  clumps  of  trees  on  the  bluff.    In  the  distance  is  seen  the  court 
house  and  jail  of  Chatham.    On  the  flat  between  it  and  the  creek  the  British  built  two  or  three  gun-boats,  under  the 
superintendence  of  Captain  Baker,  the  same  person  who  constructed  the  barge  that  bore  Washington  from  Elizabeth- 
town  to  New  York  in  17SO,  when  going  there  to  be  inaugurated  President  of  the  United  States.    Looking  beyond  the 
point  of  the  bluff,  up  the  Thames,  is  seen  the  residence  of  Henry  Jones.    It  is  upon  the  site  of  the  building,  mentioned 
in  the  text,  in  which  were  a  large  quantity  of  muskets  saved  from  the  flames  by  the  Americans.    Farther  np  the  stream 
lay  a  sunken  steam-boat,  that  craft  being  in  the  habit  of  plying  between  Detroit  and  Chatham.    On  the  opposite  side  of 
the  Thames  is  seen  a  tannery.    The  plain  on  which  the  gun-boats  were  built  is  now  a  military  reserve. 

2  This  little  sketch  shows  the  appearance  of  the  ruins  of  M'Gregor's  mill  when  I  visited  it  in  the  autumn  of  I860.    The 
timbers  of  the  ends  of  the  dam  are  seen  on  the  shores.    The  bridge  carried  by  Johnson  crossed  the  stream  very  near 
the  mill.    In  this  view  we  are  looking  east  from  the  southwest  side  of  the  creek.    A  beautifully  shaded  ravine,  with  a 
small  creek,  is  seen  here. 


M'GREGOR'S  MILL.2 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  551 


The  fugitive  British  and  Indians  discovered.  The  chosen  Battle-ground.  Tecumtha's  chief  Lieutenant. 

The  Americans  were  in  motion  at  dawn,  the  mounted  regiments  in  front,  led  by 
General  Harrison  and  his  staff.  The  Kentuckians,  under  Shelby,  followed.  They  soon 
captured  two  of  the  enemy's  gun-boats  and  several  bateaux,  with  army  supplies  and 
ammunition,  and  several  prisoners.  At  nine  o'clock  they  reached  Arnold's  Mill,  at 
the  foot  of  rapids,  where  the  Thames  was  fordable  by  horses.  There  Hai-rison  de 
termined  to  cross  the  river  and  follow  directly  in  the  rear  of  Proctor.  The  mounted 
men  each  took  one  of  the  infantry  behind  him,  and  at  meridian,  by  this  means  and  the 
bateaux,  the  whole  American  army  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  Thames,  and  press 
ing  on  vigorously  after  the  fugitives.  Every  where  on  the  way  evidences  of  the  pre 
cipitation  of  the  retreat  were  seen  in  property  abandoned. 

At  two  o'clock,  when  eight  miles  from  the  crossing  place,  the  Americans  discovered 
the  smouldering  embers  of  the  recently-occupied  camp  of  the  enemy's  rear-guard,  un 
der  Colonel  "VVarburton.  It  was  evident  that  the  fugitives  were  nearly  overtaken. 
Colonel  Johnson  dashed  forward  to  gain  intelligence.  Within  about  three  miles  of 
the  Moravian  Town1  he  captured  a  British  wagoner,  and  from  him  learned  that  Proc 
tor  had  halted  across  the  pathway  of  the  pursuers,  only  three  hundred  yards  farther 
on.  Johnson,  with  Major  James  Suggett  and  his  spies,  immediately  advanced  cau 
tiously,  and  found  the  enemy  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  Americans  in  battle  order. 
He  obtained  sufficient  information  respecting  their  position  to  enable  General  Harri 
son  and  a  council  of  officers,  held  on  horseback,  to  determine  the  proper  order  for  at 
tack.  His  force  was  now  little  more  than  three  thousand  in  number,  consisting  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  regulars  of  the  27th  Regiment,  five  brigades  of  Kentucky 
volunteers  under  Governor  Shelby,  and  Colonel  Johnson's  regiment  of  mounted  in 
fantry. 

The  ground  chosen  by  the  enemy  to  make  a  stand  was  well  selected.  On  his  left 
was  the  River  Thames,  with  a  high  and  precipitous  bank,  and  on  his  right  a  marsh 
running  almost  parallel  with  the  river  for  about  two  miles.  Between  these,  and  two 
and  three  hundred  yards  from  the  river,  was  a  small  swamp,  quite  narrow,  with  a 
strip  of  solid  ground  between  it  and  the  large  marsh.  The  ground  over  which  the 
road  lay,  and  indeed  the  whole  space  between  the  river  and  the  great  swamp,  was 
covered  with  beech,  sugar-maple,  and  oak  trees,  with  very  little  undergrowth.  The 
British  regulars  (a  part  of  the  Forty-first  Regiment)  were  formed  in  two  lines,  be 
tween  the  small  swamp  and  the  river,  their  artillery  being  planted  in  the  road  near 
the  bank  of  the  stream.  The  Indians  were  posted  between  the  two  swamps,  where 
the  undergrowth  was  thicker,  their  right,  commanded  by  the  brave  Oshawahnah,2 
a  Chippewa  chief,  extending  some  distance  along  and  just  within  the  borders  of  the 
larger  marsh,  and  so  disposed  as  to  easily  flank  Harrison's  left.  Their  left,  command- 

1  This  village  is  in  the  township  of  Oxford,  Canada  West,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Thames.    The  settlers  were  In 
dians  converted  to  Christianity  by  the  Moravians,  who  fled  to  Canada  from  the  Muskingum,  in  Ohio,  in  1792.    By  an 
order  of  the  Provincial  Council  in  1793,  a  large  tract  of  land,  comprising  about  lifty  thousand  acres,  was  granted  for 
their  use,  on  which  they  proceeded  to  build  a  church  and  village.    The  Rev.  John  Scott,  of  Bethlehem,  ministered  there 
for  some  time.    At  the  period  we  are  considering  this  Christian-Indian  village  had  nearly  one  hundred  houses,  mostly 
well  built.   Many  of  the  Indians  spoke  English.    They  had  a  school-house  and  a  chapel,  and  very  fine  gardens.    Village 
and  crops  were 'destroyed  by  the  American  troops,  it  having  been  alleged  that  some  of  the  Indians  residing  there  had 
been  foremost  in  the  massacre  on  the  Raisin.    In  1S3C  the  Indians  surrendered  a  large  portion  of  their  lands  to  the  Ca 
nadian  government,  for  an  annuity  of  one  hundred  arid  fifty  pounds  sterling.    The  present  Moravian  Town  is  back  from 
the  Thames,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  original  site. 

2  The  likeness  on  the  next  page  of  this  chief,  Tecumtha's  lieutenant,  or  second  in  command,  in  the  battle  on  the 
Thames,  is  from  a  daguerreotype  taken  from  life  at  Brantford,  in  Canada,  in  September,  1858,  and  presented  to  me  by  G. 
n.  M.  Johnson,  chief  of  the  Six  Nations  on  the  Grand  River  (see  page  421),  in  the  summer  of  I860.    The  old  chief  at 
tended  a  grand  council  of  all  the  Indians  in  Canada,  at  Brautford,  and  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  Johnson.    In  the  council  he 
appeared  with  all  his  testimonials  of  bravery— his  "stars  and  garters"— as  seen  in  the  picture.    Around  his  hat  was  a 
silver  band.    He  also  displayed  a  silver  gorget,  medals,  etc.,  a  sash  of  bead-work,  strings  of  wampum,  and  an  orna 
mented  tomahawk  pipe,  like  the  one  on  page  421.    He  was  then  about  ninety  years  of  age.    He  had  been  a  famous  war 
rior — the  hero  of  fifteen  battles.    He  was  a  mild-spoken,  pleasant  man,  very  vigorous  in  mind  and  body.    He  was  yet 
living  in  1861,  the  principal  of  seven  or  eight  chiefs,  on  Walpole  Island,  in  Lake  St.  Clair,  opposite  the  town  of  Algomac, 
Michigan,  fifty  miles  above  Detroit.    Walpole  Island  is  about  ten  miles  in  length.    The  Indians  are  Chippewas,  Potta- 
watomies,  and  Ottawas.    They  were  settled  here  by  the  Indian  Agent  of  the  British  government  at  the  close  of  the  War 
of  1812.    They  were  placed  in  charge  of  a  superintendent  in  1839.    The  number  now  (1S6T)  is  about  one  thousand. 
Their  principal  business  is  hunting  in  the  country  around  the  Canadian  borders  of  Lake  St.  Clair. 


552 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Harrison's  Arrangements  for  Battle. 


The  British  Line  of  Battle. 


OSIIAWAIlNAll. 


ed  in  person  by  Tecumtha,  occupied 
the  isthmus,  or  narrowest  point  be 
tween  the  two  swamps. 

In  the  disposition  of  his  army  for 
battle,  General  Harrison  made  arrange 
ments  for  the  horsemen  to  fall  back, 
allow  the  infantry  to  make  the  attack, 
and  then  charge  upon  the  British  lines. 
For  this  purpose  General  Calmes's 
brigade,  five  hnndred  strong,  under 
Colonel  Trotter,1  was  placed  in  the 
front  line,  which  extended  from  the 
road  on  the  right  toward  the  greater 
marsh.  Parallel  with  these,  one  hund 
red  and  fifty  yards  in  the  rear,  was 
General  John  E.  King's  brigade,  and 
in  the  rear  of  this  was  General  David 
Chile's  brigade,  posted  as  a  reserve. 
These  three  brigades  were  under  the 
command  of  Major  General  Henry. 
Two  others  (James  Allen's  and  Cald- 
well's2)  and  Simrall's  regiment,  form 
ing  General  Desha's3  division,  were 
formed  upon  the  left  of  the  front  line, 
so  as  to  hold  the  Indians  in  check  and 
prevent  a  serious  flank  movement  by  them.  At  the  crotchet  formed  by  Desha's  corps 
and  the  front  line  of  Henry's  division  (see  map  on  page  554),  the  venerable  Gover 
nor  Shelby,  then  sixty-six  years  of  age,  took  his  position.  In  front  of  all  these  was 
Johnson's  mounted  regiment  in  two  columns  (one  under  the  colonel,  and  the  other 
commanded  by  his  brother  James,  the  lieutenant  colonel4),  its  right  extending  to 
within  fifty  yards  of  the  road,  and  its  left  resting  on  the  smaller  swamp.  A  small 
corps  of  regulars,  under  Colonel  Paul,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  in  number,  were 
posted  between  the  road  and  the  river  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  in  concert  with 
some  Indians  under  the  wooded  bank,  to  attempt  the  capture  of  the  enemy's  cannon. 
These  Indians,  forty  in  number,  were  to  stealthily  gain  the  British  rear,  fire  upon 
them,  and  give  them  the  fearful  impression  that  their  own  savage  allies  had  turned 
upon  them.  The  defection  of  Walk-in-the-water  would  be  instantly  remembered. 

When  every  preparation*  for  attack  was  completed,  Major  Wood,  who  had  just 
been  reconnoitring  the  enemy's  position,  informed  General  Harrison  that  the  British 
lines  were  drawn  up  in  open  order.  This  information  induced  the  general,  contrary 

1  George  Trotter  was  then  lieutenant  colonel.    He  was  a  captain  in  Simrall's  regiment,  and  was  distinguished  and 
wounded  in  the  action  of  Colonel  Campbell  at  the  Mississiniwa  Towns  in  December,  1S12.    He  was  acting  brigadier 
general  in  the  battle  on  the  Thames.    He  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  died  at  Lexington,  in  that  state,  on  the  13th 
of  October,  1815. 

2  Samuel  Caldwell  was  a  distinguished  Kentuckian.    He  was  a  major  of  Kentucky  levies  in  1791,  and  distinguished 
himself  with  Wilkinson  in  the  Wabash  country  in  August  of  that  year.    He  was  lieutenant  colonel  commanding  volun 
teers  in  the  autumn  of  1812,  and  was  in  General  Green  Clay's  brigade  the  following  year.    He  was  made  brigadier  gen 
eral  of  volunteers  in  August,  1813,  and  as  such  commanded  in  the  battle  on  the  Thames. 

3  Joseph  Desha  was  a  descendant  of  a  Huguenot  family.    He  was  born  in  Western  Pennsylvania  in  December,  17C8, 
and  emigrated  to  Kentucky,  with  his  father,  in  1781.    In  1790  he  settled  permanently  in  Mason  County,  Kentucky.    He 
performed  military  service  under  Wayne  in  1794  and  '95,  having,  at  the  early  age  of  fifteen,  been  engaged  in  conflicts 
with  the  Indians.    He  represented  Mason  County  in  the  State  Legislature,  and  in  1816  was  chosen  a  member  of  Con 
gress.    His  only  military  service  in  the  War  of  1812  was  under  Harrison  in  the  campaign  in  Canada.    In  1824  he  was 
elected  governor  of  Kentucky,  and  held  the  office  four  years.    He  then  retired  to  private  life.    He  died  at  Georgetown, 
Scott  County,  on  the  llth  of  October,  1842. 

4  The  spirit  of  the  Kentuckians  who  formed  that  corps  may  be  inferred  by  the  fact  that  Lieutenant  Colonel  James 
Johnson  had  with  him  his  two  sons,  Edward  P.  and  William,  the  one  seventeen  and  the  other  only  fifteen  years  of  age. 
James  Johnson  was  a  representative  in  Congress  in  1825  and  '26.    He  died  in  August,  1826. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


553 


Change  of  Battle  Order. 


Battle  of  the  Thames. 


Flight  of  Proctor. 


to  all  precedent,  to  incur  the  peril  of  changing  the  prescribed  mode  of  attack  at  the 
last  moment.  Instead  of  having  Henry's  division  fall  upon  the  British  front,  he  or 
dered  Johnson  to  charge  their  line  with  his  mounted  riflemen.1  That  gallant  officer 
made  immediate  preparations  for  the  bold  movement,  but  found  the  space  between 
the  river  and  the  small  swamp  too  limited  for  his  men  to  act  efficiently.  In  the  ex 
ercise  of  discretion  given  him,  he  led  his  second  battalion  across  the  little  swamp  to 
attack  the  Indian  left,  leaving  the  first  battalion,  under  his  brother  James  and  Major 
Payne,  to  fall  upon  the  British  regulars.  The  latter  were  immediately  formed  in  four 
columns  of  double  files,  with  Major  Suggett  and  his  two  hundred  spies  in  front.  Col 
onel  Johnson  formed  the  second  battalion  in  two  columns,  in  front  of  Shelby,  with  a 
company  of  footmen  before  him,  the  right  column  being  headed  by  himself,  and  the 
left  by  Major  David  Thompson.  Harrison,  accompanied  by  Acting  Adjutant  Gen 
eral  Butler,2  Commodore  Perry,  and  General  Cass,  took  position  on  the  extreme  right, 
near  the  bank  of  the  river,  where  he  could  observe  and  direct  all  movements. 

A  bugle  sounded,  and  the  Americans  immediately  moved  forward  with  coolness 
and  precision  in  the  prescribed  order, 
among  huge  trees,  some  undergrowth,  and 
over  fallen  timber.  They  were  compelled 
to  move  slowly.  When  at  some  distance 
from  the  front  line  of  the  British  regulars, 
the  latter  opened  a  severe  fire.  The  horses 
of  the  mounted  Kentuckians  were  frighten 
ed,  recoiled,  and  produced  some  confusion 
at  the  head  of  the  columns.  Before  order 
was  restored,  another  volley  came  from  the 
enemy.  With  a  tremendous  shout  the 
American  cavalry  now  boldly  dashed  upon 
the  British  line,  broke  it,  and  scattered  it 
in  all  directions.  The  second  line,  thirty 
paces  in  the  rear,  was  broken  and  confused 
in  the  same  way.  The  horsemen  now 
wheeled  right  and  left,  and  poured  a  de 
structive  fire  upon  the  rear  of  the  broken 
columns.  The  terrified  foe  surrendered  as  fast  as  they  could  throw  down  their  arms, 
and  in  less  than  five  minutes  after  the  first  shot  of  the  battle  was  fired,  the  whole 
British  force,  more  than  eight  hundred  strong,  were  totally  vanquished,  and  most  of 
them  made  prisoners.  Only  about  fifty  men  and  a  single  officer  (Lieutenant  Bullock), 
of  the  Forty-first  Regiment,  escaped.  Proctor  fled  in  his  carriage,  with  his  personal 
staff,  a  few  dragoons,  and  some  mounted  Indians,  hotly  pursued  by  a  part  of  John 
son's  corps  under  Major  Payne. 

"When  Proctor  saw  lost  was  the  day, 

He  fled  La  Tranche's  plain  ; 
A  carriage  bore  the  chief  away, 
Who  ne'er  returned  again."— OLD  SONG. 

The  battle  on  the  right  was  over  before  the  advancing  columns  of  General  Henry 
were  fairly  in  sight  of  the  combatants. 

When  the  bugle  sounded  for  attack  on  the  right,  the  notes  of  another  on  the  left 
rang  out  on  the  clear  autumn  air.     Colonel  Johnson  and  the  second  battalion  of  his 

1  "The  measure,"  said  General  Harrison,  in  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  9th  of  October,  "  was  not  sanc 
tioned  by  any  thing  that  I  had  seen  or  heard  of,  but  I  was  fully  convinced  that  it  would  succeed.    The  American  back 
woodsmen  ride  better  in  the  woods  than  any  other  people.    A  musket  or  rifle  is  no  impediment,  they  being  accustomed 
to  carrying  them  on  horseback  from  their  earliest  youth.    I  was  persuaded,  too,  that  the  enemy  would  be  quite  unpre 
pared  for  the  shock,  and  that  they  could  not  resist  it." 

2  We  shall  meet  Adjutant  Robert  Sutler  hereafter  in  the  battle  of  New  Orleans. 

3  This  view  is  from  the  road-side,  on  the  hiarh  river  bank,  at  the  point  where  the  British  left  rested  on  the  Thames, 
and  a  few  rods  from  the  residence  occupied  by  Mr.  Watts. 


VIEW   ON    THE   THAMES.3 


554 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


The  Contest  with  the  Indians. 


The  Fight  a  fierce  one. 


The  Savages  defeated?. 


troops  moved  against  the  Indians  almost  simultaneously  with  the  attack  on  the  Brit 
ish  line.  The  savages,  under  the  immediate  command  of  Tecumtha,  reserved  their 
fire  until  the  Americans  were  within  a  few  paces  of  them,  when  they  hurled  a  most 
deadly  shower  of  bullets  upon  them,  prostrating  a  greater  portion  of  the  vanguard, 
or  forlorn  hope,  and  wounding  Colonel  Johnson  very  severely. 

"Sudden,  from  tree  and  thicket  green, 
From  trunk,  and  mound,  and  bushy  screen, 
Sharp  lightning  flashed  with  instant  sheen, 

A  thousand  death-bolts  sung ! 
Like  ripen'd  fruit  before  the  blast, 
Eider  and  horse  to  earth  were  cast, 

Its  miry  roots  among ; 
Then  wild,  as  if  that  earth  were  riven, 
And,  poured  beneath  the  cope  of  heaven, 
All  hell  to  upper  air  was  given, 

One  fearful  whoop  was  rung ; 
And,  bounding  each  from  covert  forth, 
Burst  on  their  front  the  demon  birth." 

The  branches  of  the  trees  and  the  undergrowth  in  this  part  of  the  field  were  too 
thick  to  allow  the  mounted  riflemen  to  do  much  service  on  horseback.  Perceivin^ 

O 

this,  Johnson  ordered  them  to  dismount,  and  carry  on  the  conflict  on  foot  at  close 


rwMPto^'^i^^i  ,/•'/. 


BATTLE   OF   THE  THAMES. 


quarters.  For  seven  or  eight  minutes  the  battle  raged  furiously,  and  there  were 
many  hand-to-hand  fights  between  the  Kentuckians  and  savages,  while  the  former 
raised  the  fearful  cry,  at  times,  "  Remember  the  River  Raisin  !"  Victory  was  poised 
for  a  while.  Perceiving  this,  Shelby  ordered  Lieutenant  Colonel  John  Donaldson's 
regiment  to  the  support  of  Johnson,  and  directed  General  King  to  press  forward  to 
the  front  with  his  brigade.  The  Indians  had  already  recoiled  from  the  shock  of  the 
Kentucky  rifles,  and  only  a  part  of  Donaldson's  regiment  participated  in  the  fight. 
The  savages  fled,  and  a  scattering,  running  fire  was  kept  up  for  some  time  along  the 
swamp  in  front  of  Desha's  division,  and  by  the  fugitives  pursued  by  Major  Thompson 
and  his  men.  Other  movements  were  ordered  by  Governor  Shelby,  but  the  Indians 
had  given  up  the  contest,  and  the  battle  was  over  before  they  could  be  effected.  The 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  555 

Escape  of  Proctor.  Death  of  Tecumtha.  Who  killed  Tecumtha  ? 

pagan  allies  of  the  British  scattered  through  the  forest  in  rear  of  the  greater  swamp, 
while  Proctor  and  his  few  followers  were  flying  like  hunted  deer  before  Payne  and 
his  horsemen,  who  pursued  him  far  beyond  the  Moravian  Town,  killing  some  Indians, 
capturing  some  prisoners,  and  securing  valuable  spoils.  Among  the  latter  were  six 
brass  cannon,  three  of  which  were  taken  from  the  British  in  the  War  of  ftie  Revolu 
tion,  and  were  retaken  from  Hull  at  Detroit.  Majors  John  Payne,  E.  D.  Wood,  C. 
S.  Todd,  John  Chambers,  and  A.  L.  Langham,  and  Lieutenants  Scroggin  and  Bell, 
Avith  three  privates,  continued  the  pursuit  of  the  fugitive  general  until  dark,  but  could 
not  overtake  him.  He  abandoned  his  carriage,  left  the  road,  and  escaped  by  some 
by-path.  Within  twenty-four  hours  he  was  sixty-five  miles  from  the  battle-ground ! 
His  carriage,  sword,  and  valuable  papers  were  captured  by  Major  Wood,1  and  the 
party  returned  to  Moravian  Town,  taking  with  them  sixty-three  prisoners.  They 
found  the  little  village  deserted.  So  panic-stricken  were  some  of  the  women  that, 
Avhen  they  left,  being  unable  to  carry  their  children  in  their  flight,  they  threw  them 
into  the  Thames  to  prevent  their  being  butchered  by  the  Americans  !2 

The  loss  in  this  short,  sharp,  and  decisive  battle  was  not  large.  The  exact  number 
was  not  ascertained.  That  of  the  Americans  was  probably  about  fifteen  killed  and 
thirty  wounded.  The  British  lost  about  eighteen  killed,  twenty-six  wounded,  and  six 
hundred  made  prisoners ;  of  these,  twenty-five  were  officers.  Harrison  estimated  the 
number  of  small-arms  taken  from  the  enemy  during  the  pursuit  and  the  battle,  with 
those  destroyed  by  them,  at  more  than  five  thousand,  nearly  all  of  which  had  been 
captured  from  the  Americans  at  Detroit,  Frenchtown,  and  Dudley's  defeat  on  the 
Maumee.  The  Indians  left  thirty-three  of  their  dead  on  the  field.  How  many  they 
lost  by  death  and  wounds  in  the  contest  was  never  ascertained.  Tecumtha,  their 
great  leader,  and  really  great  and  noble  man,  all  things  considered,  was  among  the 
slain.  He  was  much  superior  to  Proctor  in  manhood,  military  genius,  and  courage, 
and  is  worthy  to  be  remembered  with  profound  respect.  He  was  killed  early  in  the 
action,  while  inspiriting  his  men  by  words  and  deeds.  Tradition  and  History  relate 
that  he  had  just  wounded  Colonel  Johnson  with  a  rifle-bullet,  and  was  springing  for 
ward  to  dispatch  him  with  his  tomahawk,  when  that  officer  drew  a  pistol  from  his 
belt  and  shot  the  Indian  through  the  head. 

"  The  moment  was  fearful ;  a  mightier  foe 

Had  ne'er  swung  his  battle-axe  o'er  him ; 
But  hope  nerved  his  arm  for  a  desperate  blow, 

And  Tecumtha  fell  prostrate  before  him. 
He  fought  in  defense  of  his  kindred  and  king, 

With  a  spirit  most  loving  and  loyal, 
And  long  shall  the  Indian  warrior  sing 

The  deeds  of  Tecumtha  the  royal." 

The  statement  of  tradition  and  history  has  been  made  in  enduring  marble  by  the 
sculptor  on  Johnson's  monument  in  the  cemetery  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky.3  It  has 
been  questioned,  and  positively  denied ;  and  during  the  political  campaign  when 
Johnson  was  a  candidate  for  the  chair  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  the 
question  caused  much  warm  discussion.  Johnson,  it  is  said,  never  affirmed  or  denied 
the  story.  He  killed  an  Indian  under  the  circumstances  and  in  the  manner  just  re 
lated,  on  the  spot  where  two  red  warriors,  stripped  naked,  were  found  after  the  Jbat- 
tle,  one  of  whom  it  was  believed  was  Tecumtha,4 

1  In  a  letter  to  the  author,  Captain  Stanton  Sholes  (see  page  541),  who  was  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  says,  "  I  had 
a  very  pleasant  ride  back  to  Detroit  in  Proctor's  beautiful  carriage.    I  found  in  it  a  hat,  a  sword,  and  a  trunk.    The 
latter  contained  many  letters,  mostly  written  in  the  handsomest  writing  I  ever  saw,  by  Proctor's  wife  to  her '  dear 
Henry.' " 

2  "  I  had  this  fact,"  says  Samuel  R.  Brown,  in  his  Views  on  Lake  Erie,  page  63,  "from  an  American  gentleman  who  was 
at  Oxford  when  Proctor  and  the  Indians  passed  through  there.    The  squaws  were  lamenting  the  loss  of  their  children." 

3  See  page  496. 

*  The  solution  of  the  question,  "Who  killed  Tecumtha?"  is  of  no  historic  importance,  yet,  it  having  been  the  subject 
of  much  discussion,  a  few  facts  bearing  upon  it  may  be  appropriately  introduced  here.  These  facts  have  been  drawn 
chiefly  from  a  very  interesting  written  communication  made  to  me  in  January,  1861,  by  Dr.  Samuel  Theobald,  who  was 
Johnson's  judge  advocate,  and  with  him  in  the  battle.  When  Dr.  Theobald  (see  a  sketch  of  him  in  note  2,  page  556) 


556 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Gallantry  of  Colonel  Johnson  in  the  Battle. 


His  Wounds. 


Samuel  Theobald. 


Johnson  behaved  most  gallantly  in  the 
action.  He  was  mounted  on  a  white  pony 
that  his  servant  had  ridden,  his  own  horse 
having  been  disabled.  This  made  him  a 
conspicuous  mark  for  the  enemy.  At  the 
sound  of  the  bugle  charge  he  dashed  for 
ward  at  the  head  of  his  Forlorn  Hope,  and  at 
tacked  the  Indian  left,  where  Tecumtha  was 
stationed.1  The  first  volley  of  bullets  from 
the  foe  wounded  him  in  the  hip  and  thigh. 
He  almost  immediately  received  another  bul 
let  in  his  hand  from  the  Indian  that  he  shot, 
which  traversed  his  arm  for  some  distance. 
He  was  disabled,  and  said  to  Dr.  Theobald,2 
one  of  his  staff,  who  was  dismounted,  and 
fighting  near  him,  "  I  am  severely  wounded ; 
where  shall  I  go  ?"  "  Follow  me,"  answered 
Theobald.  He  did  not  know  where  to  find 
the  surgeon  of  the  regiment,  so  he  led  him 
across  the  smaller  swamp  to  the  road,  and 
about  three  hundred  rods  in  the  rear,  to  the 
stand  of  Dr.  Mitchell,  Governor  Shelby's  sur 
geon  general.  The  colonel,  faint  with  the 
loss  of  blood,  was  taken  from  his  horse,  when 

the  little  animal,  having  performed  its  duty  to  the  last,  fell  dead,  having  been  wound 
ed  in  seven  places.  Theobald  ran  to  the  Thames  for  water,  which  revived  the  colo 
nel.  His  wounds  were  dressed,  and  he  was  conveyed  to  a  vessel  a  few  miles  below, 

wrote  to  me  he  was  residing  near  Greenville,  Washington  County,  Mississippi.  He  says  that,  early  in  the  campaign, 
Johnson  organized  a  small  corps,  composed  of  the  staff  of  his  regiment,  which  he  denominated  the  Forlorn  Hope.  It 
was  designed  to  accompany  him  immediately  in  the  event  of  a  battle.  One  of  these  was  the  venerable  Colonel  William 
Whitely,  who  had  been  distinguished  in  conflicts  with  the  Indians  in  the  early  years  of  settlements  in  Kentucky,  and 
then  over  seventy  years  of  age.  He  had  volunteered  as  a  private  in  Captain  Davidson's  company.  The  others  who 
composed  the  Forlorn  Hope,  and  charged  upon  the  enemy  at  the  opening  of  the  battle,  were  Benjamin  S.  Chambers, 
Robert  Payne  (a  nephew  of  Colonel  Johnson),  Joseph  Taylor,  William  Webb,  Garrett  Wall,  Eli  Short,  and  Dr.  S.  Theo 
bald.  Whitely  was  kitted,  and  was  found  lying  near  the  two  Indians  mentioned  in  the  text  by  Theobald  and  Wall, 
after  the  battle.  They  found  the  bodies  of  the  two  Indians  lying  a  little  way  apart.  On  the  following  morning  the 
news  spread  that  the  body  of  Tecumtha  had  been  found.  One  of  the  Indians  alluded  to  was  designated  as  the  fallen  • 
chief.  Theobald  felt  a  desire  to  identify  the  body  of  the  chief,  and  took  Anthony  Shane,  a  half-breed  Shawnoese,  who 
knew  Tecumtha  well,  to  view  it.  The  body  was  entirely  naked,  and  several  strips  of  skin  had  been  taken  from  the 
thighs  by  some  of  the  Kentuckians,  who  had  reason  to  remember  the  River  Raisin,  and,  as  I  was  informed  by  a  soldier 
who  was  in  the  battle,  these  strips  were  used  for  making  razor-strops  !  Shane  did  not  ijecognize  the  body  as  that  of  Te 
cumtha.  The  late  Colonel  John  Johnston,  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  who,  as  Indian  agent,  often  employed  Shane,  informed  me 
that  he  told  him  that  Tecumtha  once  had  his  thigh-bone  broken,  and  that  a  sort  of  ridge  had  been  formed  around  the 
fracture  that  might  be  easily  felt.  No  such  ridge  was  observed  in  the  thigh  of  the  Indian  claimed  to  be  Tecumtha, 
found  on  the  ground  where  the  charge  of  the  Forlorn  Hope  was  made  and  Johnson  was  wounded.  Dr.  Theobald  far 
ther  informs  me  that  his  friend,  Captain  Benjamin  Warfield,  commander  of  a  company  in  Johnson's  regiment,  told  him 
that  he  was  directed  to  search  the  battle-field  for  wounded  soldiers.  He  found  a  British  soldier,  named  Clarke,  lying 
there  mortally  wounded.  He  was  the  Indian  interpreter  for  Proctor,  and  asserted  positively  that  Tecumtha  was  killed, 
and  his  body  was  carried  off  by  the  Indians.  I  have  since  been  informed  by  Colonel  C.  S.  Todd,  one  of  Harrison's  aids 
at  that  time  (see  page  547),  that  he  was  told  by  the  celebrated  chief  Black  Hawk  that  he  was  present  at  that  battle,  and 
that  Tecumtha's  body  was  certainly  carried  off  by  his  followers.  These  facts  show  that,  while  Colonel  Johnson  may 
have  shot  Tecumtha,  the  body  supposed  to  be  his,  and  so  barbarously  mutilated  by  the  exasperated  Kentuckians,  was 
that  of  another  warrior. 

1  Tecumtha,  as  we  have  seen,  had  reason  to  doubt  the  word  and  courage  of  Proctor.    He  doubtless  took  his  position 
at  the  junction  of  the  British  and  Indian  lines,  so  as  to  have  a  near  and  direct  communication  between  himself  and 
Proctor.    He  knew  that  Proctor  was  flying  through  fear.    The  Canadians  on  the  route  of  the  retreat  had  told  him  that 
Proctor  would  not  fight  if  he  could  help  it.    Proctor  knew  that  Tecumtha  would  compel  him  to  fight  here,  or  feel  the 
force  of  savage  resentment,  so  he  fled  at  the  commencement  of  the  battle  ;  and  no  doubt  the  haste  of  his  white  troops 
to  surrender  was  to  secure  themselves  from  the  vengeance  of  Tecumtha  and  his  followers. 

2  Samuel  Theobald  was  born  near  Paris,  Bourbon  County,  Kentucky,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1790.    He  was  "gradu 
ated  in  medicine"  at  Transylvania  University,  at  Lexington,  and  in  that  borough  practiced  medicine  for  twenty  years. 
For  the  last  thirty  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  cotton-planting,  most  of  the  time  residing  near  Greenville,  Missis 
sippi.    His  ancestors,  paternal  and  maternal,  were  Kentucky  pioneers.    His  younger  brother,  James,  was  with  him  in 
the  battle  of  the  Thames,  and  another  brother,  Thomas  S.,  was  in  the  military  service  on  the  frontier  for  twelve  months 
as  a  lieutenant  of  rangers. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  557 

Johnson  conveyed  Homeward.  Rejoicings  because  of  the  Victory.  Harrison  and  Proctor  properly  rewarded. 

under  charge  of  Captain  Champlin,  of  the  Scorpion,  which  that  gallant  officer  had 
captured  from  the  British.  In  that  vessel  he  was  conveyed  to  the  Scorpion,  at  Dol- 
sen's,  and  in  her  to  Detroit.  There  he  remained  a  short  time,  and  then,  with  much 
suffering,  he  made  his  way  homeward.1  He  reached  Frankfort  early  in  November, 
and  in  February,  after  kind  and  skillful  nursing  by  Major  C.  S.  Todd,  although  una 
ble  to  walk,  he  resumed  his  seat  in  Congress,  at  Washington.  His  journey  thither 
was  a  continued  ovation,  for  his  gallantry  on  the  Thames  was  known  to  the  nation.2 

Harrison's  successes,  and  the  annihilation  of  the  allied  armies  of  the  foe  westward 
of  Lake  Ontario,  produced  great  rejoicing  throughout  the  United  States.3  All  that 
Hull  had  lost  had  now  been  recovered,  and  more.  The  hopes  of  the  Americans  were 
stimulated.  They  felt  that  a  really  able  general  was  in  the  field,  and  all  the  arts  of 
Harrison's  political  and  personal  enemies  could  not  blind  them  to  the  fact  that,  by 
the  exercise  of  military  genius,  indomitable  perseverance,  and  unflinching  courage,  he 
had  accomplished  more  than  all  the  other  leaders,  and  had  fully  vindicated  his  coun 
try's  honor.  His  praises  were  on  every  honest  lip.  In  the  chief  cities,  from  Maine 
to  Georgia,  bonfires  and  illuminations  attested  the  public  satisfaction,  and  in  many 
places  joint  honors  were  paid  to  the  heroes  of  Lake  Erie  and  the  Thames — Perry  and 
Harrison.4  As  usual,  songs  written  for  the  occasion  were  heard  in  theatres  and  in 
the  streets,  and  at  every  festive  table  Harrison  was  toasted  as  The  Hero  of  Tippeca- 
noe  and  of  the  Thames.  The  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  testimony  of  their 
appreciation  of  his  services,  afterward  gave  him  their  cordial  thanks,  and  voted  him 
a  gold  medal.5 

Proctor  received  his  reward  in  the  form  of  the  censure  of  his  superiors,  the  severe 
rebuke  of  his  sovereign,  and  the  scorn  of  all  honorable  men.  He  had  the  meanness 
to  shift  the  disgrace  of  defeat  from  his  own  cowardly  shoulders  to  those  of  his  gal 
lant  regulars,  and  there  it  remained  for  more  than  twelve  months.  Upon  his  mis 
representations  Sir  George  Prevost  severely  censured  the  detachment  of  the  Forty- 
first  Regiment  that  were  in  the  battle,  in  a  general  order  issued  at  Montreal  on  the 
24th  of  November.31  But  they  were  vindicated  by  the  trial  of  Proctor  in  De-  ajsi3 
cember  the  next  year,b  when  the  cause  of  his  defeat  and  the  loss  of  the  "West-  " 1S14- 
ern  province  were  found  to  be  in  his  own  demerits  as  a  soldier.  He  was  found  guilty 
of  misconduct  in  not  providing  measures  for  a  retreat,  while  the  court,  with  singular 
inconsistency,  acquitted  him  of  any  lack  of  personal  bravery  or  indiscretion  at  the 

1  He  remained  several  days  under  a  surgeon's  care  at  Urbana,  in  a  commissary  office  near  Doolittle's  tavern,  then 
the  head-quarters  of  Governor  Meigs. 

2  The  authorities  from  which  I  have  drawn  the  chief  materials  for  the  foregoing  narrative  in  this  chapter  are  the  offi 
cial  reports  of  General  Harrison  to  the  Secretary  of  War ;  the  several  histories  of  the  period  already  cited ;  written  and 
oral  statements  of  survivors ;  official  reports  of  the  British  officers ;  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  and  biographies  of  Har 
rison,  Johnson,  Cass,  and  Tecumtha,  etc. 

3  Harrison,  in  his  official  letter  to  the  War  Department,  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  his  officers  and  troops.    "  I  am 
at  a  loss,"  he  said,  "  how  to  mention  the  conduct  of  Governor  Shelby."    After  paying  a  well-merited  compliment  to  the 
veteran,  and  the  major  generals  and  brigadiers,  he  said,  "Of  Governor  Shelby's  staff,  his  adjutant  general,  Colonel 
M'Dowell,  and  his  quarter-master  general,  Colonel  Walker,  rendered  great  services ;  as  did  his  aids-de-camp,  General 
Adair,  and  Majors  Barry  and  Crittendeu.    The  military  skill  of  the  former  was  of  great  service  to  us,  and  the  activity 
of  the  two  latter  gentlemen  could  not  be  surpassed."    He  highly  commended  Acting  Adjutant  General  Butler,  and  said, 
"  My  aids-de-camp,  Lieutenant  O'Fallon  and  Captain  Todd,  of  the  line,  and  my  volunteer  aids,  John  S.  Smith  and  John 
Chambers,  Esquires,  have  rendered  me  most  important  service  from  the  opening  of  the  campaign.    I  have  already 
stated  that  General  Cass  and  Commodore  Perry  assisted  me  in  forming  the  troops  for  action.    The  former  is  an  officer 
of  the  highest  merit,  and  the  appearance  of  the  brave  commodore  cheered  and  animated  every  breast."    He  highly  com 
plimented  the  officers  and  men  of  the  mounted  regiment,  and  Major  Wood,  of  the  Engineers. 

*  On  the  23d  of  October  the  new  City  Hall  in  New  York  was  splendidly  illuminated  in  honor  of  these  two  victories. 
Also  Tammany,  Washington,  and  Mechanics'  Halls,  the  theatre,  the  City  Hotel,  and  hundreds  of  private  residences,  were 
illuminated.  In  the  windows  of  the  City  Hall  were  several  transparencies.  One  of  them  represented  the  battle  on  Lake 
Erie,  and  the  words  "DON'T  GIVE  UP  THE  Snip !"  In  front  of  Tammany  Hall  was  a  superb  painting  exhibiting  a  fnll- 
length  portrait  of  Harrison,  and  the  figures  of  several  Indian  warriors,  the  chief  of  whom  was  on  his  bended  knees  su 
ing  for  peace,  and  offering  at  the  same  time  a  squaw,  and  her  papoose  on  her  back,  as  hostages  for  their  fidelity.  On  it 
was  also  represented  the  naval  engagement  on  Lake  Erie. 

5  On  one  side  is  a  bust  of  General  Harrison,  and  the  words  MAJOR  GENERAL  WILLIAM  H.  HARRISON.  On  the  reverse 
is  seen  a  woman  placing  a  wreath  around  two  bayonets  fixed  on  muskets,  and  a  color-staff,  stacked  over  a  drum  and 
cannon,  bow  and  quiver.  Her  right  hand  rests  upon  the  Union  shield,  and  holds  a  halbert.  From  the  point  of  union 
of  the  stack  hangs  a  banner,  on  which  is  inscribed  FORT  MEIGS— BATTLE  or  THE  THAMES.  Over  these,  in  a  semicircle, 
are  the  words,  RESOLUTION  OF  CONGRESS,  AI-ELL  4,  ISIS.  Beneath,  BATTLE  OF  THE  THAMES,  OCTOBER  5, 1S13. 


558 


PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 


Proctor's  Punishment  considered  too  mild  by  the  Prince  Regent. 


The  Remnant  of  Proctor's  Army. 


BATlTiE    OP  THE  THAMES, 
OCTOBER     5,   1813. 


TUB  HARBISON  MEI>AL. 


time  of  the  battle.  He  was  sentenced  to  be  "  publicly  reprimanded,  and  suspended 
from  rank  and  pay  for  six  months."  So  notorious  was  the  fact  of  his  cowardly  aban 
donment  of  his  army  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  battle  that  the  Prince  Regent  se- 


THE   SHELBY   MEDAL. 


verely  reprimanded  the  court  for  its  "  mistaken  leniency,"  expressed  his  "  regret  that 
any  officer  of  the  length  of  service  and  the  exalted  rank"  attained  by  General  Proc 
tor  "  should  be  so  extremely  wanting  in  professional  knowledge,  and  deficient  in 
those  active,  energetic  qualities  which  must  be  required  of  every  officer,"  and  that 
the  charges  and  finding  of  the  court  should  "  be  entered  in  the  general  order-book, 
and  read  at  the  head  of  every  regiment  in  his  majesty's  service."  General  Proctor 
is  represented  as  a  stout,  thick-set,  fine-looking  man.  He  died  in  Liverpool  in  1858 
or  1859. 

The  few  British  regulars  and  militia  who  escaped  after  the  battle  of  the  5th  of 
October  fled  in  confusion  through  an  almost  unbroken  wilderness  toward  Lake  On 
tario.  They  rendezvoused  at  Ancaster,  seven  miles  westward  of  Hamilton  and  the 
head  of  the  lake,  on  the  17th,  when  their  numbers,  inclusive  of  seventeen  officers, 
amounted  to  two  hundred  and  fifty-six.  Their  flight  spread  consternation  over  all 
that  region. 

The  victory  in  itself  and  its  subsequent  effects  was  most  complete.  It  broke  up 
the  Indian  confederacy  of  the  Northwest,  and  caused  the  disheartened  warriors  to 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  559 


Effects  of  the  Victories  of  Perry  and  Harrison.  Disposition  of  the  Troops.  A  Journey  to  the  Thames. 

forsake  their  white  allies,  and  sue  humbly  for  peace  and  pardon  at  the  feet  of  the 
Americans.  Their  very  personal  existence  compelled  them  to  endure  this  humilia 
tion.  The  winter  was  approaching,  and  they  and  their  families  were  destitute  of 
provisions  and  clothing,  without  the  means  of  procuring  either.  Their  prayers  were 
heard  and  heeded ;  and  those  whom  they  had  fought  against  at  the  instigation  of  a 
professed  Christian  government,  became  their  saviors  from  the  deadly  fangs  of  hun 
ger  and  frost.1  The  base  conduct  of  Proctor,  and  the  kindness  of  Harrison,  gave  a 
fatal  blow  to  British  influence  among  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest. 

The  American  troops  occupied  the  battle-ground  on  the  Thames,  and  on  the 
7tha  General  Harrison  departed  for  Detroit,  leaving  Governor  Shelby  in  .  October, 
command.  The  army  commenced  moving  that  day  in  the  same  direction,  1813- 
taking  with  them  the  property  they  had  captured  and  the  prisoners.  On  the  10th 
they  arrived  at  Sandwich  in  the  midst  of  a  furious  storm  of  wind  and  snow,  during 
which  several  of  the  vessels  from  the  Thames  were  injured,  and  much  of  the  captured 
property  was  lost.  Harrison  and  Perry  had  planned  an  immediate  attack  on  Mack- 
inack,  and  Captain  Elliott  had  volunteered  to  command  the  naval  force,  but  the  ex 
treme  cold  and  the  blinding  storm  warned  them  of  the  near  approach  of  winter  and 
the  dangers  that  might  be  encountered,  and  they  prudently  abandoned  the  enter 
prise.  Rumors  came  that  the  enemy  had  fled  from  Mackinack ;  so,  after  concluding 
an  armistice  with  the  chiefs  of  several  of  the  hostile  tribes,  among  whom  was  Mai- 
pock,  the  fierce  and  implacable  Pottawatomie,  and  receiving  hostages  for  their  faith 
fulness,2  Harrison  prepared  to  go  down  the  lake  with  M' Arthur's  brigade,  a  battal 
ion  of  regular  riflemen  under  Colonel  Wells,  and  mounted  men  under  Colonel  Ball, 
to  join  the  American  forces  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  The  Kentuckians  returned 
home,  after  stopping  at  the  Raisin  to  bury  the  whitened  bones  of  their  massacred 
countrymen,  and  on  the  Sandusky  peninsula  to  recover  their  horses,3  suffering  much 
from  fatigue,  hunger,  and  cold  on  the  way. 

General  Harrison  appointed  General  Cass  military  and  civil  governor  of  Michigan, 
and  directed  him  to  retain  his  brigade  (about  one  thousand  in  number)  to  keep  the 
Indians  in  check,  and  hold  possession  of  that  portion  of  Canada  lately  conquered  by 
the  Americans  west  of  Lake  Ontario.  Harrison  arrived  at  Buffalo  on  the  24th  of 
October,  with  about  thirteen  hundred  men,  only  one  thousand  of  them  effective  sol 
diers.  There  he  joined  General  M'Clure  in  active  preparations  against  the  enemy. 

I  visited  the  battle-ground  on  the  Thames  on  a  cold,  blustering  day  in  Octo 
ber,15  1860,  accompanied  by  Miles  Miller,  Esq.,  of  Chatham,  Canada  West,  b  October  11, 
formerly  editor  of  The  Western  Planet  newspaper.  I  left  Detroit  in  the 
morning  with  my  family,  crossed  the  river,  took  seats  in  a  carriage  on  the  Great 
Western  Railway,  and,  after  a  swift  journey  of  an  hour  and  a  half,  over  a  space  of 
fifty-four  miles  along  the  borders  of  Lake  St.  Clair,  through  oozy  swamps,  broad 
prairies,  tangled  forests,  and  wealthy  farms  to  the  Thames,  following  the  route  of 
Harrison's  pursuing  army,  we  alighted  at  Chatham,  a  pleasant  village  of  six  thou 
sand  inhabitants,  on  the  left  or  south  bank  of  the  Thames,  and  the  capital  of  the 
county  of  Kent.  It  lies  upon  a  plain  in  the  midst  of  a  fine  agricultural  country,  at 
the  head  of  steam-boat  navigation  on  the  Thames.  It  was  originally  laid  out  by 

1  An  eye-witness  says :  "  A  few  days  after  Proctor's  defeat,  Detroit  was  so  fall  of  famished  savages  that  the  issue  of 
rations  to  them  did  not  keep  pace  with  their  hunger.    I  have  seen  the  women  and  children  searching  about  the  ground 
for  bones  and  rinds  of  pork  which  had  been  thrown  away  by  the  soldiers.    Meat  in  a  high  state  of  putrefaction,  which 
had  been  thrown  into  the  river,  was  carefully  picked  up  and  devoured.    The  feet,  heads,  and  entrails  of  the  cattle  slaugh 
tered  by  the  public  butchers  were  collected  and  sent  off  to  the  neighboring  villages.    I  have  counted  twenty  horses  in 
a  drove  fancifully  decorated  with  the  offals  of  the  slaughter-yard." — Vieics  on  Lake  Erie,  by  Samuel  R.  Brown,  paize  95. 

2  We  have  already  observed  that  Walk-in-the-water,  and  many  of  his  followers,  deserted  Proctor  at  Chatham.    While 
Harrison  was  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy  up  the  Thames,  chiefs  of  the  Miamis,  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies,  Chippewas,  and 
Kickapoos  proposed  to  General  M1  Arthur,  at  Detroit,  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  and  agreed  to  "take  hold  of  the  same 
tomahawk  with  the  Americans,  and  to  strike  all  who  are,  or  may  be  enemies  of  the  United  States,  whether  British  or 
Indians."    They  brought  in  their  women  and  children,  and  offered  them  as  hostages  for  their  own  good  behavior." 

s  See  page  546. 


560  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

A  Visit  to  the  Battle-field  on  the  Thames.  Recollections  of  an  old  Resident.  Tecumtha  and  his  Pistol. 

Governor  Simcoe,  who  reserved  six  hundred  acres  for  a  town  plot.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river,  in  the  township  of  Dover,  is  the  little  suburban  village  of  North 
Chatham,  connected  with  the  main  town  by  a  toll-bridge. 

We  took  rooms  at  the  Royal  Exchange  Hotel,  and,  as  soon  as  a  vehicle  could  be 
procured,  I  started  with  Mi-.  Miller  for  the  Thames  battle-ground,  about  eighteen 
miles  distant.  The  sky  was  overcast  by  broken  masses  of  clouds,  and  a  biting  north 
wind  came  from  the  great  Canadian  wilderness,  with  Winter  Tales  upon  every  blast. 
We  followed  the  route  of  the  American  army,  sketching  the  ruins  of  M'Gregor's  mill 
(see  page  550)  on  the  way,  and  at  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  were  at  the  lit 
tle  village  of  Tecumseh  (Thamesville  Station),  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  the  historic 
ground.  There  we  dined,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  David  Sherman,  Esq.,  a 
life-long  resident  of  that  spot,  who  was  a  lad  nine  or  ten  years  of  age  when  the  bat 
tle  occurred,  and  had  a  clear  recollection  of  the  events  of  the  day  which  came  under 
his  observation.  He  informed  us  that  the  Americans  encamped  on  his  father's  farm, 
where  the  village  of  Tecumseh  now  stands,  on  the  night  before  the  battle.  His  fa 
ther  was  a  soldier  with  Proctor,  and  left  home  twenty-four  hours  before.  During 
the  forenoon  of  the  day  of  the  battle,  young  Sherman  went  up  to  within  half  a  mile 
of  the  place  where  Johnson  discovered  the  British  line,  and  saw  Tecumtha  sitting 
on  a  log  near  where  a  white  cow  that  belonged  to  a  neighbor  had  been  killed  and 
was  then  a-roasting.  Tecumtha  asked  him  whose  boy  he  was.  He  tojd  him,  when 
the  chief,  who  was  acquainted  with  his  father,  said, "  Don't  let  the  Americans  know 
that  your  father  is  in  the  army,  or  they'll  burn  your  house.  Go  back,  and  stay  home, 
for  there  will  be  a  fight  here  soon." 

Mr.  Sherman  said  he  scanned  the  great  chief  with  the  wide-open  eyes  of  wonder 
and  cui'iosity  of  a  boy  of  his  age,  and,  among  other  things,  saw  two  pistols  in  the 
warrior's  belt,  unlike  the  English  ones  he  had  been  accustomed  to.  Having  satisfied 
his  curiosity,  he  took  Tecumtha's  advice,  and  hastened  homeward.  He  saw  the 
Americans  passing  rapidly  onward  toward  the  place  where  he  left  the  chief,  and 
heard  the  din  of  battle  during  the  afternoon.  All  was  quiet  before  sunset  and  dur 
ing  the  night ;  and  early  the  next  morning  he  ventured  to  go  upon  the  battle-ground, 

where  he  saw  the  two  Indians, 
one  of  whom  was  supposed  to 
be  General  Tecumtha.  On  that 
spot  a  pistol  precisely  like  one 
of  those  that  he  saAv  in  Tecum 
tha's  belt  was  found  by  a  neigh 
bor,  and  was  in  his  possession. 
He  has  no  doubt  of  its  bein«r 

~ 

one  of  the  great  leader's  weap 
ons,  and  cherishes  it  as  such. 
It  jg  of  American  manufacture, 
fourteen  inches  in  length,  has  a  flint-lock,  is  rifled,  and  bears  the  name  of "  H.  Al 
bright,"  maker.  I  made  a  sketch  of  it,  and,  upon  the  circumstantial  evidence  of  Mr. 
Sherman,  present  it  to  the  reader  as  a  picture  of  one  of  the  pistols  of  the  great  Shaw- 
noese  chief. 

From  Mr.  Sherman  we  learned  some  interesting  facts  concerning  the  locality  of  the 
battle-ground,  but  he  refused  to  indicate  the  exact  place  where  Tecumtha  fell,  giving 
as  a  reason  for  his  reticence  on  that  point  that  he  had  been  making  efforts  to  induce 
the  provincial  government  to  erect  a  monument  on  the  spot,  and,  until  that  should  be 
accomplished,  he  should  keep  the  secret  in  his  own  bosom.  I  think  the  place  desig 
nated  on  the  map  on  page  554  is  the  correct  one. 

After  dinner  we  rode  up  to  the  dwelling  of  the  old  Watts  Farm,  on  which  most  of 
the  battle  was  fought,  while  the  troops  under  Shelby  occupied  a  portion  of  the  lands 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  561 

Appearance  of  the  Battle-field  of  the  Thames.  Moravian  Town.  Return  to  Chatham. 

owned  by  James  Dixon  at  the  time  of  our  visit.  "We  had  very  little  trouble  in  find 
ing  the  places  sought.  The  forest  had  disappeared,  and  nothing  remained  of  the 
grand  old  trees  except  a  few  ravaged  and  mostly  dead  stems,  many  of  them  black 
ened  by  fire.  The  smaller  swamp  had  also  disappeared,  but  its  place  was  distinctly 
marked  by  deep  black  mould.  In  the  rear  is  the  great  swamp  still,  and  in  front,  be 
tween  lofty  wooded  banks,  flows  the  beautiful  La  Tranche  or  Thames,  near  which  are 
graves  of  the  slain.  From  a  corn-field  between  the  smaller  and  larger  swamps,  near 
the  spot  where  Johnson  and  Tecumtha  met,  I  made  a  sketch  of  the  battle-field. 


THAMES  JiATTLE-GKOCND.1 

Around  us  were  golden  pumpkins  and  wealthy  shocks  of  Indian  corn,  and  in  the  re 
cently-cleared  field,  where  the  small  swamp  lay,  cattle  were  quietly  grazing  on  the 
frost-nipped  grass.  It  is  an  attractive  spot  for  the  historical  student,  and  our  visit 
was  an  item  in  the  fulfillment  of  the  poet's  prophecy,  that 

"Oft  to  La  Tranche's  battle-field 

In  future  times  shall  traveler  come, 
To  mute  reflection's  power  to  yield, 

And  gaze  on  lowly  warriors'  tomb. 
''Here,'  shall  he  say,  'our  soldiers  stood; 

There  were  the  Indians'  numerous  host; 
Here  flowed  the  gallant  Johnson's  blood; 

There,  died  the  Shawuoean  boast.'  " 

We  intended  to  visit  the  Moravian  town,2  but,  after  sketching  the  battle-ground, 

'  s  O  O 

and  the  little  view  of  the  Thames  printed  on  page  553,  the  day  was  so  far  spent  that 
we  felt  compelled  to  turn  back  toward  Tecumseh,  where  we  partook  of  refreshments, 
and  at  twilight  started  on  our  return  to  Chatham.  We  arrived  at  the  "  Royal  Ex 
change"  at  nine  in  the  evening,  cold  and  weary,  but  full  of  satisfaction. 

Before  sunrise  on  the  following  morning  I  sketched  the  view  at  the  mouth  of 

~  ~ 

M'Gregor's  Creek,  printed  on  page  550,  and  after  an  early  breakfast,  again  accompa- 

1  In  this  sketch  the  spectator  is  looking  southward,  toward  the  Thames.    Its  line  is  marked  by  the  distant  trees.    The 
fence  seen  along  the  edge  of  those  trees  indicates  the  position  of  the  road  that  leads  to  Detroit,  across  which  stood 
Proctor's  regulars,  and  on  which  were  his  cannon.    The  line  of  Proctor's  army  was  north  and  south,  across  the  upper 
edge  of  the  smaller  swamp,  near  where  the  cattle  are  seen. 

2  I  was  informed  that  the  Moravians  there  were  all  Indians  except  their  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Vogler.    There  were 
about  fifty  families,  mostly  Delawares,  and  descendants  of  the  early  settlers.    Each  family  had  a  plank  house  and  forty 
acres  of  land,  furnished  by  the  government.    The  houses  appeared  very  much  like  those  of  the  pensioners  at  Am- 
herstburg,  mentioned  on  page  299.    They  had  a  neat  church.    Some  of  the  log  houses  of  the  original  town,  a  mile  and  a 
h;>lf  from  the  present  village,  not  destroyed  in  1S13.  were  yet  standing.    The  chief  or  military  leader  of  the  Indians 
was  Philip  Jacobs,  who  lived  on  the  site  of  the  old  town.    He  was  about  sixty  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  my  visit. 

NH 


562  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Dolsen's.  Journey  eastward.  Harrison  on  the  Northern  Frontier. 

nied  by  the  courteoxis  Mr.  Miller,  crossed  the  river,  and  rode  down  to  Dolsen's  to  pro 
cure  a  drawing  of  his  residence,  made  famous  by  the  events  of  the  campaign  of  Hai'- 
rison  against  Proctor.  We  returned  in  time  for  myself  and  party  to  take  the  cars  for 
the  East  at  half  past  nine  o'clock.  We  passed  through  London  (a  flourishing  town 
of  about  seven  thousand  inhabitants,  pleasantly  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  north 
and  east  branches  of  the  Thames)  at  noon,  and  arrived  at  Paris,  forty-seven  miles  far 
ther  eastward,  in  time  for  dinner.  There  we  left  the  railway,  and  traveled  in  a  pri 
vate  carriage  to  Norwichville,  twenty-five  miles  southward,  where  we  were  received 
at  twilight  by  relatives — descendants  of  the  first  settlers  of  that  region,  who  built 
log  huts,  and  felled  the  primeval  forest  there  only  a  little  more  than  fifty  years  ago. 
Now  it  is  a  fertile,  well-cultivated,  and  highly-picturesque  country,  bearing  few  traces 
of  a  settlement  so  new  that  many  of  the  inhabitants  remember  its  beginning.  We 
tarried  there  a  few  days,  and  then  returned  to  our  home  on  the  Hudson  by  way  of 
the  Niagara  Suspension  Bridge,  after  an  absence  of  more  than  five  weeks,  bearing  rich 
treasures  from  the  historic  fields  of  the  Northwest. 

As  the  campaign  that  closed  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames  was  the  last  in  which 
General  Harrison  was  engaged,  we  will  here  consider  a  brief  outline  of  his  career  from 
his  arrival  on  the  Niagara  frontier  until  he  left  the  service  in  the  spring  of  1814. 

Harrison,  as  we  have  observed,  arrived  at  Buffalo  on  the  24th  of  October.  He  went 
immediately  down  to  Newark,  the  head-quarters  of  General  M'Clure,  of  the  New  York 
Militia,  and  soon  afterward  commenced  active  operations,  by  order  of  the  Secretary 
of  War,  for  an  expedition  against  the  British  at  Burlington  Heights,  at  the  west  end 
of  Lake  Ontario,  the  "  capture  or  destruction  of  which,"  the  Secretary  said  in  his 
letter,  "  would  be  a  glorious  finale  to  his  campaign."  While  in  the  midst  of  these 
preparations,  another  letter  came  from  the  same  functionary,  written  only  four  days 
later  than  the  former,  requiring  General  Harrison  to  send  M'Arthur's  brigade  to 
Sackett's  Harbor,  as  Montreal,  not  Kingston,  would  be  the  point  of  attack  on  the  en 
emy  by  Wilkinson's  army,  by  which  the  country  eastward  of  Lake  Ontario  might  be 
exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the  British  from  the  latter  place.  There  were  valuable 
stores  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  it  was  thought  to  be  more  important  to  save  these 
than  to  assail  the  enemy  farther  west.  Like  an  obedient  soldier,  Harrison  obeyed. 
His  troops  were  embarked  on  Chauncey's  fleet  at  the  middle  of  November.  The  pro 
gramme  having  been  changed,  the  Secretary  of  War  gave  General  Harrison  permis 
sion  to  visit  his  family  near  Cincinnati.  The  general  accompanied  his  troops  to  Sack 
ett's  Harbor,  and  then  journeyed  homeward  by  the  way  of  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  and  Washington,  every  where  receiving  the  plaudits  of  his  countrymen. 

The  campaign  under  the  old  generals  (Dearborn,  Hampton,  and  Wilkinson)  on  the 
northern  frontier  in  1813  having  been  fruitless  of  much  good  to  the  American  cause, 
the  eyes  of  the  people  were  turned  in  expectation  toward  General  Harrison,  the  suc 
cessful  leader,  as  the  future  acting  commander-in-chief  of  the  American  army,  or  at 
least  of  that  portion  of  it  on  the  northern  frontier.  Such  was  the  expectation  of  his 
companions  in  arms.  "  Yes,  my  dear  friend,"  Perry  wrote  to  him,  "  I  expect  to  hail 
you  as  the  chief  who  is  to  redeem  the  honor  of  our  arms  in  the  North."  "You,  sir," 
wrote  M' Arthur  to  him  from  Albany,  in  New  York,1  "  stand  the  highest  with  the  mi 
litia  of  this  state  of  any  general  in  the  service,  and  I  am  confident  that  no  man  can 
fight  them  to  so  great  an  advantage,  and  I  think  their  extreme  solicitude  may  be  the 
means  of  calling  you  to  this  promotion." 

These  expectations  were  not  realized.  For  reasons  unexplained,  the  feelings  of 
General  Armstrong,  the  Secretary  of  War,  appear  to  have  been  suddenly  and  greatly 
changed  toward  General  Harrison,  and  his  treatment  of  that  officer  deprived  the 
country  of  his  military  services  at  a  most  critical  time.  He  persistently  interfered 

i  M'Arthur  was  then  in  attendance  as  a  witness  upon  the  court-martial  for  the  trial  of  Brigadier  General  Hull.    See 
page  294. 


OF   THE  WAR   OF   1812.  563 


Treatment  of  Harrison  by  the  Secretary  of  War.  Harrison  leaves  the  Army.  A  Journey  in  Ohio. 

with  Harrison's  prerogatives  as  commandei'-in-chief  of  the  Eighth  Military  District, 
and  the  general  became  convinced,  by  circumstances  not  necessary  to  detail  here,  that 
the  secretary  disliked  him,  and  was  determined  to  deprive  him  of  all  active  command. 
lie  remembered  Armstrong's  unasked  permission  to  visit  his  family  at  Cincinnati,  and 
he  now  construed  it  as  a  deliberate  hint  that  he-might  retire  from  the  army  a  while. 
These  suspicions  were  fostered  arid  confirmed  by  subsequent  events,  and  on  the  llth 
of  May,  1814,  Harrison,  in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  another  to  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  offered  to  resign  his  commission.  When  Governor  Shelby 
heard  of  the  movement  he  wrote  an  earnest  letter  to  the  President,  urging  him  not  to 
accept  the  resignation,  and  saying, "  Having  served  in  a  campaign  with  General  Har 
rison,  by  which  I  have  been  enabled  to  form  some  opinion  of  his  military  talents  and 
capacity  to  command,  I  feel  no  hesitation  to  declare  to  you  that  I  believe  him  to  be 
one  of  the  first  military  characters  I  ever  knew,  and,  in  addition  to  this,  he  is  capable 
of  making  greater  personal  exertions  than  any  officer  with  whom  I  have  ever  served."1 
Harrison  was  then  forty  years  of  age. 

Unfortunately  for  the  country,  the  President  was  absent  from  Washington,  at  his 
home  in  Virginia,  when  the  letters  of  Harrison  and  Shelby  reached  the  capital.  They 
were  both  forwarded  to  Madison.  Meanwhile  the  Seci'etary  of  War,  without  con 
sulting  the  President,  accepted  the  general's  resignation.  This  was  an  assumption 
of  authority  never  exercised  before  nor  since.  In  a  letter  to  Governor  Shelby,  the 
President  expressed  his  sincere  regret  that  the  valuable  services  of  General  Harrison 
could  not  have  been  secured  to  the  government  for  the  approaching  campaign.  Har 
rison  left  the  army,  and  during  the  ensuing  summer  he  was  appointed,  in  conjunction 
with  Governors  Shelby  and  Cass,  to  treat  with  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest  concern 
ing  all  things  in  dispute  between  the  tribes  and  the  United  States. 

As  we  shall  not  meet  General  Harrison  again  in  active  military  service,  nor  men 
tion  his  name  except  incidentally,  I  will  take  this  occasion  to  notice  a  short  journey 
in  Ohio,  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  while  collecting  materials  for  this  work,  in  which  was 
included  a  visit  to  the  home  and  grave  of  that  faithful  public  servant  at  North  Bend, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio. 

In  a  former  chapter  (see  page  542)  I  have  mentioned  my  departure  from  Cleveland 
after  the  inauguration  of  Perry's  statue,  for  Columbus,  the  capital  of  Ohio.  The  rail 
way  between  the  two  places  lies,  much  of  the  distance  from  Cleveland  to  Delaware, 
through  a  flat,  not  very  fertile,  and  a  newly-cleared  country,  the  latter  fact  being  at 
tested  by  a  profusion  of  stumps  of  trees  in  most  of  the  clearings.  On  the  summit 
of  the  water-shed  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  River,  the  country  is  more  rolling 
and  fertile.  We  journeyed  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  in  the  course  of  five 
hours  and  forty  minutes,  and  reached  Columbus  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  of  a  delightful  September  day.a  At  three  I  left  for  Newark,  the  a  September  12. 
capital  of  Licking  County,  thirty-three  miles  eastward  of  Columbus,  for 
the  twofold  purpose  of  visiting  an  old  and  highly-esteemed  friend,2  and  viewing,  in 
the  neighborhood,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  tumuli,  or  ancient  mounds,  with 
which  the  Ohio  country  abounds.  I  found  my  friend  very  ill — too  ill  to  endure  more 
than  a  few  minutes'  conversation.  During  the  evening,  in  company  with  his  son,  I 
visited  Mr.  David  Wyrick,  a  resident  of  the  village,  an  engineer  by  profession,  and  an 
enthusiastic  antiquary,  who  had  lately  been  made  famous  as  the  discoverer  of  a  stone, 
with  Hebrew  inscriptions,  in  a  portion  of  the  ancient  earth- works  that  abound  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Newark.  I  found  him  a  plain,  earnest  man,  and  bearing,  among 
those  who  know  him  best,  a  character  above  reproach  for  truth  and  sincerity.  He 
showed  me  a  large  number  of  curious  things  taken  from  mounds  in  the  neighbor- 


1  Governor  Shelby  to  President  Madison,  May  15, 1814. 

2  Samuel  G.  Arnold,  Esq.,  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Newark  North  American,  and  author  of  a  Life  of  Patrick  Henry, 
and  one  or  two  other  small  volumes. 


564 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Ancient  Mounds  and  Relics  at  Newark,  Ohio. 


Ancient  Coffin  aiid  inscribed  Stonee. 


i:::.M.uxs  OP  AN  ANCIENT  COFFIN. 


hood.  Among  them  was  a  portion  of  a 
coffin,  made  of  a  hollowed  oak  log,  found 
beneath  a  truncated  circular  pyramid  for 
ty  feet  in  height,  with  a  base  one  hundred 
and  eighty-two  feet  in  diameter,  evidently 
constructed  by  a  people  ignorant  of  metal 
lic-edged  tools.1  But  the  most  curious  of 
all  the  relics  was  the  stone  upon  the  four  sides  of  which  are  words  in  Hebrew  let 
ters.  Mr.  Wyrick  found  them  while 
searching  for  human  remains  in  the 
centre  of  a  small  depression  of  the 
earth  connected  with  the  system  of 
ancient  earth-works  in  that  region. 
The  stone  is  in  the  form  of  a  trunc 
ated  cone,  five  inches  in  length,  with 
two  sides  broader  than  the  other  two 
sides,  and  a  neck  and  knob,  evidently 
formed  for  suspending  it  by  a  cord 
or  chain.  It  has  the  appearance,  in 
texture  and  color,  of  a  novaculite,  or  "  hone-stone,"  and  is  finely  polished.  The  let 
ters  (said  by  those  who  are  competent  to  decide  to  be  ancient  Hebrew)  are  neatly 
made  in  intaglio  upon  each  of  the  four  sides.  How,  and  when,  and  for  what  prac 
tical  or  symbolical  purpose  that  stone  was  deposited  in  the  earth  there,  may  forever 
remain  a  mystery.2 

This  coffin  is  quite  shallow,  and  more  like  the  hollowed  platform  of  a  scaffolding.    It  bears  evidence  of  having  been 


THE   FOUR   SIDES   OF   THE   IIOLY   STONE. 


hollowed  by  the  processes  employed  by 
the  aborigines  when  Europeans  first  vis 
ited  America,  namely,  by  fire  and  stone 
axes.  With  these  they  felled  trees  and 
hollowed  out  logs  for  canoes.  They  first 
burnt  the  timber,  and  then  removed  the 
charred  part  with  the  blunt  stone  axe,  for 
these  could  not  be  made  sharp  enough  to 
cut,  and  endure.  These  processes  were  re 
peated  until  the  requisite  depth  was  ob 
tained.  Every  part  of  the  hollowed  por 
tions  of  the  ancient  coffin  that  I  saw  bore 
clear  marks  of  these  operations. 


STONE  AXES. 


The  coffin,  when  found,  was  in  a  con 
cavity  of  earth  lined  with  clay  made  im 
pervious  to  water.  It  lay  in  water  twelve 
inches  in  depth,  resting  upon  seven  pieces 
of  small  timber,  these  resting  upon  two 
larger  pieces,  as  seen  in  the  above  sketch. 
These,  like  the  coffin,  were  completely 
"  water-sogged."  The  coffin  was  lined 
with  a  fabric  resembling  old  carpeting, 
so  fragile  that  it  crumbled  at  the  slight 
est  touch.  On  this  the  body  of  the  de 
ceased  had  been  laid ;  and  thereon  was 
found  the  skeleton  in  fragments,  locks  of 


beautiful  black  hair,  and  ten  copper  rings  lying  near  where  the  hands  might  have  been  folded  over  the  breast.  The 
whole  were  imbedded  in  clay,  over  which  was  an  arch  of  small  and  large  stones.  Over  this  was  a  mound  of  clay,  mak 
ing  the  whole  structure  inclosing  the  coffin  about  seven  feet  in  height.  The  remainder  of  the  pyramid  was  composed 
of  stone.  These  the  State  of  Ohio  purchased  for  constructing  the  "Licking  Summit  Reservoir"  for  the  use  of  the  Ohio 
Canal,  and  removed  about  fifty  thousand  wagon-loads.  The  sepulchre  was  found  when  these  stones  were  removed,  and 
was  explored  by  Mr.  Wyrick.  The  clay  was  brought  from  a  distance,  for  there  is  none  like  it  in  the  vicinity. 

The  annexed  diagram,  kindly  drawn  for  me  by  Mr. 
Wyrick,  shows  a  sectional  view  of  the  clay  mounds,  the 
small  stone  arch,  and  the  position  of  the  coffin.  A  the  up 
per  part  of  the  clay  mound,  and  B  the  lower  portion.  In 
these  the  open  dots  indicate  the  places  where  it  was  evi 
dent  timbers  had  been  placed,  and  had  rotted  away.  C 
the  arch  of  stone,  1111  indicating  two  layers  of  small 
stones  from  six  to  ten  inches  in  diameter,  and  2  a  layer 
of  broad  flat  stones.  D  the  coffin  and  skeleton,  and  E  the 
concavity  filled  with  water,  in  which  they  rested.  The  clay 
had  evidently  been  formed  into  a  kind  of  mortar,  and  was 
as  hard  as  sun-dried  brick.  The  pyramid  was  on  an  em 
inence  seven  miles  south  of  Newark,  and  five  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  any  stream  of  water  near. 

-  The  cavity  in  which  Mr.  Wyrick  found  this  stone  was  about  twenty  feet  in  circumference,  and  about  two  feet  in 
depth  at  the  centre.  When  he  had  excavated  through  dark  and  rich  alluvium  about  fourteen  inches,  he  came  to  a  light 
er  soil  of  a  clayey  nature,  in  which  were  pebbles.  One  of  these,  of  oblong  form,  composed  of  reddish  quartz,  first  at 
tracted  his  attention.  Soon  afterward  he  found  the  inscribed  stone  imbedded  in  the  clay.  Gentlemen  of  learning  ex 
amined  it,  and  proved  the  letters  to  be  obsolete  Hebraic.  The  Reverend  ,1.  W.  M'Carty,  of  Newark,  a  Hebrew  scholar, 
translated  the  words  on  three  of  the  four  sides  ns  follows:  "Holy  of  Holies;"  "The  Word  of  the  Law ;"  and"TAc  Word 
of  the  Lord."  At  a  meeting  of  some  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Newark,  held  at  the  Court-house  about  two  months  after 
my  visit  there,  to  consider  the  character  and  the  circumstances  of  the  finding  of  the  "  Holy  Stone,"  General  Dille  pre 
sided,  and  Mr.  M'Carty  gave  an  interesting  account  of  the  whole  matter.  It  was  stated  that  only  four  or  five  of  the 


SECTIONAL   VIEW   OF   THE   PYKAMII). 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


An  ancient  stone  Box  and  its  Contents. 


An  immense  ancient  Earth-work  near  Newark  visited  and  described. 


Early  the  following  morning,  accompanied  by  my  young  friend,  I  visited  the  "  Old 
Fort,"  as  the  people  there  call  one  of  the  most  magnificent  of  the  ancient  earth-works 
that  abound  in  that  section  of  Ohio.  It  is  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Newark,  in  the 
midst  of  a  primeval  forest,  and  forms  a  pleasant  resort  in  summer.  It  is  composed 
of  a  continuous  mound,  that  sweeps  in  a  perfect  circle  a  mile  in  circumference,  broken 
only  by  the  entrance  to  it,  where  the  banks,  higher  than  any  where  else,  turn  outward 
for  fifty  feet  or  more,  and  form  a  magnificent  gateway.  The  embankment  averages 


GKEAT   EARTH-WORK  NEAR  NEWARK. 

from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  in  height,  and  is  covered  with  maple,  beech,  and  hickory 
trees  of  every  size,  from  the  huge  Anak  of  the  forest  to  the  lithe  sapling — the  former 
indicating  the  origin  of  the  structure  to  be  far  more  remote  than  the  advent  of  Euro 
peans  in  the  Xew  World.  These  also  cover  the  area  inclosed  by  the  mound.  The 
ditch  from  which  the  earth  was  thrown  is  within  the  embankment,  and  is  visible 
around  the  entire  line  of  the  work,  proving  it  not  to  have  been  a  fortification.  In  the 
centre  of  the  area  (which  is  perfectly  level)  is  a  slight  elevation,  in  the  form  of  a 
spread  eagle,  covering  many  yards,  and  is  called  the  Eagle  Mound.1 

characters  correspond  to  those  now  in  use  in  the  Hebrew  books,  but  these  furnished  a  key  to  the  translation.  It  had  al 
ready  been  stated"  by  a  gentleman  familiar  with  the  history  and  practice  of  the  Freemasons,  and  who  was  a  member  of  the 
fraternity,  that  the  stone  was  of  the  kind  used  by  masons  of  a  certain  grade  in  the  East  soon  after  the  building  of  the 
first  temple  by  Solomon.  It  has  in  their  system,  he  said,  a  well-known  meaning,  its  principal  use  in  ancient  times  be 
ing  for  deposit  beneath  whatever  structure  the  master  mason  might  superintend.  This  symbol,  he  said,  was  not  nec 
essarily  furnished  with  inscriptions,  but  masons  entitled  to  use  it  might  put  such  sentences  upon  it  as  that  one  has.  It 
would  be  placed  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  foundation,  and  if  it  stood  on  its  point  would  indicate  that  something 
more  was  deposited  beneath.  If  it  lay  on  its  broadest  face,  the  point  or  small  end  would  indicate  the  direction  where 
other  deposits  would  be  found.  These,  if  found,  would  disclose  facts  connected  with  the  building.  Was  not  the  cavity 
in  which  the  stone  was  found  the  foundation  of  a  structure  never  erected  ? 

A  few  weeks  subsequent  to  my  visit,  Mr.  Wyrick  found,  in  one  of  the  mounds  in  that  vicinity,  a  stone  box,  nearly 
egg-shaped,  the  two  halves  fitting  together  by  a  joint  which  runs  around  the  stone  lengthwise.  Within  this  box  was  a 
stone  seven  inches  long  and  three  wide,  on  a  smooth  surface  of  which  is  a  figure,  in  bas  relief,  well  cut,  and  surrounded 
by  characters  thus  described  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  M'Carty :  "  The  words  over  the  head  of  the  human  figure  contain  three 
letters.  Two  of  them  are  Hebrew,  Sheir  and  He  (or  Heth).  The  third  I  inferred  to  be  Mem—  a  conjecture  most  readily 
suggested  by  its  form,  it  being  exactly  that  of  the  old  Gaelic  Muin  (M),  and  afterward  fully  borne  out  by  its  always  an 
swering  thereto.  This  gave  the  word  Moskch  (Moses)  or  Meshiach  (Messiah)."  Of  the  characters  Mr.  M'Carty  said  "  some 
looked  like  the  Hebrew  coin  character,  some  like  the  Phoenician  alphabet,  a  few  bore  resemblance  to  those  on  the  Grave 
Creek  stone,*  and  some  I  could  not  identify  with  any  known  alphabet."  He  at  last  found  that  the  language  was  really 
Hebrew,  much  like  that  found  in  the  Bibles  of  the  German  Jews,  and,  after  great  and  patient  labor,  he  discovered  that 
the  whole  constituted  an  abrfdged  form  of  the  Ten  Commandments. 

This  is  not  the  place,  nor  has  the  writer  the  knowledge  requisite  for  a  discussion  of  the  matter.  I  have  simply  stated 
the  curious  facts — facts  well  worthy  of  the  earnest  investigation  of  archffiologists,  for  they  raise  the  ethnological  and 
historical  question  whether  the  mound-builders  of  this  continent  were  of  Asiatic  origin,  or  were  related  to  the  Indian 
tribes  whose  remnants  still  exist. 

1  Other  mounds  in  this  vicinity  are  in  the  shape  of  animals.  One  of  the  most  curious  and  extensive  of  these  is  about 
four  miles  from  Newark,  on  the  road  to  Granville.  It  is  in  the  shape  of  a  lizard,  and  covers  the  whole  summit  of  a  hill. 
Its  dimensions,  in  feet,  are  as  follows  :  Length  of  the  head  and  neck,  32 ;  of  the  body,  73 ;  of  the  tail,  105 :  width  from 
the  ends  of  the  fore  feet  over  the  shoulders,  100 ;  from  the  ends  of  the  hind  feet  over  the  hips,  92  ;  between  the  legs, 
across  the  body,  32  ;  across  the  tail,  close  to  the  body,  IS ;  height  at  the  highest  point,  7  ;  whole  length,  210.  It  appears 
to  be  mainly  composed  of  clay,  and  is  overgrown  with  grass.  Visitors  have  made  a  path  from  the  nose,  along  the  back, 
to  where  the  tail  begins  to  curl,  at  which  point  stands  a  large  black  walnut-tree.— See  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of 
Ohio,  page  298. 

*  A  small  stone  tablet,  found  in  a  large  monnd  near  Grave  Creek,  in  the  vicinity  of  Winchester,  Virginia,  having  an 
inscription  in  cuneiform  characters  like  the  ancient  Phoenician. 


506  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Thoughts  concerning  the  Mound-builders.  City  of  Columbus.  Journey  down  the  Scioto  Valley. 

The  ground  covered  by  this  ancient  work  is  owned  by  the  Licking  County  Agri 
cultural  Society,  and  within  the  earth-walled  inclosure  their  annual  fairs  are  held,  for 
the  accommodation  of  which  some  buildings  have  been  erected.  These,  with  the  gen 
eral  appearance  of  the  work,  and  the  trees  upon  the  banks,  as  seen  from  the  entrance, 
may  be  observed  in  the  picture  on  page  565.  After  finishing  that  sketch,  and  ex 
ploring  every  part  of  this  strange  old  structure  by  an  unknown  people  in  an  unknown 
age,  I  returned  to  Newark,  the  quickened  imagination  filling  the  mind  with  wondrous 
visions  of  the  earlier  ages  of  our  continent,  while  Memory  recalled  those  suggestive 
lines  of  Bryant  in  his  "  Prairie,"  in  which,  turning  to  the  Past,  he  soliloquizes  concern 
ing  the  mound-builders,  saying,  as  introductory, 

"  And  did  the  dust 

Of  these  fair  solitudes  once  stir  with  life 
And  burn  with  passion  ?    Let  the  mighty  mounds 
That  overlook  the  rivers,  or  that  rise 
In  the  dim  forest,  crowded  with  old  oaks, 
Answer.    A  race  that  long  has  passed  away 
Built  them  ;  a  disciplined  and  populous  race 
Heaped  with  long  toil  the  earth,  while  yet  the  Greek 
Was  hewing  the  Pentelicus  to  forms 
Of  symmetry,  and  rearing  on  its  rock 
The  glittering  Parthenon." 

I  returned  to  Columbus  in  time  to  visit  the  magnificent  State-house,  dine,  and  leave 
in  the  stage-coach  at  two  o'clock  for  Chillicothe,  forty-five  miles  down  the  Scioto  Val 
ley,  toward  the  Ohio  River.  Columbus  is  a  beautiful  city,  of  almost  twenty  thousand 
inhabitants,  standing  upon  a  gently-rolling  plain  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Scioto 
River,1  about  half  a  mile  below  its  confluence  with  the  Olentangy.  The  streets  are 
broad,  its  public  buildings  are  attractive,  and  many  private  mansions  display  great 
elegance.  It  is  pleasant  in  every  feature  as  the  political  capital  of  a  great  state. 
Where  it  now  stands  was  a  dark  forest  when  Harrison  had  his  head-quarters  at  Frank- 
linton,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Scioto,  in  1812  and  1813.  Then  a  settlement  was 
commenced  there,  and  in  181 6  it  was  made  the  seat  of  the  state  government.  The 
county  seat  of  Franklin  was  removed  to  Columbus  from  Franklinton  in  1824,  and  the 
present  city  was  chartered  in  1834. 

The  journey  from  Columbus  to  Chillicothe,  in  an  old-fashioned  elliptical  stage-coach 
drawn  by  four  horses,  was  a  very  delightful  one.  The  day  was  perfect  in  purity  of 
air  and  in  temperature ;  the  sky  was  unflecked  by  the  smallest  cloud,  and  the  whole 
country  was  green  with  verdure.  I  was  granted  the  privilege  of  a  seat  by  the  side 
of  the  driver,  and  thus  I  secured  uninterrupted  views  of  the  country,  which  exhibited 
all  the  picturesque  beauty  possible  without  the  charms  of  mountains  or  high  hills. 
Our  route  lay  along  the  gentle  slopes  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Scioto  until  AVC 
reached  Shadeville,  a  pleasant  little  embowered  village,  where  we  first  struck  the  bot 
tom  of  the  Scioto  Valley,  nine  miles  from  Columbus.  There  we  changed  horses,  and, 
eight  miles  farther  on,  stopped  at  Bloomfield,  another  little  village,  where  fresh  horses 
were  waiting  our  arrival.  A  little  before  sunset  we  rode  into  Circleville,  a  large  town 
at  the  head  of  the  great  Pickaway  Plains.2  Our  route  had  been  through  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  regions  of  Ohio,  and  would  increase  in  interesfywe  were  told,  as  we 
advanced  toward  Chillicothe.  But  the  night  was  near.  We  had  passed  broad  fields 
of  Indian  corn,  plants  full  twelve  feet  in  height,  heavily  laden  with  ears,  beneath  which 
droves  of  swine  were  frequently  seen.  The  streams  were  fringed  with  heavy-foliaged 
trees  and  shrubbery,  interspersed  with  magnificent  sycamores,  while  the  little  forests 

1  According  to  a  statement  of  Rev.  David  Jones  in  his  journal  in  1T74,  Scioto,  in  the  Shawnoese  language,  signifies 
hairy  river,  so  called  because  that  stream  in  the  spring  was  filled  with  hairs,  from  the  immense  number  of  deer  that 
came  to  it  to  drink  when  shedding  their  coats. 

2  Circleville  is  the  capital  of  Pickaway  County,  situated  on  the  Ohio  Canal  and  Scioto  River.    It  stands  upon  the  site 
of  one  of  the  ancient  earth-works  that  abound  in  that  region,  which  was  of  circular  form,  and  gave  the  name  to  the  vil 
lage.    The  court-house  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  circle,  and  the  town  grew  up  around  it.    For  an  interesting  account  of 
the  mounds  in  that  vicinity,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  page  410. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  567 


Circleville. 


Arrival  at  Chillicothe.  Its  Site  and  early  Buildings. 

and  pleasant  groves  through  which  Ave  rode  presented  to  the  eye  timber-giants  of  a 
size  seldom  seen  eastward  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 

We  found  Circleville  crowded  with  people  of  every  sex,  color,  and  condition,  in  at 
tendance  upon  a  county  fair— so  crowded  that  our  most  earnest  endeavors  to  pro 
cure  some  supper  at  the  tavern  where  the  coach  stopped  failed.  We  tarried  there 
but  a  short  time,  and  at  sunset  resumed  our  journey  with  fresh  horses.  To  avoid  the 
heavy  dew  and  chilly  night  air,  I  took  a  seat  inside  the  coach,  with  eight  other  adults 
and  two  children,  and  enjoyed  a  delightful  ride  across  the  Pickaway  Plains1  during 
the  strangely  luminous  twilight  that  lingered  long  at  the  close  of  that  lovely  Septem 
ber  day.  Just  as  night  fell  upon  the  landscape,  we  diverged  from  the  Plains  to  pass 
through  the  village  of  Kingston,  and  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  sat  down  to  an 
excellent  supper,  with  keen  appetites,  at  the  "Valley  Hotel"  in  Chillicothe. 

Chillicothe,  the  capital  of  Ross  County,  and  centre  of  the  trade  of  the  Scioto  re 
gion,  is  delightfully  situated  on  a  perfectly  level  plain,  at  a  narrow  and  picturesque 
part  of  the  valley,  with  lofty  and  rugged  hills  rising  around  it.  In  ancient  times  it 
was  a  place  of  great  attraction  for  the  inhabitants,  and  was  one  of  the  principal  ren 
dezvous  of  the  Shawnoese  when  the  white  man  began  to  seat  himself  in  the  Ohio 
country.  It  was  early  settled,  and  in  the  year  1800  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
Northwestern  Territory  was  removed  from  Cincinnati 
to  Chillicothe.  The  building  of  a  state-house  there  was 
commenced  the  same  year,  and  was  completed  early 
enough  in  1801  for  the  Territorial  Legislature  to  meet 
in  it.2  In  the  same  room,  the  Convention  that  framed 
the  Constitution  for  the  State  of  Ohio  met  in  the  au 
tumn  of  1802.  It  was  built  of  stone,  and  was  the  first 
public  edifice  made  of  that  material  in  the  Territory. 
That  venerable  and  venerated  structure  was  demol 
ished  about  the  year  1850,  and  on  its  site  was  erected 
the  present  court-house  for  the  county,  of  light  brown 

111  J?i1  il  i'/»1  THE   OLD   STATE-HOUSE. 

freestone,  and  remarkable  as  one  ot  the  most  beautiful 

public  buildings  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  The  old  jail,  also  built  in  1801,  was  yet 
standing  when  I  visited  Chillicothe.  The  above  sketch  of  the  state-house  is  copied, 
by  permission,  from  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  page  436. 

Chillicothe  was  an  important  rendezvous  of  United  States  soldiers  during  the  War 
of  1812,  as  we  have  already  incidentally  observed.  They  were  stationed  at  Camp 
Bull,  about  a  mile  north  of  the  town,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Scioto.  There  several 
hundred  British  prisoners,  captured  by  Perry  and  Harrison,  were  confined  for  some 
time. 

On  the  morning  after  my  arrival  I  rode  out  to  "  Fruit  Hill,"  the  residence  of  Gen 
eral  Duncan  M' Arthur  during  a  greater  portion  of  his  life,  and  then  (1860)  the  prop 
erty  and  dwelling  of  his  son-in-law,  Honorable  William  Allen,  late  member  of  Con 
gress.  It  was  about  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  court-house  in  Chillicothe,  upon  the 
lofty  plain  between  the  Scioto  and  Paint  Creek  Valleys,  and  was  so  situated  as  to  com- 

1  These  plains  lie  south  of  Circleville,  on  the  easfc  side  of  the  Scioto,  and  are  said  to  contain  the  richest  body  of  land 
in  Ohio.    They  are  called  respectively  upper  and  lower  plains.    The  black  soil  is  the  result  of  vegetable  decomposition 
during  many  ages.    Beneath  it  is  a  bed  of  pebbles  and  gravel,  and  the  surface  of  the  Plains  is  from  forty  to  fifty  feet 
above  the  Scioto.    These  plains  were  the  resort  not  only  of  the  mound-builders,  but  of  the  Indians  before  the  Europe 
ans  came.    There  they  had  a  general  council-fire  for'  all-the  associated  tribes  in  that  region  ;  there  it  was  that  the  war 
riors  assembled  to  confront  the  army  of  Lord  Duumore  in  1774,  and  there  the  horrid  rites  of  torturing  prisoners  were 
frequently  performed.    There,  on  that  classic  Indian  ground,  Logan,  the  bereaved  Mingo  chief,  made  the  famous  speech 
preserved  by  Mr.  Jefferson ;  and  there  was  "  Camp  Charlotte,"  on  Scippo  Creek,  seven  miles  southwest  from  Circle 
ville,  where,  by  treaty,  Dnnmore's  campaign  was  brought  to  a  close.    For  a  full  account  of  Dnumore's  expedition,  and 
Logan  and  his  famous  speech,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Lossing's  Pictorial  Field-book  of  (tie  Revolution,  ii.,  2S1  arid  284  in 
clusive. 

2  The  first  two  sessions  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  were  held  in  a  small,  two-storied  log  honse  that  stood  on  the 
corner  of  Second  and  Walnut  Streets.    This  had  a  wing,  in  which  were  public  offices.    This  building  was  used  for  bar 
racks  during  the  War  of  1S12. 


568 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Visit  to  "Fruit  Hill"  and  "  Adena." 


Governor  Worthington. 


FKUIT  1I1LL,  GENERAL   Ju'AKTHUB's   RESIDENCE. 


mand  a  fine  view  of  the  town 
and  the  surrounding  coun 
try.  It  was  reached  from 
the  valley  by  a  winding  road 
among  the  hills.  The  man 
sion  was  of  hewn  sandstone, 
spacious  and  elegant  in  fin 
ish  within  and  without.  It 
was  erected  in  1802,  and 
stood  in  the  midst  of  a 
pleasant  grassy  lawn,  dot 
ted  with  a  variety  of  orna 
mental  trees  and  fruit-bear 
ing  Osage  orange -trees.  I 
was  disappointed  in  not  find 
ing  the  proprietor  at  home, 
but  this  was  lessened  by  the 
kind  hospitalities  of  a  young 
woman,  a  member  of  the 
family,  who  led  me  to  the  observatory  on  the  top  of  the  house,  from  which  may  be 
obtained  charming  views  of  the  Scioto  and  Paint  Creek  Valleys. 

Having  sketched  the  "Fruit  liill"  mansion,1  I  rode  to  "Adena,"  the  fine  old  res 
idence  of  Governor  Thomas  Worthington, 
chief  magistrate  of  Ohio  from  1814  to  1818. 
It  is  situated  upon  the  same  ridge,  two  hund 
red  feet  above  the  Scioto,  and  half  a  mile 
north  from  M'Arthur's  mansion.  It  overlooks 
the  same  valleys,  and,  because  of  the  beauty 
of  its  situation,  it  was  called  "Adena,"  or  Par 
adise.  The  building  is  of  hewn  sandstone, 
and  was  erected  in  1805,  at  great  expense, 
under  the  supervision  of  the  elder  Latrobe, 
of  AVashington  City.  Its  elegance  and  nov 
elty  were  such,  in  its  form,  its  large  panes  of" 
glass,  its  papered  rooms,  and  marble  fire 
places,  that  persons  came  from  long  distances 
to  see  it,  and  considered  its  name  appropri 
ate.  It  was  the  finest  mansion  in  all  that 
region ;  and,  so  much  was  Worthington  re 
spected,  that  all  agreed  that  man  and  dwell 
ing  were  worthy  of  each  other. 


He  Avas  an  early  settler  in  the  vi 
cinity.  In  1798  he  built  the  first 
frame  house,  with  glazed  win 
dows,  erected  in  Chillicothe,  oiled 
paper  being  then  the  substitute 
for  glass.2  He  erected  a  saw  and  grist  mill'  for  the  accommodation  of  the  inhabit 
ants,  and  in  every  way  was  a  very  public-spirited  man.3 

1  This  view  is  from  the  lawn,  looking  toward  Chillicothe,  a  glimpse  of  which  is  seen  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  picture. 

2  The  first  dwelling  for  a  white  man  on  the  site  of  Chillicothe  was  a  bark  cabin  erected  by  General  M'Arthur. 

3  Thomas  Worthington  was  born  in  Jefferson  County  (then  Berkeley),  Virginia,  about  the  year  17C9.    He  took  with 
him  to  the  Ohio  country  quite  a  number  of  slaves,  whom  he  emancipated.    He  was  one  of  the  most  energetic  of  the  pi 
oneers  to  that  region,  and  soon  became  a  leading  man  among  the  settlers.    He  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  that 
formed  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Ohio  in  1803.    Soon  after  that  he  was  chosen  to  represent  the  new  state  in  the 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


5G9 


Description  of  "  Adeua." 


M'Arthur's  Portrait. 


A  Visit  to  Cincinnati  and  its  Vicinity. 


Adena  was  then  owned  by  Governor  Worth- 
ington's  sou,  General  James  Worthington. 
The  court  in  front  of  the  mansion  was  filled 
with  trees,  shrubbery,  and  flowers.  On  the 
right  was  an  enormous  cherry-tree,  planted  * 
in  1798  by  the  side  of  the  log  cabin  in  which 
Governor  Worthington  and  his  family  lived 
until  the  house  in  Chillicothe  was  completed. 
There  was  a  fine  garden  attached  to  the  man 
sion,  and  from  various  points  in  the  vicinity 
most  charming  views  of  the  Scioto  Valley 
may  be  obtained.  The  proprietor  was  not  at 
home  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  but  I  have  very 
pleasant  recollections  of  the  kind  courtesy 
I  received  from  his  family  in  showing  me 
works  of  art  and  curiosities,  and  imparting 

information.       Among   the   relics   of  the   past  AI>EX A,  GOVERNOR  WOBTUIXGTON'S  RESIDENCE. 

which  I  saw  there  was  a  hatchet-pipe,  almost  precisely  like  the  one  shown  me  at 
Brantford,  in  Canada,  and  delineated  on  page  421.  It  was  presented  to  Governor 
Worthington  by  Tecumtha,  and  is  highly  valued  by  the  family. 

Leaving  "  Adena,"  I  passed  down  the  winding  road  through  the  hills  to  the  plain, 
by  a  beautiful  little  lake  at  the  foot  of  the  wooded  acclivity,  and,  on  reaching  Chilli 
cothe,  called  at  the  residence  of  the  Honorable  C.  A.  Trimble,  member  of  Congress, 
and  son-in-law  of  M' Arthur,  who  owns  the  fine  portrait  of  the  general  from  which  the 
engraving  on  page  267  was  copied.  He,  too,  was  absent,  but,  through  the  kind  offices 
of  his  brother,  I  was  permitted  to  have  a  daguerreotype  of  the  painting  made.  This 
was  completed  just  in  time  to  allow  me  to  take  the  cars  on  the  Marietta  and  Cincin 
nati  Railway  for  the  latter  place  at  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  We  reach 
ed  the  "Queen  City"  at  seven  in  the  evening,  having  journeyed. ninety-six  miles 
through  an  interesting  country  from  the  Valley  of  the  Scioto  to  that  of  the  Little 
Miami. 

During  the  three  succeeding  days  I  visited  men  and  places  of  interest  in  and  about 
Cincinnati.  I  crossed  the  Ohio  to  Covington  and  Newport,  cities  on  the  Kentucky 
shore,  flanking  the  mouth  of  the  Licking  River.  I  also  rode  out  to  Batavia,  the  cap 
ital  of  Clermont  County,  about  twenty  miles  distant,  one  hot  afternoon,  fortunately 
occupying  a  portion  of  the  driver's  seat  on  a  stage-coach.  Our  route  lay  along  the 
Ohio  through  Columbia,  a  suburban  village  (settled  before  the  seed  of  Cincinnati  was 
planted),  to  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Miami,  the  eye  every  where  delighted  with  the 
picturesque  beauty  of  the  shores  of  the  great  river,  covered  with  vineyards  then 
wealthy  with  immense  stores  of  grapes,  on  the  Ohio  side. 

"There  grows  no  vine 

By  the  haunted  Rhine, 
By  Danube  or  Guadalquivir, , 

Nor  on  island  or  cape, 

That  bears  such  grape 
As  grows  by  the  Beautiful  River."1 

We  crossed  the  Miami,  and  made  our  way  along  the  level  country  on  its  eastern 
side  a  few  miles,  when  our  course  bent  more  eastward  among  lofty  cultivated  hills. 
Toward  sunset  we  looked  down  from  a  rugged  eminence  into  the  fertile  vale  of  the 
east  branch  of  the  Little  Miami,  then  flooded  Avith  the  evening  sunlight,  which 

Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  was  an  active  supporter  in  Congress  of  Jefferson's  administration.    He  was  elected 
governor  of  the  state  in  1S14,  and  held  the  office  four  years.    After  his  retirement  from  the  chief  magistracy  he  was  ap 
pointed  a  member  of  the  first  board  of  Canal  Commissioners,  and  held  that  office  until  his  death  in  the  year  1S27,  hav 
ing  been  in  public  station  about  thirty  years. 
*  Ohio  is  the  Shawuoese  word  for  Beautiful  River.    The  French  called  it  La  Belle  Riviere. 


570  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Veterans  of  the  War  of  1S1-2  at  Batavia.  An  Evening  with  a  Daughter  of  General  Harrison. 

brought  out,  in  luminous  relief,  against  the  green  verdure  back  of  it,  the  quiet  village 
of  Batavia,  that  lay  nestled  in  the  lap  of  the  hills  at  the  head  of  the  valley.  There, 
at  the  houses  of  relatives  and  friends,  I  passed  the  Sabbath,  and  met  three  surviving 
soldiers  of  the  War  of  1812,  namely,  John  Jamieson,  Abraham  Miley,  and  James  Car 
ter.  Mr.  Jamieson  was  from  Kentucky,  and  belonged  to  a  company  of  spies  in  Por 
ter's  regiment.  He  was  active  on  the  frontier  in  the  vicinity  of  Detroit  during  a 
greater  portion  of  the  war.  In  1814  he  saw  the  infamous  Simon  Girty  on  the  rack 
of  severe  rheumatism  at  his  house  a  few  miles  below  Maiden.  The  villain's  cabin 
was  decorated  with  scalps.  Mr.  Miley  was  a  rifleman  in  Fort  Meigs  at  the  time  of 
the  siege  in  May,  1813.  Mr.  Jamieson  and  Mr.  Carter  confirmed  the  horrid  story  of 
the  conversion  of  some  of  the  skin  of  Tecumtha  into  razor-strops.  One  of  them  had 
seen  pieces  of  the  skin  in  the  hands  of  a  Kentuckian  who  took  it  from  Tecumtha's 
thigh ! 

» September  is,  On  the  evening  after  my  return  to  Cincinnati  from  Bataviaa  I  de 
parted  for  North  Bend,  fourteen  miles  westward,  on  the  Ohio  and  Mis 
sissippi  Railway,  where  General  Harrison  was  wedded  while  yet  a  subaltern  in  the 
army  of  the  United  States,  where  he  lived  when  he  bore  the  honors  of  a  gallant  gen 
eral  of  that  army,  and  where  he  was  buried  while  the  laurels  Avhich  composed  the 
most  precious  civic  crown  in  the  power  of  a  people  to  bestow  were  yet  fresh  upon 
his  brow. 

The  annual  fair  of  the  United  States  Agricultural  Society  was  about  to  close  in  Cin 
cinnati,  and  thousands  of  visitors  Avere  making  their  way  homeward.  The  cars  were 
densely  packed,  and,  because  of  some  detention  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city,  we  did 
not  reach  North  Bend  until  after  dark.  The  nearest  public  house  was  at  the  little 
village  of  Cleves,  a  mile  distant  over  the  hills,  and  thitherward  I  made  my  way  on 
foot,  accompanied  by  a  grandson  of  General  Harrison,  son  of  W.  W.  H.  Taylor,  Esq., 
at  whose  house  I  supped  and  spent  the  evening.  Their  dwelling  is  pleasantly  situ 
ated  on  a  slope  overlooking  the  village  of  Cleves  and  the  Great  Miami  Valley  at  that 
point,  and  is  only  half  a  mile  from  the  tomb  of  Harrison.  Mrs.  Taylor  is  a  daughter 
of  the  general.  She  kindly  invited  me  to  pass  the  night  under  their  roof,  but  cir 
cumstances  made  it  proper  for  me  to  take  lodgings  at  the  tavern  in  Cleves.  In  the 
possession  of  Mrs.  Taylor  were  porti*aits  of  her  father  and  mother,  the  former  painted 
in  the  winter  of  1840-'41  by  J.  G.  H.  Beard,  of  Cincinnati,  and  pronounced  a  faithful 
likeness  by  the  family.  The  latter,  an  equally  faithful  likeness,  was  painted  in  1828 
by  a  young  artist  named  Corwin,  who  died  in  New  York  when  about  to  embark  for 
Italy.  It  is  the  portrait  of  a  small  and  beautiful  woman  at  the  age  of  fifty-three 
years.  Mrs.  Taylor  kindly  furnished  me  with  photographic  copies  of  the  portraits. 

When  I  visited  North  Bend,  Mrs.  Harrison,  who  had  just  passed  the  eighty-fifth 
year  of  her  age,  was  residing  with  her  son,  Scott  Harrison,  Esq.,1  at  Lawrenceburg, 
five  miles  farther  down  the  Ohio.  I  was  informed  that  she  had  not  received  visits 
from  strangers  for  a  long  time,  her  sensitive  nature  instinctively  shrinking  from  the 
notoriety  which  her  husband's  exalted  position  had  given  her.  It  was  said  that  she 
retained  much  of  the  rare  beauty*  of  her  earlier  years,  and  that  the  portrait  of  her 
given  on  the  opposite  page  is  a  fair  likeness  of  her  in  her  extreme  old  age.2  She  was 
Anna  Symmes,  daughter  of  the  Honorable  John  Cleves  Symmes,  of  New  Jersey, 
who,  as  we  have  observed  (page  36),  purchased  an  immense  tract  of  land  between 

1  Mr.  Harrison  had  in  his  possession  the  telescope  used  by  Commodore  Perry  in  the  engagement  on  Lake  Erie,  which 
that  gallant  commander  presented  to  General  Harrison  as  a  token  of  his  regard. 

2  Mrs.  Harrison  died  on  the  25th  of  February,  1864,  when  lacking  exactly  five  months  of  being  eighty-nine  years  of 
age.    She  was  born  in  Sussex  County,  New  Jersey,  on  the  25th  of  July,  1TT5.    Her  remains  were  taken  to  the  house  of 
her  daughter,  Mrs.  Taylor,  at  Cleves,  and  at  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  village  the  Reverend  Mr.  Bushnell  preach 
ed  a  funeral  sermon,  from  the  text  which  she  had  selected  for  the  occasion  a  year  before— "Be  still,  and  know  that  I 
nm  God."    Her  remains  were  then  laid  in  the  vault  overlooking  the  North  Bend,  by  the  side  of  those  of  her  husband. 
Mrs.  Harrison  was  distinguished  for  personal  courage,  good  sense,  modesty,  and  sincere  piety.    Her  life  was  made  up 
of  alternate  excitement  and  repose.    She  was  loved  most  dearly  by  all  who  knew  her. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


571 


Settlement  at  North  Beiid. 


Symmes's  City  to  be  the  future  Capital  of  Ohio. 


A  successful  Rival. 


the  Great  and  Little  Miami  Rivers,  and 
who,  early  in  February,  1790,  landed  Avith 
some  settlers  at  the  most  northerly  bend 
of  the  Ohio  River  in  its  course  below 
Wheeling,  and  proceeded  to  found  a  set 
tlement  by  laying  out  a  village  upon  the  el 
evated  plateau  through  which  the  White 
water  Canal  courses  at  the  present  North 
Bend  Station.  He  commenced  the  con 
struction  of  hewn-log  huts,  with  substan 
tial  stone  chimneys,  and  the  town  was 
named  "  Symmes's  City."  The  first  house 
erected  is  yet  [1867]  standing  on  the 
bank  of  the  canal,  a  few  rods  from  the 
Ohio,  and  about  eighty  rods  from  the 

North  Bend 

Station.  The 

chimneys  of 

two     others 

might    be 

seen   at  the 

time  of  my 

visit    nearer 

the  station  and  the  river. 

Settlers  on  the  "Miami  Purchase"  had  already  built 

huts  at  Columbia  and  on  the  site  of  Cincinnati,  but  at 

North  Bend  Judge  Symmes  designed  to  plant  the  fruitful 

seed  of  a  commercial  city ;  but  the  choice  of  the  site  of 
Cincinnati  for  a  block-house  to  protect  the  Miami  settlers  deranged  all  the  judge's  plans 
and  destroyed  his  hopes.  The  settlers  that 
came  preferred  to  place  their  families  un 
der  the  immediate  wing  of  military  protec 
tion,  and  Cincinnati,  instead  of  "Symmes's 
City,"  or  North  Bend,  became  the  great 
emporium  of  the  Ohio  region.1  There  Fort 
Washington  was  built  and  a  garrison  sta 
tioned,2  and  there,  after  the  treaty  of 
Greenville3  in  1795,  Captain  Harrison  was 
stationed  as  commander.  Meanwhile  a 
block-house  had  been  erected  at  North 
Bend,  and  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above 
the  present  railway  station,  on  the  bank  of 


PIONEEK   HOUSE.  KOKTU  BEND. 


BLOCK-HOUSE  AT  NOET11   BENI).* 


1  We  have  observed  in  Note  4,  page  40,  that  Ensign  Luce,  of  the  United  States  Army,  in  the  exercise  of  his  discre 
tion,  chose  the  site  of  Cincinnati  for  the  block-house  in  opposition  to  the  powerful  influence  of  Judge  Symmes.  Ac 
cording  to  common  tradition,  it  was  passion,  not  judgment,  that  fashioned  the  ensign's  decision.  He  had  formed  an 
acquaintance  with  the  beautiful  young  wife  of  one  of  the  settlers  at  the  Bend.  When  the  husband  discovered  the  gal 
lant  officer's  too  great  attention  to  his  black-eyed  spouse,  he  removed  to  Cincinnati,  that  she  might  be  beyond  the  power 
of  the  tempter.  This  movement  suddenly  changed  the  mind  of  the  ensisrn.  He  had  resolved  to  build  the  block-house 
at  the  Bend  ;  now  he  discovered  that  Cincinnati  was  a  much  more  eligible  site.  He  accordingly  marched  his  troops  to 
that  little  settlement.  Judge  Symmes  warmly  remonstrated,  but  in  vain.  The  ensign  was  fairly  captivated  by  the 
sparkling  eyes,  and  they  decided  the  question.  "Thus  we  see,"  says  Judge  Burnet,  from  whose  "Notes"  these  facts 
have  been  gleaned,  "  the  incomparable  beauty  of  a  Spartan  dame  produced  a  ten  years'  war  which  terminated  in  the 
destruction  of  Troy,  and  the  irresistible  charms  of  another  female  transferred  the  commercial  emporium  of  Ohio  from 
the  place  where  it  had  been  commenced  to  the  place  where  it  now  is.  If  this  captivating  American  Helen  had  remain 
ed  at  the  Bend  the  block-house  would  have  been  erected  there,  population,  capital,  and  business  would  have  centred 
there,  and  there  would  have  been  the  Queen  City  of  the  West."  2  See  pa<re  40.  3  See  page  5T. 

*  This  is  copied,  by  permission,  from  a  sketch  in  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  OMo.page  230. 


572  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Captain  Harrison  arid  Anna  Symmes  as  Lovers.  Their  Marriage  opposed.  Its  Consummation  and  Result. 

the  river,  Judge  Symmes  had  erected  quite  a  commodious  house  for  himself,  the  ruins 
of  whose  chimney  and  fire-place  might  yet  be  seen  in  1860.  To  that  dwelling  came 
his  family  in  January,  1795,  one  of  whom  was  the  beautiful  Anna,  then  a  girl  twenty 
years  of  age.  The  block-house  was  a  dependency  of  the  post  at  Cincinnati,  and  it 
received  the  early  personal  attention  of  Captain  Harrison,  then  a  young  man  twenty- 
two  years  of  age.  He  was  the  son  of  a  leading  citizen  of  Virginia,  and  bearing  the 
highest  praises  of  his  commander,  General  Wayne,  as  a  gallant  soldier.  He  was  a 
welcome  guest  in  the  hospitable  house  of  Judge  Symmes ;  and  his  visits,  which  be 
came  more  and  more  frequent,  were  especially  pleasing  to  the  gentle  Anna,  who  had 
first  met  him  at  the  house  of  her  sister,  Mrs.  Major  Short,  near  Lexington,  Kentucky. 
The  young  friends  soon  became  lovers,  and  the  judge  gave  his  consent  to  their  mar 
riage.  Hearing  some  slanderous  stories  concerning  Captain  Harrison,  he  withdrew 
that  consent,  but  the  loving  Anna,  like  a  true  woman,  had  implicit  confidence  in  her 
affianced.  She  resolved  to  marry  him,  and  her  faithfulness  verified  the  saying  that 

"  Love  will  find  its  way 
Through  paths  where  wolves  would  fear  to  prey." 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  fixed  for  the  marriage,  Judge  Symmes,  without  any  sus 
picion  of  such  an  event  then,  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  to  Cincinnati.     The  lovers 
*  November  22,     were  united  at  his  house,a  in  the  presence  of  Anna's  step-mother  and 
1795.  many  friends,  by  Dr.  Stephen  Wood,  then  a  magistrate.     The  judge  did 

not  se'e  his  son-in-law  until  a  few  weeks  afterward,  when  he  met  him  at  a  dinner-par 
ty  given  by  General  Wilkinson,  then  in  command  of  Fort  Washington,  to  General 
Wayne.  "  Well,  sir,"  the  judge  said,  somewhat  sternly,  "  I  understand  you  have  mar 
ried  Anna."  "  Yes,  sir,"  responded  Captain  Harrison.  "  How  do  you  expect  to  sup 
port  her?"  the  father  inquired.  "By  my  sword  and  my  own  right  arm,"  quickly  an 
swered  the  young  officer.  Judge  Symmes  was  pleased  with  the  reply,  and,  like  a 
sensible  man,  was  reconciled,  and  gave  them  his  blessing.  He  lived  to  be  proud  of 
that  son-in-law  as  governor  of  the  Indiana  Territory,  and  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe,  Fort 
Meigs,  and  the  Thames ;  and  the  devoted  wife,  after  sharing  his  joys  and  sorrows  for 
five-and-forty  years,  laid  him  in  the  grave  within  sight  of  the  place  of  their  nuptials, 
while  the  nation  mingled  its  tears  with  hers,  for  he  was  crowned  with  the  unsurpass 
able  honor  of  being  the  chief  magistrate  of  this  republic.  * 

1  William  Henry  Harrison,  the  youngest  of  fifteen  children,  was  born  at  Berkeley,  on  the  James  River,  in  Virginia,  ou 
the  9th  of  February,  17T3.  He  was  descended  from  a  celebrated  leader  of  the  same  name  in  Cromwell's  army.  He  was 
educated  at  Hampdeu-Syduey  College,  in  Virginia.  On  the  death  of  his  father,  Robert  Morris,  of  Philadelphia,  became  his 
guardian.  Contrary  to  the  advice  of  that  gentleman,  he  entered  the  army.  He  hastened  to  the  Northwest,  but  too  late 
to  share  in  the  horrors  of  St.  Clair's  defeat.  His  services  with  Wayne  have  already  (page  53)  been  noticed.  Soon  after 
his  marriage  he  resigned  his  commission,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  civil  life,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  as  Secretary 
of  the  Northwestern  Territory.  In  1799  he  was  elected  the  first  delegate  in  Congress  for  that  extensive  region.  Soon 
afterward,  when  Indiana  was  erected  into  a  separate  Territory,  he  was  appointed  governor,  and  clothed  with  extraor 
dinary  powers.  He  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  at  the  old  military  post  of  Vinceuues  in  1S01,  and  discharged 
his  duties  for  several  years  with  great  wisdom  and  fidelity.  His  troubles  with  the  Indians,  and  his  military  movements 
in  the  Wabash  Valley,  are  recorded  in  Chapter  X.  of  this  work.  In  subsequent  chapters  may  be  found  a  detailed  ac 
count  of  his  conduct  as  a  military  commander.  His  services  in  the  field  ended  with  the  battle  on  the  Thames,  in  Octo 
ber,  1S13,  and  in  the  following  spring  he  retired  to  his  farm  at  North  Bend.  He  was  frequently  called  to  serve  his  adopt 
ed  state  in  public  capacities.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Legislature  and  of  the  United  States  House  of  Represent 
atives.  In  1S24  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and  in  1S2S  was  appointed  minister  to  Colombia. 
Differing  with  President  Jackson  in  some  views  respecting  Panama,  he  was  recalled.  In  1S40,  after  living  in  retirement 
many  years,  he  was  nominated  by  the  party  then  called  Whig  for  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  United  States,  and  was  elect 
ed  by  an  overwhelming  vote.  He  was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  being  then  a  little  past  sixty-eight  years  of 
age.  Precisely  a  month  afterward  he  died,  leaving  behind  him  a  clean  record  of  almost  fifty  years  of  public  service. 
"  Calm  was  the  life  he  led,  till,  near  and  far, 

The  breath  of  millions  bore  his  name  along, 
Through  praise,  and  censure,  and  continuous  jar — " 

But  long  as  on  Ohio's  coursing  wave 

Is  borne  one  freeman  toward  the  glowing  West, 
His  eye  and  tongue  above  the  chieftain's  grave 

Shall  hail  the  marble  honors  of  his  rest ! 

And,  long  as  Dian  lifts  her  waning  crest 
Where  Liberty  yet  holds  what  she  hath  won, 

A  pensive  thought  shall  haunt  the  patriot's  breast 


OF    THE    WAR    OE    1812. 


573 


An  early  Settler  in  Ohio. 


A  Visit  to  the  Tomb  of  General  Harrison. 


Captain  Symmes  and  his  Theory. 


I  passed  the  night,  as  I  have  intimated,  at  the  tavern  in  Cleves,  and  in  the  morn 
ing  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  the  venerable  Daniel  G.  Howell,  who  was  the  first 
man-child  born  on  "  Symmes's  Purchase."  That  event  occurred  at  North  Bend,  on 
the  23d  of  August,  1790.  A  child  of  the  opposite  sex,  the  first  in  the  settlement,  was 
born  nine  days  earlier.  Mr.  Howell's  family  were  from  New  Jersey,  and  came  West 
with  Judge  Symmes.  He  gave  me  some  interesting  particulars  concerning  the  hard 
ships  of  the  early  settlers,  and  his  adventures  as  one  of  the  volunteers  for  the  relief 
of  Fort  Meigs.  At  first  the  settlers  could  not  spare  land  enough  for  raising  flax,  but 
they  fortunately  found  a  useful  substitute  in  a  species  of  nettle  that  grew  on  the  open 
glades  in  the  Miami  Valley  to  the  height  of  about  three  feet.  The  autumn  winds 
would  prostrate  it,  beneath  the  winter  snows  it  would  rot,  and  in  the  spring  all  the 
boys  of  the  settlement  would  be  engaged  in  carrying  the  crop  to  North  Bend,  where 
it  was  treated  like  flax,  spun  by  the  women,  and  woven  into  cloth  for  summer  wear. 
This  was  all  the  linen  in  use  there  for  some  time.  It  was  very  dark  at  first,  but  was  sus 
ceptible  of  bleaching.  They  used  dressed  deer-skin  for  external  clothing,  and  wild  tur 
keys  came  over  from  Kentucky  in  abundance,  like  the  quails  to  the  Hebrews,  and  sup 
plied  them  with  much  food. 

After  breakfast  I  called  at 
Mr.  Taylor's,  and  his  son  ac 
companied  me  to  the  tomb 
of  Harrison.  On  an  adjacent 
hill,  about  thirty  rods  west 
ward  from  it,  is  a  family  bu 
rial-ground,  in  which  is  the 
grave  of  Judge  Symmes,  cov 
ered  by  a  mai'ble  slab,  rest 
ing  a  little  above  the  ground, 
on  brick-work.1  From  this 
little  cemetery  we  crossed  a 
grassy  hollow  and  ascended 
to  the  tomb  of  Harrison,  on 
a  beautiful  knoll  about  two 
hundred  feet  above  the  Ohio 
River.  It  was  built  of  brick, 


HARBISON  S   GK.VVi:. 


Of  him,  whose  reign  in  her  brief  year  was  done, 

And  from  his  heart  shall  rise  the  name  of  HARRISON." — GEORGE  H.  COI.TON. 

1  The  following  is  the  inscription  on  the  slab :  "  Here  rest  the  remains  of  John  Cleves  Symmes,  who,  at  the  foot  of 
these  hills,  made  the  first  settlement  between  the  Miami  Rivers.  Born  on  Long  Island,  New  York,  July  21,  A.D.  1742. 
Died  at  Cincinnati,  February  26,  A.D.  1S14." 

John  Cleves  Symmes  was  born  at  Riverhead,  Long  Island,  and  in  early  life  was  a  surveyor  and  school-teacher.  He 
married  a  daughter  of  Governor  William  Livingston,  of  New  Jersey,  and  sister  of  the  wife  of  John  Jay.  He  was  active 
during  the  Revolution,  and  in  1777  was  made  an  associate  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  of  New  Jersey.  On  his  removal  to  the  Northwestern  Territory  he  was  appointed 
one  of  the  United  States  district  judges.  Near  the  present  village  of  Cleves  he  built  a  fire 
house,  at  a  cost  of  $12,0(M1,  the  brick  for  which  was  burned  on  the  spot.  A  political  enemy, 
named  Hart,  set  it  on  fire  on  the  1st  of  March,  1S11,  and  it  was  entirely  consumed.  Judge 
Symmes  died,  as  his  monument  says,  in  1814,  at  the  age  of  about  seventy-four  years. 

A  nephew  and  namesake  of  Judge  Symmes  attracted  much  public  attention  and  consid 
erable  ridicule,  about  forty  years  ago,  by  the  promulgation  of  his  belief  that  the  earth  was 
open  at  the  poles,  and  that  its  interior  was  accessible  and  habitable.  He  had  held  the  of 
fice  of  captain  in  the  army  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  performed  gallant  service  at  Fort  Erie. 
He  petitioned  Congress  in  1S22  for  aid  in  performing  a  voyage  of  discovery  to  the  inner 
earth,  setting  forth  the  honor  and  wealth  that  would  accrue  to  his  country  from  a  discov 
ery  which  he  deemed  certain.  His  memorial  was  presented  by  Colonel  Richard  M.  John 
son,  of  Kentucky,  but  was  laid  on  the  table.  He  found  very  little  encouragement  or  sup 
port  from  any  quarter.  His  arguments  were  ingenious,  and  he  had  a  few  believers.  He 
died  at  Hamilton,  Butler  County,  Ohio  (the  site  of  old  Fort  Hamilton),  on  the  2Sth  of  May, 
1828,  and  some  admirer  of  his  caused  a  monument  to  his  memory,  having  as  a  part  of  it  a 
globe  open  at  both  end?,  to  be  constructed.  The  picture  of  it  here  given  is  from  Howe's 
Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  page  77. 


SYMMES  S   MONUMENT. 


574 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Site  of  General  Harrison's  Residence. 


Destruction  of  his  House  by  Fire. 


Mementoes. 


was  ten  by  twelve  feet  in  size,  and  was  surrounded  by  trees,  shrubbery,  and  green 
sward.  At  its  foot  was  a  noble  mulberry-tree,  and  at  its  head  was  the  entrance,  with 
doors  slightly  inclined.  The  only  tenants  when  I  was  there  were  the  remains  of  Gen 
eral  Harrison  and  his  second  daughter,  Mrs.  Doctor  Thornton.  The  engraving  shows 
the  appearance  of  the  spot,  and  a  view  of  the  great  North  Bend  of  the  Ohio,  as  we 
look  eastward  from  the  grave.  On  the  right,  near  the  bank  of  the  river,  is  seen  one 
of  the  stone  chimneys  already  mentioned,  a  few  rods  from  the  North  Bend  Station. 

Descending  from  Harrison's  tomb,  we  crossed  the  Whitewater  Canal,  and,  after 
sketching  the  old  house  seen  on  page  571,  visited  the  site  of  General  Harrison's  resi 
dence,  on  a  level  spot  at  the  foot  of  gentle  hills,  about  three  hundred  yards  from  the 


HARBISON'S  RESIDENCE  AT  NOKTII  UEND. 

Ohio,  and  in  full  view  of  the  North  Bend  Railway  Station.  Nothing  of  it  remained 
but  the  ruins  of  cellar  and  fire-places,  and  these  were  covered  with  brambles.  The 
house  was  set  on  fire  by  a  dismissed  servant-girl,  it  was  believed,  a  few  years  ago, 
and  entirely  consumed.  All  of  General  Harrison's  military  and  other  valuable  papers 
were  burned ;  also  many  presents  that  were  sent  to  him  by  political  friends  during 
the  presidential  canvass  in  1840.  The  family  portraits  and  a  few  other  things  were 
saved.1  I  sketched  the  locality  from  the  railway  station.  Placing  a  drawing  of  the 
mansion,  from  one  in  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  in  the  proper  position,  I 
give  to  the  reader  a  correct  view  of  the  residence  and  its  surroundings  before  the  fire. 
The  water  seen  in  the  foreground  is  that  of  the  Whitewater  Canal.  I  returned  to 
Cincinnati  toward  noon,  and  left  the  same  evening  for  Dayton  and  the  shores  of 
Lake  Erie. 


1  Among  these  was  a  beautiful  black  cane  with  a  silver  head,  on  which  was  engraved  a  log  cabin,  a  cider-barrel,  a 
•sheaf  of  wheat,  a  steam-boat,  and  other  devices ;  also  his  name,  and  presentation  "  by  a  gentleman  of  Louisiana."  The 
log  cabin  and  cider-barrel  refer  to  a  peculiarity  in  the  features  of  that  campaign.  The  eastern  end  of  Harrison's  man 
sion  was  one  of  the  original  log  houses  built  by  the  settlers  at  North  Bend,  and  clap-boarded  over.  His  partisans,  when 
he  was  nominated,  started  the  story  that  he  lived  in  a  log  cabin,  whose  latch-string  was  always  on  the  outside,  so  that 
the  traveler  might  enter,  and  that  a  mug  of  cider  was  always  ready  there  for  the  wayfarer.  The  story  was  popular  with 
the  masses.  Log  cabins  were  erected  all  over  the  country,  in  which  Harrison  meetings  were  held,  and  a  barrel  of  cider 
was  always  ready  for  free  distribution  at  these  meetings.  The  canvass  was  known  as  "  the  Hard  Cider  Campaign,"  and 
the  demoralization  produced  by  it  was  very  great.  Many  a  song  was  composed  in  his  praise  and  sung  at  these  meet 
ings,  in  one  of  the  most  popular  of  which  occurs  the  following  verse,  that  may  be  appropriately  quoted  in  this  con 
nection  : 

"  Hurrah  for  the  log  cabin  chief  of  our  choice  ! 

For  the  old  Indian  fighter,  hurrah  ! 
Hurrah  !  and  from  mountain  to  valley  the  voice 

Of  the  people  re-echoes  hurrah  ! 
Then  come  to  the  ballot-box — boys,  come  along, 

He  never  lost  battle  for  you ; 
Let  us  down  with  oppression  and  tyranny's  throng, 
And  up  with  Old  Tippeca^ioe  1" 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  575 


The  Energies  of  England  displayed.  Respect  for  the  Skill  and  Valor  of  the  Americans. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

"  Once  this  soft  turf,  this  riv'let's  sands, 

Were  trampled  by  a  hurrying  crowd, 
And  fiery  hearts  and  armed  hands 

Eucounter'd  in  the  battle-cloud. 
Ah  !  never  shall  the  land  forget 

How  gush'd  the  life-blood  of  her  brave— 
Gush'd,  warm  with  hope  and  courage  yet, 

Upon  the  soil  they  fought  to  save." — WILLIAM  CCLLEN  BBYAMT. 

IIILE  the  army  of  the  Northwest,  under  Harrison,  was  slowly 
recovering  what  Hull  had  lost,  and  more,  stirring  and  important 
events  were  occurring  on  the  frontiers  of  Niagara,  Lake  Ontario, 
and  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 

England  was  then  putting  forth  her  mightiest  efforts  to  crush 
Napoleon,  and  her  display  of  energy  and  resources  was  marvel 
ous.  It  required  the  most  vigilant  exercise  of  these  on  the  Con 
tinent,  yet  she  withheld  nothing  that  seemed  necessary  to  secure 
success  in  America.  The  naval  victories  of  the  Americans  during  1812  were  very 
mortifying  to  the  "  Mistress  of  the  Seas,"  and  it  was  resolved  by  the  British  cabinet 
to  prosecute  the  Avar  on  the  ocean  with  the  greatest  vigor.  A  most  profound  and 
wholesome  respect  for  the  skill  and  valor  of  American  seamen  had  been  suddenly  cre 
ated  in  the  British  mind,  and,  to  prevent  farther  disasters  on  that  theatre  of  action, 
it  was  determined  that  no  more  conflicts  with  American  ships  should  be  hazarded 
but  with  such  superior  force  as  would  seem  to  insure  success.  The  American  coast 
was  to  be  practically  blockaded,  and  with  so  much  rigor  as  to  prevent  the  egress  of 
privateers  and  the  return  of  them  Avith  prizes ;  and  the  fiat  went  forth  from  the  Brit 
ish  court  that  every  thing  American  found  afloat  should  be  captured  or  destroyed, 
while  all  of  her  maritime  towns  should  be  menaced  and  annoyed  by  the  presence  and 
movements  of  Bi'itish  cruisers. 

The  success  of  the  allied  powers  against  Napoleon  during  1812  greatly  relieved 
England  for  the  moment,  and  enabled  her  to  give  more  force  to  her  conflict  in  the 
Western  world.  During  the  winter  of  1812-'!  3  a  body  of  troops  were  sent  to  Hali 
fax,  to  re-enforce  those  in  Canada  in  the  spring,  the  principal  object  to  be  accom 
plished  in  that  quarter  being  the  defense  of  the  provinces  against  invasion,  while  the 
war  should  be  carried  on  vigorously  along  the  coast  and  on  the  ocean. 

The  Americans  were  disheartened  by  the  results  of  their  campaigns  on  land  during 
1812,  and  it  was  difficult  to  increase  the  army  either  by  volunteers  or  militia.  The 
government  had  determined.to  renew  the  efforts  for  the  conquest  of  Canada,  in  which 
service  nearly  all  of  the  regulars  were  to  be  employed.  The  remainder,  to  consist 
of  militia  and  volunteers,  Avere  to  compose,  Avith  the  regulars,  an  army  of  fifty  thou 
sand  men.  By  an  arrangement  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  many  A'aluable  officers 
Avere  restored  to  command.  The  states  were  divided  into  nine  military  districts,1 
to  each  of  Avhich  a  general  officer  of  the  United  States  army  Avas  assigned,  Avhose 

1  The  districts  were  composed  as  follows :  1.  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire.  2.  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut. 
3.  New  York  from  the  sea  to  the  Highlands,  and  the  State  of  New  Jersey.  4.  Pennsylvania  from  its  eastern  limit  to 
the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  Delaware.  5.  Maryland  and  Virginia.  6.  The  two  Carolinas.  7.  The  States  of  Tennes 
see,  Louisiana,  and  the  Mississippi  Territory.  S.  Kentucky,  Ohio,  and  the  Territorial  governments  of  Michigan,  In 
diana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri.  9.  Pennsylvania  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains  westward,  New  York  north  of  the  High 
lands,  and  Vermont. 


576  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Americans  prepare  for  vigorous  War.         Operations  in  the  St.  Lawrence  Region.         Brockville  and  its  Vicinity. 

duty  it  was  to  superintend  and  direct  all  the  means  of  defense  within  his  military 
district.  Detachments  of  troops  were  stationed  at  the  most  exposed  places  on  the 
sea-board  to  form  rallying  points  for  the  militia  in  the  event  of  invasion ;  and  the 
commandant  of  each  district  was  authorized  to  call  upon  the  governors  of  the  re 
spective  states  for  such  portion  of  the  militia  most  convenient  to  the  menaced  point 
as  he  should  deem  necessary,  the  operations  of  such  troops  to  be  combined  with  those 
of  the  regular  force,  and  the  whole  to  be  under  the  direction  of  the  commandant  of 
the  district,  and  while  in  service  to  be  paid  and  supported  by  the  United  States.  By 
this  arrangement,  designed  to  prevent  any  serious  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
governors  of  states  who  Avere  opposed  to  the  war,  there  was  in  each  district  a  regu 
lar  officer  of  rank  equal  with  any  militia  officer  who  might  be  ordered  out,  and,  un 
der  the  Articles  of  War,  entitled  to  chief  command.  Strict  orders  were  also  issued 
to  receive  no  militia  major  general  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  except  at  the 
head  of  four  thousand  men,  or  a  brigadier  general  without  half  as  many.  Eight  new 
brigadiers  were  commissioned  j1  and  each  district,  besides  its  commissary  general, 
was  to  have  an  adjutant,  a  quarter-master,  and  an  inspector  of  its  own.  Meanwhile 
vigorous  preparations  had  been  making  by  the  Northern  Army  on  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  its  vicinity,  and  the  Army  of  the  Centre  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  for  an  invasion 
of  Canada. 

Early  in  February,  1813,  some  important  movements  were  made  on  the  St.  Law 
rence  at  Ogdensburg  and  its  vicinity.  In  a  former  chapter  we  have  observed  some 
interesting  occurrences  between  the  hostile  parties  in  that  region  during  the  preced 
ing  autumn  and  early  winter.  Both  Avere  vigilant,  and  both  had  committed  "  im-a- 
sions"  and  made  prisoners.  British  deserters  had  fled  to  the  American  lines,  and 
parties  of  troops  from  Canada  had  crossed  the  river,  captured  some  of  these,  and 
made  prisoners  of  American  soldiers  and  civilians.  A  number  of  these  captives  Avere 
confined  in  the  jail  at  ElizabethtOAvn,  IIOAV  Brockville,  in  Canada,  eleven  or  twelve 
miles  above  Ogdensburg,  some  of  whom  expected  to  be  shot  by  order  of  a  court- 
martial. 

An  expedition  to  rescue  the  prisoners  in  Elizabethtown  jail  Avas  planned  by  Major 
(late  Captain)  Forsyth,  then  stationed  at  Ogdensburg.  With  his  riflemen,  Lyttle's 
company  of  volunteers,  and  some  citizens,  about  tAvo  hundred  in  all,  Forsyth  left  the 
A'illage  in  sleighs  at  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  February,* 
rode  along  the  southern  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Morristown,  and  there 
engaged  Arnold  Smith,2  a  tavern-keeper,  to  pilot  them  across  the  river,  which  is  about 
tAvo  miles  and  a  half  Avide  there.  It  Avas  a  perilous  passage,  for  the  ice  Avas  not  very1 
strong.  They  crossed  safely  by  keeping  open  order.  The  party  Avas  divided ;  For 
syth  led  one  division,  and  Colonel  Benedict,  of  the  NCAV  York  State  Militia,  the  other. 
Flanking  parties  were  throAvn  out  under  the  respective  command  of  Lieutenants 
Wells  and  Johnson.  In  this  order  they  approached  Elizabethtown,  on  the  bank  of 
the  river,  where  the  flanking  parties  took  post  at  opposite  ends  of  the  village,  to 
check  any  attempts  at  retreat  or  approaching  i-e-enforcemcnts. 

The  summer  tourist  on  the  St.  LaAvrence  must  remember  with  pleasure  the  appear 
ance  of  Brockville  (ElizabethtOAvn),  and  the  beautiful  green  ridges  around  it,  rising, 
one  above  another,  from  and  parallel  to  the  river.  It  is  at  the  foot  of  the  group  of 
the  Thousand  Islands,  in  the  St.  Lawrence ;  and  in  front  of  it,  upon  a  bare  rock  a  short 
distance  from  the  shore,  there  still  remained,  Avhen  I  visited  the  place  in  1860,  a  small 

1  These  were  Thomas  H.  Gushing,  Thomas  Parker,  George  Izard,  and  Zebulon  M.  Pike,  of  the  old  army  ;  William  II. 
Winder,  Duncan  M 'Arthur,  Lewis  Cass,  and  Benjamin  Howard.    Robert  Swartwout,  of  New  York,  appointed  quarter 
master  as  successor  of  Morgan  Lewis,  bore  the  rank  of  brigadier. 

2  Mr.  Smith  was  one  of  the  earlier  settlers  there.    Morristown  was  laid  out  in  1799  by  Jacob  (afterward  General) 
Brown.    Colonel  David  Ford  made  an  actual  settlement  there  in  1808,  and  Arnold  Smith  and  Thomas  Hill  took  up  their 
residence,  at  about  the  same  time,  on  the  site  of  the  village.    Smith's  was  the  first  public  house  kept  there.    He  also 
erected  the  first  tavern  at  the  present  village  of  Edwardsville.    Morristowu  now  (ISO";  contains  about  400  inhabitants. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  577 

A  general  jail  Delivery  at  Elizabethtown.  The  British  determine  to  retaliate.  Ogdensburg  to  be  attacked. 

block -house  erected  there  during  the  "Rebellion"  in 
Canada  in  1837.  On  the  first  of  those  ridges  was  the 
principal  business  part  of  Brockville,  while  on  the  one 
above  stood  a  court-house  and  jail,  of  blue  limestone, 
and  churches  and  other  fine  buildings.  On  the  site  of 
that  court-house  and  jail  stood  the  building  used  for 
the  same  purpose  in  1813,  described  as  an  "elegant 
brick  edifice."  Toward  this  building  Major  Forsyth 
moved  through  the  town,  after  detaching  small  parties 
to  secure  the  different  streets  in  the  village.  On  reach 
ing  it,  he  demanded  the  keys  of  the  jailer.  They  were 
immediately  surrendered,  and  the  major  proceeded  to 
release  every  prisoner  but  one,  who  was  confined  for 

murder.  He  begged  piteously  to  share  the  fate  of  his  fellow-prisoners ;  but  he  was 
a  criminal,  and  could  not  be  taken  from  the  hands  of  justice.  Some  of  the  prominent 
citizens  were  also  seized  and  taken  to  Ogdensburg.  A  captured  physician  was  pa 
roled  at  Morristown  and  sent  back.  The  only  show  of  resistance  was  a  shot  from  a 
window,  which  slightly  wounded  one  man.  Major  Carley,  the  commander  of  the 
post,  three  captains,  two  lieutenants,  with  forty-six  other  prisoners,  were  taken  in  tri 
umph  to  Ogdensburg,  where  the  expedition  arrived  before  daylight  on  the  7th,  with 
out  the  loss  of  a  man.  The  spoils  were  one  hundred  and  twenty  muskets,  tAventy 
rifles,  two  casks  of  fixed  ammunition,  and  a  quantity  of  other  stores.  For  this  gallant 
enterprise,  which  called  forth  universal  applause,  Forsyth  was  made  lieutenant  colo 
nel  by  brevet,  his  commission  being  dated  the  6th  of  February,  by  which  it  was  made 
to  himself  and  family  a  memorial  of  the  event. 

This  exploit  led  to  early  retaliation  on  the  part  of  the  British.  At  about  that  time 
Sir  George  Prevost,  the  Governor  General  of  Canada,  arrived  at  Prescott  on  his  way 
to  the  capital  of  the  upper  province.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Pierson,  commanding  at 
Prescott,  proposed  an  attack  upon  Ogdensburg.  The  governor  was  Avilling  to  have 
the  attempt  made ;  but  on  learning  that  some  deserters  had  crossed  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  would  probably  inform  the  Americans  of  the  proximity  of  a  prize  so  precious  as 
his  excellency,  he  became  alarmed  for  his  personal  safety,  and  ordered  Pierson  to  ac 
company  him  on  an  immediate  journey  to  Kingston  with  an  escort.  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  M'Donell  was  charged  with  the  business  of  assailing  Ogdensburg,  and  was  di 
rected  by  the  governor  to  first  make  a  demonstration  on  the  ice  in  front  of  the  vil 
lage,  to  engage  the  attention  of  the  American  troops,  while  his  excellency  should  put 
much  space  between  himself  and  his  enemies. 

British  spies  informed  Forsyth  of  the  intended  attack,  and  he  immediately  dis 
patched  a  courier  to  General  Dearborn  at  Plattsburg,  on  Lake  Champlain,  for  re-en 
forcements.  "  I  can  afford  you  no  help,"  replied  Dearborn.  "  You  must  do  as  well 
as  you  are  able,  and  if  you  can  not  hold  the  place  you  are  at  liberty  to  abandon  it." 
He  intimated  that  the  sacrifice  of  Ogdensburg  might  be  of  public  benefit  in  arousing 
the  flagging  energies  of  the  Americans.  On  the  receipt  of  this  reply,  Forsyth  called 
a  council  of  officers,  when  it  was  resolved  to  hold  the  place  as  long  as  possible.  Its 
defenses  were  few  and  feeble,  yet  stout  hearts  were  there.  Near  the  intersection  of 
Ford  and  Euphemia  (now  State)  Streets  stood  a  trophy-cannon  taken  from  Burgoyne 
at  Saratoga — an  iron  six-pounder,  on  a  wheel-carriage,  commanded  by  Captain  Kel 
logg,  of  the  Albany  Volunteers.  On  the  west  side  of  Ford  Street,  between  State  and 
Isabella  Streets,  was  a  store  used  as  an  arsenal,  in  front  of  which,  likewise  on  a  wheel- 
carriage,  was  a  brass  six-pounder,  manned  by  some  volunteers  and  citizens,  under 
Joseph  York,  Esq.,  then  sheriff  of  the  county  and  captain  of  a  small  company  of  vol 
unteers.  On  the  river  bank,  a  short  distance  from  Parish's  huge  stone  store-house,1 

1  This  was  built  by  David  Parish,  a  wealthy  banker,  who  early  in  this  century  bought  an  extensive  landed  estate  on 

Oo 


578 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


PAKISll  8   6TOKE-UOUSE. 


Preparations  to  receive  the  British.         Adjutant  Church  and  his  Associates.         The  British  advance  on  Ogdensburg. 

yet  (1867)  standing,  near  the  International  Ferry,  was  a 
rude  wooden  breastwork,  on  which  was  mounted,  on  a 
sled-carriage,  an  iron  twelve-pounder,  also  taken  from 
Burgoyne.  This  battery  was  commanded  by  Captain 
Joshua  Conkey.  Oil  the  point  where  the  light-house 
now  stands,  near 
the  site  of  old 
Fort  Presenta 
tion,  was  a  brass 
nine -pounder  on 

a  sled-carriage,  in  charge  of  one  of  Captain 
Kellogg' s  sergeants.  Back  of  the  old  fort,  and 
mounted  on  sleds,  were  two  old-fashioned  iron 
six-pounders,  one  of  them  commanded  by  Ad 
jutant  Daniel  W.  Church,1  and  the  other  by 
Lieutenant  Baird,  of  Major  Forsyth's  compa 
ny.  In  front  of  the  huge  gateway  between 
the  two  buildings  then  remaining  of  the  old 
fort2  was  another  brass  six-pounder  on  a  sled, 
and  about  twenty  feet  to  the  left  of  this  was 
a  six-pounder  iron  cannon  on  a  sled.  Several 
others  were  lying  on  the  edge  of  the  Oswegat- 
chie  fast  bound  in  ice.  Below  the  town,  on 
the  square  bounded  by  Washington  and  Wa 
ter,  Elizabeth  and  Franklin  Streets,  was  an  un 
finished  redoubt,  which' was  commenced  the  previous  autumn  by  M.  Ramee,  a  French 
engineer,  by  order  of  General  Brown,  and  named  Fort  Oswregatchie.  All  the  troops 
then  available  for  the  defense  of  the  place  were  Forsyth's  riflemen,  a  few  volunteers, 
and  about  a  dozen  raw  recruits. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  February,  about  eight  hundred  men,  under  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  M'Donell,  appeared  on  the  ice,  and  approached  Ogdensburg  in  two  col 
umns.  It  was  a  singular  spectacle," for  only  once  or  twice  before  had  the  river  been 
closed  between  Prescott  and  Ogdensburg.  The  right  column,  three  hundred  strong, 
composed  of  a  detachment  from  the  Glengary  Light  Infantry  Fencibles3  and  a  body 
of  Canadian  militia,  was  commanded  by  Captain  Jenkins.  The  left  column,  five 
hundred  strong,  composed  of  detachments  of  the  King's  Regiment  and  the  Royal 
Newfoundland  Corps,  a  body  of  Canadian  local  militia  and  some  Indians,  was  com 
manded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Donell.  These  troops  moved  steadily  toward  the 
village,  while  some  of  the  inhabitants  were  yet  in  bed,  and  others  were  at  breakfast. 
The  right  column  proceeded  to  attack  Forsyth  and  his  command  at  the  old  fort,  or 
"  stone  garrison,"  as  it  was  called.4  Forsyth  formed  his  men  behind  the  stone  build- 

the  St.  Lawrence  frontier.  He  caused  the  large  stone  store  on  Water  Street,  Ogdensburg,  to  be  erected  in  1810,  and  in 
1S13  he  constructed  a  blast-furnace  at  Rossie.  He  is  regarded  as  the  early  benefactor  of  St.  Lawrence  County,  and  is 
always  spoken  of  with  affection. 

1  Daniel  W.  Church  was  born  at  Brattleboro',  Vermont,  in  1T72,  and  emigrated  to  Northern  New  York  in  1801,  where, 
at  Canton,  St.  Lawrence  County,  he  commenced  the  business  of  millwright  by  erecting  the  first  saw-mill  built  there. 
He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  in  that  county,  and  acted  a  conspicuous  part  in  its  early  history.  He  assisted  in  organ 
izing  the  first  court  in  that  county,  and  was  sitting  on  the  bench  as  associate  justice,  with  Judge  Raymond  presiding,  in 
the  court-house  at  Ogdensburg  when  the  shot  from  Prescott  passed  through  the  building,  as  mentioned  in  note  1,  page 
580.  He  volunteered  in  the  military  service  at  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  1S12,  and  was  appointed  adjutant  of  Colonel 
Benedict's  regiment.  His  particular  services  at  Ogdeusburg  and  vicinity  are  mentioned  in  the  text.  Twice  during  the 
war  he  received  the  special  thanks  of  General  Brown.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  personal  appearance,  fond  of  history  and 
science,  and  charming  in  society.  He  died  at  Morristown,  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  on  the  7th  of  January,  1857,  in  the  85th 
year  of  his  age,  universally  esteemed  and  deeply  regretted  by  the  whole  community.  2  See  picture  on  page  373. 

3  These  were  Scotch  Roman  Catholics,  of  the  families  of  refugee  Loyalists  from  the  domain  of  the  Johnsons  in  the 
Mohawk  Valley,  the  most  of  whom  inhabit  the  County  of  Glengary. 

4  Father  Francis  Picquet  was  a  priest  of  the  Sulpician  order,  and  was  active,  after  his  arrival  in  Canada  in  1733,  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Catholic  religion  and  French  political  dominion  in  the  New  World.    For  the  purpose  of  attach- 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


579 


The  British  driven  back  upon  the  Ice. 


Surrender  of  a  Part  of  the  Americans. 


Historical  Localities. 


ings,  and  directed  them  to  reserve  their  fire  until  he  should  give  the  word  of  com 
mand.  Baird,  with  the  brass  six-pounder,  was  on  the  right  of  his  line,  and  Church, 
with  the  iron  six-pounder,  was  near  the  centre.  Just  as  the  enemy  reached  the  flat, 
snow-drifted  shore,  they  fired,  but  without  effect.  Forsyth  then  gave  the  word,  and 
a  full  volley  of  musketry  and  a  discharge  of  artillery  swept  down  eight  of  the  foe, 
and  threw  their  line  into  utter  confusion.  They  attempted  to  rally  and  charge  upon 
the  Americans,  but  the  frightened  militia  failing  to  support  the  light  infantry,  the 
movement  was  not  executed,  and  the  assailing  party,  after  losing,  besides  the  killed 
and  wounded,  a  number  of  prisoners,  fled  out  upon  the  frozen  river,  seriously  an 
noyed  by  the  nine-pounder  on  the  point  where  the  light-house  now  stands. 

While  these  events  were  in  progress  on  the  upper  side  of  the  village  beyond  the 
Oswegatchie,  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Donell  had  marched  up  into  the  town,  from  a 
point  below  the  battery,  near  the  barracks,  without  resistance.1  Captain  Conkey 

kept  his  twelve-pounder  silent,  when  he  might  have 
swept  the  enemy's  ranks  fearfully,  and  perhaps  ut 
terly  checked  their  advance ;  and,  without  the  least 
resistance,  he  surrendered  himself,  his  gun,  and  his 
men  to  the  invaders.  When  this  was  accomplished 
they  expected  an  easy  conquest  of  the  town,  but  they 
were  soon  confronted  by  the  cannon  under  Captain 
Kellogg  and  Sheriff"  York.  The  gun  of  the  former 
was  soon  disabled  by  the  breaking  of  its  elevator 
screw,  and  he  and  his  men  fled  across  the  Oswegatchie 


ing  as  many  of  the  Iroquois  confederacy  of  Indians  to  the  French  and  the  Church  as  possible,  he  founded  a  mission  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Oswegatchie  in  1748,  and  recommended  the  erection  of  a  fort  there.  The  river  was  called  La  Presenta 
tion  by  the  French.  There  he  erected  a  substantial  stone  building,  on  the  corner-stone  of  which,  found  among  the 
ruins  many  years  ago,  was  the  following  inscription :  "  IN  NOMINE  t  DEI  OMNIPOTF.NTIS  HUIO  IIAIIITATIONE  INITIA  I>EI>IT 
FKANB.  PICQUET,  1749."  Translation:  "Francis  Picquet  laid  the  foundations  of  this  habitation,  in  the  name  of  the  Al 
mighty  Godwin  1749."  Another  stone  building  of  the  same  size  was  erected  about  sixteen  feet  from  the  first  one  ;  and 
when  a  stockade  fort  was  built  there  soon  afterward,  covering  about  an  acre  of  ground,  these  edifices,  standing  on  the 
bank  of  the  Oswegatchie,  formed  part  of  the  fort,  which  was  called  Presentation.  Between  the  two  buildings  massive 
gates  of  oak,  fifteen  feet  in  height,  were  erected.  "  The  remainder  of  the  eastern  or  southeastern  portions,"  says  Mr. 
Guest,  in  his  "Recollections  of  Ogdensburg  audits  Vicinity,"  "  was  heavy  stone  wall;  indeed,  this  maybe  said  to  have 
inclosed  the  whole.  Here  was  held  the  first  court  in  St.  Lawrence  County,  and  here,  also,  they  had  preaching  when 
they  were  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  a  clergyman."  Nothing  now  remains  of  these  old  works  but  a  few  traces  of  the 
foundation.  The  inscribed  corner-stone  occupies  a  conspicuous  position  in  the  State  Armory,  erected  in  Ogdensburg 
in  1S5S.  I  saw  it  in  1855  in  a  wall  of  the  Hasbrouck  estate  on  Ford  Street.  In  the  above  sketch  of  the  site  of  Fort 
Presentation,  taken  from  in  front  of  Judge  Ford's  mansion,  the  position  of  the  stone  buildings  above  mentioned  is  in 
dicated  by  the  two  little  figures  seen  between  the  low  one-story  building  toward  the  right  of  the  picture  and  the  more 
distant  landing-place  at  Ogdensburg.  Toward  the  left  of  the  picture,  on  the  point  projecting  into  the  St.  Lawrence,  is 
seen  the  light-house,  and  across  the  river  a  glimpse  of  Prescott  and  Fort  Wellington.  Toward  the  extreme  right,  on  the 
distant  shore,  are  seen  the  ruined  buildings  on  Windmill  Point,  desolated  during  the  "Rebellion"  of  1837.  The  land 
ing-place  of  the  British,  on  the  marshy  shore,  to  attack  Forsyth,  was  directly  beyond  the  clump  of  trees  on  the  extreme 
left  of  the  picture. 

1  The  British  struck  the  shore  at  the  foot  of  Caroline  (now  Franklin)  Street,  and  marched  up  that  street  to  Washing 
ton,  along  Washington,  past  Parish's  house,  to  State  Street,  and  halted  ;  then  to  the  Arsenal  in  Ford  Street,  between 
.  State  and  Isabella  Streets. 


580 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Bravery  of  Sheriff  York.       Sketch  of  his  Life.       Flight  of  Citizens.       Patriotism,  Courage,  and  Fidelity  of  Mrs.  York. 


MAP   Oi'   OWSUAXLONB   AT   OUI>J&NBUUi>.U. 


and  joined  Forsyth,  leaving  the  indomitable  York  to  maintain  the  fight  alone.1  The 
sheriff  continued  to  fire  until  two  of  his  men  were  mortally  wounded,  and  himself 
and  the  remainder  of  his  party  were  made  prisoners. 

The  village  was  now  in  full  possession  of  the  enemy,  and  the  citizens  fled,  mostly 
in  the  direction  of  Remington's,  now  Heuvelton.     M'Doncll  proceeded  at  once  to 

1  Joseph  York  was  born  in  Claremont,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  8th  of  Jan 
uary,  1781,  and  when  quite  young  settled  with  his  father  in  Randolph,  Ver 
mont.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  (1798)  he  joined  the  Provisional  Army 
under  Lieutenant  Nathaniel  Leonard,  and  served  until  the  army  was  dis 
banded  in  1800.  He  emigrated  to  Ogdensburg  in  1805.  He  was  deputy  sher 
iff  three  years,  and  sheriff  four  years.  When  made  prisoner  on  the  occasion 
above  noted,  he  was  taken  to  Prescott,  and  thence  to  the  Johnstown  jail, 
where,  through  the  active  exertions  of  his  wife,  he  was  paroled,  and  a  few 
weeks  afterward  exchanged. 

Mr,  York's  residence  at  that  time  was  in  the  conrt-honse,  a  frame  build 
ing  that  stood  on  the  corner  of  Knox 
and  Euphemia  (now  State)  Streets.  His 
widow  was  living  when  I  visited  Og- 
deusburg  in  the  summer  of  1800.  She 
was  a  small,  delicate,  and  highly-intel 
ligent  woman,  and  I  remember  my  in 
terview  with  her  with  great  pleasure. 
She  gave  me  a  graphic  account  of  the 
events  of  the  invasion,  and  kindly  al 
lowed  me  to  make  a  copy  of  the  silhou 
ette  likeness  of  her  husband.  She  said 
she  did  not  leave  her  home  in  the  court 
house  until  the  British  had  fired  several 
shots  into  it,  and  almost  reached  it, 
when  she  took  some  money  and  table 
spoons,  and  ran  as  fast  as  she  could  into 

the  country,  with  a  number  of  other  women.    They  retreated  about  fifteen 
miles.    The  next  day  she  returned,  and  found  the  house  plundered,  the  fur 
niture  broken,  and  her  husband  a  prisoner.    The  heroic  little  woman  (who 
had  made  many  cartridges  for  the  soldiers)  immediately  resolved  to  go  over 
into  Canada  in  search  of  her  husband.    She  crossed  the  river 
in  a  skiff,  went  to  the  house  of  a  friend  (Mrs.  Yates)  at  Johug- 
town,  having  a  British  officer  as  escort,  made  personal  applica 
tion  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Donell,  procured  the  release  of 
her  husband  on  parole,  and  took  him  back  with  her.    Sheriff 
York  was  very  highly  esteemed  in  St.  Lawrence  County.    Three 
successive  years  he  represented  that  county  in  the  Legislature  of 
New  York.   The  town  of  York,  in  Livingston  County,  was  named 
iu  honor  of  him.    He  died  on  the  6th  of  May,  1827,  at  the  age  of  forty-six  years.    Mrs.  York  died  in  July,  1862. 


COUET-HOUSE,  OGDKNSHDKO. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  581 

Retreat  of  the  Americans  from  Ogdensburg.  Plunder  of  the  Village.  Prisoners  carried  to  Canada. 

complete  the  conquest  by  dislodging  Forsyth  and  his  party.  He  paraded  his  troops 
on  the  northern  shore  of  the  Oswegatchie,  and  sent  a  flag  to  Forsyth  summoning 
him  to  surrender  instantly.  "  If  you  surrender,  it  shall  be  well ;  if  not,  every  man 
shall  be  put  to  the  bayonet,"  was  a  message  sent  with  the  summons.  "  Tell  Colonel 
M'Donell,"  replied  Forsyth, "  there  must  be  more  fighting  done  first."  The  bearers 
of  the  flag  had  just  reached  their  line  on  Ford  Street,  near  Hasbrouck's,  when  Church 
and  Baird  fired  the  two  six-pounders  that  stood  before  the  gate  of  the  fort,  both 
charged  with  grape  and  canister.  The  effect  was  severe,  but  less  frightful  than  it 
might  have  been  had  not  Forsyth  peremptorily  ordered  Church  to  elevate  his  piece 
a  little  higher.  The  discharge  frightened  the  enemy,  and  they  took  shelter  behind 
Parish's  store-house  and  other  buildings,  and  began  picking  off  the  Americans  in  de 
tail,  while  another  party,  overwhelming  in  numbers,  were  preparing  to  storm  the  old 
fort.  Forsyth's  quick  eye  and  judgment  comprehended  the  impending  peril.  It  was 
heightened  by  the  wounding  of  Church  and  Baird,  and  he  gave  orders  for  a  retreat 
to  Thurber's  Tavern,  on  Black  Lake,  eight  or  nine  miles  distant,  where,  on  the  same 
day,  he  wrote  a  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  in  which  he  gave  a  brief  account 
of  the  affairs  of  the  morning,  and  said, "If  you  can  send  me  three  hundred  men,  all 
shall  be  retaken,  and  Prescott  too,  or  I  will  lose  my  life  in  the  attempt." 

Lieutenant  Baird  was  too  severely  wounded  to  be  taken  away,  and  he  was  left  at 
the  mansion  of  Judge  Ford,1  where  he  was  made  a  prisoner.  The  town  now  being  in 
full  possession  of  the  enemy,  the  work  of  plunder  commenced.  Indians  and  camp-fol 
lowers  of  both  sexes  came  over  from  Canada,  and  these,  with  resident  miscreants, 
defying  the  earnest  efforts  of  the  British  officers  to  prevent  plunder,  carried  off  or  de 
stroyed  a  great  amount  of  private  property.  Every  house  in  the  village  except  three 
was  entered.  The  public  property  was  carried  over  to  Canada.  Two  armed  schoon 
ers  and  two  gun-boats  fast  in  the  ice  were  burned,  the  barracks  near  the  river  were 
laid  in  ashes,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  fire  the  bridge  over  the  Oswegatchie.2 
Fifty-two  prisoners  were  taken  to  Prescott,  where  those  who  were  not  found  in  arms 
were  paroled  and  sent  back.3  Some  of  the  prisoners  were  confined  in  the  jail  at  Johns 
town,  three  miles  below  Prescott,4  and  others  were  sent  to  Montreal.  Fourteen  of 
the  latter  escaped  from  prison  at  Montreal,  and  the  remainder  were  sent  to  Halifax. 

The  Americans  lost  in  this  affair,  besides  the  prisoners,  five  killed  and  fifteen  wound 
ed.  The  British  lost  six  killed  and  forty-eight  wounded.  As  the  enemy  immediately 
evacuated  the  place,  the  citizens  soon  returned.  From  that  time  until  the  close  of 
the  war  Ogdensburg  remained  in  an  entirely  defenseless  state,  which  exposed  the  in 
habitants  to  occasional  insults  from  their  belligerent  neighbors  over  the  river.5  A 
little  east  of  Prescott,  on  the  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  British  erected  a  small 
fortification  during  the  war,  which  commanded  Ogdensburg.  It  was  called  Fort 
Wellington.  The  present  fort  of  that  name  was  built  upon  an  eminence  back  of  the 
other,  in  1838,  at  the  time  of  the  "Rebellion"  in  Canada." 

1  This  mansion  stood  on  a  pleasant  spot  not  far  from  the  left  bank  of  the  Oswegatchie  River.  Nathan  Ford,  its  own 
er,  was  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Ogdensburg.  He  was  born  in  Morristown,  New  Jersey,  on  the  Sth  of  December, 
1763.  He  served  in  the  Continental  army,  and  in  1T94  and  1705  he  was  employed  by  Ogden  and  others,  who  had  pur 
chased  lands  in  Northern  New  York,  to  look  after  their  affairs  in  that  quarter.  He  was  a  man  of  indomitable  energy, 
and  early  foresaw  prosperity  for  the  little  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  Oswegatchie.  He  died  in  April,  1829,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-six  years. 

z  The  plunder  of  public  property  consisted  of  1400  stand  of  arms,  with  accoutrements,  12  pieces  of  artillery,  2  stands 
of  colors,  300  tents,  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition  and  camp  equipage,  with  some  beef,  pork,  flour,  and  other  stores. 

3  The  prisoners  in  the  jail  at  Ogdensburg  represented  to  the  British  that  they  were  only  political  offenders,  and  then 
were  all  released.  Most  of  them  accompanied  the  invaders  back  to  Prescott,  when  it  was  ascertained  that  they  had  de 
ceived  the  British  officers.  Some  were  given  up  at  once,  and  Sheriff  York  finally  recovered  the  most  of  them. 

*  This  jail  was  used  as  a  place  of  public  worship  for  a  long  time,  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  Ogdensburg  frequently 
resorted  before  the  year  1812.  Previous  to  that  time  there  was  no  regular  place  of  worship  in  Ogdensburg. 

5  In  May,  1S13,  an  officer  came  over  from  Prescott  for  deserters,  and  insolently  threatened  to  burn  Ogdensburg  if  they 
were  not  given  up.  "You  will  do  no  snch  thing,"  said  Judge  Ford.  "  No  sooner  will  I  see  the  incendiaries  landing 
than  I  will  set  fire  to  my  own  house  with  my  own  hands,  rally  my  neighbors,  cross  the  river  with  torches,  and  burn  ev 
ery  house  from  Prescott  to  Brockville."  The  British  officer,  perceiving  the  consequences  that  might  ensue,  afterward 
apologized  for  his  conduct.— Hough's  HiKtnrn  i\f  St.  Lawrence  County,  page  635. 


582  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

A  Day  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  A  Visit  to  Ogdensburg  and  Prescott.  The  "  Rebellion"  in  Canada. 

I  visited  the  theatre  of  scenes  just  described,  and  places  of  interest  in  their  neigh 
borhood,  in  July,  1860,  after  spending  a  day  or  two  among  the  Thousand  Islands  in 
.  jniy  20,  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Vincent.  At  dawn  on  a  beautiful  morninga  I  embarked 

iseo.  on  t^e  steam-boat  New  York  at  that  point  for  Ogdensburg,  and  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  an  old  acquaintance  (Captain  Van  Cleve),  a  veteran  commander 
of  steam-boats  on  Lake  Erie  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  who  was  an  involuntary  actor 
in  the  stirring  scenes  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Oswegatchie  in  1838,  which  will  be 
noted  presently.  Familiar  with  every  island,  rock,  and  bush  on  the  route,  I  found 
him  a  most  instructive  companion  during  that  delightful  voyage  among  the  Thou 
sand  Islands.  Another  passenger  was  Mr.  Pierpont,  of  Pierpont  Manor,  Jefferson 
County,  New  York,  who  was  one  of  the  United  States  commissioners  that  fixed  the 
boundary-line  between  the  former  and  Canada  soon  after  the  close  of  the  War  of 
1812-'15.  With  these  two  gentlemen  as  companions  willing  to  impart  information, 
I  lacked  nothing. 

Just  above  Brockville,  as  we  emerged  from  the  Thousand  Islands,  a  settlement  of 
Tories  of  the  Revolution  was  pointed  out  to  me,  and  the  house  in  which  a  grandson 
of  Benedict  Arnold  lived,  and  where  he  died  a  few  years  ago. 

We  arrived  at  Ogdensburg  early  in  the  day,  and  I  went  out  immediately  to  visit 
places  of  historic  interest  there,  accompanied  by  Messrs.  Westbrook  and  Guest,  to 
whom  I  am  indebted  for  kind  attentions  while  there.  The  landing-places  of  the  Brit 
ish  from  the  ice  ;  the  sites  of  the  "  stone  garrison"  and  other  military  works ;  the  ar 
senal,  court-house,  and  old  burial-ground,  on  an  eminence  south  of  the  Oswegatchie, 
were  all  visited  before  dinner.1  Afterward  I  went  alone  over  to  Prescott,  and,  in 
company  with  a  citizen  of  that  village,  rode  to  Wind-mill  Point,  a  mile  below,  to  visit 
the  scene  of  a  serious  tragedy  late  in  the  autumn  of  1838. 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  several  times  to  the  "  Rebellion"  in  Canada  in  1837 
and  1838.  It  was  a  violent  effort  on  the  part  of  leaders  and  followers  in  both  prov 
inces  to  cast  off  the  rule  of  an  oligarchy  and  establish  constitutional  government, 
whose  administrators  should  be  responsible  to  the  people.  The  most  conspicuoiis 
leader  in  the  upper  province  was  the  late  William  Lyon  M'Kenzie,  a  Scotchman,  and 
in  the  lower  province  the  late  Louis  Joseph  Papineau,  a  wealthy  French  Canadian. 
These,  with  many  followers,  assumed  the  position  of  open  insurrection  against  the 
provincial  authorities.  They  were  joined  by  many  sympathizers  from  the  United 
States  frontier,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1838  the  affair  had  grown  to  alarming  propor 
tions — -so  alarming  that,  on  account  of  the  active  sympathy  of  the  Americans  with 
the  Canadian  "  Patriots,"  it  threatened  to  disturb  the  friendly  relations  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain.  All  the  frontier  towns  on  both  sides  of  the  line 
were  kept  in  continual  excitement,  and  none  more  so  for  a  time  than  Ogdensburg  and 
Prescott.  Matters  were  brought  to  a  crisis  there  in  this  wise.  One  of  the  most  act 
ive  of  the  "  Patriots"  on  the  American  side  was  William  Johnson,  of  Frenchtown  (now 
Clayton),  commonly  known  as  "Bill  Johnson,"  and  sometimes  called  the  " Patriot," 
and  sometimes  the  "Pirate"  of  the  Thousand  Islands.  Of  him  we  shall  have  occasion 
to  speak  more  in  detail  hereafter,  for  he  was  an  active  partisan  in  the  War  of  1812. 
Johnson's  knowledge  of  the  St.  Lawrence  from  Cape  Vincent  to  Ogdensburg  made 
him  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  the  Canadian  insurgents,  and  he  engaged  with  them  in 
co-operative  movements  for  seizing  Fort  Wellington,  which  had  just  been  completed 
•at  Prescott.  For  this  purpose  a  large  number  of  "Patriots"  went  down  the  St.  Law 
rence  early  in  November,  1838.  On  the  12th,  the  steam-boat  United  /States,  Captain 
Van  Cleve,  just  mentioned,  took  as  passengers  for  Ogdensburg  about  two  hundred 

i  I  visited  the  fine  mansion  and  beautiful  grounds  of  Mr.  Parish,  son  of  the  early  proprietor  of  vast  landed  estates  in 
that  region.  There  for  many  years  was  the  residence  of  Elena  Vespucci,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  Florentine  Ameri- 
rns  Vespucci,  in  whose  honor  our  continent  was  named.  She  visited  this  country  with  the  expectation  of  receiving  a 
irrant  of  land  or  money  from  Congress.  She  was  a  brilliant,  fascinating  woman.  She  left  for  Europe  in  1S59.  Many 
evidences  of  her  taste  were  seen  about  the  mansion. 


OF   THE    WAH    OF    1812.  583 


An  American  Steamer  pressed  into  the  Service  of  the  "  Patriots."  Siege  of  a  garrisoned  Wind-mill. 

and  fifty  "  Patriots"  from  Sackett's  Harbor.  On  the  way  down  the  St.  Lawrence,  Van 
Cleve  discovered  two  schooners  becalmed.  One  of  his  passengers,  a  stranger  of  gen 
teel  appearance,  asked  him  to  take  them  in  tow,  as  they  were  laden  with  goods  for 
Ogdensburg,  and  he  should  be  glad  to  have  them  reach  port  the  next  morning.  The 
decks  were  covered  with  boxes  and  barrels,  and  only  men  enough  to  navigate  the  ves 
sels  were  visible.  The  schooners  were  taken  in  tow,  when  Van  Cleve  was  speedily 
undeceived.  Full  two  hundred  armed  men  came  from  them  on  board  of  his  vessel. 
The  schooners  were  a  sort  of  Trojan  horses.  Van  Cleve  was  perplexed.  He  resolved 
to  "  lay  to"  at  Morristown,  and  send  word  to  the  authorities  at  Ogdensburg.  This 
becoming  known  to  the  "  Patriots,"  about  one  hundred  of  those  on  the  United  States 
who  took  passage  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  all  who  had  come  from  the  schooners, 
went  on  board  of  the  latter,  when  they  cast  off  from  the  steam-boat  and  sailed  down 
the  St.  Lawrence.  On  the  following  morning  they  were  at  anchor  in  the  river  be 
tween  Ogdensburg  and  Prescott,  and  created  the  greatest  excitement  im  both  towns. 

The  British  armed  steamer  Experiment  was  lying  at  Prescott,  and  made  immediate 
arrangements  to  attack  the  schooners.  One  of  them  meanwhile  had  run  aground, 
and  the  other  had  gone  down  to  Wind-mill  Point  and  landed  her  armed  men.  At 
about  the  same  time  the  United  States  arrived  at  Ogdensburg.  The  "  Patriots"  pressed 
her  into  their  service,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  the  American  steam  ferry-boat  Paul 
Pry,  rescued  the  stranded  schooner,  and  conveyed  the  other  to  a  place  of  safety  near 
Ogdensburg.  She  was  also  employed  in  carrying  over  some  "Patriots"  whom  John 
son  had  persuaded  to  accompany  him  to  Wind-mill  Point,  in  which  service  she  lost 
her  pilot,  Solomon  Foster,  an  excellent  young  man,  who  was  instantly  killed  by  a  ball 
from  the  Experiment  that  passed  through  the  wheel-house  of  the  United  States.  That, 
evening  Colonel  Worth  arrived  at  Ogdensburg  with  United  States  troops,  accompa 
nied  by  a  marshal,  who  seized  all  vessels  in  the  "Patriot"  service,  including  the 
United  States,  and  effectually  cut  off  supplies  of  men,  arms,  and  provisions  from  Wind 
mill  Point. 

The  "  Patriots"  at  the  Point  made  a  citadel  of  the  strong  stone  wind-mill  there, 
took  possession  of  some  stone  dwellings,  and  cast  up  breast 
works.  They  were  under  the  command  of  a  brave  young 
Polander  named  Von  Schoultz.  On  the  morning  of  the 
"November,  13tha  they  were  attacked  with  shot  and  shell  by 
the  Experiment  and  two  other  armed  steamers 
that  had  arrived.  These  were  replied  to  by  the  battery  that 
had  been  constructed  on  the  shore  near  the  wind-mill  during 
the  night.  There  were  cowards  among  the  "Patriots."  So 

o  o 

many  had  fled  that  when  the.  cannonade  commenced  only 
one  hundred  and  eighty  were  left.  When,  soon  afterward, 
British  regulars  and  volunteers  to  the  number  of  more  than 
six  hundred  went  out  from  Fort  Wellington  and  attacked  the 

~ 

"  Patriots"  in  the  rear,  only  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
were  left ;  and  yet  these  fought  so  desperately  that,  accord 
ing  to  Dr.  Theller's  account,1  they  drove  the  British  back  to 
the  fort,  killing  one  hundred  of  them  and  wounding  many, 

after  a  Conflict  Of  ail  hour.  THE  «ATTEBKI>  WIM,-.MH.L. 

Little  but  burying  the  dead  occupied  the  next  day.b    That  night,  four 

b  November  14. 

hundred  British  regulars,  sixteen  hundred  vohinteers,  cannon,  and  gun 
boats  arrived  from  Kingston.     The  "Patriots"  were  doomed.     Food,  ammunition, 
and  physical  strength  were  exhausted,  and  they  surrendered.     They  had  lost  thirty- 
six  killed ;  ninety  were  made  prisoners.     Von  Schoultz,  only  thirty-one  years  of  age, 
and  several  Americans,  were  hanged  in  less  than  a  month  afterward.     Some  were  re- 

i  Theller's  Canada  in  1S37-'3S. 


584 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Fate  of  the  captured  "Patriots." 


Fort  Wellington. 


Return  to  Ogdeusburg  and  Departure  eastward. 


WIND-MILL  AND   RUINS   NEAB   IT.ESCOTT. 


leased,  and  twenty-three  were  sent  to  En 
gland,  and  from  thence  to  the  British  pen 
al  colony  in  Van  Diemen's  Land.  Eleven 
years  later  they  were  all  released  by  a 
declaration  of  amnesty  by  the  crown. 

The  British  burned  the  wood-work  of 
the  wind-mill  and  stone  houses.  In  that 
desolated  condition  they  yet  remained 
when  I  visited  the  spot  in  I860,  and  made 
the  sketch  from  which,  our  little  engrav 
ing  was  copied.  The  wind-mill  still  ex 
hibits  many  indentations  made  by  the 
cannon-balls  during  the  siege. 

It  was  toward  evening  when  I  returned 
to  Prescott,  stopping  on  the  way  to  visit 
Fort  Wellington,  a  strong  work  covering 
about  three  acres  of  ground.     It  was  not  garrisoned,  and  every  thing  within  seemed 
neglected.     The  citadel,  in  the  form  of  a 
block-house,  seen  in  the  engraving,  is  a 
strong   work,  the  lower  part   of  stone, 
the  upper  of  hewn  timbers.     The  bar 
racks  are  in  good  condition.     A  few  can 
non  were  on  the  ramparts,  and  on  the 
river  side  of  the  fort  lay  a  brass  one,  on 
which  was  inscribed  the  words  and  char 
acters  "  S.  1ST.  Y.,  1834.     Taken  from  the 
rebels  in  1837."     It  was  a  trophy. 

When  I  recrossed  the  St.  Lawrence  at 
near  sunset,  heavy  clouds  were  floating 
down  from  the  region  of  the  Thousand 
Islands,  and  low  thunder-peals  were 
heard  in  the  far  southwest.  I  stopped 
on  the  International  Ferry  wharf  just 
long  enough  to  sketch  the  Parish  store-house,  and  arrived  at  the  Seymour  House  a 
few  minutes  before  a  heavy  shower  of  rain  began  to  fall.  I  passed  part  of  the  short 
summer  evening  with  Mrs.  York,  already  mentioned,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Chapin,  her 
son-in-law,  and  at  four  o'clock  the  next  morning,  when  the  clouds,  after  a  night  of 
tempest,  were  breaking,  depai'ted  in  the  cars  for  the  eastward,  to  visit  French  Mills 
(now  Covington),  Malone,  Odelltown,  Champlain,  Chazy,  and  Plattsburg.  Of  those 
visits  I  shall  hereafter  write. 

A  second  invasion  of  Canada,  as  we  have  observed,  was  a  principal  feature  in  the 
programme  of  the  campaign  of  1813.  Quebec,  on  account  of  its  military  strength 
and  accessibility  to  large  vessels  from  the  sea,  was  held  to  be  unassailable ;  but  Mon 
treal,  the  emporium  of  the  vast  Indian  trade  in  the  immense  country  westward  of  it, 
seemed  to  promise  an  easy  conquest.  The  possession  of  that  city,  and  of  the  entire 
Upper  Province,  was  the  prize  for  which  the  Army  of  the  North  was  expected  to 
contend.  But  the  same  lack  of  sagacity  on  the  part  of  the  cabinet,  to  which  much 
of  the  disasters  of  1812  were  chargeable,  now  reappeared.  Instead  of  sending  a  com 
petent  force  for  the  capture  of  Montreal  before  the  ice  in  the  St.  Lawrence  should 
move  and  permit  British  transports  to  bring  re-enforcements  from  Halifax,  it  was  de 
termined  first  to  reduce  Kingston  and  York  (now  Toronto),  on  Lake  Ontario,  and 

1  In  this  view,  looking  toward  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  village  of  Ogdensburg  is  seen  in  the  extreme  distance,  on  the 
height. 


FOKT    WELLINGTON    IN 


OF   THE    WAK    OF    1812.  585 


Dearborn  and  Chauncey  on  Lake  Ontario.  Plans  for  invading  Canada.  Preparations  for  active  Movements. 

Forts  George  and  Erie,  on  the  Niagara  River,  recapture  Detroit,  and  recover  the 
Michigan  Territory.  The  latter  enterprise  was  successful,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  last 
chapter;  it  now  remains  for  us  to  consider  the  events  connected  with  the  prosecu 
tion  of  the  former,  namely,  the  capture  of  York,  Forts  George  and  Erie,  and  King 
ston,  in  the  order  here  named. 

Early  in  the  winter  of  1813,  Dearborn,  who  was  in  the  immediate  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  North,  had  about  six  thousand  troops  under  his  control,  and  was  em 
powered  to  call  out  as  many  of  the  local  militia  as  might  be  needed  to  supply  any  de 
ficiencies  in  the  regular  army.  Commodore  Chauncey,  by  operations  described  in  a 
former  chapter,1  had  acquired  such  complete  control  of  Lake  Ontario  that  he  could 
confine  all  the  British  vessels  of  war  to  the  harbor  of  Kingston. 

Orders  were  given  for  the  concentration  of  four  thousand  troops  at  Sackett's  Har 
bor,  and  three  thousand  at  Buffalo.  The  former  were  to  cross  the  ice  to  Kingston, 
capture  that  place,  destroy  all  the  shipping  that  might  be  wintering  there,  and  then, 
as  soon  as  practicable,  either  by  land  or  water,  proceed  to  York,  seize  the  army  stores 
collected  there,  and  two  frigates  said  to  be  on  the  stocks. 

Dearborn  received  a  general  outline  of  this  plan  from  the  War  Department  on  the 
10th  of  February.  He  was  then  at  Plattsburg  with  two  brigades  wintering  there, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  about  twenty-five  hundred  effective  men.  "Noth 
ing  shall  be  omitted  on  my  part,"  he  wrote  on  the  1 8th,a  "  in  endeavoring  <>  February, 
to  carry  into  effect  the  expedition  proposed."2  Major  Forsyth,  who  re 
turned  to  Ogdensburg  after  the  British  left  it,  was  ordered  to  Sackett's  Harbor. 
General  Brown  was  directed  to  call  out  several  hundred  militia ;  and  Colonel  Zebu- 
Ion  M.  Pike  (who  was  made  a  brigadier  general  a  month  later)  was  ordered  to  pro 
ceed  from  Plattsburg  to  the  Harbor  with  four  hundred  of  his  best  men  in  sleighs. 
But  Chauncey  was  detained  in  New  York,  and  the  expedition  against  Kingston  was 
abandoned,  partly  on  that  account,  and  partly  because  the  arrival  at  that  place  of 
Sir  George  Prevost  with  Pierson's  escort3  from  Prescott  gave  foundation  for  a  report 
that  the  British  there  had  received  large  re-enforcements.4  When,  about  the  1st 
of  March,  Dearborn  arrived  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  the  story  was  current  there,  and 
generally  believed,  that  Sir  George,  with  six  or  eight  thousand  men,  collected  from 
Quebec,  Montreal,  and  Upper  Canada,  was  at  Kingston,  engaged  in  active  prepara 
tions  for  offensive  measures. 

•Dearborn  found  only  about  three  thousand  troops  at  the  Harbor,  and  he  sent  ex 
presses  to  hasten  forward  those  on  the  way.  On  the  9th  of  March  he  wrote  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  saying, "  I  have  not  yet  had  the  honor  of  a  visit  from  Sir  George 
Prevost,"  and  expressed  some  doubts  whether  the  knight  would  make  his  appearance 
at  all.  A  week  afterward  all  causes  for  apprehensions  of  an  attack  from  Kingston 
had  disappeared,  and  at  a  council  of  officers1*  the  expedition  against  that 
place  was  formally  abandoned  until  the  lake  should  be  open  and  the  co 
operation  of  the  fleet  should  be  secured.  To  the  strengthening  of  that  arm  of  the 
service  on  the  lake,  the  genius  and  industry  of  Henry  Eckford,  the  naval  construotor, 
were  now  earnestly  directed,  the  President  having,  on  the  3d  of  March,  directed  six 
sloops  of  war  to  be  built  on  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie,  and  as  many  purchased  as  the 
exigencies  of  the  service  might  require.  The  pay  of  seamen  was  advanced  twen 
ty-five  per  cent.,  and  many  of  them  were  sent  to  the  lakes  for  active  service  there. 
Early  in  April  the  brig  Jefferson  was  launched0  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  the  c  April  T. 
keel  of  the  General  Pike  was  laid.d  On  the  14th  the  British  launched  two  "April  9. 
large  vessels  at  Kingston,  and  at  about  the  same  time  received  for  the  service  on  the 

'  See  Chapter  XVIII.  2  General  Dearborn  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  3  See  page  577. 

*  "Chauncey  has  not  returned,"  Dearborn  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  25th  of  February.  "I  am  satisfied 
that  if  he  had  arrived  as  soon  as  I  had  expected  him,  we  might  have  made  a  stroke  at  Kingston  on  the  ice ;  but  his 
presence  was  necessary  for  having  the  aid  of  the  seamen  and  marines." 


586 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Troops  at  Sacketfs  Harbor. 


Expedition  against  Little  York. 


The  British  Defenses. 


water  large  numbers  of  seamen  from  the  Royal  Navy.  On  the  15th  the  ice  in  the 
lake  disappeared,  and  two  days  afterward  Chauncey  sent  out  the  Growler  to  recon 
noitre.  Brigadier  General  Chandler  had  lately  arrived.  The  effective  force  at  Sack- 
ett's  Harbor  at  this  time  consisted  of  about  five  thousand  regulars  and  twelve  months' 
volunteers,  two  thousand  militia,  and  thirteen  hundred  sailors. 

At  the  middle  of  April  Dearborn  and  Chauncey  matured  a  plan  of  operations.  A 
joint  land  and  naval  expedition  was  proposed,  to  first  capture  York,  and  then  to  cross 
Lake  Ontario  and  reduce  Fort  George.  At  the  same  time,  troops  were  to  cross  the 
Niagara  from  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock,  capture  Forts  Erie  and  Chippewa,  join  the 
fleet  and  army  at  Fort  George,  and  all  proceed  to  attack  Kingston.  Every  thing 
being  arranged,  Dearborn  embarked  about  seventeen  hundred  men  on  Chauncey's 
fleet  at  Sacketfs  Harbor  on  the  22d  of  April,  and  on  the  25th  the  fleet,  crowded  with 
soldiers,  sailed  for  York.1  After  a  boisterous  passage,  it  appeared  before  the  little 


town  early  in  the  morn 
ing  of  the  27th,  when 
General  Dearborn,  suf 
fering  from  ill  health, 
placed  the  land  forces 
under  charge  of  Gener 
al  Pike,2  and  resolved 
to  remain  on  board  the 
commodore's  flag-ship 
during  the  attack. 

The  little  village  of 
York3  was  then  chiefly 
at  the  bottom   of  the 
bay,  near  a  marshy  flat 
through    which   the 
Don,    coming    down 
from   beautiful   fertile 
valleys,    flowed    slug 
gishly    into    Lake    Ontario, 
and,  because  of  the  softness 
of  the   earth   there,  it   was 
often  called  "  Muddy  Little 


York."  It  gradually 
grew  to  the  westward, 
and,  while  deserting 
the  Don,  it  wooed  the 
Humber,  once  a  famous 
salmon  stream,  that 
flows  into  a  broad  bay 
two  or  three  miles  west 
of  Toronto.  In  that 
direction  stood  the  re 
mains  of  old  Fort  To 
ronto,  erected  by  the 
French,  and  now  (1867) 
an  almost  shapeless 
heap.  On  the  shore 
eastward  of  it,  between 
the  present  new  bar 
racks  and  the  city,  were 
two  batteries,  the  most  east 
erly  one  being  in  the  form 
of  a  crescent.  A  little  far 
ther  east,  on  the  borders  of 


1  Chavmcey's  fleet  consisted  of  the  flag-ship  Madison,  commanded  by  Commander  Elliott ;  the  Oneida,  Lieutenant  Com 
manding  Woolsey ;  the  Fair  American,  Lieutenant  Chauncey ;  the  Hamilton,  Lieutenant  M'Pherson  ;  the  Governor  Tomp- 
kins,  Lieutenant  Brown  ;  the  Conquest,  Lieutenant  Pettigrew ;  the  Asp,  Lieutenant  Smith  ;  the  Pert,  Lieutenant  Adams; 
the  Julia,  Mr.  Trant ;  the  Growler,  Mr.  Mix  ;  the  Ontario,  Mr.  Stevens  ;  the  Scourge,  Mr.  Osgood  ;  the  Lady  of  the  Lake, 
Mr.  Flinn  ;  and  Raven,  transport. 

3  Zebnlon  Montgomery  Pike  was  one  of  the  earlier  explorers  of  the  wilderness  around  the  head-waters  of  the  Missis 
sippi  River.  He  was  born  in  Lamberton,  New  Jersey.  His  father  was  an  army  officer,  and  young  Pike  entered  the 
army.while  yet  a  boy.  His  whole  life  was  devoted  to  the  military  profession.  Soon  after  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  in 
1803,  President  Jefferson  decided  to  have  the  vast  unknown  territory  explored,  and  sent  Captains  Lewis  and  Clarke  to 
accomplish  a  portion  of  it.  At  the  same  time,  young  Pike  (who  was  born  on  the  5th  of  January,  1779)  was  commissioned 
to  explore  the  present  Minnesota  region.  That  was  in  1805.  In  the  following  year  he  made  a  perilous  but  successful 
reconnoissance  of  the  wilderness  in  the  direction  of  Northern  Mexico,  and,  returning  in  the  summer  of  1807,  he  received 
the  thanks  of  Congress.  He  reached  the  rank  of  colonel  of  infantry  in  1S10,  and  in  March,  1813,  he  was  commissioned  a 
brigadier.  He.lost  his  life  in  the  attack  on  York  (Toronto),  in  April,  1813,  when  he  was  little  more  than  thirty-four  years 
of  age.  His  name  and  memory  are  perpetuated,  not  only  on  the  pages  of  History,  but  in  the  titles  often  counties,  and 
twenty-eight  townships  and  villages  in  the  United  States,  chiefly  in  the  Western  country. 

On  the  day  before  he  left  Sacketfs  Harbor,  General  Pike  wrote  as  follows  to  his  father :  "  I  embark  to-morrow  in  the 
fleet,  at  Sacketfs  Harbor,  at  the  head  of  a  column  of  1500  choice  troops,  on  a  secret  expedition.  Should  I  be  the  happy 
mortal  destined  to  turn  the  scale  of  war,  will  yon  not  rejoice,  oh  my  father?  May  heaven  be  propitious,  and  smile  on 
the  cause  of  my  country.  But  if  we  are  destined  to  fall,  may  my  fall  be  like  Wolfe's— to  sleep  in  the  arms  of  victory." 
His  wish  was  gratified. 

3  York,  or  "  Little  York,"  as  it  was  generally  called,  was  a  village  of  about  nine  hundred  inhabitants,  situated  on  the 
north  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  a  little  west  of  the  meridian  of  the  Niagara  River.  It  was  founded  by  Governor  Simcoe, 
was  made  by  him  the  seat  of  government  in  179T,  and  designed  to  be,  what  it  has  since  become,  a  large  and  flourishing 
city.  In  front  of  it  is  a  beautiful  bay,  nearly  circular,  a  mile  and  a  half  iu  diameter,  formed  by  the  main  and  a  curious- 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  587 


Neglect  of  Defenses.  General  Pike's  Instructions.  His  Troops  confronted  at  their  Landing-place. 

a  deep  ravine  and  small  stream,  was  a  picketed  block -house,  some  intrenchments 
with  cannon,  and  a  garrison  of  about  eight  hundred  men,  under  Major  General  Sheaffe. 
On  Gibraltar  Point, 
the  extreme  western 
end  of  the  peninsula, 
that  embraced  the 
Harbor  with  its  pro 
tecting  arm,  was  a 
small  block  -  house  ; 
and  another,  seen  in 
the  engraving,  stood 
on  the  high  east  bank 
of  the  Don,  just  be 
yond  the  present 
bridge  at  the  eastern 

termination  of  King  and  Queen  Streets.  These  defenses  had  been  strangely  neglect 
ed.  Some  of  the  cannon  were  without  trunnions ;  others,  destined  for  the  war  vessel 
then  on  the  stocks,  were  in  frozen  mud  and  half  covered  with  snow.  Fortunately  for 
the  garrison,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  was  then  in  port  undergoing  some  repairs,  and 
her  guns  furnished  some  armament  for  the  batteries.  These,  however,  amounted  to 
only  a  few  six-pounders.  The  whole  country  around,  excepting  a  few  spots  on  the 
lake  shore,  was  covered  with  a  dense  forest. 

On  the  day  when  the  expedition  sailed  from  Sackett's  Harbor  General  Pike  issued 
minute  instructions  concerning  the  manner  of  landing  and  attack.  "  It  is  expected," 
he  said, "  that  every  corps  will  be  mindful  of  the  honor  of  the  American  arms,  and 
the  disgraces  which  have  recently  tarnished  our  arms,  and  endeavor,  by  a  cool  and 
determined  discharge  of  their  duty,  to  support  the  one  and  wipe  off  the  other."  "The 
unoffending  citizens  of  Canada,"  he  continued,  "  are  many  of  them  our  own  country 
men,  and  the  poor  Canadians  have  been  forced  into  this  war.  Their  property,  there 
fore,  must  be  held  sacred ;  and  any  soldier  who  shall  so  far  neglect  the  honor  of  his 
profession  as  to  be  guilty  of  plundering  the  inhabitants,  shall,  if  convicted,  be  pun 
ished  with  death.  But  the  commanding  general  assures'the  troops  that,  should  they 
capture  a  large  quantity  of  public  stores,  he  will  use  his  best  endeavors  to  procure 
them  a  reward  from  his  government."  With  such  instructions  the  Americans  pro 
ceeded  to  invade  the  British  soil  at  about  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  27th 
of  April,  1813. 

It  was  intended  to  land  at  a  clearing  near  old  Fort  Toronto.  An  easterly  wind, 
blowing  with  violence,  drove  the  small  boats  in  which  the  troops  left  the  fleet  full 
half  a  mile  farther  westward,  and  beyond  an  effectual  covering  by  the  guns  of  the 
navy.  Major  Forsyth  and  his  riflemen,  in  two  bateaux,  led  the  van,  and  when  with 
in  rifle-shot  of  the  shore  they  were  assailed  by  a  deadly  volley  of  bullets  by  a  com 
pany  of  Glengary  Fencibles  and  a  party  of  Indians  under  Major  Givens,  who  were 
concealed  in  the  woods  that  fringe  the  shore.  "  Rest  on  your  oars  !  prime !"  said 
Forsyth,  in  a  low  tone.  Pike,  standing  on  the  deck  of  the  Madison,  saw  this  halting, 
and  impatiently  exclaimed,  with  an  expletive,  "  I  can  not  stay  here  any  longer ! 
Come,"  he  said,  addressing  his  staff,  "jump  into  the  boat."  He  was  instantly  obeyed, 

shaped  peninsula,  which,  within  a  few  years,  has  become  an  island.  It  was  only  a  few  rods  wide,  where,  in  1858,  a 
storm  cut  a  channel  and  made  most  of  the  peninsula  an  island,  while  at  its  western  extremity  it  was  very  broad,  and 
embraced  several  ponds.  See  map  on  page  590.  It  is  low  and  sandy— so  low  that,  from  the  moderate  elevation  of  the 
town  (fifteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the  water),  the  dark  line  of  the  lake  maybe  seen  over  it.  Upon  it  were,  and  still  are, 
some  trees,  which,  at  first  glance,  seem  to  be  standing  on  the  water.  This  gave  the  name  of  Tarontah,  an  Indian  word 
signifying  "trees  on  the  water,"  to  the  place.  When  the  French  built  a  fort  there,  westward  of  the  extreme  western 
end  of  the  peninsula  (which  was  called  "Gibraltar  Point"),  they  named  it  Fort  Tarontah,  or  Toronto.  In  pursuance  of 
his  plan  of  Anglicizing  the  Upper  Province,  Simcoe  named  it  York.  The  people,  at  a  later  day,  with  singular  good  taste, 
resumed  the  Indian  name  of  Tarontah,  or  Toronto. 


588 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Battle  in  the  Woods. 


Cowardly  Flight  of  the  Indians. 


The  British  driven  to  Toronto. 


and  very  soon  they  and  their  gallant  commander  were  in  the  midst  of  a  fight,  for 
Forsyth's  men  had  opened  fire,  and  the  enemy  on  the  shore  were  returning  it  brisk 
ly.  The  vanguard  soon  landed,  and  were  immediately  followed,  in  support,  by  Ma 
jor  King  and  a  battalion  of  infantry.  Pike  and  the  main  body  soon  followed,  and 
the  whole  column,  consisting  of  the  Sixth,  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Twenty-first  Reg 
iments  of  Infantry,  and  detachments  of  light  and  heavy  artillery,  with  Major  For 
syth's  riflemen  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Clure's  volunteers  as  flankers,  pressed  for 
ward  into  ihe  woods.  The  British  skirmishers  meanwhile  had  been  re-enforced  by 
two  companies  of  the  Eighth,  or  King's  Regiment  of  Regulars,  two  hundred  strong,  a 
company  of  the  Royal  Newfoundland  Regiment,  a  large  body  of  militia,  and  some 
Indians.  They  took  position  in  the  woods,  and  were  soon  encountered  by  the  ad 
vancing  Americans,  whose  artillery  it  was  difficult  to  move.  Perceiving  this,  the 
British,  led  by  General  Sheaffe  in  person,  attacked  the  American  flanks  with  a  six- 
pounder  and  howitzer.  A  very  shai'p  conflict  ensued,  and  both  parties  suffered  much. 
Captain  M'Neil,  of  the  King's  Regiment,  was  killed.  The  British  were  overpowered, 
and  fell  back,  when  General  Pike,  at  the  head  of  the  American  column,  ordered  his 
bugler  to  sound,  and  at  the  same  time  dashed  gallantly  forward.  That  bugle  blast 
thrilled  like  electric  fire  along  the  nerves  of  the  Indians.  They  gave  one  horrid  yell, 
then  fled  like  frightened  deer  to  cover,  deep  into  the  forest.  That  bugle  blast  was 
heard  in  the  fleet,  in  the  face  of  the  wind,  and  high  above  the  voices  of  the  gale,  and 
evoked  long  and  loud  responsive  cheers.  At  the  same  time  Chauncey  was  sending 
to  the  shore,  under  the  direction  of  Commander  Elliott,  something  more  effective  than 
huzzas,  for  he  was  hurling  deadly  grape-shot  upon  the  foe,  which  added  to  the  con 
sternation,  of  the  savages,  and  gave  fleetness  to  their  feet.  They  also  hastened  the 
retreat  of  Sheaffe's  white  troops  to  their  defenses  in  the  direction  of  the  village,  while 
the  drum  and  fife  of  the  pursuers  were  briskly  playing  Yankee  Doodle. 

The  Americans  now  pressed  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible  along  the  lake  shore  in 
platoons  by  sections.  They  were  not  allowed  to  load  their  muskets,  and  were  com 
pelled  to  rely  upon  the  bayonet.  Because  of  many  ravines  and  little  streams,  the  ar 
tillery  wras  moved  with  difficulty,  for  the  enemy  had  destroyed  the  bridges.  It  was 
a  strong  right  arm,  and  essential  in  the  service  at  hand ;  and  by  great  exertions  a 
field-piece  and  a  howitzer,  under  Lieutenant  Fanning,  of  the  Third  Artillery,  was 
moved  steadily  with  the  column.  As  that  column  emerged  from  thick  woods,  flank 
ed  by  M'Clure's  volunteers,  divided  equally  as  light  troops,  under  Colonel  Ripley,  it 
was  confronted  by  twenty-four  pounders  on  the  Western  Battery,  the  remains  of 


ItEMAINS   OK  T11E   WESTERN   HATTERY.1 

which  are  now  (1867)  plainly  visible  between  the  present  New  Barracks  and  the 
city  on  the  lake  shore.     Upon  that  battery  the  guns  of  some  of  Chauncey's  vessels, 

1  In  this  sketch  the  appearance  of  the  mounds  in  1860  is  given.  On  the  left,  in  the  distance,  is  seen  a  glimpse  of  a 
wharf  and  part  of  Toronto.  On  the  right  a  portion  of  the  peninsula,  now  an  island.  In  the  centre  of  the  picture  is  the 
opening  between  the  island  and  the  remainder  of  the  peninsula,  looking  out  npou  the  lake.  The  steam-boat  indicates 
the  present  channel,  which  is  narrow  aud  not  very  deep. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  589 

Battle  at  York.  Explosion  of  the  British  Powder-magazine.  Death  of  General  Pike  and  others. 

which  had  beat  up  against  the  wind  in  range  of  the  enemy's  works,  were  pouring 
heavy  shot.  Captain  Walworth  was  ordered  to  storm  it  with  his  grenadiers,  of  the 
Sixteenth.  They  immediately  trailed  their  arms,  quickened  their  pace,  and  were 
about  to  charge,  when  the  wooden  magazine  of  the  battery,  that  had  been  carelessly 
left  open,  blew  up,  killing  some  of  the  men,  and  seriously  damaging  the  defenses. 
The  dismayed  enemy  spiked  their  cannon,  and  fled  to  the  next,  or  Half-moon  Battery. 
Walworth  pressed  forward,  when  that,  too,  was  abandoned,  and  he  found  nothing 
within  but  spiked  cannon.  Sheaffe  and  his  little  army,  deserted  by  the  Indians,  fled 
to  the  garrison  near  the  governor's  house,  and  there  opened  a  fire  of  round  and  grape 
shot  upon  the  Americans.  Pike  ordered  his  troops  to  halt,  and  lie  flat  upon  the  grass, 
while  Major  Eustis,  with  his  artillery  battery,  moved  to  the  front,  and  soon  silenced 
the  great  guns  of  the  enemy. 

The  firing  from  the  garrison  ceased,  and  the  Americans  expected  every  moment  to 
see  a  white  flag  displayed  from  the  block-house  in  token  of  surrender.  Lieutenant 
Riddle,  whose  corps  had  brought  up  the  prisoners  taken  in  the  woods,  was  sent  for 
ward  with  a  small  party  to  reconnoitre.  General  Pike,  who  had  just  assisted,  with 
his  own  hands,  in  removing  a  wounded  soldier  to  a  comfortable  place,  was  sitting 
upon  a  stump  conversing  with  a  huge  British  sergeant  who  had  been  taken  prisoner, 
his  staff  standing  around  him.  At  that  moment  was  felt  a  sudden  tremor  of  the 
ground,  followed  by  a  tremendous  explosion  near  the  British  garrison.  The  enemy, 
despairing  of  holding 
the  place,  had  blown 
up  their  powder-mag 
azine,  situated  upon  the 
edge  of  the  water,  at 
the  mouth  of  a  ravine, 
near  where  the  build 
ings  of  the  Great  West 
ern  Railway  stand. 
The  effect  was  terrible. 
Fragments  of  timber, 
and  huge  stones  of 
which  the  magazine 

walls  were  built,  were  scattered  in  every  direction  over  a  space  of  several  hundred 
yards.1  When  the  smoke  floated  away  the  scene  was  appalling.  Fifty-two  Ameri 
cans  lay  dead,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  others  were  wounded.2  So  badly  had 
the  affair  been  managed  that  forty  of  the  British  also  lost  their  lives  by  the  explo 
sion.  General  Pike,  two  of  his  aids,  and  the  British  sergeant  wrere  mortally  hurt,3 
while  Riddle  and  his  party  were  unhurt,  the  missiles  passing  entirely  over  them. 
The  terrified  Americans  scattered  in  dismay,  but  they  were  soon  rallied  by  Brigade 
Major  Hunt  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Mitchell.  The  column  was  reformed,  and  the 
general  command  was  assumed  by  the  gallant  Pennsylvanian,  Colonel  Cromwell 

1  The  magazine  was  about  twenty  feet  square.    It  contained  five  hundred  barrels  of  gunpowder,  and  an  immense 
quantity  of  shot  and  shells.    It  was  built  of  heavy  stone,  close  by  the  lake  shore,  with  a  heavy  stone  wall  on  its  water 
front.    Its  roof  was  nearly  level  with  the  surface  of  the  ground.    The  descent  to  its  vaults  was  by  stone  steps  inside  of 
the  wall.    It  was  so  situated  that  the  Americans  did  not  suspect  its  existence  there.    The  picture  ot  it  above  given,  as 
it  appeared  before  the  explosion,  is  from  a  pencil  sketch  by  an  English  officer.    It  is  said  that  some  of  the  fragments 
of  the  magazine  were  thrown  by  the  explosion  as  far  as  the  decks  of  Chauncey's  vessels,  and,  says  Ingersoll,  "the  water 
was  shocked  as  with  an  earthquake." 

2  A  late  provincial  writer,  whose  pages  exhibit  the  most  bitter  spirit,  says,  in  speaking  of  this  destruction  of  life,  "We 
heartily  agree  with  James  [the  most  malignant  and  mendacious  of  the  British  writers  on  the  War]  'that,  even  had  the 
whole  column  been  destroyed,  the  Americans  would  but  have  met  their  deserts;'  and  if  disposed  to  commiserate  the 
poor  soldiers,  at  least,  we  wish,  with  him, '  that  their  places  had  been  filled  by  the  American  President  anil  the  ninety- 
eight  members  of  the  Legislature  who  voted  for  the  war.1 " — A  History  of  the  Late  War  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  State*  of  America,  by  G.  Auchinleck,  Toronto,  1855. 

3  One  of  General  Pike's  officers  afterward  wrote  :  "I  was  so  much  injured  in  the  general  crash  that  it  is  surprising 
how  I  survived.    Probably  [  owe  my  escape  to  the  corpulency  of  the  British  sergeant,  whose  body  was  thrown  upon 
mine  by  the  concussion."— Letter  in  The  Aurora,  quoted  by  Hough  in  his  History  of  Je/erson  County,  page  4S2. 


590 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Surrender  of  York.  Escape  of  General  Sheaffe  and  his  Regulars.  The  Americans  in  Possession  of  the  Post. 

Pcarce,  of  the  Sixteenth,  the  senior  officer.1  After  giving  three  cheers,  the  troops 
pressed  forward  toward  the  village,  and  were  met  by  the  civil  authorities  and  militia 
officers  with  propositions  for  a  capitulation,  in  response  to  a  peremptory  demand  for 
surrender  made  by  Colonel  Pearce.  An  •arrangement  was  concluded  for  an  absolute 
surrender,  with  no  other  prescribed  conditions  than  that  all  papers  belonging  to  the 
civil  officers  should  be  retained  by  them,  that  private  property  of  all  kinds  should  be 
respected,  and  that  the  surgeons  in  attendance  upon  the  British  regulars  and  Cana 
dian  militia  should  not  be  considered  prisoners  of  war.2  General  Sheaffe's  baggage 
and  papers  were  captured.  Among  the  former  was  a  musical  snuff-box  that  attract 
ed  much  attention. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  confusion  that  succeeded  the  explosion,  and  the  time  in 
tentionally  consumed  in  the  capitulation,  General  Sheaffe  and  a  large  portion  of  his 
regulars,  after  destroying  the  vessel  on  the  stocks  and  some  store-houses  and  their 
contents,  stole  across  the  Don,  and  fled  along  Dundas  Street  toward  Kingston.  When 
several  miles  from  York  they  met  a  portion  of  the  King's  Regiment  on  their  way  to 
Fort  George.  These  turned  back,  covered  Sheaffe's  retreat,  and  all  reached  King 
ston  in  safety.  Sheaffe  (who  was  the  military  successor  of  Brock)  was  severely  cen 
sured  for  the  loss  of  York,  and  was  soon  afterward  superseded  in  command  in  Upper 
Canada  by  Major  General  De  Rottenburg.  He  retired  to  Montreal,  and  took  com 
mand  of  the  troops  there. 


On  hearing  of  the  death  of  General  Pike,  General  Dearborn  went  on  shore,  and  as 
sumed  command  after  the  capitulation.  At  sunset  the  work  was  finished;  and  at 
the  same  hour  (eight  o'clock  in  the  evening),  both  Chauncey  and  Dearborn  wrote 
brief  dispatches  to  the  government  at  Washington,  the  former  saying,  "  We  are  in 

1  Cromwell  Pearce  was  born  in  Willistown,  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  13th  of  August,  17T2,  on  the  farm 
where  the  celebrated  "  Paoli  massacre"  occurred  in  the  autumn  of  1777.    His  father  was  a  native  of  Ireland.    Cromwell 
was  brought  up  a  farmer.    At  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  Governor  Mifflin  commissioned  him  a  captain  of  militia,  and 
in  1799  he  entered  the  regular  army  of  the  United  States  as  first  lieutenant  in  the  Tenth  Regiment  of  Light  Infantry.    He 
was  commissioned  a  colonel  of  the  Sixteenth  Infantry  in  July,  1812,  and  marched  to  the  Northern  frontier.    He  bore  a 
distinguished  part  in  the  capture  of  York,  and  yet  his  name  was  not  mentioned  in  General  Dearborn's  report  of  the  af 
fair.    Only  Chauncey,  in  his  official  report,  speaks  of  him.    Pearce  was  brave,  modest,  and  unassuming,  and  performed 
his  duties  nobly  throughout  the  war.    In  the  autumn  of  1S13  he  was  in  the  battle  of  Chrysler's  Field,  on  the  St.  Law 
rence,  when,  on  the  fall  of  the  commander,  he  again  became  the  leader  of  the  contending  forces.    At  the  close  of  the  war 
he  retired  to  private  life.    In  1S1G  he  was  elected  sheriff  of  his  native  county.    In  1824  he  was  chosen  a  presidential 
elector,  and  was  deputed  to  carry  to  Washington  City  the  electoral  vote  of  the  state.    In  1825  he  was  appointed  an  as- 
sociatejudge  of  the  County  Court,  which  office  he  held  until  1839.    He  died  suddenly  on  the  2d  of  April,  1852,  in  the  eight 
ieth  year  of  his  age. — Xotce  Cestritnsi*,  by  William  Darlington,  M.D.,  LL.D. 

2  The  following  were  the  commissioners  who  arranged  the  terms  of  capitulation : 

Americans:  Lieutenant  Colonel  E.  G.  Mitchell ;  Major  Samuel  S.  Conner,  aid-do  camp  to  General  Dearborn  ;  and  Com 
mander  Elliott,  of  the  Navy.  British :  Lieutenant  Colonel  W.  Chewett,  of  the  York  Militia ;  Major  W.  Allen,  of  the  same 
corps  ;  and  Lieutenant  F.  Gaurreau. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  591 


York  abandoned  by  the  Americans.  General  Pike's  last  Moments.  A  Scalp  adorning  the  Parliament-house. 

full  possession  of  this  place,"  and  the  latter, "  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you 
that  the  American  flag  is  flying  upon  the  fort  at  York."  The  post,  with  about  two 
hundred  and  ninety  prisoners  besides  the  militia,  the  war-vessel  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
and  a  large  quantity  of  naval  and  military  stores,  passed  into  the  possession  of  the 
Americans.  Such  of  the  latter  as  could  not  be  carried  away  by  the  squadron  were 
destroyed ;  and  before  the  victors  left,  the  public  buildings  were  fired  by  some  un 
known  hand,  and  consumed.1  Four  days  after  the  capitulation  the  troops  were  re- 
embarked,  preparatory  to  a  descent  upon  Fort  George.  The  post  and  village  of  York, 
possessing  little  value  to  the  Americans,  were  abandoned.1  The  British  re-  .Mays, 
possessed  themselves  of  the  spot,  built  another  block-house,  and  on  the  site  1813- 
of  the  garrison  constructed  a  regular  fortification. 

The  loss  of  the  Americans  in  the  capture  of  York  was  sixty-six  killed  and  two 
hundred  and  three  wounded  on  land,  and  seventeen  killed  and  wounded  on  the  ves 
sels.  The  British  lost,  besides  the  prisoners,  sixty  killed  and  eighty-nine  wounded. 
General  Pike  was  crushed  beneath  a  heavy  mass  of  stone  that  struck-  him  in  the  back. 
He  was  carried  immediately  after  discovery  to  the  water's  edge,  placed  in  a  boat,  and 
conveyed,  first  on  board  the  Pert,  and  then  to  the  commodore's  flag-ship.  Just  as  the 
surgeons  and  attendants,  with  the  wounded  general,  reached  the  little  boat,  the  huz 
zas  of  the  troops  fell  upon  his  benumbed  ears.  "  What  does  it  mean  ?"  he  feebly 
asked.  "  Victory,"  said  a  sergeant  in  attendance.  "  The  British  union-jack  is  coming 
down  from  the  block-house,  and  the  stars  and  stripes  are  going  up."  The  dying  hero's 
face  was  illuminated  by  a  smile  of  great  joy.  His  spirit  lingered  several  hours,  and 
then  departed.  Just  before  his  breath  ceased  the  captured  British  flag  was  brought 
to  him.  He  made  a  sign  for  them  to  place  it  under  his  head,  and  thus  he  expired. 
His  body  was  taken  to  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  with  that  of  his  pupil  and  aid,  Captain 
Nicholson,  was  buried  with  military  honors  within  Fort  Tompkins  there.  Of  his  final 
resting-place  I  shall  hereafter  write.2 

When  I  visited  the  site  of  York  and  the  theatre  of  events  there  in  1813,  in  August, 
1860,1  found  on  the  borders  of  that  harbor  the  beautiful — really  beautiful  city  of 
Toronto,  containing  between  fifty  and  sixty  thousand  souls.  I  arrived  there  by  the 
Toronto  branch  of  the  Great  Western  Railway  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  having 
left  Paris,  on  the  Grand  River,  at  about  five  in  the  afternoon.  We  reached  Burling 
ton  Station  at  six,  and  occupied  about  an  hour  and  a  half  in  traveling  the  remaining 

1  The  Parliament-houses  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  jail  in  Toronto.    It  is  said  that  the  incendiary  was  instigated 
by  the  indignation  of  the  Americans,  who  found  hanging  upon  the  walls  of  the  legislative  chamber  a  human  scalp  ! 
British  writers,  ever  ready  to  charge  the  Americans  with  all  manner  of  crimes,  have  not  only  affected  to  disbelieve  this 
story,  but  have  charged  American  writers  who  have  stated  the  fact  with  deliberate  falsehood.    It  is  not  pleasant  to  re 
late  facts  so  shameful  to  the  boasted  civilization  of  that  country  as  this  incident  furnishes;  but  as  one  of  the  latest  of 
British  historians  has,  without  the  shadow  of  an  excuse,  intimated  that  the  scalp  in  question  had  been  taken  by  Com 
modore  Chauncey  from  the  head  of  a  British  Indian,  "shot  while  in  a  tree,"  during  the  advance  of  the  Americans  on 
the  town  (see  Auchinleck's  History  of  the  War  c/1812,  published  in  Toronto  in  1855),  I  feel  compelled,  by  a  sense  of  jus 
tice,  to  submit  the  proofs  of  this  evidence  of  the  barbarism  of  the  British  authorities  in  Canada  at  that  time. 

On  the  4th  of  June,  1S13,  Commodore  Chauucey  wrote  from  Sackett's  Harbor  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  saying, 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  present  to  you,  by  the  hands  of  Lieutenant  Dudley,  the  British  standard  taken  at  York  on  the  27th 
of  April  last,  accompanied  by  the  mace,  over  ichich  hung  a  human  scalp.  These  articles  were  taken  from  the  Parliament- 
houses  by  one  of  my  officers  and  presented  to  me.  The  scalp  I  caused  to  be  presented  to  General  Dearborn." — Autograph 
Letter,  Navy  Department,  Washington  City.  Armstrong,  who  was  Secretary  of  War  at  that  time,  writing  in  1S3G,  says, 
"One  regimental  standard  was  (by  some  strange  confusion  of  ideas)  sent  to  the  Navy  Department,  and  one  human  scalp, 
a  prize  made,  as  we  have  understood,  by  the  commodore,  was  offered,  but  not  accepted,  as  a  decoration  to  the  walls  of 
the  War  Department."— Notices  of  the  War  of  1812,  i.,  132.  General  Dearborn  wrote,  "A  scalp  was  found  in  the  execu 
tive  and  legislative  council-chamber,  suspended  near  the  speaker's  chair,  accompanied  by  the  mace."— Giles's  Register, 
iv.,190.  Commenting  on  this,  Niles  says,  "The  mace  is  the  emblem  of  authority,  and  the  scalp's  position  near  it  is  truly 
symbolical  of  the  British  power  in  Canada."  The  Canadian  people  had  no  part  nor  lot  in  the  matter,  and  should  not 
bear  any  of  the  odium.  If  British  writers  would  fairly  condemn  the  wrong-doings  of  their  rulers,  they  would  be  more 
just  to  their  fellow-subjects. 

2  The  chief  authorities  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  the  foregoing  narrative  in  this  chapter  are  the  official  reports 
of  the  commanders  on  both  sides ;  the  histories  of  the  events  by  Thompson,  Perkins,  James,  Auchinleck,  Armstrong, 
Christy,  Ingersoll,  and  minor  writers ;  Whiting's  Biography  of  General  Pike ;  Hough's  Histories  of  Jefferson,  Franklin, 
aud  St.  Lawrence  Comities ;  Rogers's  History  of  Canada :  Smith's  Canada,  Past  and  Present ;  Cooper's  Naval  History 
of  the  United  States;  The  War;  Niles's  Register :  the  Port  Folio ;  Analectic  Magazine;  manuscript  notes  of  Dr.  Amasa 
Trowbridge ;  autograph  letters  of  actors  in  the  scenes,  and  notes  from  the  lips  of  survivors. 


392  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

A  Journey  to  Toronto.  Experience  in  that  City.  A  Veteran  of  the  War  of  1812. 

thirty-nine  miles.  Lieutenant  Francis  Hall,  who  traveled  the  same  route  in  1816, 
more  than  ten  years  before  the  first  railway  was  built  for  the  conveyance  of  passen 
gers,  says, "  It  took  us  three  hours  to  accomplish  the  five  miles  of  road  betwixt  the 
head  of  the  lake  and  the  main  road,  called  Dundas  Street,  which  runs  from  York  to 
ward  Lake  Erie  and  Amherstburg The  face  of  the  country  from  the  head  of 

the  lake  to  York  is  less  varied  than  that  of  the  Niagara  frontier.  The  thread  of  set 
tlements  is  slender,  and  frequently  interrupted  by  long  tracts  of  hemlock  swamp  and 
pine  barrens."  Cultivation  has  somewhat  changed  the  features  of  the  country  since 
then,  but,  after  leaving  the  glimpses  of  Lake  Ontario  on  our  right,  we  found  the  route 
rather  uninteresting,  the  country  being  generally  flat. 

We  crossed  the  rocky  bed  of  the  Humber  at  twilight,  and  before  nine  o'clock,  hav 
ing  supped,  I  was  settled  as  a  guest  at  the  "  Rossin  House"  for  two  days.  During 
the  night  a  fearful  thunder-storm  burst  over  the  city,  and  the  lightning  fired  two 
buildings.  Amid  the  din  of  the  tempest  came  the  doleful  pealing  of  the  fire-bells. 
At  the  midnight  hour, 

"Oh,  the  bells,  bells,  bells ! 
What  a  tale  their  terror  tells 

Of  despair ! 

How  they  clang,  and  clash,  and  roar ; 
What  a  horror  they  outpour 
On  the  bosom  of  the  palpitating  air !"— EDGAR  A.  POE. 

For  more  than  two  hours  I  lay  wondering  when  the  tumult  would  cease.  All  things 
have  an  end,  and  so  did  this  unwelcome  disturbance — unwelcome,  because  I  was  worn 
and  weary,  and  needed  full  rest  for  another  hard  day's  work  on  the  morrow. 

The  sun,  at  rising,  peered  longitudinally  through  a  veil  of  mist  that  hung  over  the 
land  and  the  lake.  There  was  great  sultriness  in  the  air.  I  went  out  early  to  find 
the  venerable  John  Ross,  one  of  the  oldest  inhabitants  of  Toronto,  then  in  his  seven 
tieth  year.  He  settled  there  in  the  year  aft 
er  it  was  made  the  seat  of  the  provincial 
government,  and  for  sixty-two  years  he  had 
watched  its  growth  from  a  few  scattered 
huts  to  a  stately  city.  lie  was  born  at  "Butler's  Barracks,"  just  back  of  Newark, 
now  Niagara.  Some  of  Butler's  Rangers,  those  bitter  Tory  marauders  in  Central 
New  York  during  the  Revolution,  who  in  cruelty  often  shamed  Brant  and  his  braves, 
settled  in  Toronto,  and  were  mostly  men  of  savage  character,  who  met  death  by  vio 
lence.1  In  the  War  of  1812  Mr.  Ross  belonged  to  a  company  of  York  Volunteers. 
He  was  with  Brock  at  Hull's  surrender,  and  in  the  battle  of  Queenstown,  two  months 
later,  where  his  loved  commander  fell.  He  assisted  in  the  burial  of  the  hero  in  Fort 
George,  and  he  gave  me  many  interesting  incidents  connected  with  the  event. 

Mr.  Ross  gave  me  such  minute  and  clear  directions  concerning  the  interesting 
places  in  and  around  Toronto  that  I  experienced  no  difficulty  in  finding  them.  I 
hired  a  horse  and  light  wagon,  and  a  young  man  for  driver,  and  spent  a  greater  por 
tion  of  the  day  in  the  hot  sun.  We  first  rode  out  to  the  plain  westward  of  the  city, 
to  visit  the  landing-place  of  the  Americans  and  the  remains  of  old  Fort  Toronto.  The 
latter,  delineated  on  the  next  page,  were  on  the  margin  of  the  lake,  where  the 
bank  is  only  about  eight  feet  above  the  water.  The  spot  is  about  sixty  rods  west 
ward  of  the  present  military  post  called  the  New  Barracks.  The  principal  remains 
of  the  fort  (in  which  may  be  seen  some  timber-work  placed  there  when  the  fort  was 
partially  repaired  in  the  winter  of  1812-'! 3)  are  seen  in  the  foreground.  They  pre 
sented  abrupt  heaps  covered  with  sod.  On  the  right,  in  the  distance,  is  seen  Gibraltar 
Point,  with  the  trees  springing  from  its  low,  sandy  surface.  On  the  left  are  the  New 
Barracks.  A  few  rods  westward  of  the  fort  were  the  remains  of  a  battery,  the 

1  Mr.  Ross  knew  a  Mr.  D ,  one  of  these  Ranger?,  who,  when  intoxicated,  once  told  him  that  "  the  sweetest  steak  he 

ever  ate  was  the  breast  of  a  woman,  which  he  cut  off  and  broiled !" 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


593 


Remains  of  Old  Fort  Toronto.    An  Adventure  among  the  Fortifications  at  Toronto      Displeasure  of  a  British  Official. 


KlvMAlNS   OF   OI.l)   FORT   TORONTO. 


mounds  of  which  were  four  or  five  feet  in  height.  Passing  on  toward  the  city,  near 
the*  lake  shore,  we  came  to  the  remains  of  the  Western  Battery  (see  map  on  page  590), 
delineated  on  page  588,  ten  or  fifteen  rods  eastward  of  the  New  Barracks;  and,  still 
nearer  to  the  town,  the  mounds  of  the  Half-moon  Battery. 

Riding  into  the  city,  we  passed  through  the  old  garrison,  where  a  few  of  the  One 
Hundredth  Regiment  occupied  a  portion  of  the  barracks.  The  gates  were  away,  and 
the  public  road  passed  directly  through  the  fort.  For  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a 
sketch  of  the  old  block-house  of  1813, 1  mounted  the  half-ruined  parapet  on  the  north 
side,  when  I  was  accosted  by  the  fort  adjutant  just  as  I  had  set  my  pencil  at  work. 
With  great  discourtesy  of  manner  he  informed  me  that  it  was  a  violation  of  law  to 


OLD   FORT   AT  TORONTO   IN    1600. 


make  sketches  of  British  fortifications,  and  that  I  ought  to  think  myself  fortunate  in 
being  allowed  to  escape  without  a  penitential  day  in  the  guard-house.  I  assured  him 
that  had  I  for  a  moment  dreamed  that  a  few  old  mounds  of  earth,  two  deserted  block 
houses,  and  some  tumble-down  barracks,  with  a  public  road  crossing  the  very  centre 
of  the  group,  constituted  a  fortification  in  the  sense  of  British  military  law,  I  should 
not  have  been  a  trespasser.  This  intimation  that  a  man  with  his  eyes  open  could  not, 
in  the  chaos  around  him,  discover  a  British  fort,  did  not  increase  the  amiability  of  the 
adjutant,  and,  with  the  supercilious  hauteur  of  offended  dignity,  he  gave  me  to  under 
stand  that  he  wished  no  farther  conversation  with  me.  This  was  the  only  instance 

PP 


594  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

A  courteous  Sergeant.  Visit  to  the  Don.  Chief  Justice  Robinson  and  William  Lyon  M'Kenzie. 

of  incivility-  that  I  received  during  all  my  travels  in  Canada.  I  closed  my  portfolio, 
passed  out  at  the  eastern  gateway,  and  from  the  causeway  that  crosses  the  ravine  at 
the  foot  of  Bathurst  Street,  a  short  distance  from  the  site  of  the  powder  magazine 
that  exploded,  I  obtained  a  much  more  interesting  sketch  than  I  should  have  done 
from  the  parapet.1  This  was  full  compensation  for  the  fort  adjutant's  incivility. 
When  I  had  finished  my  sketch  I  started  into  and  through  the  fort,  and  fell  in  with 
Sergeant  Barlow,  a  most  courteous  young  man,  who  invited  me  to  his  quarters  to  see 
his  bride.  There  he  showed  me  a  number  of  relics  of  the  War  of  1812,  lately  thrown 
up  by  the  excavators  in  the  employ  of  the  railway  company.  Among  them  was  a 
military  button  marked  "P.  R." — Pennsylvania  Rangers  —  some  silver  and  copper 
coins  found  with  a  skeleton,  and  the  remains  of  an  epaulette.  There  I  also  met  Ser 
geant  Robertson,  a  veteran  Scotch  soldier,  who  was  one  of  the  Glengary  Regiment 
during  the  War  of  1812.  He  had  served  in  the  British  army  twenty  years  previous 
to  that  war.  He  was  tall  and  vigorous,  but  somewhat  lame,  and  about  ninety  years 
of  age.  He  gave  me  some  curious  details  of  the  operations  of  the  famous  Gleng'ary 
men  during  the  strife. 

From  the  old  fort  we  rode  out  to  the  River  Don,  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
city.  It  is  there  about  seventy  feet  wide,  and  was  spanned  by  a  bridge  at  the  junction 
of  King  and  Queen  Streets,  made  of  heavy  open  timber-work.  There  General  Sheaffe 
crossed  in  his  flight,  burning  the  bridge  behind  him.  Looking  up  the  Don  from  it 
about  three  fourths  of  a  mile,  where  its  wooded  banks  are  high,  may  be  seen  St. 
James's  Cemetery,  in  the  northeast  corner  of  which  is  the  site  of  the  first  palace  or 
dwelling  of  the  governor,  which  was  built  of  logs  and  called  Castle  Frank.  The 
spot  still  retains  that  name.  I  intended  to  visit  it,  but  when  we  were  at  the  bridge 
the  day  was  waning,  and  a  thunder-shower  was  gathering  in  the  west ;  so  we  turned 
our  faces  cityward,  and  arrived  at  the  hotel  in  time  for  a  late  dinner  and  a  stroll 
around  the  city  to  view  its  very  beautiful  public  buildings  before  dark. 

On  the  following  morning  I  called  upon  Sir  John  Beverly  Robinson,  chief  justice 
of  Upper  Canada,  at  his  pleasant  residence  on  the  southeast  corner  of  John  and  Queen 
Streets.  He  was  an  aged  man,  small  in  stature,  and  elegant  and  affable  in  manners. 
His  father  was  a  member  of  Simcoe's  corps  of  Queen's  Rangers  during  our  old  War 
for  Independence,  and,  with  other  Loyalists,  fled  to  Nova  Scotia  at  its  close.  He  aft 
erward  settled  in  Upper  Canada,  where  the  chief  justice  was  born.  The  son  was  des 
tined  for  the  legal  profession,  and  finished  his  education  in  England,  where  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  When  the  War  of  1812  broke  out  he  abandoned  his  profession 
temporarily,  joined  the  army  in  Canada,  and  was  with  Brock,  in  gallant  service,  at 
Detroit  and  Queenston.  He  was  rewarded  with  the  office  of  solicitor  general,  and 
was  afterward  made  attorney  general  and  chief  justice  of  the  province.  He  died  at 
Toronto  early  in  1863,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  I  met  the  famous  leader  of  the  revolt  in  Upper  Canada 
in  1837,  William  Lyon  M'Kenzie,  with  whom  I  had  been  acquainted  several  years. 
He  was  still  engaged  in  his  favorite  profession  of  editing  and  publishing  a  newspaper, 
and,  though  at  near  the  end  of  the  allotted  age  of  man,  he  seemed  as  vigorous  as  ever, 
and  was  conducting  his  paper  with  that  boldness  that  ever  characterized  his  career. 
He,  too,  has  since  been  laid  in  the  grave.  Mr.  M'Kenzie  accompanied  me  to  the  res 
idence  of  the  governor  general,  the  Parliament-house,  and  the  wharf,  where  great 
preparations  were  making  for  the  reception  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  was  then  at 
Montreal  on  his  way  to  the  Upper  Province.  Workmen  were  engaged  in  the  con 
struction  of  an  immense  amphitheatre  and  triumphal  arch,  not  far  from  the  Parlia- 

1  In  this  view  is  seen  the  causeway  and  bridge  over  the  ravine,  and  the  general  appearance  of  the  fort  in  I860.  In 
the  embankment  is  seen  a  f raise,  or  pickets  placed  horizontally.  On  the  left  is  the  old  block-house  of  1S13.  In  the  cen 
tre,  to  the  right  of  the  open  gateway,  is  another  block-house  with  a  flag  on  it,  built  after  the  Americans  left  York.  On 
the  right  is  the  governor's  house,  built  after  the  war,  with  a  poplar-tree  near  it.  In  the  ravine,  a  little  to  the  left  of  the 
cannon  and  horses,  was  situated  the  magazine  that  exploded. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


595 


Passage  across  Lake  Ontario. 


The  Railway  to  Lewiston. 


Arrival  at  Niagara  Falls. 


August  23, 
1860. 


ment-house,  at  the  foot  of  wide  Brock  Street,  I  think.  The  veteran  agitator  was  to 
leave  for  Montreal  that  afternoon  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  prince,  and  so  we 
soon  parted,  he  to  dash  off  some  spicy  editorials — to  hurl  a  shot  at  some  political  or 
social  evil — and  I  to  dine  and  prepare  for  a  voyage  across  the  lake  to  the  Niagara 
River. 

We  left  Toronto  toward  evening,a  hoping  to  reach  Lewiston  in  time  to 
take  the  train  that  would  connect  with  one  leaving  Niagara  Falls  early 
for  the  East,  but  in  this  we  were  disappointed.  The  voyage  was  a  delightful  one  in 
a  stanch  steamer.  We  passed  out  of  the  harbor  through  the  channel  across  the  for 
mer  neck  of  the  peninsula,1  and  in  a  short  time  we  were  out  of  sight  of  land.  All 
along  the  western  and  northern  horizons  heavy  clouds  were  drifting,  and  the  watery 
expanse  back  of  us  was  as  black  as  the  Styx.  Before  us,  as  we  approached  the 
mouth  of  the  Niagara  River,  the  white  mist,  which  is  eternally  rising  from  the  Great 
Cataract,  was  seen  above  Queenston  Heights,  at  least  twenty  miles  distant.  When 
we  entered  the  river  a  heavy  thunder-shower  was  rapidly  rising  in  the  direction  of 
Burlington  Bay.  It  burst  upon  us 
at  Lewiston,  where  we  entered  the 
railway  cars.  It  was  short  and  se 
vere.  As  we  moved  along  the  fear 
ful  shelf  in  the  rocks  forming  the 
perpendicular  banks  of  the  Niagara 
River — rocks  a  hundred  feet  above 
and  a  hundred  feet  below  the  rail 
way  that  overlooks  the  rushing  wa 
ters — the  setting  sun  beamed  out 
in  splendor,  and  revealed  clearly 
the  whole  country  from  Queenston 
Heights  to  Lake  Ontario.  Just  as 
we  had  passed  a  small  rocky  tunnel, 
we  were  detained  for  a  few  minutes 
by  some  obstruction,  when,  from  the 
back  window  of  the -last  car  in  the 
train  at  which  I  was  standing,  I 

O? 

made  the  accompanying  sketch.  It 
will  convey  to  the  reader  an  idea  of 
the  nature  of  the  road.  Below  is 
seen  the  waters  of  the  Niagara,  span 
ned  by  the  suspension  bridge  at 
Lewiston,  and,  by  a  somewhat  wind 
ing  way,  flowing  into  Lake  Ontario 
in  the  far  distance.  We  ran  into 
Niagara  Falls  village  at  dark  in  the 
midst  of  another  heavy  thunder- 
shower,  and  late  in  the  evening  de 
parted  in  the  cars  for  the  East.  I 
rested  at  Rochester  that  night,  and 
on  the  following  day  reached  my 
home  on  the  Hudson,  after  a  weari 
some  but  most  interesting  tour  of  a 
fortnight  in  Canada  and  along  the  Niagara  frontier. 

We  have  observed  on  page  591  that  the  victors  at  York  abandoned  that  post  pre 
paratory  to  an  attack  upon  Fort  George,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River.     On  ac- 


VIEW    ON  THE  KIAGAEA,  KEXB   LEWISTON. 


1  See  note  3,  page  586. 


596  P1CTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Expedition  against  Fort  George.  Preparations  for  an  Attack.  The  respective  Forces  there. 

count  of  adverse  winds,  the  expedition  did  not  leave  York  Harbor  until  the  8th  of 
May,  when  the  whole  fleet  crossed  the  lake  and  anchored  off  the  mouth  of  Four-mile 
Creek,  four  miles  eastward  of  Fort  Niagara.  Dearborn  and  Chauncey,  and  other 
army  and  naval  commanders,  had  preceded  the  fleet  in  the  pilot  schooner  Lady  of 
the  Lake,  and  selected  the  place  for  an  encampment  near  the  mouth  of  the  creek. 
There  the  troops  were  debarked,  and  Chauncey  sailed  for  Sackett's  Harbor  with  most 
of  his  fleet,  to  obtain  supplies  and  re-enforcements  for  the  army.  He  arrived  there  on 
a  May,  the  llth.a  The  smaller  vessels  were  continually  employed  in  conveying  stores 

S13-  and  troops  to  Dearborn's  camp  ;  and  on  the  22d  the  Madison,  with  the  com 
modore's  pennant  flying  in  her,  sailed  for  the  same  point  with  three  hundred  and  fifty 
troops,  including  Macomb's  artillery  corps.  She  arrived  at  Four-mile  Creek  on  the 
25th,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day  Commander  Perry,  who  had  come  down 
hastily  from  Erie,  joined  Chauncey,  to  the  great  delight  of  that  officer.  At  the  mo 
ment  of  his  arrival,  all  the  officers  of  the  squadron  were  assembled  on  board  the  flag 
ship  to  receive  orders.  "  No  person  on  earth,"  Chauncey  said  to  Perry,  as  he  cor 
dially  grasped  his  hand, "could  be  more  welcome  at  this  time  than  yourself."  On 
the  following  morning  the  commodore  and  Perry,  in  the  Lady  of  the  Lake,  recon 
noitred  the  enemy's  batteries  with  care,  planted  buoys  for  the  government  of  the 
smaller  vessels  which  it  was  intended  to  send  close  in  shore,  and  arranged  other  pre 
liminaries  for  the  attack.  They  then  called  upon  General  Dearborn,  who  was  quite 
ill  at  his  quarters,  when  Chauncey  urged  the  importance  of  making  the  attack  the 
next  morning.  The  general  assented,  and  issued  an  order  to  that  effect,  which  was 
signed  by  Winfield  Scott,  adjutant  general  and  chief  of  staff.  The  last  clause  of  the 
order  placed  the  landing  of  the  troops  in  charge  of  Commodore  Chauncey,  and  that 
specific  duty  was  intrusted  to  Commander  Perry.  Information  of  this  arrangement 
was  communicated  to  the  commanding  general,  who,  it  appears,  had  no  definite  plan 
of  attack.1 

Fort  Niagara  and  the  troops  there  were  under  the  command  of  Major  General 
Morgan  Lewis,  of  New  York.  During  the  occupancy  of  the  camp  at  Four-mile  Creek 
re-enforcements  had  come  in  from  various  points,  and  on  the  return  of  Chauncey,  pre 
pared  for  attacking  the  British  post.  The  American  land  force  fit  for  duty  was  over 
four  thousand  in  number,  under  the  general  command  of  Dearborn.  He  was  too  ill 
to  take  the  field,  and  issued  his  orders  part  of  the  time  from  his  bed.  He  was  sup 
ported  by  Generals  Lewis,  Boyd,  Winder,  and  Chandler,  and  eminently  so  by  Colonel 
Scott,  whose  skill  and  industry  in  disciplining  the  troops  during  their  detention  in 
camp  was  of  the  greatest  service. 

The  British  force  in  the  vicinity  was  composed  of  about  eighteen  hundred  regulars, 
consisting  of  the  Forty-ninth  Regiment,  and  detachments  from  the  Eighth,  Forty-first, 
Glengary,  and  Newfoundland  Corps,  under  the  command  of  Brigadier  General  John 
Vincent.  Eight  companies  of  the  Forty-ninth,  five  companies  of  the  Eighth  or  King's, 
three  companies  of  the  Glengary,  and  two  of  the  Newfoundland  Regiment,  and  a  por 
tion  of  the  artillery,  were  stationed  at  Fort  George  and  its  immediate  vicinity,  with 
three  hundred  and  fifty  militia  and  fifty  Indians.  The  right,  from  Fort  George  to 
Brown's  Point  (the  first  below  Vrooman's,  near  Queenston),  was  commanded  by 
Colonel  Harvey ;  the  left,  from  the  fort  to  Four-mile  Creek,  on  the  Canada  side  of  the 
Niagara  River,  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Myers,  the  deputy  quarter-master  gen 
eral  ;  and  the  centre,  at  the  fort,  by  General  Vincent.  In  the  rear  of  Fort  George,  in 
the  several  ravines,  companies  were  stationed  so  as  to  support  each  other  when  re 
quired.2 

Besides  Fort  George,  the  British  had  several  smaller  works  along  the  shores  of  the 
Niagara  River  and  Lake  Ontario,  in  the  vicinity.  Five  of  the  twenty-four-pounders 

1  Letter  of  Commodore  Perry,  supposed  to  be  to  his  parents,  cited  by  M'Kenzie  in  his  Life  of  Par y,  ii.,  138. 

2  Merritt's  MS.  Narrative. 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  597 

Cannonade  between  Forts  George  and  Niagara.  The  American  Squadron  off  the  Niagara  River. 

taken  from  Hull  had  been  brought  to  that  frontier,  four  of  which  had  been  mounted 
in  Fort  George,  and  the  fifth  had  been  placed  en  barbette,1  about  half  a  mile  from  New 
ark,  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  present  Fort  Mississagua.  They  had  another  battery  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Two-mile  Creek.  The  Americans  had  quite  a  powerful  work,  called 
the  Salt  Battery,  in  the  lower  part  of  Youngstown,  opposite  Fort  George.  There 
were  two  other  batteries  above  it,  and  two  between  it  and  Fort  Niagara. 

Arrangements  were  made  for  the  attack  on  Fort  George  on  the  morning  of  the 
27th  of  May.  A  large  number  of  boats  had  been  built  at  Five-mile  Meadow,  on  the 
Niagara  River,  and  orders  were  sent  for  them  to  be  brought  round  to  Four-mile  Creek. 
When  they  were  launched,  toward  evening  on  the  26th,  a  small  battery  opposite  the 
Meadows  opened  upon  the  workmen.  This  brought  on  a  general  cannonading  be 
tween  the  two  forts  and  their  dependent  batteries,  during  which  the  Salt  Battery  at 
Youngstown  inflicted  severe  injury  upon  every  wooden  building  in  and  near  Fort 
George,  while  the  return  fire  from  the  fort  was  slow  and  feeble,  owing,  it  is  said,  to  a 
scarcity  of  powder.  Meanwhile  night  came  on,  and  under  its  cover  the  boats  went 
down  the  river  and  reached  the  American  encampment  in  safety.  During  the  night, 
all  the  heavy  artillery,  and  as  many  troops  as  possible,  were  placed  on  the  Madison, 
Oneida,  and  Lady  of  the  Lake,  and  instructions  given  for  the  remainder  to  follow  in 
the  smaller  war  vessels  and  boats,  according  to  a  prescribed  plan. 

Generals  Dearborn  and  Lewis  went  on  board  the  Madison,  and  between  three  and 
four  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  squadron  weighed  anchor.  The  troops  were  all  em 
barked  at  a  little  past  four,  and  the  wThole  flotilla  moved  toward  the  Niagara  with  a 
very  gentle  breeze.  The  wind  soon  failed,  and  the  smaller  vessels  were  compelled  to 
employ  their  sweeps.  A  heavy  fog  hovered  over  land  and  water  from  early  dawn 
until  the  sun  broke  forth  in  splendor,  when  a  magnificent  sight  was  opened  to  view 
on  the  lake.  The  large  vessels,  filled  with  troops,  were  all  under  way,  and  the  bosom 
of  the  water  was  covered  with  scores  of  boats,  filled  with  soldiers,  light  artillery,  and 
horses,  grandly  advancing  upon  the  enemy,  who  had  been  greatly  perplexed  by  the 
fog.  The  breeze  had  now  freshened  a  little,  and  all  the  vessels  took  their  designated 
positions  without  difficulty. 

The  Julia,  Sailing-master  Trant,  and  the  Growler,  Sailing-master  Mix,  took  a  posi 
tion  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River,  to  keep  in  check  or  silence  a  battery  near  the 
light-house  (on  or  near  the  site  of  Fort  Mississagua),  in  the  vicinity  of  which  it  was 


-- -~^-i^iV^-^^  r ---:^>~ •  — 


TO   TILE  NIAGARA  EIVEK.2 


intended  to  land  some  of  the  troops.     The  Ontario,  commanded  by  Mr.  Stevens,  took 
a  position  north  from  the  light-house,  so  as  to  enfilade  the  same  battery  and  cross  the 

1  That  is,  on  the  top  of  an  embankment,  without  embrasures  or  openings  in  the  banks  by  which  the  cannon  is  shel 
tered  and  concealed. 

-  This  view  is  from  a  drawing  made  in  1813,  previous  to  the  attack  on  Fort  George,  and  published  in  the  Port  Folio 
in  July,  1S17.  On  the  extreme  left  is  seen  Fort  Niagara,  and  at  a  greater  distance,  across  the  river,  Fort  George  and  the 
vilage  of  Newark.  To  the  right  of  the  light-house,  over  which  is  a  flag,  is  seen  the  battery  which  the  Julia  and  Growler 
controlled. 


598  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Opening  of  {he  Batteries.  Landing  of  the  American  Troops.  Gallantry  of  Commodore  Perry. 

fire  of  the  other  two.  The  Governor  Tompkins,  Lieutenant  Brown,  and  the  Conquest, 
commanded  by  another  lieutenant  of  the  same  name,  took  position  near  Two-mile 
Creek,  so  as  to  command  a  battery  which  the  enemy  had  erected  there.  Near  this 
was  the  designated  place  for  the  debarkation  of  most  of  the  troops.  For  the  purpose 
of  covering  them  in  that  movement,  the  Hamilton,  Lieutenant  M'Pherson,  the  Asp, 
Lieutenant  Smith,  and  the  Scourge,  Sailing-master  Osgood,  took  stations  near  the  oth 
er  two,  but  closer  to  the  shore. 

While  the  vessels  were  taking  their  positions,  and  the  troops  were  preparing  to 
land,  the  batteries  upon  both  sides  were  playing  briskly.  Colonel  Scott,  on  accept 
ing  the  position  of  adjutant  general,  had  stipulated  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  com 
mand  his  regiment  (Second  Artillery)  on  extraordinary  occasions.  This  he  considered 
an  extraordinary  occasion,  aftd  he  was  placed  in  the  command  of  the  vanguard  or  for 
lorn  hope  of  five  hundred  men  destined  to  make  the  first  attack.  The  troops  were  to 
land  in  three  brigades,  from  six  divisions  of  boats.  Scott's  advance  was  composed  of 
his  own  corps  acting  as  infantry,  Forsyth's  riflemen,  and  detachments  from  infantry 
regiments.  These  were  to  be  followed  by  General  Lewis's  division  and  Colonel  Moses 
Porter  with  his  light  artillery,  and  these,  in  turn,  by  the  commands  of  Generals  Boyd 
(who  had  succeeded  General  Pike),  Winder,  and  Chandler.  The  reserve  consisted  of 
Colonel  Alexander  Macomb's  regiment  of  artillery,  in  which  the  marines  of  the  squad 
ron,  under  Captain  Smith,  had  been  incorporated.  Four  hundred  seamen  were  also 
held  in  reserve,  to  land,  if  necessary,  under  the  immediate  command  of  Commodore 
Chauncey. 

Before  the  expedition  reached  the  place  of  intended  debarkation  the  wind  had  in 
creased,  and  a  rather  heavy  sea  rolling  shoreward  made  the  landing  difficult.  The 
TompJcins  swept  gracefully  into  her  designated  position.v  Lieutenant  Brown  coolly 
prepared  for  action,  and  then  opened  a  fire  upon  the  British  battery  with  so  much 
precision  that  it  was  silenced,  and  its  people  driven  away  in  less  than  ten  minutes. 
The  boats  now  dashed  in  under  the  skillful  management  of  Perry ;  and  so  eager  were 
the  troops  of  the  van,  under  Scott,  to  meet  the  foe,  that  they  leaped  into  the  water 
and  waded  to  the  shore,  Captain  Hindman,  of  the  Second  Artillery,  being  the  first 
man  who  touched  the  beach.  They  had  already  been  under  fire ;  for,  as  the  first  bri 
gade,  under  Boyd,  with  Scott  in  the  van,  approached  the  shore,  they  were  unexpect 
edly  assailed  by  volleys  of  musketry  from  more  than  two  hundred  of  the  Glengary 
and  Newfoundland  regiments  under  Captain  Winter,  and  about  forty  Indians  under 
Norton,  who  was  conspicuous  at  Queenston  the  year  before.  These  had  been  con 
cealed  in  a  ravine  and  wood  not  far  from  the  battery  that  had  been  silenced.  The 
shot  passed  over  the  heads  of  the  Americans ;  and,  a  few  minutes  afterward,  Scott 
and  his  party  were  on  the  beach,  sheltered  by  an  irregular  bank,  varying  from  six  to 
twelve  feet  in  height,  where  they  formed  for  immediate  action.  The  enemy,  from 
apprehension  of  the  fire  from  the  schooners,  did  not  approach  the  shore  again  imme 
diately,  but  kept  back,  with  the  intention  of  assailing  the  invaders  when  they  should 
ascend  the  bank  to  the  plain  above. 

The  conduct  of  Perry  on  this  occasion  was  remarkable.  Unmindful  of  personal 
danger,  he  went  from  vessel  to  vessel  in  an  open  boat,  giving  directions  personally 
concerning  the  landing.  With  Scott  he  leaped  into  the  water,  and  rushed  ashore 
through  the  surf,  and  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  whole  first  brigade,  un 
der  Boyd,  landed  in  perfect  order  on  the  beach,  flanked  by  M'Clure's  Baltimore  and 
Albany  Volunteers.  Meanwhile  the  schooners  were  not  firing  briskly  enough  to  suit 
the  young  hero.  He  pushed  off  to  the  Hamilton,  of  nine  guns,  and  while  Scott  and 
his  party  were  attempting  to  ascend  to  the  plain,  he  opened  a  tremendous  discharge 
of  grape  and  canister  shot  on  the  British,  who  were  now  advancing  to  repel  the 
Americans,  full  one  thousand  strong,  infantry  and  artillery,  under  Colonel  Myers. 

The  struggle  of  the  Americans  in  ascending  the  bank  Avas  most  severe.     Three 


OF   THE  WAR   OF   1812. 


599 


A  severe  Contest  on  the  Shore. 


Eetreat  of  the  British. 


Capture  of  Fort  George. 


times  they  were  compelled  to  fall  back,  hard  pushed  by  the  bayonets  of  the  foe.  In 
the  first  attempt,  Scott,  at  the  head  of  his  men,  was  hurled  backward  to  the  beach. 
Dearborn,  who  was  anxiously  watching  the  movement  with  his  glass  from  the  Madi 
son,  and  who  placed  more  reliance  on  Scott  than  any  other  man,  seeing  him  fall,  ex 
claimed  in  agony,  "  He  is  lost !  he  is  killed  !"  Scott  soon  recovered  himself,  rallied 
his  men,  rushed  up  the  bank,  knocked  up  the  bayonets  of  the  enemy,  and  took  and 
held  a  position  at  a  ravine  near  by.  He  was  supported  by  Porter's  field  train  and  a 
part  of  Boyd's  brigade,  in  which  service  the  Sixth  Regiment,  three  hundred  strong, 
under  Colonel  James  Miller,  performed  a  conspicuous  part.  A  severe  and  gallant  ac 
tion  ensued — gallant  on  both  sides — which  was  chiefly  sustained  by  Scott's  corps,  and 
the  Eighth  (King's)  British  regiment,  under  Major  Ogilvie.  The  contest  lasted  only 
about  twenty  minutes,  when  the  severe  cannonade  from  the  Hamilton  and  the  well- 
applied  fire  of  the  American  troops  caused  the  British  to  break  and  flee  in  much  con 
fusion.  The  wrhole  body  of  the  enemy,  including  the  Forty-ninth  Regiment,  which 
had  been  brought  forward  by  Colonel  Harvey  as  a  re-enforcement,  fled  toward  Queens- 
ton,  closely  pursued  by  Colonel  Scott.  Colonel  Myers,  their  commander,  was  wound 
ed  and  taken  from  the  field ;  and  the  whole  corps,  officers  and  men,  who  fought  brave 
ly,  suffered  severely. 

General  Vincent  was  satisfied  that  the  victory  of  the  Americans  was  complete,  and 
that  Fort  George  was  untenable,  so  he  ordered  its  guns  to  be  spiked,  the  ammunition 
to  be  destroyed,  the  fort  to  be  abandoned,  and  the  whole  force  under  his  command 
to  retreat  westward,  by  the  way  of  Vrooman's  and  St.  David's,  to  a  strong  position 
among  the  hills,  at  a  place  called  the  Beaver  Dams,  about  eighteen  miles  distant,  and 
rendezvous  there. 

Information  of  the  im 
pending  destruction  of 
the  fort  was  communica 
ted  to  Scott  while  pass 
ing  it  with  his  pursuing 
column  by  some  prison 
ers  who  came  running 
out.  He  immediately  de 
tached  two  companies, 
under  Captains  Hind- 
man  and  Stockton,1  and, 
wheeling  to  the  left, 
dashed  on  at  their  head 
toward  the  fort  to  save 
the  guns  and  ammuni 
tion,  if  possible.  When 
he  was  about  eighty 
paces  from  the  works 
one  of  the  magazines  ex 
ploded,  and  a  piece  of 
flying  timber  threw  the  impetuous  leader  from  his  horse,  and  hurt  him  severely.  He 
soon  recovered  from  the  shock,  and  pressed  forward.  The  gate  was  forced,  the  light 
ed  trains  for  firing  two  smaller  magazines  were  extinguished,  and,  with  his  own 
hands,  Scott  hauled  down  the  British  flag.  The  whole  manoeuvre  occupied  but  a  few 
minutes,  and  Scott  was  soon  again  at  the  head  of  his  column,  in  hot  pursuit  of  the 

1  Thomas  Stockton  was  a  native  of  Delaware,  and  was  appointed  captain  of  artillery  in  1S12.  In  1814  he  became  ma 
jor  of  the  Forty-second  Infantry,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  was  retained  as  captain,  with  the  brevet  rank  of  major. 
He  afterward  served  in  the  artillery.  He  resigned  in  1S25.  In  1S44  he  was  governor  of  Delaware,  and  died  at  New 
castle  in  March,  1S4G. 


PLAN  OF  OPERATIONS  AT  TUB  MOUTH  OF  THE  NIAGARA  EIVEE. 


600  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Pursuit  of  the  British  checked.  Their  Flight  to  the  Beaver  Dams  aud  Burlington  Heights. 

flying  enemy,  satisfied  that  he  would  overtake  and  capture  them.  Twice  he  disre 
garded  an  order  from  General  Lewis  to  give  up  the  pursuit,  saying  to  Lieutenants 
Worth  and  Vandeventer,  the  messengers,  "  Your  general  does  not  know  that  I  have 
the  enemy  within  my  power;  in  seventy  minutes  I  shall  capture  his  whole  force." 
Just  then  Colonel  Burn,1  his  senior,  was  crossing  the  Niagara  River  from  the  Five- 
mile  Meadows  with  precisely  the  troops  which  Scott  deemed  necessary  to  make  his 
successful  pursuit  of  the  enemy  secure.  While  waiting  for  these  he  was  overtaken 
by  General  Boyd,  who  gave  him  peremptory  orders  to  relinquish  the  chase  and  re 
turn  to  Fort  George.  He  obeyed  with  regret.  He  had  followed  the  enemy  five 
miles,  and  was  then  so  near  them  that  he  was  in  the  midst  of  the  British  stragglers. 
Lieutenant  Riddle,  who  was  not  aware  of  the  order,  pursued  the  fugitives  almost  to 
Queenston,  and  cap'tured  and  brought  back  several  prisoners. 

At  meridian,  Fort  George  and  its  dependencies,  with  the  village  of  Newark,  were  in 
the  quiet  possession  of  the  Americans,  the  attack  and  conquest  having  occupied  only 
three  hours.  The  Americans  had  been  eleven  hours  on  duty  since  embarking  at  Foiir- 
mile  Creek.  Only  a  small  portion  of  them  had  been  actually  engaged  in  the  conflict.2 
Their  loss  was  about  forty  killed  and  one  hundred  wounded.  The  only  officer  slain 
was  Lieutenant  Henry  A.  Hobart,  of  the  Light  Artillery.  The  loss  of  the  British  reg 
ulars  was  fifty-one  killed,  and  three  hundred  and  five  wounded,  missing,  and  prison 
ers.  The  number  of  British  militia  made  prisoners  was  five  hundred  and  seven, 
making  the  entire  loss  of  the  enemy  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  with  quite  a  large 
quantity  of  munitions  and  stores  saved  from  destruction  at  Fort  George  and  the 
batteries. 

General  Vincent  and  most  of  his  troops  reached  the  Beaver  Dams  toward  sunset, 
and  during  the  evening  he  was  joined  by  a  "  battalion  company"  of  the  Eighth,  and 
a  "  detachment  of  the  royal  navy"  under  Captain  Barclay,  who  had  been  escorted  by 
the  gallant  Captain  Merritt,  of  the  mounted  militia,  from  the  Twenty-mile  Creek.3 
Between  midnight  and  dawn,  the  troops  from  Fort  Erie,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Bisshopp,  and  from  Fort  Chippewa,  under  Major  Ormsby,  reached  the  camp,  orders 
having  been  sent  to  those  commanders  to  abandon  the  entire  Niagara  frontier.  Early 
in  the  morning  Vincent  resumed  his  march  toward  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario,  his 
whole  force  bqing  about  sixteen  hundred  men.  From  Forty-mile  Creek  (now  Grims- 
by)  he  wrote  an  official  dispatch  to  Sir  George  Prevost  that  evening,  giving  an  ac 
count  of  his  disasters,  and  suggesting  the  propriety  of  establishing  a  communication 
with  the  army  on  Burlington  Heights  (whither  he  was  inarching)  "  through  the  me 
dium  of  the  fleet."  On  the  29th  he  took  post  on  the  heights,  and  was  soon  joined  by 
troops  from  Kingston. 

*  May,  On  the  morning  of  the  28th,a  when  it  was  known  that  Vincent  had  fallen 
1813-  back  to  his  deposit  of  provisions  and  stores  at  the  Beaver  Dams,  General  Lewis 
was  sent  in  pursuit  of  him  with  the  brigades  of  Chandler  and  Winder.  They  accom 
plished  nothing.  Ascertaining  that  Vincent  had  fled  westward,  they  made  a  circuit 

1  James  Burn  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina.  He  was  a  captain  of  cavalry  in  1709.  He  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1812  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  Second  Light  Dragoons.  He  left  the  service  on  the  disbanding  of  the 
army  in  1815.  He  died  at  Frankfort,  near  Philadelphia,  in  1823. 

-  General  Dearborn,  in. a  second  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  written  on  the  Sth  of  June,  spoke  in  the  highest 
terms  of  all  the  officers  and  men  engaged  in  the  affair,  especially  of  the  "animating  examples"  of  Scott  and  Boyd,  and 
the  services  of  Colonel  Porter,  Major  Armistead,  and  Lieutenant  Totteu,  in  their  "judicious  and  skillful  execution  in 
demolishing  the  enemy's  batteries."  Lieutenant  Totteu  finally  became  a  brigadier  general,  and  was  the  Chief  Engi 
neer  of  the  United  States  Army  for  several  years  before  his  death. 

3  "We  formed  again  at  the  Council-house"  [see  plan  on  page  509],  says  Captain  Merritt,  "when  I  was  sent  up  to  or 
der  down  the  light  company  of  the  King's,  who,  we  understood,  were  at  the  Eight-mile  Creek.  I  rode  through  the 
M'oods,  around  the  American  regiments,  followed  up  the  lake  to  the  Twenty-mile  Creek  (was  two  hours  on  the  road), 
where  I  met  Commodore  Barclay  with  his  sailors,  and  the  King's.  We  hurried  on  to  Shopman's,  where  I  learned  the 
army  had  retreated  to  De  Cou's  [the  Beaver  Dams].  I  took  the  party  through  the  woods,  and  arrived  there  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  Next  morning  the  militia  were  allowed  to  remain  or  follow  the  army.  This  was  a  bad  day  for 
many  as  well  as  myself.  I  went  home,  prepared  my^'kit,'  and  with  a  heavy  heart  bid  adieu,  as  I  thought,  to  the  place 
of  my  nativity  for  a  long  time.  I  was  determined  to'share  the  fate  of  the  army."— MS.  Narrative. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


601 


British  Property  destroyed  by  themselves. 


Injurious  Delay. 


Expedition  sent  toward  Burlington  Heights. 


of  many  miles  to  assure  themselves  of  the  British  evacuation  of  the  frontier,  and  then 
returned  to  camp. 

Forts  Erie  and  Chippewa,  and  all  pubKc  property  from  the  former  down  to  Niagara 
Falls,  were  doomed  to  destruction  by  an  order  received  from  General  Vincent  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  27th.  In  pursuance  of  that  order,  Major  Warren,  in  command  of  the 
batteries  opposite  Black  Rock,  was  ordered  to  open  fire  upon  that  place,  and  keep  it 
up  all  night,  until  the  troops  should  move  off.  He  did  so ;  and  in  the  morning  the 
magazine  at  Fort  Erie  was  blown  up,  and  magazines,  barracks,  and  store-houses  all 
along  the  frontier  were  fired.  In  the  evening  of  Friday  the  28th,  Lieutenant  Colo 
nel  James  P.  Preston,  the  commandant  at  Black  Rock  (who  was  Governor  of  Virginia 
in  1816),  crossed  over  with  the  Twelfth  Regiment  and  took  possession  of  Fort  Erie. 
He  at  once  issued  an  admirable  proclamation  to  the  people  of  Canada,  by  which  he 
allayed  their  apprehensions  and  disarmed  all  resentment.1 

Two  or  three  days  were  now  consumed  in  apathy  at  Newark,  Dearborn  and  Chaun- 
cey  not  having  been  able  to  agree  respecting  future  movements.  The  latter,  who  had 
anchored  his  fleet  in  Niagara  River,  sailed  for  Sackett's  Harbor  on  the  31st.  Mean 
while  a  rumor  came  that  Proctor  was  marching  from  the  Detroit  frontier  to  assist 
Vincent  in  recoverincr  that  of  the  Niao;ara,  This  determined  the  American  com- 

c?  o 

mander  to  send  troops  in  pursuit  of  Vincent  immediately,  for  the  purpose  of  attack 
ing  him  among  the  hills  or  arresting  his  flight  westward.  For  this  purpose  he  de 
tached  General  Winder,  at  his  own  request,  on  the  1st  of  June,  with  about  eight  hund 
red  men,  including  Burn's  dragoons,  and  Archer's  and  Towson's  artillery.  He  took 
the  Lake  Road,  and  marched  rapidly  to  Twenty-mile  Creek,  where  he  was  informed 
of  Vincent's  position  at  Burlington  Heights  and  his  re-enforcements  from  Kingston. 
Winder  prudently  halted,  sent  to  Dearborn  for  re-enforcements,  and  waited  for  their 
arrival.  He  was  joined  on  the  5th  by  General  Chandler  and  about  five  hundred  men. 
Chandler,  being  the  senior  officer,  took  the  chief  command,  and  the  whole  body  moved 


1  "The  Albany  steam-boat  which  arrived  yesterday  (Sunday)  brings  intelligence  that  Fort  Erie  had  surrendered  to 
the  troops  of  the  United  States,  under  Generals  Dearborn  and  Lewis,  with  little  or  no  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  en 
emy."  This  announcement  appeared  in  a  New  York  paper  on  Monday  morning,  the  7th  of  June,  1S13.  This  form  of 
announcement  of  war  news  from  the  North  and  West  at  that  time  was  very  common.  Expresses  from  the  army  at  dif 
ferent  points  were  sent  to  Governor  Tompkins,  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  State  of  New  York,  living  at  Albany,  and 
the  steam-boat  was  the  most  rapid  method  for  conveying  intelligence  then  known.  Every  few  days  the  New  York  pa 
pers  would  say,  "  The  Albany  steam-boat  brings  intelligence,"  et  cetera.  It  must  be  remembered  that  steam  navigation 
was  then  in  its  infancy.  It  was  not  six  years  since  Fulton's  first  successful  experiment  had  been  made.  There  were 
only  three  steam-boats  on  the  Hudson  at  that  time,  whose  owners  had,  by  legislative  grant,  the  monopoly  of  that  kind 
of  navigation.  These  were  the  Paragon,  Car  of  Septum,  and  Xorth  River.  The  average  length  of  the  passage  from  New 
York  to  Albany  was  then  about  thirty-six  hours.* 

*  The  following  advertisement,  taken  from  the  New  York  Evening  Post  of  the  date  under  consideration,  with  a  fac 
simile  of  a  cut  of  "  the  steam-boat"  at  its  head,  will  seem  very  curious  to  the  traveler  now,  at  the  distance  of  sixty  years : 

HUDSON   RIVER   STEAM-BOATS. 

For  the  Information  of  the  Public. 

The  Paragon,  Captain  Wiswall,  will  leave  New  York 
every  Saturday  afternoon,  at  5  o'clock.  The  Car  of  Nep- 
tune,  Captain  Roorback,  do.,  every  Tuesday  afternoon, 
at  5  o'clock.  The  North  River,  Captain  Bartholomew,  do., 
every  Thursday  afternoon,  at  5  o'clock. 

The  Paragon  will  leave  Albany  every  Thursday  morn 
ing,  at  9  o'clock.  The  Car  of  Neptune,  do.,  every  Satur 
day  morning,  at  9  o'clock.  The  North  River,  do.,  every 
Tuesday  morning,  at  9  o'clock. 

TRICES   OF  PASSAGE. 

From  New  York  to  Verplanck's  Point,  $2  ;  West  Point, 
$2.50;  Newburg,  $3;  Wappinger's  Creek,  $3.25 ;  Poughkeepsie,  $3.50;  Hyde  Park,  $4;  Esopus,  $4.25;  Red  Hook,  $4.50 : 
Catskill,  $5;  Hudson,  $5;  Coxsackie,  $5.50 ;  Kinderhook.  $5.75:  Albany,  $7. 

From  Albany  to  Kinderhook,  $1.50;  Coxsackie,  $2  ;  Hudson,  $2;  Catskill,  $2.25:  Red  Hook,  $2.75;  Esopus.  $3;  Hyde 
Park,  $3.25 ;  Poughkeepsie,  $3.50 ;  Wappinger's  Creek,  $4  ;  Newburg,  $4.25  ;  West  Point,  $4.75  ;  Verplauck's  Point, 
$5.25  ;  New  York,  $7. 

All  other  way  passengers  to  pay  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar  for  every  twenty  miles.  No  one  can  be  taken  on  board  and 
put  on  shore,  however  short  the  distance,  for  less  than  one  dollar. 

Young  persons  from  two  to  ten  years  of  age  to  pay  half  price.  Children  under  two  years,  one  fourth  price.  Servants 
who  use  a  berth,  two  thirds'  price ;  half  price  of  none. 


602 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Encounter  at  Forty-mile  Creek. 


Americans  at  Stony  Creek. 


Preparations  to  surprise  their  Camp. 


forward  briskly  to  Forty -mile  Creek,  where 
they  i-ested,  after  driving  off  a  patrol  of  mount 
ed  militia  under  Captain  Merritt.  They  then 
moved  forward  to  Stony  Creek,  ten  miles  far 
ther  westward  and  within  about  seven  miles 
of  Vincent's  camp,  where  they  encountered  a 
British  picket-guard.  These  were  dispersed, 
and  hotly  pursued  by  the  American  advance- 
guard,  consisting  of  light  infantry  under  Cap 
tains  Hindman,  Biddle,  and  Nicholas,  part  of  a 
rifle  corps  under  Captain  Lyttle,  and  a  detach 
ment  of  dragoons  under  Captain  Selden.  Near 
the  present  toll-gate,  a  little  eastward  of  Ham 
ilton,  they  encountered  another  picket.  These, 
too,  were  driven  in,  and  the  victors  pushed  on 
in  pursuit  until  they  saw  Vincent's  camp  on  the 
great  gravelly  hill  at  the  head  of  Burlington 
Bay.  Then  they  wheeled,  and  made  their  way 
leisurely  back  to  camp  at  Stony  Creek. 

The  main  body  of  the  army  encamped  upon 
ground  rising  slightly  above  a  meadow,  through 
which  flows  a  branch  of  Stony  Creek,  and  occu 
pied  the  space  from  the  main  stream  north  of  the  village  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Gage, 
at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  on  the  site  of  which,  when  I  visited  the  spot  in  1860,  stood  the 
residence  of  Nelson  Miller.  The  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Regiments,  and  a  com 
pany  of  artillery  under  Captain  Archer,1  took  post  on  the  lake  shore,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  creek,  about  three  miles  from  the  main  body.  The  troops  in  both  camps,  ex 
pecting  a  night  attack,  slept  on  their  arms,  and  every  precaution  was  taken  by  Chand 
ler  in  the  posting  of  pickets,  throwing  out  patrols,  etc.,  to  prevent  a  surprise.  Ex 
plicit  directions  were  given  by  him  where  and  how  to  form  the  line  of  battle  in  the 
event  of  an  attack.  The  cannon  were  properly  planted,  and  the  horses  that  drew 
them  were  unharnessed. 

There  was  equal  vigilance  in  the  British  camp.  The  audacity  of  the  American 
vanguard  in  pursuing  the  pickets  amazed  and  alarmed  Vincent.  He  was  anxious  to 
obtain  immediate  knowledge  of  the  numerical  strength  and  the  disposition  of  his 
foe,  and  sent  out  Lieutenant  Colonel  Harvey,  with  the  light  companies  of  the  Eighth 
and  Forty-ninth  Regiments,  to  reconnoitre  the  American  camp.  The  duty  was 
well  performed,  notwithstanding  the  night  was  very  dark,  and  Harvey  reported,  be 
fore  midnight,  that  "the  enemy's  camp -guards  were  few  and  negligent;  that  his 
line  of  encampment  was  long  and  broken  ;  that  his  artillery  was  feebly  supported ; 
and  that  several  of  the  corps  were  placed  too  far  in  the  rear  to  aid  in  repelling  a 
blow  which  might  be  rapidly  and  vigorously  struck  at  the  front."  He  advised  a 
night  attack,  and  Vincent,  heeding  it,  made  immediate  preparations  to  execute  the 
movement. 

At  midnight  the  British  commander  left  his  camp  with  about  six  hundred  men, 
composed  of  five  companies  of  the  King's  (Eighth)  Regiment  and  the  whole  of  the 
Forty-ninth,  and  marched  for  Stony  Creek.  Harvey's  scout  joined  them,  and  at  about 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning  they  all  halted  within  a  mile  of  the  American  camp. 
Harvey  had  discovered  the  centre  to  be  the  weakest  point  in  Chandler's  line.  By 
one  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighborhood,  who  had  treacherously  joined  the  Amer- 


1  Samuel  B.  Archer  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  He  was  a  captain  in  Scott's  Second  Regiment  of  artillery,  and  was 
breveted  major  for  his  gallant  conduct  at  Fort  George  on  the  27th  of  May,  1813.  He  was  retained  in  the  service  inlSIS, 
and  in  1821  became  inspector  general,  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  He  died  on  the  llth  of  December,  1823. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


603 


Assault  on  the  American  Camp. 


Confusion  and  Disaster  in  the  Darkness. 


UATT.LE-GEOC.ND  OF  STOXY  CEEEK.1 

icans  and  deserted,  Vincent  had  obtained  the  countersign  for  that  night,  and  through 
it  he  was  enabled  to  secure  the  sentinels  without  giving  alarm. 

It  was  now  two  o'clock  in  the  morninga — a  warm  Sabbath  morning — and  >  jnne  e, 
the  little  army  of  Americans  were  sleeping  soundly,  unconscious  of  impend 
ing  danger.  Clouds  covering  a  moonless  sky  made  the  gloom  deep,  but  not  impen 
etrable.  Five  hundred  British  regulars  loaded  their  muskets,  fixed  their  bayonets, 
and,  led  by  General  Vincent  in  person,  rushed  upon  the  American  centre  at  double- 
quick,  writh  the  appalling  Indian  war-whoop,  and  plied  the  bayonet  so  fearfully  that 
the  line  was  cut,  and  that  portion  of  it  scattered  to  the  winds.  This  furious  charge 
was  immediately  followed  by  Major  Plenderleath  at  the  head  of  forty  men  of  the 
Forty-ninth,  who  fell  upon  the  artillery,  bayoneted  the  men  at  the  guns,  captured  two 
six-pounders,  and  turned  them  with  fearful  effect  upon  the  camp.  The  greatest  con 
fusion  prevailed,  Chandler's  centre  and  the  assailants  becoming  almost  inextricably 
mixed  in  the  dark,  and  each  was  unable  to  distinguish  friends  from  foes. 

In  the  mean  time  Major  Ogilvie,  with  a  part  of  the  King's  Regiment,  had  fallen 
upon  the  American  left,  composed  of  the  Fifth,  Sixteenth,  and  Twenty-third  Regu 
lars,  and  some  riflemen  under  General  Winder,  to  which  was  attached  Burn's  dra- 
•goons,  who  were  too  far  in  the  rear  to  render  immediate  assistance.  This  attack  was 
at  first  gallantly  resisted,  the  Twenty-fifth,  of  the  centre,  lending  their  aid ;  but  a  fire 
in  the  rear,  from  a  detachment  of  the  assailing  party  that  broke  through  the  line, 
threw  them  into  great  confusion. 

While  Chandler2  was  making  preparations  to  meet  this  unexpected  assault,  a  heavy 

1  This  view,  sketched  in  the  morning  sunlight,  is  from  the  residence  of  Daniel  Lewis,  Esq.,  lieutenant  colonel  of  the 
Wentworth  Militia,  who  was  in  the  battle.    In  the  foreground  is  seen  the  meadow  through  which  flows  a  branch  of 
Stony  Creek.    Beyond  it,  on  the  left,  is  a  gentle  elevation,  the  estate  of  Mr.  Thomas  Waddle,  of  Hamilton,  and  near  the 
village,  on  which  lay  the  encampment.    Miller's  (Gage's)  house  is  seen  on  the  extreme  right,  with  a  veranda  and  grove 
of  trees  in  front.    In  the  distance  is  the  range  of  hills  which  extend  westward  from  Queenston,  and  are  called  "the 
Mountain"  by  the  Canadians. 

2  John  Chandler  was  born  within  the  bounds  of  the  present  State  of  Maine  (Kennebec  County),  then  a  part  of  Massa 
chusetts,  in  the  year  1TCO.    His  parents  were  very  humble,  and  he  became  an  itinerant  blacksmith.    His  residence  was 
in  General  Dearborn's  settlement  of  Monmonth,  about  fifteen  miles  west  from  Augusta.    It  is  recorded,  in  a  late  His 
tory  and  Description  of  Xew  England,  by  Coolidge  and  Mansfield,  that  "  he  was  the  poorest  man  in  the  settlement."    By 
industry  and  perseverance  he  became  wealthy.    His  talents  were  of  a  high  order.    He  was  a  representative  in  Congress 
from  1805  to  1SOS,  and  when  the  war  broke  out  and  he  was  commissioned  a  brigadier  general,  he  was  major  general  of 
militia.    His  military  career  ended  at  Stony  Creek,  and  he  was  disbanded  in  1815.    He  represented  Maine  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  from  1S20  to  1829.    He  died  at  Augusta,  Maine,  September  25, 1841,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years. 


004  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Capture  of  Generals  Chandler  and  Winder.  Narrow  Escape  of  General  Vincent.  Retreat  of  the  Americans. 

fire  was  opened  on  the  right  flank  of  the  Americans.  Perceiving  this,  he  hastened 
in  that  direction  to  prevent  its  being  turned,  when,  in  the  darkness,  his  horse  stum 
bled  and  fell,  and  the  general  was  severely  hurt.  He  soon  recovered  his  feet,  suc 
ceeded  in  providing  for  the  safety  of  his  right,  and  was  returning  to  the  centre,  mov 
ing  with  difficulty  on  foot,  when  he  was  attracted  to  the  artillery,  where  there  was 
much  confusion.  He  was  not  aware  that  the  two  cannon  were  in  possession  of  the 
enemy ;  and,  under  the  impression  that  those  in  confusion  around  the  pieces  were 
some  of  his  own  command,  he  gave  orders  for  them  to  rally.  To  his  utter  astonish 
ment  he  found  himself  among  the  enemy,  and  in  a  moment  he  was  disarmed  and  made 
a  prisoner  of  war.  At  about  the  same  time  General  Winder  and  Major  Van  De  Ven 
ter1  fell  into  the  same  trap  and  were  made  prisoners.2 

At  this  moment  there  was  the  wildest  confusion  every  where.  Towson's  artillery 
had  poured  a  destructive  fire  upon  the  assailants  and  had  broken  their  ranks.  Col 
onel  Burn,  with  his  cavalry,  had  cut  his  way  through  the  British  Forty-ninth,  and 
was  performing  the  same  feat  with  the  American  Sixteenth,  Avhen  he  discovered  that 
he  was  fighting  his  own  friends.  They  had  combated  severely  for  several  minutes  be 
fore  the  fatal  mistake  was  discovered.  Meanwhile  Genei'al  Vincent,  the  British  com 
mander,  had  been  thrown  from  his  horse  in  the  darkness,  and  being  unable  to  find 
either  his  animal  or  his  troops,  had  wandered  off  in  the  woods.  His  friends  supposed 
him  to  be  killed  or  a  prisoner.  The  command  devolved  upon  Colonel  Harvey,  who, 
finding  it  impossible  to  drive  the  Americans  from  their  position,  collected  his  scat 
tered  forces  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  Avhile  it  was  yet  dark  hastened  back  toward 
Burlington  Heights  with  his  notable  prisoners.  He  sent  Captain  Merritt  back  to 
look  for  General  Vincent.  He  was  unsuccessful,  but  captured  two  Americans,  and 
"junec,  took  them  into  camp  as  trophies.3  During  the  ensuing  daya  Vincent  was 

lsl3-  found  by  his  friends  in  the  woods,  four  miles  from  the  place  of  conflict,  with 
out  hat  or  sword,  and  almost  famished.  His  horse  and  accoutrements  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  Americans. 

In  this  confused  and  terrible  night-battle  the  Americans  lost  seventeen  men  killed, 
thirty-eight  wounded,  and  ninety-nine  missing.  The  British  lost  twenty-three  killed, 
one  hundred  wounded,  and  fifty-five  missing.  Notwithstanding  the  Americans  held 
the  ground,  it  was  a  substantial  victory  for  the  British,  and  the  loss  of  the  two  gen 
erals  a  severe  one  for  the  former.  Through  the  gallantry  of  Lieutenant  M'Chesney 
one  piece  of  artillery  was  immediately  recovered,  and  the  other  the  enemy  was  not 
able  to  take  away  for  the  want  of  horses.4  They  were  endeavoring  to  do  so  when 
they  were  overtaken  by  Lieutenant  Macdonough,  and  the  piece  was  seized  by  him. 

The  Americans,  fearing  a  renewal  of  the  attack,  retreated  so  precipitately  that  they 
left  their  dead  unburied.  Under  the  command  of  Colonel  Burn  they  fled  to  Forty- 
mile  Creek,  near  which  they  were  met  by  Colonel  James  Miller  and  four  hundred 
men  sent  to  re-enforce  them.  "  I  can  assure  you,"  Colonel  Miller  wrote  to  his  wrife, 
"  I  can  scarce  believe  that  ypu  would  have  been  more  glad  to  see  me  than  that  army 
was.5  On  the  following  day,b  in  the  afternoon,  they  were  joined  by  Generals 
Lewis  and  Boyd,  with  their  staffs,  and  the  little  army  encamped  there,  on  a 

1  Christopher  Van  De  Venter  was  a  native  of  New  York.    He  was  appointed  lieutenant  in  Scott's  regiment  of  artil 
lery  in  1S09.    In  1812  he  was  assistant  military  ageiit  at  Fort  Columbus,  in  New  York  Harbor.    He  was  afterward  dep 
uty  quarter-master,  with  the  rank  of  major,  and  in  that  capacity  served  on  the  Niagara  frontier.    He  was  taken  a  pris 
oner  to  Quebec.    At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  retained  in  the  service,  and  in  1S1G  was  aid-de-camp  to  Brigadier  General 
Joseph  G.  Swift.    He  resigned  in  August  that  year,  and  from  1S1T  until  1827  he  was  chief  clerk  in  the  War  Department. 
He  died  at  Georgetown,  D.  C.,  on  the  22d  of  April,  1838. 

2  Colonel  William  Eraser  (then  a  sergeant),  who  was  living  at  Perth,  back  of  Brockville,  in  Canada,  in  I860,  took  both 
the  generals  prisoners.    He  advanced  upon  the  artillery,  he  said,  with  forty-six  men,  but  when  they  drew  near  it  they 
had  only  twenty-five  men.    The  American  cannon  in  their  front  was  loaded  with  all  sorts  of  missiles.    The  priming 
flashed,  and  the  gun  was  not  discharged.    They  then  rushed  forward,  shouting  "Come  on,  Brant !"    The  cannon  were 
taken.    Plenderleath  was  wounded.    Fraser  was  binding  up  his  wounds,  when  Chandler  and  Winder  fell  into  the  snare 
and  were  captured.  3  Merritt's  MS.  Narrative.  *  The  same. 

5  Autograph  letter  to  his  wife,  dated  Fort  George,  June  13, 1813. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  605 


A  British  Fleet  in  Sight.  Pursuit  of  the  Americans.  The  British  at  Sodus  Bay. 

plain,  its  right  flank  on  the  lake,  and  its  left  on  a  creek  which  skirts  the  base  of  a  very 
steep  but  not  lofty  mountain. 

At  six  o'clock  that  evening  a  British  squadron  under  Sir  James  L.  Yeo  appeared  in 
the  distance.  The  Americans  lay  on  their  arms  all  night,  and  in  the  morning  the 
hostile  vessels  were  near.  There  was  a  dead  calm.  At  six  in  the  morning  an  armed 
schooner  was  towed  in,  and  opened  a  fire  upon  the  American  boats  in  Avhich  most  of 
their  baggage  and  camp  equipage  was  transported,  which  lay  on  the  shore.  Mean 
while  the  artillery  companies  under  Archer  and  Towson  had  placed  four  cannon  in 
defensive  position,  and  Lieutenant  Totten  had  constructed  a  temporary  furnace  for 
heating  shot.  The  hostile  vessel  was  soon  driven  off.  At  about  the  same  time  some 

~ 

savage  allies  of  the  British  appeared  on  the  bald  brow  of  the  mountain,  and  fired  in 
effectually  into  the  camp,  and  intelligence  came  that  the  British  were  moving  east 
ward  from  Burlington  Heights.  Sir  James  sent  an  officer,  with  a  flag,  to  demand 
from  General  Lewis  an  immediate  surrender  of  his  force,  reminding  him  that  a  Brit 
ish  fleet  was  on  his  front,  a  savage  foe  in  his  rear,  and  an  approaching  British  army 
on  his  flank.  Lewis  answered  that  the  summons  was  too  ridiculous  to  merit  a  serious 
reply.  He  had  not  lost  a  man  in  the  whole  affair  of  the  morning.  The  schooner  had 
been  driven  away,  and  he  was  prepared  to  send  off  the  boats  with  baggage  and  camp 
equipage,  accompanied  by  a  guard  of  two  hundred  men  under  Colonel  Miller.  The 
boats  started  prematurely — before  the  troops  were  ready.  They  were  chased  by  an 
armed  schooner.  A  dozen  of  them  were  captured,  and  the  remainder  were  run  ashore 
and  abandoned  by  the  crews.  At  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  whole  army  com 
menced  a  retrograde  movement,  the  savages  and  local  militia  constantly  hovering  on 
their  flank  and  rear.  They  reached  Fort  George  after  losing  several  prisoners  cap 
tured  by  pursuers,  and  General  Vincent  came  forward  and  occupied  their  camp  at 
Forty-mile  Creek.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bisshopp,  who  Avas  placed  in  command  of  the 
right  division  of  the  British  force,  pushed  forward  with  detachments,  and  took  posi 
tions  which  commanded  the  cross-roads  from  a  little  west  of  the  present  Port  Dalhou- 
sie,  on  the  lake  shore,  to  the  mountain  passes  at  the  Beaver  Dams.1 

The  British  squadron  in  the  mean  time  hovered  along  the  lake  coast,  and  interfered 
greatly  with  the  supplies  for  the  American  camp.  On  the  evening  of  the  12tha  .  June) 
they  captured  two  vessels  laden  with  valuable  hospital  stores  in  the  mouth  1S13- 
of  Eighteen-mile  Creek,  eastward  of  the  Niagara  River ;  and  on  Tuesday  evening,  the 
loth,  they  made  a  descent  upon  the  village  of  Charlotte,  at  the  head  of  the  naviga 
tion  of  the  Genesee  River,  and  carried  off  a  large  quantity  of  stores.  Sailing  east 
ward,  they  appeared  off  Sodus  Bay  on  Friday,  the  1 8th,  and  on  the  following  even 
ing  a  party  of  about  one  hundred,  fully  armed,  landed  at  Sodus  Point  (now  in  Wayne 
County)  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  American  stores  known  to  be  deposited 
there.  These  had  been  removed  to  a  place  of  concealment  a  little  back  of  the  village. 
The  enemy  were  exasperated  on  finding  the  store-houses  empty,  and  threatened  to 
destroy  the  village  if  the  place  of  the  concealment  of  their  contents  should  not  be  re 
vealed.  The  women  and  children  fled  in  alarm.  A  negro,  compelled  by  threats, 
gave  the  enemy  the  desired  information,  and  they  were  marching  in  the  direction  of 
the  stores,  when  they  were  confronted  at  a  bridge  over  a  ravine  by  forty  men  under 
Captain  Turner,  of  Lyons.  A  sharp  skirmish  ensued,  in  which  each  party  lost  two 
men.2  Both  parties  fell  back,  and  the  foiled  British,  as  they  returned  to  their  vessels, 

1  The  chief  authorities  consulted  are  the  official  dispatches  of  commanders  on  both  sides,  and  the  several  histories  of 
the  war  already  mentioned;  Mansfield's  Life  of  General  Scott;  autograph  letters  of  Colonel  James  Miller;  MS.  state 
ment  of  Captain  William  H.  Merritt ;  Armstrong's  Notices  of  the  War  of  1S12 ;  Niles's  Weekly  Register ;  The  War,  and 
oral  statements  of  survivors. 

An  account  of  my  visit  to  the  battle-grounds  of  Stony  Creek  and  the  Beaver  Dams  will  be  given  in  the  next  chapter. 

2  Statement  of  Captain  Luther  Redfield,  of  Clyde,  Wayne  County,  New  York,  in  a  letter  to  the  author  in  February, 
1SGO,  when  the  old  soldier  was  about  eighty-six  years  of  age.    He  says  that  in  a  log  house  a  few  rods  north  of  the  pres 
ent  Presbyterian  church,  in  the  village  of  Junius,  public  worship  was  held.    The  attack  of  the  British  at  Sodus  was  on 
Saturday  evening.    The  next  day,  just  as  the  afternoon  service  was  about  to  commence  at  the  house  above  mentioned, 


606 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Destruction  of  Property  at  Sodus. 


British  Fleet  off  Oswego. 


burned  the  public  store-houses,  five  dwellings,  and  the  old  Williamson  Hotel, 
laid  waste  by  fire  property  valued  at  about  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 
»jnne  20,  From  Sodus  the  British  squadron  sailed  eastward,  and  appeared  off  Os- 
1813.  wego,a  with  a  wish  to  enter  the  harbor  and  seize  or  destroy  stores  there; 
but  Sir  James,  who  was  a  cautious  commander,  did  not  venture  in,  and  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  21st  his  squadron  turned  westward,  and  for  several  days  lay  off  the  Ni 
agara  River. 

a  horseman  came  dashing  up  at  full  speed  with  the  news  of  the  British  invasion.  Redfleld  was  a  captain  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Colonel  Philetus  Swift.  There  were  several  non-commissioned  officers  in  the  church.  These  were  seiit  to 
arouse  the  military  of  the  neighborhood,  and  by  five  o'clock  Captain  Redfield  was  on  the  march  with  about  one  hund 
red  men.  They  halted  most  of  the  night  a  few  miles  north  of  Lyons,  and  resumed  their  march  by  moonlight  toward 
morning.  They  arrived  at  Sodus  at  a  little  after  sunrise  on  Monday  morning,  when  they  met  a  funeral  procession  with 
the  body  of  Turner's  slain  soldier.  The  British  had  gone,  but  the  fleet  was  in  sight.  The  company  remained  -about  a 
week  at  Sodus,  and  were  then  discharged. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


607 


British  Designs  against  Sackett's  Harbor. 


The  Defenses  there. 


General  Jacob  Brown. 


CHAPTER 


'  To  Sackett's  Harbor  Yeo  steered,  with  Prevost's  chosen  blood-hounds, 
But  Brown  his  dogs  of  valor  cheered,  militia  blood,  but  good  hounds. 
He  chased  them  from  the  bloody  track,  and  Yeo's  bull-clogs  slighting, 
Though  Chauncey  was  not  there,  he  show'd  Sir  James  the  art  of  lighting. 

Bow,  wow,  wow  ! 
Fresh-water  dogs  can  tutor  them  with  bow,  wow,  wow  !" 

OLD  SONG  —  A  NEW  Bow  Wow. 


the  military  and  naval  authorities  at  Kingston  were  in 
formed  of  the  weakening  of  the  important  post  at  Sackett's  Har 
bor  by  the  withdrawal  of  troops  and  vessels  for  the  expedition 
against  York,  they  resolved  to  attempt  the  capture  of  the  place, 
•y  or  to  destroy  the  new  ship-of-war  then  on  the  stocks,1  and  other 
public  property  there.  The  capture  of  York  made  them  circum 
spect,  for  the  flushed  victors  might  turn  their  faces  toward  King 
ston  ;  but  when  it  was  known  that  Dearborn  and  Chauncey  were 
about  to  attack  Fort  George  and  its  dependencies,  it  was  resolved  to  assail  Sackett's 
Harbor  immediately.  The  prize  was  more  attractive  now  than  ever  before.  Besides 
being  the  principal  place  of  deposit  on  the  lake  for  military  and  naval  stores,  and  a 
fine  vessel  was  there  nearly  completed,  all  the  property  captured  at  York2  was  de 
posited  there.  The  possession  or  destruction  of  these  by  the  British  would  have 
given  them  the  command  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  a  decided  advantage  during  the  whole 
campaign.  With  singular  remissness  of  duty  on  the  part  of  the  commanding  gen 
eral,  these  had  been  left  exposed.  The  guard  detailed  for  their  protection,  under  Col 
onel  Barker,  was  utterly  inadequate  for  the  task.  It  consisted  of  parts  of  the  First 
and  Second  Regiments  of  Dragoons,  numbering  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
fifty  or  sixty  artillerists,  and  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  infantry,  composed  chiefly 
of  invalids,  recruits,  and  fragments  of  companies  left  behind  when  the  expedition 
sailed  for  York.  The  dragoons,  dismounted,  manned  Fort  Tompkins,  a  considerable 
work  on  the  bluff,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Harbor,3  and  covering  the  site  of  the  present 
residence  and  garden  of  the  naval  commandant  of  the  station.  The  artillerists,  un 
der  Lieutenant  Ketchum,  were  also  there.  A  little  north  of  the  village,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Harbor,  opposite  Fort  Tompkins,  was  a  small  work,  erected  principally  by 
the  labor  of  a  company  of  exempts,  called  Fort  Volunteer.  General  Jacob  Brown,4 

1  After  the  death  of  the  gallant  leader  in  the  attack  on  York,  this  vessel  was  named  General  Pike. 

2  See  page  591. 

3  This  consisted  of  a  strong  block-house  and  surrounding  intrenchments,  and  occupied  tjie  place  of  the  battery  on 
which  the  iron  thirty-two-pounder  that  drove  off  the  British  in  1812  was  mounted.    See  page  368.    The  single  cannon 
with  which  it  was  armed  at  the  time  we  are  now  considering  was  the  same  iron  thirt3T-two-pounder.    The  fort  was 
named  Tompkins  in  honor  of  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  then  governor  of  the  State  of  New  York.    The  bluff  on  which  it 
stood  overlooks  Navy  Point,  within  which  is  the  Harbor,  where  the  ship-yard  was.    The  place  was  named  in  honor 
of  Augustus  Sackett,  the  first  settler.    Its  Indian  name  was  along  one,  and  signified  "fort  at  the  mouth  of  Great  River." 

*  Jacob  Brown  was  born  of  Quaker  parents,  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  9th  of  May,  1775.  He  was  well 
educated  early.  When  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age  his  father  lost  his  property,  and  the  right-minded  youth  resolved  to 
earn  his  own  livelihood.  He  taught  school  in  the  Quaker  settlement  of  Crosswicks,  in  New  Jersey,  from  his  eighteenth 
to  his  twenty-first  birth-day.  For  a  while  he  was  a  surveyor  in  the  vicinity  of  Cincinnati,  and  in  1798  was  a  school 
teacher  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  commenced  the  study  of  law,  but  it  was  distasteful  to  him,  and  he  abandoned  it. 
He  then  purchased  some  land  on  the  Black  River,  in  Jefferson  County,  and  adopted  the  pursuit  of  a  farmer.  In  1809  he 
was  appointed  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  militia  in  that  section,  and  on  his  estate  a  settlement  was  formed  and  named 
Brownsville.  In  1811  the  Governor  of  New  York  commissioned  him  a  brigadier  general  of  militia,  and,  as  we  have  seen 
(see  page  3C6),  he  was  intrusted  with  important  command.  From  that  time  until  the  close  of  the  war  General  Brown's 
public  career  formed  an  important  part  of  the  history  of  the  times,  and  the  record  may  be  found  in  these  pages.  He 


G08 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Brown's  Position. 


Approach  of  the  British. 


Brown  assumes  Command  at  Sackett's  Harbor. 


of  the  New  York  Militia,  who,  having  finished 
the  six  months'  service  for  which  he  was  call 
ed  to  the  field  at  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  residing  at  his  home  in 
Brownsville,  on  the  Black  River,  a  few  miles 
from  Sackett's  Harbor,  had  been  requested 
by  General  Dearborn,  and  urged  by  Colonel 
Macomb,  to  assume  chief  command  in  that 
region.  He  was  unwilling  to  interfere  with 
his  esteemed  friend,  Colonel  Backus,  and 
agreed  to  take  command  only  in  the  event  of 
actual  invasion.  He  went  to  head-quarters 
frequently  to  advise  with  Backus  concerning 
preparations  for  defense,  and  it  was  under 
stood  between  them  that  if  the  enemy  should 
threaten  the  post,  Brown  was  to  call  the  neigh 
boring  militia  to  the  Harbor  and  take  chief 
command. 

On  the  eyening  of  the  27th  of  May,  the 
Lady  of  the  La.ke,  which  had  been  cruising 
off  Kingston  to  watch  the 
movements  of  the  enemy, 
came  into  Sackett's  Harbor 
with  the  startling  informa- 
that  a  strong  British  squad 
ron,  under  Sir  James  L.  Yeo, 

had  just  put  to  sea.     Colonel  Backus  sent  an  express  to  General  Brown  with  the  in 
telligence.     That  vigilant  officer  immediately  dispatched  messengers  to  the  militia 
officers  of  his  district  with  orders  to  hasten,  with  as  many  men  as  possible,  to  the 
Hai-bor.     This  accomplished,  he  mounted  his  horse,  and  before  the  dawn  of  the  28th 
he  entered  Backus's  camp,  took  command,  ordered  alarm 
guns  to  be  fired  to  arouse  the  country,  and  sent  off  ex 
presses  in  various  directions  to  militia  officers,  and  to 


was  retained  in  the  army  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  appointed  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  Northern  Division.  He  became  a  general-in-chief  of  the  armies  of 
the  United  States  in  1821,  and  held  that  office  until  his  death,  at  his  head-quar 
ters  in  the  City  of  Washington,  on  the  24th  of  February,  1S28,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
three  years.  His  widow,  yet  (1SG7)  living,  resided,  until  recently,  in  the  fine  man 
sion  erected  at  Brownsville  by  the  general  in  1814. 

General  Brown's  remains  were  interred  with  imposing  ceremonies  in  the 
Congressional  Burial-ground,  and  over  them  stands  a  beautiful  white  marble 
monument,  composed  of  a  truncated  fluted  column  and  tableted  base,  on  which 
are  the  following  inscriptions : 

East  Side.—"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Major  General  JACOB  BROWN,  by  Birth, 
by  Education,  by  Principle,  devoted  to  Peace.  In  defense  of  his  country,  and  in 
vindication  of  her.  rights,  a  Warrior.  To  her  he  dedicated  his  life— wounds  re 
ceived  in  her  cause  abridged  his  days." 

South  Side. — "He  was  born  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  9th  of 
May,  1775,  and  died  at  the  City  of  Washington,  commanding  general  of  the  army, 
on  the  24th  of  February,  1828. 

"  Let  him  whoe'er  in  after  days 
Shall  view  this  monument  of  praise, 
For  Honor  heave  the  Patriot  sigh, 
And  for  his  country  learn  to  die." 

West  Side.—"Jn  both  by  the  thanks  of  the  Nation  and  a  golden  medal  from 
the  hands  of  their  chief  magistrate— and  by  this  marble  erected  to  honor  him, 
at  the  command  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States." 

Xorth  Side.— "In  War  his  services  are  attested  by  the  fields  of  Chippewa,  Ni 
agara,  Erie  ;  in  Peace  by  the  improved  organization  and  discipline  of  the  army." 

The  monument  stands  very  near  that  of  General  Macomb,  his  successor  in  the 
chief  command  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States. 


GENERAL  BROWN  B  MONUMENT, 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


609 


Assembling  of  the  Militia. 


The  British  Force  approaches  Sackett's  Harbor. 


An  Alarm. 


Colonel  Tuttle,  who  was  advancing  with  regulars.  During  the  day  the  people  of 
the  surrounding  country  continually  arrived  at  head-quarters.  Some  were  armed, 
and  some  were  not,  and  all  were  entirely  without  discipline,  and  almost  without  or 
ganization.  As  fast  as  they  appeared  they  were  armed  and  sent  to  Horse  Island,  a 
mile  distant,  where  Colonel  Mills  and  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  Albany  Volun 
teers  had  been  stationed  for  a  week.  The  island  (on  which  the  light-house  stands1) 


LIGHT-HOUSE  ON   1IOESE   ISLAND. 


commands  the  entrance  to  the  Harbor,  and  there  it  was  believed  the  enemy  would 
attempt  to  land.  Then,  as  now,  it  was  separated  from  the  main  by  only  a  shallow 
strait,  always  fordable,  and  sometimes  almost  dry.  Between  it  and  the  village  was 
a  thin  wood  that  had  been  partly  cut  over,  and  was  encumbered  with  logs,  stumps, 
and  brush.  The  main  shore  is  a  ridge  of  gravel,  about  five  feet  in  height,  and  at  that 
time  formed  a  natural  breast-work. 

At  midday  on  the  28th,a  the  British  squadron,  which  left  Kingston  on  the  »May, 
evening  of  the  27th,  appeared  off  Sackett's  Harbor.  It  consisted  of  the  Wolfe, 
24,  just  finished  ;  Royal  George,  24;  Earl  of  Moira,  18  ;  schooners  Prince  Regent, 
Simcoe,  and  Seneca,  mounting  from  ten  to  twelve  guns  each,  and  about  forty  bateaux. 
The  land  troops,  ten  or  twelve  hundred  strong,  consisted  of  the  grenadier  company 
of  the  One  Hundredth  Regiment,  two  companies  of  the  Eighth  or  King's,  a  section  of 
the  Royal  Scots,  four  companies  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourth,  one  company  of 
the  Glengary  Regiment,  two  of  the  Canadian  Voltigeurs,  a  detachment  of  the  New 
foundland  Regiment,  and  another  of  the  Royal  Artillery,  with  two  6-pounders.  There 
was  also  a  considerable  body  of  Indians  attached  to  the  expedition,  and  who  accompa 
nied  it  in  canoes.  Sir  James  Lucas  Yeo  commanded  the  squadron,  and  the  whole  expe 
dition  was  under  the  direction  of  Sir  George  Prevost,  the  Governor  General  of  Canada, 
who  accompanied  it  as  leader  of  the  land  forces.  He  was  with  Yeo  on  the  Wolfe. 

The  British  squadron  lay  to  about  six  miles  from  the  Harbor,  and  a  large  number 
of  troops  were  embarked  in  boats  for  the  purpose  of  landing.  While  anxiously  wait 
ing  for  the  signal  to  pull  for  shore,  the  soldiers  were  perplexed  by  an  order  to  return 
to  the  squadron.  They  were  still  more  perplexed  when  that  squadron,  without  appa 
rent  cause,  spread  its  sails  to  the  light  breeze  and  turned  toward  Kingston.  The  se 
cret  was  soon  known.  A  flotilla  of  nineteen  American  gun-boats  had  been  seen  off 

i  This  is  a  view  of  the  light-house  as  it  appeared  when  I  visited  the  island  in  1S55.  It  stands  upon  the  spot  where  the 
enemy  landed,  and  the  keeper  at  the  time  of  my  visit  was  Captain  Samuel  M'Nitt,  of  whom  -I  shall  hereafter  speak. 
The  island  contains  about  twenty-seven  acres. 

QQ 


610  PICTOEIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Chase  and  Capture  of  American  Vessels.  Position  of  the  Militia.  A  Panic  and  Flight. 

Six-towns  Point,  approaching  from  the  westward,  and  Sir  George  Prevost  did  not 
doubt  their  being  tilled  with  armed  men  destined  to  re-enforce  Sackett's  Harbor.  It 
was  even  so.  They  were  conveying  part  of  a  regiment  under  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Thomas  Aspinwrall  from  Oswego  to  the  Harbor.  The  apparition  had  made  Sir  George 
nervous.  The  Indians  were  not  so  easily  frightened  as  their  pale-faced  ally.  They 
darted  in  their  canoes  toward  the  American  flotilla.  This  movement  shamed  Sir 
George.  He  listened  to  the  advice  of  Sir  James,  turned  the  prows  of  his  vessels  once 
more  in  the  direction  of  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  sent  several  boats  with  armed  men  to 
join  the  canoes.  Aspinwall  and  his  party,  closely  chased,  made  for  the  shore.  Twelve 
of  his  boats  and  seventy  of  his  men  were  captured.  The  other  seven  boats,  moi-e  fleet 
than  their  companions  or  pursuers,  reached  the  haven  in  safety.  The  escaped  party 
on  shore  made  their  way  thither  by  land.  They  arrived  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  even 
ing,  and  added  one  hundred  men  to  the  effective  force  at  Sackett's  Harbor.  • 
-May,  The  night  of  the  28tha  was  spent  by  the  Americans  in  active  preparations 
IBIS.  for  tne  expected  attack.  Toward  midnight,  about  forty  Indians,  under  Lieu 
tenant  Anderson,  were  landed  on  the  shore  of  Henderson  Bay,  for  the  purpose  of  at 
tacking  the  American  militia  in  the  rear.  They  were  discovered,  and  Colonel  Mills 
and  his  force,  about  four  hundred  strong,  were  withdrawn  from  Horse  Island  and 
placed  behind  the  gravel  ridge,  at  a  clearing  of  five  or  six  acres  on  the  main,  with  a 
6-pounder  field-piece.  The  remainder  of  the  militia,  under  Colonel  Gershom  Tuttle, 
were  posted  on  the  edge  of  the  woods,  a  little  farther  back ;  and  Colonel  Backus,  with 
his  dismounted  dragoons,  was  stationed  on  the  skirt  of  the  same  woods,  nearer  the 
village.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Aspinwall  was  posted  on  the  left  of  Backus,  and  the  ar 
tillerists,  under  Lieutenant  Ketchum,  were  stationed  in  Fort  Tompkins,  whose  only 
armament  was  a  32-pounder  mounted  on  a  pivot. 

Not  a  zephyr  rippled  the  waters  of  the  Harbor  on  the  morning  of  the  29th,  and  not 
a  cloud  flecked  the  sky.  Calmness,  serenity,  and  beauty  were  visible  on  every  side. 
The  sails  of  the  enemy's  squadron  could  not  catch  the  slightest  breeze,  and  it  was  im 
possible  for  the  large  vessels  to  approach  near  enough  to  join  in  the  attack.  At  dawn, 
thirty-three  boats,  filled  with  armed  men,  left  the  British  squadron  and  made  for  Horse 
Island,  where  they  landed  under  cover  of  two  gun-boats  directed  by  Captain  Mulcas- 
ter,  of  the  royal  navy.  As  the  flotilla  rounded  the  island,  the  huge  pivot  gun  in  Fort 

Tompkins   hurled  murder- 
ous  enfilading  shots  in  their 

midst' and  when  the^ were 

near  the  shore  they  re 
ceived  a  scattering  fire  from  the  muskets  of  the  militia.  This  was  promptly  respond 
ed  to  by  Mulcaster's  great  guns,  loaded  with  grape  and  canister,  and  by  his  first  fire 
Colonel  Mills,  who  was  standing  near  his  men,  was  shot  dead. 

The  British  formed  in  good  order  on  the  island,  and  with  the  grenadiers  of  the  One 
Hundredth  at  their  head,  commanded  by  Colonel  Baynes,  they  pressed  rapidly  across 
the  shallow  strait.  The  rank  and  file  of  the  American  militia  had  suffered  no  mate 
rial  injury,  but  the  sound  of  bullets  among  the  bushes,  and  the  din  of  the  oncoming 
foe,  struck  the  whole  line  with  an  extraordinary  panic,  and  before  they  had  time  to 
give  a  second  fire  they  rose  from  their  cover  behind  the  gravel  bank  and  fled  with, 
precipitation,  leaving  their  6-pounder  behind.  The  efforts  of  the  gallant  Major  Her- 
kimer  to  arrest  their  flight  were  vain.1 

This  disgraceful  retreat  astonished  and  perplexed  General  Brown,  who  was  on  the 

1  It  is  said  that  one  of  the  militia  commanders,  who  had  talked  very  valiantly  arid  hopefully,  became  much  discour 
aged  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  enemy's  boats  approaching  the  shore.  As  they  came  forward  in  a  swarm  he  became  less 
and  less  hopeful,  until  at  length  he  told  his  men  that  he  doubted  the  ability  of  the  American  force  to  cope  with  the  en 
emy.  "I  fear  we  shall  be  compelled  to  retreat,"  he  said.  After  a  pause  he  continued,  "I  know  we  shall,  and  as  I  am 
a  little  lame  I'll  start  now,"  and  away  he  went  upon  the  road  leading  to  Adams,  as  fast  as  his  legs  could  carry  him,  jutt 
as  Mulcaster's  guns  opened  their  fire.  He  was  among  the  "  missing"  at  the  close  of  the  battle. 


OF   THE    WAK    OF    1812.  611 

Cowardly  Flight  of  Militia.  Gallantry  of  Captain  M'Nitt.  Destruction  of  Public  Stores. 

left  of  his  little  army.  He  expected  the  militia  would  have  remained  firm  until  the 
enemy  were  finally  on  the  main.  But  their  movement  was  so  sudden,  general,  and 
rapid,  that  he  found  himself  completely  alone,  not  a  man  standing  within  several  rods 
of  him.  Stung  by  this  shameful  conduct,  he  ran  after  the  fugitives  and  endeavored 
to  arrest  their  flight.  His  efforts  were  unavailing.  Forgetful  of  their  promises  of 
courage,  and  unmindful  of  the  orders  they  had  received  to  rally  in  the  woods  in  the 
event  of  their  being  driven  back,  they  continued  their  flight  until  they  were  sure  of 
being  out  of  harm's  way.  Some  of  them  were  not  heard  of  again  during  the  day. 
Those  under  Colonel  Tuttle  were  equally  recreant  to  duty,  and  joined  in  the  dis 
graceful  flight,  although  they  had  not  in  any  way  been  exposed  to  the  enemy's  fire. 
But  there  was  an  honorable  exception.  Captain  Samuel  M'Nitt,  with  unflinching 
courage,  had  maintained  his  position  on  the  extreme  left,  and  stood  blazing  away  at 
the  enemy  after  his  companions  had  fled.  Seeing  the  panic,  he  started  in  pursuit  of 
the  fugitives,  and,  with  the  aid  of  Lieutenant  Mayo,  succeeded  in  rallying  almost  one 
hundred  of  them  behind  some  fallen  timber.  From  that  cover  they  annoyed  the  en 
emy  exceedingly,  who  were  then  marching  through  the  woods  toward  the  town.1 
Meanwhile  Colonel  Backus  and  his  regulars  had  advanced,  and,  with  the  Albany  Vol 
unteers,  who  had  stood  firm  when  the  militia  fled,  and  had  retired  slowly  along  a 
wagon-road  by  the  margin  of  the  lake  before  superior  numbers,  was  disputing  the 
march  of  the  invaders  inch  by  inch. 

These  demonstrations  of  courage  revived  the  sinking  hopes  of  the  commanding 
general.  In  hastening  from  M'Nitt's  gallant  band  to  Backus's  line,  his  affrighted 
horse  had  broken  from  him  in  the  woods.  Fortunately,  he  soon  met  a  man  on  horse 
back,  whose  animal  he  seized  and  mounted,  and  then  pushed  forward  to  the  extreme 
right.  There  he  found  Colonel  Backus  with  his  dismounted  dragoons  on  the  right, 
assisted  by  Major  Lavall,  the  gallant  Albany  Volunteers  on  the  left,  and  infantry  and 
artillery  in  the  centre,  Avhile  the  gun  at  Fort  Tompkins  was  playing  upon  the  advanc 
ing  column  of  the  foe.  For  an  hour  the  conflict  continued,  and  so  great  was  the 
weight  of  the  enemy  that  the  American  line  was  constantly  pressed  back.  Lieuten 
ant  Fanning,  in  command  at  Fort  Volunteer,  perceiving  no  danger  of  an  attack  there, 
had  led  his  little  force  forward  and  engaged  gallantly  in  the  fight.  Still  the  foe  bore 
heavily  upon  them,  and  when  the  Americans  Avere  most  in  want  of  encouragement  a 
disheartening  event  occurred.  Dense  smoke  arose  in  their  rear,  and  it  was  soon  as 
certained  that  the  store-houses  on  the  margin  of  the  Harbor,  filled  with  the  spoils  of 
York  and  a  vast  amount  of  other  valuable  property,  also  the  new  ship  General  Pike, 
were  in  flames.  Had  a  portion  of  the  enemy  landed  in  the  rear  and  applied  the  torch  ? 
No.  In  the  almost  universal  panic  that  prevailed  when  the  militia  fled,  Lieutenant 
Wolcott  Chauncey,  of  the  Navy,  who  had  the  stores  in  charge,  was  informed  that  all 
was  lost,  and  that  the  victorious  enemy  was  rapidly  marching  upon  the  post.  A 
train  prepared  for  the  emergency  was  lighted,  and  in  a  few  minutes  stores  and  ship 
were  in  flames.  The  friendly  incendiary  was  soon  named  to  General  Brown,  much  to 
his  relief,  and  he  hastened  to  inform  "and  reassure  Colonel  Backus.  He  arrived  just 
in  time  to  see  that  gallant  officer  fall,  mortally  wounded,  and  to  wipe  his  pallid  brow 
with  his  own  hand.2 

Pressed  back,  back,  back,  the  wearied  and  worried  Americans  took  refuge  in  some 
new  log  barracks  in  an  open  space  near  the  town.  The  enemy  made  desperate  efforts 
to  dislodge  them.  Brown  saw  that  all  would  be  lost  should  they  be  driven  from  that 

1  Samuel  M'Nitt  was  a  Scotchman,  and  a  brave  and  active  man.    He  was  for  some  time  a  member  of  Forsyth's  corps, 
and,  as  such,  saw  much  active  service  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.    He  commanded  a  militia  company  at  the  time  we 
are  now  considering.    He  was  in  Wilkinson's  expedition  that  went  down  the  St.  Lawrence  in  the  autumn  of  1813,  and 
was  in  command  of  a  company  of  regulars  in  the  battle  at  Chrysler's  Field.    He  died  on  the  9th  of  September,  1801,  at 
Depauville,  in  Jefferson  County,  at  the  age  of  about  ninety  years. 

2  Electus  Backus  was  a  native  of  New  York.    He  was  commissioned  major  of  the  First  Light  Dragoons  in  October, 
1803,  and  in  February  following  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  colonel.    He  died  eight  days  after  the  battle  (June  7, 1813), 
and  was  buried  at  Sackett's  Harbor  with  military  honors. 


612 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Militia  reassembled. 


Prevost  alarmed. 


His  disgraceful  Retreat. 


shelter,  and  he  determined  to  rally  the  fugitive  militia,  if  possible,  who,  he  was  in 
formed,  were  on  the  outskirts  of  the  village  and  on  the  roads  leading  from  it,  and 
with  them  feign  a  descent  upon  the  enemy's  boats.  He  sent  out  mounted  dragoons 
instructed  to  proclaim  a  victory  gained,  knowing  that  in  the  supposed  absence  of  dan 
ger  most  of  them  would  return.  The  stratagem  was  successful.  About  three  hund 
red  of  them  were  collected,  though  in  great  disorder,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  vil 
lage,  about  three  fourths  of  a  mile  from  the  place  where  the  battle  was  still  raging. 
There  they  were  addressed  by  the  commanding  general,  who  loaded  them  with  re 
proaches,  and  informed  them  that  measures  had  been  taken  to  shoot  every  man  of 
them  who  should  be  found  attempting  to  run  again.  Many  of  them,  stung  by  the 
words  of  the  general,  begged  to  be  led  into  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  almost  two 
hundred  of  them  formed  under  the  direction  of  Westcott,  a  Sackett's  Harbor  butcher, 
and  Caleb,  a  volunteer,  and,  while  others  went  toward  the  British  landing-place,  they 
attacked  a  flanking  party  of  the  enemy  under  Captain  Grey,  the  adjutant  general, 
just  as  they  were  about  to  assail  the  log  barracks.  Grey  was  a  gallant  soldier.  He 
was  walking  backward,  waving  his  sword,  and  had  just  shouted  "  Come  on,  boys ;  re 
member  York !  The  day  is  ours !"  when  a  drummer-boy  among  the  rallied  militia 
cried  out,  "Perhaps  not  yet !"  and  shot  him.  Grey  fell,  and  instantly  expired.1 


SACKETT'S  HARBOR 
May  1813 


This  rallying  of  the  fugitive  militia  and  menacing  of  the  enemy's  boats  decided  the 
fortunes  of  the  day  in  favor  of  the  Americans.  Sir  George  Prevost,  sweeping  the  ho 
rizon  with  his  glass  from  a  high  stump,  perceived  the  militia  on  his  flank  and  rear, 
and  supposing  them  to  be  re-enforcements  of  regulars  in  large  numbers,  immediately 
sounded  a  retreat  while  the  way  to  their  boats  was  open.2  It  was  commenced  in 
good  order,  but  soon  became  a  disorderly  flight.  It  was  so  precipitate  that  the  fa 
tigued  Americans  could  not  overtake  them.  They  reached  the  squadron  in  safety, 
leaving  a  large  portion  of  their  dead  and  wounded  behind.3  At  about  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  Sir  George,  with  cool  impudence,  sent  a  flag  to  demand  the  surrender 
of  the  post  which  he  had  failed  to  capture.  The  summons  was  treated  with  deserved 
contempt.  He  then  asked  permission  to  send  surgeons  to  take  care  of  his  wounded. 
This  was  denied  ;  but  an  assurance  was  given  by  General  Brown  that  Americans 
were  "  distinguished  for  humanity  as  well  as  bravery." 

It  was  believed  that  the  enemy  intended  to  renew  the  attack.  His  squadron  con 
tinued  at  anchor,  and  his  boats  remained  filled  with  soldiers  for  some  time  not  far 
from  Horse  Island.  At  noon  they  returned  to  the  squadron,  and  the  whole  flotilla 
sailed  for  Kingston.  It  entered  that  port  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  to  the  great 
mortification  of  the  inhabitants,  who  had  expected  to  see  the  expedition  return  with 

1  Captain  Grey  was  a  son  of  General  Grey,  the  commander  of  the  corps  in  the  massacre  of  a  part  of  Wayne's  detach 
ment  at  Paoli,  in  Pennsylvania,  in  September,  1T77.  3  Oral  statement  of  E.  Camp,  Esq.,  of  Sackett's  Harbor. 

3  The  British  lost  50  killed  and  211  wounded.  The  Americans  lost  4"!  killed,  84  wounded,  and  3C  missing.  Most  of  the 
latter  were  the  cowardly  militia,  who  were  ashamed  to  show  their  faces  again. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


613 


How  public  Property  was  saved. 


Conceit  and  Inefficiency  of  Sir  George  Prevost. 


A  Sort  of  "Greek  Fire." 


all  the  garrison  at  Sackett's  Harbor  and  the  public  property  there.1  The  whole  af 
fair,  on  the  part  of  the  British,  was  pronounced  at  the  time,  and  has  been  by  their  own 
writers  since, "  in  a  high  degree  disgraceful."2  The  skill,  courage,  and  energy  of  Gen 
eral  Brown,  under  the  most  appalling  difficulties,  seconded  by  the  like  qualities  in  a 
part  of  the  troops,  made  it  a  brilliant  achievement  for  the  Americans,  and  a  subject 
for  just  praise  of  the  commanding  general.3 

As  soon  as  the  battle  was  ended  .the  efforts  of  the  men  were  turned  to  the  salva 
tion  of  the  public  property  from  the  flames.  Because  of  the  greenness  of  the  timber 
of  the  General  Pike  she  had  burned  but  little,  and  was  saved.  The  Duke  of  Glouces 
ter^  captured  at  York,  also  escaped  destruction.  She  was  saved  by  the  gallantry  of 
Lieutenant  Talman,  of  the  army,  who,  notwithstanding  he  knew  there  was  a  large 
quantity  of  gunpowder  on  board  of  her,  hastened  to  her  deck,  extinguished  the  kind- 
lino-  flames,  and  brought  her  from  under  the  fire  that  was  consuming  the  store-houses. 

o  o  ^ 

The  Fair  American  and  Pert  had  cut  their  cables  and  retreated  up  the  Black  Riv 
er.  Several  of  the  guns  on  Navy  Point  were  spiked.  The  value  of  the  property  de 
stroyed  by  the  fire  was  about  half  a  million  of  dollars.  The  loss  was  severely  felt, 
because  the  distance  from  Albany,  from  which  most  of  these  stores  were  drawn,  was 
such  that  they  could  not  be  seasonably  replaced.4 

No  further  attempts  were  made  by  the  enemy  to  capture  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  it 
remained,  as  it  had  been  from  the  beginning,  the  most  important  place  of  deposit  for 
the  army  and  navy  stores  of  the  Americans  on  the  Northern  frontier.  During  the 


SACKETT'S  HAUIJOK  IN  1S14.5 


1  James's  Military  Occurrences,  i.,  173. 

2  The  conduct  of  Sir  George  Prevost  in  this  and  other  occurrences  where  he  became  military  commander  was  severely 
criticised.    Wilkinson,  in  his  Memoirs,  i.,  585,  declares  that  Sir  James  Yeo  was  averse  to  the  retreat.    He  says  he  was 
informed  that  Major  Drummond  (afterward  Lieutenant  Colonel  Drummond,  killed  at  Fort  Erie),  when  Sir  George  gave 
the  order  to  retreat,  stepped  up  to  him  and  said,  "Allow  me  a  few  minutes,  sir,  and  I  will  put  yon  in  possession  of  the 
place."    To  this  the  haughty  baronet  replied,  "Obey  your  orders,  sir,  and  learn  the  first  duty  of  a  soldier."    The  con 
tempt  for  Sir  George  on  the  part  of  the  army,  which  his  conduct  on  this  occasion  engendered,  was  much  intensified  by 
his  inglorious  retreat  from  Plattsburg  the  following  year. 

3  The  authorities  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  this  narrative  are  the  official  reports  of  the  respective  commanders; 
the  several  American  histories  of  the  war ;  Auchinleck,  Christie,  and  James  on  the  British  side ;  Wilkinson's  Memoirs : 
Cooper's  Naval  History  of  the  United  States  ;  manuscript  statement  found  among  General  Brown's  papers,  and  narra 
tives  of  survivors. 

*  In  a  letter  to  the  author  in  October,  1863,  the  late  venerable  Robert  Carr,  who  was  a  lieutenant  colonel  on  the  North 
ern  frontier,  gave  the  following  account  of  a  sort  of"  Greek  fire"  that  was  exhibited  at  Sackett's  Harbor  at  about  the 
time  of  the  events  recorded  in  the  text.  "At  Sackett's  Harbor,"  says  Colonel  Carr,  "in  September,  1813,  a  person  from 
New  England  called  on  General  Brown  to  exhibit  some  preparation  which  he  called  liquid  fire,  or  some  such  name. 
General  Covington  called  at  my  tent  and  invited  me  to  go  with  him  to  witness  the  trial  to  be  made  that  morning;  but 
as  I  was  a  member  of  a  court-martial  then  sitting,  I  could  not  go  with  him.  On  his  return  he  informed  me  that  the  af 
fair  was  most  astonishing.  The  liquid  resembled  ink,  and  he  had  it  in  two  small  porter-bottles,  one  of  which  he  threw 
against  a  small  hemlock-tree,  which  was  instantly  in  a  blaze  from  top  to  bottom.  The  other  bottle  he  also  broke  against 
another  tree  with  a  similar  result.  He  asserted  that  water  would  not  extinguish  it.  General  Covington  remarked  that 
it  might  be  called  '  hell  fire.1 " 

s  This  view  is  from  a  print  from  a  drawing  by  Birch,  published  in  the  Port  Folio  in  1S15.    On  the  left  is  seen  Pike's 


614 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Sackett's  Harbor,  and  Occurrences  there. 


Description  of  its  Defenses. 


Map  of  the  Same. 


summer  and  autumn  of  1813  several  expeditions  were  fitted  out  there,  which  we  shall 
hereafter  consider,  and  labor  was  vigorously  applied  by  the  troops  stationed  there  in 
the  autumn,  and  by  the  sailors  in  the  winter,  in  strongly  fortifying  the  post.  Fort 


AN  OF  SACKETT'S  HAKBOB  AND  ITS  DEFENSES  IN  1S14. 


Tompkins  was  strengthened,  and  several 
other  works  were  constructed,  and  before 
the  midsummer  of  1814  the  post  seemed 
to  be  secured  against  any  force  the  enemy  might  bring  to  bear  upon  it.1 


cantonment,  where  were  barracks  erected  by  Major  Darby  Noon.  See  page  292.  On  the  rocky  bluff  at  the  right  is  seen 
Fort  Tompkins.  Near  Pike's  cantonment  is  seen  a  block -house,  on  the  site  of  Fort  Volunteer,  and  immediately  back 
of  it,  a  circular  building  with  battlemented  top  represents  Fort  Chauncey.  The  little  figures  near  the  small  boat,  toward 
the  centre  of  the  picture,  are  on  Navy  Point,  where  the  ship-house  now  stands. 

1  Joseph  Bouchette,  one  of  the  most  eminent  writers  on  the  statistics  of  the  Canadas,  gave  the  following  description 
of  the  place  at  the  close  of  1814:  "A  low  point  of  land  runs  out  from  the  northwest,  upon  which  is  the  dock-yard,  with 
large  store-houses  and  all  the  requisite  buildings  belonging  to  such  an  establishment.  Upon  this  point  is  a  very  pow 
erful  work,  called  Fort  Tompkins,  having  within  it  a  strong  block-house  two  stories  high ;  on  the  land  side  it  is  covered 
by  a  strong  picketing,  in  which  there  are  embrasures  ;  twenty  guns  are  mounted,  besides  two  or  three  mortars,  with  a 
furnace  for  heating  shot.  At  the  bottom  of  the  harbor  is  the  village,  that  contains  from  sixty  to  seventy  houses,  and  to 
the  southward  of  it  a  barrack  capable  of  accommodating  two  thousand  men,  and  generally  used  for  the  marines  belong 
ing  to  the  fleet.  On  a  point  eastward  of  the  harbor  stands  Fort  Pike,  a  regular  work  surrounded  by  a  ditch,  in  advance 
of  which  there  is  a  strong  line  of  picketing.  In  the  centre  of  the  principal  work  there  is  a  block-house  two  stories  high. 
This  fort  is  armed  with  twenty  guns.  About  one  hundred  yards  from  the  village,  and  a  little  to  the  westward  of  Fort 
Tompkins,  is  Smith's  cantonment  or  barrack,  strongly  built  of  logs,  forming  a  square,  with  a  block-house  at  each  cor 
ner.  It  is  loop-holed  on  every  side,  and  capable  of  making  a  powerful  resistance.  Twenty-five  hundred  men  have  been 
accommodated  in  it.  A  little  farther  westward  another  fort  presents  itself  [Fort  Kentucky],  built  of  earth  and  strongly 
palisaded,  having  in  the  centre  of  it  a  block-house  one  story  high.  It  mounts  twenty-eight  guns.  Midway  between 
these  two  works  [a  little  farther  inland]  is  a  powder  magazine,  inclosed  within  a  very  stong  picketing. 

"By  the  side  of  the  road  that  leads  to  Henderson  Harbor  stands  Fort  Virginia,  a  square  work  with  bastions  at  the 
angles,  covered  with  a  strong  line  of  palisades,  but  no  ditch.  It  is  armed  with  sixteen  guns,  and  has  a  block-house  in 
the  middle  of  it.  [See  sketch  on  p.  617.]  Fort  Chauncey  is  a  small  circular  tower,  covered  with  plank,  and  loop-holed 
for  the  use  of  musketry,  intended  for  a  small-arm  defense  only.  It  is  situated  a  small  distance  from  the  village,  and 
commands  the  road  that  leads  to  Sandy  Creek.  In  addition  to  these  works  of  strength,  there  are  several  block-houses 
in  different  situations,  that  altogether  render  the  place  very  secure,  and  capable  of  resisting  a  powerful  attack;  indeed, 
from  recent  events,  the  Americans  have  attached  much  importance  to  it,  and,  with  their  accustomed  celerity,  have  spared 
no  exertions  to  render  it  formidable." — Bouchette's  Canada,  page  620.  To  this  account  may  be  added  the  statement 
that,  after  the  battle  in  May,  1S13,  a  breastwork  of  logs  was  thrown  up  around  the  village  from  Horse  Island  to  the  site 
of  Madison  Barracks. 

The  above  map,  showing  a  plan  of  Sackett's  Harbor  and  its  defenses  in  1814,  as  described  by  Bouchette,  is  from  a 
manuscript  drawing  by  Patrick  May,  a  soldier  who  was  stationed  there  for  two  years.  The  topography  may  not  be  pre- 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  615 

A  Visit  to  Sackett's  Harbor.  Commodore  Tattnall.  Historical  Localities.  Henry  Eckford. 

I  visited  Sackett's  Harbor  in  the  summer  of  1860.  I  rode  up  from  Sandy  Creek 
during  a  sultry  morning,  through  the  wealthy  agricultural  towns  of  Ellisburg  and 
Henderson,  after  a  heavy  rain.  Before  noon  the  sky  was  almost  cloudless,  and  I 
spent  the  afternoon  in  visiting  places  of  interest  ai'ound  Sackett's  Harbor.  Commo 
dore  Josiah  Tattnall,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  men  in  the  navy,  and  then  in  com 
mand  of  the  naval  station  at  the  Harbor,  accompanied  me.  I  found  him  an  exceed 
ingly  courteous  man,  of  medium  size  in  stature,  and  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his 
age.  He  had  been  commander  of  the  East  India  squadron  for  some  time,  having  the 
Powhatan  for  his  flag-ship,  in  which  he  brought  over  the  seas  the  Japanese  embassa- 
dors  in  the  spring  of  1860.  Having  been  for  several  years  in  arduous  service,  the 
government  had  kindly  ordered  him  to  the  Sackett's  Harbor  station  to  enjoy  a  season 
of  rest.  There  he  deserted  the  flag  of  his  country,  under  which  he  had  been  cherished 
for  almost  half  a  century.  He  resigned  his  commission,  joined  the  traitors  in  the 
slave-labor  states  who  were  then  in  open .  rebellion  against  his  government,  and  be 
came  commander-in-chief  of  the  "  Confederate  Navy."1 

Yet  I  can  not  forget  the  commodore's  kindness.  He  accompanied  me  to  the  ship- 
house  on  Navy  Point,  in  which  is  the  New  Orleans,  just  as  she  was  left  in  her  unfin 
ished  state  at  the  end  of  the  war  in  1815.  He  also  went  with  me  to  the  site  of  Fort 
Pike,  to  Madison  Barracks  and  the  burial-ground,  and  to  visit  the  widow  of  Captain 
William  Vaughan,  whose  exploits  have  already  been  mentioned  in  these  pages.2  Mrs. 
Yaughan  (a  small,  delicate  woman)  occupied  the  Sackett  mansion,  which  was  her  resi 
dence  in  1812.  At  the  time  now  under  consideration,  Colonels  Backus  and  Mills  board 
ed  with  her  there.  The  house  was  near  the  site  of  Fort  Tompkins.  It  was  a  stibstan- 
tial  frame  building,  with  a  fine  portico,  and  was  embowered  in  shrubbery  and  trees. 

The  New  Orleans  was  to  have  been  a  huge  vessel,  made  to  cope  with  the  St.  Law 
rence,  a  three-deck  man-of-war  of  120  guns,  which  the  Biitish  launched  at  Kingston 
in  the  autumn  of  1813.  Henry  Eckford3  was  the  constructor,  and  Henry  Eagle,  late 
of  Oswego,  was  foreman  of  the  navy  yard.  Time  was  precious,  and  Eckford  applied 

f— 

cisely  correct,  but  it  gives  a  general  idea  of  the  pains  taken,  and  the  method  adopted  for  making  the  post  as  secure  from 
capture  as  possible.    It  shows  the  localities  of  the  fortifications,  and  of  the  vessels  in  the  harbor  in  the  autumn  of  1814. 

1  Josiah  Tattnall  was  born  at  Bonaventure,  four  miles  from  Savannah,  Georgia,  in  November,  1796.  He  is  a  grandson 
of  Governor  Tattnall.  He  entered  the  navy  as  a  midshipman  in  1S12,  and  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  1818.  He 
was  promoted  to  commander  in  February,  1S38,  and  to  captain  in  February,  1850.  He  first  served  in  the  frigate  Constel 
lation,  and  was  in  the  affair  at  Craney  Island  in  June,  1S13.  He  was  in  the  Algerine  war  under  Decatur,  was  with  Perry 
on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  with  Porter  in  his  expedition  against  the  pirates  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  He  was  in  command 
of  the  Spitfire  in  the  bombardment  of  Vera  Cruz  in  the  war  with  Mexico,  and  in  the  attacks  on  Tuspan,  Tampico,  and 
Alvarado.  He  was  in  command  of  the  East  India  squadron  during  the  trouble  with  the  Chinese  in  the  summer  of  1858, 
and  in  the  spring  of  I860  brought  the  Japanese  embassadors  to  this  country.  He  resigned  his  commission  in  18G1,  and 
accepted  one  from  the  "government"  of  the  so-called  "  Confederate  States  of  America."  He  was  in  command  of  the  ves 
sels  of  the  rebels  at  Norfolk  when  the  Merrimack  was  destroyed,  and  in  1SG3  was  in  command  of  the  "musquito  fleet" 
at  Savannah,  Georgia.  His  services  were  soon  afterward  dispensed  with,  and  he  sunk  into  obscurity.  2  See  page  368. 

3  Henry  Eckford  was  born  in  Scotland  on  the  12th  of  March,  1TT5,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  became  an  apprentice  to 
his  uncle,  John  Black,  an  eminent  naval 
constructor  at  Quebec.    In  1796  he  com 
menced  the  business  of  ship-building  in 

the  city  of  New  York,  and  soon  rose  to   •  /^ /  1^~~)        //'  /  • \ 

the  head  of  his  profession,  and  New  York-  ^"^  I  /2S^/l/^~7  ^--^  S^s>     ^^^/'j'  ) 

built  ships  were  most  sought  after.    Eck-        /  ^       f^^-^^l^/O^     <2C___/ 

ford  had  become  thoroughly  identified 
with  the  interests  and  destiny  of  his 
adopted  country  when  the  war  com 
menced  in  1812,  and  he  made  large  con 
tracts  with  the  government  for  vessels  on  the  Lakes.  His  achievements  were  wonderful,  considering  the  theatre  on 
which  they  were  performed.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  his  accounts  with  the  government,  involving  several  millions  of 
dollars,  were  promptly  and  honorably  settled.  Soon  after  that  he  constructed  the  Robert  Fulton,  a  steam-ship  of  a  thou 
sand  tons,  to  run  between  New  York  and  New  Orleans.  He  became  naval  constructor  at  the  Brooklyn  dock-yard  of  the 
government.  His  genius  was  too  much  hampered  by  government  interference,  and  he  soon  left  the  position  and  en 
gaged  extensively  in  his  profession.  Orders  came  to  him  from  foreign  governments  to  construct  war  vessels.  At  the 
request  of  General  Jackson  he  furnished  a  plan  for  a  new  organization  of  the  navy.  He  had  now  amassed  an  ample 
fortune,  and  had  set  aside  $20,000  for  the  endowment  of  a  professorship  of  Naval  Architecture  in  Columbia  College, 
when  an  unfortunate  connection  with  an  insurance  company  reduced  him  almost  to  penury.  In  1S31  Mr.  Eckford  built 
a  sloop  of  war  for  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  and  he  sailed  in  her  to  Constantinople.  The  sultan  made  him  chief  naval  con 
structor  of  the  empire.  He  died  suddenly  at  Constantinople  on  the  12th  of  November,  1S32,  in  the  lif.y-seventh  year 
of  his  age. 


616 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  2few  Orleans  Frigate. 


Madison  Barracks. 


A  neglected  Monument. 


THE  "HEW   ORLEANS." 


to  the  work  all  the  force  that  he  could  command.  So  vigorous  were  his  efforts,  that 
•  January  and  within  twenty-seven  daysa  from  the  time  when  the  axe  was  first  laid  to 
February,  isis.  j-ne  timber  in  the  surrounding  forest  for  the  great  ship  she  was  almost 
ready  to  be  launched.  She  was  to  have  been  a  three-decker,  pierced  for  110  guns,  but 

capable  of  carrying  120  eighteens  and 
forty  -  fours.  Her  frame  was  all  com 
pleted,  and  planks  nearly  all  on,  when 
tidings  of  peace  caused  work  upon  her 
to  cease.  In  the  condition  in  which  she 
was  then  left  she  has  ever  since  re 
mained.  She  was  never  launched.  A 
spacious  house  was  built  over  her,  and 
so  well  has  she  been  taken  care  of  that 
her  timbers  remain  perfectly  sound. 
Her  keel,  according  to  a  statement  of 
Mr.  Henry  Metcalf,  the  ship-keeper,  is 
183  feet  7£  inches;  breadth  of  beam, 
56  feet ;  depth,  47  feet ;  length  over  all, 
214  feet ;  tonnage,  3000.  She  was  to 
draw  27  feet.  Within  the  time  above 
mentioned  all  the  timbers  for  other  pur 
poses  connected  with  the  vessel  were 
got  out.  The  annexed  sketch  shows  the 
appearance  of  her  bow  as  seen  at  the  entrance  to  the  ship-house.  Near  this  building, 
on  the  south  side,  may  be  seen  the  sunken  hulk  of  the  Jefferson. 

From  the  New  Orleans  we  went  up  to  Madison  Barracks,  on  the  high  ground  over 
looking  the  village,  the  harbor,  Black  River  Bay,  and  the  wooded  country  beyond. 
These  barracks  are  spacious  stone  buildings,  covering  three  sides  of  a  square,  near  the 
remain^  of  Fort  Pike.  They  were  erected  soon  after  the  war,  under  the  direction  of 
Deputy  Quarter-master  General  Thomas  Tucker,  at  an  expense  of  $85,000.  They 
have  not  been  occupied  by  troops  for  a  number  of  years. 

We  strolled  into  the  burial-ground  attached  to  the  barracks,  and  visited  the  wooden 
monument  erected  to  the  memory  of  General  Pike  and  others  who  gave  their  lives  to 
their  country  during  the  war.  That  monu 
ment,  utterly  neglected,  was  rapidly  crumb 
ling  into  dust.  I  was  there  five  years  be- 
"Juiy,  fore,b  when  it  was  more  leaning  than 
1855.  ^e  pjga  tower,  and  fortunately  made  a 
sketch  of  it  and  copied  the  fading  inscriptions 
upon  it.  Sergeant  Gaines,  who  was  then  tak 
ing  charge  of  the  barracks,  accompanied  me, 
and  assisted  in  deciphering  the  inscriptions. 
He  had  placed  a  copy  of  them,  written  on 
parchment,  in  a  bottle,  which  was  tightly 
sealed,  and  was  then  hanging  under  the  urn, 
as  the  best  way  to  preserve  the  precious  rec 
ords  on  the  spot.  When  I  was  there  in  1860 
the  urn  and  the  bottle  had  disappeared,  the 
panels  were  much  decayed,  and  the  inscrip 
tions  were  illegible.  The  remains  of  the  gal 
lant  dead  were  collected  there  during  the  ad- 
minstration  of  Colonel  Hugh  Brady,  who  commanded  the  post  for  ten  years  after  the 
war ;  and  the  monument,  which  was  about  seven  feet  in  heiglrt  to  the  top  of  the  urn, 


PIKE'S  MONUMENT. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


C17 


Forts  Pike  and  Virginia. 


An  evening  Ride  to  Watertowu. 


A  Visit  to  the  Widow  of  General  Brown. 


was  erected  by  the  officers  of  the  garri 
son.1  How  long  will  our  national  gov 
ernment  suffer  just  reproach  for  neglect 
in  not  erecting  enduring  monuments  over 
the  graves  of  these  heroes  ? 

On  leaving  the  barracks  we  went  out  to 
the  remains  of  Fort  Pike,  south  of  them, 
whose  grassy  mounds  skirt  the  brow  of 
the  high  bank.  Within  these  were  a  mag- 

o  ^J 

azine,  a  few  cannon,  and  heaps  of  balls ; 
and  across  the  parade,  the  declining  sun, 
shining  brightly,  was  casting  long  shad 
ows  of  the  poplar-trees  which  were  plant 
ed  there  when  the  fort  was  built  in  1814. 
It  was  a  beautiful  spot,  and  we  lingered 
as  long  as  time  would  permit,  when  we 
returned  to  the  village  and  went  to  the 
site  of  Fort  Virginia,  whose  block-house, 


BEMAIXB   OF   FOB!   PIKE. 


made  of  heavy  hewn  timber,  was  yet  stand 
ing  in  perfect  preservation,  and  used  as  a 
barn.  It  was  on  the  premises  of  Mrs.  Tisdale, 
about  twelve  rods  south  from  Washington 
Street. 

We  returned  to  the  commodore's  residence 
at  five  o'clock,  and  after  tea  I  started  in  a 
lisvht  wagon  for  Watertown,  on  the  Black 

o  o  * 

River,  about  twelve  miles  distant,  where  I 
spent  the  Sabbatha  with  the  fam-  « August  22, 
ily  of  an  old  friend.  On  Monday 
morning  he  accompanied  me  to  Brownsville, 
four  miles  distant,  where  I  had  the  pleasure 
BLOCK-HOUSE,  BACKER'S  HAEBOB.  of  spending  a  part  of  the  forenoon  at  the  ele 

gant  mansion  of  the  widow  of  General  Brown.  There  many  mementos  of  that  gal 
lant  officer  were  preserved.  Among  them  Avas  the  portrait  painted  by  John  Wesley 
Jarvis,  from  which  the  engraving  on  page  608  was  copied ;  also  a  monochrome  drawn 
by  Sully,  of  Philadelphia  (now  [1867]  the  oldest  painter  in  the  United  States),  for  the 
medal  voted  to  General  Brown  by  the  American  Congress  for  his  meritorious  con 
duct  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  That  medal  was  also  there.  There  too  was  his  sword ; 
also  the  elegantly  written  and  well  ornamented  diploma  which  by  vote  of  the  Com 
mon  Council  of  New  York  conferred  upon  him  the  "  freedom  of  the  city,"  and  the 
gold  box  in  which  it  was  presented  to  him.  .Of  the  latter  mementos  of  the  gallant 
soldier  I  shall  have  occasion  to  write  hereafter. 

The  mansion  of  General  Brown,  which  he  built  in  1814-'!  5,  is  spacious  and  elegant. 
It  is  of  blue  limestone,  and  stands  on  the  borders  of  the  village  of  six  or  seven  hund 
red  inhabitants,  in  the  midst  of  a  lawn  of  about  eight  acres,  ornamented  with  shrub- 

1  The  following  were  the  inscriptions  on  the  monument : 

West  Panel.— "In  memory  of  Brigadier  General  Z.  M.  Pike,  killed  at  York,  U.  C.,  2Tth  April,  1813.  Captain  Joseph 
Nicholson,  14th  Infantry,  aid-de-camp  to  General  Pike,  killed  at  York,  U.  C.,  27th  April,  1S13." 

Forth  Panel. — "  In  memory  of  Brigadier  General  L.  Covington,  killed  at  Chrysler's  Field,  U.  C.,  Nov.  11, 1813.  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  E.  Backus,  1st  Dragoons,  killed  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  29th  May,  1S13." 

East  Panel. — "  In  memory  of  Colonel  Tuttle,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Dix,  Major  Johnson,  Lieutenant  Vaudeventer." 

South  Panel. — "In  memory  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  John  Mills,  Volunteer,  killed  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  29th  May,  1813. 
Captain  A.  Spencer,  29th  Infantry,  killed  at  Lundy's  Lane,  25th  July,  1814." 

General  Pike  was  first  buried  near  Fort  Tompkius,  not  far  from  the  ship-house.  The  remains  of  all  were  deposited 
in  the  cemetery  of  the  barracks  iu  1819,  when  the  monument  was  erected.  Those  of  Colonel  Mills  were  taken  to  Albany 
immediately  after  the  battle. 


CIS 


PICTORIAL   FIELDBOOK 


General  Brown's  Residence  in  Brownsville. 


Return  to  Watertown. 


The  Whittlesey  Rock. 


Ibery  and  stately  trees.     The  view  of  it  here  given  is  from  the  banks  of  a  little  stream 
that  runs  through  a  gentle  swale  alonsc  the  skirt  of  the  lawn. 


OF   (iEJSKKAL   BROWN. 


On  our  return  to  Watertown  we  rode  along  the  margin  of  the  Black  River,  where 
it  sweeps  in  swift  current  through  the  village  after  leaping  the  precipice  at  the  falls, 
and  halted  at  the  entrance  to  a  cavern  which  extends  to  an  unknown  distance  under 

the  town.  In  front  of  it,  projecting 
into  the  stream  like  a  huge  buttress, 
is  a  mass  of  limestone  known  as  the 
Whittlesey  Rock,  it  being  the  place 
where  the  guilty  wife  of  a  man  of 
that  name  jumped  into  the  stream 
and  perished  over  fifty  years  ago. 
Her  husband  was  a  lawyer  from 
Connecticut,  and  settled  in  Water- 
town  in  1809.  Toward  the  close  of 
the  war  he  was  appointed  brigade 
paymaster,  and  in  the  performance 
of  his  duties  went  to  the  city  of  New 
York  for  funds,  accompanied  by  his 
wife.  He  received  thirty  thousand 
dollars.  On  the  way  back  she  rob 
bed  him  of  several  thousand  dollars ; 
and  he  was  induced  by  the  machina 
tions  of  his  wife — a  woman  of  education,  but  thoroughly  depraved,  who  worked  upon 
liis  fears — to  report  himself  robbed  of  all,  in  order  to  secure  the  money  for  them 
selves.  This  was  done  on  an  occasion  when  he  went  out  on  a  tour  to  pay  oif  the 
drafted  militia.  He  offered  two  thousand  dollars  reward  for  the  robber,  and  made 


WUITTLESEY    BOOK,  WATERTOWN. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  619 


A  Confession  extorted.          Suicide  of  the  guilty  Party.         Captain  Hollins.         Movements  on  the  Niagara  Frontier. 

other  demonstrations  of  honesty.  But  he  was  not  believed  by  many;  and  his  securi 
ties,  Fairbanks  and  Keyes,  of  Watertown,  were  so  well  convinced  of  foul  play,  that 
they  decoyed  him  into  a  lonely  place*  not  far  from  the  village,  and  extorted  .  juiy  IT, 
from  him  a  confession,  and  the  assertion  that  a  larger  portion  of  the  money 
might  be  found  with  his  wife.  One  of  the  sureties  and  two  or  three  others  proceed 
ed  to  the  residence  of  Whittlesey,  which  stood  near  the  bank  of  the  river,  forcibly 
entered  the  house,  and  there,  between  beds  and  quilted  in  a  garment,  most  of  the 
money  was  found.  Whittlesey  was  taken  to  his  home,  and  husband  and  wife,  bitter 
ly  criminating  each  other,  were  placed  under  a  guard.  Unperceived  by  these,  in  a 
moment  of  confusion  Mrs.  Whittlesey  glided  from  the  house,  crossed  the  present  cem 
etery  of  Trinity  Church  to  the  river,  and  plunged  in.  Her  body  was  found  floating 
near  the  lower  bridge.  Public  opinion  fastened  all  the  guilt  upon  the  wretched  wife. 
Whittlesey  went  into  a  Western  state,  where  he  led  a  correct  life,  and  held  the  offices 
of  justice  of  the  peace  and  county  judge.  Mr.  Fairbanks,  one  of  the  actors  in  the  af 
fair,  is  yet  (1867)  living  at  Watertown,  and  from  his  lips,  on  our  return  to  the  village, 
I  received  an  account  of  the  tragedy.1 

At  the  Woodruff  House,  in  Watertown,  I  met  Captain  Hollins,  of  the  navy,  a  stout, 
thick-set  man,  sixty-one  years  of  age.  He  was  a  midshipman  in  our  navy  toward  the 
close  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  in  the  course  of  long  years  rose  to  the  rank  of  captain. 
He,  too,  deserted  his  flag  in  the  hour  of  his  country's  peril,  went  South,  and,  during 
the  Great  Rebellion,  played  traitor  with  all  the  vigor  his  abilities  would  allow.2  His 
accomplished  wife,  who  was  with  him  in  Watertown,  was  a  daughter  of  the  pa 
triotic  Colonel  Sterett,  of  Baltimore,  and,  true  to  her  family  instincts,  tried,  it  is 
said,  to  persuade  her  husband  to  stand  by  his  flag.  She  was  in  Poughkeepsie, 
New  York,  when  he  arrived  at  Boston  from  a  cruise  in  the  Massachusetts  in  May  or 
June,  1861,  and  hastened  to  him  to  prevent  his  apprehended  purpose.  She  failed, 
and  he  fell. 

I  left  Watertown  on  Monday  evening  for  Cape  Vincent,  for  the  purpose  of  visiting 
places  of  historic  interest  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  Concerning  my  visit  to  Carleton  Isl 
and,  French  Creek,  and  other  places  near  the  Thousand  Islands,  I  shall  hereafter  write. 
Let  us  now  return  to  the  Niagara  frontier,  and  consider  the  hostile  movements  there 
soon  after  the  battles  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  Fort  George,  and  Stony  Creek. 

We  left  the  Americans,  under  General  Dearborn,  at  Fort  George,  and  the  enemy's 
advance,  at  the  same  time,  occupied  a  strong  position  at  the  Beaver  Dams,  among  the 
hills,  and  at  Ten-mile  Creek  (now  Homer  village,  three  miles  eastward  of  St.  Catha 
rine's),  nearer  the  lake  shore.  At  the  former  place,  De  Cou's  house,  a  strong  stone 
building,  was  made  a  sort  of  citadel  by  the  enemy,  where  supplies  were  collected 
from  the  surrounding  country,  especially  from  those  of  the  inhabitants  who  favored 
the  American  cause.  The  character  and  position  of  the  place  had  been  ascertained 
by  a  scout  of  mounted  riflemen  under  Major  Cyrenius  Chapin,  of  the  New  York  Vol 
unteers,  who  was  under  Towson  in  the  capture  of  the  Caledonia  at  Fort  Erie  the 
preceding  autumn.3  It  was  an  important  post,  and  General  Dearborn  determined  to 
attempt  its  capture.  For  that  purpose  he  detached  five  hundred  and  seventy  men,  in 
cluding  Chapin's  corps,  some  artillerymen,  and  two  field-pieces,  under  Lieutenant  Col- 

1  A  minute  account  of  this  affair,  with  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Fairbanks,  may  be  found  in  Hough's  History  of  Jefferson 
County,  page  2C3. 

2  George  N.  Hollins  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  on  the  20th  of  September,  1799.    He  entered  the  navy  as  mid 
shipman  in  February,  1S14,  on  the  sloop-of-war  Baltimore,  Captain  Ridgely.    He  was  a  volunteer,  under  Barney,  in  the 
battle  of  Bladensburg.    He  was  also  an  aid  of  Commodore  Rodgers  during  the  attack  on  Baltimore,  and  carried  mes 
sages  to  Fort  M'Henry.    He  was  in  the  battle  between  the  President  and  Endymion,  off  Sandy  Hook,  in  January,  1S15, 
when  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  carried  to  Bermuda.    He  is  supposed  to  be  the  last  survivor  of  the  men  of  the  Presz- 
dent.    He  was  with  Decatur  in  the  Mediterranean.    His  exploit  in  the  attack  on  Greytown,  Nicaragua,  is  fresh  in  mem 
ory,  and  uot  productive  of  pleasant  reflections  on  the  part  of  American  citizens.    Hollins  seems  not  to  have  been  highly 
prized  by  the  leaders  in  the  Rebellion,  and  is  almost  unknown  to  honorable  fame  among  them. 

3  See  page  386.    He  was  very  efficient  as  lieutenant  colonel  commanding  in  skirmishes  near  Fort  George  in  October 
following.    He  died  in  Buffalo  in  February,  1S3S. 


620 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Expedition  against  the  British  at  the  Beaver  Dams. 


Encounter  with  Indians. 


An  old  German  Church. 


^/  /^ 

(£%?1><*S^) 

•X — s 


onel  Charles  G.  Bcerst- 
ler,  of  the  Fourteenth 
Infantry.1  They  left 
Fort  George  on  the 
evening  of  the  23d  of  June,  marched  up  the  Niagara  River  to  Queenston,  and  then 
halted  for  the  night.  Early  the  next  morning  they  proceeded  toward  St.  David's, 
four  miles  west  of  Queenston,  and  when  near  it  several  British  officers  were  seen  to 
leave  houses,  mount  their  horses,  and  ride  off  westward  in  haste.  They  fired  alarm 
guns  and  sounded  a  bugle,  by  which  means  the  several  cantonments  of  the  enemy 
were  aroused. 

The  Americans  moved  steadily  forward  until  they  reached  the  "  Ten  Road,"  a  lit 
tle  eastward  of  the  present  village  of 
Thorold,  and  at  an  old  German  church2 
commenced  the  ascent  of  the  "Mountain" 
(as  the  Canadians  call  the  gentle  emi 
nences  that  extend  from  the  Niagara  to 
Hamilton  and  beyond),  through  a  forest 
of  pine  and  beech  trees,  to  the  more  level 
country  on  the  summit,  where  they  halted 
for  some  time.  On  resuming  their  march 
and  proceeding  about  a  mile,  they  saw  In 
dians  in  a  cleared  field  (Hoover's)  and 
open  woods  running  toward  a  more  dense 
forest  of  beech-trees  that  skirted  each  side 
of  the  road,  near  the  present  toll-gate,  close 
by  the  residence  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  R.  II.  Ful 
ler,  rural  dean.  Chapin  was  immediate 
ly  ordered  forward  with  his  mounted  men, 
who  were  kept  considerably  in  advance  of 
the  main  body.  These  had  passed  the  beech  woods,  and  a  greater  portion  of  the  oth 
ers  had  also  gone  by,  when  a  body  of  Mohawk  and  Caughnawaga  Indians,  four  hund 
red  and  fifty  in  number,  under  Captain  John  Brant  and  Captain  William  John  Kerr3 
(who  afterward  became  his  brother-in-law),  who  had  been  lying  in  ambush,  fell  upon 
Boerstler's  rear,  where  about  twenty  light  dragoons  were  posted.  Boerstler  imme 
diately  recalled  Chapin,  formed  his  troops,  charged  upon  the  half-concealed  foe,  and 
drove  them  almost  a  mile.  The  Indians  might  have  been  entirely  routed  had  Bcerst- 
ler  followed  up  the  advantage  gained.  He  hesitated.  The  Indians  rallied,  and  hung 
upon  his  flank  and  rear,  keeping  up  a  most  galling  fire  at  every  exposed  situation. 
The  Americans  pressed  onward,  over  the  Beaver  Dam  Creek,  fighting  the  wily  foe  to 
immense  disadvantage,  and  made  conscious  that  they  were  almost,  if  not  altogether 
surrounded  by  them.  For  about  three  hours  this  annoying  contest  was  kept  up. 
Boerstler's  cannon  had  been  posted  on  a  rise  of  ground  at  the  turn  in  the  road  near 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Schriner  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  and  the  Indians  fell  slowly 
back  before  the  American  bayonets. 

At  length  Bcerstler  determined  to  retire  and  abandon  the  object  of  the  expedition. 

1  Charles  G.  Bcerstler  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  was  commissioned  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Fourteenth  Infantry 
in  March,  1812.    He  waa  active,  as  we  have  seen  (page  428),  in  affairs  at  Black  Rock  toward  the  close  of  that  year. 
Three  days  before  his  unfortunate  expedition  to  the  Beaver  Dams  he  was  promoted  to  colonel  of  the  Fourteenth.    At 
the  close  of  the  war  he  was  disbanded. 

2  This  is  a  view  of  the  oldest  building  erected  for  the  worship  of  God  in  that  section  of  Canada  remaining  at  the 
time  of  my  visit.    It  was  a  little  more  than  half  a  mile  from  the  village  of  Thorold.    The  German  refugees  from  the 
Mohawk  Valley  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution  built  it.    It  was  formed  of  logs,  and  was  about  twenty-five  feet  square. 
It  stood  in  the  midst  of  a  burial-ground. 

3  Captain  Kerr  was  a  grandson  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  by  Molly  Brant,  sister  of  the  great  Mohawk  chief,  and  was 
one  quarter  Mohawk.    He  married  Elizabeth,  the  beautiful  and  accomplished  youngest  child  of  Brant. 


GERMAN   C1IUECII. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1&12. 


621 


British  Troops  saved  by  a  Heroine.          Mrs.  Secord's  Services  and  Reward.          Bcerstler  and  his  Command  captured. 

While  moving  off  he  encountered  a  small  body  of  militia,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Thomas  Clark,  in  the  Beech  Woods.  They  had  hastened  to  the  field  from  all  quarters. 
Boerstler  halted,  and  sent  a  courier  to  Dearborn  for  re-enforcements.  Very  soon  after 
ward  Lieutenant  James  Fitzgibbon, 
who  was  in  command  at  De  Cou's, 
appeared  with  forty  or  fifty  men  of 
the  British  Forty  ninth.1  He  had 
been  warned  of  the  expedition  of 
Boerstler,  and  the  danger  to  his  post 
and  command,  by  Mrs.  Laura  Secorcl, 
then  a  resident  of  Queenston,  and 
now  (1867)  dwelling  at  Chippewa, 
who  had  been  privately  informed  of 
the  plans  of  General  Dearborn.  Re 
solving  to  reveal  them  to  her  endan 
gered  friends,  she  made  a  circuit  of 
nineteen  miles  on  foot,  and  gave  the 
information  which  led  to  the  Indian 
ambush  and  the  check  of  Boerstler's 
march.2  Fitzgibbon  displayed  his 
men,  and,  perceiving  much  confusion 

in  the  American  ranks,  conceived  the  --^ag^t   ^\ 

plan  of  boldly  demanding  their  sur 
render  in  the  name  of  Major  De  Ha 
ven,  the  commandant  of  the  district.     Fitz 
gibbon  himself  approached  with  a  flag. 
He  falsely  assured  Boerstler  that  his  party 
was  the  advance  of  fifteen  hundred  British 
troops  and  seven  hundred  Indians,  then  approaching  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bissh- 

A  blacksmith  in  Smoky  Hollow,  two  miles  north  from  St.  Catharine's,  named  Yocum,  piloted  Fitzgibbon  from  De 
er  Dams. 


vas  then,  as  now,  a  woman  of  light  and  delicate  frame,  and  her  patriotic  journey  was  performed  on  a 
s  day.  She  is  now  (1S6T)  living  at  the  Canadian  village  of  Chippewa,  on  the  Niagara  River,  at  the  age 
ars,  her  mental  faculties  in  full  play,  and  her  eyesight  sufficiently  retained  to  see  to  read  without  spec- 


Cou's  to  the  Bea 

3  Mrs.  Secord 
very  hot  summe 

of  ninety-two  ye      .  ...  .      _ 

tacles.  She  is  t  e  widow  of  James  Secord,  Esq.,  who  commanded  a  company  of  militia  in  the  battle  at  Queenston  in 
1312,  and  was  severely  wounded  there.  In  a  letter  to  me,  written  on  the  13th  of  February,  1861,  Mrs.  Spcord  has  given 
the  following  interesting  account  of  her  exploit  here  mentioned:  "After  going  to  St.  David's,  and  the  recovery  of  Mr. 
Secord,  we  returned  again  to  Queenston,  where  my  courage  again  was  much  tried.  It  was  then  I  gained  the  secret  plan 
laid  to  capture  Captain  Fitzgibbon  and  his  party.  I  was  determined,  if  possible,  to  save  them.  I  had  much  difficultly  in 
getting  through  the  American  guards.  They  were  ten  miles  out  in  the  country.  When  I  came  to  a  field  belonging  to 
a  Mr.  De  Cou,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Beaver  Dams,  I  then  had  walked  nineteen  miles.  By  that  time  daylight  had 
left  me.  I  yet  had  a  swift  stream  of  water  to  cross  over  an  old  fallen  tree  (Twelve-mile  Creek),  and  to  climb  a  high  hill, 
which  fatigued  me  very  much. 

"  Before  I  arrived  at  the  encampment  of  the  Indians,  as  I  approached  they  all  arose  with  one  of  their  war-yells,  which 
indeed  awed  me.  You  may  imagine  what  my  feelings  were  to  behold  so  many  savages.  With  forced  courage  I  went 
to  one  of  the  chiefs,  told  him  I  had  great  news  for  his  commander,  and  that  he  must  take  me  to  him,  or  they  would  be 
all  lost.  He  did  not  understand  me,  but  said, '  Woman  !  what  does  woman  want  here  ?'  The  scene  by  moonlight  to  some 
might  have  been  grand,  but  to  a  weak  woman  certainly  terrifying.  With  difficulty  I  got  one  of  the  chiefs  to  go  with  me 
to  their  commander.  With  the  intelligence  I  gave  him  he  formed  his  plans  and  saved  his  country.  I  have  ever  found 
the  brave  and  noble  Colonel  Fitzgibbon  a  friend  to  me ;  may  he  prosper  in  the  world  to  come  as  he  has  done  in  this. 

"LAURA  SECORD. 

"  Chippewa,  U.  C.,  February  18, 1S61." 

Lieutenant  Fitzgibbon  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain  in  the  British  army,  and  is  now  (1867)  a  Poor  Knight  of 
Windsor  Castle.  He  gave  Mrs.  Secord  a  certificate  setting  forth  the  facts  above  recorded.  It  is  signed  "James  Fitzgib 
bon,  formerly  lieutenant  in  the  Forty-ninth  Regiment."  That  certificate  is  printed  in  the  Anglo-American  Magazine, 
and  on  page  175  of  Auchinleck's  History  of  the  War  of  1812,  published  in  Toronto  in  1855. 

When  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  making  a  tour  in  Canada  in  1SCO,  the  veteran  soldiers  of  1S12  on  the  Niagara  frontier 
went  to  Niagara  to  sign  an  address  to  his  royal  highness.  Mrs.  Secord  applied  for  permission  to  place  her  name  on  the 
list.  "Wherefore?"  was  the  natural  question.  She  told  her  story,  and  it  was  agreed  that  she  was  one  of  the  most  em 
inently  deserving  of  honor  among  the  patriots  of  that  war.  The  story  was  repeated  to  the  prince  on  his  arrival  at 
Queenston,  and  it  made  such  an  impression  on  his  memory  and  kind  heart,  especially  when  it  was  said  that  the  brave 
and  patriotic  woman  was  not  "rich  in  this  world's  goods,"  that,  soon  after  his  return  home,  he  caused  the  sum  of  one 
huudred  pounds  sterling  to  be  presented  to  her*  The  likeness  above  given  is  from  a  daguerreotype  kind'y  sent  to  me 
from  Mrs.  Secord  by  the  hand  of  Mr.  J.  P.  Merritt,  of  St.  Catharine's. 


622  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

The  Terms  of  Surrender  violated  by  the  Indians.       A  bold  Stroke  for  Liberty.       Fort  George  invested  by  the  British. 

opp,  and  that  the  savages  were  becoming  so  exasperated  that  it  would  be  difficult 
to  keep  them  from  massacring  the  Americans.  Boerstler  believed,  and  was  alarmed. 
He  agreed  to  surrender  on  the  conditions  that  the  officers  should  retain  their  arms, 
horses,  and  baggage,  and  that  the  militia  and  volunteers,  with  Colonel  Boerstler  (who 
was  slightly  wounded),  should  be  permitted  to  return  to  the  United  States  on  parole.1 
By  the  time  the  capitulation  was  agreed  to  in  final  form,  De  Haven,  who  had  been 
sent  for  by  Fitzgibbon,  came  up  with  two  hundred  men  and  received  the  submission 
of  the  captives.  The  number  of  prisoners  surrendered  was  five  hundred  and  forty- 
two,  and  the  spoils  of  victory  were  one  12-pounder,  one  6-pounder,  and  a  stand  of 
colors. 

The  surrender  was  scarcely  completed  when  the  articles  of  the  capitulation  were 
violated.  The  Indians  immediately  commenced  plundering  the  prisoners  of  their 
arms  and  clothing,  and  the  militia  and  volunteers,  instead  of  being  released  on  parole, 
were  taken  to  Burlington  Heights  and  kept  there  as  prisoners  of  war.  Some  of  them 
escaped  through  the  adroit  management  of  Major  Chapin,  who  was  soon  sent,  with  a 
number  of  his  volunteers,  in  two  bateaux,  in  charge  of  Captain  Showers  and  a  guard, 
to  Kingston,  there  to  be  held  as  prisoners.  When  within  twelve  miles  of  York  they 
arose  and  overpowered  the  guard,  crossed  the  lake  in  the  night,  and  arrived  safely  at 
Fort  ^Niagara  with  their  jailers  as  prisoners.2 

When  Boprstler's  courier  reached  Dearborn,  that  commander  sent  Colonel  Christie 
with  three  hundred  men  to  re-enforce  him.  They  pushed  forward  rapidly  to  Queens- 
ton,  where  they  heard  of  the  surrender  of  the  Americans.  Christie  hastened  back  to 
camp  with  the  sad  intelligence.  It  caused  alarm  there  that  was  speedily  justified 
by  events.  The  British  advanced  upon  Queenston,  and,  occupying  that  place  and 
vicinity,  soon  invested  the  Americans  at  Fort  George  with  a  formidable  force.  Gen 
eral  Vincent,  with  a  small  force,  held  Burlington  Heights,  and  General  De  Rotten- 
burg  was  encamped  with  a  strong  body  at  Ten-mile  Creek.  Dearborn,  whose  career 
as  chief  had  been  singularly  unsuccessful,  was  soon  superseded  by  a  more  incom 
petent  and  less  trustworthy  man,  General  Wilkinson,3  whose  movements  on  the  North 
ern  frontier  present  a  series  of  blunders  and  disasters.4 

1  This  capitulation,  in  four  brief  articles,  the  substance  of  which  is  given  in  the  text,  was  signed  on  the  part  of  Colo 
nel  Boerstler  by  Captain  Andrew  M'Dowell,  and  on  that  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bisshopp  by  Major  P.  V.  De  Haven. 
Captain  Merritt,  in  his  MS.  Narrative,  says  that  Captain  Norton,  of  the  Indian  force,  humorously  declared  that  the 
Caughnawagas  fought  the  battle,  the  Mohawks  got  the  plunder,  and  Fitzgibbon  got  the  credit.    "The  greater  part  of 
the  Caughnawagas,"  says  Merritt,  "  were  displeased,  and  returned  home  in  a  few  days  afterward,  which  at  this  time  was 
a  very  great  loss." 

2  Major  Chapin,  in  his  Review  of  Armstrong' s  Notices  of  the  War  0/1812,  page  16,  says  that  he  was  placed  in  one  boat 
with  a  principal  part  of  the  guard,  and  Captain  Sackrider  and  a  greater  portion  of  the  prisoners  in  the  other  boat.    Or 
ders  had  been  given  for  the  boats  to  keep  some  rods  apart,  cue  ahead  of  the  other.    After  they  had  passed  out  of  Bur 
lington  Bay  upon  the  open  lake,  Chapin  made  a  signal  to  Sackrider  in  the  hinder  boat,  which  the  Americans  were  row 
ing,  to  come  up  closer.    He  gave  the  word  in  whispers  to  the  men,  and  while  the  major  was  amusing  the  British  captain 
with  a  story,  the  hinder  boat  came  up  under  the  stern  of  the  forward  one.    It  was  ordered  back,  when  Chapin,  with  loud 
voice,  ordered  his  men  not  to  fall  back  an  inch.    Captain  Showers  attempted  to  draw  his  sword,  and  some  of  his  men 
thrust  at  Chapin  with  bayonets.    The  latter  prostrated  the  captain  with  a  blow.    He  fell  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  and 
two  of  his  men  who  were  thrusting  at  Chapin  fell  upon  him.    The  latter  immediately  stepped  upon  them.    The  guard 
in  both  boats  were  speedily  overcome  and  secured.     "I  succeeded  to  the  command  of  our  fleet  of  two  bateaux,"  says 
Chapin,  "  with  no  little  alacrity.    We  shifted  our  course,  crossed  Lake  Ontario,  and  with  the  boats  and  prisoners  arrived 
the  next  morning  safe  at  Fort  Niagara." 

3  Congress  was  in  session  when  this  "  climax  of  continual  tidings  of  mismanagement  and  misfortune"  reached  Wash 
ington.    The  late  Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  one  of  the  historians  of  the  war,  was  then  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives.    The  intelligence  produced  great  irritation.    "  On  the  Cth  of  July,  1813,  therefore,"  says  Ingersoll,  "  after  a  short 
accidental  communion  of  regret,  and  impatience  in  the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Representatives  with  the  Speaker  and 
General  Ringgold,  of  Maryland,  I  was  deputed  a  volunteer  to  wait  on  the  President,  and  request  General  Dearborn's 
removal  from  a  command  which,  so  far,  had  been  so  unfortunate."    The  recall  of  General  Dearborn  immediately  fol 
lowed  this  request,  and  on  the  15th  of  July  that  officer,  who  had  performed  noble  service  in  the  Continental  army,  took 
leave  of  that  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  at  Fort  George,  pursuant  to  an  order  from  the  Secretary  of  War  that  he  should 
"retire  from  command  until  his  health  should  be  re-established."    "The  Northern  army,"  says  Ingersoll,  "relieved  of 
a  veteran  leader  whose  age  and  health  disqualified  him  for  active  and  enterprising  services,  in  his  successor,  General 
Wilkinson,  did  not  get  a  younger,  healthier,  or  more  competent  commander."— Historical  Sketch  of  the  Second  War,  etc., 
i.,  288. 

*  The  authorities  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  the  foregoing  narrative  are  the  official  dispatches :  statements  of 
officers ;  the  Histories  of  Thompson,  Perkins,  Conner,  Brackenridge,  Ingersoll,  James,  Christie,  Auchinleck ;  Stone's 
Life  of  Brant ;  Chapin's  Review  of  Armstrong ;  Merritt's  MS.  narrative  ;  personal  narratives  of  survivors,  etc. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  623 


A  Visit  to  St.  Catharine's  and  the  Beaver  Dams'  Battle-ground.  De  Cou's  and  De  Con's  Falls. 

It  was  in  sultry  August,  1860,  that  I  visited  the  scenes  of  Boerstler's  march  and  dis 
aster,  and  places  in  the  vicinity.  I  have  already  mentioned  my  trip  from  Queenston 
to  St.  Catharine's,  and  so  on  to  Hamilton,  Paris,  Brantford,  and  the  Indian  settlements 
on  the  Grand  River  in  Canada.1  It  was  at  that  time  that  I  stopped  at  St.  Catharine's 
for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  Honorable  William  Hamilton  Merritt,  the  brave  British 
cavalry  officer  already  mentioned,  and  of  visiting  places  of  interest  near.  I  arrived 
there  on  Saturday  evening,  and  at  a  boarding-house  where  I  procured  lodgings  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  the  family  of  a  once  valued  acquaintance  in  Virginia,  who 
were  seeking  health  from  the  use  of  the  powerful  mineral  waters  that  flow  up  copi 
ously  there  from  the  deep  recesses  of  the  earth.2  Little  did  I  think  that  within  a  few 
months  the  accomplished  head  of  that  family,  whom  I  had  learned  to  esteem  most 
highly,  would  be  seduced  from  his  allegiance  to  the  flag  of  his  country,  under  which 
he  had  served  with  fidelity  and  distinction  for  five-and-thirty  years,  and  become  the 
general-in-chief  of  armies  in  rebellion  against  the  government  of  the  Republic !  He 
held  the  narrow  view  of  American  citizenship,  engendered  by  the  doctrine  of  supreme 
state  sovereignty,  expressed  in  the  words  "  I  go  with  my  state,"  and  followed  the 
terrible  fortunes  of  his  native  Virginia  when  her  political  chai'latans — her  selfish 
trading  politicians — declared  her  secession  from  the  Union,  and  brought  ruin  on  her 
people. 

I  was  unfortunate  in  not  finding  Mr.  Merritt  at  home.  As  a  member  of  the  Cana 
dian  Parliament,  he  had  gone  to  Quebec  to  receive  the  Prince  of  Wales.  To  his  son, 
Mr.  J.  P.  Merritt,  I  am  indebted  for  many  kind  courtesies  while  there.  He  gave  me 
free  access  to  his  father's  military  papers,  and  kindly  lent  me  the  MS.  Narrative  of 
Events  in  the  campaigns  on  the  Canadian  Peninsula  already  referred  to. 

Early  on  Monday  morning,a  after  a  night  made  memorable  by  a  fearful  a  August  20, 
thunder-storm,  I  started  for  the  Beaver  Dams,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Mer 
ritt.  On  the  way  I  sketched  the  ancient  German  church  delineated  on  page  620 ; 
and  early  in  the  forenoon  we  reached  the  house  of  the  Reverend  Dr.  Fuller  by  the 
famous  Beech  Woods  where  Boerstler  was  first  attacked.  From  the  roof  of  his 
dwelling  we  obtained  a  fine  view  of  the  Beaver  Dams'  battle-ground  and  the  thea 
tre  of  Boerstler's  misfortunes,  and  from  that  elevation  made  the  sketch  seen  at  the 
top  of  the  picture  on  the  following  page.  On  the  right  is  seen  the  Beech  Wood, 
and  through  the  centre  Beaver  Dams'  Creek.  On  the  left  is  seen  the  turn  of  the 
road  where  Boerstler's  cannon  were  planted,  and  a  little  to  the  right  of  it  is  the 
stone  house  of  Mr.  Shriner,  whose  orchard,  adjoining  it,  was  the  place  where  Boerst 
ler  surrendered  to  De  Haven.  The  two-story  house  on  the  right  of  the  picture 
is  De  Cou's,  and  the  cascade  on  the  left  is  a  view  of  De  Cou's  Falls,  in  Twelve-mile 
Creek. 

From  Dr.  Fuller's  we  rode  on  through  Beaver  Dam  village  to  De  Cou's,  passing 
on  the  way  the  smoking  ruins  of  a  barn  which  had  been  fired  by  lightning  during 
the  night.  The  famous  house  was  of  stone,  two  stories  in  height,  spacious,  with  or 
namental  shrubbery  around  it.  It  was  in  an  elevated,  fertile,  and  beautiful  region. 
After  sketching  the  building  we  passed  on  to  the  lake  slopes  of  the  hills,  and,  follow 
ing  a  farm-road  a  little  distance,  came  to  De  Cou's  Falls,  where  the  Twelve-mile 
Creek  pours  over  a  ledge  of  rocks,  semicircular  in  form,  into  a  wild  ravine,  in  a  per 
pendicular  cascade  of  sixty  feet.  The  sides  of  the  ravine  are  very  precipitous,  and 
covered  chiefly  with  evergreens.  With  much  difficulty  and  some  danger,  I  made  my 

1  See  page  420. 

2  The  city  of  St.  Catharine's,  on  the  Twelve-mile  Creek,  the  Welland  Canal,  and  the  Great  Western  Railway,  was 
known  as  "  Chipman's"  during  the  war.    It  is  between  twelve  and  thirteen  miles  west  from  the  Niagara  River.    It  is 
a  port  of  entry  (Port  Dalhousie  is  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek),  is  beautifully  situated,  and  threatens  to  rival  Hamilton. 
Its  mineral  springs  are  very  noted  for  their  healing  properties,  and  St.  Catharine's  has  become  a  place  of  great  resort 
for  invalids  and  fashionable  people.    It  is  a  very  desirable  place  for  those  who  love  a  quiet  watering-place  for  a  few 
weeks  in  summer.    The  population  is  about  seven  thousand. 


624 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Sketch  of  De  Con's  Falls. 


A  Veteran  of  the  War  of  1812. 


Eeturn  to  St.  Catharine's. 


BATTLE-GBOtTND. 


DE   COt's   STONE   UOUSE. 


way  to  its  wild  depths, 
and  obtained  a  favorable 
position  for  a  sketch  of 
the  Falls,  on  the  crown 
of  which,  shaded  by  ce 
dars  and  hemlocks,  were 

the  remains  of  an  old  mill.  A  fourth  of  a  mile  below 
was  another  fall  of  thirty  feet,  where  the  ravine  deepens 
and  darkens,  for  the  whole  declivity  down  which  the 
stream  pours  toward  the  plain  is  covered  with  a  dense 
forest. 

We  made  our  way  along  a  most  picturesque  road 
among  the  hills  to  the  fertile  rolling  plain  below,  and 
stopped  at  the  little  log  cottage  of  Captain  James  Dit- 
trick,  a  bachelor 
of  seventy -five, 
and  a  veteran  of 
the  War  of  181 2. 

He  was  commander  of  the  Fourth  Lincoln  company,  and 
was  in  the  battles  at  Queenston,  Fort  George,  and  Ni 
agara,  or  Lundy's  Lane,  and  was  active  on  the  frontier 
and  over  the  peninsula  during  the  whole  of  the  war.  He 
arrived  at  the  Beaver  Dams  a  few  minutes  after  the  sur 
render  of  Boerstler,  and  participated  in  the  joy  of  the  oc 
casion.  Captain  Dittrick  was  a  bald-headed,  heavy  man, 
very  pleasant  and  communicative — ready  to  "  fight  his 
battles  o'er  again"  by  his  hearthstone.  Our  visit  was 
made  too  short  for  our  pleasure  and  profit  by  the  rum 
bling  of  thunder.  We  rode  on  to  St.  Catharine's,  where 
we  arrived  in  time  to  escape  a  drenching  shower.  I 
dined  with  Mr.  Merritt  and  his  father's  family,  and  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  at  the  table  the  widow  of  the  eminent  Jesse  Hawley,  who 
wras  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Western  New  York,  to  whom  Governor  De  Witt  Clin 
ton  (autograph  letter  now  before  me)  gave  the  credit  of  being  the  chief  projector  of 
that  great  work  of  internal  improvement,  the  Erie  Canal.  He  published  a  series  of 


1>E   COO  S   FALLS. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  625 

Visit  to  Hamilton  and  Stony  Creek.  A  Refugee  from  the  Wyoming  Valley.  Departure  for  Brautford. 

able  letters  over  the  signature  of  "Hercules,"  whose  wise  suggestions  led  to  the  con 
struction  of  that  mighty  work  which  immortalized  the  name  of  Clinton,  and  added 
millions  to  the  wealth  of  New  York.1 

I  left  St.  Catharine's  toward  evening  for  the  beautiful  city  of  Hamilton,  at  the  head 
of  the  lake.  The  railway  passes  through  a  most  charming  country  lying  between 
the  "  Mountain"  or  ancient  shore  of  Ontario  and  the  lake.  This  mountain  approaches 
the  lake  within  three  foui'ths  of  a  mile  at  Hamilton,  and  then,  turning  more  south 
ward,  assists  in  forming  the  deep  valley  in  which  Dundas  lies  nestled.  I  passed  the 
night  at  the  Royal  Hotel  in  Hamilton,  and  at  six  o'clock  the  next  morning  started  in 
a  light  wagon  for  Stony  Creek,  seven  miles  eastward,  over  a  fine  stone  road.  I  was 
directed  to  Colonel  Daniel  Lewis  for  information  concerning  the  battle  and  its  local 
ities.  His  residence  was  a  little  northward  of  the  village,  but  he  was  absent.  From 
Mr.  Heales,  residing  there,  I  obtained  all  needful  knowledge  respecting  the  place  of. 
the  encampment  and  the  combat.  After  making  the  sketch  on  page  603, 1  returned 
to  the  village,  made  my  way  half  a  mile  southward  of  it,  and  took  a  hasty  glance  at 
the  pouring  down  of  Stony  Creek  from  the  "  Mountain"  in  a  perpendicular  fall  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  feet  into  a  deep,  narrow  gorge.  Wishing  to  depart  from  Hamil 
ton  for  Paris  at  twelve  o'clock,  I  did  not  linger  long  at  the  falls.  On  my  way  back  I 
stopped  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Michael  Aikman  to  obtain  some  information  concerning 
the  place  of  the  British  encampment  on  Burlington  Heights.  He  too  was  absent,  but 
I  spent  a  most  interesting  half  hour  with  his  mother,  Mrs.  Hannah  Aikman,  a  small, 
delicate  woman,  then  ninety-one  years  of  age.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Michael 
Showers,  a  Tory  refugee  from  the  Wyoming  Valley.  She  and  her  family  were  in 
Wintermoot's  Fort,  and  her  father  was  one  of  Butler's  Rangers.  After  the  battle 
there  they  were  compelled  to  fly.  They  went  up  the  Susquehanna,  and  across  the 
country  by  way  of  the  Genesee,  intending  to  go  to  Niagara  by  the  lake  in  a  small 
boat  which  they  took  with  them.  It  was  so  injured  that  it  could  not  be  used.  The 
father  walked  to  Fort  Niagara  for  relief,  and  for  a  week  his  family  subsisted  on  roots 
which  they  dug  from  the  soil.  They  were  timely  relieved  by  some  Mississagua  In 
dians.  Her  father  was  one  of  the  settlers  with  Bxitler's  Rangers  on  the  Canadian 
peninsula,  and  for  almost  seventy  years  she  had  lived  at  her  then  place  of  abode.2 
When  I  told  her  of  my  visit  to  Wintermoot's  house,  and  described  it  as  she  remem 
bered  it,  and  spoke  of  the  Wintermoots,  the  Burnets,  the  Hallenbecks,  the  Dorrances, 
and  others  whom  she  knew,  her  eyes  brightened,  and  she  said  it  seemed  as  if  one  of 
her  old  neighbors  had  come  to  see  her. 

I  reached  Hamilton3  just  in  time  to  take  the  cars  for  the  West,  and,  as  I  have  al 
ready  mentioned,  arrived  at  Brantford,  on  the  Grand  River,  that  evening.  Of  my 
visit  to  the  Indian  settlements  in  that  vicinity  I  have  elsewhere  written.4 

1  It  is  proper  to  say  here  that  the  project  of  a  canal  to  connect  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  with  those  of  the  Hudson 
River  was  contemplated  by  General  Philip  Schuyler,  Elkanah  Watson,  and  Christopher  Colles,  many  years  before  Mr. 
Hawley  wrote  his  convincing  letters. 

2  I  have  before  mentioned  in  this  work  that,  after  the  Revolution,  Butler's  Rangers  and  other  refugees  from  the 
United  States  settled  on  the  Canadian  peninsula.    Each  one  of  Butler's  Rangers,  almost  five  hundred  in  number,  was 
presented  with  a  thousand  acres  of  land  in  this  then  wilderness,  and  that  district,  of  which  there  were  four  in  the  prov 
ince,  was  called  Nassau.    Governor  Haldimand,  a  German,  named  the  four  districts  respectively,  beginning  at  the  De 
troit,  Hesse,  Nassau,  Mecklenburg,  and  Lunenburg.    Haldimand  was  a  great  friend  of  the  Canadians ;  but  Simcoe,  de 
sirous  of  making  the  province  as  English  as  possible,  and  denoting  native  nationality,  gave  British  names  to  almost 
every  place.    In  this  spirit  he  changed  the  name  of  Toronto  to  York,  in  honor  of  a  victory  by  the  Duke  of  York  on  the 
Continent. 

3  Hamilton  was  laid  out  in  1813,  and  is  situated  on  the  southwestern  extremity  of  Burlington  Bay.    It  is  the  chief  city 
of  West  Canada,  having  a  population  of  about  24,000.    Burlington  Heights  are  composed  of  an  immense  deposit  of 
gravel,  sand,  and  loam.    The  village  of  Burlington  was  the  germ  of  the  city  of  Hamilton,  and  stood  on  its  site.    The 
Great  Western  Railway  passes  along  the  shore  of  the  bay,  at  the  foot  of  the  heights,  and  crosses  the  Des  Jardins  Canal, 
which  is  cut  directly  through  the  great  hill  north  of  the  cemetery  and  the  residence  of  the  late  Sir  Allan  M'Nab.    The 
present  railway  bridge  over  the  canal  is  of  iron,  and  seventy  feet  above  the  water.    The  first  one  was  of  wood.    It  gave 
way,  with  a  train  of  cars  upon  it,  in  March,  1857,  when  fifty-six  persons  were  killed.    In  the  cemetery  may  be  seen  the 
remains  of  General  Vincent's  fortified  camp.    They  form  a  ridge  across  the  grounds  (which  comprise  about  twenty-seven 
acres),  running  east  and  west.    The  palatial  residence  of  the  late  Sir  Allan  M'Nab  is  called  Dundurn  Castle.    It  is  built 
of  limestone,  fronts  southeast,  overlooking  the  bay  and  Hamilton,  and  is  surrounded  by  about  forty  acres  of  land. 

*  See  pages  from  420  to  425,  inclusive. 

RR 


626  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Raids  on  the  Niagara  Frontier.  A  Massacre  by  Western  Indians.  Statement  of  Captain  Merritt  and  others. 

General  Boyd,  being  the  senior  officer  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  became  temporary 
commander-in-chief  there  after  the  departure  of  General  Dearborn.  He  found  his  po 
sition  an  important  and  arduous  one.  The  success  of  the  British  at  the  Beaver  Dams 
made  them  bold,  and  they  were  gradually  closing  upon  the  Americans  at  Fort  George 
and  Newark.  Frequent  picket  skirmishing  occurred,  and  bold  raids  into  the  Ameri 
can  territory  were  performed.  One  of  these  occurred  on  the  night  of  the  4th  of 
July.a  A  party  composed  of  Canadian  militia  and  Indians,  and  led  by  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Thomas  Clark,  crossed  the  Niagara  from  Chippewa  to  Schlosser, 
captured  the  guard  there,  seized  a  large  quantity  of  provisions,  one  brass  6-pounder 
cannon,  several  stands  of  arms,  and  some  ammunition.  With  these  spoils  they  re 
turned  in  triumph  to  the  Canada  shore. 

Four  days  later  a  sad  tragedy  was  performed  near  the  residences  of  John  and  Peter 
•Ball,1  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Fort  George.  The  gallant  young  leader,  Merritt, 
then  just  twenty  years  of  age,  was  sent  with  a  small  party  to  recover  some  medicines 
near  Ball's  which  the  British  had  concealed  when  they  fled  from  Fort  George  in  May. 
A  body  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  savages,  just  arrived  from  the  Western  wilderness, 
under  Captain  M.  Elliott,  and  led  by  the  bloody  Blackbird,  of  Chicago  fame,2  were 
employed  as  a  covering  party.  Merritt  was  encamped,  and  while  breakfasting  at 
Ball's  a  skirmish  with  an  American  picket-guard  took  place  not  far  off.  Lieutenant 
Eldridge  (then  adjutant),  with  thirty-nine  volunteers,  went  out  to  the  relief  of  the 
guard,  and  a  larger  force,  under  Major  Malcolm,  prepared  to  follow.  The  impetuous 
Eldridge  dashed  forward  into  the  thick  wood,  and  fell  into  an  ambush  prepared  for 
him  by  Blackbird  and  his  followers.  The  foe  was  repulsed  at  first,  but  overwhelm 
ing  numbers  crushed  Eldridge  and  his  little  party.3  Only  five  escaped.  The  prison 
ers  and  wounded  were  butchered  and  scalped  by  the  Western  savages,  whose  con 
duct  on  the  occasion  was  marked  by  the  most  atrocious  barbarity.4  This  was  so 
shocking  and  exasperating  that  General  Boyd  resolved  to  adopt  Washington's  plan 
of  having  "  Indians  fight  Indians,"  and  to  accept  the  services  of  the  Senecas  and  Tus- 

'  The  Ball  family  still  occupied  this  dwelling,  I  was  informed,  when  I  visited  Niagara  in  1860.  They  have,  as  a  cher 
ished  relic,  the  military  chapeau  worn  by  the  gallant  Brock  when  he  fell  at  Queenston.  2  See  page  308. 

3  Joseph  C.  Eldridge  was  a  native  of  New  York.    He  entered  the  army  as  second  lieutenant  in  the  Thirteenth  Regu 
lar  Infantry  hi  the  spring  of  1812.    A  year  afterward  he  was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant,  and  appointed  adjutant.    He 
was  distinguished  for  bravery  at  Stony  Creek  a  month  earlier,  and  was  a  young  officer  of  great  promise. 

4  There  are  statements  by  American  and  British  writers  concerning  this  affair  too  widely  differing  to  admit  of  recon 
ciliation.    Some  of  the  American  writers  say  that  the  force  which  fell  upon  Eldridge  was  composed  of  British  and  In 
dians,  while  British  writers  declare  that  no  white  man  was  present.    The  only  statement  that  I  have  ever  met  from  an 
eye-witness  is  that  of  the  late  Hon,  William  Hamilton  Merritt  in  his  MS.  narrative,  now  before  me,  and  from  that  I  have 
drawn  the  facts  up  to  the  ambush.    He  says  that  he  had  no  expectation  of  being  in  the  fight,  and  that  he  and  John  Bell 
were  the  only  two  white  persons  engaged  in  it  except  a  boy  thirteen  years  old,  whose  father  was  a  prisoner  and  dan 
gerously  wounded,  and  whose  eldest  brother  was  killed  at  Fort  George.    "This  little  fellow,"  says  Merritt,  "was  de 
termined  to  revenge  the  loss  his  family  had  sustained,  and  would  not  be  persuaded  to  leave  the  field  until  his  mother 
[Mrs.  Law,  whose  house  was  on  the  ground]  came  out  and  took  him  away  in  her  arms  by  force."    An  American  officer, 
writing  from  Fort  George  the  next  day,  said  that  two  of  the  five  survivors,  and  who  were  at  first  taken  prisoners,  stated 
that  there  were  British  soldiers  in  the  ambush,  painted  as  Indians,  "with  streaks  of  green  and  red  around  their  eyes." 
— Niles's  Register,  iv.,  352. 

Mr.  Merritt  says  that  his  whole  attention,  after  the  fight,  was  given  to  the  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  Blackbird  and 
his  followers,  and  that  his  own  life  was  threatened  because  he  made  intercession  for  those  of  the  captives.  "  The  poor 
devils,"  he  says,  "were  crying  and  imploring  me  to  save  their  lives,  as  I  was  the  only  white  man  they  saw."  He  says 
that  the  Indians,  after  getting  an  interpreter,  promised  him  that  "  the  lives  of  the  prisoners  should  be  spared — would 
only  frighten  them  a  great  deal,  to  prevent  them  coming  again.  I  made  a  solemn  vow,"  he  continues,  "if  a  prisoner 
was  killed,  never  to  go  out  with  an  Indian  again."  The  savages  violated  their  pledge,  and  butchered  their  prisoners 
with  a  barbarity  too  revolting  to  be  repeated  here.  The  American  officer  above  alluded  to  says  :  "I  break  open  this 
letter  for  the  purpose  of  stating  that  the  body  (as  is  supposed)  of  Lieutenant  Eldridge,  the  adjutant  of  the  Thirteenth, 
has  been  brought  in  this  moment,  naked,  mangled  in  the  manner  mentioned  of  the  other."  The  excuse  made  for  the 
murder  of  Eldridge  was  that,  after  he  was  made  prisoner,  he  treacherously  drew  a  concealed  pistol  and  shot  one  of  the 
chiefs  through  the  head.  This  was  Blackbird's  reason  for  murdering  all.  Mr.  Merritt  speaks  of  Eldridge  as  "the  offi 
cer  who  forfeited  his  life  by  firing  at  an  Indian  while  a  prisoner."  He  does  not  speak  from  his  own  knowledge.  An 
investigation  proved  the  assertion  of  the  savage  leader  to  be  wholly  untrue,  and  this  crime  (strange  as  it  may  appear) 
stands,  iincondemned  by  British  writers,  one  of  pure  barbarian  cruelty. 

The  following  least  revolting  recital  is  from  a  letter  from  an  American  officer  to  his  friend  in  Baltimore,  dated  at  Fort 
•George,  July  12 :  "A  recital  will  make  you  shudder.  I  will  merely  mention  the  fate  of  a  young  officer  who  came  under 
my  notice,  whose  body  was  found,  the  day  after  the  action,  cut  and  mangled  in  the  most  shocking  manner,  Jiis  entrails 
torn  from  his  body,  and  HIS  HEART  STUFFED  IN  HIS  MOUTH  1  We  are  resolved  to  show  no  quarter  to  the  Indians  after 
.tMs."— A'iZcs's  Weekly  Register,  iv.,  352. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  627 

Expedition  against  Black  Rock.  General  Porter  hurries  to  its  Defense.  Repulse  of  the  British. 

caroras,  who  had  proffered  them,  under  certain  conditions  which  humanity  would 
impose. 

Clark's  success  at  Schlosser  suggested  another  and  more  important  expedition.  It 
was  the  surprise  of  the  American  naval  station  and  deposit  for  stores  and  munitions  of 
war  at  Black  Rock,  near  Buffalo.  It  was  organized  by  the  gallant  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Cecil  Bisshopp,  of  the  British  Forty-first.  He  left  his  head-quarters  at  Lundy's  Lane 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  10th,a  with  detachments  from  the  Royal  Artillery,  and  a  ju]yi 
the  Eighth,  Forty  -  first,  and  Forty  -  ninth  Regiments,  and  at  Chippewa  was 
joined  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Clark,  with  a  body  of  Lincoln  militia  and  volunteers, 
making  his  whole  force  between  three  and  four  hundred  in  number.  They  embarked 
at  Chippewa  early  in  the  evening,  and  at  half  an  hour  before  dawnb  landed 
unperceived  on  the  American  shore,  a  short  distance  below  Black  Rock. 
The  block-house  there,  called  Fort  Tompkins,  was  in  charge  of  less  than  a  dozen  ar 
tillerists  ;  and  the  only  other  available  military  force  at  the  station  was  about  two 
hundred  militia,  under  Major  Adams,  with  two  or  three  pieces  of  artillery.  At  Buf 
falo,  two  miles  distant,  were  less  than  a  hundred  infantry  and  dragoon  recruits  from 
the  South,  on  their  way  to  Fort  George,  and  a  small  body  of  Indians  under  Henry 
O'Bail,  the  young  Corn-planter,  who  had  been  partially  educated  at  Philadelphia,  but 
who,  Indian-like,  could  not  brook  the  restraints  of  civilization,  and  had  gone  back  to 
his  blanket  and  feather  head-dress.  These  forces  were  under  the  command  of  Gen 
eral  Peter  B.  Porter,  who  was  then  residing  at  his  house  near  Black  Rock.1 

Bisshopp  was  accompanied  by  Colonel  Warren.  They  surprised  Major  Adam's 
camp,  and  he  and  his  alarmed  militia  fled  precipitately  to  Buffalo,  leaving  the  artil 
lery  unharmed  on  the  ground.  General  Porter  narrowly  escaped  capture  in  his  own 
house.  He  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  reach  Adam's  camp  when  he  learned 
of  the  flight  of  the  militia  and  the  garrison  at  the  block-house.  He  followed  on  foot 
toward  Buffalo,  and  on  the  way  met  Captain  Cummings,  with  one  hundred  regulars, 
who,  having  heard  of  the  invasion,  was  advancing  toward  Black  Rock.  In  the  mean 
time  the  enemy  had  fired  the  block-house  and  barracks,  attacked  the  navy  buildings 
and  a  schooner  lying  there,  and  the  principal  officers  had  gone  to  the  house  of  Gen 
eral  Porter,  where  they  ordered  breakfast.  Their  followers,  and  the  re-enforcements 
continually  coming  over  from  the  Canada  shore,  were  employed  meanwhile  in  plun 
dering  the  inhabitants  and  public  stores  not  destroyed  by  fire. 

On  meeting  Captain  Cummings,  Porter  ordered  him  to  halt.  Then,  mounting  the 
horse  of  one  of  the  dragoons,  he  hastened  to  Buffalo,  rallied  about  one  half  of  Major 
Adam's  militia,  and,  with  these  and  about  fifty  volunteer  citizens,  he  soon  rejoined 
Cummings.  With  the  united  force  and  about  forty  Indians,  he  attacked  the  invaders, 
at  eight  o'clock,  from  three  different  points.  The  Indians,  who  were  concealed  in  a 
ravine,  arose  from  cover,  and  gave  the  appalling  war-whoop  at  the  moment  of  the 
attack,  and  added  much  to  the  surprise  and  confusion  of  the  British,  who  did  not  ex 
pect  the  return  of  the  Americans.  After  a  short,  spirited  contest,  the  foe  were  beaten, 
and  driven  in  confusion  toward  their  boats,  now  moored  near  the  present  ferry,  where 
they  rallied.  Porter  now  concentrated  his  own  forces,  and  fell  upon  Bisshopp  with 
so  much  power  that,  after  a  contest  of  not  more  than  twenty  minutes,  he  fled  with 
precipitation  to  his  boats,  leaving  nine  killed  and  sixteen  or  eighteen  prisoners,  among 
whom  was  Captain  Saunders,  of  Bisshopp's  regiment,  who  was  badly  wounded.2  He 
was  carried  gently  by  the  Indians  in  blankets  to  General  Porter's  house.3  The  Brit- 

'  See  page  426. 

2  Stone's  Life  of  Brant,  page  242 ;  Lieutenant  Colonel  Clarke's  Official  Report  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Harvey,  dated 
Chippewa,  July  12, 1813.    Mr.  Stone  says  that,  after  he  had  written  his  account  of  the  affair  at  Black  Rock,  he  placed  his 
manuscript  in  the  hands  of  General  Porter,  who  was  then  living.    The  general  not  only  corrected  it,  but  rewrote  the 
whole  narrative,  the  substance  of  which  is  given  in  the  text. 

3  The  Indians,  after  taking  from  Captain  Saunders  his  cap,  epaulettes,  sword,  and  belt,  carried  him  gently  to  Porter's 
house.    He  was  wounded  by  a  rifle-ball  passing  through  his  chest  and  lungs,  and  another  shattering  his  wrist.    He  re- 


628  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


MONUMENT. 


Death  of  Bisshopp.  His  Monument.  Expedition  to  Burlington  Heights.  Descent  on  York. 

ish  suffered  a  greater  loss  after  they  had  reached  their  boats.1  Among  those  mor 
tally  wounded  was  the  commander  of  the  expedition,  a  gallant  young  man,  thirty 
years  of  age.  He  was  conveyed  in  sadness  to  his  head-quarters  at  Lundy's  Lane, 
where,  after  lingering  five  days,  he  died.  He  was  buried  in  the  bosom  of  a  green 
slope,  in  a  small  cemetery  on  the  south  side  of  Lundy's  Lane,  a  short  distance  from 

the  great  cataract  of  the  Niagara,  by  his  brother  officers, 
who  erected  over  his  grave  a  neat  monument.  In  the 
course  of  time  it  fell  into  decay,  and  thirty-three  years 
afterward  the  sisters  of  the  young  soldier  replaced  it  by 
another  and  more  elegant  one.  Upon  the  recumbent  slab 
that  surmounts  it  is  an  appropriate  inscription.2 

During  the  remainder  of  the  summer  there  were  fre 
quent  skirmishes  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  George, 
caused  by  attacks  upon  American  foraging  parties,  but 
no  enterprise  of  much  importance  was  undertaken  ex- 
cepting  an  attempt  to  capture  the  British  stores  at  BuV- 
Ihigton  Heights,  known  to  be  in  charge  of  a  feeble  guard 
under  Major  Maule.  This  was  attempted  towai-d  the  end  of  July.  Colonel  Win- 
field  Scott  had  just  been  promoted  to  the  command  of  a  double  regiment  (twenty 
companies),  and  had  resigned  the  office  of  adjutant  general.  He  was  eager  for  dis 
tinction  and  useful  service,  and  he  volunteered  to  lead  any  land  force  that  might  be 
sent  to  the  head  of  Ontario.  Chauncey  was  then  making  gallant  cruises  about  the 
lake.  He  had  twelve  vessels,  and  felt  strong  enough  to  cope  with  any  force  that 
might  appear  under  Sir  James  Yeo. 

The  expedition  to  Burlington  Heights  was  under  the  chief  command  of  Chauncey. 
He  appeared  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River  with  his  fleet  on  the  27th  of  July, 
and  on  the  following  day  he  sailed  for  the  head  of  Ontario,  with  three  hundred  land 
troops  under  Colonel  Scott.  Meanwhile  Colonel  Harvey  had  taken  measures  for  the 
security  of  the  British  stores  at  Burlington.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Battersby  was  or 
dered  from  York  with  a  part  of  the  Glengary  corps  to  re-enforce  the  guard  under 
Major  Maule.  By  forced  marches  Battersby  joined  Maule  before  Chauncey  's  arrival. 
That  officer  and  Scott  soon  perceived  that  their  force  was  insufficient  for  the  pre 
scribed  work.  Convinced  of  this,  and  informed  of  the  defenseless  state  of  York  on 
account  of  the  withdrawal  of  Battersby's  detachment,  Chauncey  spread  his  sails,  went 
across  the  lake,  and  entered  that  harbor  on  the  31st.  Colonel  Scott  landed  his  troops 
without  opposition,  took  possession  of  the  place,  burnt  the  barracks,  public  store 
houses  and  stores,  and  eleven  transports,  destroyed  five  pieces  of  cannon,  and  bore 

mained  at  Porter's,  kindly  treated  and  attended  by  his  wife,  who  was  sent  for,  for  about  three  weeks,  when  he  was  suf 
ficiently  recovered  to  be  sent  to  the  rendezvous  of  prisoners  at  Williamsville.—  Stone's  Life  of  Red  Jacket,  page  246. 

1  The  entire  loss  of  the  British  during  this  expedition,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  must  have  been  almost  sev 
enty.    Some  estimated  it  as  high  as  one  hundred.    The  loss  of  the  Americans  was  three  killed  and  five  wounded.    Two 
of  the  latter  were  Indians.    The  destruction  of  property  was  not  so  great  as  has  been  generally  represented.    The 
Americans  did  not  lose,  by  destruction  or  plunder,  more  than  one  third  of  the  valuable  naval  stores  at  Black  Rock,  col 
lected  for  Commodore  Perry,  nor  did  they  reach  a  particle  of  the  military  stores  for  the  use  of  the  army,  then  deposited 
at  Buffalo.    The  enemy  destroyed  or  captured  4  cannon,  177  English  and  French  muskets,  1  three-pounder  traveling  car 
riage,  6  ammunition  kegs,  a  small  quantity  of  round  and  case  shot,  123  barrels  of  salt,  40  barrels  of  whisky,  considerable 
clothing  and  blankets,  and  a  small  quantity  of  other  stores.—  Clark's  Official  Report. 

2  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  inscription  : 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  the  Honorable  Cecil  Bisshopp,  1st  Foot  Guards,  and  inspecting  field- 
officer  in  Upper  Canada,  eldest  and  only  surviving  son  of  Sir  Cecil  Bisshopp,  Bart.,  Baron  de  la  Fouche,  in  England. 
After  having  served  with  distinction  in  the  British  army  in  Holland,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  he  died  on  the  ICth  of  July, 
1813,  aged  30,  in  consequence  of  wounds  received  in  action  with  the  enemy  at  Black  Rock  on  the  llth  of  the  same 
month,  to  the  great  grief  of  his  family  and  friends,  and  is  buried  here. 

"This  tomb,  erected  at  the  time  by  his  brother  officers,  becoming  much  dilapidated,  is  now  (1846)  renewed  by  his  af 
fectionate  sisters,  the  Baroness  de  la  Fouche  and  the  Honorable  Mrs.  Rechell,  in  memory  of  an  excellent  man  and  be 
loved  brother." 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Bisshopp  received  a  severe,  but  not  mortal  wound  while  on  shore,  and  four  or  five  others  after  he 
entered  his  boat.  The  gallant  Fitzgibbon  took  charge  of  him,  and  conveyed  him  as  tenderly  as  possible  from  Chip- 
pewa  to  Luady's  Lane. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  629 


General  Dearborn  succeeded  by  General  Wilkinson.         Arrival  of  the  Latter  at  Washington.         Indian  skirmishing. 

away  as  spoils  one  heavy  gun  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  provisions,  chiefly  of 
flour.  The  expedition  returned  to  the  Niagara  on  the  3d  of  August,  carrying  with 
them  the  sick  and  wounded  of  Bosrstler's  command  found  in  York.  No  military 
movements  of  much  importance  occurred  on  that  frontier  after  this  until  late  in  the 
year.1 

Four  days  after  the  return  to  the  Niagara,  while  Chauncey's  fleet  was  lying  at  an 
chor  in  the  mouth  of  the  river,  a  British  squadron  under  Sir  James  Yeo  made  its  ap 
pearance.  Chauncey  went  out  to  attack  the  baronet.  They  manoeuvred  all  day,  and 
after  midnight,  during  a  heavy  squall,  two  of  the  American  vessels  were  capsized  and 
lost,  with  all  on  board  excepting  sixteen.  This  movement  we  shall  consider  here 
after,  in  giving  a  connected  account  of  the  naval  operations  on  Lake  Ontario  dur 
ing  the  year  1813. 

We  have  noticed  the  retirement  of  General  Dearborn  from  the  command  of  the 
Northern  Army.  That  measure  had  been  decided  upon  by  General  Armstrong,  the 
Secretary  of  War,  full  six  months  before  it  occurred.  He  considered  the  command 
of  that  army  "  a  burden  too  heavy  for  General  Dearborn  to  carry  with  advantage  to 
the  nation  or  credit  to  himself,"  and  two  remedies  were  suggested  to  the  Secretary's 
mind — "  the  one  a  prompt  and  peremptory  recall,  the  other  such  an  augmentation  of 
his  staff  as  would  secure  to  the  army  better  instruction,  and  to  himself  the  chance  of 
wiser  councils."2  The  former  remedy  was  chosen,  and  General  James  Wilkinson,  then 
in  command  in  the  Gulf  region,  and  General  Wade  Hampton,  stationed  at  Norfolk,  in 
Virginia,  were  ordered  to  the  Northern  frontier.  These  men  had  been  active  officers 

~  / 

in  the  old  War  for  Independence,  the  first  on  the  staff  of  General  Gates,  and  the  sec 
ond  as  a  partisan  ranger  in  South  Carolina  in  connection  with  Marion.  Unfortunate 
ly  for  the  good  of  the  public  service,  they  were  now  bitter  enemies,  and  so  jealous  of 
each  other  that  they  would  not  co-operate,  as  we  shall  observe,  at  a  critical  moment. 

It  was  early  in  March  when  the  Secretary's  orders  were  sent  to  Wilkinson,  and 
with  them  was  a  private  letter  from  the  same  hand,  breathing  the  most  friendly  spirit, 
and  saying,  "  Why  should  you  remain  in  your  land  of  cypress  when  patriotism  and 
ambition  equally  invite  you  to  one  where  grows  the  laurel  ?  ....  If  our  cards  be 
Avell  played  we  may  renew  the  scenes  of  Saratoga."3  Wilkinson  was  flattered,  and 
as  soon  as  he  could  make  his  arrangements  he  left  the  "  land  of  the  cypress,"  jour 
neyed  through  the  Creek  country  by  Avay  of  Fort  Mims  to  the  capital  of  Georgia, 
and  thence  northward  to  Washington  City,  where  he  arrived,  weary  and  worn  with 
several  hundreds  of  miles  of  travel,  and  weak  with  sickness,  on  the  31st  of  July.  He 
was  cordially  received  by  Armstrong  and  the  President,  and,  after  being  allowed  to 
rest  a  few  daysj  and  becoming  formally  invested  with  the  power  of  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Army  of  the  North  in  place  of  Dearborn,  a  plan  of  the  proposed  opera 
tions  of  that  army  during  the  remainder  of  the  campaign,  which  the  Secretary  had 
laid  before  the  Cabinet  on  the  23d  of  July,a  was  presented  to  him  for  con-  »i8i3. 

sideration,b  with  an  expressed  desire  that  if  he  should  perceive  any  thing  b  August  5. 
objectionable  in  the  plan  he  would  freely  suggest  modifications. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  Armstrong  was  anxious  to  secure  the  control 

1  There  were  frequent  picket  skirmishes.    Among  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  was  one  that  occurred  near  Fort 
George  on  the  16th  of  August  while  the  belligerents  were  near  each  other.    It  was  the  first,  of  any  account,  in  which 
the  Indians  of  Western  New  York  engaged  after  their  alliance  with  the  Americans,  which  had  been  made  with  the  ex 
plicit  understanding  that  they  were  not  to  kill  the  enemy  who  were  wounded  or  prisoners,  or  take  scalps.    The  occa 
sion  referred  to  was  an  effort  to  capture  a  strong  British  picket.    About  three  hundred  volunteers  and  Indians  under 
Major  Chapin  and  General  Peter  B.  Porter,  and  two  hundred  regulars  under  Major  Cummings,  were  sent  out  by  General 
Boyd  for  the  purpose.    The  primary  object  was  defeated  by  a  heavy  rain,  but  a  severe  skirmish  ensued,  in  which  the 
enemy  was  routed,  and  twelve  British  Indians  and  four  white  soldiers  were  captured.    The  principal  chiefs  who  led 
the  American  Indians  were  Farmer's  Brother,  Red  Jacket,  Little  Billy,  Pollard,  Blacksnake,  Johnson,  Silver  Heels,  Cap 
tain  Half-town,  Major  Henry  O'Bail  ( Cornplanter's  son),  and  Captain  Cold,  chief  of  the  Onondagas.—  Boyd's  Dispatch. 

2  Xotices  of  the  War  c/1812,  ii.,  23. 

3  Armstrong  to  Wilkinson,  March  12, 1813.    Armstrong  and  Wilkinson  were  both  members  of  General  Gates's  mili 
tary  staff  during  the  campaign  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga  in  the  autumn  of  1777. 


630  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Secretary  Armstrong  and  General  Wilkinson.  Generals  Wilkinson  and  Hampton.  Haughtiness  of  Hampton. 

of  the  St.  Lawrence  by  the  capture  of  Kingston,  but  circumstances,  as  we  have  seen,1 
prevented  an  attempt  to  do  so.  That  project  was  now  revived,  and  had  received  the 
approval  of  the  Cabinet.  It  did  not  strike  Wilkinson  favorably,  and  on  the  6th  of 
August,  in  a  written  communication  to  the  Secretary,  the  general  freely  suggested 
modifications,  saying, "  Will  it  not  be  better  to  strengthen  our  force  already  at  Fort 
George,  cut  up  the  British  in  that  quarter,  destroy  Indian  establishments,  and  (should 
General  Harrison  fail  in  his  object)  march  a  detachment  and  capture  Maiden?  After 
which,  closing  our  operations  on  the  peninsula,  razing  all  works  there,  and  leaving 
our  settlements  on  the  strait  in  tranquillity,  descend  like  lightning  with  our  whole 
force  on  Kingston,  and,  having  reduced  that  place,  and  captured  both  garrison  and 
shipping,  go  down  the  St.  Lawrence  and  form  a  junction  with  Hampton's  column,2  if 
the  lateness  of  the  season  should  permit."3  The  object  of  that  junction  was  to  make 
a  combined  attack  on  Montreal.  The  Secretary  of  War,  always  impatient  when  his 
opinions  were  disputed,  at  once  conceived  a  dislike  of  his  old  companion  in  arms, 
whom  he  had  invited  so  kindly  to  come  North  and  win  laurels,  and  from  that  time  a 
widening  estrangement  existed.  Long  years  afterward  the  Secretary  wrote,  "  This 
strategic  labor  of  the  general  had  no  tendency  to  increase  the  executive  confidence 
in  either  his  professional  knowledge  or  judgment.  Still  the  President  hoped  that  if 
the  opinions  it  contained  were  mildly  rebuked,  the  general  would  abandon  them,  and, 
after  joining  the  army,  would  hasten  to  execute  the  plan  already  communicated  to 
him."4 

Armstrong  replied  courteously  to  Wilkinson.  He  adhered  to  his  owrn  plan,  but  al 
lowed  that  the  fall  of  Kingston  and  the  attainment  of  the  control  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
might  be  as  effectually  accomplished  indirectly  by  a  quick  movement  down  the  river 
against  Montreal,  masked  by  a  feigned  attack  on  the  former  place.  But  he  decidedly 
objected  to  any  farther  movements  against  the  enemy  on  the  Canadian  peninsula,  as 
they  would  but  "  wound  the  tail  of  the  lion  ;"5  and  Wilkinson  departed'  for  Sackett's 
•August  11.  Harbora  without  any  definite  plan  of  operations  determined  upon,  while 
Armstrong  sent  instructions  to  General  Boyd  to  keep  within  his  lines  at 
Fort  George,  and  simply  hold  the  enemy  at  bay,  notwithstanding  the  American  force 
was  much  larger  than  that  of  the  British. 

On  his  way  to  Sackett's  Harbor  Wilkinson  sent  from  Albany  his  first  orders  to 
Hampton,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  Northern  Army.  This  aroused  the  ire  of  the 
old  aristocrat,  whose  landed  possessions  in  South  Carolina  and  Louisiana  were  almost 
princely,  and  whose  slaves  were  numbered  by  thousands.  His  anger  was  intensified 
b  by  his  hatred  of  Wilkinson,  and  he  immediately  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of 

War,b  insisting  that  his  wras  a  separate  command,  and  tendering  his  resig 
nation  in  the  event  of  his  being  compelled  to  act  under  Wilkinson.  Wilkinson  at  the 
same  time  was  distrustful  of  Armstrong,  and  evidently  quite  as  jealous  of  his  own 
rights,  for  on  the  24th  of  August  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  saying,  "I  trust 
you  will  not  interfere  with  my  arrangements,  or  give  orders  within  the  district  of  my 
command,  but  to  myself,  because  it  would  impair  my  authority  and  distract  the  pub 
lic  service.  Two  heads  on  the  same  shoulders  make  a  monster."  "Unhappily  for 
the  country,"  says  Ingersoll,  "  that  deplorable  campaign  was  a  monster  with  three 
heads,  biting  and  barking  at  each  other  with  a  madness  which  destroyed  them  all  and 
disgusted  the  country."6  This  calamity  we  shall  have  occasion  to  consider  hereafter. 
Wilkinson  arrived  at  Sackett's  Harbor  late  in  August,0  and  found  him 
self  nominally  in  command  of  between  twelve  and  fourteen  thousand 
troops,  four  thousand  of  them,  under  Hampton,  at  Burlington,  composing  the  right 
wing,  and  the  remainder  equally  divided  between  Sackett's  Harbor,  the  centre,  and 

•  i  See  page  585.  2  Hampton  was  on  Lake  Champlain,  with  his  head-quarters  at  Burlington. 

3  Notices  of  the  War  of  1812,  ii.,  31.  *  The  same. 

5  Armstrong's  letter  to  Wilkinson,  August  8, 1813.  6  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Second  War,  etc.,  i.,  295. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  631 

Wilkinson  at  Sackett's  Harbor.  Affairs  on  the  Niagara  Frontier.  Scott  marches  for  Sackett's  Harbor. 

Fort  George,  the  left  wing.1  But  his  real  effective  force  did  not  exceed  nine  thousand 
men.  It  had  been  a  sickly  summer  on  the  frontier,  especially  on  the  Canadian  penin 
sula,  and  the  hospitals  were  full.  The  British  force  opposed  to  him  amoimted  to 
about  eight  thousand.  Their  right  was  ou  Burlington  Heights,  their  centre  at  Kings 
ton,  and  their  left  at  Montreal. 

Wilkinson  called  a  council  of  officers  on  the  28th.a  It  was  attended  by  a  August, 
Generals  Lewis,  Brown,  and  Swartwout,  and  Commodore  Chauncey.  It  was  1813- 
determined  to  concentrate  at  Sackett's  Harbor  all  the  troops  of  that  department  ex 
cept  those  on  Lake  Champlain,  preparatory  to  striking  "  a  deadly  blow  somewhere."2 
Wilkinson  accordingly  hastened  to  Fort  George,  leaving  Lewis  in  command  at  the 
Harbor,  and  arrived  there  on  the  4th  of  September,  extremely  ill,  after  a  fatiguing 
voyage  the  whole  distance  in  an  open  boat.  As  soon  as  his  strength  would  allow  he 
assumed  active  command  there,  and  on  the  20th  held  a  council  of  officers,  at  Avhich 
Generals  Boyd,  Miller,  and  Williams,  eleven  colonels  and  lieutenant  colonels,  and  ten 
majors,  attended.  It  was  resolved  to  abandon  and  destroy  Fort  George,  and  transfer 
the  troops  to  the  east  end  of  Lake  Ontario.  But  orders  came  from  Washington  to 
"  put  Fort  George  in  a  condition  to  resist  assault ;  to  leave  there  an  efficient  garrison 
of  at  least  six  hundred  regular  troops;  to  remove  Captain  Nathaniel  Leonard,  of  the 
First  Regiment  of  Artillery,  from  the  command  of  Fort  Niagara,  and  give  it  to  Cap 
tain  George  Armistead,  of  the  same  regiment ;  to  accept  the  services  of  a  volunteer 
corps  offered  by  General  P.  B.  Porter  and  others,  and  to  commit  the  command  of  Fort 
George  and  the  Niagara  frontier  to  Brigadier  General  Moses  Porter."3  These  instruc 
tions  were  but  partially  obeyed.  Leonard  was  left  in  command  of  Fort  Niagara ;  no 
arrangements  were  made  for  the  acceptance  of  the  volunteers ;  and  Colonel  Scott,  in 
stead  of  General  Moses  Porter,  was  placed  in  command  of  Fort  George,  with  a  garri 
son  of  about  eight  hundred  regular  troops,  and  a  part  of  Colonel  Philetus  Swift's  reg 
iment  of  militia,  instructed,  in  the  anticipated  event  of  the  British  abandoning  that 
frontier,  to  leave  the  fort  in  command  of  Brigadier  General  M'Clure,  of  the  New  York 
Militia,  and  with  his  regulars  join  the  expedition  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  Having  com 
pleted  his  arrangements,  Wilkinson  embarked  with  the  Niagara  army  on  Chauncey's 
fleet,  and  sailed  eastward  on  the  2d  of  October. 

Colonel  Scott  immediately  set  Captain  Totten,  of  the  Engineers,  at  work  to  strength 
en  the  post  over  which,  a  few  months  before,  he  had  unfurled  the  American  flag  for 
the  first  time.  Much  had  been  accomplished  at  the  end  of  a  week,  when,  suddenly, 
to  the  surprise  of  all,  the  British  broke  camp  and  hastened  toward  Burlington  Heights. 
General  Vincent  had  received  intelligence  of  the  defeat  of  Proctor  on  the  Thames,* 
and  he  instantly  directed  the  concentration  of  all  his  forces  at  the  head  of  the  lake, 
to  either  meet  Harrison,  should  he  push  in  from  the  field  of  victory,  or  to  renew  the 
attempt  to  repossess  themselves  of  the  Niagara  frontier.  Proctor,  with  the  small 
remnant  of  his  vanquished  army,  joined  Vincent  on  the  10th.  This  retrograde  move 
ment  of  the  British  was  the  contingency  which  Scott  longed  for,  because  he  preferred 
active  service  down  the  St.  Lawrence  to  garrison  duty.  He  accordingly  placed  Fort 
George  in  command  of  General  M'Clure,  and  crossed  the  river  to  the  American  shore 
with  all  the  regulars  on  the  13th  of  October.1*  He  marched  to  the  mouth  of  b 
the  Genesee  River,  where  he  expected  to  find  lake  transportation  for  his  troops. 
He  was  disappointed ;  and  in  drenching  rain,  and  through  deep  mud,  he  pressed  on 
with  his  little  army  by  way  of  the  sites  of  Rochester5  and  Syracuse6  to  Utica,7  where 

1  Report  of  the  adjutant  general,  August  2, 1813.  2  Minutes  of  the  council. 

3  Armstrong's  Notices  of  the  War  of  1812.  4  See  page  554. 

5  The  only  dwelling  then  at  the  Falls  of  the  Genesee,  where  the  city  of  Rochester  now  stands,  was  the  log  house  of 
Euos  Stone,  built  in  1807.    Now  (1867)  the  population  of  Rochester  is  about  55,000. 

6  Syracuse  was  then  in  embryo,  in  the  form  of  a  few  huts  of  salt-boilers,  and  called  by  the  village  name,  South  Salina. 
It  now  (1S67)  contains  a  population  of  about  34,000. 

7  Utica  is  on  the  site  of  old  Fort  Schuyler,  a  few  miles  eastward  of  the  later  Fort  Schuyler,  originally  called  Fort  Stan- 
wix,  now  Rome.    It  was  then  an  incorporated  post  village,  and  considered  the  commercial  capital  of  the  great  Western 


632  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Armstrong  on  the  Frontier.  The  British  threaten  Fort  George.  It  is  abandoned.  Newark  burnt. 

he  struck  the  road  that  from  there  penetrated  the  Black  River  country.1  There  he  met 
General  Armstrong,  who  had  left  his  post  at  Washington  for  the  double  purpose  of  rec 
onciling  the  differences  between  Wilkinson  and  Hampton,  and  to  superintend  in  per 
son  the  movements  of  the  St.  Lawrence  expedition.  The  Secretary  permitted  Scott  to 
leave  his  troops  in  command  of  Major  Hindman,  and  to  push  forward  to  Ogdensburg, 
where  he  joined  Wilkinson,  and  took  part  in  subsequent  events  of  the  expedition. 
a  October  is,  When  Scott  left  Fort  Georgea  it  was  believed  that  the  British  troops 
had  been  called  from  the  west  end  of  Lake  Ontario  to  re-enforce  the  gar 
rison  at  Kingston.  Such  order  had  been  sent  to  Vincent  by  the  timid  Sir  George 
Prevost  when  he  heard  of  Proctor's  disaster.  On  the  receipt  of  it  Vincent  called  a 
council  of  officers,  when  it  was  resolved  to  disobey  it,  and  not  only  hold  the  penin 
sula,  but  endeavor  to  repossess  every  British  post  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  Mean- 
Avhile  M'Clure  was  sending  out  foraging  parties,  who  greatly  alarmed  and  distressed 
the  inhabitants.  They  appealed  for  protection  to  General  Vincent,  and  he  sent  a  de 
tachment  of  about  four  hundred  British  troops  under  Colonel  Murray,  and  about  one 
hundred  Indians  under  Captain  M.  Elliott,  to  drive  the  foragers  back.  The  work  was 
accomplished,  and  the  Americans  were  very  soon  hemmed  within  their  own  lines  by 
the  foe,  who  took  position  at  Twelve-mile  Creek,  now  St.  Catharine's. 

While  affairs  were  in  this  condition  at  Fort  George  General  Harrison  arrived  there, 

as  we  have  seen,2  with  the  expectation  of  leading  an  expedition  against  Burlington 

Heights.     But  he  was  speedily  ordered  to  embark,  with  all  his  troops,  on  Chauncey's 

squadron,  for  Sackett's  Harbor.    M'Clure  was  again  aloneb  with  his  vol- 

November  10. 

unteers  and  militia.  The  time  of  service  of  the  latter  was  about  to  ex 
pire,  and  none  could  be  induced  to  remain.3  Gloomy  intelligence  came  from  the  St. 
Lawrence — Wilkinson's  expedition  had  failed.  Startling  intelligence  came  from  the 
westward — Lieutenant  General  Drummond,  accompanied  by  Major  General  Riall, 
had  lately  arrived  on  the  Peninsula,  with  re-enforcements  from  Kingston,  and  as 
sumed  chief  command ;  and  Murray,  with  his  regulars  and  Indians,  was  moving  to 
ward  Fort  George.  Its  garrison  was  reduced  to  sixty  effective  regulars  of  the  Twen 
ty-fourth  United  States  Infantry.  These  were  in  great  peril,  and  M'Clure  determ 
ined  to  abandon  the  post,  and  place  his  little  garrison  in  Fort  Niagara.  The  weather 
was  extremely  cold.  Temperature  had  been  faithful  to  the  calendar,  and  winter  had 
commenced  in  earnest  on  the  1st  of  December.  Deep  snow  was  upon  the  ground, 
and  biting  north  winds  came  over  the  lake.  "  Shall  I  leave  the  foe  comfortable  quar 
ters,  and  thus  increase  the  danger  to  Fort  Niagara  ?"  he  asked  of  the  Spirit  and  Usage 
of  War.  They  answered  No,  and  with  this  decision,  and  under  the  sanction  of  an  or 
der  from  the  itinerant  War  Department,4  he  attempted  to  blow  up  the  fort  while  his 

men  were  crossing0  the  icy  flood.5     Then  he  applied  the  brand  to  the 

c  December  10, 

beautiful  village  of  Newark.  One  hundred  and  fifty  houses  were  speed 
ily  laid  in  ashes.6  The  inhabitants  had  been  given  only  a  few  hours'  warning  ;  and, 

District  of  New  York.    It  was  first  called  Old  Fort  Schuyler  Village.    At  the  time  we  are  considering  it  had  abotit  1700 
inhabitants,  and  was  a  central  point  for  all  the  principal  avenues  of  communication.    Its  population  now  is  about  25,000. 

1  The  present  Jefferson  County  was  then  known  as  the  Black  River  country.  2  See  page  559. 

3  "  I  offered  a  bounty  of  two  dollars  a  month,"  says  M'Clure,  in  the  Buffalo  Gazette,  "  for  one  or  two  months,  but  with 
out  effect.  Some  few  of  Colonel  Bloom's  regiment  took  the  bounty,  and  immediately  disappeared." 

*  From  Sackett's  Harbor  the  Secretary  of  War  wrote  as  follows : 

"War  Department,  October  4, 1813. 

"  SIR,— Understanding  that  the  defense  of  the  post  committed  to  your  charge  may  render  it  proper  to  destroy  the  town 
of  Newark,  you  are  hereby  directed  to  apprise  the  inhabitants  of  this  circumstance,  and  invite  them  to  remove  them 
selves  and  their  effects  to  some  place  of  greater  safety.  JOHN  ARMSTRONG. 
"  Brigadier  General  M'Clure,  or  officer  commanding  at  Fort  George." 

Behind  this  order  General  M'Clure  took  shelter  when  assailed  by  the  public  indignation. 

&  Mr.  E.  Giddings,  a  printer,  kept  the  ferry  between  the  fort  and  Youngstown  opposite  at  that  time,  and  for  many  years 
succeeding  the  war  he  had  charge  of  Fort  Niagara.  He  narrowly  escaped  capture  when  the  British  took  the  fort  in  De 
cember,  1813. 

6  Only  one  house  was  left  standing.  Mr.  Merritt,  in  his  Narrative,  says :  "  Nothing  but  heaps  of  boats,  and  streets 
full  of  furniture  that  the  inhabitants  were  fortunate  enough  to  get  out  of  their  houses,  met  our  eyes.  My  old  quarters, 
Gordon's  house,  was  the  only  one  standing." 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  633 

Sufferings  of  the  Inhabitants.  Just  Indignation  of  the  British.  Fort  Niagara  surrendered. 

with  little  food  and  clothing,  a  large  number  of  helpless  women  and  children  were 
driven  from  their  homes  into  the  wintry  air  houseless  wanderers.1  Oh  !  it  was  a 
cruel  act.  War  is  always  cruel,  but  this  was  more  cruel  than  necessity  demanded. 
It  excited  hot  indignation  and  the  spirit  of  vengeance,  which  soon  caused  the  hand 
of  retaliation  to  work  fearfully.  It  provoked  the  commission  of  great  injury  to  Amer 
ican  property,  and  left  a  stain  upon  the  American  character. 

Murray  was  at  Twelve-mile  Creek  when  he  heard  of  the  conflagration  of  Newark. 
He  pressed  on  eagerly,  hoping  to  surprise  the  garrison.  He  was  a  little  too  late,  yet 
his  swift  approach  had  caused  M'Clure  to  fly  so  precipitately  that  he  failed  to  blow 
up  the  fort  or  destroy  the  barracks  on  the  bank  of  the  river ;  and  he  left  behind  tents 
sufficient  to  shelter  fifteen  hundred  men.  These,  with  several  cannon,  a  large  quan 
tity  of  shot,  and  ten  soldiers,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British.  That  night  the  red 
cross  of  St.  George  floated  over  the  fortress,  and  Murray's  troops  slumbered  within 
its  walls. 

"  Let  us  retaliate  by  fire  and  sword,"  said  Murray  to  Drummond,  as  they  gazed, 
with  eyes  flashing  with  indignation,  upon  the  ruins  of  Newark.  "  Do  so,"  said  the 
commander, "  swiftly  and  thoroughly ;"  and  on  the  night  of  the  1 8th  of  December — 
a  cold,  black  night — Murray  crossed  the  river  at  Five-mile  Meadows,  three  miles 
above  Fort  Niagara,  with  about  a  thousand  men,  British  and  Indians.  With  five 

O  ' ' 

hundred  and  fifty  regulars  he  pressed  on  toward  the  fort,  carrying  axes,  scaling-lad 
ders,  and  other  implements  for  assault,  and  shielded  from  observation  by  the  thick 
cover  of  darkness.  They  captured  the  advanced  pickets,  secured  silence,  and,  while 
the  garrison  were  soundly  sleeping,  hovered  around  the  fort  in  proper  order  for  a  sys 
tematic  and  simultaneous  attack  at  different  points.  Five  companies  of  the  One 
Hundredth  Regiment,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Hamilton,  were  to  assail  the  main 
gate  and  escalade  the  adjacent  works;  three  companies  of  the  same  regiment,  under 
Captain  Martin,  were  to  storm  the  eastern  demi-bastion ;  the  Royal  Scots  Grena 
diers,  Captain  Bailey,  were  to  assault  the  salient  angle  of  the  fortification ;  and  the 
flank  companies  of  the  Forty-first  Regiment  were  ordered  to  support  the  principal 
attack.2 

These  preparations  were  unnecessary.  Gross  negligence  or  positive  treachery  had 
exposed  the  fort  to  easy  capture.  M'Clure  had  established  his  head-quarters  at  Buf 
falo,  and  when  he  left  Niagara  on  the  12th,a  he  charged  Captain  Leonard,  »  December, 
commander  of  the  garrison,  to  be  vigilant  and  active,  for  invasion  might 
be  expected.  This  vigilance  and  activity  the  invaders  had  prepared  for ;  but  when, 
at  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Hamilton  went  forward  to  assail  the  main  gate, 
he  found  it  standing  wide  open  and  unguarded  !  Leonard  had  left  the  fort  the  even 
ing  before  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  spent  the  night  with  his  family  at  his  house  three 
miles  in  the  rear.  He  gave  no  hint  to  the  garrison  of  expected  assault,  and  his  de 
parture  was  without  their  knowledge.3  They  were  between  three  and  four  hundred 
strong  in  fairly  effective  men,  and,  with  a  competent  and  faithful  commander,  might 
have  kept  the  invaders  at  bay.  They  had  neither,  and  when  the  foe  came  there  was 
no  one  to  lead.  The  sentinels  were  seized,  and  in  fear  gave  up  the  countersign  to  the 
foe,  and -the  fort  was  entered  without  much  resistance.  The  occupants  of  the  south 
eastern  block-house,  and  the  invalids  of  the  Red  Barracks,  made  such  determined  op 
position  for  a  few  minutes  that  Lieutenant  Nowlan  and  five  men  were  killed,  and  Col- 

1  The  unscrupulous  James  (ii.,  8)  says :  "  General  M'Clure  gave  about  half  an  hour's  notice  to  the  inhabitants  of  New 
ark  that  he  should  burn  down  their  village,"  and  says  very  few  believed  him  to  be  in  earnest.    General  M'Clure,  in  a. 
communication  to  the  Buffalo  Gazette,  says:  "The  inhabitants  had  twelve  hours'  notice  to  remove  their  effects,  and 
those  who  chose  to  come  across  the  river  were  provided  with  all  the  necessaries  of  life." 

2  Colonel  J.  Murray's  Report  to  Lieutenant  General  Drummond,  December  19, 1813. 

3  Captain  Leonard  was  suspected  of  treason.    It  was  stated  by  General  M'Clure,  six  days  after  the  capture  of  the  fort, 
that  he  had  given  himself  up  to  the  enemy,  "and  that  his  family  are  now  on  the  Canada  side  of  the  strait."    It  is  known 
that  he  returned  to  the  fort  and  became  a  prisoner.    He  was  "disbanded,"  or  dropped  from  the  service  not  long  after 
ward. 


634 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Massacre  at  Fort  Niagara. 


Savage  Atrocities  near  Lewistou. 


Desolation  of  the  Niag-ara  Frontier. 


INTERIOR   OF  FOET  NIAGARA. 


onel  Murray,  three  men,  and  a  surgeon  were  wounded.  This  conflict  was  over  before 
the  remainder  of  the  garrison  were  fairly  awake  to  the  cause  of  the  tumult,  and  the 
fort  was  in  possession  of  the  foe.  It  might  have  been  an  almost  bloodless  victory 
had  not  the  unhallowed  spirit  of  revenge  for  the  outrage  at  Newark  demanded  vic 
tims.  Murray  did  not  restrain  that  spirit,  and  a  large  number  of  the  garrison,  many 
of  them  invalids,  were  bayoneted  after  all  resistance  had  ceased  I1  This  horrid  work 
was  performed  on  Sunday  morning,  the  19th  of  December,  1813. 

When  Murray  had  gained  full  possession  of  the  fort,  he  fired  one  of  its  largest  can 
non  as  a  signal  of  success  for  the  ear  of  General  Riall,  who,  with  a  detachment  of 
British  regulars  and  about  five  hundred  Indians,  was  waiting  for  it  at  Queenston. 
Riall  immediately  put  his  forces  in  motion,  and  at  dawn  crossed  the  Niagara  to  Lew- 
iston,  and  took  possession  of  the  village  without  much  opposition  from  Major  Bennett 
and  a  detachment  of  militia  who  were  stationed  on  Lewiston  Heights  at  Fort  Grey. 
At  the  same  time  a  part  of  Murray's  corps  plundered  and  destroyed  the  little  village 
of  Youngstown  (only  six  or  eight  houses),  near  Fort  Niagara. 

Full  license  was  given  by  Riall  to  his  Indian  allies,  and  Lewiston  was  sacked,  plun 
dered,  and  destroyed — made  a  perfect  desolation.2  This  accomplished,  the  invaders 
pushed  on  toward  the  little  hamlet  of  Manchester  (now  Niagara  Falls  Village) ;  but, 
when  ascending  Lewiston  Heights,  they  were  met  and  temporarily  checked  and  driv 
en  back  by  the  gallant  Major  Mallory,  who,  with  forty  Canadian  volunteers,  came 
down  from  Schlosser  and  fought  the  foe  for  two  days  as  they  pushed  him  steadily 
back  toward  Buffalo.3  He  could  do  but  little  to  stay  the  march  of  the  desolator. 
The  whole  Niagara  frontier  on  the  American  side,  from  Fort  Niagara  to  Tonewanta 
Creek,  a  distance  of  thirty-six  miles,  and  far  into  the  interior,  was  swept  with  the  be- 

1  The  loss  of  the  Americans  was  80  killed— many  of  them  hospital  patients — 14  wounded,  and  344  made  prisoners. 
Of  the  entire  garrison  only  20  escaped.    The  spoils  consisted  of  27  pieces  of  cannon,  3000  stand  of  arms  and  many  rifles, 
an  immense  amount  of  ordnance  and  commissariat  stores,  and  a  large  quantity  of  clothing  and  camp  equipage  of  every 
description. 

2  A  letter  to  the  editor  of  Giles's  Weekly  Register  from  a  gentleman  on  the  frontier  said :  "  They  killed  at  and  near  Lew 
iston  eight  or  ten  of  the  inhabitants,  who,  when  found,  were  all  scalped  with  the  exception  of  one,  whose  head  was  cut 
off.    Among  the  bodies  was  that  of  a  boy  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  stripped  and  scalped." 

3  General  M'Clure's  Report  to  Governor  Tompkins,  dated  at  Buffalo,  December  22, 1813. 


OF    THE    WAK    OF    1812.  635 


Desolation  of  the  Niagara  Frontier.  New  York  Militia  at  Buffalo.  The  British  at  Black  Rock. 

som  of  destruction  placed  by  British  authority  in  the  hands  of  savage  pagans.1  Man 
chester,  Schlosser,  and  Tuscarora  Village  shared  the  fate  of  Youngstown  and  Lewis- 
ton.2  Free  course  was  given  to  the  blood-thirsty  Indians,  and  many  innocent  persons 
were  butchered,  and  survivors  were  made  to  fly  in  terror  through  the  deep  snow  to 
some  forest  shelter  or  remote  cabin  of  a  settler  far  beyond  the  invaders'  track.  Buf 
falo,  too,  would  have  been  plundered  and  destroyed  had  not  the  progress  of  the  foe 
been  checked  by  the  timely  destruction  of  the  bridge  over  the  Tonewanta  Creek. 

But  the  respite  for  doomed  Buffalo  was  short.  Riall  and  his  followers  returned  to 
Lewistori,  crossed  over  to  Queenston,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  appeared  at 
Chippewa,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  General  Drummond.  In  the  mean  time 
the  alarm  had  spread  over  Western  New  York,  and  the  inhabitants  were  thoroughly 
aroused.  General  M'Clure  had  sent  out  a  stirring  address3  to  the  "  in-  a  December  is, 
habitants  of  Niagara,  Genesee,  and  Chautauqua,"  urging  them  to  repair 
immediately  to  Lewiston,  Schlosser,  and  Buffalo.3  General  Amos  Hall,  with  his  usual 
alacrity,  called  out  the  militia 
and  invited  volunteers.  His 
head-quarters  were  at  Batavia, 
where  the  government  had  an 
arsenal,  thirty  or  forty  miles 
eastward  from  Buffalo,  and 
there  General  M'Clure  resigned  his  command,  and  took  orders  from  Hall.  As  fast  as 
men  were  collected  they  were  sent  to  Black  Rock  and  Buffalo,  and  thitherward  Hall 
hastened  on  the  morning  of  the  25th.  He  reached  Buffalo  twenty-four  hours  after 
his  departure  from  Batavia,  and  there  found  "  a  considerable  body  of  irregular  troops 
of  various  descriptions,  disorganized  and  confused.  Every  thing  wore  the  appearance 
of  consternation  and  dismay."4  He  ordered  their  immediate  organization ;  and  when, 
on  the  27th,  he  reviewed  the  troops,  he  found  their  number  to  be  a  little  more  than 
two  thousand  at  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock.5 

General  Drummond  advanced  to  a  point  nearly  opposite  Black  Rock  on  the  29th, 
and  reconnoitred  the  American  camp.  At  midnight  General  Riall  crossed  with  reg 
ulars,  Canadians,  and  Indians,  about  a  thousand  strong,  and  landed  where  Bisshopp 
did,  about  two  miles  below  Black  Rock.  Moving  immediately  forward,  they  encoun 
tered  mounted  pickets  under  Lieutenant  Boughton,  who,  after  a  brief  skirmish  with 
the  British  vanguard,  fled  across  Shogeoquady  Creek.6  The  enemy  took  possession 
of  the  "  Sailors'  Battery"  there  and  the  bridge,  and  then  paused,  while  Boughton 

1  This  was  a  hamlet.    Augustus  Porter,  Esq.,  had  valuable  mills  there.    These  were  destroyed. 

2  A  handbill  printed  at  Montreal  on  the  2Sth  of  December,  and  cited  by  the  PlatMiury  Republican  of  January  1, 1814, 
contained  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  "an  officer  of  high  rank"  (Lieutenant  General  Drummoud?)  at  Queenston,  written 
on  the  19th,  in  which  the  following  passage  occurs :  "  A  war-whoop  from  five  hundred  of  the  wos«  savage  Indians  (which 
they  gave  just  at  daylight,  on  hearing  of  the  success  of  the  attack  on  Fort  Niagara)  made  the  enemy  take  to  their  heels 
[at  Lewiston],  and  our  troops  are  in  pursuit.    We  shall  not  stop  until  we  have  cleared  the  whole  frontier.    The  Indians 
are  retaliating  the  conflagration  of  Newark.    Not  a  house  within  my  sight  but  is  inflames.    This  is  a  melancholy  but  just 
retaliation." 

3  This  address  was  issued  on  the  day  preceding  the  capture  of  Fort  Niagara,  M'Clure  having  been  informed  by  his 
scouts  of  the  preparations  of  the  British  to  make  a  descent  upon  the  American  side  of  the  Niagara. 

*  Hall's  Report  to  Governor  Tompkins. 

5  There  were  129  mounted  volunteers,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Boughton  ;  433  exempts  and  volunteers,  under  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Blakeslee,  of  Ontario;  136  Buffalo  militia,  under  Colonel  Chapin  ;  97  Canadian  volunteers,  under  Major 
Mallory  ;*  332  Genesee  militia,  under  Major  Adams.    These  were  at  Buffalo.    At  Black  Rock  were  stationed  3S2  effect 
ive  men,  under  Brigadier  General  Hopkins,  composed  of  corps  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonels  Warren  and  Church 
ill,  exclusive  of  a  body  of  37  mounted  infantry  under  Captain  Ransom ;  S3  Indians,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Granger ; 
25  artillery,  under  Lieutenant  Seely,  with  a  6-pounder ;  and  about  300  Chautauqua  Indians,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel 
M'Mahon.— Hall's  Report  to  Governor  Tompkins,  January  6, 1S14. 

6  See  map  on  page  382. 

*  Major  Benajah  Mallory  had  been,  in  early  youth,  in  the  military  service  toward  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 
He  had  settled  in  Canada,  but,  with  others,  took  sides  with  his  own  country,  and  became  the  commander  of  the  famous 
partisan  corps  known  as  the  "  Canadian  Refugees."    He  was  in  the  severe  battle  aUNiagara  Falls,  or  Lnndy's  Lane,  and 
assisted  General  Scott  from  the  field  after  he  was  wounded.    He  resided  many  years  in  Lockport,  New  York,  and  when, 
in  1852,  Scott  stopped  there  on  a  journey,  he  recognized  the  veteran  as  one  of  his  loved  companions  in  arms. 


636  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Bad  Conduct  of  the  Militia.  Battle  near  Black  Rock.  The  Americans  repulsed. 

hastened  with  news  of  the  fact  to  General  Hall's  quarters,  between  Buffalo  and  Black 
Rock.  The  night  was  very  dark.  The  troops  at  head-quarters  were  paraded,  and 
Lieutenant  Colonels  Warren  and  Churchill  (General  Hopkins  was  absent  from  camp) 
were  ordered  to  go  forward  with  their  corps  and  feel  the  position  and  strength  of  the 
enemy.  They  met  the  foe,  and  at  the  first  fire  they  broke  and  fled,  and  were  no  more 
seen  during  the  following  day.  Hall  then  ordered  Adams  and  Chapin,  with  their 
commands,  to  the  same  duty,  and  the  same  result  ensued ;  and  at  the  dawn  of  the 
30th  he  found  himself  in  command  of  eight  hundred  troops  less  than  at  the  evening 
twilight  of  the  29th.  They  had  actually  deserted. 

Hall  now  advanced  with  his  whole  force,  and  ordered  Lieutenant  Colonel  Blakeslee 
to  move  forward  and  commence  the  attack  on  the  enemy's  left.  They  marched  to 
ward  Black  Rock  on  the  Hill  Road,  and  in  the  dim  light  of  early  dawn  saw  a  flotilla 
of  British  boats  making  for  the  shore  near  General  Porter's  mansion.  These  bore  the 
Royal  Scots,  eight  hundred  in  number,  who  landed  under  cover  of  a  five-gun  battery 
on  the  American  shore,  in  the  face  of  severe  opposition.  Their  plan  of  attack  was 
soon  revealed  to  the  American  general,  and  he  made  his  dispositions  accordingly. 
Colonel  Gordon,  of  the  centre,  with  about  four  hundred  Scots,  commenced  the  attack, 
while  the  British  left  wing  attempted  to  flank  the  American  right.  Hall  quickly 
foiled  this  design  by  throwing  Granger  and  his  Indians,  and  Mallory  and  his  Cana 
dian  Refugees,  in  the  way  of  the  enemy's  advancing  left  wing.  At  the  same  time 
Blakeslee  and  his  Ontario  militia  confronted  the  centre,  and  M'Mahon  and  his  Chau- 
tauqua  troops  were  posted  as  a  reserve  at  the  battery  of  Fort  Tompkins,1  which  was 
commanded  by  the  gallant  Lieutenant  John  Seely. 

The  batteries  on  the  Canada  shore  and  the  cannon  of  the  Americans  opened  fire 
simultaneously  and  vigorously,  while  Blakeslee's  men,  cool  as  veterans,  disputed  the 
ground  with  the  foe  inch  by  inch.  But  the  Indians  and  Canadians,  lacking  moral 
strength,  gave  way  almost  before  a  struggle  was  begun,  and  M'Mahon  and  his  re 
serves  were  ordered  to  the  breach.  They,  too,  gave  way  and  fled,  and  could  not  be 
rallied  by  their  officers.  Hall's  power  was  thus  completely  broken,  and  he  was 
placed  in  great  peril.  Deserted  by  a  large  portion  of  his  troops,  opposed  by  veter 
ans,  vastly  outnumbered,  and  almost  surrounded,  he  was  compelled,  for  the  safety  of 
the  remnant  of  his  little  army,  to  sound  a  retreat,  after  he  had  maintained  the  un 
equal  conflict  for  half  an  hour.  He  tried  to  rally  his  troops,  but  in  vain.  The  gal 
lant  Chapin,  with  a  few  of  the  bolder  men,  retired  slowly  along  the  present  Niagara 
Street  toward  Buffalo,  keeping  the  enemy  partially  in  check,2  while  Hall,  with  the 
remainder,  who  were  alarmed  and  scattered,  retired  to  Eleven-mile  Creek,  where  he 
rallied  about  three  hundred  men,  who  remained  true  to  the  old  flag.  With  these  he 
was  enabled  to  cover  the  flight  of  the  inhabitants,  and  to  check  the  advance  of  the 
invaders  into  the  interior. 

The  British  and  their  Indian  allies  took  possession  of  Buffalo,3  and  proceeded  to 
plunder,  destroy,  and  slaughter.  Only  four  buildings  were  left  standing  in  the  town. 
These  were  the  jail  (built  of  stone),  the  frame  of  a  barn,  Reese's  blacksmith-shop,  and 
the  dwelling  of  Mrs.  St.  John,  a  resolute  woman,  who,  more  fortunate  than  her  neigh- 

1  This  battery,  of  three  guns,  was  on  the  site  of  William  Bird's  house,  and  Fort  Tompkins  was  on  ground  now  occu 
pied  by  the  stables  of  the  Niagara  Street  Railway  Company.    It  had  six  pretty  heavy  guns,  and  was  the  largest  work 
there. 

2  "Among  these  was  Lieutenant  John  Seely,  a  carpenter  and  joiner,  who  lived  on  the  corner  of  Auburn  and  Niagara 
Streets,  and  was  lieutenant  of  a  company  of  artillery  at  Black  Rock.    He  had  fought  his  pieces  on  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
on  what  is  now  Breckinridge  Street,  uutil  he  had  but  seven  men  and  one  horse  left.    Mounting  the  horse,  which  was 
harnessed  to  the  gun,  he  brought  it  away  with  him,  firing  upon  the  enemy  whenever  occasion  offered     Near  where 
Mohawk  Street  joins  Niagara  was  then  a  slough.    Here  Seely  turned  upon  his  foe.    The  gun  was  thrown  off  from  its 
carriage  by  the  discharge,  but  was  quickly  replaced,  and  taken  to  the  village.— Uti/cdo  during  the  War  of  1812  ;  a  paper 
read  before  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society,  March  13, 1S63,  by  WILLIAM  DORBHEIMER,  Esq. 

3  The  place  was  unofficially  surrendered  by  Colonel  Chapin  to  prevent  farther  bloodshed.    He  approached  the  Brit 
ish  with  a  piece  of  his  shirt  as  a  flag  of  truce,  and  agreed  to  surrender  on  condition  that  private  property  should  be  re 
spected.    It  was  agreed  to,  and  he  and  some  other  citizens  became  prisoners.    When  General  Riall  found  that  Chapin 
had  no  authority  to  surrender  the  city,  he  declared  his  own  agreement  void,  and  gave  his  marauders  free  play. 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812.  637 

Destruction  of  Buffalo  arid  Black  Rock.  Murders  by  the  Indians.  Horrors  of  retaliatory  Warfare. 

bor,  Mrs.  Lovejoy  (who  was  murdered  and  burnt  in  her  own  house),  saved  her  own 
life  and  her  property.1  At  Black  Rock  only  a  single  building  escaped  conflagration. 
It  was  a  log  house,  in  which  women  and  children  had  taken  refuge.  The  Ariel,  lit 
tle  Belt,  Chippewa,  and  Trippe,  vessels  that  performed  service  in  the  battle  on  Lake 
Erie  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  days  before,  were  committed  to  the  flames.  Fear 
ful  was  the  retaliation  for  the  destruction  of  half-inhabited  Newark,  where  not  a  life 
was  sacrificed!  Six  villages,  many  isolated  country  houses,  and  four  vessels  were 
consumed ;  and  the  butchery  of  innocent  persons  at  Fort  Niagara,  Lewiston,  Schlos- 
ser,  Tuscarora  Village,  Black  Rock,  and  Buffalo,  and  in  farm-houses,  attested  the  fierce- 
ness  of  the  enemy's  revenge.2 

1  Mrs.  St.  John  was  a  stout,  resolute  woman.    I  was  informed  by  the  venerable  Dr.  Trowbridge,  of  Buffalo,  who  was 
there  at  the  time,  that  he  went  to  the  house  of  Mrs.  St.  John,  begged  her  to  leave  because  the  Indians  would  kill  her, 
offered  her  the  use  of  his  horse  for  the  purpose,  and  assured  her  that  he  would  take  care  of  her  children.    She  said,  "I 
can't  do  it;  here  is  all  I  have  in  the  world,  and  I  will  stay  and  defend  it."    She  did  so,  not  by  force  but  kindness  of 
manner,  and  her  life  and  property  were  spared.    Mrs.  Lovejoy  was  not  so  prudent.    She,  too,  was  resolute,  but  resisted 
the  Indians  by  force  when  they  came  to  the  house.    They  killed  and  scalped  her,  and  left  her  body,  covered  with  the 
silk  in  which  she  was  dressed,  upon  the  floor.    On  the  following  day,  when  the  savages  carne  into  the  town  again  to 
complete  their  work  of  destruction,  her  house  and  corpse  were  consumed.    The  latter  had  been  laid  out  across  the  cords 
of  a  bedstead  by  a  neighbor.    Her  son,  Henry  Lovejoy  (see  note  2,  page  387),  now  (1SC7)  living  in  Buffalo,  was  then  a  lad 
twelve  years  of  age,  and  was  in  the  affair  at  Black  Rock  when  Bisshopp  was  repulsed,  where  he  carried  a  flint-lock 
musket,  too  huge  for  his  strength  to  bear  it  long.    When  the  enemy  approached  at  the  time  we  are  considering,  this 
brave-hearted  woman  said  to  the  boy,  "Henry,  you  have  fought  against  the  British  :  you  must  run.    They  will  take 
you  prisoner.    I  am  a  woman ;  they'll  not  harm  me."    He  fled  to  the  woods.    Her  house  stood  on  the  site  of  the  pres 
ent  Phoenix  Hotel. 

2  In  a  letter  of  a  gentleman  to  his  wife  in  Albany,  written  on  the  Gth  of  January,  1814,  from  Le  Roy,  he  says:  "Nu 
merous  witnesses  testify  to  the  following  facts :  The  Indians  mangled  and  burned  Mrs.  Lovejoy  in  Buffalo ;  massacred 
two  large  families  at  Black  Rock,  namely,  Mr.  Luffer's  and  Mr.  Lecort's ;  murdered  Mr.  Gardner ;  put  all  the  sick  to  death 
at  Youngstown,  and  killed,  scalped,  and  mangled  sixty  at  Fort  Niagara  after  it  was  given  up.    Many  dead  bodies  are 
yet  lying  unburied  at  Buffalo,  mangled  and  scalped.    Colonel  Marvin  counted  thirty-three  this  morning.    I  met  be 
tween  Caynga  and  this  place  upward  of  one  hundred  families  in  wagons,  sleds,  and  sleighs,  many  of  them  with  nothing 
but  what  they  had  on  their  backs  ;  nor  could  they  find  places  to  stay  at."    The  suffering  of  the  fugitives  was  terrible. 

The  almost  universal  condemnation  of  General  M'Clure  for  the  destruction  of  Newark,  and  the  manifold  greater  enor 
mities  committed  in  retaliation,  caused  Sir  George  Prevost  to  hasten  before  the  world  with  an  assurance  that  he  should 
endeavor  to  stop  that  sort  of  warfare.  He  well  knew  that  the  judgment  of  mankind  would  pronounce  farther  prosecu 
tion  of  war  on  that  plan  to  be  atrocious,  and,  in  a  proclamation  issued  on  the  12th  of  January,  1S14,  after  justifying  the 
retaliation  thus  far,  said  :  "  To  those  possessions  of  the  enemy  along  the  whole  line  of  frontier  which  have  hitherto  re 
mained  undisturbed,  and  which  are  now  at  the  mercy  of  the  troops  under  his  command,  his  Excellency  has  determined 
to  extend  the  same  forbearance,  and  the  same  freedom  from  rapine  and  plunder  which  they  have  hitherto  experienced  ; 
and  from  this  determination  the  future  conduct  of  the  American  government  shall  alone  induce  him  to  depart." 


638 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Wilkinson  concentrates  his  Forces. 


The  Secretary  of  War  at  Sackett's  Harbor. 


Colonel  J.  G.  Swift. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

"For  a  nautical  knight,  a  lady— heigh-ho  !— 

Felt  her  heart  and  her  heart-strings  to  ache ; 
To  view  his  dear  person  she  looked  to  and  fro. 
The  name  of  the  knight  was  Sir  James  Lucas  Yeo, 
And  the  Lady— 'twas  she  of  the  Lake." 

OLD  SONG — THE  COURTEOUS  KNIGHT,  OB  THE  FLYING  GALLANT. 

ENERAL  WILKINSON,  as  we  have  seen,  arrived  at  Sackett's 
Harbor  on  the  20th  of  August,  1813,  where  he  formally  assumed 
command  of  the  Northern  Army,  and,  with  the  co-operation  of  a 
council  of  officers,  formed  a  general  plan  of  operations  against 
the  enemy  at  Kingston  and  down  the  St.  Lawrence.  His  first 
care  was  to  concentrate  the  forces  of  his  command,  which  were 
scattered  over  an  extensive  and  sparsely-settled  country,  some 
on  the  Niagara  frontier,  some  at  the  eastern  end  of  Lake  Ontario 
and  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  some  on  Lake  Champlain.  He  accordingly  directed 
those  on  the  Niagara  and  at  Sackett's  Harbor  to  rendezvous  on  Grenadier  Island,  in 
the  St.  Lawrence,  about  eighteen  miles  from  the  Harbor,  and  at  French  Creek  (now 
Clayton),  about  the  same  distance  further  down  the  river.  Those  composing  the 
right  wing,  on  Lake  Champlain,  were  directed  to  move  at  the  same  time  to  the  Can 
ada  border,  at "  the  mouth  of  the  Chateau- 
gay,  or  other  point  which  would  favor  the 
junction  of  the  forces  and  hold  the  ene 
my  in  check." 

For  the  purpose  of  promoting  harmony 
of  action  between  Wilkinson  and  Hamp 
ton,  as  we  have  observed,  and  to  add  effi 
ciency  to  projected  movements,  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  accompanied  by  the  adjutant 
general,  Colonel  Walbach,  established  the 
seat  of  his  department  at  Sackett's  Har 
bor.3  He,  and  Wilkinson, 
and  the  late  venerable  Gen 
eral  Joseph  Gardner  Swift  (then  chief  en 
gineer  of  the  Northern  Army,  and  bear 
ing  the  commission  of  colonel1)  held  con 
sultations  with  Governor  Tompkins  at 
Albany,  who,  from  the  beginning,  had  em 
ployed  his  best  energies  for  the  promotion 
of  the  general  good,  and  especially  for  the 
defense  of  his  commonwealth  against  in 
vasion. 

Before  considering  Wilkinson's  expedi 
tion,  let  us  turn  back  a  little,  and  take  a 

1  Joseph  Gardner  Swift  was  born  in  Nantncket  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  1783.  He  entered  the  army  as  a  cadet  at 
Newport,  Rhode  Island,  in  ISOfl,  and  was  the  first  graduate  of  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  He  became  attached 
to  a  corps  of  United  States  Engineers,  and  in  1807,  having  attained  the  rank  of  captain,  he  was  appointed  commandant 
of  West  Point.  He  was  military  agent  at  Fort  Johnson,  South  Carolina,  early  in  1812,  and  was  soon  afterward  made  an 


September  5, 
1813. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


639 


Governors  Tompkius  and  Galusha. 


General  Dearborn  moves  into  Canada. 


glance  at  military  and  naval  operations  on  Lake  Champlain  up  to  the  autumn  of  1813. 
We  shall  then  better  understand  several  aspects  of  that  expedition. 

When  war  was  declared  in  June,  1812,  zealous  supporters  of  the  national  adminis 
tration  were  governors  of  New  York  and  Vermont,1  between  which  lay  important 
Lake  Champlain.  These  magistrates,  sustained  by  their  respective  Legislatures,  sec 
onded  the  administration  in  all  its  measures.  The  Legislature  of  Vermont  prohibited 
all  intercourse  with  Canada  except  with  the  permission  of  the  governor,  and  they 
adopted  measures  for  calling  out  the  militia  of  the  state  when  needed.  New  York 
was  not  a  whit  behind  her  sister  of  the  Green  Mountains  in  zeal  and  efficiency. 

During  the  summer  of  1812  Brigadier  General  Bloomfield  was  sent  to  the  Cham- 


plain  frontier  with  several  regiments,  and  on  the  1st  of  September  had  collected 
about  eight  thousand  men  at  Plattsburg — regulars,  volunteers,  and  militia — besides 
some  small  advanced  parties  at  Chazy  and  Champlain.  General  Dearborn  arrived 
there  soon  afterward,  and  assumed  direct  command;  and  on  the  16th  of  November 
he  moved  toward  the  Canada  line  with  three  thousand  regulars  and  two  thousand 
militia,  and  encamped  upon  the  level  ground  near  the  present  village  of  Rouse's 
Point.  There  he  advanced  across  the  line  toward  Odell  Town,  for  what  ultimate  ob 
ject  no  one  knew,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  La  Colle,  a  tributary  of  the  Sorel,  he  was 
confronted  by  a  considerable  force  of  volti- 
geurs,  chasseurs,  militia,  and  Indians,  under 
Lieutenant  Colonel  De  Salaberry,  an  active 
British  commander. 

On  the  morning  of  the  20th,  just  at  dawn, 
Colonel  Zebulon  M.  Pike,  with  about  six 
hundred  men,  crossed  the  La  Colle,  and  sur- 
rounded  a  block-house  which  had  been  occupied  by  a  strong  picket-guard  of  Cana 
dians  and  Indians.  These  had  fled  during  the  previous  evening.  At  about  the  same 
time  a  body  of  New  York  militia,  who  had  been  detached  by  another  road,  approached 
for  the  same  purpose,  and  in  the  dim  light  of  the  early  morning  were  mistaken  by 
those  at  the  block-house  for  enemies.  Pike's  men  opened  fire  upon  them,  and  for 

aid-de-camp  to  Major  General  C.  C.  PInckney,  of  South  Carolina,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel.  He  succeeded 
Jonathan  Williams  as  commander  of  the  United  States  corps  of  Engineers,  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  For  his  valuable 
services  on  the  St.  Lawrence  frontier  in  1813  and  1814,  and  in  defense  of  the  city  of  New  York,  he  was  breveted  as  briga 
dier  general.  He  was  connected  with  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  for  several  years  after  the  war,  and  in  1818  he, 
with  several  officers  of  the  corps,  left  the  service  because  of  the  appointment  of  General  Bernard,  a  French  officer  of  dis 
tinction,  to  the  control  of  important  engineering  services  on  the  coast.  For  nine  years  General  Swift  was  Surveyor  of 
the  port  of  New  York,  and  from  1829  to  1845  he  was  superintendent  of  the  harbor  improvements  on  the  Lakes.  He  was 
in  charge  of  several  important  works  as  civil  engineer,  among  which  may  be  named  the  Baltimore  and  Snsquehanna 
Railroad,  the  New  Orleans  and  Lake  Pontchartrain  Railroad,  and  the  Harlem  Railroad.  He  went  on  a  mission  of  peace, 
by  order  of  President  Harrison,  to  the  British  American  Provinces  in  1841,  and  in  1852  he  made  a  tour  in  Europe.  Gen 
eral  Swift  contributed  many  valuable  papers  to  publications  on  scientific  subjects.  After  1S30  he  resided  in  Geneva, 
New  York,  spending  his  winters  in  Brooklyn,  Long  Island.  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  many  valuable  letters  relating  to 
the  subject  of  this  work.  He  retained  his  mental  faculties  in  great  perfection  until  near  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  at  Geneva  on  the  23d  of  July,  1865. 
1  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  was  Governor  of  New  York,  and  Jonas  Galueha  of  Vermont. 


040 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Repulse  of  the  British  at  La  Colle. 


They  rally  and  defeat  the  Americans. 


Lieut.  Ward  and  Lieut.  Col.  Carr. 


nearly  half  an  hour  a  sharp  contest  was 
sustained.  When  they  discovered  their 
mistake,  they  found  De  Salaberry  ap 
proaching  in  force  with  a  strong  ad 
vance  guard,  when  Lieutenant  Ward,1 
of  the  Twenty-ninth  New  York  Militia, 
with  his  company  of  fifty  men,  moved 
slowly  upon  the  enemy,  and,  after  re 
ceiving  three  discharges  from  them 
Avithout  returning  a  shot,  gave  the  or 
der  to  fire  and  charge.  This  was 
promptly  obeyed,  and  the  appalled  foe, 
taken  completely  by  surprise,  were 
driven  back  to  the  main  body.  This 
gallant  performance  of  the  lieutenant 
elicited  the  highest  praise  from  his  su 
periors.  But  De  Salaberry's  force  was 
too  overwhelming  to  be  successfully 
withstood.  To  the  Americans  a  re 
treat  was  sounded,  and  they  fled  so 
precipitately  that  they  left  five  of  their  number 
dead  and  five  wounded  on  the  field.2  It  was  a 
fruitless  expedition,  and  the  army  returned  to 
•  November  23,  Plattsburga  out  of  humor  and  de- 


1812. 


pressed  in  spirits.     Three  of  the  regiments  of  regulars  went  into  winter 


1  Lieutenant  Aaron  Ward  received  his  commission  on  the  30th  of  April,  1813.    He  was  promoted  to  captain  a  year 
later.    At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  charged  with  the  conducting  of  the  first  detachment  of  British  prisoners  from  the 
States  to  Canada.    Law  was  his  chosen  profession,  and  in  1825  he  became  a  law-maker  by  being  elected  a  representa 
tive  of  his  district  in  the  State  of  New  York  in  the  National  Congress.    He  was  an  active  and  efficient  worker,  and  his 
constituents  were  so  well  satisfied  with  his  services  that  he  kept  his  seat  twelve  out  of  eighteen  consecutive  years.    He 
assisted  in  framing  the  new  Constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  1S4G,  and  after  that  he  declined  to  engage  in  pub 
lic  life.    He  traveled  extensively  abroad  in  1S59,  and  afterward  published  a  very  interesting  volume,  entitled  Around  the 
Pyramids.    For  many  years  he  was  major  general  of  the  militia  of  Westchester  County.    He  died  early  in  1SC7.    His  res 
idence  was  at  a  beautiful  spot  overlooking  the  village  of  Sing  Sing,  and  the  Hudson  and  its  scenery  from  the  Highlands 
to  Hoboken. 

2  MS.  Journal  of  Colonel  Robert  Carr.    Christie's  History  of  the  War  in  the  Canadas,  page  90.    Robert  Carr,  whose  jour 
nal  is  here  cited,  was  born  in  Ireland  on  the  29th  of  January,  1778.    He  came  to  America  at  the  age  of  six  years,  and  set 
tled,  with  his  father,  in  Philadelphia.    They  lived  next  door  to  Dr.  Franklin,  and  he  was  often  employed  by  that  great 
man  as  an  errand-boy.    He  learned  the  art  of  printing  with  Benjamin  Franklin  Bache,  a  grandson  of  Dr.  Franklin,  with 
whom  he  commenced  his  apprenticeship  in  1792.    He  rose  to  the  head  of  his  profession,  and  in  1804  received  a  first 
premium  as  the  best  printer  in  Philadelphia.    He  printed  Wilson's  Ornithology  from  manuscript ;  also  Rees's  Cyclopedia. 
In  March,  1812,  he  received  the  commission  of  major  in  the  Sixteenth  Regiment  of  Infantry,  and  in  August,  1813,  was 
promoted  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Ninth,  from  which  he  was  transferred  to  the  Fifteenth.    He  was  disbanded  in 
1815,  and  for  several  years  he  was  the  last  surviving  field-officer  of  the  army  of  1812  in  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  or 
Pelaware.    He  was  a  member  of  the  M'PJicrson  Blues  of  Philadelphia,  and  one  of  the  firing  party  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Congressional  funeral  of  Washington  in  that  city.    See  note  4,  page  110. 

Colonel  Carr  married  a  daughter  of  William  Bartram,  proprietor  of  the  celebrated  Botanical  Gardens  near  Philadel 
phia,  and,  in  right  of  his  wife,  carried  on  the  establishment  from  the  year  1808  to  1850,  a  period  of  more  than  thirty 
years.  From  1S21  to  1824  he  was  adjutant  general  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  ;  and,  by  order  of  the  Legislature,  he 
compiled  a  work  on  "  Rules  and  Regulations  for  the  Field  Exercise."  He  was  a  long  time  an  alderman  and  a  justice 
of  the  peace  in  Philadelphia,  and  has  ever  been  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  his  fellow-citizens.  Deprived  of  his  prop 
erty  in  his  old  age  by  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune,  he  was  for  some  time  gate-keeper  at  the  Pennsylvania  Asylum  for  the 
Insane,  situated  in  a  beautiful  spot  beyond  the  Schuylkill.  There  I  visited  him  on  a  blustry  afternoon  late  in  Novem 
ber,  1861,  when  he  was  almost  eighty-four  years  of  age.  He  was  in  excellent  health  and  spirits,  and  assured  me  that  he 
had  not  been  sick  in  more  than  sixty  years.  He  had  led  a  strictly  temperate  life,  never  having  been  intoxicated  but 
once.  It  was  when  he  was  a  boy,  and  was  produced  by  eating  rum-cherries.  A  mouth  before  I  visited  him  he  had 
been  among  the  American  camps  in  Virginia,  near  Arlington  Heights,  where  he  walked  seventeen  miles  in  one  day,  and 
attended  a  theatre  in  Washington  the  same  evening.  "I  could  have  danced  a  cotillon  after  that,"  he  said.  He  attend 
ed  the  celebration  of  Bradford's  birth-day  by  the  New  York  Historical  Society  in  May,  18f>3,  as  a  delegate  from  Phila 
delphia,  and  was  then  doubtless  the  oldest  printer  in  the  United  States.  On  the  22d  of  February,  1SC4,  Colonel  Carr, 
then  past  eighty-six  years  of  age,  read  Washington's  Farewell  Address  before  the  veteran  soldiers  of  the  War  of  1812, 
at  the  Union  soldiers'  celebration  in  Philadelphia.  He  never  used  spectacles,  excepting  when  his  photograph  was  taken, 
yet  he  wrote  with  grace  and  facility  until  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Philadelphia  on  the  15th  of  March, 
1866.  He  kindly  lent  me  his  Diary,  kept  during  the  War  of  1812.  It  is  written  in  a  fine  hand,  and  contains  much  valu 
able  matter.  I  shall  ever  remember  with  pleasure  my  interview  with  an  errand-boy  of  Dr.  Franklin,  and  one  who  liad  READ 
PROOF,  as  a  printer,  with  President  Washington  wlien  correcting  his  own  compositions. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  641 


End  of  Dearborn's  Canada  Expedition.       Preparations  for  War  on  Lake  Champlain.       Early  Naval  Operations  there. 

quarters  at  Plattsburg,  and  three  others  at  Burlington,  the  former  under  the  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Pike,  and  the  latter  under  Brigadier  General  Chandler.  The  light 
artillery  and  dragoons  returned  to  Greenbush  (opposite  Albany),  the  head-quarters 
of  General  Dearborn,  and  the  militia  were  disbanded. 

There  were  no  farther  military  movements  on  Lake  Champlain  of  special  import 
ance  until  July,  1813.  Naval  preparations  had  been  somewhat  active  under  the  su 
perintendence  of  Lieutenant  Thomas  Macdonough,  who,  in  the  fall  of  1812,  super 
seded  Lieutenant  Sidney  Smith  in  the  command  on  Lake  Champlain.1  When  war 
was  declared  the  whole  American  naval  force  on  the  lake  consisted  of  only  two  gun 
boats  that  lay  in  Basin  Harbor  on  the  Vermont  shore.2  Two  small  sloops  and  four 
bateaux  were  fitted  up  and  armed,  each  carrying  a  long  eighteen-pounder.  The  Brit 
ish  had  two  or  three  gun-boats  and  armed  galleys  in  the  Richelieu,  or  Sorel  River, 
the  outlet  of  Lake  Champlain  into  the  St.  Lawrence. 

In  the  spring  of  1813  Macdonough  put  the  new-armed  sloops  Growler  and  Eagle 
afloat,  the  former  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Smith  and  the  latter  by  Mr.  Loomis. 
At  the  beginning  of  June  intelligence  came  that  the  British  gun-boats  had  attacked 
some  American  small  craft  near  Rouse's  Point.  Macdonough  ordered  Smith,  with  the 
Growler  and  Eagle,  and  one  hundred  and  twelve  men  (including  Captain  Herrick  and 
thirty-three  volunteers),  to  look  after  the  matter,  and,  on  the  evening  of  the  2d  of 
June,a  these  vessels  anchored  near  Rouse's  Point,  within  a  mile  of  the  Canada 

a  1813. 

line.  On  the  following  morning  they  went  down  the  Sorel  with  a  stiff  favoring 
breeze  from  the  south,  and  at  Arch  Island  gave  chase  to  three  British  gun-boats. 
The  pursuit  continued  to  a  point  within  sight  of  the  fortifications  on  Isle  aux  JVoix, 
where  prudence  caused  Smith  to  tack  and  beat  up  the  Sorel  against  the  wind.  When 
this  movement  was  discovered  by  the  British,  three  armed  row-galleys  were  sent  out 
from  the  shelter  of  the  batteries  on  the  island,  and  gave  chase.  They  soon  opened 
upon  the  flying  sloops  with  long  twenty-four  pounders.  At  the  same  time  a  land 
force  was  sent  out  on  each  side  of  the  river,  who  poured  severe  volleys  of  musketry 
upon  the  decks  of  the  Growler  and  Eagle.  These  were  answered  by  grape  and  can 
ister.  This  running  fight  had  been  kept  up  for  about  four  hours,  when  a  heavy  can 
non-shot  tore  planking  from  the  Eagle  below  water,  and  she  went  down  almost  im 
mediately.  At  about  the  same  time  the  Growler  became  disabled  and  ran  ashore, 
and  the  people  of  both  vessels  were  made  prisoners.  The  Americans  lost  in  the  en 
gagement  one  killed  and  nineteen  wounded.  The  loss  of  the  British  was  much  great 
er — probabty  at  least  one  hundred.  But  they  gained  a  victory,  and  with  it  secured, 
for  the  time,  the  full  control  of  the  lake.  The  captured  sloops  were  refitted  by  them, 
named  respectively  Finch  and  Chubb,  and  placed  in  the  British  naval  service.  Mac 
donough  recaptured  them  at  Plattsburg  in  September  the  following  year. 

Macdonough  was  not  disheartened  by  his  loss.  It  stimulated  him  to  greater  ex 
ertions,  and  by  the  6th  of  August  he  had  fitted  out  and  armed  three  sloops  and  six 
gun-boats.  Meanwhile  a  British  force  of  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines,  fourteen  hund 
red  strong,  under  Colonel  J.  Murray,  conveyed  in  two  sloops  of  war,  three  gun-boats, 
and  forty-seven  long  boats,  had  fallen  upon  Plattsburg. b  That  place  was  en-  b 
tirely  uncovered,  there  being  no  regular  troops  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake. 
The  enemy  landed  on  Saturday  afternoon  without  opposition,  and  began  a  work  of 
destruction  which  lasted  until  ten  o'clock  the  next  day.  Major  General  Hampton 
was  at  Burlington,  only  twenty  miles  distant,  with  almost  four  thousand  men,  yet  he 
did  not  attempt  to  cross  the  lake,  or  in  any  way  oppose  the  inroad  of  Murray.  The 
latter  officer  shamefully  violated  the  promises  made  to  the  civil  authorities  of  Platts- 

1  Sidney  Smith  was  fifth  lieutenant  under  Commodore  Barron  in  the  Chesapeake  at  the  time  of  her  affair  with  the 
Leopard.    In  1810  he  was  ordered  to  Lake  Champlain,  and  remained  ill  command  there  until  the  arrival  of  Macdonough, 
his  senior  in  rank.    He  died  a  commander  in  the  service  in  1S27. 

2  Basin  Harbor  is  considered  the  best  on  Lake  Champlain.    It  is  near  the  southwest  corner  of  Ferrisburg,  Addison 
Couutv,  Vermont,  and  nearly  opposite  Westport  on  the  New  York  side  of  the  lake. 

Ss 


642  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Colonel  Murray's  Raid.  Movements  of  Hampton  in  Northern  New  York.  Operations  on  Lake  Ontario. 

burg  when  he  entered  the  village,  that  private  property  should  be  respected,  and  that 
non-combatants  should  remain  unmolested.  After  destroying  the  block-house,  arse 
nal,  armory,  and  hospital  in  the  town,  and  the  military  cantonment  (known  as  Pike's) 
near  Fredenburg  Falls,  on  the  Saranac,  two  miles  above  the  village,  he  wantonly 
burned  three  private  store-houses,  and  plundered  and  destroyed  private  merchandise, 
furniture,  etc.,  to  the  amount  of  several  thousand  dollars.  The  value  of  public  prop 
erty  destroyed  was  estimated  at  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.1 

Having  accomplished  the  object  of  his  raid,  Colonel  Murray  retired  so  hastily  that 
he  left  a  picket  of  twenty  men,  who  were  captured.  He  went  up  the  lake  several 
miles  above  Burlington  on  a  marauding  expedition,  destroying  transportation  boats, 
and  on  his  way  back  to  Canada  he  plundered  private  property  on  Cumberland  Head, 
on  the  Vermont  shore,  and  at  Chazy  Landing.  Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  on 
Lake  Champlain  at  the  close  of  the  summer  of  1813,  when  Wilkinson  took  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  North,  and  prepared  for  his  expedition  down  the  St.  Lawrence. 

The  right  wing  of  the  army,  under  General  Hampton,  was  first  put  in  motion,  when 
it  was  thought  that  Kingston  would  be  the  first  point  of  attack.  He  was  ordered  to 
penetrate  Canada  to  ward  Montreal  by  way  of  the  Richelieu  or  Sorel,to  divert  the  at 
tention  of  the  enemy  in  that  direction.  For  this  purpose  his  forces  were  assembled 
on  Cumberland  Head  at  the  middle  of  September,  consisting  of  four  thousand  effect 
ive  infantry,  a  squadron  of  horse,  and  a  well-appointed  train  of  artillery.  On  the 
-  September,  19tha  he  moved  forward  to  the  Great  Ch^zy  River,  the  infantry  in  boats, 
convoyed  by  Macdonough's  flotilla,  and  the  squadron  of  horse  and  artil- 
"  SePtember-  lery  by  land.  They  formed  a  junction  at  Champlain  on  the  20th,b  and  on 
the  same  day  the  advance,  under  Majors  Wool,  Snelling,  and  M'Neil,  marched  as  far 
as  Odell  Town,  just  within  the  Canada  borders,  westward  of  Rouse's  Point.  A  severe 
drought  was  prevailing  over  all  that  region.  Hampton  was  convinced  that  he  would 
not  be  able  to  procure  water  on  the  route  northward  over  that  flat  country  for  his 
••  September  21.  horses  and  draught-cattle,  and  he  at  once  returned  to  Champlain0  and 
took  the  road  westward,  which  led  to  the  Chateaugay  River.  At  the  "Four  Cor 
ners,"  not  far  from  the  present  village  of  Chateaugay,  he  encamped,d 

"  September  24.  .  -I-  T  •'    a 

and  remained  there  awaiting  orders  twenty-six  days. 

In  the  mean  time  preparations  for  the  expedition  were  going  on  at  the  eastern  end 
of  Lake  Ontario,  over  whose  waters  Commodore  Chauncey  and  Sir  James  Yeo  had 
been  for  some  time  playing  a  sort  of  hide-and-seek  game.  As  Chauncey's  fleet  was  a 
co-operative  force  in  the  expedition  of  Wilkinson,  we  may  here  appropria^ly  consider 
the  naval  movements  on  Lake  Ontario  not  already  described,  up  to  the  departure  of 
the  expedition  down  the  St.  Lawrence. 

We  have  already  observed  the  active  co-operation  of  the  naval  with  the  land  forces 
in  the  capt'ure  of  York2  and  Fort  George,3  and  the  attempt  of  Sir  James  Yeo  to  seize 
or  destroy  the  post  at  Sackett's  Harbor.4  Intelligence  of  the  fact  that  the  British 
squadron  was  out  upon  the  lake  reached  Chauncey  on  the  30th  of  May,  while  lying 
in  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River.  He  immediately  weighed  anchor,  crossed  over 
the  lake  and  looked  into  York,  and  then  ran  for  Kingston.  No  foe  was  to  be  seen, 
and  he  sailed  for  Sackett's  Harbor,  where  the  embers  of  the  recent  conflagration  were 
smouldering.  Chauncey  felt  some  doubts  of  his  ability  to  cope  Avith  the  heavy  ves 
sels  of  the  enemy,  and  he  used  every  exertion  io  have  the  new  ship,  the  General  Pike, 
put  afloat.  She  was  a  corvette,  pierced  for  twenty-six  long  twenty-fours.  She  was 

i  History  of  Lake  Champlain  from  1609  to  1814,  by  Peter  S.  Palmer,  page  168.  Mr.  Palmer  says :  "  Soldiers  would  break 
into  private  dwellings,  and  bear  off  back-loads  of  property  to  the  boats  in  the  presence  of  British  officers,  who,  when 
remonstrated  with  by  the  plundered  citizens,  replied  that  they  could  not  prevent  it,  as  the  men  did  not  belong  to  their 
particular  company."  Among  the  sufferers  in  this  way,  according  to  an  inventory  made  at  the  time,  and  published  by 
Mr.  Palmer,  were  judge  T>.  Lord,  who  lost  property  to  the  amount  of  $1079  81 ;  Peter  Sailley,  $387  7T,  besides  two  store 
houses  valued  at  $900;  Judge  Palmer,  $386  50;  Doctor  Miller,  $1200  ;  Bostwick  Burk,  $150  00;  Jacob  Ferris,  $700 ;  and 
lesser  amounts  by  other  citizens.  A  store-house  belonging  to  Major  Platt  was  also  burned. 

*  See  page  5ST.  3  See  page  698.  4  See  page  609. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812.  643 


Commodore  Chauncey  tries  to  engage  Sir  James  Yeo.     Serious  Disaster.     The  British  Commander  avoids  a  Conflict. 

launched  on  the  12th  of  June,  and  on  the  day  before,  Captain  Arthur  Sinclair  had  ar 
rived  and  was  placed  in  command  of  her.  But  it  was  late  in  the  summer  before  she 
was  fully  equipped  and  manned,  for  much  valuable  material  intended  for  her  had 
been  consumed,  and  men  came  from  the  sea-board  tardily,  a  part  of  whom  were  sent 
to  the  importunate  Perry,  then  anxiously  preparing  his  squadron  on  Lake  Erie  to  co 
operate  with  General  Harrison.  Meanwhile  the  keel  of  a  fast-sailing  schooner,  after 
ward  named  the  /Sylph,  was  laid  by  Eckford  at  the  Harbor ;  and  a  small  vessel  was 
kept  constantly  cruising  as  a  scout  between  the  Ducks  (a  group  of  islands)  and  Kings 
ton,  to  observe  the  movements  of  Sir  James.  On  the  16th  of  June  the  Lady  of  the 
Lake,  Lieutenant  W.  Chauncey,  engaged  in  that  service,  captured  the  British  schooner 
Lady  Murray,  loaded  with  provisions,  shot,  and  fixed  ammunition,  and  took  her  into 
the  Harbor.  At  about  this  time  the  British  squadron  made  a  cruise  westward,  and, 
as  we  have  seen,  interfered  seriously  with  vessels  bearing  supplies  for  the  Americans 
at  Fort  George,  and  destroyed  stores  at  Sodus.1  Sir  James,  as  we  have  observed,  had 
looked  into  Oswego,  but  thought  it  prudent  not  to  land.2 

We  have  alluded  to  the  appearance  of  Sir  James  and  his  squadron  off  Xiagara  on 
the  7th  of  July,  just  after  Chauncey,  with  the  troops  under  Colonel  Scott,  had  re 
turned  from  the  second  expedition  to  York.3  The  British  squadron  was  first  seen 
about  six  miles  to  the  northwest.  Chauncey  immediately  weighed  anchor,  and  en 
deavored  to  obtain  the  weather-gage  of  his  enemy.  He  had  thirteen  vessels,  but  only 
three  of  them  had  been  originally  built  for  war  purposes.*  The  enemy's  squadron 
consisted  of  two  ships,  two  brigs,  and  two  large  schooners.  These  had  all  been  con 
structed  for  war,  and  were  very  efficient  in  armament  and  defensive  shields. 

All  day  the  belligerents  manoeuvred,  with  a  good  breeze,  without  coming  into  con 
flict.  At  sunset  there  fell  a  dead  calm,  and  sweeps  were  used.  When  night  came 
on  the  American  fleet  was  collected  by  signal.  During  the  evening  the  wind  came 
from  the  westward,  freshened,  and  at  midnight  was  a  fitful  gale.  Suddenly  a  rushing 
sound  was  heard  astern  of  most  of  the  fleet,  and  it  was  soon  ascertained  that  the 
Hamilton,  Lieutenant  Winter,  and  Scourge,  Mr.  Osgood,  had  disappeared.  They  were 
capsized  by  a  terrific  squall,  and  all  the  officers  and  men,  excepting  sixteen  of  the  lat 
ter,  were  drowned.  This  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  lake  service,  for  these  two  ves 
sels,  carrying  nineteen  guns  between  them,  were  the  best  in  it. 

Soon  after  dawna  the  British  squadron  was  seen  bearing  down,  as  if  for  ac-    «jniy8, 
tion,  but  when  within  a  league  of  the  Americans  it  bore  away.     Again  the 
belligerents  commenced  manoeuvring  for  advantages.    Alternate  wind  and  calm  made 
the  service  severe,  and  at  length  the  considerate  Chauncey,  whose  men  had  been 
at  quarters  full  thirty-six  hours,  ran  in  and  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara 
River.     All  night  the  lake  was  swept  by  squalls.     When,  in  the  morning,13     b 
the  enemy  was  seen  at  the  northward,  Chauncey  weighed  anchor  and  stood 
out  to  meet  him.     Another  day  and  night  were  consumed  in  fruitless  manoeuvres. 
At  length,  at  six  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  10th,  having  the  weather-gage,  Chaun 
cey,  with  a  light  wind,  formed  his  fleet  in  battle  order,  and  a  conflict  seemed  immi 
nent.5    But  varying  breezes,  and  an  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  the  enemy  to  engage, 

1  See  page  005.  2  See  page  606.  3  See  page  628. 

*  The  Pike,  Madison,  Oneida,  Hamilton,  Scourge,  Ontario,  Fair  American,  Governor  Tompkins,  Conquest,  Growler,  Julia, 
Asp,  ami  Pert. 

5  On  the  night  of  the  9th,  Chauncey,  hecoming  convinced  that  he  could  not  get  the  wind  of  the  British  while  the  lat 
ter  were  disposed  to  avoid  an  action,"formed  his  fleet  in  an  order  of  battle  well  calculated  to  draw  the  enemy  down.  It 
was  considered  an  admirable  movement.  His  vessels  were  formed  in  two  lines,  one  to  windward  of  the  other.  "The 
weather  line,"  says  Cooper,  in  giving  an  account  of  it,  "consisted  altogether  of  the  smallest  of  the  schooners,  having  in 
it,  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  named  from  the  van  to  the  rear,  the  Julia,  Growler,  Pert,  Asp,  Ontario,  and  Fair  Amer 
ican.  The  line  to  leeward  contained,  in  the  same  order,  the  Pike,  Oneida,  Madison,  Governor  Tompkins,  and  Conquest."— 
Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  364.  Commodore  Chauncey,  in  his  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  on  the 
13th,  said,  "The  schooners,  with  long,  heavy  guns,  formed  about  six  hundred  yards  to  windward,  with  orders  to  com 
mence  a  fire  upon  the  enemy  as  soon  as  they  could  reach  him  with  effect,  and,  as  he  approached,  to  edge  down  the  line 
to  leeward.  The  Julia,  Growler,  Pert,  and  Asp  to  pass  through  the  intervals,  and  form  to  leeward,  the  Ontario  and  Fair 
American  to  take  their  stations  in  the  line."  The  same  disposition  was  made  on  the  night  of  the  10th,  when  an  action  en- 


644  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Capture  of  American  Vessels.  The  British  Commander  very  prudent.  A  Battle  at  last. 

caused  another  day  to  be  spent  in  manoeuvring.  At  ten  o'clock  at  night  the  enemy 
made  chase,  and  at  eleven  the  Fair  American  (the  sternmost  of  the  sdhooners)  opened 
fire  upon  the  advancing  foe.  The  enemy  continued  to  draw  ahead,  and  a  general  ac 
tion  seemed  unavoidable.  The  commanders  of  the  Growler  (Lieutenant  Deacon)  and 
Julia  (Mr.  Trant1),  in  the  excess  of  their  zeal,  took  their  vessels  out  of  the  prescribed 
line.  They  became  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  and  were  captured  after  a 
severe  but  short  struggle,  with  small  loss.  There  was  but  little  fighting  elsewhere, 
and  at  midnight,  the  gale  increasing,  Chauncey  determined  to  run  for  shelter  into  the 
Genesee.  He  changed  his  course,  however,  and  went  to  Sackett's  Harbor,  where,  after 
encountering  a  calm,  he  arrived  with  the  remains  of  his  fleet  on  the  13th.  On  the 
same  day  he  took  in  provisions  for  five  weeks  and  sailed  on  another  cruise,  with  eight 
vessels.  Off  Niagara,  on  the  16th,  he  fell  in  with  the  enemy,  who  had  the  same 
number  of  vessels;  but,  after  a  cruise  of  three  days  more,  he  returned  to  the  Har- 
*  July  19,  bor,a  where  he  found  the  new  vessel  (the  Sylph)  launched.  Great  sickness 
1813.  prevailed  in  the  fleet,  and  Chauncey  lay  inactive  in  the  Harbor  for  some  time.2 

On  the  28th  of  August  Chauncey  put  out  again  upon  the  lake,  but  it  was  not  until 
the  7th  of  September  that  he  came  in  sight  of  the  enemy.  At  dawn  of  that  day  the 
British  squadron  was  seen  off  the  Niagara,  and  Chauncey,  with  the  Pike,  Madison, 
and  Sylph,  each  with  a  schooner  in  tow,  made  chase.  For  six  days  he  endeavored  to 
bring  his  antagonist  into  action ;  but  Sir  James  Yeo,  following  the  strict  injunctions 
of  his  superiors  to  risk  nothing,  avoided  a  contest.  The  critical  situation  of  Canada 
at  that  time  made  the  preservation  of  a  naval  force  sufficient  to  protect  harbors  and 
keep  Chauncey  employed,  very  important. 

On  the  llth  Sir  James  lay  becalmed  off  the  Genesee.  Catching  a  gentle  breeze 
from  the  northwest,  Chauncey  bore  down  upon  him,  and  was  within  gun-shot  dis 
tance  of  his  enemy  when  the  British  sails  took  the  wind,  and  their  vessels,  being  the 
faster  sailers,  escaped,  not,  however,  without  sustaining  considei'able  damage  during 
a  running  fight  for  more  than  three  hours.  The  Pike  had  been  hulled  several  times, 
but  not  seriously  hurt,  while  the  British  vessels  were  a  good  deal  cut  up.  Yeo  final 
ly  escaped  to  Amherst  Bay,  whose  navigation  was  strange  to  the  American  pilots, 
and  he  was  not  followed.  Chauncey  lay  off  the  Ducks  until  the  17th,  when  Sir  James 
made  his  way  into  Kingston  harbor.  Chauncey  now  ran  into  Sackett's  Harbor  for 
supplies. 

On  the  18th  the  American  squadron  sailed  for  the  Niagara  for  troops  to  be  con 
veyed  to  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  was  followed  by  the  enemy.  After  remaining  a  few 
days,  Chauncey  crossed  the  lake  with  the  Pike,  Madison,  and  Sylph,  each  with  a 
schooner  in  tow,  having  been  informed  that  the  enemy  was  in  York  harbor.  When 
he  approached,  Sir  James  fled,  followed  by  Chauncey  in  battle  order  and  with  the 
weather-gage.  The  baronet  was  now  compelled  to  fight,  or  to  cease  boasting  of  un 
satisfied  desires  to  measure  strength  with  Americans.  An  action  commenced  at  a 
little  past  noon,  when  the  Pike  for  more  than  twenty  minutes  sustained  the  desperate 
assaults  of  the  heaviest  vessels  of  the  enemy.  She  was  managed  admirably,  and  de 
livered  tremendous  broadsides  upon  her  antagonists.  She  was  gallantly  assisted  a 
part  of  the  time  by  the  Tompkins,  Lieutenant  W.  C.  B.  Finch,  of  the  Madison  ;  and 
when  the  smoke  of  battle  passed  away,  the  Wolfe  (Sir  James's  flag-ship)  was  found  to 

sued.  "Nothing  could  have  been  simpler  or  better  devised,"  says  Cooper,  "than  this  order  of  battle;  nor  is  it  possible 
to  say  what  would  have  been  the  consequences  had  circumstances  allowed  the  plan  to  be  rigidly  observed."  A  sketch 
of  the  positions  of  the  vessels  in  this  engagement  was  sent  by  Chauncey  with  his  report  of  the  affair  to  the  Navy  De 
partment. 

1  James  Trant  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  came  to  America  in  1781  with  Captain  Barry,  in  the  Alliance.  He  was  a 
sailing-master  in  the  United  States  Navy  from  its  formation.  He  was  marked  by  eccentricities  of  character  and  opin 
ions,  and  for  the  most  unflinching  courage.  He  lived  nntil  he  was  about  seventy  years  of  age.  Toward  the  close  of  his 
life  he  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  (May  5, 181T),  which  gave  him  great  comfort.  He  died  at  Philadelphia  on  the 
llth  of  September,  1820. 

=  It  appears,  by  the  official  reports  made  at  about  that  time,  that  one  fifth  of  the  men  were  left  on  shore  in  consequence 
of  illness.  Of  two  hundred  men  on  board  the  Madison,  eighty  were  on  the  sick-list  at  one  time. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF    1812.  645 


Perilous  Situation  of  the  British  Squadron.  British  Transports  captured.  A  new  Expedition. 

be  too  seriously  injured  to  sustain  a  conflict  any  longer.  She  had  lost  her  main  and 
mizzen  top-masts,  and  her  main  yard,  besides  receiving  other  injuries,  and  when  dis 
covered  she  was  pushing  away  dead  before  the  wind,  crowded  with  canvas,  and  gal 
lantly  protected  by  the  Royal  George  in  her  flight.  A  general  chase  was  immediate 
ly  commenced,  and  a  running  fight  was  maintained  for  some  time.  The  pursuit  was 
continued  toward  Burlington  Bay  for  two  hours,  when  Chauncey  called  oflThis  vessels. 
No  doubt,  by  pressing  sail,  and  with  proper  support,  he  might  have  captured  or  de 
stroyed  the  British  squadron,1  but  the  wind  was  increasing,  and  there  was  no  good 
harbor  or  place  of  shelter  on  the  coast,  where,  in  the  event  of  being  driven  ashore, 
capture  by  land  troops  would  be  almost  certain.  Taking  counsel  of  prudence,  Chaun 
cey  sailed  into  the  Niagara,  and  there  lay  safely  during  a  severe  gale  that  lasted  for 
ty-eight  hours. 

For  two  days  after  the  gale  had  subsided  the  wind  blew  strongly  from  the  east, 
when  it  shifted  to  the  westward.1  All  the  transports  with  troops  had  now  a  Octobers, 
departed  for  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  Chauncey  went  out  again  in  search  of 
the  foe.  The  weather  was  thick,  and  the  Lady  of  the  Lake,  sent  to  reconnoitre  Bur 
lington  Bay,  reported  that  only  two  gun-boats  were  to  be  seen  there.  Supposing  the 
enemy  to  have  escaped  imder  cover  of  mist  or  darkness,  Chauncey  sailed  away  east 
ward,  and  at  sunset  of  the  5th  of  October,  when  near  the  Ducks,  the  Pike  captured 
three  British  transports,  Confiance,  Hamilton?  and  Mary.  The  Sylph  captured  the 
Drummond  cutter,  and  the  armed  transport  Lady  Gore.  These  carried  from  one  to 
three  guns  each.  The  whole  number  of  persons  found  on  the  five  vessels,  and  made 
prisoners,  including  the  officers,  was  two  hundred  and  sixty-four.  Among  the  latter 
was  a  lieutenant  and  two  master's  mates  of  the  royal  navy,  four  masters  of  the  pro 
vincial  marine,  and  ten  army  officers.  During  the  remainder  of  the  season  Sir  James 
Yeo  remained  inactive  in  Kingston  harbor,  and  Commodore  Chauncey  was  employed 
in  watching  the  movements  of  the  enemy  there,  and  in  aiding  the  army  in  its  descent 
of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

After  much  discussion  at  Sackett's  Harbor  between  the  Secretary  of  War,  General 
Wilkinson,  and  other  officers,  it  was  determined  to  pass  Kingston  and  make  a  descent 
upon  Montreal.  For  weeks  the  bustle  of  preparation  had  been  great,  and  many 
armed  boats  and  transports  had  been  built  at  the  Harbor.  Every  thing  was  in  readi 
ness  by  the  4th  of  October.3  Yet  final  orders  were  not  issued  until  the  12th,  when 
apian  of  encampment  and  order  of  battle  was  given  to  each  general  officer  and  corps 
commander,  to  be  observed  when  circumstances  would  permit.  Four  days  more 
were  consumed  without  any  apparent  necessity,  when,  on  the  17th,  orders  were  given 
for  the  embarkation  of  all  the  troops  at  the  Harbor  destined  for  the  expedition.  At 
the  same  time,  General  Hampton,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  halting  on  the  banks 
of  the  Chateaugay,  was  ordered  to  move  down  to  the  mouth  of  that  river. 

1  Chauncey  was  indignant  and  loud  in  his  complaints  of  a  want  of  support  on  this  occasion.    Speaking  of  this,  the 
Hon.  Alvin  Bronson,  of  Oswego,  New  York,  in  a  letter  to  me,  dated  August  28, 1860,  says :  "  While  on  board  the  British 
fleet  as  a  prisoner  in  May,  1814,  and  associating  familiarly  with  its  subordinate  officers,  I  received  ample  confirmation  of 
reports  that  had  been  current  in  the  army  and  navy  of  the  bad  conduct  of  some  of  the  officers  under  Commodore  Chaun 
cey  in  a  then  late  naval  engagement  at  the  head  of  the  lake.    It  was  a  running  fight,  and  the  British  sailors  facetiously 
called  it  the  Burlington  Races,  as  it  was  fought  partly  off  Burlington  Heights.    Chauncey  was  the  assailant,  and  would 
have  destroyed  the  British  fleet,  or  have  driven  it  on  shore,  had  he  been  properly  sustained  by  his  best  and  heaviest 
vessels,  particularly  the  Madison,  Commander  Crane,  and  the  heavily-armed  and  fast-sailing  brig  Sylph,  Captain  Wool- 
gey.    These  vessels  never  got  into  close  action."    The  only  excuse  was  that  they  had  gun-boats  in  tow ;  but  Chauncey's 
signal  for  close  action,  which  he  kept  flying,  implied  that  the  vessels  must  cast  off  every  encumbrance.     "The  British 
officers,"  continues  Mr.  Bronson,  "  awarded  Chauncey  all  credit  for  skill  and  bravery,  and  admitted  that  their  fleet  must 
have  been  destroyed  if  he  had  been  properly  sustained  by  his  subordinates." 

The  bearer  of  a  flag  of  truce  who  went  into  Sackett's  Harbor  on  the  12th  of  October  admitted  that  Sir  James  Yeo  was 
so  badly  beaten  on  this  occasion  that  he  had  made  preparations  to  burn  his  vessels,  and  would  have  done  so  had  Chaun 
cey  chased  him  twenty  minntes  longer.  Every  gnu  on  the  Wolfe's  starboard  side  was  dismounted.— Letter  to  the  Editor 
of  the  Democratic  Press,  dated  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  October  13, 1813,  and  copied  in  The  War,  ii.,  86. 

2  The  Confiance  and  Hamilton  were  the  Growler  and  Julia,  captured  from  the  Americans  on  the  night  of  the  10th  of  Au 
gust.    Their  names  had  been  changed  by  the  captors. 

3  General  Morgan  Lewis's  testimony  on  the  trial  of  Wilkinson. 


646 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Wilkinson's  Expedition  leaves  Sackett's  Harbor. 


A  disastrous  Voyage. 


Gallantry  of  Captain  Myers. 


With  a  reckless  disregard  of  life  and  property,  the  troops  under  Major  General 
Lewis  were  embarked  at  the  beginning  of  a  dark  night,  when  portents  of  a  storm 
were  hovering  over  the  lake,  at  a  season  when  sudden  and  violent  gales  were  likely 
to  arise.  They  were  packed  in  scows,  bateaux,  Durham  boats,  and  common  lake  sail 
boats,  with  ordnance,  ammunition,  hospital  stores,  baggage,  camp  equipage,  and  two 
months'  provisions.  The  voyage  was  among  islands  and  past  numerous  points  of 
land  where  soundings  and  currents  were  known  to  few.  There  was  a  scarcity  of 
pilots,  and  the  whole  flotilla  seemed  to  have  been  sent  out  with  very  little  of  man's 
wisdom  to  direct  it.  The  wind  was  favorable  at  the  beginning,  but  toward  mid 
night,  as  the  clouds  thickened  and  the  darkness  deepened,  it  freshened,  and  before 
morning  became  a  gale,  with  rain  and  sleet.  The  flotilla  was  scattered  in  every  di- 
>  October  IT,  rection,  and  the  gloomy  dawna  revealed  a  sad  spectacle.  The  shores  of 
the  islands  and  the  main  were  strewn  with  wrecks  of  vessels  and  prop 
erty.  Fifteen  large  boats  were  totally  lost,  and  many  more  too  seriously  damaged 
to  be  safe.  For  thirty-six  hours  the  wind  blew  fiercely,  but  on  the  20th,  there  hav 
ing  been  a  comparative  calm  for  more  than  a  day,  a  large  proportion  x)f  the  troops, 
with  the  sound  boats,  arrived  at  Grenadier  Island.1  These  were  chiefly  the  brigades 
of  Generals  Boyd,  Brown,  Covington,  Swartwout,  and  Porter2  (the  three  former  had 
encamped  at  Henderson  Harbor),  which  had 
arrived. 

General  Wilkinson  in  the  mean  time  was 
passing  to  and  fro  between  the  Harbor  and 
Grenadier  Island,  looking  after  the  smitten 
expedition.     A  return  made  to  him  on  the 
22d  showed  that  a  large  number  of  troops 
were  still  behind,  in  vessels  "wrecked  or 
stranded."    The  weather  continued  boister 
ous,  and  on  the  24th  he  was  compelled  to 
write  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  "  The  ex 
tent  of  the   injury  to  our  craft,  clothing, 
arms,  and  provisions  greatly  exceed  our  ap 
prehensions,  and  has  subjected  us  to  the 
necessity   of  furnishing   clothing,  and  of 
making  repairs  and  equipments  to  the  flo 
tilla  generally.     In  fact,  all  our  hopes  have 
been  nearly  blasted ;  but,  thanks 
to    the    same    Providence    that 
placed  us  in  jeopardy,  we  are  sur- 
mounting    our    difficulties,   and, 
God  willing,  I  shall  pass  Prescott  on  the  night  of  the  1st  or  2d  proximo." 

The  troops  remained  encamped  on  Grenadier  Island  until  the  1st  of  November, 
except  General  Brown's  brigade,  some  light  troops,  and  heavy  artillery,  which  went 


1  The  now  venerable  Major  Mordecai  Myers,  of  Schenectady,  New  York,  toVhom  I  am  indebted  for  an  interesting 
narrative  of  the  events  of  this  campaign,  was  very  active  in  saving  lives  and  property  during  this  boisterous  weather. 
It  was  resolved  to  send  back  to  Sackett's  Harbor  all  who  could  not  endure  active  service  in  the  campaign.    Nearly  two 
hundred  of  these  were  put  on  board  two  schooners,  with  hospital  stores.    The  vessels  were  wrecked,  and  Captain  Myers, 
on  his  own  solicitation,  was  sent  by  General  Boyd  with  two  large  boats  for  the  rescue  of  the  passengers  and  crew.    He 
found  the  schooners  lying  on  their  sides,  the  sails  napping,  and  the  sea  breaking  over  them.    Many  had  perished,  and 
the  most  of  those  alive,  having  drank  freely  of  the  liquors  among  the  hospital  stores,  were  nearly  all  intoxicated.    The 
hatches  were  open,  and  the  vessels  were  half-filled  with  water.    By  great  exertions  and  personal  risk  Captain  Myers 
succeeded  in  taking  to  the  shore  nearly  all  of  the  two  hundred  persons  who  had  embarked  on  the  schooners.    Forty 
or  fifty  of  them  were  dead. 

2  Colonel  Carr's  MS.  Journal.    "October  19,  first  brigade,  under  Boyd— 5th,  12th,  and  13th  Regiments ;  second  bri 
gade,  under  Brown— Gth,  15th,  and  22d  Regiments,  already  arrived  and  encamped.    October  20,  the  third  brigade,  under 
Covington— 9th,  16th,  and  25th  Regiments  ;  and  fourth  brigade,  under  Swartwout— llth,  21st,  and  14th,  have  arrived. 
The  fifth,  under  Porter— light  troops  and  artillery— arriving  hourly.    The  weather  still  stormy,  and  continual  rains  for 
the  last  two  days." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  647 


Hampton  in  the  Chateaugay  Country.  Position  of  the  Belligerents.  Hampton's  criminal  Negligence. 

down  the  St.  Lawrence  on  the  29th,a  and  took  post  at  French  Creek.     In    ,October 
the  mean  time  Hampton,  pursuant  to  Wilkinson's  orders,  movedb  down         isis. 
the  Chateaugay  toward  the  St.  Lawrence  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
junction  with  Wilkinson  from  above.     He  found  a  forest  ten  or  twelve  miles  in  ex 
tent  along  the  river  in  the  line  of  his  march,  in  which  the  vigilant  and  active  De 
Salaberry  had  felled  trees  across  the  obscure  road,  and  placed  Indians  and  light  troops 
to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  Americans.     General  George  Izard  was  at  once  sent 
out  with  light  troops  to  gain  the  rear  of  these  woods,  and  seize  the  Canadian  settle 
ments  on  the  Chateaugay  in  the  open  country  beyondj  while  the  remainder  of  the 
army  made  a  circuit  in  an  opposite  direction,  and  avoided  the  obstructed  forest  alto 
gether.     The  movement  was  successful,  and  on  the  following  dayc  a  great- 

c  October  22. 

er  portion  of  the  army  encamped  at  Spear's,  near  the  confluence  of  the 

Outard  Creek  and  the  Chateaugay  River.1     It  was  an  eligible  position,  and  there 

Hampton  remained  until  the  stores  and  artillery  came  up  on  the  24th. 

Immediately  in  front  of  *he  army  at  Spear's  was  ar  open  country,  seven  miles  along 
the  river,  to  Johnson's,2  where  another  extensive  forest  lay  in  the  way.  These  woods 
had  been  foi-med  into  abatis,  covering  log  breastworks  and  a  log  block-house.  On 
the  latter  were  some  pieces  of  ordnance.  In  front  of  these  defenses  were  Indians  and 
a  light  corps  of  Beauharnais  militia,  and  behind  them,  under  the  immediate  command 
of  Lieutenant  Colonel  De  Salaberry,  was  the  remainder  of  the  disposable  force  of  the 
enemy,  charged  with  the  duty  of  guarding  a  ford  at  a  small  rapid  in  the  river,  and 
keeping  open  communication  with  the  St.  Lawrence.  De  Salaberry's  force  was  almost 
a  thousand  strong,  and  Sir  George  Prevost  and  General  De  Wattville  were  within 
bugle  call  with  more  troops. 

Hampton  determined  to  dislodge  De  Salaberry,  take  possession  of  his  really  strong 
hold,  and  keep  it  until  he  should  hear  from  Wilkinson,  from  whom  go  tidings  had 
been  received  for  several  days.  He  was  informed  of  the  ford  opposite  the  lower  flank 
of  the  enemy,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  25th  he  detached  Colonel  Robert  Purdy,  of 
the  Fourth  Infantry,  and  the  light  troops  of  Boyd's  brigade,  to  force  the  ford,  and  fall 
upon  the  British  rear  at  dawn.  The  crack  of  Purdy's  musketry  was  to  be  the  signal 
for  the  main  body  of  the  Americans  to  attack  the  enemy's  front.  But  the  whole 
movement  was  foiled  by  the  ignorance  of  the  guides  and  the  darkness  of  the  night. 
Purdy  crossed  the  river  near  the  camp,  lost  his  way  in  a  hemlock  swamp,  and  could 
neither  find  the  ford  nor  the  place  from  which  he  started.  His  troops  wandered 
about  all  night,  and  different  corps  would  sometimes  meet,  and  excite  mutual  alarm 
by  the  supposition  that  they  had  encountered  an  enemy.3  In  the  morning  Purdy  ex 
tricated  his  command  from  the  swamp  labyrinth,  and,  within  half  a  mile  of  the  ford, 
halted  and  gave  them  permission  to  rest,  for  they  were  excessively  fatigued.  In  the 
mean  time  Hampton  put  three  thousand  five  hundred  of  his  army  in  motion,  under 
General  Izard,  expecting  every  moment  to  hear  Purdy's  guns ;  but  they  were  silent. 
The  forenoon  wore  away ;  meridian  was  past ;  and  at  two  o'clock  Izard  was  ordered 
to  move  forward  to  the  attack.  Firing  immediately  commenced,  and  the  enemy's 
pickets  were  driven  in.  The  gallant  De  Salaberry  came  out  with  about  three  hund 
red  Canadian  fencibles  and  voltigeurs,  and  a  few  Abenake  Indians,  but  Izard's  over 
whelming  numbers  pressed  him  back  to  his  intrenchments. 

Firing  was  now  heard  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  Purdy,  who  seems  to  have 
neglected  to  post  pickets  or  sentinels,  had  been  surprised  by  a  small  detachment  of 

1  This  point  is  seen  at  the  junction  of"  Hampton's  route"  and  "Smith's  road"  on  the  map  on  page  881.  The  stream 
seen  along  "  Smith's  road"  is  the  Ontard.  2  See  Map  on  page  8S1. 

3  "Incredible  as  it  may  appear,"  said  Purdy,  in  his  official  report  to  Wilkinson,  "General  Hampton  intrusted  nearly 
one  half  of  his  army,  and  those  his  best  troops,  to  the  guidance  of  men  each  of  whom  repeatedly  assured  him  that  they 
were  not  acquainted  with  the  country,  and  were  not  competent  to  direct  such  an  expedition."  "  Never,  to  my  knowledge," 
said  Purdy,  in  another  part  of  his  report,  "during  our  march  into  Canada,  and  while  we  remained  at  the  Four  CoAere, 
a  term  of  twenty-six  days,  did  General  Hampton  ever  send  off  a  scouting  or  recounoitriug  party,  except  in  one  or  two 
cases  at  Spear's,  in  Canada." 


648  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Disgraceful  Events.  Hampton's  inglorious  Retreat.  Wilkinson's  Expedition  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

chasseurs  and  Canadian  militia,  who  gained  his  rear.  His  troops,  utterly  disconcerted, 
fled  to  the  river.  Several  officers  and  men  swam  across,  bearing  to  General  Hampton 
alarming  accounts  of  the  great  number  of  the  enemy  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream. 
That  enemy,  instead  of  being  formidable,  had  fled  after  his  first  fire,  and  the  ludicrous 
scene  was  presented  of  frightened  belligerents  running  away  from  each  other.  All 
was  confusion ;  and  detachments  of  Purdy's  scattered  men,  mistaking  each  other  for 
enemies  in  the  dark  swamp,  had  a  spirited  engagement.  The  only  sad  fruit  of  the 
blunder  was  the  death  of  one  man. 

De  Salaberry  had  perceived  that  superior  numbers  might  easily  outflank  him,  and 
he  resorted  to  stratagem.  He  posted  buglers  at  some  distance  from  each  other,  and 
when  some  concealed  provincial  militia  opened  fire  almost  upon  Hampton's  flank, 
these  buglers  simultaneously  sounded  a  charge.  Hampton  was  alarmed.  From  the 

seeming  extent  of  the  British  line 
as  indicated  by  the  buglers,  he  sup 
posed  a  heavy  force  was  about  to 
fall  upon  his  front  and  flank.  He 
immediately  sounded  a  retreat,  and  withdrew  from  the  field.  The  enemy  in  a  body 
did  not  venture  to  follow,  but  the  Canadian  militia1  harassed  the  army  as  it  fell 
slowly  back  to  its  old  quarters  at  Chateaugay  Four  Corners,  where  its  inglorious 
campaign  ended.  The  whole  affair  was  a  disgrace  to  the  American  arnis,  and,  as  one 
of  the  surviving  actors  in  the  scenes  (now  a  distinguished  major  general  in  the  United 
States  Army)  has  said, "  no  officer  who  had  any  regard  for  his  reputation  would  vol 
untarily  acknowledge  himself  as  having  been  engaged  in  it."2  In  this  affair,  which 
has  been  unwarrantably  dignified  with  the  character  of  a  battle,  the  Americans  lost 
about  fifteen  killed  and  twenty-three  wounded.  The  British  lost  five  killed,  sixteen 
wounded,  and  four  missing.3 

Storm  followed  storm  on  Lake  Ontario  and  the  St.  Lawrence.  Snow  fell  to  the 
depth  of  ten  inches,  and  the  troops  collected  by  Wilkinson  on  Grenadier  Island  suf 
fered  much.  The  season  was  too  far  advanced — a  Canadian  winter  was  too  near — to 
allow  delays  on  account  of  weather,  and  General  Brown  and  his  division  moved  for 
ward,  in  the  face  of  the  tempest  and  of  great  peril,  on  the  29th  of  October.  They 
landed  at  French  Creek,  and  took  post  in  a  thick  wood  about  half  a  mile  up  from  the 
present  village  of  Clayton.  Chauncey  in  the  mean  time  attempted  to  blockade  the 
enemy  in  Kingston  Harbor,  or  at  least  to  prevent  his  going  down  the  river  either  to 
pursue  the  Americans  or  to  take  possession  of  and  fortify  the  important  old  military 
post  at  the  head  of  Carleton  Island,  just  below  Cape  Vincent.  But  Chauncey's  block 
ade  Avas  ineffectual.  British  marine  scouts  were  out  among  the  Thousand  Islands ; 
and  when,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  1st  of  November,  they  discovered  Brown  at  French 
Creek,  two  brigs,  two  schooners,  and  eight  gun-boats,  filled  with  infantry,  were  out 
and  ready  to  bear  down  upon  him.  They  did  so  at  about  siinset  of  the  same  day. 
Fortunately  Brown  had  planted  a  battery  of  three  18-pounders  on  Bartlett's  Point,  a 
high  wooded  bluff"  on  the  western  shore  of  French  Creek,  at  its  mouth,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Captain  M'Pherson,  of  the  light  artillery.  This  battery,  from  its  elevation, 
was  very  effective,  and  it  was  served  so  skillfully  that  the  enemy  were  driven  away 
after  some  cannonading.  At  dawn  the  next  morning  the  conflict  was  renewed,  with 

1  In  his  official  dispatch  Sir  George  Prevost  asked  from  the  Prince  Regent  a  stand  of  colors  for  each  of  the  five  bat 
talions  of  Canadian  militia  as  a  mark  of  approbation.    They  were  granted.  , 

2  Major  General  John  E.  Wool,  who  then  held  the  commission  of  major  in  the  Twenty-ninth  Regiment  United  States 
Infantry.    I  am  indebted  to  written  and  oral  statements  of  General  Wool  for  many  of  the  facts  given  concerning  the 
affair  near  Johnston's,  on  the  Chateaugay.    Hon.  Nathaniel  S.  Benton,  of  Little  Falls,  New  York,  late  Auditor  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  author  of  a  History  of  Herkimer  Count;/  and  the  Upper  Mohawk  Valley,  was  captain  of  a  militia 
company  engaged  in  this  affair.    He  informed  me  that  his  company  numbered  109  men,  and  all  of  them  his  own  height 
—si*  feet. 

3  American  and  British  Official  Reports ;  General  Orders ;  Christie's,  Auchinleck's,  Thompson's,  Perkins's,  and  Inger- 
Boll's  Histories ;  Armstrong's  Notices,  etc. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


649 


American  Camp  at  French  Creek.         The  attacking  British  repulsed.         Wilkinson  pursued  down  the  St.  Lawrence. 

the  same  result,  the  enemy  in  the  two  engagements  having  suffered  much  loss.  That 
of  the  Americans  was  two  killed  and  four  wounded.  It  was  with  much  difficulty 
that  the  British  saved  one  of  their  brigs  from  capture. 

Troops  were  coming  down  from  Grenadier  Island  in  the  mean  time,  and  landing 
upon  the  point  on  which  Clayton1  now  stands,  and  along  the  shore  of  French  Creek 
as  far  as  the  lumber  and  rafting  yard  on  what  is  still  known  as  Wilkinson's  Point. 
Wilkinson  arrived  there  on  the  3d,  and  on  the  4tha  he  issued  a  general  or-  .  November, 
der  preparatory  to  final  embarkation,  in  which  he  exhorted  his  troops  to 
sustain  well  the  character  of  American  citizens,  and  abstain  from  rapine  and  plunder. 
"  The  general  is  determined,"  he  said,  "  to  have  the  first  person  who  shall  be  detected 
in  plundering  an  inhabitant  of  Canada  of  the  smallest  amount  of  property  made  an 
example  of."2 

On  the  morning  of  the 
5th,  a  clear,  bright,  crisp 
morning,  just  at  dawn,  the 
whole  flotilla,  comprising  al 
most  three  hundred  boats, 
moved  down  the  river  from 
French  Creek  with  banners 
furled  and  music  silent,  for 
they  wished  to  elude  dis 
covery  by  the  British,  who, 
until  noAV,  were  uncertain 
whether  the  expedition  was 
intended  for  Kingston,  Pres- 
cott,  or  Montreal.3  The  vig 
ilant  foe  had  immediately 
discovered  their  course,  and, 
with  a  heavy  armed  galley 


MOUTU   OF   FKE.NCH   OKEEK.* 


and  gun -boats  filled  with 
troops,  started  in  pursuit.  The  flotilla  arrived  at  Morristown  early  in  the  evening. 
It  had  been  annoyed  by  the  enemy  all  the  way.  Several  times  Wilkinson  was  dis 
posed  to  turn  upon  them;  and  at  one  time,  near  Bald  Island,  about  two  miles  below 
Alexandria  Bay,  he  was  compelled  to  engage,  for  the  enemy's  gun-boats  shot  out  of 
the  British  channel  on  the  north,  and  attacked  his  rear.  They  were  beaten  off,  and 
Wilkinson  determined  to  run  by  the  formidable  batteries  at  Prescott  during  the  night. 
It  was  found  to  be  impracticable,  and  his  boats  lay  moored  at  Morristown  until  morn 
ing.  A  corps  of  land  troops  from  Kingston  had  also  followed  Wilkinson  along  the 
northern  shore  of  the  river,  and  arrived  at  Prescott  before  the  American  flotilla  reached 
Ogdensburg. 

For  the  purpose  of  avoiding  Fort  Wellington  and  the  other  fortifications  at  Pres 
cott,  Wilkinson  halted  three  miles  above  Ogdensburg,  where  he  debarked  his  am 
munition  and  all  of  his  troops,b  except  a  sufficient  number  to  man  the  "  November  6. 

'  This  was  formerly  called  Cornelia,  and  is  yet  called  by  the  name  of  French  Creek.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  Senator 
John  M.  Clayton,  of  Delaware,  in  1833.  French  Creek  was  called  by  the  Indians  Fallen  Fort,  from  the  circumstance  that, 
long  before  a  white  man  was  ever  seen  there,  a  fort  had  been  captured  on  its  banks  by  the  Oneidas. 

2  General  Order,  French  Creek,  November  4, 1813. 

3  The  boat  that  conveyed  Wilkinson  and  his  military  family  was  commanded  by  the  now  venerable  William  John 
ston,  who  was  an  active  spy  on  that  frontier  during  the  war.    He  is  better  known  as  "  Bill  Johnston, "by  some  called  the 
"  Hero,"  and  by  others  the  "  Pirate,"  of  the  Thousand  Islands.    Of  Mr.  Johnston  and  his  remarkable  career  I  shall  write 
presently. 

*  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  in  the  summer  of  1860,  from  the  place  of  Brown's  encampment,  at  the  lumber  and  raft 
ing  yard  on  Wilkinson's  Point.  In  the  water,  in  the  foreground,  is  seen  a  raft  partly  prepared  for  a  voyage  down  the 
St.  Lawrence.  The  bluff  in  the  distance,  beyond  the  little  sail-vessel,  is  Bartlett's  Point,  on  which  M'Pherson's  battery 
was  placed.  The  vessel  without  sails  indicates  the  place  where  the  British  squadron  lay  when  it  was  repulsed.  The 
land  seen  beyond  is  Grindstone  Island,  from  behind  which  the  British  vessels  came.  The  point  in  the  middle  distance, 
on  the  extreme  right,  is  the  head  of  Shot-bag  Island.  . 


650  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Difficulties  in  Wilkinson's  Way.  A  Council  of  Officers.  Number  and  Position  of  the  British  Force. 


BALD   ISLAND   AND    WILKINSON'S   FLOTILLA.1 

boats.  These  were  to  be  conveyed  by  land  to  the  "  Red  Mill,"  four  miles  below  Og- 
densburg,  on  the  American  shore,  and  the  boats  were  to  run  by  the  batteries  that 
night.  At  the  place  of  debarkation  he  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  Canadians,  in 
tended  to  make  them  passive  ;2  and  there,  at  noon,  he  was  visited  by  Colonel  King, 
Hampton's  adjutant  general.  By  him  he  sent  orders  to  Hampton  to  press  forward  to 
the  St.  Lawrence,  to  form  a  junction  with  the  descending  army  at  St.  Regis. 

By  the  skillful  management  of  General  Brown,  the  whole  flotilla  passed  Prescott 
safely  on  the  night  of  the  6th,  with  the  exception  of  two  large  boats  heavily  laden 
with  provisions,  artillery,  and  ordnance  stores,3  which  ran  aground  at  Ogdensburg. 
They  were  taken  off  under  a  severe  cannonading  from  Fort  Wellington,  and  soon 
« November  7,  joined  the  othersa  at  the  "  Red  Mill."  Wilkinson  was  now  informed  that 
the  Canada  shore  of  the  river  was  lined  with  posts  of  musketry  and  artil 
lery  at  every  eligible  point,  to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  flotilla.  To  meet  and  re 
move  these  impediments,  Colonel  Alexander  Macomb  was  detached,  with  twelve 
hundred  of  the  elite  of  the  army,  and  on  Sunday,  the  7th,  landed  on  the  Canada  shore. 
He  was  soon  followed  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Forsyth  and  his  riflemen,  who  did  ex 
cellent  service  in  the  rear  of  Macomb. 

The  flotilla  arrived  at  the  "  White  House,"  opposite  Matilda,4  about  eighteen  miles 
below  Ogdensburg,  on  the  8th,  and  there  Wilkinson  called  a  council  of  his  officers, 
consisting  of  Generals  Lewis,  Boyd,  Brown,  Porter,  Covington,  and  Swartwout.  Aft 
er  hearing  a  report  from  the  active  chief  engineer,  Colonel  Swift,  concerning  the  re 
ported  strength  of  the  enemy,5  the  question,  Shall  the  army  proceed  with  all  possible 
rapidity  to  the  attack  of  Montreal  ?  was  considered,  and  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

1  This  is  from  a  sketch  by  Captain  Van  Cleve  (see  note  1,  page  51T),  who  kindly  allowed  me  the  use  of  it.    Bald  Island 
is  one  of  the  Thousand  Islands,  and  lies  on  the  left  of  the  American  or  steam-boat  channel  of  the  river.    It  is  mostly 
bare,  and  rises  to  the  height  of  about  thirty  or  forty  feet  above  the  water  in  the  centre.    At  some  distance  beyond  it, 
northward,  is  the  British  channel.    The  gun-boats  that  attacked  Wilkinson's  flotilla  came  out  at  the  lower  end  of  Bald 
Island,  through  a  lateral  channel  in  which  the  sail-vessel  lies. 

2  He  assured  them  that  he  came  to  invade,  and  not  to  destroy  the  province — •"  to  subdue  the  forces  of  his  Britannic 
Majesty,  not  to  war  against  unoffending  subjects.    Those,  therefore,"  he  said,  "who  remain  quiet  at  home,  should  vic 
tory  incline  to  the  American  standard,  shall  be  protected  in  their  persons  and  property ;  but  those  who  are  found  iu 
arms  must  necessarily  be  treated  as  avowed  enemies.    To  menace  is  unmanly ;  to  seduce,  dishonorable  ;  yet  it  is  just 
and  humane  to  place  these  alternatives  before  you."— Proclamation,  November  7, 1813. 

3  The  flotilla  moved  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  under  cover  of  a  heavy  fog,  General  Brown,  in  his  gig,  leading  the 
way.    There  was  a  sudden  change  in  the  atmosphere,  when  the  general's  boat  was  discovered  at  Prescott,  and  almost 
fifty  24-pound  shot  were  fired  at  her,  without  effect.    The  gleaming  of  bayonets  on  shore,  in  the  light  of  the  moon  in 
the  west,  caused  a  heavy  cannonade  in  the  direction  of  the  American  troops  on  the  march,  also  without  effect.    Brown 
halted  the  flotilla  until  the  moon  went  down,  but  its  general  movement  was  perceived  by  the  enemy.    For  three  hours 
they  poured  a  destructive  fire  upon  it,  and  yet,  out  of  about  three  hundred  boats,  not  one  was  touched,  and  only  one 
man  was  killed  and  two  wounded.— General  Wilkinson's  Journal,  November  6, 1813. 

According  to  the  statement  of  Captain  Mordecai  Myers,  already  referred  to  (note  1,  page  646),  there  were  traitors  in 
Ogdensburg.  He  says  that  the  British  at  Prescott  were  apprised  of  the  approach  of  the  flotilla  by  the  burning  of  blue 
lights  in  one  or  more  houses  in  Ogdensburg. 

*  Matilda  is  a  post  village  in  Dundas  County,  Canada  West,  on  the  Point  Iroquois  Canal.  The  "White  House"  had 
disappeared  when  I  visited  the  spot  in  1855,  when  the  place  belonged  to  James  Parlor. 

5  Colonel  Swift  employed  a  secret  agent,  who  reported  to  him  that  the  enemy's  forces  were  as  follows  in  number  and 
position :  600  under  Colonel  Murray,  at  Coteau  du  Lac,  strongly  fortified  with  artillery;  about  300  men  of  the  British 
line  of  artillery,  but  without  ammunition,  at  the  Cedars  ;  200  sailors,  400  marines,  and  an  unknown  number  of  militia  at 
Montreal,  with  no  fortifications ;  2500  regular  troops  expected  daily  from  Quebec ;  and  the  militia  between  Kingston 
and  Quebec,  20,000.  Wilkinson  reported  his  own  force  to  be  7000  men,  and  that  he  expected  to  meet  4000,  under  Hamp 
ton,  at  St.  Regis.— Journal  of  Dr.  Ainasa  Trowbridge,  quoted  by  Dr.  Hough  in  his  History  of  St.  Lawrence  Cuunty,  page  639. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  651 


General  Brown  invades  Canada.  Wilkinson  in  Peril.  Preparations  for  Battle  at  Chrysler's  Farm. 

General  Brown  was  at  once  ordered  to  cross  the  river  with  his  brigade  and  the  dra 
goons,  for  the  purpose  of  marching  down  the  Canada  side  of  the  river  in  connection 
with  Colonel  Macomb,  and  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  night  was  consumed  in  the 
transportation.1  Meanwhile  Wilkinson  was  informed  that  a  British  re-enforcement, 
full  one  thousand  strong,  had  been  sent  down  from  Kingston  to  Prescott,  under  the 
command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Morrison.  They  had  come  in  the  armed  schooners 
Beresford  and  Sidney  Smith,  and  several  gun-boats  and  bateaux  under  Captain  Mul- 
caster,  which  had  eluded  Chauncey's  inefficient  blockading  squadron.  They  were 
joined  at  Prescott  by  provincial  infantry  and  dragoons  under  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Pearson,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  they  were  close  upon  Wilkinson  with  the 
vessels  in  which  they  came  down  the  river,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  land  troops 
were  debarked  near  Matilda  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  the  Americans.  General 
Boyd  and  his  brigade  were  now  detached  to  re-enforce  Brown,  with  orders  to  cover 
his  march,  to  attack  the  pursuing  enemy  if  necessary,  and  to  co-operate  with  the 
other  commanders. 

Wilkinson  now  found  himself  in  a  perilous  position.  The  British  armed  vessels 
were  following  his  flotilla,  and  a  heavy  British  force  was  hanging  upon  the  rear  of 
his  land  troops,  ready  to  co-operate  with  the  water  craft  in  an  attack  upon  the  Amer 
icans.  They  constantly  harassed  Brown  and  Boyd,  and  occasionally  attacked  the 
rear  of  the  flotilla.  The  forces  on  the  shore  also  encountered  detachments  coming 

O 

up  from  below,  and  were  compelled  to  make  some  long  and  tedious  circuits  in  their 
march  because  of  the  destruction  of  bridges  in  the  front. 

On  the  morning  of  the  10th,a  when  Wilkinson  was  approaching  the     » November, 
"  Longue  Saut,"  a  perilous  rapid  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  eight  miles  in  extent, 
he  was  informed  that  a  considerable  body  of  the  enemy  had  collected  near  its  foot, 
constructed  a  block-house,  and  were  prepared  to  attack  him  when  he  should  come 
down.     General  Brown  was  ordered  to  advance  at  once  and  dislodge  them,  and  at 

O  7 

noon  cannonading  was  heard  in  that  direction  for  some  time.  At  the  same  hour  the 
enemy  came  pressing  upon  Wilkinson's  rear,  and  commenced  cannonading  from  his 
gun-boats.  The  American  gun-barges  were  so  slender  that  the  eighteen-pounders 
could  not  be  worked  effectively,-so  they  were  landed,  placed  in  battery,  and  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  enemy  so  skillfully  that  his  vessels  fled  in  haste  up  the  river.  In 
these  operations  the  day  was  mostly  consumed.  The  pilots  were  unwilling  to  enter 
the  rapids  at  night.  It  was  necessary  to  hear  from  Brown,  for  when  the  flotilla 
should  once  be  committed  to  the  swift  current  of  the  rapids  there  could  be  no  retreat. 
These  considerations  caused  Wilkinson  to  halt  for  the  night,  and  his  vessels  were 
moored  a  little  below  Chrysler's  Island,  nearly  in  front  of  the  farm  of  John  Chrysler 
(a  British  militia  captain  then  in  the  service),  a  few  miles  below  Williamsburg,  while 
Boyd,  with  the  rear  of  the  land  force,  encamped  near. 

At  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  llth  Wilkinson  received  a  dispatch  from 
Brown,  addressed  from  "  five  miles  above  Cornwall,"  announcing  his  success  in  his 
attack  upon  the  British  post  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  informing  him  of  the  wounding 
of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Forsyth  and  one  of  his  men,  and  urging  him  to  come  forward 
with  the  boats  and  supplies  as  quickly  as  possible,  because  his  wearied  troops  were 
"  without  covering  in  the  rain."2  This  dispatch  found  Wilkinson  extremely  ill,  and 
his  reply,  in  which  he  told  Brown  of  the  presence  of  the  enemy  upon  his  rear,  and  his 
apprehensions  that  he  intended  to  pass  him  with  his  gun-boats  and  strengthen  the 
British  force  below,  was  addressed  "  From  my  bed."  "  It  is  now,"  he  said,  "  that  I 
feel  the  heavy  hand  of  disease — enfeebled  and  confined  to  my  bed  while  the  safety 

1  A  part  of  this  force  landed  on  the  property  of  Christian  Delabough,  near  Matilda,  owned,  in  1S55,  by  Daniel  Shaw. 
Another  portion  landed  at  Snyder's,  now  Pillar's  Bay. 

2  General  Brown's  MS.  Letter-book.    Colonel  Carr,  in  his  MS.  Journal  before  me,  says :  "We  are  wet  to  the  skin,  and, 
having  no  tents  or  shelter  but  bushes,  must  pass  a  very  uncomfortable  night."    Dated  "Near  Cornwall,  November  10, 
10  P.M." 


652 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Position  of  the  British  on  Chrysler's  Farm. 


Character  of  the  Ground. 


Assault  on  the  British  Vanguard. 


OIIKYBLEK'S  IN  1855. 

of  the  army  intrusted  to  my  command,  the  honor  of  our  armies,  and  the  greatest  in 
terests  of  our  country  are  at  hazard."2 

Wilkinson  now  ordered  the  flotilla  to  proceed,  and  Boyd  and  his  command  to  re 
sume  their  march.  At  that  moment  information  reached  the  commanding  general 
that  the  enemy  were  advancing  in  column,  and  that  firing  from  their  gun-boats  was 
heard.  He  immediately  sent  Colonel  Swift  with  an  order  for  Boyd  to  form  his  de 
tachment  into  three  columns,  advance  upon  the  enemy,  and  endeavor  to  outflank  him 
and  capture  his  cannon.  At  the  same  time  the  flotilla  was  ordered  to  lie  moored  on 
the  Canada  shore,  just  below  Weaver's  Point,  while  his  gun-boats  lay  off' Cook's  Point. 

The  brave  Boyd,  anx 
ious  for  battle,  instantly 
obeyed.  Swartwoutwas 
detached  with  the  fourth 
brigade  to  assail  the  van 
guard  of  the  enemy, 
which  was  composed  of 
light  troops,  and  Cov- 
ington  was  directed  to  take  position  at  supporting  distance  from  him  with  the  third 
brigade.  Swartwout,  on  a  large  brown  horse,  dashed  gallantly  into  woods  of  second 
growth,  followed  by  the  Twenty-first  Regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  E.  W.  Ripley, 
and  with  them  drove  the  light  troops  of  the  enemy  back  upon  their  main  line  in  open 
fields  on  Chrysler's  farm,  below  his  house.3  That  line  was  well  posted,  its  right  rest 
ing  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  covered  by  Mulcaster's  gun-boats,  and  the  left  on  a 
black-oak  swamp,  supported  by  Indians  and  gathering  militia,  under  Colonel  Thomas 
Fraser.  They  were  advantageously  formed  back  of  ravines  that  intersected  the  ex 
tensive  plain  and  rendered  the  advance  of  the  American  artillery  almost  impossible, 
and  a  heavy  rail-fence.4 

1  This  is  a  view  of  Chrysler's  house  and  the  outbuildings  as  they  appeared  when  I  visited  the  spot  in  August,  1855,  a 
cirumstance  to  be  noticed  presently.  The  house  fronted  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  road,  in  which  the  oxen  and  cart  are 
seen,  is  the  fine  highway  along  the  river  from  Cornwall  to  Prescott.  2  General  Brown's  MS.  Letter-book. 

3  This  conflict  is  usually  called  the  battle  of  Chrysler's  Field.  It  is  sometimes  called  the  battle  of  Williamsbnrg,  that 
village  being  almost  within  cannon-shot  range  of  the  battle-field.  Chrysler's  name  is  frequently  spelled  with  a  t. 

*  The  British  army,  on  this  occasion,  was  slightly  superior  in  numbers,  counting  its  Indian  allies,  to  the  Americans, 
and  had  the  double  advantage  of  strong  position  behind  ravines  and  of  freshness,  for  the  Americans  had  undergone 
great  fatigue.  They  were  formed  in  what  Wellington  called  en  echelon,  or  the  figure  of  steps,  with  one  corps  more  ad 
vanced  than  another,  as  follows :  Three  companies  of  the  Eighty-ninth  Regiment  were  posted  on  the  extreme  right, 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  653 


Battle  on  Chrysler's  Farm.  Incidents  of  the  Contest.  The  Americans  repulsed. 

Swartwout's  sudden  and  successful  dash  was  quickly  followed  by  an  attack  on  the 
enemy's  left  by  the  whole  of  the  fourth  brigade,  and  a  part  of  the  first,  under  Colonel 
Coles,  who  advanced  across  plowed  fields,  knee-deep  in  mud,  in  the  face  of  a  heavy 
shower  of  bullets  and  shrapnel-shells.1  At  the  same  time  General  Covington,  mount 
ed  on  a  fine  white  horse,  gallantly  led  the  third  brigade  against  the  enemy's  left,  near 
the  river,  and  the  battle  became  general.  By  charge  after  charge,  in  the  midst  of 
difficulties,  the  British  were  pushed  back  almost  a  mile,  and  the  American  cannon, 
placed  in  fair  position  by  General  Boyd,  under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Swift,  did 
excellent  execution  for  a  few  minutes.  The  squadron  of  the  Second  Regiment  of 
Dragoons  was  early  on  the  field,  and  much  exposed  to  the  enemy's  fire,  but,  owing 
to  the  nature  of  the  gi-ound,  was  unable  to  accomplish  much.  At  length  Covington 
fell,  severely  wounded,2  and  the  ammunition  of  the  Americans  began  to  fail.  It  was 
soon  exhausted,  and  the  fourth  brigade,  hard  pushed,  fell  back,  followed  by  Colonel 
J.  A.  Coles.  This  retrograde  movement  affected  the  third 
brigade,  and  it  too  fell  back,  in  considerable  disorder.  The 
British  perceived  this,  and  followed  up  the  advantage  gained 
with  great  vigor,  and  were  endeavoring  by  a  flank  movement 
to  capture  Boyd's  cannon,  when  a  gallant  charge  of  cavalry, 
led  by  Adjutant  General  Walbach,  who  had  obtained  Arm 
strong's  permission  to  accompany  the  expedition,  drove 
them  back  and  saved  the  pieces.  The  effort  was  re 
newed.  Lieutenant  Smith,  who  commanded  one  of  the 
cannon,  was  mortally  wounded,  and  it  fell  into  the  ene 
my's  hands.3 

The  conflict  had  lasted  about  five  hours,  in  the  midst  of  cold,  and  snow,  and  sleet, 
when  the  Americans  were  compelled  to  fall  back.  During  that  time  victory  had 
swayed,  like  a  pendulum,  between  the  combatants,  and  would  doubtless  have  rested 
with  the  Americans  had  their  ammunition  held  out.  Their  retreat  was  promising  to 
be  a  rout,  when  the  flying  troops  were  met  by  six  hundred  men  under  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Timothy  Upham,4  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment  of  Infantry,  and  Major  Mal 
colm,  whom  Wilkinson  had  sent  up  to  the  support  of  Boyd.  These  checked  the  dis 
orderly  flight,  and,  taking  position  on  the  ground  from  which  Boyd's  force  had  been 
driven,  they  gallantly  attacked  the  enemy,  seized  the  principal  ravine,  and,  with  a  se 
vere  fire  at  short  musket  range,  drove  the  British  back  and  saved  tlie  day.5  Mean 
while  Boyd  had  reformed  his  line  in  battle  order  on  the  edge  of  the  wood  from  which 
Swartwout  drove  the  foe  at  the  beginning,  and  there  awaited  another  attack.  It  was 
not  made.  Both  parties  seemed  willing  to  make  the  excuse  of  oncoming  darkness  a 
warrant  for  suspending  farther  fighting.  The  Americans,  under  cover  of  night,  re 
tired  unmolested  to  their  boats,  and  the  British  remained  upon  the  field.  Neither 
party  had  gained  a  victory,  but  the  advantage  was  with  the  British.6 

resting  on  the  river,  with  a  6-ponnder,  and  commanded  by  Captain  Barnes  On  their  left,  and  a  little  in  the  rear,  were 
flanking  companies  of  the  Forty-ninth  and  a  detachment  of  fencibles,  with  a  6-pounder,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Pear 
son.  Still  further  to  the  left  and  rear  were  other  companies  of  the  Forty-ninth  and  Eighty-ninth  Regiments,  and  a  C- 
pounder,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Morrison,  whose  left  rested  on  a  pine  forest.  In  front  of  all  were  voltigeurs,  under 
Major  Harriott,  and  some  Indians,  under  Lieutenant  Anderson. 

1  Shells  containing  a  quantity  of  musket-balls,  which,  when  the  shell  explodes,  are  projected  still  farther. 

»  Covington  was  killed  a  short  distance  from  Chrysler's  barn  (see  picture  on  page  052),  which  was  yet  standing,  well 
bored  by  bullets,  when  I  visited  the  battle-ground  in  1855.  The  British  fired  from  that  barn,  and  it  is  believed  that  a 
bullet  from  it  was  the  one  fatal  to  the  general.  The  place  where  he  fell  was  on  the  site  of  a  nursery  of  thrifty  trees  in 
1855. 

3  William  Wallace  Smith  was  a  cadet  in  1809.  He  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey.  He  was  commissioned  second  lieu 
tenant  of  light  artillery  on  the  1st  of  June,  1812,  and  promoted  to  first  lieutenant  in  October,  1813.  In  the  battle  on 
Chrysler's  Field  he  was  serving  his  field-piece  himself,  having  lost  all  of  his  men,  when  he  was  mortally  wounded.  He 
died,  a  prisoner,  at  Fort  Prescott,  on  the  13th  of  December,  1813. 

*  Upham  was  a  gallant  soldier.    We  shall  meet  him  again  on  the  Niagara  frontier. 

5  MS.  sketch  of  the  military  career  of  Colonel  Timothy  Upham,  by  an  officer  of  the  army. 

6  Official  dispatches  of  Wilkinson  and  Boyd,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Morrison  ;  Wilkinson's  Journal ;  Life  of  General 
Macomb,  by  Captain  George  H.  Richards  ;  General  Brown's  MS.  letter-book ;  Colonel  Robert  Carr's  MS.  journal ;  the 


654 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  American  Flotilla  descends  the  St.  Lawrence. 


Bad  Conduct  of  General  Hampton. 


On  the  morning 
after  the  battle  the 
flotilla  and  gun-boats 
passed  safely  down 
the  Long  Rapids 
without  discovering 
any  signs  of  an  ene 
my,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  land  troops 
marched  in  the  same 
direction  unmolest 
ed.  At  Barnhart's, 
three  miles  above 
Cornwall,  they  form 
ed  a  junction  with 
the  forces  under  Gen 
eral  Brown,  and  Wil 
kinson  expected  to 
hear  of  the  arrival  of 
Hampton  at  St.  Re 
gis,  on  the  opposite  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  But  he  was  disappointed.  General 
Brown  had  written  to  Hampton  the  day  before  informing  him  of  rumors  of  a  battle 
above,  and  saying, "  My  own  opinion  is,  you  can  not  be  with  us  too  soon,"  and  beg 
ging  him  to  inform  the  writer  by  the  bearer  when  he  might  be  expected  at  St.  Regis.1 
Soon  after  Wilkinson's  arrival,  Colonel  Atkinson,  Hampton's  inspector  general,  ap 
peared  as  the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  his  chief,  dated  the  llth,  in  which  the  command 
er  of  the  left  of  the  grand  army  of  the  North,  who  had  fallen  back  to  Chateaugay 
Four  Corners,  declared  his  intention  not  to  join  Wilkinson  at  all,  but  to  co-operate 
in  the  attack  on  Montreal  by  returning  to  Champlain  and  making  a  descent  from  that 
place.2  Wilkinson  was  enraged,  and  declared  that  he  would  "  arrest  Hampton,  and 
direct  Izard  to  bring  forward  the  division."  He  was  too  feeble  in  mind  and  body  to 
execute  his  threat,  or  do  any  thing  that  required  energy;  and,  after  uttering  a  few 

various  published  HistBries  of  the  War;  oral  statements  to  the  author  in  1855  by  Peter  Brouse,  a  surviving  British  sol 
dier  in  the  battle,  living  near  the  ground ;  Dr.  Amasa  Trowbriclge's  narrative,  quoted  by  Hough. 

The  loss  of  the  British  in  this  engagement  was  22  killed,  150  wounded,  and  15  missing.  The  Americans  lost  102 
killed  and  23T  wounded.  Among  the  killed  and  mortally  wounded  were  General  Covington,  and  Lieutenants  Smith, 
Hunter,  and  Olmstead  ;  and  their  wounded  officers  were  Colonel  Preston.  Majors  Chambers,  Cummings,  and  Noon,  Cap 
tains  Foster,  Campbell,  Myers,  Murdoch,  and  Townsend,  and  Lieutenants  Heaton,  Pelham,  Lynch,  Williams,  Brown, 
and  Crary.  Among  the  officers  specially  mentioned  with  praise  were  General  Covington,  Colonel  Pearce,  who  took 
command  of  his  corps  when  he  fell,  Colonels  E.  P.  Gaines,  E.  W.  Ripley,  and  Walbach,  Lieutenant  Colonel  As-pinwall, 
Majors  Cummings,  Morgan,  Grafton,  and  Gardner,  and  Lieutenants  Whiting  (his  aid)  and  (late  Major  General)  W.  J. 
Worth. 

The  wounded  in  the  battle  were  placed  in  barns  and  log  houses,  and  the  mansion  of  Chrysler  was  made  a  hospital.  A 
bullet  passed  through  Captain  Myers's  arm,  near  his  shoulder,  while  at  the  head  of  his  men  in  assailing  the  British  be 
hind  the  stone  wall.  The  dcsperateness  of  the  encounter  may  be  conceived  when  the  fact  is  stated  that  of  89  men  he 
lost  23.  He  shared  General  Boyd's  quarters  at  French  Mills.  Dr.  Man,  a  noted  physician,  took  him  to  his  house,  ten 
miles  distant,  where  he  remained  four  months.  He  there  became  acquainted  with  the  daughter  of  Judge  William  Bai 
ley,  of  Plattsbnrg,  and  in  March  following  they  were  married  in  that  town. 

Mordecai  Myers  was  born  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  on  the  1st  of  May,  1776,  and  is  now  (1SC7)  in  the  ninety-second 
year  of  his  age.  He  was  educated  in  New  York  City,  and  became  a  merchant  in 
Richmond,  Virginia.  There  he  served  in  a  military  company  under  Colonel  (aft 
erward  Chief  Justice)  Marshall.  He  soon  returned  to  New  York,  engaged  in  bns- 
iness  there,  and  served  in  an  artillery  company  under  the  command  of  Captain 
John  Swartwout.  He  was  afterward  commissioned  an  officer  of  infantry,  and  for 
two  years  studied  military  tactics  assiduously.  When  war  was  threatened  he  was 
active  in  raising  volunteer  companies,  and  in  March,  lS12,'he  was  commissioned  a 
captain  in  the  Thirteenth  United  States  Infantry,  and  ordered  to  report  to  Colonel  Peter  B.  Schuyler.  During  the  war 
he  performed  laborious  and  gallant  services  under  several  commanders  in  the  Northern  Department,  and  in  1815  the 
disability  produced  by  his  wound  caused  him  to  be  disbanded  and  placed  on  the  pension  roll  for  the  half  pay  of  a  cap 
tain.  Then  ended  his  military  career.  He  has  resided  many  years  in  Schenectady.  He  has  been  mayor  of  that  city,  and 
represented  New  York  city  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State  for  six  years.  i  Brown's  MS.  Letter-book. 

2  Letter  of  General  J.  G.  Swift  to  the  author  of  this  work,  dated  "  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  February  13,  I860." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


655 


The  American  Army  at  the  French  Mills. 


Character  of  its  chief  Leaders. 


Hampton  censured. 


1813. 


curses,  he  called  a  council  of  war,  and  left  Hampton  to  do  as  he  pleased.  That  coun 
cil  decided  that  the  "conduct  of  Major  General  Hampton,  in  refusing  to  join  his  di 
vision  to  the  troops  descending  the  St.  Lawrence,  rendered  it  expedient  to  remove 
the  army  to  French  Mills,  on  the  Salmon  River."1  "  The  opinion  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  council  was,"  says  General  Swift, "  that,  with  Brown  as  a  leader,  no 
character  would  be  lost  in  going  on  to  Montreal  ;"2  but  the  majority  said  no,  and  on 
the  following  day,a  at  noon,  when  information  came  that  there  was  a  "November  13 
considerable  British  force  at  Co'teau  du  Lac,  the  foot  soldiers  and  ar 
tillerymen  were  all  em 
barked  on  the  transports, 
under  the  direction  of 
General  Brown,  and  de 
parted  for  the  Salmon.3 
The  horses  of  the  dra 
goons,  excepting  about 
forty,  were  made  to  swim 
across  the  cold  and  rap 
idly-flowing  river,  there 
a  thousand  yards  wide, 
and  the  squadron  pro 
ceeded  to  Utica.  The 
flotilla  passed  up  the  Big 
Salmon  River  about  six 
miles  to  its  confluence 
with  the  Little  Salmon, 
near  the  French  Mills, 
when  it  was  announced 
that  the  boats  were  scuttled,  and  the  army  was  to  go  into  winter  quarters  in  huts.5 

Thus  ended  in  disaster  and  disgrace  an  expedition  which,  in  its  inception,  prom 
ised  great  and  salutary  results.  It  was  composed  of  brave  and  patriotic  men ;  and 
justice  to  those  men  requires  the  humiliating  confession  from  the  historian  that  their 
failure  to  achieve  complete  success  is  justly  chargeable  to  the  incompetency  of  the 
chief  commanders,  and  the  criminal  indulgence  on  the  part  of  those  commanders  of 
personal  jealousies  and  animosities.  The  appointment  of  Wilkinson  to  the  command 
of  the  Northern  Army  was  a  criminal  blunder  on  the  part  of  the  government.  His 
antecedents  were  well  known,  and  did  not  recommend  him  for  a  responsible  position. 
The  weakness  of  his  patriotism  under  temptation,  and  his  too  free  indulgence  in  in 
toxicating  liquors,  were  notorious.  Hampton  was  totally  unfitted  for  the  responsible 
station  in  which  he  was  placed  ;6  and  Armstrong,  who  was  a  fellow-soldier  with  them 
both  in  the  old  War  for  Independence,  lacked  some  of  the  qualities  most  essential  in 
the  administration  of  the  extraordinary  functions  of  his  office  in  time  of  war.  His 
presence  on  the  frontier  during  the  progress  of  the  expedition  was  doubtless  detri 
mental  to  the  service,  and  he  left  for  the  seat  of  government  at  a  moment  when  the 
counsel  and  direction  of  a  judicious  Secretary  of  War  was  most  needed.7 


PLACE   OF  DEBARKATION   ON   TUB   SALMON    1UVEE.4 


1  "  The  grounds  on  which  this  decision  was  taken  were— want  of  bread,  want  of  meat,  want  of  Hampton's  division, 
and  a  belief  that  the  enemy's  force  was  equal,  if  not  greater  than  our  own."— General  J.  G.  Swift  to  General  John  Arm 
strong,  June  17, 1836.  2  General  Swift's  Letter  to  General  Armstrong,  June  17, 1836. 

3  In  a  general  order  issued  on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  General  Wilkinson  said,  "  The  commander-in-chief  is  com 
pelled  to  retire  [from  the  Canada  shore]  by  the  extraordinary,  unexpected,  and,  it  appears,  unwarrantable  conduct  of 
Major  General  Hampton  in  refusing  to  join  this  army  with  a  division  of  four  thousand  men  under  his  command  agree 
able  to  positive  orders  from  the  commander-in-chief,  and,  as  he  has  been  assured  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  of  explicit  in 
structions  from  the  War  Department." 

*  This  is  a  view  of  the  place  where  Wilkinson's  flotilla  was  moored.  The  boats  were  soon  frozen  in  the  ice,  and  in 
February,  apprehensions  being  felt  of  their  capture  by  the  enemy,  they  were  cut  and  burnt  down  even  with  the  surface 
of  the  ice,  and  sunk  when  it  melted  in  the  spring.  5  Colonel  Robert  Carr's  MS.  Diary.  6  See  page  630. 

7  On  the  24th  of  November,  General  Brown,  then  in  command  of  the  army  at  French  Mills,  wrote,  with  considerable 


656 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Death  and  Burial  of  General  Covington.         Head-quarters  of  General  Officers.         Hampton's  Disobedience  of  Orders. 

On  arriving  at  Salmon  River  the  army 
was  immediately  debarked  on  the  frozen 
shores,  and  set  to  work  in  the  construction 
of  huts  for  winter  quarters.  Their  first  la 
bor  was  the  sad  task  of  digging  a  grave 
for  the  remains  of  General  Covington.  He 
was  shot  through  the  body  on  the  llth, 
and  died  at  Barnhart's  on  the  morning  of 
the  13th,  just  before  the  flotilla  departed 
for  French  Mills.1  Wilkinson  at  once  left 
for  Malone,  after  transferring  the  command 
•  November  ic,  of  the  army  to  General  Lewis,a 
who,  with  General  Boyd,  made 


1813. 


BBOWN'S   HEAD-QUARTERS. 


LEWIS'S  AWD  BOTD'S  HEAD-QUARTERS. 

his  head-quarters  at  a  long,  low  building, 
yet  standing  in  1860,  a  dingy  red  in  color, 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Salmon,  near  the 
present  lower  bridge  over  the  river  at 
French  Mills  or  Fort  Covington.2  Lewis 
and  Boyd  obtained  leave  of  absence,  and 
the  command  of  the  army  devolved  upon 
Brigadier  General  Brown,  who  made  his 
head-quarters  on  the  right  bank  of  the  riv 
er,  in  a  house  built  by  Spaftbrd  in  1811 
(store  of  P.  A.  Mathews  in  1860,  corner  of 
Water  and  Chateaugay  Streets),  and  there 
he  received  his  commission1*  of  t>  February  it, 
major  general  of  the  United 
States  Army.  Hampton,  in  the  mean  time,  had  retired  to  Plattsburg  with  his  four 
thousand  men.  By  special  orders,  sent  from  Malone  by  the  hand  of  Colonel  Swift 
(when  on  his  way  to  Washington  with  dispatches),3  Wilkinson  directed  Hampton  to 
join  the  army  at  French  Mills.  This,  like  other  orders,  were  utterly  disregarded  by 

feeling  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  saying,  "  5fou  have  learned  that  the  grand  army  of  the  United  States,  after  marching 
and  countermarching  most  ingloriously,  arrived  at  this  place  on  the  13th  instant.  I  must  not  express  to  yon  my  indig 
nation  and  sorrow.  I  did  not  expect  you  would  have  left  us."  In  the  same  letter  he  said,  "  Colonel  Scott  will  hand  yon 
this,  and  can  give  you  all  the  information  you  wish  relative  to  our  movements  since  he  joined  us  [see  page  G3'2],  and 
the  present  situation  of  our  army.  The  public  interest  would  be  promoted  by  the  advancement  of  such  men  as  Scott." 
— MS.  Letter-book. 

1  Leonard  Coviugton  was  a  brave  soldier.    He  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  born  in  October,  1709.    In  1792  he  was 
a  cornet  of  cavalry,  and  was  distinguished  for  bravery  under  Wayne  in  the  defense  of  Port  Recovery  (see  page  52)  in 
June,  1794.    He  was  in  the  battle  at  the  Maumee  Rapids  in  August  following,  where  Wayne  achieved  a  victory  over  the 
Indians.    At  the  time  of  the  first  engagement  he  held  the  commission  of  lieutenant ;  in  the  last  he  was  capt^n.    He 
resigned  in  1795.    From  1805  to  1807  he  represented  a  district  of  his  native  state  in  the  National  Congress.    In  1809  he 
was  commissioned  colonel  of  light  dragoons,  and  in  August,  1813,  was  breveted  brigadier  general.    He  accompanied 
Wilkinson  in  his  unfortunate  expedition  that  ended  at  the  French  Mills.    At  the  time  of  his  death,  on  the  13th  of  No 
vember,  1813,  he  was  about  forty-five  years  of  age. 

2  There  was  a  block-house  at  French  Mills  situated  on  the  property,  owned,  when  I  visited  there  in  1860,  by  Mr. 
M'Crea.    General  Covington's  body  was  buried  just  outside  of  the  block-house,  in  the  present  garden  of  Mr.  M'Crea. 
There  also  was  buried  the  remains  of  Major  John  Johnson,  of  the  Twenty-first  Infantry,*  who  died  at  the  station  on  the 
llth  of  December,  1813.    The  block-house  was  named  Fort  Covington  in  honor  of  the  slain  general,  and  the  village 
that  grew  up  around  the  French  Mills  was  also  called  Fort  Coviugton.    The  place  was  first  settled  by  a  few  French 
Canadians,  who  built  mills  there,  and  from  this  circumstance  it  was  called  French  Mills  until  after  the  war. 

3  "I  found  Mr.  Madison  much  grieved  by  the  failure  of  the  campaign,"  General  Swift  wrote  to  the  author  in  Febru 
ary,  I860.    "It  was  generally  believed  that,  had  younger  officers  been  placed  in  command  of  the  armies  of  Wilkinson 
and  Hampton,  Montreal  would  have  been  taken  without  the  inconsequential  conflict  at  Chrysler's  Field,  though  that 
affair  gave  distinction  to  several  officers  for  meritorious  services."    Major  Totten  succeeded  Colonel  Swift  as  chief  en 
gineer  after  he  left,  of  whom  Brown  spoke  in  the  highest  terms. 

*  Major  Johnson  was  from  Pennsylvania.  He  entered  the  service  as  a  marine  in  1800,  and  was  first  lieutenant  under 
Preble  at  Tripoli  in  1804.  In  April,  1S13,  he  was  assistant  adjutant  general  with  the  rank  of  major.  In  June  he  was 
commissioned  major. 


OF   THE    WAR,    OF    1812.  657 

The  Army  relieved  of  Hampton's  Presence.       Sufferings  of  the  Army  at  the  French  Mills.       Departure  of  the  Troops. 

Hampton.  He  had  accomplished  the  defeat  of  efforts  to  take  Canada,1  and,  leaving 
General  Izard,  of  South  Carolina,  in  command,  he  abandoned  the  service,  and  returned 
to  his  immense  sugar  plantations  in  Louisiana,2  followed  by  the  contempt  of  all  vir 
tuous  and  patriotic  men. 

General  Brown  at  once  adopted  measures  for  making  the  troops  as  comfortable  as 
possible.  Huts  were  constructed,  but  this  was  a  work  of  much  labor,  and  consumed 
several  weeks.  Meanwhile  severe  winter  weather  came.  They  were  on  the  forty- 
fifth  parallel,  and  at  the  beginning  of  December  the  cold  became  intense.  Most  of 
the  soldiers  had  lost  their  blankets  and  extra  clothing  in  the  disasters  near  Grenadier 
Island,  or  in  the  battle  on  Chrysler's  Field.  Even  the  sick  had  no  shelter  but  tents. 
The  country  in  the  vicinity  was  a  wilderness,  and  provisions  were  not  only  scarce, 
but  of  inferior  quality.  A  great  quantity  of  medicines  and  hospital  stores  had  been 
lost  through  mismanagement,  and  these  could  not  be  procured  short  of  Albany,  a  dis 
tance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  The  mortality  among  the  sick  became  fright 
ful,  and  disease  prostrated  nearly  one  half  of  the  little  army  before  they  were  fairly 
housed  in  well-regulated  cantonments.3  Taking  advantage  of  this  distress,  British 
emissaries  tried,  by  the  circulation  of  written  and  printed  placards,  to  seduce  the  suf 
fering  soldiers  from  their  allegiance.  One  of  these  written  placards  (see  a  fac-simile 
on  the  next  page),  found  one  morning  upon  a  tree  in  one  of  the  American  camps,  and 
presented  to  me  by  Colonel  Carr,  reads  thus : 

"NOTICE. — All  American  Soldiers  who  may  wish  to  quit  the  unnatural  war  in 
which  they  are  at  present  engaged  will  receive  the  arrears  due  to  them  by  the  Amer 
ican  Government  to  the  extent  of  five  month's  pay,  on  their  arrival  at  the  British  out 
Posts.  No  man  shall  be  required  to  serve  against  his  own  country." 

It  is  believed  that  not  a  single  soldier  of  American  birth  was  enticed  away  by  such 
allurements. 

The  enemy  frequently  menaced  the  cantonment  at  French  Mills,  as  well  as  at 
Plattsburg,  and  toward  the  close  of  January  Wilkinson  received  orders  from  the  War 
Department  to  break  up  the  post  on  Salmon  River.  Early  in  February  the  move 
ment  was  made.  The  flotilla  wras  destroyed  as  fully  as  the  ice  in  which  it  Avas  frozen 
would  permit,  and  the  barracks  were  consumed.  The  hospital  at  Malone  was  aban 
doned  ;  and  while  Brown,  with  a  larger  portion  of  the  troops,  marched  up  the  St.  Law 
rence  and  to  Sackett's  Harbor,  the  remainder  accompanied  the  commander-in-chief  to 
Plattsburg.  The  enemy  at  Cornwall  were  apprised  of  this  movement,  and  crossed 
the  river  on  the  ice  on  the  day  when  the  last  American  detachment  left  French  Mills. 
They  were  regulars,  Canadian  militia,  and  Indians,  and  plunder  seemed  to  be  their 
chief  object.  In  this  they  were  indulged,  and  the  abandoned  frontier  suffered  much. 
No  discrimination  seemed  to  be  made  between  public  and  private  property,  and  it 
was  estimated  that  at  least  two  hundred  barrels  of  provisions  were  carried  away. 

Thus  closed  the  events  of  the  campaign  of  1813  on  the  Northern  frontier. 

I  visited  the  theatre  of  the  scenes  described  in  this  chapter  partly  in  the  year  1855, 

1  See  note  3,  page  259. 

2  Hampton  had  immense  sugar  plantations  in  Louisiana,  and  was  doubtless  the  most  extensive  planter  and  wealthiest 
man  in  the  Southern  States.    He  owned  at  one  time  five  thousand  negro  slaves.    He  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina, 
and  was  born  in  1754.    He  was  an  active  partisan  soldier  with  Sumter  and  Marion.    In  1808  he  was  commissioned  a 
colonel  of  light  dragoons,  and  a  brigadier  general  in  1809.    On  the  2d  of  March,  1813,  he  was  promoted  to  major  general. 
His  inefficient  career  is  recorded  in  the  text.    In  April,  1814,  he  resigned  his  commission,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  North 
ern  Army,  with  whom  his  deportment  and  habits  had  made  him  unpopular.    He  died  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  on 
the  4th  of  February,  1835,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one  years. 

3  The  army  was  cantoned  as  follows  on  the  1st  of  January,  1814 : 

The  artillery,  under  Colonel  Alexander  Macomb,  of  the  Engineers,  at  the  block-house  on  Mr.  John  M'Crea's  property. 
The  wounded  from  Chrysler's  were  taken  into  the  block-house.  This  was  called  the  Centre  Camp.  The  East  Camp,  un 
der  the  charge  of  Colonel  E.  W.  Ripley,  was  on  Seth  Blanchard's  property.  The  North  Camp,  under  Colonel  James  Mil 
ler,  was  on  the  property  of  Allen  Lincoln.  The  West  Camp,  under  Colonel  Campbell,  was  on  W.  L.  Manning's  property. 
The  South  Camp  was  on  Hamlet  Mear's  property.  The  owners  above  mentioned  were  the  proprietors  of  the  land  when 
I  visited  Fort  Covington  in  the  summer  of  I860. 

TT 


C58 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Attempt  to  seduce  the  American  Soldiers  from  their  Allegiance. 


and  partly  in  1860.     In  the  evening  of  Monday,  the  23d  of  July,  in  the  latter  year,  I 
journeyed  with  a  friend,  as  already  mentioned  on  page  619,  from  Watertown  to  Cape 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


659 


Visit  to  Carleton  Island. 


Remains  of  Fortifications  there. 


Their  History. 


Vincent1  by  railway,  and  lodged  in  an  inn  connected  with  the  road  station  there, 
standing  on  the  margin  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  It  was  a  chilly  night.  The  next  morn 
ing  was  clear  and  blustering,  and  the  surface  of  the  river  was  dotted  with  the  white 
caps  of  the  waves.  After  an  early  breakfast  we  started  for  Carleton  Island,  three 
miles  down  the  St.  Lawrence,  in  a  skiff  rowed  by  a  son  of  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel. 
As  we  approached  the  rocky  bluff  at  the  head  of  the  island  we  observed  several  chim 
neys  standing  alone  (built  of  stone,  some  perfect,  some  half  in  ruins),  which  mark  the 
remains  of  strong  and  somewhat  extensive  fortifications  erected  there  by  both  the 
French  and  English  during  the  last  century,  that  post  being  a  key  to  the  internavi- 
gation  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  Lake  Ontario.  We  moored  our  boat  in  a  small 
sheltered  creek  by  which  the  head  of  the  island  is  made  a  pleasant  peninsula  of  eight 
or  ten  acres.  On  this  stand  the  residences  of  Mr.  Charles  Pluche,  an  intelligent  French 
Canadian  (who  owns  five  hundred  acres  of  the  western  end  of  the  island2),  and  of  his1 
brother.  That  creek  separates  the  peninsula  from  the  higher  bluff  on  which  the  ruins 
of  Fort  Carleton  are  seen.  Mr.  Pluche  kindly  accompanied  us  to  these  ruins  and 
other  interesting  places  near,  and,  but  for  the  increasing  violence  of  the  wind,  which 
became  almost  a  gale  at  noon,  our  visit  would  have  been  one  of  unmixed  satisfaction. 
The  ruins  of  Fort  Carleton  are  upon  the  most  elevated  portion  of  the  island,  and 
from  the  ramparts  may  be  viewed  some  of  the  most  picturesque  scenery  of  the  famous 
Thousand  Islands  and  the  New  York  shore.  At  what  precise  time  fortifications  were 
first  erected  there  is  not  positively  known.  The  English  found  it  quite  a  strongly 
fortified  post  at  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  Canada,  at  a  little  past  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  and,  perceiving  its  value  in  a  military  point  of  view  (for  it  commands  the 
main  channel  of  the  St.  Lawrence),  they  greatly  strengthened  it.3  They  occupied  it 
until  1812.  On  the  declaration  of  war  that  year  most  of  the  barracks  to  which  the 
now  standing  chimneys 
belonged  were  in  good 
order,  and  before  Cape 
Vincent  was  settled  two 
or  three  families  resided 
on  the  island.  A  garri 
son,  composed  of  a  ser 
geant  and  three  invalid 
soldiers,  and  two  women, 
occupied  the  fort  when 
the  war  broke  out.  As 
soon,  as  intelligence  of 
the  declaration  reached 
the  frontier,  Captain  Ab- 
ner  Hubbard,  of  Hub- 
bard's  (now  Mill  en's) 
Bay,  a  soldier  of  the  Rev 
olution,  started  in  a  boat, 
with  a  man  and  boy,  to 


REMAINS  OF  FOBT  CARLETON.* 


1  This  was  known  as  Gravelly  Point  at  the  time  of  the  War  of  1812.    It  was  laid  out  as  a  village  in  1817.    It  is  the 
northernmost  town  of  Jefferson  County,  and  is  the  terminus  of  the  Rome,  Watertown,  and  Cape  Vincent  Railway.   From 
this  point  is  a  ferry  to  Kingston,  passing  through  Wolf  or  Grand  Island  by  a  canal  dug  for  the  purpose  a  few  years  ago. 
The  railway  wharf  is  3000  feet  in  length,  with  large  store-houses  and  a  grain-elevator. 

2  The  island  contains  1274  acres.    The  portion  here  alluded  to  was  a  military  class-right,  located  there  in  1786.    The 
island  forms  a  part  of  Cape  Vincent  Township,  Jefferson  County,  New  York.    The  island  received  its  name  from  Gov 
ernor  Sir  Guy  Carleton. 

3  Long,  in  his  Voyages,  printed  in  London,  1791,  after  speaking  of  Oswegatchie  (Ogdensburg),  says,  "  Carleton  is  higher 
up  the  river,  and  has  greater  conveniences  to  it  than  Oswegatchie,  having  an  excellent  harbor,  with  strong  fortifications, 
and  well  garrisoned,  excellent  accommodations  for  shipping,  a  naval  store-house  for  Niagara  and  other  ports." 

*  This  view  is  from  the  N.  N.  E.  point  of  the  fort,  and  shows  eight  of  the  nine  chimneys  yet  standing.    On  the  ex 
treme  right,  beyond  the  little  vessel,  is  seen  Cape  Vincent. 


1MUIA.N    AEilLKT. 


660  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

First  Seizure  of  a  Military  Post.          Interesting  Relics  on  Carleton  Island.          Perilous  Voyage  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

capture  Fort  Carleton.  He  succeeded,  and  this  was  the  first  seizure  of  a  military 
post  after  the  declaration  of  war.  He  sent  a  boat  on  the  following  day  to  bring  away 
the  stores,  and  soon  afterward  the  barracks  were  burned.  Nine  bare  chimneys  have 
stood  there  ever  since,  gray  and  solitary  tokens  of  change.  There  were  about  twenty 
originally  within  the  fort,  some  of  which  are  in  ruins.  There  were  also  chimneys  on 
the  little  peninsula  near  Mr.  Pluche's  house,  and  along  the  shore  northward,  where,  on 
a  fine  grassy  point,  vestiges  of  the  gardens  that  were  attached  to  the  officers'  quarters 
may  yet  be  seen.  The  moat  that  surrounded  the  fort  was  dug  in  the  rock,  and  so 
was  the  well  in  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  works. 

A  little  northward  of  the  fort  was  the  garrison  cemetery ;  and  beyond  this,  a  fourth 
of  a  mile  from  the  ramparts,  is  an  ancient  Indian  burial-ground,  in  a  grove  of  small 
trees  on  the  verge  of  the  river.  In  a  grave  that  was  opened  there  in  the  spring  of 
1860  was  found  the  skeleton  of  a  chief,  bearing  evidence  that  the  body  was  first 
wrapped  in  the  hide  of  a  buffalo,  then  swathed  in  birch-bark,  and  next  deposited  in  a 

board  coffin.  With  the  skeleton  was  found  a  sil 
ver  gorget,  on  which  was  engraved  a  running  deer ; 
also  a  fine  silver  armlet  (now  in  possession  of  the 
writer)  bearing  the  royal  arms  of  England,1  silver 
ear-rings,  and  other  trinkets.  Near  this  burial- 
ground  was  found,  the  year  before,  a  silver  medal 
given  by  the  British  government  to  Colonel  John 
Butler.  It  is  known  that  Butler  and  Sir  John 
Johnson  encamped,  with  the  Indians  from  the  Mo 
hawk  Valley,  on  Carleton  Island  in  1775,  when  on 
their  way  to  join  the  British  at  Montreal.  The 
medal  was  doubtless  lost  there  at  that  time,  and  the  chief  who  bore  the  armlet  and 
gorget  was  probably  one  of  the  expedition,  who  perished  there. 

After  partaking  of  some  refreshments  from  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Pluche  and  daughter, 
we  re-embarked  in  our  little  boat  at  noon.  The  wind  was  blowing  almost  a  gale 
from  the  direction  of  Lake  Ontario,  bringing  down  waves  that  made  the  voyage  a 
dangerous  one.  At  times,  when  in  the  trough,  we  could  not  see  the  land.  Our  oars 
man,  a  stout,  resolute  young  man,  labored  faithfully,  with  the  boat's  bow  up  stream, 
but  he  could  not  make  an  inch  of  headway  toward  Cape  Vincent ;  so,  after  heavy  ex 
ertions  and  some  anxiety,  we  were  driven  to  the  southern  shore  of  the  river,  at  a 
point  opposite  our  place  of  departure.  There  we  abandoned  the  boat  and  started  on 
foot  for  Cape  Vincent,  when  we  met  a  farmer,  with  his  wagon  and  rick,  going  to  his 
field  for  hay.  We  hired  him  to  take  us  to  the  Cape,  and  on  soft,  sweet  dried  grass 
we  lay  and  rested  in  the  cool  air  to  the  end  of  the  wagon  journey.  The  remainder 
of  the  afternoon  was  spent  at  the  Cape  in  strolling  about  the  little  village,  for  the 
river  was  too  rough  to  make  a  wished-for  voyage  to  Grenadier  Island  either  safe  or 
pleasant.  There  we  met  General  William  Estes,  AvJio  was  conspicuous  in  the  "  Patriot 
Wai*"  in  Canada  in  1838,  and  visited  the  dwelling  of  Dr.  Webb,  the  kitchen  part  of 
which  is  the  remnant  of  the  house  of  Richard  M.  Esseltyne,  which,  with  others,  was 
destroyed  by  the  British.  In  it  an  American  was  shot. 

We  lodged  at  Cape  Vincent  that  night,  and  at  five  o'clock  the  next  morning  departed 
in  a  lake  steamer  for  Clayton  (French  Creek),  sixteen  miles  below,  where  we  landed, 
and  breakfasted  at  the  "  Walton  House,"  kept  by  a  son  of  William  Johnston,  known 
among  his  British  contemporaries  in  1838  as  "the  Pirate  of  the  Thousand  Islands." 

i  This  armlet  is  little  more  than  ten  inches  in  length  and  two  and  a  half  in  width,  and  the  ornamentation  is  embossed 
•work.  In  addition  to  the  royal  arms  is  a  trophy  group,  composed  of  helmet  and  cuirass,  cannon,  spears,  and  banners, 
the  latter  bearing  the  letters  G.  E.,  the  monogram  of  the  king  ;  and  a  group  inclosed  within  branches  of  the  olive  and 
palm,  composed  of  a  crown  resting  upon  a  sword  and  sceptre  crossed.  These  armlets,  gorgets,  and  other  silver  orna 
ments  were  distributed  freely  among  the  Indian  chiefs  by  the  British  government,  as  one  of  the  means  of  securing  their 
loyalty.  The  gorget  was  always  suspended  from  the  neck,  and  rested  upon  the  upper  part  of  the  breast. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


661 


Visit  to  Rock  Island,  the  Home  of  Johnston  of  the  Thousand  Islands. 


Peel  Island  and  its  Associations. 


There  we  were  informed  that  the  hero  of  many  a  romantic  legend  of  the  frontier  was 
still  living,  in  the  light-house  of  which  he  was  keeper,  on  a  solitary  island  a  few  rods 
in  circumference,  five  miles  below,  where,  in  company  with  two  young  ladies — trav 
eling  companions — I  had  visited  him  two  years  before.  Hiring  a  boat,  and  a  good 
fisherman  as  oarsman,  we  set  out  after  breakfast  to  visit  Mr.  Johnston,  prepared  with 
fishing  tackle  to  indulge  in  sport  on  the  way.  "We  trolled  faithfully,  but  only  a  sol 
itary  pickerel  of  moderate  size  rewarded  our  watchfulness  of  the  lines.  Our  dreams 
of  mighty  masquelonges,  forty  pounds  in  weight,  which  some  young  ladies,  they  say, 
sometimes  "  hook,"  were  dispelled ;  but  the  kindly  oarsman  came  to  the  assistance 
of  our  humbled  pride  as  sportsmen  with  the  pleasant  suggestion  that  the  late  storm 
of  wind  had  so  roiled  the  water  that  "  nobody  couldn't  do  nothin'  at  fishin'  when  the 
creeturs  couldn't  see  the  spoon."  And  we  were  no  more  successful  in  catching  a  hero. 
Silence  reigned  on  Rock  Isl 
and.1  Not  a  living  thing  was 
seen.  Johnston  lived  there 
entirely  alone,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-eight  years.  He  was 
now  absent,  and  the  island 
was  deserted.2  After  making 
a  sketch  of  the  light-house  and 
its  locality,  we  left  in  disap 
pointment,  and  again  trolled 
unsuccessfully  as  we  floated 
down  the  current  about  two 
miles  to  Peel  Island,  the  scene 
of  Johnston's  exploit  which 
caused  him  to  be  declared  an 
outlaw  by  his  own  govern 
ment,  and  gave  him  the  name 
of  "Pirate."  This  exploit  was  the  destruction  of  the  British  mail  steamer  Sir  Robert 
Peel  at  this  place  on  the  night  of  the  29th  and  30th  of  May,  1838,  by  Johnston  and 
some  disguised  associates,  who  were  engaged  with  the  Canadians  in  their  armed  re 
sistance  to  government.  The  immediate  object  of  the  assailants  appears  to  have 
been  the  capture,  and  not  the  destruction  of  the  steamer,  and  with  her  aid  to  seize, 
on  the  following  day,  the  steamer  Great  Britain,  and  convert  the  two  into  cruisers 
on  the  lake.  Johnston  had  but  thirteen  men  with  him,  but  was  promised  that  two 

hundred  should  be 
within  call  on  the 
shore  of  the  neigh 
boring  main.  They 
were  not  there.  He 
had  not  suificient 
men  to  manage  the 
powerful  steamer, 
and,  toward  morn 
ing,  he  committed 
her  to  the  flames. 
PEEL  ISLAND.  She  w&s  seized  at 

1  This  is  an  appropriate  name.  It  is  a  group  of  bare  rocks,  with  a  few  trees  and  shrubs  growing  in  the  interstices. 
Johnston  had  filled  gome  of  the  hollows  with  earth,  brought  from  the  main  shore  in  his  boat,  and  we  found  them  cov 
ered  with  vegetables  and  flowers.  The  barren  island  possessed  a  pleasant  little  garden. 

a  This  is  in  the  midst  of  the  Thousand  Islands,  five  miles  below  Clayton,  on  the  south  side  of  the  steam-boat  channel. 
At  the  time  of  my  visit  there  in  1S58  I  ascended  to  the  lantern,  and  from  that  elevation  counted  no  less  than  seventy 
islands,  varying  from  rods  to  miles  in  circumference. 


L1GUT-IIOCSE   KEPT  BY   JOHNSTON. 


662 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Johnston's  Exploits  among  the  Thousand  Islands.    His  Arrests  and  Imprisonments.    His  Commission  as  Commodore. 

Ripley's  dock,  on  Wells's  Island,  taken  into  the  stream,  set  on  fire,  and  floated  down 
and  lodged  against  a  small  island  near  (represented  in  the  sketch  on  the  preceding 
page),  which  has  since  been  known  as  Peel  Island.1 

i  From  the  lips  of  Mr.  Johnston  I  received  a  very  minute  and  particular  account  of  this  transaction.  He  was  living 
at  Clayton  when  the  "  Patriot"  war  broke  out.  Being  a  bold,  adventurous  man,  and  cordially  hating  the  British  gov 
ernment  and  its  employes,  he  was  easily  persuaded  by  the 
American  sympathizers  with  the  "Patriots"  to  engage  in 
the  strife.  His  thorough  knowledge  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
from  Kingston  to  the  Longue  Sault  pointed  the  "Patri 
ots"  to  him  as  a  valuable  man  for  the  service  on  that  front 
ier.  He  says  that  the  leaders  promised  him  ample  assist 
ance  in  men  and  means,  but  disappointed  him.  They  em 
ployed  him  to  capture  the  Peel  and  seize  the  Great  Britain. 
The  former  was  a  new  and  stanch  vessel,  built  at  Brock- 
ville  in  183T.  She  was  30  feet  wide  and  160  in  length,  and 
was  commanded  by  Captain  John  B.  Armstrong.  On  the 
evening  of  the  29th  of  May,  1833,  she  was  on  her  way  up 
from  Prescott  to  Toronto,  with  nineteen  passengers,  and 
stopped  atM'Donnell's  Wharf,  on  Wells's  Island,  for  wood. 
Johnston  and  thirteen  men  in  disguise  were  lying  in  wait 
at  Ripley's  wood  wharf  near  by.  They  were  armed  with 
muskets  and  bayonets,  and  painted  like  Indians.  They 
rushed  on  board,  crying  out,  "  Remember  the  Caroline  !"  (an 
American  vessel  that  the  British  had  destroyed  at  an  Amer 
ican  wharf  a  few  months  before),  and  compelled  the  passen 
gers,  in  terrible  alarm,  and  in  their  night-clothes,  to  go  on 
shore.  Their  baggage  was  taken  on  shore  likewise,  and 
in  this  plight  they  remained,  in  a  woodman's  shanty,  until 
morning,  when  they  were  conveyed  to  Kingston  by  the 
Oneida.  When  the  insurgents  had  taken  possession  of  the 
Peel,  they  hauled  her  out  into  the  stream,  expecting,  as  we 
have  observed  in  the  text,  to  be  joined  by  a  large  number 
of  others  from  the  main.  They  did  not  appear.  Johnston 
and  his  men,  who,  he  says,  "looked  like 
devils,"  could  not  manage  her,  and  she 

was  set  on  flre'  Governor  Mlarcy  de- 
clared  Johnston  an  outlaw,  and  offered  a 
reward  of  $500  for  his  person,  and  small 
er  sums  for  each  of  his  confederates  who 
might  be  convicted  of  the  offense.  The 
Earl  of  Durham,  governor  of  Canada,  offered  $5000  for  the  conviction  ot  any  person  concerned  in  the  "infamous  outrage." 
Johnston  boldly  avowed  himself  the  leader  of  that  party,  in  a  proclamation  which  he  issued  from  "Fort  Wallace"  on 
the  10th  of  June,  1838.  He  declared  that  the  men  under  his  command  were  nearly  all  Englishmen,  and  that  his  head 
quarters  were  on  an  island  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States.  "  I  act  under  orders," 
he  said.  "The  object  of  my  movements  is  the  independence  of  the  Canadas.  I  am  not  at  war  with  the  commerce  or 
property  of  the  United  States."  "  Fort  Wallace"  was  a  myth.  It  was  wherever  Johnston  happened  to  be. 

Johnston  was  now  placed  in  peril  between  the  officers  of  the  two  governments,  and  for  several  months  he  was  a  ref 
ugee,  hiding  among  the  Thousand  Islands,  and  receiving  food  at  night  from  his  daughter,  a  beautiful  girl  eighteen 
years  of  age,  small  in  stature  and  delicate  in  appearance,  who  handled  oars  with  skill,  and  who,  in  a  light  boat,  sought 
his  hiding-places  under  cover  of  darkness.  She  was  often  watched  and  followed  by  persons  in  the  interest  of  the 
United  States  government,  but  her  thorough  knowledge  of  the  islands  and  skill  in  rowing  allowed  her  to  elude  them. 
Finally  Johnston  joined  in  the  expedition  to  Prescott,  to  "keep  out  of  the  way  of  both  parties,"  he  said.  After  the  de 
feat  of  the  insurgents  at  Windmill  Point  [see  page  583],  he  was  seen  publicly  in  the  streets  of  Ogdensburg,  where  he 
had  many  sympathizers,  and  was  not  arrested.  He  saw  that  all  was  lost,  and,  weary  of  hiding,  he  resolved  to  give  him 
self  up  to  the  authorities  of  the  United  States,  and  cast  himself  upon  the  clemency  of  his  country.  He  made  an  arrange 
ment  with  his  son  John  to  arrest  him  and  receive  the  $500  reward.  On  the  17th  of  November  (1838)  he  left  Ogdens 
burg  in  a  boat,  with  his  son,  when  Deputy  Marshal  M'Culloch  pursued  him  in  a  boat  over  which  floated  the  revenue  flag. 
Johnston  was  overtaken  about  two  miles  above  Ogdensburg.  He  was  armed  with  a  Cochran  rifle,  two  large  rifle-pistols, 
and  a  bowie-knife.  He  agreed  to  surrender  on  condition  that  he  should  give  up  his  arms  to  his  son.  He  was  then  con 
ducted  back  to  the  village,  and  delivered  into  the  custody  of  Colonel  (late  Major  General)  Worth.  He  was  taken  to 
Syracuse,  tried  before  Judge  Conklin  on  a  charge  of  violating  the  neutrality  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  acquitted. 
He  was  again  arrested,  and  escaped,  when  a  reward  of  $200  was  offered  for  his  arrest.  He  gave  himself  up  at  Albany, 
and,  after  lying  three  months  in  jail,  was  tried,  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  one  year's  imprisonment,  and  a  fine  of 
$250.  His  faithful  daughter,  who  had  acquired  .the  just  title  of  the  "Heroine  of  the  Thousand  Islands,"  hastened  to 
Albany,  and  shared  prison  life  with  her  father.  After  being  there  six  months,  with  his  faithful  child  at  his  side,  he 
found  means,  by  making  a  key  of  some  zinc  furnished  him  by  a  friend,  to  escape.  The  plan  was  made  known  to  his 
daughter,  who  left  the  prison,  and  waited  for  him  at  Rome.  One  evening,  at  eight  o'clock,  he  left  the  jail,  and  before 
daylight  had  walked  forty  miles  toward  Rome.  When  he  arrived  there,  finally,  at  the  house  of  a  friend,  he  was  dread 
fully  exhausted.  He  went  home,  and  was  unmolested ;  but  the  "  Patriots"  were  determined  to  drive  him  into  active 
service,  and  he  received  a  commission  creating  him  commauder-in-chief  of  all  the  naval  forces  in  "Patriot  service"  on 
the  lakes.*  This  position  had  been  accorded  to  him  by  common  consent  the  year  before.  But  he  had  seen  enough  of 
that  kind  of  service,  and  he  declined  the  office.  A  year  or  more  afterward,  when  the  agitation  on  the  frontier  had  pretty 

*  Johnston's  commission  as  commodore  is  before  me,  printed  and  written  on  thin  paper.  On  the  margin  of  it,  occu 
pying  nearly  one  half  of  the  space,  is  a  rough  engraving,  a  copy  of  which  is  given  on  the  opposite  page,  reduced  to  half 
the  size.  Above  this  design  (in  which  the  American  eagle  is  seen  bearing  off  the  British  lion,  whose  crown  has  fallen, 
a  maple  leaf,  symbolic  of  Canada,  and  two  stars  representing  the  two  provinces)  were  little  pictures  of  the  arms  of  the 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


663 


Johnston's  heroic  Daughter. 


His  Birthplace. 


His  Services  in  the  War  of  1812. 


We  returned  to  Clayton,  and  there  found  "  Commodore"  Johnston,  a  hale  man,  full 
of  spirit,  but  suffering  some  from  recent  illness.  I  spent  two  hours  pleasantly  and 
profitably  with  him  and  his  courageous  daughter,  listening  to  narratives  of  the  stir 
ring  scenes  in  which  they  had  been  engaged  twenty-two  years  before,  and  of  which 
I  have  given  a  meagre  outline  in  note  1,  page  662.  The  "Heroine  of  the  Thousand 
Islands"  was  now  Mrs.  Hawes,  an  intelligent  and  interesting  woman,  and  mother  of 
several  children.  Mr.  Johnston  is  a  man  of  medium  size,  compactly  built,  and  full  of 
pluck.  His  life-history  was  a  stirring  one  previous  to  the  "  Patriot  War."  During 
the  War  of  1812  he  was  employed  by  Chauncey  and  Wilkinson  in  active  service  on 
the  frontier  waters ;  and  he  gave  the  British,  whom  he  cordially  disliked,  a  great  deal 
of  trouble.  He  was  a  native  of  Canada,1  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  he  was 
residing  at  Bath,  above  Kingston,  and  conveyed  some  Americans  across  the  lake  to 
Sackett's  Harbor  in  a  large  bark  canoe.  Not  being  satisfied  with  the  militia  service, 
in  wrhich  he  had  been  engaged,  he  remained  on  the  American  side,  and  from  that  time 
until  the  close  of  the  wrar  was  engaged  in  the  secret  service  on  Lake  Ontario  and  the 
St.  Lawrence,  wTith  a  permit  to  capture  all  British  public  property  that  he  might  find 
afloat.  His  vessel  was  a  gig,  or  light,  swift  boat,  called  the  JRidgeley,  and  his  com 
panions  were  a  corporal  and  five  armed  seamen.  With  these  he  captured  bateaux 
and  stores ;  with  these  he  conveyed  Wilkinson  down  the  St.  Lawrence,  beyond  the 
Longue  Sault  ;2  and  with  these  he  bore  the  body  of  the  gallant  Covington  from  Barn- 
hart's  to  the  French  Mills.3  On  one  occasion  he  captured  the  Canadian  dispatch  mail 
on  its  way  from  Governor  Prevost  at  Montreal  to  the  lieutenant  governor  at  Toronto, 
which,  on  delivery  to  Chauncey,  was  found  to  contain  information  of  great  value  to 
the  American  commander.  On  another  occasion  he  was  out  in  Chauncey's  boat,  and 

much  ceased,  a  petition  for  his  pardon  was  numerously  signed.  He  took  it  to  Washington  himself,  and,  just  at  the  close 
of  Mr.  Van  Buren's  administration  in  March,  1841,  presented  it  to  the  President.  "Mr.  Van  Buren,"  he  said,  "scolded 
me  for  presuming  to  come  there  with  such  a  petition ;  but  I  waited  ten  days,  presented  it  to  President  Harrison,  and  he 
pardoned  me." 

Mr.  Johnston  has  lived  at  Clayton  ever  since.  His  offense  was  finally  overlooked,  and  for  several  years  the  govern 
ment  that  offered  a  reward  of  $500  for  him  as  an  outlaw  has  been  paying  him  $350  a  year  for  taking  charge  of  one  of  its 
light-houses,  in  eight  of  the  spot  (Peel  Island)  where  the  offense  was  committed  !  Time  makes  great  changes.  When 
the  late  Rebellion  broke  out  in  1801,  Johnston,  then  about  eighty  years  of  age,  went  to  Washington  City,  called  on  Gen 
eral  Scott,  and  offered  his  services  to  his  government. 

State  of  New  York,  and  below  two  others  representing  an  eagle  on  its  nest  arrang 
ing  ears  of  wheat.    The  commission  runs  thus : 

"  Head-quarters,  Windsor,  U.  C.,  September  5, 1839. 

"WlI-T.IAM   JOITNSTON,  Ks<).  : 

"Sin,—  By  authority  of  the  Grand  Council,  the  Western  Canadian  Association, 
the  great  Grand  Eagle  Chapter,  and  the  Grand  Eagle  Chapter  of  Upper  Canada, 
on  Patriot  Executive  duty — You  are  hereby  Commissioned  to  the  Rank  in  Line  of 
a  Commodore  of  the  Navy,  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  Naval  forces  of  the  Ca 
nadian  Provinces,  on  Patriot  service  in  Upper  Canada. 

"Yours  with  respect,  H.  S.  HAND, 

"  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Northwestern  Army  on 

Patriot  service  in  Upper  Canada. 
"  E.  J.  ROBERTS,  Adjutant  General,  N.  W.  A.  P.  S." 

This  commission  is  indorsed  by  "John  Montgomery,  of  the  Grand  Eagle  Chap 
ter  of  Upper  Canada,  on  Patriot  Executive  duty. 

"ROBEET  ROBEETSON,  Secretary." 
"  Sworn  to  before  me,  at  Windsor,  U.  C.,  this  25th  day  of  September,  1839. 

"H.  S.  HAND." 

The  seal  attached  to  the  commission  appears  to  have  been  impressed  by  a  com 
mon  glass  signet,  on  which  are  the  words,  "Remember  me  to  all  friends." 
These  "  Chapters"  refer  to  the  secret  leagues  of  sympathizers  with  the  insurgents  that  were  formed  along  the  entire 
frontier,  under  the  name  of  "  Hunters'  Lodges."    These  were  suppressed  by  President  Tyler,  who  issued  a  proclamation 
for  the  purpose  on  the  5th  of  September,  1841. 

1  He  was  born  at  Three  Rivers  on  the  1st  of  February,  1782.    His  father  was  an  Irishman,  and  his  mother  was  a  Dutch 
girl  from  New  Jersey.    After  the  war  he  lived  at  Sackett's  Harbor  and  Watertown,  and  kept  a  tavern  for  a  while  in  the 
latter  village.    He  finally  settled  at  French  Creek  (now  Clayton),  where  he  and  most  of  his  family  have  since  resided. 

2  See  page  651.    Johnston  was  well  acquainted  with  Chrysler,  and  tried  to  get  the  army  below  his  residence,  that  it 
might  not  suffer  during  the  engagement  that  seemed  inevitable.    During  the  battle  of  Chrysler's  Field  or  Farm,  John 
ston  carried  powder  from  the  boats  to  the  dragoons,  who  delivered  it  to  those  in  the  fight.    It  is  well  known  that  Gen 
eral  Wilkinson  indulged  too  freely  in  spirituous  liquors.    Johnston  assured  me  that,  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Chrys 
ler's  Field,  the  Commander-in-chief  was  so  intoxicated  ("indisposed,"  as  charity  phrases  it)  that  he  could  not  leave  his 
boat.  3  See  page  656. 


JOHNSTON'S  COMMISSION. 


664 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Johnston's  Perils  in  Canada. 


Journey  from  Clayton  to  Malone. 


Visit  to  French  Mills  or  Fort  Covington. 


was  wrecked  on  the  Canada  shore  in  a  storm.  The  boat  was  a  ruin.  They  were  dis 
covered.  Johnston  was  identified,  and  a  body  of  militia  and  Indians  were  sent  out 
from  Kingston  (where  he  had  been  hung  in  effigy)  to  arrest  him.  He  directed  his  men 
not  to  avoid  capture,  but  to  affirm  that  they  had  been  sent  out  for  deserters,  and  were 
returning  home  when  struck  by  the  storm.  Their  story  was  believed,  and  within  a 
week  they  were*sent  home  on  parole.  Johnston  meanwhile  concealed  himself  in  a 
huge  hollow  stump,  in  a  field  of  oats,  for  several  days,  and  it  was  three  weeks  before 
he  found  a  way  to  return  to  Sackett's  Harbor. 

There  was  a  crowd  of  visitors  at  the  "  Walton  House,"  for  it  is  a  favorite  place  of 
summer  resort  for  those  who  love  good  fishing,  boating,  and  the  most  picturesque 
scenery  of  the  Thousand  Islands.  The  St.  Lawrence,  filled  with  these  islands,  is  there 
about  nine  miles  wide.  During  an  afternoon  I  visited  the  place  of  Brown's  encamp 
ment  when  attacked  by  the  British,1  and  made  the  sketch  on  page  649.  Toward 
sunset  the  quiet  of  the  little  village  was  disturbed,  and  the  faces  of  all  the  inhabitants 
were  turned  skyward  to  observe  the  passage  over  them  of  a  man  in  a  balloon,  a 
thousand  feet  in  the  air,  who  had  ascended  from  Kingston,  and,  as  we  were  informed 
next  day,  descended  far  toward  the  Sorel,  the  outlet  of  Lake  Champlain.  On  the  fol 
lowing  morning  I  went  down  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Ogdensburg,  and  made  the  visits 
there  and  in  the  vicinity  recorded  in  Chapter  XXVHI.  On  Friday,  the  27th,  I  break 
fasted  at  Malone,2  and  after  a  brief  interview  with  Sidney  W.  Gillett,  Esq.,  whose  ele 
gant  new  mansion  stood  fronting  on  Main  Street  in  that  village,  on  the  site  of  the 
arsenal  established  there  in  1812,1  rode  out  to  Fort  Covington  (French  Mills),  about 
fourteen  miles  northward,  in  a  light  wagon  drawn  by  a  span  of  fleet  black  ponies. 


FBEU01I  MILLS   IN   1800.3 

The  Honorable  James  Campbell,  who  was  an  ensign,  and  was  stationed  at  French 
Mills  and  vicinity  during  a  greater  portion  of  the  war,  in  the  service  of  the  Quarter 
master's  and  Commissary  Departments,  was  yet  living,  and  residing  with  his  daugh 
ter  at  Fort  Covington.  I  had  been  at  his  house,  on  the  road  between  Massena  Springs 
and  St.  Regis,  a  few  years  before ;  and  I  found  him  now,  as  then,  able  to  say  that  he 
had  never  been  sick  in  his  life,  though  almost  fourscore  years  of  age.  His  mental 

1  See  page  648. 

»  Malone  is  the  capital  of  Franklin  County,  and  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the  Salmon  River.  It  was  the  only  incorpo 
rated  village  in  the  county,  and  had  a  population  of  about  2000.  The  banks  of  the  river  there,  below  the  railway  bridge, 
are  rugged  and  picturesque.  Settlements  were  made  there  at  the  beginning  of  this  century. 

3  The  building  on  the  right,  with  its  gable  next  to  the  dam,  is  the  original  mill  erected  there  by  the  French  Canadians. 


OF   THE   WAB    OF    1812.  665 


Veteran  Soldiers  at  Fort  Covington.         Journey  to  Rouse's  Point.         La  Colle.         Passage  of  St.  Lawrence  Rapids. 

vigor  seemed  perfect,  and  his  memory  of  events  in  his  experience  was  vivid.     He  was 
stationed  at  French  Mills  early  in  the  war, 
in  charge  of  rations,  which  were   served 
regularly   to  the  St.  Regis  Indians  in  order 
to   keep   them   quiet.1    He  was   assistant    rf  ^-"^Tr"/  — m~~~ 

store-keeper,  and  when  Wilkinson  left  there  I/ 

he  was  placed  in  charge  of  all  the  provisions  of  the  army.  He  continued  in  that  serv 
ice  until  its  departure  in  February,  1814.  Judge  Campbell  kindly  accompanied  me 
to  places  of  interest  about  Fort  Covington,  namely,  the  original  mill  ;2  the  head-quar 
ters  of  Boyd  and  Brown  ;3  the  place  of  debarkation, 
where  the  gun-boats  were  destroyed  ;4  the  site  of  the 
respective  cantonments  of  the  army ;  and  of  the  block 
house  on  the  M'Crea  property,5  whose  well,  contained 
within  the  building,  was  yet  standing. 

While  on  the  lower  bridge  over  the  Salmon,  sketch 
ing  the  picture  of  the  Mills  on  the  opposite  page,  an  old 
gentleman  approached,  and  was  introduced  to  me  by 
Judge  Campbell.  He  was  Colonel  Ezra  Stiles,  the  dep- 

THE   BLOCK-HOUSE   WELL.  ,,  f  ±1.  j.   TH    —l.    f*         •  R          1, 

uty  collector  of  the  port  at  r  ort  Covmgton,b  who  en 
listed  in  the  Eleventh  Regiment  in  December,  1812,  when  a  little  more  than  fourteen 
years  of  age.  He  was  with  Hampton  in  the  affair  at  Chateaugay,  and  was  with  Gen 
eral  Brown  in  all  of  his  military  operations  on  the  Niagara  frontier  during  the  re 
mainder  of  the  war.  He  left  the  service  when  the  army  was  disbanded  in  1815. 

I  returned  to  Malone  in  time  to  take  the  cars  for  Rouse's  Point  at  about  three 
o'clock  P.M.  It  was  a  bright  and  very  delightful  day.  In  that  journey,  fifty-seven 
miles,  we  crossed  the  foot  of  the  great  Adirondack  slope,  the  northernmost  portion 
of  the  Allegheny  or  Appalachian  range  of  mountains,  that  traverse  the  sea-board 
states  from  Georgia  to  the  St.  Lawrence  level.  The  lofty  peaks  of  the  Adirondacks 
were  in  sight  southward,  while  the  eye,  glancing  northward  over  an  immense  wood 
ed  prairie,  rested  upon  the  Mountain  back  of  Montreal.  At  near  six  o'clock  I  took  a 
hurried  meal  at  the  village  of  Rouse's  Point,  and  hiring  a  light  wagon,  fleet  horse,  and 
intelligent  driver,  rode  to  La  Colle  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Sorel,  and  made  a  sketch 
of  a  block-house  there  before  sunset.  By  a  slight  circuit  we  rode  through  La  Colle 
village  and  Odelltown  in  the  twilight.  I  spent  the  night  at  Rouse's  Point,  and  on 
the  following  morning  journeyed  to  Champlain,  Chazy,  and  Plattsburg.  Of  the  events 
which  have  made  all  the  places  just  named  famous  in  our  history,  and  of  my  visit 
there,  I  shall  hereafter  write. 

In  the  summer  of  1855  I  Spent  a  short  time  at  Massena  Sulphur  Springs,  on  the 
Racquette  River,  seven  miles  by  road  from  the  St.  Lawrence.  While  sojourning  there 
I  visited  St.  Regis,  as  already  mentioned,  and,  on  leaving,  crossed  the  St.  Law 
rence  from  Lewisville,  at  the  head  of  the  Longue  Sault,  for  the  purpose  of  visiting 
the  battle-field  on  Chrysler's  Farm.  It  was  a  warm  and  pleasant  day  late  in  Au 
gust,11  and  a  friend  accompanied  me.  At  Lewisville  we  hired  a  water-  a  August  22, 
man,  who  engaged  to  take  us  safely  across  the  swift  and,  in  some  places, 
turbulent  stream,  there  divided  by  two  or  three  islands.  We  shot  obliquely  across 
and  down  the  first  channel,  rounded  the  lower  cape  of  an  island,  went  up  its  farther 
shore  in  an  eddying  current,  and  in  a  similar  manner  shot  across  to  another  island. 
In  this  zigzag  way  we  made  the  really  perilous  passage  of  the  rapids  to  the  village 
of  Chrysler,  where  we  lunched  on  apple-pie,  cheese,  and  cold  water,  and  hired  a  con 
veyance  to  the  battle-ground  and  Williamsburg  beyond. 

1  See  page  375.      a  See  picture  on  page  664.       3  See  pictures  on  page  656.      *  See  page  655.      5  See  note  2,  page  656. 
6  Fort  Covington  is  a  port  of  entry ;  but  the  steam-boats  seldom  go  above  Dundee,  a  small  village  a  mile  below,  and 
about  half  way  between  the  Mills  and  the  boundary-line  between  the  United  States  aud  Canada. 


C66 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Visit  to  the  Battle-ground  on  Chrysler's  Farm.    A  British  Soldier  and  his  Medal  of  Honor.    Scene  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

We  Avere  kindly  welcomed  at  the  Chrysler  mansion,  delineated  on  page  652,  by  Mr. 

James  Croile,  the  proprietor,  Avho  pointed  out  the  various  localities  of  the  battle, 

and  accompanied  us  to  the 
house  of  his  nearest  neigh 
bor,  Peter  Brouse,  who 
was  a  soldier  in  the  Dun- 
das  militia,  and  partici 
pated  in  the  fight.  Mr. 
Brouse  related  with  much 

self-satisfaction  the  exploits  of  the  British  on  that  day,  and,  with  much  genuine  pride, 

exhibited  a  small  silver  medal,  suspended  by  a  ribbon, 

which  he  had  lately  received.     These  had  been  presented 

to  the  sunriving  soldiers  of  that  and  other  battles,  from 

1793  to  1814,  by  the  British  queen  as  a  sort  of  "Legion  of 

Honor."    The  picture  here  given  is  the  exact  size  of  the 

original,  and  exhibits  both  sides.     On  one  side  is  the  effigy 

of  the  queen  and  her  name ;  and  on  the  other  a  repre 
sentation  of  her  majesty  crowning  a  soldier  Avith  a  ciA'ic 

wreath,  and  the  words,"  To  THE 

BRITISH  ARMY 1814-1793." 


One  of  Chrysler's  barns, 
pierced  and  battered  by  bullets, 
was  yet  standing,  and  appears 
the  larger  (though  the  most  re 
mote)  in  the  group  of  outbuild 
ings  in  the  picture  on  page  652. 
In  the  orchard,  between  the 
mansion  and  the  river,  may  be 
seen  the  burial-places  of  the 
killed  in  the  battle. 

"We  dined  with  Mr.  Croile  and  his  family  in  the  Chrysler  mansion,  and  at  two 
o'clock  started  for  Williamsburg,  four  and  a  half  miles  up  the  river.  Our  road  lay 
along  the  margin  of  the  stream,  through  one  of  the  most  fertile  districts  of  Canada. 
We  had  not  proceeded  far  before  a  small  cloud,  whose  gathering  we  had  scarcely  no 
ticed,  sent  down  a  violent  shower  of  rain.  We  sought  shelter  under  a  wide-spread 
ing  tree  in  front  of  a  plain  dwelling,  from  which  came  the  giggling  of  girls  who  were 
amused  at  our  plight.  The  tree  was  no  shelter,  and  we  unceremoniously  took  ref 
uge  from  the  storm  in  the  house,  where  those  who  had  innocently  made  merry  over 
our  drenching  kindly  regaled  us  with  straAvberries  and  cream,  and  made  the  balance- 
sheet  of  courtesy  in  their  favor.  The  storm  was  brief.  The  sun  burst  forth  in  sudden 
splendor,  and  its  rays,  wedded  to  the  retiring  rain-drops,  wove  a  gorgeous  iridescent 
vail,  marked,  like  the  bow  on  the  cloud,  with  specific  curves,  but  lying  prone  upon  the 
bosom  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  bathing  its  surface  and  islands  in  prismatic  beauty. 
It  was  a  charming  spectacle,  and  has  left  an  ineffaceable  picture  on  the  memory. 

At  four  o'clock  we  reached  Williamsburg  (whose  name  had  just  been  changed  to 
Morrisville,  in  honor  of  a  distinguished  officer  in  the  postal  department  of  Canada), 
where  we  dismissed  our  carriage,  intending  to  go  by  water  to  Prescott.  We  were 
directed  to  the  "  Grand  Trunk  Hotel"  as  the  best  in  the  village,  which  is  remarkable  in 
our  recollection  for  swarms  of  flies,  flocks  of  spiders,  arid  an  obliging  host.  There  we 
supped  and  lodged,  and  before  dawn  took  passage  in  a  Montreal  steamer  for  Prescott, 
where  we  breakfasted.  Crossing  to  Ogdensburg,  we  spent  the  day  and  night  there, 
and  on  the  following  day  made  a  voyage  through' the  Thousand  Islands  to  Cape 
Vincent,  from  whence  I  journeyed  by  railway  to  my  home  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson. 


VICTORIA   MEDAL. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  667 

The  British  resolve  on  vigorous  War.        Blockade  of  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Bays.        The  Blockading  Squadron. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

"  She  conies  !  the  proud  invader  comes 
To  waste  our  country,  spoil  our  homes  ; 
To  lay  our  towns  and  cities  low, 
And  bid  our  mothers'  tears  to  flow ; 
Our  wives  lament,  our  orphans  weep- 
To  seize  the  empire  of  the  deep  !"— ANGUS  UMPHBAVILLE. 

1.HASTISE  THE  AMERICANS  INTO  SUBMISSION  !  was  the  fiat  of  the 
British  Cabinet  at  the  close  of  1812,  and  it  was  determined  to 
send  out  a  land  and  naval  force  sufficient  to  do  it.  It  was  evi 
dent  that  efforts  such  as  have  been  recorded  in  preceding  chap 
ters  would  be  made  by  the  Americans  for  the  invasion  and  con 
quest  of  Canada,  and  that  the  successes  achieved  by  them  on 
the  ocean  would  stimulate  them  to  the  performance  of  more 
daring  exploits  on  the  waves  which  Britannia  claimed  to  rule. 
These  efforts  must  be  met,  and  Great  Britain  put  forth  her  strength  for  the  purpose. 
It  was  determined  to  blockade  and  desolate  the  coasts  of  the  United  States,  lay  waste 
their  sea-port  towns,  destroy  their  dock-yards,  and  thus  not  only  endeavor  to  divert 
their  military  strength  from  the  Canada  frontier,  but  destroy  the  centres  of  their  com 
mercial  and  naval  power,  dispirit  the  people,  intensify  the  domestic  resistance  to  the 
farther  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  secure  the  absolute  submission  of  the  nation  to 
British  insolence  and  greed.  Admiral  Warren's  fleet  in  American  wraters  was  re-en 
forced,  and  Sir  George  Cockburn,  a  rear  admiral  in  the  British  navy,  and  willing  in 
strument  in  the  accomplishment  of  work  which  honorable  English  commanders  would 
not  soil  their  hands  with,  was  made  his  second  in  command.  He  Avas  specially  com 
missioned  to  wage  a  sort  of  amphibious  and  marauding  warfare  on  the  coasts,  from 
the  Delaware  River  southward. 

On  the  26th  of  December,  1812,  an  order  in  Council  declared  the  ports  and  harbors 
in  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Bays  to  be  in  a  state  of  rigorous  blockade.  Soon 
afterward  additional  ships  of  war  and  transports  arrived  at  Bermuda,  bearing  a  con 
siderable  land  force,  and  well  furnished  with  bomb-shells  and  Congreve  rockets,  to  be 
used  in  the  conflagration  of  sea-board  towns.1  A  part  of  the  land  force  consisted  of 
French  prisoners  of  war,  who  preferred  to  engage  in  the  British  marine  service  to 
risking  indefinite  confinement  in  Dartmoor  Prison,  in  England. 

The  first  appearance  of  blockading  vessels  was  on  the  4th  of  February,*  when 
four  74-gun  ships  and  several  smaller  armed  vessels2  entered  the  Virginia  Capes 
and  bore  up  toward  Hampton  Roads.     The  fleet  was  under  the  command  of  Admiral 
Cockburn  (whose  flag-ship  was  the  Marlborougli),  assisted  by  Commodore  Beresford, 
whose  pennant  was  over  the  Poictiers.3    They  bore  a  land  force  of  about  eighteen 
hundred  men,  and  were  well  supplied  with  small  surf-boats  for  landing.     Their  ap 
pearance  alarmed  all  lower  Virginia,  and  the  militia  of  the  Peninsula  and  the  region 
about  Norfolk  were  soon  in  motion.     An  order  soon  went  out  from  the  Secretary  of 

1  This  rocket  is  a  very  destructive  species  of  fire-work,  invented  by  Sir  William  Congreve,  an  English  artillery  officer, 
in  1S04,  and  first  used  against  Boulogne  in  1S06.    The  body  of  the  machine  is  cylindrical,  and  its  head  conical.    It  is 
filled  with  very  inflammable  materials,  on  the  combustion  of  which,  as  in  the  common  sky-rocket,  the  body  is  impelled 
with  continued  acceleration. 

2  Marlborouyh,  Admiral  Cockburn  ;  Dragon,  Captain  Berry ;  Poictiers,  Commander  Beresford ;  and  Victorious,  Captain 
Talbot,  were  the  74's.    These  were  accompanied  by  the  Acaxta,  44,  Kerr ;  Junon,  38,  Kerr ;  Statira,  38,  Stackpole ;  Maid- 
;.tone,  3C,  Burdett ;  Selvidera,  36,  Byron  ;  Narcissus,  32,  Aylmer ;  Lauristimus,  21,  Gordon  ;  Tartarus,  20,  Paseo.    Others 
soon  joined  these,  making  a  very  formidable  fleet.  3  See  page  451. 


668 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Defenses  of  Norfolk  and  Hampton  Roads.    Discretion  of  the  Blockaders.    Patriotism  on  the  Shores  of  Delaware  Bay. 

a  March  ic,     the  Treasury*  for  the  extinguishment  of  all  the  beacon-lights  on  the  Ches 
apeake  coast. 

It  was  supposed  that  Hampton  and  Norfolk  would  be  attacked.     The  latter  place 
was  pretty  well  defended  by  fortifications  which  General  Wade  Hampton  had  caused 

to  be  thrown  up  on  Craney  Island,  five 
miles  below  the  city,  under  the  superin 
tendence  of  Colonel  Armistead.  The 
masters  and  mates  of  merchant  vessels 
in  Norfolk  harbor  joined  themselves  into 
volunteer  military  companies  and  garri 
soned  old  Fort  Norfolk.  The  frigate 
Constellation,  38,  Captain  Tarbelle,  was 
lying  near,  supported  by  a  flotilla  of  gun- 
Ill  Bliaifa  3l  f'lhMpP  ,  I  boats'.  Old  Point  Comfort  soon  bristled 

with  bayonets ;  and  the  British  com 
manders  thought  it  more  prudent  at  that 
time  to  destroy  the  small  merchant  craft 
found  in  Chesapeake  Bay  than  to  enter 
Hampton  Roads.  They  did  little  more 
than  this  for  several  weeks,  when  Com 
modore  Beresford  was  sent,  with  the 
INTEEIOK  or  OLD  FOET  NORFOLK  IN  less.  Poictiers,  Belvid&ra,  and  some  smaller 

vessels,  to  blockade  the  Delaware  Bay  and  Rivei',  and  teach  the  inhabitants  along 
their  shores  the  duty  of  submission.  He  found  his  unwilling  pupils  very  refractory ; 
for  when,  on  the  16th  of  March,  he  pointed  the  guns  of  the  Poictiers  toward  the  vil 
lage  of  Lewis,  near  Cape  Henlopen,  and  said,  in  a  note  to  "  the  first  magistrate"  of 
that  little  town, "  You  must  send  me  twenty  live  bullocks,  with  a  proportionate  quan 
tity  of  vegetables  and  hay,  for  the  use  of  his  Britannic  majesty's  squadron,"  offering 
to  pay  for  them,  but  threatening,  in  the  event  of  refusal,  to  destroy  the  place,  the 
"  first  magistrate"  of  Lewistown,  and  all  the  people,  from  Philadelphia  to  the  sea,  said 
in  substance,  as  they  every  where  prepared  for  resistance,  "  We  solemnly  refuse  to 
commit  legal  or  moral  treason  at  your  command.  Do  your  worst."  They  had  heard 
of  his  coming,  and  had  already,  on  both  sides  of  the  bay  and  river,  assembled  in  armed 
bodies  at  expected  points  of  attack  to  repel  the  invaders.  The  spirit  of  the  fathers 
was  aroused,  some  of  whom,  full  of  the  fire  of  the  flint,  were  yet  abiding  among  them. 
At  Dover,  on  the  Sabbath  day,  the  drum  beat  to  .arms,  and  men  of  every  denomina 
tion  in  politics  and  religion,  to  the  number  of  almost  five  hundred,  responded  to  the 
call.  Among  them  was  Jonathan  M'Nutt,  an  age-bent  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  who 
exchanged  his  staff  for  a  musket  and  engaged  in  the  drill.  Pious  Methodist  as  he 
was,  he  "did  not  regard  the  day  as  too  holy  for  patriotic  deeds,  and  he  spent  the  whole 
afternoon  in  making  ball-cartridges.1  This  was  the  spirit  every  where  manifested. 
At  Smyrna,  New  Castle,  and  Wilmington,  the  inhabitants  turned  out  with  spades  or 

muskets,  prepared  to  cast  up  the  earth  for  bat 
teries  and  trenches,2  or  to  be  soldiers  to  meet  the 
foe.  At  the  latter  place,  the  venerable  soldier  of 
the  Revolution,  Allan  M'Lane,  took  the  direction 
of  military  affairs.3  The  specie  of  the  banks  of 
New  Castle  and  Wilmington  was  sent  to  Philadelphia  for  safety ;  and  in  the  latter 
city  Captain  William  Mitchell  and  his  Independent  Blues,  and  Captain  Jacob  H.  Fis- 


1  Niles's  Weekly  Register,  iv.,  68. 

2  They  erected  a  strong  work,  to  completely  command  the  Christiana  Creek,  at  Wilmington,  which  was  called  Fort 
Union.    It  was  believed  that  it  could  withstand  any  force  that  might  approach  it  by  water.— See  Sketch  of  Military  Oper 
ations  on  the  Delaware  during  the  late  War.  3  Niles's  Weekly  Register,  iv.,  68. 


OF   THE  WAR   OF   1812.  669 


The  British  threaten  and  hesitate.  Attack  on  Lewistown.  Cockburn's  Operations. 

ler  and  his  Junior  Artillerists,  formed  in  three  days  for  the  occasion,  volunteered  to 
garrison  Fort  Mifflin. 

Beresford  was  astonished  by  the  spirit  of  the  people,  and  held  the  thunders  of  his 
threat  at  bay  for  almost  three  weeks.  Governor  Haslet,  in  the  mean  time,  summoned 
the  militia  to  the  defense  of  the  menaced  town,  and  on  his  arrival  at  Lewis  on  the 
23d  he  reiterated  the  positive  refusal  of  the  inhabitants  to  furnish  the  invaders  with 
supplies.  Beresford  continued  to  threaten  and  hesitate ;  but  at  length,  on  the  even 
ing  of  the  6th  of  April,  he  sent  Captain  Byron,  with  the  Belvidera  and  smaller  ves 
sels,  to  attack  the  village.  They  drew  near,  and  the  Belvidera  sent  several  heavy 
round-shot  into  the  town.  These  were  followed  by  a  flag  of  truce,  bearing  from  By 
ron  a  renewal  of  the  requisition.  It  was  answered  by  Colonel  S.  B.  Davis,  who  com 
manded  the  militia.  He  repeated  the  refusal,  when  Byron  sent  a  reply,  in  which  he 
expressed  regret  for  the  misery  he  should  inflict  on  the  women  and  children  by  a 
bombardment.  "  Colonel  Davis  is  a  gallant  officer,  and  has  taken  care  of  the  ladies," 
was  the  verbal  answer.  This  correspondence  was  followed  by  a  cannonade  and  bom 
bardment  that  was  kept  up  for  twenty-two  hours.  So  spirited  was  the  response  of  a 
battery  on  an  eminence,  worked  by  Colonel  Davis's  militia,  that  the  most  dangerous 
of  the  enemy's  gun-boats  was  disabled,  and  its  cannon  silenced.  Notwithstanding 
the  British  hurled  full  eight  hundred  of  these  eighteen  and  thirty-two  pound  shot 
into  the  town,  and  many  shells  and  Congreve  rockets  were  sent,  the  damage  inflicted 
was  not  sevei-e.  The  shells  did  not  reach  the  village ;  the  rockets  passed  over  it ; 
but  the  heavy  round  shot  injured  several  houses.  No  lives  were  lost.  An  ample 
supply  of  powder  was  sent  down  from  Dupont's,  at  Wilmington,  while  the  enemy 
supplied  the  balls.  These  fitted  the  American  cannon,  and  a  large  number  of  them 
were  sent  back  with  effect.1 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  7th  the  British  attempted  to  land  for  the  purpose  of  seiz 
ing  live-stock  in  the  neighborhood,  but  they  were  met  at  the  verge  of  the  water  by 
the  spirited  militia,  and  driven  back  to  their  ships.'  For  a  month  the  squadron  lin 
gered,  and  then,  dropping  down  to  Newbold's  Ponds,  seven  miles  below  Lewistown, 
boats  filled  with  armed  men  were  sent  on  shore  to  obtain  a  supply  of  water.  Col 
onel  Davis  immediately  detached  Major  Gjeorge  H.  Hunter  with  a  few  men,  who 
drove  them  back  to  the  ships.  Failing  to  obtain  any  supplies  on  the  shores  of  the 
Delaware,  the  little  blockading  squadi-on  sailed  for  Bermuda,  where  Admiral  Warren 
was  fitting  out  re-enforcements  for  his  fleet  in  the  American  waters. 

The  blockaders  within  the  Capes  of  Virginia  were  very  busy  in  the  mean  time. 
The  fleet  was  under  the  command  of  Admiral  Cockburn,  and  took  chief  position  in 
Lynn  Haven  Bay.2  He  continually  sent  out  marauding  expeditions  along  the  shores 
of  the  Chesapeake,  who  plundered  and  burnt  farm-houses,  carried  off  negroes  and 
armed  them  against  their  masters,  and  seized  live-stock  wherever  it  could  be  found. 
The  country  exposed  to  these  depredations  was  extensive  and  sparsely  settled,  and 
it  was  difficult  to  concentrate  a  military  force  at  one  point  in  sufficient  time  to  be 
effective  against  the  marauders.  In  some  instances  they  Avere  severely  punished,  but 
these  were  rare. 

More  felicitous  and  more  honorable  exploits  were  sometimes  undertaken  by  the 
blockaders  under  Cockburn.  On  the  3d  of  April 
a  flotilla  of  a  dozen  armed  boats  from  the  Brit- 
ish  fleet,  under  Lieutenant  Polkingthorne,  of  the 
St.  Domingo,  74,  entered  the  mouth  of  the  Rappa- 
hannock  River,  and  attacked  the  Baltimore  pri 
vateer  Dolphin,  10,  Captain  Stafford,  and  three  armed  schooners  prepared  to  sail  for 
France.  The  assault  was  unexpected  and  fierce.  The  three  smaller  vessels  were 
soon  taken,  but  the  struggle  for  the  Dolphin  was  severe.  She  was  finally  boarded, 

1  Niles's  Weekly  Register,  iv.,  118.  2  See  page  156. 


670  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Cockbuni's  Desires  restrained  by  Fear.  The  British  capture  Frenchtown.  Havre  de  Grace  threatened. 

and  for  fifteen  minutes  the  contest  raged  fearfully  on  her  deck.  Overpowered  by 
numbers,  Captain  Stafford  was  compelled  to  submit.1  In  this  affair  the  loss  was 
much  heavier  on  the  British  than  on  the  American  side.  No  official  account  of  the 
casualties  were  ever  given  by  either  party,  but  contemporary  writers  agree  that  the 
capture  of  the  Dolphin  cost  the  victors  many  lives. 

Emboldened  by  this  success,  Cockburn  resolved  to  engage  in  still  more  ambitious 
adventures.  He  thought  of  attacking  Annapolis  and  Baltimore,  and  even  dreamed 
of  the  glory  and  renown  of  penetrating  the  country  forty  or  fifty  miles  'and  destroy 
ing  the  national  capital.  Prudence  restrained  obedience  to  his  desires.  His  friends 
among  the  "  Peace  men"  of  Baltimore  doubtless  informed  him  that  the  vigilance  of 
the  people  of  that  city,  under  the  eye  of  the  veteran  General  Smith,  was  sleepless  ; 
that  look-out  boats  were  far  down  the  Patapsco  ;  that  riflemen  and  horsemen  were 
stationed  along  the  shores  of  the  river  and  bay ;  that  Fort  M'Henry  was  being 
strengthened  by  the  mounting  of  thirty-two-pounders ;  that  the  City  Brigade  num 
bered  almost  two  thousand  men;  and  that  an  equal  number  of  volunteers  for  the  de 
fense  of  the  place  were  within  trumpet-call.  He  wisely  concluded  to  pass  by  the  po 
litical  and  commercial  capitals  of  Maryland,  and  fall  upon  weaker  objects.  With  a 
large  force  he  menaced  Baltimore  as  a  feint  on  the  16th  of  April,  and  on  the  29th, 
with  the  brigs  Fantome  and  Mohawk,  and  tenders  Dolphin,  Racer,  and  Highflyer,  he 
entered  Elk  River,  toward  the  head  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  proceeded  to  destroy 
Frenchtown,  on  the  Delaware  shore.  It  was  a  village  of  about  a  dozen  buildings, 
composed  of  dwellings,  store-houses,  and  stables.  The  blockading  vessels  had  driven 
the  trade  between  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  from  the  ordinary  line  of  water-travel, 
and  this  place  had  become  an  important  entrepot  of  traffic  between  the  two  cities. 

Admiral  Cockburn  made  the  Fantome  his  flag-ship,  and  sent  First  Lieutenant  West- 
phall,  of  the  Marlborough,  with  about  four  hundred  armed  men  in  boats,  to  destroy 
the  public  and  private  property  at  Frenchtown.  The  only  defenders  were  quite  a 
large  number  of  drivers  of  stages  and  transportation  wagons  who  were  assembled 
there,  and  a  few  militia  who  came  down  from  Elkton.  The  former  garrisoned  the  re 
doubt,  which  had  just  been  erected,  upon  which  lay  three  iron  four-pounders,  first 
used  in  the  old  War  for  Independence.  .  They  fought  manfully,  but  were  compelled 
to  retire  before  overwhelming  numbers.  The  store-houses  were  plundered  and  burnt, 
but  no  dwelling  was  injured.  The  women  and  children  were  treated  with  respect. 
Property  on  land  to  the  amount  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  was  consumed,  and 
on  the  water  five  small  trading-vessels.2  This  incendiary  work  accomplished,  the  in 
vaders  withdrew,  and  on  the  Fantome,  the  following  day,  Sir  George  wrote  an  ac 
count  of  the  affair  to  Admiral  Warren,  taking  care  to  assure  that  humane  commander 
that  he  was  following  out  his  orders  in  giving  a  receipt  for  property  taken  from  non- 
combatants. 

Havre  de  Grace,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Susquehanna  River,  was  the  marauding 
knight's  next  object  for  visitation.  It  was  a  small  town,  two  miles  up  from  the  head 
of  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  contained  about  sixty  houses,  built  mostly  of  wood.  It  was 
on  the  post-road  between  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  as  it  now  is  upon  the  railway 
between  the  two  cities.  For  some  time  the  enemy  had  been  expected  there,  not  be 
cause  there  were  stores  or  any  other  seductions  for  him,  but  because  the  love  of  plun 
der  and  wanton  destruction  appeared  to  be  Cockburn's  animating  spirit.  Several 
companies  of  militia  had  been  sent  to  the  vicinity ;  and  upon  the  high  bank  of  the 

1  Niles's  Weekly  Register,  iv.,  119. 

2  Niles's  Weekly  Register,  iv.,  1G4.    A  letter  in  The  War  (i.,  196)  says  :  "  On  their  arrival  at  the  Stage  Tavern,  which  was 
nearest  their  landing,  the  British  officer  told  the  landlady  not  to  be  frightened,  as  they  would  not  hurt  her  or  her  prop 
erty,  and  ordered  something  to  regale  himself.    Soon  afterward  some  under  officers  came  in  and  said  they  had  possession 
of  the  stores,  and  asked  what  they  should  do  with  them.    The  officer  replied  that  if  there  was  any  thing  they  wanted 
they  might  take  it  and  then  burn  the  houses.    In  a  few  minutes  every  British  sailor  was  rigged  in  an  American  uni 
form,  after  which  they  get  the  stores  on  fire,  and  consumed  them  and  all  the  goods  in  them  to  a  considerable  amount." 
A  greater  portion  of  the  merchandise  consumed  was  private  property. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


671 


Preparations  for  the  Invaders  at  Havre  de  Grace. 


Cockburn  assails  the  Village. 


Flight  of  the  Inhabitants. 


river,  just  below  the  village,  near  the  site  of  the  present  (1867)  iron-works  of  Whitta- 
ker  &  Co.,  a  battery  was  erected,  on  which  one  eighteen-pounder  and  two  nine-pound 
ers  were  mounted.  This,  for  reasons  unexplained,  was  called  the  "  Potato  Battery." 
On  the  lower,  or  Concord  Point,  where  the  light-house  now  stands,  was  a  smaller  bat 
tery,  and  both  were  maimed  by  militia  exempts.  Patrols  watched  the  shores  all  the 
way  to  the  Bay  looking  for  the  enemy,  and  for  about  three  weeks  this  vigilance  was 
unslumbering.  The  enemy  did  not  appear.  All  alarm  subsided ;  and  the  spirit  that 
brought  out  armed  men  began  to  flag.  Some  returned  home,  and  apathy  was  the  rule. 
Cockburn  was  informed  of  this  state  of  things  at  Havre  de  Grace,  and  prepared  to 
fall  upon  the  unsuspecting  villagers  on  the  night  of  the  1st  of  May.  A  deserter  car 
ried  intelligence  of  his  intentions  to  the  town,  and  the  entire  neighborhood  was  speed 
ily  aroused.  The  women  and  children  were  carried  to  places  of  safety,  and  about 
tAvo  hundred  and  fifty  militia  were  soon  again  at  their  posts.  But  Cockburn  did  not 
come.  He  purposely  lulled  them  into  repose  by  a  postponement  of  the  attack.  The 
deserter's  story  was  disbelieved.  It  was  thought  to  be  a  false  alarm.  What  is  there 
to  call  the  British  here  ?  common  sagacity  queried.  The  militia  again  became  dis 
organized,  and  many  of  them  returned  home. 

On  the  night  of  the  2d  of  May  there  was  perfect  quiet  in  Havre  de  Grace.  The 
inhabitants  went  to  sleep  more  peacefully  than  they  had  done  for  a  month.  They 
were  suddenly  awakened  at  dawn  by  the  din  of  arms.  It  was  a  beautiful  serene 
morning ;  "  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky  nor  a  ripple  on  the  water,"  said  the  venerable  Mr. 
Howtell,  of  Havre  de  Grace,  to  me,  in  the  autumn  of  1861,  as  we  stood  upon  the  site 
of  the  "Potato  Battery."  He  was  there  at  the  time,  and  participated  in  the  scenes. 
Fifteen  to  twenty  barges,  filled  with  British  troops,  were  discovered  approaching 
Concord  Point,  on  which  the  light-house  n«w  stands.  The  guns  on  higher  Point 
Comfort,  manned  by  a  few  lingering  militia,  opened  upon 
them,  and  these  were  returned  by  grapeshot  from  the  ene 
my's  vessels.  The  drums  in  the  village  beat  to  arms.  The 
affrighted  inhabitants,  half  dressed,  rushed  to  the  streets,  the 
non-combatants  flying  in  terror  to  places  of  safety.  The 
confusion  was  cruel.  It  was  increased  by  a  flight  of  hissing 
rockets,  which  set  houses  in  flames.  These  were  followed 
by  more  destructive  bomb-shells ;  and  while  the  panic  and 
the  fire  were  raging  in  the  town,  the  enemy  landed.  A 
strong  party  debarked  in  the  cove  by  the  present  light 
house,  captured  the  small  battery  there,  and  pressed  forward 
to  seize  the  larger  one.  All  but  eight  or  ten  of  the  militia 
had  fled  from  the  village;  and  John  O'Neil,  a  brave  Irish 
man,  and  Philip  Albert,  alone  remained  at  the  battery.  Al- 


LANDING-PLACE   OF   THE  BRITISH. 


bert  was  hurt,  and  O'Neil  attempted  to  manage  the  heaviest  gun  alone.  He  loaded 
and  discharged  it,  when,  by  its  recoil,  his  thigh  was  injured,  and  he  was  disabled. 
They  both  hurried  toward  the  town,  and  used  their  muskets  until  compelled  to  fly 
toward  the  open  common,  near  the  Episcopal  Church,  pursued  by  a  British  horse- 


672 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Landing  of  the  British  at  Havre  de  Grace. 


Their  cruel  Conduct. 


Destruction  of  private  Property. 


man.  There  O'Neil  was  captured,  but  Albert  escaped.  The  brave  Irishman  was 
carried  on  board  the  frigate  Maidstone,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  was  set  at 
liberty. 

The  guns  of  the  captured  battery  were  turned  upon  the  town,  and  added  to  the 
destruction.  A  greater  portion  of  the  enemy  (almost  four  hundred  in  number)  went 
up  to  the  site  of  the  present  railway  ferry  landing,  and  debarked  there.  They  rushed 
up  to  the  open  common,  separated  into  squads,  and  commenced  plundering  and  de 
stroying  systematically,  officers  and  men  entering  into  the  business  with  equal  alac 
rity.1  Finally,  when  at  least 
one  half  of  the  village  had 
been  destroyed,  Cockburn, 
the  instigator  of  the  crime, 
went  on  shore,  and  was  met 
on  the  common  by  several 
ladies  who  had  taken  refuge 
in  an  elegant  brick  house, 
some  distance  from  the  vil 
lage,  known  as  the  Pringle 
mansion.  They  entreated 
him  to  spare  the  remainder 
of  the  village,  and  especially 
the  roof  that  sheltered  them. 
He  yielded  with  reluctance, 
and  at  length  gave  an  order 
for  a  stay  of  the  plundering.2 
Meanwhile  a  large  detach 
ment  of  the  enemy  went  up 
the  Susquehanna  about  six  miles,  to  the  head  of  tide-water,  and  there  destroyed  the 
extensive  iron-works  and  cannon  foundery 
belonging  to  Colonel  Hughes.  A  number 
of  vessels  that  had  escaped  from  the  Bay 
and  were  anchored  there  were  saved  from 
the  flames  by  being  sunk.  At  a  point  be 
low,  Stump's  large  warehouse  was  burnt. 
Finally,  when  all  possible  mischief  had 
been  achieved  along  the  river  bank — when 
farm-houses  had  been  plundered  and  burnt 
a  long  distance  on  the  Baltimore  road — 
when,  after  the  lapse  of  four  hours,  forty 
of  the  sixty  houses  in  the  village  had  been 
destroyed,  and  nearly  all  the  remainder  of 
the  edifices,  except  the  Episcopal  Church,3 
were  more  or  less  injured,  the  marauders 
assembled  in  their  vessels  in  the  stream,  EPISCOPAL  OHUROH. 

1  The  late  Jared  Sparks,  LL.D.,  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  conduct  of  the  marauders,  and  has  left  on  record,  in  the 
North  American  Review  (July,  1817),  an  account  of  real  barbarities  committed  by  them-;  and  William  Charles,  the  cari 
caturist,  perpetuated  their  cruelties  and  robberies  with  his  pencil.    A  few  of  the  British  officers,  who  did  not  share  in 
the  spirit  of  Cockburn,  remonstrated,  but  in  vain. 

2  Among  those  who  took  shelter  there  were  the  wife  of  Commodore  Rodgers,  Mrs.  William  Pinkney,  and  Mrs.  Golds- 
borough.    The  latter  begged  the  officer  who  had  been  sent  up  with  a  detachment  to  burn  Mr.  Pringle's  house  to  spare 
it,  for  she  had  an  aged  mother  in  it.    He  replied  that  his  orders  were  from  Admiral  Cockburn  himself,  and  that  she  must 
see  him.    This  was  the  occasion  of  the  deputation  of  women  meeting  him  on  the  common.    When  they  returned  the 
house  was  on  fire,  and  men  were  leaving  it  with  plunder.    By  great  exertions  the  flames  were  extinguished.    Such  was 
the  statement  of  a  lady  living  near  to  her  brother  in  Baltimore,  published  in  Niles's  Register,  iv.,  196.    She  mentions  sev 
eral  instances  of  vandalism. 

3  This  building  is  of  brick,  and  stands  on  the  corner  of  Union  Street  and  Congress  Avenue.    It  was  two  stories  in 


THE   PBINULE   UOUSE. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


673 


A  Visit  to  Havre  de  Grace. 


Historical  Localities  there. 


John  O'Neill,  his  Sword  and  Dwelling. 


and  at  sunset  sailed  out  into  the  Bay  to  pay  a  similar  visit  to  villages  on  the  Sassa 
fras  River.1  Havre  de  Grace  was  at  least  sixty  thousand  dollars  poorer  when  they 
left  than  when  they  came  twelve  hours  before. 

It  was  a  sunny  but  blustery  daya  when  I  visited  Havre  de  Grace  and  .  November  22, 
the  scenes  around  it,  made  memorable  by  its  woes.  I  arrived  in  the 
evening  by  railway  from  Baltimore,  where  I  had  spent  three  days  in  visiting  the 
battle-ground  at  North  Point  and  other  interesting  places  hereafter  to  be  described. 
The  town  was  full  of  soldiers,  many  being  stationed  there  to  guard  the  ferry  and 
public  property  from  the  violence  of  the  sympathizers  with  the  rebels  in  Maryland. 
The  only  hotel  in  the  place  was  entirely  filled  with  lodgers,  and  private  houses  were 
in  like  condition.  The  prospect  for  a  night's  repose  was  unpromising.  For  myself, 
a  settee  or  an  easy-chair  might  have  sufficed ;  but  I  had  a  traveling  companion  (a  young 
woman  and  near  relative)  who  required  better  accommodations.  The  obliging  pro 
prietor  of  the  hotel,  after  much  effort,  succeeded  in  placing  us  in  the  unoccupied  fur 
nished  house  of  his  son-in-law,  where  we  passed  a  dreary  night,  the  windows  of  my 
room  clattering  continually  at  the  bidding  of  the  gusty  wind.  Early  the  next  morn 
ing  I  went  out  in  search  of  celebrities,  and,  after  sketching  the  old  residence  of  Com 
modore  Rodgers,  printed  on  page  182, 1  fortunately  fell  in  with  Mr.  Howtell,  already 
mentioned,  who  became  my  cicerone.  Under  his  direction  I  was  enabled 
to  find  every  place  sought  after. 

While  sketching  the  landing-place  of  the  British  near  the  light-house 
(page  671),  the  keeper  of  the  pharos  came  to  know  my  business.  He  was 
an  aged  man,  and  I  soon  discovered  that  he  was  one  of  the  oldest  resi 
dents  of  the  place,  having  been  a  half-grown  boy  at  the  time  of  the  Brit 
ish  visitation.  "  Did  you  know  John  O'Neil,  who  behaved  so  gallantly  at 
the  Potato  Battery  ?"  I  asked.  "  I  ought  to,"  he  replied,  "  for  he  was  my 
father."  Can  you  tell  me  any  thing  about  the  sword  presented  to  him  by 
the  authorities  of  Philadelphia  for  his  bravery  on  that  occasion  ?"  I  in 
quired.  "  If  you  will  go  with  me  to  the  house,"  he  replied,  "  it  will  speak 
for  itself."  When  I  had  finished  my  sketch  of  the  weather-beaten  light 
house  (from  which  most  of  the  stucco  had  been  abraded)  and  the  cove, 
with  the  distant  Turkey  Point,  Spesutia  Island,  and  the  -Maryland  main 
on  the  right,  I  followed  Mr.  O'Neil  to  his  little  cottage  near  by,  and  there 
not  only  saw  and  sketched  the  honorary  sword,  but  from  the  brave  John 
O'Neil's  own  family  Bible  obtained  a  few  facts  concerning  his  personal 
history.  He  was  born  in  Ireland  on  the  23d  of  November,  1 768,  and  came 
to  America  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  He  was  in  the  military  service 
under  General  Harry  Lee  in  quelling  the  Whisky  Insurrection  in  Western 
Pennsylvania,  and  in  1798  entered  the  naval  service  against  the  French. 
He  became  an  extensive  nail-maker  at  Havre  de  Grace,  sometimes  em 
ploying  as  many  as  twenty  men.  The  destruction  of  the  place  ruined  his 
business.  When  the  present  light-house  was  built  on  Concord  Point  in 
1829  he  became  its  keeper;  and  on  the  26th  of  January,  1838,  he  died  in 
the  house  where  his  son  and  successor  resides.  The  sword  had  a  hand 
somely-ornamented  gilt  scabbard,  on  which  was  the  following  inscription : 
"PRESENTED  TO  THE  GALLANT  JOHN  O'NEIL  FOR  HIS  VALOR  AT  HAVRE 
DE  GRACE,  BY  PHILADELPHIA— 1813."  In  Charles's  caricature  just  men-  JC 
tioned,  a  British  officer,  who  has  arrested  the  bold  cannonier  and  con- 


heizht  at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  Havre  de  Grace.  Between  thirty  and  forty  years  ago  it  was  fired  by  a  lightning 
stroke  and  partially  consumed.  The  square  spaces  in  the  walls  over  the  windows  show  the  lower  portions  of  the  old 
windows  in  the  second  story.  Although  the  British  did  not  apply  the  torch  to  the  church,  they  amused  themselves  by 
hurling  stones  through  the  windows. 

i  In  the  affair  at  Havre  de  Grace  the  Americans  lost  one  man  (Mr.  Webster),  killed  by  a  rocket.    The  British  lost  three 
killed  and  two  wounded. 

Uu 


674  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  "Pringle  House."  Its  Owner  a  Veteran  of  the  War.  Plunder  and  Destruction  of  Villages  by  Cockburn. 

fronts  him,  is  made  to  say, "  I  tell  you  what,  Mr.  O'Neil,  you  are  certainly  a  brave 
fellow,  but  as  a  prisoner  of  war  must  go  on  board  with  us."  They  did  not  keep  him 
long,  for  on  the  10th,  seven  days  after  his  capture,  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Baltimore, 
saying, "  I  was  carried  on  board  the  Maidstone  frigate,  where  I  remained  until  re 
leased  three  days  since."  His  letter  opened  with  the  quaint  sentence, "  No  doubt  be 
fore  this  you  have  heard  of  my  defeat  y"  and  this  was  followed  by  a  brief  narrative 
of  the  affair. 

Toward  noon  I  rode  up  to  the  "  Pringle  House,"  the  residence  of  the  Honorable 
Elisha  Lewis,  who  had  just  been  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  by  the 
Unionists  of  his  district.  His  estate  is  called  Bloomsbury,  an  old  English  title,  and 
contains  six  hundred  acres  of  land,  with  a  front  of  a  mile  on  Chesapeake  Bay.  When 
the  mansion  was  built  in  1808  by  Mark  Pringle,  a  wealthy  Baltimore  merchant,  it 
was  the  finest  country  residence  in  the  state,  and  even  when  I  visited  it  few  rivaled 
it  either  in  appearance  or  comfort.  It  stood  upon  an  eminence  overlooking  Havre  de 
Grace,  the  Susquehanna  River,  and  Chesapeake  Bay.  It  was  very  large,  and  sub 
stantially  built  of  pressed  brick.  Mr.  Lewis  was  one  of  the  brave  defenders  of  Balti 
more  in  1814,  when  that  city  was  threatened  by  General  Ross  and  his  army.  He 
served  as  a  volunteer  sergeant  in  Captain  Perring's  company,  Twenty-seventh  Regi 
ment — the  brave  Twenty-seventh — Maryland  Militia,  which  did  such  gallant  service 
in  the  battle  of  North  Point.  His  gun  was  disabled  by  a  shot  through  the  stock, 
when  he  took  the  musket  of  a  slain  companion  by  his  side,  and  continued  the  fight. 
Founder  of  a  commercial  house  in  Baltimore,  he  was  engaged  thirty  years  in  trade, 
and  passed  much  of  his  time  in  England.  For  sixteen  years  he  had  been  enjoying 
the  quiet  of  country  life. 

After  spending  an  hour  pleasantly  at  Bloomsbury  I  rode  back  to  the  village,  and 
to  the  quarters  of  Colonel  Rodgers,  son  of  the  commodore,  who  was  then  raising  a 
Maryland  regiment  for  the  war.  At  half  past  three  we  left  Havre  de  Grace,  and  were 
with  friends  in  Philadelphia  in  time  for  supper. 

Let  us  resume  the  historical  narrative. 

Cockburn  and  his  marauders  went  up  the  Sassafras  River,  that  separates  Cecil  and 
Kent  Counties,  Maryland,  and  attacked  the  villages  of  Fredericktown  and  George 
town,  lying  on  opposite  banks  of  that  stream,  about  eleven  miles  from  its  mouth. 
The  former  is  in  Cecil  County,  the  latter  in  Kent  County.  Both  of  them  at  that 
time,  and  especially  Georgetown,  had  a  flourishing  trade  with  Baltimore.  These  vil 
lages  contained  from  forty  to  fifty  houses  each,  and  at  Fredericktown  several  small 
vessels  that  had  run  up  from  the  bay  for  shelter  were  moored. 

It  was  on  the  6th  of  May,  a  warm  and  beautiful  morning,  that  Cockburn,  with  six 
hundred  men,  in  eighteen  barges,  went  up  the  Sassafras.  He  first  visited  Frederick- 
town,  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  stream.  Less  than  one  hundred  militiamen,  under 
Colonel  Veazy,  were  there,  with  a  little  breastwork,  and  a  small  cannon  to  defend  it. 
When  the  enemy  opened  his  great  guns  all  but  thirty-five  of  them  fled.  With  these 
Veazy  made  stout  resistance,  but  was  compelled  to  retire.  The  marauders  landed, 
and  the  entreaties  of  the  women  to  spare  the  town,  especially  the  more  humble  dwell 
ings  of  the  poor,  were  answered  by  oaths  and  coarse  jests  and  the  application  of  the 
fire-brand.  The  store-houses,  the  vessels,  and  the  beautiful  village  were  set  in  flames 
after  the  invaders  were  glutted  with  plunder.  The  marauders  then  crossed  over  to 
Georgetown,  and  served  it  in  the  same  way.  So  delighted  was  Cockburn  with  his 
success  in  plundering  and  destroying  unprotected  towns,  that,  with  characteristic 
swagger,  he  declared  he  should  not  be  satisfied  until  he  had  burned  every  building  in 
Baltimore. 

After  having  plundered  and  destroyed  these  quiet  villages,  and  despoiled  them  of 
an  aggregate  of  at  least  seventy  thousand  dollars,  Cockburn  and  his  pirates  returned 
to  their  ships.  This  kind  of  warfare,  so  disgraceful  to  a  civilized  government,  created 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812.  675 


The  blockading  Force  strengthened.  Norfolk  menaced.  Stirring  Scenes  in  Hampton  Roads. 

the  most  intense  hatred  of  the  enemy,  and  aroused  a  war  spirit  throughout  the  land 
that  for  a  time  appalled  the  cowardly  "  Peace  Party,"  and  nearly  silenced  the  news 
papers  in  their  interest. 

On  the  26th  of  May  a  British  order  in  Council  extended  the  blockade  to  New  York 
and  all  the  Southern  ports ;  and  on  the  1st  of  June  Admiral  Warren  entered  the*  Ches 
apeake  with  a  considerable  naval  re-enforcement  for  Coekburn  and  Beresford,  bearing 
a  large  number  of  land  troops  and  marines  under  the  command  of  Sir  Sidney  Beck- 
with.  The  British  force  now  collected  within  the  Capes  of  Virginia  consisted  of  eight 
ships  of  the  line,  twelve  frigates,  and  a  considerable  number  of  smaller  vessels,  and  it 
was  evident  that  some  more  important  point  than  defenseless  villages  would  be  the 
next  object  of  attack.  The  citizens  of  Baltimore,  Annapolis,  and  Norfolk  were  equally 
menaced,  but  when,  at  the  middle  of  June,a  three  British  frigates  entered 
Hampton  Roads,  and  sent  their  boats  up  the  James  River  to  destroy  some 
small  American  vessels  there  and  plunder  the  inhabitants,  it  was  evident  that  Nor 
folk  would  be  the  first  point  of  attack.  The  Constellation1  and  a  flotilla  of  twenty 
gun-boats,  as  well  as  Forts  Norfolk  and  Nelson  (one  on  each  side  of  the  Elizabeth 
River),  and  Forts  Tar  and  Barbour,2  and  the  fortifications  on  Craney  Island,  were  all 


GENERAL   VIEW   OF   CBANEY   ISLAND. 


put  in  the  best  state  of  defense  possible ;  while  Commodore  Cassin,  then  in  command 
of  the  station,  ordered  Captain  Tarbell  to  organize  an  expedition  for  the  capture  of 
the  frigate  that  lay  at  anchor  at  the  nearest  distance  from  Norfolk. 

Toward  midnight  on  Saturday,  the  19th  of  June,b  Captain  Tarbell,  with 
fifteen  gun-boats,  descended  the  Elizabeth  River  in  two  divisions,  one  under 
Lieutenant  J.  M.  Gardner,  and  the  other  under  Lieutenant  Robert  G.  Henley.  Fifteen 
volunteer  sharp-shooters  from  Craney  Isl- 
and  were  added  to  the  crews  of  the  boats. 
Because  of  head  winds  the  flotilla  did  not 
approach  the  nearest  vessel  until  half 
past  three  in  the  morning.  She  lay  about 
three  miles  from  the  others,  and  under 
cover  of  the  darkness  just  before  daylight,  and  a  heavy  fog,  the  Americans  approached 
within  easy  range  of  the  vessel  without  being  discovered.  At  four  o'clock  Tarbell 
opened  fire  upon  her.  She  was  taken  by  surprise,  and  her  response  was  so  feeble  and 
irregular  that  a  panic  on  board  was  indicated.  The  wind  was  too  light  to  fill  her 
sails,  while  the  gun-boats,  managed  by  sweeps,  had  every  advantage.  They  were 
formed  in  crescent  shape,  and  during  a  conflict  of  half  an  hour  Tarbell  was  contin 
ually  cheered  by  sure  promises  of  victory.  It  was  snatched  from  his  hand  by  a  breeze 
that  suddenly  sprung  up  from  the  north-northeast,  which  enabled  the  two  frigates 
anchored  below  to  come  up  to  the  assistance  of  the  assailed  vessel,  supposed  to  be 

1  During  the  spring  efforts  had  been  made  by  officers  of  the  British  blockading  squadron  to  capture  the  Constellation, 
then  in  command  of  the  now  (1867)  venerable  Admiral  Stewart.    Some  stirring  events  had  occurred  in  connection  with 
these  efforts. 

2  Fort  Tar  was  a  email  redoubt  south  of  Armistead's  Bridge.    Fort  Barbour  was  east  of  Church  Street  and  south  of 
the  Princess  Anne  Road.    These  were  to  defend  the  land-side  approaches  of  the  enemy. 


676 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Skirmish  in  Hampton  Roads. 


A  British  Fleet  enters  the  Roads. 


Admiral  Shubrick's  public  Life. 


the  Junon,  38,  Captain  Sanders.  These  opened  a 
severe  cannonade  on  the  flotilla,  and  the  Ameri 
cans  were  obliged  to  haul  off.  As  they  retired  in 
good  order,  they  kept  up  a  fire  on  the  British  ves 
sels  for  almost  an  hour.1  They  damaged  their 
enemy  seriously,  while  some  of  their  own  boats 
were  badly  bruised.  Master's  Mate  Allison  was 
killed,  and  two  seamen  were  slightly  wounded.  These  composed  the  entire  loss  of 
the  Americans.  How  much  the  British  seamen  suffered  is  not  known. 

This  attack  brought  matters  to  a  cri 
sis.  Efforts  for  the  capture  of  Norfolk, 
with  its  fortifications,  the  armed  vessels 
there,  and  the  navy  yard,  were  imme 
diately  made  by  the  British  admiral. 
The  cannonade  had  been  distinctly 
heard,  and  with  the  very  next  tide  aft 
er  the  conflict  on  that  foggy  Sunday 
morning  fourteen  of  the  enemy's  ves 
sels  entered  the  Roads,  ascended  to  the 
mouth  of  the  James  River,  and  took 
position  between  the  point  called  New- 
port-Newce  and  Pig  Point,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Nansemond.  These  vessels  had 
on  board  the  One  Hundred  and  Second 
Regiment  of  British  Infantry,  the  Roy 
al  Marine  Brigade,  and  two  companies 
of  French  volunteer  prisoners,  who,  in 
compliment  to  their  language,  were 
called  Chasseurs  Britanniques.  These 
land  troops  were 
commanded  by  Gen 
eral  Sir  Sidney  Beck- 
with,  assisted  by 

1  In  this  affair  Lieutenant  (now  Admiral)  W.  B.  Shubrick  performed  a  gallant  part.  I  was  informed  by  Commodore 
Tattnall  that  after  the  engagement  had  continued  about  an  hour  Captain  Tarbell  made  general  signal  to  withdraw  from 
the  contest.  The  boat  commanded  by  Shubrick  at  that  time  happened  to  be  nearest  the  enemy,  and  that  brave  young 
officer,  then  twenty-three  years  of  age,  satisfied  that  a  few  more  shots  would  damage  the  enemy,  obeyed  the  order  very 
slowly,  and  continued  to  blaze  away  at  the  frigate.  This  caused  the  concentration  of  the  enemy's  fire  upon  his  single 
boat.  Still  he  moved  off  slowly,  firing  on  his  retreat,  until  a  signal  made  specially  for  him  directed  him  to  leave,  and 
take  in  tow  a  disabled  gun-boat.  This  he  did  without  losing  a  man.— Notes  of  Conversation  with  Commodore  Tattnall  in 
July,  1860. 

William  Branford  Shubrick  was  born  near  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  on  the  31st  of  October,  1790.  He  was  at  school 
in  New  England  about  three  years,  from  his  twelfth  to  his  fifteenth  year,  the  latter  part  of  the  time  in  Harvard  Univer 
sity,  from  which  he  was  called  home,  and  in  Charleston  was  instructed  in  the  science  of  navigation.  In  June,  1SOG,  he 
entered  the  navy  as  midshipman,  but  continued  his  studies  until  1807,  when  he  joined  the  sloop  of  war  Wasp  at  Norfolk. 
She  left  that  port  about  three  days  before  the  attack  of  the  Leopard  on  the  Chesapeake.  He  was  actively  engaged  in 
service  until  the  war  broke  out,  when  he  made  a  cruise  in  the  Hornet  with  Commander  Lawrence,  when  he  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  Constellation,  then  under  the  command  of  the  now  venerable  Admiral  Stewart.  He  then  bore  the  commis 
sion  of  a  lieutenant.  He  behaved  gallantly  in  the  attack  on  the  Junon  and  in  the  defense  of  Craney  Island.  After  that 
he  followed  Stewart  to  the  Constitution,  and  in  that  vessel  he  served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  always  taking  an  active 
part  in  her  brilliant  conduct.  Pursuant  to  a  resolution  of  Congress  (February  22, 1S16),  he  received  a  silver  medal  as  one 
of  Stewart's  officers.  In  1834  the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina  presented  him  with  an  elegant  sword  in  testimony  of 
their  appreciation  of  his  gallant  services  in  the  Constitution  when  she  captured  the  Cijane  and  Levant.  He  was  acting 
first  lieutenant  during  her  remarkable  escape  from  the  British  squadron,  hereafter  to  be  recorded  in  these  pages.  At 
the  close  of  the  war  he  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant,  and  in  the  Waxhinflton,  74,  under  Chauncey's  flag,  he  cruised 
in  the  Mediterranean.  He  was  promoted  to  master  commandant  in  1820.  Eleven  years  later,  after  several  well-con 
ducted  cruises,  he  was  promoted  to  captain,  and  until  1838  was  engaged  in  service  on  shore.  He  was  afloat  again  in 
ifeS  as  commander  of  a  squadron  in  the  West  Indies.  In  1846,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  he  was  as 
signed  to  the  command  of  a  squadron  in  the  Pacific,  and  actively  participated  in  events  there.  In  1853  he  was  in  com 
mand  of  a  squadron  on  our  Eastern  coast  for  the  protection  of  the  fisheries,  an  important  and  delicate  duty.  In  1858  he 
commanded  a  powerful  squadron  sent  to  demand  satisfaction  for  injuries  from  the  government  of  Paraguay,  and  having 
discretionary  power  to  commence  hostilities  should  that  satisfaction  not  be  made  to  the  United  States  Commissioners. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


Virginia  Militia  near  Norfolk. 


Craney  Island. 


American  Forces  there. 


General  Taylor. 


Lieutenant  Colonel  Napier  and  other  eminent  leaders.  The  whole  force  of  the  ene 
my,  including  sailors,  was  about  five  thousand  men. 

James  Barbour  was  then  Governor  of  Virginia.  He  was  patriotic  and  active,  and 
by  untiring  energy  he  had  assembled  several  thousand  militia.  A  large  portion  of 
these,  with  some  United  States  regulars  under  Captain  Pollard,  were  at  old  Fort  Nor 
folk  and  vicinity.  They  had  been  di-awn  chiefly  from  the  coast  districts  most  imme 
diately  menaced  by  the  enemy.  The  governor  had  been  zealously  seconded  in  his 
efforts  by  the  Richmond  press  and  leading  provincial  journals,  who,  as  usual,  appealed 
vehemently  to  state  pride.  The  appeal  was  effectual,  and  gallant  men  flocked  to  the 
standard  of  their  common  country. 

Craney  Island,  then  in  shape  like  a  painter's  pallet,  and  rising  a  few  feet  above  the 
water,  was  separated  from  the  main  by  a  strait  that  was  fordable  at  low  or  half  tide. 
Across  this  a  temporary  foot-bridge  had  been  constructed,  which  led  to  Stringer's 
farm-house.  The  island  at  that  time  contained  about  thirty  acres  of  land.  On  the 
southeastern  side  of  it,  and  commanding  the  ship  channel,  were  intrenchments,  on 
which  two  24,  one  18,  and  four  6  pound  cannon  were  planted.  These  formed  the 
most  remote  outpost  of  Norfolk,  and  were  the  key  to  the  harbor.  The  defense  of  this 
island  was  demanded  by  stern  necessity,  and  to  that  end  the  efforts  of  the  leaders 
in  that  vicinity  were  directed.  The  chief 
of  these  was  Brigadier  General  Robert  B. 
Taylor,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  dis 
trict.  The  whole  available  force  on  the 
island  when  the  British  entered  Hampton 
Roads  consisted  of  two  companies  of  ar 
tillery  from  Portsmouth,  led  by  Captains 
Emerson  and  Richardson,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Major  James  Faulkner,  of  the  Vir 
ginia  State  Artillery;  Captain  Roberts's 
company  of  riflemen ;  and  four  hundred 
and  sixteen  militia  infantry  of  the  line, 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Henry 
Beatty,  assisted  by  Major  Andrew  Wag 
goner.  These  were  so  situated  that,  if 
attacked  and  overpowered,  they  had  no 
means  for  escape,  and  yet,  as  one  of  the 
newspapers  of  the  day  said,  they  were 
"  all  cool  and  collected,  rather  wishing  the 
attack." 

On  the  arrival  of  General  Taylor1  at 
Norfolk  he  perceived  the  necessity  of  re- 
enforcing  the  troops  on  Craney  Island, 

President  Lopez  complied  with  the  demand,  and  he  returned  in  1859.  Before  leaving  he  visited  General  Urquiza,  Pres 
ident  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  who  presented  him  with  a  splendid  sword.  The  United  States  Congress  by  joint  res 
olution  authorized  him  to  accept  it.  This  closed  his  sea  service,  in  which  he  has  held  every  rank  and  exercised  every 
command,  from  midshipman  to  rear  admiral.  He  has  also  performed  faithful  shore  service  of  every  kind  pertaining  to 
his  rank.  He  has  commanded  three  different  navy  yards,  and  held  two  bureaus  in  the  Navy  Department.  He  has  been 
chairman  of  the  Light-house  Board  since  its  establishment  in  1S53,  and  in  a  service  of  over  sixty-one  years  has  been 
only  six  years  and  eight  months  unemployed.  His  father  was  an  officer  of  the  Revolution. 

1  Robert  Barnard  Taylor  was  an  eminent  man.  He  was  born  on  the  20th  of  March,  1774,  and  was  educated  at  Wil 
liam  and  Mary  College,  Williamsburg.  He  studied  law  with  Judge  Marshall,  and  was  associated  at  the  bar  with  Wil 
liam  Wirt,  L.  W.  Tazewell,  and  other  eminent  lawyers.  In  179S-'99  he  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  of  the 
Federal  school.  He  was  one  of  the  grand  jurors  (John  Randolph,  foreman)  in  1807  who  found  a  bill  of  indictment 
against  Aaron  Burr,  charged  with  treason.  During  the  same  year  he  was  counsel  for  Commodore  Barren,  after  the  af 
fair  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Leopard.  He  took  pride  in  military  affairs,  and  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  1S12  he  was 
appointed  to  the  command  at  Norfolk  as  brigadier  general  of  the  Virginia  forces.  He  was  very  efficient  in  defense  of 
that  city  in  the  summer  of  1813.  He  retired  from  the  command  in  February,  1814,  when  General  Parker  succeeded  to 
his  place.  On  that  occasion  the  citizens  of  Norfolk  gave  him  a  public  dinner,  and  from  the  military  he  received  the 
most  flattering  testimonies  of  their  esteem  and  affection.  When,  as  the  national  guest,  General  Lafayette  visited  the 


678 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Artillerists  on  Craney  Island. 


Landing  of  the  British. 


Preparations  for  Battle. 


where  the  first  blow  of  the  coming  battle  was  likely  to  fall.  He  accordingly  sent 
down  thirty  regulars  under  Captain  Richard  Pollard,  from  Fort  Norfolk,  and  thirty 
volunteers  under  Lieutenant  Johnson,  of  Culpepper,  and  Ensign  Archibald  Atkinson 
(member  of  Congress  in  1849),  of  Isle  of  Wight,  most  of  them  riflemen.  These  were 

followed  by  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
seamen,  under  Lieutenants  B.  J.  Neale, 
W.  B.  Shubrick,  and  James  Sanders,  and 
fifty  marines  under  Lieutenant  Breckin- 
ridge.  These,  on  the  solicitation  of  Gen 
eral  Taylor,  were  sent  by  Tarbell  to  work 
the  heavy  guns.  The  whole  force  on  the  island,  on  the  evening  of  the  21st,  num 
bered  seven  hundred  and  thirty-seven  men. 

At  midnight  the  camp  was  alarmed  by  the  crack  of  a  sentinel's  musket.  He 
thought  he  discovered  a  boat  in  the  strait.1  The  troops  were  called  to  arms,  and 
stood  watching  until  dawn,  when  a  bush,  and  not  a  boat,  was  found  to  have  been  the 
cause  of  the  commotion.  The  troops  were  dismissed,  but  they  had  scarcely  broken 
ranks  when  a  horseman  came  dashing  across  the  fordable  strait,  and  reported  that  the 
enemy  were  landing  in  force  near  Major  Hoffleur's,  a  little  more  than  two  miles  dis 
tant.  The  drum  beat  the  long  roll,  and  as  the  daylight  increased  the  British  were 
seen  passing  continually  in  boats  from  the  ships  to  the  shore.  Major  Faulkner  at  once 
ordered  the  three  heavy  guns  in  the  southeastern  portion  of  the  island  to  be  trans 
ferred  to  the  northwestern  part,  and  had  them  placed  in  battery  there  with  the  four 
6-pounders.  These  seven  pieces  constituted  a  pretty  formidable  battery.  A  short 
distance  in  the  rear  of  it,  the  infantry,  riflemen, 
and  Richardson's  artillerymen  acting  as  infant 
ry,  were  formed  in  line,  so  as  to  face  the  strait 
at  the  mouth  of  Wise's  Creek. 

The  command  of  the  18-pounder  was  given 
to  Lieutenant  B.  J.  Neale,  assisted  by  Lieuten 
ants  Shubrick   and  Sanders,  and  about    one 
hundred  sailors  and  marines,  chiefly  from  the 
Constellation.    The  two  24's  and  four  6's  were 
under  the  charge  of  Captain  Emerson,  with  his 
company  of  artillery,  and  aided  by  Lieutenants 
Godwin  and  Howie,  Sergeants  Young  and  Liv 
ingston,  Corporal  Moflatt,  and  Captain  Thomas 
Rooke,  master  of  the  merchantman  Manhat-    / 
tan,  who  had  been  of  great  service  in  transfer-    ' 
ing  the  heavy  guns  from  one  end  of  the  island 
to  the  other.     These  heavy  guns  were  worked 
chiefly  by  the  men  from  the  navy.     The  entire 
battery  was  under  the  supreme  command  of 
Major  Faulkner,  a  cool  and  skillful  artiller-      A* 
ist.2    The  whole  force  on  the  island  was     Je% 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Beatty.        ^ 

United  States  in  1824,  and  a  grand  reception  was  given  him  at  Torktown,  in  Virginia,  the  scene  of  his  warfare  and  tri 
umph  in  youth,  General  Taylor  was  the  chosen  orator  for  the  assembled  multitude.  "  In  all  my  time  I  never  heard  such 
eloquence,"  said  a  veteran  to  me  in  the  spring  of  1853.  "  In  all  my  time  I  never  saw  so  many  men  in  tears." 

General  Taylor  filled  the  position  of  judge  and  legislator  with  distinction.  He  was  in  the  Convention  in  1829-'30, 
charged  with  amending  the  Constitution  of  Virginia.  In  that  body  he  introduced  enlightened  measures  in  regard  to 
the  elective  franchise.  In  the  winter  of  1831-'32  he  was  made  judge  of  the  General  Court  of  Virginia,  and  held  the  office 
until  his  death  on  the  13th  of  April,  1834. 

1  This  sentinel  was  William  Shutte.    He  was  stationed  upon  a  small  island  that  once  lay  near  the  mouth  of  Wise's 
<  Creek.    See  map  on  page  679.    Shutte  made  the  usual  challenge,  and,  receiving  no  answer,  fired,  and  continued  to  fire 

;mtil  the  camp  was  fully  aroused.  •+  • 

2  James  Faulkner  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1776,  and  came  to  America  when  a  boy  under  the  charge  of  a  distant  rela- 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


679 


Advance  of  the  British  on  Land. 


A  sharp  Conflict. 


Advance  of  the  British  on  Water. 


.SCHOONER  OltKTCH/^', 

-  *Xg>S  /  ^ 


STRINGERS 

NOW  CROCK 


A  long  pole  was  procured,  the  national  flag  was  nailed  to  it,  and  then  it  was  planted 
firmly  in  the  redoubt.  The  gun-boats  were  anchored  in  the  form  of  a  segment  of  a 
circle,  extending  from  Craney  Island  to  Lambert's  Point,  while  the  Constellation  lay 
nearer  the  city.  Thus  prepared,  the  Americans  calmly  awaited  the  approach  of  the  foe. 

The   British  landed   about , 

twenty-five  hundred  men,  in 
fantry  and  marines,  at  Hof- 
fleur's  Creek.  The  morning 
sky  was  cloudless ;  and  for 
more  than  two  hours  the  flash 
ing  of  their  burnished  arms 
might  be  seen  by  the  Ameri 
cans  as  they  manoeuvred  on 
the  beach  and  on  the  edge  of 
an  intervening  wood.  Stealth 
ily  they  crept  through  the 
thick  undergrowth  of  the  for 
est,  and  appeared  suddenly  on 
the  point  at  the  confluence  of 
Wise's  Creek  and  the  strait. 
They  immediately  opened  a 
cannonade  from  a  field-piece 
and  a  howitzer,  and  sent  a 
bevy  of  Congreve  rockets  upon 
the  island,  to  cover  the  move 
ment  of  a  detachment  sent  to 
cross  Wise's  Creek,  and  gain 
the  rear  of  the  American  left 
flank  in  position  on  the  main. 
They  were  partially  sheltered 
by  the  house  of  Captain  George 
Wise,  known  as  Wise's  Quar 
ters,  and  a  thick  wood.  Some 
of  the  heavy  guns  of  the  bat 
tery  on  the  island  were  opened 
upon  them  with  great  preci- 
'sion  and  rapidity,  and  a  show 
er  of  grape  and  canister  shot  soon  drove  the  enemy  out  of  reach  of  the  artillery. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  this  advance  of  the  British  land -force  fifty  large 
barges,  filled  with  full  fifteen  hundred  sailors  and  marines,  were  seen  approaching 
from  the  enemy's  ships.  They  hugged  the  main  shore  to  keep  out  of  range  of  the 
gun-boat  artillery,  and  moved  in  column  order,  in  two  distinct  lines,  in  the  direction 
of  the  strait,  led  by  Admiral  Warren's  beautiful  barge.  This  vessel  was  fifty  feet  in 
length,  painted  a  rich  green,  and  employed  twenty-four  oars.  Because  of  her  shape 
and  numerous  oars  she  was  called  the  Centipede.  In  her  bow  was  a  brass  3-pounder, 


PLAN    OF   OPERATIONS   AT  CKANEY    ISLAND. 


tive.  He  established  himself  in  mercantile  business  in  Martinsbnrg,  Berkeley  County,  Virginia,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years,  and  that  was  the  place  of  his  residence  until  his  death.  He  long  tried  in  vain  to  obtain  a  commission  in  the 
regular  army  of  the  United  States.  When  war  broke  out  he  hastened  to  Norfolk  with  the  volunteer  troops  of  his  adopt 
ed  state,  and  was  there  commissioned  a  major  of  artillery.  In  that  capacity  he  served  gallantly  on  Craney  Island,  and 
was  the  chief  actor  in  the  repulse  of  the  British.  Major  Faulkner  married  the  only  daughter  of  Captain  William  Mackey, 
of  the  Revolutionary  Army.  He  died  in  1S1T  from  the  effects  of  exposure  and  fatigue  in  camp.  His  wife  was  then  dead. 
They  left  but  one  child,  who  thus  became  an  orphan  in  tender  years.  This  was  Charles  J.  Faulkner,  who  was  an  active 
public  man  in  Virginia,  and  who  was  sent  to  the  French  court  as  minister  plenipotentiary  by  President  Buchanan.  To 
him  I  am  indebted  for  the  likeness  of  his  father  on  the  opposite  page.  When  the  Great  Rebellion  broke  out  he  took 
sides  with  the  insurgents,  and  dishonored  the  memory  of  his  gallant  and  patriotic  father  by  abandoning  the  flag  which 
his  ancestor  had  so  nobly  defended. 


680  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  British  Flotilla  driven  back.  Attempt  to  seize  Norfolk  and  the  Navy  Yard  abandoned.  Hampton. 

called  a  "grasshopper,"  and  she  was  commanded  by  Captain  Hanchett,  of  the  flag 
ship  Diadem,  a  natural  son  of  George  the  Third. 

As  the  first  division  of  the  fleet  of  barges  approached,  the  eager  Emerson  could 
hardly  be  restrained  by  the  more  prudent  Faulkner.  At  length  they  reached  the 
fair  range  of  the  guns.  Faulkner  gave  a  signal,  when  Emerson  shouted, "  Now,  my 
brave  boys,  are  you  ready  ?"  "  All  ready,"  was  the  quick  response.  "  Fire !"  ex 
claimed  Faulkner.  The  whole  battery,  except  two  dismounted  guns,  managed1  by 
Goodwin  and  Livingston,  belched  forth  fire  and  smoke,  and  round,  grape,  and  canister 
shot.  The  volley  was  fearful,  yet  in  the  face  of  it  the  barges  moved  steadily  forward 
until  the  storm  of  metal  was  too  terrible  to  be  endured.  The  boats  were  thrown  into 
the  greatest  confusion.  The  Centipede  was  hulled  by  a  heavy  round  shot  that  passed 
through  her  diagonally,  wounding  several  of  the  men  in  her,  cutting  off  the  legs  of 
one  of  them,  and  severely  hurting  the  thigh  of  Captain  Hanchett.  Orders  for  retreat 
were  given.  The  Centipede  and  four  other  barges  were  sunk  in  shoal  water,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  flotilla  escaped  to  the  ships.  Lieutenant  Neale  was  directed  to  send 
some  of  his  bold  seamen  to  seize  the  admiral's  barge  and  all  in  it,  and  haul  it  on  shore. 
This  was  gallantly  performed  under  the  direction  of  Lieutenants  Tattnall1  and  Geis- 

enger,  Midshipman  Bla- 


Master  George  F. 
De  la  Roche.  They  se 
cured  several  prisoners  and  the  admiral's  fine  barge.  This  was  afterward  repaired, 
and  performed  good  service  as  a  guard-boat  during  many  a  cold,  dark  night  in  the 
ensuing  autumn.2 

Thus  ended  the  battle.  "  Thus,  not  long  before  the  time  when  the  Regent  of  Great 
Britain  congratulated  his  kingdom  on  the  pitch  of  grandeur  it  reached  by  dictating 
peace  to  France  in  the  French  capital,  a  brother  of  that  regent  was  repulsed  by  a 
handful  of  militia  in  an  attempt  to  capture  a  small  island  in  Chesapeake  Bay."3  It 
was  a  most  mortifying  result  for  the  British.4  So  certain  was  Sir  Sidney  Beckwith 
of  success,  that  he  promised  the  troops  the  opportunity  of  breakfasting  on  Craney 
Island  that  morning.  Some  of  the  oificers  took  their  shaving  apparatus  with  them, 
and  others  their  dogs.  At  ten  o'clock  the  scene  was  changed,  and  before  sunset  the 
British  commanders  abandoned  all  hope  of  seizing  Norfolk,  the  Constellation,  and  the 
navy  yard.  It  was  the  last  attempt  there  during  the  war. 

Exasperated  by  their  ignominious  repulse  at  Craney  Island,  the  British  proceeded 
to  attack  the  village  of  Hampton,  a  flourishing  borough  on  the  west  side  of  Hampton 
Creek,  two  miles  and  a  half  from  Old  Point  Comfort.  It  was  the  capital  of  Elizabeth 
City  County,  Virginia,  and  was  a  mile  from  the  confluence  of  the  creek  with  the  wa 
ters  of  Hampton  Roads.  It  was  defended  at  the  time  by  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty  Virginia  soldiers  under  Major  Stapleton  Crutchfield,  whose  adjutant  general 
was  Robert  Anderson,  Esq.,  whom  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  at  Yorktown  in 
1848.  They  were  composed  chiefly  of  militia  infantry,  and  a  few  artillerymen  and 

1  See  page  C15. 

2  "We  waded  out  to  the  Centipede"  said  Commodore  Tattnall,  "and  found  a  Frenchman  in  her  with  both  legs  shot 
off.    Several  others  were  in  her,  wounded  in  the  legs 

and  feet  by  the  passage  of  the  ball.  We  carried  the 
Frenchman  ashore  in  a  hammock,  and  he  died  soon  aft 
erward.  We  also  found  a  little  terrier  dog  sitting  upon 
the  small  cannon  in  her  bow,  and  several  cutlasses,  pis-  TIIE  CENTIPEDE. 

tols,  et  cetera.  I  had  many  a  cold  night's  guard  duty  in  the  admiral's  barge  after  that."— .Votes  of  a  Conversation  with 
Commodore  Tattnall  at  Sackett's  Harbor  in  the  Summer  of  1860.  Onr  little  picture  of  the  Centipede  is  from  an  exact  model 
of  it,  on  a  small  scale,  which  was  made  by  order  of  Commodore  Warrington.  The  black  spot  near  the  stern  shows  the 
place  where  the  cannon-ball  entered  it. 

3  Ingersoll's  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Second  War,  etc.    He  is  mistaken  as  to  the  locality  of  Craney  Island.    It  is  in  the 
Elizabeth  River,  and  not  in  Chesapeake  Bay. 

4  The  Americans  met  with  no  loss.    The  British,  according  to  their  own  account,  lost  C  killed,  24  wounded,  and  114 
missing.    Of  the  latter  40  were  prisoners  and  deserters. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


681 


Americans  at  Hampton. 


Landing  of  the  British  near  Hampton. 


Armed  Boats  appear  in  Front. 


cavalry.  They  were  encamped  on  the  "  Little 
England"  estate  of  five  hundred  acres,  a  short 
distance  southwest  from  the  town,  where  they  had  a  heavy  battery  composed  of  four 
6,  two  12,  and  one  18  pounder  cannon,  in  charge  of  Sergeant  William  Burke,  to  defend 
the  water-front  of  the  camp  and  the  village.1 

On  Friday  night,  the  24th  of  June,  twenty-five  hundred  British  land  troops,  includ 
ing  the  rough  French  prisoners  (Chasseurs  Britanniques),  were  placed  in  boats  and 
small  sailing  vessels,  and  between  dawn  and  sunrise  of  the  25tha  were  landed  »june, 
behind  a  wood  near  the  house  of  Daniel  Murphy,  a  little  more  than  two  miles  1813- 
from  Hampton,  under  cover  of  the  guns  of  the  Mohawk  sloop  of  war.  These  were 
designed  to  fall  upon  Hampton  and  the  little  American  jcamp  in  the  rear,  while  Ad 
miral  Cockburn,  with  a  flotilla  of  armed  boats  and  barges,  should  make  a  feint  in 
front. 

The  land  troops,  under  the  general  command  of  Beckwith,  assisted  by  Lieutenant 
Colonels  Napier2  and  Williams,  moved  stealthily  and  rapidly  forward  toward  the 
doomed  town,  while  the  armed  boats  appeared  suddenly  off  Blackbeard's  Point,  at 
the  mouth  of  Hampton  Creek.  The.  latter  were  first  discovered  by  American  patrols 
at  Mill  Creek,  who  gave  the  alarm.  The  camp  was  aroused,  and  a  line  of  battle  was 
formed.  At  that  moment  a  messenger  came  in  haste  with  intelligence  that  the  Brit 
ish  were  moving  in  force  on  the  rear  of  Hampton.  The  woods  toward  Murphy's  were 
glowing  with  scarlet,  and  a  grain-field  near  was  verdant  with  the  green  uniforms  of 
the  French.  The  inhabitants  of  the  village,  who  yet  remained,  fled  toward  York- 
town,  excepting  a  few  who  could  not  leave  or  who  were  willing  to  trust  to  British 
honor  and  clemency. 

The  brave  Crutchfield  resolved  to  stand  firm  and  defend  the  town  against  the  in 
vaders  on  land  and  water.  He  sent  Captain  Servant  and  his  rifle  company  out  to 
ambush  on  the  road  leading  to  Celey's  plantation,  beyond  Murphy's,  who  were  to  at- 

1  This  picture,  sketched  in  the  spring  of  1853  from  a  window  of  Burcher's  Hotel,  near  the  steam-boat  wharf  in  Hamp 
ton,  is  a  view  of  the  portion  of  the  "  Little  England"  estate,  lying  on  Hampton  Creek,  mentioned  in  the  text.    A  line 
drawn  perpendicularly  beneath  each  numeral  on  the  clouds  would  touch  the  locality  intended  to  be  indicated  by  such 
numeral.    Figure  4  shows  the  place  of  Crntchfleld's  encampment,  and  1  the  place  where  the  four-gun  battery  was  plant 
ed.    Figure  2,  the  place  of  a  smaller  battery ;  3,  Blackbeard's  Point,  at  the  mouth  of  Hampton  Creek,  from  behind  which 
the  British  flotilla  came  ;  5,  the  forest  behind  which  Beckwith's  troops  landed ;  6,  Hampton  Roads :  7,  a  portion  of  the  old 
mansion  of  the  Little  England  estate  ;  8,  the  mouth  of  the  west  branch  of  Hampton  Creek  ;  and,  9,  Bully's  house,  that 
stood  there  in  1S13.    The  "  Little  England"  estate  was  the  ancestral  possession  of  the  family  of  Commodore  Barron. 
In  the  foreground  of  the  picture  is  seen  the  steam-boat  wharf  at  Hampton,  with  the  creek  on  the  right. 

2  This  was  Charles  James  Napier,  afterward  a  distinguished  general  in  the  British  Army,  who  was  knighted  for  his 
services  in  the  East  Indies,  where  he  became  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  forces.    He  was  born  in  1782,  and  died 
in  August,  1835,  bearing  the  honors  of  a  worthy  lieutenant  general.    He  was  a  sprightly  writer,  and  his  biographer  says 
that  "  when  he  was  not  fighting  he  was  writing." 


682  PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 

The  British  Invaders  confronted.  A  severe  Skirmish.  Struggle  for  the  Possession  of  Hampton. 

tack  and  check  the  enemy ;  and  when  Cockburn  ventured  within  Blackboard's  Point, 
and  opened  fire  on  the  American  camp,  Crutchfield's  heavy  battery  responded  with 
so  much  spirit  and  effect  that  the  arch-marauder  was  glad  to  escape  for  shelter  behind 
that  point,  and  content  himself  with  throwing  a  shot  or  rocket  occasionally  into  the 
American  camp. 

Crutchfield  gave  special  attention  to  the  movement  in  his  rear,  being  convinced 
that  Cockburn's  was  only  a  feint.  From  his  camp  was  a  plantation  road,  that  crossed 
cultivated  fields,  and  by  the  edge  of  the  woods  behind  which  the  British  had  landed 
unobserved,  to  a  highway  known  as  Celey's  Road,  that  connected  with  the  public 
road  to  Yorktown  a  short  distance  from  Hampton.  Connected  with  this  road  was  a 
plantation  lane  leading  to  Murphy's,  on  the  banks  of  the  James  River.  Along  this  lane 
or  road  the  British  moved  from  their  landing-place,  and  had  reached  rising  ground  and 
halted  for  breakfast  when  they  were  discovered  by  the  Americans.  Captain  Pryor, 
of  the  artillery  in  camp,  immediately  detached  Sergeant  Parker  and  a  few  picked 
men,  with  a  field-piece,  to  go  up  the  Yorktown  Road  to  Celey's  Junction,  to  assist  the 
ambushed  riflemen.  Parker  had  just  reached  his  position  and  planted  his  cannon, 
when  the  British  moved  forward  with  celerity.  They  had  just  crossed  the  head  of 
the  west  branch  of  Hampton  Creek,  at  the  Celey  Road,  when  the  advanced  guard  of 
Servant's  corps  (Lieutenant  Thomas  Hope  and  two  others),  who  were  concealed  by  a 
large  cedar-tree  (yet  standing  when  I  visited  the  spot  in  1853),  opened  a  deadly  fire 
with  sure  aim  upon  the  French  column  in  front,  led  by  the  British  sergeant  major,  a 
large  and  powerful  man.  That  officer  and  several  others  were  killed ;  the  invaders 
were  checked,  and  great  confusion  in  their  ranks  ensued.  The  main  body  of  the  rifle 
men  now  delivered  their  fire,  and  the  commander  of  the  Marines,  the  brave  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Williams,  of  the  British  army,  fell  dead. 

The  British  soon  recovered  from  their  temporary  panic,  and  pressed  forward,  com 
pelling  the  riflemen  to  fall  back.  In  the  mean  time,  Crutchfield,  hearing  the  firing, 
had  moved  forward  from  his  camp  with  nearly  all  of  his  force,  leaving  the  position  on 
the  Little  England  estate  to  be  defended  by  Pryor  and  his  artillerymen  from  the  at 
tack  of  the  barges.  While  he  was  marching  in  column  by  platoons  along  the  lane 
from  the  Little  England  plantation  toward  Celey's  Road  and  the  great  highway,  he 
was  suddenly  assailed  by  an  enfilading  fire  on  his  left.  He  immediately  ordered  his 
men  to  wheel  and  charge  the  enemy,  who  were  9n  the  edge  of  the  woods.  This  was 
done  with  the  coolness  and  precision  of  long-disciplined  soldiers,  and  the  foe  fell  back. 
The  victors  were  pressing  forward,  when  the  British  opened  a  storm  of  grape  and 
canister  shot  upon  them  from  two  6-pounders,  and  some  Congreve  rockets,  and  ap 
peared  in  force  directly  in  front  of  Crutchfield.  The  Americans  withstood  the  fire  a 
few  minutes,  when  they  fell  back,  and  a  part  of  them  broke  and  fled  in  confusion 
across  the  Yorktown  Road  and  the  Pembroke  estate. 

Parker  in  the  mean  time  had  worked  his  piece  with  good  effect.  Now  his  ammu 
nition  failed.  Lieutenant  Jones,  of  the  Hampton  Artillery,  hastened  to  his  relief;  but 
when  they  saw  an  overwhelming  force  of  the  enemy  moving  along  the  Celey  Road, 
they  fell  back  to  the  Yorktown  Pike.  Jones  now  found  that  his  match  was  extin 
guished,  so  he  ran  to  a  house  near  by,  snatched  a  brand  from  the  hearth,  and  con 
cealed  himself  in  a  hollow  near  a  spring.  When  the  British  drew  near  and  almost 
filled  the  lane,  supposing  the  cannon  to  be  abandoned,  he  arose  and  discharged  his 
piece  with  terrible  effect.  Many  of  the  foe  were  prostrated  by  its  missiles,  and  dur 
ing  the  confusion  that  ensued  in  the  British  ranks  he  attached  a  horse  to  his  cannon 
and  bore  it  off  toward  the  camp.  When  he  drew  near  that  camp  he  saw  that  it  was 
occupied  by  the  enemy,  who  had  come  in  force  from  the  barges  and  compelled  Pryor 
to  spike  his  guns  and  flee.  This  he  did  in  safety.  He  and  his  command,  after  fight 
ing  their  way  through  the  surrounding  enemy  with  their  firelocks,  swam  the  West 
Branch  of  Hampton  Creek,  and,  making  a  circuit  in  rear  of  the  enemy,  fled  to  what  is 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


683 


Americans  driven  from  Hampton.          The  Village  given  up  to  Rapine  and  Pillage.         A  Committee  of  Investigation. 

now  known  as  Big  Bethel,  without 
losing  a  man  or  a  musket.  Seeing 
this,  Jones  turned  and  fled,  after  spik- 
.ing  his  gun.  He  followed  Pryor's 
track  to  the  same  destination. 

Crutchfield,  with  the  remainder  of 
his  troops,  had  rallied  on  the  flank 
of  Servant's  riflemen,  and  renewed 
the  fight  with  vigor.  He  soon  ob 
served  a  powerful  flank  movement  by 
the  enemy,  which  threatened  to  cut 
off  his  line  of  retreat,  when  he  with 
drew  in  good  order,  pursued  almost 
two  miles  across  and  beyond  the  Pem 
broke  farm.  The  pursuit  was  term 
inated  at  what  is  now  known  as  New 
bridge  Creek.  Thus  ended  the  bat 
tle.  The  British  had  lost  about  fifty 
in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  and 
the  Americans  about  thirty.  Of 
eleven  missing  Americans,  ten  at  least 
had  fled  to  their  homes. 

The  victorious  British  now  entered 
Hampton  by  the  Yorktown  Road, 
bearing  the  body  of  the  brave  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Williams.  Beckwith 
and  Cockburn  made  their  head-quar-  PLAN  OF  OPEKAT10NS  AT  HAMPTON. 

ters  at  the  fine  brick  mansion  of  Mrs.  West- 
wood,  which  stood  upon  the  street  leading  to 
the  landing.  In  her  garden  the  remains  of 
Williams  were  buried  with  solemn  funeral 
rites  on  the  same  day.  Then  the  village  was 
given  up  to  pillage  and  rapine.  The  atroci 
ties  committed  at  that  time  upon  the  defense 
less  inhabitants  who  remained  in  Hampton, 
particularly  on  the  women,  have  consigned 
the  name  of  Sir  George  Cockburn  to  merited 
infamy,  for  he  was  doubtless  the  chief  author 
of  them.1  The  reports  of  them  at  the  time 
were  much  exaggerated,  but  sufficient  was  proven  by  official  investigation  to  cause 
the  cheeks  of  every  honest  Briton  to  tingle  with  the  deepest  blush  of  shame.  "  We 
are  sorry  to  say,"  said  Commissioners  Thomas  Griffin  and  Robert  Lively,  appointed 
to  investigate  the  matter,  "  that  from  all  information  we  could  procure,  from  sources 
too  respectable  to  permit  us  to  doubt,  we  are  compelled  to  believe  that  acts  of  vio 
lence  have  been  perpetrated  which  have  disgraced  the  age  in  which  we  live.  The 
sex  hitherto  guarded  by  the  soldier's  honor  escaped  not  the  rude  assaults  of  superior 
force."2  A  correspondence  on  the  subject  occurred  between  General  Taylor  and  Sir 

1  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Cockbnrn  promised  his  men  "  Booty  and  Beauty"  to  their  hearts'  content.    It  was 
like  him.    But  no  one  could  suspect  the  right-minded  Admiral  Warren,  or  even  the  more  latitudinarian  Sir  Sidney,  of 
such  a  crime  against  civilization  and  Christianity. 

2  In  his  dispatch  to  Governor  Barbour  on  the  28th,  Major  Crutchfield,  the  American  commander  at  Hampton,  said, 
after  giving  an  account  of  the  battle  and  the  excesses  of  the  soldiery,  "The  unfortunate  females  of  Hampton  who  could 
not  leave  the  town  were  abused  in  the  most  shameful  manner,  not  only  by  the  soldiers,  but  by  the  venal  savage  blacks, 
who  were  encouraged  in  their  excesses.    They  pillaged,  and  encouraged  every  act  of  rapine  and  plunder,  killing  a  poor 
man  by  the  name  of  Kirby  who  had  been  lying  on  his  bed  at  the  point  of  death  for  more  than  six  weeks,  shooting  his 


IIEAD-QUAKTERS   OF   BECKWITH   AND   COCKHUEN. 


684  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Official  Correspondence  concerning  Outrages.  A  Visit  to  Norfolk  and  its  Vicinity.  Old  Fort  Norfolk. 

Sidney  Beckwith,  in  which  the  latter,  while  he  did  not  deny  the  charges,  attempted 
to  justify  the  atrocities  by  pleading  the  law  of  retaliation,  falsely  alleging,  as  was 
proven,  that  the  Americans  had  waded  out  from  Craney  Island  after  the  battle  there, 
and  deliberately  shot  the  crew  of  a  barge  which  had  sunk  on  the  shoal.1  And  while, 
it  was  not  denied  that  British  officers  and  soldiers  had  engaged  zealously  in  the  bus 
iness  of  plundering  the  private  houses  at  Hampton  of  every  thing  valuable  that 
might  be  easily  carried  away,2  the  more  horrid  crime  of  ravishing  the  persons  of  mar 
ried  women  and  young  maidens,  was  charged  by  the  British  commanders  upon  the 
French  soldiery.  "  The  apology,"  said  the  commissioners  just  mentioned,  "  that  these 
atrocities  were  committed  by  the  French  soldiers  attached  to  the  British  forces  now 
in  our  waters  appeared  to  us  no  justification  of  those  who  employed  them,  believing, 
as  we  do,  that  an  officer  is,  or  should  be,  ever  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  the  troops 
under  his  command."  So  shameful  were  these  atrocities — too  gross  to  be  repeated 
here — that  the  most  violent  of  the  British  partisan  writers  were  compelled  to  de 
nounce  them ;  and  Admiral  Warren  and  General  Beckwith,  in  obedience  to  the  in 
stincts  of  their  better  natures  and  the  demands  of  public  opinion,  dismissed  the  Chas 
seurs  J3ritanniques  from  the  service. 

At  the  "  ides  of  March,"  in  the  year  1853,a  I  visited  Norfolk,  Craney 

» March  13  and  14.      T1       ,  '  J  „    '          ..  .    ,   '          L.f 

Island,  and  Hampton,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  materials  tor  this 
work,  and  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  several  persons  who  were  well  acquainted 
with  "places  and  events  in  that  region  pertaining  to  the  War  of  1812.  I  had  spent 
the  4th  of  March  at  the  national  capital, "  assisting,"  as  the  French  say,  at  the  inau 
guration  of  President  Pierce ;  a  day  or  two  with  the  late  George  Washington  Parke 
Custis  at  his  beautiful  seat  of  "  Arlington,"  opposite  Washington  City ;  then  a  few 
days  in  Richmond;  a  little  time  in  a  trip  and  visit  to  " Monticello,"  near  Char- 
lottesville,  the  home  of  the  living  and  the  grave  of  the  departed  Thomas  Jefferson ; 
and  then  part  of  a  day  on  the  James  and  Elizabeth  Rivers  on  a  voyage  to  Norfolk. 
I  intended  to  go  to  Craney  Island  the  next  morning,  but  the  wind  was  so  high  that 
no  boatman  was  willing  to  venture  upon  the  water,  so  that  day  I  visited  the  Navy 
Yard  at  Gosport,  Old  Fort  Norfolk,  and  other  places  of  interest  in  and  around  the 
city.  At  the  former  place  were  seen  the  skeleton  of  the  famous  Constellation ;  the 
useless  monster  ship  Pennsylvania  /  the  work-shops  and  yards  where  full  eight  hund 
red  men  found  employment,  and  more  than  twenty-five  hundred  huge  iron  cannon, 
with  a  complement  of  balls.  All  of  this  property,  valued  at  several  millions  of  dol 
lars,  with  other  government  vessels,  was  destroyed  or  seized  by  the  insurgents  of 
Virginia  in  April,  1861,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  Civil  War. 

Old  Fort  Norfolk,  a  structure  made  during  the  old  War  for  Independence,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Elizabeth  River,  was  in  a  dilapidated  state,  and  was  occupied  only 
by  a  keeper  and  his  family.  That  custodian  was  a  queer  old  man,  seventy  years  of 

wife  in  the  hip  at  the  same  time,  and  killing  a  faithful  dog  lying  under  his  feet.  The  murdered  Kirby  was  lying  last 
night  weltering  in  his  blood." 

Sir  Charles  Napier  (see  note  2,  page  681),  in  his  diary  of  these  events,  in  which  he  bore  a  part,  says,  "Every  horror  was 
perpetrated  with  impunity — rape,  murder,  pillage— and  not  a  man  ica« punished."  Again  :  "  Strong  is  my  dislike  to  what 
is,  perhaps,  a  necessary  part  of  our  job,  viz.,  plundering  and  ruining  the  peasantry.  We  drive  all  their  cattle,  and  of 
course  ruin  them.  My  hands  are  clean  ;  but  it  is  hateful  to  see  the  poor  Yankees  robbed,  and  to  be  the  robber." 

1  General  Taylor  addressed  Admiral  Warren,  and  was  answered  by  Sir  Sidney  Beckwith  as  the  commander  of  the 
land  forces.    In  his  note  to  Admiral  Warren  General  Taylor  said:  "The  world  will  suppose  these  acts  to  have  been 
approved,  if  not  executed  by  the  commanders,  if  suffered  to  pass  by  with  impunity.    I  am  prepared  for  any  species  of 
warfare  which  you  are  disposed  to  prosecute.    It  is  for  the  sake  of  humanity  that  I  enter  this  protest."    General  Beck 
with,  as  we  have  observed,  charged  cruelty  on  the  part  of  the  Americans  as  a  palliation  ;  to  which  Taylor  replied  that 
he  was  satisfied  that  no  such  act  as  charged  ever  took  place,  and  if  it  had,  it  was  no  excuse  for  the  crimes  committed  at 
Hampton  against  the  helpless  and  innocent.    A  board  of  officers  was  convened  to  investigate  the  matter,  when  it  was 
ascertained  that,  during  the  engagement  off  Craney  Island,  two  of  the  British  boats  were  sunk  by  the  American  guns, 
and  the  crews  were  in  danger  of  being  drowned ;  that,  being  in  line  of  action,  the  firing  necessarily  continued,  but  that, 
in  order  to  avoid  injuring  those  in  the  water  and  helpless,  the  firing  of  grape  was  discontinued.    One  man,  who  had  sur 
rendered,  but  endeavored  to  escape,  was  fired  upon  to  bring  him  back. 

2  Among  other  "property,"  according  to  the  laws  of  Virginia,  taken  away  by  the  British,  were  negroes.    Under  a 
promise  of  freedom,  a  large  number  of  them  flocked  to  the  British  standard.    Most  of  those  whom  Cockburn  enticed  on 
board  his  vessels  by  these  promises  were  afterward  sold  into  a  worse  slavery  in  the  British  West  Indies. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


685 


March  14, 
1853. 


B2IT18H   OONSUL'8   HOUSE.2 


British  Consul  at  Norfolk  and  his  Residence.        Thomas  Moore  and  the  Lake  of  the  Dismal  Swamp.        Craiiey  Island. 

age.  With  boundless  garrulity  he  gave  me  his  domestic  history,  and  insisted  upon 
bringing  out  his  last  baby,  the  sixth  child  by  his  fourth  wife.  His  third  wife  appears 
to  have  been  "  a  thorn  in  his  side."  When  speaking  of  her,  he  thrust  his  hands  into 
his  packets,  looked  upon  the  grass,  sighed,  and,  in  a  subdued  voice,  said, "  The  Lord 
was  good  to  me,  and  took  her  away  soon.  I  really  believe  she  would  have  died 
happy  could  she  have  seen  me  die  first.  I  didn't  think  it  best  to  gratify  her,  and  so 
she  had  to  give  it  up."  On  leaving  the  fort  I  went  to  the  residence  of  Robert  E.  Tay 
lor,  Esq.,  son  of  General  Taylor,  the  defender  of  Norfolk,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for 
much  information  concerning  events  in  that  vicinity  in  1813.  On  the  folowing  morn 
ing1  I  breakfasted  with  the  British  consul,  the  late  G.  P.  R.  James,  the  em 
inent  novelist.  The  circumstance  is  mentioned  to  introduce  the  fact  that 
his  residence  was  the  same  (118  Main  Street)  as 
that  occupied  by  Mr.  Hamilton,  the  British  consul 
at  Norfolk  in  1807,  at  the  time  of  the  affair  of  the 
Chesapeake  and  Leopard,  whose  personal  popular 
ity  alone  saved  his  house  from  demolition  by  the 
exasperated  people.1  In  that  house  Thomas  Moore, 
the  Irish  poet,  lodged  in  1804,  and  there  he  wrote 
his  beautiful  poetic  paraphrase  of  a  popular  legend 
connected  with  the  Lake  of  the  Dismal  Swamp.  I 
passed  the  morning  delightfully  with  Mr.  James  and 
his  interesting  family,  and  at  ten  o'clock  started  for 
Craney  Island  in  a  skiff  manned  by  a  negro  seventy 
years  of  age,  and  a  mulatto  boy  of  sixteen,  both 
slaves.  The  air  was  balmy.  Scarcely  a  ripple  ap 
peared  on  the  water,  and  the  sun  was  pleasantly  obscured  by  a  slight  haziness  of  the 
atmosphere. 

Just  after  passing  Fort  Norfolk  we  came  abreast  Lambert's  Point,  and,  stretching 
far  to  the  right,  toward  the  Rip  Raps,  was  seen  Sewell's  Point,  made  famous  to  this 
generation  by  the  stirring  events  of  the  late  Civil  War  with  which  it  is  associated. 

The  waters  in  that  vicinity 
were  dotted  with  oyster- 
vessels  at  anchor,  engaged 
in  receiving  cargoes  from 
numerous  small  boats  that 
were  hovering  over  the 
oyster-beds  in  every  direc 
tion,  each  bearing  two  men 
with  fishing  rakes.  As  we 
neared  the  head  of  Craney 
Island,!  hailed  a  brace  of 
these  fishermen  in  a  boat, 
and  asked  them  for  a  "  fip's 
worth"  of  oysters  for  my  watermen.  To  my  astonishment,  they  dropped  two  rake's- 
full — at  least  a  peck — into  our  boat,  and  on  them  the  oarsmen  feasted  while  I  strolled 
over  the  island,  viewing  and  sketching  the  remains  of  military  works  erected  there 
during  the  War  of  1812.  These  are  seen  rising  above  the  common  surface  of  the  isl 
and  in  the  little  sketch  on  page  675.  These  works  were  erected  immediately  after 
the  repulse  of  the  British  from  the  island  in  June,b  and  were  quite  formidable.3 
They  consisted  of  a  fort  on  the  southeast  part  of  the  island,  and  a  magazine 

1  See  page  158.  2  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  author  on  New  Year's  Day,  1865. 

3  The  troops  on  the  island  at  the  time  here  mentioned  were  without  any  shelter  excepting  indifferent  tents,  and  suf 
fered  much  for  lack  of  water.  They  dug  hollows  on  the  island  in  which  they  caught  rain,  and  then  strained  the  muddy 
water  for  use. 


OY8TEB  FISHING. 


' 1813. 


686 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Fortifications  on  Craney  Island. 


BEMAIN8   OF  FORTIFICATIONS   ON  OKANEY  ISLAND. 


and  breast-works  on  the  northwestern  side,  on  the  spot  where  Faulkner's  efficient 
battery  was  planted.  There  was  an  intervening  and  connecting  line  of  intrench- 
ments  along  the  channel  side  of  the  island,  with  embrasures  for  cannon.  These  had 

almost  disappeared,  but  the  embank 
ments  of  the  fort  were  ten  or  twelve 
feet  in  height.  They  inclosed  a  hex 
agonal  block-house,  built  of  brick,  and 
surrounded  by  an  arcade  below  the 
ports.  It  was  two  stories  in  height, 
but  the  upper  floor  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  laid.  Near  the  block 
house  was  a  magazine,  also  built  of 
brick.  Nothing  remained  of  the  old 
main  gate,  on  the  land  side,  but  an 
iron  hinge,  and  of  the  gateway  a 
broken  arch.  This  block-house,  or 
citadel,  when  I  was  there,  was  per 
fectly  preserved. 

The  magazine  on  the  opposite  end 
of  the  island  was  also  built  of  brick,  and  was  well  preserved.  Around  it  were  some 
remains  of  breastworks,  but  many  had  perished  from  the  encroachments  of  the  sea. 
These  and  the  whole  island  were  almost  wholly  submerged  during  a  very  high  tide 


ULOOK-IIOUSE   ON   ORANEY   ISLAM). 


MAGAZINE   ON   ORANEY   ISLAND. 


a  few  weeks  before  my  visit  there.     Much  of  the  old  em 
bankments  was  washed  away,  but  the  solitary  cedar, 
mentioned  as  being  there  in  1813,  remained  unharmed 
on  the  southern  slope  of  the  island.1     From  the  maga 
zine  we  had  a  fine  view  of  the  entire  scene  of  action  on  the  22d  of 
June.     The  schooner  on  the  right,  in  the  annexed  picture,  designates 
the  place  of  the  barges  at  the  time  of  their  repulse ;  and  the  distant    \    \ 
point  between  the  vessel  and  the  shore  by  the  magazine  shows  the 
landing-place  of  the  British,  who  moved  through  the  woods  up  to  Wise's  Creek. 

1  This  tree  is  seen  in  the  sketch  on  page  675. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


687 


A  Slave's  Freedom  purchased  by  his  Wife. 


A  Visit  to  Hampton  and  Vicinity. 


Landing-place  of  the  British. 


at  the  left  of  the  magazine,  across  the  strait,  is  seen  a  small  house,  at  the  mouth  of 
Wise's  Creek.  It  was  near  the  site  of  "Wise's  Quarter,"  which  was  demolished 
many  years  ago.  In  the  more  modern  house  we  found  an  intelligent  colored  man, 
about  eighty  years  of  age,  rejoicing  in  the  fact  that  his  freedom  had  just  been  pur 
chased  by  his  wife,  a  woman  almost  as  old  as  himself.  She  earned  money  by  mid 
wifery,  in  which  profession  she  was  very  proficient.  "  Bress  de  Lord  !"  said  the  old 
man,  "  for  de  day  when  I  married  Dinah.  She  allers  said  Pomp  shouldn't  die  a  slave, 
but  she's  worked  hard  almost  fifty  years  afore  she  made  her  promise  sure."  He  was 
living  near  there  at  the  time  of  the  fight,  and  assisted  in  the  erection  of  the  fortifica 
tions  on  Craney  Island. 

It  was  about  four  o'clock  when  I  returned  to  Norfolk.  I  spent  the  remainder  of 
the  afternoon  in  strolling  about  the  city,  and  on  the  following  morning  departed  in 
the  steamer  Selden  for  Hampton,  eighteen  miles  distant.  There  I  had  the  good  for 
tune  to  meet  Colonel  Wilson  W.  Jones,  brother  of  the  lieutenant  who  went  to  the  as 
sistance  of  Parker  with  his  cannon,  and  so  gallantly  took  it  from  the  field.1  The  col 
onel  was  a  sergeant  in  Servant's  rifle  company,  and  was  in  the  battle  on  Celey's  Road 
when  the  British  sergeant  major  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Williams  were  killed.  He 
kindly  accompanied  me  to  places  of  interest  around  Hampton.  First  we  visited  the 
head-quarters  of  Beckwith  and  Cockburn  (printed  on  page  683),  and  were  kindly 
shown  the  rooms  occupied  by  them,  and  the  grave  of  Williams  in  the  garden,  by  Mrs. 

Savage,  who  then  resided  there.  We 
then  rode  up  to  the  landing-place  of 
the  British,  where  stood  Captain  Mur 
phy's  house  in  picturesque  ruins  upon 
a  grassy  point,  from  which  we  had  a 
fine  view  of  Hampton  Roads.  From 
Murphy's  we  followed  the  line  of 
march  of  the  British  to  the  place 
where  they  were  attacked  by  the  rifle- 


LAKDISQ-PLAOE   OF   TUE   BRITISH   AT   I 


men,  and  afterward  by  Jones  with  his  field-piece,  and  then  went  to  the  mansion  of 
the  Pembroke  farm,  over  which  the  Americans  fled  toward  Little  Bethel.  In  that 
mansion  lived  an  aged  couple  at  the  time,  named  Kirby,  whose  treatment  by  the  pur 
suing  British  soldiers  who  entered  the  house  was  the  cause  of  the  invoking  of  many 
an  imprecation  throughout  the  land  upon  the  head  of  the  enemy.2  Near  it  stood  the 
mansion  of  the  Bethel  estate,  the  dwelling  of  another  aged  man,  named  Hope,  under 
whose  roof  great  atrocities  were  committed.3  From  these  we  returned  to  Hampton 

i  See  page  682. 

8  Mr.  Kirby  was  an  aged  man,  very  sick,  and  at  the  point  to  die  when  the  soldiers  entered  the  house.  His  wife  was 
by  his  bedside,  when  they  shot  him  through  the  body  and  wounded  her  in  the  hip.  This  was  proclaimed  as  a  wanton 
murder,  and  excited  the  greatest  indignation.  Colonel  Jones  knew  Mrs.  Kirby  well,  and  her  version  of  the  story  was 
that,  with  vengeful  feelings,  the  soldiers  chased  an  ugly  dog  into  the  house,  which  ran  under  Mr.  Kirby's  chair,  in  which 
he  was  sitting,  and,  in  their  eagerness  to  shoot  the  dog,  shot  the  aged  invalid,  the  bullet  grazing  the  hip  of  Mrs.  Kirby. 
Mrs.  Kirby  always  considered  the  shooting  of  her  husband  an  accident. 

3  The  conduct  of  the  British  at  Mr.  Hope's  was  barbarous  in  the  extreme.  He  was  sixty-five  years  of  age.  They 
stripped  him  entirely  naked,  wounded  him  intentionally  with  a  bayonet,  and  tortured  him  with  menaces  of  death. 
They  would  doubtless  have  killed  him  had  not  their  attention  been  directed  to  a  woman  who  had  sought  refuge  in  his 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Commodore  Barren's  Daughter.  Colonel  Jones  and  his  Family.  Destruction  of  Hampton. 

by  the  Yorktown  Road,  still  following  the  line 
of  the  invader's  march,  and  visited  Mrs.  Jane 
A.  Hope,  daughter  of  Commodore  James  Bar- 
ron,  who  kindly  furnished  me  with  the  por 
trait  and  autograph  of  her  father,  copies  of 
which  are  printed  on  page  159.  She  spoke 
feelingly  of  the  treatment  her  father  received 
at  the  hands  of  the  government,  and  expressed 
a  hope  that  History  might  yet  be  just  to  his 
memory.  She  was  a  somewhat  aged  lady, 
delicate  in  form  and  feature,  and  exceedingly 
pleasing  in  conversation.  When  the  blight 
of  the  Rebellion  fell  upon  Hampton,  Mrs.  Hope 
went  to  \\rarrenton)  in  North  Carolina,  where 
she  died  in  January,  1862. 

I  spent  the  evening  with  Colonel  Jones  and  his  excellent  wife,  and  saw  in  their  lit 
tle  parlor  two  original  crayon  drawings  by  the  eminent  Sharpless,  the  faithful  delin 
eator  from  life  of  the  profiles  of  Washington  and  his  wife.  These  were  profiles  of 
Jefferson  and  Monroe.  I  made  a  careful  copy  of  the  former.  Early  the  next  morn 
ing  I  drew  the  sketch  from  my  window  at  the  hotel  presented  on  page  681,  and  at 
the  appointed  hour  left  Hampton  for  Richmond  in  the  James  River  steamer. 

This  was  my  second  visit  to  Hampton,  with  an  interval  of  five  years,  and  both  times 
I  carried  away  with  me  pleasant  remembrances  of  courteous  inhabitants  and  a  charm 
ing  village.  All  is  now  changed.  Hampton  has  been  made  a  desolation  by  the  smit- 
ings  of  civil  war.  Very  few  of  its  inhabitants  were  faithful  to  the  old  flag,  and  that 
county  of  which  Hampton  was  the  capital  furnished  no  less  than  six  companies  to  the 
rebel  army.  Colonel  Jones  remained  a  stanch  Union  man — faithful  among  the  faith 
less — and  was  the  last  man  to  leave  the  doomed  village  when,  at  a  few  minutes  past 
midnight  on  the  7th  of  August,  1861,  the  torch  was  applied  by  order  of  the  rebel  Gen 
eral  Magruder  during  the  maudlin  delirium  of  intoxication.  He  (the  aged  veteran 
of  1812)  was  not  allowed  to  take  any  thing  from  his  house — the  house  in  which  the 
family  of  Commodore  Barron  long  resided — and  he  and  his  equally  aged  companion 
had  scarcely  left  it  when  they  saw  it  in  flames.  Within  twelve  hours,  four  churches 
and  four  hundred  and  seventy  dwellings  were  laid  in  ashes.  Among  the  churches 
was  one  of  the  most  ancient  in  Virginia,2  which  stood  apart  from  the  town.  Its  de 
struction  was  an  act  of  purest  barbarism. 

•June,  The  British  remained  in  Hampton  until  the  27th,a  when  they  re-embarked, 
L813>  and  on  the  morning  of  the  29th  Major  Crutchfield  entered  the  plundered  vil 
lage  and  took  possession.  On  the  1st  of  July  the  blockading  squadron,  consisting  at 
that  time  of  seven  ships  of  the  line,  seven  frigates,  and  eleven  smaller  vessels,  left 
Hampton  Roads  and  entered  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac  River.  A  portion  of  the 
fleet  went  up  that  stream,  exciting  the  most  intense  alarm  at  Alexandria,  George 
town,  and  the  national  capital.  The  only  fortification  on  which  those  cities  could 
rely  at  that  time  for  the  arrest  of  the  invading  squadron  was  old  Fort  Warburton, 
then  called  Fort  Washington,3  situated  on  the  Maryland  side  of  the  Potomac,  a  few 
miles  below  Alexandria.  This  was  strengthened  and  its  garrison  increased  by  call- 
house.  They  left  him,  seized  her,  and  subjected  her  to  indignities  of  which  savages  would  be  ashamed.  Because  of 
these  atrocities,  M'Laws,  of  the  Veteran  Corps  at  Wilmington,  used  the  word  HAMPTON,  in  place  of  Attention,  when  call 
ing  them  to  order. 

1  This  house  was  of  brick,  and  beautifully  situated.    At  the  time  of  the  British  invasion  it  belonged  to  John  S.  West- 
wood.    When  I  visited  it  it  was  the  property  of  his  family.    In  front  of  it  were  some  tomb-stones,  near  the  site  of  the 
old  Pembroke  church. 

2  For  a  drawing  and  full  historical  description  of  this  ancient  church,  see  Lossing's  Pictorial  Field-book  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  ii.,  326. 

3  This  fort  had  been  put  in  good  condition.    It  had  about  twenty  18  and  32  pounder  cannon  mounted,  that  bore  im 
mediately  upon  the  channel ;  also  a  water  battery  of  eight  32-pounders  advantageously  placed. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


689 


Cockburn  in  the  Potomac  and  on  the  Coast  of  North  Carolina. 


Alarm  in  South  Carolina. 


ing  in  the  militia  from  the  surrounding  country.  Breastworks  were  thrown  up  at 
Alexandria,  Georgetown,  and  Washington,  and  vigorous  measures  were  taken  to  meet 
the  foe.  The  alarm  soon  subsided.  The  British  did  not  approach  nearer  to  Wash 
ington  than  seventy  miles,  and  then  withdrew,  went' around  to  the  Chesapeake,  and 
created  equal  alarm  at  Annapolis  and  Baltimore.  Assured  that  those  cities  were 
amply  defended,  they  withdrew,  and  a  portion  of  the  fleet,  under  Admiral  Cockburn, 
went  southward  to  plunder,  destroy,  and  spread  alarm  along  the  coasts  of  the  Caro- 
linas  and  Georgia.  His  vessels  were  the  Sceptre,  74  (flag-ship) ;  Romulus,  Fox,  and 
Nemesis. 

On  the  12th  of  July  Cockburn  anchored  off  Ocracoke  Inlet,  and  dispatched  Lieu 
tenant  Westphall,  with  about  eight  hundred  men  in  barges,  to  the  waters  of  Pamlico 
Sound.  They  found  within  the  bar  the  Anaconda,  of  New  York,  and  Atlas,  of  Phil 
adelphia,  both  private  armed  vessels.  They  fell  upon  the  Anaconda,  whose  thirteen 
men,  after  stout  resistance,  blew  holes  in  her  bottom  with  her  own  guns  and  escaped. 
The  British  plugged  the  holes  and  saved  her.  They  captured  the  Atlas  and  some 
smaller  craft,  but  a  revenue  cutter  escaped,  and  gave  timely  warning  at  Newbern. 
Westphall  proceeded  to  attack  that  place,  but  it  was  too  well  defended  by  the  new 
ly-rallied  militia  to  warrant  an  attack,  so  he  proceeded  to  Portsmouth,  not  far  off, 
took  possession  of  the  town,  and  for  two  or  three  days  engaged  in  the  pastime  of 
plundering  and  desolating  the  surrounding  country.  The  rapid  gathering  of  the  mi 
litia  caused  them  to  decamp  in  haste  on  the  16th,  carrying  with  them  cattle  and  other 
property,  and  many  slaves,  to  whom  freedom  was  falsely  promised.  These  Cockburn, 
it  is  said,  sold  in  the  West  Indies. 

Leaving  Pamlico  Sound,  the  arch-marauder  went  down  the  coast,  stopping  at  and 
plundering  Dewees's  and  Capers's  Islands,  and  filling  the  whole  region  of  the  Lower 
Santee  with  terror.  Several  plantations  on  Dewees's  were  desolated,  and  from  Ca 
pers's  a  large  quantity  of  live-stock  was  taken  away,  with  a  few  slaves.  Other  ex 
posed  places  along  the  coast  expected  a  simi 
lar  visitation.  Breastworks  were  thrown  up  ^^^aB^lMBHhfijii 
around  Charleston ;  Fort  Moultrie  and  other 
fortifications  were  strengthened,  and  a  con 
siderable  body  of  militia  were  assembled  on 
IladdrelPs  Point,  or  Point  Pleasant,  where 
might  have  been  seen,  before  the  late  Civil 
War,  a  monument  erected  to'  the  memory  of 
some  soldiers  who  perished  there  by  disease.1 
No  battle  was  fought  on  South  Carolina  soil 
during  the  war.  Her  politicians  were  among 
the  most  clamorous  for  hostilities,  and  some 
of  her  citizens  made  fortunes  by  privateer 
ing  ;  but  few  of  her  sons  were  found  in  the 
ranks  of  their  country's  defenders.  She  suf 
fered  most  from  the  fear  of  losing  property, 
especially  slaves,  which  her  state  law  de 
clared  to  be  property;  and  during  the  time 

1  This  monument  was  built  of  brick,  having  in  shallow  recesses  in  the  base  of  the  crowning  pyramid  marble  tablets 
bearing  the  following  inscriptions : 

East  Side.—"  On  the  18th  of  June,  1812,  the  United  States  of  America  declared  war  against  Great  Britain.  At  the  first 
sound  of  the  trumpet  the  patriot  soldiers  who  sleep  beneath  this  monument  flew  to  the  standard  of  Liberty.  Here  they 
fell  beneath  the  scythe  of  Death.  The  sympathies  of  the  brave,  the  tears  of  the  stranger,  and  the  slow  dirge  of  the  camp 
attended  them  to  the  tomb. 

"  '  How  sleep  the  brave,  who  sink  to  rest 
With  all  their  country's  wishes  blest. 
The  laurel  wreath  of  shining  green 
Will  still  around  their  tomb  be  seen.'" 
West  Side.—"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Sersreant  Truman  Goodrich  and  Adam  C.  Spencer.    Also  of  David  Aarant, 

Xx 


SOI.DIEKS'  MONUMENT,  POINT  PLEASANT. 


690 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Secret  Organizations  among  the  Slaves. 


A  revolutionary  Hymn. 


The  Grave  of  Osceola. 


when  Cockburn  was  hovering  along  the  coast  the  large  slaveholders  were  agitated  by 
the  deepest  anxiety  lest  a  force  of  the  British  should  land  and  declare  freedom  to  all 
serfs  who  should  join  their  standard.  Had  they  done  so,  no  doubt  an  army  of  many 
thousand  colored  people  would  have  flocked  to  that  standard,  for  the  negroes  had 
heard  of  the  liberation  of  their  brethren  in  Virginia  by  the  British,  but  not  of  the  infa 
mous  treachery  of  their  seducer,  who  sold  them  into  worse  servitude  in  the  West  In 
dies.  All  along  the  coast,  and  far  into  the  interior,  secret  organizations  existed  among 
the  negroes  for  united  efforts  to  obtain  their  freedom ;  and,  in  anticipation  of  the  com 
ing  of  a  British  army  of  liberation,  they  were  prepared  to  rise  in  large  numbers,  at  a 
given  signal,  and  strike  for  freedom.1  But  Cockburn  was  content  to  fill  his  pockets 
by  plundering,  and  a  petty  slave-trade  on  his  own  account ;  so,  after  keeping  the  Car- 
olinas  in  a  state  like  fever  and  ague  for  many  weeks,2  he  went  down  to  the  Georgia 
coast,  and  at  "  Dungenness  House,"  the  seat  of  the  fine  estate  of  General  Nathaniel 
Greene,  of  the  Revolution,  on  Cumberland  Island,  he  made  his  head-quarters  for  the 
winter.  His  marauders  went  out  in  all  directions  upon  the  neighboring  coast,  spread 
ing  desolation  and  alarm.  Among  the  estates  visited  was  that  of  Bonaventure,  a  few 

William  Rutland,  John  Williams,  William  M'Lellan,  Henry  Kilgore,  John  Taylor,  John  Bruce,  and  Harris  Lancaster, 
private  soldiers  of  the  Third  Eegiment  of  State  Troops." 

When  I  visited  the  spot  a  few  years  before  the  late  war,  the  tablets  were  much  defaced  by  the  effects  of  bullets  which 
had  been  fired  at  them  for  the  sport  of  some  young  men  of  Charleston.    It  was  sad  to  see  such  evidences  of  utter  care 
lessness  of  the  memory  of  those  whom  another  and  better  generation  had  delighted  to  honor.    And  yet  there  was  tes 
timony  not  far  off— just  across  a  broad  channel — that  respect  for  a  really  great  man,  though  ranked  in  history  as  a  sav- 
-  _r%-  age,  was  not  wanting.    I  refer  to  Osceola,  the  celebrated  Seminole  warrior, 

who  for  a  long  time  outgeneraled  some  of  the  best  commanders  of  the  repub 
lic—Scott,  Taylor,  Gaines,  and  Jesup— in  their  attempts  to  expel  his  people 
from  the  Everglades  of  Florida,  which  had  belonged  to  his  fathers  from  time 
immemorial.  A  stone  slab  marks  his  last  resting-place  on  earth,  just  at  the 
entrance-gate  to  Fort  Moultrie ;  and  when  I  was  there  not  even  a  pencil-mark 
defaced  the  surface,  on  which  was  inscribed,  in  large  letters,  OSCEOLA.  And 
so  it  remained  through  the  late  Civil  War,  unscathed  amid  the  ruins  around 
it.  I  saw  it,  well  preserved,  in  the  spring  of  1SCG.  Osceola  was  made  a  pris 
oner  by  treachery,  having  been  arrested  in  the  camp  of  General  Jesup,  whith 
er  he  had  been  invited  to  a  conference  under  the  generally  sacred  protection 
of  a  flag  of  truce.  He  was  imprisoned,  and  his  great  heart  was  broken.  The 
warrior  became  like  a  little  child,  and  died  at  the  close  of  January,  1839.  No 
one  can  look  upon  that  simple  monument,  just  outside  of  the  gate  of  a  power 
ful  fortress,  without  finding  in  it  and  the  huge  walls  near  significant  emblems 
of  the  comparative  strength  of  the  European  and  the  native  American  on  the 
continent ;  nor  can  an  American  citizen,  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the 
latter  years  of  that  warrior's  life,  avoid  the  blush  of  shame  for  the  government 
that  sanctioned  such  treachery. 

1  I  am  indebted  to  an  accomplished  American  scholar  and  professor  in  one  of  our  colleges  for  an  account  of  one  of 
these  secret  organizations,  which  met  regularly  during  the  summer  of  1813  upon  an  island  in  the  vicinity  of  Charleston. 
The  leader  was  a  man  of  great  sagacity  and  influence,  and  their  meetings  were  opened  and  closed  by  singing  the  sub 
joined  hymn,  composed  by  that  leader.  They  held  meetings  every  night,  and  had  arranged  a  plan  for  the  rising  of  all 
the  slaves  in  Charleston  when  the  British  should  appear.  At  one  of  their  meetings,  the  question  "What  shall  be  done 
with  the  white  people?"  was  warmly  discussed.  Some  advocated  their  indiscriminate  slaughter  as  the  only  security 
for  liberty,  and  this  seemed  to  be  the  prevailing  opinion,  when  the  author  of  the  hymn  came  in  and  said,  "  Brothers  ! 
you  know  me.  You  know  that  I  am  ready  to  gain  your  liberty  and  mine.  But  not  one  needless  drop  of  blood  must  be 
shed.  I  have  a  master  whom  I  love,  and  the  man  who  takes  his  life  must  pass  over  my  dead  body."  The  following  is 
a  copy  of  the  hymn— a  sort  of  parody  on  the  national  song  "  Hail,  Columbia:" 


OSCEOLA'S  GRAVE. 


/•Hail !  all  hail !  ye  Afric  clan ! 
Repeat.  -<  Hail !  ye  oppressed,  ye  Afric  band  ! 

(Who  toil  and  sweat  in  slavery  bound, 
And  when  your  health  and  strength  are  gone, 
Are  left  to  hunger  and  to  mourn. 
Let  independence  be  your  aim, 
Ever  mindful  what  'tis  worth ; 
Pledge  your  bodies  for  the  prize, 
Pile  them  even  to  the  skies ! 

Chorus.—  Firm,  united  let  us  be, 

Resolved  on  death  or  liberty  ! 
As  a  band  of  patriots  joined, 
Peace  and  plenty  we  shall  find. 
(Look  to  heaven  with  manly  trust, 
Repeat.  <  And  swear  by  Him  that's  always  just 
(.That  no  white  foe,  with  impious  hand, 


Shall  slave  your  wives  and  daughters  more, 
Or  rob  them  of  their  virtue  dear  !  • 

Be  armed  with  valor  firm  and  true, 
Their  hopes  are  fixed  on  Heaven  and  you, 
That  Truth  and  Justice  will  prevail. 
Chorus.— Firm,  united,  etc. 

/•Arise  !  arise  !  shake  off  your  chains  ! 
Repeat.  <  Your  cause  is  just,  so  Heaven  ordains ; 

(To  you  shall  freedom  be  proclaimed  ! 
Raise  your  arms  and  bare  your  breasts, 
Almighty  God  will  do  the  rest. 
Blow  the  clarion's  warlike  blast ; 
Call  every  negro  from  his  task  ; 
Wrest  the  scourge  from  Buckra's  hand, 
And  drive  each  tyrant  from  the  land  ! 
Chorus. — Firm,  united,  etc. 


2  Cockburn  landed  at  Hilton  Head  and  one  or  two  other  places,  from  which  he  carried  off  some  cattle  and  a  number 
of  slaves ;  and  Savannah  was  much  agitated  for  a  time  with  the  fear  of  his  grasp. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


691 


Cockburn  on  the  Coast  of  Georgia. 


Decatur  runs  the  Blockade  at  New  York. 


He  is  driven  into  the  Thames. 


ENTKASCE   TO   HONAVEXTUBE. 


miles  from  Savannah, 
the  property  of  the 
Tattnall  family,  on 
which,  in  a  grove  of 
live-oak  draped  with 
the  Spanish  moss,  is 
one  of  the  most  pic 
turesque  cemeteries 
in  the  world,  the  en 
trance  to  which  is 
seen  in  the  picture, 
made  from  a  sketch 
by  the  artist  T.  Ad- 
dison  Richards. 

While  Cockburn, 
the  marauder,  was  on 
the  Southern  coast, 
Hardy,  the  gentle 
man,  was  blockading 
a  portion  of  the  New 
England  coast.  The 

harbors  from  the  Delaware  to  Nantucket  were  regularly  watched,  and  ingress  and 
egress  were  very  difficult. 

We  have  given  an  account  of  the  arrival  at  New  York  of  the  frigates  United  States 
and  Macedonian,1  the  former  in  the  American  service,  under  Decatur,  and  the  latter 
a  prize  captured  by  him  from  the  British  in  the  previous  autumn.  These  had  been 
repaired  and  fitted  for  sea,  and  the  gallant  Captain  Jones  had  been  placed  in  com 
mand  of  the  Macedonian.  At  this  time  the  Poictiers,  Captain  Beresford,  and  a  num 
ber  of  other  vessels,  were  carefully  guarding  the  entrance  to  New  York  Harbor 
through  the  Narrows,  but  Decatur,  anxious  to  get  out  upon  the  ocean,  resolved  to 
run  the  blockade.  He  found  it  unsafe  to  attempt  it  at  the  Narrows ;  so,  with  his  two 
frigates,  accompanied  by  the  sloop  of  war  Hornet,  Captain  Biddle,  which  was  anxious 
to  join  the  Chesapeake  at  Boston,  he  passed  up  the  East  River  and  Long  Island  Sound 
for  the  purpose  of  escaping  between  Montauk  Point  and  Block  Island.2  For  a  month 

Sir  Thomas  Hardy,  with  his 
flag-ship  the  RamilU.es,  the 
Orpheus,  Captain  Sir  Hugh 
Pigot,  the  Valiant,  Acasta, 
and  smaller  vessels,  had  been 
keeping  vigilant  watch  in  that  region.  During  that  time  Sir  Thomas  had  won  the 
good  opinion  of  the  inhabitants  along  the  coast  because  of  his  honorable  treatment 
of  them. 

When  Decatur  approached  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,a  he  was  met  by  the  *  June  ^ 
Valiant  and  Acasta,  and,  knowing  that  the  Ramillies  and  Orpheus  were  1813- 
near,  he  deemed  it  prudent  to  run  into  New  London  Harbor.  He  was  pursued  by 
the  enemy  as  far  as  Gull  Island,  at  which  point  the  British  anchored  in  position  to 
command  the  mouth  of  the  Thames.  Then  commenced  a  regular  blockade  of  New 
London,  which  continued  full  twenty  months,  and  was  raised  only  by  the  proclama 
tion  of  peace.  The  squadron  in  sight  of  New  London  was  soon  strengthened,  and 
when,  at  the  latter  part  of  June,  Hardy  assumed  commaiid  of  it,  it  consisted  of  two 
74's,  two  frigates,  and  a  number  of  smaller  vessels. 

1  See  page  456. 

=  This  is  out  at  sea,  south  of  Rhode  Island,  and  forms  a  part  of  that  State's  jurisdiction.  The  British  had  now  raised 
their  standard  on  this  island. 


692 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Blockading  Squadron  off  New  London. 


Alarm  of  the  Inhabitants. 


Decatur  finds  a  Place  of  Safety. 


NEW    LO>'1>ON    IN    ISliJ. ' 


The  presence  of  this  fleet  created  much  anxiety.  The  more  aged  inhabitants,  who 
remembered  Arnold's  incursion  in  1781,  were  filled  with  apprehensions  of  a  repetition 
of  the  tragedies  of  that  terrible  day.  It  was  generally  expected  that  the  enemy 
would  enter  the  river  and  attack  Decatur's  squadron,  and  the  neighboring  militia 
were  summoned  to  the  town ;  the  specie  of  the  banks  was  conveyed  to  Norwich,  at 
the  head  of  tide-water ;  and  women,  and  children,  and  portable  property  were  sent 
into  the  interior.  The  character  of  Sir  Thomas  was  a  sufficient  guaranty  that  neither 
life  nor  private  property  would  be  wantonly  desti'oyed  ;  but,  in  the  event  of  the  bom 
bardment  of  the  ships,  the  town  could  not  well  escape  destruction  by  fire.  Decatur, 
in  anticipation  of  such  bombardment  of  his  vessels,  after  lightening  them,  took  them 
five  or  six  miles  up  the  river,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  enemy,  and  upon  an  eminence 
near  Allyn's  Point,  from  which  he  had  a  fine  view  of  the  Sound  and  New  London 
Harbor,  he  cast  up  some  intrenchments,  and  placed  his  cannon  upon  them.  The  spot 
was  named  Dragon  Hill.2 

At  about  this  time  an  event  occurred  off  New  London  which  caused  great  exas 
peration  in  the  blockading  squadron,  and  came  near  bringing  most  disastrous  effects 
upon  the  New  England  coast.  It  was  the  use  of  a  torpedo,  or  submarine  mine,  whose 
invention,  construction,  and  character  have  already  been  given  in  these  pages.3  The 
government  of  the  United  States,  it  will  be  remembered,  refused  to  employ  them.  It 
was  left  for  private  enterprise  to  attempt  the  promotion  of  the  public  good  by  their 
use  in  weakening  the  power  of  the  enemy.  One  of  these  enterprises  was  undertaken 
in  New  York  city.  In  the  hold  of  the  schooner  Eagle,  John  Scudder,  junior,  the  orig 
inator  of  the  plot,  placed  ten  kegs  of  gunpowder,  with  a  quantity  of  sulphur  mixed 
with  it,  in  a  strong  cask,  and  surrounded  it  with  huge  stones  and  other  missiles,  which, 
in  the  event  of  explosion,  might  inflict  gi-eat  injury.  At  the  head  of  the  cask,  on  the 
inside,  were  fixed  two  gun-locks,  with  cords  fastened  to  their  triggers  at  one  end,  and 
two  barrels  of  flour  at  the  other  end,  so  that  when  the  flour  should  be  removed  the 

1  In  this  view,  looking  down  the  river,  the  old  court-house,  yet  standing  on  State  Street,  is  seen  near  the  centre  of  the 
picture.  Upon  the  rocky  peninsula  farther  to  the  right  (erroneously  made  to  appear  like  an  island)  is  seen  Fort  Trum- 
bull.  Beyond  it,  in  the  distance,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  is  seen  the  light-house,  and  in  the  open  sound  the  British 
blockading  squadron.  In  the  extreme  distance  is  seen,  as  if  in  connecting  line,  Gull  and  Fisher's  Island.  On  the  ex 
treme  left  are  the  Heights  of  Groton,  east  of  the  Thames. 

-  History  of  New  London,  by  Miss  Frances  Manwaring  Caulkins,  author  of  a  History  of  Norwich,  Connecticut.  These 
volumes  justly  rank  among  the  best  arranged  and  most  interesting  of  the  local  histories  of  our  country. 

3  See  pages  from  238  to  240  inclusive. 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812.  693 

A  Torpedo  Vessel  off  New  London.  Alarm  and  Precautions  of  the  British.  Other  Torpedo  Vessels. 

locks  would  be  sprung,  the  powder  ignited,  and  the  terrible  mine  exploded.  Thus 
prepai-ed,  with  a  cargo  of  flour  and  naval  stores  over  the  concealed  mine,  the  Eagle, 
Captain  Riker,  late  in  June,  sailed  for  New  London,  where,  as  was  expected  and  de 
sired,  she  was  captured  by  armed  men  sent  out  in  boats  from  the  Ramillies.  The 
crew  of  the  Eagle  escaped  to  the  shore  at  Millstone  Point,  and  anxiously  awaited  the 
result.  The  wind  had  fallen,  and  for  two  hours  unavailing  efforts  were  made  to  get 
the  Eagle  alongside  the  Ramillies  for  the  purpose  of  transferring  her  cargo  to  that 
vessel.  Finally  boats  were  sent  out  as  lighters,  the  hatches  of  the  Eagle  were  opened, 
and  when  the  first  barrel  of  flour  was  removed  the  explosion  took  place.  A  column 
of  fire  shot  up  into  the  air  full  nine  hundred  feet,  and  a  shower  of  pitch  and  tar  fell 
upon  the  deck  of  the  Ramillies.  The  schooner,  and  the  first  lieutenant  and  ten  men 
from  the  flag-ship  on  board  of  her,  were  blown  into  atoms,  and  most  of  those  in  the 
boats  outside  were  seriously,  and  some  fatally  injured. 

The  success  which  this  experiment  promised  caused  others  to  be  tried.  A  citizen 
of  Norwich,  familiar  with  the  machine  used  by  Bushnell  in  attempts  to  blow  up  the 
Eagle,  British  ship-of-war,  in  th,e  harbor  of  New  York  during  the  Revolution,  invented 
a  submarine  boat  in  which  he  voyaged  at  the  rate  of  three  miles  an  hour.  In  this  he 
went  under  the  Ramillies  three  times,  and  on  the  third  occasion  had  nearly  com 
pleted  the  task  of  fixing  a  torpedo  to  her  bottom,  when  a  screw  broke,  and  his  effort 
was  foiled.  He  was  discovered,  but  escaped.  A  daring  fisherman  of  Long  Island, 
named  Penny,  made  attempts  on  the  Ramillies  with  a  torpedo  in  a  whale-boat,  and 
Hardy  was  kept  continually  on  the  alert.  So  justly  fearful  was  he  of  these  mines, 
that  he  not  only  kept  his  ship  in  motion,  but,  according  to  Penny,  who  was  a  prisoner 
on  the  Ramillies  for  a  while,  he  caused  her  bottom  to  be  swept  with  a  cable  every 
two  hours  night  and  day.  He  finally  issued  a  warning  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
coasts  that  if  they  did  not  cease  that  cruel  and  unheard-of  warfare,  he  should  proceed 
to  destroy  their  towns  and  desolate  their  country.1 

An  attempt  of  Mr.  Mix,  of  the  navy,  in  July,'to  blow  up  the  Plantagenet,  74,  lying 
off  Cape  Henry,  Virginia,  was  almost  successful.  The  torpedo  was  carried  out,  under 
cover  of  intense  darkness,  in  a  heavy  open  boat  called  The  Chesapeake  Avenger,  and 
dropped  so  as  to  float  down  under  the  ship's  bow.  It  exploded  a  few  seconds  too 
soon.  The  scene  was  awful.  A  column  of  water,  twenty-five  feet  in  diameter,  and 
half  luminous  with  lurid  light,  was  thrown  up  at  least  forty  feet,  with  an  explosion 
as  terrific  as  thunder,  and  producing  a  concussion  like  the  shock  of  an  earthquake. 
It  burst  at  the  crown.  The  water  fell  in  profusion  on  the  deck  of  the  Plantagenet, 
and  at  the  same  moment  she  rolled  into  the  chasm  made  by  this  sudden  expulsion  of 
water,  and  nearly  upset.  Torpedoes  were  also  placed  across  the  Narrows,  below  New 
York,  and  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  of  Portland.  This  fact  made  the  British 
commanders  exceedingly  cautious  in  approaching  our  harboi's,  and  they  and  their 
American  sympathizers  expressed  great  horror  at  this  mode  of  warfare.  It  was  re 
plied  that  the  wanton  outrages  committed  on  the  defenseless  inhabitants  of  the  coast, 
from  Havre  de  Grace  to  Charleston,  fully  justified  any  mode  of  warfare  against  such 
marauders,  and  that  stratagem  in  the  horrid  business  of  war  was  always  justifiable.2 

1  Hardy  had  been  in  the  habit  of  allowing  trading  vessels  to  pass,  the  blockade  being  chiefly  agaiust  Decatur's  little 
squadron  ;  but  on  the  morning  after  the  explosion  of  the  Eagle  he  informed  General  Isham,  the  commander  of  the  mi 
litia  at  New  London,  that  no  vessel  would  thereafter  be  allowed  to  pass  the  British  squadron  except  flags  of  truce.    And 
on  the  2Sth  of  August,  after  an  attempt  upon  the  Ramillies  by  Penny  from  the  south  side  of  Long  Island,  Hardy  wrote 
to  Justice  Terry,  of  Southold,  desiring  him  to  warn  the  inhabitants  along  the  coast  that  if  they  allowed  a  torpedo  boat 
to  remain  another  day  among  them,  he  would  "  order  every  house  near  the  shore  to  be  destroyed."    The  leniency  and 
courtesy  extended  to  the  inhabitants  by  Captain  Hardy  gave  him  claims  to  their  respectful  consideration. 

2  The  Philadelphia  Aurora  said,  in  speaking  of  the  complaints  of  the  mischievous  "Peace  party"  of  that  day,  "We 
would  respectfully  solicit  the  pious  men  to  explain  to  us  the  difference  between  waging  war  with  submarine  machines 
and  with  aerial  destructive  weapons — fighting  under  water  or  fighting  in  the  air  ?    The  British,  too  cowardly  to  meet 
us  on  shore  (except  when  they  are  certain  of  finding  little  or  no  opposition)  like  men  and  soldiers,  send  us  Congreve 
rockets  to  burn  our  towns  and  habitations  ;  we,  in  turn,  dispatch  some  of  our  torpedoes  to  rub  the  copper  off  the  bottoms 
of  their  ships." 


694 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Vigorous  Blockade  of  the  Coast  of  Connecticut. 


The  local  Militia. 


Colonel  Burbeck. 


Although  Hardy  did  not  execute  his  threats,  he  made  the  blockade  more  rigorous 
than  ever,  and  many  trading  vessels  became  prizes  to  the  British  cruisers.  A  tiny 
warfare  was  kept  up  along  the  Connecticut  coast,  for,  whenever  a  chased  vessel  was 
driven  ashore,  the  inhabitants  would  turn  out  to  defend  it.  One 
of  these  encounters  occurred  a  little  west  of  the  light-house  late 
in  the  autumn. a  The  sloop  Moxana  was  chased  » November  28, 
ashore  by  three  British  barges,  and  grounded. 
Within  half  an  hour  a  throng  of  people  had  assembled  to  rescue 
her,  when  the  enemy  set  her  on  fire  and  retreated.  The  Amer 
icans  attempted  to  extinguish  the  flames,  but  a  heavy  cannonade 
from  the  ships  drove  them  off.  Although  many  were  exposed 
to  the  cannon-balls  on  that  occasion,  not  one  was  hurt.  "  Dur 
ing  the  whole  war,"  says  Miss  Caulkins, "  not  a  man  was  killed 
by  the  enemy  in  Connecticut,  and  only  one  in  its  waters  on  the 
coast."1 

At  near  the  close  of  June,  the 
veteran  colonel  of  artillery  in  the 
regular  service,  Henry  Burbeck, 
who  had  been  stationed  at  New 
port,  arrived  at  New  London  to 
take  charge  of  that  military  de 
partment.2  He  found  the  militia, 
who  were  strongly  imbued  with 
the  mischievous  doctrine  of  state 
supremacy,  unwilling  to  be  trans 
ferred,  according  to  late  orders 
from  the  Secretary  of  War,  from  the  service  of  the  state  to  the  service  of  the  United 
States.  He  accordingly,  under  instructions  from  Washington,  dismissed  them  all. 
The  people,  misconstruing  the  movement,  were  alarmed  and  exasperated.  They  re 
garded  themselves  as  unwarrantably  deprived  of  their  defenders,  and  betrayed  to 
the  enemy,  who  might  come  and  plunder  and  destroy  to  his  heart's  content.  At  the 
same  time,  it  was  known  that  Hardy's  fleet  had  been  re-enforced  by  the  arrival  of 
the  Endymion  and  Statira,  vessels  equal  in  strength  to  the  United  States  and  Mace 
donian.  A  panic  of  mingled  fear  and  indignation  prevailed,  and  it  was  only  allayed 
by  the  quick  response  of  the  Governor  of  Connecticut  to  the  invitation  of  Colonel 

1  History  of  New  London,  page  634. 

2  Henry  Burbeck  was  born  in  Boston  on  the  8th  of  June,  1754.    He  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  in  1787,  under 
the  Confederation,  he  was  commissioned  a  captain.    He  was  appointed 

captain  of  artillery  in  1789,  and  promoted  to  major  in  1791.  He  was  raised 
to  lieutenant  colonel  of  artillery  and  engineers  in  1798,  and  to  colonel  in 
1802.  During  his  service  at  New  London,  on  the  10th  of  September,  1813, 
he  was  breveted  a  brigadier  general,  and  held  that  commission  until  the 
close  of  the  war,  when,  after  thirty-eight  years  of  military  service,  he  re- 


L1GUT-UOCSE   AT   NEW    LOMJO-N. 


UURBECK'S  JKXNCMENT. 


tired  from  the  army,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  New  London.  He  died  there  on 
the  2d  of  October,  1848,  at  the  great  age  of  ninety-four  years.  He  was  buried 
in  the  Cedar  Grove  Cemetery  at  New  London,  and  over  his  grave  the  Massa 
chusetts  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  of  which,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was 
president,  and  last  survivor  but  one  of  the  original  members,  erected  a  hand 
some  granite  monument,  under  the  direction  of  Honorable  R.  G.  Shaw,  of  Bos 
ton,  the  late  General  H.  A.  S.  Dearborn,  of  Roxbury,  and  the  Reverend  Alfred 
L.  Baury,  of  Newton  Lower  Falls,  a  committee  of  the  society.  Upon  the  front 
of  the  obelisk,  on  a  shield,  is  the  following  inscription  :  "  Brigadier  General 
HENRY  BITRBECK,  born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  June  8,  1754.  Died  at  New  London, 
October  2,  1S48."  Upon  the  cube  on  which  Cie  obelisk  stands  the  following 
words  are  deeply  engraven:  "The  Massachusetts  Society  of  the  Cincinnati 
dedicate  this  monument  to  the  memory  of  their  late  honored  President.  He 
was  an  officer  of  the  United  States  from  the  commencement  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  War  until  near  the  close  of  his  life.  By  a  patriotic  and  faithful  dis 
charge  of  the  high  and  responsible  duties  of  a  Gallant  Soldier,  and  an  Ex 
emplary  Citizen,  he  became  as  justly  and  eminently  distinguished  as  he  was 
rightfully  and  universally  respected.  Erected  MDCCCL." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  695 


Decatur  endeavors  to  get  to  Sea.      The  Blue-lights  and  the  "  Peace  Party."      A  Challenge.       Tour  in  New  England. 

Burbeck  to  call  out  the  militia  for  the  temporary  defense  of  the  menaced  town.  Brig 
adier  General  Williams  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  militia,  and  the  alarm 
subsided. 

Decatur  watched  continually  during  the  summer  and  autumn  for  an  opportunity 
to  escape  to  sea  with  his  three  vessels ;  and  hoping,  as  the  severely  cold  weather  came 
on,  to  find  the  enemy  at  times  somewhat  lax  in  vigilance,  he  slowly  dropped  down 
the  river,  and  at  the  beginning  of  December  was  anchored  in  New  London  Harbor, 
opposite  Market  Wharf.  With  great  secrecy  he  prepared  every  thing  for  sailing. 
He  fixed  on  Sunday  evening,  the  12th,a  for  making  the  attempt  to  run  the  » December, 
blockade.  Fortunately  for  his  plan,  the  night  was  very  dark,  the  wind  1813> 
was  favorable,  and  the  tide  served  at  a  convenient  hour.  When  all  things  were  in 
readiness,  and  he  was  about  to  weigh  anchor,  word  came  from  the,  row-guard  of  the 
Macedonian  and  Hornet  that  signal-lights  were  burning  on  both  sides  of  the  river, 
near  its  mouth.  They  were  blue-lights,  and  Decatur  had  no  doubt  of  their  being 
signals  to  warn  the  enemy  of  his  movement,  which  was  known  in  the  village  that 
evening.  Thus  exposed  by  "  Peace  Men,"  of  whom  there  were  a  few  in  almost  every 
community,  he  at  once  abandoned  the  project,  and  tried  every  means  to  discover  the 
betrayers,  but  without  effect.  The  Opposition,  as  a  party,  denied  the  fact,  while  oth 
ers  as  strongly  asserted  it.  In  his  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navyb 

December  20. 

on  the  subject,  Decatur  said,  "  Notwithstanding  these  signals  have  been 
repeated,  and  have  been  seen  by  twenty  persons  at  least  in  this  squadron,  there  are 
men  in  New  London  who  have  the  hardihood  to  affect  to  disbelieve  it,  and  the  ef 
frontery  to  avow  their  disbelief."  The  whole  Federal  party,  who  were  traditionally 
opposed  to  war  with  Great  Britain,  were  often  unfairly  compelled  to  bear  the  odium 
of  actions  which  justly  pertained  only  to  the  "  Peace"  faction.  They  were  compelled 
to  do  so  in  this  case,  and  for  more  than  a  generation  members  of  that  party  were 
stigmatized  with  the  epithet  of  "Blue-light  Federalist." 

The  United  States  and  Macedonian  were  imprisoned  in  the  Thames  during  the  re 
mainder  of  the  Avar.1  In  the  spring  of  1814  they  were  dismantled,  and  laid  up  about 
three  and  a  half  miles  below  Norwich,  and  their  officers  and  men  made  their  way  by 
land  to  other  ports  and  engaged  actively  in  the  service.  The  Hornet  lay  at  New 
London  almost  a  year  longer,  when  she  slipped  out  of  the  harbor  and  escaped  to  New 
York. 

Of  the  more  stirring  operations  of  the  blockading  fleet  in  this  vicinity  the  follow 
ing  year  I  shall  hereafter  write,  and  it  remains  for  me  now  only  to  make  brief  men 
tion  of  the  circumstances  of  my  visit  at  New  London  and  its  vicinity  late  in  the  au 
tumn  of  1860.  I  had  been  on  a  tour  East  as  far  as  Castine,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pe- 
nobscot,  and  up  that  river  to  Bangor,  and  was  thus  far  on  my  way  homeward,  after 
spending  Thanksgiving-day  with  the  acting  surgeon  of  Perry's  fleet,  Dr.  Usher  Par 
sons,  at  his  house  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island.  I  had  reached  New  London  at  an 
early  hour,  and,  with  a  pleasant  day  before  me,  went  out  to  visit  places  of  historic  in 
terest  in  the  town  and  its  neighborhood.  Before  doing  so,  I  called  on  the  accom 
plished  author  of  the  History  of  New  London  (Miss  Caulkins2),  and,  after  the  brief  in- 

1  In  January,  1814,  Captain  Moran,  master  of  a  sloop  that  had  been  captured  by  the  blockaders,  reported  that  Hardy, 
in  his  presence,  expressed  a  desire  that  the  Macedonian  and  Statira  should  have  a  combat,  they  being  vessels  of  equal 
power,  but  that  he  would  not  permit  a  challenge  to  that  effect  to  be  sent.    Decatur  at  once  informed  Hardy  (17th  of 
January,  1814)  that  he  was  ready  to  have  a  meeting  of  the  Macedonian  and  Statira,  and  the  United  States  and  Endymion, 
and  invited  him  to  the  contest.    This  message  was  sent  by  Captain  Biddle,  of  the  Hornet,  who  was  informed  that  an 
answer  would  be  sent  the  next  day.    The  crews  of  the  two  American  frigates  were  assembled,  and  when  the  proposi 
tion  was  submitted  to  them  they  received  it  with  hearty  cheers.    They  were  eager  for  release,  and  did  not  doubt  their 
ability  to  secure  a  victory.    On  the  following  day  an  answer  came.    The  challenge  was  accepted  so  far  as  the  Macedo- 
donian  and  Statira  were  concerned,  but  a  meeting  between  the  United  States  and  Endymion  was  declined  because  of  an 
alleged  disparity  in  strength,  which  would  give  great  advantage  to  the  American  vessel.    Decatur,  being  under  sailing 
orders,  and  anxious  to  get  his  little  squadron  to  sea,  would  not  consent  to  its  separation  by  detaching  the  Macedonian 
for  a  duel,  so  the  matter  dropped. 

2  Miss  Caulkius  is  also  the  author  of  an  admirable  History  of  Norwich,  Connecticut. 


096 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


OO-MMOUOKK   EODGIK8S   11O.NUJIBNT. 


Cemetery  at  New  London  and  its  Occupants.          Commodore  Rodgers.          New  London  Harbor  and  Fort  Trumbull. 

terview  which  limited  time  allowed,  I  was  well  prepared  to  find  the  places  (and  ap 
preciate  the  interest  attached  to  them)  in  and  around 'that  pleasant  little  city  often 
thousand  inhabitants.  I  shajl  ever  remember  that  interview  with  pleasure. 

Near  New  London  is  the  "  Cedar  Grove  Cemetery,"  in  which  are  the  graves  of 
many  of  the  honored  dead.  Among  these,  over  which  affection  has  reared  monu 
ments,  may  be  found  those  of  General  Burbeck  and  Commodore  George  W.  Rodgers. 

I  made  sketches  of  the  monuments  erected  to 
the  memory  of  each,  and  present  them  to  the 
readers  of  these  pages.  Commodore  Rodgers 
was  a  gallant  officer  of  the  navy,  and  died  in 
the  service  of  his  country  at  Buenos  Ayres,  in 
South  America,  on  the  21st  of  May,  1832,  at  the 
age  of  forty-six  years.  He  was  then  in  com 
mand  of  an  American  squadron  on  the  coast  of 
Brazil.  He  was  a  veteran  officer,  having  been 
a  midshipman  in  1804,  and  a  lieutenant  in 
active  service  during  the  War  of  1812. 1  By 
order  of  the  Navy  Department,  his  remains 
were  brought  home  in  the  ship  Lexington  in 
1850,  and  conveyed  to  New  London  in  charge 
of  Commodore  Kearney.  Their  re-interment  in 
"  Cedar  Grove  Cemetery"2  was  the  occasion  of 
a  great  civic  and  military  display,  in  which  the 
Governor  of  Connecticut  and  his  suite  joined.3 
His  monument  is  a  plain  obelisk  of  freestone,  on  which  is  a  simple  inscription. 

From  the  cemetery  I  rode  back  to  the  town  by  another  way,  which  passed  by  the 
older  part  of  the  place,  and  the  "  Hempstead  House,"  the  last  remaining  of  the  three 
original  houses  built  at  New  London.  It  was  erected  and  occupied  by  Sir  Robert 
Hempstead,  whose  descendants  yet  own  it.  It  was  fortified  against  the  Indians  at 
one  time,  and  was  the  nearest  neighbor  to  the  mansion  of  Governor  Winthrop,  at  the 
head  of  the  Cove — that  cove  out  of  which,  within  twenty  rods  of  the  "  Hempstead 
House,"  sailed  the  first  vessel  that  went  from  New  London  to  the  West  Indies. 

From  the  "  Hempstead  House"  I  rode  down  to  the  light-house  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Thames,  sketched  the  view  of  it  on  page  694,  and,  returning,  visited  Fort  Trumbull, 
so  called  in  honor  of  the  first  Governor  of  Connecticut  of  that  name.  It  is  a  most 
delightful  drive  along  the  river  from  the  light-house  and  Pequot  House  to  the  city, 
and  it  is  much  traveled  for  pleasure  during  the  summer  season.  Outward  is  seen  the 
broad  expanse  of  the  Sound,  with  Fisher's  and  Gull  Islands  in  the  distance  ;  while  up 
the  river  is  seen  the  fort  and  city  on  one  side,  and  Fort  Griswold,  the  Groton  Monu 
ment  and  village,  and  the  green  hills  stretching  away  toward  Norwich  on  the  other. 
Fort  Trumbull  is  a  strong  work,  built  chiefly  of  granite  from  the  quarry  at  Millstone 
Point.  It  is  the  third  fortress  erected  on  the  spot.  In  1775  a  strong  block-house 
was  built  upon  that  rocky  point,  some  embankments  were  cast  up  around  it,  and  the 
whole  was  named  Fort  Trumbull.  In  1812  these  embankments  were  only  green 
mounds.  These  were  cleared  away,  and  a  more  formidable  work  was  erected,  leav 
ing  the  old  block-house  within  the  lines.  This  fort,  retaining  the  original  name,  fell 
into  decay,  and  all  but  the  ancient  block-house  was  demolished  preparatory  to  the 
commencement  of  the  present  structure.  There  the  block -house  still  stands,  a 
monument  to  the  memory  of  the  patriotism  of  our  fathers  of  the  Revolution.  The 

1  He  was  made  master  commandant  in  1816,  and  captain  in  1825.    One  of  his  sons  (Lieutenant  Alexander  P.  Rodgers) 
was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Chapultepec,  in  Mexico,  in  September,  1847. 

2  This  cemetery  was  laid  ont  by  Dr.  Horatio  Stone  for  an  association  in  1850,  and  consecrated  in  1851.    The  first  in 
terment  of  a  person  living  when  it  was  laid  out  was  that  of  Joseph  S.  Sistare.— Miss  Caulkins. 

3  Cuulkins's  Uistory  of  Connecticut,  662. 


OF   THE   WAB    OF    1812. 


697 


Block-house  erected  in  1812. 


The  old  Court-house  and  its  Associations. 


Peace. 


new  fort  was  built  under  the 
superintendence  of  (then) 
Captain  George  W.  Cullum, 
of  the  United  States  Engi 
neers,  and  was  completed  in 
1849,  at  a  cost  of  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  The  views  from  its 
battlements  are  extensive ; 
and  from  the  grassy  espla 
nade  sloping  to  the  water 


ANCIENT   BLOCK-HOUSE,  FOBT  TBUMBULL. 


NEW   LONDON   IIAKBOK   FBOM   FOBT   TEUMBULL. 


southward  may  be  obtained 
a  very  pleasant  view  of  the 
harbor,  the  mouth  of  the  riv 
er,  and  Long  Island  Sound 
beyond. 

The  last  object  of  interest 
visited  in  New  London  was 
the  old  court-house  built  in 
1784,  three  years  after  its 
predecessor  was  burnt  at  the 
time  of  Arnold's  invasion.1 


It  stands  at  the  head  of  broad  State  Street, 
upon  a  rocky  foundation.  It  had  an  ex 
ternal  gallery  around  it  at  the  second 
story,  but  this  was  removed  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  present  century,  and  it 
now  bears  the  appearance  that  it  did  at 
the  close  of  the  Second  War  for  Inde 
pendence,  when  it  was  the  scene  of  joy 
ous  festivities  immediately  after  the  Pres 
ident's  proclamation  of  peace  reached 
the  town  in  February,  1815. 2  Friendly 
greetings  between  the  British  blockading 
squadron  and  the  citizens  then  took  place. 
The  latter  soon  went  to  sea,  and  the  Unit 
ed  States  and  Macedonian  departed  for 
New  York  after  an  imprisonment  of 
about  twenty  months.  Then  "  the  last  shadow  of  war  departed  from  the  town." 

I  left  New  London  for  Stonington  by  railway  at  evening,  whither  I  shall  invite  the 
reader  before  long. 

We  have  now  considered  the  military  events  during  the  year  1813  in  the  North 
and  West,  on  the  Lakes,  and  along  the  Atlantic  coast ;  let  us  now  look  out  upon  the 
ocean,  and  observe  the  hostile  movements  of  the  belligerents  there.  In  the  mean 
time  sounds  of  war  with  the  Indians  come  up  from  the  Gulf  region. 

1  See  Miss  Caulkins's  History  of  New  London,  page  626. 

2  Admiral  Hotham,  whose  flag-ship  was  the  Superb,  then  commanded  the  blockading  squadron  off  New  London.    On 
the  21st  of  February  the  village  was  splendidly  illuminated.    Hotham  determined  to  mingle  in  the  festivities.    An 
nouncing  the  parole  on  the  Superb  to  be  "America,"  and  the  countersign  "Amity,"  he  and  his  officers  went  ashore 
and  mingled  freely  and  cordially  with  the  inhabitants.    The  admiral  was  received  with  distinguished  courtesy,  for,  like 
Hardy,  he  bad  won  the  merited  esteem  of  the  citizens  by  his  gentlemanly  conduct.    At  about  this  time  the  Pactolus 
and  Narcissus  came  into  the  harbor,  bringing  Commodore  Decatur  and  Lieutenant  (now  Admiral)  W.  B.  Shubrick, 
who  had  been  captured  in  the  frigate  President.    A  public  reception,  partaking  of  the  character  of  a  ball,  was  held  at 
the  court-house,  to  which  all  the  British  officers  on  the  coast  were  invited.    Several  were  present,  and  the  guests  were 
received  by  Commodores  Decatur  and  Shaw. 

" 


TJIE   OL1)   COCUT-1IOUSE. 


698  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Hornet  on  the  Coast  of  South  America.  Her  Contest  with  the  Peacock, 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

'  O,  Johnny  Bull,  my  joe,  John,  your  Peacocks  keep  at  home, 
And  ne'er  let  British  seamen  on  a  Frolic  hither  come, 
For  we've  Hornets  and  we've  Wasps,  John,  who,  as  you  doubtless  know, 
Carry  stingers  in  their  tails,  O,  Johnny  Bull,  my  joe." 

BKOTUEB  JONATHAN'S  EPISTLE  TO  JOHNNY  BULL,  1S14. 

"  Then  learn,  ye  comrades  of  the  illustrious  dead, 

Heroic  faith  and  honor  to  revere  ; 
For  Lawrence  slumbers  in  his  lowly  bed, 
Embalm'd  by  Albion's  and  Columbia's  tear." 

MONODY  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  LAWKENCE. 

FTER  the  destruction  of  the  Java  off  the  coast  of  Brazil  in  De 
cember,  1812,  Commodore  Bainbridge,  as  we  have  observed, 
sailed  for  the  United  States,a  leaving  the  Hornet,  Cap-  a  jannary  e, 
tain  James  Lawrence,  to  blockade  the  Bon  Citoyenne, 
a  vessel  laden  with  treasure,  in  the  harbor  of  San  Salvador.1 
On  the  24th  of  January,  the  British  ship  of  war  Montagu,  74, 
made  her  appearance.  She  came  up  from  Rio  Janeiro  to  raise 
the  blockade.  The  Hornet  was  driven  into  the  harbor,  but  es 
caped  during  the  very  dark  night  that  followed,  and  went  cruising  up  the  coast.  She 
was  thus  employed  for  a  month,  and  captured  a  few  prizes.  Finally,  on  the  24th  of 
February,  at  half  past  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  while  chasing  an  English  brig 
off  the  mouth  of  the  Demerara  River,  Lawrence  suddenly  discovered  a  vessel,  evi 
dently  a  man-of-war,  with  an  English  ensign  set,  just  without  the  bar.2  He  determ 
ined  to  attack  her.  The  Carobana  bank  lay  between  the  Hornet  and  this  newly-dis 
covered  enemy.  "While  she  was  beating  around  this  another  sail  was  discovered, 
bearing  down  cautiously  on  her  weather  quarter.  When  she  drew  near  she  proved 
to  be  a  man-of-war  brig,  displaying  British  colors.  The  men  of  the  Hornet  were 
called  to  quarters.  The  ship  was  cleared  for  action,  and  as  the  American  ensign  was 
flung  out  she  tacked,  contended  for  the  weather-gage  unsuccessfully,  and  then  stood 
for  her  antagonist.  The  latter  was  on  a  like  errand,  and  both  vessels,  with  their 
heads  different  ways,  and  lying  close  to  the  wind,  passed  within  half  pistol-shot  of 
each  other  at  twenty-five  minutes  past  five,  delivering  their  broadsides  from  larboard 
batteries  as  the  guns  bore.  Immediately  after  passing,  the  stranger  endeavored  to 
wear  short  round,  so  as  to  get  a  raking  fire  at  the  Hornet.  Lawrence  closely  watched 
the  movement,  and  promptly  imitating  it,  and  firing  his  starboard  guns,  compelled 
the  stranger  to  right  his  helm.  With  a  perfect  blaze  of  fire  the  Hornet  came  down 
upon  her,  closed,  and  in  this  advantageous  position  poured  in  her  shot  with  so  much 
vigor  for  fifteen  minutes  that  her  antagonist  not  only  struck  her  colors,  but  raised 
the  union  down  in  the  fore  rigging  as  a  signal  of  distress.  Very  soon  afterward  the 
mainmast  of  the  vanquished  fell,  and  went  over  her  side.  Lieutenant  J.  T.  Shubrick 
was  sent  to  take  possession  of  her,  and  ascertain  her  name  and  condition.  She  was 
the  British  man-of-war  brig  Peacock,  1 8,  Captain  William  Peake.  Her  commander 
was  slain,  a  great  portion  of,her  crew  had  fallen,  and  she  was  in  a  sinking  condition. 
She  already  had  six  feet  of  water  in  her  hold.  Lieutenant  David  Connor  and  Mid 
shipman  Benjamin  Cooper  were  immediately  dispatched  with  boats  to  bring  off  the 
wounded,  and  endeavor  to  save  the  vessel.  For  this  purpose  both  vessels  were  an- 

1  See  page  401.  2  She  was  the  Eapiegle,  mounting  sixteen  32-pound  carrouades  and  two  long  9's. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  699 

The  Destruction  of  the  Peacock.  Conduct  of  Captain  Lawrence.  Prowess  of  the  Americans  respected. 

chored.  The  guns  of  the  Peacock  were  thrown  overboard,  the  holes  made  by  shot 
were  plugged,  and  every  exertion  was  made  to  keep  the  battered  hulk  afloat  until 
the  wounded  could  be  removed.  Their  efforts  were  not  wholly  successful.  The 
short  twilight  closed  before  the  work  of  mercy  was  accomplished.  The  vessel  filled 
rapidly ;  and  while  thirteen  of  her  crew  and  several  men  belonging  to  the  Hornet 
were  yet  on  board  of  her,  she  suddenly  went  down.  Nine  of  the  thirteen,  and  three 
of  the  Hornefs  men,1  perished.  Connor  and  several  other  Americans,  and  four  of  the 
Peacock's  crew,  had  a  narrow  escape  from  death.  The  latter  saved  themselves  by 
running  up  the  rigging  to  the  foretop,  which  remained  above  water  when  she  set 
tled  on  the  bottom,  for  she  sunk  in  only  about  five  fathoms.  Four  prisoners,  in  the 
confusion  of  the  moment,  had  lowered  the  Peacock's  stern  boat  and  escaped  to  the 
shore.  Those  who  were  saved  received  every  attention  from  the  victors.  The  crew 
of  the  Hornet  cheerfully  divided  their  clothing  with  those  of  the  Peacock  •  and  so 
sensible  were  the  oificers  of  the  latter  of  the  generosity  of  the  American  commander 
and  his  men,  that,  on  their  arrival  in  New  York,  they  expressed  their  gratitude  in  a 
public  letter  of  thanks  to  Captain  Lawrence.2  • 

The  loss  of  the  British  in  this  engagement,  besides  ship  and  property,  is  not  ex 
actly  known.  Captain  Peake  and  four  men  were  known  to  be  killed,  and  four  offi 
cers  and  twenty-nine  men  were  found  wounded.  Nine  others  were  drowned.  The 
entire  loss  of  life  on  the  part  of  the  enemy  was  probably  not  less  than  fifty.  The 
Hornet  was  scarcely  touched  in  her  hull,  but  her  sails  and  rigging  were  considerably 
cut,  and  her  mainmast  and  bowsprit  were  wounded.  Of  her  crew  only  one  man  was 
killed3  and  two  wounded  in  the  fight,  and  three,  as  we  have  observed,  wTent  down 
with  the  Peacock.*  Two  others  were  injured  by  the  explosion  of  a  cartridge.  The 
strength  of  the  Hornet  in  men  and  metal  was  slightly  greater  than  that  of  the  Pea 
cock.  She  carried  eighteen  32-pound  carronades  and  two  long  12's.  The  Peacock 
was  armed  with  sixteen  24-pound  carronades,  two  long  9's,  one  12-pound  carronade 
in  the  forecastle,  one  6-pounder,  and  two  swivels.  Her  men  numbered  one  hundred 
and  thirty,  and  those  of  the  Hornet  one  hundred  and  thirty-five. 

Captain  Lawrence  found  himself  with  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven  souls  on 
board,  and  short  of  water.  He  determined  to  return  immediately  to  the  United 
States ;  and  he  did  not  cast  anchor  until  he  reached  Holmes's  Hole,  Martha's  Vine 
yard,  on  the  19th  of  March.  On  that  day  he  wrote  an  official  letter  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  giving  an  account  of  his  success,  and  on  the  25th  he  arrived  at  the  Brook 
lyn  Navy  Yard.  Intelligence  of  the  exploits  of  the  Hornet  went  over  the  land,  and 
produced  the  liveliest  joy,  as  well  as  the  most  profound  sensation  in  both  countries. 
The  prowess  and  skill  of  American  seamen  were  fully  vindicated  and  acknowledged, 
and  the  "  Mistress  of  the  Seas"  found  it  necessary  to  move  with  the  humiliating  cau 
tion  of  a  doubter  conscious  of  danger.  "  If  a  vessel  had  been  moored  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  experiment,"  said  a  Halifax  (British)  newspaper, "  it  is  not  probable  she 
could  have  been  sunk  in  so  short  a  time.  It  icitt  not  do  for  our  vessels  to  fight  theirs 
single-handed.  The  Americans  are  a  dead  nip."  The  President  of  the  United  States, 
in  his  message  to  Congress  at  the  special  session  in  May,  said, "  In  continuance  of  the 
brilliant  achievements  of  our  infant  navy,  a  signal  triumph  has  been  gained  by  Cap- 

i  John  Hart,  Joseph  Williams,  and  Hannibal  Boyd. 

z  "So  much,"  they  said,  "was  done  to  alleviate  the  uncomfortable  and  distressing  situation  in  which  we  were  placed 
when  received  on  board  the  ship  you  command,  that  we  can  not  better  express  our  feelings  than  by  saying  we  ceased 
to  consider  ourselves  prisoners  ;  and  every  thing  that  friendship  could  dictate  was  adopted  by  you  and  the  officers  of 
the  Hornet  to  remedy  the  inconvenience  we  otherwise  should  have  experienced  from  the  unavoidable  loss  of  the  whole 
of  our  property  and  clothes  by  the'  sudden  sinking  of  the  Peacock."  This  was  signed  by  the  first  and  second  lieuten 
ants,  the  master,  the  surgeon,  and  the  purser  of  the  Peacock. 

3  John  Place,  who  was  in  the  top.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  there  was  scarcely  a  mark  of  a  ball  seen  below  the  main 
top.  The  captain's  pennant  was  shot  from  the  mainmast  at  the  beginning  of  the  action. 

*  To  this  fact  a  poet  of  the  time,  in  an  elegy  on  the  death  of  Lawrence,  wrote: 

"  For  'twas  the  proud  Peacock  to  the  bottom  did  go ; 
He  lost  more  in  saving  than  conquering  his  foe." 


700 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Honors  to  Captain  Lawrence  and  his  Men. 


Public  Dinner  in  New  York. 


The  Lawrence  Medal. 


tain  Lawrence  and  his  companions,  in  the  Hornet  sloop-of-war,  with  a  celerity  so  un 
exampled,  and  with  a  slaughter  of  the  enemy  so  disproportionate  to  the  loss  in  the 
Hornet,  as  to  claim  for  the  conqueror  the  highest  praise."1 

The  Common  Council  of  New  York  resolved  to  present  the  "  freedom  of  the  city," 
with  "  a  piece  of  plate  with  appropriate  devices  and  inscriptions,"  to  Captain  Law 
rence,  and  to  give  a  public  dinner  to  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Hornet.'1  Afterward, 
*  January  4,  when  Lawrence  was  slain,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  requested11 
the  President  to  present  to  his  nearest  male  relative  a  gold  medal  com 
memorative  of  his  services,3  and  a  silver  medal  to  each  of  the  commissioned  officers 


NTER  HORNET  NAV.  AMERI. 

ET  PEACOCK  NAV.ANG. 

DIE   XXIV.  FEB. 

DCCCXIII 


MEDAL  AWARDED   TO   CAPTAIN   LAWRENCE   BY   COXGKEI 


who  served  under  him  in  the  Hornet.  Every  where  throughout  the  land  the  name 
of  Lawrence  was  honored;  and,  as  usual  after  a  victory,  Art  and  Song  made  contri 
butions  to  the  garland  of  praise  with  which  the  people  delighted  to  crown  the  chief 

victor.4 


1  Message  to  Congress,  Special  Session,  May  25, 1813.    In  the  Memoirs  of  Sir  Charles  Napier  may  be  found  the  fol 
lowing  paragraph :  "When  in  Bermuda,  in  1813,  with  his  regiment,  Colonel  Napier,  writing  to  his  mother,  says  :  '  Two 
packets  are  quite  due,  and  we  fear  they  have  been  taken,  for  the  Yankees  swarm  here  ;  and  when  a  frigate  goes  out  to 
drive  them  off  by  force  they  take  her  I    Yankees  fight  well,  and  are  gentlemen  in  their  mode  of  warfare.    Decatur  re 
fused  Garden's  sword,  saying,  "  Sir,  you  have  used  it  so  well  I  should  be  ashamed  to  take  it  from  you."   These  Yankees, 
though  so  much  abused,  are  really  line  fellows.'" 

2  This  dinner  was  given  at  Washington  Hall,  on  Tuesday,  the  4th  of  May.    I  have  before  me  one  of  the  orignal  in 
vitations  issued  by  Augustus  H.  Lawrence,  Elisha  W.  King,  and  Peter  Mesier,  Corporation  Committee.    It  has  a  small 
wood-cut  at  the  head  representing  a  naval  battle,  which  was  drawn  ana  engraved  by  Dr.  Alexander  Anderson,  who  is 
yet  (1867)  engaged  in  his  profession,  though  in  the  ninety-third  year  of  his  age.    "  In  the  evening  the  gallant  tars  were 
treated  to  a  seat  in  the  pit  of  the  theatre,"  says  ThcWar,  "by  the  managers,  and  roused  the  house  by  their  jollity  and 
applause  during  the  performance.    The  representations  were  adapted  to  suit  the  taste  of  the  visitors  and  gratify  the 
patriotic  enthusiasm  of  the  audience.    Captain  Lawrence,  with  General  Van  Rensselaer,  General  Morton,  and  a  num 
ber  of  other  official  characters,  filled  one  of  the  side  boxes,  and  rrfade  the  house  ring  with  huzzas  on  their  appearance." 

3  The  above  is  a  picture  of  the  medal,  proper  size.    On  one  side  is  seen  the  bust  of  Captain  Lawrence,  with  the  legend 

"lAO    LAWKENCE.       DULCE    ET    DECORUM    E8T    PKO    PATKIA 

MOBI."  On  the  reverse  is  seen  a  vessel  in  the  act  of  sink 
ing — her  mizzen  mast  shot  away ;  a  boat  rowing  toward 
her  from  the  American  ship.  Legend  —  "  MANSUETUD. 

MAJ.  QTJAM  VICTORIA."  ExCrgUC — "  INTER  HORNET  HAV. 
AMERI.  ET  PEACOCK  NAV.  ANS.  DIE  XXIV.  FEB.  MDCCCXIII." 

*  Amos  Doolittle,  an  engraver  of  New  Haven,  Connec 
ticut,  who  engraved  on  copper,  immediately  after  the 
skirmishes  at  Lexington  and  Concord,  four  illustra 
tions  of  the  events  of  that  day,  drawn  on  the  spot  by 
Earl,  engraved  and  published  a  caricature  concerning 
the  fight  of  the  Hornet  and  Peacock,  of  which  the  annexed 
picture  is  a  miniature  copy.  An  immense  hornet,  crying 
out  "Free  trade  and  sailors'  rights,  you  old  rascal,"  is 
seen  alighting  on  the  head  of  a  bull  (John  Bull)  with  the 
wings  and  tail  of  a  peacock,  and,  by  piercing  his  neck 
"J  with  his  sting,  makes  the  mongrel  animal  roar  "  Boo-o- 

1IOBNET   AND   PEACOOIi.  0-O-hOO  !  !  !" 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  701 


Cruise  of  the  Chesapeake.  Her  Character.  Lawrence  in  Command  of  her.  A  Challenge. 

While  the  Hornet  was  making  her  way  homeward,  the  Chesapeake,  38,  Captain 
Evans,  which  had  been  lying:  in  Boston  Harbor  for 
some  time,  was  out  on  an  extensive  cruise.  She 
left  Boston  toward  the  close  of  February,  passed 
the  Canary  and  Cape  Verd  Islands,  crossed  the 
equator,  and  for  six  weeks  cruised  in  that  region. 

She  then  went  to  the  coast  of  South  America,  passed  the  spot  where  the  Peacock 
went  down,  sailed  through  the  West  Indies,  and  up  the  coast  of  the  United  States  to 
the  point  of  departure.  During  all  that  long  cruise  she  met  only  three  ships  of  war, 
and  accomplished  nothing  except  the  capture  of  four  merchant  vessels.  As  she  en 
tered  Boston  Harbor  in  a  gale  she  lost  a  top-mast,  and  several  men  who  were  aloft 
went  overboard  with  it  and  were  drowned.  The  Chesapeake  had  the  reputation,of 
being  an  "  unlucky"  ship  before  the  war,  and  this  unsuccessful  cruise  and  melancholy 
termination  confirmed  the  impression.  A  superstitious  notion  prevailed  in  the  navy 
concerning  "  lucky"  and  "  unlucky"  vessels,  and  officers  and  seamen  were  averse  to 
serving  in  the  Chesapeake  on  account  of  her  "  unlucky"  character.1 

Captain  Evans  was  compelled  to  leave  the  service  at  the  close  of  this  cruise  on 
account  of  the  loss  of  the  sight  of  one  of  his  eyes,  and  danger  that  menaced  the  oth 
er.  Lawrence,  who  had  just  been  promoted  from  master  commandant  to  captain, 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Chesapeake.  He  accepted  it  with  reluctance, 
because  the  seamen  would  not  sail  in  her  with  the  spirit  that  promised  success. 

British  vessels  were  now  blockading  the  harbors  of  Massachusetts.  Hitherto  that 
blockade  had  been  very  mild  on  the  New  England  coast,  for  the  British  Cabinet  be 
lieved  that  the  people  of  that  section,  being  largely  opposed  to  the  war,  would,  if 
properly  cajoled,  prove  recreant  to  patriotism,  and  either  join  the  enemy  outright,  or 
separate  from  and  thus  materially  weaken  the  remainder  of  the  States.  This  delusion 
now  began  to  yield  to  the  stern  arguments  of  events,  and  the  blockade  was  made 
more  rigorous  every  hour.  Blockading  ships  hovered  like  hawks  along  the  New 
England  coast,  and  the  Shannon,  38,  and  Teneclos,  38,  were  closely  watching  Boston 
Harbor  at  the  close  of  May. 

The  Hornet  was  now  commanded  by  Captain  Biddle,  and  had  been  placed  under 
the  orders  of  Captain  Lawrence.  They  were  to  cruise  together  if  possible,  going  east 
ward  and  northward  from  Boston  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  intercepting  the  British 
vessels  bound  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  ultimately  to  seek  the  Greenland  whale-fish 
eries.  Every  thing  was  in  readiness  at  the  close  of  May,  when  the  Shannon,  the  com 
plement  in  strength  of  the  Chesapeake,  appeared  alone  off  Boston,  in  the  attitude  of  a 
challenger.  She  was  observed  by  Lawrence,  and  on  Tuesday,  the  1st  day  of  June, 
that  commander  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy : 

"  Since  I  had  the  honor  of  addressing  you  last  I  have  been  detained  for  want  of 
men.  I  am  now  getting  under  weigh,  and  shall  endeavor  to  carry  into  execution  the 
instructions  you  have  honored  me  with.  An  English  frigate  is  now  in  sight  from  my 
deck.  I  have  sent  a  pilot  boat  out  to  reconnoitre,  and  should  she  be  alone  I  am  in 
hopes  to  give  a  good  account  of  her  before  night.  My  crew  appear  to  be  in  fine  spir 
its,  and,  I  trust,  will  do  their  duty."2  (See  fac-simile  on  page  702.) 

At  a  later  hour  Captain  Philip  Vere  Broke,  the  commander  of  the  Shannon,  wrote 
a  challenge  to  Captain  Lawrence,  saying :  "  As  the  Chesapeake  appears  now  ready 
for  sea,  I  request  you  will  do  me  the  favor  to  meet  the  Shannon  with  her,  ship  to  ship, 
to  try  the  fortunes  of  our  respective  flags.  To  ah  officer  of  your  character  it  requires 
some  apology  for  proceeding  to  farther  particulars.  Be  assured,  sir,  it  is  not  from 

1  "In  the  navy,  at  this  particular  juncture,  the  Constitution,  Constellation,  and  Enterprise  were  the  lucky  vessels  of  the 
service,  and  the  Chesapeake  and  President  the  unlucky.    The  different  vessels  named  went  into  the  War -of  1S12  with 
these  characters,  and  they  were  singularly  confirmed  by  circumstances."— Cooper,  ii.,  246. 

2  Autograph  letter  in  the  Navy  Department,  Washington  City.    This  was  the  last  letter  written  by  Captain  Lawrence. 


702 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Captain  Lawrence's  last  Official  Letter. 


any  doubt  I  can  entertain  of  your  wishing  to  close  with  my  proposal,  but  merely  to 
provide  an  answer  to  any  objection  which  might  be  made,  and  very  reasonably,  upon 
the  chance  of  our  receiving  any  unfair  support." 

Captain  Broke  then,  in  a  long  appendix  to  his  challenge,  explained  his  object,  men 
tioned  his  own  strength,  the  disposition  of  other  British  vessels  in  the  neighborhood, 


OF   THE   WAK    OF   1812. 


703 


Captain  Broke's  Challenge. 


designated  the  place  of  combat,1  asked  for  a  plan  of  mutual  signals,  offered  arrange 
ments  concerning  the  presence  of  other  vessels,  and  assured  him  that  the  Chesapeake 
could  not  get  to  sea  without  "  the  risk  of  being  crushed  by  the  superior  force  of  the 
British  squadron"  then  abroad.2 

The  Shannon  ranked  as  a  38-gun  ship,  but  mounted  fifty-two  guns.3    According 

1  "I  will  send  all  other  ships  beyond  the  power  of  interfering  with  us,  and  meet  you  wherever  it  is  most  agreeable 
to  you,  within  the  limits  of  the  under-mentioned  rendezvous,  viz.,  From  six  to  ten  leagues  east  of  Cape  Cod  Light 
house,  from  eight  to  ten  leagues  east  of  Cape  Ann's  Light,  on  Cashe's  ledge,  in  lat.  43°  N.,  at  any  bearing  and  distance 
you  please  to  flx,  off  the  south  breakers  of  Nantucket,  or  the  shoal  on  St.  George's  Bank." — MS.  Challenge. 

2  MS.  Letter,  with  Captain  Broke's  signature,  in  the  Navy  Department,  Washington  City;    This  letter  was  sent  by  the 
hand  of  Captain  Slocum,  of  Salem.    He  was  landed  at  Marblehead,  and  made  his  way  to  Boston  as  speedily  as  possible. 
The  Chesapeake  had  gone  to  sea,  and  he  placed  the  letter  in  the  hands  of  Commodore  Baiubridge,  the  commandant  of 
the  station. 

3  The  Shannon  was  built  at  Chatham,  in  England,  in  1806.    She  was  also  known  as  "  unlucky"  by  the  British  seamen 
because  two  ships  of  the  same  name  had  been  previously  lost.    One,  a  32-gun  frigate,  was  built  in  1796,  and  lost  by 
shipwreck  in  1SOO ;  the  other,  of  thirty-six  guns,  was  built  in  1803,  and  in  the  same  year  struck  the  ground  in  a  gale,  and 
was  wrecked  under  the  batteries  of  Cape  la  Hogue.— James's  Xaval  Occurrences. 


704  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Condition  of  the  Chesapeake.  A  mutinous  Feeling  discovered.  Lawrence  accepts  Broke's  Challenge. 

to  Broke's  challenge,  she  "  mounted  twenty-four  guns  on  her  broadside,  and  one  light 
boat-<nm  ;  18-pounders  on  her  main-deck,  and  32-pound  carronades  on  her  quarter 
deck  and  forecastle  ;  and  was  manned  with  a  complement  of  three  hundred  men  and 
boys,  besides  thirty  seamen"  who  had  been  taken  out  of  captured  vessels.1  She 
was  perfectly  equipped,  and  her  men  were  thoroughly  disciplined ;  and  officers  and 
men  had  unwavering  confidence  in  each  other.  Quite  different  was  the  case  of  the 
Chesapeake.  The  seamen,  as  we  have  observed,  naturally  superstitious,  regarded  her 
as  "  unlucky,"  and  this  opinion  was  disheartening.  Captain  Lawrence  had  been  in 
command  of  her  only  about  ten  days,  and  was  unacquainted  with  the  abilities  of  her 
officers  and  men.  Some  of  the  former  were  absent  on  account  of  ill  health.  First 
Lieutenant  Octavius  A.  Page,  of  Virginia,  a  very  superior  officer,  was  sick  with  a  lung 
fever,  of  which  he  died  in  Boston  soon  afterward.  Second  Lieutenant  Thompson  was 
absent  on  account  of  ill  health,  and  Acting  Lieutenants  Nicholson  and  Pearce  were 
also  absent  from  the  same  cause.  The  consequence  was  that  Lieutenant  Augustus 
Ludlow,  who  was  the  third  officer  under  Evans  in  the  last  cruise  of  the  Chesapeake, 
became  Lawrence's  second  in  command.  He  was  very  young,  and  had  never  acted 
in  that  capacity,  yet  he  was  an  officer  of  merit,  and  already  distinguished.  There 
was  but  one  other  commissioned  sea  officer  in  the  ship. 

Captain  Lawrence  was  beset  with  other  difficulties.  The  crew  were  almost  mutin 
ous  because  of  disputes  concerning  the  prize-money  won  during  the  last  cruise.  There 
were  also  a  large  number  of  mercenaries  on  board,  among  them  a  troublesome  Por 
tuguese,  who  was  a  boatswain's  mate.  Many  of  the  crew  had  but  recently  enlisted ; 
and  in  every  way  the  Chesapeake  was  wholly  unprepared  for  a  conflict  with  an  equal 
in  men  and  metal.  But  in  armament  she  was  almost  equal  to  the  Shannon.  She 
mounted  twenty-eight  long  18-pounders  on  the  main-deck,  sixteen  3 2-lb.  carronades 
on  the  quarter-deck,  and  four  carronades  of  equal  weight  and  a  long  18-pounder  on 
the  forecastle.2 

After  Captain  Broke  had  dispatched  his  challenge  to  Salem  he  prepared  his  ship 
for  combat,  displayed  his  colors  in  full,  and  lay  off  Boston  light-house  under  easy  sail. 
Captain  Lawrence  understood  this  as  a  challenge,  and  when  the  pilot-boat,  sent  out 
to  reconnoitre,  returned  with  the  assurance  that  the  Shannon  was  alone,  he  determ 
ined  to  accept  it.  He  well  knew  his  disabilities,  and  told  his  officers  that  he  would 
rather  fight  the  Shannon  and  Teneclos  in  succession,  after  a  twenty  days'  cruise,  than 
to  fight  either  alone  on  first  putting  to  sea,  when  the  thoughts  of  homes  just  left,  sea 
sickness,  and  other  depressing  circumstances  would  seriously  affect  his  men.  Yet, 
innately  brave,  and  always  self-reliant,  he  acted  upon  his  own  impulses,  and,  without 
consulting  any  one  on  shore,  he  weighed  anchor  toward  noon.3 

Captain  Lawrence  attempted  to  conciliate  his  crew  by  giving  them  checks  for  their 
prize-money,  and  addressed  them  eloquently  for  a  few  minutes.  He  then  ran  iip  three 
ensigns,  one  on  the  mizzen-royal-mast-head,  another  on  the  peak,  and  a  third  in  the 
starboard  main-rigging,  and  attempted  to  stimulate  the  quickened  enthusiasm  of  his 
men  by  unfurling  at  the  fore  a  broad  white  flag  bearing  the  words  first  used  on  the 
Essex*  FKEE  TRADE  AND  SAILORS'  RIGHTS.  Yet  they  still  murmured,  for  the  Portu 
guese  was  rebellious,  and  active  in  fomenting  discontent. 

1  Captain  Broke's  MS.  Letter  to  Captain  Lawrence.    Lieutenant  George  Budd,  who  became  a  purser  on  board  the 
Shannon,  said,  in  his  dispatch  from  Halifax  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  that  she  had,  in  addition  to  her  complement, 
"  an  officer  and  sixteen  men  belonging  to  the  Belle  Poule,  and  a  part  of  the  crew  of  the  Tenedos." 

2  The  guns  of  the  Chesapeake  were  all  named.    James,  in  his  Naval  Occurrences,  page  232,  has  preserved  the  names  of 
those  composing  one  broadside  of  the  main-deck,  and  some  of  those  on  the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle,  as  follows : 
MAIN-DECK — Brother  Jonathan,  True  Blue,  Yankee  Protection,  Putnam,  Raging  EagU,  Viper,  General  Warren,  Mad  An 
thony,  America,  Washington,  Liberty  for  Ever,  Dreadnought,  Defiance,  Liberty  or  Death.    QUABTEB-DECK— Bull-dog,  Spit 
fire,  Nancy  Dawson,  Revenge,  Bunker's  Hill,  Pocahontas,  Tmvser,  Willful  Murder. 

The  Chesapeake  was  built  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  in  1T97,  at  a  cost  of  $221,000,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  finest  ves 
sels  of  her  class. 

3  At  nine  o'clock  the  Shannon  captured  a  small  schooner  off  Boston  Light.    The  Chesapeake  saw  this,  fired  a  gun,  and 
loosed  her  foretop-sail  as  a  signal  for  putting  to  sea.  *  See  page  441. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812.  705 

The  Chesapeake  goes  out  to  fight.  Great  Excitement  in  Boston.  Beginning  of  the  Battle. 

It  was  now  noon — a  pleasant  day  in  early  summer,a  after  a  chilling  mist  a  June  1( 
had  brooded  for  a  week  over  Boston  Harbor.  The  anchor  of  the  Chesapeake  1813- 
was  lifted,  and  she  rode  gallantly  out  into  the  bay  in  the  direction  of  her  menacing 
foe,  followed  by  the  eager  eyes  of  thousands.1  As  her  antagonist  was  in  sight,  her 
decks  were  immediately  cleared  for  action,  and  both  vessels,  under  easy  sail,  bore 
away  to  a  position  about  thirty  miles  from  Boston  Light,  between  Cape  Cod  and 
Cape  Ann.2 

At  four  o'clock  the  Chesapeake  fired  a  gun,  which  made  the  Shannon  heave  to.  She 
was  soon  under  single-reefed  top-sails  and  jib,  while  the  Chesapeake,  under  whole  top 
sails  and  jib,  was  bearing  down  upon  her  with  considerable  speed.  The  breeze  was 
freshening,  and  as  the  latter  approached  her  movements  were  watched  on  board  the 
Shannon  with  great  anxiety,  because  it  was  uncertain  on  which  side  she  was  about 
to  close  upon  her  antagonist,  or  whether  she  might  not  commence  the  action  on  her 
quarter.  Having  the  weather-gage  the  Chesapeake  had  the  advantage ;  and  "  the 
history  of  naval  warfare,"  says  Mr.  Cooper, "  does  not  contain  an  instance  of  a  ship's 
being  more  gallantly  conducted  than  the  Chesapeake  was  now  handled."3 

Onward  came  the  Chesapeake  until  she  lay  fairly  along  the  larboard  side  of  the 
Shannon,  yard-arm  and  yard-arm,  within  pistol-shot  distance.  It  was  now  between 
half  past  five  and  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The  Chesapeake  was  luffed,  and  ranged 
up  abeam,  and  as  her  foremast  came  in  a  line  with  the  Shannons  mizzen  mast  the 
latter  discharged  her  cabin  guns,  and  the  others  in  quick  succession  from  aft  forward. 
The  Chesapeake  was  silent  for  a  moment  until  her  guns  bore,  when  she  poured  a  de 
structive  broadside  into  her  antagonist.  Now  came  the  tug  with  heavy  metal.  For 
six  or  eight  minutes  the  cannonade  on  both  sides  was  incessant.  In  general  effect 
the  Chesapeake  had  the  best  of  the  action  at  this  juncture,  but  she  had  suffered  dread 
fully  in  the  loss  of  officers  and  men.  Compared  with  that  of  the  foe,  it  was  as  ten  to 


one.4 

While  passing  the  Shannon's  broadside,  after  a  contest  of  twelve  minutes,  the  Ches 
apeake 's  foretop-sail-tie  and  jib-sheet  were  shot  away.  Her  spanker-brails  were  also 
loosened,  and  the  sail  blew  ont.  Thus  crippled  at  the  moment  when  she  was  about 
to  take  the  wind  out  of  the  Shannon's  sails,  shoot  ahead,  lay  across  her  bow,  rake  her, 
and  probably  secure  a  victory,  the  Chesapeake  would  not  obey  her  helm ;  and  when 
the  sails  of  her  antagonist  filled,  she  by  some  means  got  her  mizzen  rigging  foul  of 
the  Shannon's  fore-chains.  Thus  entangled,  the  Chesapeake  lay  exposed  to  the  raking 
fire  of  the  foe's  carron-ades.  These  almost  swept  her  upper  decks.  Captain  Lawrence 
was  slightly  wounded  in  the  leg  ;  Mr.  "White,  the  sailing-master,  was  killed ;  Ludlow, 
the  first  lieutenant,  was  badly  wounded  in  two  places  by  grape-shot ;  and  Mr.  Brown, 
the  marine  officer,  Mr.  Ballard,  the  acting  fourth  lieutenant,  and  Peter  Adams,  the 

1  There  was  great  excitement  at  Boston  and  in  its  neighborhood  when  it  was  known  that  the  Chesapeake  had  gone 
ont  to  meet  the  Shannon.    Thousands  of  hearts  beat  quicker  with  the  desire  that  Captain  Lawrence  should  add  new 
laurels  to  those  he  had  already  won  in  his  combat  with  the  Peacock,  and  the  harbor  was  soon  swarming  with  small  craft 
making  their  way  out  to  the  probable  scene  of  action.    Yet  there  were  those  who  were  moved  by  opposite  feelings. 
The  party  opposed  to  the  war  was  strong  in  Massachusetts,  and  when,  a  fortnight  afterward,  it  was  proposed  in  the 
Legislature  of  that  state  to  pass  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  then  slain  Lawrence  for  his  gallantry  in  the  capture  of  the  Pea 
cock,  a  preamble  and  resolution  were  adopted  by  the  Senate  declaring  that  similar  attentions  already  given  to  military 
and  naval  officers  engaged  in  a  like  service  had  "given  great  discontent  to  many  of  the  good  people  of  the  Common 
wealth,  it  being  considered  by  them  as  an  encouragement  and  excitemeut  to  the  continuance  of  the  present  unjust,  un 
necessary,  and  iniquitous  war.    The  resolution  was  as  follows : 

"  Resolved,  as  the  sense  of  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  that  in  a  war  like  the  present,  waged  without  justifiable  cause, 
and  prosecuted  in  a  manner  which  indicates  that  conquest  and  ambition  are  its  real  motives,  it  is  not  becoming  a  moral 
and  religious  people  to  express  any  approbation  of  military  or  naval  exploits  which  are  not  immediately  connected  with 
the  defense  of  our  sea-coast  and  soil." — June  15, 1813. 

2  From  the  high  grounds  near  Salem  the  inhabitants  had  a  distant  view  of  the  engagement,  and  the  booming  of  the 
cannon  was  heard  far  inland. 

3  Cooper's  Xaval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  248. 

*  "Of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  quartered  on  the  upper  deck,"  said  Lieutenant  Ludlow  to  an  officer  of  the  Shannon, 
"I  did  not  see  fifty  on  their  legs  after  the  first  fire."  The  Shannon's  topmen  reported  "  that  the  hammocks,  splinters, 
and  wrecks  of  all  kinds  driven  across  the  deck  formed  a  complete  cloud." — Statement  of  Captain  R.  H.  King,  of  the  Royal 
Navy. 

YY 


706 


PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 


Battle  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Shannon.  Captain  Lawrence  mortally  wounded.  "  Don't  give  up  the  Ship." 


THE   CHESAPEAKE  DISABLED  BY   THE  SHANNON'S   BKOADBIDE8.1 


boatswain,  were  all  mortally  wounded.  The  latter  was  boatswain  of  the  Constitution 
in  her  action  with  the  Guemere. 

When  Captain  Lawrence  perceived  the  entanglement  of  the  ships  he  ordered  his 
boarders  to  be  called  up.  Unfortunately,  a  negro  bugler  was  employed  to  give  the 
signal  instead  of  the  drummer,  as  usual.  Dismayed  by  the  aspect  of  the  fight,  the 
bugler  skulked  under  the  stern  of  the  launch,  and  when  called  to  duty  he  was  so  ter 
rified  that  he  could  not  give  even  a  feeble  blast.2  Oral  orders  were  immediately 
sent  to  the  boarders,  but  these  were  imperfectly  understood  amid  the  din  of  battle. 
At  that  moment,  while  Captain  Lawrence  was  giving  directions  concerning  the  dam 
aged  foresails,  that  the  ship  might  be  rendered  manageable,  he  was  fatally  wounded 
by  a  musket-ball,  and  carried  below  by  Lieutenant  Cox,  aided  by  some  of  the  men.3 
His  last  words  when  he  left  the  deck  were  in  substance,  "  Tell  the  men  to  fire  faster 
and  not  give  up  the  ship.  Fight  her  till  she  sinks  !"  These  words  of  the  dying  hero 
were  remembered,  and  "  Dortt  give  up  the  Ship"  was  the  battle-cry  of  the  American 
Navy  during  the  whole  war.  It  was  the  motto  upon  the  banner  borne  by  Perry's 
flag-ship  in  battle  three  months  later,  and  is  still  a  proverbial  word  of  encouragement 
to  the  struggling  and  faltering  in  life's  various  battles.4 

The  keen  and  experienced  eye  of  Captain  Broke  quickly  comprehended  the  weak- 

1  This  is  from  a  sketch  by  Captain  R.  H.  King,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  who  was  with  Captain  Broke  in  the  Shannon  from 
1SOG  until  1814,  excepting  a  short  time  in  the  spring  of  1813.    He  rose  to  the  rank  of  commander  in  1828,  and  to  captain 
in  1839,  when  he  withdrew  from  service  afloat. 

2  His  name  was  George  Brown.    He  was  exchanged.    Afterward  he  was  tried  at  New  London,  found  guilty  of  cow 
ardice,  and  sentenced  to  the  punishment  of  three  hundred  lashes  on  his  bare  back. 

3  Lieutenant  Cox  commanded  the  middle  division  of  the  gun-deck.    He  heard  the  oral  orders  for  the  boarders,  and 
ran  up  at  the  moment  when  Lawrence  fell. 

*  The  following  are  the  first  and  last  stanzas  of  a  stirring  poem  by  R.  M.  Charlton : 

"  A  hero  on  his  vessel's  deck  "  Oh,  let  these  words  your  motto  be, 

Lay  weltering  in  his  gore,  Whatever  ills  befall ; 

And  tattered  sail  and  shattered  wreck  Though  foes  beset,  and  pleasures  flee, 

Told  that  the  fight  was  o'er ;  And  passion's  wiles  enthrall. 

But  e'en  when  death  had  glazed  his  eye,  Though  danger  spreads  her  ready  snare 

His  feeble,  quivering  lip  Your  erring  steps  to  trip, 

Still  uttered,  with  life's  latest  sigh,  Remember  that  dead  hero's  prayer, 

'  Don't,  don't  give  up  the  ship  !'  And  '  don't  give  up  the  ship  /"  " 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


707 


A  desperate  Struggle. 


Treachery  of  a  Portuguese. 


Capture  of  the  Chesapeake. 


ness  of  the  Chesapeake  at  this  moment,  she  having  no  officer  on  the  quarter-deck 
above  the  rank  of  midshipman.  He  immediately  ordered  his  boarders  forward. 
Placing  himself,  with  his  first  lieutenant,  at  the  head  of  twenty  of  them,  and  passing 
cautiously  from  his  fore-channels,  he  reached  the  quarter-deck  of  the  Chesapeake 
without  opposition,  for  the  gunners,  finding  all  their  officers  fallen,  and  themselves 
exposed  to  a  raking  fire  without  the  means  of  returning  a  shot,  had  left  the  guns  and 
fled  below.  Meanwhile  Lieutenant  Budd  had  ordered  the  boarders  to  follow  him  up. 
Only  fifteen  or  twenty  obeyed,  and  with  these  he  gallantly  attacked  the  British  at 
the  gangways.  He  was  almost  instantly  disabled  by  a  severe  wound,  and  thrown 
down  on  the  gun-deck.  His  followers  were  driven  toward  the  forecastle.  These 
disasters  aroused  the  severely-wounded  young  Ludlow.  Having  laid  his  commander 
in  the  guard-room,  he  hurried  upon  deck,  where  he  almost  instantly  received  a  fatal 
sabre-wound,  and  was  carried  below. 

Broke  now  ordered  about  sixty  marines  of  the  Shannon  to  join  him.  These  kept 
down  the  Americans  who  wrere  ascending  the  main  hatchway.  Provoked  by  a  shot 
from  below  by  a  boy,  they  fired  down  the  hatches,  and  killed  and  wounded  a  great 
many  men.  The  victory  was  soon  made  easy  by  treachery.  The  boatswain's  mate 
(the  mutinous  Portuguese  already  mentioned)  removed  the  gratings  of  the  berth- 
deck,  and  then,  running  below,  followed  by  a  large  number  of  the  malcontents  of  the 
morning,  he  shouted,  maliciously, "  So  much  for  not  paying  men  prize-money  !"  This 
act  gave  the  British  complete  control  of  the  vessel ;  and  while  a  few  gallant  marines, 
animated  by  the  injunctions  of  the  bleeding  Lawrence,  were  yet  defending  the  ship, 
First  Lieutenant  Watts,  of  the  Shannon,  hauled  down  the  colors  of  the  Chesapeake 
and  hoisted  the  British  flag.  At  that  instant  he  was  slain  by  a  grape-shot  from  one 
of  the  foremast  guns  of  his  own  ship, 
which  struck  him  on  the  head.1 

History  has  recorded  but  few  naval 
battles  more  sanguinary  than  this.  It 
lasted  only  fifteen  minutes,  and  yet,  as 
Cooper  remarks,  "  both  ships  were  char 
nel-houses."  They  presented  a  most  dis 
mal  spectacle.  The  Chesapeake  had  lost 
forty-eight  men  killed,  and  ninety-eight 
wounded.  The  Shannon  had  lost  twen 
ty-six  killed,  and  fifty -eight  wounded. 
Among  the  killed  were  Lieutenant  Watt, 
already  mentioned,  Mr.  Aldham,  the  pur 
ser,  and  Mr.  Dunn,  the  captain's  clerk.2 

Both  ships  presented  a  most  dismal  ap 
pearance.  Marks  of  carnage  and  desola 
tion  every  where  met  the  eye.3  Captain 
Broke,  who  had  ordered  the  slaughter  to 
cease  when  the  victory  was  gained,  had 
become  delirious.  Lawrence,  too  severe- 

1  Captain  Broke  behaved  most  gallantly  in  this  conflict.  He  received,  according  to  his  report,  "  a  severe  sabre- 
wound  at  the  first  onset  while  charging  a  part  of  the  enemy  who  had  rallied  on  the  forecastle,"  yet  he  continued  his 
orders  until  he  was  assured  of  victory,  when  he  partly  fainted  from  loss  of  blood.  While  a  seaman  was  tying  a  hand 
kerchief  around  the  captain's  wounded  head,  there  was  a  cry,  "  There,  sir,  there  goes  up  the  old  ensign  over  the  Yankee 
colors  !"  Washington  Irving,  in  an  account  of  the  engagement,  in  the  Analectic  Magazine,  says  that  Samuel  Livermore, 
of  Boston,  who,  from  personal  attachment  to  Lawrence,  had  accompanied  him  as  chaplain,  attempted  to  avenge  his  fall. 
He  shot  at  Captain  "Broke,  but  missed  him.  Broke  made  a  stroke  at  Livermore's  head  with  his  sword,  which  the  latter 
warded  off,  but  in  so  doing  received  a  severe  wound  in  the  arm.  2  Captain  Broke's  Report. 

3  There  is  a  curious  coincidence  in  the  history  of  the  Shannon  and  the  American  frigate  Constitution.  Within  a  few 
days  of  each  other,  in  the  summer  of  1360,  these  two  vessels,  whose  names  are  dear  to  their  respective  nations,  and  both, 
in  "maritime  parlance,  ranking  as  invalids,  were  equipped  and  sailed  on  a  cruise.  The  conqueror  of  the  Chesapeake  left 
Portsmouth,  England,  and  at  about  the  same  time  the  Constitution  left  Portsmouth,  Virginia,  on  a  short  cruise,  prepara- 


pin  or  BOWES  VEBE  BROKE. 


708 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


The  Chesapeake  taken  to  Halifax. 


Biographical  Sketch  of  Captain  Lawrence. 


ly  wounded  to  be  carried  to  his  shattered  cabin,  was  left  in  the  ward-room  with  his 
own  surgeon,  seldom  uttering  a  word  except  to  indicate  his  wants.  White  lay 
dead,1  Ballard,2  Broome,3  and  Adams  were  dying,  and  the  gallant  Ludlow  was  suf 
fering  severely  from  a  mortal  wound. 


TUB   SHANNON   AND   CHESAPEAKE   ENTERING   TUB  1IAEBOB  OF  HALIFAX.4 

As  soon  as  the  two  ships  were  disentangled,  the  Shannon  started  for  Halifax  with 
a  June,  her  prize,  where  she  arrived  on  the  7th. a  Lawrence  had  expired  the  day  be- 
isis.  for6j  an(j  his  body,  wrapped  in  the  flag  of  the  Chesapeake,  lay  upon  the  quar 
ter-deck.5  As  the  ships  entered  the  harbor,  the  men-of-war  there  manned  their  yards 

tory  to  her  taking  her  station  at  Annapolis  as  a  school«ship.  Each  was  about  to  be  broken  up  many  years  ago,  and  each 
was  saved  by  poetical  remonstrances — one  by  Tennyson,  and  the  other  by  Holmes.  The  stirring  poem  by  Holmes  may 
be  found  on  page  437. 

1  William  Augustus  White  was  a  native  of  Rutland,  Vermont,  and  was  only  twenty-six  years  of  age.    He  was  repre 
sented  as  a  noble  and  generous  young  man.    His  loss  was  greatly  deplored  by  his  friends,  who  regarded  him  as  a  young 
man  of  great  promise.    A  friendly  hand  wrote  : 

"Columbia's  page  in  gen'rous  strain  shall  tell 
Those  deeds  of  courage  where  her  Lawrence  fell ; 
Honor  shall  gild  the  hero's  spotless  shrine, 
And  thine,  O  WHITE  !  with  kindred  lustre  shine." 

2  Edward  J.  Ballard  was  an  active  and  very  promising  young  man.    He  was  appointed  a  midshipman  in  February, 
1800,  and  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  on  the  day  after  the  action  in  which  he  lost  his  life.    The  commission  was  is 
sued  before  news  of  the  action  reached  the  Department.     "  Anxious  to  render  himself  useful,  and  to  share  in  the  glory 
acquired  by  our  naval  heroes,"  wrote  a  friend,  "he  left  (though  scarcely  recovered  from  an  indisposition  of. several 
months)  the  peaceful  asylum  of  friendship  for  his  home  on  the  ocean,  and  terminated  with  honor  a  well-spent  life  of 
virtue." 

3  James  Broome,  the  commander  of  the  marines,  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey.    He  was  appointed  a  midshipman  in 
July,  1807.    Of  the  forty-four  marines  under  his  command  on  board  the  Chesapeake,  twelve  were  killed  and  twenty 
wounded. 

*  From  a  sketch  by  Captain  R.  H.  King,  R.  N. 

*  James  Lawrence  was  born  at  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1781.    He  was  left  to  the  tender  care 
of  two  sisters,  his  mother  having  died  a  few  weeks  after  his  birth.    He  exhibited  a  passion  for  the  sea  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years,  but  his  father  designed  him  for  the  profession  of  the  law.    He  entered  upon  a  course  of  studies  with  his 
brother  John  at  Woodbury  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  and  soon  afterward  lost  his  father.    Law  was  distasteful  to 
him.     He  longed  for  the  sea,  and  his  brother  gave  him  the  opportunity  of  acquiring  preparatory  knowledge.    He  ap 
plied  for  a  situation  in  the  navy  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  and  entered  the  service  as  a  midshipman  in  the  ship 
Ganges,  Captain  Tingey,  in  the  autumn  of  1798.    He  was  transferred  to  the  Adams.    He  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant, 
and  was  first  officer  of  the  Enterprise  in  the  war  with  Tripoli.    Decatur,  in  his  official  reports,  acknowledges  his  serv 
ices  in  the  bombardment  of  Tripoli.    After  his  return  from  the  Mediterranean  he  was  for  some  time  attached  to  the 
Navy  Yard  at  New  York.    He  became  first  lieutenant  on  the  Constitution,  and  in  succession  commander!  the  Vixen, 
Wasp,  Argus,  and  Hornet.    He  married  in  New  York  in  1808.    At  the  commencement  of  the  war  in  1812  he  sailed  in 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


709 


Joy  of  the  British. 


Admiral  Warren's  Thanks  to  Captaiu  Broke. 


Effect  of  the  Victory  in  England. 


in  honor  of  the  conqueror.  The  eager  inhab 
itants  crowded  to  the  water-side,  and  cov 
ered  the  wharves  and  houses.  Shout  after 
shout  went  up  from  the  multitude,  and  joy 
filled  every  heart  on  shore,  except  of  those 
who  mourned  friends  among  the  slain.1 

The  capture  of  a  single  ship  of  war  prob 
ably  never  produced  a  greater  eifect  upon 
the  contending  parties  than  this  victory  of 
the  Shannon  over  the  Chesapeake.     The  re 
cent  almost  uninterrupted  success  of  the  lit 
tle  navy  of  the  United  States  had  made  the 
Americans  believe  that  it  was  invincible,  and 
a  similar  idea  was  taking  hold  of  the  British 
mind.     The    spell   was    now   broken.     The 
Americans  were  desponding,  the  British  jubi 
lant.     In   his   letter    of  thanks   to   Captain 
Broke  and  the  men  of  the  Shannon,  Sir  John 
Borlase  Warren,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  Brit 
ish   Navy  on   the  Ameri 
can  station,  observed  that 
they  had  "  restored  the  re 
nown  wThich  had  ever  ac 
companied  the  British  Navy  from  the  foul  and  false  aspersions  endeavored  to  be 


SIGNATURE  AND   SEAL   OF  ADMIEAL  WAKKEN. 

thrown  upon  it  by  an  insidious  enemy,  and  had  by  their  exer 
tions  added  one  of  the  brightest  laurels  to  the  wreath  which 

O 

had  hitherto  encircled  the  British  arms." 

The  joy  in  England  was  intense.     It  was  evinced  by  public 
speeches  in  and  out  of  Parliament,2  bonfires,  and  illuminations. 
The  Tower  guns  wTere  fired  as  in  the  event  of  a  victory  like  those 
of  the  Nile  and  Trafalgar.     The  freedom  of  the  city  of  London  and  a  sword  of  the 
value  of  one  hundred  guineas  ($500)  were  voted  to  Captain  Broke3  by  the  Corpora- 

command  of  the  Hornet,  having  been  made  master  commandant  in  November,  1810.  Off  Demerara  he  fought  the  Pea 
cock  and  sunk  her.  He  returned  to  New  York,  where  he  was  soon  ordered  to  Boston  to  take  command  of  the  Chesa 
peake.  In  her  he  died  on  the  5th  of  June,  1S13. 

1  Cooper's  Naval  History  of  the  United  States;  Thomson's  Sketches  of  the  War  ;  Perkins's  History  of  the  late  War; 
James's  Naval  Occurrences;  Memoir  of  Captain  Broke,  in  Naval  (London)  Chronicle;  Irving's  Memoir  of  Lawrence, 
Analectic  Magazine;  Niles's  Register;  The  War;  Captain  Broke's  Report  of  the  Battle;  Anchinleck's  History  of  the 
War  ;  Lieutenant  Budd's  Report  to  Secretary  of  the  Navy  ;  O'Byrne's  Naval  Biography  ;  The  Essex  Register,  Boston 
Chronicle,  and  National  Intelligencer. 

2  Mr.  Croker,  principal  secretary  to  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  said  in  his  place  in  the  House  of  Commons,  "It  was 
not—  and  he  knew  it  was  a  bold  assertion  which  he  made—  to  be  equaled  by  any  engagement  which  graced  the  naval 
annals  of  Great  Britain." 

3  Philip  Bowes  Vere  Broke  was  born  in  Suffolkshire,  England,  on  the  9th  of  September,  17T6.    He  was  educated  at 
the  Royal  Academy  in  Portsmouth,  and  entered  the  navy  in  1792.    He  served  in  the  war  between  France  and  England, 
and  commanded  the  Shannon  in  cruises  for  the  protection  of  the  British  whale  fisheries  in  the  Greenland  seas.    He  was 
in  that  service  when  war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  was  declared.    He  was  then  dispatched  with  a 
small  squadron  to  blockade  the  New  England  ports.    Because  of  his  services  in  the  capture  of  the  Chesapeake  he  was 
raieed  to  the  dignity  of  baronet,  and  made  Knight  Commander  of  the  Bath.    Sir  Philip  married  in  early  life  Sarah  Lou 
isa,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Fowle  Middleton.    He  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  useful  officers  of  the  British  Navy  un- 


710  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Honors  to  Captain  Broke.  Silver  Plate  presented  to  him  by  his  Neighbors. 

tion  of  that  city.  He  was  knighted  by  the  Prince  Regent ;  compliments  were  show 
ered  upon  him  from  every  quarter;  and  the  inhabitants  of  Suffolk,  his  native  county, 
presented  him  with  a  gorgeous  piece  of  silver  plate  as  a  testimonial  of  their  sense  of 
his  eminent  services.1 


SILVER  PLATE  PRESENTED   TO   CAPTAIN   BROKE. 


til  his  retirement,  bearing  the  commission  of  Rear  Admiral  of  the  Red.  He- died  in  Suffolk  County  on  the  3d  of  Janu 
ary,  1841,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  years. 

i  A  picture  of  this  plate  was  published  in  London  on  the  2d  of  December,  1816,  a  copy  of  which,  on  a  reduced  scale, 
is  given  above.  The  plate  is  described  as  being  made  of  silver,  and  forty-four  inches  in  diameter.  It  was  enriched 
with  emblematical  devices  commemorative  of  the  acts  of  the  recipient  on  the  occasion  of  his  capture  of  the  Chesapeake. 
These  devices  are  described  as  follows :  The  centre,  enriched  with  a  wreath  of  palm  and  laurel  leaves,  with  groups  of 
Nereids  and  Tritons,  presents  the  spectacle  of  the  battle  between  the  Shannon  and  Chesapeake.  A  deep  and  highly-fin 
ished  border  composes  the  exterior  of  the  circle,  in  which  are  significant  devices  in  four  principal  divisions.  In  the  first 
compartment,  in  the  form  of  an  escalop-shell,  is  seen  Neptune  receiving  the  warrior.  The  former  is  issuing  from  the 
sea  with  his  attendants,  and  presenting  to  the  hero  (who  is  borne  in  a  triumphal  car,  attended  by  Britannia  and  Lib 
erty  bearing  the  British  flag)  the  naval  coronet.  In  the  compartment  opposite  Britannia  is  seen  on  a  sea-horse,  hold 
ing  the  trident  of  Neptune  in  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  hurls  the  thunder  of  her  power  at  the  American  eagle,  which 
is  expiring  at  her  feet  in  the  presence  of  ocean  deities.  In  a  third  compartment  the  device  represents  the  triumph  of 
Victory.  The  winged  goddess,  bearing  a  coronal,  approaches  in  her  shell-car  drawn  by  ocean  steeds,  and  offers  peace 
to  the  vanquished.  In  the  fourth  compartment  is  represented  the  four  quarters  of  the  world,  in  the  form  of  figures,  as 
sembled  under  the  protection  of  the  British  lion,  commerce  having  been  secured  to  the  world  by  British  prowess.  Be 
sides  these  are  the  figures  of  Fortitude,  Justice,  Wisdom,  and  Peace,  intended  to  represent  the  characteristics  of  the 
British  nation. 

On  the  plate  the  following  inscription  was  engraved :  "  Struck  with  the  gallantry,  skill,  and  decision  displayed  by  Sir 
Philip  Bowes  Vere  Broke,  Baronet,  K.C.B.,  commander  of  his  Majesty's  frigate,  the  Shannon,  in  the  attack,  boarding, 
and  capture  of  the  American  frigate,  the  Chesapeake,  of  superior  force  in  men  and  metal(  and  under  the  command  of  a 
distinguished  captain  of  light  horse,  on  the  1st  of  June,  1813,  achieved  in  the  short  space  of  fifteen  minutes,  the  inhabit- 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


Respect  for  the  Remains  of  Lawrence  and  Ludlow.       Funeral  Ceremonies.       The  Bodies  of  the  Slain  taken  to  Salem. 

The  most  gratifying  respect  was  paid  to  the  remains  of  Captain  Lawrence  on  their 
arrival  at  Halifax,  and  also  to  those  of  Lieutenant  Ludlow,  who  died  there  on  the 
13th  of  the  month.1  The  garrison  furnished  a  funeral  party  from  the  Sixty-fourth 
Regiment  three  hundred  strong.  The  navy  also  furnished  a  funeral  party,  with  pall 
bearers,  and  at  the  appointed  hour  the  body  was  taken  in  a  boat  from  the  Chesa 
peake  to  the  King's  Wharf,  where  it  was  received  by  the  military  under  Sir  John 
Wardlow.  Six  companies  of  the  Sixty-fourth  Regiment  preceded  the  corpse.  The 
officers  of  the  Chesapeake  (headed  by  Lieu- 
tenant  Budd,2  who  became  the  command- 
er  after  the  fall  of  his  superiors)  followed 
it  as  mourners.  The  officers  of  the  Brit- 
ish  Navy  were  also  in  attendance.  These  were  followed  by  Sir  Thomas  Saumerez,  the 
staff,  and  officers  of  the  garrison.  The  procession  was  closed  by  a  number  of  the  in 
habitants  of  the  town.  The  funeral  services  were  performed  by  the  rector  of  St. 
Paul's  Church,  and  three  volleys'  were  discharged  by  the  troops  over  the  grave. 

The  feeling  of  depression  in  the  American  mind  passed  away  as  soon  as  reflection 
asserted  its  dignity.  All  the  circumstances  were  so  unfavorable  to  the  Chesapeake 
that  it  was  reasonable  to  suppose  that  such  a  misfortune  would  not  occur  again. 
The  deep  mortification  that  assumed  the  features  of  censure  was  momentary,  and  the 
gallant  Lawrence  and  his  companions  were  honored  with  every  demonstration  of  re 
spect.  The  most  remarkable  of  these  was  exhibited  in  the  patriotic  and  successful 
efforts  of  Captain  George  Crowninshield,  Jr.,  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  to  restore  the 
bodies  of  Lawrence  and  Ludlow  to  their  native  land.  He,  with  others,  had  seen  the 
contest  in  the  distance  from  the  heights  around  Salem,  and  the  feelings  then  excited 
were  deepened  by  the  intelligence  of  the  fate  of  the  gallant  Lawrence  and  Ludlow, 
and  some  of  their  companions.  He  opened  a  correspondence  with  the  United  States 
government,  asking  permission  to  proceed  to  Halifax  in  the  brig  Henry,  of  which  he 
was  master,  with  a  flag  of  truce,  to  solicit  from  the  authorities  there  the  remains  of 
the  honored  dead.  Permission  was  granted.  The  President  of  the  United  States 
gave  him  a  passport  for  the  purpose,a  and  on  the  7th  of  August  he  and  some  a  juiy2s, 
associates  sailed  in  the  Henry  from  Salem  for  Halifax.3  He  arrived  there  on  1813> 
the  10th.  His  errand  was  successful,  and  on  the  13th  of  the  same  month  he  sailed 
from  Halifax  for  Salem  with  the  remains  of  Lawrence  and  Ludlow.  The  Henry 
reached  Salem  on  the  1  8th  of  August,  and  on  the  following  day  Captain  Crownin 
shield  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  informing  him  of  the  fact,  and  saying, 
"  The  relatives  of  Captain  Lawrence  have  requested  that  his  remains  might  ultimate 
ly  rest  in  New  York,  but  that  funeral  honors  might  be  paid  here,  and,  accordingly, 
the  ceremonies  will  take  place  on  Monday  next  at  Salem.  Commodore  Bainbridge 
has  been  consulted  on  the  occasion." 

The  funeral  obsequies  were  performed  at  Salem  on  Monday,  the  23d  of  August. 
The  morning  was  beautiful.  The  brig  Henry  lay  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  bearing  her 
precious  freight,  and  near  her  the  brig  Rattlesnake.  Almost  every  vessel  in  the  wa- 

ants  of  Suffolk,  the  victor's  native  county,  anxious  to  evince  their  sense  of  his  spirited,  judicious,  and  determined  con 
duct  in  thus  adding  another  brilliant  trophy  to  the  unrivaled  triumphs  of  the  British  Navy,  with  a  spontaneous  burst 
of  feeling  voted  him  this  tribute  of  their  affection,  gratitude,  and  admiration." 

1  Augustus  C.  Ludlow  was  son  of  Robert  Ludlow,  Esq.,  and  was  born  at  Newburg,  New  York,  in  1792.    He  entered 
the  navy  as  a  midshipman  in  April,  1804,  and  in  the  summer  of  that  year  sailed  in  the  President  for  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.    He  returned  home  in  the  Constitution,  then  commanded  by  Captain  Campbell,  in  180T.    He  remained  in  her,  under 
Commodore  Rodgers,  until  promoted  to  lieutenant,  in  June,  1S10,  when  he  was  placed  in  the  Hornet.    When  Lawrence 
became  her  commander  he  was  charmed  with  Ludlow's  character,  and  his  knowledge  of  his  young  friend's  worth  made 
him  cheerfully  continue  him  in  his  service  on  the    Chesapeake  as  his  first  lieutenant. 

2  For  Lieutenant  Budd's  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  from  Halifax,  June  15,  1813,  see  Brannan's  Official  Let 
ters,  Military  and  Aavrr?,  Washington,  1823,  page  167.    He  was  appointed  midshipman  in  the  autumn  of  1S05,  commis 
sioned  a  lieutenant  in  May,  1812,  and  master  commandant  in  March,  1820.    He  died  on  the  3d  of  September,  1837. 

3  These  were  Holton  J.  Breed,  first  officer  ;  Samuel  Briggs,  second  officer  ;  and  John  Sinclair,  Jeduthan  Upton,  Ste 
phen  Burchmore,  Joseph  L.  Lee,  Thomas  Bowditch,  Benjamin  Upton,  and  Thorudike  Proctor,  all  masters  of  vessels. 
Mark  Messurrey,  cook,  and  Nathaniel  Cummings,  steward. 


712 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Funeral  Ceremonies  at  Salem.  Removal  of  the  Bodies  to  New  York. 


Testimonials  of  Regard. 


THE   COFFINS. 


ters,  and  flag-staff  in  the  town,  exhibited  the  American  ensign  at  half-mast,  and  nu 
merous  flags  were  displayed  in  the  streets  through  which  the  funeral  procession  was 
to  pass.  Thousands  poured  into  the  town  from  the  surrounding  country  at  an  early 
hour.  The  streets  were  thronged.  The  Boston  South  End  Artillery  were  there  with 
the  "Adams"  and  "  Hancock,"  brass  cannon  of  the  Revolution,  and  men  of  distinction 
in  every  pursuit  of  life  participated  in  the  funeral  obsequies. 

At  a  little  past  meridian  the  bodies  were  taken  from  the  Henry  and  placed  in 
barges,  accompanied  by  a  long  procession  of  boats  manned  by  seamen  in  bluejackets 
and  wrhite  trowsers,  their  hats  bearing  the  words  on  Lawrence's  white  flag,  FREE 
TRADE  AND  SAILORS'  RIGHTS.  At  India  Wharf  hearses  were  ready  to  receive  them, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  Henry  and  Rattlesnake  were  firing  minute-guns  alternately.1 
The  bells  commenced  tolling  at  one  o'clock,2  and  an  immense  procession  moved  to  slow 
and  solemn  music,  escorted  by  a  company  of  light  infantry  under  Captain  J.  C.  King. 
They  passed  through  the  principal  streets  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spalding's  meeting-house.3 
The  corpses  were  received  by  the  clergy  at  the  door,  and 
placed  in  the  centre  of  the  large  aisle  by  the  sailors  wrho  bore 
them  to  the  shore.  These  stood  leaning  upon  the  coffins  dur 
ing  the  services.  The  coffins  were  covered  with  black  velvet, 
with  the  monograms  of  the  heroes  inclosed  in  wTreaths,  swords 
crossed,  and  a  marginal  border  all  embroidered  in  silver.  The 
interior  of  the  church  was  hung  in  black,  and  decorated  with 
cypress  and  evergreens ;  and  in  front  of  the  sacred  desk  the 
names  of  LAWRENCE  and  LUDLOW  appeared  in  letters  of  gold. 
An  eloquent  and  touching  funeral  oration  was  delivered  by 
the  Honorable  Joseph  Story,  and  the  rites  of  sepulture  were 
performed  by  the  Masonic  societies  and  the  military,  when 
the  bodies  were  placed  in  a  vault.4 

Preparations  were  soon  made  for  removing  the  remains  of  Lawrence  and  Ludlow 
to  New  York.  Because  of  some  delay  in  procuring  an  extension  of  the  passport  of 
the  Henry  (so  as  to  allow  her  to  go  to  New  York)  from  Acting  Commander  Oliver, 
of  the  British  blockading  squadron  off  New  London,  they  were  conveyed  to  the  navy 
yard  at  Charleston  on  the  3d  of  September,  and  from  thence  taken  to  New  York  by 
land.  They  were  placed  on  board  the  United  States  sloop  of  wrar  Alert,  lying  in  New 
York  Harbor,  while  the  city  authorities  made  arrangements  for  a  public  funeral.5 

1  A  company  under  Captain  Peabody  fired  minute-guns  in  Washington  Square. 

3  The  bells  in  Boston,  fifteen  miles  distant,  were  tolled  at  the  same  time,  and  the  flags  upon  the  shipping  in  the  har 
bor  were  displayed  at  half-mast.    Minute-guns  were  fired  by  the  Constitution  and  other  vessels  there. 

3  The  committee  of  arrangements  applied  for  the  use  of  the  North  Meeting-bouse  (Dr.  Barnard's),  "particularly  on 
account  of  its  size  and  the  fine  organ  which  it  contained."    They  were  refused,  the  committee  of  the  proprietors  sayiug 
that  they  had  no  authority  "to  open  the  house  for  any 

other  purpose  than  public  worship." 

4  The  death  of  Lawrence  was  the  theme  of  several  ele 
giac  poems  written  and  published  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.    Some  of  them  were  printed  on  satin,  with  em 
blematic  devices,  and  were  framed  and  hung  up  in  houses. 
The  annexed  rough  picture  is  a  fac-simile  of  one  of  these 
devices,  one  third  the  size  of  the  original,  designed  and  en 
graved  by  A.  Bowen,  of  Boston,  and  printed  at  the  head 
of  an  elegy,  on  satin,  at  the  office  of  the  Boston  Chronicle. 
I 'am  indebted  to  the  kind  courtesy  of  Miss  Caroline  F. 
Orne,  of  Cambridgeport,  for  a  copy  of  the  original,  and 
for  other  interesting  papers  made  use  of  in  this  work. 

s  In  the  arrangements  made  for  the  funeral  a  substan 
tial  testimonial  of  regard  was  agreed  to,  in  the  form  of  an 
appropriation  of  one  thousand  dollars  each  for  the  two 
children  of  Captain  Lawrence,  to  be  vested  in  the  Com 
missioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund  of  the  Corporation,  the 
interest  to  be  applied  to  the  use  of  the  recipients,  and  the 
principal  to  be  given  to  the  daughter  when  she  should 
arrive  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  and  to  the  son  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years. 


LAWKENCE   MEMORIAL. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


719 


Medals  awarded  to  Burrows  and  M'Call. 


The  Grave  of  Burrows. 


On  the  6th  of  January  following-,*  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by 
joint  resolution,  requested  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Republic  to  present  to 
the  nearest  male  relative  of  Lieutenant  Burrows  "a  gold  medal,  with  suitable  em 
blems  and  devices,  in  testimony  of  the  high  sense  entertained  by  Congress  of  the  gal 
lantry  and  good  conduct  of  the  officers  and  crew  in  the  conflict  with  the  British  sloop 
Boxer  on  the  4th  of  September,  1813."1     By  the  same  joint  resolution  Congress  re- 


THE   BURROWS  MEDAL. 


quested  the  President  to  present  to  Lieutenant  M'Call, "  as  second  in  command  of  the 
Enterprise  in  the  conflict  with  the  Boxer,  a  gold  medal,  with  suitable  emblems  and 
devices.2 

In  this  engagement  the  Boxer  was  very  much  cut  up  both  in  hull  and  rigging, 
while  the  Enterprise  suffered  very  little.  The  battle  was  a  fair  test  of  the  compara 
tive  nautical  skill  and  good  gunnery  of  the  combatants.  Justice  accords  the  palm 
for  both  to  the  Americans.  A  London  paper,  speaking  of  the  battle,  said, "  The  fact 
seems  to  be  but  too  clearly  established  that  the  Americans  have  some  superior  mode 

The  "passing  stranger"  above  mentioned  was  Silas  M.  Burrows,  of  New  York,  who,  being  in  Portland,  visited  the 
cemetery,  saw  the  neglected  condition  of  the  young  hero's  grave,  and  ordered  a  monument  to  be  built.  A  poet  unknown 
to  the  author  afterward  wrote  thus : 

"  I  saw  the  green  turf  resting  cold 
On  Burrows's  hallowed  grave ; 
No  stone  the  inquiring  patriot  told 
Where  slept  the  good  and  brave. 
Heaven's  rains  and  dew  conspired  to  blot. 
The  traces  of  the  holy  spot. 


At  length  a  'passing  stranger'  came, 

Whose  hand  its  bounties  shed  ; 
He  bade  the  sparkling  marble  claim 

A  tribute  for  the  dead  ; 
And,  sweetly  blending,  hence  shall  flow 
The  tears  of  gratitude  and  woe." 

The  tomb  of  Midshipman  Waters  is  a  marble  slab  resting  on  four  round  sandstone  pillars.  On  the  slab  is  the  following 
inscription  :  "  Beneath  this  marble,  by  the  side  of  his  gallant  commander,  rest  the  remains  of  Lieutenant  Kervin  Waters, 
a  native  of  Georgetown,  District  of  Columbia,  who  received  a  mortal  wound,  September  5, 1813,  while  a  midshipman  on 
board  the  United  States  brig  Enterprise,  in  an  action  with  his  Britannic  Majesty's  brig  Boxer,  which  terminated  in  the 
capture  of  the  latter.  He  languished  in  severe  pain,  which  he  endured  with  fortitude,  until  September  25th,  1813,  when 
he  died  with  Christian  calmness  and  resignation,  aged  eighteen.  The  young  men  of  Portland  erect  this  stone  as  a  tes 
timony  of  their  respect  for  his  valor  and  virtues." 

1  The  picture  above  given  is  the  exact  size  of  the  medal.    On  one  side  is  seen  an  urn  standing  npon  an  altar,  around 
which  are  grouped  military  and  other  emblems,  on  one  of  which  (a  trident)  hangs  a  victor's  chaplet  of  laurel  leaves. 
Upon  an  elliptical  panel  on  the  side  of  the  altar  is  seen  "  W.  BURROWS,"  in  prominent  letters.    Around  the  whole  is  the 
legend  "  VICTORIAM  TIBI  CLARAM.  PATRICE  M>«STAM."    On  the  reverse  is  seen  the  two  brigs  enaraered  in  combat,  the  main 
top-mast  of  the  Boxer  shot  away.    Over  them  the  legend  "  VIVEBE  SAT  VINCEEE."    Exergue,  "INTER  ENTEBPRIZE  NAV. 
AMERI.  ET  BOXES  NAT.  BRIT.  DIE  iv  SEPT.  MDCCCCXIII."    The  date  should  be  the  5th  instead  of  the  4th. 

2  On  one  side  the  bust  of  Lieutenant  M'Call  and  the  legend  "  EDWARD  R.  M;CALI.  NAVIS  ENTERPRISE  PB.EFECTUS."    Ex 
ergue,  "  Sic  ITCH  AD  ASTRA."    The  reverse  the  same  as  on  that  of  Burrows. 


720 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Loss  of  Life  on  the  two  Vessels. 


Last  Cruise  of  the  Enterprise. 


INTER  ENTEHPH1ZE  NAV 
AMEHI.  ET  BOXEH  VAV. 
BRIT.  DIE  IV  SEPT. 
MDCCCXIII. 


HE  M'CALL  MEDAL. 


offering,  and  we  can  not  be  too  anxiously  employed  in  discovering  to  what  circum 
stances  that  superiority  is  owing."  The  loss  of  the  Boxer  was  a  great  mortification ; 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Captain  Blyth  felt  full  assurance  of  victory  when  he 
went  into  the  contest.  Indicative  of  this  was  the  nailing  of  the  flag  to  the  mast,  al 
ways  a  most  foolish  and  perilous  boast  in  advance.1  The  loss  of  the  Boxer  was  sev 
eral  killed  besides  her  commander,  and  seventeen  wounded.  The  Enterprise  lost  only 
one  killed  besides  her  commander,  and  ten  wounded.  This  was  the  Boxer's  last 
cruise  as  a  war  vessel.  She  was  sold  in  Portland,  and  sailed  from  that  port  for  sev 
eral  years  as  a  merchantman.  The  Enterprise  made  only  one  more  cruise  during  the 
war,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Renshaw.  She  sailed  southward  as  far  as  the 
West  Indies  in  company  with  the  fast-sailing  brig  Rattlesnake,  Lieutenant  Creighton. 
While  off  the  coast  of  Florida  she  captured  a  British  privateer,  and  both  vessels  were 
chased  by  an  English  seventy-four.  The  Rattlesnake  soon  fled  from  the  sight  of  both 
consort  and  pursuer,  while  the  Enterprise  was  hard  pressed  by  the  Englishman  for 
seventy  hours.  Renshaw  cast  all  her  guns  overboard  in  order  to  increase  her-speed. 
It  was  of  little  avail.  Nothing  saved  the  "  lucky"  little  brig  from  capture  but  a  fa 
vorable  shifting  of  the  wind.  Not  long  afterward  she  sailed  into  Charleston  Harbor, 
and  was  there  made  a  guard-ship.  She  did  not  appear  again  at  sea  during  the  war. 

The  melancholy  tolling  of  the  funeral  bells  over  the  slain  Burrows  and  Blyth  had 
scarcely  died  away  when  merry  peals  of  joy  were  heard  all  over  the  land  in  attesta 
tion  of  the  delight  of  the  people  caused  by  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie,  already  fully 
recorded  in  these  pages.  With  that  victory  ceased  rejoicings  over  the  exploits  of 
the  vessels  of  the  regular  navy  during  the  remainder  of  the  year,  because,  with  a  sin 
gle  exception,  they  were  not  remarkable ;  but  the  piivateers  then  swarming  upon  the 
ocean  were  doing  excellent  service  every  where.  The  history  of  their  doings  may  be 
found  toward  the  close  of  the  volume. 

i  Cooper  relates  (ii.,  260,  note)  that,  when  the  Enterprise  hailed  to  know  if  the  Boxer  had  struck,  as  she  kept  her  flag 
flying,  one  of  the  officers  of  the  British  vessel  leaped  upon  a  gun,  shook  both  fists  at  the  Americans,  and  shouted  "No, 
no,  no  !"  at  the  same  time  nsing  some  strong  opprobrious  epithets.  The  excited  gentleman's  superiors  were  compelled 
to  order  him  down.  His  movement  created  much  merriment  on  board  the  Enterprise. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


721 


Weakness  of  the  American  Navy. 


Beginning  of  the  wonderful  Cruise  of  the  Essex. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

"  War-doom'd  the  wide  expanse  to  plow 
Of  ocean  with  a  single  prow, 
Midst  hosts  of  foes  with  lynx's  eye 
And  lion  fang  close  hovering  by, 
You,  Porter,  dared  the  dangerous  course, 
Without  a  home,  without  resource, 
Save  that  which  heroes  always  find 
In  nautic  skill  and  power  of  mind ; 
Save  where  your  stars  in  conquest  shone, 
And  stripes  made  wealth  of  foes  your  own." 

ODE  TO  DAVID  POETEE,  1814. 

S  we  take  a  survey  from  a  stand-point  at  mid-autumn,  1813, 
we  observe  with  astonishment  only  three  American  frigates  at 
sea,  namely,  the  President,  44 ;  the  Congress,  38 ;  and  the  Es 
sex,  32.  The  Constitution,  44,  was  undergoing  repairs ;  the 
Constellation,  38,  was  blockaded  at  Norfolk ;  and  the  United 
States,  44,  and  Macedonian,  38,  were  prisoners  in  the  Thames 
above  New  London.  The  Adams,  28,  was  undergoing  altera 
tions  and  repairs,  while  the  John  Adams,  28,  New  York,  36, 
and  Boston,  28,  were  virtually  condemned.  All  the  brigs,  ex 
cepting  the  Enterprise,  had  been  cap 
tured,  and  she  was  not  to  be  trusted  at 
sea  much  longer.  The  Essex,  Commo 
dore  Porter,  was  the  only  government 
vessel  of  size  which  was  then  sustain 
ing  the  reputation  of  the  American 
Navy,  and  she  was  in  far  distant  seas, 
with  a  track  equal  to  more  than  a  third 
of  the  circumference  of  the  globe  be 
tween  her  and  the  home  port  from  which 
she  sailed.  Sheikas  then  making  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  cruises  on  rec 
ord.  Let  us  here  consider  it. 

We  have  observed  the  Essex  starting 
from  the  Delaware  in  the  autumn  of 
1812,a  with  orders  to  seek  a 
junction  with  the  Constitu 
tion  and  Hornet,  under  Commodore 
Bainbridge,  at  designated  places,  but  al 
lowed,  in  the  event  of  failure  to  do  so, 
to  follow  the  dictates  of  the  judgment 
of  her  commander.1  She  did  not  fall  in 
with  her  consorts  of  Bainbridge's  little 
squadron,  and  she  sailed  on  a  long 
cruise  in  the  South  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Oceans.  In  anticipation  of  such  cruise 
Captain  Porter  took  with  him  a  larger 

See  page  458. 

Zz 


October  23. 


722  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Nocton  a  Prize  to  the  Essex.  A  Search  for  Bainbridge.  An  English  Governor  deceived. 

number  of  officers  and  crew  than  was  common  for  a  vessel  of  that  size.  Her  mus 
ter-roll  contained  three  hundred  and  nineteen  names ;  and  her  supplies  were  so  am 
ple  that  she  sank  deep  in  the  water,  which  greatly  impaired  her  sailing  quality. 

The  Essex  took  a  southeast  course  for  the  pui-pose  of  crossing  the  tracks  of  vessels 
bound  from  England  to  Bermuda,  but  met  only  a  few  Portuguese  traders  with  whom 
she  had  no  hostile  business.  On  the  27th  of  November  she  sighted  the  bold  mount 
ains  of  St.  Jago,  and  ran  into  the  harbor  of  Port  Praya  in  search  of  the  commodore. 
There  Porter  received  unbounded  hospitalities  from  the  Portuguese  governor;  and 
when  he  had  waited  a  proper  time  for  the  expected  arrival  of  Bainbridge,  he  depart 
ed  with  his  ship  loaded  with  pigs,  sheep,  fowls,  and  tropical  fruits  of  every  kind.  He 
concealed  his  destination  from  the  governor,  and,  sailing  eastward  when  he  left  port, 
gave  the  impression  that  he  was  bound  for  the  coast  of  Africa.  When  beyond  tele 
scopic  range  he  changed  his  course,  stood  to  the  southwest,  and  crossed  the  equator 
on  the  llth  of  December  in  longitude  30°  west.  On  the  following  day  he  captured 
his  first  British  prize,  the  Nocton,  10,  a  government  packet,  with  a  crew  of  thirty-one 
men,  bound  for  Falmouth.  She  had  fifty-five  thousand  dollars  in  specie  on  board. 
This  treasure  and  her  crew  were  transferred  to  the  Essex,  and  Lieutenant  Finch  (aft 
erward  Captain  William  Compton  Bolton),  with  a  crew  of  seventeen  men,  was  direct 
ed  to  go  to  the  United  States  with  her.  She  was  captured  by  a  British  frigate  be 
tween  Bermuda  and  the  Capes  of  Virginia.  Only  the  specie  of  the  Nocton  was  se 
cured  by  Porter. 

a  December  14,  Two  days  after  this  victorya  the  pyramidal  mountain  peak  of  the 
di'eary  penal  island  of  Fernando  de  Noronha,  whereon  no  woman  was 
allowed  to  dwell,  loomed  up  sullenly  from  the  waste  of  waters.  This  was  one  of  the 
specified  places  of  rendezvous  of  Bainbridge's  squadron.  Disguising  the  Essex  as  a 
merchantman,  and  hoisting  English  colors,  Porter  sailed  close  to  the  island,  anchored, 
and  sent  Lieutenant  Downes  to  the  governor  with  a  polite  message,  asking  the  priv 
ilege  of  procuring  water  and  other  refreshments.  Downes  soon  returned  with  a  pi-es- 
ent  of  fruit  from  the  governor,  and  intelligence  that  only  the  week  before  the  British 
ships  Acasta,  44,  and  Morgiana,  20,  had  sailed  from  the  island,  and  left  with  the  mag 
istrate  a  letter  for  Sir  James  Yeo,  of  His  Majesty's  ship  Southampton.  Porter  was 
satisfied  that  the  "  British  ships"  spoken  of  were  the  Constitution  and  Hornet /  that 
the  writer  of  the  letter  was  Commodore  Bainbridge,  and  the  Sir  James  Yeo  address 
ed  was  himself.  With  this  conviction,  he  sent  Downes  back  to  the  governor  with 
the  truly  English  present  of  porter  and  cheese,  and  the  assurance  that  a  gentleman 
on  board  his  vessel,  iq||mately  acquainted  with  Sir  James,  and  who  intended  to  sail 
directly  to  England  from  Brazil,  would  be  happy  to  carry  the  letter  to  the  baronet. 
The  governor  sent  the  letter  to  Porter.  The  latter  broke  the  seal  and  read  as  follows : 

"MY  DEAR  MEDITERRANEAN  FRIEND, — 

"  Probably  you  may  stop  here.     Don't  attempt  to  water ;  it  is  attended  with  too 
much  difficulty.     I  learned  before  I  left  England  that  you  were  bound  to  the  Brazil 
coast ;  if  so,  we  may  meet  at  St.  Salvador  or  Rio  Janeiro.     I  should  be  happy  to  meet 
and  converse  on  our  old  affairs  of  captivity.     Recollect  our  secret  in  those  times. 
"Your  friend  of  His  Majesty's  ship  Acasta,  KERR." 

The  last  clause  in  this  letter  gave  Porter  a  needed  hint.  He  called  for  a  lighted 
candle,  and,  holding  the  sheet  of  paper  near  the  flame,  the  following  note,  written  in 
sympathetic  ink,1  was  revealed  by  the  heat : 

"  I  am  bound  off  St.  Salvador,  thence  off  Cape  Frio,  where  I  intend  to  cruise  until 


1  Sympathetic  ink  is  composed  of  compounds  which,  when  written  with,  will  remain  invisible  until  heated.    Solu 
tions  of  cobalt  thus  become  blue  or  green,  lemon-juice  turns  brown,  and  a  very  dilute  sulphuric  acid  blackens. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  723 

Failure  to  find  Bainbridge.  The  Essex  sails  for  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Her  Arrival  at  Valparaiso. 

the  1st  of  January.     Go  off  Cape  Frio,  to  the  northward  of  Rio  Janeiro,  and  keep  a 
look-out  for  me.  YOUR  FuiEim"1 

With  these  instructions  Porter  sailed  for  Cape  Frio.  He  came  in  sight  of  it  three 
days  before  the  Constitution  captured  the  Java,2  and  for  some  time  cruised  up  and 
down  the  Brazilian  coast  between  Cape  Frio  and  St.  Catharine.  He  met  many  Por 
tuguese  vessels,  but  could  obtain  no  reliable  information  concerning  the  squadron. 
His  situation  was  becoming  more  and  more  perplexing.  English  influence  was  pow 
erful  all  along  the  coasts  of  the  South  American  continent,  while  the  power  of  his 
own  government  was  little  known  or  respected.  He  was,  in  a  degree,  in  an  enemy's 
waters,  with  no  friendly  port  into  which  he  might  run  for  shelter,  carry  prizes  if  he 
should  catch  them,  or  procure  necessary  supplies.  He  was  compelled,  as  he  says  in 
his  Journal,  to  choose  between  "  capture,  a  blockade,  or  starvation."  He  was  left  to 
his  own  resources,  for  he  could  not  find  the  commodore,  and  he  resolved  to  sweep 
around  Cape  Horn,  pounce  upon  the  English  whalers  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  live 
upon  the  enemy.  The  specie  obtained  from  the  Nocton  would  be  a  reliable  resource 
in  an  hour  of  need,  and  he  could  not  doubt  his  success.  With  this  determination  he 
spread  the  sails  of  the  Essex  to  the  breeze  in  the  harbor  of  St.  Catharine  on  the  26th 
of  January,  1813,  and  after  a  most  tempestuous  and  perilous  voyage  made  Cape  Horn 
on  the  14th  of  February.  At  the  close  of  that  month  the  pleasant  southwest  breezes 
came  over  the  calmer  ocean,  and  under  their  gentle  influence  the  inhospitable  coasts 
of  Patagonia  and  Lower  Chili  were  soon  passed.  On  the  5th  of  March  the  glittering 
peaks  of  the  Andes  were  seen  hundreds  of  miles  distant,  and  on  the  evening  of  that 
day  the  anchor  of  the  Essex  was  cast  at  the  island  of  Mocha,  off  the  coast  of  Arauca- 
nia,  for  the  first  time  after  leaving  St.  Catharine.  Its  solitary  mountain  peak  towered 
more  than  a  thousand  feet  in  the  clear  blue  firmament ;  immense  flocks  of  birds  hov 
ered  over  its  unpeopled  shores,  and  in  its  surrounding  wraters  shoals  of  seals  were 
sporting  in  the  surf.  A  joyous  hunt  for  a  day  by  the  delighted  crew  brought  to  the 
ship  an  ample  supply  of  coveted  fresh  meat,  for  the  island,  inhabited  by  Spaniards 
before  the  reign  of  the  buccaneers  in  that  region,  abounded  with  fat  wild  hogs  and 
horses.  The  flesh  of  the  latter  proved  more  savory  than  that  of  the  former,  and  was 
preferi-ed  by  the  people  of  the  Essex. 

Porter  had  now  spent  two  months  without  falling  in  with  a  hostile  vessel.  His 
supplies  of  naval  stores  were  portentously  diminishing,  and  he  anxiously  hoped  for 
prey  by  which  he  might  replenish  his  exhausted  materials.  With  that  hope  he 
cruised  northward,  enveloped  for  several  days  in  thick  fogs,  when  suddenly,  on  the 
14th  of  March,  as  the  Essex  swept  around  the  Point  of  Angels,  the  city  of  Valpa 
raiso,  the  chief  sea-port  town  of  Chili,  burst  upon  the  vision  like  the  creation  of  a  ma 
gician's  wand.  She  had  been  running  gallantly  before  a  stiff  breeze ;  now  she  was 
suddenly  becalmed  under  the  guns  of  a  battery,  so  unexpectedly  and  near  had  the 
turning  of  that  point  brought  her  to  the  town.  The  harbor  and  its  shipping  were  in 
full  view.  Several  Spanish  vessels  were  about  departing ;  and  an  armed  American 
brig,  heavily  laden,  seeing  the  English  colors  at  the  mast-head  of  the  Essex,  had  triced 
up  her  ports  and  prepared  for  action.  Unwilling  to  have  a  knowledge  of  the  arrival 
of  an  American  frigate  in  those  waters  spread  by  the  Spanish  vessels  along  the  coast, 
and  perceiving  a  British  whaler  preparing  for  sea,  Porter  bore  off  to  the  northward, 
and  in  an  hour  or  two  lost  sight  of  the  town.  He  returned  on  the  following  day,  ran 
into  port  and  anchored,  and  soon  learned  two  important  facts,  namely,  that  Chili  had 
» just  become  independent  of  Spain,  and  the  people  were  prepared  to  give  him  a  cor 
dial  reception ;  and  that  the  Viceroy  of  Peru  had  sent  out  cruisers  against  the  Amer 
ican  shipping  in  that  quarter.  Porter's  appearance  with  a  strong  frigate  was  there- 

1  Journal  of  a  Cruise  made  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  by  Captain  David  Porter,  in  the  United  States  Frigate  Essex,  in  the  Years 
1312, 1813,  and  1814,  i.,  36.  2  See  page  460. 


724  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Frieudliness  of  the  Chilians.  The  Kasex  in  Search  of  British  Whalers.  Cruise  among  the  Galapagos  Islands. 

fore  exceedingly  opportune,  for  American  commerce  lay  at  the  mercy  of  English  pri 
vateers  among  the  whalers,  and  the  Peruvian  corsairs. 

The  Essex  was  welcomed  by  the  Chilian  authorities  by  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns 
at  the  forts,  and  of  nine  guns  from  the  American  brig,  which  proved  to  be  the  Colt, 
1 8 ;  and  Mr.  Poinsett,  the  American  Consul  General,  hastened  from  Santiago,  the  cap 
ital  of  Chili,  to  join  in  the  festivities  which  had  been  arranged  for  giving  Porter  a 
formal  reception.  Dinners,  balls,  excursions  on  land  and  water  followed,  and  the  offi 
cers  of  the  Essex  never  forgot  the  delightful  hours  which  they  spent  with  the  Chilian 
beauties,  by  whom  they  were  exceedingly  petted.  In  this  welcome,  these  entertain 
ments,  and  the  bright  prospects  of  usefulness  to  their  countrymen  and  a  profitable 
cruise  for  themselves,  the  people  of  the  Essex  found  full  compensation  for  all  their 
hardships  during  the  terrible  voyage  from  the  stormy  Atlantic  around  the  dark  cape 
into  the  Pacific  Sea. 

As  soon  as  she  was  tolerably  victualed  the  Essex  put  to  sea,  and  on  the  25th  fell 
in  with  an  American  whaler,  from  whom  Porter  learned  that  two  other  vessels,  the 
Walker  and  Barclay,  had  just  been  captured  by  a  Peruvian  corsair  offCoquimbo,  ac 
companied  by  an  English  ship.  Porter  pressed  on  up  the  coast,  and  s<5on  overhauled 
the  corsair.  She  was  the  Nereyda.  He  took  from  her  all  her  captured  Americans, 
and,  after  casting  her  cannon,  ammunition,  and  small-arms  overboard,  sent  her  to  Cal- 
lao  with  a  letter  to  the  Peruvian  viceroy,  in  which  he  denounced  the  piratical  con 
duct  of  the  commander  of  the  cruiser,  and  asked  for  punishment  due  for  his  crime. 
The  Essex  then  looked  into  Coquimbo,  but,  seeing  nothing  discernible,  sailed  for  Cal- 
lao.  As  she  neared  the  harbor  she  recaptured  the  Barclay,  and,  making  her  her  con 
sort,  sailed  for  the  Galapagos  Islands,  the  alleged  resort  of  English  whalers.  From 
the  master  and  crew  of  the  Barclay  Porter  ascertained  that  there  were  twenty-three 
American  and  about  twenty  English  whale-ships  in  that  region.  The  latter  were,  in 
general,  fine  vessels  of  between  three  and  four  hundred  tons  burden,  and  would  af- 

o  '  ~ 

ford  good  prizes  for  the  Essex.  The  most  of  them  were  armed,  and  bore  letters  of 
marque. 

On  his  way  over  the  quiet  Pacific  toward  the  Galapagos,  Porter  made  preparations 
for  fierce  struggles  with  the  armed  English  whalers.  The  ships  were  put  in  perfect 
order,  and  then  seven  small  boats  were  arranged  as  a  flotilla  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  Lieutenant  Downes.1  They  made  Chatham  Island  on  the  17th  of  April, 
but  found  no  enemy  there.  Similar  disappointment  awaited  them  at  Charles  Island 
on  the  following  day.  Lieutenant  Downes  went  ashore,  and  found  a  box  nailed  to  a 
post,  over  which  was  a  black  sign  with  the  words  HATHA WAY'S  POST-OFFICE  painted 
on  it  in  white  letters.  The  contents  of  the  post-office  were  conveyed  on  board  the 
Essex,  and  gave,  by  a  list  of  English  whalers  that  had  touched  there  a  few  months 
before,  positive  evidence  that  those  islands  were  a  resort  for  British  vessels  in  that 
service.  With  this  assurance  Porter  cruised  eagerly  among  the  Galapagos,  but  al 
most  a  fortnight  was  spent  without  seeing  a  single  vessel.  On  the  morning  of  the 
» April,  29tha  the  welcome  cry  of  "Sail,  ho!"  was  heard,  and  a  ship  was  seen  to  the 
1813.  westward.  Soon  afterward  two  others  were  observed  a  little  farther  to  the 
south.  Porter  immediately  gave  chase  to  the  first-seen  vessel,  and  at  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning  she  was  his  prize.  She  was  the  English  whale-ship  Montezuma,  with 
fourteen  hundred  barrels  of  oil  on  board.  Placing  a  prize-crew  in  her,  he  made  sail 
after  the  other  two  vessels.  The  wind  fell,  and  there  was  a  dead  calm.  The  flotilla 
of  small  boats  under  Downes  pushed  forward.  They  pulled  for  the  larger  of  the  two 

1  John  Downes  was  born  in  Massachusetts.  He  entered  the  naval  service  as  midshipman  in  1802,  and  was  active  in 
the  attack  on  the  shipping  in  the  harbor  of  Tripoli.  He  accompanied  Porter,  as  lieutenant,  in  the  entire  cruise  of  the 
Essex,  and  became  commander  of  the  Essex  Junior.  In  1831  he  was  promoted  to  captain,  and  commanded  the  Potomac. 
in  the  punishment  of  the  Quallah  Battoo  people  for  outrages  on  American  commerce.  His  last  sea  service  was  in  1834. 
He  died  in  Boston  on  the  llth  of  August,  1854,  and  was  buried  with  the  honors  due  to  his  rank.  Secretary  Dobbin  di 
rected  the  officers  of  the  Navy  and  Marine  Corps  to  wear  crape  on  the  left  arm  for  thirty  days. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  725 

Capture  of  the  Georgiana  and  other  English  armed  Whaling-ships.  Porter  in  Command  of  a  Squadron. 

vessels,  which  kept  training  her  guns  upon  the  flotilla  as  it  approached ;  but  between 
two  and  three  in  the  afternoon  she  surrendered  without  firing  a  shot.  She  was  the 
English  whale-ship  Georgiana.  Her  companion  was  captured  in  like  manner.  She 
was  the  Policy,  also  a  whaler.  These  three  prizes  furnished  Porter  with  many  need 
ed  supplies.  Among  these  were  beef,  pork,  cordage,  water,  and  a  large  number  of  the 
huge  Galapagos  turtles,  whose  flesh  is  delightful  to  the  appetite  and  healthful  to  the 
stomach. 

Captain  Porter  fitted  up  the  Georgiana  as  a  cruiser.     She  had  been  built  for  the 
service  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  fast  sailer.    She 
was  pierced  for  eighteen  guns,  and  had  six  mounted  when  taken.     The  Policy  was 
also  pierced  for  eighteen  guns,  and  had  ten  mounted.     These  were  added  to  the  ar 
mament  of  the  Georgiana,  and  she  became  a  fitting  consort  of  the  Essex,  with  sixteen 
light  guns,  under  the  command  of  the  gallant  Lieutenant  Downes,  with  forty-one 
men.     He  raised  the  American  pennant  over  her  on  the  8th  of  JVIay,a  and  it 
was  saluted  by  seventeen  guns.     The  crew  of  the  Essex,  officers  and  men,  was 
now  reduced  to  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  souls. 

The  reputation  of  the  Georgiana  for  fleetness  was  unmerited,  yet  Porter  expected 
to  make  her  useful.  She  and  the  Essex  parted  company  on  the  12th  of  May,  with  a 
clear  understanding  concerning  places  for  rendezvous  at  specified  times.  The  Essex, 
accompanied  by  the  Policy,  Montezuma,  and  Barclay,  did  not  cruise  far  from  the  Gal 
apagos,  and  it  was  sixteen  days  before  a  strange  sail  was  seen  by  her.  On  the  after 
noon  of  the  28thb  one  was  seen  ahead,  and  a  general  chase  was  made.  At  sun- 

.  b  May 

set  she  was  visible  from  the  frigate's  deck,  and  she  was  stjll  in  sight  on  the 
following  morning.     It  was  not  long  before  the  Essex  got  alongside  of  and  captured 
her.     She  was  the  English  whale-ship  Atlantic,  mounting  eight  18-pounder  carron- 
ades,  and  manned  by  twenty-three  men,  under  the  command  of  a  renegade  Nantucket 
captain.     She  was  pierced  for  twenty  guns. 

During  this  chase  another  vessel  wras  seen.  With  characteristic  energy,  Porter 
placed  Lieutenant  M'Knight,  of  the  Montezuma,  in  command  of  the  Atlantic,  and  or 
dered  him  to  chase  the  newly-discovered  stranger.  The  Essex  also  joined  in  the  pur 
suit,  and  the  Greenwich,  a  vessel  little  lighter  than  the  Atlantic,  mounting  ten  guns, 
and  manned  by  twenty-five  men,  was  added  to  the  list  of  prizes  in  Porter's  hands. 
The  Atlantic  and  Greenwich  had  letters  of  marque,  and,  being  fast  sailers,  were  very 
dangerous  to  American  commerce. 

With  all  his  prizes  but  the  Georgiana,  now  five  in  number,  Porter  sailed  for  the 
mouth  of  the  Tumbez,  in  the  Gulf  of  Guayaquil,  on  the  South  American  Continent, 
where  he  anchored  on  the  1 9th  of  June,  off  the  miserable  village  of  Tumbez.     There 
the  little  squadron  was  joined  by  the  Georgiana,"  bringing  with  her  two 
prizes,  the  Hector,  11,  and  Catharine,  8.     Downes  had  captured  a  third,  the 
Rose,  8,  which  he  had  filled  with  the  superabundant  prisoners  and  sent  to  St.  Helena. 
She  was  a  dull  sailer.     He  removed  her  oil,  threw  her  guns  overboard,  and  gave  the 
prisoners  the  ship  on  condition  that  they  should  sail  for  that  rocky  isle  in  the  At 
lantic. 

Porter  now  found  himself,  at  the  end  of  eight  months  after  he  sailed  from  the  Del 
aware,  in  command  of  a  squadron  of  nine  armed  vessels  ready  for  formidable  war 
fare.  The  Atlantic  being  every  way  superior  to  the  Georgiana,  Lieutenant  Com 
manding  Downes  was  transferred  to  her,  with  his  crew.  Twenty  guns  were  mount 
ed  in  her,  and  she  was  named  Essex  Junior.  She  was  manned  by  sixty  picked  men. 
The  Georgiana  was  also  armed  with  twenty  guns,  and  converted  into  a  store-ship, 
under  the  command  of"  Parson"  Adams,  the  chaplain  of  the  Essex. 

The  squadron  left  Tumbez  on  the  30th  of  June,  the  Essex  and  Essex  Junior  sailing 
in  company  until  the  9th  of  July,d  when  the  latter  was  dispatched  for  Val- 
paraiso  with  the  Catharine,  Sector,  Montezuma,  Policy,  and  Barclay  in  con- 


726  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Capture  of  the  dreaded  Seringapatam,.     Successful  cruising  among  the  Galapagos  Islands.     Porter  warned  of  Danger. 

voy.  The  Essex  at  the  same  time,  accompanied  by  the  Georgiana  and  Greenwich, 
•July,  sailed  westward  toward  the  Galapagos.  On  the  13tha  she  captured  the  En- 
1813.  gHsh  whale-ship  Charlton,  armed  with  ten  guns,  and  manned  by  twenty-one 
men.  Two  other  vessels  had  been  seen  in  her  company,  the  larger  of  which,  the  pris 
oners  from  the  Charlton  said,  was  the  Seringapatam,  mounting  fourteen  guns,  and 
manned  by  forty  men.  She  had  been  built  in  England  for  the  Sultan  Tippoo  Saib 
for  a  cruiser,  and  was  the  most  formidable  enemy  of  American  shipping  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  Porter  longed  for  her  capture,  and  was  soon  gratified.  The  Greenwich  bore 
gallantly  down  upon  her,  and,  after  exchanging  a  few  broadsides,  the  English  vessel 
surrendered.  She  soon  afterward  made  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  escape.  The  small 
er  vessel,  called  the  New  Zealander,  was  captured  without  difficulty. 

Porter's  prisoners  were  now  so  numerous  that  he  was  compelled  to  admit  a  large 
number  to  parole.  These  were  placed  in  the  Charlton,  and  sent  to  Rio  de,  Janeiro 
under  a  pledge  of  honor.  The  guns  were  taken  out  of  the  New  Zealander  and  placed 
in  the  Seringapatam,  giving  her  an  armament  of  twenty-two  heavy  pieces,  but  with 
an  insufficient  crew.  She  was  thus  converted  into  a  formidable  cruiser.  The  Geor 
giana,  with  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  worth  of  spermaceti  oil,  was  sent  to  the 
United  States,  bearing  in  irons  the  captain  of  the  Seringapatam,  who  was  found  with 
out  a  commission  as  privateer,  and  liable  to  the  penalties  of  piracy. 

The  Essex,  with  the  Greenwich,  Seringapatam,  and  JVew  Zealander,  now  sailed  for 
Albemarle  Island,  the  largest  of  the  Galapagos  group.  On  the  morning  of  the 
28thb  they  discovered  a  strange  sail.  Chase  was  given,  and  continued  all 
day,  but  she  eluded  her  pursuers  during  the  ensuing  night.  This  was  the  first 
time  that  the  Essex  had  failed  to  place  herself  alongside  of  an  antagonist  since  she 
entered  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  Porter  and  his  people  were  much  mortified.  The 
cruise  continued,  and  on  the  4th  of  August  the  little  squadron  anchored  off  James's 
Island,  a  short  distance  from  Albemarle.  There  they  remained  more  than  a  fortnight, 
and  on  the  22d  anchored  in  Banks's  Bay,  between  Narborough  Island  and  the  north 
head  of  Albemarle,  where  the  prizes  were  moored,  and  from  whence  the  Essex  pro 
ceeded0  on  a  short  cruise  alone.  After  sailing  for  some  time  along  the 

c   ATI  crust  24 

Galapagos  without  meeting  any  vessels,  Porter  was  gratified  by  the  ap 
parition  of  a  strange  sail  on  the  15th  of  September,  apparently  lying  to,  far  to  the 
southward  and  to  the  windward*  The  Essex,  disguised,  approached  her,  and  discov 
ered  her  to  be  an  English  whale-ship  engaged  in  the  process  of  "cutting  in,"  or  get 
ting  on  board  the  ship  the  blubber  of  the  great  fish.  When  the  Essex  was  within 
about  four  miles  of  the  whaler,  the  latter  became  alarmed,  cast  off  her  fish,  and  made 
sail.  The  Essex  threw  off  her  disguise  and  pursued,  and  at  four  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  had  the  stranger  within  range  of  her  guns.  A  few  shots  brought  her  to,  and 
she  became  a  prize.  She  was  the  Sir  Andrew  Hammond,  armed  with  twelve  guns, 
and  manned  by  thirty-one  men.  She  was  the  vessel  that  escaped  the  Essex  on  the 
night  of  the  28th  of  July.  She  had  on  board  a  large  supply  of  beef,  pork,  bread, 
wood,  and  w^ater,  of  which  the  Essex  was  in  need.  With  this  prize  she  returned  to 
Banks's  Bay,  where  she  was  soon  afterward  joined  by  the  Essex  Junior  from  Val 
paraiso.  Downes  had  there  moored  three  of  the  prizes,  and  sent  the  fourth,  the  Pol 
icy,  to  the  United  States  with  a  cargo  of  spermaceti  oil. 

While  at  Valparaiso  Downes  learned  two  important  facts,  namely,  that  the  exploits 
of  the  Essex  had  produced  great  excitement  in  the  British  Navy,  and  caused  the  gov 
ernment  to  send  out  the  frigate  Phoebe,  with  one  or  two  consorts,  to  attempt  her  cap 
ture  ;  and  that  the  Chilian  authorities  were  becoming  more  friendly  to  the  English 
than  to  the  Americans.  Surveying  the  situation  in  the  light  of  this  information,  Por 
ter  resolved  to  go  to  the  Marquesas  Islands,  refit  his  vessels,  and  return  to  the  United 
States.  His  cruise  had  been  remarkably  successful.  He  had  captured  almost  every 
English  whale-ship  known  to  be  off  the  coasts  of  Peru  and  Chili,  and  had  deprived 


OF  THE  WAR  OF  1812.  727 

Porter,  with  his  Squadron,  sails  for  the  Marquesas  Islands.      Arrival  at  Nooaheevah.     White  Residents  on  the  Island. 

the  enemy  of  property  to  the  amount  of  two  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars,  and  three 
hundred  and  sixty  seamen.  He  had  also  released  the  American  whalers  from  danger, 
and  inspired  the  Peruvians  and  Chilians  with  the  most  profound  respect  for  the 
American  Navy.  Accordingly,  on  the  2d  of  October,  he  spread  the  sails  of  the  Es 
sex  to  the  breeze,  and  she  sailed  westward  from  Banks's  Bay,  followed  by  the  Essex 
Junior,  Seringapatam,  New  Zealander,  /Sir  Andrew  Hammond,  and  Greenwich.  Most 
of  these  were  slow  sailers,  and  kept  the  Essex  back.  The  impatient  Porter,  fearing 
the  delay  might  cause  him  to  miss  an  English  vessel  bound  for  India  of  which  he 
had  heard,  sent  the  Essex  Junior  forward  to  the  Marquesas  with  instructions  to  at 
tempt  to  intercept  and  capture  her.  Meanwhile  the  squadron  crept  lazily  over  the 
calm  sea,  and  on  the  23d  of  October  the  group  of  the  Marquesas  was  seen  looming  up 
from  the  western  horizon.  On  the  following  day  they  neared  the  shores,  and  saw  the 
natives  thronging  the  beaches  and  swiftly  navigating  the  waters  in  light  canoes. 
After  passing  among  the  islands  a  few  days,  the  Essex  finally  anchored  in  a  fine  bay 
of  Nooaheevah  with  her  prizes,  except  the  Essex  Junior,  which  came  in  soon  after 
ward. 

"The  situation  of  the  Essex"  says  Cooper,1  "was  sufficiently  remarkable  at  this 
moment  to  merit  a  brief  notice.  She  had  been  the  first  American  to  carry  the  pen 
nant  of  a  man-of-war  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  now  she  had  been  the  first 
to  bring  it  into  this  distant  ocean.  More  than  ten  thousand  miles  from  home,  with 
out  colonies,  stations,  or  even  a  really  friendly  port  to  repair  to,  short  of  stores,  with 
out  a  consort,  and  otherwise  in  possession  of  none  of  the  required  means  of  subsist 
ence  and  efficiency,  she  had  boldly  steered  into  this  distant  region,  where  she  had 
found  all  that  she  had  acquired  through  her  own  activity ;  and  having  swept  the  seas 
of  her  enemies,  she  had  now  retired  to  these  little-frequented  islands  to  refit  with  the 
security  of  a  ship  at  home.  It  is  due  to  the  officer  who  so  promptly  adopted  and  so 
successfully  executed  this  plan,  to  add,  that  his  enterprise,  self-reliance,  and  skill  indi 
cated  a  man  of  bold  and  masculine  conception,  of  great  resources,  and  of  a  high  de 
gree  of  moral  courage — qualities  that  are  indispensable  in  forming  a  naval  captain." 

The  bay  in  which  the  squadron  was  moored,  and  its  surroundings,  presented  very 
picturesque  scenery  to  the  navigators.  A  beautiful  valley  was  seen  extending  back 
from  it  among  the  lofty  hills,  and  here  and  there  a  native  village  dotted  its  margins. 
Rich  vegetation  crowned  the  eminences,  and  cultivated  fields  smiled  along  the  slopes 
and  beautiful  intervales.  The  natives  every  where  among  the  group  of  islands  had 
appeared  very  friendly,  and  Captain  Porter  expected  nothing  but  quiet  and  full  suc 
cess  in  fitting  his  vessels  for  his  long  homeward  voyage.  In  this  he  was  disappoint 
ed,  for  during  his  stay  he  was  compelled  to  engage  in  a  military  campaign,  and  take 
possession  of  Nooaheevah  by  force  of  arms.  It  happened  in  this  wise : 

The  anchor  of  the  Essex  had  just  been  cast  when  a  canoe  shot  out  from  the  shore 
and  came  alongside  the  frigate.  It  contained  three  white  men,  one  of  whom  was 
naked  and  tattooed  like  the  natives.  This  man  was  an  Englishman,  named  Wilson, 
and  had  been  on  the  island  twenty  years.  One  of  his  companions  was  Midshipman 
John  Maury,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  who  had  been  left  on  the  island  to  gather 
sandal-wopd  while  the  merchant  vessel  that  bore  him  to  it  should  go  to  China  and 
return.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  seaman.  These  were  the  only  white  men  on 
Nooaheevah.  They  informed  Porter  that  war  was  raging  on  the  island  between  the 
native  tribes  who  inhabited  the  different  valleys,  and  that  it  was  quite  fierce  between 
the  Taeehs,  who  dwelt  in  the  one  before  them,  and  the  Happahs  over  the  mountains. 
He.  was  farther  informed  that  he  would  probably  be  compelled  to  take  the  part  of 
the  Taeehs  against  the  Happahs  in  order  to  get  from  them  such  supplies  as  he  de 
sired  and  the  island  afforded. 

Wilson  understood  the  native  language  well,  and  became  Porter's  interpreter. 

i  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  222. 


728 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Civil  War  in  Nooaheevah. 


Porter  threatens  to  engage  in  it. 


The  "mighty  Gattanewa." 


With  him  the  captain  landed,  and  was  met  on  the  beach  by  a  throng  of  men,  women, 
and  children,  who  not  only  welcomed  him,  but  gave  cordial  greetings  to  the  marines, 
who  followed  him  with  beating  drums,  and  fired  volleys  of  musketry  in  the  air. 
These  unusual  sounds  brought  swarms  of  the  Happahs  to  the  crest  of  the  mountain, 
where  they  brandished  their  spears  and  clubs  in  the  most  threatening  manner.  They 
had  lately  spread  desolation  through  portions  of  the  valley  of  the  Taeehs,  destroying 
houses,  plantations,  and  bread-fruit-trees.  Porter  immediately  sent  them  word  that 
he  had  come  with  force  sufficient  to  take  possession  of  the  whole  island,  and  that  if 
they  ventured  into  the  Tienhoy  Valley  as  enemies  while  he  remained  he  would  pun 
ish  them  severely.  He  gave  them  permission  to  bring  hogs  and  fruit  to  the  shore, 
and  promised  them  protection  while  trafficking.  This  bold  message  delighted  the 
Taeehs,  and  filled  the  Happahs  with  awe,  because  of  the  powerful  ally  which  good 
fortune  had  brought  to  their  enemies. 

Porter  had  just  returned  to  his  ship  when  he  was  informed  that  the  great  Gatta 
newa,  the  mighty  King  of  the  Taeehs,  a  descendant  of  Oateia,  or  Daylight,  through 
eighty-eight  generations,  had  returned  from  a  tour  of  inspection  to  one  or  two  of  his 
strong-holds  among  the  mountains.  A  boat  was  sent  to  bring  the  monarch  on  board 
the  Essex,  and  all  hands 
waited  in  expectation 
of  seeing  a  most  digni 
fied  personage,  for  their 
eyes  had  already  seen 
the  really  beautiful  and 
stately  granddaughter 
of  the  monarch.  They 
were  disappointed.  Be 
fore  them  appeared  a 
tottering  man  leaning 
upon  a  rude  stick,  bent 
with  the  weight  of  years, 
naked,  excepting  tem 
ples  covered  with  with 
ered  palm -leaves  and 
loins  swathed  in  dirty 
tappa  or  native  cloth,  his 
skin  black  with  tattoo 
ing,  and  made  almost 
leprous  in  appearance  by 
the  effects  of  excessive 
indulgence  in  the  use  of 
kava,  a  native  intoxicat 
ing  drink.  He  was  then 
stupefied  by  its  effects, 
and  it  was  not  until  aft 
er  he  had  slept  long  in 
the  cabin  of  the  Essex 
that  he  was  able  to  talk 
of  public  affairs. 

Porter  agreed  to  assist 
Gattanewa  against  the  Happahs  and  Typees,  his  chief  enemies.  He  established  a 
camp  in  a  shady  plain  not  far  from  the  beach,  and  at  the  same  time  active  labor  was 
commenced  in  the  service  of  preparing  the  Essex  for  her  long  voyage.  Days  passed 
on,  and  so  peaceful  did  the  Americans  appear  that  the  Happahs  were  emboldened. 


THE   MIGHTY    GATTAMEWA. 


OF    THE    WAK    OF    1812. 


729 


Battles  with  the  Natives. 


Porter  victorious. 


Change  iii  the  Name  of  the  Island  and  Harbor. 


They  poured  into  the  valley,  menaced  the  camp,  and  sent  a  messenger  to  Porter  to 
tell  him  that  he  was  a  coward.  The  old  monarch  and  his  chief  warriors  urged  Por 
ter  to  strike  a  withering  blow.  He  complied  with  their  request.  He  landed  a  6- 
pounder  cannon,  and  the  natives  carried  it  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain.  He  then 
sent  Lieutenant  Downes,  with  forty  men  with  muskets,  to  attack  the  Happahs.  They 
were  driven  from  hill  to  hill  until  they  reached  one  of  their  forts  on  the  brow  of 
an  eminence.  There,  four  thousand  strong,  they  made  a  stand,  and  hurled  spears 
and  stones  at  the  assailants.  The  fort  was  stormed  and  captured,  and  the  awe-struck 
Happahs  fled  in  every  direction.  Their  hostility  was  overcome,  and  they  hastened 
to  send  messengers  with  prayers  for  peace.  Within  a  week  envoys  from  almost  ev 
ery  tribe  on  the  island  appeared  bearing  tribute-treasures  and  tokens  of  friendship. 
Porter's  power  was  supreme.  He  took  possession  of  a  conical  hill  overlooking  his 
encampment  and  the  harbor,  cast  up  a  breastwork  formed  of  water-casks  filled  with 
earth,  mounted  four  guns  upon  it,  raised  the  American  flag  over  it,  and  on  the  19th 
of  November  took  formal  possession  of  the  island.  He  named  Nooaheevah  Madison 
Island,  and  the  breastwork  Fort  Madison,  in  honor  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States ;  and  to  the  beautiful  expanse  of  water  before  him  he  gave  the  name  of  Mas 
sachusetts  Bay,  in  token  of  his  attachment  to  his  birth-place.  The  fort  was  placed 


THE   ESSKX   AND   UEK   PPaZKS   IN   MASSACHUSETTS   HAY,  .NOOAUEEVA1I 


in  command  of  Lieutenant  John  M.  Gamble,  of  the  Marines,  and  Messrs.  Feltus  and 
Clapp,  midshipmen,  with  twenty-one  men,  were  placed  under  his  orders,  and  remained 
there  until  the  squadron  was  ready  to  sail.  This  was  wise  precaution  to  secure  the 
speedy  repairs  of  the  Essex. 

The  powerful  Typees  had  remained  hostile,  and  became  more  and  more  defiant, 
to  the  great  discomfort  of  Gattanewa's  people  and  the  annoyance  of  the  Americans. 
At  length  Porter  resolved  to  make  war  upon  them.  An  expedition,  consisting  of 
thirty-five  Americans,  including  Captain  Porter  and  five  thousand  Taeehs  and  Hap 
pahs,  moved  against  the  incorrigibles.  The  Typees,  armed  with  slings  and  spears, 
met  them  with  such  overwhelming  numbers  and  fierce  determination,  that  at  the  end 
of  the  first  day  they  were  compelled  to  fall  back  to  the  beach,  and  numbering  among 
their  casualties  a  shattered  leg  belonging  to  Lieutenant  Downes,  caused  by  a  blow 
from  a  sling-man's  stone.  That  night  the  valley  of  the  Typees  resounded  with  shouts 
of  victory,  and  the  sonorous  reverberations  of  many  beaten  drums. 

Porter  renewed  the  attempt  the  next  day,  and  led  his  motley  army  boldly  over 
the  rugged  hills  into  the  Typee  Valley,  in  the  midst  of  great  exposure  to  hostile  mis- 

1  From  a  drawing  by  Captain  Porter. 


730  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Typee  Valley  desolated.  The  Women  of  Nooaheevah.  Porter  arrives  at  Valparaiso. 

siles  from  concealed  foes,  and  many  privations.  Village  after 
village  was  destroyed  until  they  came  to  the  principal  town, 
in  which  were  fine  .buildings,  a  large  public  square,  temples 
and  gods,  huge  war-canoes,  and  other  exhibitions  of  half-sav 
age  life.  These  were  all  reduced  to  ashes,  and  by  the  broom 
of  desolation  that  beautiful  valley,  four  miles  in  width  and 
nine  in  length,  was  made  a  blackened  desert.  The  Typees, 
utterly  ruined  and  humbled,  now  submissively  paid  tribute, 
and  Porter  could  say 

"I  am  monarch  of  all  I  survey ; 

My  right  there  is  none  to  dispute."  MAEQUESAS  DKUM. 

Porter  had  allowed  his  crew  full  indulgence  while  at  Nooahevah.  The  natives 
were  lavish  in  that  species  of  savage  hospitality  which  gives  concubines  to  strangers 
in  the  persons  of  their  wives  and  daughters.  The  women  of  that  island  were  really 
beautiful  in  figure  and  feature,  and  not  much  darker  in  complexion  than  most  Spanish 
women.  Warm  attachments  were  formed  between  them  and  the  seamen,  and  when, 
on  the  eve  of  departure,  Porter  forbade  his  men  going  on  shore,  they  were  greatly 
discontented.  For  three  days  during  this  restraint  they  became  almost  mutinous. 
"  The  girls,"  says  Porter  in  his  Journal, "  lined  the  beach  from  morning  until  night, 
and  every  moment  importuned  me  to  take  the  taboos  off  the  men,  and  laughingly  ex 
pressed  their  grief  by  dipping  their  fingers  into  the  sea  and  touching  their  eyes,  so  as 
to  let  the  salt  water  trickle  down  their  cheeks.  Others  would  seize  a  chip,  and,  hold 
ing  it  in  the  manner  of  a  shark's  tooth,  declared  they  would  cut  themselves  to  pieces 
in  their  despair ;  some  threatened  to  beat  their  brains  out  with  a  spear  of  grass,  some 
'to  drown  themselves,  and  all  were  determined  to  inflict  upon  themselves  some  dread 
ful  punishment  if  I  did  not  permit  their  sweet-hearts  to  come  on  shore."1  Porter's 
men  did  not  take  the  deprivation  so  good-naturedly.  Their  situation,  they  said,  was 
worse  than  slavery ;  and  a  man  named  Robert  White  declared,  on  board  the  Essex 
Junior,  that  the  crew  of  the  Essex  had  come  to  a  resolution  not  to  weigh  her  anchor, 
or,  if  they  should  be  compelled  to  get  the  ship  under  weigh,  in  three  days'  time  after 
leaving  the  port  to  seize  the  ship  and  hoist  their  own  flag.  Porter  thought  it  neces 
sary  to  notice  the  affair.  He  assembled  his  men  and  addressed  them  kindly.  He 
spoke  of  the  reported  threat,  expressed  his  belief  that  the  rumor  could  not  be  true, 
but  added, "  should  such  an  event  take  place,  I  will,  without  hesitation,  put  a  match 
to  the  magazine  and  blow  you  all  to  eternity."  He  added  that  perhaps  there  might 
be  some  grounds  for  the  report,  and  said, "  Let  me  see  who  are  and  who  are  not  dis 
posed  to  obey  my  orders.  You  who  are  inclined  to  get  the  ship  under  weigh,  come 
on  the  starboard  side ;  and  you  who  are  otherwise  disposed,  remain  where  you  are." 
All  hastened  to  the  starboard  side.  The  men  showed  great  willingness  to  be  obe 
dient.  Then  White,  the  ringleader  of  the  mutineers,  if  there  were  any,  was  called 
out.  After  informing  the  crew  that  this  was  the  man  who  had  slandered  them,  Por 
ter  sent  him  ashore  in  one  of  the  numerous  canoes  in  which  the  natives  were  swarm 
ing  around  the  ship,  and  left  him  behind. 

The  Essex  was  thoroughly  fitted  for  her  long  voyage  and  for  encountering  ene 
mies  early  in  December,  and  on  the  12tha  she  sailed,  with  her  prizes,  from 
Nooaheevah,  taking  with  her  Mr.  Maury  and  his  companion.     They  stretched 
away  eastward  to  the  South  American  continent,  and  early  in  January  the  peaks  of 
the  Andes  were  visible.     On  the  3d  of  Februaryb  Porter  entered  the  harbor 
of  Valparaiso,  exchanged  salutes  with  the  fort,  went  on  shore  to  pay  his  re 
spects  to  the  governor,  and  on  the  following  day  received  a  visit  from  his  Excellency 
and  his  wife,  and  some  other  officers.     Meanwhile  the  Essex  Junior  cruised  off  the 
port  as  a  scout  to  give  warning  of  the  approach  of  any  man-of-war.     Notwithstand- 

1  See  Porter's  Journal,  ii.,  13T. 


OF   THE   WAR    0  F   1  8  1  2.  731 

Incidents  in  the  Harbor  of  Valparaiso.  Porter's  Generosity.  He  tries  to  fight.or  run  the  Blockade. 

ing  the  friendly  demonstrations  of  the  governor,  it  was  evident  to  Captain  Porter  that 
the  English  were  in  higher  favor  than  the  Americans  with  the  Chilian  government. 
Porter  had  not  been  long  in  Valparaiso  when  two  English  men-of-war  were  report 
ed  in  the  offing.  They  sailed  into  the  harbor  all  prepared  for  action,  and  seemed 
ready  to  violate  the  hospitalities  of  a  neutral  port.  These  vessels  were  the  Phoebe, 
36,  Captain  Hillyar,  and  the  Cherub,  20,  Captain  Tucker.  The  former  mounted  thirty 
long  18-pounders,  sixteen  32-pound  carronades,  and  one  howitzer,  and  six  3-pounders 
in  her  tops.  Her  crew  consisted  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  men  and  boys.  The 
Cherub  mounted  eighteen  32-pound  carronades  below,  with  eight  24-pound  carron 
ades  and  two  long  9's  above,  making  a  total  of  twenty-eight  guns.  Her  crew  mus 
tered  one  hundred  and  eighty.  The  Essex  at  this  time  could  muster  only  two  hund 
red  and  twenty-five  souls,  and  the  Essex  Junior  only  sixty.  The  Essex  had  forty  32- 
pound  carronades,  and  six  long  12-pounders  ;  and  the  Essex  Junior  bore  only  ten  18- 
pound  carronades,  and  ten  short  6's.  The  weight  of  men  and  metal  was  heavily  in 
favor  of  the  British  vessels. 

As  the  Phoebe  came  sweeping  into  the  harbor  with  her  men  all  at  quarters,  and  ran 
close  alongside  the  Essex,  Porter  warned  Hillyar  that  if  his  vessel  touched  the  Amer 
ican  frigate  he  should  open  upon  her,  and  much  blood  would  be  shed,  for  he  was  fully 
prepared  for  action.  "  I  do  not  intend  to  board  you,"  exclaimed  the  Englishman, 
who  perceived  Porter's  readiness  to  fight,  but  as  he  luffed  up  his  ship  was  taken 
aback,  and  his  jib-boom  was  thrown  across  the  forecastle  of  the  Essex  in  a  menacing 
manner.  Porter  summoned  his  men  and  bade  them  spring  upon  the  Phoebe,  cutlasses 
in  hand,  the  moment  when  the  two  vessels  should  touch  each  other.  She  was  com 
pletely  in  the  power  of  the  Essex,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  Essex  Junior  the  American 
frigate  might  have  sunk  the  Phoebe  in  fifteen  minutes.  Hillyar  saw  his  helplessness, 
and,  throwing  up  his  hands  in  consternation,  declared  that  his  present  position  was 
an  accident.  The  chivalrous  Porter  accepted  the  apology,  and  the  frightened  En 
glishman  was  allowed  to  pass  on.  It  was  afterward  generally  believed  that  Hillyar 
had  positive  orders  to  attack  the  Essex,  even  in  a  neutral  South  American  port,  and 
that  his  intentions  were  hostile  until  the  moment  when  he  discovered  his  imminent 
peril  in  the  power  of  the  gallant  American. 

After  obtaining  some  supplies,  the  English  vessels  went  out  and  cruised  off  Val 
paraiso.  During  a  period  of  more  than  six  weeks  Porter  tried  in  vain  to  bring  on  an 
engagement  with  the  Phoebe  singly,  or  with  the  Essex  Junior  in  company.  On  the 
27th  of  February  he  felt  sure  of  a  fight,  for  the  Phoebe  stood  close  in  for  the  harbor, 
displaying  a  banner  on  which  were  the  words  "  God  and  our  Country ;  British  Sailors' 
best  Rights ;  Traitors  offend  both."  Porter  accepted  this  as  a  challenge,  quickly  pre 
pared  his  vessel,  and  hoisting  a  banner  under  his  old  motto,  "  Free  Trade  and  Sailors' 
Rights,"  with  the  words  "  God,  our  Country,  and  Liberty ;  Tyrants  offend  them,"  he 
sailed  boldly  out.  Hillyar,  who  had  doubtless  been  instructed  not  to  fight  the  Essex 
alone,  quickly  showed  the  stern  of  his  ship,  and  ran  down  to  the  Cherub,  to  the  great 
disgust  of  the  Americans. 

Informed  that  other  English  cruisers  might  be  expected  soon,  Porter  determined 
to  run  the  blockade  and  put  to  sea.  On  the  28th  of  March  he  spread  his  sails  to  a 
stiff  southwest  breeze,  and  made  a  bold  dash  for  the  open  Pacific.  A  heavy  squall 
struck  the  Essex  as  she  rounded  the  Point  of  Angels,  carrying  away  the  maintop- 
mast,  and  over  into  the  deep  the  men  who  were  aloft  reefing.  They  were  lost.  The 
British  ships,  lying  in  wait  outside,  immediately  gave  chase,  while  the  crippled  frig 
ate  crawled  toward  the  friendly  port  to  repair  damages.  She  could  not  reach  her 
old  anchorage  in  time  to  escape  the  enemy,  so  she  took  shelter  in  a  bay  not  far  from 
a  battery,  and  anchored  within  pistol-shot  of  the  shore.  Notwithstanding  that  was 
neutral  ground,  the  enemy's  vessels  bore  down  upon  the  Essex,  and  Captain  Hillyar, 
unmindful  of  the  courtesy  of  Porter  when  the  Phoebe  was  within  his  power,  proceed^ 


732  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Essex  crippled.  Porter's  Generosity  not  reciprocated.  Battle  between  the  Essex  and  two  British  Ships. 

ed  to  attack  her.  The  Essex  prepared  for  conflict,  and  endeavored  to  place  a  spring 
on  her  cable.  Before  this  could  be  accomplished  the  Phoebe  got  in  an  advantageous 
a  March  28,  position,  and,  at  a  few  minutes  before  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,a  opened 
tire  upon  the  stern  of  the  American  frigate  with  his  long  guns.  The  Cher 
ub  at  the  same  time  assailed  the  starboard  bow  of  the  Essex,  while  the  Essex  Junior 
was  unable  to  render  her  consort  any  assistance. 

The  Cherub  was  soon  driven  off  by  the  bow-guns  of  the  Essex,  and  joined  with  the 
Phoebe  in  a  severe  raking  fire  on  the  American.  For  a  while  the  latter  was  unable 
to  reply,  but  at  length  three  of  her  long  twelves  were  run  out  of  her  stern  ports*  and 
were  handled  with  so  much  dexterity  and  power  that,  at  the  end  of  half  an  hour  aft 
er  the  action  commenced,  both  of  the  English  ships  were  compelled  to  haul  off  and 
repair  damages.  The  Essex  had  been  much  bruised  in  the  conflict,  and  many  of  her 
crew  were  killed  or  wounded.  Her  ensign  at  the  gaff  and  her  battle-flag  had  been 
shot  aAvay,  but  her  banner,  inscribed  "  FREE  TRADE  AND  SAILORS'  RIGHTS,"*  was  still 
flying  at  the  fore.  Every  man,  from  the  commander  down,  resolved  to  defend  her  to 
the  last. 

The  Phoebe  and  Cherub  soon  renewed  their  attack  in  a  position  on  the  starboard 
quarter  of  the  Essex  where  she  could  make  no  effectual  resistance,  the  distance  be 
tween  her  and  her  antagonists  being  too  great  to  be  reached  by  her  carronades. 
Their  fire  was  very  galling,  and  Porter  was  driven  to  the  alternative  of  surrendering, 
or  running  down  to  close  quarters  with  his  enemy.  He  decided  on  the  latter  move 
ment,  notwithstanding  his  ship  had  suffered  a  farther  loss  of  important  spars  and 
rigging.  So  badly  wTas  she  crippled  that  the  only  sail  that  could  be  made  available 
was  the  flying  jib.  This  was  hoisted,  the  cable  was  cut,  and  slowly  the  Essex  edged 
away  toward  the  Phoebe  until  she  was  within  range  of  the  frigate's  carronades,  when 
for  a  few  minutes  the  firing  on  both  sides  was  tremendous.  The  Phoebe  changed  her 
position  to  a  long  range,  and  kept  up  a  terrific  cannonade  upon  her  helpless  antago 
nist,  whose  deck  was  now  strewn  with  the  dead,  her  cockpit  and  ward-room  filled  with 
the  wounded,  and  a  portion  of  her  hull  in  flames.  Many  of  her  guns  were  disabled  ; 
and  at  one  of  them  no  less  than  fifteen  men — three  entire  crews — fell  dead  or  mor 
tally  wounded.  Yet  she  drove  off  the  Cherub,  and  for  two  hours  maintained  the 
terrible  combat  with  her  principal  antagonist. 

Porter  now  perceived  no  chance  for  boarding  the  Phoebe,  and  the  raking  of  her 
long  guns  was  producing  horrible  carnage  in  his  ship.  He  resolved  to  attempt  to 
run  her  ashore,  land  her  people,  and  set  her  on  fire.  The  wind  was  favorable ;  but 
when  she  was  within  musket-shot  distance  from  the  beach,  it  shifted,  paying  the 
ship's  head  broad  off,  leaving  her  exposed  to  a  raking  fire  from  the  Phoebe.  At  this 
moment  of  extreme  peril,  Lieutenant  Downes  came  from  the  Essex  Junior  in  an  open 
boat  to  receive  orders.  He  was  directed  to  defend,  or,  if  necessary,  to  destroy  his 
own  vessel.  He  returned  with  some  of  the  wounded,  and  left  three  sound  men  who 
came  with  him. 

The  slaughter  on  the  Essex  continued,  the  enemy's  shot  hulling  her  at  almost  every 
discharge.  Still  Porter  held  out,  hoping  to  lay  his  ship  alongside  the  cautious  Phoebe. 
He  let  go  an  anchor,  by  which  the  head  of  his  vessel  was  brought  round  and  enabled 
to  give  his  enemy  a  broadside.  It  was  effectual.  The  Phoebe  was  crippled  by  it, 
and  began  drifting  away  with  the  tide.  Porter  was  hopeful  of  success,  Avhen  his 
hawser  parted,  and  the  Essex,  an  almost  helpless  wreck  and  on  fire,  floated  toward 
her  antagonist.  The  flames  came  up  both  the  main  and  forward  hatchways.  There 
was  no  longer  a  chance  for  saving  the  ship.  The  magazine  was  threatened.  Already 
an  explosion  of  powder  had  added  to  the  confusion.  Porter  was  unhurt.  He  called 
a  council  of  officers.  Only  one  man  (Lieutenant  Stephen  D.  M'Knight2)  came  !  The 

1  See  page  441. 

2  Stephen  Decatur  M'Knight  was  a  native  of  Connecticut.    After  the  capture  of  the  Essex,  he,  with  a  companion 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


733 


Surrender  of  the  Essex. 


The  Conduct  of  the  British  Commander. 


Porter  returns  Home. 


rest  were  either  slain  or  wounded.  He  then  told  his  men  that  those  who  preferred  to 
take  the  risk  of  drowning  by  jumping  overboard  and  swimming  for  the  shore,  to  the 
certainty  of  being  blown  up,  might  do  so.  Many  accepted  the  offer.  Some  reached 
the  beach ;  a  large  number  were  drowned.  Porter  hauled  down  his  flag.  The  ves 
sel  was  surrendered,  and  the  flames  were  extinguished.  Of  the  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  brave  men  who  went  into  the  fight,  only  seventy-five  effective  ones  re 
mained.  Fifty-eight  had  been  killed,  sixty-six  wounded,  and  thirty-one  were  missing. 
The  two  vessels  of  the  enemy  lost,  in  the  aggregate,  only  five  killed  and  ten  wounded. 


ACTION   BETWEEN   THE   ESSEX  AND  THE   PHIEBE  AND   CHEEUB.1 

Thus  ended  the  wonderful  and  brilliant  cruise  of  the  Essex.  Her  closing  exploits 
were  as  gallant  as  her  former  career.  "  We  have  been  unfortunate,  but  not  dis 
graced,"  wrote  her  noble  commander.  "  The  defense  of  the  Essex  has  not  been  less 
honorable  to  her  officers  and  crew  than  the  capture  of  an  equal  force;  and  I  now 
consider  my  situation  less  unpleasant  than  that  of  Commodore  Hillyar,  who,  in  vio 
lation  of  every  principle  of  honor  and  generosity,  and  regai'dless  of  the  rights  of  na 
tions,  attacked  the  Essex  in  her  crippled  state  within  pistol-shot  of  a  neutral  shore, 
when  for  six  weeks  I  had  daily  offered  him  fair  and  honorable  combat."2 

By  an  arrangement  with  the  victorious  Hillyar  the  Essex  Junior  was  made  a  car 
tel,  and  in  her  Porter  and  his  surviving  companions  sailed  for  the  United  States.  Aft 
er  a  voyage  of  seventy-three  days  they  arrived  on  the  coast  off  Long  Island,  and  fell 
in  with  the  Saturn,  a  British  ship  of  war,  whose  commander  (Xash)  questioned  the 
papers  of  the  Essex  Junior,  and  detained  her.  The  indignant  Porter  considered  this 
treatment  a  violation  of  his  arrangements  with  Hillyar,  and  escaped  in  a  whale-boat. 
After  sailing  and  rowing  about  sixty  miles,  he  landed  near  Babylon,  on  the  south  side 
of  Long  Island,  where  he  was  suspected  of  being  a  British  officer.  His  commission 
settled  the  question,  and  he  enjoyed  unbounded  hospitality.  He  made  his  way  to 
New  York,  where  he  was  received  with  demonstrations  of  most  profound  respect ; 
and  when  intelligence  went  over  the  country  of  the  exploits  of  the  Essex,  every  city, 

named  James  Lyman,  were  sent  to  Rio  de  Janeiro  as  prisoners  of  war,  where  they  were  shipped  for  England  in  a  Swed 
ish  vessel.  They  were  never  heard  of  afterward.  The  vessel  arrived  in  safety,  but  the  captain  of  the  vessel  never  gave 
any  account  of  them.  1  From  a  drawing  by  Captain  Porter. 

2  Porter's  Dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  July  3, 1813.  Porter  relates  that  when  he  was  about  to  part  with 
Hillyar  at  Valparaiso,  he  alluded  to  his  conduct  in  attacking  the  Essex  under  such  circumstances,  when  the  British  com 
mander,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  said,  "My  dear  Porter,  you  know  not  the  responsibility  that  hung  over  me  with  respect 
to  your  ship.  Perhaps  my  life  depended  on  taking  her."  "I  asked  no  explanations  at  the  time,"  says  Porter,  when 
writing  of  the  affair  several  years  afterward.  "If  he  can  show  that  the  responsibility  rests  on  his  government,  I  shall 
do  him  justice  with  more  pleasure  than  I  now  impeach  his  conduct." — Journal,  ii.,  157. 


734 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Honors  to  Commodore  Porter. 


His  subsequent  Career. 


His  Death  and  Monument. 


village,  and  hamlet  was  vocal  with  his  praises.  Municipal  honors  were  lavished  upon 
him ;  and  several  State  Legislatures  and  the  National  Congress  thanked  him  for  his 
services.  By  universal  acclamation  he  was  called  the  Hero  of  the  Pacific.  Philip 
Freneau,  the  popular  bard  of  the  Revolution,  wrote  a  dull  ode  on  "  The  Capture  of  the 
Essex  /"  and  a  livelier  poet,  in  his  "  Battle  of  Valparaiso,"  thus  sang : 

"From  the  laurel's  fairest  bough 

Let  the  muse  her  garland  twine, 
To  adorn  our  Porter's  brow, 

Who,  beyond  the  burning  line, 
Led  his  caravan  of  tars  o'er  the  tide. 
To  the  pilgrims  fill  the  bowl, 
Who,  around  the  southern  pole, 
Saw  new  constellations  roll, 
For  their  guide." 

This  cruise  was  Porter's  most  eminent  service  afloat.  He  aided  in  the  defense  of 
Baltimore  a  few  weeks  after  his  return  home ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  ap 
pointed  one  of  the  commissioners  on  naval  aifairs.  In  1817  he  commanded  a  small 
fleet  sent  to  break  up  a  nest  of  pirates  and  freebooters  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In 
1826  he  resigned  his  commission  in  the  navy,  and  afterward  became  the  representa 
tive  of  the  United  States  in  Turkey, 
as  resident  minister,  at  Constantinople. 
He  died  near  that  city  in  1843,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-three  years.  His  remains 
were  brought  to  the  United  States; 
landed  at  Philadelphia;  borne  to  St. 
Stephen's  Church,  South  Tenth  Street, 
wherein  religious  services  for  the  occa 
sion  were  performed ;  and  he  was  buried 
on  the  north  side  of  that  church.  They 
were  afterward  removed  to  the  groiinds 
of  the  Naval  Asylum  on  the  banks  of 
the  Schuylkill,  and  buried  at  the  foot  of 
the  flag-staff.  Once  more  they  were  re 
moved,  and  now  find  a  resting-place  be 
neath  a  beautiful  monument  in  Wood- 
lawn  Cenfetery,  Philadelphia.  His  coun 
trymen  remember  him  with  just  pride.1 
.While  Commodore  Porter  was  in  the 
Pacific  with  the  Essex,  Commodore 
Rodgers  was  on  a  long  cruise  in  the 
North  Atlantic  in  his  favorite  frigate, 
KAVII>  POUTER'S  MONUMENT.  the  President,  44.  He  left  Boston  on 

1  David  Porter  was  born  in  Boston  on  the  1st  of  February,  1780.  His  first  experience  in  the  navy  was  in  the  frigate 
Constellation,  in  which  he  entered  as  midshipman  in  1T9S.  He  was  in  the  action  between  that  vessel  and  L' Imurgente, 
in  February,  1790,  when  his  gallantry  was  so  conspicuous  that  he  was  immediately  promoted  to  lieutenant.  He  accom 
panied  the  first  United  States  squadron  that  ever  sailed  to  the  Mediterranean  in  1803,  and  was  on  board  the  Philadelphia 
when  she  struck  on  the  rock  in  the  Harbor  of  Tripoli.  There  he  suffered  imprisonment.  In  1S06  he  was  appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  Enterprise,  and  cruised  in  the  Mediterranean  for  six  years.  On  his  return  to  the  United  States  he 
was  placed  in  command  of  the  flotilla  station  near  New  Orleans,  where  he  remained  until  war  was  declared  in  1812, 
when  he  was  promoted  to  captain,  and  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  frigate  Essex.  His  exploits  in  her  have  been 
recorded  in  the  text  of  this  chapter. 

The  following  are  the  inscriptions  on  Porter's  monument  in  Woodlawn  Cemetery,  Philadelphia : 

North  Side.—"  COMMODORE  DAVID  PORTER,  one  of  the  most  heroic  sons  of  Pennsylvania,  having  long  represented  MB 
country  with  fidelity  as  minister  resident  at  Constantinople,  died  at  that  city  in  the  patriotic  discharge  of  his  duty, 
March  3, 1843." 

South  Side.—"  In  the  War  of  1812  hia  merits  were  exhibited  not  merely  as  an  intrepid  commander,  but  in  exploring 
new  fields  of  success  and  glory.  A  career  of  brilliant  good  fortune  was  crowned  by  an  engagement  against  superior 
force  and  fearful  advantages,  which  history  records  as  an  event  among  the  most  remarkable  in  naval  warfare." 

Wfst  Side.— "His  early  youth  was  conspicuous  for  skill  and  gallantry  in  the  naval  services  of  the  United  States  when 
the  American  arms  were  exercised  with  romantic  chivalry  before  the  battlements  of  Tripoli.  He  was  on  all  occasions 


OF   THE    WAK    OF    1812.  735 


Rodgers's  unsuccessful  Cruise.  Capture  of  Merchant  Vessels  and  the  Highflyer. 

the  27th  of  April,  1813,  and  President  Road  on  the  30th,  in  company  with  the  Con 
gress,  38,  and,  after  a  cruise  of  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  days,  arrived  at  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  having  captured  eleven  sail  of  merchant  vessels  and  the  British  armed 
schooner  Highflyer. 

Rodgers  sailed  northeasterly,  in  the  direction  of  the  southern  edge  of  the  Gulf 
Stream,  until  the  8th  of  May,  when  the  President  and  Congress  parted  company,1  the 
former  cruising  off  more  to  the  southward  in  quest  of  the  British  commercial  ships 
in  the  West  India  trade.  She  was  unsuccessful,  and  Rodgers  turned  her  head  in  a 
direction  that  promised  the  good  fortune  of  intercepting  vessels  trading  between  the 
West  Indies  and  Halifax,  St.  John's  and  Quebec.  Again  there  was  no  success ;  and 
after  beating  about  among  almost  perpetual  fogs,  the  President  was  off  the  Azores 
early  in  June.  Rodgers  now  determined  to  try  his  fortune  in  the  North  Sea  in  search 
of  British  merchantmen.  Much  to  his  astonishment,  he  did  not  meet  with  a  single 
vessel  until  he  made  the  Shetland  Islands,  and  there  he  found  only  Danish  ships  trad 
ing  to  England  under  British  licenses. 

Rodgers's  supplies  now  began  to  fail,  and  he  put  into  North  Bergen,  in  Norway,  for 
the  purpose  of  replenishment.  In  this,  too,  he  was  disappointed.  An  alarming  scarc 
ity  of  food  prevailed  over  all  the  country,  and  he  was  able  to  obtain  only  water.  He 
put  to  sea,  and  cruised  about  in  those  high  latitudes  with  the  hope  of  falling  in  with 
a  fleet  of  English  merchantmen  which  were  to  sail  from  Archangel  at  the  middle  of 
July.  At  the  moment  when  he  expected  to  make  prizes  of  some  of  them,  he  fell  in 
with  two  British  ships  of  war.  Unable  to  contend  with  them,  the  President  fled, 
hotly  pursued  by  the  foe.  Owing  to  the  perpetual  daylight  (the  sun  at  that  season 
being  there  several  degrees  above  the  horizon  at  midnight),  they  were  enabled  to 
keep  up  the  chase  more  than  eighty  hours,  during  which  time  they  were  much  nearer 
the  President  than  was  desirable  on  the  part  of  the  pursued.  She  finally  escaped ; 
and  Rodgers,  neither  daunted  nor  disheartened,  and  having  his  stores  somewhat  re 
plenished  by  those  of  two  vessels  which  fell  into  his  hands  just  before  the  appearance 
of  the  war-ships,  turned  westward  to  intercept  merchantmen  eoming  out  of  and  going 
into  the  Irish  Channel.  Between  the  25th  of  July  and  the  1st  of  August  he  captured 
three  vessels,  when,  finding  that  the  enemy  had  a  superior  force  in  that  vicinity,  he 
found  it  expedient  to  change  his  ground.  After  making  a  complete  circuit  of  Ire 
land,  and  getting  into  the  latitude  of  Cape  Clear,  he  steered  for  the  Banks  of  New 
foundland,  near  which  he  made  two  more  captures.  From  one  of  these  he  learned 
that  the  Bellerophon,  74,  and  Hyperion  frigate  (both  British  vessels)  were  only  a  few 
miles  from  him.  He  did  not  fall  in  with  them,  however,  and  soon  stood  for  the  coast 
of  the  United  States.2 

On  the  23d  of  September  the  President  toward  evening  fell  in  with  the  British 
armed  schooner  Highflyer,  tender  to  Admiral  Warren's  flag-ship  St.  Domingo.  She 
was  a  fine  vessel  of  her  class ;  a  fast  sailer,  and  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Hutchinson.  When  discovered  she  was  six  or  seven  miles  distant.  By  a  stratagem 
Rodgers  decoyed  her  alongside  the  President,  and  captured  her  without  firing  a  gun. 
She  did  not  even  discover  that  the  President  was  her  enemy  until  the  stratagem  had 
succeeded.  It  was  done  in  this  wise :  Previous  to  his  departure  on  this  cruise  Rodg 
ers  was  placed  in  possession  of  some  of  the  British  signals.  These  he  had  ordered 
to  be  made  on  board  his  ship,  and  he  now  resolved  to  try  their  efficacy.  He  hoisted 
an  English  ensign  over  the  President.  The  Highflyer  answered  by  displaying  an 
other,  and  at  the  same  time  a  signal  from  a  mast-head.  To  Rodgers's  delight,  he  dis- 

among  the  bravest  of  the  brave  ;  zealous  in  the  performance  of  every  duty ;  ardent  and  resolute  in  the  trying  hour  of 
calamity  ;  composed  and  steady  in  the  blaze  of  victory." 

East  Side.—TXo  inscription.  On  the  upper  part  of  the  column  the  word  "  PORTER,"  in  a  wreath.  On  the  lower  part  a 
trident  and  anchor  crossed. 

1  The  Conffress  continued  at  sea  until  the  12th  of  December,  having  cruised  in  the  far-distant  waters  of  the  South 
American  coast.    She  captured  several  British  vessels,  among  them  two  armed  brigs  often  guns  each. 

2  Letter  of  Commodore  Rodgers  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  dated  Newport,  September  27, 1813. 


736  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

How  Roclgers  captured  the  Highflyer.  Astonishment  of  her  Commander.  Rodgers's  Service  to  his  Country. 

covered  that  he  possessed  its  compleme-nt.  He  then  signaled  that  his  vessel  was  the 
Sea  Horse,  one  of  the  largest  of  its  class  known  to  be  then  on  the  American  coast. 
The  Highflyer  at  once  bore  down,  hove  to  under  the  stern  of  the  President,  and  re 
ceived  one  of  Rodgers's  lieutenants  on  board,  who  was  dressed  in  British  uniform. 
He  bore  an  order  from  Rodgers  for  the  commander  of  the  Highflyer  to  send  his  sig 
nal-books  on  board  to  be  altered,  as  some  of  the  Yankees,  it  was  alleged,  had  obtained 
possession  of  some  of  them.  The  unsuspecting  lieutenant  obeyed,  and  Rodgers  was 
put  in  possession  of  the  key  to  the  whole  correspondence  of  the  British  Navy.1 

The  commander  of  the  Highflyer  soon  followed  his  signal-books.  He  was  pleased 
with  every  thing  on  board  the  supposed  Sea  Horse,  and  admired  even  the  scarlet 
uniform  of  Rodgers's  marines,  whom  he  mistook  for  British  soldiers.  When  invited 
into  the  cabin,  he  placed  in  the  commodore's  hands  a  bundle  of  dispatches  for  Ad 
miral  Warren,  and  informed  his  supposed  friend  that  the  main  object  of  the  British 
naval  commander-in-chief  on  the  American  station  at  that  time  was  the  capture  or 
destruction  of  the  President,  which  had  been  greatly  annoying  British  commerce,  and 
spreading  alarm  throughout  British  waters.  The  commodore  inquired  what  kind  of 
a  man  Rodgers  was,  when  the  lieutenant  replied  that  he  had  never  seen  him,  but  had 
heard  that  he  was  "  an  odd  fish,  and  hard  to  catch."  "  Sir,"  said  Rodgers,  with  start 
ling  emphasis,  "  do  you  know  what  vessel  you  are  on  board  of?"  "  Why,  yes,  sir," 
he  replied,  "  on  board  His  Majesty's  ship  Sea  Horse!"  "  Then,  sir,  you  labor  under  a 
mistake,"  said  Rodgers.  "  You  are  on  board  the  United  States  frigate  President,  and 
I  am  Commodore  Rodgers,  at  your  service !"  At  the  same  moment  the  band  struck 
up  Yankee  Doodle  on  the  President's  quarter-deck,  and  over  it  the  American  ensign 
was  displayed,  while  the  uniforms  of  the  marines  were  suddenly  changed  from  red  to 
blue  !2  The  British  commander  could  hardly  be  persuaded  to  believe  the  testimony 
of  his  own  senses  ;  and  he  was  astounded  when  he  found  himself  in  the  hands  of  Com 
modore  Rodgers.  He  had  been  one  of  Cockburn's  subalterns  when  that  marauder 
plundered  and  burned  Havre  de  Grace3  a  few  months  before  ;  and  it  is  affirmed  that 
Lieutenant  Hutchinson  had  now  in  his  possession  a  SAvord  which  he  earned  away  from 
Commodore  Rodgers's  house  on  that  occasion.4  He  had  been  warned  by  Captain 
Oliver,  when  receiving  his  instructions  as  commander  of  the  Highflyer,  to  take  care 
and  not  be  outwitted  by  the  Yankees.  "  Especially  be  careful,"  said  Oliver,  "  not  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  Commodore  Rodgers,  for  if  he  comes  across  you,  he  will  hoist 
you  upon  his  jib-boom  and  carry  you  into  Boston  !"5  But  Rodgers  treated  the  sin 
ner  with  all  the  courtesy  due  to  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  he  was  soon  allowed  to  go  at 
large  on  parole.6 

Three  days  after  the  capture  of  the  Highflyer1  Rodgers  sailed  into  Newport  Har 
bor,  accompanied  by  his  prize,  her  commander,  and  fifty-five  other  prisoners.  His 
cruise,  as  he  said,  had  not  been  productive  of  much  additional  lustre  to  the  American 
Navy,  but  he  had  rendered  his  country  signal  service  by  harassing  the  enemy's  com 
merce,  and  keeping  more  than  twenty  vessels  in  search  of  him  for  several  weeks.  He 
had  captured  eleven  merchant  vessels,  and  two  hundred  and  seventy-one  prisoners. 
All  of  the  latter,  excepting  the  fifty-five,  had  been  paroled,  and  sent  home  in  the  cap 
tured  vessels. 

1  See  a  description  of  signals  on  pages  182-184. 

2  Statement  of  Commodore  Rodgers  after  the  war  to  a- friend  at  his  own  table  in  Washington  City.    Letter  of  Com 
modore  Rodgers  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  September  27,  1813.  3  See  page  6T2. 

4  National  Advocate,  November,  1813.  5  Niles's  Register,  v.,  129. 

6  George  Hutchinson  entered  the  British  navy  as  midshipman  in  1T06,  and  was  active  in  the  various  official  grades 
through  which  he  passed  up  to  that  of  commander  in  the  autumn  of  1821.  He  was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  1806, 
and  in  1811  he  was  assigned  to  a  station  on  the  St. Domingo,  preparing  for  the  American  coast.  He  first  commanded  the 
Dolphin,  a  vessel  captured  by  the  British  from  the  Americans  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rappahannock  early  in  April,  1813, 
and  converted  into  a  tender  of  the  St.Domingo.  See  page  669.  He  was  afterward  commander  of  another  tender  of  the 
flag-ship,  the  Highflyer,  and  was  captured  in  her,  as  we  have  observed  in  the  text,  on  the  26th  of  September,  1813.  Aft 
er  his  promotion  to  commander  in  the  British  navy  in  1821,  he  retired  from  active  service,  and  was  yet  on  the  half-pay 
list  in  1849.  See  O'Byrne's  Naval  Biography.  '  This  was  the  only  man-of-war  ever  captured  by  Rodgers. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812.  737 


Another  Cruise  of  the  President.  She  runs  the  Blockade  at  New  York.  Honors  to  Commander  Rodgers. 

Commodore  Rodgers  sailed  from  Newport  on  another  cruise  in  the  President  on 
the  5th  of  December,11  with  a  stiff  breeze  from  the  north-northwest,  and  got 

a  1  Q1  3 

well  to  sea  without  falling  in  with  a  British  squadron,  as  he  expected  to.     On 
the  following  day  he  captured  the  Cornet,  which  had  been  taken  from  the  Americans 
by  British  cruisers,  and  then  sailed  southward.     In  the  vicinity  of  Barbadoes  he 
captured  a  British  merchantman  on  the  5th  of  January,1"  on  the  7th  anoth-     1 1314. 
er,  and  on  the  9th  another.     He  remained  to  the  windward  of  Barbadoes 
until  the  16th,c  when  he  ran  down  into  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and  cruised    cjanuary- 
unsuccessfully  in  that  region  for  a  while.     He  finally  captured  and  sunk  a  British 
merchantman,  and  then  sailed  for  the  coast  of  Florida.     Proceeding  northward,  he 
was  off  Charleston  Bar  on  the  llth  of  February,*1  but  did  not  enter.     He  con 
tinued  his  voyage  up  the  coast,  chasing  and  being  chased,  and,  dashing  through 
a  vigilant  British  blockading  squadron  off  Sandy  Hook,  he  sailed  into  New  York 
harbor  on  the  evening  of  the  18th.1    He  was  greeted  with  honors  by  the  citizens  of 
New  York ;  and  on  the  7th  of  March  a  dinner  was  given  in  compliment  to  him  at 
Tammany  Hall.     Most  of  the  notables  of  the  city  were  present ;  and  it  was  on  that 
occasion  that  Rodgers  gave  the  following  toast,  which  was  received  with  great  en 
thusiasm  by  the  company  present,  and  praised  by  the  administration  newspapers 
throughout  the  country  :  "  Peace — if  it  can  be  obtained  without  the  sacrifice  of  na 
tional  honor  or  the  abandonment  of  maritime  rights ;  otherwise  war  until  peace  shall 
be  secured  without  the  sacrifice  of  either."    More  than  three  hundred  gentlemen  were 
at  the  dinner,  among  whom  were  many  ship-masters.     A  toast  to  the  commodore 
elicited  eighteen  cheers,  and  a  song  hastily  written  that  morning  was  sung  by  one 
of  the  guests.2 

The  President  being  in  need  of  a  thorough  overhauling,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
offered  to  Commodore  Rodgers  the  command  of  the  Guerriere,  which  might  much 
sooner  be  made  ready  for  sea.3  The  commodore  accepted  the  offer,  and  repaired  to 
Philadelphia,  where  the  Guerriere,  44,  was  being  fitted  out.  Finding  her  not  so  near 
ly  ready  as  he  had  supposed  her  to  be,4  the  commodore  informed  the  secretary  that 
he  preferred  to  retain  command  of  the  President.  But  the  Secretary,  in  the  interim, 
had  offered  the  President  to  Decatur.  Rodgers  courteously  allowed  that  command 
er  to  take  his  choice  of  vessels,  when  he  chose  that  which  had  borne  the  broad  pen 
nant  of  Commodoi-e  Rodgers  for  several  years.5 

Here  closes  the  story  of  the  naval  operations  of  the  war  for  the  year  1813.  An 
other  field  of  observation  now  claims  our  consideration. 

1  Letter  of  Commodore  Rodgers  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  February  19, 1813.  2  See  Niles's  Register,  vi.,  44. 

3  "Commodore  Rodgers,"  said  a  writer  at  this  time,  "is,  we  conjecture,  between  forty  and  forty-five  years  of  age;  a 
man  of  few  words,  and  not  conspicuous  for  the  love  of  parade  or  dress  ;  but  his  ship,  for  interior  order,  neatness,  ele 
gance,  and  taste,  may  vie  with  any  that  floats  on  the  ocean.  It  is  said  that  his  discipline  is  perfect ;  and  this,  perhaps, 
may  account  for  the  opinion  that  he  is  distant  and  very  reserved  to  those  under  him  ;  but  his  reserve  in  company  car 
ries  the  air  of  the  reserve  of  the  studious  man,  without  the  least  trait  of  haughtiness,  for  humanity  and  great  attention 
to  the  care  of  the  youth  under  his  command  is  a  pleasing  trait  in  this  brave  man's  character."— The  Polyanthus,  Boston. 

*  The  Guerriwe  was  launched  on  the  20th  of  July,  and  was  the  first  two-decked  ship  that  ever  properly  belonged  to 
the  American  Navy.— Cooper. 

5  Rodgers's  evasion  of  the  blockade  was  a  cause  of  deep  mortification  to  the  British,  for  three  of  their  large  ships  of 
war  were  on  the  alert,  the  nearest  of  which  was  the  Plantagenet,  74,  Captain  Lloyd.  Rodgers  expected  a  brush  with 
them,  and  cleared  his  ship  for  action.  He  even  fired  a  gun  to  windward  as  a  proof  of  his  willingness  to  fight,  but  he 
was  not  molested.  On  returning  to  England,  Lloyd  excused  himself  by  alleging  a  mutiny  in  his  ship,  and  on  that 
charge  several  of  the  sailors  were  executed. 

3  A 


738  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Louisiana  and  the  Floridas.  Insurrectionary  Movements.  Events  at  Baton  Rouge. 


CHAPTER  XXXIH. 

"  Oh,  dim  waned  the  moon  through  the  flitting  clouds  of  night, 

With  a  dubious  and  shadowy  gleaming, 
Where  the  ramparts  of  Minis  rose  stilly  on  the  sight, 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  was  streaming. 

And  far  still  that  wild  horde  of  savage  birth  they  deem'd, 

And  far  every  fearful  intrusion, 
Till  the  war-hatchet  swift  o'er  their  fated  fortress  gleam'd, 

Midst  despair,  havoc,  death,  and  confusion." 

A  SOUVENIR  OP  FOKT  MIMS,  BY  C.  L.  S.  JONES. 

'  ITHERTO,  in  the  course  of  our  narrative,  we  have  only  observed 
hints  of  hostile  operations  in  the  more  southern  portion  of  the 
republic,  beginning  with  the  endeavors  of  Tecumtha  to  induce 
the  Creeks,  Cherokees,  Choctaws,  and  other  tribes  in  the  Gulf 
region1  to  become  a  part  of  his  great  Indian  Confederacy  against 
the  white  people.  We  have  now  reached  a  point  in  the  story 
where  a  consideration  of  the  events  of  the  war  in  that  region  is 
necessary  to  the  unity  of  the  history. 
Let  us  first  consider  the  geographical  and  political  aspect  of  the  Gulf  region. 
In  a  former  chapter  we  have  considered  the  purchase  by  and  cession  to  the  United 
States  of  the  vast  Territory  known  as  Louisiana.2  Eastward  of  that  Territory,  at  the 
time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  1812,  and  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
was  a  region  in  possession  of  the  Spaniards,  known  as  East  and  West  Florida.  The 
former  extended  from  the  Perdido  River  (now  the  boundary-line  between  the  states 
of  Florida  and  Alabama)  eastward  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  including  the  great  penin 
sula  lying  south  of  Georgia,  and  stretching  over  almost  six  degrees  of  latitude.  The 
latter  extended  westward  from  the  Perdido  to  (as  the  Spaniards  claimed)  the  island 
of  Orleans,  on  the  Mississippi.  The  northern  boundary  was  partly  on  and  partly  a 
little  below  the  thirty-first  parallel. 

During  the  autumn  of  1810,  and  winter  of  1810  and  1811,  movements  were  inaugu 
rated  which  finally  led  to  the  absolute  possession  of  both  Floridas  by  the  United 
States.  In  October,  that  portion  of  the  claimed  Spanish  territory  lying  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  became  the  theatre  of  insurrectionary  operations.  It  was  inhabited  chiefly 
by  persons  of  British  and  American  birth.  These  seized  the  old  fort  at  Baton  Rouge ; 
met  in  Convention  ;  declared  themselves  independent  of  Spain  ;  and  adopted  a  flag 
with  a  lone  star  upon  it,  as  the  revolutionists  in  Texas  did  many  years  later.3  The 

1  These  families  came  under  the  general  name  of  Mobilian  tribes ;  and  their  territory  originally  was  next  in  extent  to 
that  of  the  Algonquins,  stretching  along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi  River  more  than  six 
hundred  miles,  up  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  along  the  Atlantic  to  the  Cape  Pear.    It  comprised  a 
greater  portion  of  the  present  State  of  Georgia,  a  part  of  South  Carolina,  the  whole  of  Florida,  Alabama,  and  Mississip 
pi,  and  portions  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.    The  nation  was  divided  into  three  grand  confederacies,  namely,  Musco- 
gees  or  Creeks,  Choctaws,  and  Chickasaws.    The  Creek  confederacy  included  the  Creeks  proper,  the  Seminoles  of  Florida, 
and  the  Yamassees,  or  Savannahs,  of  Georgia. 

The  Creeks  occupied  the  country  from  the  Atlantic  westward  to  the  high  lands  which  separate  the  waters  of  the  Ala 
bama  and  Tombigbee  Rivers. 

The  Choctaws  inhabited  the  beautiful  country  bordering  upon  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  extending  west  of  the  Creeks 
to  the  Mississippi. 

The  Cherokees  were  the  mountaineers  of  the  South,  and  inhabited  the  very  beautiful  land  extending  from  the  Caro 
lina  Broad  River  on  the  east  to  the  Alabama  on  the  west,  including  the  whole  of  the  upper  portion  of  Georgia  from  the 
head  waters  of  the  Alatamaha  to  those  of  the  Tennessee.  It  is  one  of  the  most  delightful  regions  in  the  United  States. 

2  See  page  131. 

3  There  was  a  family  named  Kemper  in  that  region  who  had  suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards.    They  were 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  739 

West  Florida  claimed  by  the  United  States.  Military  Movements  therein.  Intermeddling  of  a  British  Official. 

Spanish  Loyalists  made  slight  resistance, but  it  was  soon  overcome;  and  the  insur 
gents  asked  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  give  them  aid  and  recognition. 
Already  that  government  had  claimed  a  right,  under  the  act  of  cession,  to  the  entire 
Territory  of  West  Florida,  and  that  claim  was  a  topic  for  dispute  between  it  and 
that  of  Spain.  Instead,  therefore,  of  countenancing  the  insurgents  in  their  efforts  to 
set  up  for  themselves,  the  President  issued  a  proclamation  on  the  27th  of  October,  in 
which  he  declared  the  Territory  of  West  Florida,  as  far  east  as  the  Pearl  River,  to 
be  in  the  possession  of  the  United  States.  W.  C.  C.  Claiborne,  the  governor  of  the 
Orleans  Territory  (afterward  called  the  State  of  Louisiana),  then  in  Washington,  was 
hurried  off  to  take  possession  of  it,  avowedly  not  only  as  a  right,  but  as  a  friendly 
act  toward  Spain,  whose  rights  were  as  much  jeoparded  by  the  revolutionary  move 
ment  as  was  those  of  the  United  States.  Claiborne  was  clothed  with  powers  to  em 
ploy  troops  then  in  the  Mississippi  Territory,  if  necessary,  to  enable  him  to  take  and 
hold  possession  of  the  country. 

Not  long  after  this,  a  body  of  men,  chiefly  Americans  from  Fort  Stoddart,  on  the 
Mobile  River,  led  by  Colonel  Reuben  Kemper,  who  professed  to  be  acting  under  the 
authority  of  the  Florida  insurgents,  menaced  the  port  of  Mobile.1  They  were  driven 
away,  but  still  threatened  that  post ;  and  the  Spanish  governor,  Folch,  thoroughly 
alarmed,  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Monroe,  the  American  Secretary  of  State,  in  which  he, 
expressed  a  desire,  in  the  event  of  his  not  being  speedily  re-enforced  from  Havana  or 
Vera  Cruz,  to  treat  for  the  surrender  of  the  whole  province  of  Florida.  At  about  the 
same  time,  Morier,  the  British  Charge  d' Affaires,  residing  at  Baltimore,  formally  pro 
tested  against  such  acquisition  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  as  an  act  unfriendly 
to  Spain,  then  struggling  with  the  gigantic  power  of  Napoleon. 

When  Congress  assembled  in  December,*  the  question  of  the  occupation  of 
Florida  by  the  United  States  had  assumed  a  very  important  aspect  in  the  pub 
lic  mind.     The  Federalists  were  vehemently  opposed  to  all  farther  acquisition  of  ter 
ritory;  and  when,  early  in  January ,b  the  letter  of  the  Spanish  governor    bjanuary3i 
and  the  protest  of  the  British  charge  were  laid  before  Congress,  they  pro 
duced  considerable  excitement.     Morier's  protest  was  considered  simply  an  imper 
tinence  by  the  government  party,  while  the  intimations  of  Folch  were  pondered  se 
riously,  and  acted  upon  after  some  debate.     In  secret  session  a  resolution  was  adopt 
ed,  in  \\4»ich  was  expressed  an  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  al 
low  the  Territory  in  question  to  pass  from  the  possession  of  Spain  into  that  of  any 
other  power.     An  act  was  also  passed  in  secret  session0  authorizing  the 
President  to  take  possession  of  both  Floridas  under  any  arrangement  that 
might  be  entered  into  with  the  local  authorities;  or,  in  the  event  of  an  attempt  to  do 
the  same  by  any  foreign  power,  to  take  and  hold  possession  by  force  of  arms.     It  was 
believed,  and  with  reason,  that  the  British  were  about  to  assume  control  of  that 
country,  under  the  provisions  of  some  secret  arrangement  with  Spain ;  and,  to  fore- 
daring  men  (Reuben  and  Samnel),  and  resolved  to  get  rid  of  their  hated  rulers.    Impatient  of  the  delay  of  the  United 
States  in  taking  possession  of  West  Florida,  they  excited  the  people  of  Bayou  Sara,  and  others  in  the  neighborhood,  to 
take  up  arms.    They  assembled  at  St.  Francisville,  marched  upon  Baton  Rouge,  took  it  by  surprise  after  a  slight  skirm 
ish,  in  which  Governor  Grandpre  was  killed,  and  the  town  and  fort  became  the  possession  of  the  insurgents.    The 
Spaniards  fled  eastward,  some  to  Mobile,  and  some  to  Pensacola.    The  revolutionists  then  assembled  in  Convention  ; 
prepared  and  issued  a  declaration  of  independence,  modeled  after  that  composed  by  Jefferson,  and  declared  their  right 
and  intention  to  form  treaties  and  establish  commerce  with  other  nations. 

1  His  professions  were  true.  He  was  dispatched  to  the  Tombigbee  by  the  Convention  for  the  purpose  of  enlisting 
men  to  expel  the  Spaniards  from  the  Mobile  district.  In  that  business  he  was  assisted  by  a  wealthy  citizen,  Colonel 
James  Caller,  who,  like  most  of  the  residents  in  that  region,  hated  the  Spaniards.  Troops  were  secretly  raised.  Flat- 
boats,  with  provisions,  were  sent  down  the  Tensaw  River  to  Smith's  plantation.  Daring  spirits  gathered  around  the 
leaders;  and  a  company  of  horsemen,  under  Captain  Bernard,  scoured  the  country  for  arms,  ammunition,  and  provi 
sions.  A  young  man,  named  Sibly,  was  sent  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  fort,  then  commanded  by  Governor  Folch. 
The  invaders  gathered  near  Mobile,  and  there  drank  and  frolicked  to  their  hearts'  content.  An  old  man,  who  drank 
their  whisky  and  won  their  confidence,  betrayed  their  weakness  to  the  governor.  The  latter  sent  two  hundred  regu 
lar  soldiers,  under  a  competent  leader,  who  surprised  them  at  near  midnight,  and  broke  up  their  camp.  This  was  in 
November,  1310.  Major  Hargrove  and  nine  men  were  captured,  ironed,  and  sent  to  Havana,  where  they  suffered  five 
years  in  the  dungeons  of  Moro  Castle.— See  Pickett's  Hiatory  of  Alabama,  ii.,  235. 


740  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Events  near  Mobile.  Admission  of  Louisiana.  Insurrection  in  East  Florida. 

stall  such  action,  Governor  Claiborne  had  already  asserted  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States  over  a  considerable  portion  of  Florida  eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  aft 
er  some  opposition  from  Ful- 
war  Skipwith,  formei-ly  a  dip- 
/?  lomatic  agent  of  the  United 
*<--hr-- — •  States  in  France,  who  hadbeen 
ff£4///h/  elected  governor  of  their  do 
main  by  the  insurgents.  Find 
ing  himself  supported  chiefly 
by  the  dregs  of  society  only,  Skipwith  yielded,  and  retired  to  private  life.  Soon  aft 
erward,  a  small  detachment  of  American  regulars,  under  Captain  (afterward  Major 
General)  Edmund  P.  Gaines,  appeared  before  Mobile  and  demanded  its  surrender. 
Governor  Folch  refused.  Presently  Colonel  Gushing  arrived  from  New  Orleans 
with  gun-boats,  artillery,  and  troops,  and  encamped  three  weeks  at  Orange  Grove, 
when  he  marched  up  to  Fort  Stoddart,  and  formed  a  cantonment  at  Mount  Vernon. 
He  came  professedly  to  defend  the  Spaniards  against  the  insurgents,  who  made  no 
farther  efforts  to  obtain  possession  of  Mobile. 

Louisiana  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  state  on  the  8th  of  April,  1812.  By  a 
separate  act,  that  part  of  Florida,  as  far  eastward  of  the  Mississippi  River  as  the 
•  April  14,  Pearl  River,  was  annexed  to  that  new  state  ;a  and  by  another  act  the  re- 
1812-  maining  territory,  as  far  as  the  Perdido  River,  eastward  of  Mobile  Bay 
(with  the  exception  of  the  post  of  Mobile,  yet  in  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards),  was 
b  annexed  to  the  Territory  of  Mississippi,1*  then  asking  for  admission  as  a 

state. 

An  insurrection  had  broken  out  in  East  Florida  in  the  mean  time.  Its  chief  theatre 
was  oh  the  coast,  near  the  Georgia  border.  Brigadier  General  George  Mathews,  of 
the  Georgia  militia  (a  soldier  of  the  Revolution),  who  had  been  appointed  commis 
sioner  under  the  secret  act  of  the  session  in  1810-'ll,to  secure  the  province  should 
it  be  offered,  was  the  chief  instigator  of  the  disturbance,  for  the  Georgians  were  anx 
ious  to  seize  the  adjoining  territory.  Amelia  Island,  lying  a  little  below  the  bound 
ary-line,  seemed  to  be  a  good  as  well  as  justifiable  base  of  operations.  The  fine  harbor 
of  its  capital,  Fernandina,  was  a  place  of  great  resort  for  smugglers  during  the  days 
of  the  embargo ;  and,  as  a  neutral  port,  might  be  made  a  dangerous  place.  ^ he  pos 
session  of  this  island  and  harbor  was  therefore  important  to  the  Americans.  A  pre 
text  for  seizing  it  was  not  long  wanting.  The  insurgents  planted  the  standard  of 
revolt  on  the  bluff  opposite  the  town  of  St.  Mary's,  on  the  border-line,  in  March,  1812. 
Some  United  States  gun 
boats,  under  Commodore 
Campbell,  were  in  the 

St.  Mary's  River,  and  Ma-  „    .  v 

thews  had  some  United 
States  troops  at  his  command  near. 

c  Igl2  On  the  17th  of  March0  the  insurgents,  two  hundred  and  twenty  in  number, 
sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  Fernandina  demanding  the  surrender  of  the  town  and 
island.  The  American  gun-boats  came  down  at  about  the  same  time.  The  author 
ities  bowed  in  submission,  and  General  Mathews,  assuming  the  character  of  a  pro 
tector,  took  possession  of  the  place  in  the  name  of  the  United  States.  Commodore 
Campbell  declared,  in  a  letter  to  Don  Justo  Lopez,  the  commandant  of  Amelia  Island, 
that  the  naval  forces  were  not  intended  to  act  in  the  name  of  the  United  States,  "but 
to  aid  and  support,"  he  said,  "  a  large  proportion  of  your  countrymen  in  arms,  who 
have  thought  proper  to  declare  themselves  independent."1 

A  flag  was  raised  over  Fernandina  on  which  were  inscribed  the  words  "  Vox  po- 

1  MS.  Letter  in  the  Navy  Department. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


Seizure  of  East  Florida  by  United  States  Officials.  Expedition  against  Mobile.  General  Wilkinson. 

puli  lex  salutis"  and  on  the  19th  the  town  was  formally  given  up  to  the  United 
States  authorities.  A  custom-house  was  immediately  established ;  the  floating  prop 
erty  in  the  harbor  was  considered  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States  flag, 
and  smuggling  ceased.  Then  the  insurgents,  made  eight  hundred  strong  by  re-en 
forcements  from  Georgia,  and  accompanied  by  some  troops  furnished  by  General  Ma- 
thews,  besieged  the  Spanish  governor  in  St.  Augustine,  for  it  was  feared  that  the  Brit 
ish  might  help  the  Spaniards  in  recovering  what  they  had  lost  in  the  Territory.  This 
was  a  kind  of  filibustering  which  the  United  States  government  would  not  counte 
nance,  and  David  B.  Mitchell,1  governor  of  Georgia,  was  appointed  to  supersede  Ma- 
thews'1  as  commissioner.  But  the  change  of  men  did  not  effect  a  change  » April  10, 
of  measures.  Mitchell  believed  that  Congress  would  sanction  Mathews's 
proceedings.  The  Lower  House  did  actually  pass  a  bill,b  in  secret  session,  * June  21- 
authorizing  the  President  to  take  possession  of  East  Florida.  The  Senate  rejected 
it,  for  it  was  not  desirable,  at  the  moment  when  war  had  been  declared  against  Great 
Britain,  to  provoke  hostilities  with  another  power  unnecessarily.  There  was  incon 
sistency  in  it,  which  the  Opposition  were  not  slow  to  perceive  and  make  use  of. 
"  Say  nothing  now,"  they  said,  "  about  Sir  James  Craig,  of  Canada,  and  John  Henry,2 
or  Copenhagen."3  They  denounced  the  whole  movement  of  the  government  in  Flor 
ida,  East  and  West,  as  dastardly — a  seizure  of  the  possessions  of  a  friendly  power 
"by  Madison's  army  and  navy." 

We  have  observed  that  the  United  States  claimed,  under  the  act  of  the  cession  of 
Louisiana,  all  of  West  Florida,  including  Mobile;  and  that  a  large  portion  of  that 
territory  had  been  annexed  to  that  of  Mississippi.  When  the  Congress  and  the 
Cabinet  had  determined  upon  war  with  Great  Britain  in  the  winter  and  spring  of 
1812,  the  importance  of  the  post  of  Mobile  to  the  United  States  was  very  apparent, 
and  as  early  as  March  in  that  year,  General  Wilkinson,  then  in  command  of  the  United 
States  troops  in  the  Southwest,  was  ordered  to  take  possession  of  it.  At  near  the 
close  of  March0  he  sent  Commodore  Shaw,  with  a  detachment  of  gun-boats,  to 

c  1g19 

occupy  the  Bay  of  Mobile  and  cut  off  communications  with  Pensacola ;  and 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Bowyer,  then  stationed  with  a  respectable  number  of  troops  at 
Fort  Stoddart,  about  forty  miles  above  Mobile,  was  ordered  to  march  on  the  latter 
post  at  a  day's  notice,  for  the  purpose  of  investing  Fort  Charlotte. 

Wilkinson  left  New  Orleans  on  the  29th  of  March,  and  embarked  on  board  the 
sloop  Alligator.  The  troops  were  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Pass  Christian.  The 
weather  was  unfavorable  for  the  schooner,  and  the  general  took  a  barge.  He  came 
near  losing  his  life  by  the  upsetting  of  this  little  vessel.  He  and  his  fellow-passen 
gers  clung  to  its  upturned  keel  a  long  time,  when,  exhausted  and  famishing,  they 
were  picked  up  by  some  Spanish  fishermen,  who  towed  their  barge  ashore  and  right 
ed  it,  and  allowed  the  rescued  men  to  proceed.  They  reached  Petit  Coquille  at  mid 
night,  and  on  the  following  morning  an  express  was  sent  to  Boyer  with  orders  for 
him  to  come  down  the  river,  and  take  a  position  opposite  the  little  village  of  Mobile. 

The  troops  from  New  Orleans  arrived  in  Mobile  Bay  on  the  12th  of  April,d 
and  at  two  o'clock  the  next  morning  landed  opposite  the  site  of  the  Pavilion, 
not  far  from  the  fort,  then  commanded  by  Captain  Cayetano  Perez.4     The  garrison 
was  surprised.     The  first  intimation  given  them  of  the  presence  of  an  enemy  was 
the  sounding  of  Wilkinson's  bugles  for  an  advance.     Six  hundred  men,  in  column,  ap 
peared  before  Fort  Charlotte  at  noon,  and  demanded  its  surrender.     The  negotia- 

1  David  B.  Mitchell  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  at  this  time  was  forty-seven  years  of  age.  He  arrived  at  Savannah 
in  1783,  to  take  possession  of  property  there  which  had  been  bequeathed  to  him,  where  he  studied  law.  He  became  so 
licitor  general  of  Georgia  in  1795,  and  for  several  years  held  various  offices  civil  and  military.  He  was  elected  governor 
of  Georgia  in  1809,  and  held  that  office  until  1813.  He  was  re-elected  in  1815.  He  was  active  in  public  affairs  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  Baldwin  County,  Georgia.  2  See  pages  219  to  221  inclusive.  3  Note  4,  page  177. 

*  On  the  13th,  General  Wilkinson  issued  a  proclamation  and  sent  it  into  the  town  of  Mobile,  in  which  he  assured  the 
inhabitants  that  he  came  not  to  injure,  but  to  protect  them,  and  to  extend  over  them  the  rightful  jurisdiction  and  laws 
of  the  United  States.  He  gave  permission  to  those  who  chose  to  leave  the  place,  to  go,  with  their  goods,  in  safety. 


742  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Surrender  of  Mobile  by  the  Spaniards.  Tennesseeans  under  Andrew  Jackson  preparing  for  War. 

tions  to  that  end  were  short,  and  on  the  15th  the  Spaniards  evacuated  the  fort  and 
retired  to  Pensacola.  The  Americans  at  once  entered,  took  possession,  and  proceeded 
to  strengthen  the  post.  Wilkinson  sent  nine  pieces  of  artillery  to  Mobile  Point, 
which  were  placed  in  battery  there,  and,  marching  to  the  Perdido,  began  the  con 
struction  of  fortifications  there  under  the  superintendence  of  Colonel  John  Bowyer. 
This  work  was  soon  abandoned,  and  Fort  Bowyer  was  commenced  on  Mobile  Point 
by  some  workmen  under  Captain  Reuben  Chamberlain.  Such  was  the  beginning  of 
movements  which  resulted  in  the  acquisition  of  all  Florida  by  the  Americans. 

When  the  war  broke  out  there  was  an  already  famous  militia  general  in  Tennessee, 
well  known  all  over  the  settled  portion  of  the  Mississippi  Basin.  It  was  Andrew 
Jackson,  who,  as  we  have  observed,  became  somewhat  entangled  in  the  toils  of  the 
wily  spider,  Aaron  Burr,  for  a  while.1  He  was  living  on  a  fine  plantation  a  few  miles 
from  Nashville. 

War  was  declared  on  the  19th  of  June  by  the  proclamation  of  the  President.  Ti 
dings  of  it  reached  Jackson  on  the  26th,  and  on  the  same  day  he  authorized  Governor 
Blount  to  tender  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  the  services  of  himself  and 
twenty-five  hundred  men  of  his  division  as  volunteers  for  the  war.  Under  other  cir 
cumstances  the  offer  would  have  been  rejected.  Jackson  was  no  "  court  favorite ;" 
on  the  contrary,  he  was  obnoxious  to  the  President  and  his  Cabinet.  He  had  soundly 
berated  the  government,  when  Madison  was  chief  minister,  in  a  speech  in  the  streets 
of  Richmond,  as  the  "persecutor  of  Aaron  Burr."  He  had  openly  shown  his  prefer 
ence  for  Monroe  over  Madison,  and  had  called  the  Secretary  of  War  an  "  old  granny." 
But  the  government  needed  strength,  and  was  not  willing  to  reject  any  that  might 
be  offered.  The  President  received  Jackson's  generous  offer  with  gratitude,  and  ac 
cepted  it,  he  said,  "with  peculiar  satisfaction."  The  Secretary  of  War  wrote  a  cordial 
,  Apri]  ltj  letter  of  acceptance  to  Governor  Blount,a  and  that  officer  publicly  thanked 

1812-  Jackson  and  his  volunteers  for  the  honor  they  had  done  the  State  of  Tennes 
see  by  their  patriotic  movement.2 

For  several  weeks  Jackson  remained  on  his  farm  impatiently  awaiting  orders  to  go 
to  the  field.  All  was  calmness  in  the  Gulf  region,  for  the  energies  of  the  government 
were  bent  to  the  one  great  labor,  apparently,  of  invading  and  subjugating  Canada. 
When  that  effort  failed,  and  Hull's  campaign  ended  in  terrible  disaster  at  Detroit, 
sagacious  men  believed  that  the  British,  not  needing  so  many  troops  on  the  Northern 
frontier,  would  turn  their  attention  to  the  seizure  of  Gulf  ports  and  an  invasion  of 
the  sparsely  settled  country  in  that  region.  The  government  was  also  impressed 
with  this  surmise,  and  late  in  Octoberb  called  on  Governor  Blount  for  fif- 

October  21 

teen  hundred  Tennesseeans  to  be  sent  to  New  Orleans  to  re-enforce  Gen 
eral  Wilkinson.  Blount  made  a  requisition  upon  Jackson  for  that  purpose,  and  the 
general  at  once  entered  upon  that  militaiy  career  which  rendered  his  name  immortal. 
On  the  10th  of  December,  a  day  long  remembered  in  Middle  Tennessee  because  of 
deep  snow  and  intense  cold,  Jackson's  troops,  over  two  thousand  in  number,  assem 
bled  at  Nashville,  bearing  clothing  for  both  cold  and  warm  weather.  When  organ 
ized,  they  consisted  of  two  regiments  of  infantry  of  seven  hundred  men  each,  com 
manded  respectively  by  Colonels  William  Hall  and  Thomas  H.  Benton,  and  a  corps 
of  cavalry  six  hundred  and  seventy  in  number,  under  Colonel  John  Coffee.  William 
B.  Lewis,  Jackson's  near  neighbor  and  friend,  was  his  quartermaster;  and  his  brigade 
inspector  was  William  Carroll,  a  young  man  from  Pennsylvania,  The  troops  were 
composed  of  the  best  physical  and  social  materials  of  the  state,  many  of  the  young 
men  being  representatives  of  some  of  the  first  families  in  Tennessee  in  point  of  posi 
tion;  and  on  the  7th  of  January,  1813,  when  every  thing  was  in  readiness,  the  little 
army  went  down  the  Cumberland  River  in  a  flotilla  of  small  boats,  excepting  the 
mounted  men,  whom  Coffee  led  across  the  country  to  join  Jackson  at  Natchez,  on  the 

»  See  page  136.  2  Partou's  /•?/„•  of  Andrew  Jackson,  i.,  366. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  743 

The  Tennesseeans  on  the  Mississippi  Eiver.  Their  Treatment  by  the  Government.  Jackson's  Kindness. 

Mississippi.  With  sly  sarcasm,  whose  shaft  was  pointed  at  some  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  militiamen  on  the  Niagara  frontier  at  that  time,  the  energetic  leader, 
in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  said :  "  I  am  now  at  the  head  of  2070  volunteers, 
the  choicest  of  our  citizens,  who  go  at  the  call  of  their  country  to  execute  the  will  of 
the  government,  icho  have  no  constitutional  scruples^  and,  if  the  government  orders, 
will  rejoice  at  the  opportunity  of  placing  the  American  eagle  on  the  ramparts  of  Mo 
bile,  JPensacola,  and  Fort  Augustine,  eifectually  banishing  from  the  Southern  coasts  all 
British  influence."  Jackson  was  then  in  his  prime  of  manhood,  being  forty-six  years 
of  age. 

After  many' stirring  adventures  among  the  ice  in  the  Cumberland  and  the  Ohio, 
and  the  floods  and  tempests  of  the  Mississippi,  for  nine-and-thirty  days,  the  little  flo 
tilla  reached  Natchez,a  a  thousand  miles,  by  the  route  it  had  taken,  from  'February  15, 
its  place  of  departure.  Colonel  Coffee,  with  his  mounted  men,  was  al 
ready  near  there  to  welcome  them.  The  troops  were  in  glorious  spirits.  The  love 
of  adventure  had  been  heightened  by  its  gratification,  and  all  were  impatient  to  push 
forward  to  New  Orleans,  a  land  of  warmth  and  beauty  as  it  appeared  to  their  imag 
inations.  The  officers,  especially,  wished  to  go  rapidly  forward,  for  they  dreamed  of 
glory  in  the  conquest  of  Mobile  and  Pensacola,  and  delicious  resting-places  among 
the  orange  groves  of  the  Gulf  shore.  They  were  disappointed.  A  messenger  had  ar 
rived  at  Natchez  with  orders  from  Wilkinson  for  them  to  remain  where  they  were,  as 
he  had  no  instructions  concerning  them  or  their  employment  in  his  department,  nor 
had  he  any  quarters  prepared  for  their  accommodation.  He  was  evidently  fearful  of 
being  superseded  by  Jackson,  who  was  a  major  general  of  volunteers  in  the  United 
States  service,  for  he  said  in  his  letter  to  that  leader  that  caused  him  to  halt,  that  he 
should  not  think  of  yielding  his  command  until  regularly  relieved  by  superior  au 
thority.  Jackson  disembarked  his  troops,  and  encamped  them  in  a  pleasant  spot  near 
Natchez,  to  await  fai'ther  orders. 

February  passed  by,  and  the  early  flowers  of  March  were  budding  and  blooming, 
and  yet  the  Tennessee  army  was  at  Natchez.  On  the  first  of  that  month  Jackson 
wrote  an  impatient  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  He  saw  little  chance  for  the  em 
ployment  of  himself  and  his  followers  in  the  South,  and  suggested  that  they  might  be 
useful  in  the  North.  He  had  gone  to  the  field  as  an  unselfish  patriot,  and,  as  he  said 
in  his  letter  to  Wilkinson,  "had  marched  with  the  spirit  of  a  true  soldier  to  serve  his 
country  at  any  and  every  point  where  service  could  be  rendered."  Day  after  day  he 
waited  anxiously  for  orders  to  move.  At  length  he  was  cheered  by  the  receipt  of  a 
letter  from  the  War  Department.  His  heart  beat  quickly  with  the  thrill  of  delight 
ful  expectations  as  he  broke  the  seal.  Icy  coldness  fell  upon  his  spirits  for  a  moment 
when  his  eyes  perused  the  contents.  It  read  thus : 

"  SIR, — The  causes  of  embodying  and  marching  to  New  Orleans  the  corps  und,er 
your  command  having  ceased  to  exist,  you  will,  on  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  consider 
it  as  dismissed  from  public  service,  and  take  measures  to  have  delivered  over  to  Major 
General  Wilkinson  all  the  articles  of  public  property  which  may  have  been  put  into 
its  possession."  To  this  was  appended  a  cold  tender  of  the  thanks  of  the  President 
to  Jackson  and  his  corps,  and  the  signature  of  John  Armstrong,  the  new  Secretary 
of  War,  who,  on  the  date  of  the  letter,  had  been  only  two  days  in  office. 

That  was  practically  a  cruel  letter,  under  the  circumstances.  It  placed  the  little 
army  in  a  sad  plight,  for  it  was  dismissed  from  service  without  pay,  sufficient  cloth 
ing,  means  of  transportation,  provisions,  or  accommodations  for  the  sick,  more  than 
five  hundred  miles  from  their  homes  by  the  nearest  land  route,  which  lay  much  of  the 
way  through  a  wilderness  roamed  by  savages.  Jackson  instantly  resolved  on  diso 
bedience.  He  determined  not  to  dismiss  the  men  until  they  were  restored  to  their 
homes ;  and  with  that  decision  and  courage  in  assuming  responsibility  which  always 
marked  his  career,  he  made  every  necessary  preparation  possible  for  a  return  to  Ten- 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Jackson's  fiery  Letters.  Return  of  his  Troops  to  Nashville.  His  pecuniary  Troubles  on  their  Account. 

nessee,  at  large  expense,  and  without  any  money.  He  impressed  wagons  and  teams, 
and  gave  orders  for  pay  on  the  quarter-master  of  the  Southern  Department.  In  like 
manner  he  incurred  other  expenses.  So  confident  were  the  merchants  of  Natchez  in 
his  integrity  and  the  justice  of  their  government,  that  they  turned  over  to  him  large 
quantities  of  shoes  and  clothing,  telling  him  to  pay  for  them  at  Nashville  when  con 
venient. 

Meanwhile  Jackson  had  written  fiery  letters  to  the  President,  the  Secretary  of  War, 
Governor  Blount,  and  General  Wilkinson.1  He  despised  the  latter,  and  suspected  him 
of  sinister  designs ;  and  when,  in  due  time,  he  received  a  reply  from  that  officer,  in 
which  he  suggested  that  great  public  service  might  be  rendered  by  promoting  enlist 
ments  into  the  regular  army,  Jackson's  anger  knew  no  bounds.  He  watched  for  re 
cruiting  officers  with  hawk-eyed  vigilance,  and  when  one  was  found  in  his  camp,  he 
notified  him  that  if  he  should  catch  him  trying  to  seduce  one  of  his  volunteers  into 
the  regular  army,  he  would  have  him  instantly  drummed  beyond  his  lines.2  The  Sec 
retary  of  War,  on  the  other  hand,  by  a  courteous  and  explanatory  letter,  mollified  his 
passion  by  assuring  him  that  when  he  wrote  the  letter  that  appeared  so  cruel,  he  did 
not  suppose  that  the  little  army  had  moved  far  from  Nashville. 

Late  in  March  Jackson  commenced  his  homeward  movement.  It  was  an  under 
taking  of  great  hazard  and  difficulty,  but  was  well  accomplished  in  the  course  of  a 
month,  for  they  traveled  at  the  rate  of  eighteen  miles  a  day.  He  shared  all  the  pri 
vations  of  the  soldiers,  and  he  was  beloved  by  them  as  few  men  have  ever  been  be 
loved.  His  endurance  was  wonderful  during  the  march,  and  his  men  declared  that 
lie  was  "  as  tough  as  hickory."  From  that  day  until  his  last  on  earth,  he  was  famil 
iarly  and  affectionately  called  "  Old  Hickory." 

Finally,  on  the  borders  of  his  state,  Jackson  sent  a  messenger  to  Washington  to 
convey  an  offer  of  the  services  of  himself  and  volunteers  on  the  Northern  frontier, 
whither  Harrison  had  been  sent  as  chief  commander.  No  response  came,  and  on  the 
22d  of  May  he  drew  up  his  detachment  on  the  public  square  in  Nashville,  where  they 
were  presented  with  an  elegantly  wrought  stand  of  colors  by  the  ladies  of  Knoxville.3 
There  they  were  dismissed,  and  dispersed  to  their  homes  with  feelings  of  great  dis 
satisfaction  toward  the  national  government. 

Such  was  Jackson's  first  effort  to  serve  his  country  in  the  field  in  the  War  of  1812, 
and  it  resulted  in  holding  the  fear  of  absolute  pecuniary  ruin  over  his  head  for  some 
time.  His  transportation  orders  were  dishonored,  and  the  creditors  looked  to  him  for 
pay.  He  was  prosecuted  for  amounts  in  the  aggregate  much  larger  than  his  entire 
fortune.  The  suits  were  postponed  to  give  him  an  opportunity  to  appeal  to  the  na 
tional  government  for  justice  and  protection.  The  late  Thomas  H.  Benton  was  his 
messenger  and* advocate  on  that  occasion;  and  when  it  was  intimated  to  him  that 
nothing  could  be  done  for  the  general's  relief,  he  boldly  assured  the  President  and  his 
cabinet  that  if  the  administration  desired  the  support  of  Tennessee  in  the  war,  the 

1  "These  brave  men,"  he  wrote  to  Wilkinson,  "at  the  call  of  their  country,  voluntarily  rallied  around  its  insulted 
standard.  They  followed  me  to  the  field  ;  I  shall  carefully  march  them  back  to  their  homes.  It  is  for  the  agents  of  the 
government  to  account  to  the  State  of  Tennessee  and  the  whole  world  for  their  singular  and  unusual  conduct  to  this 
detachment."  s  Partou's  Life  of  Jackson,  i.,  3SO. 

3  The  preparation  of  these  flags  was  commenced  soon  after  the  departure  of  the  troops  from  Nashville.  One  was  a 
simple  national  banner  made  of  silk ;  the  other  was  a  regimental  standard.  The  embroidery,  performed  by  the  ladies 
in  the  most  exquisite  manner,  was  on  white  satin.  Near  the  top,  in  a  crescent  form,  were  eighteen  stars  in  orange 
color,  denoting  the  then  number  of  states.  Next  below  were  two  sprigs  of  laurel  lying  athwart.  Under  these  were  the 
words,  "  Tennessee  Volunteers—Independence,  in  a  state  of  war,  istobe  maintained  on  the  battle-ground  of  the  Republic.  The 
knted  field  is  the  post  of  honor.  Presented  by  the  Ladies  of  East  Tennessee,  Knoxville,  February  10th,  1813."  Below  all, 
implements  of  war  were  represented,  beautifully  wrought.  The  wing  of  the  colors  was  beautiful  fancy  lutestring,  dove 
color,  ornamented  with  white  fringe  and  tassels. 

In  reply  to  the  presentation  letter,  written  by  the  wife  of  Governor  Blonnt,  Jackson  said :  "  While  I  admire  the  ele 
gant  workmanship  of  these  colors,  my  veneration  is  excited  for  the  patriotic  disposition  that,  prompted  the  ladies  to  be 
stow  them  on  the  volunteers  of  West  Tennessee.  Although  the  patriotic  corps  under  my  command  have  not  had  one 
opportunity  of  seeing  an  enemy,  yet  they  have  evinced  every  disposition  to  do  so.  This  distinguished  mark  of  respect 
will  be  long  remembered,  and  this  present  shall  be  kept  as  a  memorial  of  the  generosity  and  patriotism  of  the  ladies  of 
East  Tennessee."— Nashville  Whig,  quoted  by  Parton,  i.,  3S3. 


OFTHEWAROF1812.  745 


The  Government  just.  Tecumtha  in  the  Creek  Country.  His  successful  Appeals  to  the  Creeks. 

government  must  assume  the  payment  of  the  bills  in  question,  for  the  volunteers  un 
der  Jackson  were  drawn  from  the  most  substantial  families  in  the  state.  This  argu 
ment  was  convincing.  The  government  met  the  draft  promptly,  all  concerned  were 
satisfied,  and  Jackson  was  saved  from  bankruptcy  and  ruin. 

Omens  of  a  war  tempest  soon  appeared  in  the  Southern  firmament,  and  Jackson 
was  not  allowed  to  remain  long  in  quiet  on  his  plantation.  British  emissaries,  pale 
and  dusky,  were  busy  among  the  Indians  of  the  Gulf  region,  endeavoring  to  stir  them 
up  to  war  against  the  Americans  around  them,  hoping  thereby  to  divide  and  weaken 
the  military  power  of  the  United  States,  and  lessen  the  danger  that  menaced  Canada 
with  invasion  and  conquest.  Chief  among  these  emissaries  in  zeal  and  influence  was 
Tecumtha,  the  great  Shawnoese  warrior,  who,  as  early  as  the  spring  of  1811,  as  we 
have  seen,  had,  with  patriotic  designs,  visited  the  Southern  tribes,  and  labored  to  se 
cure  their  alliance  with  Northern  and  Western  savages  in  a  grand  confederation, 
whose  prime  object  was  to  stay  the  encroachments  of  the  wrhite  man.  He  went 
among  the  Seminoles  in  Florida,  the  Cherokees  and  Creeks  in  Western  Georgia  and  in 
Alabama,  and  the  Des  Moines  in  Missouri,  but  without  accomplishing  little  more  than 
sowing  the  seeds  of  discontent,  which  might  in  time  germinate  into  open  hostility.  He 
returned  to  his  home  on  the  Wabash  just  after  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,a  « November, 
Avhich  his  unworthy  brother  had  rashly  brought  on,  and  which  destroyed 
his  hopes  of  a  purely  Indian  confederacy.  Thereafter  his  patriotic  efforts  were  put 
forth  in  alliance  with  the  British,  who  gladly  accepted  the  aid  of  the  cruel  savages 
of  the  Northwest. 

In  the  autumn  of  1812,  after  the  surrender  of  Detroit  and  the  Michigan  Territory 
promised  long  quiet  on  that  frontier,  Tecumtha  went  again  to  the  Gulf  region.  He 
took  his  brother,  the  Prophet,  with  him,  partly  to  employ  him  as  an  instrument  in 
managing  the  superstitions  of  the  Indians,  and  partly  to  prevent  his  doing  mischief  at 
home.  They  were  accompanied  by  about  thirty  warriors.  The  Choctaws  and  Chick- 
asaws,  among  whom  they  passed  on  their  way,  would  not  listen  favorably  to  Tecum- 
tha's  seductive  words  ;  but  the  Seminoles  in  Florida  and  Georgia,  and  the  Creeks  in 
Alabama,  lent  to  him  willing  ears.  He  was  among  the  latter  in  October,  where  he 
crossed  the  Alabama  River  at  Autauga,  in  the  lower  part  of  the  present  Autauga 
County,  and  there  addressed  the  assembled  Creeks  for  the  first  time.  His  eloquence, 
his  patriotic  appeals,  and  his  fame  as  a  warrior  won  him  many  followers,  and  with 
these  and  his  own  retinue  he  went  on  to  Coosawda  on  the  Alabama,1  and  at  the  Hick 
ory  Ground  addressed  a  large  concourse  of  warriors  who  had  flocked  to  see  and  hear 
the  mighty  Shawnoese,  whose  exploits  in  the  buffalo-chase,  on  the  war-path,  and  in 
the  council  had  filled  their  ears,  even  in  boyhood,  with  wondrous  tales  of  achieve 
ments  won.  It  was  a  successful  day,  and  Tecumtha  was  greatly  encouraged.  He 
crossed  the  Coosa,  and  went  boldly  forward  in  the  direction  of  the  great  falls  of  the 
Tallapoosa  (in  the  southwest  part  of  the  present  Tallapoosa  County)  to  Toockabatcha, 
the  ancient  Creek  capital,  where  Colonel  Hawkins,  the  United  States  Indian  Agent, 
had  called  a  great  council  of  the  Creeks.  Hawkins  was  highly  esteemed  by  them, 
and  at  his  call  full  five  thousand  Indians  responded  in  person,  besides  many  negroes 
and  white  people  mingled  with  them. 

Tecumtha  approached  this  great  gathering  with  well-feigned  modesty.  He  kept 
at  the  outer  circle  of  spectators  until  the  conclusion  of  the  agent's  first  day's  address, 
when,  at  the  head  of  his  thirty  followers  from  the  Ohio  region,  he  marched  with  dig 
nity  into  the  square,  all  of  them  entirely  naked  excepting  their  flaps  and  ornaments. 
Their  faces  were  painted  black,  and  their  heads  were  adorned  with  eagles'  feathers, 
while  buffalo  tails  dragged  behind,  suspended  by  bands  around  their  waists.  Like 
appendages  were  attached  to  their  arms,  and  their  whole  appearance  was  as  hideous 

1  This  Indian  town  was  at  the  confluence  of  the  Coosa  and  Tallapoosa  Rivers,  where  they  form  the  Alabama.  It  was 
on  the  western  side  of  the  Alabama,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Autauga  County. 


746  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Tecumtba  at  a  great  Council.  He  traverses  the  Creek  Country.  His  Threat  and  its  Fulfillment. 

as  possible,  and  their  bearing  uncommonly  pompous  and  ceremonious.  They  marched 
round  and  round  in  the  square,  and  then,  approaching  the  Creek  chiefs,  they  cordially 
gave  them  the  Indian  salutation  of  a  shake  at  arm's  length,  and  exchanged  tobacco 
in  token  of  friendship.  Only  one  chief  (Captain  Isaac,  of  Coosawda)  refused  to  greet 
Tecumtha.  On  his  head  were  a  pair  of  buffalo  horns,  and  these  he  shook  at  the  Shaw- 
noese  visitor  with  contempt,  for  he  said  Tecumtha  was  a  bad  man,  and  no  greater 
than  he.1 

Tecumtha  appeared  in  state  in  the  square  each  day,  but  kept  silence  until  Hawkins 
had  finished  his  business  and  departed  for  the  agency  on  the  Flint  River.  Then  he 
was  silent  no  longer.  That  night  a  grand  council  was  held  in  the  great  round-house. 
It  was  packed  with  eager  listeners.  In  a  fiery  and  vengeful  speech  Tecumtha  poured 
forth  eloquent  and  incendiary  words.  He  exhorted  them  to  abandon  the  customs  of 
the  pale-faces  and  return  to  those  of  their  fathers.  He  begged  them  to  cast  away  the 
plow  and  the  loom,  and  abandon  the  culture  of  the  soil  as  unbecoming  noble  Indian 
warriors,  as  they  were.  He  warned  them  that  servitude  or  extinction  at  the  hands 
of  the  white  race  would  sppedily  be  their  doom,  for  they  were  grasping  and  cruel ; 
and  he  desired  them  to  dress  only  in  the  skins  of  beasts  which  the  Great  Spirit  had 
given  them,  and  to  use  for  weapons  of  war  only  the  bow  and  arrow,  the  war-club, 
and  the  scalping-knife.  He  concluded  by  informing  them  that  their  friends,  the  Brit 
ish,  had  sent  him  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  invite  them  out  upon  the  war-path  for  the 
purpose  of  expelling  all  Americans  from  Indian  soil,  and  that  the  powerful  King  of 
England  was  ready  to  reward  them  handsomely  if  they  would  fight  under  his  ban 
ner.  The  wily  Prophet  at  the  same  time,  who  had  been  informed  by  the  British  when 
a  comet  would  appear,  declared  to  the  excited  warriors  that  they  would  see  the  arm 
of  Tecumtha,  like  pale  fire,  stretched  out  on  the  vault  of  heaven  at  a  certain  time,  and 
thus  they  would  know  by  that  sign  when  to  begin  the  war.  It  was  almost  dawn  be 
fore  this  famous  council  adjourned,  and  then  more  than  half  of  the  braves  present  had 
resolved  on  war  against  the  Americans. 

Tecumtha,  full  of  encouragement,  went  forth,  visiting  all  of  the  important  Creek 
towns,  and  enlisting  many  recruits  for  the  British  cause.  Among  the  most  distin 
guished  of  these  was  Weathersford,  a  powerful,  handsome,  sagacious,  brave,  and  elo 
quent  half-blooded  chief.  But  others  equally  eminent  withstood  the  persuasions  of 
the  great  Shawnoese.  One  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  was  the  Big  Warrior  of 
Toockabatcha,  whose  name  was  Tustinuggee-Thlucco.  Tecumtha  was  extremely  anx 
ious  to  win  him,  but  the  Big  Warrior  remained  true  to  the  United  States.  At  length 
the  angry  Shawnoese  said,  with  vehemence,  as  he  pointed  his  finger  in  the  Big  War 
rior's  face,  "  Tustinuggee-Thlucco,  your  blood  is  white.  You  have  taken  my  red- 
sticks  and  my  talk,  but  you  do  not  mean  to  fight.  I  know  the  reason.  You  do  not  be 
lieve  the  Great  Spirit  has  sent  me.  You  shall  believe  it.  I  will  leave  directly,  and  go 
straight  to  Detroit.  When  I  get  there  I  will  stamp  my  foot  upon  the  ground,  and 
shake  down  every  house  in  Toockabatcha  !"  The  Big  Warrior  said  nothing,  but  long 
pondered  this  remarkable  speech.2 

It  was,  indeed,  a  remarkable  speech.  Events  soon  proved  it  to  be  prophetic.  Nat 
ural  phenomena — one  that  might  be  foretold  by  astronomers,  and  the  other  always 
beyond  the  knowledge  of  mortals — combined  to  give  tremendous  effect  to  Tecumtha's 
words  and  mission.  The  comet,  the  blazing  "  arm  of  Tecumtha"  in  the  sky,  appeared ; 
and  at  about  the  time  when  the  common  Indians,  who  believed  in  the  great  Shaw 
noese  and  his  mystical  brother,  knew,  by  calculation,  that  Tecumtha  must  have  ar 
rived  at  Detroit,  there  was  heard  a  deep  rumbling  beneath  the  ground,  and  a  heav 
ing  of  the  earth  that  made  the  houses  of  Toockabatcha  reel  and  totter  as  if  about  to 
fall.  The  startled  savages  ran  out  of  their  huts,  exclaiming,  "  Tecumtha  is  at  Detroit ! 
Tecumtha  is  at  Detroit !  We  feel  the  stamp  of  his  foot !"  It  was  the  shock  of  an 

i  Pickett's  History  of  Alabama,  ii.,  242-3.  =  Pickett's  History  of  Alabaina,  ii.,  245. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


747 


The  Creek  Nation  and  their  Position. 


General  James  Robertson. 


Choctaws  and  Chickasaws. 


earthquake  that  was  felt  all  over  the  Gulf  region  in  December,  1812. l     But  it  did  not 
move  the  Big  Warrior  from  his  allegiance. 

Tecumtha's  visit  proved  to  be  a  most  sad  one  for  the  Creeks  as  a  nation.  It  brought 
terrible  calamities  upon  them — first  in  the  form  of  civil  war,  and  then  in  almost  utter 
destruction  at  the  hands  of  the  exasperated  Americans.  He  left  seeds  of  discontent 
to  germinate  and  expand  into  violent  agitations.  Chief  was  arrayed  against  chief, 
and  family  against  family,  on  the  question  of  peace  or  war  with  the  Americans.  They 
were  strong  as  a  nation,  numbering  about  thirty  thousand  souls,  of  whom  at  least 
seven  thousand  were  warriors  ;  yet 
peace  was  the  guarantee  of  their  exist 
ence.  They  were  hemmed  in  by  pow 
erful  and  rapidly-increasing  communi 
ties  of  white  people,  and  between  them 
and  the  Northern  tribes  were  the  Choc- 
taws  and  Chickasaws,2  over  whom  that 
grand  old  patriot,  General  James  Rob 
ertson,  held  a  powerful  sway,  like  that 
of  a  kind  father  over  loving  children.3 
These  stood  as  a  wall  of  separation  be 
tween  the  actual  followers  of  Tecumtha 
north  of  the  Ohio,  and  those  in  the  Gulf 
region  whom  he  was  endeavoring  to 

~  O 

seduce  from  the  pursuits  of  peace  into 
the  war-path  under  the  British  banner. 
They  were  not  only  opposed  to  an  alli 
ance  with  the  British,  but  were  ready 
to  fight  for  the  Americans.  "  My  heart 
is  straight,"  said  the  brave  Too-tuma- 
Ktubble,  the  "  medal  chief"  of  the  Choc- 
taws,  "  and  I  wish  our  father,  the  Pres 
ident,  to  know  it.  Our  young  warriors 
want  to  fight.  Give  us  guns  and  plen- 

1  See  Pickett's  Alabama,  ii.,  24<5.  Drake,  in  his  Book  of  the  Indians  of  Xorth  America,  eleventh  edition,  page  624,  men 
tions  that  circumstance  as  occurring  in  December,  1811,  and  cites  Francis  M'Henry  as  denying  that  it  ever  took  place. 
But  Mr.  Pickett,  in  his  carefully-prepared  work,  says  this  earthquake  was  remembered  by  all  the  old  settlers,  and  places 
the  date  in  December  of  1812,  which  agrees  with  the  incidents  of  Tecumtha's  mission  there. 

3  The  Choctaws  inhabited  the  country  along  the  Mississippi  from  the  northern  borders  of  the  Choctaw  domain  to  the 
Ohio  River,  and  eastward  beyond  the  Tennessee  to  the  lands  of  the  Cherokees  and  Shawnoese. 

3  James  Robertson,  who  has  justly  been  called  the  Father  of  Tennessee,  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  He  emigrated  to 
the  rich  regions  beyond  the  mountains  about  the  year  1760,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Watauga,  a  branch  of  the  Tennes 
see,  he  made  a  settlement,  and  lived  there  several  years.  He  was  often  called  upon  to  contest  for  life  with  the  savages 
of  the  forest.  In  17T6  he  was  chosen  to  command  a  fort  built  near  the  mouth  of  the  Watanga.  In  1779  Captain  Rob 
ertson  was  at  the  head  of  a  party  emigrating  to  the  still  richer  country  of  the  Cumberland,  and  on  Christmas  eve  of  that 
year  they  arrived  upon  the  spot  where  Nashville  now  stands.  Others  joined  them,  and  in  the  following  summer  they 
numbered  about  two  hundred.  A  settlement  was  established,  and  Robertson  founded  the  city  of  Nashville.  The  Cher 
okee  Indians  attempted  to  destroy  the  settlement,  but,  through  the  skill  and  energy  of  Robertson  and  a  few  compan 
ions,  that  calamity  was  averted.  They  built  a  log  fort  on  the  high  bank  of  the  Cumberland,  and  in  that  the  settlers 
were  defended  against  full  seven  hundred  Indians  in  1781.  The  settlement  was  erected  into  a  county  of  North  Carolina, 
and  Robertson  was  its  first  representative  in  the  State  Legislature.  In  1790  the  "  Territory  south  of  the  Ohio  River" 
was  formed,  and  Washington  appointed  Robertson  brigadier  general  and  commander  of  the  militia  in  it.  In  that  ca 
pacity  he  was  very  active  in  defense  of  the  settlements  against  the  savages.  At  the  same  time  he  practiced  the  most 
exact  justice  toward  the  Indians,  and  when  these  children  of  the  forest  were  no  longer  hostile,  his  kindness  toward  the  op 
pressed  among  them  made  him  very  popular.  At  length,  when  the  emissaries,  white  and  red,  from  the  British  in  the 
North  began  to  sow  the  seeds  of  discontent  among  them  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  1812,  the  government  wisely 
appointed  General  Robertson  agent  to  the  Chickasaw  tribe.  He  was  ever  watchful  of  the  national  interest.  As  early  as 
March,  1S13,  he  wrote  :  "  The  Chickasaws  are  in  a  high  strain  for  war  against  the  enemies  of  the  country.  They  have 
declared  war  against  all  passing  Creeks  who  attempt  to  go  through  their  nation.  They  have  declared,  if  the  United  States 
will  take  a  campaign  against  the  Creeks  [because  of  some  murders  committed  by  them  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio],  that 
they  are  ready  to  give  them  aid."  A  little  later  he  suggested  the  employment  of  companies  of  Chickasaws  and  Choc 
taws  to  defend  the  frontiers  and  to  protect  travelers,  and  he  was  seconded  by  Pitchlyn,  an  active  and  faithful  Indian. 

During  the  war  General  Robertson  remained  at  his  post  among  the  Indians,  and  invited  his  aged  wife  to  share  his 
privations  by  quaintly  saying  to  her  by  a  messenger,  "  If  you  shall  come  this  way,  the  very  best  chance  for  rest  and 
sleep  which  my  bed  affords  shall  be  given  you,  provided  always  that  I  shall  re'aiu  a  part  of  the  same."  lie  was  theii 


748  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

fiivil  War  in  the  Creek  Nation.  The  white  Inhabitants  in  Peril.  The  Militia  called  out. 

ty  of  powder  and  lead,  we  fight  your  enemies.  We  fight  much ;  we  fight  strong. 
....  Our  warriors  good  Americans — fight  strong.  You  tell  him  so.  You,  General 
Robertson,  know  me ;  my  heart  straight.  Choctaw  soldiers  good  soldiers.  Give 
epaulettes,  guns,  and  whisky — fight  strong." 

Tecumtha  had  enjoined  the  leaders  of  the  war-party  to  keep  their  intentions  secret, 
and  for  many  months,  while  civil  war  was  kindling  in  the  bosom  of  the  Creek  na 
tion  because  of  a  powerful  and  zealously-opposing  peace-party,  and  the  land  was 
filled  with  quarrels,  fights,  murders,  and  violence  of  every  kind,  it  was  difficult  for 
the  public  authorities  to  determine  with  any  certainty  whether  or  no  any  considera 
ble  number  of  the  Creeks  would  join  the  British  standard.  Colonel  Hawkins,  the 
agent,  believed  that  nothing  more  serious  than  a  war  betv/een  native  factions  would 
ensue.  It  was  well  known  that  Peter  M'Queen,  a  half-blood  of  Tallahassee,  who  was 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  war-party,  was  doing  every  thing  in  his  power  to  accomplish 
that  result,  while  Big  Warrior  was  equally  active  in  efforts  to  avert  so  great  a  ca 
lamity.  On  one  hand  was  seen  the  hideous  "  war-dance  of  the  Lakes,"  taught  them 
by  Tecumtha,  and  on  the  other  the  peaceful,  quiet,  anxious,  determined  deportment 
of  men  resolved  on  peace.  The  whole  Creek  nation  became  a  seething  caldron  of 
passion — of  angry  words  and  threatenings,  which  were  soon  developed  into  sanguin 
ary  deeds. 

On  account  of  the  civil  war  raging  here,  and  there,  and  every  where  in  the  Creek 
country,  the  white  settlers  were  placed  in  great  peril.  In  the  spring  of  1813  they 
were  made  to  expect  an  exterminating  blow.  They  knew  that  a  British  squadron 
was  in  the  Gulf,  and  in  friendly  intercourse  with  the  Spanish  post  at  Pensacola.  They 
knew  that  the  fiery  M'Queen  and  other  leaders  had  gone  to  that  post  with  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  warriors,  with  many  pack-horses,  intended  doubtless  for  the 
conveyance  of  arms  and  supplies  from  the  British  to  the  war-party  in  the  interior. 
Every  day  the  cloud  of  danger  palpably  thickened,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  most 
populous  and  more  immediately  threatened  districts  of  the  Tombigbee  and  Tensaw 
petitioned  the  governor  of  Mississippi  for  a  military  force  sufficient  for  their  protec 
tion.  The  governor  was  willing,  but  General  Flournoy,  who  succeeded  General  Wil 
kinson  in  command  of  the  Seventh  Military  District,  persuaded  by  Colonel  Hawkins, 
the  Indian  agent,  of  the  civilization  and  friendly  disposition  of  the  Creeks,  would  not 
grant  their  prayer.1 

Left  to  their  own  resources,  the  inhabitants  of  the  menaced  districts  prepared  to 
defend  themselves  as  well  as  they  might.  They  sent  spies  to  Pensacola,  who  returned 
with  the  positive  and  startling  intelligence  that  British  agents,  under  the  sanction  of 
the  Spanish  governor,  were  distributing  supplies  freely  to  M'Queen  and  his  follow 
ers,  that  leader  having  exhibited  to  the  chief  magistrate  of  Florida  a  list  of  Creek 
towns  ready  to  take  up  arms  for  the  British,  in  which,  in  the  aggregate,  were  nearly 
five  thousand  warriors.  On  hearing  this  report,  Colonel  James  Caller,  of  Washing 
ton,  called  on  the  militia  to  go  out  and  intercept  M'Queen  and  his  party  on  their  re 
turn  from  Pensacola.  There  was  a  prompt  response,  and  he  set  out  with  a  few  fol- 

?eventy-one,  and  she  sixty-three  years  of  age.  She  went  to  him,  and  was  at  his  side  when  he  died  at  his  post  in  the  In 
dian  country  the  year  following.  His  death  occurred  on  the  1st  of  September,  1S14,  and  on  the  2d  his  remains  were 
buried  at  the  Agency.  In  1S25  they  were  removed  to  Nashville,  and,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  concourse  of  citizens, 
were  reinterred  in  the  cemetery  there.  A  plain  tomb  covers  the  spot.  The  remains  of  his  wife  rest  by  his  side,  and 
the  observer  may  there  read  the  following  inscriptions: 

"  GENERAL  JAMES  ROBERTSON,  the  founder  of  Nashville,  was  born  in  Virginia,  2Sth  June,  1742.  Died  1st  September, 
1S14. 

"  CHARLOTTE  R.,  wife  of  James  Robertson,  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  2d  January,  1751.    Died  llth  June,  1S43." 

She  was  then  ninety-two  years  of  age.  Their  son,  Dr.  Felix  Robertson,  who  was  born  in  the  fort,  and  the  first  white 
child  whose  birth  was  in  West  Tennessee,  died  at  Nashville  in  1864. 

1  Thomas  Flournoy  was  a  native  of  Georgia,  and  a  distinguished  member  of  the  bar  at  Augusta,  his  place  of  resi 
dence.  He  was  in  feeble  health  at  this  time,  and  his  force  was  inadequate  to  perform  the  arduous  services  required  of 
them.  He  was  commissioned  a  brigadier  general  on  the  ISth  of  June,  1812,  and  resigned  in  September,  1814.  When 
Wilkinson  was  summoned  to  the  Northern  frontier,  Flournoy  was  made  his  successor  in  the  Gulf  region.  In  1819-'20 
lie  was  a  commissioner  to  treat  with  the  Creek  Indians. 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  749 

The  Militia  in  the  Field.  March  of  M'Queen  and  his  Followers  from  Pensacola.  Battle  of  Burnt  Corn  Creek. 

lowers,  crossed  the  Tombigbee  into  Clarke  County,  parsed  through  Jackson,  and  biv 
ouacked  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Alabama  River,  at  Sisemore's  Ferry,  opposite  the 
southern  portion  of  the  present  Monroe  County,  Alabama.  He  crossed  the  river  on 
the  following  morning,a  and  marched  in  a  southeasterly  direction  across  ajuiy2Gi 
the  Escambia  River  into  the  present  Conecuh  County,  Alabama,  toward  the 
Florida  frontier.  He  had  been  joined  in  Clarke  County  by  the  famous  border 
er,  Captain  Sam 
Dale,  and  fifty 
men,  who  were  en 
gaged  in  the  con 
struction  of  Fort 
Madison,  toward 
the  northeast  part 
of  Clarke,  and  was 

now  re-enforced  by  others  from  Tensaw  Lake  and  Little  River,  under  various  leaders, 
one  of  whom  was  Captain  Dixon  Bailey,  a  half-blood  Creek,  who  had  been  educated 
at  Philadelphia.  Caller's  command  now  numbered  about  one  hundred  and  eighty 
men,  divided  into  small  companies,  well  mounted  on  good  frontier  horses,  and  pro 
vided  with  rifles  and  shot-guns.  During  that  day  they  reached  the  Wolf  Trail,  cross 
ed  Burnt  Corn  Creek,  and  bivouacked. 

On  the  morning  of  the  27th  Caller  reorganized  his  command.  Captains  Phillips, 
M'Farlane,  Wood,  and  Jourdan  were  appointed  majors,  and  Captain  William  M'Grew 
was  created  lieutenant  colonel.1  They  were  now  on  the  main  route  for  Pensacola, 
and  were  moving  cheerily  forward,  down  the  east  side  of  Burnt  Corn  Creek,  when  a 
company  of  fifteen  spies,  under  Captain  Dale,  who  had  been  sent  in  advance  to  recon 
noitre,  came  galloping  hurriedly  back  with  the  intelligence  that  M'Queen  and  his 
party  were  only  a  few  miles  distant,  encamped  upon  a  peninsula  of  low  pine  barrens 
formed  by  the  windings  of  Burnt  Corn  Creek,  engaged  unsuspectingly  in  cooking  and 
eating.  A  hurried  council  was  held,  and  it  was  determined  to  attack  them.  For 
this  purpose  Caller  arranged  his  men  in  three  columns,  the  right  led  by  Captain 
Smoot,  the  left  by  Captain  Dale,  and  the  centre  by  Captain  Bailey.  They  were  upon 
a  gentle  height  overlooking  M'Queen's  camp,  and  down  its  slopes  the  white  men 
moved  rapidly,  and  fell  upon  the  foe.  M'Queen  and  his  party  were  surprised.  They 
fought  desperately  for  a  few  minutes,  when  they  gave  way,  and  fled  toward  the 
creek,  followed  by  a  portion  of  the  assailants. 

Colonel  Caller  was  brave  but  overcautious,  and  called  back  the  pursuers.  The  re 
mainder  of  his  command  were  engaged  in  capturing  the  well-laden  pack-horses  of  the 
enemy,  and  when  those  in  advance  came  running  back,  the  former,  panic-stricken, 
turned  and  fled  in  confusion,  but  carrying  away  their  plunder.  Now  the  tide  turned. 
M'Queen's  Indians  rushed  from  their  hiding-places  in  a  cane-brake  with  horrid  yells, 
and  fell  upon  less  than  one  hundred  of  Caller's  men  at  the  foot  of  the  eminence.  A 
severe  battle  ensued.  Captain  Dale  was  severely  wounded  by  a  ball  that  struck  his 
breast-bone,  followed  the  ribs  around,  and  came  out  near  the  spine,  yet  he  continued 
to  fight  as  long  as  any  body.  Overwhelming  numbers  at  length  compelled  him  and 
his  companions  to  retreat.  They  fled  in  disorder,  many  of  them  leaving  their  horses 
behind  them.  The  flight  continued  all  night  in  much  confusion.  The  victory  in  the 
Battle  of  Burnt  Corn  Creek — the  first  in  the  Creek  war — rested  with  the  Indians. 
Only  two  of  Caller's  command  were  killed,  and  fifteen  wounded.  The  casualties  of 
the  enemy  are  unknown.  For  some  time  it  was  supposed  that  Colonel  Caller  and 
Major  Wood  had  been  lost.  They  became  bewildered  in  the  forest,  and  wandered 
about  there  some  time.  When  they  were  found  they  were  almost  starved,  and  were 

1  The  principal  subordinate  officers  were  Phillips,  Wood,  M'Farlane,  Jourdan,  Smoot,  Dixon,  Heard,  Cartwright, 
Creagh,  May,  Bradberry,  Robert  Caller,  and  Dale.  • 


750  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOO-K 

General  Claiborue  in  the  Creek  Country.  Refugee  Settlers.  Mims's  House  fortified. 

nearly  senseless.  They  had  b?en  missing  fifteen  days!  Caller's  command  never  re 
assembled.  M'Queen's  retraced  their  steps  to  Pensacola  for  more  military  supplies.1 
But  for  the  fatal  word  "  retreat"  the  Indians  might  have  been  scattered  to  the  winds. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  in  the  Indian  country  above  Mobile,  General 
F.  L.  Claiborne,2  who  had  been  a  gallant  soldier  in  Wayne's  army  in  the  Indian  coun 
try  north  of  the  Ohio,  was  marching,  by  orders  of  General  Flournoy,  from  Baton 
Rouge  to  Fort  Stoddart,  on  the  Mobile  River,  with  instructions  to  direct  his  princi 
pal  attentions  to  the  defense  of  Mobile.  He  reached  Mount  Vernon,  in  the  north 
ern  part  of  the  present  Mobile  County,  three  days  after  the  battle  of  Burnt  Corn 
•  July  so,  Creek. a  He  found  the  whole  population  trembling  with  alarm  and  terrible 
IBIS.  forebodings  of  evil.  Already  a  chain  of  rude  defenses,  called  forts,  had  been 
built  in  the  country  between  the  Tombigbee  and  Alabama  Rivers,  a  short  distance 
from  their  confluence  where  they  form  the  Mobile  River,3  and  were  filled  with  af 
frighted  white  people  and  negroes,  who  had  sought  shelter  in  them  from  the  impend 
ing  storm  of  war. 

Claiborne's  first  care  was  to  afford  protection  to  the  menaced  people.  He  was  anx 
ious  to  march  his  whole  force  into  the  heart  of  the  Creek  nation,  in  the  region  of  the 
Coosa  and  Tallapoosa  Rivers, but  this  Flournoy  would  not  allow.  "If  Governor 
Holmes  [of  the  Mississippi  Territory]  should  send  his  militia  into  the  Indian  coun 
try,"  he  wrote,  "  he  must,  of  course,  act  on  his  own  responsibility  ;  the  army  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  officers  commanding  it,  must  have  nothing  to  do  with  it." 
Claiborne  was  compelled  to  do  nothing  better  than  to  distribute  his  troops  through 
out  the  stockades  for  defensive  operations.  He  sent  Colonel  Carson,  with  two  hund 
red  men,  to  the  confluence  of  the  Tombigbee  and  Alabama  Rivers,  and  dispatched 
Captain  Scott  with  a  company  to  St.  Stephen's,  in  the  northeast  part  of  Washington 
County,  where  they  occupied  an  old  Spanish  block-house.  Major  Hinds,  with  dra 
goons,  was  ordered  to  scour  the  country  in  various  directions  for  information  and  as 
a  check ;  and  some  of  the  militia  of  Washington  County  were  placed  in  the  stock 
ades  in  Clarke  County,  between  the  Tombigbee  and  Alabama.  Captain  Dent  was 
sent  to  Okeatapa,  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Choctaw  frontier,  and  assumed  the 
command  of  a  fort  there. 

Previous  to  Claiborne's  arrival,  wealthy  half-blood  families  had  gone  down  the  Ala 
bama  in  boats  and  canoes,  and  secreted  themselves  in  the  thick  swamps  around  Ten- 
saw  Lake.  There  they  united  with  white  refugees  in  constructing  a  strong  stockade 
around  the  house  of  Samuel  Minis,  an  old  and  wealthy  inhabitant  of  that  region,  situ 
ated  a  short  distance  from  the  Boat-yard  on  Tensaw  Lake,  a  mile  east  from  the  Ala 
bama  River,  ten  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Tombigbee,  and  about  two  miles 
below  the  Cut-off.4  The  building  was  of  wood,  spacious  in  area,  and  one  story  in 
height.  Strong  pickets  were  driven  around  it,  and  fence-rai^  placed  between  them ; 
and,  at  an  average  distance  of  three  feet  and  a  half  from  the  ground,  five  hundred 
port-holes  for  musketry  were  made.  The  pickets  inclosed  an  acre  of  ground,  and  the 
stockade  was  entered  by  two  ponderous  gates,  one  on  the  east  and  the  other  on  the 
west.  Besides  Mims's  house  there  were  several  other  buildings  within  the  pickets  ; 

i  Pickett's  Alabama,  ii.,  255.    Life  and  Times  of  General  Sam  Dale,  by  J.  F.  H.  Claiborne,  pages  65  to  82  inclusive. 

s  Ferdinand  Leigh  Claiborne,  a  brother  of  William  C.  C.  Claiborue,  at  that  time  governor  of  the  Orleans  Territory, 
was  born  in  Sussex  County,  Virginia,  in  1773.  His  family  was  one  of  the  oldest  in  that  commonwealth.  In  his  twen 
tieth  year  he  was  appointed  an  ensign  in  Wayne's  army,  and  became  much  attached  to  Major  Hamtramck.  One  of  his 
eons,  now  (1804)  living,  bears  the  major's  name.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  the  Fallen  Timbers,  at  the  Rapids  of  the  Mau- 
mee,  in  1794.  He  was  stationed  at  Richmond  and  Norfolk  after  the  war,  holding  first  the  rank  of  lieutenant  and  then 
of  adjutant.  In  1799  he  was  promoted  to  captain,  and  was  active  as  such,  and  adjutant  general  in  the  Northwest,  until 
1802,  when  he  was  ordered  to  Natchez.  He  resigned,  settled  in  the  Mississippi  Territory,  presided  over  the  deliberations 
of  its  Legislature,  and  in  1811  was  appointed  brigadier  general  of  the  Mississippi  militia.  In  March,  1813,  he  was  commis 
sioned  a  brigadier  general  of  volunteers  in  the  United  States  Army,  and  ordered  to  the  command  of  the  post  at  Baton 
Rouge.  He  was  active,  as  the  text  avers,  during  the  Creek  War.  He  was  a  legislative  councilor  of  the  Mississippi  Ter 
ritory  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  Creek  War  in  1S14,  and  died  the  following  year. 

3  These  were  Forts  Curry,  Madison,  Revier,  Siuquefield,  and  White,  situated  upon  a  curve  sweeping  eastward  ofBas- 
eett's  Creek  and  across  its  head  waters.  *  See  Map  on  the  opposite  page. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


751 


Map  of  a  Part  of  the  Creek  Country. 


Fort  Mims  and  its  Occupants. 


WHITE'S  FT. 


u 


also  cabins  and  board  shelters.  At  the  southwest  corner  was  a  partially-finished 
block-house.  The  whole  work,  which  was  called  Fort  Mims,  was  upon  a  slight  ele 
vation,  yet  not  eligibly  situated  ;  but  such  confidence  had  the  people  of  the  surround 
ing  country  in  its  strength,  that,  as  soon  as  it  was  finished,  they  poured  into  it  in  large 
numbers  with  their  effects.  It  soon  became  the  scene  of  a  terrible  tragedy  that  dis 
pelled  the  pleasant  dream  of  Creek  civilization  and  friendship,  and  inflamed  the  peo 
ple  westward  of  the  Alleghanies,  who  had  suffered  much  from  savage  cruelty  and 
treachery,  with  a  thirst  for  vengeance. 


752  PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 

Claiborne's  Auxiety  about  the  Settlers.         Rumors  of  impending  Indian  Hostilities.         Pacification  of  the  Choctaws. 

Two  days  after  he  reached  Mount  Vernon  General  Claiborne  asked  Flournoy's  per 
mission  to  call  for  the  militia.  "  I  am  not  myself  authorized  to  do  so,"  his  command 
er  replied, "  as  you  will  perceive  if  you  turn  to  the  late  regulations  of  the  War  De 
partment."  Again  foiled  in  his  generous  endeavors  by  official  interference,  Claiborne 
resolved  to  do  what  he  might  in  strengthening  Fort  Minis.  Already  Lieutenant  Os- 
•  July  28,  borne,  and  sixteen  soldiers  under  him,  had  taken  post  there.a  He  now  dis- 
1813-  patched  Major  Daniel  Beasley  thither,  with  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  vol 
unteers,  who  was  accompanied  by  Captains  Jack,  Batcheldor,  and  Middleton.  They 
b  August  6.  found  seventy  citizens  there  on  volunteer  duty,b  under  Captains  Dunn  and 
•=  August  i.  Plummer,  who  were  inexperienced  officers.  On  the  following  dayc  the  little 
garrison  was  cheered  by  the  presence  of  General  Claiborne,  who  had  come  to  make  a 
personal  inspection  of  the  fort.  He  saw  its  weakness,  and  issued  orders  for  it  to  be 
strengthened  by  the  addition  of  two  block-houses.  "  To  respect  an  enemy,"  he  said, 
wisely, "  and  prepare  in  the  best  possible  way  to  receive  him,  is  the  certain  means  of 
success."  He  also  authorized  Major  Beasley  to  receive  any  citizens  who  would  assist 
in  the  defense  of  the  station,  and  to  issue  rations  to  them  with  the  other  soldiers  un 
der  his  command.  Under  this  order  the  seventy  citizens  just  mentioned  were  en 
rolled,  and  they  immediately  elected  the  brave  Dixon  Bailey  their  captain — the  half- 
blood  who  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  Burnt  Corn  Creek.  Claiborne  also 
organized  a  small  company  of  scouts  under  Cornet  Rankin,  composed  of  that  officer, 
one  sergeant,  one  corporal,  and  six  mounted  men. 

Every  day  the  war-cloud  thickened.  Rumors  came  to  Claiborne  from  the  north 
ward  that  there  was  growing  disaffection  among  the  powerful  Choctaws,  and  he  per 
ceived  the  value  of  an  immediate  blow  at  the  Creeks  before  they  should  be  ready  to 
strike  one  themselves,  or  draw  over  to  the  interest  of  the  war-party  their  more  peace 
ably-inclined  neighbors.  He  again  applied  to  Flournoy  for  permission  to  penetrate 
the  heart  of  the  Creek  nation,  but  with  no  better  success  than  before.  "  I  have  to 
entreat  you,"  Flournoy  wrote  to  Claiborne, "  not  to  permit  your  zeal  for  the  public 
good  to  draw  you  into  acts  of  indiscretion.  Your  wish  to  penetrate  into  the  Indian 
country  with  the  view  of  commencing  the  war  does  not  meet  my  approbation,  and 
I  again  repeat,  our  operations  must  be  confined  to  defensive  operations."1  Flour 
noy  was  impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  hostile  movements  in  the  Creek  country 
were  only  feints  in  the  interest  of  the  Spaniards,  to  draw  the  American  troops  from 
Mobile,  so  that  the  former  might,  while  that  post  was  weakened  and  uncovered,  at 
tempt  its  capture  with  a  chance  of  success. 

Again  foiled,  Claiborne  addressed  himself  to  the  important  task  of  securing  the 
neutrality,  at  least,  of  the  Cherokees,  for  every  day  gave  signs  of  their  constantly- 
growing  disaffection.  A  belief  was  gaining  ground,  and  with  good  reason,  that  a 
general  Indian  war  in  the  southwest  was  possible,  and  even  probable,  and  the  whole 
country  from  the  Perdido  to  the  Mississippi  was  filled  with  alarms.  The  stockades 
were  crowded  with  refugees  from  their  menaced  homes  early  in  August,  and  doubt, 
and  dread,  and  great  fear  filled  the  hearts  of  the  white  people.  Claiborne  went  up 
to  St.  Stephen's,  and  from  thence  dispatched  a  deputation  to  Pushamataha,  the  prin 
cipal  chief  of  the  Choctaws,  who  was  balancing  between  equally  powerful  inclina 
tions  toward  peace  and  war.  He  listened,  and  was  finally  induced  to  visit  Claiborne's 
"August is  nead-qviarters  at  Mount  Vemon.d  The  general  received  him  with  much 
military  pomp,  and  presented  him  with  the  uniform  and  other  insignia  of 
a  brigadier  genei-al.2  By  this  means  his  friendship  was  secured,  and  he  and  a  band 
of  his  Choctaws — chosen  warriors — immediately  prepared  fof  the  war-path  under  the 
flag  of  the  United  States,  while  the  rest  of  the  nation  agreed  to  remain  neutral. 

1  Flournoy  to  Claiborne,  August  10, 1S13,  from  "  Bay  St.  Louis."    See  Claiborne's  Life  of  General  Sam  Dale,  page  03. 

2  He  gave  him  a  suit  of  rich  regimentals,  gold  epaulettes,  sword,  silver  spurs,  and  hat  and  feather,  ordered  from  Mo 
bile  at  a  cost  of  three  hundred  dollars. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812.  753 


Stockades  threatened.      Fort  Mims  crowded  with  Refugees.      Warnings  of  Slaves  unheeded.      Indians  near  the  Fort. 

Having  accomplished  the  pacification  of  the  Choctaws,  the  energetic  Claiborne 
turned  his  attention  to  the  defense  of  the  several  stockades  in  the  Indian  country. 
Late  in  August,1  while  he  was  at  St.  Stephen's,  he  was  informed  that  four  *  August  23, 
hundred  Creek  warriors  were  about  to  fall  upon  Fort  Easley,  a  feeble 
post  sixty  miles  nearer  the  enemy  than  Fort  Mims,  and  that  Fort  Madison  would  be 
next  attacked.  The  women  and  children  in  Easley  had  only  about  a  dozen  defend 
ers,  and  Claiborne  resolved  to  hasten  to  their  relief.  He  left  the  camp  at  Mount  Ver- 
non  in  charge  of  Captain  Kennedy,  and,  with  twenty  mounted  dragoons,  and  sixty 
men  from  the  companies  of  Captains  Dent  and  Scott,  he  pushed  on  toward  Easley 
Station,  or  Fort  Easley.  Major  Beasley,  in  the  mean  time,  finding  Fort  Mims  too 
small  for  the  swelling  multitude  that  flocked  into  it,  commenced  its  enlargement  by 
driving  a  new  row  of  pickets  sixty  feet  beyond  the  eastward  end.  The  work  went 
on  slowly  and  carelessly.  Every  day,  and  sometimes  several  times  a  day,  the  inmates 
were  alarmed  by  rumors  of  approaching  savages,  until  they  became  indifferent,  in  the 
belief  that  they  were  all  false. 

On  the  morning  of  the  29th  of  August,  two  slaves  (one  of  them  belonging  to  John 
Randon,  and  the  other  to  a  man  named  Fletcher),  who  had  been  sent  out  a  short  dis 
tance  from  the  fort  to  attend  to  some  beef-cattle,  came  rushing  through  one  of  the 
wide-open  gates  almost  out  of  breath,  and  their  eyes  dilated  with  mortal  fear.  They 
declared  that  they  had  counted  four-and-twenty  painted  savages  on  the  edge  of  a 
swamp.  Captain  Middleton  was  immediately  sent  out  with  two  mounted  men  to  re 
connoitre,  but  returned  at  sunset  without  seeing  any  trace  of  hostile  Indians.  Beasley 
charged  the  negroes  with  lying,  and  ordered  them  to  be  severely  flogged  for  raising 
a  false  alarm.  Randon's  negro  received  the  lashes,  but  Fletcher,  who  believed  the 
story  of  his  slave,  refused  to  have  him  flogged.  This  so  exasperated  Beasley  that  he 
ordered  Fletcher  to  leave  the  fort,  with  his  large  family,  by  ten  o'clock  the  next  day. 
At  that  time  there  were  five  hundred  and  fifty-three  souls  within  the  stockade,  con 
sisting  of  white  people,  Indians,  officers,  soldiers,  and  negi-oes.  Many  of  them  were 
sick,  for  there  arose  around  them  continually  the  malaria  of  Alabama  swamps  swel 
tering  in  the  rays  of  an  August  sun.  Most  of  them  were  non-combatants,  for  the  in 
fatuated  Beasley,  who  believed  himself  and  charge  to  be  perfectly  secure,  had  greatly 
weakened  the  garrison  by  sending  men  to  neighboring  posts  from  which  came  pite 
ous  cries  for  aid  and  protection. 

The  morning  of  the  30th  was  clear  and  sultry.  The  alarm  caused  by  the  story  of 
the  negroes  on  the  previous  day  had  subsided,  and  Fletcher,  the  owner  of  one  of 
them,  had  consented  to  have  his  slave  whipped  rather  than  be  driven  from  the  fort 
with  his  family.  Full  of  confidence,  Beasley  at  ten  o'clock  had  dispatched  a  messen 
ger  with  a  letter  to  General  Claiborne,  in  which  he  assured  his  commander  of  his  per 
fect  safety,  and  his  "  ability  to  maintain  the  post  against  any  number  of  Indians."1 
The  women  in  the  stockade  were  preparing  dinner;  the  soldiers  were  loitering  list 
lessly  about,  or  were  playing  cards,  or  lying  on  the  ground  asleep ;  and  almost  a  hund 
red  children  were  playing  gleefully  among  the  cabins  and  tents.  Young  men  and 
maidens  were  dancing,  and  every  appearance  gave  promise  of  an  evening  of  sweet  re 
pose.  Nothing  marred  the  happy  aspect  of  the  scene  but  the  form  of  Fletcher's  poor 
negro,  who  was  tied  up  and  his  back  bared  for  the  lash  because  he  had  told  a  terri 
ble  truth,  and  it  was  believed  to  be  a  lie.  But  it  was  a  moment  of  awful  peril.  In 
a  shallow  ravine,  overshadowed  by  trees  and  filled  with  luxuriant  vegetation,  lay  al 
most  a  thousand  Creek  warriors,  not  more  than  four  hundred  yards  from  the  eastern 
gate,  preparing,  like  fierce  and  famished  tigers,  to  spring  upon  their  prey  at  the  first 
opportune  moment.  They  were  mostly  naked  excepting  the  usual  "flap."  Many  of 
them  were  hideously  painted,  and  all  were  well  armed.  The  prophets,  in  whose  care 
were  the  superstitions  of  the  dusky  horde,  lay  with  the  warriors,  their  heads  covered 

i  Major  Beasley  to  General  Claiborne,  August  31, 1813. 
3B 


754  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Indian  Leaders.  Gathering  of  the  hostile  Savages.  False  Confidence  of  the  Commander  at  Fort  Mime. 

with  feathers,  their  faces  painted  black,  and  their  medicine-bags  and  magic  rods  by 
their  sides.  It  was  a  host  devilish  in  appearance,  and  on  a  demoniac  errand.  Whence 
came  they  ?  Let  us  see. 

We  have  observed  that  M'Queen  and  his  followers,  after  the  battle  of  Burnt  Corn 
Creek,  went  back  to  Pensacola,  where  they  were  again  well  supplied  with  provisions 
and  ammunition,  and  instructed  by  the  British  and  Indian  agents  there  to  fight  the 
Americans,  and,  in  the  event  of  their  being  defeated,  to  send  their  women  and  chil 
dren  to  Pensacola.  "  If  you  should  be  compelled  to  fly  yourselves,"  they  said,  "  and 
the  Americans  should  prove  too  hard  for  both  of  us,  there  are  vessels  enough  to  carry 
us  off  altogether  to  Havana."1 

M'Queen  was  associated  with  Josiah  Francis  and  William  Weathersford,  both  half- 
bloods  ;  the  former  a  son  of  a  Creek  woman  by  a  Scotchman  named  Francis,2  and 
the  latter  a  child  of  Charles  Weathersford,  of  Georgia,  by  the  beautiful  Sehoya,  a 
half-sister  of  General  M'Gillivray,  of  the  Creek  nation.3  Weathersford  was  an  ex 
traordinary  man  ;  commanding  in  person,  powerful  in  physical  strength,  honorable, 
and  as  humane  as  circumstances  would  allow.  He  was  the  superior  of  M'Queen  and 
Francis  in  ability ;  and  when,  after  the  return  of  the  well-supplied  Indians  from  Pen 
sacola,  there  was  a  great  gathering  of  warriors  at  Toockabatcha,  on  the  Tallapoosa, 
and  preparations  were  made  for  opening  the  war  by  an  incursion  into  the  country  on 
the  Lower  Alabama,  he  became  the  principal  leader.4 

•  August  20,  Late  in  Augusta  Weathersford  conducted  his  followers  to  the  planta 
tion  of  Zachariah  M'Girth,  not  far  from  the  site  of  the  present  village  of 
Claiborne,  in  Monroe  County,  Alabama,  ninety  miles  below  Montgomery.  There  he 
captured  some  negroes,  and  from  them  learned  the  condition  of  Fort  Minis.  One  of 
his  captives  escaped,  and  bore  to  Major  Beasley  intelligence  of  impending  danger, 
while  Weathersford  for  several  days  deliberated  and  prepared  for  an  exterminating 
blow.  As  the  Indians  did  not  make  their  appearance,  Beasley  supposed  the  negro 
fugitive's  story  to  be  a  mere  fabrication  ;  and,  as  we  have  observed,  the  commander 
and  the  inmates  of  the  fort  were  resting  in  fancied  security,  when,  on  the  29th, 
Weathersford  and  his  host  approached  the  ravine  in  which  they  lay  on  the  morning 
of  the  30th.  There  they  were  again  seen  by  the  slave,  who  had  been  whipped  for 
supposed  lying  on  the  previous  day.  He  might  have  warned  Beasley,  which  warn 
ing,  if  heeded,  might  have  saved  the  fort ;  but  his  back  was  yet  smarting  from  the 
severe  flogging,  and,  fearing  a  repetition  of  it,  he  fled  to  Fort  Pierce,  a  stockade  about 
two  miles  from  Fort  Mims. 

At  noon  the  garrison  drum  at  Fort  Mims  beat  for  dinner.  The  eastern  gate  stood 
wide  open,  with  some  drifted  sand  against  it.  The  first  tap  was  the  signal  for  the 
savages  to  rise  from  their  cover  and  rush  to  the  fort ;  and  the  first  intimation  of  their 
presence  was  a  horrid  yell,5  that  filled  the  air  as  they  came  streaming  over  a  field  to- 

1  Pickett's  Alabama,  ii.,  2C7,  note. 

~  Francis  assumed  to  be  a  prophet  inspired  by  the  Shawnoe  seer,  Tecumtha's  one-eyed  brother.  lie  placed  Francis 
in  a  cabin  by  himself,  around  which  he  danced  and  howled  for  ten  days.  Then,  he  said,  Francis  was  blind,  but  that  he 
would  again  see,  and  then  he  would  know  all  of  things  future.  At  the  expiration  of  ten  days  the  Prophet  led  him 
forth,  and  Francis  walked  like  a  blind  man  all  day.  Toward  night  his  sight  came  to  him  suddenly,  when  he  became 
the  greatest  prophet  in  the  Creek  nation,  with  the  power  to  create  lesser  prophets.  That  power  he  used  freely. 

3  Alexander  M'Gillivray  was  the  head  chief  of  the  Creek  nation  during  Washington's  administration.  He  was  a  son 
of  a  Creek  woman  by  a  Scotch  Tory  of  Georgia,  whose  property  was  confiscated  at  the  close  of  the  old  War  for  Inde 
pendence.  This  son  took  refuge  among  the  Creeks,  and  became  the  "beloved  man,"  or  head  chief.  He  was  an  edu 
cated  man ;  brave,  fluent  in  speech,  and  personally  popular.  The  Spanish  authorities  honored  him  with  the  commis 
sion  of  a  colonel ;  and  he  was  received  in  New  York  in  1T90  with  great  honors  when  he  came,  with  a  retinue  of  follow 
ers,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  between  the  Creeks  and  the  United  States— the  very  treaty  whose  spirit  his  countrymen  were 
now  about  to  violate.  His  mother's  family  were  among  the  first  in  the  Creek  nation ;  and  his  haU  sister,  Sehoya, 
Weathersford's  mother,  was  celebrated  for  her  beauty  and  mental  excellence.  Weathersford  was  born  at  the  Hickory 
Ground,  near  Coosawda,  on  the  Alabama. 

*  Warriors  from  thirteen  Indian  towns  marched  in  a  southward  direction,  while  others  from  Tallahassee,  Anttose, 
and  Ockfnske  formed  a  corps  of  observation  in  another  direction,  to  conceal  the  movement. 

5  There  seem  to  have  been  no  sentinels  on  duty,  for  the  Indians  were  within  thirty  steps  of  the  fort  before  they  were 
discovered.— Letter  of  Fletcher  Cox  to  General  Claiborne,  in  Life  of  General  Sam  Dale,  page  109. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  755 


Sudden  Appearance  of  the  Indians.  Furious  Assault  on  the  Fort.  A  terrible  Battle  in  Fort  Mims. 

ward  the  open  gate.  Beasley  flew  to  close  it,  and  his  soldiers  rushed  with  their  arms 
to  the  port-holes,  while  the  unarmed  men,  and  the  women  and  children,  huddled,  pale 
and  trembling,  and  almost  paralyzed  with  sudden  fear,  in  the  houses  and  cabins  with 
in  the  main  inclosure.  Beasley  was  too  late.  Before  he  could  remove  the  drifted 
sand  and  shut  the  gate,  the  savages  were  upon  him.  He  was  felled  by  clubs  and 
tomahawks  ;  and  over  his  dying  body  the  dusky  torrent  rushed  into  the  new  inclo 
sure,  where  Captains  Middleton  and  Jack  were  on  duty.  He  crawled  behind  the  gate 
and  soon  expired,  using  his  latest  breath  in  exhorting  his  men  to  fight  valiantly. 

The  Indians  soon  filled  the  outer  inclosure,  while  the  field  beyond  swarmed  with  a 
yelling  multitude  of  blood-thirsty  men.  Their  prophets  commenced  incantations  and 
dances.  They  had  assured  the  warriors  that  the  white  men's  bullets  would  split 
harmlessly  on  the  sacred  bodies  of  the  seers  and  the  multitude  behind  them.  The 
delusion  was  soon  dispelled.  Five  of  the  invulnerable  prophets  were  shot  dead. 
The  dismayed  savages  recoiled  for  a  moment  in  doubt  and  fear.  Many  rushed  wildly 
out  of  the  gate,  but  others  filled  their  places,  and,  with  yells  and  howls,  they  poured 
a  deadly  fire  upon  the  inmates  of  the  fort  through  the  portholes  of  the  old  pickets 
and  the  outside  stockades.  The  poor  bound  negro,  who  was  awaiting  the  lash,  was 
shot  dead  on  the  spot  where  he  was  to  have  been  punished  for  doing  all  in  his  power 
to  avert  the  dreadful  calamity  then  impending.  Captain  Middleton,  who  was  in 
charge  of  the  eastern  section,  was  slain,  with  all  of  his  command.  Captain  Jack,  in 
the  south  wing,  with  a  rifle  company,  maintained  the  conflict  nobly.  Lieutenant 
Ranclon  fought  from  the  guard-house  on  the  west ;  and  Captain  Dixon  Bailey,  the 
gallant  half-blood,  on  whom  the  command  of  the  garrison  devolved  after  the  fall  of 
Beasley,  was  seen  in  every  part  of  the  fort,  directing  the  military  and  encouraging 
the  other  inmates. 

The  situation  was  terrible.  There  were  two  inclosures,  separated  by  a  row  of  log 
pickets  with  port-holes,  and  an  open  gate.  On  one  side  were  unarmed  men,  women, 
and  children,  thickly  crowded,  with  few  soldiers,  for  a  larger  portion  of  them  were 
in  the  outer  inclosure  with  Middleton  and  Jack.  On  the  other  side  were  lusty  sav 
ages,  maddened  by  the  sight  of  blood  and  ravenous  for  plunder ;  and  all  around  were 
human  fiends  filling  the  open  field  and  eager  for  slaughter  and  spoils. .  Victory  or 
death  was  the  alternative  offered  to  the  inmates  of  the  fort.  After  the  first  shock  of 
surprise  their  courage  returned,  and,  under  the  direction  of  the  intrepid  Bailey,  those 
who  had  arms  manned  the  dividing  pickets,  and  through  the  port-holes  poured  vol 
leys  that  made  wide  lanes  in  the  thick  ranks  of  the  foe.  These,  however,  were  imme 
diately  filled,  and  the  terrible  conflict  went  on.  Sometimes  the  guns  of  a  Christian 
and  pagan  would  cross  in  a  port-hole,  and  both  would  fall.  Old  men,  and  even  wom 
en  and  boys,  fought  with  desperation.  Bailey's  voice  constantly  encouraged  them. 
"  Hold  on  a  little  longer,"  he  said,  "  and  all  will  be  well.  The  Indians  seldom  fight 
long  at  a  time."  He  endeavored  to  induce  some  of  them  to  join  him  in  a  sortie  and 
a  dash  through  the  enemy  to  Fort  Pierce  to  procure  re-enforcements,  and,  returning, 
attack  the  enemy  in  the  rear  and  raise  the  siege.  The  movement  seemed  too  peril 
ous  and  hopeless,  and  none  would  follow  him.  He  determined  to  go  alone,  and  was 
actually  climbing  the  picketing  for  the  purpose  when  his  friends  pulled  him  back. 

The  horrid  battle  raged  for  three  hours,  when,  as  Bailey  expected,  the  Indians  be 
gan  to  tire.  Their  fire  slackened,  their  howlings  were  less  savage,  and  they  began  to 
carry  off  plunder  from  the  head-quarters  of  Major  Beasley  and  the  other  buildings  in 
the  outer  inclosure.  The  people  in  the  main  fort  were  thrilled  with  a  hope  that  the 
savages  were  about  to  depart.  That  hope  was  soon  extinguished.  Weathersford 
was  not  a  man  to  accept  of  half  a  victory  when  a  complete  one  was  within  his  grasp. 
He  beheld  with  scorn  the  conduct  of  many  of  his  warriors  wrho  were  more  intent  on 
plunder  than  conquest.  Seated  upon  a  fine  black  horse,  he  rode  after  the  departing 
braves,  addressed  them  vehemently  with  words  of  rebuke  and  persuasion,  and  soon 


756 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Massacre  in  Fort  Mims. 


Scalping  the  Dead  and  Dying. 


Price  for  Scalps  offered  by  the  British  Agent. 


led  them  back  to  complete  the  business  in  hand.  With  demoniac  yells  the  savages 
resumed  the  work  of  destruction.  They  soon  filled  the  outer  inclosure  again,  but 
were  kept  at  bay  by  brothers  of  Captain  Bailey  and  other  sharp-shooters,  who  had 
made  port-holes  in  Mims's  house  by  knocking  off  some  shingles,  and  from  thence  sent 
deadly  bullets  into  many  a  lusty  warrior  who  was  endeavoring  to  press  through  the 
inner  gate.  But  very  soon,  under  the  direction  of  Weathersford,  fire  was  sent  to 
Mims's  roof  on  the  wings  of  arrows,  and  it  burst  into  a  flame.  Some  of  the  scorched 
inmates  of  the  house  fled  to  other  buildings,  and  some  were  roasted  in  the  horrid 
oven.  The  house  was  soon  in  cinders,  with  its  extensive  sheds  and  out-buildings. 
The  fire  spread  to  other  buildings,  and  in  a  few  minutes  almost  the  entire  area  of 
the  fort  was  scathed  by  the  crackling  flames.  The  shrieks  of  women  and  children 
added  to  the  horrors  of  the  scene. 

Only  one  place  of  refuge  now  remained,  and  to  it  the  doomed  people  rushed  fran 
tically.  It  was  Patrick's  loom-house  (7  in  the  diagram  below),  on  the  north  side  of 
the  fort,  which  had  been  inclosed  with  strong  pickets,  and  called  the  Bastion.  This 
was  Captain  Bailey's  original  stand,  and  there  he  and  the  survivors  of  his  company 
now  took  position  and  poured  fatal  volleys  upon  the  savages. 

The  assailants  were  now  in  the  main  fort,  and  every  inmate  pressed  frantically  to 
ward  the  Bastion.  In  doing  so  many  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  while  the  weak, 
wounded,  and  aged  were  trampled  under  foot  and  pressed  to  death.  The  venerable 
Samuel  Mims,  when  tottering  toward  this  last  place  of  refuge,  was  shot,  and  while 
he  was  yet  living  the  knife  of  his  assassin  was  passed  around  his  head,  and  his  scalp, 
with  its  hoary  locks,  was  waved  exultingly  in  the  air. 

The  fire  and  the  savages  attacked  the 
Bastion  at  the  same  time.  The  former  was 
more  merciful  than  the  latter.  The  Indians 
broke  down  the  pickets,  and  butchered  the 
inmates  in  cold  blood.  The  children  were 
seized  by  the  legs,  and  their  brains  knocked 
out  against  the  stockades.  Women  were 
disemboweled,  and  their  unborn  children 
were  flung  in  the  air.  The  British  agent 
at  Pensacola  had  offered  five  dollars  apiece 
for  scalps,  and  the  long  tresses  of  women, 
as  well  as  the  coverings  of  men's  heads, 
were  speedily  in  the  hands  of  the  savages 
as  marketable  commodities  in  a  Christian 
mart !  In  the  midst  of  the  performance  of 
these  horrid  deeds  Weathersford  rode  up. 
Like  Tecumtha,  he  was  noble  and  humane. 
He  reproached  his  followers  for  their  cruel 
ty,  and  begged  them  to  spare  the  women 
and  children  at  least.  His  interference 
nearly  cost  him  his  life.  Many  clubs  were 
raised  threateningly  over  his  head,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  retire.  In  after  years  the  scenes  he  then  witnessed  filled  him  with 

1  The  above  plan  of  Fort  Mims  was  found  among  the  manuscripts  of  General  Claiborne,  and  first  published  by  Pick- 
ett  in  his  History  of  Alabama,  ii.,  2G5.  It  may  also  be  found  in  Claiborne's  Life  ai\d  Times  of  General  Sam  Dale,  page 
112,  and  is  printed  here  by  permission  of  the  author.  The  following  is  an  explanation  of  the  reference  figures  :  1.  Block 
house  ;  2.  Pickets  cut  away  by  the  Indians  ;  3.  Guards'  station ;  4.  Guard-house  ;  5.  Western  gate,  but  not  up ;  6.  This 
gate  was  shut,  but  a  hole  was  cut  through  by  the  Indians ;  7.  Captain  Bailey's  station ;  8.  Steadham's  house ;  9.  Mrs. 
Dyer's  house ;  10.  Kitchen  ;  11.  Mims's  house ;  12.  Eandon's  house ;  13.  Old  gateway,  open ;  14.  Ensign  Chambliss's  tent ; 
1C.  Ttandon's  ;  17.  Captain  Middleton's  ;  18.  Captain  Jack's  station ;  19.  Port-holes  taken  by  Indians  ;  20,  21.  Port-holes 
tnken  by  Indians ;  22.  Major  Beasley's  cabin  ;  23.  Captain  Jack's  company  ;  24.  Captain  Middletou's  company ;  25.  Where 
Beasley  fell ;  20.  Eastern  gate,  where  the  Indians  entered. 


FOET   MIMS.1 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  757 

Number  of  the  Slain.         Indians  rewarded  by  the  British  Agent.         Horrors  of  the  Massacre.         Burial  of  the  Dead. 

remorse,  for  he  was  chief  author  of  the  calamity.  He  had  raised  the  storm,  but  he 
was  unable  to  control  it.  "  My  warriors,"  he  said, "  were  like  famished  wolves,  and 
the  first  taste  of  blood  made  their  appetites  insatiable."1 

At  noon  on  that  fatal  30th  of  August,  when  the  drum  was  beaten  for  dinner,  there 
were  five  hundred  and  fifty  persons  in  Fort  Minis,  happy  in  the  belief  that  they  were 
secure  from  danger ;  at  sunset  of  the  same  day  four  hundred  of  them  were  dead  ! 
Not  one  white  woman  nor  one  child  escaped.  Every  avenue  of  flight  from  the  hor 
rid  slaughter-pen  was  sentineled.  Yet  twelve  men  of  the  garrison  did  cut  through 
the  pickets  and  escape  to  the  swamp.  Among  these  was  Captain  Bailey ;  but  he  was 
severely  wounded,  and  died  by  the  side  of  a  cypress  stump.2  Hester,  a  negro  woman, 
who  had  received  a  ball  in  her  breast,  had  followed  them  out.  She  reached  a  canoe 
in  Tensaw  Lake,  paddled  it  into  and  down  the  Alabama  to  Fort  Stoddart,  which  she 
reached  on  Tuesday  night,a  and  was  the  first  to  give  information  to  Gen-  "August 31, 
eral  Claiborne  of  the  horrible  tragedy.  Most  of  the  negroes  were  spared 
by  the  Indians,  and  were  made  their  slaves. 

The  battle  lasted  from  twelve  o'clock  until  five,  when  the  fort  was  a  smoking  ruin. 
The  savages  then  retired  about  a  mile  east  of  the  fort,  where  they  slept  that  night, 
after  smoking  their  pipes  and  trimming  their  scalps.  They  had  suffered  severely,  for 
the  garrison  had  sold  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible.  Not  less  than  four  hundred 
Creek  warriors  were  slain  or  wounded.  On  the  morning  after  the  conflict  they  com 
menced  burying  their  dead,  but  soon  abandoned  the  labor.  Putting  their  wounded 
into  canoes,  a  part  of  the  warriors  went  up  the  river ;  some  staid  in  the  neighbor 
hood  to  plunder  and  kill,3  and  others  went  to  Pensacola,  with  their  trophy-scalps  on 
poles,  to  receive  their  reward  from  the  British  agents  there. 

Ten  days  afterward,  Major  Kennedy,  who  had  been  sent  by  General  Claiborne  to 
bury  the  dead  at  Fort  Mims,  arrived  there.b  His  eyes  met  a  sad  and 
horrid  spectacle.  The  air  was  filled  with  gluttonous  buzzards  who  had 
come  to  feast  on  the  dead  bodies,  and  a  large  number  of  dogs  were  disputing  with 
the  foul  birds  for  the  banquet.  The  mutilated  remains  of  the  dead  were  buried  in 
two  pits.4  "  Indians,  negroes,  wThite  men,  women,  and  children,"  Kennedy  said  in  his 
report, "  lay  in  one  promiscuous  mass.  All  were  scalped ;  and  the  females  of  every 
age  were  butchered  in  a  manner  which  neither  decency  nor  language  will  permit  me 
to  describe.  The  main  building  was  burned  to  ashes,  which  were  filled  with  bones. 
The  plains  and  the  woods  around  were  covered  with  dead  bodies.  All  the  houses 
were  consumed  by  fire  except  the  block-house  and  a  part  of  the  pickets.  The  sol 
diers  and  officers,  with  one  voice,  called  on  Divine  Providence  to  revenge  the  death 
of  our  murdered  friends."5 

The  massacre  at  Fort  Mims  created  the  most  intense  excitement  and  alarm  through 
out  the  Southwest.  This  was  increased  by  the  operations  of  the  powerful  prophet, 
Francis,  who  at  the  same  time  was  spreading  destruction  and  consternation  over  the 
country  between  the  Alabama  and  Tombigbee  Rivers,  from  the  forks  northward,  now 
Clarke  County,  in  Alabama.  The  little  stockades  were  filled  with  the  affrighted  in- 

1  Claiborne's  Life  of  General  Sam  Dale,  page  128. 

2  When  the  flames  began  to  reach  the  people  in  the  Bastion,  Dr.  Thomas  G.  Holmes,  an  assistant  surgeon  of  the  gar 
rison,  seized  an  axe,  cut  some  pickets  in  two,  but  left  them  standing  till  an  opportunity  for  escape  offered.    Bailey  now 
cried  out,  "All  is  lost!"  and  begged  the  people  to  escape.    The  pickets  were  thrown  down,  but,  as  we  have  obs^-ved, 
only  twelve  escaped.    Bailey's  little  sick  son,  only  thirteen  years  of  age,  was  carried  safely  to  the  woods  by  his  negro 
man  Tom,  who,  half  mad  with  fear  and  dire  confusion,  ran  back  with  the  boy  to  the  Indians.    The  savages  took  the 
child  by  the  legs,  and  while  he  cried  "  Father,  save  me  !"  they  dashed  out  his  brains.    The  following  are  the  names  of 
the  persons  who  escaped  from  the  fort  and  lived :  Dr.  Thomas  Gf.  Holmes  ;  Hester,  a  negro  woman  ;  Socca,  a  friendly 
Indian;  Peter  Randon,  lieutenant  of  citizens'  company ;  Josiah  Fletcher ;  Sergeant  Mathews  ;  Martin  Rigdon  ;  Samuel 

Smith,  a  half-blood ;  Mourrice  and  Joseph  Perry,  of  the  Mississippi  Volunteers ;  John  Hoven  ;  Jones ;  and 

Lieutenant  W.  R.  Chambliss,  of  the  Mississippi  Volunteers. — Pickett's  Alabama,  ii.,  276.    See  diagram  on  opposite  page 
for  the  houses  of  the  Steadhams  and  Randons,  and  the  tent  of  Lieutenant  Chambliss. 

3  The  inmates  of  Fort  Pierce,  a  small  stockade  two  or  three  miles  from  Fort  Mims,  fled  down  the  river  and  reached 
Mobile  in  safety.  *  Two  hundred  and  forty-seven  bodies  were  buried. 

4  Kennedy's  MS.  Report  to  General  Claiborne,  quoted  in  Pickett's  Alabama,  ii.,  2S2. 


758  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Distress  in  the  Creek  Country.     Response  of  the  Tennesseeaus  to  a  Cry  for  Help.     Jackson's  Appeal,  and  its  Effects. 

habitants,  and  sickness  and  death  were  their  constant  companions.  The  distress  in 
the  Creek  country  can  scarcely  be  imagined.  A  fearful  cry  for  help  went  northward, 
not,  as  it  would  now,  on  the  wings  of  the  lightning,  but  by  couriers  on  swift  horses. 
Yet  they  were  tardy  messengers  measured  by  travel-speed  to-day.  It  took  thirty- 
one  days  to  carry  the  news  to  the  city  of  New  York,  where  it  produced  very  little 
sensation,  for  the  heart  of  the  whole  country  was  then  yet  tremulous  with  the  joyous 
emotions  created  by  the  recent  victory  won  by  Perry  on  Lake  Erie,  and  excited  by 
intense  interest  in  the  movements  of  General  Harrison,  who  was  then  penetrating 
Canada,  and  nobly  retrieving  the  national  misfortunes  at  Detroit  the  previous  year. 
These  absorbed  the  public  attention  northward  of  the  Ohio  and  eastward  of  the  Alle- 
ghany  Mountains,  while  the  fiercely-kindled  Creek  War  equally  absorbed  the  atten 
tion  and  awakened  the  most  fervid  sympathies  and  hottest  indignation  of  the  people 
of  the  Mississippi  and  Gulf  regions. 

The  sons  of  Tennessee  quickly  and  nobly  responded  to  the  cry  for  help  from  below. 
Governor  Blount  promised  to  do  what  he  might,  but  General  Jackson  was  then  too 
ill  to  take  active  measures  in  the  same  direction  immediately,  but  he  assured  his  fel 
low-citizens  that  he  would  do  so  as  speedily  as  possible.  He  was  then  lying  at  the 
Nashville  Inn,  prostrated  by  the  effects  of  serious  wounds  received  from  the  late 
Thomas  H.  Benton  in  an  affray  in  the  streets  of  Nashville  with  deadly  weapons.  He 
was  convalescing,  and,  full  of  the  "  fire  of  the  flint,"  he  issued  a  stirring  address  to 
those  volunteers  who  followed  him  a  thousand  miles  to  Natchez  a  year  before.  He 
begged  them  to  go  forward  in  a  cause  "  so  worthy  the  arm  of  every  brave  soldier  and 
true  citizen;"  and  expressed  his  regret  that  he  was  not  able  to  go  with  them,  at  the 
same  time  assuring  them  of  his  belief  that  he  might  soon  join  them,  which  he  did. 

Jackson's  appeal  touched  the  hearts  of  the  Tennesseeans ;  and  the  action  of  the  Leg 
islature,  then  in  session,  was  consonant  with  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  the  people. 
On  the  25th  of  September*  they  authorized  Governor  Blount  to  call  out  three 
thousand  five  hundred  volunteers,  in  addition  to  fifteen  hundred  already  mus 
tered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  the  commonwealth  of  Tennessee  guaran 
teeing  their  pay  and  subsistence,  and  appropriating  three  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  the  payment  of  expenses  to  be  immediately  incurred.  On  the  same  day  General 
Jackson  issued  another  spirited  address,  calling  his  division  to  the  field.  He  ordered 
them  to  assemble  on  the  4th  of  October  at  Fayetteville,  near  the  northern  boundary 
of  Alabama.  Already  his  first  address  had  set  the  military  spirit  of  the  state  ablaze ; 
now  a  letter-writer  at  Nashville  declared11  that "  in  a  few  days  there  will 

h  September  27.      -      ,         „  .  J 

be  but  tew  young  men  left  in  town.  Nearly  all  have  volunteered — some 
have  gone,  and  others  are  getting  ready.  .  .  .  Colonel  John  Coffee  has  already  start 
ed  with  the  cavalry.  Infantry  and  mounted  volunteer  companies  are  flocking  to  the 
standard  every  day.  Had  not  General  Jackson  been  confined  by  his  wound,  I  think 
all  would  have  been  on  the  way  by  this  time."1 

On  the  26th  General  Jackson  dispatched  the  energetic  Colonel  Coffee,  with  his 
regiment  of  dragoons,  five  hundred  strong,  and  as  many  mounted  volunteers  as  could 
join  him  immediately,  to  take  post  at  Huntsville,2  in  Northern  Alabama,  for  the  en 
couragement  and  protection  of  the  inhabitants  there,  and  to  cover  a  depot  of  supplies 
which  he  intended  to  establish  on  the  Tennessee  River  south  of  Huntsville,  at  Ditto's 
Landing.  Coffee  pushed  forward  with  celerity,  and  reached  Huntsville  on  the  4th  of 
October.  His  force  had  been  augmented  almost  hourly  on  the  way  by  volunteers 
who  flocked  to  his  standard,  and  he  found  himself  on  the  borders  of  the  Creek  coun 
try  with  full  thirteen  hundred  men.  Jackson  meanwhile,  with  his  arm  in  a  sling  and 
suffering  intensely,  was  making  his  way  to  the  prescribed  rendezvous  of  his  troops 

1  The  War,  ii.,  73. 

2  Huntsville  is  the  present  capital  of  Madison  County,  Alabama,  one  of  the  finest  regions  of  that  state,  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain  slopes  which  there  gradually  melt  into  the  level  Gulf  region. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


759 


General  Coffee  in  Northern  Alabama. 


Jackson  in  the  Field. 


Mobile  threatened,  but  saved. 


at  Fayetteville,  on  the  4th  of  October, 
full  eighty  miles  south  from  Nashville. 
He  could  not  reach  there  at  the  pre 
scribed  time,  but  sent  forward  a  spirit 
ed  address  to  the  soldiers,  to  be  read  to 
them  on  that  day.  It  was  an  appeal  to 
their  pride  and  patriotism;  and  called 
upon  them,  in  an  especial  manner,  to  be 
obedient  to  discipline,  for  it  was  essen 
tial  in  preparing  them  for  the  noble  task 
before  them. 

While  these  movements  were  in  prog 
ress  in  West  Tennessee,  others  of  like 
character  and  importance  were  going 
on  in  East  Tennessee,  where  General 
John  Cocke  was  in  command.  Under 
the  direction  of  Governor  Blount,  he 
ordered  his  division  to  rendezvous  at 
Knoxville  ;  and  so  promptly  did  they 
respond,  that  he  wrote  to  General  Jack 
son  on  the  2d  of  October*  that  his 

a  1  Ql  Q 

men,  twenty-five  hundred  in  number,  were  ready  to  march,  and  that  he  could 
doubtless  contract  for  a  thousand  barrels  of  flour  to  be  sent  to  Ditto's  Landing  imme 
diately. 

Jackson  reached  Fayetteville  on  the  7th  of  October,  where  he  remained  a  week 
waiting  for  the  arrival  of  troops,  organizing  them,  and  making  arrangements  for  sup 
plies.  He  was  greeted  by  cheering  news  from  Coffee.  It  was  generally  supposed 
that  the  Indians  would  hasten  to  the  capture  of  Mobile,  under  the  auspices  and  di 
rection  of  the  Spaniards,  after  the  destruction  of  Fort  Minis.  It  might  have  been  an 
easy  matter  ;  but  they  lingered,  as  usual,  after  their  victory,  and  then  pushed  north 
ward.1  This  good  news  came  from  Coffee,  and  Jackson,  acting  upon  it,  was  making 
vigorous  preparation  to  meet  them,  when,  on  Monday,  the  llth  of  October,b  a 
courier  came  dashing  into  his  camp  with  intelligence  from  Coffee  that  the  sav 
ages  were  near.  The  general  gave  instant  orders  for  his  troops  to  march.  Two  hours 
later  they  were  in  motion ;  and  at  eight  o'clock  the  same  evening  they  were  in  Hunts- 
ville,  having  marched  thirty-two  miles  almost  without  halting.  On  the  following 
morning  Jackson  was  informed  that  the  rumor  of  the  near  approach  of  the  Indians 
was  false.  He  leisurely  led  his  troops  across  the  swift-floAving  Tennessee  at  Ditto's 
Landing,  joined  Coffee's  command,  and,  on  a  high  bluff  overlooking  the  beautiful 
river,  opposite  a  charming  island,  encamped. 


JOI1M    COFFEE. 


'  1S18. 


1  The  Indians,  as  usual,  stopped  to  enjoy  their  victory  after  it  was  achieved,  instead  of  securing  its  solid  advantages. 
Such  consternation  was  produced  by  the  massacres  on  Tensaw  that  Mobile  might  have  become  an  easy  prey  to  the 
savages.  But  while  they  lingered,  the  Spanish  accomplices  at  Pensacola  appeared  to  have  become  alarmed  lest  the 
savages  might  destroy  Mobile,  which  they  hoped  to  recover  uninjured.  Governor  Manique  accordingly  wrote  to  Weath- 
ersford  and  his  associates  on  the  subject.  After  congratulating  them  on  their  success  at  Fort  Mims,  assuring  them  of 
friendship  and  a  desire  to  aid  them,  and  thanking  them  for  their  offers  of  assistance  in  the  recapture  of  Mobile,  the 
governor  dissuaded  them  from  attacking  it,  or  at  least  destroying  it.  "I  hope,"  he  wrote,  "you  will  not  put  in  execu 
tion  the  project  you  tell  me  of  to  burn  the  town,  since  these  houses  and  properties  do  not  belong  to  the  Americans,  but 
to  true  Spaniards."— Letter  dated  Pensacola,  September  29,1813,  quoted  by  Pickett  in  his  Htetory  of  Alabama.  It  is 
among  the  Claiborne  papers  already  alluded  to.  It  is  positive  proof  of  the  complicity  of  the  Spanish  authorities  at 
Pensacola  with  the  British  and  Indians  in  waging  an  exterminating  war  against  the  people  of  the  Mississippi  Terri 
tory,  and  justified  the  seizure  of  Pensacola  by  the  Americans  which  occurred  afterward. 


760  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Jackson's  impatient  waiting  for  Supplies.          Cries  for  Help  from  the  Coosa.          Jackson  marches  in  that  Direction. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

"Alas  for  them  !  their  day  is  o'er; 
Their  fires  are  out  from  shore  to  shore  ; 
No  more  for  them  the  wild  deer  bounds— 
The  plow  is  on  their  hunting-grounds. 
The  pale  man's  axe  rings  through  their  woods— 
The  pale  man's  sail  skims  o'er  their  floods." 

CHARLES  SPRAGUE. 

p'^ACKSON'S  little  army,  under  his  immediate  command,  was  now 
about  twenty-five  hundred  strong,  and  the  difficulties  of  the 
campaign,  with  all  their  gloomy  suggestions,  arose  in  colossal 
proportions  before  his  judgment  and  experience.  His  supplies, 
promised  by  General  Cocke,  had  not  arrived,  and  before  him 
was  an  untried  wilderness  filled  with  hostile  savages.  Twenty- 
five  hundred  men  and  thirteen  hundred  horses  must  be  fed. 
"  Such  a  body,"  says  a  late  writer, "  will  consume  ten  wagon- 
loads  of  provisions  every  day.  For  a  week's  subsistence  they  require  a  thousand 
bushels  of  grain,  twenty  tons  of  flesh,  a  thousand  gallons  of  whisky,  and  many  hund 
red  weight  of  miscellaneous  provisions."  Jackson  was  grievously  disappointed,  and 
stormed  furiously  at  fate,  the  shallow  Tennessee  (on  which  the  provision  vessels  would 
not  yet  float),  the  contractors,  and  even  at  General  Cocke.  Then  he  sent  his  quarter 
master,  Major  W.  B.  Lewis,  to  Nashville  for  supplies,  and  Colonel  Coifee,  with  six  or 
seven  hundred  mounted  men,  to  scour  for  food  the  country  watered  by  the  Black 
Warrior  River,  an  important  tributary  of  the  Tombigbee.  He  was  cheered  by  infor 
mation  that  General  White,  with  the  advance  of  General  Cocke's  division  of  East 
Tennesseeans,  had  already  passed  the  site  of  Chattanooga  and  the  now  famous  Look 
out  Mountain — made  famous  by  the  events  of  the  great  Civil  War,  which  occurred 
there  in  the  autumn  of  1863 — and  would  probably  join  him  in  the  course  of  a  few 
days. 

Jackson  set  about  drilling  his  troops  thoroughly,  and  while  engaged  in  that  duty 
a  Creek  chief  of  the  peace-party  informed  him  that  a  large  number  of  his  nation  were 
preparing  to  attack  a  fort  filled  with  friendly  Indians  at  the  Ten  Islands  of  the  Coosa 
.  October  19,  River.  The  general  immediately  broke  camp  upon  the  bluif,a  and  with 
immense  labor  and  fatigue1  made  his  way  twenty-two  miles  in  that  direc 
tion  along  the  course  of  the  Tennessee  to  Thompson's  Creek,  one  of  its  tributaries,  all 
the  while  watching  anxiously,  through  the  eyes  of  scouts,  for  the  appearance  of  the 
expected  supply  flotilla.  But  they  did  not  come.  He  wrote  to  friends  and  public 
authorities  in  every  direction,  and  the  burden  of  his  letters  were,  "  Give  me  food,  and 
I  will  end  this  savage  war  in  a  month."  And  yet  he  did  not  wait  for  the  expected 
supplies  to  begin  it,  for  such  piteous  entreaties  came  from  the  Coosa  that  he  resolved 
to  press  forward  at  all 'hazards.  He  established  a  depository  for  supplies  at  the 
mouth  of  Thompson's  Creek,  cast  up  fortifications  to  defend  them  which  he  named 
Fort  Deposit,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  24th  of  October  he  started  for  the  Ten  Isl 
ands  of  the  Coosa,  fifty  miles  distant,  with  only  two  days'  supply  of  bread  and  six  of 
meat,  swearing  that  he  would  "  neither  sound  a  retreat  nor  suffer  a  defeat"2  before  the 

1  The  country  in  that  region  is  exceedingly  rough  and  mountainous,  and  the  troops  were  compelled  to  endure  the 
most  appalling  labors.    "  We  have  cut  our  way,"  wrote  Major  Reid,  Jackson's  aid-de-camp,  "  over  mountains  more  tre 
mendous  than  Alps." 

2  Letter  of  Major  John  Reid  to  Quarter-master  W.  B.  Lewis,  October  24, 1S13,  quoted  by  Parton,  i.,  432. 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812.  761 

The  Army  threatened  with  Famine.          Affairs  in  the  lower  Creek  Country.         Courage  and  Honor  of  Captain  Dale. 

savages.     Coffee,  who  in  the  space  of  twelve  days  had  marched  two  hundred  miles, 
burned  Black  Warrior's  Town  and  another  Indian  village  on  the  Black  Warrior  Riv 
er,  and  collected  about  th^ee  hundred  bushels  of  corn,  had  joined  him,  and  the  whole 
army  went  cheerily  forward  toward  the  Coosa.     He  cut  his  way  over  the. rugged 
mountains  with  indomitable  perseverance  to  Wells's  Creek,a  where  his     » October  28, 
supply  of  bread  failed,  and  he  remained  encamped  for  several  days,  that 
his  foraging  parties  might  collect  provisions.     His  little  army  was  there  threatened 
with  actual  starvation,  for  the  contractors  had  entirely  failed  to  meet  their  engage 
ments.     The  foragers  were  usually  successful.     One  party,  under  Colonel  Dyer,  two 
hundred  strong,  fell  upon  the  Indian  village  of  Littefutchee,  at  the  head  of  Canoe 
Creek,  twenty  miles  from  the  camp,  captured  twenty-nine  prisoners  and  a  good  sup 
ply  of  corn,  and  laid  the  town  in  ashes.b     Then  the  army  marched  on,  and 
in  less  than  a  week  afterward  it  was  encamped  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Coosa,  not  far  from  the  Ten  Islands  and  the  mouth  of  the  Canoe  or  Littefutchee  Creek. 

Let  us  here  leave  the  resolute  invaders  a  few  moments,  and  consider  the  condition 
of  affairs  in  the  Creek  country. 

We  have  observed  that  the  massacre  at  Fort  Minis  spread  consternation  over  the 
whole  region,  and  white  people  and  friendly  Indians  sought  shelter  in  the  stockades 
or  safety  in  flight  toward  the  Gulf.  Sickness  prevailed  in  all  the  stockades,  and  there 
was  distress  every  where.  Murders,  robberies,  and  conflagrations  were  seen  on  every 
hand.  Claibome  was  harassed  with  almost  hourly  messages  bearing  piteous  impor 
tunities  for  help,  and  from  none  more  loudly  than  from  St.  Stephen's,  one  of  the  most 
important  posts  in  the  country.1  Information  had  reached  the  general  that  the  gar 
rison  and  refugees  in  Fort  Madison,  in  the  eastern  part  of  Clarke  County,  were  likely 
to  share  the  horrid  fate  of  those  in  Minis  from  a  combined  attack  of  the  savasres. 

O 

Under  the  direction  of  General  Flournoy,  he  ordered  Colonel  Carson,  the  commander, 
to  abandon  the  fort  and  hasten  to  the  relief  of  St.  Stephen's,  if  his  judgment  should 
sanction  such  movement.  Carson  left  Madison  reluctantly,  followed  by  about  five 
hundred  settlers  of  both  sexes,  and  all  ages  and  conditions,  and  marched  westward. 
He  had  arrived  on  the  banks  of  the  Tombigbee,  on  his  way  to  St.  Stephen's,  when  an 
other  letter  from  Claiborne  reached  him,  in  which  he  was  urged  "  not  to  abandon  the 
fort  [Madison]  unless  it  was  clear  that  he  could  not  maintain  it."  It  was  too  late. 
He  crossed  the  river  and  entered  St.  Stephen's. 

Fort  Madison  was  not  wholly  abandoned.  There  were  bold  men  there  who  re 
solved  to  remain  and  defend  it,  together  with  Fort  Glass,  a  small  stockade  only  a 
fourth  of  a  mile  distant.  The  leader  was  Captain  Sam  Dale.2  He  was  still  suffering 
from  the  effects  of  his  wound  received  at  Burnt  Corn  Creek.  When  Carson's  drum 
beat  for  his  troops  to  march,  Dale  beat  his  for  volunteers  to  remain ;  and  when  the 
last  of  the  United  States  soldiers  marched  out  of  the  fort,  Dale  marched  in  at  the  head 
of  eighty  brave  citizens,  among  them  Captain  Evans  Austill.  Dale  received  a  note 
from  General  Flournoy  advising  him  to  repair  to  Mount  Vernon,  as  he  was  sure  to  be 
attacked  by  an  overwhelming  force.  Dale  replied  that  he  had  sworn  to  defend  the 
women  and  children  under  his  charge ;  that  he  had  a  "  gallant  set  of  boys"  under 
him;  and  that  when  the  general  should  hear  "of  the  fall  of  Fort  Madison,  he  would 
find  a  pile  of  yellow-hides  to  tan  if  he  could  get  his  regulars  to  come  and  skin  them  !"3 
Dale  maintained  his  position  with  boldness,  and  was  not  attacked.4 

1  See  page  750,  and  Map  on  page  751.  2  gee  page  749. 

3  Life  and  Times  of  General  Sam  Dale,  pages  116  and  117.  Dale  says  Flournoy  was  opposed  to  the  stockade  system, 
and  was  determined  to  concentrate  his  troops  at  Mobile,  Mount  Veruon,  and  St.  Stephen's.  Claiborne's  order  for  the 
evacuation  of  Fort  Madison,  inspired  by  Flournoy,  was  cursed  by  the  Mettlers  in  the  forks  of  the  Alabama  and  Tombig 
bee,  who  considered  themselves  cruelly  abandoned. 

*  "  During  the  day,"  says  Dale,  "  sentinels  were  posted  around  the  fort.  At  night  I  illuminated  the  approaches  for  a 
circuit  of  one  hundred  yards  by  a  device  of  my  own.  Two  poles,  fifty  feet  long,  were  firmly  planted  on  each  side  of  the 
fort ;  a  long  lever,  upon  the  plan  of  a  well-sweep,  worked  upon  each  of  these  poles ;  to  each  lever  was  attached  a  bar 
of  iron  about  ten  feet  long,  and  to  these  bars  were  fastened  with  trace-chains  huge  fagots  of  light  wood.  The  illumina- 


762  PICTOEIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Choctaw  Allies.  Speech  of  Pushamataha.  Coffee's  Expedition  against  Tallasehatche. 

While  there  was  still  a  doubt  in  every  mind  whether  the  Choctaws  would  remain 
friendly  to  the  Americans,  Pushamataha  removed  every  suspicion  by  suddenly  ap 
pearing  at  St.  Stephen's  and  offering  to  enlist  several  companies  of  his  warriors  to 
take  up.  arms  under  the  banner  of  the  United  States.  He  was  conducted  to  Mobile  by 
George  S.  Gaines,  where  he  had  an  interview  with  General  Flournoy.  That  strangely 
blind  officer  declined  the  chief's  offer,  and  Gaines  and  Pushamataha  went  back  to 
St.  Stephen's  filled  with  mortification  and  disgust.  The  assembled  citizens  had  be 
gun  to  curse  the  commanding  general  without  stint,  when  a  courier  appeared  riding 
in  haste.  He  bore  authority  from  Flournoy  for  Gaines  to  recruit  in  the  Choctaw 
nation.  His  advisers  had  caused  him  to  repent  of  his  folly  in  refusing  the  generous 
offer  of  Pushamataha. 

Gaines  and  the  brave  chief  started  northward  for  the  Choctaw  country.  They 
were  met  at  John  Peachland's  by  Colonel  John  M'Kee,  agent  of  the  Chickasaws,  with 
whom  they  held  a  consultation.  Pushamataha  and  Gaines  then  went  forward.  The 
former  called  a  council  of  his  people  of  the  eastern  district  of  the  nation.1  He  ha 
rangued  the  assembled  multitude  in  an  admirable  speech ;  and  it  was  so  effective 
that  when,  at  the  conclusion,  he  said, "  If  you  have  a  mind  to  follow  me,  I  will  lead 
you  to  glory  and  victory,"  a  warrior  arose,  slapped  his  hand  upon  his  heart,  and  said, 
"  I  am  a  man !  I  am  a  man  !  I  will  follow  you  !"  All  the  others  did  likewise,  and 
raised  a  shout  that  filled  the  heart  of  Gaines  with  joy.2  Colonel  M'Kee  was  equally 
successful  with  the  Chickasaws.  A  large  body  of  them  volunteered  to  folloAv  him, 
and  did  so  to  the  Tuscaloosa  Falls,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  a  Creek  town  there. 
They  found  it  in  ashes,  and  the  centre  of  a  solitude  wherein  no  Indian  was  visible. 
M'Kee  returned  to  Peachland's,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Octibaha,  where  his  dusky  follow 
ers  separated,  some  going  to  their  homes,  and  others  making  their  way  to  join  the 
standard  of  General  Claiborne,  then  at  St.  Stephen's.3 

It  was  while  the  consternation  of  the  inhabitants  on  the  Alabama  and  Tombigbee 
was  most  intense  that  Jackson  was  making  his  way  toward  the  sanguinary  theatre 
on  which,  as  we  have  seen,  he  appeared  at  the  close  of  October.  He  now  became 
chief  actor  in  the  terrible  drama. 

On  his  arrival  upon  the  Coosa,  Jackson  was  informed  that  the  Creeks  were  assem 
bled  at  Tallasehatche,  a  town  in  an  open  woodland  only  thirteen  miles  from  the 
camp.4  He  resolved  to  attack  them  at  once,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  2d  of  No 
vember  he  summoned  the  stalwart  Coffee  to  his  presence.  That  brave  officer  had 
*  September  24,  lately  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier.51  He  was  anxious  to  be 
on  the  wing  with  his  mounted  men,  and  was  soon  gratified.  The  com 
manding  general  ordered  him  to  take  one  thousand  horsemen,  and  fall  suddenly  and 
fiercely  upon  the  offending  town  in  which  blood-thirsty  enemies  were  harbored,  and 
destroy  it.  He  left  camp  for  the  purpose  toward  evening,  his  troops  accompanied  by 
Captain  Richard  Brown  and  a  company  of  friendly  Creeks  and  Cherokees,  whose 

tion  from  such  an  elevation  was  brilliant,  and  no  covert  attack  could  be  made  upon  my  position.  As  a  precaution 
against  the  Indian  torch,  I  had  my  block-houses  and  their  roofs  well  plastered  with  clay.  We  displayed  ourselves  in 
arms  frequently,  the  women  wearing  hats  and  the  garments  of  their  husbands,  to  impress  upon  the  spies  that  we  knew 
were  lurking  around  an  exaggerated  notion  of  our  strength.  For  provisions  we  shot  such  cattle  and  hogs  as  grazed 
within  the  range  of  our  guns,  but  I  carefully  noted  the  marks  and  brands,  and  afterward  indemnified  the  owners."— Life 
of  Dale,  page  117. 

1  The  Choctaw  nation  was  then  composed  of  three  distinct  governments.    The  Eastern  district  was  ruled  over  by 
Pushamataha,  the  Western  by  Puckshenubbee,  and  the  Northwestern  by  Mushelatubba. 

2  "You  know  Tecumtha,"  said  Pushamataha.    ."He  is  a  bad  man.    He  came  through  our  nation,  but  did  not  turn 
our  heads.    He  went  among  the  Muscogees  [Creeks],  and  got  many  of  them  to  join  him.    You  know  the  Tensaw  peo 
ple.    They  were  our  friends.    They  played  ball  with  us.    They  sheltered  and  fed  us  whenever  we  went  to  Pensacola. 
Where  are  they  now?    Their  bones  rot  at  Sam  Mims's  place.    The  people  at  St.  Stephen's  are  also  our  friends.    The 
Muscogees  intend  to  kill  them  too.    They  want  foldiers  to  defend  them.    [Here  he  drew  his  sword  and  nourished  it.] 
You  can  all  do  as  you  please.    You  are  all  freemen.    I  dictate  to  none  of  you.    But  I  shall  join  the  St.  Stephen's  people. 
If  you  have  a  mind  to  follow  me,  I  will  lead  you  to  glory  and  victory."— Pickett's  Alabama,  ii.,  291. 

3  Pickett's  Alabama,  ii.,  292. 

*  Not  far  from  the  present  village  of  Jacksonville,  the  capital  of  Benton  County,  Alabama,  on  the  southeast  side  of 
Tallasehatche  Creek. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  763 


Battle  of  Tallasehatche.  Annihilation  of  the  Town  and  the  Warriors.  Jackson's  Army  on  the  Coosa. 

heads  were  tastefully  ornamented  with  white  feathers  and  deer's  tails.  They  forded 
the  Coosa  at  the  Fish  Dam,  four  miles  above  the  Ten  Islands,  and  at  dawn  on  the 
morning  of  the  3d  halted  within  half  a  mile  of  the  doomed  town.  There  Coffee 
quickly  divided  his  forces  into  two  columns,  the  right  composed  of  cavalry,  com 
manded  by  Colonel  Allcorn,  and  the  left  of  mounted  riflemen,  under  Colonel  Cannon. 
With  the  latter  the  newly-made  general  marched.  Allcorn  was  directed  to  encircle 
one  half  of  the  town  with  his  cavalry,  while  Cannon  and  his  riflemen  should  encircle 
the  other  half.  This  was  promptly  accomplished  at  sunrise,  when  the  foe  sallied 
out  with  beat  of  drums  and  savage  yells,  their  prophets  being  in  the  advance. 

The  battle  that  speedily  began  was  brought  on  at  about  eight  o'clock  by  the  com 
panies  of  Captain  Hammond  and  Lieutenant  Patterson,  who  had  made  a  manoeuvre 
for  the  purpose  of  decoying  the  foe  from  the  shelter  of  their  houses.  It  was  success 
ful.  The  Indians  fell  upon  them  furiously,  when  the  two  companies,  according  to  in 
structions,  fell  back,  pursued  by  the  enemy,  until  the  latter  encountered  the  right  of 
Coffee's  troops.  These  first  gave  the  Indians  a  deadly  volley  of  bullets,  and  then 
charged  them  violently,  while  the  left  division  closed  in  upon  the  doomed  foe.  Never 
did  men  fight  more  gallantly  than  did  the  Creeks.  Inch  by  inch  they  were  pushed 
back  to  their  houses  by  the  ever-narrowing  circle  of  assailants.  They  fought  desper 
ately  and  with  savage  fury.  They  were  shot  and  bayoneted  in  and  out  of  their 
houses.  Not  one  would  ask  for  quarter,  but  fought  so  long  as  he  had  strength  to 
wield  a  weapon.  None  survived.  Every  warrior  was  killed.  In  falling  back  to 
their  dwellings  they  mingled  with  the  women  and  children,  and  in  the  fury  of  the 
contest  some  of  these  were  slain.  The  victory  for  tfye  assailants  was  complete  ;  and 
at  the  close  of  this  short,  sharp  battle,  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  Indian  warriors 
lay  dead  around  the  victors.1  It  was  believed  that  full  two  hundred  perished. 
Eighty-four  women  and  children  were  made  prisoners.  The  loss  of  the  Americans 
was  only  five  killed  (no  officers)  and  forty-one  wounded,  most  of  them  slightly. 

Having  destroyed  the  town  and  buried  his  dead,  the  victorious  Coffee  marched 
back  in  triumph  to  the  camp  on  the  Coosa,  followed  by  a  train  of  sorrowful  captives. 
It  was  a  terrible  sight  for  the  eye  of  Pity.  Retributive  justice,  evoked  by  the  slain 
at  Fort  Mims,  was  satisfied.  Tallasehatche  was  wiped  from  the  face  of  the  earth, 
and  every  survivor  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  Huntsville.2  Thus  commenced  the  fearful 
chastisement  of  the  infatuated  Creeks  who  had  listened  to  the  siren  voice  of  Tecum- 
tha,  and  the  wicked  suggestions  and  false  promises  of  the  Spaniards  and  British  at 
Pensacola. 

Jackson  now  made  his  way  over  the  Coosa  Mountains  to  the  Ten  Islands,  and  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Coosa  commenced  the  construction  of  a  second  fortified  deposit 
for  supplies.  Strong  pickets  and  block-houses  soon  began  to  rise,  and  the  work  was 
well  advanced  when,  just  at  sunset  on  the  7th  of  November,  an  Indian  chief  from  the 
Hickory  Ground,  who,  by  stratagem,  had  made  his  way  from  the  beleaguered  fort, 
came  with  swift  foot  and  informed  the  general-iii-chief  that  one  hundred  and  sixty 

i  General  Coffee  said  in  his  report  (November  4, 1813) :  "  They  fought  as  long  as  one  existed ;  and  when  the  last  of 
the  devoted  band,  still  struggling  for  the  mastery,  had  fallen  beneath  the  hatchets  and  hunting-knives  of  his  enemies, 
one  hundred  and  eighty-six  warriors  were  stretched  lifeless  on  the  fine  open  woodland  in  which  their  village  was  sit 
uated." 

=  A  touching  tale  of  truth  is  told  in  connection  with  the  battle  of  Tallasehatche.  Among  the  slain  was  found  an  In 
dian  mother,  and  upon  her  bosom  lay  her  infant  boy,  vainly  endeavoring  to  draw  sustenance  from  the  cold  breast.  The 
orphan  was  carried  into  camp,  and  Jackson  tried  to  induce  some  of  the  mothers  among  the  captives  to  give  it  nourish 
ment.  "No,"  they  replied  ;  "all  his  relatives  are  dead,  kill  him  too."  The  little  boy  was  taken  to  the  general's  own 
tent,  fed  on  brown  sugar  and  water  until  a  nurse  could  be  procured  at  Huntsville,  when  it  was  sent  to  Mrs.  Jackson. 
The  general  was  a  childless  man,  and  he  adopted  the  forest  foundling  as  his  son.  Mrs.  Jackson  watched  over  him  with 
a  mother's  care,  and  he  grew  to  be  a  beautiful  youth,  full  of  promise.  But  consumption  laid  him  in  the  grave  among 
the  shades  of  the  "  Hermitage"  before  he  reached  manhood,  and  his  foster-parents  mourned  over  him  with  a  grief  as 
sincere  as  that  of  consanguinity. 

This  boy  was  no  exception  to  the  rule  of  Indian  instinct  for  wild  and  forest  life.  He  delighted  to  roam  in  the  woods, 
decorate  his  head  with  feathers,  and  start  out  from  ambush  and  frighten  children  with  loud  yells  and  horrid  grimaces. 
He  was  apprenticed  to  a  harness-maker  in  Nashville. 


764  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Fort  Strother  in  Peril.  Jackson  goes  to  the  Relief  of  Talladega,  He  surrounds  the  Besiegers  at  Talladega. 

friendly  Creek  warriors,  with  their  families,  were  hemmed  in  at  Talladega,  in  Lash- 
ley's  Fort,1  thirty  miles  distant,  with  no  hope  of  escape.  The  besiegers  were  a  thou 
sand  strong,  and  they  so  completely  surrounded  the  little  stockade  that  no  man  could 
leave  it  unobserved.  The  inmates  had  but  little  food  and  water,  and  must  soon 
perish.  The  foe  was  well  provided,  and,  feeling  sure  of  their  prey  at  the  hands  of 
Famine  if  by  no  quicker  way,  were  dancing  around  the  doomed  people  with  demo 
niac  joy.  This  messenger,  who  was  a  prominent  man,  had  made  his  escape  by  cov 
ering  himself  with  the  skin  of  a  hog,  and  in  the  darkness  of  night,  while  imitating  its 
gait,  and  grunting,  and  apparent  rooting,  was  allowed  to  pass  slowly  through  the 
hostile  camp  until  he  was  beyond  the  reach  of  their  hearing  and  arrows.  Then  he 
cast  away  his  disguise,  and  with  speed  heightened  by  desperation,  he  fled  to  Jack 
son's  camp  on  the  Coosa. 

The  commander-in-chief  resolved  to  give  immediate  relief  to  the  people  at  Talla 
dega.  He  had  just  heard  of  the  near  approach  of  General  White  with  the  van  of 
General  Cocke's  division  of  East  Tennessee  troops,  so  he  ordered  his  whole  force,  ex 
cepting  a  small  guard  for  the  camp,  the  sick  and  the  wounded,  to  make  immediate 
preparations  for  marching.  He  wrote  a  hasty  note  to  General  White,  informing 
that  officer  that  he  should  expect  him  to  protect  Fort  Strother  and  its  inmates  during 
» November  8,  his  absence,  and  at  little  past  midnighta  he  commenced  fording  the  Coosa 
a  mile  above  the  fort,  with  twelve  hundred  infantry  and  eight  hundred 
mounted  men,  each  of  the  latter  taking  a  foot-soldier  on  his  horse  behind  him.  All 
were  across  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  then  they  commenced  a  very  weary 
ing  march  through  a  perfect  wilderness.  At  sunset  they  were  within  six  miles  of 
Talladega,  when  the  general  commanded  his  followers  to  seek  repose,  for  active  work 
would  be  required  of  them  in  the  morning. 

The  chief  slumbered  not.  All  night  long  he  was  on  the  alert  for  the  reports  of 
spies  whom  he  sent  out  on  scouting  expeditions.  At  midnight  he  received  a  note  by 
an  Indian  runner  from  General  White,  telling  him  that  General  Cocke  had  recalled 
him,  and  he  would  not  be  able  to  protect  Fort  Strother.  Jackson  was  perplexed. 
Strother  and  Talladega  both  needed  his  presence.  He  resolved  to  rescue  the  latter, 
and  then  fly  to  the  defense  of  the  former.  Silently  his  troops  were  put  in  motion  in 
the  dark,  and  before  four  o'clock  in  the  morningb  they  had  made  a  wide 

^November  9. 

circuit  and  surrounded  the  enemy,  who,  a  thousand  and  eighty  strong, 
were  concealed  in  a  thicket  that  covered  the  margins  of  two  rivulets  flowing  out  from 
springs.2 

Jackson  disposed  his  troops  for  action  so  as  to  inclose  the  foe  in  a  circle  of  armed 
men.  The  infantry  were  in  three  lines,  the  militia  on  the  left,  and  the  volunteers  on 
the  right.  The  cavalry  formed  the  two  extreme  wings,  and  were  ordered  to  advance 
in  a  curve,  keeping  their  rear  connected  with  the  advance  of  the  infantry  lines,  so  that 
there  should  be  no  break  in  the  circle.  In  this  position  were  the  troops  at  sunrise, 
when  Colonel  William  Carroll  was  sent  forward  with  the  advanced  guard,  composed 
of  the  companies  of  Captains  Dederich,  Caperton,  and  Bledsoe,  to  commence  the  at 
tack.  He  delivered  a  heavy  fire,  when  the  savages  rushed  forth,  with  horrid  yells  and 
screams,  in  the  direction  of  the  militia  under  General  Roberts,  from  whose  brigade 

1  This  fort  was  a  little  eastward  of  the  Coosa  River,  in  Talladega  County,  Alabama ;  and  a  portion  of  its  site  is  now 
covered  by  the  pleasant  village  of  Talladega,  the  capital  of  the  county,  which  had  a  population  of  about  two  thousand 
when  the  late  Civil  War  broke  out  in  1861.    It  is  in  a  delightful  valley,  with  very  attractive  scenery  in  view. 

2  The  order  of  march  is  seen  in  the  upper  part  of  the  diagram  on  page  7G5.    The  cavalry  were  commanded  by  Colonel 
Allcorn,  and  the  mounted  riflemen  by  Colonel  Cameron.    The  infantry  were  commanded  by  Brigadier  Generals  Hall* 
and  Roberts,t  assisted  by  Colonels  Bradley,  Pillow,  M'Crorsney,  Carroll,  and  Dyer.    The  position  of  the  troops  in  the 
attack,  when  they  had  surrounded  the  enemy,  is  seen  in  the  lower  part  of  the  diagram,  commencing  with  the  reserves 
under  Colonel  Dyer.    This  diagram  is  copied,  by  permission,  from  Pickett's  History  of  Alabama,  ii.,  292. 

*  William  Hall  had  been  a  colonel  in  the  Tennessee  militia  who  followed  Jackson  from  Nashville  to  Natchez  and 
back,  and  was  made  brigadier  general  of  three-months'  volunteers  on  the  2Cth  of  September,  1813. 

t  Isaac  Roberts.  He  was  commissioned  brigadier  general  of  three-months'  Tennessee  Volunteers  on  the  4th  of  Oc 
tober,  1813. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


765 


Temporary  Panic  among  the  Militia. 


Battle  at  Talladega, 


Destruction  of  the  Indians. 


Carroll  had  been  detached,  and  who,  pursuant  to  or- 
dei's,  had  fallen  back,  so  as  to  bring  the  enemy  upon 
the  main  body.  Their  horrid  noise  and  devilish  ap 
pearance  so  terrified  the  militia  that  some  of  them 
gave  way.  Seeing  this,  Jackson  ordered  Colonel 
Bradley  to  fill  the  chasm  with  his  regiment,  which 
was  lagging  behind  the  line.  Bradley  failed  to 
obey,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Dyer,  in  command 
of  reserves  composed  of  the  companies  of  Captains 
Smith,  Morton,  Axune,  Edwards,  and  Hammond, 
was  ordered  to  that  duty  with  his  men.  These 
were  immediately  dismounted,  and  met  the  yelling 
savages  so  resolutely  that  the  fugitive  militia  took 
courage,  resumed  their  station,  and  fought  gallant 
ly.  The  battle  now  became  general,  and  had  lasted 
about  fifteen  minutes,  when  the  Indians,  who  had 
fought  well,  suddenly  broke,  and  fled  in  all  direc 
tions  toward  the  surrounding  mountains. 

But  for  the  giving  way  of  the  militia,  and  the 
forming  of  a  gap  in  the  circle  by  the  tardiness  of 
Bradley,  and  a  too  wide  circuit  made  by  Allcorn 
and  his  cavalry,  it  is  believed  that  not  a  warrior 
would  have  escaped.  They  were  hotly  pursued, 
and  the  woods  for  miles  became  a  resting-place  for 
the  bodies  of  dead  savages.  Two  hundred  and  nine 
ty  of  the  slain  were  counted.  Many  were,  doubtless, 
not  seen.  The  number  of  the  wounded  could  not  be 
ascertained,  but  they  were  numerous.  The  loss  of  the  Americans  amounted  to  fifteen 
killed  and  eighty-five  wounded.  Four  were  badly  hurt,  and  only  two  of  the  latter 
died  from  the  effect  of  injuries  received.  Among  the  wounded  were  Colonels  Wil 
liam  Pillow  and  James  Lauderdale,  Major  Richard  Boyd,  and  Lieutenant  Samuel  Bar 
ton,  the  last  mortally.1  These  and  other  wounded  men  were  placed  on  litters,  and 
when  the  dead  were  all  buried  the  victorious  little  army  marched  with  the  maimed 
to  Fort  Strother,  followed  by  the  grateful  rescued  Creeks.2  Among  the  few  trophies 
of  victory  borne  back  to  the  Coosa  was  a  coarse  banner  on  which  were  the  Spanish 
arms.  This  evidence  of  the  complicity  of  the  Spaniards  with  the  hostile  Creeks  was 
sent  by  Jackson  to  the  ladies  of  East  Tennessee,  who,  as  we  have  observed,  presented 
a  stand  of  colors  to  the  Tennessee  Volunteers.3 

When  Jackson  and  his  troops  reached  Fort  Strother,  wearied  and  half  famished, 
they  found  the  place  almost  destitute  of  provisions.  None  had  been  brought  in  during 
the  absence  of  the  little  army,  and  now  starvation  threatened  all.  Almost  mutinous 

1  General  Jackson's  Dispatch  to  Governor  Blotmt,  November  11, 1813.    Report  of  Adjutant  General  Sitler,  Novem 
ber  15. 

2  These  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  friendly  Creek  warriors,  with  their  wives  and  children.    The  crushing 
blow  was  to  have  fallen  upon  them  on  that  very  day.    They  were  almost  ready  to  die  of  thirst.    Their  gratitude  and  joy 
were  commensurate  with  the  distress  from  which  they  had  been  relieved. 

3  See  page  744.    The  following  note  (printed  in  Parton's  Life  of  Jackson,  i.,  448)  accompanied  the  colors,  and  contains 
a  history  of  the  affair : 

"  General  Andrew  Jackson,  with  compliments  to  Governor  Blount,  requests  him  to  inform  the  ladies  of  East  Ten 
nessee,  who  presented  the  colors  to  the  Tennessee  Volunteers,  that  Captain  Deaderich,  who,  with  Captain  Bledsoe's  and 
Captain  Caperton's  companies,  under  the  direction  of  Major  Carroll,  were  sent  to  bring  on  the  attack,  and  lead  the  en 
emy,  by  a  regular  retreat,  on  the  strongest  point  of  my  infantry,  went  into  action  with  their  colors  tied  round  him,  and 
that  they  were  well  supported.  And,  in  return,  I  send  yon  a  stand  of  colors  (although  not  of  such  elegant  stuff  or  mag 
nificent  needle-work)  taken  by  one  of  the  volunteers,  which  I  beg  you  to  present  to  them  as  the  only  mark  of  gratitude 
the  volunteers  have  it  in  their  power  to  make.  With  his  own  hand  he  slayed  the  bearer.  They  will  be  handed  by  Mr. 
Fletcher,  who  I  send  for  that  purpose."  A  letter  dated  Nashville.  November  17, 1813,  said,  "  Mr.  Thomas  H.  Fletcher, 
of  this  town,  has  just  arrived  from  General  Jackson's  army.  He  was  the  bearer  of  a  stand  of  colors  taken  from  the  en 
emy,  and  bearing  the  Spanish  cross." 


766  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

A  divided  Command.      The  Indians,  dispirited,  sue  for  Peace.      Separate  Action  of  General  Cocke  and  his  Command. 

murmurs  were  heard  among  the  suffering  soldiers,  but  their  general's  words  and  ex 
ample  kept  them  within  the  bounds  of  obedience.  He  was  ever  cheerful,  and  shared 
with  his  soldiers  in  all  their  privations,  eating,  like  them,  the  acorns  found  in  the  for 
est,  to  sustain  life.  It  was  a  very  critical  period  in  the  campaign,  but  it  was  passed 
in  safety  and  honor  to  all  concerned. 

The  severe  chastisement  administered  upon  the  Creeks  at  Tallasehatche  and  Tal- 
ladega  had  an  immediate  and  powerful  effect  upon  the  spirit  and  temper  of  the  sav 
ages,  and  promised  a  speedy  termination  of  the  war.  That  desired  end  was  post 
poned  by  an  unfortunate  circumstance  growing  out  of  the  ever-dangerous  fact  of  a 
divided  command  in  the  campaign.  There  was  an  existing  jealousy  between  the 
East  and  West  Tennessee  troops ;  and,  notwithstanding  Jackson  was  the  senior  offi 
cer,  and  properly  commander-in-chief  of  the  campaign  against  the  Creeks,  General 
Cocke  maintained,  up  to  the  time  in  question,  a  separate  and  independent  command, 
and  attempted  to  operate  against  the  hostile  Indians  at  first  even  without  consulta 
tion  with  General  Jackson.  This  produced  trouble,  as  we  shall  observe  presently.. 

Many  of  the  warriors  who  fought  at  Talladega  were  from  the  Hillabee  towns  on 
the  Tallapoosa  River,  in  the  present  Cherokee  County,  Alabama.  Those  who  escaped 
to  the  mountains  on  that  dreadful  morning  were  so  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  futil 
ity  and  danger  of  making  farther  resistance  to  the  Tennesseeans,  that  they  resolved 
to  sue  for  peace  and  reconciliation.  For  this  purpose  they  sent  Robert  Grayson,  an 
aged  Scotchman  and  old  resident  among  them,  to  make  peaceful  propositions  to  Gen 
eral  Jackson  at  Fort  Strother.  Jackson  cordially  responded  to  the  proposition,  but 
at  the  same  time  told  the  messenger,  in  firm  language,  that  he  had  come  to  chastise 
those  who  had  committed  gross  wrongs  toward  the  white  people  and  friendly  Indians 
in  the  Creek  country,  and  that  he  must  have  full  evidence  of  the  sincerity  of  peace 
professions  before  he  would  consent  to  stay  his  hand.  "  The  prisoners  and  property 
which  they  have  taken  from  us  and  the  friendly  Creeks,"  he  said, "  must  be  returned ; 
the  instigators  of  the  war  and  the  murderers  of  our  citizens  must  be  surrendered ; 
the  latter  must  and  will  be  made  to  feel  the  force  of  our  resentment.  Long  shall  they 
remember  Fort  Minis  in  bitterness  and  tears.  Upon  those  who  are  disposed  to  re 
main  friendly  I  neither  wish  nor  intend  to  make  war." 

Grayson  hastened  back  with  the  conciliatory  message.  It  was  never  delivered,  for 
destruction  had  fallen  upon  the  Hillabee  people  while  the  messenger  was  away  on 
his  errand.  That  destruction  came  from  the  East  Tennesseeans  under  Generals  Cocke 
and  White,  who  had  come  down  in  a  separate  column,  and  encamped  on  the  bank  of 
the  Coosa,  seventy  miles  above  Fort  Strother,  late  in  October.  There  Cocke,  with 
the  main  body,  awaited  supplies  and  built  a  fort,  which  he  named  Armstrong,  in  hon 
or  of  the  then  Secretary  of  War.  It  was  in  the  present  Cherokee  County,  Alabama, 
not  far  westward  of  the  Georgia  line.  But  the  supplies  came  not.  The  continued 
low  water  in  the  Tennessee  would  not  allow  the  contractor  to  fulfill  his  promises. 
Famine  stared  the  little  army  in  the  face.  Cocke  was  sorely  perplexed.  He  knew 
that  Jackson,  who  depended  upon  the  same  source  of  supplies,  must  be  as  much  em 
barrassed  as  himself  by  lack  of  food.  What  shall  be  done  ?  was  a  very  serious  ques 
tion  that  needed  an  immediate  answer.  Jackson  had  called  for  a  junction  of  the 
armies.  Shall  we  go  forward  and  increase  the  dangers  of  famine  by  having  a  com 
bined  army  of  five  thousand  men  in  the  wilderness  ?  was  another  pertinent  and  im 
portant  question.  A  council  of  officers  w'as  held.  The  question,  Shall  we  follow 
Jackson  ?  was  decided  in  the  negative  by  unanimous  vote.  Shall  we  cross  the  Coosa 
and  proceed  to  the  Creek  settlements  on  the  Tallapoosa  ?  was  a  second  question,  and 
it  was  unanimously  decided  in  the  affirmative.  General  White  was  then  within  a 
day's  march  of  Jackson's  camp,  and  Cocke  sent  an  order  for  him  to  return  immediate 
ly  to  Fort  Armstrong.  "  It  is  the  unanimous  wish  of  the  officers  and  men  also,"  he 
said.  "  If  we  follow  General  Jackson's  army,"  he  continued, "  we  must  suffer  for 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


General  Cocke  falls  upon  a  Hillabee  Town.  Massacre  of  its  People.  Exasperation  of  the  Indians. 

supplies  ;  nor  can  we  expect  to  gain  a  victory.  Let  us,  then,  take  a  direction  in  which 
we  can  share  some  of  the  dangers  and  glories  of  the  field."  This  message,  and  the 
note  from  General  Jackson,  already  mentioned,  urging  him  to  hasten  to  the  protec 
tion  of  Fort  Strother,  reached  White  at  the  same  time.  He  considered  his  obedience 
due  first  to  his  immediate  superior,  General  Cocke,  and  he  marched  his  half-starved 
brigade  back  to  Fort  Armstrong. 

General  Cocke,  too  remote  from  General  Jackson  to  act  in  concert  with  him,  was, 
consequently  and  unfortunately,  ignorant  of  the  peaceful  mood  of  the  Hillabee  peo 
ple.  He  had  been  informed  that  one  of  the  most  energetic  of  the  Creek  leaders  (Bill 
Scott,  who  commanded  the  Indians  at  Talladega),  was  among  them,  filled  with  the 
hellish  purpose  of  massacring  every  white  person  and  friendly  Creek  in  all  that  re 
gion.  He  accordingly  dispatched  General  White,  with  some  mounted  men  and  a 
band  of  Cherokee  allies,  to  attack  the  Hillabee  town.  White  took  only  three  days' 
rations  with  him,  and  marched  with  great  rapidity  tOAvard  the  principal  village  of 
the  Hillabee,  on  the  border  between  the  present  Talladega  and  Randolph  Counties, 
Alabama,  full  a  hundred  miles  from  Fort  Armstrong.  He  spread  desolation  in  his 
path.  Ockfuske  and  Genalga,  two  deserted  towns,  one  of  thirty  and  the  other  of 
ninety  houses,  were  laid  in  ashes,  and  at  dawn  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  of  Novem 
ber — the  very  day  when  Grayson  left  Jackson's  camp — White  appeared  before  the 
chief  village.  The  inhabitants  were  unsuspicious  of  danger,  and  made  no  resistance; 
and  yet  White,  for  the  purpose  of  inspiring  terror  in  the  minds  of  the  Creek  nation, 
fell  furiously  upon  the  non-resistants,  and  murdered  no  less  than  sixty  warriors  before 
his  hand  was  stayed.  Then,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  widows  and  orphans  as  pris 
oners  in  his  train,  he  returned  to  Fort  Armstrong,  without  a  drop  of  a  Tennesseean's 
blood  being  shed. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  other  Hillabee  towns,  ignorant  of  any  other  commander  than 
General  Jackson,  regarded  this  massacre  as  the  most  foul  perfidy  on  his  part,  and 
were  intensely  exasperated.  They  felt  that  their  humble  petition  for  peace  had  been 
cruelly  responded  to  only  by  the  sword  and  bullet,  and  thenceforth  they  carried  on 
hostilities  with  the  most  malignant  feelings  and  fearful  energy. 

Jackson's  anger  against  General  Cocke  \^as  equally  hot.  In  the  absence  of  correct 
information,  he  regarded  him  as  a  rival,  willfully  withholding  supplies,  and  seeking 
glory  on  his  own  account.  This  was  unjust,  and  the  irate  commander  was  convinced 
of  the  fact  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  weeks,  when,  in  a  friendly  letter,  he  invited 
the  East  Tennesseean  to  join  him  with  his  army  at  Fort  Strother  on  the  12th  of  De 
cember.  Cocke  cheerfully  complied,  and  was  there  on  the  appointed  day,  having  in 
the  mean  time  scoured  the  Cherokee  country  for  provisions,  and  caused  a  considera 
ble  quantity  of  supplies  to  be  hauled  from  the  Tennessee  to  the  Coosa  for  the  use  of 
the  combined  army.  He  found  that  of  Jackson  greatly  demoralized.  Disappointed, 
starving,  inactive,  the  troops  at  Fort  Strother  were  dreadfully  homesick,  and  filled 
with  a  mutinous  spirit.  This  the  courage  and  tact  of  the  commander  controlled,  but 
with  great  difficulty.  The  militia,  on  one  occasion,  prepared  to  go  back  to  the  set 
tlements.  They  started  in  a  body,  when  the  yet  faithful  volunteers,  with  Jackson  at 
their  head,  stood  in  their  path.  Then  the  volunteers  attempted  to  leave  the  camp 
and  go  home — the  very  men  to  whose  fortunes  their  leader  had  so  tenaciously  ad 
hered  at  Natchez  the  year  before — when  the  militia,  with  Jackson  at  their  head,  stood 
in  the  path  of  the  new  mutineers.  At  length  almost  the  entire  army  of  West  Ten 
nessee,  despairing  of  relief,  determined  to  abandon  the  expedition  and  go  home. 
Some  of  the  militia  actually  started,  and  the  volunteers  were  about  to  follow.  The 
general  had  no  sufficient  force  to  restrain  them,  and  he  was  compelled  to  rely  upon 
himself  alone.  He  mounted  his  horse,  seized  a  musket  with  his  right  hand,  while  the 
disabled  arm  was  yet  in  a  sling,  and,  placing  himself  in  front  of  the  malcontents,  with 
the  weapon  resting  upon  his  horse's  neck,  he  declared  that  he  would  shoot  the  first 


768  PICTOKIAL    PIELD-BOOK 

Mutineers  checked.  The  Creek  Country  invaded  from  Georgia.  Battle  of  Auttose. 

man  who  should  take  a  step  in  advance.  Amazed  at  his  boldness,  they  gazed  at  him 
in  silence.  Fortunately,  at  that  moment,  Coffee  and  two  companies  of  faithful  mount 
ed  men  came  up,  and  the  mutineers,  after  consultation,  agreed  to  return  to  duty.  Yet 
discontent  was  not  allayed,  and  Jackson  finally  allowed  all  volunteers  so  disposed  to 
return  to  their  homes,  and  he  organized  a  force  out  of  other  materials.  Could  he 
have  had  sufficient  supplies  after  the  battle  at  Talladega,  and  been  met  by  immediate 
concert  of  action  by  the  East  Tennessee  troops,  he  might  have  ended  the  war  within 
a  fortnight.  It  was  protracted  for  months ;  and  for  ten  long  and  weary  weeks  he 
was  compelled  to  lie  in  idleness  at  Fort  Strother,  suffering  the  vexations  which  grew 
out  of  positive  demonstrations  of  discontent. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Creek  country  was  invaded  from  another  quarter.  The  cry 
for  help  had  filled  the  ears  of  the  Georgians,  and  late  in  November,  Brigadier  General 
John  Floyd,  at  the  head  of  nine  hundred  and  fifty  militia  of  that  state,  and  four  hund 
red  friendly  Indians,  guided  by  Mordecai,  a  Jew  trader,  entered  the  region  of  the 
hostiles  from  the  east.  He  crossed  the  Chattahoochee  into  the  present  Russell  Coun- 
« isis  t^r'  Alabama,  on  tne  24th  of  November,a  and  pushed  westward  toward  the  Tal- 
lapoosa,  where  he  was  informed  a  large  number  of  hostile  Indians  had  collect 
ed  in  the  village  of  Auttose,  on  the  "  holy  ground,"  on  which  the  prophets  had  taught 
the  Indians  to  believe  no  white  man  could  set  foot  and  live.  This  town  was  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Tallapoosa,  about  twenty  miles  above  its  confluence  with  the  Coosa, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Calebee  Creek.  Floyd  encamped  within  a  few  miles  of  it  on  the 
evening  of  the  28th,  and  at  an  hour  past  midnight  marched  to  the  attack.  At  dawn 
he  was  before  the  town  with  his  troops  arranged  for  battle  in  three  columns.  The 
right  was  composed  of  Colonel  Booth's  battalion  ;  the  left  of  Colonel  Watson's ;  and 
the  centre  of  the  rifle  companies  of  Captains  Adams  and  Merriweather,  the  latter 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Hendon.  The  artillery,  under  Captain  Thomas,  was  post 
ed  in  front  of  the  right  column.  The  friendly  Indians  were  led  by  William  M'ln- 
tosh,1  a  half-blood,  and  a  chief  called  The  Mad  Dog's  Son. 

Floyd  intended  to  surround  the  town,  but  the  morning  light  revealed  the  fact  that 
there  were  two  villages  in  front  of  the  invading  column,  and  that  it  was  necessary 
to  change  at  once  the  disposition  of  the  fo'rces.  This  was  skillfully  done.  One  town 
was  below  the  other,  a  hundred  rods  apart.  To  the  lower  one  three  companies  of" in 
fantry,  Merriweather's  rifles,  and  two  troops  of  dragoons,  under  Irwin  and  Steele, 
were  sent,  while  the  remainder  of  the  troops  marched  upon  the  upper  town.  Imme 
diately  after  the  attack  commenced  the  battle  became  general.  The  Indians  ap 
peared  at  all  points,  and  fought  gallantly  for  a  while,  when  the  booming  of  heavy  ar 
tillery,  and  a  furious  bayonet  charge,  so  terrified  them  that  they  fell  back  and  sought 
shelter  in  the  out-houses,  thickets,  and  copses  in  the  rear  of  the  towns.  Overpowering 
numbers  pushed  them  hard,  and  they  at  length  fled  to  cane-covered  caves  cut  in  the 
bluffs  of  tne  river.  Their  dwellings,  about  four  hundred  in  number,  some  of  them 
commodious  and  containing  valuable  articles,  were  fired  and  destroyed,  and  the  poor 
smitten  and  dismayed  savages  were  hunted  and  butchered  with  a  fiendish  barbarity 
which  ought  to  have  made  the  cheeks  of  the  actors  burn  with  the  blushes  of  shame. 
It  was  estimated  that  full  two  hundred  Indians  were  murdered.  Floyd  lost  eleven 
killed  and  fifty-four  wounded.2  The  loss  of  the  friendly  Indians,  who  held  back  at 
the  beginning,  but  fought  bravely  toward  the  last,  is  not  mentioned  in  the  official  re 
ports. 

i  William  M'Intosh  was  the  chief  of  the  Coweta  tribe  of  the  Creek  nation.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Scotchman  hy  a  Creek 
woman.  He  was  conspicuous  in  the  memorable  battle  at  Horse-shoe  Bend  in  March,  1814.  In  1823  he  lost  cast  with 
his  people  because  of  his  having  evidently  been  bribed  to  make  a  certain  treaty  for  the  giving  up  of  Creek  terri 
tory.  He  and  an  adherent  were  afterward  shot  as  they  attempted  to  escape  from  M'Intosh's  dwelling,  which  some  ex 
asperated  Indians  had  fired.  His  residence  was  on  the  Chattahoochee.  See  Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  eleventh  edi 
tion,  page  391. 

a  General  Floyd's  dispatch  to  Major  General  Pinckney,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Southern  Department,  Decem 
ber  4, 1813  ;  Pickett's  History  of  Alabama,  ii.,  300. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  769 


Claiborne  ordered  into  the  Creek  Country.  Expedition  under  Captain  Dale.  Scene  on  the  Alabama. 

. ,— — — — . — . 

In  the  space  of  seven  days  Floyd  had  marched  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  and 
committed  the  massacre.  He  was  now  sixty  miles  from  a  deposit  of  provisions,  and 
his  rations  were  nearly  exhausted ;  so,  after  burying  his  dead  and  preparing  litters  for 
his  wounded,  he  hastened  back  to  Fort  Mitchell,  on  the  Chattahoochee.  On  his  de 
parture,  and  when  a  mile  eastward  of  the  ruined  towns,  his  rear  was  attacked  by 
some  desperate  survivors  of  Auttose,  who  were  dispersed  after  receiving  a  few  volleys. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  in  the  upper  country  of  the  Creeks,  stirring 
scenes  were  witnessed  in  the  present  Clarke  County,  in  the  forks  of  the  Tombigbee 
and  Alabama,  and  vicinity.  The  Indians,  under  the  direct  influence  of  Weathersford 
and  the  British  and  Spanish  officers,  were  very  active  and  sanguinary  in  that  region, 
and  General  Flournoy,  who  had  kept  General  Claiborne  on  the  defensive,  was  at  last 
aroused  to  a  sense  of  the  necessity  of  offensive  measures.  Accordingly,  on  the  12th 
of  October,  he  ordered  that  officer  to  advance  with  his  army  into  the  heart  of  the 
Creek  country  for  the  purpose  of  defending  the  citizens  while  gathering  their  crops 
yet  in  the  field ;  "  to  drive  the  enemy  from  the  frontiers ;  to  follow  them  up  to  their 
contiguous  towns,  and  to  kill,  burn,  and  destroy  all  their  negroes,  horses,  cattle,  and 
other  property  that  could  not  conveniently  be  brought  to  the  depots."  This  san 
guinary  order  was  justified  by  the  Georgia  general,  by  the  conduct  of  Great  Britain, 
and  the  acts  of  her  Indian  allies. 

Claiborne  instantly  obeyed.  He  crossed  the  Tombigbee  from  St.  Stephen's,  and 
scoured  the  country  on  its  eastern  side  in  all  directions  with  his  detachments,  meeting 
and  dispersing  bands  of  Indians  here  and  there,  but  without  bringing  them  to  battle 
any  where.  In  the  mean  time  Captain  Sam  Dale,  who  had  recovered  from  his  wounds, 
was  preparing  for  active  operations.  He  had  held  Fort  Madison  ;  and,  on  the  return 
of  Colonel  Carson  to  that  post  early  in  November,  he  had  obtained  his  leave  to  go 
out  and  drive  the  small  bands  of  marauding  savages  from  the  frontier.  He  was 
joined  by  a  detachment  of  thirty  of  Captain  Jones's  Mississippi  Volunteers,  under 
Lieutenant  Montgomery,  and  forty  Clarke  County  militia,  having  for  his  lieutenant 
Gerrard  W.  Creagh,  who  was  attached  to  his  company  in  the  battle  of  Burnt  Corn 
Creek.  They  marched  southeasterly  to  a  ferry,  where  Cffisar,  a  free  negro  of  the  par 
ty,  had  two  canoes  concealed.  In  these  the  party  crossed  the  river,  and  on  a  frosty 
night,  with  very  thin  clothing,  they  lodged  in  a  cane-brake.  At  dawna  .  November  12, 
they  marched  up  the  river,  the  boats  in  charge  of  five  picked  men  each, 
and  keeping  abreast  of  the  party  on  shore.  Some  Indians  were  soon  encountered  on 
land  and  water,  and,  after  a  brisk  skirmish,  the  dusky  foe  fled  up  the  stream  out  of 
sight.  Dale's  party  were  then  separated,  some  following  the  trail  on  the  east  side 
of  the  river,  and  others  following  that  on  the  west  side.  At  half  past  ten  they  reached 
Randon's  Landing,1  where  they  found  evidences  of  Indians  near.  Directly  a  large 
canoe,  made  from  the  trunk  of  an  immense  cypress-tree,  came  floating  down  the 
stream,  bearing  eleven  naked  and  hideously-painted  savages.  They  were  about  to 
land  at  a  cane-brake,  when  Dale,  calling  his  men  to  follow,  dashed  for  the  spot  to  con 
test  their  landing.  They  shot  two  of  the  Indians,  and  the  others  backed  the  great 
canoe  out  into  deep  water,  three  of  the  Indians  swimming  on  the  side  not  exposed  to 
the  bullets,  and  the  remainder  lying  flat  on  its  bottom. 

A  stirring  scene  now  ensued.     One  of  the  warriors  in  the  water  called  out  to 

^ 

Weathersford,  who  was  in  the  neighborhood,  for  help.  Dale  stopped  his  voice  by 
putting  a  bullet  in  his  brain,  when  the  great  canoe,  deprived  of  the  guidance  of  the 
three  Indians  in  the  stream,  who  had  been  killed,  floated  sluggishly  down  with  the 
current.  Dale  ordered  six  men  on  the  eastern  bank  to  fetch  the  boats  for  the  pur- 

1  On  the  bluff  above  this  landing  Fort  Claiborne  was  afterward  built,  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  village  of  Claibome,  in 
Monroe  County,  Alabama.  The  picture  on  page  770,  Randon's  (now  Claiborne)  Landing,  is  from  a  sketch  by  the  Author, 
made  from  the  deck  of  a  steamer  in  April,  1SG6.  The  covered  way  is  for  cotton-bales  and  other  things  to  slide  down 
from  the  summit  of  the  bluff,  two  hundred  feet,  to  the  margin  of  the  river,  whence  merchandise  and  agricultural  products 
are  taken  on  board  of  steamers.  Here  was  the  scene  of  the  canoe  fight  recorded  in  the  text. 

3C 


770 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  terrible  Encounter  in  Canoes. 


Dale's  hand-to-hand  Fight. 


He  wins  the  Victory. 


pose  of  attacking  the  Indians 
in  their  huge  craft.  As  they 
approached  and  looked  into 
it,  one  of  them  screamed, 
"Live  Indians,  by  God! 
Back  water,  boys  !  back  wa 
ter!"  and  they  went  back 
to  the  place  of  embarkation 
faster  than  they  came.  Dale 
was  exasperated  by  their 
cowardice,  and  quickly  or 
dered  Caesar  to  bring  a  ca 
noe.  He  jumped  into  it,  fol 
lowed  by  Jeremiah  Austill 
and  James  Smith.  It  would 
hold  no  more  safely.  Caesar 
paddled  it  within  forty  yards 
of  the  craft  of  the  savages, 
when  Dale  and  his  compan 
ions  rose  to  pour  a  volley 
into  the  great  canoe.  Each 
gun  missed  fire.  Water  had 
spoiled  the  priming.  A  mo 
ment  afterward  and  the  two 
vessels  were  side  by  side, 
when  the  stalwart  Dale,  or 
dering  Caesar  to  hold  them 
together,  clubbed  his  mus 
ket,  and,  placing  one  foot  in 
his  own  canoe  and  the  other 
in  that  of  the  enemy,  com 
menced  a  furious  contest.  Austill  and  Smith  joined  in  the  fray  with  clubbed  mus 
kets,  but  Caesar  could  not  hold  the  boats  together,  the  current  was  so  strong.  They 
parted,  leaving  Dale  alone  in  the  canoe  of  the  savages,  one  of  whom  lay  wounded  in 
the  stern,  and  four  others,  strong  and  fierce,  confronted  him  as  he  stood  defiantly  in 
the  middle  of  the  great  canoe.1  Two  warriors  lay  dead  at  his  feet. 

At  the  instant  when  Dale  planted  himself  in  the  middle  of  the  great  canoe,  the  sav 
age  nearest  to  him  directed  a  terrible  blow  at  his  head,  which  the  soldier  parried  skill 
fully  with  the  barrel  of  his  gun,  and,  as  quick  as  lightning,  slew  his  assailant  with  his 
bayonet.  The  next  one  instantly  sprang  forward,  when  a  bullet  from  Austin's  rifle, 
sent  from  the  boat  that  was  drifting  a  few  yards  off,  pierced  his  heart,  and  he  fell  in 
the  bottom  of  the  canoe.  The  third  then  made  for  Dale  with  his  tomahawk,  when  he 
too  fell,  pierced  by  the  brave  captain's  bayonet.  The  last  warrior  was  Tar-cha-chee, 
a  noted  wrestler  of  powerful  frame.  He  and  Dale  were  old  acquaintances.  As  the 
savage's  keen  glance  met  that  of  Dale,  he  shook  himself,  gave  the  horrid  war-whoop, 
and  then  cried  out, "  Big  Sam,  I  am  a  man — I  am  coming — come  on  !"  He  then  bound 
ed  over  his  dead  companions  with  a  terrific  yell,  and  directed  a  furious  blow  at  the 
head  of  Dale  with  his  clubbed  rifle.  Dale  dodged  it,  but  it  fell  upon  and  dislocated 
his  shoulder.  At  the  same  moment  Dale  darted  his  bayonet  into  the  body  of  the  In 
dian,  who  exclaimed,  as  he  tried  to  escape, "  Tar-cha-chee  is  a  man  !  He  is  not  afraid 
to  die  !"  Dale  then  turned  to  the  wounded  warrior,  who  had  been  snapping  his  piece 

1  It  was  dug  out  of  a  huge  cypress-tree.  It  was  between  thirty  and  forty  feet  long,  four  feet  deep,  and  three  feet 
abeam.  It  had  been  used  for  the  special  purpose  of  transporting  corn. 


RANDOM'S  OR  CLAIBOKNE  LANDING. 


OF   THE   WAE   OF   1812.  771 

Fame  of  the  "  Cauoe  Fight."  Construction  of  Fort  Claiborne  at  Randon's  Landing.  Anstill  and  Dale. 

at  him  during  the  whole  conflict,  and  was  now  defiantly  exclaiming  "  I  am  a  warrior ! 
I  am  not  afraid  to  die !"  and  pinned  him  to  the  canoe  with  his  bayonet.  "  He  fol 
lowed  his  ten  comrades  to  the  land  of  spirits,"  said  the  rugged  Indian  fighter  after 
ward.1 

Thus  resulted,  after  a  struggle  of  about  ten  minutes,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of 
naval  and  personal  combats  on  record.  Just  as  it  ended,  Dale's  men  came  running 
to  the  bank,  and  shouted  "  Weathersford  is  coming  !"  He  immediately  crossed  with 
his  whole  party,  and  made  his  way  with  them  safely  to  Fort  Madison.  The  fame  of 
this  exploit  made  Dale  a  hero  of  history,  and  the  "  canoe  fight"  is  yet  a  theme  for  ro 
mance  and  song  among  the  common  people  in  the  Southwest.2 

At  about  this  time  Claiborne  pushed  across  Clai'ke  County  to  the  Alabama  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  a  deposit  for  supplies  at  Randon's  Landing,3  awaiting  there  the 
arrival  of  Georgia  and  Tennessee  troops,  and  to  act  as  much  as  possible  on  the  de 
fensive,  as  circumstances  might  require.  He  marched  with  three  hundred  volunteers, 
some  dragoons  and  militia,  and  a  band  of  Choctaw  Indians  under  General  Pushama- 
taha  and  Chief  Mushullatubba.  He  crossed  the  Alabama  on  the  1 7th  of  November 
and  encamped,  and  there  he  was  joined  on  the  28th  by  the  Third  Regiment  of  national 
troops,  under  Colonel  Gilbert  C.  Russell,  from  Mount  Vernon.  There  Claiborne  con 
structed  a  strong  stockade  two  hundred  feet  square,  with  three  block-houses  and  a 
half-moon  battery  that  commanded  the  rear.  It  was  intended  as  a  deposit  of  provis 
ions  for  the  Tennessee  troops  above.  It  was  completed  before  the  close  of  Novem 
ber,  when  it  received  the  name  of  Fort  Claiborne,  in  honor  of  the  commander.  On 
its  site,  as  we  have  observed,  stands  Claiborne,  the  capital  of  Monroe  County,  Alaba 
ma.  From  that  point  early  in  December  Claiborne  apprised  General  Jackson  and 
Governor  Blount  of  the  establishment  of  this  depot,  and  also  of  the  arrival  of  more 
English  vessels  in  Pensacola  Bay,  with  many  soldiers  and  Indian  supplies.  He  said 
he  "  wished  to  God  that  he  was  authorized  to  take  that  sink  of  iniquity  [Pensacola], 
the  depot  of  Tories  and  instigators  of  disturbances  on  the  Southern  frontier."* 

Claiborne  now  determined  to  penetrate  the  Creek  country  toward  its  heart,  and 
share  with  Jackson  and  Coffee  the  honors  of  bringing  the  savages  into  subjection/' 

1  Pickett's  History  of  Alabama,  ii.,  309.    Claiborne's  Life  and  Times  of  General  Sam  Dale,  page  121.    When  Claiborne 
wrote  in  1SGO,  Jeremiah  Austill,  one  of  Dale's  companions,  was  a  highly-esteemed  commission  merchant  in  Mobile,  and 
he  was  still  living  when  the  writer  of  these  pages  visited  that  city  in  the  spring  of  1806.    He  had  been  a  state  senator 
of  that  district.    All  of  the  circumstances  of  the  canoe  fight  here  given  were  verified  before  the  Alabama  Legislature  in 
1821.    Austill  is  a  native  of  Pendleton  District,  South  Carolina,  where  he  was  born  on  the  10th  01  August,  1794,  and  was 
only  nineteen  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  the  canoe  fight.    He  is  a  son  of  Captain  Evans  Austill,  already  mentioned  as 
one  who  remained  with  Dale  in  Fort  Madison.    He  afterward  became  colonel  of  the  militia,  and  is  represented  as  a 
powerful  man  physically.    James  Smith,  his  companion  in  the  canoe  with  Caesar,  was  a  native  of  Georgia,  and  was  then 
twenty-five  years  of  age.    He  was  a  daring  frontier  man,  and  died  in  East  Mississippi  several  years  ago.    He  and  Ans 
till  tried  hard  to  bring  their  canoe  into  the  fight  in  aid  of  Dale,  but  the  current  prevented.    "  Their  guns  had  become 
useless,  and  their  only  paddle  had  been  broken,"  said  Dale.    "  Two  braver  fellows,"  he  continued,  "  never  lived.    Aus 
tin's  first  shot  saved  my  life." 

2  Samuel  Dale  was  a  remarkable  man.    He  was  of  Irish  extraction,  and  was  born  in  Rockbridge  County,  Virginia,  in 
1772.    His  father  removed  with  his  family  to  Glade  Hollow,  on  the  Clinch  River,  in  1775,  and  in  1784  emigrated  to  the 
vicinity  of  Greensburg,  Georgia.    Not  long  afterward  Dale  and  his  wife  died,  leaving  eight  children,  Samuel  being  the 
eldest.    He  took  part  in  movements  for  keeping  in  check  the  hostilities  of  the  Creek  Indians  in  the  time  of  Washing 
ton's  administration.    He  became  a  famous  borderer  and  Indian  fighter,  and  afterward  a  trader  among  the  Creeks  and 
Cherokees.    He  was  also  a  guide  to  parties  emigrating  to  the  Mississippi  Territory  from  Georgia.    During  the  war 
with  the  Creeks  now  under  consideration,  he  was  very  active  and  efficient.    He  received  the  commission  of  brevet  brig 
adier  general.    After  the  war  he  settled  at  Dale's  Ferry,  on  the  Alabama,  and  engaged  in  merchandising.    In  1816  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Convention  called  to  divide  the  Mississippi  Territory,  and  the  following  year  he  was  a  delegate  to 
the  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Alabama— the  eastern  portion  of  Mississippi.    He  served  several  terms 
in  the  Legislature  of  Alabama,  and  in  1824  he  was  on  a  committee  of  the  body  appointed  to  escort  Lafayette  to  the  cap 
ital  of  the  state.    He  was  engaged  much  in  public  life  until  his  death,  which  occurred  at  his  residence  in  Daleville,  Lau- 
derdale  County,  Mississippi,  on  the  24th  of  May,  1841,  when  he  was  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age. 

3  See  note  1,  page  769.    This  was  named  from  its  owner,  who  perished  in  Fort  Mims.    It  \v*as  in  the  county  whence 
the  hostile  Indians  procured  most  of  their  supplies.  *  Pickett's  Alabama,  ii.,  page  320. 

5  This  enterprise  was  deemed  so  hazardous  that  a  memorial  against  it  was  signed  by  nine  captains,  eight  lieutenants, 
and  five  ensisns  of  the  Mississippi  Volunteers  in  behalf  of  themselves  and  their  men.  They  urged  the  feeble  condition 
of  the  men,  lack  of  provisions,  clothing,  blankets,  and  shoes,  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  the  want  of  trans 
portation  through  a  country  where  there  was  not  even  a  hunter's  trail.  Yet  they  expressed  their  willingness  to  fol 
low  the  general  if  he  should  resolve  to  proceed.  He  did  so  resolve,  and  they  cheerfully  followed.  "Not  a  murmur 
was  heard;  not  a  complaint  was  made,"  said  General  Claiborne  afterward.  "Subordination  to  their  officers  marked 


772  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Claiborne  traverses  the  Creek  Country.  Battle  of  Econochaca.  Escape  of  Weathersford. 

On  the  12th  of  December  he  left  Fort  Claiborne  with  a  little  army  about  one  thou 
sand  strong,  and  marched  in  a  northeasterly  direction  toward  the  present  Lowndes 
County,  Alabama.  His  force  consisted  of  a, detachment  of  Colonel  Russell's  regulars ; 
Major  Cassell's  battalion  of  horse  ;  a  battalion  of  militia  under  Major  Benjamin  Smoot, 
of  which  Patrick  May  was  adjutant,  and  Dale  and  Heard  captains ;  the  twelve  months' 
Mississippi  Volunteers  under  Colonel  Carson ;  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  Choctaws  un 
der  General  Pushamataha.  After  marching  eighty  miles  he  halted,  and  built  a  sta 
tion  for  provisions,  which  he  called  Fort  Deposit.  It  was  in  the  present  Butler  Coun 
ty,  Alabama.  When  this  was  completed,  he  pushed  on  nearly  thirty  miles  farther 
through  a  pathless  wilderness,  with  as  little  baggage  and  provisions  as  possible,  and 
approached  Econochaca,  or  Holy  Ground,  which  was  situated  upon  a  bluff  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Alabama,  just  below  the  present  Powell's  Ferry,  in  Lowndes  County.  The 
village  had  been  built  in  an  obscure  place  by  Weathersford  a  few  months  before,  and 
dedicated  by  the  Shawnoese  prophets  whom  Tecumtha  had  left  to  inflame  the  Creeks 
as  a  place  of  refuge  for  the  wounded  and  dispersed  in  battle,  fugitives  from  their 
homes,  and  women  and  children.  No  path  or  trail  led  to  it,  and  the  prophets  assured 
their  dupes  that  the  ground  on  which  Econochaca,  like  that  of  Auttose,  stood,  was  so 
holy  that  no  white  man  could  tread  upon  it  and  live.  There  these  savage  priests  per 
formed  horrid  incantations,  and  in  the  square  in  the  centre  of  the  town  the  most  dread 
ful  cruelties  had  been  already  perpetrated.  White  prisoners,  and  Creeks  friendly  to 
them,  had  been  burned  to  death  there  by  the  directions  of  those  ministers  of  the  Evil 
Spirit. 

Claiborne  was  before  Econochaca  in  battle  order  on  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  De 
cember. a  It  was  pretty  strongly  guarded  in  the  Indian  manner,  and  the  in 
mates  had  no  suspicion  of  danger.  The  prophets  were  busy  with  their  incan 
tations,  and  at  that  very  hour  a  number  of  friendly  half-bloods  of  both  sexes  were  in 
the  square,  surrounded  by  resinous  wood,  ready  to  be  consumed ! 

The  troops  advanced  in  three  columns,  with  mounted  men  under  Captains  Lester 
and  Wells  acting  as  reserves.  The  right  column  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Carson, 
and  consisted  of  twelve-months'  volunteers ;  the  centre  was  composed  of  &  detach 
ment  of  the  Third  Regiment  United  States  Infantry,  and  some  mounted  riflemen  un 
der  Lieutenant  Colonel  Russell ;  and  the  left  of  militia,  and  some  Choctaws  under 
Major  Smoot.  Their  duty  was  difficult,  for  the  town  was  almost  surrounded  by 
swamps  and  deep  ravines,  and  the  Indians,  regal-ding  the  place  as  holy,  and  having 
property  there  of  great  value,  were  prepared  to  fight  desperately.  They  had,  on  the 
approach  of  the  invadei's,  conveyed  their  women  and  children  to  safe  places  in  the 
thick  forests  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Dutch  Bend  of  Autauga  County,  and  they 
had  no  hinderances  to  a  vigorous  defense. 

The  three  columns  closed  upon  the  town  by  a  simultaneous  movement.  Carson's 
came  in  sight  of  it  at  noon,  and  was  furiously  attacked.  It  resisted  the  assault  with 
great  spirit,  and  before  those  of  Russell  and  Smoot  could  get  fairly  into  the  fight,  the 
dismayed  Indians  broke  and  fled.  A  larger  portion  of  them  escaped,  owing  to  the 
failure  of  Major  Cassell  to  occupy  the  bank  of  the  Alabama,  westward  of  the  town, 
with  his  battalion  of  horse.  They  fled  in  droves  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  by 
swimming  arid  the  use  of  canoes,  escaped  to  the  other  side,  and  joined  their  families 
in  the  Autauga  forests.  Weathersford,  when  he  found  himself  deserted  by  his  war 
riors,  fled  swiftly  on  a  fine  gray  horse  for  the  salvation  of  his  own  life.  He  was  hotly 
pursued  to  a  perpendicular  bluff  flanked  by  ravines,  when  his  powerful  steed  made 
a  mighty  bound  from  it,  and  horse  and  rider  disappeared  beneath  the  water.  They 
immediately  rose,  Weathersford  grasping  his  horse's  mane  with  one  hand,  and  his 

their  every  act,  and  no  suffering  could  seduce  them  from  their  duty.  Their  patience  was  equal  to  their  courage."  Most 
of  them  were  young  men  accustomed  to  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life.  Among  them  were  Gerard  W.  Brandon  and 
Abraham  N.  Scott,  both  afterward  governors  of  the  state.— Claiborne's  Life  of  Dale,  page  138. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  773 


Destruction  of  Econochaca.  Dissolution  of  the  Armies  in  the  Creek  Country.  Gathering  of  new  Volunteers. 

rifle  with  the  other.     He  regained  his  saddle  in  a  moment,  and  the  noble  animal  bore 
him  safely  to  the  Autauga  shore.1 

General  Claiborne  laid  Econochaca  in  ashes  after  it  was  plundered  by  the  Choc- 
taws.  At  least  two  hundred  houses  were  destroyed  and  thirty  Indians  killed.  The 
loss  of  the  assailants  amounted  to  only  one  killed  and  six  wounded.  After  spending 
a  day  and  two  nights  in  the  vicinity,  completing  the  work  of  destruction  and  disper 
sion,  and  suffering  much  from  wet  and  cold,  the  little  army  turned  southward,  and 
on  the  29tha  reached  Fort  Claiborne.  They  had  suffered  much  on  the  » December, 
way,  the  officers  and  men  alike  subsisting  chiefly  on  boiled  acorns  until 
they  reached  Fort  Deposit. 

The  term  of  Carson's  Mississippi  Volunteers  and  cavalry  had  now  expired,  and 
they  were  mustered  out  of  the  service.  By  this  process  the  little  army  of  volunteers 
and  militia  melted  away,  and  on  the  23d  of  January  General  Claiborne  was  com 
pelled,  in  writing  to  the  Secretary  of  War  from  Mount  Vernon,  to  say  that  he  had 
only  sixty  men  left,  and  their  time  would  soon  expire.  Colonel  Russell  and  his  reg 
ulars  garrisoned  Fort  Claiborne,  and  did  what  they  could  in  furnishing  supplies  to 
the  Tennessee  troops  above ;  at  the  same  time  they  made  some  unimportant  raids  in 
the  Indian  country,  but  without  accomplishing  any  great  results. 

Let  us  now  observe  the  movements  of  Jackson  in  the  region  of  the  Coosa  and  Tal- 
lapoosa  Rivers.  We  left  him  at  Fort  Strother,  comparatively  inactive  because  of  a 
lack  of  supplies  and  the  discontents  of  his  troops.  Nor  was  this  all.  The  terms  of 
enlistment  of  most  of  his  men  were  near  expiration,  and  he  saw  before  him,  in  the 
temper  of  his  troops,  the  inevitable  disintegration  of  his  army  at  the  moment  when 
their  services  were  most  needed.  He  was  urged  by  his  chief,  General  Pinckney,  to 
hold  all  the  posts  in  his  possession,  for  it  was  of  vital  importance  to  deprive  the  Brit 
ish  of  these  new  Indian  allies.  The  skies  at  that  moment  appeared  lowering.  Seven 
sail  of  British  vessels,  with  troops  and  two  bomb-ships,  were  off  Pensacola.  New 
Orleans  was  menaced,  and  Mobile  was  in  imminent  danger.  St.  Augustine  would 
doubtless  be  soon  occupied  by  a  British  force,  with  the  consent  of  the  treacherous 
Spaniards ;  and  in  every  direction  clouds  seemed  gathering,  portentous  of  dismal 
events  in  the  southwest. 

Thus  closed  the  year  1814,  while  Jackson,  with  his  army  substantially  disbanded, 
was  looking  anxiously  toward  Tennessee  for  another.  He  had  written  most  stirring 
appeals  for  men  and  food,  and  the  patriotic  Governor  Blount  was  doing  all  in  his 
power  to  provide  both.  General  Cocke  had  gone  back  to  East  Tennessee  with  or 
ders  to  raise  fifteen  hundred  men  and  rejoin  Jackson  in  the  Creek  country;  and  a 
band  of  Cherokee  Indians  were  garrisoning  Fort  Armstrong,  on  the  upper  waters  of 
the  Coosa.  Jackson  himself  was  continually  in  ^motion.  Almost  alone  he  traversed 
the  wilderness  between  the  Coosa  and  Tennessee,  backward  and  forward,  in  endeav 
ors  to  hasten  onward  supplies  for  the  new  army.  At  length  the  advance  of  that 
army  began  to  appear.  Fii-st  came  two  (mostly  mounted)  regiments  to  Fort  Strother, 
commanded  by  Colonels  Perkins  and  Higgins,  numbering  about  nine  hundred  men, 
who  had  been  enlisted  for  only  sixty  days.  They  were  raw  recruits,  yet  Jackson  de 
termined  to  put  them  in  motion  toward  the  banded  enemy  immediately.  That  en 
emy,  recovered  somewhat  from  the  late  disasters,  was  showing  an  aggressive  disposi 
tion  which  must  be  checked;  and  accordingly,  on  the  15th  of  January,5  b  1814 
Jackson  led  his  new  troops  across  the  Coosa  to  the  latB  battle-field  at 
Talladega,  where  he  was  joinedc  by  two  hundred  Cherokee  and  Creek  In 
dians,  and  Chief  Jim  Fife.  He  had  brought  with  him  an  artillery  company  who  had 
remained  at  Fort  Strother  when  the  other  troops  left,  and  a  six-pounder.  His  whole 
force,  exclusive  of  the  Indians,  was  nine  hundred  and  thirty.  With  these  he  made  a 
raid  ("  excursion"  the  general  called  it)  toward  the  Tallapoosa,  preceded  by  two  com- 

i  Pickett's  History  of  Alabama,  ii.,  324. 


774  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Jackson  on  the  War-path  again.  Battle  of  Emucfau.  Bravery  of  the  Creeks. 

panies  of  spies.  He  was  accompanied  by  General  Coffee,  whose  men  had  all  deserted 
him  but  about  forty,  who  now  followed  as  volunteers.  He  reached  the  Hillabee 
Creek,  on  the  eastern  line  of  the  present  Talladega  County,  on  the  20th,  and  encamped 
that  night  at  Enotochopco,  in  the  southern  part  of  Randolph  County.  On  the  follow- 
»  January  21,  ing  morning*  he  pushed  forward  toward  Emucfau,  twelve  miles  distant, 

on  the  bend  of  the  Tallapoosa,  and  toward  evening,  when  near  Emucfau 
Creek,  fell  upon  a  much-beaten  trail,  which  indicated  the  proximity  of  a  large  force 
of  Indians.  Jackson  thought  it  prudent  to  halt  and  reconnoitre.  He  disposed  his 
troops  in  a  hollow  square,  doubled  his  sentinels,  sent  out  spies,  and  in  every  way  took 
measures  to  meet  an  attack  during  the  night.  Toward  midnight  the  savages  were 
observed  prowling  about,  and  at  the  same  time  the  general  was  informed  that  a  large 
body  of  Indians  were  encamped  within  three  miles  of  him,  some  engaged  in  a  war- 
dance,  and  others  removing  the  women  and  children.  An  immediate  attack  seemed 
impending,  and  Jackson,  fully  prepared,  calmly  awaited  it. 
6  Januar  22  ^e  n^nt  wore  away,  and  the  dawn  approached,  when,  at  six  o'clock,1* 

the  Indians  fell  suddenly  and  with  great  fury  upon  the  left  flank  of  Jack 
son's  camp,  occupied  by  the  troops  under  Colonel  Higgins.  General  Coffee  was  with 
them,  and,  under  his  direction,  assisted  by  Colonel  Sitler,  the  adjutant  general,  and 
Colonel  Carroll,  the  inspector  general,  these  new  recruits  fought  gallantly,  and  kept 
the  assailants  in  check.  At  dawn,  when  the  whole  field  might  be  seen,  they  were  re- 
enforced  by  Captain  Ferrill's  company  of  infantry,  and  the  whole  body  were  led  to  a 
vigorous  charge  upon  the  savages  by  General  Coffee,  supported  by  Colonels  Higgins 
and  Carroll,  and  the  friendly  Indians.  The  savages  were  discomfited  and  dispersed, 
and  fled,  hotly  pursued  by  the  Tennesseeans,  with  much  slaughter,  for  full  two  miles. 
Inspirited  by  this  success,  Jackson  immediately  detached  General  Coffee,  with  four 
hundred  men  and  the  whole  body  of  the  Indians,  to  destroy  the  encampment  of  the 
foe  at  Emucfau.  It  was  found  to  be  too  strongly  fortified  to  be  taken  without  artil 
lery,  so  Coffee  marched  back  for  the  purpose  of  guarding  the  cannon  on  its  way  to 
a  position  to  bear  upon  the  town.  This  retrograde  movement  encouraged  the  In 
dians,  and  a  strong  party  of  them  fell  upon  the  right  of  Jackson's  encampment. '  Cof 
fee  at  once  asked  and  obtained  leave  to  lead  two  hundred  men  to  the  support  of  that 
wing,  and  to  fall  upon  the  left  of  the  foe,  while  the  friendly  Indians  should  fall  upon 
their  right  flank  at  the  same  moment.  By  some  mistake  only  fifty-four  men  followed 
Coffee.  The  gallant  general  fell  upon  the  Indians  with  these,  and  Jackson  ordered 
two  hundred  of  the  friendly  Indians  to  co-operate  with  him  by  attacking  the  right 
flank  of  the  savages.  "  This  order  was  promptly  obeyed,"  said  Jackson  in  his  report, 
"  and  on  the  moment  of  its  execution  what  I  expected  was  realized.  The  enemy  had 
intended  the  attack  on  the  right  as  a  feint,  and,  expecting  to  direct  my  attention 
thither,  meant' to  attack  me  again,  and  with  their  main  force,  on  the  left  flank,  which 
they  had  hoped  to  find  weakened  and  in  disorder.  They  were  disappointed."  The 
general,  with  wise  discretion,  had  not  only  ordered  his  left  to  remain  firm,  but  had 
repaired  thither  himself,  and  directed  a  part  of  the  reserves,  under  Captain  Ferrill,  to 
hasten  to  its  support.  In  this  way  the  whole  main  body  met  the  advancing  enemy. 
They  gave  the  foe  two  or  three  volleys,  and  then  charged  them  vigorously  with  the 
bayonet.  The  Indians  broke,  and  fled  in  confusion,  hotly  pursued  some  distance ; 
and  the  friendly  Indians,  unable  to  withstand  the  temptation,  left  their  post  on  the 
right  flank  and  joined  in  the  chase,  all  the  while  pouring  a  harassing  fire  upon  the 
fugitives. 

General  Coffee  in  the  mean  time  was  struggling  manfully  against  the  assailants  on 
the  right  of  the  encampment.  The  desertion  of  his  Indian  supporters  placed  him  in 
a  critical  situation,  for  the  odds  were  greatly  against  him.  He  was  soon  relieved  by 
the  return  from  the  chase  of  Jim  Fife  and  a  hundred  of  his  warriors,  who  were  imme 
diately  summoned  to  his  support.  The  aid  was  timely.  Coffee  and  his  little  party 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  775 

Jackson's  retrograde  Movement.  Battle  on  Enotochopco  Creek.  A  severe  Contest. 

charged  the  savages  vigorously,  who,  dispirited  by  the  flight  of  their  main  body,  gave 
way,  and  ran  for  their  lives  in  every  direction,  many  of  them  falling  before  the  de 
structive  weapons  of  the  pursuers.  The  victory,  in  the  form  of  a  repulse,  was  com 
plete,  but  it  had  been  won  at  the  cost  of  a  severe  wound  in  his  body  by  General  Cof 
fee,  and  the  loss  of  his  aid-de-camp,  Colonel  A.  Donelson,  and  two  or  three  others. 
Several  of  the  privates  were  also  wounded. 

Jackson  was  astonished  at  the  courage  and  bravery  of  the  Creeks,  and  thought  it 
prudent  to  abandon  any  farther  attempts  to  destroy  the  encampment  at  Emucfau. 
His  movement  was  simply  a  raid,  with  the  twofold  object  of  striking  a  quick  and  de 
structive  blow  at  the  enemy,  and  to  make  a  diversion  in  favor  of  General  Floyd,  then 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Chattahoochee.  He  therefore  determined  to  return  to  Fort 
Strother. 

At  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  23d  the  retrograde  march,  commenced,  and 
the  little  army  reached  Enotochopco  Creek  before  sunset,  and  there  planted  a  forti 
fied  camp  for  the  night.  Great  vigilance  was  exercised,  and  no  serious  molestation 
was  observed  during  the  darkness.  Well  rested,  the  troops  moved  forward  early  the 
next  morning.  The  savages,  who  had  interpreted  this  movement  as  a  flight,  had  fol 
lowed  stealthily,  and,  just  as  the  advanced  guard  and  part  of  the  flank  columns,  with 
the  wounded,  had  crossed  the  creek,a  they  appeared  suddenly  in  force  on  aj^^y^ 
their  rear.  The  firing  of  an  alarm-gun  brought  them  to  a  halt,  when  Jack 
son  immediately  changed  front,  and  prepared  to  meet  the  foe  in  good  battle  order. 
He  placed  Colonel  Carroll  at  the  head  of  the  centre  column  of  the  rear-guard,  its  right 
commanded  by  Colonel  Perkins,  and  its  left  by  Colonel  Stump.  He  chose  his  own 
ground  for  battle,  and  expected  to  have  entirely  cut  off  the  enemy  by  wheeling  the 
right  and  left  columns  on  their  pivots,  recrossing  the  creek  above  and  below,  and  fall 
ing  in  upon  their  flanks  and  rear.  To  Jackson's  great  astonishment,  his  troops,  who 
had  behaved  so  well  at  Emucfau,  now  failed;  and  when  the  word  was  given  for  Car 
roll  to  halt  and  form,  and  a  few  guns  had  been  fired,  the  right  and  left  columns  of  the 
rear-guard  precipitately  gave  way  and  made  a  disastrous  retreat.  They  drew  along 
with  them  a  greater  part  of  the  centre  column,  leaving  not  more  than  twenty-five 
men  to  support  Carroll.  These  maintained  the  ground  gallantly,  and  order  was  soon 
restored.  The  battle  was  now  sustained  by  only  this  handful  of  the  rear-guard  under 
Captain  Quarles,  the  artillery  company  under  Lieutenant  Robert  Armstrong,  and 
Captain  Russell's  company  of  spies.  The  solitary  6-pounder  that  composed  the  heavy 
ordnance  of  the  expedition  was  dragged  to  the  top  of  a  hill  in  the  midst  of  a  galling 
fire  from  ten  times  the  number  of  the  Tennesseeans  engaged,  when  they  poured  upon 
the  foe  a  storm  of  grape-shot  that  sent  them  yelling  with  affright  in  every  direction.1 
They  were  pursued  more  than  two  miles  by  Colonels  Carroll  and  Higgins,  and  Cap 
tains  Elliott  and  Pipkin.  The  venerable  Judge  Cocke,  then  sixty-five  years  of  age, 
was  in  the  engagement,  and  joined  in  the  pursuit  with  all  the  ardor  of  youth.  The 
slaughter  among  the  Indians  was  heavy,  Avhile  that  among  the  Tennesseeans  was 
comparatively  light.  The  exact  number  of  casualties  among  the  latter  was  not  re 
corded.  Captain  Hamilton,  from  East  Tennessee,  was  killed,  and  Lieutenants  Robert 
Armstrong,  Bird  Evans,  Hiram  Bradford,  and  Jacob  M'Givock,  and  Captain  Quarles, 
were  wounded.  Evans  and  Quarles  soon  afterward  died.  In  the  two  engagements, 
Emucfau  and  Enotochopco,  Jackson's  entire  loss  was  twenty  killed  and  seventy-five 

1  The  gallantry  of  two  young  men  in  this  engagement  deserves  a  record.  These  were  Constantine  Perkins  and  Craven 
Jackson.  The  former  was  a  graduate  of  Cumberland  (Tennessee)  College,  was  with  Jackson  at  the  hattle  of  Talladega, 
and  was  one  of  the  few  who  refused  to  desert  him  at  Fort  Strother.  In  the  hurry  and  confusion  in  separating  the  can 
non  from  the  limber,  the  rammer  and  picker  of  the  piece  were  left  behind.  In  the  midst  of  the  shower  of  bullets  from 
the  Indians,  Jackson  coolly  pulled  out  his  iron  ramrod  from  his  musket  and  used  it  as  a  picker,  primed  with  a  cartridge 
from  his  side,  and  fired  the  cannon.  Perkins  then  slipped  off  his  bayonet,  used  his  musket  for  a  rammer,  and  drove 
down  the  cartridge  for  another  discharge.  These  two  brave  young  men  kept  the  field-piece  working,  and  drove  the 
savages  to  the  deep  forest.  Armstrong  lay  wounded  near  by,  aud  called  out  to  those  around  the  piece,  "My  brave  fel 
lows,  some  of  you  may  fall,  but  you  must  save  the  cannon  1" 


776  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Jackson  at  Fort  Strother.  Battle  on  the  Calebee  River.  The  Georgians  retire  to  their  Frontier. 

wounded.     The  loss  of  the  enemy  was  not  accurately  ascertained.     One  hundred  and 
eighty-nine  of  their  warriors  were  found  dead.1 

•  January  28,        Jackson  made  his  way  back  to  Fort  Strother*  after  an  absence  of  twelve 
days,  not  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  results  of  his  raid,  yet  he  presented 
it  to  the  public  in  the  best  aspect  possible.     His  force  was  almost  double  that  of  the 
Indians,  for  at  that  time  the  larger  proportion  of  them  were  below,  watching  the 
movements  of  Floyd  and  his  Georgians,  while  a  considerable  force  were  strongly  for 
tifying  the  Horseshoe,  and  other  places,  preparatory  to  a  desperate  defensive  war. 
His  expedition,  however,  had  been  useful,  and  General  Pinckney,  in  a  letter  to  the 
War  Department,1*  said,  "  Without  the  personal  firmness,  popularity,  and 
exertions  of  that  officer,  the  Indian  War  on  the  part  of  Tennessee  would 
have  been  abandoned,  at  least  for  a  time." 

We  will  leave  Jackson  at  Fort  Strother  a  feAV  moments  while  we  consider  the 
movements  of  Floyd  below.  We  left  that  officer  at  Fort  Mitchell,  on  the  Chatta- 
hoochee. 

Floyd  reposed  more  than  six  weeks  awaiting  supplies,  and  during  that  time  recov 
ered  of  his  wound  received  at  Auttose.  Then  he  marched  toward  Toockabatcha,  on 
the  Tallapoosa,  with  over  twelve  hundred  Georgia  volunteers,  a  company  of  cavalry, 
and  four  hundred  friendly  Indians.  He  established  communicating  posts  on  the  way, 
and  at  length,  on  the  night  of  the  26th  of  January,  encamped  on  the  Calebee  or  Chal- 
libee  River,  on  the  high  land  bordering  the  swamp  of  that  name,  in  Macon  County, 
Alabama,  fifty  miles  west  of  Fort  Mitchell.  The  camp  was  carefully  watched,  but  in 
the  gloom,  more  than  an  hour  before  the  dawn  of  the  following  morning,  a  band  of 
Creeks,  who  had  stealthily  assembled  in  the  swamp  during  the  night,  shot  the  sen 
tinels,  and  pounced  like  fierce  tigers  on  Floyd's  front  and  flank.  The  attack  was  sud 
den,  yet  not  unprepared  for,  and  the  savages  were  gallantly  opposed,  in  the  front,  by 
the  artillery  under  Captain  Jett  Thomas,  riflemen  commanded  by  Captain  William 
E.  Adams,  and  a  picket-guard  led  by  Captain  John  Broadnax. 

The  foe  rushed  desperately  up  within  thirty  yards  of  the  cannon,  and  smote  the 
troops  severely.  Broadnax  and  his  party  were  cut  off"  from  their  companions  for  a 
while,  but  with  the  aid  of  the  half-blood  chief  Timpoochy  Barnard,  leader  of  some 
Uchees,  they  cut  their  way  through  the  encircling  savages.  Most  of  the  other  In 
dians  took  shelter  in  the  camp,  and  were  scai'cely  felt  in  the  battle,  which  was  con 
tested  fiercely  in  the  darkness,  which  was  rendered  more  intense  by  the  umbrageous 
branches  of  the  heavy  pine  forest  in  which  they  were  fighting.  When  daylight 
came,  and  Floyd  was  enabled  to  survey  the  field  of  action,  the  contest  was  soon  end 
ed.  The  general  ordered  the  right  wing  of  his  little  army,  composed  of  the  battalions 
commanded  by  Majors  Booth,  Cleveland,  Watson,  and  Freeman,  and  a  troop  of  cav 
alry  under  Captain  Duke  Hamilton,  to  chai-ge  on  the  foe.  The  Indians  were  dismayed 
by  the  glittering  bayonets,  and  fled  in  great  terror.  The  infantry  pursued,  and  the 
cavalry  joined  in  the  exciting  chase,  followed  by  the  friendly  Indians  and  Meri weath 
er's  and  Ford's  riflemen.  They  were  chased  through  the  swamp,  and  many  of  the  fu 
gitives  were  slain.  They  left  thirty-seven  dead  in  the  pathway  of  their  flight.  The 
Georgians  lost  seventeen  killed  and  one  hundi'ed  and  thirty-two  wounded,  and  the 
friendly  Indians  had  five  men  killed  and  fifteen  wounded.  Colonel  Newman,  a  gal 
lant  officer,  was  wounded  by  three  bullets  and  disabled,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
action. 

Floyd's  wounded  were  so  many,  and  the  hostile  Indians  in  his  vicinity  were  so  nu 
merous,  and  might  be  speedily  re-enforced,  that  he  prudently  concluded  not  to  pene 
trate  the  country  farther,  but  to  fall  back  to  the  Chattahoochee.  On  the  day  of  the 
battle  he  retired  to  Fort  Hull,  one  of  his  newly-erected  stockades,  and  on  the  following 
day  the  Indians  occupied  the  late  battle-field.  Leaving  a  small  garrison  at  Fort 

i  General  Jackson's  official  Letter  to  General  Pinckney,  January  29, 1814. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  777 

Bast  Tenneseeeans  on  their  Way  to  the  Creek  Country.       The  Choctaw  Allies  in  Arras.       Preparation  of  the  Creeks. 

Hull,  the  general  continued  his  retrograde  movement  to  Fort  Mitchell,  where  his 
men  were  honorably  discharged,  their  term  of  service  having  expired.  No  other  ex 
pedition  against  the  Creeks  was  organized  in  Georgia. 

Let  us  now  return  to  Jackson  at  Fort  Strother. 

On  his  return  from  his  twelve  days'  "  excursion"  or  raid  to  the  Tallapoosa,  Jackson 
set  his  few  militia  that  remained  to  constructing  flat-boats  in  which  to  bring  supplies 
down  the  Coosa,  and  to  transport  them  to  regions  below,  Avhere  materials  for  his  new 
army  were  rapidly  approaching  from  Tennessee.  He  discharged  the  troops  who  had 
been  Avith  him  on  the  late  expedition,  their  term  of  service  being  about  ready  to  ex 
pire.  They  left  for  home  full  of  admiration  of  and  enthusiasm  for  their  general,  and 
their  return  gave  a  new  impetus  to  volunteering.  At  the  beginning  of  February 
two  thousand  troops  from  East  Tennessee  were  in  the  shadows  of  Lookout  Mountain, 
pressing  on  toward  the  Coosa,  and  at  about  the  same  time  as  many  more  West  Ten- 
nesseeans  arrived  at  Huntsville. 

Intelligence  of  these  approaching  troops  filled  Jackson's  heart  with  gladness.  His 
joy  was  increased  by  the  arrival  on  the  6th,  at  Fort  Strother,  of  Colonel  Williams  and 
the  Thirty-ninth  Regiment  of  the  United  States  Army,  six  hundred  strong,  who  had 
been  induced  to  hasten  to  the  relief  of  Jackson  by  the  late  Honorable  Hugh  L.  White, 
of  East  Tennessee.  Very  soon  afterward  a  part  of  Coffee's  brigade  of  mounted  men 
came  into  Fort  Strother,  and  also  a  troop  of  East  Tennessee  dragoons.  The  Choctaw 
Indians  now  openly  espoused  the  caiise  of  the  United  States ;  and  before  the  close 
of  February  Jackson  found  himself  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  five  thousand  men, 
lacking  nothing  to  enable  them  to  sweep  the  whole  Creek  country  with  the  besom 
of  destruction  but  adequate  supplies  of  food.  Great  exertions  were  put  forth  suc 
cessfully  to  that  end,  and  at  the  middle  of  March  every  thing  was  in  readiness  for  a 
forward  movement. 

The  hostile  Creeks  were  aware  of  the  formidable  preparations  for  their  subjugation, 
and  were,  at  the  same  time,  taking  measures  to  avert,  if  possible,  the  impending  blow. 
They  had  suffered  severely  at  the  hands  of  Jackson,  Floyd,  and  Claiborne,  and  had 
already  begun  to  have  such  premonitions  of  national  disaster  that  they  determined 
to  concentrate  their  forces,  and  rest  their  fortunes  upon  the  cast  of  the  die  of  a  single 
battle  with  the  foe.  For  this  purpose  the  warriors  of  the  Hillabee,  Ockfuske,  Eufau- 
lahache,  New  Youka,  Oakchoie,  Hickory  Ground,  and  Fish-pond  towns  had  gathered 
in  the  bend  of  the  Tallapoosa,  in  the  northeast  part  of  Tallapoosa  County,  Alabama, 
called  Tohopeka,  or  the  Horseshoe,  the  river  there  assuming  the  shape  of  that  object, 
forming  a  peninsula  of  about  one  hundred  acres.  By  the  aid  of  white  men  from  Pen- 
sacola,  and  some  hostile  half-bloods,  they  built  a  very  strong  breastwork  of  logs  across 
the  neck  of  the  peninsula,  and  pierced  it  with  two  rows  of  port-holes  arranged  in  such 
manner  as  to  expose  the  assailants  to  a  cross-fire  from  within.  Back  of  this  breast 
work  was  a  mass  of  logs  and  brush ;  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  peninsula,  near  the 
river,  was  a  village  of  log  huts,  where  hundreds  of  canoes  were  moored  at  the  banks 
of  the  stream,  so  that  the  garrison  might  have  the  means  of  escape  if  hard  pushed.  A 
greater  portion  of  the  peninsula  was  covered  with  forest.  The  Indians  had  an  am 
ple  supply  of  food  for  a  long  siege.  Their  number  was  about  twelve  hundred,  one 
fourth  being  women  and  children.  There  the  Indians  determined  to  defend  them 
selves  to  the  last  extremity.  They  regarded  their  breastwork  as  impregnable,  and 
were  inspirited  by  recent  events  at  Emuckfau  (about  four  miles  distant)  and  Enoto- 
chopco. 

When  Jackson  was  informed  by  some  friendly  Indians  of  the  gathering  of  the 
Creeks  at  the  Horseshoe,  he  resolved  to  march  thither  immediately  and  strike  an  ex 
terminating  blow.  He  sent  his  stores  down  the  Coosa  in  flat-boats,  in  charge  of  Col 
onel  Williams  and  his  regiment  of  regulars,  and  leaving  a  garrison  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty  men  in  Fort  Strother,  under  Colonel  Steele,  he  commenced  his  march  with 


778 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Seat  of  the  Creek  War  in  Upper  Alabama. 


N          N  E  )       5          S         ,  £T    \|     E 


the  remainder  of  his  army  toward  the  Tallapoosa  on  the  16th  of  March,*  the 
only  musical  instrument  to  cheer  them  on  the  way  "being  a  solitary  drum.    The 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  779 

Jackson  marches  upon  the  Savages  at  the  Horseshoe.  A  desperate  Battle  there.  Bravery  of  both  Parties. 

journey  was  slowly  performed,  for  much  of  the  way  a  road  had  to  be  cut  through 
the  woods.  On  the  21st  they  were  at  the  mouth  of  Cedar  Creek,  where  they  were 
joined  by  the  supply-boats  the  next  day,  arid  there  Fort  Williams  was  built  to  keep 
open  the  communication  with  Fort  Strother.  Then  Jackson  pushed  on  eastward,  and 
early  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  halted  within  a  few  miles  of  the  breastworks  at  the 
Horseshoe,  and  sent  out  parties  to  reconnoitre.  His  army  now  numbered  about  two 
thousand  effective  men. 

Jackson's  spies  informed  him  of  the  position  of  the  Indians,  and  he  at  once  compre 
hended  the  folly  which  had  permitted  them  to  assemble  in  a  pen,  as  if  offering  facili 
ties  for  him  to  carry  out  his  threat  of  extermination.  He  sent  General  Coffee,  with 
all  the  mounted  men  and  friendly  Indians,  to  cross  the  river  about  two  miles  below 
the  Bend,  and  take  position  on  the  bank  opposite  the  village  and  boats.  When,  by 
signal,  he  was  certified  of  the  execution  of  his  order,  he  went  forward  with  the  main 
body  of  his  army  toward  the  peninsula,  and  planted  two  field-pieces  upon  a  little  hill 
within  eighty  yards  of  the  nearest  point  of  the  fortifications  on  the  neck.  At  a  little 
past  ten  o'clock  these  opened  fire  on  the  works,  under  the  direction  of  Captain  Brad 
ford,  chief  engineer,  but  without  seriously  affecting  the  wall.  As  the  small  balls  were 
buried  in  the  logs  and  earth,  the  Indians  set  up  a  shout  of  derision,  and  the  general 
was  fairly  defied. 

Simultaneously  with  the  attack  on  the  Indians'  breastworks,  some  of  the  Cherokees 
with  Coffee  swam  across  the  river,  seized  the  canoes,  paddled  back  in  them,  and  full 
two  hundred  men  were  at  once  conveyed  over  the  stream,  and,  under  the  direction 
of  Colonel  Morgan  and  Captain  Russell,  set  the  little  town  on  fire,  and  moved  against 
the  enemy  in  the  rear  of  their  works.  The  smoke  from  the  burning  huts  assured 
Jackson  that  all  was  going  on  well  in  that  quarter,  but  the  slackening  of  the  assail 
ants'  musketry  gave  evidence  that  they  were  too  few  to  dislodge  the  savages,  and 
were  probably  in  peril.  The  general  at  once  determined  to  storm  the  breastworks 
which  he  had  been  battering  for  full  two  hours  with  cannon-balls  almost  in  vain. 
The  Thirty-ninth  United  States  Infantry,  under  Colonel  Williams,  formed  the  van  of 
the  storming  party.  They  were  well  supported  by  General  James  Doherty's  East 
Tennessee  brigade  under  Colonel  Bunch,  and  the  whole  assailing  party  behaved  most 
gallantly.  They  pressed  steadily  forward  in  the  face  of  a  deadly  storm  of  bullets  and 
arrows,  and  maintained  for  some  time  a  hand-to-hand  fight  at  the  port-holes.  This 
desperate  conflict  lasted  several  minutes,  when  Major  L.  P.  Montgomery  leaped  upon 
the  breastwork,  and  called  upon  his  men  to  follow.  They  did  so,  and  at  the  same 
moment  he  fell  dead  with  a  bullet  in  his  head.  Ensign  Sam  Houston,  a  gallant  youth 
at  his  side,  was  severely  wounded  in  the  thigh  at  the  same  time  by  a  barbed  arrow, 
but  he  leaped  boldly  down  among  the  savages,  and  called  upon  his  companions  to  fol 
low.  They  did  so,  and  fought  like  tigers.  Very  soon  the  dexterous  use  of  the  bay 
onet  caused  the  Indians  to  break,  and  flee  in  wild  confusion  to  the  woods  and  thick 
ets.  They  had  fought  bravely  under  great  disadvantages,  and  believing  that  torture 
awaited  the  captive,  not  one  would  suffer  himself  to  be  taken,  or  asked  for  quarter. 
Some  attempted  to  escape  by  swimming  across  the  river,  but  were  shot  by  the  uner 
ring  bullets  of  the  Tennesseeans.  Others  secreted  themselves  in  thicket's,  and  were 
driven  out  and  slain ;  and  a  considerable  number  took  refuge  under  the  river  bluffs, 
where  they  were  covered  by  a  part  of  the  breastworks  and  felled  trees.  To  the  lat 
ter  Jackson  sent  word  that  their  lives  should  be  spared  if  they  would  surrender.  The 
summons  was  answered  by  a  volley  that  sent  the  messenger  (an  interpreter)  back 
bleeding  from  severe  wounds.  A  cannon  was  then  brought  to  bear  upon  the  strong 
hold,  but  it  made  little  effect.  Then  the  general  called  for  volunteers  to  storm  it, 
and  the  wounded  Ensign  Houston1  was  the  first  to  step  out.  While  reconnoitring 

1  This  was  the  afterward  soldier  and  statesman,  General  Sam  Houston,  one  of  the  bravest  of  the  leaders  in  the  Texas 
Revolution,  first  President  of  the  independent  Republic  of  Texas,  and  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  National  Legit- 


780 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Creeks  defeated  at  the  Battle  of  the  Horseshoe. 


NOTE.— The  above  plan  of  the  battle  of  Cholocco  Litabixee,  or  the  Horseshoe,  is  arranged  from  one  in  Pickett's  His 
tory  of  Alabama.  A  shows  the  position  of  the  hill  from  which  Jackson's  cannon  played  upon  the  breastworks.  C  C  C 
represent  the  position  of  Coffee's  command. 

the  position  above,  he  received  from  the  concealed  savages  two  bullets  in  his  shoul 
der,  and  he  was  borne  helpless  away.  Others  lost  their  lives  in  attempts  to  dislodge 
the  foe.  It  was  conceded  that  the  place  was  impregnable  to  missiles,  so  the  torch 
was  applied,  and  the  savages,  as  they  rushed  wildly  from  the  crackling  furnace,  were 
shot  down  without  mercy  by  the  exasperated  riflemen.  The  carnage  continued  until 
late  in  the  evening,  and  when  it  was  ended  five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  Creek  war 
riors  lay  dead  on  the  little  peninsula.  Of  the  thousand  who  went  into  the  battle  in 
the  morning  not  more  than  two  hundred  were  alive,  and  many  of  these  were  severely 
wounded.1  Jackson's  loss  was  thirty-two  killed  and  ninety-nine  wounded.  The  Cher- 
okees  lost  eighteen  killed  and  thirty-six  wounded.  Among  the  slain  were  Major  Mont 
gomery2  and  Lieutenants  Moulton  and  Somerville.  The  spoils  of  victory  were  over 

lature  of  the  United  States.  He  was  a  remarkable  man.  He  was  born  in  Rockbridge  County,  Virginia,  on  the  2d  of 
March,  1703,  and,  while  yet  a  child,  he  went  with  his  widowed  mother  to  Tennessee.  He  spent  several  years  with  the 
Cherokee  Indians,  and  became  enamored  with  their  roving,  restless  life.  He  enlisted  in  the  army  in  1S13,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  war  had  reached  the  position  of  lieutenant.  Then  he  studied  law  at  Nashville,  and  there  commenced  his 
long  political  life.  In  1823  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  and  continued  in  that  body  until  1827,  when  he  became  Governor 
of  Tennessee.  Before  the  expiration  of  his  term  he  resigned,  and  took  up  his  abode  among  the  Cherokees  in  Arkan 
sas,  where  he  befriended  them  much  in  their  intercourse  with  dishonest  agents  of  the  Government.  He  became  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  little  army  of  revolutionists  in  Texas,  which  achieved  its  independence  in  1836.  He  was  twice 
elected  president  of  that  republic,  and  when  Texas  was  annexed  to  the  United  States  he  was  sent  as  her  representative 
to  the  Senate,  where  he  remained  until  just  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  great  Civil  War,  when  he  was  Governor  of 
Texas.  He  died  in  November,  18G3,  aged  seventy  years. 

1  Pickett  relates  (History  of  Alabama,  ii.,  343)  that  many  suffered  long  from  grievous  wounds.    "Manowa,"  he  says, 
"one  of  the  bravest  chiefs  that  ever  lived,  was  literally  shot  to  pieces.    He  fought  as  long  as  he  could.    He  saved  him 
self  by  jumping  into  the  river  where  the  water  was  four  feet  deep.    He  held  to  a  root,  and  thus  kept  himself  beneath 
the  waves,  breathing  through  the  long  joint  of  a  cane,  one  end  of  which  he  held  in  his  mouth,  while  the  other  end  came 
above  the  surface  of  the  water.    When  night  set  in,  the  brave  Manowa  rose  from  his  watery  bed,  and  made  his  way  to 
the  forest,  bleeding  from  many  wounds.    Many  years  after  the  war  we  conversed  with  the  chief,  and  learned  from  him 
the  particulars  of  his  remarkable  escape.    His  face,  limbs,  and  body,  at  the  time  we  conversed  with  him,  were  marked 
with  scars  of  many  horrible  wounds." 

2  Lemuel  Purnell  Montgomery  was  born  in  Wythe  County,  Virginia,  in  1786,  and  was  distantly  related  to  the  hero  of 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  781 

Jackson  retires  from  the  Fields  of  Conflict.        The  subdued  Indians  sue  for  Peace.       Weathersford  in  Jackson's  Tent. 

three  hundred  widows  and  orphans  who  were  made  prisoners.  The  blow  was  appall 
ing,  and  fatal  to  the  dignity  and  power  of  the  Creek  nation. 

On  the  morning  after  the  battlea  at  the  Horseshoe  Jackson  commenced  .  March  28, 
a  retrograde  march  toward  Fort  Williams,  carrying  his  wounded  with  him 
on  litters,  and  leaving  the  bodies  of  most  of  his  dead  beneath  the  waters  of  the  Coosa, 
safe  from  desecration  by  savage  hands.  They  were  five  days  on  the  way.  and  during 
as  many  more  they  rested  there.  They  encountered  some  hostile  Indians  on  the 
march,  but  they  generally  fled  at  their  approach.  The  spirit  of  the  proud  Creeks  was 
broken,  and  they  had  no  heart  to  make  a  defensive  stand  any  where. 

From  Fort  Williams  Jackson  pushed  on  toward  the  Hickory  Ground  of  the  Creeks, 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Coosa  and  Tallapoosa  Rivers,  over  a  country  flooded  by  spring 
rains  and  swollen  streams,  and  halted  at  the  head  of  the  peninsula,  where  the  rivers 
approach  each  other  within  six  hundred  yards  before  uniting  four  miles  below.  There, 
on  the  sight  of  Fort  Toulouse,  erected  by  Governor  Bienville  a  hundred  years  before, 
he  built  a  stockade,  cleaned  out  and  deepened  the  old  French  entrance,  and  raised  the 
national  standard  over  a  fortification  named,  in  his  honor,  Fort  Jackson.  Thither  dep 
utation  after  deputation  of  humiliated  Creek  chiefs  made  their  way  to  sue  for  pardon 
and  peace  in  behalf  of  themselves  and  their  people.  They  were  received  with  court 
esy,  yet  with  sternness.  "  Give  proof  of  your  submission,"  said  the  general, "  substan 
tially  by  going  and  staying  above  Fort  Williams,  where  you  will  be  treated  with,  and 
the  final  demands  of  my  Government  will  be  made  known  to  you.  But  you  must 
first  bring  in  Weathersford,  the  cruel  leader  of  the  attack  on  Fort  Minis,  who  on  no 
account  can  be  forgiven."  They  cheerfully  complied ;  but  little  did  Jackson  know 
the  true  character  of  Weathersford,  or  the  plasticity  of  his  own  nature  at  that  time. 

Weathersford  did  not  wait  to  be  caught  and  dragged  like  a  felon  to  the  feet  of 
the  leader  of  the  pale  faces.  He  was  a  stranger  to  fear,  and  sagacious  in  plans.  He 
saw  clearly  the  flight  of  hope  for  his  nation,  at  the  Horseshoe,  and  resolved  to  sub 
mit.  Mounting  his  fine  gray  horse,  with  whom  he  leaped  from  the  bluff  at  the  Holy 
Ground,1  he  rode  to  Jackson's  camp.  He  arrived  just  at  sunset.b  The  gen 
eral  was  alone  in  his  tent,  when  the  chief  entered  it,  drew  himself  up  to  his 
full  height,  and,  folding  his  arms,  said, "  I  am  Weathersford,  the  chief  who  command 
ed  at  Fort  Minis.  I  have  nothing  to  request  for  myself.  You  can  kill  me  if  you  de 
sire.  I  have  come  to  beg  you  to  send  for  the  women  and  children  of  the  war-party, 
who  are  now  starving  in  the  woods.  Their  fields  and  cribs  have  been  destroyed  by 
your  people,  who  have  driven  them  to  the  woods  without  an  ear  of  corn.  I  hope 
that  you  will  send  out  parties  who  will  conduct  them  safely  here,  in  order  that  they 
may  be  fed.  I  exerted  myself  in  vain  to  prevent  the  .javaacre  of  the  women  and 
children  at  Fort  Minis.2  I  have  come  now  to  ask  peace  for  my  people,  but  not  for 
myself."3  Jackson  expressed  astonishment  that  one  so  guilty  should  dare  to  appear 
in  his  presence  and  ask  for  peace  and  protection.  "  I  am  in  your  power ;  do  with  me 
as  you  please,"  the  chief  haughtily  replied.  "  I  am  a  soldier.  I  have  done  the  white 
people  all  the  harm  I  could.  I  have  fought  them,  and  fought  them  bravely;  and  if  I 
had  an  army  I  would  yet  fight,  and  contend  to  the  last.  But  I  have  none.  My  people 
are  all  gone.  I  can  now  do  no  more  than  weep  over  the  misfortunes  of  my  nation." 

the  same  name  who  fell  at  Quebec  at  the  close  of  17T5.  His  family  settled  originally  in  North  Carolina,  and  were  Scotch- 
Irish.  In  early  life  the  major  became  a  resident  of  East  Tennessee,  near  Knoxville.  He  studied  law,  and  became  a 
rival  of  the  eminent  Felix  Grundy.  He  was  a  daring  horseman,  and  full  of  soldierly  qualities.  President  Madison  ap 
pointed  him  major  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Regiment,  and  he  fell  at  their  head  when  storming  the  breastworks  at  the 
Horseshoe,  as  we  have  observed  in  the  text.  Jackson  wept  over  his  body  like  a  child,  and  exclaimed,  "  I  have  lost  the 
flower  of  my  army !"  He  was  buried  near  where  he  fell,  and  in  long  after  years  the  citizens  of  Tallapoosa  County  hon 
ored  his  memory  by  exhuming  his  remains,  and  burying  them  with  military  ceremonies  at  the  capital  of  the  county. 
The  County  of  Montgomery  and  the  political  capital  of  the  State  of  Alabama  were  named  in  honor  of  this  brave  sol 
dier.— Pickett.  i  See  page  772.  2  See  an  account  of  his  exertions  on  page  756. 

3  Weathersford's  appeal  for  the  women  and  children  was  kindly  responded  to,  and  not  only  to  the  women  and  chil 
dren,  but  to  the  remnant  of  the  nation  succor  was  given.  For  a  considerable  part  of  the  ensuing  summer,  five  thousand 
Creek  Indians  drew  rations  from  the  public  stores.  But  for  this  aid  a  large  number  of  them  must  have  perished  by 
starvation. 


782  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Weathersford's  manly  Talk.  Jackson  admires  and  releases  him.  The  Creek  Nation  ruined. 

Here  was  a  man  after  Jackson's  own  heart.  A  patriot  who  loved  his  people,  had 
fought  to  protect  the  land  of  his  birth  from  the  invader,  and  now  fearlessly  expressed 
his  patriotism  in  the  presence  of  one  who  had  power  over  his  life.  Jackson  imme 
diately  informed  him  that  submission  and  the  acceptance  of  a  home  beyond  the  Mis 
sissippi  for  his  nation  was  the  only  wise  policy  for  him  to  pursue.  He  added, "  If, 
however,  you  desire  to  continue  the  war,  and  feel  prepared  to  meet  the  consequences, 
you  may  depart  in  peace,  and  unite  yourself  with  the  war-party,  if  you  choose." 
Half  scornfully,  half  sorrowfully,  Weathersford  replied,  "  I  may  well  be  addressed  in 
such  language  now.  There  was  a  time  when  I  had  a  choice  and  could  have  an 
swered  you  ;  I  have  none  now — even  hope  is  ended.  Once  I  could  animate  my  war 
riors  to  battle,  but  can  not  animate  the  dead.  My  warriors  can  no  longer  hear  my 
voice.  Their  bones  are  at  Talladega,  Tallasehatche,  Emucfau,  Econochopco,  and  To- 
hopeka.  I  have  not  surrendered  myself  thoughtlessly.  While  there  was  a  chance 
for  success  I  never  left  my  post  nor  supplicated  peace.  But  my  people  are  gone,  and 
I  now  ask  it  for  my  nation,  not  for  myself.  On  the  miseries  and  misfortunes  brought 
upon  my  country  I  look  back  with  deepest  sorrow,  and  wish  to  avert  still  greater 
calamities.  If  I  had  been  left  to  contend  with  the  Georgia  army,  I  would  have  raised 
my  corn  on  one  bank  of  the  river  and  fought  them  on  the  other.  But  your  people 
have  destroyed  my  nation.  You  are  a  brave  man ;  I  rely  upon  your  generosity. 
You  will  exact  no  terms  of  a  conquered  people  but  such  as  they  should  agree  to. 
Whatever  they  may  be,  it  would  now  be  folly  and  madness  to  oppose.  If  they  are 
opposed,  you  will  find  me  among  the  sternest  enforcers  of  obedience.  Those  who 
would  still  hold  out  can  be  influenced  only  by  a  mean  spirit  of  revenge,  and  to  this 
they  must  not  and  shall  not  sacrifice  the  last  remnant  of  their  country.  You  have 
told  our  nation  where  we  might  go  and  be  safe.  This  is  good  talk,  and  they  ought 
to  listen  to  it.  They  shall  listen  to  it."1 

Thus  spoke  the  truly  noble  Weathersford  for  his  nation.  Words  of  honor  respond 
ed  to  words  of  honor,  and  Weathersford  was  allowed  to  go  freely  to  the  forest  to 
search  for  his  scattered  followers  and  counsel  peace.  But  there  was  no  safety  for 
him  in  that  region,  for  the  relatives  of  those  massacred  at  .Fort  Mims  sought  to  kill 
him.  He  fled,  and  remained  away  until  the  end  of  the  war,  when  he  returned,  and 
became  a  respected  citizen  of  Alabama.2 

General  Pinckney  arrived  at  Fort  Jackson  on  the  20th  of  April  with  troops  from 
North  and  South  Carolina.  Informed  of  the  general  submission  of  the  Creeks,  and 
considering  the  war  virtually  at  an  end,  he  directed  the  West  Tennesseeans  to  march 
home,  and  four  hundred  of  General  Doherty's  brigade  to  garrison  Fort  Williams. 
The  order  to  the  West  T  .^j^sseeans  was  so  gladly  and  promptly  obeyed  that  Avithin 
•  April  21,  two  hours  after  its  utterance*  they  were  in  motion  up  the  Coosa.  They 
pushed  forward  with  great  celerity,  crossed  the  Tennessee  River,  and  at 
Fayetteville  were  discharged.  There  Jackson  bade  them  farewell  in  a  stirring  ad 
dress,  and  then  hastened  to  his  own  home  at  the  "Hermitage,"  near  Nashville,  and 
indulged  a  short  time  in  needed  repose. 

Here  we  will  leave  the  consideration  of  the  fearfully-smitten  Creeks  for  the  pres 
ent,  with  the  remark  that  they  showed  themselves  to  be  a  brave  people,  and,  on  many 
accounts,  deserving  of  the  respect  of  mankind. 

1  Drake's  Hook  of  the  Indians,  eleventh  edition,  page  390. 

2  Weathersford  settled  upon  a  farm  in  Monroe  County,  Alabama,  well  supplied  with  negro  slaves,  where  he  maintain 
ed  the  character  of  an  honest  man.    Soon  after  his  return  he  married,  and  General  Sam  Dale,  frequently  mentioned  in 
this  chapter,  was  his  groomsman.    His  birth-place  was  the  Hickory  Ground,  but  he  could  not  live  there.    He  said  that 
his  old  comrades,  the  hostile  Creeks,  ate  his  cattle  from  starvation  ,  the  peace-party  ate  them  from  revenge  ;  and  the 
sqnatters  because  he  was  "  a  damned  Red-skin  ;"  so,  he  said,  "  I  have  come  to  live  among  gentlemen."— See  Life  of  Gen 
eral  Sam  Dale,  page  129.    Weathersford  died  from  the  effects  of  fatigue  produced  by  a  desperate  bear-hunt  in  1826. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812.  783 

Civil  Affairs  in  1813.  Political  Composition  of  Congress.  Commissioners  to  treat  for  Peace  appointed. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

"  Farewell  Peace  !    Another  crisis 

Calls  us  to  '  the  last  appeal,' 
Made  when  monarchs  and  their  vices 

Leave  no  argument  but  steel. 
Let  not  all  the  world  united 

Rob  us  of  one  sacred  right : 
Every  patriot  heart's  delighted 

In  his  country's  cause  to  tight."— OLD  SONG. 

T  is  proper  here,  before  resuming  a  narrative  of  military  events 
in  the  North,  to  take  a  brief  survey  of  civil  affairs  in  1813. 

In  conformity  to  a  law  passed  in  February21  pre-  "February  26, 
ceding  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Madison,  the  Thir-  1813- 
teenth  Congress  assembled  on  the  24th  of  May,  when  Henry 
Clay  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  In 
that  body  ardent  young  men  like  Cheves,  Calhoun,  Lowndes, 
Grundy,  and  Troup  had  become  leaders.  Quincy  had  declined 
a  re-election,  but  the  extreme  Federalists  were  well  represented 
by  the  venerable  patriots  of  the  Revolution,  Timothy  Pickering  and  Egbert  Benson. 
There  was  a  strong  administration  working  party  in  both  houses,  and  the  President 
felt  well  supported,  notwithstanding  there  had  been  decided  gains  for  the  peace- 
party  in  New  England  at  the  spring  elections.  But  in  New  York,  where  the  Feder 
alists  were  expecting  a  triumph,  they  had  been  defeated,  and  New  Jersey,  and  Penn 
sylvania,  and  all  of  the  slave-labor  states,  and  their  children  in  the  Mississippi  Val 
ley,  were  decided  friends  of  the  administration. 

With  his  message  the  President  sent  into  Congress  a  letter  from  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  offering  his  mediation.  The  President  stated  that  it  had  been  accepted  by 
the  government;  that  commissioners  had  been  appointed  to  conclude  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  persons  clothed  with  like  powers  on  the  part  of  the  British  government, 
and  that  two  of  the  American  commissioners  (Albert  Gallatin  and  James  A.  Bayard) 
had  already  departed  for  St.  Petersburg,  there  to  meet  John  Quincy  Adams,  a  third 
commissioner.  While  the  President  expressed  a  hope  that  a  speedy  peace  might  be 
the  result,  he  conjured  Congress  to  shape  legislation  as  if  the  object  might  be  ob 
tained  only  by  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war.  He  called  attention,  in  a  special 
manner,  to  the  national  finances,  which  were  not  in  a  promising  condition,  and  laid 
before  Congress  an  estimate  of  expenses  for  the  year  1813,  to  the  amount  of  about 
thirty  million  dollars.1 

The  subject  of  an  increase  of  internal  revenue  and  of  direct  taxation  had  been  agi 
tated  a  little,  but  was  deferred  until  after  the  Presidential  election.  Now  the  admin 
istration  party  felt  strong  enough  to  try  these  measures.  Bills  for  the  imposition  of 
taxes  and  excise  were  adopted,  and  a  new  loan  was  authorized.  No  effort  was  spared 
for  providing  adequate  means  for  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  only  in 
New  England  was  a  voice  of  serious  opposition  heard.  Governor  Strong,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  denounced  the  war  as  cruel  and  unjust,  and  urged  the  Legislature  to  adopt 
measures  for  bringing  about  a  speedy  peace.  The  two  houses  being  in  political  ac 
cord  with  the  governor,  they  agreed  to  a  remonstrance,  in  which  they,  too,  declared 

1  The  civil  list  for  the  year,  $900,000 ;  payment  of  principal  and  interest  on  the  national  debt,  $10,510,000 ;  and  for  the 
War  and  Navy  Departments,  $1T,S20,000;  making  a  total  of  $29,230,000. 


784  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  War  Policy  denounced.  Illicit  Traffic  considered.  Recent  Events  auspicious.  The  Peace  Party. 

the  farther  prosecution  of  the  war  to  be  impolitic  and  unjust,  and  implored  Congress 
to  adopt  measures  for  arresting  it.  They  declared  that  they  were  influenced  only  by 
a  sense  of  duty  to  the  Constitution  and  the  country,  and  appealed  to  God  as  a  wit 
ness  of  the  rectitude  of  their  intentions.  This  remonstrance  was  presented  to  the 
•  June  19,  House  of  Representatives*  by  Timothy  Pickering.  It  was  courteously  re- 

1813.  ceived  on  account  of  that  venerable  man,  when  it  was  laid  on  the  table,  and 
there  remained  during  the  rest  of  the  session,  but  excited  much  remark  and  severe 
condemnation  throughout  the  country.1 

During  the  session  effectual  measures  were  taken  for  stopping  a  traffic  carried  on 
extensively  by  American  merchant  vessels,  disguised  as  neutrals,  with  the  British 
West  India  Islands  and  ports  of  Spain  under  licenses  issued  by  the  British  govern 
ment,  by  which  they  gave  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  and  injured  their  country. 
Congress  also  considered  the  charges  of  cruel  and  unusual  conduct  on  the  part  of  the 
British  in  making  war,  and  a  committee  was  appointed,  with  the  eminent  Nathaniel 
Macon,  of  North  Caroliona,  as  chairman,  to  gather  information  on  the  subject.  Their 


report,  now  on  file  at  the  national  capital,  is  a  melancholy  picture  of  wrongs  and  out 
rages,  especially  in  the  Northwest  where  savages  were  employed,  and  on  the  Vir 
ginia  coast.2 

The  special  business  of  Congress  at  this  early  session  was  the  providing  of  means 
for  prosecuting  the  war  vigorously.  This  was  accomplished  before  the  close  of  July, 
and  that  body  adjourned  on  the  2d  of  Augustb  to  reassemble  on  the  6th  of 
December.  Before  that  meeting  very  important  events  had  occurred,  which 
have  already  been  recorded  in  these  pages,  such  as  Harrison's  campaign  for  the  recov 
ery  of  Michigan;  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie;  Chauncey's  operations  on  Lake  On 
tario  ;  victories  on  the  ocean ;  Wilkinson's  unfortunate  campaign  on  the  St.  Lawrence 
border ;  and  Jackson's  operations  in  the  Creek  country.  England  had  refused  to  ac 
cept  the  mediation  of  Russia  on  the  terms  proposed,  and  peace  seemed  more  remote 
than  ever ;  and  the  National  Legislature  perceived  that  the  honor,  prosperity,  and  per 
haps  the  very  existence  of  the  republic  depended  upon  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
wai\  This  conviction  was  forcing  itself  upon  every  thoughtful  mind  even  in  New 
England,  and  the  opposition  of  magistrates  and  law-makers  was  severely  condemned 
as  unpatriotic  and  shameful.  The  nation  was  involved  in  a  war  with  a  powerful, 
truculent,  and  haughty  foe,  and  every  right-minded  man  felt  that  it  was  the  duty  of 
every  good  citizen  to  lay  aside  his  political  prejudices,  and  to  do  all  in  his  power  to 
extricate  his  country  from  its  serious  trouble  by  first  vanquishing  the  enemy  with 
vigorous  blows,  and  then  treating  with  him  as  an  equal  for  an  honorable  peace.  Yet 
the  peace-party  was  powerful  and  active  in  New  England,  and  endeavored  to  con 
vince  the  people  of  that  section  that  the  administration  was  a  tyrant  intent  upon 
their  injury.  They  pointed  to  the  sad  fact  of  the  interference  with  their  commerce, 
navigation,  and  fisheries  ;  and  the  people  were  reminded  that  for  years  the  Govern 
ment,  under  the  guidance  of  Virginia  politicians,  had  been  controlled  by  the  planting 
interest  in  the  slave-labor  states  by  whom  the  war  had  been  kindled.  They  justly 
complained  that  the  statesmen  of  the  free-labor  states,  and  especially  of  New  En 
gland,  had  been  proscribed,  and  denied  a  share  in  the  management  of  public  affairs, 

1  Compare  this  action  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  with  a  statement  of  its  doings  recorded  in  note  1,  page  705. 

2  See  page  683. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


785 


A  revolutionary  Proposition. 


Condition  of  the  Country. 


A  new  Embargo  Act. 


and  that  the  national  government  had  left  them  wholly  unprotected  while  war  was 
at  their  doors,  their  coasts  blockaded,  and  their  sea-port  towns  exposed  to  instant  de 
struction.  In  view  of  these  undeniable  facts,  some  of  the  popular  leaders  suggested 
the  propriety  of  the  New  England  States  taking  care  of  themselves,  irrespective  of 
the  national  welfare,  by  concluding  a  separate  peace  with  Great  Britain,  and  allow 
ing  the  states  beyond  and  south  of  the  Hudson  River  to  fight  as  long  as  they  pleased. 
This  revolutionary  proposition  did  not  find  favor  among  patriotic  men. 

Such  was  the  general  aspect  of  public  affairs  when  Congress  met  in  December. 
The  tone  of  the  President's  message  to  that  body  was  hopeful  and  even  joyous,  for 
the  late  achievements  of  the  national  power  gave  promises  of  great  good.  Financial 
matters  were  quite  as  favorable  as  when  Congress  adjourned  in  August.  Abundant 
harvests  had  rewarded  the  labors  of  the  husbandman.  The  people  were  becoming 
more  an&  more  a  unit  in  opinion  concerning  the  righteousness  of  the  war  on  the  part 
of  the  Government,  and  its  beneficial  effects  in  developing  the  internal  resources  of 
the  country ;  also  in  demonstrating  the  ability  of  a  free  government  to  protect  itself 
against  a  powerful  foe.  "  The  war,"  said  the  President  in  his  message, "  is  illustrating 
the  capacity  and  the  destiny  of  the  United  States  to  be  a  great,  a  flourishing,  and  a 
powerful  nation,  worthy  of  the  friendship  which  it  is  disposed  to  cultivate  with  all 
others,  and  authorized  by  its  own  example  to  require  from  all  an  observance  of  the 
laws  of  justice  and  reciprocity." 

In  a  confidential  message*  the  President  recommended  the  passage  of  *  December  9, 
an  Embargo  Act  to  prevent  supplies  being  furnished  to  the  enemy  from 
American  ports  by  unpatriotic  men,  and  the  introduction  of  British  manufactures  in 
professedly  neutral  vessels.  Such  traffic  was  extensively  carried  on,  especially  in 
New  England,  where  the  magistrates  were  often  willingly  lenient  toward  violators 
of  restrictive  laws  already  in  operation.  A  bill,  in  accordance  with  the  President's 
suggestions,  was  passed  by  both  houses  of  Congress  on  the  I7th,b  the  pro 
visions  of  which  were  excessively  stringent.  It  was  provided  that  the  act 
should  remain  in  force  until  the  1st  of  January,  1815,  unless  hostilities  should  sooner 


b  December. 


cease.1 


1  It  prohibited,  under  severe  penalties,  the  exportation,  or  an  attempt  at  exportation,  by  land  or  water,  of  any  goods, 
produce,  specie,  or  live-stock ;  and,  to  guard  as  fully  as  possible  against  evasions,  even  the  coast-trade  was  so  entirely 
prohibited  that  it  became  necessary  to  pass  an  act  afterward  to  prevent  the  crews  of  coasters,  intercepted  by  the  em 
bargo  when  away  from  home,  to  employ  their  empty  vessels  as  vehicles  for  their  return  to  port.  This  provision  bore 
very  severely  on  the  towns  of  the  New  England  sea-board,  for  many  of  them  depended  on  the  coasting  vessels  for  fuel, 
and  other  necessary  articles.  Their  supply  was  suddenly  stopped  by  it  in  the  heart  of  winter.  No  transportation  was 
allowed  even  on  inland  waters  excepting  by  the  special  permission  of  the  President.  Wide  latitude  was  given  to  cus 
tom-house  officials  and  cruisers  in  the 
seizure  of  suspected  goods ;  and  fisher 
men  were  not  allowed  to  go  out  with 
out  giving  bonds  not  to  violate  the  Em 
bargo  Act.  "The  effect  of  the  meas 
ure,"  said  the  Rational  Intelligencer  of 
December  23,  "will  be  to  curtail  our  en 
emies  of  necessary  supplies  precisely  to 
the  amount  of  our  exports,  except  the 
very  small  proportion  of  them  which 
found  their  way  to  the  ports  of  France. 
It  can  essentially  injure  no  honest  man 
— no  man  who  would  disdain  to  afford 
aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemies  of  his 
country.  .  .  .  Speculators,  knaves,  and 
traitors  shall  no  longer  enrich  them 
selves  at  the  expense  of  the'  commu 
nity." 

A  spirited  caricature  of  the  effect  of 
this  Embargo  Act  was  designed  and  en 
graved  by  Dr.  Alexander  Anderson  [see 
note  1,  page  78T]  for  David  Longwdrth, 
a  highly -esteemed  publisher  of  New 
York.  It  will  be  recollected  that  a  for 
mer  embargo,  during  Jefferson's  administration  [see  page  162],  was  called  by  the  Opposition,  or  Federalist  party,  "  a  ter 
rapin  policy."  That  idea  is  embodied  in  the  caricature  before  us,  in  which  the  Embargo  Act  of  1813  is  personified  by  a 

3D 


786  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Napoleon  humbled.  Rumors  of  Peace.  Repeal  of  the  Embargo  Act. 

Very  soon  after  the  promulgation  of  the  Embargo  Act,  intelligence  came  from  Eu 
rope  which  caused  a  change  in  the  views  of  the  administration  concerning  the  neces 
sity  for  the  measure.  An  English  flag  of  truce  schooner  arrived  at  Annapolis,  Mary 
land,  at  the  close  of  December,  with  the  news  of  great  disasters  to  Napoleon  in  the 
field.  His  triumphant  march  toward  the  German  Ocean  and  the  Baltic  had  been 
checked  in  a  great  battle  at  Leipsic,  and  he  had  been  compelled  to  fall  back  across 
the  Rhine  with  his  magnificent  army  sadly  shattered.  Thoughtful  men  supposed  the 
hour  of  the  conqueror's  downfall  to  be  near,  and  reasonably  concluded  that  such  an 
event  would  allow  the  British  government  to  withdraw  its  soldiers  from  the  Con 
tinent  and  send  them  hither.  The  schooner  also  brought  official  assurance  to  our 
government  that  the  British  Cabinet  was  willing  to  treat  for  peace,  and  accept  the 
mediation  of  Russia  upon  certain  conditions.  In  his  letter  to  Secretary  Monroe  com 
municating  this  fact,  Lord  Castlereagh  was  careful  to  say  that  his  government  was 
willing  to  treat  with  that  of  the  United  States  "  upon  principles  of  perfect  reciprocity 
not  inconsistent  with  the  established  maxims  of  public  law1  and  with  the  maritime 
rights  of  the  British  empire"  The  Prince  Regent,  in  his  speech  at  the  opening  of 
Parliament,  had  used  similar  language  on  the  subject.2  He  was  willing  to  treat  di 
rectly  with  the  United  States  government  through  commissioners,  but  was  unwilling 
to  "accept  the  interposition  of  any  friendly  power  in  the  question  which  formed  the 
principal  object  of  dispute  between  the  two  states."  Notwithstanding  it  was  evident 
that  the  British  government  did  not  mean  to  recede  a  line  from  its  assumptions  con 
cerning  the  right  of  search  and  impressment,  and  proposed  the  opening  of  negotia 
tions  at  London,  or  at  some  point  on  the  Continent  near  Great  Britain,  the  Presi 
dent,  sincerely  desiring  peace  on  honorable  terms,  acceded  to  the  proposition  of  the 
prince,  and  nominated  Henry  Clay  and  Jonathan  Russell  as  additional  commission 
ers  ;  and  the  five,3  by  the  concurrent  action  of  the  Senate  in  January,21  were 
duly  commissioned  to  treat  for  peace,  at  Gottenburg,  with  British  represent 
atives.4 

This  movement  toward  peace,  and  the  prospect  of  a  general  pacification  of  Europe, 
made  the  Opposition  clamorous  for  a  repeal  of  the  Embargo  Act.     These  considera 
tions,  and  a  desire  to  increase  the  revenue  by  impost  duties  so  as  to  fully  sustain  the 
public  credit,  caused  the  President  to  recommendb  such  repeal.     That  rec- 

b  January  19. 

ommendation  was  hailed  with  great  delight  throughout  the  country,  and 
an  act  of  Congress  for  the  repeal  of  the  measure  became  a  law  on  the  14th  of  April 

huge  terrapin,  who  seizes  a  violator  of  the  law  by  the  seat  of  his  breeches.  It  was  aimed  at  the  New  England  people, 
who,  it  was  alleged,  were  continually  supplying  the  British  cruisers  with  provisions,  and  thereby  saving  their  coast  from 
that  devastation  to  which  those  of  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  Bays  had  been  subjected,  and  also  putting  money  in 
their  pockets  by  the  infamous  traffic.  A  British  vessel  of  war  is  seen  in  the  distance,  with  a  boat,  on  the  arrival  of  the 
knave  with  a  barrel  of  flour,  marked  "  superfine."  The  Embargo  terrapin  seizes  him,  and  the  fellow  cries  out,  "  Oh  ! 
this  cursed  O-grab-me  !"  the  word  embargo  spelled  backward,  making  these  words.  The  government  official,  who  has 
charge  of  the  arresting  terrapin,  calls  out  in  high  glee,  "  Damn  it,  how  he  nicks  'em."  One  claw  of  the  terrapin  is  upon 
a  "license,"  such  as  the  British  authorities  gave  to  professed  neutrals.  The  designer  and  engraver  of  this  caricature 
is  yet  (close  of  18G7)  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  art  of  engraving  on  wood  at  the  age  of  almost  ninety-three  years. 
The  copy  of  the  caricature,  seen  on  the  preceding  page  on  a  reduced  scale,  was  redrawn  and  engraved  by  him  at  the 
age  of  eighty-eight  years.  i  See  note  1,  page  84. 

2  In  this  speech  the  Prince  Regent  said :  "  I  am  happy  to  inform  yon  that  the  measures  adopted  by  the  United  States 
for  the  conquest  of  Canada  have  been  frustrated  by  the  valor  of  his  majesty's  troops,  and  by  the  zeal  and  loyalty  of  his 
American  subjects."    It  was  a  singular  coincidence  that  in  the  London  Courier,  November  4, 1813,  in  which  this  speech 
was  printed,  was  an  account  of  the  signal  victory  of  Perry,  and  the  capture  of  the  entire  British  fleet  on  Lake  Erie, 
which  was  immediately  followed  by  the  conquest  of  all  Canada  west  of  the  Grand  River,  an  event  that  had  already  hap 
pened  when  that  paper  was  printed.    In  the  same  issue  of  the  paper  was  Lord  Castlereagh's  letter  to  Monroe  propos 
ing  negotiations  for  peace. 

3  Albert  Gallatin,  James  A.  Bayard,  John  Quincy  Adams,  Jonathan  Russell,  and  Henry  Clay. 

4  Clay  and  Russell  sailed  on  their  mission  from  New  York  on  the  23d  of  February,  in  the  ship  John  Adams,  which  had 
been  fitted  out  as  a  cartel.    They  were  instructed  to  insist  upon  a  cessation,  on  the  part  of  the  British,  of  the  degrad 
ing  practices  of  search  and  impressment  of  seamen.    "Our  flag,"  said  the  instructions,  "must  protect  the  crew,  or  the 
United  States  can  not  consider  themselves  an  independent  nation."    And  to  remove  all  pretexts  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain  for  evading  this  demand,  the  President  expressed  a  willingness  to  exclude  all  British  seamen,  and  all  na 
tives  of  Great  Britain,  excepting  the  few  already  naturalized,  from  American  vessels.    Thus  armed  with  righteous  weap 
ons,  the  envoys  went  forth  on  their-errand  of  peace. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


787 


Provisions  for  the  Increase  of  the  Army. 


The  Navy  neglected. 


"  Death  of  the  Embargo." 


following.     This  was  claimed  to  be  a  victory  for  the  Federalists — an  evidence  that 
the  wisdom  of  the  peace-party  was  perceived  by  the  people  and  Congress.1 

The  providing  of  recruits  for  the  army  and  its  permanent  increase  was  really  the 
most  important  business  of  the  session  of  Congress  whose  doings  we  are  now  consid 
ering.  Expectations  concerning  the  increase  of  the  army  had  not  been  realized. 
Sixty-one  thousand  men  was  the  intended  number  of  the  regular  force :  at  the  begin 
ning  of  1814  it  was  but  a  trifle  more  than  half  that  number.  Something  must  be 
done  speedily,  or  the  cause  would  be  lost.  Short  enlistments,  as  usual,  had  proved 
disastrous,  and  provision  was  made  for  engaging  men  for  five  years.  Volunteers 
were  to  be  accepted  for  a  less  term.  Liberal  bounties  were  to  be  offered ;  and  power 
was  given  to  the  President  to  call  out  the  militia  of  the  country  for  six  instead  of 
three  months,  if  he  should  consider  it  necessary.  Provision  was  made  for  a  large  in 
crease  of  the  navy  by  a  bill  passed  by  the  lower  house,  but  it  was  lost  in  the  Senate, 
where  only  an  appropriation  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  authorized  for  the 
construction  of  a  steam  frigate,  or  floating  battery,  for  harbor  defense,  suggested  by 
Robert  Fulton.  The  subject  of  finance  occupied  much  of  the  time  of  the  session  ;2 

1  The  claim  was  not  valid.    There  had,  indeed,  been  many  violent,  threatening,  unpatriotic  words  spoken  through 
out  New  England  against  the  government,  more  especially  in  Massachusetts,  where  the  extremest  doctrines  of  state 
sovereignty,  on  which  the  rebels  in  1SGO-'61  founded  their  claims  to  the  right  of  secession,  were  iterated  and  reiterated 
a  thousand  times.    Even  open  defiance  had  been  hurled  in  the  face  of  the  national  government,  and  menaces  of  dis 
union  had  been  uttered  daily ;  yet  there  was  a  war-party  in  New  England  altogether  too  powerful  and  restraining  to 
cause  the  President  to  be  affected  by  any  apprehensions  of  secession  or  serious  obstructions  to  the  machinery  of  the  na 
tional  government.    This  was  more  eloquently  proclaimed  by  acts  than  words.    Notwithstanding  the  unpopularity  of 
the  war  in  that  region,  and  especially  in  Massachusetts,  that  state  furnished,  during  the  year  1S14,  over  fourteen  thousand 
recruits,  to  whom  two  millions  of  dollars  in  bounties  were  paid.    Indeed,  Massachusetts  furnished  more  recruits  than 
any  single  state,  and  lukewarm  New  England  more  than  all  the  hot  slave  states,  who  were  ever  clamorous  for  war,  put 
together. 

The  "  Death  of  the  Embargo"  was  celebrated  in  verses  published  in  the  Federal  Republican  newspaper  of  Georgetown, 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  These  were  reproduced  iu  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  with  an  illustration  designed  by 
John  Wesley  Jarvis,  the  painter,  and  drawn  and  engraved  on  wood  by  Dr.  Anderson.  The  picture  was  redrawn  and 
engraved  by  Dr.  Anderson,  on  a  reduced  scale,  for  this  work,  after  a  lapse  pf  exactly  fifty  years.  The  lines  which  it  il 
lustrates  are  as  follows : 

TEBBAPIK'S  ADDBESS. 
"  Reflect,  my  friend,  as  you  pass  by, 
As  you  are  now,  so  once  was  I : 
As  /  am  now,  so  you  may  be — 
Laid  on  your  back  to  die  like  me  ! 
I  was,  indeed,  true  sailor  born  ; 
To  quit  my  friend  in  death  I  scorn. 
Once  Jemmy  seemed  to  be  my  friend, 
But  basely  brought  me  to  my  end  ! 
Of  head  bereft,  and  light,  and  breath, 
I  hold  Fidelity  in  death  : 
For '  Sailors'  Rights'  I  still  will  tug ; 
And  Madison  to  death  I'll  hug, 
For  his  perfidious  zeal  displayed 
For 'Sailors'  Rights  and  for  Free  Trade.' 
This  small  atonement  I  will  have— 
I'll  Ing  down  Jemmy  to  the  grave. 
Then  trade  and  commerce  shall  be  free, 
And  sailors  have  their  liberty. 
Of  head  bereft,  and  light,  and  breath, 
The  Terrapin,  still  true  in  death, 

Will  punish  Jemmy's  perfidy-  l)EA,m  Qf  TUE  TEEKApINj  OK  TUE  EiIBABGO. 

Leave  trade  and  brother  sailors  free  1 

PASSENGEE'S  REPLY. 
"  Yes,  Terrapin,  bereft  of  breath, 
We  see  thee  faithful  still  in  death. 
Stick  to 't^'  Free  Trade  and  Sailors'  Rights.' 
Hug  Jemmy — press  him — hold  him — bite. 
Never  mind  thy  head— thou'lt  live  without  it; 
Spunk  will  preserve  thy  life — don't  doubt  it. 
Down  to  the  grave,  t'  atone  for  sin, 
Jemmy  must  go  with  Terrapin. 
"Banks  of  Goose  Creek,  City  of  Washington,  15th  April,  1814." 

2  A  bill,  authorizing  a  loan  not  exceeding  twenty-five  millions  of  dollars  in  amount,  was  offered  in  the  House  on  the 
Oth  of  February.    The  debates  on  the  subject  took  a  very  wide  range,  and  the  cause,  origin,  conduct,  and  probable  re 
sults  of  the  war  were  freely  and  sometimes  acrimoniously  discussed.    Much  that  was  said,  especially  by  the  Opposition, 
was  irrelevant.    The  bill  finally  passed  both  houses  of  Congress  by  a  large  majority,  and  became  a  law  by  the  approval 
of  the  President  on  the  25th  of  March.    Theii  commenced  among  the  leaders  of  the  peace-party,  or  more  ultra  Federal- 


Bear  him  but  off,  and  we  shall  see 
Commerce  restored  and  sailors  free  ! 
Hug,  Terrapin,  with  all  thy  might — 
Now  for  '  Free  Trade  and  Sailors'  Right.' 
Stick  to  him,  Terrapin  !  to  thee  the  nation 
Now  eager  looks— then  die  for  her  salvation. 

"FLOBCAT  RESPCBLICA. 


788 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Proceedings  concerning  Prisoners  of  War. 


Retaliatory  Measures. 


Prisoners  held  as  Hostages. 


and  that  concerning  the  exchange  of  prisoners  became  a  very  interesting  topic.  Dif 
ficulties,  as  we  have  observed,  in  regard  to  such  exchange,  appeared  at  the  beginning 
of  hostilities,  caused  by  the  British  refusing  to  consider  the  Irishmen  captured  at 
Queenston  as  prisoners  of  war,  claiming  them  to  be  British  subjects.  These  were 
sent  to  England  to  be  tried  for  treason.  Scott  then  told  the  British  authorities  at 
Quebec  that  he  should  lay  the  matter  before  his  government,  and  that  an  equal  num 
ber  of  British  prisoners  should  be  held  as  hostages  for  their  lives  and  freedom.  He  did 
so,  and  Congress,  early  in  1813,  vested  the  President  with  the  power  of  retaliation.1 

ists,  a  factious  and  at  times  treasonable  efforts  to  destroy  the  public  credit,  and  to  so  paralyze  the  sinews  of  war  as  to 
compel  the  government  to  make  peace  on  any  terms  which  the  enemy  might  dictate.  Of  these  efforts  and  their  results 
I  shall  hereafter  write. 

1  See  page  409.  Scott  was  faithful  to  his  promise.  As  adjutant  general  and  chief  of  Dearborn's  staff,  he  selected 
from  the  prisoners  captured  by  himself  at  Fort  George  [see  page  599]  twenty-three  men  as  hostages  for  the  unfortunate 
Irishmen  sent  over  the  sea.  These  were  placed  in  close  confinement,  to  await  the  action  of  the  British  government, 
and  to  be  treated  accordingly.  Sir  George  Prevost  immediately  communicated  this  fact  to  the  home  government,  and 
at  the  same  time  addressed  a  note  to  our  government  through  General  Dearborn.  The  latter  was  so  negligent  that  it 
was  three  mouths  before  his  letter  reached  Washington.  Of  this  Sir  George  complained,  and  had  even  commenced 
sending  prisoners  to  Halifax  because  of  his  inability  to  keep  the  large  number  which  had  accumulated  on  his  hands  in 
Canada  while  waiting  a  reply  from  our  government.  This  neglect  caused  distress  and  inconvenience  to  the  prisoners 
in  Canada.  They  complained  of  their  long  detention,  and  Prevost  gave  them  proof  that  Dearborn  alone  was  to  blame. 
a  A  1 19  Then  General  Winder,  who  was  captured  at  Stony  Creek  [see  page  604],  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War" 
if  13  '  on  tne  subject.  After  expressing  a  hope  that  Prevost  would  be  promptly  answered,  he  said,  "  But  such 
unaccountable  neglect  or  omission  in  answering  the  communications  of  Sir  George  has  already  taken 
place  on  the  part  of  General  Dearborn  that  I  feel  fearful  that  the  same  fatality  may  also  attend  that  last  communica 
tion."  Winder's  letter  stirred  the  government  to  action,  for  already,  as  we  have  observed,  prisoners  had  been  sent  to 
b  August  9  Halifax  from  Canada,6  and  Sir  George  Prevost  threatened  to  send  a  large  number  to  England.  The 
whole  business  concerning  the  exchange  of  prisoners  was  placed  in  charge  of  General  J.  Mason,  commis 
sary  general  of  prisoners,  under  the  direction  of  the  Sec 
retary  of  State.  That  officer  at  once  dispatched  the  now 
[1867]  veuerable  Colonel  Charles  K.Gardner  to  Canada 
as  agent  for  the  prisoners,  empowered  by  the  proper  au 
thorities  to  negotiate  their  exchange. 

While  these  movements  were  in  progress,  an  order  for 
retaliation  came  to  Sir  George  Prevost  from  the  Prince 
Eegent,  through  Earl  Bathurst,  Secretary  of  State.  It  was 
c  jgjp  promulgated  at  Montreal  on  the  27th  of  October0 
bj^a  proclamation  from  the  baronet,  in  which 
he  stated  that  he  was  commanded  "  forthwith  to  put  in 
close  confinement  forty-six  American  officers  and  non-commissioned  officers,  to  be  held  as  hostages  for  the  safe  keep 
ing  of  the  twenty-three  British  soldiers  stated  to  have  been  put  in  close  confinement  by  order  of  the  American  govern 
ment."  He  was  also  instructed  to  apprise  General  Dearborn  that  "  if  any  of  the  said  British  soldiers  shall  suffer  death 
by  reason  that  the  soldiers  now  under  confinement  in  England  have  been  found  guilty,  and  that  the  known  law,  not 
only  of  Great  Britain,  but  of  every  independent  state  under  similar  circumstances,  has  been  in  consequence  executed, 
he  has  been  instructed  to  select  out  of  the  American  officers  and  non-commissioned  officers  put  into  confinement  as 
many  as  double  the  number  of  British  soldiers  who  shall  have  been  so  unwarrantably  put  to  death,  and  cause  such  offi 
cers  and  non-commissioned  officers  to  suffer  death  immediately."  He  farther  stated  that  he  was  commanded  to  de 
clare  that  instructions  had  been  sent  to  the  British  commanders  on  land  and  sea  "  to  prosecute  the  war  with  unmiti 
gated  severity  against  all  cities,  towns,  and  villages  belonging  to  the  United  States,"  if,  after  a  reasonable  time  from  this 

proclamation,  the  American  government  should  "  not  be  deterred 

//        fl/^  s  //~       /  from  putting  to  death  any  of  the  soldiers  who  now  are,  or  who  may 

^sf  (if  /fy/)/\/^Oe      /M\^T/\  " >     hereafter  be  kept  as  hostages  for  the  purpose  stated." 

(f)  *       I/     '        ri/fi~!*-~*~s  /  —          Prevost  obeyed  orders,  and  imprisoned  forty-six  American  offi 

cers  in  Beauport  jail,  near  Quebec.  Among  these  was  Major  C.  Van 
De  Venter  (afterward  chief  clerk  in  the  War  Department),  who  was 
captured  with  General  Winder.  He  and  two  room  companions  es 
caped,  and  had  almost  reached  the  State  of  Maine,  when  they  were 


captured  and  taken  back.  Under  the  humane  care  of  General 
Glasgow,  these  and  the  other  prisoners  were  well  treated,  but 
chafed  under  the  long  detention  while  the  two  governments 
were  menacing  the  prisoners  of  each  with  peril.  Madison  re- 
d  N  ember  17  8P°n(ied  to  tne  order  of  the  Prince  Regent 
by  directing"1  the  imprisonment  of  a  like 
number  of  British  officers.  This  fact  was  communicated  to 
Prevost  at  Montreal  by  Colonel  Macomb,  who  had  been  sent- 
for  the  purpose  by  General  Wilkinson  under  a  flag  of  truce. 
Wilkinson  assured  the  baronet  that  the  American  government 
intended  to  adhere  strictly  to  the  principles  and  purposes  avowed  in  relation  to  the  twenty-three  Irishmen  sent  to  En 
gland  ;  whereupon  Prevost,  by  a  general  order  by  Adjutant  General  Baynes,  on  the  12th  of  December,  directed  all  Amer 
ican  officers,  without  distinction  of  rank,  then  prisoners  in  his  department,  to  be  placed  in  close  confinement.  Hitherto 
Generals  Winchester,  Chandler,  and  Winder  had  been  allowed  a  wide  parole  around  Beauport ;  now  they  were  com 
manded  not  to  go  beyond  the  premises  of  their  respective  boarding-houses  in  that  village,  which  lies  on  the  St.  Law 
rence,  in  full  view  of  Quebec.* 

*  Letter  of  General  Winder  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  789 


Campaign  on  the  Northern  Frontier.     Proposed  Expedition  to  the  Upper  Lakes.     Preparations  on  Lake  Champlain. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  military  events  of  1814,  which  occurred  more  in  accord 
ance  with  the  necessities  of  developing  exigencies  as  the  seasons  passed  on  than  with 
that  of  any  well-digested  plans  excepting  as  to  the  Northern  frontiers.  It  had  been 
agreed  in  cabinet  council  that  an  expedition  under  Colonel  Croghan,  the  hero  of  Fort 
Stephenson,  with  the  co-operation  of  Commodore  Sinclair,  should  proceed  against  the 
British  on  the  upper  lakes,  and  attempt  the  recovery  of  Mackinaw  and  St.  Joseph's, 
which  were  lost  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.1  An  army,  under  Major  General  Brown, 
was  to  be  collected  on  the  desolated  Niagara  frontier  of  sufficient  strength  to  seize 
the  Canadian  peninsula  between  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie,  while  General  Jzard,  in  com 
mand  in  the  Lake  Champlain  region,  should  cut  the  connection  on  the  St.  Lawrence 
between  Montreal  and  Kingston. 

It  was  at  the  close  of  March a  when  the  campaign  was  opened  on  the  North 
ern  frontier  by  the  incompetent  General  Wilkinson,  who,  we  have  observed, 
took  post  with  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  North,  at  Plattsburg,  when  the  cantonment 
at  French  Mills  was  broken  up.2 

There  were  indications  that  efforts  would  be  made  in  the  spring  by  the  British  in 
Canada  to  gain  possession  of  Lake  Champlain,  penetrate  the  State  of  New  York  to 
the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  and  attempt,  by  a  movement  similar  to  the  one  unsuccess 
fully  put  in  operation  by  Burgoyne  in  1777,  to  separate  the  New  England  common 
wealths  (where,  they  foolishly  supposed,  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  people 
were  their  friends)  from  the  rest  of  the  Union.  To  meet  and  frustrate  such  efforts 
countervailing  measures  were  adopted.  Vessels  of  war  were  constructed  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Onion  River,  in  Vermont,  under  the  superintendence  of  Captain  Macdonough ; 
and  General  Wilkinson  sent  Captain  Totten,  of  the  Engineers,  to  select  a  site  for  a 
strong  battery  at  or  near  Rouse's  Point  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  little  British 
squadron,  then  lying  at  St.  John's,  on  the  Sorel,  within  the  limits  of  Canada.  Before 
this  work  could  be  accomplished,  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  in  the  streams  earlier 
than  common  changed  the  aspect  of  affairs  materially.  Intelligence  reached  Wilkin 
son  that  a  British  force  of  twenty-five  hundred  men  was  about  to  be  concentrated 

These  retaliatory  measures  were  relaxed  toward  spring.1"  At  the  middle  of  January  Sir  George  Prevost  al-  b  „.. . 
lowed  General  Winder  to  go  home  on  parole,  with  a  promise  not  to  reveal  any  thing  of  obvious  disadvantage 
to  the  British,  and  to  return  to  Quebec  by  the  15th  of  March.  The  general  took  that  occasion  to  communicate  freely 
in  person  with  his  government  on  the  subject  of  an  exchange  of  prisoners.  He  deprecated  the  retaliatory  measures, 
and  through  his  influence  the  Senate,  first  on  the  2d  of  February  and  then  on  the  9th  of  March,  by  resolution,  requested 
the  President  to  cause  to  be  laid  before  them  such  information  as  he  might  possess  concerning  the  subject  of  prisoners 
and  retaliatory  measures,  and  "of  the  cases,  with  their  circumstances,  in  which  any  civilized  nation  had  punished  its 
native  subjects  taken  in  arms  against,  and  for  which  punishment  retaliation  had  been  inflicted  by  the  nation  in  whose 
service  they  had  been  taken."  Also,  "  on  what  grounds,  and  under  what  circumstances,  Great  Britain  has  refused  to 
discharge  native  citizens  of  the  United  States  impressed  into  her  service  ;  and  what  has  been  her  conduct  toward  Amer 
ican  seamen  on  board  her  ships  of  war  at  and  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  war  with  the  United  States." 

This  was  a  task  of  no  ordinary  labor ;  and  the  Secretary  of  State,  to  whom  the  resolutions  were  referred,  remarked,  iu 
a  report  which  he  submitted  on  the  14th  of  April,  that  a  full  answer  from  him  on  the  subject  of  retaliation  would  require 
more  extensive  research  into  the  history  and  jurisprudence  of  Europe  than  proper  attention  to  his  official  duties  would 
allow  before  the  close  of  the  session— an  event  then  just  at  hand.  He  gave  reasons,  however,  in  justification  of  the 
course  of  the  United  States  in  the  matter  so  satisfactory  that  a  bill  was  introduced  similar  to  the  one  at  the  last  session 
of  the  Twelfth  Congress  giving  the  President  full  powers  to  retaliate.  For  reasons  then  presented,  it  did  c  A  „  lg 
not  become  a  law.  Four  days  after  the  presentation  of  this  report  Congess  adjourned.0 

General  Winder  promptly  returned  to  Quebec  at  the  middle  of  March,  bearing  to  Sir  George  Prevost  from  Mr.  Mon 
roe,  Secretary  of  State,  a  letter,  dated  the  9th  of  March,  in  which  a  mutual  exchange  of  prisoners  was  solicited.  Gen 
eral  Winder  was  clothed  with  full  powers  to  negotiate  for  such  exchange.  Prevost  met  the  proposition  with  a  friend 
ly  spirit,  and  appointed  Colonel  Baynes,  his  adjutant  general,  a  commissioner  for  the  purpose.  The  negotiation  was 
commenced,  but  temporarily  suspended,  when,  in  a  letter  to  General  Winder,  dated  the  22d  of  March,  Mr.  Monroe  posi 
tively  prohibited  any  consent  to  the  release  of  the  twenty-three  British  prisoners  who  were  held  as  hostages  for  the 
Irishmen  sent  to  England  eighteen  months  before,  unless  it  should  be  stipulated  that  they,  too,  should  be  released. 
The  negotiation  was  resumed,  and  on  the  15th  of  April  Winder  and  Baynes  signed  articles  of  a  convention  for  the 
mutual  release  of  all  prisoners  of  war,  hostages  or  others,  except  the  twenty-three  Queenston  prisoners,  the  twenty- 
three  Fort  George  prisoners  held  by  the  Americans  in  retaliation,  and  the  forty-six  American  officers  who  were  held 
for  the  last-named  twenty-three.  The  mutual  release  took  place  on  the  15th  of  May.  Soon  after  that,  Mr.  Beasley, 
agent  for  the  American  government  in  England,  sent  word  that  no  proceedings  had  ever  been  instituted  against  the 
Queenston  prisoners,  and  that  they  were  restored  to  the  condition  of  ordinary  prisoners  of  war.  The  hostages  on  both 
sides  were  immediately  released,  and  early  in  July  a  cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  was  ratified  and  executed. 
Thus  ended  a  controversy  unwarrantably  begun  by  Great  Britain,  and  which  had  produced  much  suffering.  The  just 
position  taken  by  our  government  was  firmly  maintained.  »  See  page  270.  2  See  page  687. 


790 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Wilkinson  crosses  the  Canada  Border. 


The  British  at  La  Colle  Mill. 


Positions  of  the  opposing  Forces. 


at  La  Colic  Mill,  on  La  Colle  Creek,  a  small  tributary  of  the  Sorel,  three  or  four  miles 
below  Rouse's  Point. 

For  the  purpose  of  preparing  for  a  march  on  Montreal,  and  to  confront  the  expect 
ed  force  at  La  Colle,  Wilkinson  advanced  his  little  army  to  Champlain,  and  on  the 
30th  of  March*  crossed  the  Canada  border,  and  pressed  on  toward  La  Colle. 

*  1Q14 

It  was  composed  of  about  four  thousand  effective  men.  Five  miles  from  Cham- 
plain,  at  a  hamlet  called  Odelltown,  the  army  stopped  for  refreshments ;  and,  on  re 
suming  their  march,  they  encountered  the  enemy's  pickets,  and  drove  them  back.  At 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  they  came  in  sight  of  La  Colle  Mill,  a  heavy  stone 
structure,  with  walls  eighteen  inches  in  thickness,  and  its  windows  barricaded  with 
heavy  timbers,  through  which  were  loop-holes  for  muskets.  It  stood  on  the  south 
ern  bank  of  La  Colle  Creek,  at  the  end  of  a  bridge.  On  the  opposite  bank  was  a 
block-house  and  a  strong  barn,  and  around  them  were  intrenchments.  For  two  hund 
red  yards  southward  from  the  mill,  and  half  that  distance  northward  from  the  block 
house,  was  cleared  land,  surrounded  by  a  thick  primeval  forest  which  covered  the 
country  in  every  direction.  The  flat  ground  was  half  inundated  by  melting  snows, 
and  the  highway  was  so  obstructed  by  the  enemy  with  felled  trees  and  other  hinder- 
ances  that  the  Americans  were  compelled  to  diverge  some  distance  to  the  right  of  it. 


PHERSOfTS  BATv  .        _  '    ,  r-SB  ,,  T       O*^>\Xv49?^j^'  TP%^\HY'vt 

MC.&O.Y   ^  =an     e-Ge/>J-«M;r^      o   f^  ^ -•«£?.   5  o  V 


The  advance  of  Wilkinson's  army  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Isaac  Clark  and 
Major  (at  that  time  lieutenant  colonel  by  brevet)  Benjamin  Forsyth.  These  were 
followed  by  Captain  M'Pherson,  with  two  pieces  of  artillery,  covered  by  the  brigades 
of  Generals  Smith  and  Bissell.  General  Alexander  Macomb  commanded  the  reserves 
under  Colonels  Melancthon  Smith  and  George  M'Feely.  Clark  and  Forsyth,  with 
portions  of  their  commands,  crossed  La  Colle  Creek  some  distance  above  the  mill,  fol 
lowed  by  Colonel  Miller's  regiment  of  six  hundred  men,  and  took  post  in  the  rear  of 
the  enemy  to  cut  off  his  retreat. 

At  this  time  the  British  garrison  at  the  mill  consisted  of  only  about  two  hundred 
men,  chiefly  regulars,  under  Major  Hancock,  of  the  British  Thirteenth.  Re-enforce 
ments  were  on  the  way,  and  it  was  important  for  Wilkinson  to  dislodge  the  enemy 
at  the  mill  before  their  arrival.  Macomb  endeavored  to  send  forward  an  1 8-pound 
cannon  to  breach  the  walls,  but  failed  on  account  of  the  softness  of  the  ground. 
Hoping  to  perform  the  same  service  with  M'Pherson's  heavy  guns,  which  consisted 
of  a  12-pound  cannon  and  a  5^-inch  mortar,  these  were  placed  in  battery  at  the  dis- 


OF  THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


791 


Wilkinson  attacks  the  British  Garrison.       The  Latter  re-enforced.       The  Americans  repulsed.       The  Battle-ground. 

tance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  mill.  They  opened  fire  upon  that 
citadel,  but  their  missiles  were  harmless.  They  were  responded  to  by  Congreve 
rockets ;  and  the  whole  American  line,  being  in  open  fields,  was  exposed  to  the  gall 
ing  fire  of  the  enemy.  M'Pherson  was  wounded  under  the  chin,  but  fought  on  until 
his  thigh-bone  was  broken  by  a  musket  ball,  when  he  was  carried  to  the  rear.  Lieu 
tenant  Larrabee,  his  next  in  command,  was  shot  through  the  lungs,  and  Lieutenant 
Sheldon  kept  up  the  fire  with  great  gallantry.  The  conduct  of  these  officers  was  so 
conspicuous  as  to  attract  the  admiration  and  comment  of  their  brethren  in  arms. 

While  this  contest  was  waging,  two  flank  companies  of  the  British  Thirteenth,  un 
der  Captains  Ellard  and  Holgate,  arrived  from  Isle  aux  Noix,  seven  miles  distant, 
and  gave  much  strength  to  the  beleaguered  garrison.  Major  Hancock  now  determ 
ined  to  storm  the  American  battery,  and  gave  orders  for  an  immediate  and  vigorous 
sortie  by  the  two  companies  just  arrived.  They  made  several  desperate  charges,  and 
were  as  often  repulsed  by  the  infantry  supports  of  the  artillery  under  Smith  and  Bis- 
sell.  They  were  finally  driven  back  across  the  bridge,  and  compelled  to  take  refuge 
in  the  block-house  on  the  northerly  side  of  the  stream.  There  they  were  soon  joined 
by  some  Canadian  Grenadiers  and  Voltigeurs  from  Burtonville,  only  two  miles  dis 
tant.  These  joined  the  companies  of  Ellard  and  Holgate  in  another  sortie  more  des 
perate  than  the  first,  which,  after  a  severe  struggle,  was  repulsed  by  the  covering 
brigades,  and  the  cannonade  and  bombardment  went  on.  They  made  no  impression, 
however,  upon  the  walls  of  the  mill.  The  garrison  had  been  augmented  by  re-en 
forcements  to  almost  a  thousand  men,  and,  after  a  contest  ol  two  hours,  Wilkinson 
withdrew,  having  lost  thirteen  killed,  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  wounded,  and 
thirteen  missing.  The  enemy  lost  eleven  killed,  two  officers  and  forty-four  men 
wounded,  and  four  missing. 

I  visited  the  scene  of  this  conflict  on  a  pleasant  evening  toward  the  close  of 
July,a  1860.     I  had  been  to  French  Mills  (Fort  Covington)  in  the  morning, 
and  had  arrived  at  Rouse's  Point,  as  before  observed  (page  665),  toward 
evening.     In  a  light  wagon,  behind  a  fleet  horse,  I  rode  from  the  village  to  La  Colle 
Mill  in  time  to  make  a  sketch  of  the  scene — the  bridge,  and  the  block-house,  then  part 


LA   COLLE  .MILL  AM)  BLOOK-HOU6E. 


of  a  dwelling,  the  property  of  Mr.  William  Bowman — and  to  obtain  from  that  gentle 
man  so  exact  a  description  of  the  form  and  size  of  the  old  mill,  which  had  been  de- 


792  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Graves  of  the  Slain  in  the  Battle.         End  of  Wilkinson's  military  Career.         Brown  ordered  to  the  Niagara  Frontier. 

molished  only  two  years  before,  as  to  enable  me,  by  observing  the  relative  position 
of  its  ruins  to  the  bridge,  to  reproduce  the  likeness  of  it  given  in  the  picture  on  the 
preceding  page.  Mr.  Bowman  accompanied  me  to  the  Ferry-road,  opened  by  himself, 
a  little  southward  of  the  bridge,  where,  about  thirty  rods  southeast  from  the  highway, 
might  be  seen  the  mounds  which  cover  the  remains  of  the  slain  in  the  battle  there. 
Those  of  the  Americans  were  buried  on  the  right  side  of  the  road,  and  those  of  the 
British  on  the  left  side,  about  twenty  feet  from  each  other.  Only  one  grave  was 
made  for  the  dead  of  each  nation. 

At  twilight  I  passed  through  La  Colle  village  and  Odelltown,  the  road  running 
through  a  level,  well-cultivated  region,  which  was  covered  by  forest  at  the  time  of 
the  war.  I  spent  the  night. at  an  indifferent  inn  at  Rouse's  Point  village,  and  on  the 
following  morning  journeyed  to  Champlain  and  Plattsburg.  Of  this  journey  I  shall 
hereafter  write. 

With  the  discreditable  affair  at  La  Colle  Mill  the  military  career  of  General  Wil 
kinson  was  closed.  By  an  order  from  the  War  Department,  issued  a  week  previous 
» March  24,  to  that  affair,a  he  was  relieved  of  the  command  of  the  army  in  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  North,  and  his  conduct  while  in  command  of  that  district  was 
subsequently  committed  to  the  scrutiny  of  a  court-martial.  He  proved  that  during 
the  most  important  operations  of  the  disastrous  campaign,  which  ended  at  French 
Mills,  the  War  Department,  in  the  person  of  Minister  Armstrong  and  Adjutant  Gen 
eral  Walbach,  was  on  the  Northern  frontier,  and  that  he  acted  under  the  Secretary's 
immediate  instructions  ;  that  the  failure  of  Hampton  to  meet  him  at  St.  Regis1  justi 
fied  his  abandonment  of  an  attack  on  Montreal ;  and  that  his  encampment  and  stay 
at,  and  departure  from  French  Mills,  was  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  War.  These  proofs  being  positive,  Wilkinson  was  acquitted,  and  the  public 
placed  the  chief  blame,  whei-e  it  seemed  to  properly  belong,  on  the  War  Department. 
Like  Harrison,  who  had  felt  the  baleful  effects  of  the  administration  of  that  depart 
ment,  Wilkinson  threw  up  his  commission  in  disgust. 

Many  official  changes  were  necessary.  Dearborn  was  in  retirement  on  account  of 
ill  health ;  Hampton  had  left  the  service  in  disgrace  ;  and  Winchester,  Chandler,  and 
Winder  were  still  prisoners  of  war  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  in  Canada.  On  the 
24th  of  January  Brigadier  Generals  Brown  and  Izard  were  commissioned  major  gen 
erals  ;  and  Colonels  Macomb,  T.  A.  Smith,  Bissell,  Scott,  Gaines,  and  Ripley  were  ap 
pointed  brigadiers.  On  the  retirement  of  Wilkinson,  Brown  became  chief  commander 
in  the  Northern  Department. 

General  Brown,  as  we  have  seen,  left  French  Mills  with  a  division  of  the  army  for 
Sackett's  Harbor  at  about  the  middle  of  February.2  He  arrived  there  on  the  24th, 
after  a  rather  pleasant  march  for  that  season  of  the  year.  There  he  received  a  letter 
from  the  Secretary  of  War,  dated  on  the  28th,b  informing  him  that  Colonel 
Scott,  who  was  a  candidate  for  a  brigadiership,  had  been  ordered,  with  the 
accomplished  Major  Wood,  of  the  Engineers,  to  the  Niagara  frontier.  "The  truth 
is,"  Armstrong  said, "  public  opinion  .will  not  tolerate  us  in  permitting  the  enemy 
to  keep  quiet  possession  of  Fort  Niagara.  Another  motive  is  the  effect  which  may 
be  expected  from  the  appearance  of  a  large  corps  on  the  Niagara  in  restraining  the 
enemy's  enterprises  to  the  westward."  After  expressing  doubts  concerning  the  abil 
ity  of  the  force  under  Scott  to  recapture  Fort  Niagara,  the  Secretary, "  by  command 
of  the  President,"  as  he  said,  directed  Brown  to  convey,  with  the  least  possible  delay, 
the  brigades  which  he  brought  from  French  Mills  to  Batavia,  where  "  other  and  more 
detailed  orders"  would  await  him.3  On  the  same  day,  by  another  dispatch,  the  Sec 
retary  directed  Brown  to  cross  the  ice  at  the  foot  of  the  lake,  and  attack  the  enemy 
at  Kingston,  if,  on  consultation  with  Chauncey,  it  should  be  considered  practicable. 

i  See  page  654.  2  gee  pa<re  65T. 

3  MS.  Letter  of  Secretary  Armstrong  to  General  Brown,  February  28, 1813.— General  Brown's  Letter-book. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812.  793 

Brown  moving  toward  the  Niagara.          Ridiculous  Orders  from  the  War  Department.          Public  Property  in  Danger. 

In  that  event  he  was  directed  to  use  the  instructions  in  the  first  letter  of  that  date 
as  a  mask. 

The  two  commanders  considered  the  force  of  four  thousand  men  at  the  Harbor  in 
sufficient  for  the  capture  of  Kingston  under  the  circumstances ;  and,  mistaking  the 
real  intentions  of  the  government,  which  was  to  make  the  movement  on  Kingston 
the  main  object,  and  that  toward  Niagara  a/emtf,  Brown  put  his  troops  in  motion  to 
ward  the  latter  at  the  middle  of  March.  They  numbered  about  two  thousand,  con 
sisting  of  the  Ninth,  Eleventh,  Twenty-first,  and  Twenty-fifth  Regiments  of  Infantry, 
the  Third  Regiment  of  Artillery,  and  Captain  Towson's  company  of  the  Second  Ar 
tillery.1  These  troops  had  reached  Salina,  in  Onondaga  County,  and  Brown  was 
at  Geneva,  when  General  Gaines  thought  he  discovered  his  commander's  mistake. 
Brown  acquiesced  in  his  opinion,  and  resolved  to  retrace  his  steps.  He  hastened  back 
to  Sackett's  Harbor  "  the  most  unhappy  man  alive."2  There  Chauncey  "  and  other 
confidential  men"  convinced  him  that  his  first  interpretation  of  the  Secretary's  in 
struction  was  correct.  "  Happy  again,"  he  hastened  back  to  his  troops,  and  resumed 
the  march  westward.  At  the  close  of  the  month  they  arrived  at  Batavia,  where 
they  remained  about  four  weeks,  when  they  moved  toward  Buffalo.  In  the  mean 
time  Armstrong  had  written  a  soothing  letter  to  the  perturbed  Brown,  saying, "  You 

have  mistaken  my  meaning If  you  hazard  any  thing  by  this  mistake,  correct 

it  promptly  by  returning  to  your  post.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  left  the  Hai'bor 
with  a  competent  force  for  its  defense,  go  on  and  prosper.  Good  consequences  are 
sometimes  the  result  of  mistakes."3 

While  at  Batavia  and  vicinity  Brown  was  made  very  uneasy  by  alarming  letters 
from  Chauncey,  and  also  from  General  Gaines,  who  had  been  placed  in  command  at 
Sackett's  Harbor.  The  British  were  in  motion  at  Kingston  early  in  April,  the  ice 
having  broken  up,  and  there  were  indications  of  another  attack  on  the  Harbor.  With 
this  impression,  and  feeling  the  responsibility  laid  upon  him  by  the  grant  of  discre 
tionary  power  given  him  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  Brown  hastened  back  to  that  post, 
leaving  General  Scott  in  command  of  the  troops  on  the  Niagara  frontier  during  his 
absence.  Observation  soon  taught  him  that  an  attack  on  the  Harbor  was  "  more  to 
be  desired  than  feared,"4  and  that  the  real  point  of  danger  was  Oswego,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Oswego  River.  At  the  Great  Falls  of  that  stream,  twelve  miles  from  the  lake, 
where  the  village  of  Fulton  now  stands,  a  large  quantity  of  naval  stores  had  been  col 
lected  during  the  autumn  and  winter  for  vessels  on  the  stocks  at  Sackett's  Harbor. 
These  wTould  be  very  important  objects  for  the  British  to  possess  or  destroy ;  and,  ex 
cepting  the  partly-finished  vessels  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  they  formed  the  most  attract 
ive  prize  for  Sir  James  Yeo,  the  British  commander  on  Lake  Ontario.  For  the  pro 
tection  of  this  property,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Mitchell,  with  a  battalion  of  light  artil 
lery,  was  sent  to  garrison  the  fort  at  Oswego. 

At  the  beginning  of  May  Sir  James  Yeo  sailed  out  of  Kingston  Harbor  with  an  ef 
fective  force  of  cruising  vessels.  Chauncey  was  not  quite  ready  for  him.  Both  par 
ties,  one  at  Kingston  and  the  other  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  had  been  bending  all  their 
energies  during  the  preceding  winter  in  making  preparations  for  securing  the  com 
mand  of  Lake  Ontario,  an  object  considered  so  important  by  the  two  governments 

J  MS.  Letter  to  Colonel  E.  Jenkins,  March  12, 1S14.  2  MS.  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  March  24, 1S14. 

3  MS.  Letter,  March  20, 1814.  It  must  be  confessed  that  many  of  the  orders  issued  from  Washington  at  this  time  were 
exceedingly  perplexing  to  the  officers  in  the  field.  A  great  portion  of  the  frontier  was  yet  in  a  wilderness  state,  and 
the  topography  and  geography  of  the  country  was  very  imperfectly  known.  In  a  letter  before  me  from  the  venerable 
John  R.  Kellogg,  of  Allegan,  Michigan,  dated  15th  March,  1SC4,  some  amusing  anecdotes  bearing  upon  this  subject  are 
given.  He  says  that  he  heard  Captain  (afterward  Commodore)  Woolsey  relate  to  Channcey  and  other  officers,  in  the 
old  two-story  wood  tavern  at  Oswego,  the  fact  that  he  had  received  the  following  order  from  Washington :  "Take  the 
Lady  of  the  Lake  and  proceed  to  Onondaga,  and  take  in,  at  Nicholas  Mickle's  Furnace,  a  load  of  ball  and  shot,  and  pro 
ceed  at  once  to  Buffalo."  In  other  words,  go  over  Oswego  Falls,  then  up  the  Oswego  and  Seneca  Rivers  to  Onondaga 
Lake  to  Salina  or  Syracuse,  and  then  two  miles  south  of  that  city  by  land,  where  the  furnace  was  situated,  and,  return 
ing  to  Oswego,  proceed  to  the  Niagara,  and  up  and  over  Niagara  Falls  to  Buffalo ! 

*  MS.  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  April  25, 1814. 


794 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Navy  on  Lake  Ontario. 


Naval  Stores. 


The  British  Squadron  leaves  Sackett's  Harbor. 


CHAtTNCEY'S  UI8MANTLEU   FLAG-BUIP  BUPEEIOK. 


that  they  withdrew  officers  and  seamen  from  the  ocean  to  assist  in  the  lake  service. 
The  American  government  also  added  twenty-five  per  cent,  to  the  pay  of  those  en 
gaged  in  that  service. 

In  February  Henry  Eckford1  had  laid  the  keel  of  three  vessels,  one  a  frigate  de 
signed  to  carry  fifty  guns,  and  two  brigs  of  five  hundred  tons  each,  to  carry  twenty- 
two  guns.  Deserters  who  came  in  reported  heavy  vessels  in  great  forwardness  at 

Kingston  ;  and  Chauncey,  who  returned 
from  the  national  capital  at  the  close  of 
February,  ordered  the  size  of  the  frigate 
to  be  increased  so  as  to  carry  sixty-six 
guns.  The  brigs,  named  respectively  Jef 
ferson  and  Jones,  were  ready  for  service, 
except  their  full  armament,  at  the  close  of 
April ;  and  the  frigate,  which  was  named 
The  Superior,  was  launched  on  the  2d  of 
May,  just  eighty  days  after  her  keel  was 
laid  !2  But  the  naval  stores  and  heavy 
guns  designed  for  her  were  yet  at  Oswego 
Falls,  to.  which  point  they  had  been  car 
ried  by  tedious  transportation  from  Al 
bany  up  the  Mohawk,  and  through  Wood 
Creek  and  Oneida  Lake  into  the  Oswego 
River,  the  roads  across  the  country  from  Utica  to  Sackett's  Harbor  being  impassable 
with  heavy  ordnance.  They  were  kept  at  the  Falls  for  security  from  the  enemy,  un 
til  schoolers  employed  by  Captain  Woolsey  for  the  purpose  could  be  loaded  and  dis 
patched  singly  from  Oswego. 

The  ice,  as  we  have  remarked,  broke  up  eailier  than  usual,  and  the  British  made 
attempts  to  destroy  the  large  frigate  at  the  Harbor.  On  the  night  of  the  25th  of 
April,  Lieutenant  Dudley,  while  out  with  two  guard-boats,  discovered  three  others 
in  Black  River  Bay.  Not  answering  his  hail,  he  fired.  They  fled.  On  searching, 
six  bai-rels  of  gunpowder  were  found,  each  containing  a  fuse,  and  slung  in  pairs  by  a 
rope  in  a  way  that  a  swimmer  might  convey  them  under  a  ship's  bottom  for  the  pur 
pose  of  explosion.  A  few  days  afterward  the  British  squadron  was  seen  in  sailing 
trim  at  Kingston ;  and  on  the  4th  of  May  Lieutenant  Gregory,  in  the  Lady  of  the 
Lake,  saw  six  sail  of  the  enemy  leave  Kingston  Harbor  and  move  toward  Amherst 
Bay.  This  was  the  squadron  of  Sir  James  Yeo,  bearing  a  little  more  than  one  thou 
sand  land  troops,  under  Lieutenant  General  Sir  George  Gordon  Drummond.  The 
active  cruising  force  of  Sir  James  consisted  of  eight  vessels,  ranging  from  12  to  62 
guns,  making  in  the  aggregate  222  pieces  of  ordnance,  besides  several  gun-boats  and 
other  small  craft,  whose  armament,  added  to  the  others,  gave  to  the  British  much  su 
periority  in  the  weight  of  metal. 

When  Sir  James  sailed  his  squadron  was  so  much  superior  in  strength  to  the  one 
that  Chauncey  could  then  put  to  sea  that  the  latter  prudently  remained  in  Sackett's 
Harbor,  and  the  enemy  moved  unimpeded  against  Oswego  on  the  morning  of  the  5th 
of  May.  His  vessels  were  seen  at  reveille  from  that  port,  and  preparations  Avere  speed 
ily  made  to  dispute  his  landing.  The  village,  standing  on  the  west  side  of  the  har- 

1  See  page  615. 

*  On  the  1st  of  June  the  American  squadron  consisted  of  the  following  vessels : 

Superior,  66,  Lieutenant  Elton,  Chauncey's  flag-ship ;  Pike,  28,  Captain  Crane  ;  Mohawk,  42,  Captain  Jones ;  Madison, 
24,  Captain  Trenchard  ;  Je/erson,  22,  Captain  Ridgeley ;  Jones,  22,  Captain  Woolsey ;  Sylph,  14,  Captain  Elliott ;  Oneida, 
18,  Lieutenant  Commandant  Brown  ;  and  Lady  of  the  Lake,  2,  Lieutenant  Mix,  a  look-out  vessel.  Besides  these  were 
several  gun-boats  and  other  small  craft,  among  the  best  known  of  which  were  the  Governor  Tompkins,  6,  Midshipman 
.Elliott;  Pert,  3,  Lieutenant  Adams;  Conquest,  2,  Lieutenant  Wells ;  Fair  American,  2,  Lieutenant  Wolcott  Chauncey; 
Ontario,  2,  Sailing-master  Stevens;  Asp,  2,  Lieutenant  Jones;  Hamilton,S,  Growler,  5;  Julia,  2;  Elizabeth,  1 ;  and  bomb- 
vessel  May.  The  aggregate  numher  of  guns  was  2S2. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


795 


The  Defenses  aud  Defenders  of  Oswego. 


Attack  on  Fort  Ontario. 


Lauding  of  British  Troops. 


SIB  JAMES   LUCAS   YEO. 


bor  formed  by  the  mouth  of  the  Oswego 
River,  contained  less  than  five  hundred 
inhabitants.  Upon  a  bluff  on  the  north 
side  of  the  river  was  old  Fort  Ontario, 
partly  built  in  colonial  times,  spacious, 
but  not  strong.  It  then  mounted  only 
six  old  guns,  three  of  which  were  almost 
useless  because  they  had  lost  their  trun 
nions.  The  garrison  consisted  of  Mitch 
ell's  battalion  of  less  than  three  hundred 
men.  The  schooner  Growler,  having  on 
board  Captain  Woolsey  and  Lieutenant 
Pearce,  of  the  Navy,  was  in  the  river  for 
the  purpose  of  conveying  guns  and  naval 
stores  to  the  Harbor.  To  prevent  her 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  she 
was  sunk,  and  a  part  of  her  crew  under 
Lieutenant  Pearce  joined  Mitchell,  who 
had  sent  out  messengers  to  arouse  and 
bring  in  the  neighboring  militia. 

O  O  O 

Mitchell  had  too  few  troops  for  the  defense  of  both  the  village  and  the  fort,  so  he 
ordered  all  the  tents  in  store  there  to  be  pitched  near  the  town,  while  with  his  whole 
force  he  took  position  at  the  fort.  The  deception  had  the  desired  effect.  To  the  en 
emy  the  military  array  seemed  much  stronger  on  the  side  of  the  village  than  at  the 
fort,  and  the  British  proceeded  to  assail  the  latter  position.  Leaving  the  absolutely 
defenseless  village  unmolested,  the  British  troops,  in  fifteen  large  boats,  covered  by 
the  gun-boats  and  small  armed  vessels,  moved  toward  the  shore,  near  the  fort,  early 
in  the  afternoon,  while  the  cannon  on  the  larger  vessels  opened  fire  on  the  fort.  Mean 
while  Captain  James  A.  Boyle  and  Lieutenant  Thomas  C.  Legate  had  been  sent  down 
to  the  shore  with  an  old  iron  1 2-pounder,  and  as  soon  as  the  enemy's  boats  were  within 
proper  distance  they  opened  on  them  with  deadly  effect.  Some  of  the  boats  were 
badly  injured  ;  some  were  abandoned,  and  all  of  the  remainder  hastily  retired  to  the 
ships.  Just  then  a  heavy  breeze  sprung  up,  and  the  entire  squadron  put  to  sea. 
Drummond,  in  a  general  order,  stated  that  he  did  not  intend  to  attack  on  that  day. 
He  was  only  feeling  the  position  and  strength  of  the  Americans. 

On  the  morning  of  the  6th  the  fleet  again  appeared  off  Oswego,  and  the  larger  ves 
sels  immediately  opened  a  heavy  fire  on  the  fort.  The  Magnet,  took  station  in  front 
of  the  village,  and  the  Star  and  Charwett  were  towed  in  near  the  mouth  of  the  river 
for  the  purpose  of  covering  the  spot  selected  for  the  landing  of  troops.  Under  this 
shield  were  landed  the  flank  companies  of  De  Watteville's  regiment,  under  Captain 
De  Bersey ;  a  light  company  of  the  Glengary  Regiment,  under  Captain  M'Millan ;  a 
battalion  of  marines  xinder  Lieutenant  Colonel  Malcolm ;  and  two  hundred  seamen, 
armed  with  pikes,  under  Captain  Mulcaster.  The  whole  force,  about  twelve  hundred 
in  number,  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Fischer.  A  reserve  of  troops  was 
left  on  the  vessels. 

The  enemy  effected  a  landing  early  in  the  afternoon,  and  were  compelled  to  ascend 
a  long,  steep  hill  in  the  face  of  a  heavy  fire  of  the  Americans  in  the  fort,  and  of  a 
small  body  of  the  militia,  who  had  been  hastily  summoned,  and  were  concealed  in  a 
wood.1  These,  however,  fled  when  the  enemy  had  secured  a  footing  on  the  shore. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  defend  the  fort  with  so  few  men,  Mitchell  left  the  works,  and 
met  the  invaders  in  fair  fight,  covered  only  by  woods.  With  the  companies  of  Cap 
tains  Romeyn  andMelvin,  he  gallantly  moved  forward  and  attacked  the  front  of  the 

1  The  British  landed  near  whye  the  City  Hospital  now  stands,  and  the  battle  was  just  in  the  rear  of  it. 


796 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  British  capture  Oswego.  The  Fort  dismantled  and  Barracks  burned.  Conduct  of  Yeo  and  Drummond. 


ATTACK  ON  OSWEGO.— (From  an  old  Print.) 

enemy,  while  the  remainder  of  his  command,  under  Captains  M'Intyre  and  Pierce  of 
the  heavy  artillery,  annoyed  them  prodigiously  on  the  flank.  By  desperate  fight 
ing  the  enemy  was  kept  in  check  for  a  long  time,  but  overwhelming  numbers  finally 
compelled  Mitchell  to  fall  back.  The  British  took  possession  of  the  fort  and  all  the 
works  and  stores  in  the  vicinity.  Mitchell  retired  up  the  river  to  a  position  where 
he  might  protect  the  naval  stores  should  the  enemy  attempt  to  penetrate  to  the 
Falls  in  search  of  them. 

In  this  gallant  but  hopeless  defense  the  Americans  lost  the  brave  Lieutenant  Blaney, 
and  five  killed,  thirty-eight  wounded,  and  twenty-five  missing.  The  British  lost  nine 
teen  killed  and  seventy-five  wounded.  Among  the  latter  were  Captain  Mulcaster, 
of  the  Princess  Charlotte,  severely,  and  Captain  Popham,  of  the  Montreal,  slightly. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  the  invaders  withdrew,  after  having  em 
barked  the  guns  and  few  stores  found  there,  dismantled  the  fort,  and  burned  the  bar 
racks.  They  also  raised  and  carried  away  the  Growler  and  two  sunken  boats ;  and, 
under  circumstances  not  at  all  creditable  to  Sir  James  Yeo  as  an  officer  and  gentle 
man,  several  citizens,  who  had  been  promised  protection  and  exemption  from  all  mo 
lestation,  were  abducted  and  borne  away  by  the  squadron.  Among  these  was  the  aft 
erward  eminent  merchant  of  Oswegp, 
Honorable  Alvin  Bronson,  who  was  then 
the  public  store-keeper,  and  who  is  still 
(1867)  a  resident  of  that  place.1  After 
the  capture  of  the  post,  and  while  Yeo 
was  personally  superintending  the  load 
ing  of  his  boats  with  salt  and  public  stores,  that  officer  applied  to  Mr.  Bronson  for 
pilots  to  conduct  the  boats  out  to  the  squadron.  When  he  replied  that  all  the  men 
had  left  the  place,  and  that  he  had  none  under  his  control,  Sir  James  angrily  growled 
out,  with  an  oath, "  Go  yourself,  and  if  you  get  the  boat  aground  I'll  shoot  you." 
The  gallant  and  gentlemanly  Colonel  Harvey,  who  was  standing  on  the  bank  above, 

'  His  clerk,  Carlos  Colton,  then  a  boy,  was  taken  with  him.  Mr.  C.  was  clerk  of  the  County  of  Monroe,  Michigan,  in 
1S55. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF    1812.  797 

Firmness  of  Store-keeper  Bronson.  His  Captivity  and  Release.  Survivors  of  the  War  in  Oswego. 

called  out  to  Sir  James, "  That,  sir,  is  the  public  store-keeper,  and  may  be  useful  to 
us."  Sir  James  called  Mr.  Bronson  back,  and  said, "  You  are  my  prisoner,  and  I  shall 
expect  you  to  inform  me  what  stores  have  recently  been  forwarded  for  the  army  and 
navy,  what  remains  in  the  rear  of  the  post,  and  what,  if  any,  are  secreted  in  its  neigh 
borhood.  "  My  books  and  papers,"  replied  Mr.  Bronson,  have  been  removed  for  safe 
ty,  and  I  can  not,  therefore,  give  you  the  desired  information ;  nor  would  it  be  proper 
for  me  to  do  so  if  I  could."  Sir  James  threatened  to  take  him  off  with  him  if  he 
withheld  the  coveted  information.  "  I  am  ready  to  go,  sir,"  was  Mr.  Bronson's  calm 
reply.  This  was  followed  by  an  order  to  Captain  O'Connor  to  take  him  on  board 
the  flag-ship  Prince  Regent.  At  midnight  the  naval  and  military  officers  came  on 
board  the  Regent.  Among  them  was  General  Sir  George  Gordon  Drummond,  who 
lavished  upon  the  captive  store-keeper  such  coarse  and  vulgar  abuse  that  Colonel 
Harvey,  as  soon  as  an  opportunity  was  afforded,  apologized  for  the  brutality  of  his 
superior  officers,  of  whom  he  was  evidently  ashamed.1  Mr.  Bronson  was  confined  a 
short  time  in  the  guard-house  at  Kingston,  and  again  taken  to  the  squadron  when  it 
proceeded  to  the  blockade  of  Sackett's  Harbor.  He  was  well  treated,  and  associated 
familiarly  with  the  subordinate  officers.  He  was  soon  afterward  released. 

Among  the  survivors  of  the  war,  besides  Mr.  Bronson,  whom  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  in  Oswego,  were  the  late  Henry  Eagle  and  Matthew  M'Nair ;  the  ven 
erable  bookseller  James  Sloan; 
the  lively  but  aged  light-house 
keeper  Jacob  M.  Jacobs ;  and  the 
late  Abram  D.  Hugunin.  Mr. 
Eagle  was  a  Prussian  by  birth, 
and  possessed  a  fine  figure  when 
more  than  threescore  and  ten 
years  of  age.  He  learned  the  bus 
iness  of  a  ship-carpenter  of  a  Scotchman  on  the  border  of  the  Baltic  Sea,  and  worked 
his  passage  to  America  as  such.  He  was  the  constructor  of  the  Oneida  at  Oswego 
in  1808,  and  he  accompanied  Eckford  to  the  frontier  in  1812-'13.  He  became  pur 
ser  at  the  Navy  Yard  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  where  he  was  very  active.  He  gave  me 
many  interesting  particulars  concerning  the  building  of  the  New  Orleans.  Five 
hundred  and  fifty-three  men  were  employed  on  her.  Thj  timber  for  her  masts  was 
cut  near  Watertown,  in  Jefferson  County,  and  the  cost  of  their  transportation  to  the 
Harbor  was  one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  apiece.  They  were  afterward  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  ship-house. 

Mr.  M'Nair,  a  Scotchman,  was  government  commissary  at  Oswego,  and  had  a  store 
house  there  and  at  the  Falls.  At 
the  time  of  the  British  attack  he 
had  twelve  hundred  barrels  of 
bread  and  other  provisions  in 
store  at  Oswego,  and  a  quantity 
of  whisky.2  These  became  spoils  for  the  enemy.  Mr.  Jacobs  had  been  a  companion  in 
cruises  with  Commodore  Rodgers,  and  went  to  Lake  Ontario  in  1812  with  a  midship 
man's  warrant.  Although,  when  I  last  saw  him  [1864],  he  was  eighty-eight  years  of 
age,  his  complexion  was  so  fresh  and  his  step  so  elastic  that  he  appeared  like  a  man 
less  than  sixty  years  old.  Mr.  Sloan  was  Macdonough's  clerk  on  the  Saratoga  at 

1  Colonel  Harvey  was  as  generous  as  he  was  brave.    He  was  governor  of  Nova  Scotia  in  1839  when  General  Scott  was 
sent  by  his  government  to  settle  the  dispute  concerning  the  boundary-line  between  that  country  and  the  State  of  Maine 
either  by  arms  or  negotiation.    Scott  and  Harvey  were  adjutant  generals  in  their  respective  armies  on  the  Niagara 
frontier,  and  at  that  time  formed  an  intimacy  which  ripened  into  friendship.    On  going  to  the  capital  of  Maine,  Scott 
opened  a  friendly  correspondence  with  Governor  Harvey,  which  resulted  in  an  amicable  settlement  of  a  difficulty  which 
threatened  to  involve  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  in  war. 

2  Mr.  M'Nair  died  at  Oswego  on  the  31st  of  March,  1SG2,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years.    He  had  resided  in  Oswego 
sixty  years. 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  British  return  to  Kingston.  Sackett's  Harbor  blockaded.  Woolsey's  Expedition. 

the  time  of  the  battle  of  Plattsburg  in  the  autumn  of  1814.  Mr.  Hugunin,  who  died 
at  Oswego  in  February,  1860,  had  lived  in  that  place  since  1805.  He  was  in  the  mil 
itary  service  when  Oswego  was  captured  in  1814,  and  was  made  a  prisoner. 

The  conduct  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Mitchell  in  his  defense  of  Oswego  received  the 
commendation  of  his  superiors.  His  prudence  and  gallantry  secured  the  large  amount 
of  ordnance  and  naval  stores  at  the  Falls,1  and  the  British  derived  very  little  advan 
tage  from  their  attack.  With  their  small  booty  they  returned  to  Kingston,  and  Os 
wego  was  not  again  attacked  during  the  war.  The  dilapidated  fort  was  repaired,  the 
garrison  strengthened,  and  the  enemy  was  defied.  For  many  years  that  fort  has  been 
a  strong  and  admirably-appointed  fortress,  but  without  a  garrison,  and  in  charge  of  a 
sergeant.  Its  situation  and  appearance,  as  seen  from  the  lantern  of  the  light-house,  is 
given  in  the  little  engraving  below  from  a  sketch  made  in  1855.  The  place  where 
the  British  landed  is  seen  at  the  point  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  picture. 


FOKT  AT   OSWEGO  IN  1855. 

The  British  troops  were  landed  at  Kingston,  and  the  vessels  were  thoroughly  over 
hauled,  during  the  succeeding  fortnight.  On  the  19th  the  renovated  squadron  again 
weighed  anchor,  and,  a  few  hours  afterward,  drove  Chauncey's  look-out,  Lady  of  the 
Lake,  into  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  established  a  strict  blockade  of  that  port,  to  the 
great  discomfort  of  the  American  commander,  who  was  making  untiring  efforts  to 
get  his  squadron,  and  especially  the  Superior,  ready  for  sea.  Heavy  guns  and  cables 
destined  for  her  were  yet  at  the  Oswego  Falls.  The  roads  were  in  such  condition 
that  they  could  not  be  taken  to  the  Harbor  by  land,  and  the  blockade  made  a  voyage 
thither  by  water  extremelj^perilous.  But  something  must  be  done,  or  Sir  James  Yeo 
would  roam  over  Ontario  unrestricted  lord  of  the  lake.  The  ever-active  and  gallant 
Woolsey  was  sufficient  for  the  occasion.  He  declared  his  willingness  to  attempt  car 
rying  the  ordnance  and  naval  stores  to  Stony  Creek,  three  miles  from  Sackett's  Har 
bor,  where  they  might  be  carried  across  a  narrow  portage  to  Henderson  Harbor,  and 
reach  Chauncey  in  safety.  The  commodore  gave  Woolsey  permission  to  attempt  the 
perilous  adventure,  and  before  the  close  of  May  he  had  a  large  number  of  the  heavy 
guns  sent  over  the  Falls  in  scows,  preparatory  to  an  embarkation  when  the  vigilance 
of  the  blockading  squadron  should  be  relaxed. 

At  sunset  on  the  28th  of  May  Woolsey  was  at  Oswego  with  nineteen  btfats  heav 
ily  laden  with  twenty-two  long  32-pounders,  ten  24's,  three  42-pound  carronades,  and 
twelve  cables.  One  of  the  latter,  destined  for  the  Superior,  was  an  immense  rope. 
The  flotilla  went  out  of  the  harbor  at  dusk,  and  bore  Major  Appling  and  one  hundred 
and  thirty  riflemen  under  his  command.  About  the  same  number  of  Oneida  Indians 
were  engaged  to  meet  the  flotilla  at  the  mouth  of  Big  Salmon  River,  near  the  present 
village  of  Port  Ontario,  and  traverse  the  shore  abreast  of  it,  to  assist  in  the  event  of 
an  attack  by  the  British  gun-boats. 

Woolsey  found  it  unsafe  to  attempt  to  reach  Stony  Creek,  for  the  blockaders  were 

1  The  public  store-houses  at  the  Falls  (now  Fulton)  were  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  a  little  above  the  Cascades. 
The  surrounding  land  belonged  to  the  government.  When  I  visited  the  spot  in  1854,  the  land  belonged  to  Timothy 
Pratt,  Esq.,  a  large  land-holder  at  the  Falls.  The  stores  were  demolished  after  the  war,  and  not  a  vestige  of  them  now 
remains. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


799 


Woolsey's  Force  cm  Big  Sandy  Creek. 


The  confident  British  in  Pursuit. 


Preparations  to  receive  Them. 


vigilant,  so  he  determined  to  run  up  Big  Sandy  Creek,  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Har 
bor,  and  debark  the  precious  treasures  there.  The  night  was  very  dark,  and  there 
was  little  danger  of  discovery  under  its  friendly  shadows.  By  dint  of  hard  rowing, 
all  the  boats  reached  the  Big  Salmon  at  dawn  excepting  one  which  had  fallen  out  of 
the  line  during  the  night.  It  was  bewildered  in  the  fog,  and  was  captured  by  the 
British  at  sunrise  the  next  morning.  The  Oneidas  were  there,  and  flotilla  and  In 
dians  moved  on  toward  the  Big  Sandy,  where  they  all  arrived  at  noon.a  Sir  .  May  20, 
James,  meanwThile,  had  gained  information  of  the  flotilla  from  the  crew  of 
the  lost  boat.  He  immediately  sent  out  two  gun-boats,  commanded  respectively  by 
Captain  Popham,  of  the  Montreal,  and  Captain  Spilsbury,  also  of  the  Royal  Navy,  ac 
companied  by  three  cutters  and  a  gig,  to  intercept  them.  They  cruised  all  day  in 
vain,  but  at  evening  learned  that  Woolsey  and  his  boats  had  gone  up  the  Big  Sandy. 
Confident  of  their  ability  to  capture  the  whole  flotilla,  and  ignorant  of  the  presence 
of  Major  Appling  and  his  riflemen,  or  of  the  Indians,  the  British  cruisers  lay  off  the 
mouth  of  the  creek  all  night,  and  entered  it  early  in  the  morning.  In  the  door  of  a 
fisherman's  house  (yet  standing  when  I  visited  the  spot  in  1860)  Popham  saw  a  wom 
an,  and  ordered  her  to  have  breakfast  ready  for  himself  and  officers  when  they  should 
return.  She  knew  how  well  Woolsey  was  prepared  to  receive  his  pursuers,  and  said, 
significantly, "  You'll  find  breakfast  ready  up  the  creek."  The  British  passed  on  in 
jolly  mood  up  the  creek,  but  soon  became  very  serious. 


1M.ACE  OF  BATTLE   AT   SANDY    CI1EEK.1 


For  two  miles  or  more  the  Big  Sandy  winds  through  a  marshy  plain,  and  empties 
into  the  lake  through  a  ridge  of  sand  dunes  cast  up  by  the  winds  and  waves  of  Onta 
rio.  That  plain  is  now  barren  of  timber,  but  at  the  time  we  are  considering  the 
stream  was  fringed  with  trees  and  shrubbery.  In  these,  about  forty  rods  below  a 
bend  in  the  creek,  seen  in  the  engraving,  and  half  a  mile  below  where  the  flotilla  was 
moored,  Major  Appling  ambushed  his  riflemen  and  the  Indians.  At  the  same  time,  £ 
squadron  of  cavalry  under  Captain  Harris,  and  a  company  of  light  artillery  under 
Captain  Melvin,  with  two  6-pound  field-pieces  and  some  infantry,  about  three  hund 
red  in  all,  whom  General  Gaines  had  sent  down  from  Sackett's  Harbor,  were  stationed 
near  Woolsey's  boats. 

The  confident  and  jolly  Britons  approached  with  little  caution,  and  when  they  came 

!  This  view  is  from  the  bridge,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  rods  above  the  point  where  the  engagement  took  place. 
The  stream  is  about  eight  rods  wide,  and  the  portion  of  it  seen  in  the  foreground  was  the  position  of  the  flotilla.  The 
light  strip  seen  in  the  extreme  distance  is  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  irregular  shore-Hue  shows  the  sand  dunes  spoken  of. 
The  fisherman's  bouse  alluded  to  is  seen  between  two  of  them,  toward  the  extreme  left  of  the  picture. 


800 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Battle  on  Big  Sandy  Creek.        The  British  defeated  and  captured.       John  Otis.        The  great  Cable  for  the  Superior. 

in  sight  of  the  flotilla  they  commenced  hurling  solid  shot  upon  it,  but  with  slight  ef 
fect.  At  the  same  time  strong  flanking  parties  were  landed,  and  marched  up  each 
side  of  the  stream,  their  way  made  clear,  as  they  supposed,  by  discharges  of  grape 
and  canister  shot  into  the  bushes  from  the  gun-boats.  These  dispersed  the  cowardly 
Indians,  but  the  gallant  young  Appling's  sharp-shooters  were  undisturbed.1 

It  was  now  ten  o'clock.  When  the  invaders  reached  a  point  within  rifle  range  of 
the  ambuscade,  Appling's  men  opened  destructive  volleys  upon  them,  and  occasional 
shot  came  thundering  from  Melvin's2  field-pieces,  stationed  on  the  bank,  near  the  pres 
ent  bridge.  So  furious  and  unexpected  was  the  assault  on  front,  flank,  and  rear,  that 
the  British  surrendered  within  ten  minutes  after  the  first  gun  was  fired  in  response  to 
their  own.  They  had  lost  Midshipman  Hoare  and  seventeen  men  killed,  and  at  least 
fifty  men  dangerously  wounded.  The  Americans  lost  one  rifleman  and  one  Indian 
warrior  wounded,  but  not  a  single  life.  They  gained  the  British  squadron,3  with  of 
ficers  and  men  as  prisoners,  in  number  about  one  hundred  and  seventy.  A  negro  on 
one  of  the  gun-boats,  who  had  been  ordered  to  throw  the  cannon  and  small-arms  over 
board  in  case  of  danger,  did  so  when  the  fight  was  ended.  The  Americans  called  on 
him  to  desist  or  they  would  shoot  him.  He  paid  no  attention  to  them,  and,  with  a 
sense  of  duty,  had  cast  overboard  one  cannon  and  many  muskets,  when  he  fell  dead, 
pierced  by  twelve  bullets. 

The  wounded  British  were  taken  to  the  house  of  John  Otis,  yet  standing,4  and  still 
occupied  by  the  then  owner  when  I  visited  the  spot  in 
»  July  20,     I860.     It  was  the  second  house  above  the 

i860.  bridge.  Otis,  a  venerable  man  when  I  saw 
him,  gave  Woolsey  the  first  notice  of  the.  presence  of 
pursuers.  He  had  been  out  upon  the  lake  since  mid 
night,  watching  for  the  enemy,  and,  discovering  them 
at  early  dawn  making  for  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  he 
hastened  up  the  stream  with  the  information.  He 
pointed  out  to  me  the  place,  near  a  large  chestnut-tree 
in  a  lot  adjoining  his  garden,  where  the  British  dead 
were  buried.  He  took  care  of  many  of  the  wounded 
for  more  than  a  fortnight,  for  which  service  and  expenses  his  country  rewarded  him 
after  a  lapse  of  forty-three  years.  In  1857  Congress  voted  him  a  little  more  than 
nine  hundred  dollars ;  but  one  of  those  harpies  known  as  lobby  agents,  who  know  how 
to  approach  legislators  of  easy  virtue,  took  one  half  of  it  as  compensation  for  his  serv 
ices  in  procuring  the  "  appropriation." 

The  cannon  and  cables  were  landed  safely  from  the  flotilla,  and  transported  by  land 
sixteen  miles  to  the  Harbor.  The  great  cable  for  the  Superior  had  occupied,  in  pon 
derous  coils,  one  of  the  boats  of  ten  tons  burden.  The  cable  was  twenty-two  inches 
in  circumference,  and  weighed  nine  thousand  six  hundred  pounds.  No  vehicle  could 
be  found  to  convey  it  over  the  country  to  the  Harbor;  and,  after  a  delay  of  a  week, 

1  Daniel  Appling  was  born  in  Columbia  County,  Georgia,  in  178T,  and  entered  the  army  as  second  lieutenant  of  rifle 
men  in  1808.    He  was  promoted  to  captain  in  the  spring  of  1812,  and  major  of  the  First  Rifle  Corps  in  April,  1S14.    For 
his  gallant  conduct  at  Sandy  Creek  he  was  breveted  lieutenant  colonel  in  August.    He  was  breveted  colonel  for  distin 
guished  services  at  Plattsburg  in  September  following.    He  was  retained  on  the  peace  establishment  in  1815,  but  re- 
sigued-in  June  the  following  year.    He  died  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  in  March,  1817,  at  the  age  of  only  thirty  years. 

2  George  W.  Melvin  was  a  native  of  Georgia.    He  entered  the  military  service  as  second  lieutenant  of  artillery  at  the 
close  of  1808.    In  August,  1812,  he  was  commissioned  captain.    He  was  retained  on  the  peace  establishment,  and  re 
signed  in  August,  1820. 

3  One  of  the  boats  mounted  a  GS-pound  carronade  ;  one 
a  long  32-pounder;  one  a  long  24;  one  two  long  12's,  and 
another  two  small  brass  howitzers. 

*  Dr.  Alfred  Ely,  who  was  an  assistant  of  Surgeon  Amasa 
Trowbridge,  was  at  Sandy  Creek,  and  attended  the  wound 
ed  British  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Otis.  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  him  at  the  inauguration  of  the  statue  of  Perry,  at 
Cleveland,  in  September,  1860.  He  is  now  (1867)  a  resident 
of  Oberliu,  Ohio. 


OTIS'S  HOUSE,  SANDY   CHEEK. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


801 


cms 


Carrying  the  great  Cable  to  Sackett's  Harbor.       Visit  to  the  Sandy  Creek  Kegion.       Survivors  of  the  War  met  there. 

men  belonging  to  the  militia  regiment  of  Colonel  Allen  Clark,  who  had  hastened  to  the 
creek  on  hearing  the  din  of  battle,  volunteered  to  carry  it  on  their  shoulders.  About 
two  hundred  men  were  selected  for  the  labor.  They  left  the  Big  Sandy  at  noon,  and 
arrived  at  the  Harbor  toward  the  evening  of  the  next  day.  They  carried  it  a  mile 
at  a  time  without  resting.  Their  shoulders  were  terribly  bruised  and  chafed  by  the 
great  rope.  They  were  received  by  loud  cheers  and  martial  music.  A  barrel  of 
whisky  was  rolled  out  and  tapped  for  their  refreshment,  and  each  man  received  two 
dollars  extra  pay.  In  less  than  a  fortnight  from  the  time  of  the  battle  all  the  cannon 
and  naval  stores  were  at  Sackett's  Harbor.a  But  many  difficulties  had  to  »juneio, 
be  overcome,  and  the  fleet  was  not  ready  to  leave  the  Harbor  on  a  cruise  1814> 
until  the  1st  of  August. 

It  was  a  sultry  morning  in  July  when  I  visited  the  theatre  of  events  just  described. 
I  arrived  at  Little  Sandy  Creek  Village  on  the  previous  evening,  and  there  met  Har- 

mon  Ehle,  a  sprightly  little  man,  now  (1867) 
eighty-seven  years  of  age,  who  was  one  of  the 
two  hundred  who  carried  the  great  cable  to 
Sackett's  Harbor.  From  him  I  learned  most  of  the  facts  concerning  it  just  related. 
I  spent  the  evening  very  pleasantly  with  him.  For  forty-nine  years  he  had  lived 
there,  and  had  seen  the  country  transformed  from  a  wilderness  to  the  pleasant  abode 
of  civilized  man.1  The  night  succeeding  our  interview  was  tempestuous.  At  dawn 
a  heavy  thunder-shower  drenched  that  whole  region  ;  yet  at  an  early  hour  I  started 
in  a  light  wagon  for  Sackett's  Harbor,  on  the  road  that  would  lead  to  the  battle 
ground  on  the  Big  Sandy.  When  within  about  a  mile  of 
it,  we  saw  standing  at  a  rustic  gate,  resting  upon  crutches, 
a  venerable  man  of  seventy-five  years,  with  palsied  legs, 
beard  of  a  fortnight's  growth,  a  slouched  felt  hat  on  his 
head,  and  a  blue  linen  sack  covering  all  that  we  could  see 
of  him.  It  was  Jehaziel  Howard,  a  native  of  Vermont,  an 
old  seaman  of  the  lake,  who  was  with  Woolsey  at  the  time 
of  the  battle  of  the  Big  Sandy.  He  had  been  with  him 
since  early  in  the  war,  and  was  with  Chauncey  at  the  tak 
ing  of  Fort  George.2  He  saw  the  negro  shot  on  the  Brit 
ish  gun-boat  in  the  Big  Sandy,  and  assisted  in  taking  the 
British  wounded  to  Otis's.  Bidding  him  good-morning, 
we  rode  to  the  bridge,  where  I  made  the  sketch  on  page 
799.  There  we  spent  half  an  hour  with  Mr.  Otis,  and  then 
rode  on  to  Ellisburg,  where  we  breakfasted  between  nine 

O  J 

and  ten  o'clock.     Meanwhile  very  heavy  clouds  were  gath 

ering  in  the  west,  and  we  had  ridden  only  two  or  three 

miles  from  the  village,  through  the  "  garden  of  Jeflerson 

County,"  when  a  thunder-storm  burst  upon  us  with  great 

fury.     We  took  refuge  in  a  tavern  by  the  way-side,  and 

arrived  at  Sackett's  Harbor  at  little  past  meridian,  in  pleasant  sunshine,  as  already 

mentioned.3 

Let  us  now  leave  the  more  easterly  shores  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  consider  events  on 
the  Niagara  frontier,  where  the  broom  of  destruction  during  the  year  1813  had  swept 
away  almost  every  thing  worth  contending  for  excepting  territory.  But  Canada  was 
to  be  conquered  by  one  party  and  defended  by  the  other,  if  possible,  and  the  posses 
sion  of  the  Ontario  and  Erie  peninsula  was  of  vast  importance  to  the  contestants. 
For  that  possession  the  military  movements  we  are  about  to  consider  were  com 
menced. 


JEIIAZIEL   HOWAED. 


1  In  February,  1861,  Congress  granted  Mr.  Ehle  a  pension  of  $15  a  month  during  his  natural  life. 
a  See  page  599.  3  See  page  615. 

3E 


802 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


The  Army  on  the  Niagara  Frontier. 


Its  Composition. 


Red  Jacket  and  his  Medal. 


We  left  a  portion  of  the  Army  of  the  North  on  its  march  from  Batavia  to  Buffalo, 
under  the  command  of  Brigadier  General  Scott,  while  Major  General  Brown,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief,  hastened  back  to  menaced  Sackett's  Harbor.  That  post  and  others 
on  Lake  Ontario  were  soon  considered  safe  from  attack,  and,  with  the  bulk  of  his 
army,  Brown  stood  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Niagara  River  at  the  close  of  June,  1814. 
He  made  Buffalo  his  head-quarters,  and  on  the  1st  of  July  he  found  himself  at  the 
head  of  a  military  force  strong  enough,  in  his  judgment,  to  carry  out  the  orders  and 
wishes  of  the  War  Department  by  invading  Canada.  His  army  consisted  of  two 
brigades  of  infantry,  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  Scott  and  Ripley,  and  to 
each  of  these  was  attached  an  efficient  train  of  artillery,  commanded  by  Captain 
Nathan  Towson  and  Major  Jacob  Hindman,  and  a  small  squadron  of  cavalry  under 
Captain  Samuel  D.  Harris.  These  troops  were  well  equipped  and  highly  disciplined.1 
They  were  the  regulars.  There  was  also  a  brigade  of  miscellaneous  troops,  composed 
of  five  hundred  Pennsylvania  Volunteers ;  six  hundred  New  York  Volunteers,  of 
whom  one  hundred  were  mounted;  and  between  five  and  six  hundred  Indian  warri 
ors,  embracing  almost  the  entire  military  force  of  the  Six  Nations  then  remaining  in 
the  United  States.  These  had  been  aroused  to  action  by  the  stirring  eloquence  of 
the  then  venerable  Red  Jacket,  the  great  Seneca  orator,  chief,  and  sachem,2  whose  in- 

1  General  Scott  had  taken  special  pains  to  discipline  these  troops  thoroughly.    General  Jesup  (then  major),  in  a  man 
uscript  "Memoir  of  the  Campaign  on  the  Niagara"  now  before  me,  says  that "  he  [Jesup]  began,  under  the  orders  of 
General  Scott,  a  course  of  instruction,  and  kept  his  command  [Twenty-fifth  Infantry]  under  arms  from  seven  to  ten  hours 
a  day.    A  similar  course  was  pursued  by  the  chiefs  of  other  corps.    The  consequence  was,  that  when  we  took  the  field 
in  July  our  corps  manoeuvred  in  action  and  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  artillery  with  the  accuracy  of  parade." 

2  Sa-go-ye-wat-ha,  or  Red  Jacket,  was  born  about  the  year  1750  where  the  city  of  Buffalo  now  stands,  that  being  the 
chief  residence  of  the  leaders  of  the  Seneca  tribe  of  the  Six  Nations.    He  was  a  swift-footed,  fluent-tongued  being. 
During  the  Devolution  he,  in  common  with  his  tribe,  took  part  with  the  British  and  Tories.    His  business  was  more  in 
the  way  of  arousing  his  people  to  action  by  his  eloquence  than  the  performance  of  great  actions  himself.    Indeed,  Brant 
spoke  very  disparagingly  of  him,  and  called  him  a  traitor  and  dishonest  man ;  and  he  was  charged  with  having  been 
found  in  a  place  of  safety  cutting  up  a  cow  belonging  to  another  Indian  (which  he  had  killed)  while  Sullivan  was  march 
ing  through  the  Seneca  country  in  1779,  fighting  the  warriors  whom  Red  Jacket  had  aroused  by  his  eloquence.    He  first 
appears  conspicuous  in  history  at  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  (now  Rome,  New  York)  in  1784,  when,  by  certain  conces 
sions  of  territory  by  the  Six  Nations,  those  of  the  tribes  who  had  not  emigrated  to  Canada  were  brought  under  the  pro 
tection  of  the  government  of  the  United  States.    It  was  on  that  occasion  that  Red  Jacket's  fame  as  a  great  orator  was 
established.    Two  years  afterward  he  was  prominent  at  a  council  held  at  the  mouth  of  the  Detroit  River ;  and  in  all  the 
disputes  between  the  white  people  and  Indians  respecting  land-titles  in  Western  New  York  Red  Jacket  was  ever  the 
eloquent  defender  of  the  rights  of  his  race.    His  paganism  never  yielded  to  the  influence  of  Christianity,  and  he  was  the 
most  inveterate  enemy  to  all  missionary  efforts  among  the  Senecas.    Under  his  leadership  the  Senecas  became  the  al 
lies  of  the  Americans  against  the  British  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  in  the  battle  of  Chippewa  in  the  summer  of  1814  he  be 
haved  well  as  a  soldier,  although  he  seems  to  have  been  constitutionally  timid,  and  always  braver  in  council  than  in 
the  field.    For  many  years  he  was  the  head  chief  of  the  Senecas.    The  influence  of  Christianity  and  the  civilization  that 
affected  his  people  disturbed  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  and  he  was  made  more  unhappy  by  the  intemperate  use  of  in 
toxicating  liquors.    So  great  and  disgusting  became  his  excesses  that  in  1827  he  was  formally  deposed  by  an  act  in 
writing  signed  by  twenty-six  of  the  leading  men  of  the  Seuecas.    This  blow  was  severe.    He  went  to  the  National  cap 
ital  for  redress,  and  he  returned  to  his  people  with  such  evidences  of  reform  that  he  was  reinstated.    But  he  soon  be 
came  an  imbecile,  and  in  a  journey  to  the  Atlantic  sea-board  he  permitted  himself  to  be  exhibited  for  money.    How  his 

proud  spirit  in  its  vigor  would  have  scorned 
such  degradation  !  He  died  on  the  20th  of 
January,  1830,  at  the  age  of  almost  eighty 
years.  His  remains  were  buried  in  the 
church-yard  of  the  Seneca  mission,  three  or 
four  miles  from  Buffalo,  and  over  his  grave 
Henry  Placide,  the  comedian,  furnished  with 
funds  by  a  subscription  which  he  set  on 
foot  among  the  actors  connected  with  the 
Buffalo  theatre,  placed  a  slab  of  marble 
in  1839,  upon  which  were  engraven  these 
words:  " SAOOYEWATHA  (He -keeps- them  - 
awake),  Red  Jacket :  chief  of  the  Wolf  Tribe 
of  the  Senecas ;  the  friend  and  protector  of 
the  people.  Died  January  20,  1830,  aged 
seventy-eight  years." 

Toward  the  close  of  the  Revolution  a  Brit 
ish  officer  gave  the  young  chief  a  richly-em 
broidered  scarlet  jacket,  from  the  wearing 
of  which  he  derived  his  English  name.  In 
his  later  years  he  wore,  with  pride,  a  large 
medal,  which  was  presented  to  him  by  Pres 
ident  Washington  in  1792  on  the  conclusion 
of  a  treaty  of  peace  and  amity  between  the 


BED  JACKET'S  MEDAL. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


803 


The  Volunteers  and  Indians. 


Chief  Engineer  M'Ree. 


Fort  Erie  and  the  Invasion  of  Canada. 


BED   JACKET. 


fluence  among  his  people  had  been  very 
great  since  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  in 
which  he  took  a  part,  not,  however,  very 
much  to  his  credit  as  a  soldier. 

The  volunteers  and  Indians  were  under 
the  chief  command  of  General  Peter  B. 
Porter,  who  was  then  quarter-master  gen 
eral  of  the  New  York  Militia,  and,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  not  only  an  eloquent  ad 
vocate  of  the  war  in  Congress1  before  it 
was  commenced,  but  a  ready  and  patriotic 
actor  in  its  more  stirring  and  dangerous 
scenes  in  the  field.  The  accomplished  Ma 
jor  William  M'Ree,  of  North  Carolina,  was 
the  chief  engineer  in  Brown's  army,2  and 
he  was  assisted 
by  the  equally 
accomplished 
and  gallant  Ma 
jor  Eleazer  D. 
Wood,  with 
whom  we  have 

become  well  acquainted  while  following  General  Harri 
son  in  his  campaign  in  the  far  Northwest. 

On  the  Canada  shore,  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie,  nearly 

opposite  Buffalo,  stood  Fort  Erie,  then  garrisoned  by  one 

hundred  and  seventy  men,  mostly  of  the  One  Hundredth 

Regiment,  under  the  command  of  Major  Buck,  of  the  Brit 
ish  army.     It  was  the  most  serious  impediment  in  the  way , 

of  our  invasion  of  Canada  in  that  quarter ;  but  when,  on 

the  1st  of  July,  Brown  received  orders  from  the  Secretary 

of  War  to  cross  the  river,  capture  Fort  Erie,  and  march  on 

Chippewa,  at  the  mouth  of  Chippewa  Creek,  where 

some  fortifications  had  been  thrown  up,  menace 

Fort  George,  and,  if  assured  of  the  co-operation 

•of  Chauncey's  fleet,  and  its   capability  of  with-  - 

United  States  and  the  Six  Nations  after  the  Eevolution.  It  is  made  of  silver,  with  a  heavy  rim,  and  is  five  inches  iu 
width,  and  nearly  seven  inches  in  length.  The  devices  upon  it  were  engraved,  it  is  said,  by  the  eminent  David  Kitten- 
house,  the  philosopher,  who,  as  a  jeweler  in  his  younger  days,  had  acquired  some  facility  in  the  use  of  the  burin.  It  will 
be  observed  that  the  painter  of  the  above  portrait  did  not  correctly  draw  the  device  on  the  medal  which  is  given  in  the 
engraving  on  the  preceding  page  from  a  photograph.  The  medal  is  now  [186T]  in  the  possession  of  Brevet  Brigadier 
General  Parker,  of  General  Grant's  staff,  chief  Sachem  of  the  Six  Nations.  I  saw  it  in  his  possession  at. City  Point  in 
1S64.  Red  Jacket's  children  being  all  dead  at  the  time  of  his  death,  this  insignia  of  leadership  passed  out  of  the  pos 
session  of  his  immediate  family.  The  stricken  chief  regarded  the  death  of  his  eleven  children  as  a  punishment  for  his 
drunkenness.  The  late  venerable  Mr.  Hosmer,  of  Avon,  Livingston  County,  told  the  writer  in  1855  that  on  one  occasion 
a  lady  at  his  table  with  Red  Jacket,  who  did  not  know  of  his  bereavement,  inquired  after  his  children.  The  old  chief, 
with  deep  sadness,  replied  with  unsurpassed  eloquence,  "Red  Jacket  was  once  a  great  man  and  in  favor  with  the  Great 
Spirit.  He  was  a  lofty  pine  among  the  smaller  trees  of  the  forest.  But,  after  years  of  glory,  he  degraded  himself  by 
drinking  the  fire-water  of  the  white  man.  The  Great  Spirit  has  looked  down  upon  him  in  his  anger,  and  his  lightning 
has  stripped  the  pine  of  its  branches."  1  See  page  212. 

3  William  M'Ree  was  born  in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  on  the  13th  of  December,  1TS7.  lie  was  of  Irish  descent. 
His  father  was  an  active  officer  in  onr  old  War  for  Independence,  and  this  son  was  educated  at  the  Military  Academy 
at  West  Point.  He  entered  the  corps  of  Engineers  in  1805,  and  was  commissioned  a  major,  and  assigned  to  the  duty  of 
chief  engineer  of  the  Northern  Army  in  1813.  He  was  conspicuous  in  the  events  on  the  Northern  and  Niagara  frontier 
during  the  war,  at  the  close  of  which  his  government  sent  him  on  a  tour  of  military  inspection  in  Europe.  After  serv 
ing  on  a  commission  of  engineers  to  determine  upon  a  system  of  fortifications  for  the  United  States,  he  retired  from  the 
army  in  1819.  He  became  United  States  surveyor  general,  and  was  almost  continually  in  public  employment  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  at  St.  Louis.  Missouri,  in  May,  1833.  He  was  never  married.  The  silhouette  from  which  the  above 
engraving  was  made  is  the  only  likeness  of  him  extant.  I  am  indebted  for  its  use  to  his  nephew,  Griffith  J.  M'Ree,  of 
Wilmington. 


804  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Plan  of  the  new  Invasion  of  Canada.         General  Ripley.         American  Troops  cross  the  Niagara.         Major  Gardner. 

standing  that  of  Sir  James  Yeo,  to  seize  and  fortify  Burlington  Heights,  at  the  head  of 
Lake  Ontario,  he  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  set  about  its  execution.  If  these  results 
could  be  obtained,  the  Americans  would  not  only  hold  the  peninsula  in  their  grasp, 
but  might  proceed  leisurely  to  the  conquest  and  occupation  of  all  Upper  Canada. 

In  obedience  to  his  instructions,  General  Brown  issued  orders  on  the  2d  of  July  for 
his  troops  to  cross  the  Niagara  River  from  Black  Rock.  Accompanied  by  Generals 
Scott  and  Porter,  he  made  a  reconnaissance  of  Fort  Erie  and  the  upper  part  of  the  Ni 
agara,  and  concerted  a  plan  of  attack.  His  means  of  transportation  were  few.  The 
arrangements  for  embarking  and  debarking  were  made  with  the  brigadiers  and  the 
senior  engineers,  M'Ree  and  Wood.  General  Scott  was  to  cross  with  one  division 
through  a  difficult  pass  in  the  Black  Rock  Rapids,  and  land  about  a  mile  below  Fort 
Erie,  and  at  the  same  time  General  Ripley  was  to  cross  from  Buifalo,  and  land  at  the 
same  distance  above  the  fort.  This  was  to  be  accomplished  by  the  dawn  of  the  3d, 
and  the  fort  was  to  be  immediately  invested.  The  boats  that  conveyed  these  divi 
sions  were  to  return  immediately  to  Black  Rock,  and  transport  the  residue  of  the 
army,  ordnance,  and  munitions  of  war  to  the  Canada  shore.1 

Toward  the  evening  of  the  2d,  when  the  arrangements  were  all  completed,  General 
Ripley  expressed  a  desire  for  a  change.  He  believed  that  his  division  would  have  to 
bear  the  brunt  of  battle  should  the  enemy  oppose  the  crossing,  and  he  asked  for  a 
larger  number  of  troops.  He  complained  that  he  could  not  cross  with  sufficient  force 
to  promise  success ;  and  when  General  Brown,  who  knew  that  delay  would  be  peril 
ous,  endeavored  to  convince  him  that  his  force  would  be  adequate,  and  assured  him 
that  no  change  could  then  be  made  in  the  arrangement,  Ripley  was  angry,  and  ten 
dered  his  resignation.  It  was  not  accepted,  and  the  movement  went  on. 

General  Scott  crossed  the  river  while  it  was  yet  dark  on  the  morning  of  the  3d, 
with  the  Ninth,  Eleventh,  part  of  the  Twenty-second,  and  the  Twenty-fifth  Regi 
ments,  and  a  corps  of  artillery  under  Major  Hindman,  and  landed  below  Fort  Erie 
unmolested.  His  movements  were  so  prompt  that  in  less  than  two  hours  after  he 
embarked,  his  brigade  was  formed  on  the  Canada  shore.  General  Brown,  with  his 
suite,  consisting  of  his  adjutant  general  (the  now  venerable  Colonel  Charles  K.  Gard 
ner,  of  Washington  City2),  Major  Jones,  the  assistant  adjutant  general,  Majors  M'Ree 
and  Wood,  of  the  Engineers,  and  Captains  Austin  and  Spencei-,  his  aids-de-camp,  pre 
pared  to  follow  in  a  small  boat.  He  would  have  landed  on  the  Canada  shore  as  early 
as  the  rear  of  Scott's  division  did,  had  not  Ripley  been  tardy  in  his  obedience  of  or 
ders.  It  was  broad  daylight  before  that  officer's  brigade  was  embarked.  Brown 
was  disappointed.  He  pushed  across  the  river,  leaving  orders  for  Ripley  to  follow' 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  join  Scott,  who  by  that  time  had  formed  his  troops  on  the 
Canadian  beach. 

1  In  his  general  orders  announcing  the  contemplated  invasion  General  Brown  prescribed  stringent  rules  for  his  troops 
in  the  treatment  of  the  inhabitants  and  their  property.    All  found  in  arms  were  to  be  treated  as  enemies,  and  all  oth 
ers  as  friends.    Private  property  was  to  be  held  sacred,  and  public  property,  when  seized,  was  to  be  disposed  of  by  the 
commanding  general.    He  prescribed  the  punishment  of  death  for  all  plunderers. 

2  Charles  K.  Gardner  was  born  in  Morris  County,  New  Jersey,  in  1787,  and  in  1701  removed  with  his  parents  to  New- 
burg,  on  the  Hudson,  where  he  finished  his  education.    He  was  a  student  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Hosack,  in  New  York, 
when  he  received  the  appointment  of  ensign  in  the  old  Sixth  Regiment  of  Infantry  in  1SOS.    In  the  following  year, 
while  on  duty  at  Oswego,  he  was  appointed  adjutant  of  his  regiment.    He  served  as  such  at  various  points,  and  at  Baton 
Rouge,  Louisiana,  General  Wade  Hampton  appointed  him  his  brigade  inspector.    In  July,  1812,  he  was  appointed  cap 
tain  of  the  Third  Artillery,  and  in  the  following  month  General  Armstrong,  then  in  command  at  New  York,  made  him 
his  brigade  inspector.    In  March,  1813,  he  was  in  charge  of  the  adjutant  general's  office  at  Washington  as  assistant,  but 
was  soon  afterward  promoted  to  major  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  and  ordered  to  the  Northern  frontier  at  Sackett's 
Harbor.    He  was  in  the  battle  of  Chrysler's  Field.    In  the  following  spring  he  accompanied  General  Brown's  division 
first  from  French  Mills  to  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  then  to  Buffalo,  and  in  April  received  the  appointment  of  adjutant  gen 
eral,  with  the  rank  of  colonel.    For  distinguished  services  on  the  Niagara  frontier  he  was  breveted  lieutenant  colonel, 
but,  being  then  colonel,  he  declined  it.    In  May,  181C,  he  was  recommissioned  adjutant  general  of  the  Army  of  the  North, 
and  in  ISIS  he  married  and  resigned.    In  1822-'3  he  edited  the  New  York  Patriot,  and  was  appointed  corresponding 
clerk  in  the  Post-office  Department.    In  1829  he  became  assistant  postmaster  general.    He  became  auditor  of  the  treas 
ury  for  the  Post-office  Department  in  1836,  and  was  afterward  postmaster  at  Washington  City,  and  surveyor  general  of 
Oregon.    Colonel  Gardner  is  now  (18G7)  a  resident  of  Washington  City.    He  is  the  author  of  a  Compend  of  Infantry  Tac 
tics,  and  a  very  comprehensive  Dictionary  of  the  Army. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


805 


Fort  Erie  captured  by  the  Americans. 


Re-enforcements  for  it  sent  too  late. 


General  RiaTl. 


Brown  ordered  Scott  to  push  for 
ward  a  battalion  nearer  the  fort,  to 
observe  the  movements  of  the  garri 
son.  This  battalion,  consisting  of  light 
troops  and  a  few  Indians,  were  under 
the  command  of  Major  Jesup,  of  the 
Twenty-fifth.  They  drove  in  the  ene 
my's  pickets ;  and  so  favorable  to  suc 
cess  was  every  appearance,  that  Brown 
resolved  to  invest  the  fort  with  Scott's 
brigade,  without  waiting  for  the  land 
ing  of  Ripley's.  Taking  with  him  a 
corps  just  formed  by  Major  Gardner, 
he  pushed  into  the  woods,  in  the  rear 
of  the  fort,  where  he  seized  a  resident, 
and  compelled  him  to  act  as  guide. 
He  then  directed  Gardner  to  press  for 
ward  through  the  forest  to  the  lake 
shore  above  the  fort,  extend  his  left  so 
as  to  connect  with  Jesup's  command, 
and  in  that  manner  inclose  the  post. 
This  movement  was  accomplished  be 
fore  Ripley,  at  a  late  hour,  crossed  the 
river  with  the  Nineteenth,  Twenty- 
first,  and  Twenty-third  Regiments,  and  met  at  the  landing  the  adjutant  general  with 
orders  for  his  brigade  to  take  the  investing  position  in  connection  with  Scott's  forces. 
This  was  promptly  done. 

No  time  was  lost  in  crossing  the  ordnance  and  selecting  positions  for  batteries  un 
der  the  direction  of  Chief  Engineer  M'Ree.  A  long  1 8-pound  cannon  was  mounted 
and  ready  for  action  upon  an  eminence  called  Snake  Hill,  when  Brown  demanded  the 
surrender  of  the  fort,  giving  the  commander,  Major  Buck,  two  hours  for  considera 
tion.  Very  soon  afterward  a  white  flag  came  out,  and  was  received  by  Major  Jesup ; 
the  fort,  which  was  in  a  very  weak  condition,  was  surrendered ;  and  at  six  o'clock  in 
the  evening  the  British  soldiers,  almost  two  hundred  in  number,  including  seven  offi 
cers,  marched  out  and  stacked  their  arms,  became  prisoners  of  war,  were  sent  across 
the  river,  and  posted  immediately  for  the  Hudson.  During  the  morning  the  British 
had  fired  cannon  from  the  fort,  which  killed  four  Americans,  and  wounded  two  or 
three  others.  When  the  pickets  were  driven  in  the  British  had  one  man  killed. 
These  were  all  the  casualties  attendant  upon  the  capture  of  Fort  Erie. 

Prompt  measures  were  taken  to  secure  the  advantage  gained  by  the  capture  of 
Fort  Erie.  Had  Ripley's  desire  for  delay  prevailed,  the  prize  would  not  have  been 
won,  for  the  British  commander  on  the  frontier,  Gen 
eral  Riall,1  had  been  apprised  of  the  danger  impend 
ing  over  the  fort,  and  at  eight  o'clock  that  morning 
had  sent  forward  five  companies  of  the  Royal  Scots 
to  re-enforce  it.  In  front  of  Chippewa  they  were  met  and  checked  by  intelligence  of 
the  surrender  of  the  fort.  General  Riall  then  determined  to  make  an  immediate  at 
tack  on  the  Americans,  but  was  induced  to  forbear  by  the  assurance  that  the  Eighth 
Regiment  was  hourly  expected  from  York,  now  Toronto.  He  agreed  to  postpone  the 
attack  until  the  next  morning. 

1  History  is  almost  silent  concerning  the  character  of  General  Riall.  A  contemporary,  who  served  under  him  at  the 
time  we  are  now  considering,  speaks  of  him  as  a  gallant  man,  but  possessed  of  very  little  military  skill;  who  had  "at 
tained  his  rank  by  the  purchase  of  all  purchasable  grades."  He  was  from  Tipperary,  in  Ireland,  a  little  less  than  mid 
dle  age,  and  a  man  of  fortune. 


806  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Sfott  moves  down  the  Niagara.  Preparations  for  Battle  at  Street's  Creek.  Origin  of  the  "  Cadet's  Gray." 

To  confront  and  drive  back  this  force  of  British  regulars,  Scott  was  sent  toward 
Chippewa  with  his  brigade,  accompanied  by  Captain  Towson's  artillery  corps,  on  the 
morning  of  the  4th.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  the  second  brigade,  under 
Ripley,  and  Hindman's  artillery,  were  prepared  to  move.  Scott  marched  down  the 

Canada  shore  of  the  Ni 
agara  River  to  a  posi 
tion  on  a  plain  behind 
Street's  Creek,  opposite 
the  lower  end  of  Navy 
Island,  and  little  more 
than  a  mile  above  Chip 
pewa.  On  the  way  he 
met  a  considerable  Brit 
ish  force  under  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Pearson, 
and,  after  a  sharp  skirm- 

STEEET'S  CKEEK  UKIDGE.'  ••,-,-,  i 

ish,  he  drove  them  be 
yond  Street's  Creek.  In  fact,  the  march,  for  sixteen  miles,  according  to  Jesup,  was 
"  a  continual  skirmish,"2  chiefly  with  the  British  One  Hundredth  Regiment,  under  the 
Marquis  of  Tweeddale,  who  were  driven  to  their  intrenchments  beyond  the  Chippewa. 
Believing  Scott's  troops  to  be  only  "  Buffalo  militia,"  the  marquis  could  account  for 
their  bravery  only  by  the  fact  of  its  being  the  anniversary  of  American  Independence, 
which  gave  them  patriotic  inspiration  and  courage.  He  was  undeceived  on  the  fol 
lowing  day.3  On  the  plain  between  Street's  Creek  and  the  Chippewa  River,  Captain 
Turner  Crooker,  of  the  Ninth,  with  a  detachment  of  light  infantry,  received  and  re 
pulsed  a  detachment  of  the  Nineteenth  British  Dragoons.  Finding  the  enemy  strong 
ly  posted  beyond  the  Chippewa,  General  Scott  called  in  his  light  troops,  and  took  a 
position  behind  Street's  Creek,  where  he  encamped  for  the  night.  At  about  midnight 
the  main  body  of  Brown's  army,  embracing  Ripley's  brigade,  a  field  and  battery  tram, 
and  Major  Hindman's  artillery  corps,  came  up,  accompanied  by  the  commanding  gen 
eral.  With  only  the  small  creek  between  them,  the  belligerent  armies  slumbered  that 
hot  July  night. 

The  morning  of  the  5th  of  July  dawned  gloriously.  The  positions  of  the  two  ar 
mies  were  simple.  On  the  east  was  the  Niagara  River,  along  the  margin  of  which 
was  a  road.  On  the  west  was  a  heavy  wood,  and  between  the  parties  coming  in  from 
the  woods  were  two  streams,  namely,  Street's  and  Chippewa  Creeks,  the  latter,  some 
times  called  the  Welland  Creek,  being  the  larger  in  volume.4  Below  the  Chippewa, 
and  about  two  miles  from  Scott's  camp,  was  that  of  Riall.  On  one  side  of  it  was  a 
block-house,  and  on  the  other  was  a  heavy  battery.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Chippewa, 
on  the  south  side,  some  fortifications  had  been  thrown  up  to  cover  the  bridge,  called 
a  tete-de-pont  (or  head  of  the  bridge)  battery,  whose  ruins  are  still  (1867)  visible. 
A  little  farther  up  the  river  the  British  had  a  small  navy  yard  and  some  barracks. 

1  This  is  a  view  of  the  bridge  at  the  mouth  of  Street's  Creek  looking  up  the  Niagara,  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  au 
thor  in  the  summer  of  I860.    On  the  extreme  right  is  seen  a  chimney,  which  composes  the  remains  of  the  house  of  Mr. 
Street,  from  whom  the  stream  derives  its  name.    In  the  distance,  on  the  left,  is  seen  Grand  Island. 

2  Jesup's  MS.  Memoir,  etc. 

3  General  Scott  explained  to  the  writer  the  cause  of  the  marquis's  mistake.    While  at  Buffalo  Scott  wrote  to  the  quar 
termaster  for  a  supply  of  new  clothing  for  his  regulars.    Word  soon  came  back  that  blue  Cloth,  such  as  was  used  in  the 
army,  conld  not  be  obtained,  owing  to  the  stringency  of  the  blockade  and  the  embargo,  and  the  lack  of  manufactures  in 
the  country,  but  that  there  was  a  sufficient  quantity  of  gray  cloth  (now  known  as  "  Cadet's  Gray")  in  Philadelphia. 
Scott  ordered  it  to  be  made  up  for  his  soldiers,  and  in  these  new  gray  suits  they  marched  down  the  Niagara  on  Canada 
soil.    Believing  them  to  be  only  militia,  Riall  regarded  them  with  contempt  when  preparing  for  battle  on  the  5th.    Be 
cause  of  the  victory,  won  chiefly  by  them,  at  Chippewa  on  the  5th,  and  in  honor  of  Scott  and  his  troops,  that  style  of 
cloth  was  adopted  at  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  as  the  uniform  of  the  cadets.    It  has  been  used  ever  since, 
and  is  known  to  be  the  best  color  for  field  service. 

*  The  Chippewa  is  navigable  with  small  boats  for  about  forty  miles.  It  is  obstructed,  however,  by  its  connection 
with  the  Welland  Canal,  about  nine  miles  from  its  mouth. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


807 


Scott  re-enforced. 


British  light  Troops  and  Indians  dislodged  by  Porter. 


Captaiu  Joseph  Treat. 


REMAINS   OP   TETE-DE-POUT   BATTEBY.1 

At  about  noon  of  the  5th  Scott  was  joined  by  three  hundred  Pennsylvania  Volun 
teers,  and  about  four  hundred  Indians  under  Captain  Pollard  and  the  famous  Red 
Jacket.  The  whole  were  commanded  by  General  Porter,  who  had  been  accompanied 
from  Black  Rock  by  Majors  Wood  and  Jones,  of  Brown's  staff.  The  British  were  re- 
enforced  during  the  night  by  the  expected  Eighth,  or  King's  Regiment,  from  York  or 
Toronto,  and  small  parties  went  out  from  their  line  at  dawn  on  the  beautiful  plain 
between  the  Chippewa  and  Street's  Creek — a  plain  then  bounded  on  the  west,  three 
fourths  of  a  mile  from  the  river,  by  a  dense  wood.  For  several  hours  the  belligerents 
were  feeling  each  other,  the  pickets  and  scouts  of  each  keeping  up  a  desultory  fire  all 
the  morning.2  Finally  the  American  pickets  on  the  extreme  left  of  Scott's  line  be 
came  so  annoyed  by  a  heavy  body  of  British  light  troops  and  Indians  in  the  woods, 
that  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  General  Porter  was  sent  with  his  corps  to  dis 
lodge  them.  He  was  successful.  The  enemy  fled  in  affright  toward  Chippewa,  dread 
fully  smitten  by  the  pursuers.  There  Porter  found  himself  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
entire  British  force  advancing  in  battle  order. 

In  this  affair,  up  to  the  meeting  of  the  British  in  force,  the  Indians  behaved  well. 
They  were  in  the  woods,  on  the  left  of  Porter's  column,  with  Red  Jacket  on  their  ex 
tremity  in  the  forest.  Porter,  with  Captain  Pollard,  the  Indian  leader,  took  post  in 
the  edge  of  the  woods,  between  the  pale  and  dusky  soldiers.  The  Indians,  led  by 

1  The  engraving  represents  the  remains  of  this  battery  when  I  visited  the  spot  and  sketched  them  in  the  summer  of 
1860.    In  the  front,  between  the  two  figures  and  the  mounds,  are  seen  the  waters  of  the  feeder  of  the  Welland  Canal. 
On  the  left  is  the  mouth  of  Chippewa  Creek,  and  beyond,  the  Niagara  River  at  the  head  of  the  Great  Rapids.    Beyond 
that  is  the  New  York  shore ;  and  to  the  left,  looking  by  the  head  of  Goat  Island,  is  seen  Niagara  Falls  Village.    Over 
the  most  westerly  point  of  the  remains  of  tete-de-pont  battery,  on  the  New  York  shore,  is  seen  the  residence  of  Colo 
nel  Peter  Augustus  Porter,  son  of  the  general,  who  accompanied  me  at  that  time.    This  gentleman  lost  his  life  while  at 
the  head  of  his  regiment  fighting  for  the  republic  in  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness,  Virginia,  in  1SC4. 

2  It  was  during  these  movements  early  in  the  morning  that  Captain  Treat,  in  command  of  a  picket-guard  of  forty  men 
and  a  patrol  often,  "  retired  disgracefully,  leaving  a  wounded  man  on  the  ground,"  as  General  Brown  said  in  his  re 
port.    For  this  alleged  offense,  Brown  ordered  Treat,  on  the  spot,  to  retire  from  the  army ;  and,  in  his  report  of  the  af 
fair,  he  advised  the  dismissal  of  the  captain  and  one  of  his  lieutenants  from  the  service.     "This  punishment"  says 
Brown,  in  a  manuscript  "Memorandum  of  Occurrences,  etc.,  connected  with  the  Campaign  of  Niagara,"  "  though  severe, 
was  just,  and  at  the  moment  indispensable.    It  had  the  happiest  effect  upon  the  army." 

This  affair  gave  rise  to  much  feeling  in  and  out  of  the  army.  Captain  Treat  was  a  most  valuable  officer,  and  had 
been  highly  esteemed  by  General  Brown.  On  the  day  after  his  disgrace  he  called  on  General  Brown  and  demanded  a 
court-martial.  It  was  finally  granted,  after  long  and  tedious  delays, 
but  the  result  was  not  reached  until  the  8th  of  May,  1815,  when  the 
court  declared,  "After  mature  deliberation  on  the  testimony  deduced, 
the  court  find  the  accused,  Captain  Joseph  Treat,  not  guilty  of  the 

charge  or  specification  preferred  against  him,  and  do  honorably  acquit       ..  -  - 

him."  This  finding  of  the  court  was  approved  by  Major  General  Brown    »/      I        ^^^^   ^-c 
at  Sackett's  Harbor  on  the  3d  of  July  following.    At  about  the  same 
time  Captain  Treat  published  a  vindication  "against  the  atrocious 
calumny,"  which  was  dedicated  to  President  Madison.    It  contains  a  report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  court-martial,  and 
occupies  sixty-two  pages.    The  vindication  of  his  character  as  a  soldier  was  triumphant. 

Captain  Treat  was  the  son  of  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  on  the  Penobscot,  in  Maine.  He  entered  the  army  as  captain 
of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment  of  Infantry  in  the  spring  of  1812.  With  his  company,  recruited  chiefly  at  Bangor,  hejoined 
the  Northern  Army.  On  the  day  of  his  disgrace  on  Chippewa  Plain  he  volunteered  to  fight  as  a  private ;  and  such  was 
the  confidence  of  Major  Vose,  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment,  in  Captain  Treat,  that  he  requested  him  to  take  command 
of  a  platoon  in  the  fight.  He  declined,  but  fought  bravely  in  the  ranks.  He  became  brigadier  general  of  militia  in  his 
native  state  in  1820,  and  the  memory  of  General  Treat  is  cherished  with  the  most  cordial  respect.  N 


808 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Poster's  Troops  and  the  Indians  retreat.         Scott  advances  to  meet  the  British.         Composition  of  the  British  Force. 

their  war-chiefs,  were  allowed  to  conduct  their  share  of  the  battle  as  they  pleased ; 
and,  when  the  enemy  had  delivered  his  fire,  they  rushed  forward  with  horrid  yells, 
spreading  consternation  in  the  ranks  of  the  foe,  and  making  fearful  havoc  with  toma 
hawk  and  scalping-knife.  They  fought  desperately,  hand-to-hand  in  many  instances, 
and  in  every  way  they  won  the  applause  of  their  commanding  general.  But  the  tide 
of  fortune  soon  changed.  The  heavy  line  of  the  foe,  after  an  exchange  of  two  or  three 
rounds  of  musketry,  charged  Porter's  troops  with  the  bayonet  furiously.  Hearing 
nothing  of  General  Scott,  and  finding  no  support  against  an  overwhelming  force  near, 
Porter  gave  an  order  to  retreat  and  form  on  the  left  of  Scott's  brigade,  beyond  Street's 
Creek.  The  retreat  became  a  tumultuous  rout. 

Riall,  it  seems,  had  intended  to  fall  upon  the  American  camp  with  his  whole  force, 
and  for  that  purpose  he  had  led  it  across  Chippewa  Creek.  There  Porter  had  con 
fronted  it,  as  we  have  observed.  General  Brown  was  on  the  extreme  left,  watching 
Porter's  movements  at  this  time,  and,  seeing  an  immense  cloud  of  dust  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Chippewa,  at  once  comprehended  its  meaning.  He  correctly  supposed  the 
whole  force  of  the  enemy  to  be  advancing,  and  at  once  dispatched  Colonel  Gardner 
with  an  order  to  General  Ripley  to  put  in  motion  the  Twenty-first  Regiment  of  In 
fantry  and  Biddle's 
Battery.  He  also  or 
dered  Captain  Ritch 
ie,  with  his  artillery 
company,  to  follow 
him  to  the  plain, 
where  he  properly 
posted  him,  and  then 
rode  to  the  quarters 
of  General  Scott  to 
direct  him  to  cross 
Street's  Creek  at  once 
with  his  whole  bri 
gade  and  Towson's 
artillery  to  meet  the 
advancing  foe.  He 
found  Scott  almost 
ready,  with  his  horse 
before  his  tent,  to  lead  his  brigade  over  for  the  purpose  of  drilling  them  on  the  plain. 
He  did  not  believe  the  enemy  to  be  so  near  in  force,  but,  like  a  true  soldier,  he  obeyed 
the  order  promptly,  rather  captiously  remarking  that  he  would  march  and  drill  his 
brigade,  but  did  not  believe  he  would  find  three  hundred  of  the  enemy  there.2  Just 
then  Porter's  flight  was  observed.  It  uncovered  Scott's  left,  and  exposed  it  to  great 
peril ;  but  Ripley  had  been  ordered  to  advance  cautiously  through  the  woods,  under 
the  direction  of  Colonel  Gardner,  and  produce  a  diversion  in  Scott's  favor  by  falling 
on  the  rear  of  the  British  right. 

General  Riall's  advancing  army  was  composed  of  the  One  Hundredth  Regiment, 
commanded  by  the  Marquis  of  Tweeddale ;  the  First,  or  Royal  Scots,  under  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Gordon ;  a  portion  of  the  Eighth,  or  King's  Regiment,  under  Major  Evans ; 
a  detachment  of  the  Royal  Artillery,  under  Captain  Macconnoehie ;  and  also  of  the 

i  This  is  a  view  of  the  bridge  over  Street's  Creek,  looking  down  the  Niagara  Eiver.  Across  the  Niagara,  in  the  ex 
treme  distance,  immediately  to  the  right  of  the  figures  on  the  bridge,  is  seen  Schlosser  Landing,  and,  nearer,  the  foot 
of  Navy  Island.  The  house  beyond  the  willow-tree,  on  the  left,  is  on  a  portion  of  the  battle-ground,  and  belonged, 
when  I  was  there,  to  Mr.  William  Gray.  It  was  the  scene  of  a  tragedy  during  the  troubles  in  Canada  in  1837  and  1838. 
Some  miscreants  came  over  from  Navy  Island  one  night  (among  them  the  scoundrel  Lett,  who  destroyed  Brock's  Mon 
ument),  and,  after  enticing  a  Mr.  Edgworth  Usher,  who  was  at  this  house,  to  come  to  the  door,  shot  him  through  the 
side-lights  as  he  was  seen  approaching  with  a  candle  in  his  hand. 

a  General  Brown's  MS.  Memoir  of  Events  in  the  Niagara  Campaign. 


STBEET'B  OBEEK  BBIDGE,  LOOKING  NORTH. ' 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


809 


Beginning  of  the  Battle  of  Chippewa. 


Charge  of  the  Eleventh  Regiment. 


Nathan  Towson. 


Royal  Nineteenth  Dragoons,-under  Major  Lisle  ;  a  regiment  of  Lincoln  militia,  under 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Dixon,  and  a  body  of  Indians.  These  were  supported  by  a  heavy 
battery  of  nine  pieces.  He  advanced  from  his  intrenchments  at  Chippewa  in  three 
columns,  his  vanguard  being  composed  of  light  companies  of  the  Royal  Scots  and  of 
the  One  Hundredth  Regiments,  and  the  Second  Regiment  of  Lincoln  militia.  These 
were  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Pearson.  On  his  right,  in  the  edge  of  the 
woods,  were  about  three  hundred  Indian  warriors.  It  was  these,  with  the  vanguard, 
who  fell  upon  Porter.  On  the  road  that  skirts  the  Niagara  River,  Riall  placed  two 
light  24-pounders  and  a  5|-inch  howitzer. 

Scott  in  the  mean  time  had  crossed  Street's  Creek  over  the  bridge  with  the  great 
est  coolness,  in  the  face  of  a  heavy  cannonade  from  the  enemy's  full  battery  within 
point-blank  range,  and  formed  in  battle  order  with  the  Ninth  and  part  of  the  Twenty- 
second  Regiment,  under  Major  Leavenworth,  covered  by  Towson's  artillery,  on  the 
extreme  right,  the  Eleventh  Regiment,  under  Major  M'Neil  (Colonel  Campbell,  its 
commander,  having  received  a  severe  wound  in  the  knee),  in  the  centre,  and  the 
Twenty-fifth  Regiment,  commanded  by  Major  Jesup,  on  the  extreme  left.  In  this 
movement  Scott  was  greatly  aided  by  Towson,1  whose  artillery,  placed  near  the 
bridge,  kept  the  enemy  at  bay,  and  at  times  caused  him  to  slacken  his  cannonade. 

When  Porter's  corps  came  flying  in  confusion  from  the  enemy's  right,  they  were 
partially  checked  by  Captain  Harris's  cavalry  behind  a  ravine  fronting  Brown's  camp, 
and  Jesup,  by  an  oblique  movement,  covered  Scott's  left,  while  Ripley  was  making  un 
availing  efforts  to  gain  the  position  to  which  he  was  ordered  by  Brown.  Jesup  was 
joined  by  Porter  and  his  staff,  and  some  of  the  more  courageous  volunteers,  and  as 
the  conflict  became  general,  the  major  engaged  and  held  in  check  the  enemy's  right 
wing.  The  battle  raged  with  fury  along  the  entire  line  of  both  armies.  Several  times 
the  British  line  was  broken,  and  then  closed  up  again ;  and  it  often  exposed  as  many 
flanks  as  it  had  regiments  in  the  field.  This  unskillful  manoeuvring  had  been  ob 
served  by  Scott,  who  had  advanced,  halted,  and  fired 
alternately,  until  he  was  within  eighty  paces  of  his  foe. 
Observing  a  gap  in  his  lines  which  made  a  new  flank, 
he  ordered  a  quick  movement  in  that  direction  by 
M'Neil's  Eleventh  Regiment.  He  shouted  with  a  voice 
that  was  heard  above  the  din  of  battle, "  The  enemy 
say  that  we  ai*e  good  at  long  shot,  but  can  not  stand 
the  cold  iron !  I  call  upon  the  Eleventh  instantly  to 
give  the  lie  to  that  slander  !  Charge  /"2  This  move 
ment  was  immediately  made,  with  the  most  decisive 
effect.  A  similar  charge  was  made  by  Leavenworth, 

1  Nathan  Towson  was  one  of  the  most  useful  officers  of  the  army  at  this 
time.  He  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1784,  and  was  appointed  captain  in  the 
Second  Regiment  of  Artillery  in  March,  1812.  He  aided  Lieutenant  Elliott, 
of  the  navy,  as  we  have  seen  (page  386),  in  capturing  the  Caledonia  at  Fort 
Erie  in  October  of  that  year,  and  for  his  gallant  conduct  there  he  was  brevet 
ed  a  major.  In  repelling  the  attack  of  the  British  on  Fort  George,  Upper 
Canada,  in  July,  1813,  he  was  wounded.  He  greatly  distinguished  himself  un 
der  Brown  as  an  artillery  officer,  and  was  breveted  lieutenant  colonel  for  his 
good  conduct  in  the  battle  of  Chippewa.  He  performed  equally  distinguished 
service  at  Niagara  and  Fort  Erie.  In  the  latter  a  bastion  was  named  in  his 
honor,  after  the  Americans  took  possession  of  it,  early  in  July,  1814.  He  was 
retained  in  the  service  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  made  paymaster  gen 
eral  in  1819.  In  1834  he  was  breveted  brigadier  general ;  and  for  his  distin 
guished  services  in  the  Mexican  War  he  was  breveted  major  general  in  March, 
1849.  He  died  in  Washington  City  on  the  20th  of  July,  1854,  at  the  age  of  seven 
ty  years.  His  remains  lie  interred  on  a  pleasant  slope  in  Oak  Hill  Cemetery, 
Georgetown,  District  of  Columbia,  by  the  side  of  those  of  his  wife,  and  over 
them  is  a  beautiful  white  marble  monument  on  which  is  the  following  simple 
inscription:  "NATHAN  TOWSON,  Brevet  Major  General  and  Paymaster  Gen 
eral,  United  States  Army.  SOPHIA  TOWSON,  wife  of  Nathan  Towson." 

3  Mansfield's  Life  of  Scottj  page  107.  GENERAL  TOWSON'S  GBAVE. 


810 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


M 'Neil's  flank  Movement. 


The  British  routed. 


The  Losses  of  the  Combatants, 


who  held  an  oblique  position  on  the 
American  right.  At  the  same  time  Tow- 
son's  battery  poured  in  an  oblique  fire 
of  murderous  canister-shot,  after  silenc 
ing  the  enemy's  most  effective  battery 
by  blowing  up  an  ammunition-wagon; 
and  presently  the  whole  left  and  centre 
of  the  British  broke  and  fled  in  confu 
sion.  That  effective  flank  movement  by 
M'Neil  was  the  one,  there  can  be  no 
doubt,  which  gave  the  victory  to  the 
Americans.  "He  deserved,"  said  Gen 
eral  Scott  in  his  report,  "  every  thing 
which  conspicuous  skill  and  gallantry 
can  win  from  a  grateful  country."  He 
was  soon  afterward  breveted  a  lieuten 
ant  colonel "  for  his  intrepid  behavior  on 
the  5th  day  of  July,  in  the  battle  of 
Chippewa." 

At  this  time  Jesup,  hotly  pressed  by 
the  British  right,  and  finding  his  men 
falling  thickly  ai-ound  him,  ordered  his 
soldiers  to  "  support  arms  and  advance !" 
In  the  face  of  a  deadly  and  destructive 
fire  this  order  was  obeyed,  and  a  more 
secure  position  was  gained,  when  Jesup 
opened  such  a  terrific  fire  on  the  enemy 
that  they  broke  and  fled  toward  their  in- 
trenchments  beyond  the  Chippewa.  Cap 
tain  Ketchum,  with  one  of  the  light  com 
panies  of  the  Twenty-fifth,  hotly  pur 
sued  the  fugitives,  and  halted  only  when 
within  half  musket -shot  of  Chippewa 
Bridge,  where  they  received  some  dam 
age  from  the  tete-de-pont  battery.  They 
captured  many  prisoners.  The  British 
did  not  cease  their  flight  until  they 
were  fairly  behind  their  breastworks  be 
low  Chippewa  Creek,  and  taken  up  the 
planks  of  the  bridge.  The  plain  was 
strewn  with  the  dead  and  the  dying  of 
both  nations.  The  American  loss  dur- 
NOTE.— The  above  map  indicates  the  movements  of  the  ing  the  morning  skirmishing  and  in  the 
^Tps,int?eTbattleofc!!ippewa-  A  H  show  the  position  of  evening  battle  on  that  long,  hot  July 

M'Neil  and  Leavenworth  when  they  made  the  final  charge.  »  '  J, 

a,  a,  a,  the  point  to  which  Porter  drove  the  British  and  In-  day,  was   Sixty-One   killed,  tWO   hundred 

dians  (see  page  SOT).   6,  street's  barn.  and   fifty -five   wounded,  and   nineteen 

missing.     The  British  lost  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  killed,  three  hundred  and 
twenty-two  wounded,  and  forty-six  missing.1     The  horrors  of  the  battle-field  were 

*  The  American  musketry  was  very  effective.  Over  each  ball,  in  loading,  the  Americans  placed  three  buckshot,  which 
scattered  and  did  severe  execution.  The  British  lost  largely  in  officers.  A  member  of  the  Marquis  of  Tweeddale's  One 
Hundredth  Regiment  afterward  stated  that  two  officers  of  that  regiment  were  killed  and  twenty  wounded.  Among  the 
latter  was  the  marquis  himself.  Fourteen  of  the  British  were  made  prisoners.  These,  added  to  the  prisoners  captured 
at  Fort  Erie  two  days  before,  made  the  number  151.  The  writer  above  alluded  to  says  that  the  American  officers  were 
seen  on  the  field  freely  exposing  themselves  in  front  of  their  men.  "  As  to  General  Rial!,  as  soon  as  his  line  fled,  he 


•^Dl/ 

D     ^ 
POHTERy 
WITH  HIS- 
REGULARS _ 

^'•»  V 

T  'V    CAP.  TREAT 

GUARD,  JULY  4TH. 


OF  THE  WAR    OF    1812.  811 


Bravery  of  Adjutant  O'Conner.    The  British  Position  at  Chippewa.    The  Americans  fall  back.    Indians  disheartened. 

mitigated  by  a  gentle  shower,  that  came  like  an  angel  of  mercy  at  the  close  of  the 
conflict  to  cool  the  throbbing  temples  and  moisten  the  feverish  lips  of  the  wounded. 

At  the  close  of  the  battle  on  the  plain,  when  Scott  was  about  to  commence  a  vig 
orous  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  Porter  was  ordered  forward  to  his  support  with  two 
hundred  Pennsylvania  militia  who  had  been  left  in  camp  as  reserves.  These  took 
post  on  Scott's  left,  where  they  awaited  the  arrival  of  Ripley's  brigade,  which  had 
not  reached  the  field  in  time  to  participate  in  the  action.  The  gallant  Adjutant  O'Con 
nor1  dashed  forward  alone  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy's  position.  He  saw  them  tear 
ing  up  Chippewa  Bridge,  and  comprehended  the  situation  at  a  glance.  Having  satis 
fied  himself,  he  wheeled  his  horse  and  galloped  back  to  the  lines,  followed  by  several 
bullets  from  the  men  at  the  bridge,  which  did  no  harm.  Scott  pressed  forward,  and 
at  a  point  of  woods  came  into  an  open  field  in  full  view  of  the  enemy.  The  guns  at 
the  ttte-de-pont  battery  and  at  the  British  camp  opened  upon  them,  the  corps  of  Por 
ter  receiving  the  first  discharge.  Just  then  a  building  near  the  bridge,  touched  by  a 
British  torch,  burst  into  flame ;  and  at  the  same  moment  a  thunder-gust,  followed  by 
gentle  rain,  went  skurrying  up  the  river,  filling  the  air  with  blinding  clouds  of  dust. 
The  commanding  general  resolved  to  bring  up  all  his  ordnance,  and  force  the  enemy's 
position  by  a  direct  attack,  when  Major  Wood,  of  the  Engineers,  and  Captain  Austin, 
the  general's  aid,  who  had  been  forward  and  made  observations,  assured  him  that  the 
position  of  the  enemy  was  too  strong  to  be  easily  moved.  This  report,  and  the  ad 
vice  of  Scott  and  Wood,  caused  the  general  to  issue  an  order  for  a  retrograde  move 
ment.  The  victorious  little  army  marched  slowly  back  through  mud  where  deep 
dust  had  lain  only  an  hour  before,  and  at  sunset  reached  their  encampment  behind 
Street's  Creek.  On  that  eventful  night  Chippewa  Plains  were  deserted,  and  the  two 
armies  occupied  the  same  relative  position  which  they  did  at  dawn.  In  the  morn 
ing  General  Brown  had  assured  General  Porter  that  not  a  British  regular  would  be 
seen  on  the  south  side  of  the  Chippewa  that  day,  and  in  this  belief  Scott  had  shared.2 
But  they  had  been  there,  left  a  sanguinary  record,  and  were  gone ;  and  the  stars  look 
ed  down  that  night  on  a  scene  of  repose,  tranquil  and  profound,  where  the  horrid  de 
tonations  of  fierce  conflict  had  been  heard,  and  the  smoke  of  battle  had  obscured  the 
light  of  the  evening  sun. 

There  was  joy  in  the  American  camp  that  night.  A  decisive  battle  had  been  fought 
by  small  numbers,3  and  gallantly  won  by  the  Americans.  The  chief  glory  properly 
belonged  to  General  Scott,  whose  brigade  was  the  principal  instrument  in  the  achieve 
ment.4  It  was  very  important  in  its  results — more  important,  perhaps,  than  any  pre 
ceding  battle  of  the  war.  The  Indian  allies  of  the  British  were  disheartened.  Their 
disaffection,  begun  at  the  Thames,  was  now  made  complete.  Nearly  all  of  the  sav- 

rode  up  straight  to  the  enemy's  line,  as  if  to  court  death ;  but,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  he  failed  to  find  it,  while  his 
fashionable  and  well-dressed  aid-de-camp,  obliged  to  accompany  him  in  what  he  must  have  thought  not  a  very  agreea 
ble  enterprise,  was  seriously  wounded  in  the  thigh."— See  The  Spirit  of  our  Times,  Montreal,  March  16, 1S61. 

Among  the  American  officers  who  were  wounded  was  Colonel  Campbell,  and  Captains  King,  Read,  and  Harrison. 
The  first-named  fell,  as  we  have  seen,  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  action.  Captain  Harrison  had  his  leg  shot  off  by  a 
cannon-ball,  but  heroically  refused  to  allow  a  man  to  be  taken  from  the  ranks  to  bear  him  off  until  the  British  retreat 
ed.  Lieutenants  Palmer,  Barron,  De  Witt,  Patchin,  and  Brimhall  were  also  wounded. 

1  John  Michael  O'Connor  was  a  native  of  New  York.    He  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant  in  the  Third  Artillery  in 
March,  1S12.    He  was  soon  afterward  appointed  regimental  quartermaster,  and  in  the  spring  of  1813  was  promoted  to 
captain.    On  the  20th  of  June,  1S14,  he  was  appointed  assistant  adjutant  general,  under  Gardner,  on  General  Brown's 
staff,  and  held  that  office  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Chippewa.    He  was  retained  in  the  army  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
and  left  it  in  1S21.    In  1824  he  translated  for  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  Guy  de  Vernon's  Science  of  War  and 
Fortifications. 

2  Manuscript  Narrative  of  the  Battles  of  Chippewa  and  Niagara,  by  General  Porter.    General  Brown  expressed  this 
belief  to  General  Porter  while  the  latter  was  marching  from  Black  Rock  to  Scott's  encampment.    He  informed  Porter 
that  the  British  militia  and  Indians  were  annoying  his  pickets  very  much,  and  when  proposing  to  that  officer  to  em 
ploy  his  Indians  in  driving  the  former  from  the  woods  he  promised  him  ample  support,  and  gave  him  the  assurance 
that  no  regulars  would  be  seen.— See  Stone's  Life  of  Red  Jacket,  page  257. 

3  According  to  the  most  careful  estimates,  the  whole  number  of  troops  actually  engaged  in  the  battle  did  not  exceed 
3000,  namely,  1300  Americans  and  1700  British. 

*  "Brigadier  General  Scott,"  said  Brown,  in  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  7th  of  July,  "is  entitled  to  the 
highest  praise  our  country  can  bestow ;  to  him  more  than  any  other  man  I  am  indebted  for  the  victory  of  the  5th  of 
July.  His  brigade  has  covered  itself  with  glory The  family  of  General  Scott  were  conspicuous  in  the  field— Lieu- 


812 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  People  inspirited. 


Recruiting  active. 


Sketches  of  subordinate  Officers. 


ages,  who  had  been  a  terror  to  all  in  every  district  in  the  West  in  which  military 
movements  occurred,  now  left  the  British  army  and  returned  to  their  homes.  The 
victory  also  gave  a  needed  impetus  to  enlistments.  It  created  great  joy  throughout 
the  country.  The  people  were  amazingly  inspirited,  and  recruiting  became  so  active 
that  almost  any  number  of  men  might  have  been  added  to  the  army  for  another  cam 
paign.  This  victory  also  won  more  genuine  respect  for  the  Americans  from  the  ene 
my  than  had  ever  been  accorded  before ;  and  among  the  peevish  expressions  of  mor- 

tenant  Smith,  of  the  Sixth  Infantry,  major  of  brigade,*  and  Lieutenants  Wortht  and  Watts, t  his  aids.  From  General 
Ripley  and  his  brigade  I  received  every  assistance  that  I  gave  them  an  opportunity  of  rendering."  He  gave  equally 
warm  praise  to  General  Porter  and  his  command,  and  all  the  other  officers  and  troops.  Of  Gardner  and  Jones,  §  of  his 
own  military  family,  he  made  particular  mention,  and  said,  "  I  shall  have  occasion  again  to  speak  to  you." 

*  Gerard  D.  Smith,  who  was  made  adjutant  in  1813,  was  now  Scott's  brigade  major,  having  been  appointed  in  March. 
He  was  a  native  of  New  York.  He  had  been  promoted  to  captain  in  June,  but  his  commission  had  not  yet  been  made 
known  to  General  Brown.  In  the  battle  of  Niagara  he  so  distinguished  himself  that  he  was  breveted  a  major.  He  was 
wounded  there,  with  his  chief.  He  was  retained  in  the  army  at  the  peace,  but  resigned  in  1819. 

t  William  Jenkins  Worth  was  a  native  of  Columbia  County,  New 
York,  and  died  a  major  general  by  brevet  in  the  army  of  the  United 
States.  He  entered  the  army  as  first  lieutenant,  and  was  aid-de 
camp  to  Major  General  Lewis  in  1813.  In  March,  1814,  he  became 
aid  to  Brigadier  General  Scott,  and  was  breveted  captain  for  his 
gallant  services  in  the  battle  of  Chippewa.  For  his  distinguished 

conduct  in  the  battle  of  Niagara,  twenty  days  later,  he  was  breveted 

a  major.  In  that  battle  he  was  severely  wounded.  He  was  com 
missioned  a  captain  the  next  month,  and  was  retained  in  the  service  at  the  close  of  the  war.  In  1842  he  was  breveted 
brigadier  for  his  valuable  services  in  Florida,  having  previously  attained  to  the  rank  of  full  colonel  of  the  Eighth  In 
fantry.  He  commanded  with  distinction  during  the  Seminole  War ;  and  for  his  gallant  con 
duct  at  Monterey,  in  Mexico,  he  was  breveted  a  major  general.  In  March,  1847,  the  Con 
gress  of  the  United  States  voted  him  a  sword  for  his  meritorious  conduct  there.  His  ca 
reer  in  Mexico  was  highly  honorable  to  him  and  his  country.  It  was  he  who  received  the 
message  from  the  authorities  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  on  the  night  of  the  13th  of  September, 
r-T^  1848,  offering  to  surrender  the  capital.  He  died  at 

his  head-quarters  at  San  Antonio,  Texas,  on  the 
7th  of  May,  1849.  Nine  years  afterward,  a  monu 
ment,  composed  of  Quincy  granite,  fifty-one  feet 
f=  fff  in  height,  on  which  is  inscribed  the  names  of  the 
several  battles  in  which  he  had  been  engaged,  was 
erected  in  the  city  of  New  York,  at  the  junction 
of  Broadway  and  Fifth  Avenue.  Anthony  Street, 
in  the  same  city,  was  named  Worth  Street  at 
about  the  same  time,  in  honor  of  the  hero. 

t  George  Watts,  who  was  a  native  of  New  York, 
greatly  distinguished  himself  on  this  occasion. 
In  a  letter  to  General  Brown,  written  ten  days 
after  the  battle,  General  Scott  spoke  in  the  high 
est  terms  of  Worth  and  Watts.  "  They  both  ren 
dered  essential  services,"  he  said,  "  at  critical  mo 
ments,  by  assisting  the  commandant  of  corps  in 
forming  the  troops  under  circumstances  which 

precluded  the  voice  from  being  heard.  Their  conduct  has  been  handsomely 
acknowledged  by  the  officers  of  the  line,  who  have  joined  in  requesting  that  it 
might  be  particularly  noticed."  Young  Watts  was  breveted  first  lieutenant  for 
his  good  behavior  on  that  occasion.  He  belonged  to  the  First  Light  Dragoons, 
of  which  he  was  third  lieutenant.  In  Brown's  sortie  from  Fort  Erie,  a  few 
weeks  later,  he  distinguished  himself.  He  was  retained  in  the  army  as  first 
lieutenant  of  infantry  in  1815,  but  resigned  the  following  year.  A  fine  portrait 
of  him  is  in  the  possession  of  General  J.  Watts  Depeyster,  of  Tivoli,  New  York. 
§  Roger  Jones  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  On  the  southern  border  of  the 
Congressional  Burying-ground  at  Washington  City,  overlooking  the  eastern 
branch  of  the  Potomac,  is  a  beautiful  clouded  Italian  marble  monument,  erect 
ed  to  his  memory,  upon  which  is  inscribed  the  following  brief  history  of  his 
life :  "  Born  in  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia ;  died  at  Washington  on  the 
15th  day  of  July,  1852,  in  the  64th  year  of  his  age.  He  entered  the  service  of 
his  country  as  a  lieutenant  of  marines  in  1809,  and  was  appointed  captain  of 
artillery  at  the  commencement  of  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  served  with 
honor  43  years.  He  was  twice  breveted  for  distinguished  gallantry  and  con 
duct  on  the  field  of  battle— at  Chippewa  and  the  sortie  at  Fort  Erie.  A  brave  soldier  and  a  good  man." 

For  his  services  at  Chippewa  Jones  was  breveted  a  major,  and  at  Fort  Erie  lieutenant  colonel.  He  was  retained  in 
the  army,  and  was  made  aid-de-camp  to  General  Brown  in  June,  1815.  He  was  appointed  adjutant  general,  with  the 
rank  of  colonel,  in  1818,  and  in  1824  was  breveted  colonel  for  ten  years'  faithful  service.  -In  June,  1832,  he  was  breveted 
a  brigadier  general,  and  relinquished  his  rank  in  line  in  1835.  He  engaged  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  for  his  services 
there  was  breveted  major  general  in  March,  1849. 

On  the  west  side  of  Jones's  monument  are  the  names  of  the  battles  in  which  he  was  engaged  in  the  War  of  1812, 
namely,  Fort  George,  Stony  Creek,  Chippewa,  Niagara,  and  Fort  Erie  sortie.  On  the  east  side  of  the  obelisk  is  sculp 
tured,  in  high  relief,  a  straight  sword,  garlanded  by  laurel  and  olive  leaves. 


WORTH  S   MONUMENT. 


JONES'S  MONUMENT. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  813 

Brown  expects  the  Co-operation  of  Chauncey.       Preparations  to  cross  the  Chippewa.       Tardiness  of  General  Ripley. 

tification  which  it  elicited  from  English  writers  and  speakers  were  found  honorable 
acknowledgments  of  the  prowess  and  genius  of  American  soldiers.1 

It  was  late  in  the  evening  after  the  battlea  before  the  wounded  of  both  ar-    » juiy  5, 
mies  could  be  taken  care  of.2    The  dead  remained  unburied  all  night,  but  early       18U- 
on  the  morrow  they  were  sought  for  over  the  open  battle-field  and  in  the  woods,  and 
committed  to  the  earth  with  great  respect.     Much  of  the  6th  and  7thb  was  oc- 

•  k  July 

cupied  in  this  business,  while  General  Brown  was  impatient  to  advance,  for  he 
expected  the  arrival  of  Chauncey  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River  to  co-operate 
with  him.     He  was  satisfied  that  the  passage  of  the  Chippewa  Bridge  in  the  face  of 
the  intrenched  enemy  would  be  too  hazardous  to  warrant  the  undertaking,  and,  in 
formed  that  an  interior  route  for  Queenston  would  lie  through  a  heavy  forest,  almost 
impassable  because  of  a  lack  of  roads  and  paths,  he  sent  a  small  reconnoitring  party 
in  search  of  a  place  to  cross  the  Chippewa  not  far  above  the  camp  of  the  enemy. 
An  inhabitant  informed  them  that  an  old  and  deserted  timber  road,  seen  at  the  rear 
of  Street's  house,  led  by  a  circuitous  route  to  the  Chippewa,  at  the  mouth  of  Lyon's 
Creek,  about  a  mile  above  the  British  camp.    Early  on  the  morning  of  the  7th,c 
General  Brown,  accompanied  by  General  Porter  and  Colonel  M'Ree,  the  senior 
engineer,  went  out  to  explore  it,  and  were  satisfied  that  it  might  soon  be  made  pass 
able  for  artillery.     A  heavy  detail  was  sent  out  for  the  purpose,  and  before  evening 
the  way  from  Street's  to  Lyon's  Creek  was  ready  for  the  contemplated  movement. 

Anxious  to  diffuse  the  right  spirit  of  emulation  throughout  his  army,  General  Scott 
resolved  to  send  Ripley  in  advance,  as  he  was  not  able  to  participate  in  the  fatigues 
and  honors  of  the  battle  on  the  5th,  while  Scott,  who  had  already  won  laurels,  should 
keep  the  left  of  the  enemy  at  Chippewa  Bridge  in  check.     Ripley  was  accordingly 
ordered  to  lead  his  own  brigade  and  that  of  Porter,  with  two  companies  of  artillery  - 
under  Hindman,  to  the  extreme  right  of  the  enemy,  cross  the  Chippewa  at  the  mouth 
of  Lyon's  Creek,  and  fall  upon  his  flank.     This  order  did  not  suit  General  Ripley,  and 
he   hesitated   in    obe 
dience.     The  day  was 
rapidly  wearing  away, 
and    General    Brown, 
impressed  with  the  im 
portance  of  a  prompt 
movement,  rode  to  the 
front   and   took    com 
mand  in  person.     The 
materials  for  the  con 
struction  of  a  tempo 
rary  bridge   over  the 

rv,  .  MOUTH  OP  LYON'S  CBEEK  IN  I860. 

Chippewa   were    soon 

on  its  southern  bank,  and  Hindman  posted  his  artillery  on  a  rise  of  ground  so  as  to 

cover  the  field  of  operations.3 

Riall  in  the  mean  time  had  discovered  Brown's  movement,  and  perceived  his  own 
peril  involved  in  it ;  and  while  a  few  troops,  with  some  field-pieces,  that  were  sent  up 

1  "The  important  fact  is,"  said  an  English  writer  quoted  by  Mansfield,  "that  we  have  now  got  an  enemy  who  fights 
as  bravely  as  ourselves.  For  some  time  the  Americans  cut  no  figure  on  land.  They  have  now  proved  to  us  that  they 
only  wanted  time  to  acquire  a  little  discipline.  They  have  now  proved  to  us  what  they  are  made  of;  that  they  are  the 
same  sort  of  men  as  those  who  captured  whole  armies  under  Burgoyne  and  Cornwallis  ;  that  they  are  neither  to  be 
frightened  nor  silenced." 

3  Among  the  British  officers  who  were  wounded  was  the  present  [1867]  Sir  James  Wilson,  governor  of  Chelsea  Hospi 
tal.  He  received  five  wounds  in  the  battle  of  Chippewa.  He  has  been  over  sixty  years  in  the  British  military  service. 

3  When  I  visited  the  spot  in  1860,  the  rise  of  ground  on  which  Hindman  placed  his  guns  was  occupied  by  the  steam 
saw-mill  of  Mr.  Barnabas  Crane,  whose  smoke-stack  is  seen  in  the  above  picture  rising  like  a  steeple  above  the  trees 
of  an  intervening  orchard.  Lyon's  Creek,  a  small  stream  named  after  the  first  settler  there,  is  seen  in  the  foreground, 
making  its  way  through  a  boggy  swale,  and  the  Chippewa  beyond  the  two  trees.  This  is  about  a  mile  from  the  mouth 
of  Chippewa  Creek. 

\ 


814  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Passage  of  the  Chippewa.  Riall  re-enforced.  Brown  advances  toward  Fort  George. 

to  oppose  the  passage  of  the  Chippewa  by  the  Americans,  were  performing  that  duty, 
he  broke  camp  and  fled  with  his  whole  army  to  Queenston.  Brown's  opponents,  aft 
er  a  brief  cannonade,  retired,  the  bridge-building  was  abandoned,  and  Ripley's  brigade 
was  marched  down  the  Chippewa  and  formed  a  junction  with  Scott's,  which  had  ad 
vanced  to  the  southern  margin  of  the  stream.  The  British  had  destroyed  the  Chip 
pewa  Bridge,  but  by  the  use  of  boats  both  brigades  and  some  of  the  artillery  crossed 
•July,  the  stream  before  the  morning  of  the  8th. a  On  that  day  the  whole  American 
isH.  force  under  Brown,  excepting  Porter's  brigade,  which  was  left  to  guard  the 
baggage  and  rebuild  Chippewa  Bridge,  pursued  the  flying  enemy  down  the  Niagara 
River.  They  encamped  at  Queenston  on  the  10th,b  and  toward  the  evening 
of  that  day  Porter,  who  had  been  re-enforced  by  some  New  York  Volunteers, 
came  into  camp  with  the  baggage  from  Chippewa.  Riall  had  retired  on  the  approach 
of  Brown,  thrown  part  of  his  troops  into  Forts  George  and  lately-constructed  Missis- 
sauga,  and  established  his  head-quarters  at  Twenty-mile  Creek.  Brown  resolved  to 
wait  at  Queenston  for  the  arrival  of  Chauncey,  for  he  could  draw  no  supplies  from 
the  Genesee  or  Sodus  without  the  fleet.  The  government  had  assured  him  of  its  co 
operation,  and  the  10th  of  July  was  the  day  appointed  for  its  arrival.  The  general 
anxiously  watched  from  the  heights  of  Queenston  for  its  approach,  and  hour  after 
hour  he  spent  in  expectation  of  seeing  its  white  sails  on  the  waters  of  Ontario,  which 
were  only  seven  miles  distant.  But  word  soon  came  that  Chauncey  was  sick,  and  his 
fleet  blockaded  in  Sackett's  Harbor.  Expected  re-enforcements  were  also  detained 
there. 

Riall  in  the  mean  time  had  marched  with  fifteen  hundred  men  for  Burlington 
Heights,  at  the  head  of  Ontario,  leaving  some  veteran  soldiers  of  the  Forty-first  and 
Eighth  Regiments,  and  seamen  and  marines  from  two  of  Yeo's  vessels  in  the  Niagara 
River,  to  garrison  the  forts.  Riall  expected  to  be  re-enforced  at  Burlington,  and  was 
agreeably  surprised  by  meeting  the  One  Hundred  and  Third,  and  the  flank  companies 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Regiment  on  the  way.  He  turned  back,  took  posi 
tion  at  Fifteen-mile  Creek  (only  thirteen  miles  from  Brown's  camp),  and  there  watched 
the  movements  of  his  foe. 

At  that  time  General  Brown  was  contemplating  an  advance  upon  Fort  George. 
On  the  14th  he  called  a  council  of  officers  to  consider  the  matter.  A  majority  were 
in  favor  of  attacking  Riall  that  very  night,  before  he  should  receive  re-enforcements; 
while  the  minority,  coinciding  with  the  wishes  of  the  commanding  general,  advised 
an  immediate  investment  of  Fort  George,  notwithstanding  there  was  no  competent 
siege-train  with  the  army,  nor  provision  made  for  the  safe  transportation  of  supplies 
from  Buffalo.1  In  the  mean  time  foraging  and  reconnoitring  parties  were  out  contin 
ually.  One  of  the  latter,  composed  of  the  venerable  John  Swift,  of  the  New  York 
militia,  and  one  hundred  arid  twenty  volunteers,  advanced  toward  Fort  George  to  ob 
tain  information.  They  captured  a  picket-guard  of 'five  men  near  an  outpost  of  the 
fort,c  and  Swift  was  conducting  them  back  to  head-quarters,  when  one  of 
them,  who  had  begged  and  obtained  quarter,  murdered  the  general  by  shoot 
ing  him  through  the  breast.  The  discharge  of  this  gun  brought  out  fifty  or  sixty  of 
the  enemy.  Terribly  wounded  as  he  was,  the  brave  Swift,  who  had  served  his  coun 
try  in  the  field  during  the  entire  War  of  the  Revolution,  formed  his  men,  and  ad 
vanced  at  their  head  to  attack  the  foe.  He  fell,  exhausted.  The  enemy  were  driven 
back  to  Fort  George,  and  the  dying  general  was  conveyed  to  Queenston.2  "After 
serving  his  country  seven  years  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,"  said  General  Porter 
in  his  brigade  order  the  next  day, "  he  again  stepped  forward  as  a  volunteer  to  give 

1  According  to  Wilkinson  (Memoirs,  i.,  669  and  6T1),  Brown's  engineers  (M'Ree  and  Wood),  and  Generals  Ripley  and 
Porter,  advised  an  immediate  attack  on  Riall,  while  General  Scott  and  Adjutant  General  Gardner  advised  an  invest 
ment  of  Fort  George.    Major  Hindman  declined  to  give  any  opinion. 

2  General  Porter's  Brigade  Orders,  dated  Queenston,  July  13, 1864.    General  Swift  was  a  brother  of  the  late  General 
Joseph  G.  Swift,  the  accomplished  engineer  officer  in  the  War  of  1812. 


OF  THE  WAR   OF    1812.  815 

St.  David's  Village  burnt.  Fort  George  approached.  Brown  falls  back  to  Chippewa. 

the  aid  of  his  experience  in  support  of  the  violated  rights  of  his  country ;  and  never 
was  that  country  called  on  to  lament  the  loss  of  a  firmer  patriot  or  braver  man." 

A  few  days  after  this  sad  occurrence,  Colonel  Stone,  of  the  New  York  militia,  while 
out  on  a  foraging  expedition,  wantonly  burned  the  little  village  or  hamlet  of  St.  Da 
vid's,  a  short  distance  from  Queenston ;  and  similar  unwarrantable  acts  caused  great 
exasperation  against  the  Americans.  General  Brown  promptly  dismissed  Stone  from 
the  service  as  a  punishment  for  his  crime,  in  accordance  with  the  sentence  of  a  court- 
martial.1 

While  Brown's  council  of  officers  were  debating,  word  came  of  the  retrograde 
movement  of  Riall  to  Fifteen-mile  Creek,  but  no  intelligence  was  received  of  his  re- 
enforcements.  Brown  evidently  did  not  believe  that  any  were  near,  for  on  the  pre 
ceding  daya  he  wrote  to  Chauncey,  saying,  "  All  accounts  agree  that  the  >  jnly  18( 
force  of  the  enemy  in  Kingston  is  very  light.  Meet  me  on  the  lake-shore  1814- 
north  of  Fort  George  with  your  fleet,  and  we  will  be  able,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  settle 
a  plan  of  operations  that  will  break  the  power  of  the  enemy  in  Upper  Canada,  and 

that  in  the  course  of  a  short  time I  doubt  not  my  ability  to  meet  the  enemy 

in  the  field,  and  to  march  in  any  direction  over  his  country,  your  fleet  carrying  for 
me  the  necessary  supplies.  We  can  threaten  Forts  George  and  Niagara,  and  carry 
Burlington  Heights  and  York,  and  proceed  directly  to  Kingston  and  carry  that  place. 
For  God's  sake  let  me  see  you.  Sir  James  will  not  fight." 

With  such  opinions  and  expectations  General  Brown  prepared  to  invest  Fort 
George.  Generals  Porter  and  Ripley  were  ordered  to  reconnoitre  the  position  of  the 
enemy,  one  along  the  river,  and  the  other  in  the  interior,  by  way  of  St.  David's  ;  and 
on  the  20th  the  military  works  at  Queenston  were  blown  up,  and  the  whole  army 
left  that  post  and  advanced  toward  Fort  George.  There  Brown  was  apprised  of 
the  arrival  of  Riall's  re-enforcements,  when  he  withdrew,  and  occupied  his  old  posi 
tion  at  Queenston  on  the  22d. 

On  the  morning  of  the  23d  Brown  received  a  letter  from  General  Gaines  at  Sack- 
ett's  Harbor  apprising  him  of  the  sickness  of  Chauncey,  the  blockade  of  the  fleet,  and 
the  peril  to  be  apprehended  to  re-enforcements  that  might  be  sent  by  water  in  small 
vessels  hugging  the  coast.  Abandoning  all  hope  of  co-operation  by  the  fleet,  or  the 
speedy  reception  of  re-enforcements,  the  general  changed  his  plan  of  operations,  and 
at  once  ordered  a  retreat  to  the  Chippewa,  there  to  be  governed  by  circumstances. 
He  expected  by  this  retreat  to  draw  Riall  on  to  the  Niagara  again,  or,  failing  in  this, 
to  draw  a  small  supply  of  provisions  from  Schlosser,  on  the  opposite  shore,  disencum 
ber  his  army  of  all  baggage  which  could  possibly  be  dispensed  with,  march  against 
Riall  by  way  of  Queenston,  and  fight  him  wherever  he  might  be  found.  The  army 
reached  the  Chippewa  on  the  24th,  encamped  on  the  south  side  of  it,  on  the  battle 
ground  of  the  5th,  and  prepared  to  make  the  25th  a  day  of  rest.  On  the  night  of  the 
24th,  General  Scott,  ever  anxious  for  duty  and  ambitious  of  renown,  requested  leave 
to  lead  his  brigade*  immediately  in  a  search  for  Riall,  not  doubting  his  ability  to  win 
victory  for  his  troops,  glory  for  himself,  and  renown  for  the  army.  He  repeated  the 
request  on  the  morning  of  the  25th,  and  was  vexed  because  General  Brown  would 
not  consent  to  divide  his  army.2  He  had  an  opportunity  to  try  his  powers  and  skill 
in  combat  with  the  enemy  sooner  than  he  expected,  and  in  that  trial  he  won  fadeless 
laurels.  The  story  is  told  in  the  following  chapter. 

1  "  The  militia  have  burnt  several  private  dwelling-houses,"  wrote  the  gallant  Major  Daniel  M'Farland,  of  the  Twenty- 
third  Infantry,  who  was  killed  a  few  days  afterward  at  Niagara  Falls,  "and  on  the  19th  burnt  the  village  of  St.  David's, 

consisting  of  about  thirty  or  forty  houses.  This  was  done  within  three  miles  of  the  camp I  never  witnessed 

such  a  scene ;  and  had  not  the  commanding  officer,  Colonel  Stone,  been  disgraced  and  sent  out  of  the  army,  I  should 
have  resigned  my  commission." 

»  General  Brown's  manuscript  Memorandum  of  Occurrences  of  the  Campaign  on  the  Niagara  Frontier. 


816  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Rumors  of  an  Advance  of  the  British.  They  appear  in  Force  at  Lundy's  Lane.  Their  Advance  unsuspected. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

"  O'er  Huron's  wave  the  sun  was  low, 
The  weary  soldier  watch'd  the  bow 
Fast  fading  from  the  cloud  below  ^ 

The  dashing  of  Niagara. 
And  while  the  phantom  chain'd  his  sight, 
Ah  !  little  thought  he  of  the  flght— 
The  horrors  of  the  dreamless  night, 

That  posted  on  so  rapidly."— OLD  SONG. 

jEAUTIFUL  to  the  senses  was  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  July, 
1814,  on  the  banks  of  the  Niagara  River — a  day  memorable  in 
the  annals  of  the  Republic.  It  was  serene  and  sultry.  Not  a 
cloud  appeared  in  the  heavens,  nor  a  flake  of  mist  on  the  wa 
ters.  The  fatigued  American  army  lay  reposing  upon  the  field 
of  its  late  victory,  with  the  village  of  Chippewa  in  front,  and 
had  enjoyed  half  a  day  of  needed  rest,  when  a  courier  came  in 
haste  with  intelligence  from  Colonel  Philetus  Swift  at  Lewis- 
ton  that  the  enemy  were  in  considerable  force  at  Queenston  and  on  the  Heights ; 
that  five  vessels  of  Yeo's  fleet  had  arrived  during  the  night ;  and  that  a  number  of 
boats  were  in  sight  moving  up  the  river.  A  few  minutes  afterward  another  courier 
arrived  from  Captain  Denman,  of  the  quartermaster's  department,  with  a  report  that 
the  enemy,  a  thousand  strong,  were  landing  at  Lewiston,  and  that  the  American  bag 
gage  and  stores  at  Schlosser  were  doubtless  in  imminent  danger  of  capture. 

These  rumors  were  true  only  in  part.  Vessels  had  arrived  in  the  river,  boats  had 
ascended  it,  and  a  considerable  British  force  was  occupying  Queenston.  Lieutenant 
General  Sir  George  Gordon  Drummond  had  arrived  with  re-enforcements  from  Kings 
ton,  composed  in  part  of  some  of  Wellington's  veterans,  and  landed  at  Fort  Niagara, 
and  in  boats  many  of  them  had  gone  up  and  disembarked  at  Queenston.  In  the 
mean  time  the  troops  under  Riall  had  been  put  in  motion.  Loyal  Canadians  had 
early  informed  him  of  the  retreat  of  the  Americans  to  Chippewa ;  and  at  near  mid 
night  of  the  24th  he  sent  forward  a  column  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Pearson,  com 
posed  of  a  regiment  of  the  ever-active  Glengary  militia,  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Battersby ;  the  incorporated  and  sedentary  militia,  under  Lieutenant  Colonels 
Robinson  (late  chief  justice  of  Canada)  and  Parry;  detachments  from  the  Royal  Ar 
tillery,  with  two  24-pounders,  three  6-pounders,  and  a  howitzer ;  and  the  One  Hund 
red  and  Fourth  Infantry,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Drummond,  and  a  troop  of  the 
Nineteenth  Light  Dragoons.  Pearson  moved  forward  with  celerity,  and  at  seven 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  25th  took  position  on  an  eminence  in  and  near  Lundy's 
Lane,  a  public  highway  leading  directly  westward  into  the  heart  of  the  peninsula 
and  the  head  of  the  lake  from  the  road  along  the  river  from  Chippewa  to  Queenston. 
The  position  was  a  short  distance  from  the  great  cataract  of  Niagara,  and  a  com 
manding  one. 

Of  Pearson's  movement  Brown  seems  to  have  had  no  intelligence,  and  his  efforts 
to  counteract  the  supposed  invasion  at  Lewiston  were  rather  tardily  begun.  He 
heard  of  the  invasion  at  noon,  but  it  was  quite  late  in  the  afternoon  before  he  ordered 
a  forward  movement  of  any  of  his  troops.  At  two  o'clock  Major  Jesup,  who  had 
crossed  Chippewa  Bridge,  brought  him  word  from  Lieutenant  Colonel  Leavenworth,1 

1  Henry  Leavenworth  was  born  in  Connecticut,  December  10, 1783,  and  was  made  captain  in  the  Twenty-fifth  Regi 
ment  United  States  Infantry  in  April,  1812.  He  was  promoted  to  major  in  the  Ninth  Infantry  in  August,  1813.  For 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812  817 

Scott  ordered  to  march  on  Fort  George.         The  Widow  Wilson's  Story.          Scott  suddenly  confronted  by  the  British. 

the  officer  of  the  day,  that  a  considerable  body  of  the  enemy  had  been  seen  at  Niag 
ara  Falls,  not  more  than  two  miles  distant  ;J  but  so  impressed  was  the  general  with 
the  idea  that  the  enemy  were  after  his  supplies  at  Schlosser  that  he  would  not  be 
lieve  that  more  than  a  few  light  troops  on  a  reconnoissance  were  in  front.  Conceiv 
ing  the  best  plan  for  recalling  the  foe  would  be  a  menace  of  the  forts  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Niagara  River,  he  ordered  General  Scott  to  march  rapidly  upon  them  with  his 
brigade,  Towson's  artillery,  and  all  the  cavalry  and  mounted  men  at  command.  This 
order  was  issued  between  four  and  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,a  and  with-  >  Juiy  25, 
in  twenty  minutes  afterward  the  impatient  Scott  had  all  his  troops  in  mo-  1814> 
tion.  He  crossed  Chippewa  Bridge  between  five  and  six  o'clock,  and  pushed  on  to 
ward  the  great  cataract,  fully  impressed  with  the  belief  that  a  large  force  of  the  en 
emy  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  not  directly  before  him.  His  battalion 
commanders  were  Lieutenant  Colonel  Leavenworth,  Major  M'Neil,  Colonel  Brady, 
and  Major  Jesup.  Towson  was  with  his  artillery,  and  Captains  Harris  and  Pentland 
commanded  the  mounted  men.  The  whole  force  numbered  full  twelve  hundred 
persons. 

A  widow  named  Wilson  lived  in  a  pleasant  white  house  at  the  great  Falls,  near 
Table  Rock;  and  when  the  vanguard  of  Scott's  command  came  in  sight  of  her  dwell 
ing  they  discovered  a  number  of  British  officers  there,  who  mounted  their  horses  and 
rode  hastily  away  after  surveying  the  approaching  column  of  Americans  with  their 
glasses.2  The  widow,  with  the  skill  of  a  diplomat,  assured  Major  Wood,  of  the  En 
gineers,  who  were  in  the  van,  that  she  extremely  regretted  their  tardiness,  as  they 
might  have  captured  General  Riall  and  his  staff,  wrhom  they  had  seen  riding  off.  She 
also  assured  them,  with  more  truthfulness,  that  eight  hundred  regulars,  full  three 
hundred  militia,  and  two  pieces  of  artillery  were  just  below  a  small  strip  of  woods 
near.  Scott,  who  had  come  up  with  his  staff  and  heard  her  story,  did  not  believe  it. 
Had  not  the  British  army  been  beaten  on  the  5th  ?  And  was  there  not  in  the  pos 
session  of  the  commander-in-chief  positive  information  that  a  large  part  of  that  army 
had  been  thrown  across  the  Niagara  at  Lewiston  ?  He  believed  that  only  a  remnant 
of  it  was  in  his  front,  and  he  resolved  to  obey  his  instructions  to  "  march  rapidly  on 
the  forts."  He  sent  a  message  to  his  general  by  Lieutenant  Douglass,  to  inform  him 
of  the  appearance  of  the  enemy,  and  then  dashed  gallantly  into  the  woods  to  dis 
perse  the  foe.  What  was  his  astonishment  on  finding  the  story  of  the  widow  literally 
true  !  Riall  had  been  re-enforced,  and  there  he  was,  with  a  larger  number  of  troops 
than  Scott  had  encountered  twenty  days  earlier,  drawn  up  in  battle  order  in  Lundy's 
Lane — a  highway,  as  we  have  observed,  running  from  the  Niagara  River  to  the  head 
of  Lake  Ontario.  His  position  was  one  of  extreme  peril.  To  stand  still  would  be 
fatal ;  to  retreat  would  be  very  hazardous.  The  latter  movement  might  jeopard 
ize  the  whole  army  by  the  creation  of  a  panic,  especially  among  the  reserves  under 
Ripley,  who  were  not  in  the  former  battle.  There  was  no  time  for  reflection,  for  a 
heavy  fire  of  musketry  and  cannon  had  been  opened  upon  him.  From  that  wonder 
ful  wealth  of  resource,  at  the  moment  of  great  need,  which  always  distinguished  him, 
Scott  drew  immediate  inspiration,  and  resolved  to  fight  the  overwhelming  number  of 
the  enemy,  and  impress  Riall  with  the  conviction  that  the  whole  American  army  was 
at  hand. 

his  bravery  at  Chippewa  he  was  breveted  lieutenant  colonel,  and  for  his  distinguished  services  at  the  battle  of  Niagara 
Falls  he  was  breveted  colonel.  He  was  retained  in  the  army,  and  made  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Fifth  Infantry  in  Feb 
ruary,  1818.  He  performed  able  service  in  the  wilderness  westward  of  the  Mississippi,  far  up  the  Missouri,  and  a  fort 
in  that  region  bears  his  name.  In  July,  1824,  he  was  breveted  brigadier  general  for  ten  years'  service,  and  the  follow 
ing  year  he  was  made  full  colonel.  He  died  near  the  Cross  Timbers,  on  the  False  Washita  River,  July  21, 1834. 

1  Jesup's  Manuscript  Memoir,  etc. 

2  Within  three  or  four  days  the  British  had  erected  beacons  in  this  vicinity  in  order  to  give  alarms.    These  were  con 
structed  under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Myers,  an  officer  who  was  made  prisoner  at  Fort  George  the  year 
before,  and  afterward  exchanged.    Writing  to  Captain  James  Cummings  (now  of  Chippewa)  on  the  21st  of  July,  he  said, 
"  The  best  place  at  Wilson's  is  on  the  cleared  point,  near  the  paling  of  Wilson's  garden,  and  not  far  from  the  head  cf 
the  path  that  goes  down  to  the  Table  Rock." — Autograph  Letter. 

3  F 


818 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Junction  of  British  Forces. 


Their  Line  of  Battle. 


Scott  attacked. 


The  British  flanked. 


Trusting  to  rumor  instead  of  actual  observation  through  scouts,  Brown  was  wholly 
uninformed,  or  at  least  misinformed,  concerning  the  movements  of  the  British.  Not 
a  soldier  of  that  army  had  been  sent  across  the  Niagara  at  Lewiston.  Every  man 
left  fit  for  service  since  the  late  battle  was  with  Riall  preparing  for  this  advance 
movement.  On  the  night  of  the  24th  Lieutenant  General  Sir  George  Gordon  Drum- 
mond,  as  we  have  observed,  had  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River  in  the 
British  fleet  from  Kingston.  He  brought  eight  hundred  men  with  him,  and  sent 
Lieutenant  Tucker,  with  about  five  hundred  of  them  and  a  body  of  Indians,  to  dis 
perse  or  capture  a  small  American  force  at  Lewiston.  This  movement  gave  rise  to 
the  report  of  invasion.  Drummond  had  apprised  Riall  of  his  intentions  ;  and  these 
officers,  with  their  respective  commands,  had  formed  a  junction  on  the  Niagara  with 
out  discovery  by  General  Brown.  These  united  forces,  not  less  than  four  thousand 
five  hundred  strong,  with  the  exception  of  a  portion  of  the  re-enforcements,  were  con 
fronted  by  Scott  and  his  "  twice  six  hundred  men,"  with  two  field-pieces.  When, 
forty  minutes  before  sunset,  the  battle  began,  the  line  that  opened  fire  on  Scott  was 
full  eighteen  hundred  in  number,  well-posted  on  the  slope  and  brow  of  an  eminence 
over  which  Lundy's  Lane  passed. 

The  enemy's  line  was  a  little  inclined  to  a  crescent  form,  the  wings  being  thrown 
forward  of  the  artillery  in  the  centre.  Its  left  rested  on  the  Queenston  Road,  and 

extended  over  the  hill, 
on  the  brow  of  which 
was  planted  a  battery 
of  seven  guns,  nearly  in 
the  rear  of  the  Meth 
odist  church  on  Lun 
dy's  Lane,  and  not  far 
south  of  the  house  of 
Mr.  Fraleigh  when  I 
visited  the  spot  in  1 860. 
Into  the  bowl  of  this 
crescent  Scott  sudden 
ly  found  himself  ad 
vancing  with  his  little 
force,  within  canister- 
shot  distance  of  a 
greatly  superior  army 
and  powerful  field-bat 
tery.  His  quick  eye 
instantly  discovered  a 
blank  space  between  the  British  extreme  left  and  the  river  of  two  hundred  yards, 
covered  with  brushwood.  He  saw  the  advantage  it  afforded,  and  directed  Major  Jes- 
up  to  creep  cautiously  behind  the  bushes  in  the  twilight,  with  his  command,  and  at 
tempt  to  turn  the  enemy's  left  flank.  Jesup  obeyed  with  alacrity.  In  the  mean  time 
Scott  was  hotly  engaged  with  the  British  veterans,  some  of  them  from  Wellington's 
army,  while  the  battery  on  the  hill  poured  destruction  upon  his  men.  Towson,  with 
his  little  field-pieces  right  gallantly  handled,  could  make  but  a  feeble  impression. 
Brady,  and  Leavenworth,  and  M'Neil  managed  their  battalions  with  skill,  and  fought 
bi-avely  themselves ;  not,  however,  with  the  expectation  of  conquering  the  enemy,  but 
only  of  keeping  him  in  check  until  the  reserves  should  come  up.  This  was  done,  and 
more.  There  they  stood,  the  brave  Ninth,  Eleventh,  and  Twentieth,  mere  skeletons 
of  regiments,  hurried  into  battle  without  warning  or  preparation,  while  Jesup's  Twen 
ty-fifth,  unaided,  was  battling  manfully  and  successfully  with  more  than  a  thousand 
of  the  enemy  to  gain  possession  of  the  Queenston  Road. 


VIEW  AT  LUNDY'S  LANE  IN  1SCO. 


OF    THE  WAR    OF   1812.  819 

Capture  of  General  Riall.  Brown  advances  from  Chippewa.  He  orders  a  formidable  Battery  to  be  taken. 

The  sun  went  down,  the  twilight  closed,  and  the  darkness  of  night,  relieved  by  a 
waning  moon,  enveloped  the  combatants.  Jesup  had  gallantly  turned  the  British 
left,  gained  his  rear,  kept  approaching  re-enforcements  of  Drummond  in  check,  and 
secured  many  prisoners.  Among  the  latter  was  General  Riall,  several  officers  of  his 
staff,  and  one  of  General  Drummond's  aids,  Captain  Loring.  Their  capture  was  an 
accident.  One  of  Riall's  aids  saw  one  of  Jesup's  flanking  parties,  commanded  by 
Captain  Ketchum,  and,  mistaking  them  for  a  company  of  their  own  troops,  called  out, 
"  Make  room  there,  men,  for  General  Riall !"  Captain  Ketchum  immediately  replied, 
"  Ay,  ay,  sir !"  allowed  the  aid  to  pass  by,  and  then  directed  a  portion  of  his  own 
men,  with  fixed  bayonets,  to  surround  the  general  and  his  officers,  seize  the  bridles 
of  their  horses,  and  make  them  prisoners.  Riall  was  astonished,  but  made  no  resist 
ance.  He  was,  indeed,  quite  badly  wounded.  Ketchum  delivered  him  to  General 
Scott  in  person,  who  ordered  him  to  be  taken  to  the  rear,  and  every  attention  to  be 
given  to  his  comfort.  Jesup,  perceiving  that  his  own  position  was  not  tenable,  gal 
lantly  charged  back  through  the  British  line,  and  took  his  place  in  that  of  the  Amer 
icans. 

It  was  now  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The  British  right,  which  made  a  furious 
assault,  had  been  driven  back  by  General  Scott  with  a  heavy  loss ;  their  left  had  been 
turned  and  cut  off  by  Jesup's  bold  movement,  and  their  centre,  on  the  ridge,  support 
ed  by  the  artillery,  alone  remained  firm.  The  most  of  Drummond's  re-enforcements 
had  come  up,  and  the  remainder  were  only  a  short  distance  off,  and  pressing  forward. 

Let  us  leave  the  battle-field  a  moment  and  turn  back  to  Chippewa.  We  have  seen 
that  a  messenger  had  been  sent  to  apprise  General  Brown  of  the  presence  of  the  en 
emy.  This  messenger  was  immediately  followed  by  another  (Major  Jones),  who  bore 
the  startling  intelligence  that  the  whole  British  army  was  within  two  miles,  and  that 
General  Scott  had  attacked  them  to  keep  them  in  check.  Already  the  cannonade 
and  musket-firing  had  been  heard  in  the  camp,  and  General  Brown  had  ordered  Gen 
eral  Ripley,  with  his  brigade  and  all  the  artillery  reserve,  to  press  forward  to  the  sup 
port  of  Scott.  Mounting  his  horse,  and  leaving  Adjutant  General  Gardner  to  see  that 
his  orders  were  promptly  executed,  he  rode  forward,  and  met  Major  Jones  near  the 
Falls  with  the  exciting  message  from  Scott.  Brown  ordered  Jones  to  continue  his 
journey  to  the  camp  with  directions  for  Porter  and  his  volunteers  to  follow  Ripley  as 
speedily  as  possible. 

On  his  arrival  upon  the  battle-field,  accompanied  by  Major  Wood,  General  Brown 
sought  and  obtained  correct  information  of  the  situation  of  affairs  from  General  Scott 
himself.  By  this  time  Jesup  had  accomplished  his  bold  operations  on  the  enemy's 
left,  and  Ripley's  brigade  was  near.  Convinced  that  the  men  in  action  were  greatly 
exhausted,  and  knowing  that  they  had  suffered  sevei'ely,  the  commanding  general  de 
termined  to  form  and  interpose  a  new  line  with  the  fresh  troops,  disengage  Gener 
al  Scott,  and  hold  his  brigade  in  reserve  for  rest.  Orders  to  this  effect  were  given 
to  General  Ripley,  and  the  second  brigade  advanced  in  the  pale  moonlight  on  the 
Queenston  Road  toward  the  enemy's  left.  It  was  now  perceived  that  the  key  of  the 
enemy's  position  was  their  battery  on  the  hill,  and  Colonel  M'Ree  assured  General 
Brown  that  he  could  not  hope  for  success  until  that  height  was  carried  and  the  can 
non  taken.  General  Brown  instantly  turned  to  the  gallant  Colonel  Miller  (now  of 
the  Twenty-first,  and  former  leader  of  the  Fourth  in  the  campaigns  under  Hull  and 
Harrison)  and  said,  "  Colonel,  take  your  regiment,  storm  that  work,  and  take  it." 
"  I'll  try,  sir,"  responded  Miller,  promptly,  and  immediately  moved  forward  to  the 

perilous  task.1     At  that  moment  the  First  Regiment,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel 

— _ , - — «• , 

1  "Who  gave  this  order  to  Miller?"  has  been  an  unsettled  question.  A  late  writer  on  this  battle  says,  "I  am  con 
strained  to  believe,  on  the  testimony  of  Colonel  Miller  himself,  as  well  as  that  of  Captain  M'Donald,  that  the  idea  on  which 
was  based  the  assault  was  General  Ripley's  ;  that  he  ordered  its  execution  ;  and  that  the  troops  had  moved  to  execute 
it  before  General  Brown  knew  any  thing  about  the  matter."  I  have  before  me  an  autograph  letter  of  General  Miller, 
written  to  his  wife  three  days  after  the  battle  from  Fort  Erie,  in  which  he  says,  "Major  M'Ree,  the  chief  engineer,  told 


820 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Colonel  Miller  captures  a  British  Battery. 


The  Way  it  was  done. 


Sketches  of  Miller  and  Nicholas. 


Nicholas,1  which  had  arrived  that  day, 
and  was  attached  to  neither  of  the  bri 
gades,  and  which  had  been  ordered  to 
draw  the  fire  of  the  enemy  and  direct 
his  attention  from  Miller's  movement, 
gave  way.  Miller  paid  no  attention  to 
that  disaster,  but  moved  steadily  for 
ward  up  the  hill  with  less  than  three 
hundred  men,  mostly  concealed  by  an 
old  rail  fence,  along  which  was  a  growth 
of  thick,  low  shrubbery.  They  approach 
ed  undiscovered  to  a  point  within  two 
rods  of  the  battery,  where  the  gunners 
were  seen  with  their  lighted  matches 
waiting  for  the  word  to  fire.  In  whis 
pers  Miller  ordered  his  men  to  rest  their 
pieces  across  the  fence,  take  good  aim, 
and  shoot  the  gunners.  This  was  prompt 
ly  done,  and  not  a  man  was  left  to  apply 
the  matches.  Miller  and  his  men  fol 
lowed  the  volley  with  a  shout,  and,  rush 
ing  forward,  were  in  the  very  centre  of 
the  park  of  artillery  before  the  enemy 
had  a  chance  to  resist.  A  British  line, 
formed  for  the  protection  of  the  cannon, 
wei-e  lying  near  in  a  strong  position,  and  immediately  opened  a  most  destructive  en 
filading  fire,  which  slew  many  of  the  gallant  Miller's  men.  They  then  attempted  to 
charge  with  their  bayonets,  but  the  Americans  returned  their  fire  so  warmly  that 
they  were  kept  in  check.  Hand-to-hand  the  combatants  fought  for.  some  time,  and 
so  closely  that  the  blaze  of  their  guns  crossed.  The  British  were  finally  pushed  back, 

General  Brown  he  could  do  no  good  until  that  height  was  carried,  and  those  cannon  taken  or  driven  from  their  posi 
tion.  It  was  then  night,  but  moonlight.  General  Brown  turned  to  me  and  said, '  Colonel  Miller,  take  your  regiment 
and  storm  that  work,  and  take  it.' "  General  Brown,  in  his  Manuscript  Memorandum,  etc.,  says,  "  The  commanding 
general  rode  to  Colonel  Miller,  and  ordered  him  to  charge  and  carry  the  enemy's  artillery  with  the  bayonet.  He  re 
plied,  in  a  tone  of  good-humor,  that  he  would  try  to  execute  the  order."  See,  also,  Silliman's  Gallop  among  American 
Scenery.  This  positive  testimony  of  the  chief  actors  settles  the  question.  It  was  General  Brown,  and  not  General  Kip- 
ley,  who  gave  the  order.  Miller's  modest  response,  "  I'll  try,  sir,"  is  one  of  the  sayings  which  Americans  delight  to  re 
member,  and  History  loves  to  repeat. 

James  Miller  was  born  in  Peterborough,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  25th  of  April,  1776,  and  was  thirty-eight  years  of  age 
at  this  time.  He  was  educated  for  the  bar,  but  in  1808  he  entered  the  United  States  Army  as  major  of  the  Fourth  Reg 
iment  of  Infantry.  In  1810  he  was  made  lieutenant  colonel,  and,  as  we  have  already  observed  in  this  work,  performed 
gallant  services  under  Harrison  in  the  campaign  that  ended  at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  In  August,  1812,  he  was  bre 
veted  as  colonel  for  his  distinguished  services  near  Detroit,  which  we  have  already  recorded ;  and  in  May  the  following 
year  he  commenced  an  equally  distinguished  series  of  services  on  the  Niagara  frontier  in  the  Sixth  Regiment.  In 
March,  1814,  he  was  promoted  to  full  colonel  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment,  and  accompanied  General  Brown,  in  the 
brigade  of  General  Ripley,  in  the  invasion  of  Canada  in  July.  He  fought  gallantly  at  the  battles  of  Chippewa  and  Ni 
agara  Falls,  and  also  at  Fort  Erie ;  and  for  his  services  in  capturing  the  battery  in  Lundy's*Lane,  and  general  good  con 
duct  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  he  was  breveted  a  brigadier  general,  and  received  from  Congress  a  gold  medal,  with  suit 
able  emblems  and  devices,  delineated  in  the  engraving  on  the  opposite  page.  General  Miller  resigned  his  commission 
in  the  army  in  1819,  when  he  was  appointed  governor  of  Arkansas  Territory.  He  held  that  office  until  March,  1825, 
when  he  was  appointed  collector  of  the  port  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  which  position  he  held  twenty-four  years,  or  un 
til  1840,  when  he  was  prostrated  by  paralysis.  He  had  a  second  stroke  of  paralysis  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  July, 
1851,  and  died  on  the  7th  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  He  was  then  living  at  Temple,  New  Hampshire,  where  part 
of  his  family  still  reside. 

The  gold  medal  presented  by  Congress  is  the  size  delineated  on  the  following  page.  On  one  side  is  a  bust  of  Gen 
eral  Miller,  with  his  name  and  title,  and  the  words  "I'LL  TRY."  On  the  other,  a  battle  scene  on  a  slope  and  eminence 
as  at  Lundy's  Lane.  Troops  are  seen  advancing  in  the  distance.  Over  the  scene  are  the  words  "  RESOLUTION  OP  CON 
GRESS,  NOVEMBER  8, 1814."  Below,  the  word^j  "BATTLES  OF  CHUTEWA,  JULY  5,  1814;  NIAGARA,  JULY  25, 1814;  ERIE,  SEP 
TEMBER  17, 1814." 

1  Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  of  Kentucky,  entered  the  army  as  captain  of  the  Seventh  Infantry  in  1S08.  He  became  a 
major  in  1810,  and  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  First  Infantry  in  August,  1812.  After  the  battle  of  Niagara  he  was  pro 
moted  to  colonel  of  the  Nineteenth  (September,  1814),  and  was  retained  at  the  peace.  He  resigned  in  1810,  and  in  1821 
became  United  States  Indian  Agent  for  the  Chickasaws. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


821 


Composition  of  the  British  Battery.       Appreciation  of  Miller's  Exploit.       The  Eleventh  Regiment  and  Major  M'Nei!. 


BATTLES    OP    CHIPPEWA. 

OUUV      5   .     18  14-. 
NIAGARA  -JULY  25.  lill-t 
ERIE  SEP.  17.  1814 


and  compelled  to  abandon  their  whole  artillery,  ammunition-wagons,  and  every  thing- 
else.  Seven  splendid  brass  cannon  remained  with  Miller,  one  of  which  was  a  24- 
pounder  with  eight  horses,  some  of  them  killed.  Twice  the  British  attempted  to  ex 
pel  Miller  from  the  height,  but  were  repulsed,  when  Ripley,  with  the  First  and  Twen 
ty-third  Regiments,  came  gallantly  to  his  aid.  At  that  moment  the  last  of  Drum- 
mond's  re-enforcements,  which  had  been  rapidly  advancing  from  Queenston  under 
Colonel  Scott,  nearly  fifteen  hundred  in  all,  came  up,  when  the  enemy  rallied,  and 
made  a  fourth  unsuccessful  attempt  to  drive  the  victors  from  the  heights  and  regain 
their  battery.1 

The  exploit  of  Miller  elicited  universal  ad 
miration.  The  American  officers  declared 
that  it  was  one  of  the  most  desperate  and 
gallant  acts  ever  known.  "  It  was  the 
most  desperate  thing  we  ever  saw  or  heard 
of,"  said  the  British  officers,  who  were  made 
prisoners.  The  moment  that  General  Brown 
met  Miller  afterward,  he  said, "  You  have 
immortalized  yourself!  My  dear  fellow, 
my  heart  ached  for  you  when  I  gave  you 
the  order,  but  I  knew  that  it  was  the  only 
thing  that  would  save  us."2 

Meanwhile  the  first  brigade,  command 
ed  by  General  Scott,  had  maintained  its  po 
sition  with  the  greatest  pertinacity  under 
terrible  assaults  and  destructive  blows. 
The  gallant  Eleventh  Regiment  lost  its 
commander,  Major  John  M'Neil,  by  severe 
wounds,3  and  all  of  its  captains.  Its  am 
munition  became  spent,  and  as  a  regiment 

1  Autograph  Letter  of  General  Miller  to  his  Wife  from  Fort  Erie,  July  28, 1814.  2  Miller's  Autograph  Letter. 

3  John  M'Neil  was  born  in  New  Hampshire  in  1784.  He  very  early  evinced  a  taste  for  military  life.  At  the  age 
of  seventeen  years  he  was  an  ensign,  and  soon  afterward  a  captain  of  a  grenadier  company  in  his  native  state,  which 
was  remarkable  for  its  physical  vigor.  His  youth  and  early  manhood  were  spent  in  rural  labors  and  sports.  In  March, 
1812,  he  entered  the  army  as  captain  of  the  Eleventh  Infantry,  and  in  August  the  next  year  he  was  promoted  to  major. 
For  his  gallant  conduct  at  Chippewa,  where  he  commanded  his  regiment,  he  was  breveted  lieutenant  colonel,  and  for 
similar  conduct  in  the  battle  of  Niagara  he  was  breveted  colonel.  In  that  battle  he  behaved  with  the  greatest  gallant 
ry.  When  the  Twenty-second  Regiment  broke  and  was  about  to  flee  in  disorder,  M'Neil  spurred  his  horse  in  front  of 
them,  and,  with  his  tremendous  voice  uttering  persuasions  and  threats,  he  succeeded  in  rallying  them  and  leading  them 
Into  action.  His  horse  was  killed  under  him,  and  he  was  wounded  in  both  legs  by  canister-shot.  A  six-ounce  ball 
passed  through  and  shattered  his  right  knee,  and  nearly  carried  away  the  limb.  But  he  continued  to  fight  until,  be- 


MAJOR  JOHN  M'MUL. 


822 


PICT01UAL   FIELD-BOOK 


A  desperate  Struggle  in  Darkness. 


Both  Parties  re-enforced. 


Sketches  of  Colonels  Brady  and  Jesup. 


it  retired  from  the  field,  its  more  gallant  spirits  rallying  around  the  flags  of  the 
Ninth  and  Twenty-second  as  volunteers.  Very  soon  Colonel  Brady,  of  the  Twenty- 
second,  was  severely  wounded,1  with  several  of  his  subordinates.  Its  ammunition 
became  exhausted,  and  it,  too,  dissolved,  and  its  remnant  clung  to  the  banner  of  the 
Ninth,  commanded  by  the  brave  Lieutenant  Colonel  Leavenworth,  as  volunteers. 
This  was  now  the  only  regiment  remaining  of  the  first  brigade,  and  it  fought  with  a 
courage  that  partook  of  the  character  of  desperation.  The  three  skeleton  regiments 
were  consolidated,  and  contended  fearfully  in  the  darkness.  Finally  Scott  ordered 
them  to  charge,  and  they  were  moving  gallantly  forward  for  that  purpose  when  the 
taking  of  the  battery  turned  the  current,  and  the  order  was  countermanded.  They 
took  their  old  position  at  the  foot  of  the  slope,  ready  for  any  emergency. 

It  was  now  about  half  past  ten  o'clock  at  night.  The  troops  were  enveloped  in 
thick  darkness,  for  the  smoke  of  battle,  untouched  by  the  slightest  breeze,  hung  like 
a  thick  curtain  between  them  and  the  pale  light  of  the 
moon.  Around  the  tattered  colors  of  the  Eleventh  the 
shattered  fragments  of  the  first  brigade  were  rallied, 
commanded  by  the  officers  of  the  Ninth  who  remained 
unhurt.  The  Twenty-fifth,  under  Jesup,2  with  their  reg 
imental  banner  pierced  with  scores  of  bullet-holes  re 
ceived  at  Chippewa  and  in  this  engagement,  reposed  a 
moment  after  their  victory  on  the  river  side  of  the 
Queenston  Road,  where  the  village  of  Drummondsville 
now  stands,  while  the  second  brigade,  skillfully  handled 
by  Ripley,  bore  the  brunt  of  the  battle  in  the  fierce  con 
tention  for  the  battery  on  the  height.  Yet  the  others 
were  by  no  means  idle.  Every  corps  was  engaged  in 
the  desperate  struggle,  which  had  continued  for  more 
than  two  hours,  the  way  of  the  combatants  lighted  only 
by  fitful  gleams  of  the  moon  darting  through  the  murky 
battle-clouds,  and  the  lurid  flashes  of  exploding  powder. 

Both  parties  were  re-enforced  during  the  struggle ;  the  British  by  Colonel  Scott's 

coming  faint  from  loss  of  blood,  he  was  carried  off  the  field,  a  cripple  for  life,  and  his  iron  constitution  shattered.  He 
was  retained  in  the  army  at  its  reduction  as  major  of  the  Fifth  Infantry,  and  served  upon  the  Western  frontier.  He  was 
breveted  brigadier  general  in  1824,  and  in  1826  promoted  to  the  rank  of  full  colonel.  He  was  appointed  an  Indian  com 
missioner  in  1829.  In  1830  he  resigned  his  commission,  and  was  appointed  by  President  Jackson  surveyor  of  the  port 
of  Boston,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death  at  Washington  City,  on  the  23d  of  February,  1850.  He  married  a  half- 
sister  of  Franklin  Pierce,  the  fourteenth  President  of  the  United  States.  He  was  a  powerful  man,  standing  six  feet 
six  inches  in  his  stockings. 

1  Hugh  Brady  was  a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth,  and  was  born  in  Northumberland  County  in  1768.    He  entered  the 
army  as  ensign  in  1792,  and  served  in  the  Northwest  under  General  Wayne.    He  was  captain  of  the  Fourth  Infantry  in 
1799,  and  was  out  of  service  from  June,  1800,  until  July,  1812,  when  he  was  commissioned  colonel  of  the  Twenty-second 
Infantry.    He  was  distinguished  at  both  Chippewa  and  Niagara  Falls.    He  was  retained  in  1815,  and  in  1S22  was  bre 
veted  a  brigadier  general.    He  was  in  the  war  with  Mexico,  and  for  meritorious  conduct  there,  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years,  he  was  breveted  major  general.    He  died  at  Detroit  oil  the  15th  of  April,  1851,  aged  eighty-three  years. 

2  Thomas  Sidney  Jesup  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  was  born  in  1788.    He  entered  the  army  as  second  lieutenant 
of  infantry  in  May,  1808.    He  was  General  Hull's  brigade  major  in  the  campaign  of  1812,  in  which  he  was  also  acting 
adjutant  general.    He  was  promoted  to  captain  in  January,  1813,  and  major  of  the  Nineteenth  Infantry  in  April  follow 
ing.    Early  in  1814  he  was  transferred  to  the  Twenty-fifth— a  regiment  which  he  had  raised  mostly  by  his  own  exer 
tions  in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  its  vicinity.    For  his  gallant  conduct  at  Chippewa  he  was  breveted  lieutenant  col 
onel,  and  for  like  distinguished  conduct  in  the  battle  of  Niagara,  where  he  was  wounded,  he  was  breveted  colonel.    He 
was  retained  in  the  army  in  1815,  and  was  made  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Third  Infantry  in  1S17.    The  following  year 
he  was  made  adjutant  general,  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  and  shortly  afterward  quartermaster  general,  with  the  rank  of 
brigadier  general.    In  May,  1828,  he  was  breveted  major  general  for  ten  years'  faithful  service.    In  1836  he  was  appoint 
ed  to  the  command  of  the  army  in  the  Creek  Nation,  and  the  same  year  succeeded  General  Call  in  command  of  the 
army  in  Florida.    He  was  active  during  the  war  with  the  Seminole  Indians,  and  was  wounded  in  one  of  the  battles.    He 
was  succeeded  by  Colonel  Zachary  Taylor,  and  retired  to  the  duties  of  the  quartermaster  general's  department,  in  the 
performance  of  which  he  continued  until  his  death  at  Washington  City,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years,  on  the  10th 
of  June,  1860. 

3  This  picture  of  the  tattered  banner  and  its  broken  staff  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Eegiment,  as  it  appeared  on  the  day  aft 
er  the  battle  of  Niagara  Falls,  is  from  a  drawing  made  then,  belonging  to  the  Rochester  Light  Guard,  and  hanging  in 
their  armory  in  the  spring  of  1852,  when  a  careful  copy  was  kindly  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Jeremiah  Watts,  one  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Guard.    The  flag  was  white  silk,  with  a  yellow  fringe,  and  the  words  "TiiE  TWENTY-FIFTH  REGIMENT  OF 
U.  S.  INFANTBY"  were  inscribed  upon  a  blue  ribbon,  with  gilt  scrolls  at  each  end. 


THE   FLAO  OF   TIIE  TWENTY-FIFTH.3 


OF   THE    WAE    OF    1812. 


823 


Generals  Brown  and  Scott  wounded.        The  Troops  fall  back  to  Chippewa.        Injurious  Tardiness  of  General  Ripley. 

command,  as  we  have  seen,  and 
the  Americans  by  a  part  of  Por 
ter's  brigade,  which  took  post  on 
Ripley's  left,  and  participated  in 
the  closing  events  of  the  battle. 
The  enemy  was  beaten  off  by 
sheer  hard  blows  given  by  the 
muscle  of  indomitable  Persever 
ance,  but  at  the  expense  of  pre 
cious  blood.  Generals  Brown 
and  Scott  were  severely  wound 
ed  and  borne  from  the  field,  and 
the  active  command  devolved 
on  General  Ripley,  the  senior 
officer  on  duty.1 

When  the  absolute  repulse  of 
the  enemy  was  manifest,  and 
General  Brown  observed  great 
numbers  of  stragglers  in  all  di 
rections  from  the  broken  regi 
ments,  he  ordered  the  new  com 
mander  to  fall  back  with  the 
troops  to  Chippewa,  there  reor 
ganize  the  shattered  battalions, 
give  them  a  little  rest  and  re 
freshments,  and  return  to  the 
field  of  conflict  by  daydawn,  so 
as  to  secure  the  fruits  of  victory 
by  holding  the  ground  and  se 
curing  the  captured  cannon, 
which,  on  account  of  a  lack  of 
horses,  harness,  or  drag-ropes, 
could  not  be  removed  at  once.  Ripley  had  not  moved  from  Chippewa  when  the  day 
dawned,  and  Brown,  disappointed  and  angered  by  his  tardiness,  ordered  his  own  staff 
to  go  to  the  commanders  of  corps  and  direct  them  to  be  promptly  prepared  to  march. 
It  was  sunrise  before  the  army  crossed  the  Chippewa,  and  they  were  halted  by  Rip- 
ley  at  the  Bridgewater  Mills,  a  mile  from  the  battle-ground,  where  he  was  informed 
that  the  enemy  was  again  in  possession  of  the  heights  of  Lundy's  Lane  and  his  can 
non,  had  been  re-enforced,  and  was  too  strong  to  be  attacked  by  a  less  force  than  the 
entire  army  of  the  Niagara  with  any  promise  of  success.  With  this  information  Rip- 
ley  returned  to  head-quarters.  The  commanding  general  wras  irritated.  He  resolved 
not  to  trust  the  brigadier  with  the  command  of  the  army  any  longer  than  necessity 
required ;  and  he  dispatched  a  courier  to  Sackett's  Harbor  with  an  order  for  General 

1  The  gallant  Major  M'Farland  was  mortally  wounded  while  fighting  at  the  head  of  his  battalion  of  the  Twenty- 
third  Regiment.  Daniel  M'Farland  was  a  Pennsylvanian,  and  entered  the  army  as  captain  in  the  Twenty-second  In 
fantry  in  March,  1812.  In  August,  1813,  he  was  promoted  to  major  in  the  Twenty-third,  and  was  killed  in  the  battle  of 
Niagara  Falls. 

Captains  Biddle  and  Ritchie,  of  the  artillery,  were  both  wounded  in  that  battle  early  in  the  action,  and  the  brunt  of 
the  artillery  service  fell  on  Towson.  Thomas  Biddle,  Junior,  was  a  gallant  officer  from  Pennsylvania.  He  entered  the 
army  as  captain  of  infantry  in  the  spring  of  1812,  but  joined  the  Second  Artillery  soon  afterward.  He  was  distinguished 
in  the  capture  of  Fort  George,  and  also  at  Stony  Creek  in  May  and  June,  1813.  In  September  he  was  brigade  major  un 
der  General  Williams.  He  was  slightly  wounded  at  Niagara,  and  for  gallant  service  at  Fort  Erie  afterward  he  was  bre 
veted  a  major.  There  he  was  again  wounded.  In  December  following  he  was  aid-de-camp  to  General  Izard.  He  re 
mained  in  the  army  some  years,  and  was  finally  killed  in  a  duel  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  August  29, 1831. 

John  Ritchie,  who  was  also  in  this  battle,  was  a  Virginian.  He  entered  the  army  in  the  spring  of  1812  as  captain  in 
the  Second  Artillery.  Although  severely  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Niagara  Falls,  he  stuck  to  his  gun,  and  was  killed, 
lie  had  declared  that  he  would  never  leave  his  piece,  and,  true  to  that  declaration,  he  fell  by  it,  covered  with  wounds. 


824  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Circumstances  of  the  Battle  of  Niagara.        Number  of  Troops  engaged  in  it.        The  Victory  claimed  by  both  Parties. 

Gaines  to  come  and  take  the  temporary  leadership  of  the  Niagara  forces.1  Ripley's 
delay  had  doubtless  deprived  the  Americans  of  all  the  substantial  advantages  of  vic 
tory,  for  the  enemy  was  allowed  to  return,  reoccupy  the  field  of  battle,  and  retake 
the  captured  cannon,  excepting  one  beautiful  brass  6-pounder,  which  was  presented 
to  Colonel  Miller's  regiment  on  the  spot.  This  they  bore  away  with  them  as  a  pre 
cious  trophy  of  their  prowess.  The  remainder  were  retaken  by  the  British  a  few 
hours  afterward.2 

Thus  ended  the  sanguinary  BATTLE  OF  NIAGARA  FALLS,  sometimes  called  Lundy's 
Lane,  and  sometimes  Bridgewater?  It  has  few  parallels  in  history  in  its  wealth  of 
gallant  deeds.  It  was  fought  wholly  in  the  shadows  of  a  summer  evening  between 
sunset  and  midnight.  To  the  eye  and  ear  of  a  distant  spectator  it  must  have  been  a 
sublime  experience.  Above  was  a  serene  sky,  a  placid  moon  in  its  wane,  and  innu 
merable  stars — a  vision  of  Beauty  and  Peace ;  below  was  the  sulphurous  smoke  of 
battle,  like  a  dense  thunder-cloud  on  the  horizon,  out  of  which  came  the  quick  flashes 
of  lightning  and  the  bellowing  of  the  echoes  of  its  voice — a  vision  of  Horror  and 
Strife.  Musket,  rocket,  and  cannon  cracking,  hissing,  and  booming ;  and  the  clashof 
sabre  and  bayonet,  with  the  cries  of  human  voices,  made  a  horrid  din  that  commin 
gled  with  the  awful,  solemn  roar  of  the  great  cataract  hard  by,  whose  muffled  thun 
der-tones  rolled  on,  on,  forever,  in  infinite  grandeur  when  the  puny  drum  had  ceased 
to  beat,  and  silence  had  settled  upon  the '  field  of  carnage.  There  the  dead  were 
buried,  and  the  mighty  diapason  of  the  flood  was  their  requiem. 

According  to  the  most  careful  estimates,  the  number  of  troops  engaged  in  the  bat 
tle  of  Niagara  Falls  was  a  little  over  seven  thousand,  the  British  having  about  four 
thousand  five  hundred,  and  the  Americans  a  little  less  than  two  thousand  six  hund 
red.  Both  parties  lost  heavily.  The  Americans  had  one  hundred  and  seventy-one 
killed,  five  hundred  and  seventy-one  wounded,  and  one  hundred  and  ten  missing — 
a  total  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty-two.  The  British  lost  eighty-four  killed,  five  hund 
red  and  fifty-nine  wounded,  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  missing,  and  forty-two  pris 
oners — a  total  of  eight  hundred  and  seventy-eight.  A  large  proportion  of  those  taken 
by  Jesup  on  the  British  left,  and  by  Miller  on  the  height,  escaped  during  the  night. 

Both  parties  claimed  a  victory,  the  Americans  because  they  drove  the  enemy  from 
the  field  and  captured  his  cannon,  and  the  British  because  their  foe  did  not  retain  the 
field  and  the  cannon  he  had  won.  While  the  American  people  rejoiced  over  the  af 
fair  as  a  genuine  triumph,  as  it  undoubtedly  was,  as  a  victory  in  battle,  the  governor 
general  of  Canada  was  right  in  complimenting  his  troops  for  their  steadiness  and 
valor ;  and  the  Prince  Regent  did  a  proper  thing  when  he  gave  permission  to  one  of 
the  regiments  to  wear  the  word  NIAGARA  upon  their  caps. 

Major  General  Brown  was  twice  severely  wounded,  yet  he  kept  the  saddle  until 
the  victory  was  won.  First  a  musket-ball  passed  through  his  right  thigh  ;  and  a  few 

1  General  Brown's  Manuscript  Memoir,  etc.    He  says,  "General  Brown  entertained  no  doubt  of  the  intelligence  or 
bravery  of  General  Ripley,"  but  his  conduct  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  was  such  that  "  his  confidence  in  him  as  a  com 
mander  was  sensibly  diminished.    The  general  believed  that  he  dreaded  responsibility  more  than  danger.    In  short, 
that  he  had  a  greater  share  of  physical  than  moral  courage." 

2  Miller's  Autograph  Letter  to  his  Wife,  July  28.    Brown's  Memorandum,  etc.,  and  his  Official  Report  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  dated  "Buffalo,  August,  1814."    In  that  report  the  commanding  general  spoke  in  the  higTiest  terms  of  all  his 
officers  and  troops.    He  particularly  mentioned  the  gallant  services  of  Scott,  Porter,  Jesup,  Towson,  Hindman,  Biddle, 
Ritchie,  Gardner,  his  adjutant  general,  M'Ree  and  Wood,  his  engineers,  his  aids-de-camp  Austin  and  Spencer,  and  Lieu 
tenant  Randolph,  of  the  Twentieth  Regiment,  "  whose  courage  was  conspicuous."    "The  staff  of  Generals  Ripley  and 
Porter,"  he  said,  "discovered  great  zeal  and  attention  to  duty." 

3  The  battle  was  fought  within  sight  and  hearing  of  the  great  Falls  of  Niagara,  and  should  bear  that  dignified  name. 
It  was  so  called  in  one  of  the  first  published  accounts  of  it.    "The  battle  of  NIAGARA,"  said  the  Albany  Argus  at  the 
beginning  of  August,  "  commands,  like  the  achievements  of  our  naval  heroes,  the  admiration  of  all  classes  of  the  Amer 
ican  people,  a  few  excepted."    The  hottest  of  the  contest  having  occurred  in  the  struggle  for  the  battery  in  Lundy's 
Lane  caused  the  battle  to  be  called  after  the  name  of  that  road.    About  a  mile  above  the  field  of  battle,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Niagara,  were  mills  called  The  Bridgewater  Mills.    A  person  attached  to  the  American  army,  but  not  in  the  battle, 
wrote  while  it  was  in  progress  to  some  friend  in  the  interior  of  New  York,  saying  that  a  great  battle  was  then  raging 
near  the  Bridgewater  Mills.    This  letter  was  published  extensively,  and  the  conflict  was  called  the  Battle  of  Bridgewater. 
It  was  so  announced  in  Niles's  Register,  August  13, 1S14. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  825 


Officers  wounded  in  the  Battle  of  Niagara.  Scott  proceeds  to  Washington.  Honors  conferred  upon  him. 

minutes  afterward  the  gallant  Captain  Spencer,  his  aid-de-camp,  received  a  mortal 
wound.1  Then  came  a  ball  of  some  kind  which  struck  Brown  in  the  side,  not  lacer 
ating,  but  severely  contusing  it.  Both  hurts  were  so  severe  that  the  general  felt 
doubtful  of  his  ability  to  keep  his  seat,  and  so  informed  Major  Wood,  his  confidential 
friend.  That  brave  officer,  deeply  engaged  in  the  battle,  exclaimed, "  Never  mind, 
my  dear  general,  you  are  winning  the  greatest  battle  ever  gained  for  your  country  !" 
The  enemy  were  soon  repulsed,  and  the  general,  supported  by  Captain  Austin,  his 
only  remaining  aid,  moved  from  the  field,  leaving  the  command,  as  we  have  seen,  with 
General  Ripley.  Brown  rapidly  recovered,  and  was  able  to  resume  the  command  of 
the  army  of  the  Niagara  early  in  September. 

General  Scott  was  wounded  by  a  bullet  that  entered  his  left  shoulder  while  he  was 
conversing  with  Major  Jesup  on  the  extreme  right.  He  had  been  exposed  to  death 
on  every  part  of  the  field,  and  had  two  horses  shot  under  him.  He  was  spared  until 
the  last  struggle  of  the  battle,  when  his  aid,  Lieutenant  Worth,  and  Brigade  Major 
Smith,  were  very  severely  wounded.  His  own  hurt  was  so  great  that  he  could  no 
longer  remain  on  the  field,  and  he  was  borne  first  to  the  Chippewa  camp,  then  to  Buf 
falo,  and  finally  to  Williamsville,  a  hamlet  in  the  east  part  of  the  present  town  of 
Java,  Wyoming  County,  New  York.  At  the  latter  place  he  found  the  wounded 
General  Riall  well-cared  for. 

Scott  suffered  intensely,  and  for  a  month  his  recovery  was  considered  doubtful. 
He  was  finally  removed  to  the  house  of  a  friend  (Mr.  Brisbane)  in  Batavia,  where  kind 
nursing  made  his  convalescence  rapid.  At  length,  when  able  to  bear  the  motions  of 
a  litter,  he  was  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  gentlemen  of  the  country  from  town  to 
town,  to  the  house  of  a  friend  (Mr.  Nicholas)  in  Geneva,  where  he  remained  until  he 
was  able  to  resume  his  journey,  when  he  went  to  Philadelphia,  and  placed  himself  in 
charge  of  the  eminent  Doctors  Physic  and  Chapman,  of  that  city.  He  was  every 
wrhere  received  with  demonstrations  of  the  warmest  respect  and  admiration  for  his 
personal  achievements,  and  as  the  representative  of  the  now  glorious  army  of  the  Ni 
agara.2  From  Philadelphia  he  passed  on  to  Baltimore  early  in  September,  then 
threatened  by  the  British,  who  had  just  destroyed  the  public  buildings  of  the  na 
tional  capital;  and  on  the  16th  of  October  he  was  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to 
take  command  of  the  Tenth  Military  District,  whose  head-quarters  were  at  Washing 
ton  City.  Honors  were  conferred  upon  him  by  public  bodies  in  many  places.  The 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  by  a  resolution  on  the  8th  of  November,  1814,  voted 
him  the  thanks  of  the  nation,  and  requested  the  President  to  have  a  gold  medal,  with 
suitable  devices,  struck  in  his  honor,  and  presented  to  him.3  The  Legislatures  of 

1  Ambrose  Spencer,  of  New  York,  was  commissioned  a  first  lieutenant  in  the  Twenty-ninth  Infantry  in  April,  1813, 
and  promoted  to  captain  in  February,  1814.  He  had  been  made  aid  to  General  Brown  in  August,  1S14,  and  remained  in 
his  family  until  his  death.  He  was  greatly  distinguished  in  the  battle  of  Niagara  Falls.  General  Brown  relates,  in  his 
Manuscript  Memoir,  etc.,  already  cited,  that  when  the  last  heavy  re-enforcements  of  the  British  were  coming  up  in  the 
dim  moonlight,  and  he  was  watching  them  with  intense  interest,  Captain  Spencer  suddenly  put  spurs  to  his  horse,  and 
rode  directly  to  the  front  of  the  advancing  foe.  Then,  turning  to  the  enemy's  right,  he  inquired,  in  a  firm,  strong 
voice,  "What  regiment  is  that  ?"  He  was  promptly  answered,  "  The  Royal  Scots,  sir."  "  Halt !  Royal  Scots,"  he  re 
plied,  and  they  obeyed.  With  this  information  he  returned  to  his  general,  and  soon  afterward  received  a  wound  which 
caused  his  death,  at  Fort  Erie,  on  the  5th  of  August.  General  Drummond  had  sent  a  message  to  Brown  asking  an  ex 
change  of  their  aids.  Spencer  was  mortally  wounded,  but  Loring  was  well.  Affection  for  his  aid  caused  Brown  to  de 
part  from  the  usages  of  war,  and  he  complied.  On  the  very  day  that  Spencer  was  brought  to  Fort  Erie  he  died,  and 
Captain  Loring  was  sent  back  to  his  general. 

3  It  was  the  annual  Commencement  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  at  Princeton,  when  General  Scott  arrived  there  on  his 
way  to  Philadelphia.  The  faculty  of  the  college  invited  him  to  attend  the  ceremonies  at  the  church.  He  was  carried 
thither  on  a  litter,  pale  and  emaciated  from  suffering,  and  was  placed  upon  the  stage  among  the  professors  and  invited 
guests.  He  was  greeted  by  both  sexes  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  The  orator  of  the  day  was  the  now  deceased 
brother  of  Bishop  M'llvaine,  of  Ohio,  and  his  subject  happened  to  be  "  The  public  duties  of  a  good  citizen  in  peace  and 
war" — an  appropriate  one  for  the  occasion ;  and  toward  its  close  he  turned  to  Scott  and  pronounced  a  most  touching 
eulogy  of  his  conduct.  This  compliment  was  followed  by  the  conferring  upon  the  wounded  hero  the  honorary  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts.  With  grateful  heart  Scott  passed  on,  and  was  met,  when  approaching  Philadelphia,  by  Governor 
Snyder  and  a  division  of  militia.— See  Mansfield's  Life  of  Scott,  Chapter  XI. 

3  Our  engraving  on  the  following  page  is  a  representation  of  the  medal,  a  trifle  smaller  than  the  original.  On  one 
fide  is  a  bust  of  General  Scott,  with  his  name.  On  the  other  side,  surrounded  by  a  wreath,  composed  of  palm  and  olive 
leaves  entwining  a  snake,  emblem  of  youth  and  immortality,  are  the  words  "RESOLUTION  OF  CONGBESS,  NOVEMBER  8, 


826 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Medal  awarded  to  Scott. 


Other  Gifts. 


Biographical  Sketch. 


Appointed  Brevet  Lieutenant  General. 


5DVEMHEB  if*  AS** . 
1TLEES  Of  CffiPPEWA 


*  February  12, 

1816. 

b  February, 
1816. 

c  1815. 


GOLD  MEDAL  AWARDED   TO   GENERAL  8OOTT. 

Virginia"  and  New  Yorkb  thanked  him,  and  each  voted  him  an  elegant 
sword.1  The  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  founded  by  Washington  and  his 
companions  in  arms,  elected  him  an  honorary  member,0  and  many  towns 
and  counties  were  named  in  his  honor  in  the  course  of  time.  He  was 
breveted  a  major  general;  and  for  almost  fifty  years  longer  he  served  his  country 
actively  in  its  military  operations,  ten  of  them  as  general-in-chief.  When,  in  the  au 
tumn  of  1861,  the  great  Civil  War  assumed  immense  proportions,  the  Nestor  of  the 
republic,  feeling  the  disabilities  of  increasing  physical  infirmities,  retired  from  act 
ive  service,  bearing  the  commission  given  him  a  few  years  before  of  lieutenant  gen 
eral.2 

1814.  BATTLES  OF  OHIPPEWA,  JULY  5,  1814 ;  NIAGARA,  JULY  25, 1814."  This  medal  was  not  presented  until  about  the 
close  of  Mr.  Monroe's  administration  (February  26, 1825),  when  the  President,  in  the  presence  of  his  cabinet,  handed  it 
to  him  with  a  brief  address.  Many  years  afterward,  while  it  was  in  the  City  Bank  for  safe  keeping,  the  safe  of  that  cor 
poration  was  entered  one  night  by  robbers.  They  carried  off  $250,000,  but  left  the  medal.  Several  years  afterward,  one 
of  the  rogues,  when  on  trial  for  another  offense,  said  that  "  when  he  took  the  money  from  the  City  Bank  he  saw  and 
well  knew  the  value  of  the  medal,  but  scorned  to  take  from  the  soldier  what  had  been  given  by  the  gratitude  of  his 
country."  The  profile  of  General  Scott  on  the  medal  is  said  to  be  the  best  likeness  extant  of  the  hero  at  the  time  he 
won  the  honor. 

1  The  New  York  sword  was  presented  to  General  Scott  by  Governor  Tompkins  in  the  City  Hall,  New  York,  on  "Evac 
uation  Day"  (November  25),  1816.  The  Virginia  sword  was  not  presented  until  1825,  when  it  was  bestowed  by  Govern 
or  Pleasants.  It  was  an  elegant  weapon,  with  suitable  devices  on  the  scabbard,  hilt,  and  blade.  On  one  side  of  the 
blade  is  seen  Scott,  just  as  Miller  had  carried  the  Lundy's  Lane  battery,  mounting  a  charger,  another  having  been  torn 
in  pieces  under  him.  Below  this  is  an  eagle  between  two  scrolls,  bearing  the  names  and  dates  of  his  two  battles.  On 
the  opposite  side  of  the  blade  are  the  words  "  Presented  by  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  to  General  Wiufield  Scott, 
12th  February,  1816  ;"  and  below  this  the  arms  of  Virginia. 

a  Wiufield  Scott  was  born  in  Petersburg,  Virginia,  on  the  13th  of  June,  1TS6.  He  was  left  an  orphan  in  his  boyhood, 
and  was  educated,  under  the  care  of-frieuds,  at  William  and  Mary  College.  He  chose  the  law  for  a  profession,  but  soon 

changed  it  for  that  of  arms.  He  entered  the  United  States  Army  as 
a  captain  of  light  artillery  in  1808,  and  was  stationed  at  Baton  Rouge, 
Louisiana,  under  General  Wilkinson.  He  had  some  difficulty  with 
that  officer,  and  during  a  temporary  suspension  from  duty  returned  to 

.  .      _  his  profession  in  his  native  state.    He  rejoined  the  army,  and,  aslieu- 

/  tenant  colonel,  went  to  the  Canada  frontier  in  1812.    His  career  there 

"  until  the  close  of  the  battle  of  Niagara  Falls  has  been  delineated  in 

the  text  of  this  work.    As  we  have  observed,  he  took  command  of 

the  Tenth  Military  District,  with  his  head-quarters  at  Washington  City,  late  in  the  autumn  of  1814,  when  he  held  the 
commission  of  major  general  by  brevet.  His  wound  was  very  severe.  It  was  in  the  left  shoulder,  and  his  arm  was  left 
partially  disabled.  He  was  offered  and  declined  a  place  in  the  cabinet  as  Secretary  of  War.  After  assisting  in  the  re 
duction  of  the  army  to  a  peace  establishment,  he  was  sent  to  Europe  in  a  military  and  diplomatic  capacity,  where  he 
met  some  of  the  most  distinguished  of  Napoleon's  generals.  He  compiled  some  useful  military  text-books,  and  was  in 
active  service  wherever  there  was  a  speck  of  war  until  that  with  Mexico  broke  out,  in  which  he  was  chief  actor  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States.  He  was  then  general-iu-chief  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  with  the  rank  of  major  gen 
eral.  For  his  distinguished  services  in  that  war  he  received  many  civic  honors.  In  1852  he  was  an  unsuccessful  can 
didate  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States.  In  1855  the  brevet  rank  of  lieutenant  general  was  revived  and  confer 
red  upon  him.  When  the  great  Civil  War  broke  out  he  was  found,  unlike  a  great  proportion  of  the  officers  of  the  reg 
ular  army  who  were  born  in  the  Slave-labor  states,  a  powerful  supporter  of  his  government,  and  by  his  skill  and  cour 
age  secured  the  peaceful  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  President  of  the  United  States  at  a  time  when  the  national 
capital  and  the  life  of  the  chief  magistrate  elect  were  menaced  by  banded  rebels.  He  retired  from  active  service  in  the 
autumn  of  1861,  and  died  at  West  Point,  on  the  Hudson,  May  29, 1866. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  827 


Visit  to  the  Niagara  Frontier.  Colonel  Cumminge.  Battle-ground  of  Niagara  at  Lundy's  Lane. 

I  visited  the  theatre  of  events  described  in  this  and  a  part  of  the  preceding  chap 
ter  in  the  summer  of  1860.  I  was  at  Niagara  Falls,  as  already  observed  (page  412), 
on  the  evening  of  the  16th  of  August.  On  the  following  morning,  accompanied  by 
Peter  A.  Porter,  Esq.,  son  of  General  Peter  B.  Porter  (and  conveyed  in  his  carriage), 
I  crossed  the  Niagara  on  the  great  Suspension  Bridge,  and  rode  up  to  the  Chippewa 
battle-ground.  We  went  over  the  great  chasm  at  about  ten  o'clock,  and  halted  at 
Chippewa  Village,  where  we  were  joined  by  Colonel  James  Cummings,  a  venerable 
Canadian,  seventy-two  years  of  age,  who  was  an  aid  to  General  Riall  in  the  battle  of 
the  5th  of  July,  1814.1  He  seemed  as  vigorous  as  most  men  at  sixty,  and  we  were 
fortunate  in  having  the  company  of  so  good  a  cicerone,  for  he  was  familiar  with  ev 
ery  place  and  event  of  that  battle.  He  owns  a  part  of  the  land  whereon  it  was 
fought ;  has  resided  near  there  for  more  than  fifty  years,  and  is  full  of  reminiscences 
of  the  past.  He  cherishes,  as  a  precious  heir-loom  for  his  family,  the  cocked  hat  and 
plume  which  he  wore  when  he  was  fighting  for  his  king  and  country. 

After  viewing  the  different  portions  of  the  battle-ground  at  Street's  Creek  and  Chip 
pewa  Plains,  and  making  the  sketches  printed  on  pages  806,  "7,  and  '8,2  we  returned 
to  the  village,  where  I  made  a  drawing  of  the  remains  of  the  tete-de-pont  battery,3  not 
far  from  the  mansion  of  Colonel  Cummings.  There  we  partook  of  some  refreshments, 
and,  accompanied  by  the  colonel,  rode  up  to  the  mouth  of  Lyon's  Creek,  where  the 
Americans  prepared  to  cross  the  Chippewa  and  flank  the  British,  causing  Riall,  as 
we  have  observed,4  to  hasten  back  to  Queenston.  On  returning  to  Chippewa  we 
spent  an  hour  with  Colonel  Cummings  and  his  family,  and  then  left  with  enduring 
recollections  of  time  spent  pleasantly  and  profitably  We  rode  slowly  by  the  great 
cataract,  observing  the  site  of  the  Widow  Wilson's  house,  near  Table  Rock,  the  stu 
pendous  falls,  and  the  grand  flood  as  it  rushes  in  wild  and  resistless  energy  toward 
the  great  bend  in  the  river  at  the  seething  whirlpool. 

At  Drummondville,  a  pleasant  little  town  of  about  five  hundred  inhabitants,  skirt 
ing  the  highway  from  Chippewa  to  Queenston,  we  turned  into  Lundy's  Lane,  and 
rode  to  the  top  of  the  hill  on  which  stood  the  British  battery  captured  by  Miller.  It 
is  a  pleasant  spot,  and  sufficiently  elevated  to  command  extensive  views  of  the  coun 
try  in  Canada  and  New  York.  On  the  crown  of  the  hill  was  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Fra- 
leigh  and  a  Methodist  church  ;  and  on  the  slope  toward  Drummondville  was  a  small 
cemetery,  a  view  of  which  may  be  seen  on  page  818.  A  little  to  the  left  of  the  large 
tree  in  that  picture  was  the  site  of  the  British  battery  taken  by  Miller.  Near  the  mid 
dle  of  that  cemetery  was  the  grave  and  monument  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bisshogp,  de 
lineated  on  page  628  ;  and  on  its  western  margin,  close  by  the  fence,  was  the  grave  of 
Captain  Abraham  F.  Hull,  who  appears  somewhat  conspicuously  in  the  narrative  of 
the  surrender  of  Detroit  by  his  father,  General  William  Hull,  in  the  summer  of  1812. 
On  the  spot  where  he  fell,  gallantly  fighting  in  the  battle  of  Niagara,  the  brother 
officers  of  Captain  Hull  erected  a  wooden  slab,  with  a  suitable  inscription,  to  mark 
the  spot  ;5  and  in  after  years  his  friends  erected  the  one  of  marble,  which,  with  an 

1  Colonel  Cummings  is  yet  (1S67)  living  at  Chippewa,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years.    He  entered  the  military  service  as 
lieutenant  of  a  volunteer  flank  company  in  1812,  and  was  stationed  on  the  spot  where  the  battle  of  Chippewa  was  fought 
two  years  later.    He  was  promoted  to  the  cavalry,  but 

was  soon  called  to  Fort  George  by  General  Brock,  and 

appointed  deputy  quartermaster  general  of  militia,  with 

the  rank  of  captain.    He  was  in  the  battle  at  Stony 

Creek,  the  taking  of  Boerstler  at  the  Beaver  Dams,  and 

was  the  one  who  received  Colonel  Chapin's  sword  when  he  surrendered  there.    He  was  with  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bis- 

shopp  at  the  taking  of  Black  Rock,  and  was  near  him  when  he  fell.    He  was  in  several  skirmishes,  and  participated  in 

the  battles  of  Chippewa  and  Niagara  as  aid  to  General  Riall.    He  was  an  active  officer,  and  between  these  battles  had 

charge  of  the  establishing  of  beacons  between  Chippewa  and  Queenston,  under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 

Christopher  Myers.    These  beacons  were  made  by  setting  up  a  pole,  from  which  was  suspended  an  iron  basket  filled 

with  resinous  bark. 

2  Nothing  of  Samuel  Street's  house  was  left  but  the  chimney,  as  delineated  on  page  806.    His  orchard,  on  the  south 
side  of  the  stream,  which  was  young  at  the  time  of  the  battle,  now  appeared  venerable,  but  vigorous. 

3  See  page  SOT.  *  See  page  813. 

5  The  cut  on  the  following  page  represents  the  board  slab  which  I  found  near  the  grave  of  Captain  Hull,  on  which 


828 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Observatory  at  Lundy's  Lane. 


Objects  seen  from  it. 


Daring  Feats  at  the  Niagara  Suspension  Bridge. 


inscription,  now  (1867)  stands  at  the  head  of  his  grave,  seen  near  the  fence  in  the  pic 
ture  on  page  818.1 

Fronting  on  Lundy's  Lane,  a  little  northwestward  of  the  position  of  the  British 
battery,  was  an  observatory,  made  of  timbers,  and  latticed.  It  was  one  hundred  and 
thirty  feet  in  height,  and  was  ascended  on  the  interior  by  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  steps.  We  climbed  wearily  to  the  top,  and  were  richly  rewarded  for  the  toil  by 
a  magnificent  panoramic  view  of  the  surrounding  country,  including  in  the  vision,  by 
the  aid  of  a  telescope,  the  statue  of  Brock  on  its  lofty  pedestal  on  the  Heights  of 
Queenston.  Westward  we  looked  far  over  the  Canadian  peninsula  to  the  broken 
country  around  the  Beaver  Dam  region,  and  eastward  as  far  over  the  cultivated  lands 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  while  at  our  feet  was  the  great  cataract,  which  gave  a 
tremor  to  the  pile  of  timber  work  on  which  we  stood,  and  formed  a  conception  in 
the  mind  of  the  amazing  power  of  that  mighty  pouring  flood.  An  elderly  man,  who 
acted  as  guide  to  the  surrounding  scenery  as  seen  from  the  observatory,  ascended 
with  us,  and,  in  monotonous  tone,  began  his  well-learned  task  of  repeating  the  record 
of  historical  events  there.  We  only  wanted  to  know  the  exact  locality  of  certain  in 
cidents  of  the  battle,  and,  after  four  times  preventing  him  going  farther  in  his  tedi 
ous  details  than  the  words  "  In  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fourteen," 
we  obtained  what  we  wished,  and  descended.  We  climbed  into  the  little  cemetery, 
and  I  sketched  the  tomb  of  Bisshopp  and  the  view  on  page  818,  and  at  the  same 
time  Mr.  Porter  made  a  neat  pencil  drawing 
for  me  of  a  small  house  in  Drummondville, 
which  was  used  as  a  hospital  after  the  battle, 
as  seen  from  Bisshopp's  grave.  It  is  copied 
in  the  annexed  engraving. 

On  returning  to  the  Suspension  Bridge  to 
recross  the  river,  we  observed  large  crowds 
of  people  on  both  banks,  above  and  below  the 
aerial  highway,  who  had  come  to  see  the  peril 
ous  feats  of  Blondin  and  a  rival  upon  slack  ropes  stretched  across  the  river  from 
bank  to  bank.  They  were  both  performing  at  the  same  time,  cheered  on  by  their  re 
spective  friends,  one  above  and  the  other  below  the  bridge.  Beneath  these  daring 
acrobats  was  the  foaming  river,  rushing  down  hill  to  the  great  whirlpool  at  the  rate 
of  thirty  miles  an  hour.  It  was  an  unpleasant  spectacle,  for  a  sense  of  fearful  danger 
oppressed  the  mind  of  the  beholder.  We  rode  slowly  across  the  bridge,  viewing 
the  foolish  and  yet  heroic  performances  of  both  young  men,  and  arrived  at  Niagara 
Falls  village  in  time  for  a  late  dinner.  Toward  evening  I  rode  down  to  Queenston, 
behind  a  blind  horse,  to  make  the  visits  on  the  Canadian  peninsula  described  in  pre 
ceding  chapters.2 

Let  us  now  resume  the  narrative  of  events  in  which  the  Army  of  the  Niagara  was 
engaged  in  the  summer  and  early  autumn  of  1814. 

General  Ripley's  tardiness,  if  not  absolute  disobedience,  as  we  have  observed,  left 
the  battle-field  of  Niagara,  so  gloriously  won  by  the  Americans,  in  the  possession  of 


was  the  following  inscription :  "  This  was  erected  by  his  brother  officers  to  mark  the  spot 
where  Captain  Hull,  U.  S.  Army,  fell  in  the  memorable  action  at  Lundy's  Lane,  25th  July,  1814, 
gallantly  leading  his  men  to  the  charge." 

1  This  is  a  plain  stone,  two  and  a  half  feet  in  height,  which  bears  the  following  inscription  : 
"Here  lies  the  body  of  Abraham  Hull,  captain  in  the  Ninth  Regiment  U.  S.  Infantry,  who  fell 
near  this  spot  in  the  battle  of  Bridgewater  [see  note  3,  page  824],  July  25, 1814,  aged  twenty- 
eight  years." 

Captain  Abraham  Fuller  Hull  entered  the  army  as  captain  in  the  Ninth  Infantry  on  the  14th 
of  April,  1S12,  and  was  with  his  father  during  the  march  of  the  army  from  Dayton  to  Detroit. 
He  was  made  aid-de-camp  to  his  father  in  May,  1812,  and  served  as  such  until  the  surrender  in 
August.  When  he  again  assumed  his  place  in  the  line,  he  took  command  of  his  old  company 
in  the  Ninth,  under  Major  Leavenworth.  He  was  an  excellent  officer,  and  his  loss  was  much 
lamented.  2  See  page  41'2. 


HOSPITAL   NEAR   LUNDY  8  LANE. 


WOODEN    SLAB. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  829 


Rlpiey  attempts  to  abandon  Canada.  Brown's  Indignation.  He  orders  the  Army  to  Port  Erie. 

the  foe  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  July.  At  that  time  Generals  Brown  and  Scott, 
Major  Jesup,  and  other  wounded  officers,  were  placed  in  boats  for  conveyance  to  Buf 
falo,  and  they  departed  with  the  expectation  that  Ripley  would  hold  the  strong  po 
sition  at  Chippewa  until  the  arrival  of  re-enforcements.  The  commanding  general 
had  scarcely  disappeared  behind  Navy  Island  in  his  upward  voyage  when  Ripley 
ordered  the  destruction  of  the  military  works  and  bridge,  and  some  of  his  own  stores 
at  Chippewa,  and  made  a  precipitate  flight  with  the  whole  army  to  the  Black  Rock 
Ferry,  a  short  distance  below  Fort  Erie.  His  intention  was  to  lead  the  whole  army 
across  the  river,  and  utterly  abandon  Canada.  This  design  would  have  been  accom 
plished  had  not  the  firmness  of  the  principal  officers,  by  a  vehement  opposition,  pre 
vented.  Ripley  crossed  the  river  to  Black  Rock,  where  Brown  lay,  to  get  from  him 
an  order  for  the  army  to  pass  over ;  but  that  indignant  commander  not  only  refused, 
but  treated  the  brigadier  with  scorn.1  Ripley  returned,  and,  by  order  of  General 
Brown,  he  led  the  army  to  a  good  position,  just  above  Fort  Erie,  along  the  lake  shore, 
encamped  it  there,  and  proceeded  to  strengthen  the  old  works,  and  to  construct  new 
and  more  extensive  ones  preparatory  to  an  expected  siege.2  General  Porter,  at  about 
the  same  time,  issued  a  stirring  appeal  to  his  fellow-citizens,  asking  for  four  thousand 
volunteers. 

The  labor  at  Fort  Erie  for  that  purpose  was  commenced  with  great  zeal  and  en 
ergy  by  the  engineers,  and  from  the  27th  of  July  until  the  2d  of  August  the  troops 
were  employed  in  the  business  day  and  night,  casting  up  intrenchmcnts,  constructing 
redoubts,  making  traverses,  and  preparing  abatis.  Fortunately  for  the  Americans, 
Drummond  did  not  know  their  real  weakness,  and  he  remained  quietly  at  Lundy's 
Lane  and  vicinity,  resting  his  men  and  receiving  re-enforcements  for  two  or  three 
days.  Finally,  on  the  29th,  having  been  re-enforced  by  about  eleven  hundred  men 
of  General  De  Watteville's  brigade,  he  prepared  to  push  forward  and  invest  Fort 
Erie. 

At  this  time  Fort  Erie  was  an  indifferent  affair,  small  and  weak,  standing  on  a 
plain  about  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  above  Lake  Erie,  at  its  foot.  Efforts  to  strengthen 
it  having  been  made  ever  since  it  was  captured  at  the  beginning  of  July,  it  was  be 
ginning  to  assume  a  formidable  appearance.  On  the  extreme  right  of  the  American 
encampment,  and  near  the  lake  shore,  a  strong  stone  work  had  been  erected,  and  two 
guns  mounted  on  it,  en  barbette,  or  on  the  top  without  embrasures.  It  was  called  the 
Douglass  Battery,  in  honor  of  Lieutenant  David  B.  Douglass,  of  the  Engineer  corps, 
under  whose  superintendence  it  was  built.  From  the  left  of  this  battery  to  the  right 
of  the  old  fort  continuous  earthworks  were  thrown  up,  seven  feet  in  height,  with  a 

i  "While  the  wounded,"  says  Major  Jesnp,  "were  moving  by  water  to  Buffalo,  the  army  abandoned  its  strong  posi 
tion  behind  the  Chippewa,  and,  after  destroying  a  part  of  its  stores,  fell  back,  or,  rather,  fled  to  the  ferry  opposite  Black 
Rock,  but  a  short  distance  below  Fort  Erie ;  and  General  Ripley,  but  for  the  opposition  made  by  M'Ree,  Wood,  Tow- 
son,  Porter,  and  other  officers,  would  have  crossed  to  the  American  shore.  Had  the  enemy  availed  himself  of  this  blun 
der,  not  a  man  of  our  army  could  have  escaped The  American  general  could  have  maintained  his  position  [at 

Chippewa],  and  have  held  General  Drummond  in  check  during  the  remainder  of  the  campaign."— Jesup's  Manuscript 
Memoir  of  the  Niagara  Campaign. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  the  commanding  general  at  Black  Rock  "was  advised  that  the  army  had  fallen  back 
in  haste,  and  was  then  near  him  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  strait.  This  movement  was  unexpected,  and  greatly  af 
fected  the  general.  General  Ripley  intended  to  have  proceeded  with  the  army  immediately  to  the  American  side  of 
the  strait,  but  the  honorable  stand  taken  by  the  officers  whom  he  consulted  induced  him  to  shrink  from  this  intention. 
Majors  M'Ree,  Wood,  and  Towson,  as  well  as  General  Porter,  deserve  particular  honor  for  their  high-minded  conduct 
on  this  occasion.  General  Ripley  left  the  army,  and  came  to  General  Brown  with  a  hope  of  obtaining  an  order  for  him 
to  cross  with  the  forces.  No  proposition  could  have  been  more  surprising  to  the  major  general ;  and  perhaps,  at  this 
interview,  he  treated  General  Ripley  with  unjustifiable  indignation  and  scorn."— General  Brown's  Manuscript  ifemo- 
ranjlum  of  Occurrences  connected  with  the  Campaigns  of  Xiagara. 

*  When  General  Ripley  left  General  Brown's  chamber  and  went  below,  he  remarked  to  persons  there  that  he  would 
not  be  responsible  for  the  army  if  it  remained  in  Canada,  and  insisted  that  a  written  order  should  be  given  him.  When 
informed  of  this,  Brown  sent  to  Ripley  the  following  note : 

"Head-quarters,  Buffalo,  27th  July,  1S14. 

"  SIK,— All  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  the  surplus  baggage,  will  be  immediately  removed  to  this  .place.  Those  men 
who  are  sound  and  able  to  fight  will  encamp  at  Fort  Erie,  so  as  to  defend  that  post,  and,  at  the  same  time,  hold  the  ferry 
below  until  the  wounded,  sick,  and  surplus  baggage  have  crossed.  You  will  send  Major  Wood  or  Major  M'Ree  to  me 
immediately."— General  Brown's  Manuscript  Letter-book. 


830  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Fort  Erie  and  its  Revetments.  The  British  attack  Black  Rock.  Incidents  of  the  Movement. 

ditch  in  front  and  slight  aba 
tis  y  and  from  the  left  of  the 
fort,  and  in  a  line  nearly  paral 
lel  with  the  lake  shore,  strong 
parapet  breastworks  were 
commenced,  with  two  ditches 
and  abatis  in  front.  At  the 
southwestern  extremity  of 
this  line  of  works,  on  a  natural 

KEMAINS  OP  DOUGLASS'S  BATTEKY  AND  KOKT  EBIE.'  ,  ,       ,,     ,  0      ,      TT-,, 

sand-mound  called  Snake  Hill, 

a  sort  of  bastion,  twenty  feet  in  height,  was  cast  up,  five  guns  mounted  on  it,  and 
named  Towson's  Battery,  in  honor  of  the  gallant  artillery  captain  in  whose  charge  it 
was  placed.  From  this  battery  to  the  lake  shore,  near  which  lay  at  anchor  the  three 
armed  schooners  Porcupine,  Somers,  and  Ohio,  was  a  line  of  abatis,  thus  completing 
the  inclosure  of  the  American  camp,  with  defenses  on  land  and  water,  within  an  area 
of  about  fifteen  acres.  All  of  these  works,  excepting  old  Fort  Erie,  were  incomplete 
when,  on  the  2d  of  August,  it  was  discovered  that  the  British  army  was  approach 
ing.  They  moved  steadily  onward  in  considerable  force,  drove  in  the  American  pick 
ets,  and  in  the  woods,  two  miles  from  Fort  Erie  proper,  formed  a  camp,  and  com 
menced  casting  up  double  and  irregular  lines  of  intrenchments,  and  constructing  bat 
teries  in  front  at  points  from  which  an  effectual  fire  might  be  poured  upon  the  Amer 
ican  works. 

Drummond  perceived  the  importance  of  capturing  the  American  batteries  at  Black 
Rock,  and  seizing  or  destroying  the  armed  schooners  in  the  lake,  before  proceeding 
to  the  business  of  besieging  Fort  Erie ;  and  before  dawn  on  the  morning  of  the  3d 
of  August,  he  sent  over  Lieutenant  Colonel  Tucker  with  a  detachment  of  the  Forty- 
first  Regiment,  in  nine  boats,  to  attack  the  batteries.  They  landed  about  half  a  mile 
below  Shogeoquady  Creek,  where  they  found  themselves  unexpectedly  confronted 
by  a  band  of  riflemen,  two  hundred  and  forty  in  number,  and  a  small  number  of  mi 
litia  and  volunteers,  under  Major  Morgan.  That  officer  had  been  intrusted  with  the 
defense  of  Buffalo.  He  had  perceived  the  advance  of  the  British  on  the  2d,  and  be 
lieving  their  intention  to  be  to  feign  an  attack  on  Fort  Erie,  but  really  to  attempt 
the  capture  of  Buffalo  and  the  public  stores  there,  and  the  release  of  General  Riall, 
he  had  hastened  to  Black  Rock,  destroyed  the  bridge  over  the  creek,  and  during  the 
night  had  thrown  up  a  breastwork  of  logs. 

Morgan's  movement  was  timely  and  fortunate.  When  the  British  commenced  an 
attack  at  dawn,  and  a  party  moved  forward  to  repair  the  bridge,  the  Americans  of 
fered  very  little  resistance  until  the  foe  were  within  full  and  easy  range  of  their 
rifles,  when  they  poured  upon  them  such  destructive  volleys  that  the  invaders  recoiled. 
In  the  mean  time  Drummond  sent  over  re-enforcements,  which  swelled  the  number 
of  Tucker's  troops  to  about  twelve  hundred.  With  these  he  attempted  a  flank  move 
ment,  but  was  gallantly  met  at  the  fords  of  the  creek  by  a  small  party  under  Lieu 
tenants  Ryan,  Smith,  and  Armstrong,  who  disputed  their  passage  with  success.  Aft 
er  a  severe  contest  the  British  fell  back,  withdrew  to  Squaw  Island,  and  with  all  pos 
sible  dispatch  recrossed  the  Niagara  and  joined  in  the  investment  of  Fort  Erie.  The 
British  lost  a  considerable  number,  of  which  no  official  record  seems  to  have  been 
given.  The  Americans  lost  two  private  soldiers  killed,  and  Captain  Hamilton,  Lieu 
tenants  Wadsworth  and  M'Intosh,  and  five  private  soldiers  wounded. 

While  Tucker  was  busy  in  the  invasion  at  Black  Rock,  Drummond  opened  fire 
with  some  24-pounders  in  front  of  Fort  Erie;  but  from  that  time  until  the  7th  can- 

1  This  little  sketch  shows  the  general  appearance  of  the  remains  when  I  visited  the  spot  in  the  summer  of  1860.  In 
the  front,  on  the  extreme  right,  are  the  crumbled  walls  of  Douglass's  Battery,  and  in  the  extreme  distance  those  of  Port 
Erie.  Intermediately  are  seen  the  mounds  of  the  intrenchments  which  connected  the  old  fort  with  Towson's  Battery. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


831 


Preparations  for  Battle. 


General  Gaines  takes  Command  of  the  Army. 


A  Eeconnoissance  and  its  Effects. 


nonading  was  seldom  heard.  Both  parties  were  laboring  intensely  in  preparing  for 
the  impending  battle,  Drummond  in  constructing  works  for  a  siege  and  assault,  and 
Ripley  in  preparations  for  a  defense.  On  that  day  most  of  the  new  works  about 
Fort  Erie  were  completed.  Towson's  and  Douglass's  batteries  were  in  readiness  for 
action.  The  parapeted  breastworks  from  Fort  Erie  to  Towson's  Battery  were  com 
pleted  ;  two  ditches  were  dug  in  front  of  them,  and  abatis  were  laid  in  continuous 
line  from  Douglass's  Battery  around  the  front  of  the  fort  and  breastworks  to  Tow- 
son's,  and  from  thence  to  the  lake  shore.  Between  Towson's  and  the  old  fort  two 
other  batteries  had  been  constructed.  One,  mounting  two  guns,  was  placed  in  com 
mand  of  Captain  Biddle,  and  the  other,  also  two  guns,  was  put  in  charge  of  Lieuten 
ant  Fontaine.  The  dragoons,  infantry,  riflemen,  and  volunteers  were  encamped  be 
tween  the  southwestern  ramparts  and  the  water;  and  the  artillery,  under  Major 
Hindman,  were  stationed  in  the  old  fort.1 

General  Gaines2  arrived  at  the  camp  at  Fort 
•August,  Erie  on  the  5th,a  and  was  welcomed 
with  delight  by  the  little  army.  He 
immediately  assumed  the  chief  command,  and 
his  presence  inspired  them  with  confidence  and 
courage.  General  Ripley,  who  had  labored 
faithfully  in  preparations  for  defense,  yet  not 
without  gloomy  forebodings,  resumed  the  com 
mand  of  his  brigade,  and  perfect  good  feeling 
prevailed. 

Gaines  soon  made  himself  acquainted  with 

the  condition  and  position  of  his  force,  and  on 

the  morning  of  the  6thb  he  sent  out 

°  August.      -.i-.        IT  -i  -i  • 

Major  Morgan  and  his  riflemen  (who 
had  been  called  over  from  Buffalo)  to  recon 
noitre  the  enemy,  and,  if  possible,  draw  him  out 
from  his  intrenchments.    Morgan  soon  encoun 
tered  some  of  the  British  light  troops,  and  at 
tacked  and  drove  them  back  to  their  lines ;  and 
for  two  hours  he  mano3uvred  in 
a  way   calculated  to   draw  the 
main  body  out,  but  without  suc 
cess.     He  returned  to  the  camp 
with  a  loss  of  five  men  killed  and 
four  wounded. 

This  reconnoissance  was  followed  by  the  British,  early  on  the  morning  of  the 


.  vJ,c  hurling  a  tremendous  storm  of  round  shot  upon  the  American  works 
from  five  of  their  heavy  cannon.     This  drew  from  the  assailed  a  severe 
response  from  all  their  heavy  guns  that  could  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  enemy, 
and  from  that  day  until  the  13th  the  siege  went  slowly  and  steadily  on,  the  garri 
son,  on  all  occasions,  behaving  most  gallantly.    Having  on  that  morning  completed 

1  See  map  on  page  839. 

3  Edmund  Pendleton  Gaines  was  born  in  Culpepper  County,  Virginia,  on  the  20th  of  March,  1777.  At  the  close  of  the 
Kevolution  his  father  returned  to  North  Carolina,  where  he  had  resided,  and  there  the  son  toiled  on  a  small  farm.  When 
he  was  about  thirteen  years  of  age  the  family  emigrated  to  Tennessee,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  young  Gaines  was 
elected  a  lieutenant  of  a  rifle  company.  He  entered  the  United  States  Army  as  an  ensign  in  January,  1809.  He  re- 
.  mained  in  the  army  six  years,  and  thfen  became  collector  of  the  port  of  Mobile.  He  was  promoted  to  captain  in  the 
army,  and  in  that  capacity  was  placed  in  command  of  Fort  Stoddart,  and  was  active  in  the  arrest  of  Burr  (see  page  1ST). 
He  was  commissioned  a  major  in  1812,  and  rose  through  the  various  grades  to  brigadier  general  in  March,  1814.  He 
was  breveted  a  major  general  for  his.gallant  conduct  at  Fort  Erie,  where  he  was  wounded.  Congress  rewarded  him 
with  thanks  and  a  gold  medal.  He  was  retained  in  1815.  He  was  active  in  the  Southern  Indian  country,  particularly 
in  the  Seminole  War.  He  died  at  New  Orleans  on  the  6th  of  June,  1849,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  The  signa 
ture  here  given  is  from  a  letter  to  Judge  Hugh  L.  White,  dated  "Fort  Erie,  Upper  Canada,  August  24, 1S14. 


832  PICTOEIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Attack  on  Fort  Erie.         Preparations  to  receive  an  Assault.         Situation  of  the  American  Troops.          Secret  Order. 

the  mounting  of  all  his  heavy  ordnance,  Drummond  commenced  a  cannonade,  bom 
bardment,  and  rocketeering,  which  was  continued  throughout  the  day,  and  renewed 
on  the  morning  of  the  14th.  It  ceased  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  very 
little  impression  had  been  made  on  the  American  defenses. 

Gaines  was  convinced  that  Drummond  intended  to  resort  to  a  direct  assault  should 
his  cannonading  prove  ineffectual,  and,  with  this  impression,  he  kept  the  garrison  con 
tinually  on  the  alert.  Men  were  detailed  for  night  service  in  such  manner  that  part 
were  resting  and  part  were  under  arms  continually.  The  guns  in  the  batteries  had 
been  charged  afresh  several  evenings  in  succession  with  a  variety  of  shot ;  dark  lan 
terns  were  kept  burning,  and  linstocks  ready  for  firing  were  near  every  cannon.  The 
engineers  and  the  commanding  officer  watched  every  movement  with  the  eyes  of  ex 
perts,  and  they  agreed  in  the  belief  that  an  assault  would  be  made  on  the  night  of  the 
14th.  On  that  evening  Gaines  visited  and  inspected  every  part  of  the  works,  gave 
explicit  directions  to  every  officer,  and  words  of  encouragement  to  the  men  ;  and  En 
gineers  M'Ree  and  Wood  examined  every  part  of  the  intrenchments  most  carefully. 
In  the  mean  time,  while  the  garrison  were  on  evening  parade,  a  shell  came  screaming 
across  the  space  between  the  hostile  camps,  fell  within  the  American  lines,  and  lodged 
in  an  almost  empty  magazine,  which  was  blown  up  with  a  tremendous  report.  The 
enemy  huzzaed  long  and  loud,  supposing  they  had  destroyed  one  of  Gaines's  chief 
magazines.  Hoping  to  profit  by  the  confusion  and  loss,  they  prepared  at  once  to  as 
sail  the  American  works.  Their  gun-flints  were  removed  from  their  muskets,  scaling- 
ladders  were  collected,  and  the  arrangements  of  the  columns  for  attack  were  carefully 
made  in  accordance  with  a  secret  order1  issued  by  Drummond,  and  special  secret  in 
structions  given  to  Lieutenant  Colonels  Scott,  Fischer,  and  Drummond. 

At  that  time  the  Americans  were  situated  as  follows :  Small,  unfinished  Fort  Erie, 
with  a  24, 18,  and  12 -pounder,  forming  the  northeast  angle  of  the  intrenched  camp, 
was  under  the  command  of  Captain  Williams,  with  Major  Trimble's  Nineteenth  Reg 
iment  of  Infantry.  The  Douglass  Battery,  with  an  18  and  6  pounder,  and  forming  the 
southeast  angle,  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Douglass,  whose  own  name  it  bore. 
On  the  left,  forming  the  southwest  angle,  was  Towson's  Redoubt  Battery,  on  the  little 

1  Three  copies  were  made  of  this  secret  order  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Harvey,  Drummond's  assistant  adjutant  genera), 
for  the  use  respectively  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Drummond,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Fischer,  and  Colonel  Scott.  A  copy  of 
the  one  given  to  Drummond  is  before  me.  It  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Harvey,  and  was  found  on  the  body  of  Drum 
mond  after  his  death,  with  another  paper  mentioned  in  the  subjoined  paragraph  in  a  letter  of  General  Gaines  to  Judge 
Hugh  L.  White,  of  Tennessee,  the  original  of  which  is  also  before  me.  It  is  dated  at  Fort  Erie,  August  24, 1814.  Gen 
eral  Gaines  says:  "The  inclosed  papers,  numbers  one  and  two,  were  in  the  pockets  of  Colonel  Drummoud.  The  ball 
that  killed  him  passed  through  the  latter,  and  a  bayonet  through  the  former.  I  send  them  to  you  as  trophies,  and  curi 
osities  which  I  wish  preserved."  The  paper  number  one,  through  which  the  bayonet  was  thrust,  was  the  secret  order 
above  mentioned.  Number  two  is  a  rough  topographical  pencil-sketch  of  Fort  Erie,  the  position  of  the  British  works, 
that  of  the  three  vessels  on  the  lake,  and  the  relative  position  of  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock.  Through  this  the  fatal  bul 
let  went,  and  left  a  fracture  in  each  of  its  four  folds,  around  which  the  blood-stain  may  be  still  seen,  having  the  appear 
ance  of  sepia  in  color.  These  interesting  mementoes  of  the  sanguinary  field  of  Erie  are  in  the  possession  of  Samuel 
Jaudon,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  a  relative  of  Judge  White  by  marriage,  to  whose  courtesy  I  am  indebted  for  their  use. 

In  the  secret  order  is  the  following  paragraph,  of  which  I  have  made  a  fac-simile:  "The  lieutenant %eneral  most 
strongly  recommends  a  free  use  of  the  bayonet."  The  bayonet  that  wounded  Drummond  passed  through  the  paragraph 


immediately  above  this,  and  left  a  fracture  in  the  paper  about  an  inch  in  length  and  half  an  inch  in  width.    In  the  se 
cret  order  the  parole  was  "Steel,"  and  the  countersign  "Twenty." 


OF  THE   WAR   OF    1812.  833 

Fort  Erie  Garrison  expecting  an  Attack.  The  Fort  assailed.  The  British  repulsed. 

eminence  called  Snake  Hill ;  and  the  two  two-gun  batteries  in  front,  already  men 
tioned,  were  in  charge  of  Captains  Biddle  and  Fanning,  the  latter  outranking  Fon 
taine.  The  whole  of  the  artillery  was  in  charge  of  Major  Hindman.  Parts  of  the 
Ninth,  Eleventh,  and  Twenty-fifth  Regiments  (the  remnants  of  Scott's  veteran  bri 
gade)  were  posted  on  the  right,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Aspinwall. 
General  Ripley's  brigade,  consisting  of  the  Twenty-first  and  Twenty-third,  was  post 
ed  on  the  left,  and  General  Porter's  brigade  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  Volun 
teers,  wTith  the  riflemen,  occupied  the  centre. 

An  ominous  silence  prevailed  in  both  camps  at  midnight  of  the  14th.  It  was  the 
lull  before  the  bursting  forth  of  the  tempest  in  its  fury.  It  was  not  the  silence  of 
inactivity  on  the  part  of  the  British  ;  on  the  contrary,  there  was  uncommon  but  cau 
tious  stirring  within  their  lines.  In  the  American  camp  alone,  where,  as  the  night 
wore  away,  a  doubt  of  immediate  danger  and  the  effects  of  great  fatigue  were  wooing 
the  garrison  to  slumber,  did  the  quiet  of  rest  prevail.  It  was  soon  broken.  At  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning  an  alarm  came  from  a  picket-guard  of  one  hundred  men,  com 
manded  by  Lieutenant  Belknap,  of  the  Twenty-third  Infantry,  who  were  posted  in 
the  direction  of  the  enemy's  camp  to  watch  their  movements.  The  duties  of  this 
picket  were  important  and  perilous,  but  were  intrusted  to  good  hands.  Belknap 
managed  the  aifair  with  skill  and  bravery.1  The  sky  was  overhung  with  clouds. 
Sound,  not  sight,  gave  intelligence  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy.  Belknap  fired  an 
alarm,  and  then  fell  steadily  back  to  camp.  The  enemy  came  dashing  on  in  the 
gloom,  full  fifteen  hundred  strong,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Fischer,  and  charged  fu 
riously  upon  Towson's  Battery  and  the  abatis  on  the  extreme  left,  between  that  work 
and  the  lake  shore.  They  expected  to  find  the  Americans  asleep,  but  were  mistaken. 
Colonel  Miller's  brave  Twenty-first  Regiment,  then  in  charge  of  Major  Wood,  of  the 
Engineers,  was  behind  the  abatis,  and  Towson's  artillerists,  gallantly  supported  on 
the  right  by  the  Twenty-third  Regiment,  were  on  the  alert.  At  a  signal,  Towson's 
long  24-pounders  sent  forth  such  a  continuous  stream  of  flame  from  the  summit  of 
Snake  Hill  that  the  foe  called  it  the  "Yankee  Light-house."  At  the  same  instant  a 
bright  flame  beamed  forth  from  the  line  of  the  Twenty-first,  and  sent  a  brilliant  illu 
mination  high  and  far,  and  revealed  the  position  of  the  enemy  to  the  garrison.  It 
was  as  evanescent  as  the  light  of  the  Roman  candle  of  the  pyrotechnic,  and  in  a  few 
moments  heaviest  gloom  settled  upon  the  scene,  relieved  only  by  the  flashes  of  the 
cannon  and  musketry. 

While  one  assailing  column  was  endeavoring  by  the  use  of  ladders  to  scale  Tow- 
son's  embankment,  the  other,  failing  to  penetrate  the  abatis,  waded  in  the  shallow 
water  of  the  lake  under  cover  of  darkness,  and  attempted  to  charge  the  Twenty-first 
in  the  rear.  But  both  columns  failed.  After  a  desperate  struggle,  they  were  re 
pulsed  and  fell  back.  Five  times  they  came  gallantly  to  the  attack,  and  were-  as 
often  driven  away.  Finally,  having  suffered  great  loss,  chiefly  from  the  destructive 
effects  of  grape  and  canister  shot,  they  abandoned  the  enterprise. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  this  movement  on  the  extreme  left,  an  assault  was 

i  William  Goldsmith  Belknap  was  born  in  Newburg,  Orange  County,  New  York,  on  the  14th  of  September,  1T94.  He 
entered  the  army  as  third  lieutenant  in  the  Twenty-third  Regiment  of  United  States  Infantry  in  the  spring  of  1814,  and 
in  the  following  autumn  was  in  Wilkinson's  expedition  down  the  St.  Lawrence.  He  followed  the  fortunes  of  General 
Brown,  and  was  with  him  on  the  Niagara  frontier  in  1814.  His  services  at  Fort  Erie,  where  he  was  severely  wounded, 
received  the  warm  commendations  of  his  superior  officers.*  He  was  retained  in  the  army  at  the  peace  as  first  lieuten 
ant  in  the  Second  Regiment,  Colonel  Brady.  At  the  reduction  of  the  army  in  1S21  he  was  transferred  to  the  Third,  and 
the  following  year  was  promoted  to  captain.  He  was  promoted  to  major  in  1842,  and,  having  been  active  and  useful  in 
the  Seminole  War  in  Florida,  he  was  breveted  lieutenant  colonel.  He  was  with  General  Taylor  in  Texas  and  Mexico, 
and  in  the  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma  he  gallantly  commanded  a  brigade.  During  the  remainder  of 
the  service  he  was  Taylor's  inspector  general.  For  his  gallant  conduct  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista  he  was  breveted 
brigadier  general.  He  was  with  General  Taylor  in  all  his  battles.  From  December,  1848,  to  May,  1851,  General  Bel 
knap  was  in  command  of  Fort  Gibson,  in  the  Cherokee  nation,  and  his  memory  is  cherished  with  gratitude  by  that  peo 
ple  He  died  near  Preston,  Texas,  on  the  10th  of  November,  1851. 

*  In  a  letter  to  Major  Belknap  in  1S41  (kindly  placed  in  my  hands  by  a  daughter  of  that  gallant  officer),  Brigadier  Gen 
eral  Towson  gave  most  interesting  details  of  the  operations  of  the  picket  and  the  attack  of  the  enemy. 

3  G 


834  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  British  move  upon  the  Fort.  The  Battle  of  Fort  Erie.  The  British  in  a  Bastion. 

made  on  the  right  by  five  hundred  infantry  and  artillery,  with  a  reserve  of  Indians, 
composing  the  centre  and  left  columns  of  the  enemy,  under  Lieutenant  Colonels  Drum- 
mond  and  Scott.  They  advanced  rapidly,  under  a  blaze  of  fire  from  cannon  and  mus 
ketry — Drummond  toward  old  Fort  Erie,  which  the  mortified  British  had  determined 
to  recover  at  all  hazards,  and  Scott  toward  the  Douglass  Battery  and  the  connecting 
intrenchments.  The  latter  were  received  by  the  veteran  Ninth,  under  the  command 
of  Captain  Foster,  and  Captains  Broughton  and  Harding's  companies  of  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  aided  by  a  6-pounder  between  Douglass  Battery  and 
the  lake  shore,  managed  by  Major  M'Ree,  the  chief  engineer.  The  enemy  was  soon  re 
pulsed  in  this  quarter ;  but  the  centre,  led  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Drummond,  was  not 
long  kept  in  check.  It  approached  every  assailable  point  of  the  fort  at  once.  They 
brought  scaling-ladders,  and,  with  the  greatest  coolness  and  bravery,  attempted  to 
force  an  entrance  over  the  walls.  Captain  Williams,  and  Lieutenants  Macdonough 
and  Watmough,  in  the  fort,  met  them  gallantly,  and  twice  repulsed  them.  Then 
Drummond,  taking  advantage  of  the  covering  of  a  thick  pall  of  gunpowder  smoke 
which  hung  low,  went  silently  around  the  ditch,  and  with  scaling-ladders  ascended  to 
the  parapet  with  great  celerity,  and  gained  a  secure  footing  there  with  one  hundred 
of  the  Royal  Artillery  before  any  effectual  opposition  could  be  made.  Already  the 
exasperated  Drummond,  goaded  almost  to  madness  by  the  murderous  repulses  which 
he  had  endured,  had  given  orders  to  show  no  mercy  to  the  "  damned  Yankees,"1  and 
had  actually  stationed  a  body  of  painted  savages  near,  with  instructions  to  rush  into 
the  fort  when  the  regulars  should  get  possession  of  it,  and  assist  in  the  general  mas 
sacre.2  Finding  himself  now  in  actual  possession  of  a  part  of  the  fort,  he  instantly 
directed  his  men  to  charge  upon  the  garrison  with  pike  and  bayonet,  and  to  "  show 
no  mercy."  Most  of  the  American  officers  and  many  of  the  men  received  deadly 
wounds.  Among  the  former  was  Lieutenant  Macdonough.  He  was  severely  hurt, 
and  demanded  quarter.  It  was  refused  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Drummond.  The  lieu 
tenant  then  seized  a  handspike,  and  boldly  defended  himself  until  he  was  shot  down 
with  a  pistol  by  the  monster  who  had  refused  him  mercy,  and  who  often  reiterated 
the  order,  "  Give  the  damned  Yankees  no  quarter  !"  He  soon  met  his  deserved  fate, 
for  he  was  shot  through  the  heart,  was  severely  bayoneted,  and  fell  dead  by  the  side 
of  his  own  victim.3 

The  battle  now  raged  with  increased  fury  on  the  right,  while  on  the  left  the  enemy 
was  repulsed  at  every  point  and  put  to  flight.  Thence,  and  from  the  centre,  Gaines 
promptly  ordered  re-enforcements.  They  were  quickly  sent  by  Ripley  and  Porter, 
while  Captain  Fanning  kept  up  a  spirited  cannonading  on  the  enemy,  now  to  be  seen 
approaching  the  fort,  for  the  day  had  dawned.  The  enemy  still  held  the  bastion,  in 
spite  of  all  efforts  to  dislodge  them.  Hindman  and  Trimble  had  failed  in  their  at 
tempts  to  drive  them  out,  when  Captain  Birdsall,  of  the  Fourth  Rifle  Regiment, 
rushed  in  through  the  gateway,  and  with  some  infantry  charged  the  foe.  They  were 
repulsed,  and  the  captain  was  severely  wounded.  Then  a  detachment  from  the  Elev 
enth,  Nineteenth,  and  Twenty-second  Infantry,  under  Captain  Foster,  of  the  Eleventh, 
was  inti'oduced  into  the  interior  bastion  for  the  purpose  of  charging  the  enemy.  The 
movement  was  gallantly  made — Foster  was  accompanied  by  Major  Hall,  the  assist 
ant  inspector  general — but,  owing  to  the  narrowness  of  the  passage,  it  failed.  It  was 
often  repeated,  and  as  often  checked ;  yet  these  attacks  greatly  diminished  the  num 
ber  of  combatants  in  the  bastion.  A  more  furious  charge  was  about  to  be  made, 
when,  says  an  eye-witness,  "  Every  sound  was  hushed  by  the  sense  of  an  unnatural 

1  "I  several  times  heard,"  says  General  Gaines  in  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  "and  many  of  our  officers 
heard,  orders  given  '  to  give  the  damiied  Yankee  rascals  no  quarter  /'  " 

2  Statement  of  "  A  Veteran  of  1812,  in  Porter's  Corps,"  who  was  a  participant  in  the  fight,  writing  from  Troy,  New 
York.    See  Old  Soldiers'  Advocate,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  October,  1S59.    Alluding  to  the  capture  of  Lieutenant  Fontaine,  of 
the  artillery,  who  fell  among  the  Indians,  and  was  kindly  treated  by  them,  General  Gaines  in  his  report  said,  "  It  would 
seem,  then,  that  these  savages  had  not  joined  in  the  resolution  to  give  no  quarter." 

3  General  Gaiues's  official  Dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  835 


A  Bastion,  with  the  British,  blown  up.  The  Actors  in  the  Matter.  An  American  marauding  Party. 

tremor  beneath  our  feet,  like  the  first  heave  of  an  earthquake.  Almost  at  the  same 
instant  the  centre  of  the  bastion  burst  up  with  a  terrific  explosion,  and  a  jet  of  flame, 
mingled  with  fragments  of  timber,  earth,  stone,  and  bodies  of  men,  rose  to  the  height 
of  one  or  two  hundred  feet  in  the  air,  and  fell  in  a  shower  of  ruins  to  a  great  distance 
all  around."1 

This  explosion,  so  destructive  and  appalling,  was  almost  the  final  and  decisive  blow 
to  the  British  in  the  contest.2  It  was  followed  immediately  by  a  galling  cannonade, 
opened  by  Biddle  and  Fanning,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  British  broke  and  fled  to 
their  intrenchments,  leaving  on  the  field  two  hundred  and  twenty-one  killed,  one 
hundred  and  seventy-four  wounded,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  prisoners.  Some 
of  their  slightly  wounded  were  borne  away.  The  loss  of  the  Americans  was  seven 
teen  killed,  fifty-six  wounded,  and  eleven  missing.  Among  the  officers  lost  were  Cap 
tain  Williams  and  Lieutenant  Macdonongh,  killed  ;  Lieutenant  Watmough,  severely 
wounded,  and  Lieutenant  Fontaine,  who  was  blown  into  the  ranks  of  the  Indians 
when  the  bastion  exploded,  but  was  not  severely  hurt.  These  were  of  the  artillery, 
and  were  all  injured  in  defending  the  bastion.  Captain  Biddle,  of  the  artillery,  had 
been  previously  injured,  and  Watmough  had  also  received  a  contusion.  Of  the  in 
fantry  officers  injured  were  Captain  Birdsall,  Lieutenants  Bushnell  and  Brown,  and 
Ensign  Cisna,  wounded  in  defending  the  fort,  and  Lieutenant  Belknap,  wounded  in 
defending  the  picket-guard  which  he  commanded. 

General  Gaines  called  the  affair  a  "  handsome  victory,"  not  merely  a  defense  and  a 
repul^,3  and  in  this  opinion  the  impartial  historian  must  agree.  He  spoke  in  high 
est  terms  of  all  his  officers  and  men,  and  particularly  of  the  good  conduct  of  Generals 
Ripley  and  Porter,  Captain  Towson,  and  Majors  Hindman,  M'Ree,  and  Wood.  The 
intelligence  of  the  event  was  received  with  great  joy  throughout  the  country;  and 
for  his  gallant  conduct  and  valuable  services  at  this  time,  and  in  the  second  siege  of 
Fort  Erie,  which  soon  followed,  General  Gaines  received  substantial  honors.  On  the 
14th  of  September  he  was  breveted  a  major  general,  and  on  the  3d  of  November  the 
President  approved  of  the  action  of  the  national  Congress  in  voting  him  the  thanks 
of  the  nation  and  ordering  a  gold  medal,  with  suitable  devices  (see  next  page),  to  be 
struck  and  presented  to  him.  The  three  great  states  of  New  York,  Virginia,  and 
Tennessee  each  rewarded  him  with  resolutions  and  an  elegant  sword. 

There  were  drawbacks  upon  the  joy  and  the  honors  of  the  victory  besides  those 
of  the  loss  of  life  in  the  conflict,  for  two  of  the  three  schooners  that  lay  at  anchor  off" 
the  fort,  as  we  have  observed,  wrere  captured  by  the  enemy,  and  on  the  day  succeed 
ing  the  victory  a  marauding  party  brought  dishonor  upon  the  American  name  at 
Port  Talbot,  on  the  Canada  shore.  The  schooners  Ohio  and  Somers  were  captured 
on  the  night  of  the  12th  of  August  by  Captain  Dobbs,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  and  sev 
enty-five  men  in  nine  boats.  They  were  taken  down  the  river  halfway  to  Chippewa 
and  secured,  but  the  Porcupine  beat  off  her  assailants.4  The  marauders  referred  to 

1  Manuscript  Reminiscences  of  Major  (then  Lieutenant)  Douglass,  quoted  by  Dawson  in  his  Battles  of  the  United  States 
by  Sea  and  Land,  ii.,  3CS. 

2  "The  cause  of  this  explosion,"  says  an  eye-witness  (one  of  Porter's  men),  "has  never  been  officially  explained.  His 
tory  ascribes  it  to  accident ;  and  perhaps  it  would  not  be  proper  for  me  to  state  what  I  learned  at  the  time.    Even  if  it 
was  design,  I  think  the  end  justified  the  means.    It  was  that  mysterious  explosion  which,  through  Providence,  saved 
our  gallant  little  army  from  the  horrors  of  a  general  massacre." 

The  venerable  Jabez  Fisk,  now  (1S67)  living  near  Adrian,  Michigan,  who  was  in  the  fight,  is  not  so  reticent  concern 
ing  the  explosion.  In  a  letter  to  me,  dated  May  20, 1SC3,  he  writes :  "  Three  or  four  hundred  of  the  enemy  had  got  into 
the  bastion.  At  this  time  an  American  officer  came  running  up,  and  said,  'General  Gaines,  the  bastion  is  full.  I  can 
blow  them  all  to  hell  in  a  minute  !'  They  both  passed  back  through  a  stone  building,  and  in  a  short  time  the  bastion 
and  the  British  were  high  in  the  air.  General  Gaines  soon  returned,  swinging  his  hat,  and  shouting  '  Hurrah  for  Little 
York !' "  This  was  iu  allusion  to  the  blowing  up  of  the  British  magazine  at  Little  York,  where  General  Pike  was  killed. 
See  page  5SO. 

3  Letter  of  General  Gaines  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  August  26, 1S14.    "  It  is  due,"  he  said,  "  to  the  brave  men  I  have 
the  honor  to  command  that  I  should  say  that  the  affair  was  to  the  enemy  a  sore  beating  and  a  defeat;  and  it  was  to  us  a 
handsome  victory." 

4  In  this  affair  the  Americans  lost  one  seaman  killed,  and  three  officers  and  four  seamen  wounded.    The  enemy  lost 
two  seamen  killed  and  four  wounded.    The  Porcupine  sailed  for  Erie. 


830 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Honors  to  General  Gaines. 


Cannonade  of  Fort  Erie. 


Brown  resumes  Command  of  the  Army. 


GENERAL   GAINES'S   MEDAL.1 

were  a  party  of  one  hundred  Americans  and  Indians,  who  landed  at  Port  Talbot  on 
the  night  of  the  16th,  and  robbed  about  fifty  families  of  valuable  property,  such  as 
horses,  household  furniture,  and  wearing  apparel,  and  several  respectable  citizens 
were  carried  oif  as  prisoners  of  war ;  one  of  them,  Mr.  Barn  well,  was  a  member  of  the 
Canadian  Assembly.  As  a  dutiful  historian  I  record  the  affair,  but  with  ^ame. 
Happily,  such  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  Americans  was  so  rare  that  these  pages 
have  not  been  often  stained  by  the  recital. 

Both  parties  at  Fort  Erie  immediately  prepared  for  another  struggle,  and  during 
the  remainder  of  August  and  until  the  middle  of  September  each  received  and  cre 
ated  strength  by  the  arrival  of  re-enforcements  and  completing  of  their  respective 
defenses.  The  Americans  had  by  that  time  mounted  twenty-seven  heavy  guns,  and 
had  over  three  thousand  men  behind  them.  Drummond  also  received  re-enforce 
ments  a  few  days  after  his  defeat  on  the  15th,  and  from  some  new  batteries  he  opened 
a  cannonade  and  bombardment  of  Fort  Erie  with  the  design  of  compelling  the  Amer 
icans  to  evacuate  it.  Almost  daily,  until  the  close  of  August,  he  threw  hot  shot, 
shells,  and  rockets  into  the  fort,  and  annoyed  the  garrison  much  ;  and  finally,  on  the 
28th,  a  shell  fell  through  the  roof  of  Gaines's  quarters,  destroyed  his  writing-desk, 
and,  exploding  at  his  feet,  injured  him  so  severely  that  he  was  compelled  to  relinquish 
his  command  and  retire  to  Buffalo. 

When  General  Brown,  then  at  Batavia,  heard  of  this  accident,  he  became  exceed 
ingly  uneasy,  and  with  shattered  health  and  unhealed  wounds  he  hastened  to  Buf 
falo,  and  on  the  2d  of  September  crossed  over  to  Fort  Erie.  He  found  the  garrison 
in  charge  of  Colonel  James  Miller,  whose  rank  was  not  sufficient  for  the  position. 
Unable  to  remain  himself  with  safety,  he  at  once  issued  an  order  for  General  Ripley, 
the  senior  officer,  to  take  command ;  and,  returning  to  Buffalo,  he  established  there 
the  head-quarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Niagara,  of  which  he  now  resumed  control. 
Some  of  his  officers  followed  him  directly,  and  gave  him  such  assurance  of  the  unpop 
ularity  of  Ripley  with  the  army,  and  the  dangers  therefrom  to  be  apprehended,  that, 
though  weak  and  suffering  much,  he  returned  to  Fort  Erie,  and  assumed  the  com 
mand  in  person. 

The  fort  was  still  closely  invested,  and  Brown  perceived  that  peril  was  impend- 

1  On  one  side  of  the  medal  is  the  bust,  name,  and  title  of  General  Gaines,  and  on  the  other  a  figure  of  Victory  stand 
ing  on  a  shield,  under  which  is  a  flag  and  a  halbert.  She  holds  a  palm  branch  in  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  is  plac 
ing  a  laurel  wreath  on  the  end  of  a  cannon  which  is  standing  upright,  its  muzzle  downward.  Around  it  is  a  scroll, 
inscribed  "ERIE."  On  one  trunnion  rests  British  colors,  and  from  the  other  is  suspended  a  broadsword.  By  the  side 
of  the  cannon  lies  a  howitzer,  helmet,  and  balls.  Behind  the  cannon  is  seen  a  halbei't.  Around  the  whole  are  the 
words  "RESOLUTION  OF  OO.NQRKBS,  NOVE.MHER  8, 1SU;  and  below,  "BATTLE  OF  EKIE,  AUGUST  15,  1814." 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  837 


British  Works  and  Fort  Erie.  Brown  determines  on  a  Sortie.  Preparations  for  it. 

ing.  The  British  camp  was  in  a  field  encircled  by  woods,  two  miles  from  their 
works,  beyond  the  fange  of  shot  and  shell  from  the  fort  or  Black  Rock.  The  army 
was  divided  into  three  brigades  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred  men  each ;  and 
one  of  these,  daily  relieved  by  another,  was  constantly  at  the  works,  with  artillery. 
These  works  had  now  been  advanced  to  within  four  or  five  hundred  yards  of  the  old 
fort,  and  at  that  distance  two  batteries  had  already  been  completed,  and  a  third,  from 
which  almost  certain  destruction  might  be  hurled,  was  nearly  finished.  Brown  saw 
this  impending  danger,  and  took  measures  to  avert  it.  Circumstances  were  favor 
able.  Heavy  and  continuous  rains  had  flooded  the  country  for  several  days.  Drum- 
mond's  camp  was  on  low,  marshy  ground ;  and  stragglers  from  it,  who  had  been 
picked  up  by  the  American  pickets  and  deserters,  informed  Brown  that  the  British 
force  was  so  much  weakened  by  typhoid  fever  that  the  lieutenant  general  was  con 
templating  a  removal  of  the  camp  to  some  healthier  position.  So  broken  was  his 
powrer  by  camp  sickness  that  for  several  days  he  had  been  unable  to  make  an  offensive 
movement. 

Now  was  Brown's  golden  opportunity,  and  he  improved  it.  A  sortie  was  planned, 
and  the  time  appointed  for  its  execution  the  morning  of  the  17th  of  September.  He 
resolved,  as  he  said,  "  to  storm  the  batteries,  destroy  the  cannon,  and  roughly  handle 
the  brigade  upon  duty  before  those  in  reserve  [at  the  camp]  could  be  brought  into 
action."1  His  preparations  were  made  with  great  secrecy.  He  knew  the  hazards  of 
the  enterprise,  and  desired  the  full  co-operation  of  his  officers.  He  sounded  their  opin 
ions  as  well  as  he  might  without  fully  disclosing  his  designs.  They  were  not  in  con 
sonance  with  his  own ;  and  he  made  his  preparations  in  a  manner  to  conceal  his  in 
tentions  from  the  army  until  all  should  be  in  readiness,  for  he  determined  to  attempt 
the  bold  design  as  soon  as  Porter  should  join  him  with  his  militia  re-enforcements.2 
These  came,  two  thousand  strong,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  17th  the  commanding 
general  explained  his  plans  to  General  Ripley  (his  second  in  command),  his  adjutant 
general,  and  engineers.  All  evinced  a  desire  for  hearty  co-operation  excepting  Gen 
eral  Ripley,  who  considered  the  enterprise  a  hopeless  one,  and  desired  to  have  noth 
ing  to  do  with  it.3 

Toward  noon  Brown's  sallying  troops  were  in  motion  in  the  friendly  and  fortunate 
obscurity  of  a  thick  fog.  They  were  separated  into  three  corps.  One,  under  General 
Porter,  and  composed  of  his  Volunteers,  under  the  immediate  command  of  Major  Gen 
eral  Davis,  of  the  New  York  militia :  detachments  from  the  First  and  Fourth  Rifle 
Regiments,  under  Colonel  Gibson ;  detachments  from  the  Twenty-first  and  Twenty- 
third  Infantiy,  and  a  few  dismounted  dragoons  acting  as  infantry,  under  Major  Wood, 
of  the  Engineers,  was  directed  to  move  from  the  extreme  left  of  the  American  camp, 
by  a  circuitous  route,  through  the  woods  (which  had  been  stealthily  marked  and  pre 
pared  by  Lieutenants  Riddle  and  Frazer),  of  the  Fifteenth  Infantry,  to  within  pistol- 
shot  distance  of  the  enemy's  right  wing,  and  attack  the  British  right  flank.  The  sec 
ond  division,  composed  of  fragments  of  the  Ninth,  Eleventh,  and  Nineteenth  Regi- 

1  General  Brown's  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  September  29, 1814. 

2  The  council  of  officers  was  held  on  the  9th.    Major  Jesup,  then  recovering  from  his  wounds,  was  at  Buffalo,  and 
was  invited  to  participate  in  the  conference.    The  lake  was  so  rough  that  he  did  not  get  over  until  after  the  meeting 
had  broken  up.    "General  Brown,"  says  Jesup  in  his  manuscript  Memoir,  etc.,  "was  evidently  much  disappointed  at 
the  result  of  the  council.    In  the  course  of  the  evening  he  expressed  himself  with  great  warmth  in  regard  to  his  disap 
pointment,  and  in  relation  to  some  of  the  officers  who  had  been  present  at  the  council.    But  he  added,  in  a  manner  pe 
culiarly  emphatic,  '  We  must  keep  our  own  counsels ;  the  impression  must  be  made  that  we  are  done  with  the  affair ; 
but,  as  sure  as  there  is  a,  God  in  heaven,  the  enemy  shall  be  attacked  in  his  works,  and  beaten  too,  as  soon  as  all  the  volunteers 
shall  have  passed  over!'"    "From  this  time,"  says  the  manuscript  Memorandum  already  quoted,  "the  major  general 
acted  and  spoke  as  though  he  relied  for  safety  on  the  defense  of  his  camp ;  and,  to  confirm  this  opinion  in  the  army,  he 
took  measures  to  floor  the  tents,  and  in  every  way  to  improve  the  condition  of  his  forces  in  quarters,  as  if  they  were  to 
remain  stationary  for  a  long  time."    He  sent  spies,  as  deserters,  to  the  British  camp  to  give  information  of  these  move 
ments  in  the  American  camp ;  and  so  adroitly  was  the  whole  affair  managed,  that  a  spy  was  sent  on  the  day  of  the  sor 
tie,  at  the  very  hour  when  the  American  forces  moved,  and  was  received  by  the  British  without  suspicion. 

3  "General  Ripley  contented  himself  with  saying  that  the  enterprise  was  a  hopeless  one,  and  he  should  be  well  sat 
isfied  to  escape  from  the  disgrace  which,  in  his  judgment,  would  fall  upon  all  engaged  in  it."— Brown's  Manuscript  Mem 
orandum,  etc. 


838 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Brilliant  Success  of  General  Porter. 


Death  of  valuable  Officers. 


Biographical  Sketch  of  Porter. 


raents  (the  first  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Aspinwall,  and  the  last  by  Major 
Trimble),  under  James  Miller  (who  had  been  breveted  a  brigadier  general  three  days 
before  for  his  gallantry  in  the  battle  of  Niagara  Falls),  was  ordered  to  move  from  the., 
rio-ht  by  way  of  a  ravine  between  Fort  Erie  and  the  enemy's  batteries,  and  attack  the 
British  centre.    The  remainder  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment,  commanded  by  General 

Ripley,  was  posted  as  a  reserve  near  the 
fort,  and  out  of  sight  of  the  enemy's 
works. 

General  Porter1    and  his    command 
moved  from  the  encampment  at  noon, 
and,  following  Lieutenants  Riddle  and 
Frazer  through  the  woods,  reached  a 
position  within  a  few  rods  of  the  Brit 
ish  right  wing  at  a  quarter  before  three 
o'clock,  before  their  movement  was  even 
suspected  by  the   enemy.     An  assault 
was  immediately  commenced.     It  was  a 
complete  surprise,  and  the  startled  en 
emy  on  that  flank  fell  back  and  left  the 
Americans  in  possession  of  the  ground. 
The  batteries  Nos.  3  and  4  were  imme 
diately  stormed,  and,  after  a  close  and 
fierce  contest  for  about  thirty  minutes, 
both  were  carried.     This  triumph  was 
followed  by  the  capture  of  the  block-house 
in  the  rear  of  No.  3.    The  garrison  were 
made  prisoners,  the   cannon   and  carriages 
were  destroyed,  and  the  magazine  blown  up.     Porter's  victory  was  complete,  but  it 


was  obtained  at  a  fearful  cost.  His  three  principal  leaders,  namely,  General  Davis, 
Colonel  Gibson,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Wood,  all  fell  mortally  wounded ;  and  the 
commands  of  the  two  latter  officers  devolved  respectively  on  Lieutenant  Colonel 
M'Donald  and  Major  Brooks. 

i  Peter  Bnel  Porter  was  born  in  Salisbury,  Connecticut,  on  the  14th  of  August,  1T73.  He  was  graduated  at  Yale  Col 
lege  with  high  honors,  studied  law,  and  entered  upon  its  practice  in  his  native  town.  He  removed  to  Western  New 
York  in  1795,  was  elected  to  Congress  in  180S,  and  in  that  body,  aa  we  have  observed  (page  212),  he  became  prominent 
as  a  supporter  of  the  administration,  and  conspicuous  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  when 
the  country  was  approaching  a  war  with  England.  His  residence  was  at  Black  Rock,  near  Buffalo,  on  the  Niagara 
River,  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  he  at  once  engaged  in  the  military  service  of  his  country.  He  was  appointed  by 
Governor  Tompkins  Major  General  of  New  York  Volunteers  in  July,  1813,  and  in  that  capacity  he  performed  signal 
service  for  his  country  during  that  and  the  succeeding  year,  as  our  record  in  the  text  attests.  In  1815  he  was  again 
elected  to  Congress,  and  was  appointed  a  commissioner  to 
run  the  boundary-line  between  the  United  States  and  Can 
ada.  He  remained  in  public  life  much  of  the  time  until 
1829,  when,  having  served  a  year  in  J.  Q.  Adams's  Cabinet 
as  Secretary  of  War,  he  left  government  employment  for 
the  quiet  of  private  life.  He  possessed  large  estates  on 
the  Niagara  frontier,  and  the  wealth  accumulated  thereby 
is  now  enjoyed  by  his  descendants.  His  name  and  serv 
ices  are  identified  with  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  West 
ern  New  York.  He  died  at  his  residence  at  Niagara  Palls 
on  the  20th  of  March,  18-14,  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  his 
age.  His  remains  rest  in  a  quiet  cemetery  there,  under  a 
beautiful  monument,  on  which  is  the  following  inscription : 
"PETER  BUEL  PORTER,  a  pioneer  in  Western  New  York; 
a  statesman  eminent  in  the  annals  of  the  nation  and  the 
state :  a  general  in  the  armies  of  America,  defending  in 
the  field  what  he  had  maintained  in  the  council.  Born  in 
Salisbury,  Connecticut,  August  14, 1773.  Died  at  Niagara 
Falls,  March  20, 1844,  known  and  mourned  throughout  that 
extensive  region  which  he  had  been  among  the  foremost 
to  explore  and  to  defend."  I  am  indebted  to  the  pencil 
of  his  son,  the  late  Colonel  Peter  Augustus  Porter,  for 
the  accompanying  sketch  of  the  monument.  PORTER'S  TOMB. 


OF   THE  WAR   OF  1812. 


839 


Plan  of  Siege  and  Defense  of  Fort  Erie. 


Triumph  of  Miller  and  Upham. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  ABOVE  MAP.— A,  old  Fort  Erie :  a,  a,  demi-bastions  ;  6,  a  ravelin,  and  c,  c,  block-houses.  These 
were  all  built  by  the  British  previous  to  its  capture  at  the  beginning  of  July,  d,  d,  bastions  built  by  the  Americans  dur 
ing  the  siege  ;  e,  e,  a  redoubt  built  for  the  security  of  the  demi-bastions,  a,  a. 

B,  the  American  camp,  secured  on  the  right  by  the  line  rj,  the  Douglass  Battery,  i,  and  Fort  Erie ;  on  the  left,  and  in 
front,  by  the  lines/,/,/,  and  batteries  on  the  extreme  right  and  left  of  them.    That  on  the  right,  immediately  under  the 
letter  L  in  the  words  LEVEL  PLAIN,  is  Towson's  ;  h,  h,  etc.,  camp  traverses  ;  n,  main  traverse  ;  o,  magazine  traverse,  cov 
ering  also  the  head-quarters  of  General  Gaines ;  p,  hospital  traverse  ;  7,  grand  parade  and  provost-guard  traverse  ;  r, 
General  Brown's  head-quarters  ;  s,  a  drain  ;  t,  road  from  Chippewa  up  the  lake. 

C,  the  encampment  of  Volunteers  outside  of  the  intrenchments,  who  joined  the  army  a  few  days  before  the  sortie. 

D,  D,  the  British  works.    1,  2,  3,  their  first,  second,  and  third  battery,    r,  the  route  of  Porter,  with  the  left  column,  to 
attack  the  British  right  flank  on  the  17th  ;  x,  the  ravine,  and  route  of  Miller's  command. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  late  Chief  Engineer  General  Joseph  G.  Totten  for  the  manuscript  map  of  which  this  is  a  copy. 

In  the  mean  time,  General  Miller,  aided  by  the  gallant  Lieutenant  Colonel  Upham, 
had  executed  his  orders  well.  He  penetrated  between  the  British  first  and  second  bat 
teries,  and,  by  the  aid  of  Porter's  successful  operations,  carried  them  both,  and  block- 


840 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Result  of  the  Sortie  at  Fort  Erie. 


The  Hopes  of  the  British  blasted. 


The  American  People  inspirited. 


houses  in  the  rear.  One  was  abandoned  before  the  assailants  reached  it.  Within 
forty  minutes  after  the  attack  commenced  by  Porter  and  Miller,  four  batteries,  two 
block-houses,  and  the  whole  line  of  British  intrenchments  were  in  the  possession  of, 
the  Americans.  Just  after  the  explosion  of  the  magazine,  and  at  near  the  close  of 
the  action,  General  Ripley  was  ordered  up  with  his  little  band  of  reserves,  and  while 
engaged  in  observations  he  received  such  a  severe  and  dangerous  wound  in  the  neck 
that  he  fell  to  the  ground.  His  aid,  Lieutenant  Kirby,  caused  him  to  be  removed  to 
the  fort,  and  the  command  of  the  reserves  was  given  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Upham. 

Notwithstanding  Drummond  sent  strong  re-enforcements  from  his  camp  to  the 
imperiled  British  line  of  action,  the  object  of  the  sortie  was  fully  accomplished.  The 
British  advanced  works  were  captured  and  destroyed,  and  Fort  Erie  was  saved,  with 
Buffalo  and  the  public  stores  on  that  frontier,  and  possibly  all  Western  New  York.1 

In  this  memorable  sortie  the  Americans  lost  almost  eighty  killed,  and  more  than 
four  hundred  wounded  and  missing.  The  loss  of  the  British  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing  was  about  five  hundred,  exclusive  of  three  hundred  and  eighty-five  who  were 
made  prisoners.  "  Thus,"  said  General  Brown,  in  his  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  Wai- 
twelve  days  afterward,  "  one  thousand  regulars,  and  an  equal  portion  of  militia,  in 
one  hour  of  close  action,  blasted  the  hopes  of  the  enemy,  destroyed  the  fruits  of  fifty 
days'  labor,  and  diminished  his  effective  force  one  thousand  men  at  least." 

The  "  hopes  of  the  enemy"  were  indeed  "  blasted ;"  and,  after  hastily  collecting 
his  scattered  forces,  Drummond  broke  up  his  encampment  on  the  night  of  the  21st, 
and  retired  to  Riall's  old  and  partially  demolished  intrenchments  behind  Chippewa 
Creek.  So  sudden  and  precipitate  was  his  flight  that  he  abandoned  some  of  his 
stores  in  front  of  Fort  Erie,  and  destroyed  others  at  Frenchman's  Creek,  on  the  line 
of  his  retreat.  It  has  been  said,  in  praise  of  British  courage  and  pugnacity,  that  they 
"  never  know  when  they  are  whipped,"  and  such  seems  to  have  been  the  case  in  the 
present  instance,  for  General  L.  De  Watteville,  writing  in  the  camp  two  days  after 
the  action,  spoke  of  the  "  repulse  of  the  Americans  at  every  point  ;"2  and  General 
Drummond,  in  a  later  dispatch,  also  spoke  of  a  "repulse  of  an  American  army  of  five 
thousand  men  by  an  inconsiderable  number  of  British  troops."3 

This  victory,  following  so  soon  those  at  Chippewa  and  Niagara  Falls,  and  occur 
ring  so  nearly  simultaneously  with  the  glorious  one  on  land  and  water  at  Plattsburg, 
and  the  expulsion  of  the  enemy  from  before  Baltimore,  diffused  unusual  joy  through 
out  the  country,  and  dispelled,  in  a  measure,  the  gloom  which  had  overspread  the  whole 

land  because  of  the  capture  of  the  national 
capital  by  the  British  less  than  a  month  before.4 
General  Brown,  in  his  official  report  of  the 
affair,a  gave  a  generous  list  of  » September  29, 
heroes,  with  allusions  to  their 
gallant  deeds,5  and  the  loyal  public  hastened 

1  Major  Jesnp,  in  his  MS.  Memoir,  etc.,  says:  "The  sortie 
from  Fort  Erie  was  by  far  the  most  splendid  achievement  of 
the  campaign,  whether  we  consider  the  boldness  of  the  concep 
tion,  the  excellence  of  the  plan,  or  the  ability  of  the  execution. 
No  event  in  military  history,  on  the  same  scale,  has  ever  sur 
passed  it.    The  whole  credit  is  due  to  General  Brown.    The 
writer  was  in  a  situation  to  know  that  the  conception,  plan,  and 
execution  were  all  his  own." 

2  L.  De  Watteville  to  General  Drummond,  September  19, 1814. 

3  Thomson's  Historical  Sketches  of  the  late  War,  page  32T. 
*  See  Chapter  XXXIX. 

5  General  Brown  spoke  in  terms  of  warm  eulogy  of  his  en 
gineers  M'Ree  and  Wood.  "No  two  officers  of  the  grade,"  he 
said,  "  could  have  contributed  more  to  the  safety  and  honor  of 
this  army.  Wood,  brave,  generous,  and  enterprising,  died  as 
he  had  lived,  without  a  feeling  but  for  the  honor  of  his  country 
and  glory  of  her  arms.  His  iwme  and  example,  will  live  to  guide 
the  soldier  in  the  path  of  duty  so  long  as  true  heroism  is  held 


WOOD'S  MOJJCMEMT. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


841 


Honors  awarded  to  General  Brown.      The  Freedom  of  the  City  of  New  York  conferred  on  him.      The  Certificate,  etc. 

to  honor  them  individually  and  collectively.     The  national  Congress,  by  a  resolu 
tion,  approved  by  the  President  of  the  Republic  on  the  3d  of  November,11 
.awarded  the  thanks  of  the  nation  and  a  gold  medal,  with  suitable  devices,  to 
each  of  the  general  officers.1     To  General  Brown,  of  whom  it  has  been  truthfully  said 


GENERAL   BROWN'S   MEDAL. 


that  "  no  enterprise  undertaken  by  him  ever  failed,"2  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of 
New  York  gave  him  the  honorary  privilege  of  the  fi-eedom  of  the  city  in  a  gold  box;3 


in  estimation."  The  general  not  only  admired  Wood  as  a  soldier,  but  loved  him  as  a  friend ;  and  he  caused  a  hand 
some  marble  monument  to  be  erected  at  West  Point  (see  opposite  page)  in  his  memory,  with  the  following  inscription 
upon  it : 

North  Side:  "To  the  memory  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  E.  D.WOOD,  of  the  corps  of  Engineers,  who  fell  while  leading 
a  charge  at  the  sortie  of  Fort  Erie,  Upper  Canada,  17th  September,  1814,  in  the  thirty-first  year  of  his  age."  West  Side : 
"  He  was  exemplary  as  a  Christian,  and  distinguished  as  a  soldier."  Sorith  Side:  "A  pupil  of  this  institution,  he  died 
an  honor  to  his  country."  East  Side:  "  This  memorial  was  erected  by  his  friend  and  commander,  Major  General  Jacob 
Brown." 

On  the  uneven  north  slope  of  West  Point,  near  the  Laboratory  Buildings,  this  monument  is  seen,  upon  a  grassy  knoll, 
shooting  up  from  a  cluster  of  dark  evergreen  trees. 

1  On  one  side  of  the  commanding  general's  medal  is  the  bust  and  name  of  Major  General  Brown.  On  the  other  the 
Roman  fasces,  indicative  of  the  Union,  the  top  encircled  with  a  laurel  wreath,  from  which  are  suspended  three  tablets 
bearing  the  inscriptions  CUIPPEWA,  NIAGARA,  and  EEIE,  surrounded  by  three  stands  of  British  colors.  Below  is  seen  a 
mortar,  cannon-balls,  and  bomb-shells,  and  in  front  of  all  is  the  American  eagle  with  wings  outspread  as  if  about  to  soar. 
Below  these  are  the  names  and  dates  of  the  above  battles. 

3  See  Memoirs  of  the  Generals  and  Commodores,  and  other  Commanders,  etc.,  of  the  American  Army  and  Navy,  by  Thomas 
Wyatt,  A.M.,  page  133. 

3  The  certificate  of  that  freedom  and  the  gold  box  with 
which  it  was  presented  are  in  the  possession  of  his  widow, 
yet  (1807)  living.  The  box,  delineated  in  the  engraving,  is 
of  fine  gold,  elliptical  in  form,  three  inches  in  length,  two 
and  a  half  in  width,  and  three  fourths  of  an  inch  in  depth. 
On  the  under  side  of  the  lid  is  the  following  inscription  : 
"The  Corporation  of  the  City  of  New  York  to  Major  Gen 
eral  Jacob  Brown,  in  testimony  of  the  high  sense  they  enter 
tain  of  his  valor  and  skill  in  defeating  the  British  forces,  su 
perior  in  number,  at  the  battles  of  Chippewa  and  Bridgewa- 
ter,  on  the  5th  and  25th  of  July,  1814." 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  certificate,  or  diploma  (en 
tirely  executed  with  a  pen),  giving  General  Brown  the  free 
dom  of  the  city  of  New  York.  At  the  head  is  a  fancy  design 
of  the  battle  of  Chippewa,  and  then  the  words : 

"To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  De  Witt  Clin 
ton,  Esq.,  Mayor,  and  the  Aldermen  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
send  greeting:  At  a  meeting  of  the  Common  Council,  held 
at  the  Common  Council  Chamber  in  the  City  Hall  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  the  following  resolutions  were  unanimously 
agreed  to : 

"  'Whereas  the  Corporation*  of  the  city  entertains  the  most 
lively  sense  of  the  late  brilliant  achievements  of  General  Jacob  Brown  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  considering  them  as 

*  Here  is  inserted  a  device  of  a  spread  eagle  in  the  middle ;  an  ancient  war-chariot  on  the  right ;  cannon,  flag,  and 
drum  on  the  left. 


GENERAL  UROWN'fi   GOLD  BOX. 


842 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Medal  awarded  to  Generals  Porter  and  Ripley  by  Congress. 


Ripley  honored  by  Gifts  from  several  States. 


not  long  after  the  National  Congress  voted  him  a  medal.  An  elegant  sword  was 
also  presented  to  him  by  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in 
the  name  of  that  commonwealth. J 

To  Generals  Porter2  and  Ripley,3  as  well  as  to  Scott,  Gaines,  and  Miller,  as  we  have 
already  observed,  the  National  Congress  awarded  the  thanks  of  the  nation,  and  a  gift 

of  a  gold  medal  to  each ;  and  to  Ripley  the  States  of  New 
York,  Massachusetts,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia   each 
gave  expression  of  approbation,  and  visible  honorary  to 
kens  of  their  appreciation  of  his  services.     The  spirits  of  all  the  general  officers  in 


BATTLES  OF  CHIP 

~JULY    5.    I8K. 

NIAGARA  JULY  25.  181 

RIE  SEP  17.181 


GENERAL   PORTER  S   MEDAL. 


proud  evidences  of  the  skill  and  intrepidity  of  the  hero  of  Chippewa  and  his  brave  companions  in  arms,  and  affording 
ample  proof  of  the  superior  valor  of  our  hardy  farmers  over  the  veteran  legions  of  the  enemy, 

"'Resolved,  That,  as  a  tribute  of  respect  to  a  gallant  officer*  and  his  intrepid  associates,  who  have  added  such  lustre 
to  our  arms,  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  New  York  be  presented  to  General  Jacob  Brown,  that  his  portrait  be  obtained 
and  placed  in  the  gallery  of  portraits  belonging  to  this  city,t  and  that  the  thanks  of  this  Corporation  be  tendered  to  the 
officers  and  men  under  his  command.' 

"  Know  ye  that  Jacob  Brown,  Esquire,  is  admitted  and  allowed  a  freeman  and  a  citizen  of  the  said  city,  to  have,  to 
hold,  to  use,  and  enjoy  the  freedom  of  the  city,  together  with  all  the  benefits,  privileges, 
franchises,  and  immunities  whatsoever  granted  or  belonging  tor  the  said  city. 

"  By  order  of  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen. 

"In  testimony  whereof  the  said  Mayor  and  Aldermen  have  caused  the  seal  of  the  said  city 
to  be  hereunto  affixed. 

"  (Witness),  DE  WITT  CLINTON,  Esquire,  Mayor,  the  fourth  day  of  February,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifteen,  and  of  the  Independence  and  Sover 
eignty  of  the  United  States  the  3t)th. 


"  J.  MORTON,  Clerk." 

1  The  following  inscription  is  upon  the  scabbard : 

"Presented  by  his  Excellency  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  pursuant  to  resolutions  of  the 
Senate  and  Assembly  of  the  said  state,  as  a  testimony  of  gratitude,  to  Major  General  Jacob  Brown,  for  his  eminent 
services,  and  as  a  memorial  of  the  repeated  victories  obtained  by  him  over  the  enemies  of  his  country."  On  the  other 
side,  "Major  General  Jacob  Brown,  U.  S.  Army." 

2  On  one  side  of  Porter's  medal  is  his  bust  in  profile,  name,  and  title,  and  on  the  other  the  figure  of  Victory,  stand 
ing,  holding  in  one  hand  a  palm  branch  and  wreath,  and  in  the  other  three  little  flags,  on  which  are  the  names  respect 
ively  of  cmrpEWA,  NIAGARA,  and  ERIE.    Sitting  near,  the  Muse  of  History  is  recording  the  events.    Around  are  the 
words  "RESOLUTION  OF  CONGRESS,  NOVEMBER  8, 1814,"  and  below  the  names  and  dates  of  the  three  battles. 

3  On  one  side  of  Ripley's  medal  is  his  bust,  name,  and  title  in  profile,  and  on  the  other  a  figure  of  Victory  holding  up 
a  tablet  among  the  branches  of  a  palm-tree,  inscribed  with  the  words  OIIIPPEWA,  NIAGARA,  and  ERIE.    In  her  right 
hand,  which  is  hanging  by  her  side,  are  seen  a  trumpet  and  a  laurel  wreath,  and  around  the  whole  and  below,  the  same 
inscriptions  as  upon  Porter's  medal. 

Eleazer  Wheelock  Ripley  was  born  in  Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  in  1782,  and  was  a  grandson  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Whee- 
lock  (whose  name  he  bore),  the  founder  of  Dartmouth  College.  He  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Miles  Standish.  He  was 

*  Here  is  a  monument  with  memorial  urn.    On  one  side  a  woman  with  a  wreath,  about  to  crown  it;  on  the  other  a 
woman  on  one  knee  inscribing  on  the  monument,  and  back  of  her  a  tent, 
t  This  portrait,  a  copy  of  which  may  be  seen  on  page  COS,  is  in  the  Governor's  Room  in  the  City  Hall,  New  York. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


843 


Bat  few  of  the  Army  of  the  Niagara  now  alive. 


Two  remarkable  Survivors. 


How  they  were  wounded. 


GENERAL   RIPLEY'S   MEDAL. 

the  Army  of  Niagara  at  that  time,  and  of  nearly  all  of  the  subordinate  officers,  have 
passed  away  from  earth,  but  their  memories  are  cherished  with  honor  and  affection. 
And  of  all  the  rank  and  file  of  that  army,  whose  existence  as  an  organization  ended 
soon  after  the  siege  and  defense  of  Fort  Erie,  very  few  remain  among  us,  and  these 
are  men  "  with  the  snow  that  never  melts"  upon  their  heads.  Fifty-three  years  or 
more  have  elapsed  since  they  were  there  in  arms  for  their  country.1 
Major  General  George  Izard,  who  was  in  command  on  Lake  Champlain,  having,  as 

educated  at  Dartmouth,  and  was  graduated  in  the  year  1800.  He  adopted  law  as  a  profession,  and  in  180T  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  he  being  a  resident  of  Winslow,  in  that  state.  He  succeeded  the  late  Judge 
Story  as  its  speaker.  He  entered  the  army  as  lieutenant  colonel  of  infantry  in  March,  1812.  He  rose  to  brigadier  gen 
eral  in  the  spring  of  1814,  and  was  breveted  major  general  for  his  gallant  conduct  in  the  battle  of  Niagara.  He  was 
severely  wounded  at  Fort  Erie,  when  he  was  removed  to  Buffalo.  For  three  months  his  life  was  despaired  of.  He  was 
a  brave,  skillful,  and  patriotic  soldier.  He  did  not  do  himself  or  his  country  justice  on  the  Niagara  frontier  owing  to 
a  very  serious  misunderstanding  between  himself  and  General  Brown,  which  became  an  open  quarrel  after  the  war. 
General  Ripley  was  retained  in  the  army  at  its  reduction,  but  resigned  in  1820.  He  became  a  resident  of  Louisiana,  and 
represented  that  state  in  Congress.  He  died  at  West  Feliciana  on  the  2d  of  March,  1S39,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years. 

1  There  are  two  survivors  of  that  army  yet  (18C7)  living  with  whom  I  have  had  correspondence,  who  are  worthy  of  no 
tice  here  because  of  their  remarkable  escapes  from  death,  having  been  wounded  so  desperately  that  no  hope  could  have 
been  entertained  of  their  recovery.  Yet  for  over  fifty  years  since  they  have  lived  as  useful  members  of  society.  I  refer 
to  Robert  White,  of  Morrisson,  Whiteside  County,  Illinois,  and  Jabez  Fisk,  mentioned  in  note  2,  page  835,  living  near 
Adrian,  Michigan.  The  former  had  both  arms  shot  off  above  the  elbows,  and  the  latter  was  shot  through  the  neck  and 
cast  upon  a  brush-heap  as  a  dead  man.  White  was  wounded  on  the  evening  of  the  15th  of  August,  Fisk  during  the  sor 
tie  on  the  17th  of  September.  "Just  at  twilight,"  says  White,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  (Lorenzo  D.Johnson),  "as  my  arms 
were  extended  in  the  act  of  lifting  a  vessel  on  the  fire,  a  24-pounder  came  booming  over  the  ramparts  and  struck  off 
both  my  arms  above  my  elbows !  The  blow  struck  me  so  numb  that  at  first  I  did  not  know  what  had  happened,  and 
the  dust  and  ashes  raised  by  the  force  of  the  ball  so  filled  my  face  that  I  could  not  see.  My  left  arm,  as  I  was  subse 
quently  informed,  was  carried  from  my  body  some  two  rods,  and  struck  a  man  in  his  back  with  such  force  as  nearly 
brought  him  to  the  ground.  This  same  shot  took  off  the  right  arm  of  another  soldier  standing  not  far  from  me,  and, 
passing  on  to  the  other  side  of  the  encampment,  killed  three  men  !  It  was  the  most  destructive  shot  of  any  that  the 
enemy  sent  into  our  works." 

Fisk,  who  was  with  General  Porter,  says  in  a  letter  to  me  in  May,  1SG3,  "  Immediately  after  attacking  the  block-house 
General  Porter  was  taken  prisoner.  The  companies  of  Captains  Harding  [in  which  Fisk  was]  and  Hall  rushed  forward 
and  retook  him.  In  this  manoeuvre  I  was  shot  through  the  neck.  The  ball  passed  between  the  windpipe  and  the  gul 
let,  cutting  both.  Passing  obliquely,  it  came  out  near  the  backbone.  I  fell  as  if  dead.  All  appeared  dark  as  midnight. 
I  was  conscious,  but  thought  I  was  dead  and  in  the  other  world.  I  was  thrown  on  a  brush-heap,  and  should  have  found 
a  final  resting-place  in  a  mud-hole  near  by  had  not  Solomon  Westbrook,  a  member  of  our  company,  discovered  and 
taken  me  to  the  fort."* 

*  When  the  surgeons  dressed  Mr.  Fisk's  -wounds  they  had  no  idea  that  he  would  survive  until  morning  ;  but  he  rap 
idly  recovered.  He  was  taken  to  the  general  hospital  at  Williamsville,  and  then  to  Batavia,  where  he  was  discharged, 
and,  weak  and  penniless,  started  for  his  home  in  Tioga  County,  New  York.  He  worked  and  begged  his  way.  He  was 
afterward  pensioned,  and  received  bounty-land.  On  the  latter  he  settled,  and  now  owns  it.  He  was  born  in  Franklin 
County,  Massachusetts,  and  is  the  son  of  a  Revolutionary  soldier.  His  family  moved  to  Albany  in  1802,  and  soon  aft 
erward  settled  in  Tioga  County.  There  he  enlisted  in  Captain  Harding's  company,  under  General  Porter.  He  was 
with  the  Army  of  the  Niagara  during  the  entire  campaign  of  1814  until  he  was  wounded.  He  was  present  when  Gen 
eral  Swift  was  shot  at  Fort  George,  and  assisted  in  carrying  him  back  to  Queenston.  "  Every  member  of  Captain  Hard- 
ing's  company  is  in  heaven,"  Mr.  Fisk  writes  in  a  letter  to  me  in  May,  1863,  "excepting  Solomon  Westbrook  and  my 
self."  He  visited  Mr.  Westbrook,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  in  1SG2.  They  had  not  met  since  the  latter  bore  young 
Fisk  from  the  battle-field.  Mr.  Fisk  is  now  nearly  eighty  years  of  age,  and  is  full  of  vigor  of  body  and  mind. 


844 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Robert  White,  an  armless  Soldier. 


General  Izard  sends  Troops  to  the  Niagara  Frontier. 


1814. 


he  believed,  a  competent  force  to  protect  that  frontier,  moved  toward  Sackett's  Har 
bor  early  in  Septembei',  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  with  about  four 
thousand  troops,  either  to  divert  the  British  from  their  evident  purpose  of  heavily 
re-enforcing  Drummond,  by  menacing  Kingston  and  the  St.  Lawrence  communica 
tion  with  Montreal,  or  moving  on  to  the  aid  of  General  Brown.  At  the  Harbor  he 
received  a  letter  from  the  latter,  dated  the  10th  of  September,*  stating  the  ef 
fective  force  on  the  Niagara  frontier  to  be  not  much  more  than  two  thousand 
men,  and  urging  him  to  move  on  with  his  troops  and  form  a  junction  with  the  Army 
of  the  Niagara  at  Buffalo.  Porter,  he  said,  would  probably  raise  three  thousand  vol 
unteer  recruits ;  but,  said  he, "  I  will  not  conceal  from  you  that  I  consider  the  fate 
of  this  army  very  doubtful  unless  speedy  relief  is  afforded." 

Izard's  division  arrived  at  Sackett's  Harbor  on  the  very  day  of  the  successful  sor 
tie  at  Fort  Erie,b  and  at  the  same  time  he  received  a  dispatch  from  Gen 
eral  Macomb  giving  an  inspiriting  account  of  the  repulse  of  the  British 
from  Plattsburg.  He  at  once  resolved  to  move  westward,  and  on  th&  2.1st  he  em 
barked  on  Chauncey's  fleet  twenty-five  hundred  infantry,  at  the  same  time  directing 
his  mounted  and  dismounted  dragoons  and  light  artillery  to  move  by  land  by  way 
of  Onondao-a. 


b  September  17. 


White  was  then  about  twenty  years  of  age.  His  wounds 
were  dressed  by  the  late  Dr.  Simon  Hunt,*  of  Rochester, 
New  York,  and  a  week  afterward  he  was  taken  to  Buffalo 
and  placed  in  the  care  of  Jeremiah  Johnson,  who  was  then 
in  charge  of  the  hospital  at  that  place.  That  kind-hearted 
gentleman  nursed  him  tenderly  and  became  his  benefac 
tor,  and  he  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  procuring  for  the 
maimed  young  soldier  a  generous  life-pension  of  four  hund 
red  and  eighty  dollars  a  year.  After  the  war  he  settled  in 
Vermont  and  married  the  widowed  daughter  of  Mr.  John- 
.son  (whose  young  husband  was  killed  at  Fort  Erie),  who 
is  still  (1867)  his  excellent  companion.  They  are  the  pa 
rents  of  a  large  family,  all  of  whom  are  useful  members 
of  society  in  the  West.  Three  of  their  sons  are  eminent 
ministers  of  the  Gospel. 

Mr.  White  contrived  an  apparatus,  composed  of  a  pen 
fixed  in  a  triangular  piece  of  wood,  by  which,  holding  it 
between  his  teeth,  he  was  soon  enabled  to  write  not  only 
with  facility,  but  with  remarkable  clearness.  His  penman 
ship  failed  in  excellence  only  when  he  lost  his  teeth.  I 
give  below  a  fac-simile  of  a  part  of  a  note  written  to  me  in 
March,  1800,  and  a  part  of  a  letter  written  twenty  years  be 
fore,  to  which  he  alludes.  He  has  always  worn  tin  arms  and 
hands,  so  that,  with  long-sleeved  coats,  a  stranger  would 
not  detect  his  mutilation.  The  engraving  was  made  from 
a  daguerreotype  kindly  procured  for  me  by  L.  D.  Johnson, 
Esq.,  of  Washington  City,  son  of  the  benefactor  of  Mr. 
White  already  mentioned. 


FAC-SIMILE   OF    WHITE'S   WRITING    IN    1840   AND   1SGO. 


*  Doctor  Hunt  was  a  pioneer  settler  at  Rochester,  where  he  lived  fifty-three  years  as  a  practicing  physician.    He  died 
on  the  12th  of  April,  1864,  in  the  seventy-ninth  year  of  his  age. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


845 


Izard  takes  Command  of  the  Army  of  the  Niagara.        He  assumes  the  offensive.         Bissell's  Victory  at  Lyon's  Creek. 

Izard  and  his  infantry  reached  the  Genesee  River  on  the  21st,  where  they  dis 
embarked  the  next  day.  They  could 
not  commence  their  march  until  the 
24th,  when  they  moved  slowly,  it  being 
wilderness  most  of  the  way,  and  heavy 
rains  were  falling.  They  finally  arrived 
at  Lewiston  on  the  5th  of  October ;  and 
so  unexpected  was  their  appearance  to 
the  enemy  that,  if  they  could  have  pro 
cured  boats,  they  might  have  surprised 
and  captured  a  British  battalion  at 
Queenston.  On  that  evening  Izard  was 
visited  by  Generals  Brown  and  Porter. 
His  design  was  to  attack  Fort  Niagara, 
but  it  was  agreed  to  form  a  junction  of 
the  two  armies  southward  of  Chippewa. 
Izard  moved  up  to  Black  Rock,  crossed 
there  on  the  10th  and  llth,  and  en 
camped  two  miles  north  of  Fort  Erie. 
Ranking  General  Brown,  he  assumed 
chief  command  of  the  combined  forces, 
and  the  latter  retired  to  his  old  post  at 
Sackett's  Harbor. 

General  Izard  was  soon  in  command 
of  almost  eight  thousand  troops,  and  prepared  to  march  upon  Drummond.  Leaving 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Hindman  and  a  sufficient  garrison  to  hold  Fort  Erie,  he  moved 
with  his  army  toward  Chippewa,  and  vainly  endeavored  to  draw  the  enemy  out.  He 
was  informed  that  there  was  a  considerable  quantity  of  grain  belonging  to  the  Brit 
ish  at  Cook's  Mill,  on  Lyon's  Creek,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  1 8th  of  October  he 
sent  General  Bissell,  with  about  nine  hundred  of  his  own  brigade,  a  company  of  rifle 
men  under  Captain  Irvine,  and  a  squadron  of  dragoons  commanded  by  Captain  An- 
spaugh,  with  instructions  to  capture  or  destroy  it.  They  reached  the  vicinity  of 
the  mill  that  night,  and  encamped.  Two  companies,  under  Captain  Dorman  and  Lieu 
tenant  Horrel,  with  Irvine's  riflemen,  were  sent  across  the  creek  as  pickets  for  the  se 
curity  of  the  main  body,  and  Lieutenant  Gassaway,1  at  the  head  of  a  small  party,  was 
posted  still  more  in  advance,  on  the  Chippewa  Road.  At  midnight  a  detachment  of 
Glengary  infantry  attacked  these  pickets,  and  were  repulsed ;  and  early  in  the  morn 
ing  Colonel  Murray,  with  detachments  from  three  regular  regiments,  the  Glengary 
infantry,  some  dragoons  and  rocketeers,  and  a  field-piece,  renewed  the  attack.  For 
fifteen  minutes  these  gallant  few  of  Bissell's  men  maintained  their  ground,  when  his 
main  body  came  up  to  their  support.  Colonel  Pinckney,  with  his  Fifth  Regiment, 
was  ordered  to  turn  the  right  flank  of  the  enemy,  and  cut  off  his  field-piece,  while 
Major  Barnard  advanced  in  front  with  instructions  to  make  free  use  of  the  bayonet. 
These  orders  were  quickly  and  effectively  carried  into  execution,  and,  after  some  very 
sharp  fighting  by  both  parties,  the  British  fell  back  in  confusion  and  fled,  leaving  their 
killed  and  many  of  their  wounded  in  the  field,  with  a  few  prisoners.  The  fugitives 
were  pursued  some  distance,  when  Bissell  called  back  his  men.  The  British  fled  to 
the  main  carnp  at  Chippewa,  and  the  Americans  destroyed  about  two  hundred  bush 
els  of  wheat  at  the  mill.  The  loss  of  the  former  was  not  exactly  ascertained,  but 
is  supposed  to  have  been  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prison 
ers.  The  Americans  lost  twelve  killed,  fifty-four  wounded,  including  five  officers,  and 
one  man  made  prisoner.  Satisfied  that  he  could  not  withstand  the  increased  power 

1  John  Gassaway  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  served  with  honor  during  the  whole  war. 


846 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Canada  abandoned  by  the  Americans.       Port  Erie  blown  up.       Disposition  of  the  Troops.       Commodore  Champlin. 

of  the  Arrny  of  Niagara,  physically  and  morally,  Drummond  now  fell  back  to  Fort 
George  and  Burlington  Heights.1 

General  Izard  clearly  perceived  that  farther  offensive  operations  on  the  peninsula 
so  late  in  the  season  would  be  imprudent,  and  perhaps  extremely  perilous  to  his 
army.  He  fell  back  from  Street's  Creek  to  the  Black  Rock  Ferry.  Soon  afterward 
the  whole  army  crossed  to  the  American  side  and  abandoned  Canada.  General  Win 
der,  who  had  lately  arrived  from  Baltimore,  led  General  Brown's  infantry  to  Sack- 
ett's  Harbor.  About  a  thousand  men  were  sent  to  Greenbush,  opposite  Albany,  on 
the  Hudson  ;  some  of  the  troops  commenced  the  erection  of  huts  for  winter  quarters, 
and  the  remainder,  excepting  the  Seventeenth  and  Nineteenth  Regiments  under  Gen 
eral  Miller,  who  went  to  Erie,  were  cantoned  in  that  vicinity.2  Knowing  Fort  Erie 
to  be  of  little  service,  Izard,  after  consulting  Major  Totten,  of  the  Engineers,  and  oth 
ers,  caused  it  to  be  mined,  and  on  the  5th  of  November  it  was  blown  up  and  laid  in 
ruins.  So  it  has  remained  until  now.3 


RUINS   OF   FOKT  EKIE,  I860. 

I  was  at  Fort  Erie  and  other  distinguished  places  near,  and  in  Buffalo,  a  day  or  two 
before  I  visited  the  battle-grounds  of  Chippewa  and  Niagara  in  August,  1860.  It  was 
my  good  fortune  to  have  the  company,  on  that  occasion,  of  the  venerable  and  war- 
scarred  soldier  of  1812,  Captain  (now  Commodore)  Stephen  Champlin,  of  the  United 
States  Navy,  whose  gallant  exploits  on  Lake  Erie  with  the  brave  Perry  have  been 
already  recorded  in  this  work.4  When  he  learned  my  errand  he  seemed  to  forget  his 
painful  wound,  unhealed  since  he  received  it  in  the  naval  service  in  1814,  and,  order- 

1  General  Izard's  Official  Correspondence,  page  104  ;  General  Bissell's  Report  to  General  Izard,  October  22, 1814 ;  Iz- 
ard's  General  Order,  October  23, 1S14. 

2  To  cover  and  protect  the  stores  at  Batavia,  Major  Helms  was  stationed  there  with  a  battalion  of  dismounted  dra 
goons.    Lieutenant  Colonel  Eustis,  with  a  battalion  of  light  artillery,  was  stationed  at  Williamsville  to  guard  the  ex 
tensive  hospital  there.    Colonel  Ball's  squadron  of  dragoons  were  stationed  on  the  Genesee  River,  near  the  village  of 
Avon,  for  the  convenience  of  forage ;  and  the  whole  of  the  remaining  infantry  were  cantoned  on  the  margin  of  the  wa 
ter  between  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock.— Izard's  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  November  20, 1814. 

3  Our  engraving  shows  the  appearance  of  the  ruins  of  Fort  Erie  from  Towson's  Battery  on  the  southwestern  angle, 
looking  toward  Buffalo,  which  is  seen  in  the  extreme  distance  toward  the  right.    The  water  in  the  foreground  is  in  the 
ditch.    This  was  its  appearance  when  I  visited  the  spot  in  I860.    The  main  portion  of  the  ruins,  seen  toward  the  right, 
with  windows,  is  that  of  the  mess-house  built  by  the  British.    This  was  not  fortified  by  them,  but  was  intrenched  by  the 
Americans.    On  the  left  is  seen  the  ruins  of  the  magazine,  between  which  and  the  mess-house  a  portion  of  Buffalo  ap 
pears.    Just  back  of  Towson's  Battery,  a  part  of  which  is  seen  in  the  foreground  on  the  left,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Drum 
mond  and  others  were  buried. 

*  See  Chapter  XXIV.,  and  his  portrait  and  biography  on  page  523. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


847 


FOKT   ERIE   MILLS,  FOKT   EK1E. 


Visit  to  Fort  Erie  and  historic  Places  in  and  near  Buffalo.    Veterans  of  the  War  in  that  City.    Forest  Lawn  Cemetery. 

ing  his  light  carriage,  he  took  me  to  every  place  of  interest  to  the  historian,  the  stu 
dent,  and  the  stranger. 

We  first  rode  to  Fort  Erie,  crossing  the  head  of  the  swift-flowing  Niagara  River  from 
the  Frontier  Mills  at  the  old  Black  Rock  Ferry  to  the  village  of  Fort  Erie,  which  was 
once  called  Waterloo.  The  ruins  of  the  fort  are  some  distance  up  the  Canada  shore 
from  the  village.  On  our  way  we  passed  old  Fort  Erie  Mill,  on  the  margin  of  the 
foot  of  the  lake,  which 
stood  there  during  the 
war,  as  many  scars  and 
ball-holes  still  in  its  clap 
boards  fully  attest.  On 
the  left  of  the  mill,  delin 
eated  in  the  engraving, 
across  the  river,  upon  a 
high  bank,  is  seen  Fort 
Porter,  and  in  the  ex 
treme  distance  on  the 
right  is  seen  the  wharf 
of  the  Buffalo  and  Lake 
Huron  Railway  Company.  On  our  right,  as  we  passed  on  to  the  fort,  an  elevated 
ridge  was  pointed  out,  on  which  the  British  batteries  were  erected  for  the  siege  of 
Fort  Erie.  No.  1  (see  map  on  page  839),  nearest  the  fort,  was  on  property  belonging 
to  Captain  Murray,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  and  No.  2  on  the  premises  of  Mr.  Thompson. 
I  did  not  ascertain  on  whose  land  were  the  mounds  of  No.  3.  The  ruins  of  all  were 
quite  prominent. 

We  spent  about  two  hours  in  the  hot  sun  on  the  site  of  Fort  Erie  and  the  battles, 
examining  the  theatre  of  scenes  described  in  this  chapter,  and  sketching  some  of  the 
ruins ;  and,  returning  to  Black  Rock,  we  visited  the  site  of  the  old  navy  yard,1  a  lit 
tle  way  up  Shogeoquady  Creek,  and  called  on  the  venerable  James  Sloan,  the  last  sur 
vivor  of  the  captors  of  the  Caledo 
nia  and  Adams  in  the  autumn  of 
1812.2  He  was  then  past  seventy- 
one  years  of  age.  From  his  lips  we 
heard  an  interesting  narrative  of  some  of  the  events  of  that  daring  enterprise,  illus 
trative  of  the  courage,  fortitude,  and  skill  of  the  actors. 

Leaving  Mr.  Sloan,  we  rode  to  the  office  of  Dr.  Trowbridge,  of  whom  I  have  already 
spoken  as  a  physician  in  Buffalo  when  the  British  destroyed  it.  He  was  seventy-five 
years  of  age,  yet  vigorous  in  mind  and  body.  He  gave  us  some  interesting  particu 
lars  of  his  own  experience,  and  the  bravery  of  the  widow  St.  John.  His  son  accom 
panied  us  to  the  room  of  the  City  Councils,  where  we  saw  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Mer 
rill  (Miss  Ransom),  who  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  Western  New  York,  on  the 
domain  of  the  Holland  Land  Purchase.  At  a  late  hour  we  returned,  heated  and 
weary,  to  the  delightful  residence  of  Captain  Champlin,  in  the  midst  of  gardens,  and 
dined.  There  I  saw  the  elegant  straight  sword  presented  to  the  hero,3  and  the  rich 
ly-carved  easy-chair  made  of  the  wood  of  the  Lawrence,  Perry's  flag-ship,  delineated 
on  page  542. 

On  the  following  morninga  I  rode  out  with  Captain  Champlin  to  a  beau-     *  August  ic, 
tiful  depository  of  the  dead  in  the  suburbs  of  Buffalo,  called  Forest  Lawn 
Cemetery.     The  ground  is  pleasantly  undulating,  is  much  covered  with  trees  of  the 
primeval  forest,  and  is  really  a  delightful  resort  during  the  heats  of  summer  for  those 

1  See  page  385.  2  See  page  386. 

3  The  following  is  the  inscription  on  one  side  of  the  blade  of  the  sword :  "  STEPHEN  CHAMPLIN,  ACTING  SAILING  MAS 
TER,  LAKE  ERIE,  IOTH  SEPTEMBER,  1813."  On  the  other  side,  "  ALTIUS  IUUNT  QCE  AD  SCMNA  NrruNTER." 


848 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Soldiers'  Mo  uiment. 


Other  Monuments,  and  Inscriptions  on  them. 


SOLDIEKS     MONUMENT. 


who  are  not  saddened  by  the  sight  of  graves. 
There,  in  an  elevated  open  space,  within 
ground  one  hundred  feet  square,  slightly  in 
closed,  stands  a  fine  monument  of  marble, 
twenty-two  feet  in  height,  which  was  erected 
by  the  corporate  authorities  of  Buffalo  in  the 
autumn  of  1852  in  commemoration  of  several 
officers  of  the  United  States  Army  who  were 
engaged  in  the  War  of  1812;  also  of  a  cele 
brated  Indian  chief,  and  to  mark  the  spot 
where  the  remains  of  over  one  thousand  per 
sons,  which  were  removed  from  the  city,  lie 
buried.1  Near  the  monument  (and  seen  in  the 
foreground  on  the  right)  is  a  tomb  of  brick, 
bearing  a  recumbent  slab  of  mai-ble,  over  the 
grave  of  Captain  Williams,  who  lost  his  life  at 
Fort  Erie.  The  inscription  on  it  is  historical 
and  briefly  biographical.2  Southward  of  this 
is  a  handsomely-carved  slab,  lying  on  the  ground,  placed  there  in  commemoration  of 
a  Connecticut  soldier  killed  in  the  battle  of  Niagara.3  Northeasterly  of  the  monu 
ment  is  another  slab,  over  the  grave  of  Captain  Wattles  ;4  and  south  of  it  is  another 
over  the  grave  of  Captain  Dox.5 

Not  far  from  this  public  monument,  on  a  gentle,  shaded  slope,  is  the  grave  of  Gen 
eral  Bennet  Riley,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  was  distinguished  in 
the  Seminole  War  and  the  contest  with  Mexico.  Over  it  is  a  handsome  marble  mon 
ument,  bearing  a  brief  inscription.6  Near  this,  in  the  cool  shadows  of  the  trees,  we 

1  The  following  are  the  inscriptions  on  the  monument :  West  Side. — "  In  memory  of  Major  Lodowick  Morgan,*  Captain 
Alexander  Williams,  Captain  Joseph  Kenney,  Captain  Simeon  D.  Wattles,  Captain  Myndert  M.  Dox,  and  Sergeant  Tay- 
]or,t  officers  of  the  United  States  Army,  who  were  engaged  in  the'War  of  1812."    North  Side.—"  Farmer's  Brother, 
Chief  of  the  Seneca  Nation  of  Indians.'"    South  Side.— "The  remains  of  1158  persons  are  buried  in  this  lot,  all  of  which 
were  removed  from  the  old  burial-ground  on  the  west  side  of  Delaware  Street,  between  Church  and  Eagle  Streets,  in 
the  city  of  Buffalo."    East  Side. — "Erected  October,  1852,  by  the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Buffalo— Hiram  Bar 
ton,  Mayor." 

2  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  inscription  :  "  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Captain  Alexander  John  Williams,  of  the 
Twenty-first  Regiment  United  States  Artillery,  son  of  General  Jonathan!  and  Marianne  Williams,  of  the  city  of  Phila 
delphia,  who  was  killed  in  the  night  attack  by  the  British  on  Fort  Erie,  August  14-15, 1814.    In  the  midst  of  the  con 
flict,  a  lighted  port-fire  in  front  of  the  enemy  enabled  them  to  direct  their  fire  with  great  precision  upon  his  company. 
He  sprang  forward,  cut  it  off  with  his  sword,  and  fell  mortally  wounded  by  a  musket-ball.    He  sacrificed  himself  to 
save  his  men.    Born  October  10, 1790.    Died  August  15, 1S14.    Fratri  Dilecto." 

3  His  name  is  on  the  monument.    The  following  inscription  is  on  the  slab  :  "Memorial  tribute  to  Joseph  Kinney,  of 
Norwich,  Connecticut,  senior  captain  in  the  Twenty-fifth  Regiment  United  States  Army,  shot  through  the  breast  at  the 
battle  of  Bridgewater,  July  25, 1814.    To  the  friendship  of  George  Coit,  Esq.,  his  relatives  are  indebted  for  his  burial  at 
this  place.    Erected  by  a  brother,  July,  1829. 

*  His  name  is  on  the  monument.    The  following  is  the  inscription  on  the  slab  :  "In  memory  of  Captain  Simeon  D. 
Wattles,  of  the  United  States  Army,  who  was  killed  in  the  memorable  sortie  of  Fort  Erie  on  the  17th  of  September, 
1814,  M.  33  years.    As  a  Christian,  he  was  pious  and  exemplary  ;  as  a  Soldier,  brave  and  magnanimous  ;  as  a  Citizen, 
benevolent  and  sincere."    Below  this  was  a  verse  of  poetry,  but  it  was  too  much  effaced  to  be  deciphered. 

5  His  name  is  on  the  monument.    The  following  is  the  inscription  on  the  slab :  "  The  grave  of  Myndert  M.  Dox,  late 
captain  in  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  United  States  Army,  son  of  Peter  and  Cathalina  Dox,  of  Albany.    Born  January  6, 
1790.    Died  September  S,  1830,  in  the  forty-first  year  of  his  age." 

6  The  following  is  the  inscription  :  "Major  General  Benuet  Riley,  United  States  Army.    Died  June  9, 1853,  in  the 
sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age." 

General  Riley  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  entered  the  army  as  ensign  in  a  rifle  corps  in  January,  1813.    He  re- 

*  Lodowick  Morgan  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  entered  the  army  as  second  lieutenant  in  a  rifle  corps  in  May,  180S. 
He  was  promoted  to  captatn  in  July,  1S11,  and  to  major  in  January,  1814.    He  was  a  very  efficient  officer,  and  received 
the  highest  praise  for  his  conduct  in  repelling  the  British  invasion  near  Black  Rock  on  the  3d  of  August,  1S14,  already 
mentioned  in  the  text.    He  was  killed,  as  we  have  seen,  in  a  skirmish  before  Fort  Erie  on  the  12th  of  the  same  month. 

t  The  graves  of  all  of  these,  excepting  Morgan  and  the  sergeant,  as  observed  in  the  text,  are  marked  by  inscribed  slabs. 

t  Ho-na-ye-wuo,  or  Farmer's  Brother,  was  a  conspicuous  contemporary  of  Cornplanter  and  Red  Jacket.  He  was  es 
teemed  as  one  of  the  noblest  of  his  race.  He  was  a  warrior  on  principle  and  practice,  spurning  every  art  of  civilized 
life.  He  was  probably  born  about  the  year  1730.  He  was  in  the  battle  with  Braddock  in  1755,  and  during  his  whole 
life  he  was  a  foremost  chief  among  the  Senecas.  He  was  eloquent  in  speech,  and  brave  on  the  war-path.  He  died  in 
the  autumn  of  1814. 

§  He  was  long  at  the  head  of  the  Engineer  Department  of  the  United  States  Army,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  See  page  235.  He  stiperintended  the  construction  of  many  fortifications. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


849 


Expedition  of  Captain  Holmes  into  Canada. 


Battle  at  the  Longwoods. 


Lost  Posts  to  be  recaptured. 


GENEKAL   ElI.Ev's  MONUMENT, 
BUFFALO. 


1814. 


lingered  some  time,  when  a  thunder-peal  from  the  direction 
of  Lake  Erie  warned  us  of  the  approach  of  a  summer  shower. 
We  rode  back  to  the  city  delighted  with  the  morning's  ex 
perience,  and  between  two  and  three  o'clock  I  left  for  Niag 
ara  Falls  in  a  railway  coach,  where  I  arrived,  as  before  ob 
served,  in  the  midst  of  a  heavy  thunder-storm. 

While  the  events  we  have  been  relating  were  occurring  on 
the  Niagara  frontier,  others  of  great  importance  were  occur 
ring  in  other  portions  of  the  wide  field  of  action,  especially 
on  Lake  Champlain,  and  on  and  near  the  sea-coasts.  Before 
we  proceed  to  a  consideration  of  these,  let  us  take  a  hasty 
glance  at  movements  in  the  Northwest,  which  closed  active 
military  operations  in  the  region  of  the  upper  lakes. 

For  many  weeks  after  Harrison's  victory  on  the  Thames 
nothing  of  great  importance  occurred  in  that  region.  The 
most  stirring  event  was  an  expedition  under  Captain  Holmes, 
a  gallant  and  greatly  beloved  young  officer,  sent  out  by  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Butler  in  February,a  where  he  was  in 
temporary  command  at  Detroit.  It  consisted  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  men,  including  artillerists,  with  two  6-pounders,  and  its  object 
was  the  capture  of  Fort  Talbot,  a  British  outpost  a  hundred  miles  down  Lake  Erie 
from  Detroit.  Difficulties  caused  Holmes  to  change  his  destination,  and  he  proceed 
ed  to  attack  another  outpost  at  Delaware,  on  the  River  Thames.  In  that  movement, 
too,  he  was  foiled  by  the  watchfulness  and  strategy  of  the  foe,  who  lured  him  from 
his  expected  prey.  Finally  they  came  to  blows  toward  the  evening  of  the  3d  of 
March,b  at  a  place  called  the  Longwoods,  in  Canada,  where  they  fought  more 
than  an  hour,  and  then  each  gladly  withdrew  under  cover  of  the  night-shad 
ows.  In  this  affair  the  Americans  lost  seven  men  in  killed  and  wounded,  while  the 
enemy's  loss,  including  the  Indians,  was  much  greater.1  The  expedition  was  fruitless 
of  good  to  any  body.2 

In  former  chapters  we  have  a  record  of  the  capture  of  Fort  St.  Joseph  and  the  post 
and  island  of  Michillimackinack,  or  Mackinaw,  by  the  British,  immediately  preceding 
(and  partly  inducing)  the  fall  of  Detroit  in  the  summer  of  1812. 3  The  latter  post, 
with  all  Michigan,  as  we  have  observed,4  was  recovered  from  the  British  in  1813.  For 
the  better  security  of  these  acquisitions  against  British  and  Indian  incursions,  Gen 
eral  M'Arthur,  the  commandant  of  the  Eighth  Military  District,  caused  works  to  be 
erected  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Huron,  or  head  of  the  Straits  or  River  St.  Clair.  It  was 
called  Fort  Gratiot,  in  honor  of  the  engineer  of  that  name  who  superintended  its  con 
struction. 

The  Americans  were  not  contented  with  the  recovery  of  Michigan  only,  but  de 
termined  to  recapture  Mackinaw  and  St.  Joseph.  The  latter  was  the  key  to  the  vast 
traffic  in  furs  with  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest,  and  the  British,  knowing  its  im 
portance  in  its  commercial  and  political  relations  to  their  American  possessions,  as 
resolutely  resolved  to  hold  it.  Accordingly  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Douall  was  sen! 
thither  with  a  considerable  body  of  troops  (regulars  and  Canadian  militia)  and  sea- 

mained  in  the  army,  and  in  1828  was  breveted  a  major  for  ten  years'  faithful  service.  He  was  breveted  a  colonel  for 
good  conduct  in  Florida,  brigadier  general  for  his  bravery  at  Cerro  Gordo,  and  major  general  for  his  gallant  conduct  at 
Contreras.  He  was  made  military  commander  of  the  Department  of  Upper  California,  and  was  ex  officio  governor  in 
1849  and  1850.  1  Captain  Holmes's  Dispatch  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Butler,  March  10, 1814. 

2  A  similar  expedition  had  been  sent  out  by  Butler  a  short  time  before.  Butler  was  informed  that  a  considerable 
number  of  regulars,  Canadians,  and  Indians  were  collected  on  the  River  Thames,  not  far  from  Chatham.  He  sent  Cap 
tain  Lee  with  a  party  of  mounted  men  to  reconnoitre,  and,  if  feasible,  to  attack  and  disperse  them.  Lee  gained  the  rear 
of  the  enemy  unobserved,  fell  upon  them,  and  scattered  them  in  all  directions.  He  took  several  of  them  prisoners. 
Among  them  was  Colonel  Babie  (pronounced  Bawbee),  whose  house,  we  have  observed,  was  the  head-quarters  of  Gener 
al  Hull,  and  yet  standing  in  the  village  of  Windsor,  opposite  Detroit.  See  page  262.  Colonel  Babie  had  been  a  leader 
of  Indians  in  the  invasion  of  the  Niagara  frontier  at  the  close  of  1S13.  3  See  Chapter  XIV.  *  See  pnge  567. 

3H 


850  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Expedition  to  the  Upper  Lakes.  Operations  at  the  Saut  St.  Marie.  Battle  on  Mackinaw  Island. 

men  accompanied  by  twenty-four  bateaux  laden  with  ordnance.     There  he  found  a 
large  body  of  Indians  waiting  to  join  him  as  allies. 

The  Americans  planned  a  land  and  naval  expedition  to  the  upper  lakes ;  and  so 

early   as    April,  when   M'Douall 

j^  J 

{2     /W  /?        went   to   Mackinaw,  Commander 

Arthur  St.  Clair  was  placed  in 
charge  of  a  little  squadron  for  the 
purpose,  consisting  of  the  Niagara,  Caledonia,  St.  Lawrence,  /Scorpion,  and  Tigress,  all 
familiar  names  in  connection  with  Commodore  Perry  on  Lake  Erie.  A  land  force, 
under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Croghan,  the  gallant  defender  of  Fort  Stephenson,  was  pre 
pared  to  accompany  the  squadron. 

Owing  to  differences  of  opinion  in  Madison's  Cabinet,  the  expedition  was  not  in 
readiness  until  the  close  of  June.  It  left  Detroit  at  the  beginning  of  July.  Croghan 
had  five  hundred  regular  troops  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  militia;  and  on  the  ar 
rival  of  the  expedition  at  Fort  Gratiot  on  the  12th  he  was  joined  by  the  garrison  of 
that  post,  composed  of  a  regiment  of  Ohio  Volunteers,  under  Colonel  William  Cot- 
greave.  Captain  Gratiot  also  joined  the  expedition.  They  sailed  for  Matchadach 
Bay  to  attack  a  newly-established  British  post  there.  A  lack  of  good  pilots  for  the 
dangerous  channels  among  islands,  rocks,  and  shoals  leading  to  it,  and  the  perpetual 
fogs  that  lay  upon  the  water,  caused  them  to  abandon  the  undertaking  after  a  week's 
trial,  and  the  squadron  sailed  for  St.  Joseph,  in  the  direction  of  Lake  Superior.  It 
anchored  before  it  on  the  20th.  The  post  was  abandoned,  and  the  fort  was  commit 
ted  to  the  flames.  This  accomplished,  Major  Holmes,  of  the  Thirty-second  Infantry, 
and  Lieutenant  Turner,  of  the  Navy,  were  sent  with  some  troops  and  cannon  to  de 
stroy  the  establishment  of  the  British  Northwest  Company  at  the  Saut  St.  Marie,  or 
Falls  of  St.  Mary.  That  company  had  been  from  the  beginning,  because  of  its  vital 
interest  in  maintaining  the  British  ascendency  among  the  Indian  tribes,  with  whom 
its  profitable  traffic  was  carried  on,  the  most  inveterate  and  active  enemy  of  the 
Americans.  Its  agents  had  been  the  most  effective  emissaries  of  the  British  author 
ities  in  inciting  the  Indians  to  make  war  on  the  Americans  ;  and,  in  every  way,  it 
merited  severe  chastisement  at  the  hands  of  those  whose  friends  had  suffered  from 
the  knife  and  hatchet  of  the  cruel  savages. 

ajulyi  Holmes  arrived  at  St.  Mary's  on  the  21st.a  John  Johnson,  a  renegade  mag- 
18W-  istrate  from  Michigan,  and  an  Indian  trader,  who  was  the  agent  of  the  North 
west  Company  at  that  place,  apprised  of  his  approach,  fled  with  a  considerable  amount 
of  property,  after  setting  on  fire  the  company's  vessel  above  the  Rapids.  She  was 
saved  by  the  Americans,1  but  every  thing  valuable  on  shore  that  could  not  be  carried 
away  was  destroyed.  Holmes  then  returned  to  St.  Joseph,  when  the  whole  expedi 
tion  started  for  Mackinaw,  where  it  arrived  on  the  26th.b  It  was  soon  ascer 
tained  that  the  enemy  there  were  very  strong  in  position  and  numbers,  and 
the  propriety  of  an  immediate  attack  was  a  question  between  Croghan  and  St.  Clair. 
The  post  could  not  be  carried  by  storm,  nor  could  the  guns  of  the  vessels  easily  do 
much  damage  to  the  works,  they  were  so  elevated.  It  was  finally  decided  that  Cro 
ghan  should  land  with  his  troops  on  the  back  or  western  part  of  the  island,  under  cov 
er  of  the  guns  of  the  ships,  and  attempt  to  attack  the  works  in  the  rear.  This  was 
done  at  Dowsman's  farm  on  the  4th  of  August,  without  much  molestation,  but  Cro 
ghan  had  not  advanced  far  before  he  was  confronted  by  the  garrison  under  M'Douall, 
who  were  strongly  supported  by  Indians  in  the  thick  woods.  M'Douall  poured  a 
storm  of  shot  and  shell  from  a  battery  of  guns  upon  the  invaders,  when  the  savages 
fell  upon  them.  A  sharp  conflict  ensued,  carried  on  chiefly  on  the  part  of  the  enemy 
by  the  Indians  under  Thomas,  a  brave  chief  of  the  Fallsovine  tribe,  when  Croghan 

i  They  endeavored  to  bring  this  vessel  away  with  them,  but  she  bilged  while  passing  down  the  Rapids,  and  was  then 
destroyed. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  851 

Blockade  of  Mackinaw.  Capture  of  the  blockading  Vessels.  Commander  Champlin  wounded. 

was  compelled  to  fall  back  and  flee  to  the  shipping,  with  the  loss  of  the  much-be 
loved  Major  Holmes,  who  was  killed,  and  Captains  Van  Horn  and  Desha,  and  Lieuten 
ant  Jackson,  who  were  severely  wounded.  He  also  lost  twelve  private  soldiers  killed, 
fifty-two  wounded,  and  two  missing.  The  loss  of  the  enemy  is  unknown. 

Croghan  and  St.  Clair  abandoned  the  attempt  to  take  Mackinaw  ;  and  as  they  were 
about  to  depart,  they  heard  of  the  successful  expedition  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Kay, 
who,  with  nearly  seven  hundred  men,  mostly  Indians,  had  gone  down  the  Wisconsin 
River  and  taken  from  the  Americans  the  post  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  at  the  mouth  of 
that  stream.a  Yet  they  were  not  disheartened,  and  resolved  not  to  return  a  juiyrr, 
to  Detroit  empty-handed  of  all  success.  They  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  1814> 
the  Nautawassaga  River,  assailed  and  destroyed  a  block-house  three  miles  up  from 
its  mouth,  and  hoped  to  capture  the  schooner  Nancy,  belonging  to  the  Northwest 
Company,  and  a  quantity  of  valuable  furs.  They  failed.  The  furs  had  been  taken 
to  a  place  of  safety,  and  the  schooner  was  burnt  by  order  of  Lieutenant  Worseley, 
who  was  in  command  of  the  block-house. 

Very  soon  after  this  the  squadron  sailed  for  Detroit,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Tigress,  Captain  Champlin,  and  Scorpion,  Captain  Turner,  which  were  left  to  block 
ade  the  Nautawassaga,  it  being  the  only  route  by  which  provisions  and  other  sup 
plies  might  be  sent  to  Mackinaw.  They  cruised  about  for  some  time,  effectually  cut 
ting  off  supplies  from  Mackinaw,  and  threatening  the  garrison  with  starvation.  Their 
useful  career  in  that  business  was  suddenly  closed  early  in  September,  when  they 
were  both  captured  by  a  party  of  British  and  Indians,  sent  out  in  five  boats  (one 
mounting  a  long  6,  and  another  a  3  pounder)  from  Mackinaw  to  raise  the  blockade, 
under  the  general  command  of  Lieutenant  Bulger,  his  second  being  Lieutenant  Worse- 
ley.  They  fell  first  upon  the  Tigress,  off  St.  Joseph's,  when  her  consort  was  under 
stood  to  be  fifteen  miles  away.  She  was  at  anchor  near  the  shore.  The  attack  was 
made  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  3d  of  September.  It  was  intensely  dark, 
and  they  were  within  fifty  yards  of  the  Tigress  when  discovered.  The  assailants 
were  warmly  received,  but  in  five  minutes  the  vessel  was  boarded  and  carried  by 
overwhelming  numbers,  her  force  being  only  thirty  men,  exclusive  of  officers,  and 
that  of  the  assailants  about  one  hundred.  "  The  defense  of  this  vessel,"  said  Bulger, 
in  his  report  of  the  affair, "  did  credit  to  her  officers,  who  were  all  severely  wound 
ed."1  Her  officers  and  crew  were  sent  prisoners  of  war  to  Mackinaw  the  next  morn 
ing.2 

Bulger  and  his  men  remained  on  board  the  Tigress.  Her  position  was  unchanged, 
and  her  pennant  was  kept  flying.  On  the  5th  the  Scorpion  was  seen  approaching. 
Bulger  ordered  his  men  to  hide.  The  unsuspecting  vessel  came  within  two  miles, 
and  anchored  for  the  night.  At  dawn  the  next  morningb  the  Tigress  b 
ran  down  alongside  of  her,  and  then  the  enemy,  starting  from  his  con 
cealment,  rushed  on  board,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  British  flag  was  floating  over 
her.  The  loss  on  each  side  in  these  captures  was  slight.  Vessels  and  prisoners  were 
taken  to  Mackinaw,  and  their  arrival  produced  great  joy  there.  So  exhausted  were 
the  supplies  of  the  garrison  that  starvation  would  have  compelled  a  surrender  in  less, 
than  a  fortnight.  These  captures  were  announced  with  a  great  flourish  by  the  Brit 
ish  authorities ;  and  Adjutant  General  Baynes  actually  stated,  in  a  general  order, 
that  the  vessels  "had  crews  of  three  hundred  men  each  !"  He  only  exaggerated  five 
hundred  and  seventy  in  stating  the  aggregate  of  the  crews  of  the  two  schooners. 

Croghan  and  St.  Clafr  reached  Detroit,  on  their  return,  late  in  August,  and  for  a 
while  no  military  movement  was  undertaken  in  that  region.  At  length  General 

1  Lieutenant  Bulger  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Douall,  September  7,  1814.    Captain  Champlin  had  his  thigh-bone  shat 
tered  by  a  ball  in  that  fight,  and  he  has  not  only  been  a  cripple  ever  since,  but  a  painful  sufferer  from  a  seldom-healed 
wound.    In  the  year  1863  several  pieces  of  bone  were  taken  from  his  thigh. 

2  Champliu's  Report  to  Lieutenant  Turner,  commanding. 


852 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


M' Arthur's  Raid  in  Canada. 


Affright  of  the  Canadians. 


Skirmishes. 


M'Arthur's  Return. 


M' Arthur  made  a  terrifying  raid  into  Canada.  He  had  been  ordered  to  raise  mount 
ed  men  for  the  purpose  of  chastising  the  Indians  around  Lake  Michigan,  and  on  the 
9th  of  October  he  had  arrived  at  Detroit  with  about  seven  hundred  mounted  men 
from  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  accompanied  by  Major  Charles  S.  Todd  as  adjutant  gen 
eral.  The  critical  situation  of  the  American  army  under  General  Brown,  at  Fort 
Erie,  at  that  time  induced  M' Arthur  first  to  make  a  diversion  in  favor  of  that  general. 
Accordingly,  late  in  the  month,  he  left  Detroit  with  seven  hundred  and  fifty  men  and 
five  field-pieces,  and,  to  mislead  the  enemy,  passed  up  Lake  and  River  St.  Clair  toward 
Lake  Huron.  On  the  morning  of  the  26th  he  suddenly  crossed  the  St.  Clair  River 
into  Canada,  pushed  on  to  the  thriving  Baldoon  settlement  of  Scotch  families,  and 
then  made  his  way  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  the  Moravian  Towns,  on  the  scene  of  Har 
rison's  exploits  a  year  before,  spreading  great  alarm  in  his  path.  On  the  4th  of  No 
vember  he  entered  the  village  of  Oxford.  He  came  unheralded,  and  the  inhabitants 
were  greatly  terrified.  He  disarmed  and  paroled  the  militia,  and  threatened  instant 
destruction  to  the  property  of  any  one  who  should  give  notice  to  any  British  post  of 
his  coming.  Two  men  did  so,  and  their  houses  were  laid  in  ashes.  On  the  follow 
ing  day  he  pushed  on  to  Burford,  where  the  militia  were  casting  up  intrenchments. 
They  fled  at  his  approach,  and  the  whole  country  was  filled  with  alarm.  Fear  mag 
nified  the  estimate  of  his  number,  and  the  story  went  before  him  that  he  had  two 
thousand  men  in  his  train. 


Burlington,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario,  was  M'Arthur's  destination.  On  he 
pressed  from  Burford,  but  when  he  arrived  on  the  bank  of  the  Grand  River,  at  Brant- 
ford,  he  found  his  passage  of  that  considerable  stream  disputed  by  a  large  force  of 
the  Six  Nations  who  resided  near,  with  militia  and  dragoons.  He  was  informed  that 
Major  Muir  was  not  far  distant,  in  a  dangerous  defile  on  the  road  to  Burlington,  with 
a  considerable  force  of  regulars  and  Indians,  and  some  cannon.  M( Arthur  concluded 
it  would  not  be  prudent  to  attempt  to  go  farther  eastward,  so  he  turned  down  the 
Long  Point  Road,  and  proceeded  to  attack  some  militia,  who  had  a  fortified  camp 
at  Malcolm's  Mill,  on  the  Grand  River.  They  fled  at  his  approach,  and  in  his  pur 
suit  of  them  M' Arthur  killed  and  .wounded  seven,  and  took  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
one  prisoners.  His  own  loss  was  only  one  killed  and  six  wounded.  The  mill  was 
burned,  with  all  the  property  in  it.  This  accomplished,  the  invaders  pushed  on  to 
Dover,  destroying  several  mills  on  the  way,  which  were  making  flour  for  Drum- 
mond's  army.  There  he  was  informed  of  the  evacuation  of  Canada  by  Izard,  and 
of  a  web  of  perils  that  were  gathering  around ;  so  he  turned  his  face  westward,  and 
hastened  toward  Detroit,  by  way  of  St.  Thomas  and  the  Thames,  pursued  some  dis 
tance  by  eleven  hundred  British  regulars.  He  arrived  at  Sandwich  on  the  17th  of 
November,  and  there  discharged  his  brave  band. 

M'Arthur's  raid  was  one  of  the  boldest  operations  of  the  war.  For  almost  four 
weeks  he  had  skurried  hundreds  of  miles  through  the  enemy's  country,  spreading 
alarm  every  where,  and  keeping  the  militia  from  Drummond's  ranks ;  destroying 
property  here  and  there  that  might  be  useful  to  the  enemy,  and  then  returning  to 


OF   THE   AVAR   OF   1812. 


853 


M'Arthur's  Bravery  and  Generosity. 


the  place  of  departure  with  the  loss  of  only  one  life  P  He  was  generous  as  well  as 
bold  ;  and  he  publicly  acknowledged  that  much  of  his  success  was  due  "  to  the  mili 
tary  talents,  activity,  and  intelligence  of  Major  Todd,"  his  adjutant  general,  who  yet 
[1867]  lives  in  his  native  Kentucky,  in  the  vigor  of  a  green  old  age. 

i  M'Afee's  History  of  the  late  War  in  the  Western  Country,  page  446. 


GENEBAL   WLNFIEl.!)   SCOTT   J-N   1860. 


854 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


General  Izard  in  Command  iu  Northern  New  York.    Napoleon's  Fortunes  change.    Washington  Benevolent  Societies. 


CHAPTER  XXXVH. 

"  Hail  to  the  day  which,  in  splendor  returning, 

Lights  us  to  conquest  and  glory  again  ! 
Time,  hold  that  year !    Still  the  war-torch  was  burning, 

And  threw  its  red  ray  on  the  waves  of  Champlain. 
Roused  by  the  spirit  that  conquered  for  Perry, 
Dauntless  Macdonough  advanced  to  the  fray ; 
Instant  the  glory  that  brightened  Lake  Erie 
Burst  on  Champlain  with  the  splendor  of  day. 
Loud  swells  the  cannon's  roar 
On  Plattsburg's  bloody  shore, 
Britons  retreat  from  the  tempest  of  war, 
Prevost  deserts  the  field, 
While  the  gallant  ships  yield ; 
Victory !  glory,  Columbians,  huzza  1" 

OLD  SONG — ERIE  AND  CHAMFLAIN. 

[ROM  the  Niagara  frontier  and  the  portion  of  the  Army  of  the 
North  engaged  there  we  will  now  turn  to  the  consideration  of 
the  events  upon  Lake  Champlain  and  its  vicinity  during  the 
year  1814,  where  the  other  portion  of  that  army  was  in  active 
service.     "We  have  already  taken  a  brief  glance  at  military  op 
erations  in  that  quarter  to  the  close  of  the  campaign  of  the  pre 
vious  year,  when  General  Wilkinson,  relieved  of  command,  re 
tired  from  the  army,  and  General  Hampton,  another  incompe 
tent,  also  left  the  service  for  his  country's  good.1     His  lieutenant,  General  George 
» May  4,     Izard,  of  South  Carolina,  was  soon  afterwarda  placed  in  command  of  the  right 
814-       wing  of  the  Army  of  the  North,  with  a  competent  staff,2  and  made  his  head 
quarters  at  Plattsburg. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  campaign  in  the  spring  a  great  change  had  occurred  in 
the  aspect  of  foreign  affairs — a  change  which  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  Ameri 
can  mind  in  its  contemplations  of  the  war.  We  have  already  alluded  to  the  disasters 
of  Napoleon  at  Leipsic  in  the  autumn  of  1813.  Notwithstanding  brilliant  achieve 
ments  on  his  part  after  that,  the  Allied  Powers  finally  pushed  him  back,  and  not  only 
confined  him  to  the  soil  of  France,  but  hemmed  him  and  his  army  almost  within  the 
walls  of  Paris.  There  was  no  chance  for  his  escape.  On  the  31st  of  March,  1814, 
the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington  entered  the  city  as  conquerors, 
and  on  the  llth  of  May  Napoleon  abdicated  the  throne  of  France  and  retired  to  the 
island  of  Elba.3  His  downfall  was  hailed  with  great  joy,  not  only  in  Europe,  but  by 
the  great  Federal  party  in  the  United  States,4  who  considered  his  ruin  as  the  most 

1  See  page  657. 

s  Brigadier  General  Winder, jnst  exchanged,  was  appointed  his  chief  of  staff;  Alexander  Macomb  and  Thomas  A. 
Smith  were  his  brigadier  generals ;  William  Gumming  was  adjutant  general,  and  Major  Joseph  G.  Totten  was  chief 
engineer. 

3  The  fickle  populace  of  Paris  received  the  conquerors  of  Napoleon  with  acclamations  of  joy,  and  the  French  Senate, 
lately  Napoleon's  pliant  instrument,  now  declared  that,  by  arbitrary  acts  and  violations  of  the  Constitution,  he  had  for 
feited  his  right  to  the  throne. 

4  The  Washington  Benevolent  Societies*  (Federalist  associations)  had  made  Napoleon's  disasters  the  subject  of  orations 

*  These  Washington  Benevolent  Societies  originated  in  Philadelphia  very  soon  after  the  declaration  of  war  in  the 
summer  of  1812.  They  were  political  organizations,  with  attractive  social  and  benevolent  features.  The  first  organ 
ization  was  fully  completed  on  the  22d  of  February,  1813,  under  the  title  of  the  Washington  Benevolent  Society  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  each  member  was  required  to  sign  the  Constitution  and  the  following  declaration :  "We,  each  of  us, 
do  hereby  declare  that  we  are  firmly  attached  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  to  that  of  Pennsylvania ;  to 
the  principles  of  a  free  republican  government,  and  to  those  which  regulated  the  public  conduct  of  GEOBGE  WASUINO- 
TON  ;  that  we  will,  each  of  us,  to  the  best  of  our  ability,  and  so  far  as  may  be  consistent  with  our  religious  principles 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812.  855 

The  Downfall  of  Napoleon  celebrated.  English  Troops  released  for  Service  in  America. 

damaging  blow  that  could  be  given  to  their  political  opponents  and  the  war  party. 
Pulpits,  presses,  public  meetings,  and  social  entertainments  were  pressed  into  the  serv 
ice  as  proclaimers  of  their  satisfaction,  notwithstanding  it  was  evident  that  the  release 
thereby  of  a  large  British  army  from  service  on  the  Continent  would  enable  the  com 
mon  enemy  to  send  an  overwhelming  force  across  the  Atlantic  that  might  crush  the 
American  armies,  and  possibly  reduce  the  states  to  British  provinces.  Their  hopes 
and  the  limit  of  their  wishes  doubtless  were  that  the  changed  aspect  of  foreign  af 
fairs,  and  the  consciousness  of  the  great  peril  that  might  reasonably  be  apprehended, 
would  cause  the  administration  to  seek  peace  on  any  terms.  They  were  mistaken,  as 
the  sequel  will  show. 

The  retirement  of  Napoleon  to  Elba  did  release  from  Continental  service  a  large 
body  of  English  troops,  and  several  thousands  of  them  were  immediately  dispatched 
to  Canada  to  re-enforce  the  little  army  there.     They  were  sent  from  the  Garonne,  in 
Spain,  and  many  of  them  were  Wellington's  veterans,  hardy  and  skillful.     They  ar 
rived  at  Quebec  late  in  July  and  in  August,a  and  were  rapidly  pushed  up  to 
Montreal.    In  the  mean  time,  the  forces  under  Prevost,  the  Governor  of  Cana 
da  and  general-in-chief,  had  been  very  busy  in  preparations  for  an  invasion  of  New 
York,  and  the  little  flotilla  in  the  Richelieu,  or  Sorel  River,  had  been  greatly  aug 
mented  in  numbers  and  strength  during  the  winter  and  spring.b  b  1814- 

On  the  9th  of  Mayc  General  Izard  was  informed  that  the  enemy  were  in  mo-    c  is*4- 
tion  below.    Captain  Pring,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  was  moving  up  the  Sorel  in  the  brig 
Linnet  as  his  flag-ship,  accompanied  by  five  armed  sloops  and  thirteen  row-galleys. 
On  the  following  day  he  anchored  his  flotilla  behind  Providence  Island,  in  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  where  he  remained  until  the  13th,d  preparing  for  an  attack  on  the  Amer 
ican  flotilla,  then  nearly  ready  for  sea  at  Vergennes,  in  Vermont,  at  the  head 
of  the  navigation  of  Otter  Creek.1     Captain  Macdonough,  who  was  in  command  of 
the  little  squadron,  was  apprised  of  this  movement,  and  sent  Lieutenant  Cassin,  with 
a  party  of  seamen,  to  re-enforce  Captain  Thornton,  who  had  been  ordered  from  Bur 
lington  with  a  detachment  of  light  artillery  to  man  a  battery  of  seven  12-pounders 

and  toasts  on  the  anniversary  of  Washington's  birthday  (22d  of  February,  1814) ;  and  in  Albany,  where  the  Dutch  ele 
ment  was  very  predominant  in  the  population,  the  emancipation  of  Holland  from  his  thrall  was  celebrated.  Relig 
ious  services  were  held  in  the  Dutch  church  on  the  occasion,  and  a  sermon  was  preached  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  Brad 
ford.  These  were  followed  by  a  dinner  at  the  Eagle  Inn.  General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  presided,  assisted  by  John 
H.Wendell  as  vice-president.  Several  songs  were  sung,  and  toasts  given,  in  Dutch. 

In  June  and  July  following,  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  was  celebrated  in  several  of  the  commercial  cities  of  the  United 
States.  In  Boston  and  New  York  it  was  celebrated  by  religious  ceremonies  and  public  dinners.  In  New  York  the 
dinner  was  in  the  Washington  Hotel,  then  the  principal  public  house  in  the  city,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  Stewart's 
marble  store,  on  Broadway,  between  Chambers  and  Reade  Streets.  It  was  on  the  29th  of  June.  Three  hundred  gen 
tlemen  sat  down  to  the  table.  Rufns  King  presided.  The  vice-presidents  were  Generals  Nicholas  Fish,  Ebenezer  Ste 
vens,  Mr.  Clarkson,  John  B.  Coles,  and  Cornelius  J.  Bogart.  All  the  foreign  consuls  but  the  French  were  present. 
Richard  Stockton,  of  New  Jersey,  gave  as  a  toast :  "  Louis  XVIII.,  King  of  France  and  Navarre,  heir-at-law  to  Ameri 
can  gratitude." 

On  the  4th  of  July  the  event  was  celebrated  by  religious  services  and  public  dinners.  Rev.  Timothy  Dwight,  Presi 
dent  of  Yale  College,  presided  at  a  dinner  at  Butler's  Hotel,  in  Hartford,  where  one  hundred  gentlemen  were  assembled 
at  table.  Among  the  toasts  were  the  following: 

"  The  Minority  in  Congress. — Had  they  appealed  to  patriots  they  would  have  been  heard." 

"  The  Administration. — Prodigal  enough,  but  too  proud  to  return." 

"  The  Royal  Family  of  France. — Our  friends  in  adversity,  we  rejoice  at  their  prosperity." 

"  The  Democratic  Party  of  America.— If  not  satisfied  with  their  own  country,  they  may  seek  an  asylum  in  the  island 
of  Elba." 

1  The  flotilla  then  at  Vergennes  consisted  of  the  following  vessels :  1  ship  of  26  guns,  1  schooner  of  20  guns,  2  sloops 
of  8,  6  row-galleys  of  2,  and  4  gun-boats  of  1  each. 

respectively,  preserve  the  rights  and  liberties  of  our  country  against  all  foreign  and  domestic  violence,  fraud,  and  usur 
pation  ;  and  that,  as  members  of  the  Washington  Benevolent  Society,  we  will  in  all  things  comply  with  its  regulations, 
support  its  principles,  and  enforce  its  views." 

The  funds  of  the  society  were  used  for  the  purposes  of  charity  among  its  members  and  their  families,  and  for  other 
purposes  which  might  be  prescribed.  They  had  anniversary  dinners  on  the  birthday  of  Washington.  Such  econ 
omy  was  used  that  all  the  members  might  afford  to  participate  in  the  festivities.  The  cost  of  the  dinner  to  each,  with 
a  bountiful  supply  of  beer  and  choice  ardent  spirits,  was  seventy-five  cents.  They  built  Washington  Hall,  on  the  west 
side  of  Third  Street,  between  Walnut  and  Spruce  Streets.  It  was  dedicated  with  religious  ceremonies,  led  by  Bishop 
White,  in  the  autumn  of  1816.  These  associations  rapidly  multiplied  throughout  the  country  during  the  war,  but  dis 
appeared  with  the  demise  of  the  old  Federalist  party.  • 


856 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Skirmish  at  Otter  Cieek,  Vermont. 


The  British  repulsed. 


Struggle  for  the  Control  of  Lake  Champlain. 


on  sea-carriages  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek. 
Governor  Chittenden  also  ordered  out  a 
brigade  of  Vermont  militia  to  oppose  the 
threatened  invasion ;  and  when,  on  the 
morning  of  the  1 4th,  eight  of  Pring's  gal 
leys  and  a  bomb-sloop  anchored  off  the 
mouth  of  the  creek,  they  found  ample 
preparations  for  their  reception.  A  brisk 
fire  was  opened  from  the  battery.  It  was 
answered  from  the  water,  and  for  more 
than  an  hour  a  cannonade  was  kept  up, 
when  the  British  vessels  were  driven  off. 
They  then  entered  the  Bouquet  River  for 
the  purpose  of  destroying  flour  at  the  falls 
of  that  stream.  On  their  return  they  were 
compelled  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  a  shower 
of  bullets  from  some,  militia  who  had  has 
tily  assembled.  Many  of  the  British  were 
killed  and  wounded.  Foiled  and  disheart 
ened,  Pring  returned  to  Isle  aux  Noix 
a  wiser  man,  for  he  had  learned  that 
even  in  Vermont,  whose  governor  was 

^ a  zealous  member  of  the  "  Peace  Par 
ty,"  the  people  were  ready  to  fight  the 

common  enemy  any  where.     A  few  days  afterward  Macdonough  sailed  out  of  the 
creek  with  his  flotilla,  and  anchored  it  in  Cumberland  Bay,  off  Plattsburg. 

Both  parties  now  prepared  for  a  struggle  for  supremacy  on  Lake  Champlain.  The 
British,  as  we  have  observed,  had  adopted  in  a  degree  the  plan  of  Burgoyne  for  sep 
arating  New  England  from  the  rest  of  the  Union,  while  the  Americans  were  as  de 
termined  to  resist  the  meditated  invasion  at  the  very  threshold,  and  defend  the  lake 
region  and  the  valley  of  the  upper  Hudson  at  the  gates  of  Canada.  Both  parties 
were  also  re-enforced  during  the  remainder  of  May,  and  General  Izard  caused  a  bat 
tery  of  four  18-pounders  to  be  planted  on  Cumberland  Head  instead  of  at  Rouse's 
Point,  at  the  entrance  to  the  Sorel  River,  as  directed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,1  and 
urged  by  Major  Totten,  his  chief  engineer. 

At  the  middle  of  June  Izard  disposed  his  troops  for  a  movement  into  Canada.  He 
sent  Brigadier  General  Thomas  A.  Smith,  with  a  light  brigade  of  about  fourteen  hund 
red  men,  to  occupy  the  village  of  Champlain,2  five  miles  below  the  Canada  line.  Col 
onel  Pearce,  of  the  Sixteenth,  was  at  Chazy  with  about  eight  hundred  men  composed 
of  consolidated  regiments,  and  about  twelve  hundred  men  occupied  the  cantonment 
at  Plattsburg,  on  the  peninsula  between  the  lake  and  the  Saranac,  the  works  on  Cum 
berland  Head,,  and  a  position  at  Dead  Creek,  about  two  miles  below  Plattsburg. 
Macdonough,  with  his  flotilla,  was  below  Cumberland  Head,  watching  the  little  Brit 
ish  squadron,  which  lay  at  the  Isle  aux  Tetes.  The  British  had  thirty-six  hundred 
troops  at  La  Colle ;  Meuron's  Swiss  regiment,  a  thousand  strong,  was  at  L'Acadie,  and 
two  brigades  of  artillery  and  three  hundred  cavalry  were  at  Chambly,  making  a  total 
of  five  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty  men.  There  was  also  a  reserve  of  two  thou 
sand  regulars  at  Montreal. 

There  was  feverishness  among  the  people  and  the  soldiery  along  the  Canada  bor 
der,  which  was  frequently  manifested.  The  armed  belligerents  were  eager  for  a  trial 

1  Letter  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  May  25, 1814,  in  Izard's  Official  Correspondence,  page  23. 

2  This  brigade  was  composed  of  the  Fourth  and  Tenth  Regiments  consolidated,  and  commanded  by  Colonel  Purdy, 
the  Twelfth,  under  Major  Morgan,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Forsyte's  riflemen,  and  a  company  of  artillery  under  Captain 
Branch. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


857 


Invasion  of  Canada. 


Death  of  Forsyth. 


Vengeance. 


Preparations  to  meet  an  Invasion  from  Canada. 


of  prowess.  Finally,  on  the  22d  of  June,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Forsyth,  the  accom 
plished  partisan  commander,  with  seventy  riflemen,  crossed  the  frontier  line,  and  at  a 
little  hamlet  northwesterly  from  Rouse's  Point,  called  Odell  Town,  he  was  attacked 
by  two  hundred  of  the  enemy's  light  troops.  Forsyth  beat  them  off,  and  retired  in 
good  order  to  Champlain  with  the  loss  of  one  man  killed  and  five  wounded.  A  few 
days  afterward  he  was  again  sent  in  that  direction  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  the 
enemy  across  the  lines.  He  formed  an  ambuscade,  and  then  sent  a  few  men  forward 
as  a  decoy.  They  were  soon  met,  and  immediately  fell  back,  followed  by  Captain 
Mahew  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  Canadians  and  Indians.  When  the  pursuers  were 
near  the  ambuscade,  Forsyth  stepped  upon  a  log  to  watch  the  movement,  when  he 
was  shot  through  the  breast  by  an  Indian.  His  men  immediately  arose,  and  poured 
such  a  deadly  fire  upon  the  foe  that  they  retreated  in  wild  confusion,  leaving  seven 
teen  of  their  dead  upon  the 
field. 

Forsyth  was  greatly  be 
loved  by  his  followers.  Hot 
ly  incensed  because  of  the 
employment  of  savages  by 
the  British,  they  resolved  to 
avenge  the  death  of  their 
own  leader  by  taking  the 
life  of  the  leader  of  the  In 
dians.  A  few  days  after 
ward  some  of  them  crossed 
the  line  and  shot  Mahew, 
that  leader.  He  was  taken 
to  the  house  of  Judge  Moore, 
in  Champlain,1  where  he  died 
about  a  week  afterward.2 

Skirmishing  along  the  bor 
der  was  a  frequent  occurrence,  but  no  movement  of  importance  took  place  until  the 
close  of  July,  when  General  Macomb's  brigade,  composed  of  the  Sixth,  Thirteenth, 
Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Twenty-ninth  Regiments,  embarked  in  boats  at  Cumberland 
» July  31,  Heada  for  Chazy  Landing,  at  the  mouth  of  Chazy  Creek.  On  the  same  day 

1814  General  Bissell's  brigade,  composed  of  the  Fifth, 
Fourteenth,  Thirtieth,  Thirty-first,  Thirty-fourth,  and  For 
ty-fifth  Regiments,  started  for  Chazy  Village  by  land. 
Two  hundred  effective  men  and  a  corps  of  invalids  of 
Macomb's  brigade  were  left  to  complete  the  wrorks  on 
Cumberland  Head,  and  a  fatigue  party  four  hundred 
strong,  taken  from  Bissell's  brigade,  was  left  in  command 
of  Colonel  Fenwick  to  complete  three  redoubts  on  the  peninsula  between  the  lake 
and  the  Saranac  River  at  Plattsburg.  There  were  now  four  thousand  five  hundred 
effective  men  at  Champlain,  within  five  miles  of  the  Canada  border.  But  these  were 
few  compared  to  the  numbers  of  the  enemy,  which  were  constantly  augmenting. 
During  the  months  of  July  and  August  not  less  than  fifteen  thousand  troops,  chiefly^ 
veterans  from  "Wellington's  armies,  as  we  have  observed,  arrived  at  Montreal.  Only 
one  brigade  was  sent  westward,  and  the  remainder  were  kept  in  reserve  for  the  con 
templated  invasion  of  New  York,  in  such  overwhelming  force  as  to  overbear  all  op- 

i  This  house,  the  residence  of  the  late  Judge  Pliny  Moore,  is  a  fine  old  mansion  on  a  pleasant  shaded  slope  in  the  vil 
lage  of  Champlain,  not  far  from  the  banks  of  the  Big  Chazy,  just  north  of  the  bridge,  in  the  village.  It  was  the  head 
quarters  of  the  British  commander  whenever  that  village  was  occupied  by  him ;  and  Dearborn,  Wilkinson,  and  Izard 
were  in  turn  sojourners  under  its  roof.  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  author  in  1860.  It  was  then  the  residence 
of  Pliny,  son  of  Judge  Moore.  2  Palmer's  History  of  Lake  Champlain,  page  184. 


JUDGE   MOORE  6   UOCSE. 


858 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Prevost  commanding  in  Person. 


Alarming  Order  from  the  War  Department. 


Izard's  Protest. 


position.     These  newly-arrived  troops  were  encamped  in  the  level  country  between 
Laprairie  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  Chambly  on  the  Sorel. 

Very  soon  after  the  advance  of  the  Americans  to  Chazy  and  Champlain,  Sir  George 

Prevost1  arrived  at  the  Isle 
aux  JVoix,  where  he  had 
concentrated  a  considerable 
body  of  veterans,  and  took 
chief  command  in  person ; 
and  strong  detachments  of  seamen  were  sent  from  Quebec,  by  order  of  Sir  James  L. 
Yeo,  to  strengthen  the  naval  power  at  the  sam.e  place.  It  was  evident  that  a  speedy 
invasion  of  Northern  New  York  was  in  contemplation ;  and  yet,  with  full  informa 
tion  on  the  subject,  the  American  government,  as  if  fearful  of  a  conquest  of  Canada 
whenever  a  spirited  general  was  in  command  near  assailable  points,2  ordered  Izard 
at  that  critical  moment,  when  danger  was  never  more  apparent,  to  march  a  larger 
portion  of  his  force  westward  to  co-operate  with  the  Army  of  Niagara.  It  was  an 
open  invitation  to  invasion ;  and  the  army  and  people,  expecting  a  great  battle  soon 
at  the  foot  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  hoping  for  a  decisive  victory,  were  astonished  by 
the  order.  The  disappointed  Izard  could  scarcely  restrain  his  indignation.  On  the 
llth  of  August  he  wrote:  "I  will  make  the  movement  you  direct,  if  possible;  but  I 
shall  do  it  with  the  apprehension  of  risking  the  force  under  my  command,  and  with 
the  certainty  that  every  thing  in  this  vicinity  but  the  lately  erected  works  at  Platts- 
burg  and  Cumberland  Head  wTill,  in  less 
than  three  days  after  my  departure,  be 
in  the  possession  of  the  enemy.  He  is  in 
force  superior  to  mine  in  my  front ;  he 
daily  threatens  an  attack  on  my  position 
at  Champlain ;  we  are  all  in  hourly  ex 
pectation  of  a  serious  conflict.  .  .  .  Let 
me  not  be  supposed  to  hesitate  about  ex 
ecuting  any  project  which  the  govern 
ment  I  have  the  honor  to  serve  think 
proper  to  direct.  My  little  army  will  do 
its  duty."3 

Izard  continued  to  protest  against  the 
movement  as  unwise  and  perilous,4  but, 
like  a  true  soldier,  he  made  preparations 
for  it  as  speedily  as  his  limited  transpor 
tation  would  allow.     He  set  about  four 
thousand  men  in  motion  by  the  way  of 
the  head  of  Lake  George,  Schenectady, 
and  the  Mohawk  Valley,5  and,  as  we 
have  observed,  arrived  with  them 
at  Sackett's  Harbor  at  the  middle  of 
the  month,  and  immediately  started 
a  portion  of  them  by  land  and  wa- 

1  George  Prevost  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York  on  the  10th  of  May,  1T6T.    His  father  was  a  native  of  Geneva, 
Switzerland.    His  mother  was  a  Dutch  woman.    He  was  created  an  English  baronet  in  1805. 

2  See  note  3  on  page  259.  3  izard's  Official  Correspondence,  page  65. 

*  On  the  20th  of  August  Izard  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War :  "  I  must  not  be  responsible  for  the  consequences  of 
abandoning  my  present  strong  position.  I  will  obey  orders  and  execute  them  as  well  as  I  know  how.  Major  General 
Brisbane  commands  at  Odell  Town.  He  is  said  to  have  between  five  and  six  thousand  men  with  him.  At  Chambly  are 
said  to  be  about  four  thousand." 

5  This  route  was  chosen  because  the  upper  route  by  Chateaugay  and  Ogdensburg  would  be  altogether  too  perilous.  He 
submitted  the  question  of  route  to  his  officers,  who  decided  unanimously  to  go  by  the  way  of  Schenectady.— See  Izard's 
Official  Correspondence,  page  73. 


OF   THE    WAK    OF    1812. 


859 


The  Militia  called  ont. 


Concentration  of  Troops  near  Plattsburg. 


The  British  invading  Force. 


September  17, 
1814. 


tera  for  the  Niagara  front 
ier.1  He  left  all  his  sick 
and  convalescents,  and  about  twelve 
hundred  effective  men,  to  garrison  Platt's 
Point,  as  the  peninsula  was  called,  and 
Cumberland  Head.  In  obedience  to 
an  order  of  the  War  Department,  he 
made  a  requisition  upon  Major  General 
Mooers,  the  commander  of  the  militia  in 
that  district,  for  the  assembling,  without 
delay,  of  one  regiment  of  infantry  and 
one  troop  of  light  dragoons  at  the  vil 
lage  of  Chazy,  riflemen  to  be  accepted 
as  infantry.  Brigadier  General  Alexan 
der  Macomb  was  left  in  chief  command, 
with  his  head-quarters  at  Plattsburg. 

Immediately  after  General  Izard  left,  < 
Macomb  concentrated  all  his  troops  at 
Plattsburg,  and  worked  vigorously  in 
preparations    for    de 
fense.     He  had,  at  the 
close  of  August,  about 
three   thousand  five 
hundred  troops  under 
his  control,2  but  they 

were  in  a  weak  condition,  for  there  was  only  one  organized  battalion  among  them,  and 

full  fourteen  hundred  of  them  were  invalids  and  non-combatants.     The  garrisons  at 

the  different  points  were  composed  of  convalescents  and  new  recruits ;  the  condition 

of  the  ordnance  and  stores  was  chaotic,  and  the  defensive  works  were  all  unfinished. 
On  the  day  when  Izard  left  his  camp  at  Champlain,b  General  Brisbane     b  August  29. 

advanced  from  Odell  Town,  and  occu 
pied  that  village  and  its  vicinity ;  and 

on  the    3d  of  September  full   fourteen 

thousand  British  troops  were  gathered 

there,  under   the  general   command   of 

Sir  George  Prevost,  assisted  by  General 

De  Rottenburg  as  his  second.     There  he 

avowed  his  intention  to  take  and  hold 

possession  of  the  country  as  far  down  as 

Ticonderoga;  and  he  issued  orders  and 

proclamations  inviting  the  people  to  cast 

off  their  allegiance  to  their  government, 

and  to  furnish  him  with  supplies.     On 

the  following  day  they  moved  forward 

to  Chazy  Village ;  and  on  the  5th  they 

encamped  near  Sampson's,  now  (186^)  oc- 


bAMPSOVS. 


1  See  page  844. 

a  These  troops  were  composed  of  detachments  of  the  regiments  that  had  left,  amounting  to  70  in  number;  Captain 
Leonard's  company  of  li£rht  artillery,  100 ;  Captain  M'Glassin's  company  of  the  Fifteenth  Regiment,  50 ;  the  Sixth, 
Twenty-ninth,  Thirtieth,  Thirty-third,  and  Thirty-fourth  Regiments,  1771 ;  Captain  Sproull's  detachment  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Regiment,  200 ;  sick  and  invalids,  SOS  ;  two  companies  of  artillery  under  Captain  Alexander  Brooks ;  and  about 
200  infantry  on  board  the  fleet  serving  as  marines. 

3  This  is  a  view  of  the  Sampson  House  looking  north  toward  Chazy,  which  is  six  miles  distant.  It  is  brick,  and 
when  I  sketched  it  in  1SGO  it  was  still  a  tavern,  and  kept  by  Mr.  Harvey  Bromley.  The  old  barn,  just  as  it  was  in  1814, 
is  seen  just  beyond  the  house. 


860 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Indications  of  an  Advance  of  the  British  Army. 


Position  of  American  Works  at  Plattsborg. 


cupied  as  a  tavern,  about  eight  miles  from  Plattsburg.  Captain  Pring,  with  the 
British  squadron,  moved  at  the  same  time,  anchored  off  Isle  la  Motte,  and  on  the  west 
side  of  that  island  erected  a  battery  of  three  long  18-pounders  to  cover  the  landing 
of  supplies  for  Prevost's  troops.  Macomb,  at  the  same  time,  was  straining  every 
muscle  at  his  command  in  preparations  for  defense,  for  the  impressment  of  trains  by 
the  British  at  Champlain  and  Chazy,  and  loading  wagons  with  heavy  baggage,  indi 
cated  a  speedy  advance  upon  Plattsburg.  By  great  exertions  (the  soldiers  working 
day  and  night),  the  redoubts  and  block-houses  were  completed  and  manned  before 
the  enemy  appeared  before  them,  for  he  made  short  and  cautious  marches.  These 
were  on  the  high  level  peninsula  between  the  Sarariac  and  the  lake,  gently  sloping 
toward  the  latter.  The  redoubts  were  on  a  curved  line  across  the  neck  of  the  penin 
sula,  and  were  named  respectively  Forts  Brown,  Moreau,1  and  Scott.  The  first- 
named  stood  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  at  its  head,  about  halfway  between  the  lower 


bridge  at  the  village  and  near  its  mouth,  and  the  upper  bridge,  a  mile  higher  up,  on 
the  road  leading  to  the  Salmon  River.  Fort  Moreau,  the  principal  work,  was  half 
way  between  the  river  and  the  lake,  fifty  rods  eastward  of  Fort  Brown ;  and  Fort 
Scott  was  near  the  bank  of  the  lake.  Northward  of  it  were  store-houses  and  a  hos 
pital.  Between  the  lower  bridge,  and  some  distance  above  Fort  Brown,  the  right 
bank  of  the  Saranac  is  steep,  and  from  fifty  to  sixty  feet  in  height ;  and  about  sixty 
rods  above  the  lower  bridge  it  is  cleft  by  a  deep  ravine  that  extends  from  the  river 
almost  to  the  lake.  Near  this  ravine  a  block-house  was  built,  and  on  the  point  near 
Foquet's  Hotel,  overlooking  the  modern  steam-boat  landing,  was  another  block-house. 
At  the  mouth  of  the  river,  a  short  distance  from  the  lower  bridge,  stood  (and  yet 
stands)  a  stone  mill,  which  served  an  excellent  defensive  purpose. 

To  create  a  spirit  of  emulation  and  zeal  among  the  troops,  General  Macomb  di- 

1  Port  Moreau  was  named  by  Izard  in  honor  of  a  celebrated  French  general  of  that  name,  whom  Bonaparte  exiled 
from  France  because  of  his  supposed  complicity  with  Pichegru  and  others  in  a  conspiracy  against  the  newly-created 
emperor.  He  remained  in  the  United  States  nine  years.  The  Emperor  Alexander  invited  him  to  Russia,  and  while  en 
gaged  in  his  military  service,  near  Dresden,  a  cannon-ball  from  Napoleon's  guard  broke  both  his  legs,  from  the  eftects 
of  which  he  died.  Macomb  gave  the  names  of  Brown  and  Scott  to  the  other  two  redoubts,  in  honor  of  those  two  offi 
cers,  whose  gallantry  on  the  Niagara  frontier  had  won  his  admiration. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


861 


Occupants  of  the  Plattsburg  Forts. 


Position  of  the  Troops. 


The  British  advance  on  Plattsburg. 


Added  them  into  detachments,  declaring  in  orders  that  each  detachment  was  the  gar 
rison  of  its  own  work,  and  bound  to  finish  it  and  defend  it  to  the  last  extremity. 
Colonel  Melancthon  Smith,1  with  the  Sixth  and  Twenty-ninth  Regiments,  was  placed 
in  command  of  Fort  Moreau.  Fort  Brown  was  intrusted  to  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Storrs,  with  detachments  of  the  Thirtieth  and  Thirty-first  Regiments ;  and  Major 
Vinson,  with  the  Thirty-third  and  Thirty-fourth  Regiments,  garrisoned  Fort  Scott. 
Captain  Smith,  of  the  Rifles,  with  a  part  of  his  company  and  the  convalescents,  occu 
pied  the  block-house  near  the  ravine  ;  and  Lieutenant  Fowler,  with  a  detachment  of 
artilleVy,  held  the  block-house  on  the  Point.  The  light  artillery,  under  Captain  Leon 
ard,  were  ordered  to  annoy  the  enemy  whenever  and  wherever  an  opportunity  should 
offer.  The  main  body  of  Macomb's  array  lay  within  the  triangular  portion  of  the 
peninsula  formed  by  the  ravine,  the  river,  and  the  lake. 

When  the  British  advanced  to  Chazy,  Macomb  ordered  Captain  Sproull  to  take  a 
position  near  Dead  Creek  Bridge,  on  the  lake  road,  with  two  hundred  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Regiment2  and  two  field-pieces,  while  Lieutenant  Colonel  Appling,  the  hero 
of  Sandy  Creek,  was  sent  farther  in  advance,  with  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  rifle 
men,  and  a  troop  of  New  York  Cavalry  under  Captain  Stafford  and  Lieutenant  M. 
M.  Standish.  Their  business  was  to  watch  and  annoy  the  enemy,  and  obstruct  his 
march  by  felling  trees  in  the  road.  It  was  their  appearance  that  caused  his  halt  at 
Sampson's.  General  Mooers  had  called  for  the  entire  militia  force  of  his  district  to 
repel  the  invasion,  and  Macomb  made  an  earnest  appeal  for  troops  to  Governor  Chit- 
tenden,  of  Vermont. 

On  the  evening  of  the  4th  Mooers  had  seven  hundred  men  under  his  command,  and 
with  them,  by  order  of  Macomb,  he  advanced  a  few  miles  northward  on  the  Beek- 
mantown  Road,  on  an  errand  similar  to  that  of  Sproull  and  Appling.  He  was  in 
structed  to  watch  the  enemy,  skirmish  with  his  vanguard,  break  up  the  bridges,  and 
obstruct  the  roads  with  felled  trees.  He  went  forward  on  the  morning  of  the  5th, 
and  bivouacked  that  night  near  the  stone  church  in  Beekmanto.\vn. 

On  the  morning  of  the  6th  the  British  army,  full  fourteen  thousand  strong,  mostly 
veteran  troops,  marched  upon  Plattsburg  in  two  columns  from  their  encampment 
near  Sampson's,  the  right  crossing  over  to  the  Beekmantown  Road,  and  the  left  fol 
lowing  the  lake  shore  that  led  to  Dead  Creek  Bridge.  General  Edward  Baynes  was 
the  adjutant  general,  and  Sir  Sidney  Beckwith,  who  was  conspicuous  at  Hampton 
and  in  Hampton  Roads  the  previous  year,3  was  quartermaster  general.  The  right 
column  was  composed  of  General  Powers's  brigade,  supported  by  four  companies 
of  light  infantry  and  a  half  brigade  under  Ma 
jor  General  Robinson.  The  left  was  composed 
of  General  Brisbane's  brigade,  and  was  led  by 


'  Melancthon  Smith  was  commissioned  a  major  of  the  Twenty- 
ninth  lufantry  on  the  20th  of  February,  1813,  and  was  promoted 
to  colonel  on  the  12th  of  April  following.  He  left  the  army  at 
the  close  of  the  war,  and  died  at  Plattsburg  on  the  18th  of  Au 
gust,  1818.  In  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  old  burial-ground  at 
Plattsburg  I  found  his  grave  in  I860,  and  at  the  head  of  it  an  elab 
orately-wrought  tombstone,  of  blue  limestone,  on  which  is  the 
following  inscription  :  "To  the  memory  of  Colonel  MELANCTHON 
SMITH,  who  died  August  IS,  1818,  aged  38  years.  As  a  testimony 
of  respect  for  his  virtue*,  and  to  mark  the  spot  where  rests  the 
ashes  of  an  excellent  Father,  this  stone  is  erected  by  his  son  RICH- 
BILL.  United  with  many  masculine  virtues,  he  had  a  tear  for  pity, 
and  a  hand  open  as  day  for  melting  charity." 

2  This  was  always  a"  famous  regiment.    We  first  met  portions 
of  it  following  the  gallant  Captain  Wool  up  Queenston  Heights. 
See  page  397.    At  this  time  [1867]  only  three  of  its  officers  sur 
vive,  namely,  Major  General  Wool,  Dr.  M'Call  (then  surgeon's 
mate,  and  now  superintendent  of  the  Lunatic  Asylum  at  Utica), 
and  Captain  Myers,  mentioned  in  the  note  on  page  654. 

3  See  page  683. 


862 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Major  Wool  sent  to  meet  the  British. 


A  Skirmish  at  Beekmantown. 


Engagement  on  Culver's  Hill. 


him  in  person.     The  whole  were  under  the  immediate  command  of  Major  General 
De  Rottenburg. 

Macomb  was  informed  of  this  movement  being  in  contemplation  on  the  evening  of 
the  5th,  and  prepared  to  meet  it.  The  gallant  Major  John  E.  Wool,  ever  ready  for 
a  daring  enterprise,  volunteered  to  lead  some  regulars  to  support  the  militia  and  op 
pose  the  advance  of  the  foe.  At  about  the  time  in  the  early  morning  of  the  6th 
when  the  British  broke  camp  at  Sampson's,  Wool  moved  from  Plattsburg  with  two 
hundred  and  fifty  regular  infantry  and  thirty  volunteers,  with  orders  to  set  the  mi 
litia  an  example  of  firm 
ness.  This  was  done. 
He  reached  Beekman 
town  before  the  enemy 
appeared,  and  took  po 
sition  near  the  residence 
of  Ira  Ho  we.  There  the 
first  collision  occurred. 
The  enemy  came  march 
ing  on  rapidly,  anticipa 
ting  no  resistance,  when 
they  were  suddenly 
checked  by  a  heavy  vol 
ley  of  musketry  from 
Wool's  little  corps.  The 
militia  broke  and  fled 
toward  Plattsburg,  but 
the  regulars  stood  firm. 
The  enemy  was  in  over 
whelming  numbers,  feut  Wool  moved  slowly  back  toward  Culver's  Hill,  disputing 
the  way  inch  by  inch  in  desperate  skirmishing.  On  that  hill,  a  short  distance  below 
Beekmantown,  he  made  a  stand,  and  as  the  British  advance  ascended  the  slope,  fill 
ing  the  entire  road,  he  made  another  gallant  attack  upon  them.  Some  of  the  militia 
had  been  rallied,  and  were  in  position  behind  the  stone  wall  that  bounded  the  road.2 
The  enemy's  advance  was  driven  back  upon  the  main  body,  and  their  leader,  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Willington,  of  the  Third  Regiment  of  Buffs,  and  Ensign  Chapman  of 
the  same  regiment,  were  killed.3  Captain  Westropp,  of  the  Fifty-eighth,  was  severe 
ly  wounded.  Captain  Partridge,  of  the  Essex  militia,  and  several  other  Americans, 
were  killed.  The  fight  was  severe,  but  very  short.  The  heavy  column  of  the  enemy 
came  pressing  steadily  onward  with  irresistible  force,  filling  the  entire  roadway.  At 
the  same  time  Wool  discovered  a  formidable  movement  to  turn  his  flank  and  gain 
his  rear,  when  he  again  fell  back  in  order  to  Halsey's  Corners,  within  a  mile  and  a  half 
of  Plattsburg  Bridge.  There  he  was  joined  at  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning 
by  Captain  Leonard  with  two  pieces  of  artillery.  These  were  immediately  placed  in 
battery  at  an  angle  in  the  road.  They  were  masked  by  Wool's  infantry  and  a  small 
body  of  militia,  and  as  the  enemy  came  steadily  on  in  heavy  mass,  Leonard  opened 
upon  them,  and  his  balls  cut  fearful  lanes  through  their  ranks. 

Three  times  that  battery  hurled  its  deadly  missiles  through  the  lines  of  the  foe, 
yet  it  did  not  check  them.  The  British  bugles  sounded,  and  the  men,  throwing  away 
their  knapsacks,  rushed  forward  at  double  quick  to  charge  with  the  bayonet.  Leon 
ard  was  compelled  to  fly  toward  the  village.  He  carried  his  guns  with  him,  turning 

1  This  house  was  the  residence  of  Mr.  Joel  Smith  when  I  visited  Beekmantown  in  I860.    It  was  used  as  a  hospital, 
with  others,  after  the  skirmish  there  and  at  Culver's  Hill. 

2  This  heavy  stone  wall,  built  by  some  Vermonters  before  the  war,  was  yet  standing  when  I  rode  over  Culver's  Hill 
in  the  summer  of  1860. 

3  To  Samuel  Terry,  who  was  living  at  Peru,  Clinton  County,  New  York,  is  awarded  the  fame  of  having  shot  Willington. 


1KA   UOWJi'S,  BEEKMANTOWN.1 


OF  THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


863 


Loss  of  the  British. 


They  press  on  to  Plattsburg. 


Fight  in  and  near  the  Village. 


Stone-mill  Citadel. 


I8AAO   C.  PLAIT'S   RESIDENCE.2 


them  occasionally  upon  the  pursuing  foe,  and,  crossing  the  Saranac  at  the  lower 
bridge,  he  planted  them  in  battery  on  a  gentle  eminence  in  the  road,  near  the  stone 
mill,  to  cover  the  crossing  of  the  rest  of  the  Americans  if  they  should  find  it  neces 
sary  to  retreat.  In  the  affair  at  Halsey's  Corners  several  of  the  British  were  killed. 
Amono;  them  was  Lieu- 

O 

tenant  Kingsbury,  of  the 
Third  Buffs,  who  was  mor 
tally  wounded,  and  tak 
en  into  the  farm-house  of 
the  now  (1867)  venerable 
Isaac  C.  Platt,  Esquire, 
near  by,  where  he  soon 
afterward  died.1 

The  more  rapid  march 
of  the  British  right  col 
umn  imperiled  the  de 
tachments  of  Appling  and 
Sproul,  who  were  await 
ing  the  approach  of  the 
left.  Macomb  perceived 
this,  and  ordered  them  to 
fall  back  toward  Plattsburg,  and  attack  the  enemy's  flank.  They  did  so,  and  their 
riflemen  galled  the  foe  severely.  They  reached  the  lower  bridge  just  in  time  to  avoid 
being  cut  off  by  the  British  right,  and  to  cross  it  with  Wool's  retiring  troops.  When 
all  were  safely  over,  the  bridge  was  torn  up  in  the  face  of  a  heavy  fire  from  the  head 
of  the  enemy's  right,  which  had  reached  the  little  village.  The  militia  in  the  mean 
time  had  fled  across  the  upper  bridge,  and  destroyed  that  in  the  same  way.  The 
British  left  column  soon  afterward  appeared.  It  crossed  the  Dead  Creek  Bridge,  and, 
while  making  its  way  along  the  beach  of  Plattsburg  Bay  to  unite  with  the  right,  it 
was  severely  harassed  by  an  enfilading  fire  from  some  of  Macdonough's  galleys  which 
had  been  sent  to  the  head  of  the  bay  for  the  purpose.  A  heavy  blow  came  on,  and 
Macdonough  sent  Midshipman  Silas  Duncan  in  a  gig  to  order  the  galleys  to  return 
to  the  fleet.  His  boat  was  fired  upon  by  the  enemy,  and  he  was  severely  wounded, 
but  he  delivered  the  order  and  escaped  with  his  life. 

The  British  were  checked  at  the  village  by  the  destruction  of  the  lower  bridge, 
whose  timbers  were  used  in  the  construction  of  a  breastwork  for  the  infantry.  They 
took  position  in  some  store-houses  near  the  Saranac.  Upon  these  Captain  Brooks 
hurled  some  hot  shot,  and  burned  out  the  enemy.  Their  light  troops  endeavored 
during  the  day  to  force  a  passage  of  the  Saranac,  but  were  each  time  repulsed  by  the 
guards  at  the  bridge  and  a  small  company  known  as  Aiken's  Volunteers,  of  Platts 
burg,  who  were  stationed  in  the  stone  mill  (see  engraving  next  page)  already  men 
tioned.  These  young  men  had  been  out  on  the  Beekmantown  Road  in  the  morning 
and  behaved  gallantly,  and  they  garrisoned  that  mill-citadel  most  admirably.3  In 
the  mean  time  a  division  of  the  British  had  pressed  toward  the  upper  bridge,  where 
General  Mooers  and  his  militia,  as  we  have  observed,  crossed  the  bridge,  tore  it  up, 

1  Palmer's  Hiatory  of  Lake  Champlain,  page  192.    Statement  to  the  author  by  Mr.  Platt  in  1860. 

2  This  was  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Plait's  house  in  1860.    The  main  building  is  of  brick.    The  immense  butternut- 
tree  near  the  house  was  a  fine  bearing  tree  at  the  time  of  the  battle,  and  two  bullet  scars  upon  its  trunk  were  pointed 
out  to  me.    We  shall  notice  this  house  and  its  owner  hereafter. 

3  The  following  are  the  names  of  these  young  men,  or  rather  lads,  for  none  of  them  were  old  enough  to  be  legally 
called  into  the  military  service  :  Martin  J.  Aiken,  Azariah  C.  Flagg,  Ira  Wood,  Gustavus  A.  Bird,  James  Trowbridge, 
Hazen  Mooers.  Henry  K.  Averill,  St.  John  B.  L.  Skinner,  Frederick  P.  Allen,  Hiram  Walworth,  Ethan  Everest,  Amos 
Soper,  James  Patten,  Bartimens  Brooks,  Smith  Bateman,  Melancthon  W.  Travis,  and  Flavius  Williams.    They  were 
highly  praised  by  Macomb  for  their  gallantry,  and  he  promised  that  each  of  them  should  receive  a  rifle.    This  promise 
Congress  redeemed  in  1S26  by  ordering  a  rifle  to  be  presented  to  each  member  of  that  little  volunteer  company.    Sev 
eral  of  these  lads  afterward  became  distinguished  men. 


864 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  British  checked  at  the  Bridge  in  Plattsburg. 


Preparations  for  Battle  on  Land  and  Water. 


OLD   BTONE   MILL.2 


and  used  its  timbers  for 
a  breastwork.  The  en 
emy  made  extraordina 
ry  efforts  to  force  a  pas 
sage  there,  but  Mooers 
and  his  men  stood  firm, 
and  kept  them  at  bay. 
Finding  the  passage  of 
the  stream  impossible 
under  the  circumstan 
ces,  Preyost  ordered  his 
troops  to  encamp  upon 
an  elevated  ridge  about 
a  mile  back  from  the 
river,  and  upon  the  high 
ground  north  of  the 
village.  He  made  his 
head  -  quarters  at  Al 
len's  farm-house  on  the 
ridge,1  and  gave  orders 
for  vigorous  prepara 
tions  for  attack.  Not 
withstanding  he  was  at 
the  head  of  overwhelm 
ing  numbers,  the  events 

of  that  daya  convinced  him  that  the  task  before  him  Avas  not  a  light  one. 
He  had  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  since  the  dawn,  over  two  hundred 
men,  while  the  loss  of  the  Americans  did  not  exceed  forty-five.3 

Prevost  employed  the  time  between  the  7th  and  llth  in  bringing  up  his  battering 
trains  and  supplies,  and  in  erecting  several  works  that  might  command  the  river,  the 
bay,  and  the  American  forts  and  block-houses  on  the  peninsula.4  The  Americans  in 
the  mean  time  were  not  idle.  They  labored  without  ceasing  in  strengthening  their 
works.  They  removed  their  sick  and  wounded  to  Crab  Island,  two  miles  distant,  in 
the  lake,  and  there  erected  a  two  6-pound  gun  battery,  and  manned  it  with  convales 
cents. 

While  these  preparations  were  under  way  on  land,  the  belligerents  were  making 
ready  for  a  combat  on  the  water.  A  greater  portion  of  the  British  flotilla,  under 
Captain  Pring,  had  advanced,  as  we  have  seen,  to  Isle  la  Motte,  where  they  were 
joinedb  by  the  remainder  of  the  squadron  and  Captain  George  Downie, 
of  the  Royal  Navy,  late  of  the  Montreal  on  Lake  Ontario.  Macdonough, 
at  the  same  time,  had  the  American  squadron  at  anchor  in  Plattsburg  Bay,  and  calm 
ly  awaited  the  approach  of  his  enemy. 

For  almost  five  days  the  seamen  waited  for  a  general  movement  of  the  landsmen, 
which  was  to  be  a  signal  on  the  part  of  the  British  for  the  weighing  of  anchors  and 

1  This  was  a  large  two-storied  frame  house,  nearly  square,  and  stood  on  the  site  of  the  residence  of  John  H.  Sauborn, 
Esquire,  in  I860,  when  I  visited  Plattsburg.    It  was  on  a  little  hill  west  of  the  village.    General  Robinson  made  his 
head-quarters  at  the  house  of  the  Honorable  William  Bailey,  not  far  distant.    Judge  Bailey  (mentioned  in  the  note  on 
page  650)  took  refuge,  with  his  family,  in  the  house  of  Dr.  Man  (mentioned  in  the  same  note),  some  distance  from  Platts 
burg.    Judge  Bailey  married  the  daughter  of  Zephaniah  Platt,  a  patentee  of  Plattsburg,  and  was  the  father  of  Admiral 
Bailey,  of  our  navy,  who  performed  gallant  service  iu  the  battle  of  Forts  Jackson  and  Philip,  below  New  Orleans,  in  the 
spring  of  1862. 

2  This  was  the  appearance  of  the  old  stone  mill  when  the  writer  sketched  it  in  1860  from  the  gallery  of  the  United 
States  Hotel.    On  the  left  is  seen  a  portion  of  Plattsburg  Bay,  and  Cumberland  Head  in  the  distance. 

3  Palmer's  History  of  Lake  Champlain,  page  194. 

4  These  consisted  of  three  block-houses  erected  at  points  within  range  of  the  American  works ;  a  battery  on  the  lake 
shore,  just  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Saranac  -,  another  on  the  steep  bank  above  the  mill-pond ;  a  third  near  the  burial- 
ground  ;  and  one  for  rocketeers  on  a  hill  opposite  Fort  Brown. 


September  6, 
1814. 


b  September  8. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


805 


Brave  Exploit  of  Captain  M'Glassin.  A  British  Battery  captured.  British  land  and  naval  Forces  in  Motion. 


VIEW    UP  TUB   8AKA.NAO,  FKOM  1'OKT   BROWN.1 


preparing  ships  for  action,  and  during  that  time  no  military  operation  of  great  im 
portance  occurred.  There  were  some  minor  movements  worthy  of  notice.  One  of 
them,  on  the  part  of  the  Americans,  was  a  bold  one.  On  the  night  of  the  9th  there 
was  tempestuous  weather.  There  was  lightning,  and  rain,  and  wind,  and  thick  dark 
ness.  The  British  had  been  seen  at  sunset  busily  engaged  in  the  erection  of  the 
rocket  battery  opposite  Fort  Brown.  Captain  M'Glassin,  who  was  described  to  me 
as  a  "  little  beardless  Scotchman"  anxious  to  distinguish  himself,  asked  General  Ma- 
comb  to  allow  him  to  lead  fifty  men  that  night  to  an  attack  on  the  builders.  Ma- 
comb  complied,  and  M'Glassin,  who  had  arisen  from  a  sick-bed,  sallied  out  in  the 
gloom  with  his  men,  from  whose  gun-locks  the  flints  were  removed,  crossed  the  Sar- 
anac  about  half  way  between  Fort  Brown  and  the  upper  bridge,  and,  unobserved, 
reached  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  which  the  battery  was  rising.  There  he  divided  his 
men  into  two  parties.  One  went  to  the  rear  of  the  battery  by  a  circuitous  route, 
and,  when  all  was  ready,  he  shouted  "  Charge  !  men,  charge !  upon  the  front  and 
rear !"  His  men  rushed  forward  with  frightful  yells.  The  British,  believing  over 
whelming  numbers  were  upon  them,  fled  precipitately  to  their  main  body.  The  work 
was  taken,  the  guns  were  spiked,  and  M'Glassin  returned  without  the  loss  of  a  single 
man.  Over  three  hundred  veteran  troops  had  been  surprised  and  frightened  into 
flight  by  only  fifty  men,  and  Sir  George  Prevost  was  much  mortified. 

The  morning  of  the  llth  dawned  brightly,  and  at  an  early  hour  in  the  forenoon  the 
British  land  and  naval  forces  were  in  motion  for  a  combined  attack  on  the  Americans. 
Prevost  had  arranged  the  movement  with  Downie.  It  was  agreed  that  when  the  Brit 
ish  squadron  should  be  seen  approaching  Cumberland  Head,  the  advance  of  the  army, 
under  Major  General  Robinson,  should  press  forward,  force  the  fords  of  the  Saranac, 
climb  the  steep  banks,  and  with  ladders  escalade  the  American  works  on  the  penin 
sula,  while  the  several  batteries  around  Plattsburg  village  should  open  a  brisk  fire. 

Between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  the  squadron  was  seen  advancing,  and  at  eight  it 
rounded  Cumberland  Head.  It  consisted  of  the  frigate  Con/lance,  38,  Downie's  flag 
ship  ;  the  brig  Linnet,  16,  Captain  Pring;  the  sloops  Chub,  Lieutenant  M'Ghee,  and 
Finch?  Lieutenant  Hicks,  carrying  1 1  guns  each ;  and  twelve  gun-boats,  manned  by 

1  This  view  is  from  the  mounds  of  Fort  Brown,  looking  up  the  Saranac.  The  buildings  in  the  extreme  distance  are 
at  the  upper  bridge,  where  Mooers's  militia  were  stationed.  M'Glassin  forded  the  Saranac  at  the  point  indicated  by  the 
drift-wood  lodged  in  the  stream.  He  crossed  the  little  narrow  plain  where  the  cattle  are  seen,  and  up  the  slope  to  the 
right. 

3  These  were  the  Eagle  and  Growler,  captured  from  the  Americans  on  Lake  Champlain  by  the  British,  who  changed 
their  names  to  Chub  and  Finch. 

31 


866  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Force  and  Position  of  the  hostile  Fleets.  Macdonough  implores  divine  Aid.  Beginning  of  the  Battle. 

about  forty-five  men  each.  Eight  of  them,  carried'  2  guns,  and  four  of  them  1  gun 
each.  At  that  moment  Macdonough's  squadron  lay  in  Cumberland  or  Plattsburg 
Bay,  on  a  line  north  from  Crab  Island,  and  almost  parallel  with  the  shore,  at  an  aver 
age  distance  of  two  miles  from  it.  On  the  extreme  left,  and  at  the  head  of  the  line, 
were  two  galleys  at  anchor,  and  next  to  them  lay  the  brig  Eagle,  26,  Captain  Henley, 
just  within  the  point  of  Cumberland  Head.  Next  south  of  her  was  the  Saratoga,  26, 
Macdonough's  flag-ship  ;  and  the  next  in  line  was  the  schooner  Ticonderoga,  17,  Lieu 
tenant  Cassin.  Next  southward  in  the  line  lay  the  Preble,  Lieutenant  Charles  Budd, 
armed  with  7  guns.1  This  vessel  lay  so  near  the  shoal  extending  northeast  from 
Crab  Island,  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  enemy  to  turn  that  end  of  the  line.  In 
the  rear  of  these  larger  vessels  were  ten  gun-boats  or  galleys,  six  of  them  mounting 
one  long  24-pounder  and  one  18-pound  Columbiad  each,  and  the  other  four  carrying 
each  a  12-pounder.  These  were  so  arranged  as  to  fill  up  the  openings  between  the 
larger  vessels  in  the  line,  making  the  order  of  battle  in  two  lines,  about  forty  rods 
apart.  The  larger  vessels  were  at  anchor,  while  the  gun-boats  were  kept  in  position 
by  the  use  of  oars.2 

The  American  line  of  battle  had  been  formed  with  great  skill  by  the  young  com 
mander,  reference  being  had  to  the  conformation  of  the  land.  It  extended  completely 
across  the  entrance  to  Plattsburg  Bay  from  Crab  Island  to  Cumberland  Head,  and 
the  enemy,  rounding  the  latter,  was  compelled  to  approach  the  American  squadron 
with  his  bows  on,  giving  the  latter  a  great  advantage  at  the  beginning.3  The  first 
vessel  that  made  its  appearance  was  a  sloop,  which,  it  is  said,  carried  a  company  of 
amateurs,  who  kept  out  of  the  action  that  ensued.  It  was  immediately  followed  by 
the  Finch,  which  led  the  van  of  the  British  squadron,  and  made  for  the  right  of  the 
American  line,  in  the  direction  of  the  Preble,  near  Crab  Island.  At  the  same  time 
the  Chub  moved  toward  the  head  or  left  of  the  Americans,  near  Cumberland  Head, 
keeping  well  to  the  windward  of  the  Eagle,  to  support  the  Linnet  in  a  direct  attack 
on  that  vessel,  while  the  gun-boats  coming  up  in  order,  their  commanders  received 
from  Commodore  Downie  final  instructions  for  action.  He  then  attempted  to  lay  the 
Confiance  athwart  the  Saratoga,  while  the  Finch  and  the  gun-boats  should  attack 
the  Ticonderoga  and  Preble.  He  was  baffled  by  shifting  winds,  and  was  compelled 
to  anchor  his  vessel  within  two  cables'  length  of  its  antagonist. 

Macdonough,  in  the  mean  time,  had  thoroughly  prepai-ed  to  receive  the  enemy. 
When  his  vessels  were  cleared  for  action,  springs  placed  on  his  cables,  and  all  was  in 
readiness,  he  knelt  upon  the  deck  of  the  Saratoga,  near  one  of  its  heaviest  guns,  with 
his  officers  and  men  around  him,  and,  in  few  words,  asked  Almighty  God  for  aid,  and 
committed  the  issue  into  his  hands.4  He  arose  with  assured  courage,  and  as  the  en 
emy  came  bearing  down  upon  him,  his  vessels  sprang  their  broadsides  to  bear,  and 
the  Eagle  opened  the  action  by  hurling  the  first  shot.  It  discharged  in  quick  suc 
cession  its  four  long  1 8-pounders  in  broadside.  This  was  followed  by  the  fire  of  a 
long  24-pounder  on  the  Saratoga,  which  the  young  and  gallant  commodore  had  sight 
ed  himself.  The  ball  entered  the  outer  hawse-hole  of  the  Confiance,  the  enemy's  flag 
ship,  and  went  crashing  through  every  obstacle  the  entire  length  of  her  deck,  killing 

'  The  Saratoga  was  built  at  Vergennes  in  the  spring  of  1S14.  The  Ticonderoga  was  in  course  of  construction  for  a 
steam-boat  when  she  was  taken  for  the  public  service  by  Macdonough  and  converted  into  a  sloop-of-war.  The  Eagle 
was  also  built  at  Vergennes  in  the  summer  of  1814.  So  rapid  was  her  construction  that  she  was  launched  in  nineteen 
days  after  her  keel  was  cut  in  the  woods.  She  joined  the  squadron  early  in  August. 

2  The  American  force  consisted  of  one  ship,  one  brig,  one  schooner,  one  sloop,  and  ten  gun-boats,  carrying  86  gnns 
in  all,  and  manned  by  882  men.  The  British  had  one  frigate,  one  brig,  two  sloops,  and  twelve  gun-boats,  carrying  In 
all  95  guns,  and  manned  by  a  little  more  than  1000  men.  The  metal  of  each  was  unusually  heavy.  That  of  the  Amer 
icans  was  as  follows :  Fourteen  long  24'?,  six  42's,  twenty-nine  32's,  twelve  long  IS's,  twelve  long  12's,  seven  long  9*8, 
and  six  18-pound  Columbiads.  The  British  had  thirty-one  long  24's,  seven  IS's,  sixteen  12's,  five  6's,  twelve  32-pound 
carronades,  six  24's,  seventeen  IS's,  and  one  18-pound  Columbiad.  3  See  Map  on  page  871. 

*  At  a  public  dinner  given  to  Macdonough  at  Plattsbnrg  a  few  days  after  the  battle,  the  following  toast  was  offered 
after  he  hnd  left  the  table  :  "  The  pious  and  brave  Mardonough— the  professor  of  the  religion  of  the  Redeemer— prepar 
ing  for  action,  he  called  on  God,  who  forsook  him  not  in  the  hour  of  danger :  may  he  not  be  forgotten  by  his  country." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


Cock  crowing  on  Macdonough's  Flag-ship.  Fight  between  the  Flag-ships.  The  Battle  general. 

several  men  on  its  way,  and  demolishing  the  wheel.  The  Linnet,  as  she  was  passing 
to  attack  the  Eagle,  gave  the  Saratoga  a  broadside,  but  without  serious  effect.  One 
of  her  shots  demolished  a  hen-coop  on  the  Saratoga,  in  which  was  a  young  game 
cock  which  some  of  the  seamen  had  lately  brought  on  board.  The  released  fowl, 
startled  by  the  noise  of  cannon,  flew  upon  a  gun-slide,  and,  clapping  his  wings,  crow 
ed  lustily  and  defiantly.  The  sailors  cheered,  and  the  incident,  appearing  to  them  as 
ominous  of  victory  for  the  Americans,  strengthened  the  courage  of  all.1 

The  Confiance  made  no  reply  to  the  Saratoga's  savage  24-pounder  until  she  had 
secured  a  desirable  position,  notwithstanding  the  entire  American  line  had  become 
engaged  in  the  combat.  When  ready,  she  exhibited  a  sheet  of  flame.  Her  entire 
larboard  broadside  guns,  consisting  of  sixteen  24-pounders,  double-shotted,  leveled 
point-blank  range,  coolly  sighted,  and  favored  by  still  water,  were  discharged  at  one 
time.  The  effect  was  terrible.  The  Saratoga  shivered  from  round-top  to  hull  as 
with  an  ague,  and  forty  of  her  people,  or  almost  one  fifth  of  her  complement,  were 
disabled.  But  the  stunning  blow  was  felt  only  for  a  moment.  Almost  immediately 
Macdonough  resumed  the  conflict,  and  the  fire  of  the  Saratoga  was  steady,  and  gal 
lantly  conducted.  Among  her  lost  was  her  first  lieutenant,  Peter  Gamble,  who  was 
on  his  knees  sighting  a  bow-gun,  when  a  shot  entered  the  port,  split  the  quoin,  drove 
a  part  of  it  against  his  breast,  and  laid  him  dead  without  breaking  the  skin.  Fifteen 
minutes  afterward  an  American  ball  struck  the  muzzle  of  a  24-pounder  on  board  the 
Confiance,  dismounted  it,  sending  it  bodily  inboard  against  the  groin  of  Commodore 
Downie,  killing  him  also  without  breaking  the  skin.2 

The  battle  had  now  become  general,  steady,  and  active  between  the  larger  vessels. 
The  Chub,  while  manoeuvring  near  the  head  of  the  American  line,  received  a  broad 
side  from  the  gallant  Henley,3  of  the  Eagle,  which  so  crippled  her  that  she  drifted 
helplessly,  and,  after  receiving  a  shot  from  the  Saratoga,  she  struck,  and  was  taken 
possession  of  by  Mr.  Platt,  one  of  the  midshipmen  of  that  vessel,4  who  had  her  towed 

1  Statement  to  the  author  by  Commodore  Samuel  L.  Breese,  who  was  commander  of  the  gun-boat  NetUy  in  the  ac 
tion,*  and  James  Sloan,  of  Oswego,  who,  as  we  have  observed  [page  T97],  was  Macdonough's  clerk,  and  was  a  witness 
to  the  affair.    He  says  that  some  of  the  sailors  were  fond  of  cock-fighting.    This  particular  bird,  owned  on  shore,  had 
been  a  formidable  antagonist,  and,  by  "hook  or  by  crook,"  they  had  obtained  possession  of  him. 

The  following  allusion  to  this  event  is  contained  in  a  rhyming  "Epistle  of  Brother  Jonathan  to  Johnny  Bull,  said  to 
have  been  written  at  near  the  close  of  1814: 

"  O,  Johnny  Bull,  my  joe,  John, 
Behold  on  Lake  Champlain, 
With  more  than  equal  force,  John, 

You  tried  your  fist  again  ; 
But  the  cock  saw  how 'twas  going, 

And  cried  '  Cock-a-doodle-doo,' 
And  Macdonough  was  victorious, 
O,  Johnny  Bull,  my  joe  !" 

2  Cooper's  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  434. 

3  Eobert  Henley  was  born  in  James  City  County,  Virginia,  on  the  5th  of  January,  1783.    He  was  educated  at  William 
and  Mary  College.    He  obtained  a  midshipman's  warrant  in  1799,  and  made  his  first  cruise  with  Commodore  Trux- 
tun  in  the  Constellation.    He  showed  much  gallantry  in  several  engagements,  especially  with  La  Vengeance  (see  page 
104),  when  Truxtun  said,  "That  stripling  is  destined  to  be  a  brave  officer."    He  was  appointed  to  the  command  of 
the  Eagle,  in  the  spring  of  1814,  and  after  the  battle  of  Plattsburg  in  September,  his  commander,  Macdonough,  said,  in 
his  official  report :  "  To  Captain  Robert  Henley,  of  the  brig  Eagle,  much  is  to  be  ascribed  ;  his  courage  was  conspicu 
ous,  and  I  most  earnestly  recommend  him  as  worthy  of  the  highest  trust  and  confidence."    The  National  Congress 
thanked  him,  and  gave  him  a  gold  medal.t    He  was  also  promoted  to  captain.    He  died  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
in  the  year  1829. 

4  The  late  Commodore  Charles  T.  Platt,  who  died  at  Newburg,  New  York,  on  the  12th  of  December,  I860.    He  was  a 
native  of  Plattsbnrg,  and  a  gallant  officer.    He  entered  the  navy  as  midshipman  in  1812  on  Lake  Champlain.    During 
the  battle  here  recorded  he  passed  three  times  through  the  line  of  the  enemy's  fire  in  an  open  boat  carrying  orders.    He 
was  promoted  to  lieutenant,  and  accompanied  Commodore  Porter  to  the  West  Indies  in  1822,  in  command  of  the  schoon- 

*  Samuel  L.  Breese  is  a  native  of  New  York.  He  entered  the  navy  as  midshipman  in  December,  1810.  He  was  pro 
moted  to  lieutenant  in  the  spring  of  1816 ;  to  commander  in  December,  1S35 ;  to  captain  in  September,  1841 ;  and  to 
rear  admiral  in  1862.  He  is  on  the  retired  list,  and  is  now  (1867)  lisht-honse  inspector. 

t  The  picture  on  the  next  page  is  a  representation  of  Henley's  medal.  On  one  side  is  a  bust  of  Captain  Henley  in  pro 
file,  with  the  legend,  "  BOB.  HENLEY,  EAGLE  PREFECT.  PALMA.  VIRTU.  PER  ^TERNIT  FI.ORIBIT."  On  the  reverse  is  a  repre 
sentation  of  a  fleet  en<ra<rert  before  a  town  (Plattsburg),  enveloped  in  smoke.  Several  small  boats  are  seen  on  the 
lake.  Legend—"  UNO  LATERE  PEECUSSO.  ALTEBUM.  SUPEBAVIT."  Exergue—"  ISTEE  CLASS.  AMERI.  EX  UBIT.  DIE  xi.  SEPT., 

MDCCOXIIII." 


868 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Capture  of  the  Finch. 


British  Gun-boats  in  Action. 


Gold  Medals  awarded  by  Congress. 


HENLEY'S  MEDAL. 


into  Plattsburg  Bay,  and  anchored  near  the  mouth  of  the  Saranac.  She  had  suffered 
very  severely.  Almost  half  of  her  people  were  killed  or  wounded.  An  hour  later 
the  Finch  was  driven  from  her  position  by  the  Ticonderoga,  commanded  by  the  in 
trepid  Lieutenant  Cassin;  and,  being  badly  injured,  drifted  upon  Crab  Island  shoal 


OASSIN'S  MEDAL. 


of  rocks,  and  grounded.  The  invalid  corps  on  the  island  brought  their  little  two-gun 
battery  to  bear  on  her,  when  she  struck,  and  surrendered  to  this  small  band  of  con 
valescents.1 

The  British  gun-boats  now  entered  vigorously  into  the  action,  and  soon  compelled 
the  Preble,  Lieutenant  Budd,  to  cut  her  cables  and  flee  to  a  safer  place  near  the  shore, 
where  she  anchored,  and  was  of  no  farther  service  in  the  fight.  This  success  embold 
ened  the  British  galleys,  and  they  made  a  combined  and  furious  attack  on  the  Ticon- 
deroga,  fourteen  in  number,  with  an  average  of  fifty  men  in  each.2  Cassin  walked  the 
taffrail  in  a  storm  of  grape  and  canister  shot,  watching  the  movements  of  the  assail- 

er  Beagle.  In  this  war  against  the  pirates  Platt  distinguished  himself.  He  was  attached  to  the  steam  frigate  Fulton 
when  she  blew  up,  and  was  severely  injured.  His  last  service  was  in  command  of  the  Navy  Yard  at  Memphis. 

i  That  inaccurate  historian,  Sir  Archibald  Alison,  in  his  History  of  England,  in  writing  of  this  event,  remarks,  "  The 
Flinch,  a  British  brig,  grounded  out  of  shot,  and  did  not  engage  1"  Again,  he  speaks  of  her  getting  on  rocks,  and  not 
being  able  to  engage  in  the  action.  Her  commander,  Captain  Pring,  in  his  official  report,  says  truly  that  she  struck  on 
a  reef  of  rocks  to  the  eastward  of  Crab  Island,  about  the  middle  of  the  engagement,  which  prevented  her  rendering  such 
assistance,  etc.,  etc.  Alison,  with  these  facts  before  him,  calls  a  sloop-of-war  with  eleven  guns  and  forty  men  a  brig,  and 
keeps  her  from  action  altogether !  2  Statement  to  the  author  by  Admiral  Pauldiiig. 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


869 


Victory  doubtful. 


The  Flag-ships  disabled. 


Surrender  of  the  Confiance. 


Casein  and  Paulding. 


ants,  and  directing  effective  discharges  of  musket-balls  and  other  light  missiles,  which 
kept  the  enemy  at  bay.1  Several  times  they  were  within  a  few  feet  of  the  sides  of 
the  Ticonderoga  with  the  intention  of  boarding  her.  They  behaved  with  the  utmost 
gallantry,  but  with  equal  gallantry  the  Americans  repulsed  them.  The  Ticonderoga 
maintained  her  position,  and  covered  her  extremity  of  the  line  to  the  last,  winning 
from  the  commodore  and  all  beholders  unqualified  praise  for  her  commander  and 
people.2 

While  the  fortunes  of  the  day  were  thus  fluctuating  at  the  lower  end  of  the  line, 
the  Americans  were  suffering  at  the  other  extremity.  The  Eagle  lost  the  springs  of 
her  cable,  and  became  exposed  to  the  combined  fire  of  the  Linnet  and  Confiance. 
Henley  at  once  dropped  her  between  and  a  little  astern  of  the  Saratoga  and  Ticon 
deroga,  and,  anchoring  her  there,  opened  his  larboard  guns  afresh  on  the  Confiance 
and  the  British  galleys.  But  the  Saratoga  was  left  exposed  to  the  whole  fire  of  the 
Linnet,  which  sprang  her  broadsides  in  such  a  manner  as  to  rake  the  bows  of  her  an 
tagonist. 

Very  soon  the  two  flag-ships  became  disabled.  The  Saratoga  had  not  a  single 
serviceable  starboard  gun  left,  and  was  silent.  The  Confiance  was  not  much  better 
off.  Now  was  the  moment  for  Macdonough  to  exhibit  his  splendid  seamanship.  He 
did  so,  quickly  and  effectively.  With  the  aid  of  Philip  Bruin,  his  skillful  sailing-mas 
ter,  he  wound  the  ship,  by  means  of  a  stream  anchor  and  hawsers,  so  that  he  brought 
the  guns  of  his  larboard  quarter  to  bear  on  the  Confiance,  which  had  vainly  endeav 
ored  to  imitate  the  movement.  Under  the  direction  of  Acting  Lieutenant  Lavallette, 
these  poured  such  a  destructive  fire  on  the  British  flag-ship  that  she  soon  surren 
dered.  The  Saratoga's  fire  was  then  directed  upon  the  Linnet,  and  in  the  course  of 

1  Stephen  Cassin,  son  of  Commodore  John  Cassin,  of  the  navy,  was  born  in  Philadelphia  on  the  16th  of  February, 
1783.    He  entered  the  navy  as  a  midshipman  in  the  year  1800,  and  was  in  the  Philadelphia  with  Decatur  in  the  Mediter 
ranean.    He  was  active,  and  behaved  bravely  in  the  naval  operatioJI  in  that  quarter  from  1801  to  1804^'5.    He  was  ap 
pointed  to  the  command  of  the  Ticonderoga  in  the  spring  of  1814,  and  Macdonough,  in  his  official  report  of  the  battle 
off  Plattsburg,  in  September  of  that  year,  said,  "The  Ticonderoga,  Lieutenant  Commandant  Stephen  Cassin,  gallantly 
sustained  her  full  share  of  the  action."    For  his  good  conduct  on  that  occasion  Cassin  was  promoted  to  a  post  cap 
taincy,  and  received  from  Congress  a  vote  of  thanks  and  a  gold  medal.    The  latter  is  delineated  in  the  engraving  on  the 
opposite  page.    On  one  side  is  a  bust  of  Cassin  in  profile,  with  the  legend  "STEP.  CASSIN  TIOONDEROGA  PREFECT.  QU/E 
BEGIO  IN  TEKBIS  NOB.    NGN  PLENA  LAB."    On  the  reverse  is  the  same  design,  legend,  and  exergue  as  on  that  of  Captain 
Henley. 

2  Among  the  brave  spirits  on  board  the  Ticonderoga  was  Midshipman  Hiram  Paulding,  now  (1867)  a  rear  admiral.    He 
was  then  a  lad  not  seventeen  years  of  age,  but,  for  want  of 

officers,  he  was  placed  in  command  of  a  division  of  eight 
guns.  When  the  British  galleys  approached  it  was  discov 
ered  that  the  matches  for  firing  the  cannon  were  useless. 
Young  Paulding  saw  no  resource  but  the  flash  of  a  pistol, 
and  with  his  own  hand  he  thus  fired  the  guns  of  his  sec 
tion  during  a  combat  of  more  than  two  hours ;  and  in  the 
interval  of  the  cannon-firing,  when  the  enemy  were  with 
in  pistol  -  shot,  he  discharged  his  weapon  against  them. 
These  facts  I  had  from  the  lips  of  the  late  Commodore 
Tattnall. 

Hiram  Panlding,  a  son  of  one  of  the  captors  of  AndriS, 
was  born  in  Westchester  County,  New  York,  on  the  llth 
of  December,  179T.  His  first  service  in  the  navy  was  as  a 
midshipman,  at  thirteen  years  of  age,  on  Lake  Ontario,  in 
1812.  During  the  remainder  of  the  war  he  was  confined  to 
Lake  Champlain.  In  1815  he  accompanied  Decatur  in  the 
Constellation  frigate  to  the  Mediterranean.  He  was  pro 
moted  to  lieutenant,  and  served  under  Bainbridge  and 
Downes.  He  was  on  shore  for  some  time  in  1821  engaged 
in  study  preparatory  to  a  more  useful  career  in  the  navy. 
He  accompanied  Porter  in  his  expedition  against  the  West 
India  pirates,  and  from  that  time  until  1865,  he  was  in  active, 
arduous,  and  most  useful  service,  afloat  and  ashore,  as  sub 
ordinate  and  commander,  having  been  promoted  to  captain 
in  1843.  He  took  an  active  interest  in  the  suppression  of  the 
rebellion  that  broke  out  in  the  Slave-labor  states  in  1861, 
and  in  1862  (when  the  annexed  portrait  was  drawn)  was  pro 
moted  to  rear  admiral.  He  was  the  first  American  com 
mander  who  received  a  full  admiral's  salute.  It  was  given 
by  a  French  frigate  lying  in  New  York  Harbor,  August  1, 
1862,  on  the  occasion  of  the  admiral's  visit  to  that  vessel. 


870 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Surrender  of  the  British  Fleet. 


Escape  of  the  British  Galleys. 


Spectators  of  the  Battle. 


fifteen  minutes  she  too  struck  her  colors.  The  British  galleys  in  the  mean  time  had 
been  driven  by  the  Ticonderoga  half  a  mile  in  the  rear  of  their  stately  associates,  and 
they  lay  scattered,  and  giving  feeble  aid  to  them.  Seeing  the  colors  of  the  larger 
vessels  go  down,  they  too  dropped  their  ensigns,  and  at  a  little  past  noon  not  one  of 
the  sixteen  national  flags  which  were  so  proudly  floating  over  the  British  squadron 
when  it  rounded  Cumberland  Head  could  be  seen. 

Finding  they  were  not  likely  to  be  pursued,  the  galleys  bent  their  sweeps  with  en 
ergy  and  escaped  down  the  lake,  followed  by  a  store-sloop  which  had  been  lying 
during  the  battle  near  the  point  of  Cumberland  Head  on  which  the  light-house  now 
stands.  The  American  vessels  were  too  much  crippled  to  follow,  and  were,  moreover, 


VIEW   AT   T1IE   LIGHT-HOUSE   ON   OUMBEBLAND  HEAD.1 


engaged  in  the  humane  business  of  saving  the  survivors  of  the  Confiance  and  the 
Linnet,  which  were  reported  to  be  in  a  sinking  condition.2  "  I  could  only  look  at  the 
enemy's  galleys  going  oflf  in  a  shattered  condition,"  Macdonough  wrote  to  the  Secre- 
•  September  is,  tary  of  War,a  "  for  there  was  not  a  mast  in  either  squadron  that  could 
stand  to  make  sail  on  ;  the  lower  rigging,  being  nearly  all  shot  away, 
hurig  down  as  if  it  had  just  been  placed  over  the  mast-heads."  "Our  masts,  yards, 
and  sails  were  so  shattered,"  wrote  Midshipman  Lee,  of  the  Confiance,  who  was 
wounded  in  the  action, "  that  one  looked  like  so  many  bunches  of  matches  and  the 
other  like  a  bundle  of  rags."3 

For  two  hours  and  twenty  minutes  this  severe  naval  battle  raged,  while  the  thun 
der'  of  cannon,  the  hiss  of  rockets,  the  scream  of  bombs,  and  the  rattle  of  musketry 
were  heard  on  the  shore.  It  was  a  sublime  sight,  and  was  beheld  by  hundreds  of 
spectators  on  the  headlands  of  the  Vermont  shore,  who  greeted  the  victory  with 
shouts.4  It  was  a  battle  characterized  by  a  vigor  and  destructiveness  not  excelled 

1  This  view  is  from  the  light-house  on  Cumberland  Head,  and  includes  the  theatre  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain. 
The  island  in  the  centre  of  the  picture  is  Crab  Island,  and  the  one  nearer  the  left  is  Valcour  Island,  near  which  Bene 
dict  Arnold's  famous  naval  battle  was  fought  in  17T6.    The  hills  in  the  distance  are  the  lofty  Adirondack  Mountains. 

2  This  is  the  accepted  reason  for  the  flight  of  the  gun-boats.    Cooper  says  that,  after  the  surrender,  a  cannon  on  board 
the  Confiance  was  accidentally  discharged,  and  in  the  direction  of  Cumberland  Head.    Up  to  that  time,  he  says,  the 
British  galleys  appeared  to  have  been  waiting  to  be  taken  possession  of.    They  regarded  this  gun  as  a  signal  for  es 
cape,  and  they  acted  accordingly.    Macdonough  made  a  signal  for  hi?  gun-boats  to  follow,  but  they  were  recalled  to  the 
relief  of  the  Linnet  and  Confiance.  3  Letter  to  his  brother,  December  14, 1814.  *  Anaiectic  Magazine,  vii.,  214. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


871 


Victory  for  the  Americans  complete. 


Macdonough's  Announcement  of  it. 


Casualties. 


PLAN   OP  THE  NAVAL   ACTION   ON   LAKE   CIIAMPLAIN.1 

by  any  during  the  war,  indeed  seldom  equaled  any  where  or  at  any  time.2  The  vic 
tory  for- the  Americans  was  complete  and  substantial;  and  from  the  Saratoga,  half 
an  hour  after  the  Linnet  struck  and  the  galleys  fled,  Macdonough  sent  the  following 
dispatch  ashore  in  a  gig,  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy : 

"  SIR, — The  Almighty  has  been  pleased  to  grant  us  a  signal  victory  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain  in  the  capture  of  one  frigate,  one  brig,  and  two  sloops  of  war  of  the  enemy." 
Two  days  afterward  he  sent  Lieutenant  Commanding  Cassin  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  with  a  more  detailed  yet  brief  account  of  the  battle,  in  which  he  stated  that 
the  Saratoga  had  fifty  round  shot  in  her  hull,  and  the  Confiance  one  hundred  and  five. 
He  added, "The  Saratoga  was  twice  set  on  fire  by  hot  shot  from  the  enemy's  ship."3 

Very  few  officers  or  men  on  the  Saratoga  and  Confiance  were  uninjured.  Indeed, 
the  same  might  be  said  of  those  of  the  other  large  vessels  of  both  parties.  Macdon 
ough  was  twice  prostrated  upon  the  deck,  and  his  venerable  sailing-master,  Peter 
Brum,  had  his  clothes  nearly  torn  off"  by  a  splinter  while  winding  the  ship.*  Acting* 

1  This  map  was  compiled  from  a  large  one  in  the  Engineer  Department,  Washington  City,  and  a  rough  pen-and-ink 
sketch  made  at  the  time  of  the  battle  by  the  late  Chancellor  R.  H.  Walworth,  then  Macomb's  adjutant  general.    The 
coast  lines  are  from  the  report  of  the  Coast  Survey. 

2  "  The  havoc  on  both  sides  was  dreadful,"  Midshipman  William  Lee  wrote.    "  I  don't  think  there  are  more  than-flve 
of  our  men,  out  of  three  hundred,  but  what  are  killed  or  wounded.    Never  was  a  shower  of  hail  so  thick  as  the  shot 
whistling  about  our  ears.    Were  you  to  see  my  jacket,  waistcoat,  and  trowsers,  you  would  be  astonished  to  know  how 
I  escaped  as  I  di3,  for  they  are  literally  torn  all  to  rags  with  shot  and  splinters  ;  the  upper  part  of  my  hat  was  also  shot 
away.    There  is  one  of  the  marines  who  was  in  the  Trafalgar  action  with  Lord  Nelson,  who  says  it  was  a  mere  flea-bite 
in  comparison  with  this."— Letter  to  his  Brother,  December  14, 1814.    Midshipman  Lee  rose  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant, 
and  died  "on  the  24th  of  February,  1S17,  at  the  Telegraph,  West  Square."— O'Byrne's  Xaval  Biography. 

Mr.  James  Sloane,  of  Oswego,  informed  me  that,  a  few  days  before  the  battle,  he  gave  one  of  the  seamen  a  very  nice 
glazed  hat.  After  the  battle  was  over  the  sailor  came  to  him  with  the  hat  in  his  hand,  having  a  semicircular  cut  in  the 
side  and  crown  made  by  a  cannon-shot  while  it  was  on  his  head.  "Look  here,  Mr.  Sloane,"  said  the  sailor,  "how  the 
damned  John  Bulls  have  spoiled  my  hat."  He  did  not  seem  to  reflect  for  a  moment  how  nearly  the  cannon-ball  came 
to  spoiling  his  head. 

3  On  page  S72  is  a  fac-simile  of  this  paragraph  of  the  dispatch,  copied  from  the  original  in  the  archives  of  the  Navy 
Department,  Washington  City.    When  the  Confiance  was  captured  she  was  found  to  have  ovens  for  heating,shot.    There 
were  no  others  in  any  vessel  on  the  lake. 

4  Macdonough  sighted  a  favorite  gun  much  of  the  time  during  the  action.    While  doing  so  at  one  time,  bending  his 
body,  a  shot  cut  the  spanker-boom  in  two,  and  it  fell  upon  his  back  with  such  force  as  to  prostrate  him  senseless  on  the 
deck.    The  cry  went  through  the  ship  that  the  commodore  was  killed.    He  soon  recovered  and  resumed  his  station. 
A  few  minutes  afterward  a  shot  drove  the  head  of  the  captain  of  his  favorite  gun  in  upon  him,  and  knocked  him  ;  ense- 
less  into  the  scuppers,  when  his  death  was  again  announced ;  but  he  speedily  recovered.    Mr.  Brum  had  a  splinter 


872 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Casualties  on  the  Ships. 


Macdonough's  Reception  of  the  captive  British  Officers. 


FAO-8IMILE  OF  A  PAKT  OF  MACDONOTTOH's  DISPATCH. 

Lieutenant  Lavallette  had  a  shot-box,  on  which  he  was  standing,  driven  from  un 
der  him  by  a  ball,  and  was  knocked  down  by  the  flying  head  of  one  of  the  seamen.1 
Lieutenant  Gamble,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  killed  at  the  beginning  of  the  action. 
Lieutenant  Stansbury  suddenly  disap 
peared  from  the  bulwarks,  and  two  days 
afterward  his  body,  cut  in  two,  rose  to 
the  surface.  Joseph  Smith,  first  lieuten 
ant  of  the  Eagle,  received  a  severe  wound, 
but  returned  to  his  quarters  during  the 
action.2  The  British  officers  suffered  se 
verely.  Commodore  Downie,  Captain 
Anderson,  of  the  Marines,  Midshipman 
Gunn,  of  the  Confiance,  and  Lieutenant 
Paul  and  Boatswain  Jackson,  of  the  Lin 
net,  were  also  killed,  and  many  others 
were  wounded.  The  wife  of  the  steward 
of  the  Confiance  was  also  killed.3  The 
entire  loss .  of  the  Americans  was  one 
hundred  and  ten,  of  whom  fifty-two  were 

•^•*^_  •/ 

killed.     The  total  British  loss  was 
more  than  two  hundred.4 

Macdonough  received  the  offi 
cers  of  the  captured  vessels  with 
great  courtesy  of  manner  and 
speech.  When  they  offered  him 
their  swords,  he  instantly  replied, 
"  Gentlemen,  your  gallant  conduct  makes  you  worthy  to  wear  your  weapons ;  return 
them  to  their  scabbards."  They  did  so,  and  they  all  walked  the  deck  of  the  victori- 

driven  so  near  his  body  as  to  strip  off  his  clothes  and  prostrate  him  senseless.  He  soon  gained  his  feet,  and,  making 
an  apron  of  his  handkerchief,  continued  his  labors.  See  Cooper's  Naval  History,  ii.,  444,  note. 

1  Elie  A.  P.  Lavallette  is  a  native  of  Virginia.  He  entered  the  naval  service  as  sailing-master  a  week  after  the  decla 
ration  of  war  in  June,  1812.  He  was  acting  lieutenant  in  the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  received  a  commission  as 
full  lieutenant  at  the  middle  of  December  following  as  a  slight  reward  for  his  gallant  conduct.  In  March,  1831,  he  was 
promoted  to  commander,  and  in  1862  to  rear  admiral.  He  is  now  (1867)  on  the  retired  list  and  awaiting  orders. 

»  Joseph  Smith,  now  (1867)  rear  admiral  on  the  retired  list,  has  been  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Yards  and  Docks  for  sev 
eral  years.  He  is  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  entered  the  navy  as  midshipman  in  January,  1809.  When  he  was  about 
to  go  to  Lake  Champlain  he  had  an  order  to  get  a  clerk.  He  found  Sloane  (already  mentioned)  in  a  bookstore  in  Bos 
ton,  and  persuaded  him  to  go  with  him.  Smith  behaved  most  gallantly  on  the  Eagle  in  the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain. 
He  had  been  appointed  lieutenant  in  July,  1813.  He  was  promoted  to  commander  in  1827,  and  to  captain  in  1837.  He 
was  created  rear  admiral  in  1862, 

3  Letter  in  Niles's  Weekly  Register,  vii.,  43.  Mr.  Sloane  informed  me  that,  while  she  was  stooping  in  the  act  of  binding 
up  the  wounded  leg  of  one  of  the  men,  a  cannon-ball  came  through  the  side  of  the  ship,  carried  away  both  of  her  breasts, 
and,  driving  her  across  the  vessel,  killed  her  instantly. 

*  Macdonough's  official  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  September  13, 1814 ;  Letter  of  Captain  Pring  to  Sir  James 
L.  Yeo,  September  12, 1814 ;  Cooper's  Naval  History,  ii.,  430  to  441,  inclusive :  Palmer's  History  of  Lake  Champlain,  pages 
197  to  203,  inclusive. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


873 


End  of  the  Battle  of  Lake  Champlain.  Movements  of  the  land  Troops.  The  British  cross  the  Saranac  River. 

ous  Saratoga,  American  and  English  officers,  more  in  the  character  of  friends  than  of 
enemies.  Lieutenant  Lavallette,  who  had  taken  formal  possession  of  the  Con/lance, 
was  soon  directed  to  prepare  the  prisoners  for  Crab  Island,  and  before  sunset  all  was 
quiet  on  the  lake.  Thus  ended  the  famous  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN.  The  Brit 
ish  vessels  were  taken  to  Whitehall,  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  and  scuttled.  The  /Sara 
toga  shared  the  same  fate  afterward.  I  saw  the  remains  of  this  vessel  and  the  Con- 
fiance  there  as  late  as  1850. 

We  have  observed  that  while  the  roar  of  the  battle-storm  was  heard  on  the  water, 
its  thunders  were  bellowing  over  the  land.  According  to  arrangement,  when  the 
pennants  of  the  British  fleet  were  seen  over  Cumberland  Head,  a  part  of  the  British- 
land  force,  under  Major  General  Robinson,  moved  in  three  columns  to  force  their  way 
across  the  Saranac  at  the  site  of  the  two  bridges,  and  a  ford  at  Pike's  cantonment, 
three  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  and  carry  the  American  works  by  storm.1 
When  the  first  gun  was  fired  on  the  lake,  the  British  land  batteries  were  opened,  and, 
under  cover  of  the  shot  and  shell  which  they  hurled  toward  the  American  works, 


BATTLE  OF  PLATTSBURG.    (Prom  an  old  print.)3 

their  three  assailing  columns  moved.  At  the  lower  bridge  they  were  repulsed  by  the 
guards,  block-houses,  and  artillery  of  the  forts,  served  by  Captains  Brooks,  Richards, 
and  Smith,  and  Lieutenants  Mountfort,  Smyth,  and  Cromwell.  At  the  upper  bridge 
the  riflemen  and  pickets,  under  Captain  Grosvenor  and  Lieutenants  Hamilton  and 
Riley,  aided  by  some  militia,  successfully  disputed  their  passage.  They  were  a  little 
more  successful  at  the  upper  ford,  where  the  Clinton  and  Essex  militia,  under  Major 
General  Mooers  and  Brigadier  General  Wright,  were  stationed.  After  being  driven 
back  several  times  with  considerable  loss,  some  companies  of  the  British  pushed 
across  the  stream,  then  shallow  and  rapid,  firing  briskly  by  platoons  as  they  advanced, 
but  doing  very  little  harm.3  The  militia  fell  back.  They  were  soon  joined  by  a 
large  detachment  of  Vermont  Volunteers,  and  a  party  of  artillery  with  a  field-piece, 
under  Lieutenant  Sumter. 

The  flying  companies  were  now  rallied,  and  drawn  up  in  battle  array  to  meet  the 
pursuing  foe,  when  Walworth,  one   of  Mooers's  aids,4  came  dashing  up,  his  horse 

1  These  troops  consisted  of  "light  infantry  companies,  3d  battalion  Twenty-seventh  and  Seventy-sixth  Regiments, 
and  Major  General  Powers's  brigade,  consisting  of  the  3d,  5th,  and  1st  battalion  of  the  Twenty-seventh  and  Fifty-eighth 
Regiments."— Sir  George  Prevost  to  Earl  Bathurst,  September  11, 1814. 

2  This  view  is  from  the  right  bank  of  the  Saranac,  at  its  mouth.    Toward  the  left  is  the  three-storied  stone  mill,  and 
in  the  distance  Fort  Brown.    A  portion  of  the  lower  bridge,  from  which  the  planks  were  torn  up,  is  seen.    Some  of 
the  British  are  attempting  to  ford  the  stream.    The  court-house  is  seen  on  fire.    The  church  observed  in  the  picture 
was  saved,  and  survived  until  September,  1867,  when  it  perished  in  a  great  conflagration  in  the  village. 

3  Participants  in  the  fight  told  Mr.  Palmer,  the  historian  of  Lake  Champlain,  that  most  of  the  enemy's  bullets  struck 
the  trees  above  them  "at  least  fifteen  feet  from  the  ground." 

4  Reuben  H.  Walworth  was  born  in  Bozrah,  Connecticut,  October  26, 1789.    His  parents  removed  to  Hoosick,  New 
York,  where  his  early  years  were  spent.    He  received  only  a  common  school  education,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


British  Troops  recalled. 


Their  Leader  alarmed. 


Uprising  of  the  People. 


TIIE   SABAJSAO   AT   TIliE's   CANTONMENT. 


flecked  with  its  own  foam,  and  gave  them 
the  joyful  intelligence  that  the  British 
fleet  had  just  surrendered.  These  glad 
tidings  were  greeted  with  three  hearty 
cheers.  At  the  same  moment  they  ob 
served  the  pursuers  with  their  backs  turn 
ed,  and  making  their  way  in  haste  toward 
the  Saranac.  Sir  George  Prevost,  who  al 
ways  played  the  coward  when  near  dan 
ger,  according  to  British  historians,  had 
become  terribly  alarmed,  and  recalled 
these  vigorous  and  only  successful  troops. 
He  had  experienced  "  the  extreme  .morti 
fication,"  he  said,  "  to  hear  the  shout  of 
victory  from  the  American  works"  when 
the  fleet  surrendered  on  the  lake.  They 
had  been  loud  and  mighty  cheers,  iterated 
and  reiterated  by  corps  after  corps,  as  the  eye  and  ear  caught  knowledge  of  the  vic 
tory  ;  and  Sir  George  wisely  saw,  as  he  said,  that  "  farther  prosecution  of  the  service 
was  become  impracticable."  He  had  assumed  the  position  of  co-operator  with  the 
fleet  rather  than  principal,  leaving  to  Downie  the  brunt  of  the  service,  but  ready  to 
receive  and  wear  the  garlands  of  honor  which  might  be  won.  Seeing  the  British 
flags  humbled  on  all  their  ships,  and  their  gun-boats  fleeing,  he  resolved  to  fall  back 
toward  the  Canada  border,  and  halt  until  he  should  ascertain  the  use  the  Americans 
intended  to  make  of  their  naval  ascendency  just  acquired  on  Lake  Champlain.1  It 
was  a  wise  determination.  Notwithstanding  his  number  was  overwhelming,2  Pre- 

O  O  / 

vost  was  really  in  peril.  He  might  have  crushed  Macomb  and  captured  the  post  at 
Plattsburg,  but  it  would  have  been  at  the  expense  of  many  lives  without  obtaining 
:my  permanent  advantage.  The  British  had  lost  the  lake  absolutely,  and  without 
any  fair  promise  of  its  recovery ;  and  the  militia  of  all  that  region  were  thoroughly 
aroused,  and  were  rapidly  gathering.  Governor  Chittenden,  of  Vermont,  had  issued 
a  patriotic  address  at  the  beginning  of  the  invasion,  calling  upon  the  militia  of  his 
state  to  hasten  to  the  aid  of  their  brethren  across  the  lake.  It  had  been  heartily  re 
sponded  to,  and  at  the  close  of  the  memorable  day  of  the  battle  not  less  than  twenty- 
five  hundred  Green  Mountain  boys  were  on  the  Saranac,  under  Major  General  Strong. 
The  militia  of  Washington  and  Warren  counties  were  also  streaming  toward  Platts 
burg  at  the  call  of  General  Mooers,  and  re-enforcements  of  regulars  were  on  their 
way.  Prevost's  army  would  very  soon  have  been  equaled  in  numerical  strength,  and 
perhaps  surrounded  and  supplies  from  Canada  cut  off.  He  perceived  these  dangers 
when  the  navy  was  lost,  and  the  moment  the  forces  under  General  Robinson  returned 
to  camp,  he  made  preparations  to  abandon  the  siege,  notwithstanding  General  Bris 
bane  offered  to  cross  the  Saranac  in  force  and  carry  the  American  works  in  twenty 
minutes.  The  fire  from  his  batteries  were  kept  up  until  sunset,  and  Fort  Brown,  un 
der  the  immediate  command  of  Lieutenant  Mountfort,3  sent  back  responses  with  great 

commenced  the  study  of  law.  He  settled  in  Plattsburg  for  its  practice,  and  in  1811  was  appointed  a  Master  in  Chan 
cery.  He  was  the  favorite  aid  of  General  Mooers,  of  whose  division  the  late  Colonel  David  B.  M'Neil  was  Inspector 
General.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress  twelve  consecutive  years.  He  became  a  judge  ;  and  in  1828  he  was  appointed 
Chancellor,  then  the  highest  judicial  office  in  the  state.  He  held  it  twenty  years.  After  he  left  office  he  resided  at  Sar 
atoga  Springs  until  his  death  late  in  18CT.  He  was  long  identified  with  the  leading  religious  and  benevolent  move 
ments  of  his  day. 

1  Sir  George  Prevost  to  Earl  Bathurst,  September  11,  1814. 

*  The  Rritixh  had  14,000  troops  and  the  Americans  4700  on  the  eventful  day  of  the  battle.  The  firmer  consisted  of 
Robinson's  brigade,  3700 ;  Powers'*,  3600 ;  Brisbane's,  3100  ;  light  troops,  2800,  composed  ofMeuron's  Swiss  regiment, 
Canadian  chasseurs,  voltigeurs,  and  frontier  light  infantry ;  a  troop  of  light  dragoons,  300 ;  Royal  Artillery,  400 ;  rock 
eteers,  sappers  and  miners,  100.  The  Americans  had  1500  regulars,  commanded  by  leaders  of  various  ranks ;  2500  Ver 
mont  Volunteers,  under  Major  General  Strong  ;  and  700  Clinton  and  Essex  militia. 

3  John  Mountfort  was  born  in  Boston  in  November,  1790,  and  was  the  son  of  a  patriot  of  the  Revolution.    He  en 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


875 


Flight  of  the  British  from  Plattsburg 


Cause  of  their  great  Haste. 


They  re-enter  Canada. 


ETTIN'S  OF  FOKT 


spirit.1  So  excel 
lent  was  the  fir 
ing  that  the  Brit 
ish  believed  that 
French  artiller 
ists  were  employ 
ed  by  the  Ameri 
cans. 

"When  night  fell 
Prevost  caused 
his  cannon  to  be  withdrawn  from  the  batteries.  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evenin^  he 

t? 

sent  them  Canada-ward,  with  all  the  baggage  for  which  he  could  find  transportation, 
and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  12th  the  entire  army  fled  with  a  precipita 
tion  wholly  unaccountable  at  the  time.3  The  sick  and  wounded,  and  a  vast  amount 
of  munitions  of  war,  were  left  behind ;  and  the  foe  reached  Chazy,  eight  miles  dis 
tant,  before  the  Americans  were  apprised  of  the  movement.  Light  troops,  volun 
teers,  and  militia,  under  General  Mooers,*  at  once  started  in  pursuit.  They  made  a 
few  prisoners,  but  heavy  rains  compelled  them  to  relinquish  the  chase.  Prevost  halt 
ed  and  encamped  at  Champlain,  and  on  the  24th  left  the  territory  of  the  United  States, 
and  retired  to  Montreal  with  the  main  army.  Thus  ended  the  BATTLE  OF  PLATTS 
BURG  and  the  second  invasion  of  New  York.  Many  of  the  Bi'itish  deserted,  and  the 
loss  of  Sir  George  after  he  crossed  the  frontier  line,  in  killed,  wounded,  missing,  and 

tered  the  army  as  second  lieutenant  of  the  Third  Artillery  in  March,  1812,  and  was  promoted 
to  first  lieutenant  in  May,  1S13.  This  was  won  by  his  gallantry  at  York,  where,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  absence  of  his  superior  officer,  he  commanded  his  company.  He  assisted  in  the 
capture  of  Fort  George.  After  that  he  and  his  company  acted  as  marines  in  Chauncey's  fleet, 
volunteering  for  the  service.  He  accompanied  Wilkinson  down  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  be 
haved  so  gallantly  at  Plattsburg  that  he  won  the  promotion  to  captain.  He  was  major  of  ar 
tillery  in  the  Florida  War,  under  General  Gaines,  and  afterward  was  the  commander  of  sev 
eral  forts  in  succession.  He  left  the  army  in  1638,  and  in  1851,  just  as  he  was  about  to  leave 
for  Europe  with  his  family,  he  died.  His  death  occurred  on  the  22d  of  October.  While  I  was 
in  Boston  in  the  autumn  of  I860,  his  brother,  George  Mountfort,  Esq.,  showed  me  a  gunner's 
quadrant,  still  smeared  with  gunpowder  and  blood,  which  the  gallant  officer  took  from  un 
der  the  slain  soldiers  in  one  of  the  British  redoubts  at  Plattsburg.  The  engraving  is  a  repre 
sentative  of  it.  It  is  a  graduated  quadrant  of  six-inch  radius,  attached  to  a  rule  a  little  more 
than  twenty-three  inches  in  length,  and  all  made  of  brass.  It  has  a  plumb-line  and  bob.  The 
quadrant  is  applied  either  by  the  longer  branch  to  the  face  of  the  piece,  or  this  branch  is  run 
into  the  bore  parallel  with  the  axis.  It  was  in  the  original  oaken  case  in  which  it  w,as  car 
ried  by  the  gunners  of  the  Royal  Artillery. 

Mountfort  was  always  cool.  A  fellow-soldier  (Robert  Keith,  of  Boston),  in  a  communica 
tion  before  me,  has  related  an  example.  During  the  battle,  he  says,  he  saw  a  small  bomb 
shell  fall  at  the  feet  of  the  gallant  lieutenant, -when  he  caught  it,  threw  it  over  the  parapet, 
and  said,  "Don't  be  alarmed,  boys,  it  is  nothing  but  a  humbug." 

1  During  the  hostilities  at  Plattsburg.  from  the  6th  until  the  evening  of  the  llth,  scarcely  a 
building  in  the  village  escaped  injury  of  some  sort.    Many  houses  were  completely  riddled. 
Nine  dwellings,  thirteen  stores  and  shops,  and  the  court-house  and  jail,  were  burned.    Some 
of  these  were  destroyed  when  the  enemy  were  burned  out  by  Brooks's  hot  shot,  as  mentioned 
on  page  863. 

2  These  mounds  are  on  the  banks  of  the  Saranac.    Plattsburg  is  seen  in  the  distance 
across  the  river. 

3  The  late  Reverend  Eleazer  Williams  (see  page  377),  who  was  in  the  military  service  of  the  United  States  at  Platts 
burg  as  commander  of  the  Secret  Corps  of  Observation,  informed  me  that  Sir  George,  naturally  timid,  was  intensely 
alarmed  by  a  clever  trick  arranged  by  Williams.    Colonel  Fassett,  of  Vermont,  came  over  from  Burlington  on  Friday 
before  the  battle,  and  assured  Macomb  that  the  Vermont  militia  would  cross  the  lake  to  aid  him  in  spite  of  Governor 
Chittenden.    Williams  suggested  to  the  general  after  Fassett  left  that  a  letter  from  that  officer,  declaring  that  a  heavy 
body  of  the  militia  were  about  to  cross  the  lake,  sent  so  as  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Prevost,  would  have  a  salutary  ef 
fect.    Macomb  directed  Williams  to  carry  out  the  plan.    He  went  over  to  Burlington,  and  received  from  Fassett  a  let 
ter  to  Macomb,  in  which  he  said  that  Chittenden  was  marching  with  ten  thousand  men  for  St.  Albans  ;  that  five  thou 
sand  more  were  marching  from  St.  Lawrence  County ;  and  that  four  thousand  from  Washington  County  were  in  mo 
tion.    This  letter  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  shrewd  Irish  woman  on  Cumberland  Head,  who  took  it  to  Prevost.    The 
alarmed  baronet  immediately  ordered  the  flight  spoken  of  in  the  text,  and  at  a  little  past  midnight  his  whole  army  was 
on  the  wing.    The  trick  played  upon  Hull  at  Detroit  (see  note  1,  page  285)  was  repeated  npon  Prevost  with  equal  success. 

*  Benjamin  Mooers  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  born  in  Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  in  1761,  and  entered 
the  military  service  in  1775,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years.  He  was  commissioned  first  an  ensign,  and  then  first  lieutenant, 
and  was  an  active  officer  during  all  the  later  years  of  the  Revolution.  When  summoned  to  the  field  in  1814  he  was  fif 
ty-six  years  of  age,  and  living  in  quietude  on  the  borders  of  Plattsburg  Bay.  He  obeyed  the  summons  with  alacrity, 
and  performed  his  duties  nobly.  He  died  at  his  residence  on  Cumberland  Head  on  the  2Sth  of  February,  1838,  at  the 


876 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Rejoicings  because  of  the  Victory  at  Plattsburg.     Public  Dinner  given  to  Macdonough.     Song,  "  Siege  of  Plattsburg." 

deserters,  did  not  fall  much  short  of  two  thousand,  according  to  careful  estimates 
made  at  the  time.  The  American  loss  was  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty.  Only 
one  commissioned  officer,  Lieutenant  George  W.  Runk,  was  mortally  wounded.  He 
died  the  next  day. 

The  events  on  land  and  water  at  Plattsburg  on  the  llth  of  September,  1814,  pro 
duced  a  thrill  of  intense  joy  throughout  the  country,  and  with  delight  the  people 
read  the  stirring  General  Orders  in  which,  on  the  14th  of  September,  Macomb  an 
nounced  the  result  to  his  little  army.1  Spontaneous  honors  and  praises  were  given 
by  the  people  to  him  and  Macdonough  conjointly.2  Bonfires  and  illuminations  blazed 
in  almost  every  city  and  village  in  the  land,  and  the  recent  disaster  at  the  national 
capital  was  almost  unthought  of  for  the  moment.  Legislative  resolves,  artillery,  ora 
tory,  and  song3  were  pressed  into  the  service  of  rendering  homage  to  the  two  heroes 
and  their  men.  The  newspapers  teemed  with  eulogies,  and  at  all  public  gatherings 
and  entertainments  their  names  and  deeds  were  mentioned  with  applause.  Governor 

age  of  seventy-seven  years.  His  remains  are  in  the  Plattsburg  burying-ground ;  and  at  the 
head  of  the  grave,  near  the  entrance  to  the  cemetery,  is  a  handsomely-wrought  commemora 
tive  slab  of  marble  with  the  following  inscription  :  "In  memory  of  General  BENJAMIN  Moo- 
EE8,  who  died  February  28, 1838,  aged  seventy-seven  years.  He  served  as  lieutenant  and  adju 
tant  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  commanded  the  militia  at  the  battle  of  Plattsburg,  Sep 
tember  11, 1814.  He  was  the  first  settler  in  this  county,  and  for  thirty  years  county  treasurer. 
He  repeatedly  represented  this  section  of  country  in  the  Assembly  and  Senate  of  the  State, 
and  discharged  the  important  duties  which  devolved  upon  him  as  a  citizen,  as  a  soldier,  and 
a  Christian,  with  fidelity  to  his  country  and  integrity  to  his  God." 

1  After  alluding  to  the  designs  of  Prevost,  he  said  "  he  brought  with  him  a  powerful  army 
and  flotilla— an  army  amounting  to  fourteen  thousand  men,  completely  equipped,  and  accom 
panied  by  a  numerous  train  of  artillery,  and  all  the  engines  of  war— men  who  had  conquered 
iu  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  the  Indies,  and  in  various  other  parts  of  the  globe,  and  led  by  the 
most  experienced  generals  of  the  British  army.    A  flotilla,  also  superior  to  ours  in  vessels, 
men,  and  guns,  had  determined  at  once  to  crush  us  both  by  land  and  water."    He  then  spoke 
of  the  boastings  of  the  governor  general,  and  his  attempts  to  seduce  the  Americans  from  their 
allegiance,  and  then  gave  a  concise  history  of  the  battle  and  the  precipitate  flight  of  the 
enemy. 

2  A  few  days  after  the  battle,  the 
citizens  of  Plattsburg,  who  had  re 
turned  to  their  homes,  resolved,  in 
public  meeting,  to  give  a  public 
dinner   to    Commodore   Macdon 
ough.    A  committee,  of  which  Hen 
ry  De  Lord  was  chairman,  waited 

upon  the  hero  on  board  his  ship  with  an  invitation.  It  was 
accepted,  and  on  Tuesday,  the  23d  instant,  at  three  o'clock 
P.M.,  the  commodore,  with  Generals  Macomb  and  Mooers, 
and  other  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  who  were  invited 
guests,  and  a  number  of  citizens,  sat  down  to  a  bountiful  din 
ner  at  the  United  States  Hotel,  kept  by  Thomas  Green,  and  yet 
standing  in  1860,  between  the  stone  mill  and  the  bridge  over 
the  Saranac,  in  Plattsburg.  General  Macomb's  band  furnish 
ed  the  music  on  the  occasion.  Peter  Sailley,  Esq.,  presided. 
Seventeen  regular  toasts  were  drank.  The  distinguished 
guests,  as  they  retired,  were  toasted ;  and  one  was  given  in 
respectful  silence  to  "The  memory  of  Commodore  Downie, 
our  brave  enemy."  The  fallen  brave  of  Macdonough's  fleet 
were  also  remembered  in  the  regular  toasts.  "  Much  credit," 
says  a  writer  who  was  present,  "is  due  to  Mr.  Green  for  the 
excellent  dinner  which  he  provided  for  the  occasion,  it  being 
generally  conceded  to  be  the  best  that  was  ever  given  in 
Plattsburg."  A  full  report  of  the  proceedings  was  published  in  a  hand-bill,  a  copy  of  which  is  before  me. 

This  is  a  view  of  the  United  States  Hotel  at  Plattsburg  as  it  appeared  in  1S14.  The  clap-boards  on  the  visible  gable 
exhibited  the  perforations  of  bullets  from  British  muskets  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Saranac  when  J  saw  it  in  1860.  On 
the  right  is  seen  Plattsburg  Bay,  and  Cumberland  Head  in  the  distance. 

3  The  victories  of  Macdonough  and  Macomb  were  the  subject  of  one  of  the  most  popular  songs  written  and  sung  dur 
ing  the  war.  It  was  written  by  Micajah  Hawkins  for  the  proprietor  of  a  theatre  in  Albany,  and  sung  by  him  in  the 
character  of  a  negro  sailor.  Governor  Tompkins  was  present  when  it  was  first  sung.  Hawkins  gained  great  applause 
and  a  prize  by  his  performance.  He  was  afterward  a  grocer  in  Catharine  Street,  New  York.  The  following  is  a  copy 
of  the  famous  ballad : 

SIEGE   OF   PLATTSBURG. 

Tune— Boyne  Water. 
"Backside  Albany  stan'  Lake  Champlain,  On  Lake  Champlain Uncle  Sam  set  he  boat, 

Little  pond  half  full  o'  water :  An'  Massa  Macdonough  he  sail  'em  ; 

Plat-te-burg  dar  too,  close  'pon  de  main  ;  While  Gineral  Macomb  make  Plat-te-burg  he  home 

Town  small— he  grow  bigger,  do',  herearter.  Wid  de  army,  whose  courage  nebber  fail  'em. 


GENERAL   MOOERS  8 
GRAVE. 


UNITED   STATES   I1OTEL. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


Honors  to  General  Macomb. 


Biographical  Sketch  of  him. 


His  Monument. 


Tompkins,  in  the  name  of  the  State  of  New  York,  presented  General  Macomb  with  a 
superb  sword.  De  Witt  Clinton,  Mayor  of  New  York,  presented  him,  in  the  name 
of  the  Corporation,  the  "  freedom  of  the  city"  in  a  gold  box  similar  in  character  to  the 
one  given  to  General  Brown  j1  and  he  was  requested  by  the  same  body  to  sit  for  his 
portrait,  to  be  placed  in  the  gallery  of  distinguished  men.  Congress  gave  him  the 
thanks  of  the  nation,  and  voted  him  a  gold  medal.2  He  was  commissioned  by  the 
President  major  general  by  brevet.  When  he  returned  to  his  family  at  Belleville, 
New  Jersey,  the  village  was  illuminated,  and  he  was  received  with  the  most  gratify 
ing  tokens  of  respect.  "  Never,  on  the  return  of  any  hero  to  the  peaceful  bosom  of 
his  family,"  said  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  an  opposition  paper,  "  was  evinced  so 
universal  a  sense  of  sincere  joy  and  heartfelt  satisfaction." 


But  Massa  Macdonough  knock  he  boat  in  he  head, 
Break  he  heart,  break  he  shin,  'tove  he  caff  in, 

An'  Gineral  Macomb  start  ole  Probose  home — 
To't  me  soul  den  I  muss  die  a  laffln'. 

'Probose  scare  so  he  lef  all  behine, 

Powder,  ball,  cannon,  tea-pot,  an'  kittle ; 
Some  say  he  cotch  a  cole— trouble  in  he  mine 

'Cause  he  eat  so  much  raw  an'  cole  vittle. 
Uncle  Sam  berry  sorry,  to  be  sure,  for  he  pain, 

Wish  he  nuss  heself  up  well  an'  hearty, 
For  Gineral  Macomb  and  Mas^a  'Donough  home 

When  he  notion  for  anudder  tea-party  1" 


"On  'lebenth  day  Sep-tem-ber, 

In  eighteen  hun'red  and  fourteen, 
Gubbernor  Probose  and  he  British  soj-er 

Come  to  Plat-te-burg  a  tea-party  courtin' ; 
An'  he  boat  come  too,  arter  Uncle  Sam  boat. 

Massa  'Donough,  he  look  sharp  out  de  winder ; 
Den  Gineral  Macomb  (ah  !  he  always  a-home) 

Cotch  fire  too,  sirs,  like  a  tinder. 

"  Bang !  bang !  bang !  den  de  cannons  'gin  to  roar, 

In  Plat-te-burg  and  all  'bout  dat  quarter ; 

Gubbernor  Probose  try  he  ban'  'pon  de  shore, 

While  he  boat  take  he  luck  'pon  de  water ; 

1  See  page  617. 

2  A  representation  of  this  medal  is  given  on  the  next  page.    On  one  side  is  a  bust  of  Macomb  in  profile,  with  his 
name  and  title.    On  the  reverse  a  battle  on  land,  in  sight  of  a  large  town,  troops  crossing  a  bridge,  and  war-vessels 
fighting  on  a  lake.    Above  this  scene  are  the  words  "RESOLUTION  OF  CONGBESS,  NOV.  3, 1814."    The  exergue — "BATTLE 

OF  PLATTSBUBG,  SEPT.  11,  1814." 

Alexander  Macomb  was  the  son  of  a  fur  merchant  of  Detroit,  who  married  one  of  the  highly  respectable  family  of  Na 
varre.  Their  son  was  born  in  Detroit  on  the  3d  of  April,  1782.  He  became  a  resident  of  New  York  in  infancy,  and  was 
educated  in  NewVersey.  He  was  a  member  of  the  "New  York  Rangers,"  a  volunteer  corps  raised  in  1779,  when  war 
with  Prance  was  expected.  General  North,  of  the  Revolution,  placed  him  on  his  staff.  He  became  permanently  at 
tached  to  the  army  as  a  dragoon,  and  was  very  useful.  He  was  with  Wilkinson  in  the  Southwest,  and,  being  after 
ward  attached  to  a  corps  of  engineers  as  first  lieutenant,  he  was  sent  to  West  Point,  where  he  compiled  a  treatise  on 
martial  law.  He  became  captain  in  1805,  and  was  ordered  to  superintend  the  erection  of  fortifications  on  the  frontiers. 
He  was  promoted  to  major  in  1S08,  and  when  the 
war  commenced  in  1812  he  was  placed  in  command 
of  an  artillery  corps.  We  have  already  met  him  sev 
eral  times  in  the  course  of  this  narrative  of  the  war. 
His  crowning  achievement  was  at  Plattsburg.  After 
the  war  he  was  stationed  at  Detroit.  He  was  made 
chief  engineer  in  1821,  and  removed  to  Washington. 
He  remained  in  that  bureau  until  1835,  when,  on  the 
death  of  General  Jacob  Brown,  he  was  promoted  to 
general  -  in  -  chief  of  the  army  of  the  United  States. 
He  died  at  Washington  City  on  the  25th  of  June, 
1841,  aged  fifty-nine  years.  He  was  buried  with  mil 
itary  honors  in  the  Congressional  Burying-ground 
at  Washington,  and  over  his  grave  now  stands  a 
beautiful  white  marble  monument  bearing  the  fol 
lowing  inscriptions : 

West  Side. — "  ALEXANDER  MACOMB,  Major  General 
Commanding-in-chief  United  States  Army.  Died  at 
Washington,  the  seat  of  government,  25th  June, 
1841." 

East  Side. — "  It  were  but  small  tribute  to  his  mem 
ory  to  say  that,  in  youth  and  manhood,  he  served  his 
country  in  the  profession  in  which  he  died,  during  a 
period  of  more  than  forty  years,  without  stain  or 
blemish  upon  his  escutcheon." 

South  Side.— "The  honors  conferred  on  him  by 
President  Madison,  received  on  the  field  of  victory 
for  distinguished  and  gallant  conduct  in  defeating 
the  enemy  at  Plattsburg,  and  the  thanks  of  Congress, 
bestowed  with  a  medal  commemorative  of  this  tri 
umph  of  the  arms  of  the  Republic,  attest  the  high 
estimate  of  his  gallantry  and  meritorious  services." 

On  the  west  side,  over  his  name,  is  an  olive  wreath ;  MAOOMB'B  MOSTMENT. 

on  the  south  side  an  hour-glass  with  wings,  and  a 
scythe ;  on  the  east  side  a  simple  cross,  and  on  the  north  side  a  serpent  and  butterfly. 

In  the  above  sketch,  the  little  monument  to  Commodore  Patterson  is  seen  in  an  iron  railing.    Over  one  corner  of  it, 
in  the  distance,  is  seen  William  Wirt's  monument,  and  between  it  and  Macomb's  is  seen  that  of  Commodore  Chauncey. 


878 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Honors  and  Gifts  to  Macdonough. 


Medals  presented  by  Congress  to  the  Commanders. 


MACOMB'S  MEDAL. 


Macdonough,  too,  was  nobly  honored.  The  State  of  New  York  gave  him  two  thou 
sand  acres  of  land.  The  State  of  Vermont  purchased  two  hundred  acres  on  Cumber 
land  Head  and  presented  it  to  him.  It  was  on  the  borders  of  Cumberland,  or  Platts- 
burg  Bay,  and  the  farm-house  upon  it  overlooked  the  scene  of  his  gallant  exploits. 
The  cities  of  New  York  and  Albany  each  gave  the  hero  a  valuable  lot  of  land. 
"  Thus,"  said  Macdonough  to  a  friend,  while  tears  stood  in  his  eyes,  "  in  one  month, 
from  a  poor  lieutenant  I  became  a  rich  man."  Congress  gave  him  the  thanks  of  the 
nation,  and  with  his  brave  commanders,  Henley  and  Cassin,  voted  him  a  gold  medal, 
with  suitable  devices  and  inscriptions.1 


MACDONOUGIl's   MEDAL. 


i  See  page  868.  The  above  is  a  representation  of  the  medal  given  to  Macdonough.  On  one  side  is  a  bust  of  the 
hero  in  profile,  with  the  legend  "  THO.  MACDONOUGH,  STAGNO  OJJAMPLAIU  OLAS.  KEG.  BRIT.  SUPEEAVIT."  The  reverse  bears 
the  same  device  and  inscriptions  as  those  of  Henley  and  Cassin,  given  on  page  868. 

Thomas  Macdonough  was  born  in  the  county  of  New  Castle,  Delaware,  on  the  23d  of  December,  1783.  His  father  was 
a  physician,  and  a  major  in  the  Continental  army.  Thomas  entered  the  navy  as  midshipman  in  1798.  He  was  with 
Decatur  in  the  Mediterranean,  where  he  behaved  with  great  gallantry,  especially  in  the  affair  of  the  Philadelphia.  See 
page  120.  His  spirit  was  shown  in  the  harbor  of  Gibraltar  on  one  occasion.  He  was  then  first  lieutenant  of  the  Siren. 
Near  her  lay  an  American  merchant  brig.  A  boat  from  a  British  man-of-war  went  alongside  of  her,  and  its  crew  seized 
a  seaman  who  was  claimed  as  a  British  subject.  Macdonough  saw  it.  His  commander  was  absent.  He  instantly 
armed  and  manned  his  gig  and  gave  chase.  He  overhauled  the  boat  under  the  guns  of  the  British  frigate,  released  him, 
and  took  him  back  to  the  merchant  vessel.  The  British  captain,  in  great  rage,  appeared  on  the  Siren,  and  inquired  of 
Macdonough  how  he  dared  to  take  a  man  from  his  boat.  "  He  was  under  the  protection  of  my  country's  flag,  and  it 
was  my  duty,"  was  the  reply.  With  warm  oaths  the  captain  swore  he  would  lay  his  frigate  alongside  and  sink  the 
Siren.  "While  she  swims  you  shall  not  have  the  man  !"  said  Macdonousrh.  "You'll  repent  of  your  rashness,  young 
man,"  rejoined  the  Englishman.  "  Suppose  I  had  been  in  that  boat,  would  you  have  dared  to  commit  such  an  act?" 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


879 


The  Cost  of  Prevost's  Expedition. 


Effect  of  the  Victory  at  Plattsburg. 


Graves  of  British  Officers. 


MAOlHOiOUGIl's   FARM-HOUSE   ON   CUMBERLAND   HEAD, 


The  result  of  the  battle 
of  Plattsburg  was  deeply 
mortifying  to  the  Brit 
ish.  The  Canadian  news 
papers  offered  many  jere 
miads,  and  Sir  George 
Prevost  was  censured  in 
unmeasured  terms  for  his 
incompetency  and  coward 
ice.  It  was  estimated  that 
he  left  behind  him  in  his 
flight  munitions  and  stores 
worth  almost  one  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling,  and  that  his  fruitless  expedition 
cost  at  least  five  hundred  thousand  pounds,  or  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  dol 
lars.  It  was  disheartening  to  the  enemy,  and  was  a  powerful  instrumentality  in  the 
speedy  restoration  of  peace.  Prevost  abandoned  all  idea  of  renewing  the  attempt  at 
invasion,  and  retired  to  Quebec.  He  was  soon  afterward  dismissed  and  dishonored 
by  his  government,  and  he  did  not  long  survive  the  anxiety  it  occasioned  and  his  ef 
forts  to  get  home  to  England  and  vindi 
cate  his  character. 

Three  days  after  the  battle,  when  it  was 
ascertained  that  the  British  were  making 
their  way  toward  the  St.  Lawrence,  Gener 
al  Macomb  discharged  the  New  York  and 
Vermont  militia,  and  the  solemn  rites  of 
burial  were  accorded  to  the  dead  of  both 
nations.  Fifteen  officers,  including  Com 
modore  Downie,  were  laid  in  the  Platts 
burg  Burying-ground,  and  a  neat  marble 
slab,  with  the  name  of  the  commemorated 
cut  upon  it,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  each 
grave.  On  each  side  of  Downie's  grave  a 
pine-tree  was  planted.  These  were  noble  in 
stature  when  I  made  the  annexed  sketch, 
but  one  has  since  disappeared.  A  few 
years  ago  a  near  relation  of  the  British 
commander  laid  a  recumbent  marble  slab, 
suitably  inscribed,  upon  brick  walls,  over 
his  remains.2  Around  it  are  the  graves  of 

DOWNIE'S  GRAVED  t^e  o^er  officers. 

"  I  should  have  made  the  attempt,  sir !"    "  What !  would  you  interfere  if /were  to  impress  men  from  that  brig?"    "You 
have  only  to  try  it,  sir,"  was  Macdonotigh's  cool  reply.    He  did  not  try  it. 

Macdonough  was  sent  to  Lake  Champlain  when  the  War  of  1812  broke  out  There  he  won  unfading  laurels,  as  we 
find  recorded  in  the  text.  From  the  close  of  the  war  his  health  gave  way,  yet  he  lived  for  more  than  ten  yean 
tooth  of  consumption  undermining  the  citadel  of  his  life.  On  the  10th  of  November,  1825,  he  died  in  Middletown,  Con 
necticut,  where  he  married  his  wife,  the  excellent  Miss  Shaler,  and  who  had  died  only  a  few  months  before.  He  was 
only  forty-two  years  of  age.  His  portrait  on  page  856  is  from  the  one  painted  from  life  by  John  \V  esley  Jams  for  the 
Corporation  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  now  occupies  a  place  in  the  Governor's  Room. 

1  This  picture  is  from  the  title-page  of  the  twelfth  volume  of  the  Analytic  Magazine.    On  page  88  is  some  poor  verse 
intended  as  an  accompaniment,    In  the  distance  is  seen  the  mouth  of  the  Saranac  and  the  village  of  Plattsburg. 
Cumberland  Head  at  that  time  was  the  Plattsbnrg  port  of  entry,  and  the  leading  men  of  that  section  resided  on 
pleasant  promontory.    Among  them  was  General  Melancthon  Woolsey  (whose  house  is  yet  standing),  General  M     ers, 
Peter  Sailley,  Major  Adams,  and  others, 

2  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  inscription  :  "  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  GEOEGE  DOWNIE,  Esq.,  a  post  captain  in  the 
Royal  British  Navy,  who  gloriously  fell  on  board  his  B.  M.  S.  the  Confiance  while  leading  the  vessels  under  his  command 
to  the  attack  of  the  American  flotilla  at  anchor  in  Cumberland  Bay,  off  Plattsburg,  on  the  llth  of  September,  1814. 

"  To  mark  the  spot  where  the  remains  of  a  gallant  officer  and  sincere  friend  were  honorably  interred,  this  stone  I 
been  erected  by  his  affectionate  sister-in-law,  MABY  DOWNIE,  1851." 
s  In  the  above  picture  Downie's  tomb  is  seen  between  the  trees.    The  head-stones  of  the  other  officers  are  seen 


880 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Visit  to  historical  Places  in  Northern  New  York. 


Journey  to  Plattsburg. 


Graves  of  slain  Officers. 


I  visited  the  theatre  of  the  British  invasion  of  Northern  New  York,  and  points  of 
interest  at  Plattsburg  and  in  the  vicinity,  in  August,  1860.  I  have  already  men 
tioned  the  passing  of  a  night  at  Rouse's  Point1  Village  after  visiting  La  Colle  Mill, 
and  journeying  on  the  next  morning  toward  Plattsburg.2  I  went  to  Champlaiu, 
five  miles  south  of  the  Canada  border,  by  railway,  and  there  strolled  over  the  place 
of  Dearborn  and  Wilkinson's  encampments  on  the  hill  eastward  of  the  railway  sta 
tion,  then  (1860)  the  land  of  Francis  Nye.  I  also  went  to  the  site  of  Izard's  encamp 
ment,  on  rising  ground  south  of  the  village,  and  of  his  battery  on  the  brow  of  a  hill, 
then  (1860)  the  property  of  Noadiah  Moore.  After  sketching  the  mansion  of  Judge 
Moore,  which  was  used  for  officers'  quarters  by  both  parties,3 1  left  for  Plattsburg  in 
a  light  wagon,  accompanied  by  a  very  intelligent  elderly  gentleman  of  Champlain,4 
whose  name  I  regret  I  can  not  now  recall.  He  was  familiar  with  the  whole  region, 
and  the  events  and  localities  which  make  it  notable. 


VIEW    IN   JiEEKMANTOWN. 


,  We  passed  through  Chazy,  upon  the  Little  Chazy  River.  Just  before  reaching  it, 
we  saw  at  his  house  Captain  Hiram  Ferris,  an  old  lake  pilot,  who  gave  us  some  of  his 
reminiscences  of  adventure  as  commander  of  a  sloop  in  which  Vermont  militia  were 
taken  across  the  lake  to  Plattsburg  before  the  battle.  We  rode  on  to  Sampson's, 


6. 


L— • J"' 


Jl. 


2. 


grouped  around  it.  The  annexed  diagram  shows  the  position  of  each 
°^ tne  graves,  indicated  by  numerals  as  follows:  1.  Commodore  Dow- 
nie ;  2.  Boatswain  Charles  Jackson  ;  3.  Lieutenant  William  Gunn  ;  4. 
Lieutenant  William  Paril ;  5.  Captain  Alexander  Anderson,  of  the  Ma 
rines  ;  6.  Captain  John  Purchase.  These  were  of  the  British  Navy, 
except  Purchase,  who  was  of  the  British  Army.  7.  Pilot  Joseph  Bar- 
ron  ;  8.  Lieutenant  Peter  Gamble  ;  9.  Lieutenant  John  'Stansbury ;  10. 
Sailing-master  Rogers  Carter;  11.  Midshipman  James  M.  Baldwin. 
These  were  of  the  American  Navy.  12.  Lieutenant  George  W.  Runk, 
of  the  American  Army  ;  13.  Colonel  Willington ;  14.  Lieutenant  John 
Chapman,  of  the  British  Army.  A,  A,  the  pine-trees. 

I  am  indebted  to  Captain  J.  Van  Cleve  for  the  diagram.  It  was 
made  by  him  in  185C.  He  has  omitted  the  grave  of  Lieutenant  R. 
Kingsbury,  of  the  British  Army.  It  is  near  No.  12  in  the  diagram. 

1  Named  from  Jacques  Rouse,  a  French  Canadian,  who  settled  there 
in  1783.  a  See  page  792. 

3  See  engraving  on  page  857. 

*  Champlain  is  a  lively  post-village  of  less  than  two  thousand  inhab 
itants,  on  the  Chazy  River,  or  Creek,  and  contains  fine  water  power. 
It  is  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Northern  Railroad  from  Ogdensburg, 
and  from  it  most  of  the  lumber  brought  down  on  that  road  is  shipped. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


881 


Ride  through  Beekmantown  and  over  Culver's  Hill. 


The  Seat  of  War  in  Northern  New  York. 


1814. 


and  dined  there  ;J  and 
a  mile  southward  of 
the  tavern,  the  place 
of  the  British  encamp 
ment  from  the  5th  to 
the  6th  of  Septem- 
bera  was  point 
ed  out  to  us,  on 
the  farm  ofMr.  Phelps. 
We  soon  afterward 
turned  westward  to 
ward  Beekmantown,2 
and  in  that  little  vil 
lage,  and  upon  Cul 
ver's  Hill  southward 
of  it,  we  spent  about 
two  hours.  I  sketch 
ed  the  house  of  Ira 
Howe3  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  village; 
and  in  the  delightful 
shadow  of  grand  old 
elms,  which  were  flour 
ishing  trees  in  the  time 
of  the  war,  I  made  the 
sketch  on  the  preced 
ing  page,  on  the  left 
of  which  is  seen  the 
stone  meeting-house, 
built  by  the  Method 
ists  in  1 830,  and  in  the 
distance  the  road  pass 
ing  over  Culver's  Hill,  on  which  Wool  fought  his  second  battle  with  the  invaders 

5  See  sketch  of  the  house  on  page  859. 

2  Named  in  honor  of  William  Beekman,  to  whom,  with  twenty-nine  others,  the  township  was  granted  in  the  spring 
of  1769.  a  See  page  862. 

3K 


882 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Battle-ground  on  Culver's  Hill. 


Arrival  at  Plattsburg. 


Visit  to  Cumberland  Head. 


September, 
1814. 


on  the  morning  of  the  6th.a  A  little  south  of  the  church  (at  a  spot  indi 
cated  by  the  two  figures),  we  were  shown  a  spring,  by  the  side  of  the 
road,  near  which  Colonel  Willington  was  buried  ;  and  directly  in  front  of  Francis 
Culver's  house,  on  Culver's  Hill,  a  flat  rock  was  pointed  out  as  the  spot  where  Wil 
lington  fell.1  It  is  said  that  the  stains  of  his  blood  were  upon  it  a  long  time.  There, 
too,  we  saw  the  moss-covered  stone  fence,  built  before  the  war,  which  formed  an  ad 
mirable  shelter  for  the  American  militia  during  the  fight  on  the  hill.2 

Plattsburg  was  now  eight  miles  distant,  and  the  long  summer  day  was  passing 
away.  We  rode  on,  without  stopping,  by  Halsey's  Corners,  where  Leonard  made  a 
stand  with  his  cannon,3  and  at  near  sunset  entered  Plattsburg.  I  became  the  guest 
of  a  kinsman  (Philander  C.  Moore),  and  passed  a  part  of  the  evening  profitably  with 
P.  S.  Palmer,  Esq.,  the  historian  of  Lake  Champlain. 

At  an  early  hour  the  next  morning,  accompanied  by  my  kinsman,  I  went  out  to 

visit  the  historical  localities  in  and  about  Plattsburg;  and  just  at  twilight,  after  a 

day  of  incessant  labor,  we  returned,  having  fully  accomplished  the  object  of  my  er 

rand.     We  first  rode  up  to  the  site  of  Pike's  cantonment  (where  the  British  forced  a 

passage  of  the  Saranac),  crossing  the  river  at  the  upper  bridge,  and  traversing  a  rough 

road  most  of  the  way  for  about  two  miles.     The  cantonment  was  on  a  low,  narrow 

plain  at  the  foot  of  rapids  in  the  river,  which  are  seen  in  the  little  sketch  on  page  874. 

We  returned  on  the  lake  road  by  the  United  States  military  station,  visiting  the  re- 

^_  mains  of  Forts  Moreau,  Brown, 

and  Scott,  and  sketching  the  old 
store-houses  on  the  margin  of 
the  lake,  which  were  erected  in 
1813  for  the  use  of  the  Ameri 
can  troops.  We  rode  back  to 
the  village,  and,  after  sketching 
the  stone  mill4  and  the  United 
States  Hotel,5  we  crossed  the 
Saranac,  and  made  our  way 
along  the  lake  shore  road  toward  Cumberland  Head.  Soon  after  crossing  Dead  Creek 
Bridge  over  the  sluggish  stream,  and  among  sand  dunes  drifted  by  southerly  winds 
from  the  bay  shore,  we  passed 
the  site  of  Macdonough's  farm 
house,6  on  a  rise  of  ground  at 
the  left  of  the  road,  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  the  light-house.  The 
place  of  the  cellar  was  marked 
by  a  luxuriant  growth  of  weeds 
and  bushes.  Near  there  we 
met  a  farmer  on  his  way  to 
Plattsburg,  who,  to  our  mutual 
surprise,  proved  to  be  Mr.  J.  J. 
Mosher,  who  was  my  school 
master  when  I  was  a  boy  twelve 
years  of  age.  It  was  an  agree 
able  meeting.  He  turned  back, 
accompanied  us  to  various  pla 
ces  of  interest  on  the  Head 


BTOKE-IIOUSES. 


lie  naS   a  lainij,  and.  en- 


GKNEKAL,  MOOERB'S  HOUSE,  CUMBERLAND  HEAD. 


1  See  page  862. 

s  The  old  Culver  mansion,  built  of  wood,  was  on  the  site  of  the  present  brick  mansion  of  Samuel  Andrews,  on  the 
southern  slope  of  the  hill.  3  See  page  862.  *  See  page  864.  5  See  page  8T6.  6  See  page  ST9. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF    1812.  883 


Residences  of  Mooers  and  Woolsey.  Remains  of  "  Wilkinson's  Folly."  Mr.  Platt  and  his  Reminiscences. 

tertained  us  with  an  excellent  dinner  and 
pleasant  intercourse  with  his  family. 

Taking  the  inner  road  to  the  light-house 
on  the  extreme  point  of  the  Head,  we  pass 
ed  the  pleasantly  situated  old  mansion  of 
General  Mooers  (page  882),  where  he  lived 
many  years,  and  where  he  died.  It  over 
looks  the  bay  and  the  lake.  We  visited 
and  sketched  the  light-house,  and  from  its 
lofty  gallery  obtained  a  fine  panoramic 
view  of  the  entire  theatre  of  the  naval 
battle  near.1  Passing  along  the  lake  side 
of  the  Head,  in  full  view  of  Grand  Island 
and  the  Green  Mountains,  we  came,  at  the 
distance  of  a  mile  from  the  light-house,  to 
the  residence  of  General  Woolsey,  father 

of  the  active  commander  on  Lake  Ontario.  Near  it  was  Colonel  Durand's,  the  dep 
uty  collector  (when  this  was  the  place  of  the  Plattsburg  port  of  entry),  which  was 
the  custom-house;  and  between  Woolsey's  and  the  light-house  is  the  dwelling  of  Mr. 
Mosher.  It  was  a  tavern  during  the  war,  and  in  front  of  it  was  the  landing-place  of 
the  troops  brought  over  by  Captain  Ferris.  When  the  British  galleys  were  escaping 
down  the  lake,  and  were  passing  this  tavern,  several  men  were  sitting  on  its  porch. 
One  of  them  called  out  to  the  fugitives  in  derision,  when  a  British  marine  fired  a  mus 
ket-ball  at  the  group.  It  passed  just  over  their  heads,  and  through  a  door,  which 
Mr.  Mosher  preserves  as  a  memento  of  the  incident. 

About  three  fourths  of  a  mile  from  the  light-house,  on  the  farm  of  J.  T.  Hagar,  we 
saw  the  prominent  remains  of  the  ramparts  and  ditch  of  a  large  redoubt  cast  up  by 
Hampton,  and  which  received  the  name  of  "  Wilkinson's  Folly."  It  is  about  forty 
rods  from  the  lake,  on  high  ground,  and  on  the  shore  in  front  of  it  was  a  water  bat 
tery.  Its  ramparts  were  of  earth  and  stone.  From  its  top  Ave  had  a  fine  view  of  the 
surrounding  country,  and  we  lingered  some  time  in  the  shadow  of  a  tree  that  over 
hung  one  of  its  bastions.  The  day  was  now  far  spent,  and  we  turned  back  toward 
Plattsburg,  where  we  arrived  at  dusk,  well  satisfied  with  our  day's  excursion. 

On  the  following  morning  I  visited  the  venerable  Isaac  C.  Platt,  then  in  his  eight 
ieth  year,  whose  residence  is  on  the  Beekmantown  road,  not  far  from  Halsey's  Cor- 
nei'S.  He  was  living  there  at  the  time  of  the  British  invasion,  and  took  his  family 
over  to  Middlebury,  in  Vermont.  On  his  return  the  skirmish  had  occurred  at  Hal 
sey's  Corners.  He  found  his  house  in  possession  of  the  enemy,  and  used  as  a  sort  of 
hospital.2  He  asked  and  obtained  from  General  Brisbane  protection  for  himself  and 
his  property.  That  ofiicer  gave  him  a  general  parole  of  honor  to  go  where  he  pleased. 
When  the  British  fled  they  left  about  forty  horses  in  his  fields,  and  these  he  consid 
ered  a  fair  equivalent  for  hay  and  other  property  which  they  had  appropriated  to 
their  own  use.  The  British  behaved  very  honorably,  he  said,  generally  paying  for 
whatever  they  procured  from  the  inhabitants.  During  a  delightful  interview  of  an 
hour  with  the  humorous  octogenarian,  he  related  many  stirring  incidents  of  the  inva 
sion,  which  limited  space  will  not  allow  me  to  record.  He  still  [1867]  lives  in  the 
enjoyment  of  good  health. 

Leaving  Mr.  Platt's,  we  passed  a  huge  old  butternut-tree  between  his  house  and 
Halsey's  Corners,  its  trunk  terribly  scarred  by  the  passage  of  one  of  Leonard's  can 
non-balls  completely  through  it.  It  stands  as  a  memento  of  the  affair  at  that  point. 
We  passed  on  to  the  burial-ground,  and  visited  and  sketched  the  freestone  memorials 
of  Downie  and  the  slain,  already  mentioned;  of  Colonel  Melancthon  Smith;  and  of 

1  See  page  8TO.  *  See  page  8G3. 


884  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Grave  of  Miss  Davidson.  A  Shot  in  Macomb's  Head-quarters.  Chauucey  kept  from  active  Service. 

General  Benjamin  Mooers.1  There,  too,  I  found  the  grave  of  the  wonderfully  preco 
cious  child-poet,  Lucretia  Maria  Davidson,  who  was  the  author  of  a  volume  entitled 
Amir  Khan,  and  other  JPoems,2  and  yet  she  died  before  she  was  seventeen  years  of 
age.  A  neat  white  marble  monument  marks  the  resting-place  of  her  remains,  and 
bears  those  beautiful  lines  written  by  William  Cullen  Bryant  on  the  occasion  of  her 
burial : 

"  In  the  cold  moist  earth  we  laid  her  when  the  forest  cast  its  leaf, 
And  we  wept  that  one  so  lovely  should  have  a  lot  BO  brief; 
Yet  not  unmeet  it  was  that  one,  like  that  young  friend  of  ours, 
So  gentle  and  so  beautiful,  should  perish  with  the  flowers." 

In  the  course  of  the  day  I  called  on  General  A.  C.  Moore,  whose  fine  mansion,  not 
far  from  the  old  stone  mill,  was  the  head-quarters  of  General  Macomb  before  the  bat 
tle.  In  the  hall,  near  the  foot  of  the  staircase, 
and  protruding  from  the  upper  edge  of  the  wains 
coting,  was  a  24-pound  iron  ball,  which  British 
cannon  hurled  across  the  Saranac.  It  had  come 
crashing  through  the  house,  and  lodged  there. 
With  good  taste  and  patriotic  feeling,  it  had  been 
left  undisturbed.  It  was  painted  black  and  var 
nished,  and  on  it,  in  white  letters,  were  the  words 
September  11, 1814. 

Toward  evening  of  the  same  day  I  embarked 
at  Plattsburg  in  a  steamer  for  Whitehall,  and  on 
the  following  evening  I  was  at  my  home  on  the 
Hudson. 

BALL  IN   MOORE'S  HOUSE,  PLATTSBtTRG.  -__..  .  1          J3  •      l    ,         .£>  T>  JT.'  f 

With  the  flight  of  Prevost  and  his  army  from 

Lake  Champlain  ended  all  military  movements  of  importance  on  the  Northern  front 
ier.  Hostilities  soon  afterward  ceased  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  as  we  have  observed ; 
and  during  the  entire  season,  Chauncey,  one  of  the  most  vigilant  and  active  of  naval 
commanders,  had  been  compelled  by  circumstances  to  remain  almost  inactive  at  Sack- 
ett's  Harbor  a  greater  part  of  the  time.  He  was  blockaded  by  a  British  squadron 
until  early  in  June,  when  the  completion  of  the  armament  of  the  Superior  made  Sir 
James  Yeo  prudently  withdraw  his  blockading  vessels.  And  when  the  Mohawk, 
» June  11,  which  was  launched*  in  thirty-four  working  days  after  her  keel  was  laid,  was 

ISM.  prepared  for  sea,  and  the  movements  on  the  Niagara  frontier  with  which 
Chauncey  was  to  co-operate  had  commenced,  that  commander  was  prostrated  by 
severe  illness  at  the  Harbor.  His  re-enforcements  came  tardily,  while  the  enemy  was 
increasing  his  strength  in  vessels,  arms,  and  men.  It  was  the  last  of  July  before  the 
squadron  was  ready  for  sea. 

Meanwhile  Chauncey  had  set  in  motion  minor  operations.  Supplies  for  the  Brit 
ish  were  continually  ascending  the  St.  Lawrence  in  small  boats.  He  resolved  to  at 
tempt  the  capture  of  some  of  them,  and  sent  Lieutenant  (late  Rear  Admiral)  Fran 
cis  H.  Gregory,3  with  Sailing-masters  Vaughan  and  Dixon,  in  three  gigs,  for  that  pur- 

1  About  a  rod  north  of  General  Mooers's  grave  is  that  of  Samuel  Norcross,  who,  with  two  other  unarmed  citizens, 
met  three  British  soldiers  on  the  retreat  on  the  morning  of  the  12th,  and  simultaneously  sprang  upon  them  and  seized 
their  guns.    A  desperate  struggle  ensued.    His  antagonist  wrenched  the  gun  from  Norcross,  and  with  it  shot  him,  kill 
ing  him  almost  instantly.    This  occurred  not  far  from  the  place  where  his  body  was  buried. 

2  This  volume  was  published  in  1S29,  and  contained  a  biographical  sketch  of  the  author  by  Professor  Samuel  F.  B. 
Morse.    She  was  born  in  September,  1S08 ;  was  educated  at  Mrs.  Willard's  seminary  in  Troy,  and  died  in  August,  1829. 
She  was  very  beautiful. 

3  Francis  II.  Gregory  was  born  at  Norwalk,  Connecticut,  on  the  9th  of  October,  1T89.    He  entered  the  merchant  serv 
ice  in  1802,  and  the  navy  as  a  midshipman  in  1809  in  the  Revenge,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  O.  H.  Perry.    He  was  pro 
moted  to  acting  master  in  1811,  and  in  the  spring  of  1812  he  was  placed  under  Chauucey's  command  on  Lake  Ontario. 
In  that  service  he  performed  many  gallant  exploits  as  acting  lieutenant,  for  his  skill  and  bravery  were  so  conspicuous 
that  he  was  employed  in  the  most  dangerous  and  difficult  service.    In  August,  1814,  he  was  captured  and  sent  to  En 
gland  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  was  kept  there  until  the  close  of  the  contest ;  not  in  close  confinement,  but  on  wide  parole 
in  Devonshire,  where  the  "vivacious  little  Yankee"  was  a  great  favorite  with  the  ladies,  and  graced  many  a  festal  occa 
sion.    In  1825  Lieutenant  Gregory  commanded  the  Brandywine  when  she  conveyed  Lafayette  to  this  country ;  and  in 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


885 


Exploits  of  Lieutenant  Gregory. 


Channcey's  Squadron  leaves  Sackett's  Harbor. 


Its  Composition. 


pose  at  the  middle  of  June.  They  lay  in 
ambush  among  the  Thousand  Islands,  be 
low  Alexandria  Bay,  on  the  19th.  They 
were  discovered,  and  a  British  gun-boat 
sent  to  attack  them.  They  did  not  wait 
for  her  approach,  but  boldly  dashed  upon 
and  captured  her.  She  was  the  Slack 
Snake,  Captain  Landon,  carrying  an  18- 
pound  carronade  and  eighteen  men,  chiefly 
Royal  Marines.  Gregory  returned  to  the 
Harbor  with  his  prisoners,  but  was  com 
pelled  to  destroy  the  Black  Snake  to  pre 
vent  her  recapture.  For  this  gallant  serv 
ice  the  National  Congress,  thirty  years 
» May  4,  afterward,*  gave  Gregory  and  his 
1S34-  companions  three  thousand  dol 
lars.1  Ten  days  afterward,  Gregory  and 
the  same  assistants  started  in  two  gigs  for 
Nicholas  Island,  seven  miles  fromPresque 
Isle,  on  the  Canada  coast,  to  intercept 
some  transports  expected  to  pass  there  for 
York  and  Fort  George.  They  did  not 
come ;  so,  finding  his  presence  was  known 
to  the  British  authorities,  Gregory  landed 
at  Presque  Isle,  burned  a  schooner  pierced 


for  fourteen  guns  and  nearly  ready  to  be 
launched,  and  a  building  containing  her 
stores,  crossed  the  lake,  and  reached  Sack 
ett's  Harbor  on  the  6th  of  Julyb 
without  the  loss  of  a  man. 

Chauncey  was  carried  on  board  the  Su 
perior  in  a  convalescent  state  on  the  31st 
of  July,  and  on  that  day  his  squadron  left 
the  Harbor.  It  consisted  of  the  flag-ship 
Superior,  62,  Lieutenant  Elton  ;  Pike,  28, 
Captain  Crane,  Chauncey's  second  in  com 
mand;2  Mohawk, 42, Captain  Jones;  Mad 
ison,  24,  Captain  Trenchard ;  Jefferson, 
22,  Captain  Ridgeley ;  Jones,  22,  Captain 
\Yoolsey;  Sylph,  14,  Captain  Elliott; 
Oneida,  16,  Lieut.  Commanding  Brown;- 
and  the  look-out  boat  Lady  of  the  Lake. 
They  appeared  off  the  mouth  of  the  Niag 
ara  River  (then  in  possession  of  the  Brit 
ish)  on  the  5th  of  August.0  Leav- 

c  1814 

ing  the  Jefferson,  Sylph,  and  Onei 
da  to  blockade  some  British  vessels  in  the 


1820  he  commanded  the  G4-gun  ship  sent  to  the  Greeks  from  New  York.  He  was  promoted  to  commander  in  1828,  and 
was  in  active  service  afloat  until  1852,  when  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Boston  Navy  Yard.  When  the  Rebellion 
broke  out  he  was  anxious  to  enter  into  active  service,-but  he  was  more  usefully  employed  as  general  superintendent  of 
the  construction  of  the  iron-clad  or  armored  vessels  engaged  in  the  Civil  War.  He  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  rear 
admiral  in  18G2,  and  died  in  Brooklyn,  October  4, 1866,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years.  Few  men  hold  a  more  worthy 
place  on  the  records  of  our  navy.  *  Hough's  History  of  Jefferson  County,  page  515. 

2  Mr.  Crane  was  one  of  Channcey's  most  intimate  friends  and  active  commanders.  He  was  born  in  Elizabethtown, 
New  Jersey,  on  the  1st  of  February,  1784,  and  was  a  son  of  General  William  Crane,  who  was  one  of  Montgomery's  army, 
and  made  a  prisoner  in  Quebec.  He  entered  the  navy  in  1T99  as  midshipman,  and  was  in  active  service  in,  the  Mediter- 


886 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Chauncey  tries  to  draw  out  Yeo. 


A  heavy  British  Ship  on  the  Lake. 


Americans  prepare  to  match  her. 


river,  Chauncey  crossed  the  lake  with  the  remainder  of  the  squadron,  looked  into 
.  August  9,  York,  and  then  sailed  for  Kingston,1  where,  with  four  of  his  vessels,  he 
blockaded  the  squadron  of  Sir  James  Yeo  for  six  weeks.  He  vainly  tried 
to  draw  him  out  for  combat  j1  and  in  the  mean  time,  as  we  have  seen,  he  conveyed 
a  part  of  Izard's  troops  to  the  Genesee  River.2  During  this  blockade,  Lieutenant 
Gregory,  while  reconnoitring,  was  captured. 

At  the  close  of  September  it  was  ascertained  that  the  St.  Lawrence,  pierced  for  one 
hundred  and  twelve  guns,  which  had  been  all  the  season  in  preparation  at  Kingston, 
was  ready  for  sea.  Chauncey  prudently  raised  the  blockade,  retired  to  Sackett's 
Harbor,  and  prepared  for  attack.  On  the  15th  of  October  the  St.  Lawrence  sailed, 
bearing  Sir  James  Yeo  and  more  than  a  thousand  men.3  She  was  accompanied  by 
four  ships,  two  brigs,  and  a  schooner,  and  from  that  time  the  baronet,  with  his  great 
ship,  was  lord  of  the  lake.  The  Americans  resolved  to  match  the  St.  Lawrence  before 
the  opening  of  the  lake  the  following  spring,  and  the  keels  of  two  first-class  frigates 
were  speedily  laid — one  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  to  be  called  the  Neio  Orleans,  and  an 
other  at  Storrs's  Harbor,  farther  up  the  bay,  to  be  called  the  Chippewa.  Of  the  for 
mer  we  have  already  taken  notice  on  page  616.  These  vessels  were  partly  finished, 
when  the  proclamation  of  peace  caused  work  upon  them  to  cease,  as  well  as  all  far 
ther  hostilities  in  that  quarter. 

Yeo  did  not  venture  to  attack  Chauncey4  in  Sackett's  Harbor;  but  so  imminent 


ranean  early  in  the  present  century.  He  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  in  1803,  and 
rose  to  the  rank  of  captain  in  1804.  He  was  in  command  of  the  Nautilus  when 
she  was  captured  (see  page  436),  and  after  his  exchange  was  in  continual  service 
on  Lake  Ontario.  He  was  in  the  service  of  his  government,  afloat  and  ashore,  un 
til  his  death,  when  he  was  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Ordnance  and  Hydrography. 

Commodore  Crane  was  buried  with  naval  honors  in  the  Congressional  Burying- 
ground  hi  Washington  City,  and  over  his  remains  is  a  fine  white  marble  monu 
ment  with  the  following  inscriptions: 

West  Side. — "Sacred  to  the  memory  of  WILLIAM  MONTGOMERY  CKANE,  a  captain 
in  the  navy,  who  was  born  in  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  on  the  1st  of  February, 
1784,  and  died  at  Washington  on  the  ISth  of  March,  1846."  South  Side.—1-  En 
dowed  with  uncommon  judgment,  skill,  and  ability,  he  was  conspicuous  amongst 
the  most  distinguished  of  his  professional  compeers."  East  Side.— "The  manly 
qualities  which  he  on  all  occasions  exhibited  endeared  him  to  his  associates,  and 
forty-seven  years  of  arduous  service  proved  his  devotion  to  his  country."  North 
Side. — "In  the  war  with  France,  with  the  Barbary  Powers,  and  with  England,  he 
was  actively  engaged,  and  with  undiminishecl  reputation." 

1  The  fact  that  Sir  James  Yeo,  after  boasting  of  his  desire  to  meet  Chauncey's 
5  fleet,  and  his  look-outs  often  feigning  a  design  to  encounter  the  Lady  of  the  Lake, 
Chauncey's  gallant  little  scout,  caused  many  squibs.  Among  others  was  a  short 
poem  entitled  "  The  Courteous  Knight,  or  the  Flying  Gallant."  After  stating  that  a 
British  knight  (Sir  James)  of  high  reputation  had  jilted  an  American  lady  who  had 
already  made  some  noise  in  the  world  (Lady  of  the  Lake),  the  poet  said  : 

"He  fled  like  a  truant;  the  lady  in  vain 

Her  ogling  and  glances  employed : 
She  aimed  at  his  heart,  and  she  aimed  at  his  brain, 
And  she  vowed  from  pursuing  she  ne'er  would  refrain— 

The  knight  was  most  sadly  annoyed. 
At  length  from  love's  fervor  the  recreant  got  clear, 

And  may  have  for  a  season  some  rest ; 
But  if  this  fair  lady  he  ever  comes  near, 
For  breaking  his  promise  he'll  pay  very  dear, 

The  price  gallant  Chauncey  knows  best." 

See  epigraph  at  the  head  of  Chapter  XXIX.  a  See  page  884. 

3  Soon  after  the  St.  Lawrence  sailed,  Mr.  M'Gowan,  a  midshipman,  accompanied  by  William  Johnston,  the  "  Hero  of 
the  Thousand  Islands"  (see  page  662),  went  with  a  torpedo  to  Kingston  Harbor  to  blow  her  up.  Her  departure  foiled 
the  enterprise.  See  Cooper's  \aval  History,  ii.,  423. 

*  Isaac  Chauncey  was  a  native  of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  and  was  born  in  17T3.  He  went  to  sea  early  in  life 
from  the  port  of  New  York,  and  was  master  of  a  vessel  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years.  He  made  several  successful  voy 
ages  to  the  East  Indies  in  vessels  belonging  to  John  Jacob  Astor,  and  in  1798  he  entered  the  navy  of  the  United  States 
with  a  lieutenant's  commission  under  Truxtun.  He  behaved  gallantly  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  for  his  good  conduct 
there  Congress  presented  him  with  an  elegant  sword.  He  was  promoted  to  commandant  in  1804,  and  in  1806  he  re 
ceived  the  commission  of  captain.  He  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  embryo  navy  on  the  Lakes  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  by  his  gallant  and  judicious  conduct  there  he  won  imperishable  fame.  He  commanded  a 
equadnyi  in  the  Mediterranean  after  the  war.  He  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1818,  and  was  soon  afterward  called 
to  the  post  of  navy  commissioner  at  Washington  City.  He  was  afterward  commander  of  the  naval  station  at  Brook 
lyn,  but  was  appointed  navy  commissioner  again  in  1833,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death,  when  he  was  president 


CKAKE'S  MONUMENT. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


887 


Chauncey  calls  for  Militia. 


Washington  Irving's  Rebuke. 


Close  of  Hostilities  on  the  Northern  Frontier. 


seemed  the  danger,  when  it  was  known 
that  the  &t.  Lawrence  was  ready  for  sea, 
that  a  request  was  made  by  the  com 
manding  officer  at  that  post,  of  Govern 
or  Tompkins,  to  send  thither  some  mili 
tia  re-enforcements,  the  entire  military 
strength  which  had  been  left  there  by 
Izard  being  some  artillery  under  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Mitchell,  and  two  battal 
ions  of  infantry,  commanded  respect 
ively  by  Majors  Malcolm  and  Brevoort. 
The  governor  at  once  sent  his  aid,  Col 
onel  Washington  Irving,1  with  orders 
for  the  commandant  at  the  Harbor  to 
make  such  requisition  on  the  militia  as 
he  should  think  best.     The  result  was 
that  General  Collins  called  out  the  en 
tire  body  of  the  militia  of  Herkimer, 
Oneida,  Lewis,  and  Jefferson  counties, 
and  at  the  close  of  October  the  mili 
tary  force  at  Sackett's  Harbor  was 
about  six  thousand.     When  the  lake 
closed,  and  all  apprehensions  of  an 
attack  by  the  British  subsided,  the 
militia  were  disbanded,  and  the  war  was  closed  on  the  Canada  frontier. 

of  the  board.  He  died  at  Washington  City  on  the  27th  of  January,  1840,  at 
the  age  of  about  sixty-five  years.  He  was  interred  with  appropriate  honors 
in  the  Congressional  Burying-ground,  upon  the  elope  overlooking  the  East 
Branch  of  the  Potomac,  and  over  his  grave  stands  a  superb  monument  made 
of  white  clouded  marble.  On  the  pedestal,  in  relief,  is  the  name  CHAUNOEY. 
On  another  part  are  the  names  of  several  of  his  family.  On  the  east  side  is 
the  following  inscription :  "  ISAAC  CHAITSCEY,  United  States  Navy,  died  in 
this  city  January  27th,  1840,  while  President  of  the  Board  of  Navy  Commis 
sioners,  aged  sixtj'-seven  years."  The  monument  is  about  eighteen  feet  in 
height.  Upon  the  obelisk  is  a  wreath  of  laurel  and  a  sword,  cut  in  relief. 

1  This  was  the  beloved  Washington  Irving,  one  of  the  purest  of  the  planet 
ary  lights  of  American  literature.  Mr.  Irving  was  at  that  time  editor  of  the 
Analectic  Magazine,  for  which  he  had  furnished  some  brilliant  biographies  of 
the  heroes  of  the  war.  Naturally  peaceful  and  retiring,  he  felt  no  special  am 
bition  to  become  a  conspicuous  actor ;  yet  his  soul  was  full  of  patriotic  flame. 
It  was  increased  intensely  by  a  circumstance  which  occurred  on  a  Hudson 
River  steam-boat  late  in  August,  1814,  when  the  news  of  the  capture  and  de 
struction  of  the  national  capital  was  filling  all  loyal  men  with  sadness.  His 
biographer  thus  relates  the  story :  "  It  was  night,  and  the  passengers  had  be 
taken  themselves  to  their  settees  to  rest,  when  a  person  came  on  board  at 
Poughkeepsie  with  the  news  of  the  inglorious  triumph,  and  proceeded,  in  the 
darkness  of  the  cabin,  to  relate  the  particulars  :  the  destruction  of  the  Presi 
dent's  House,  the  Treasury,  War,  and  Navy  OfBces,  the  Capitol,  the  Depository 
of  the  National  Library  and  Public  Records.  There  was  a  momentary  pause 
after  the  speaker  had  ceased,  when  some  paltry  spirit  lifted  his  head  from  a 
settee,  and,  in  a  tone  of  complacent  disdain,  'wondered  what  Jimmy  Madison 
would  say  now  ?'  '  Sir,'  said  Mr.  Irving,  glad  of  an  escape  to  his  swelling  in 
dignation,  'do  you  seize  on  such  a  disaster  only  for  a  sneer?  Let  me  tell 
you,  sir,  it  is  not  now  a  question  about  Jimmy  Madison  or  Johnny  Armstrong. 
The  pride  and  honor  of  the  nation  are  wounded  ;  the  country  is  insulted  and 
disgraced  by  this  barbarous  success,  and  every  loyal  citizen  would  feel  the  ig 
nominy,  and  be  earnest  to  avenge  it.'  'I  could  not  see  the  fellow,'  said  Mr. 
Irving,  but  I  let  fly  at  him  in  the  dark.'  "—The  Life  and  Letters  of  Washington 
Irving,  by  his  nephew,  Pierre  M.  Irving,  i.,  311.  The  fellow  was  cowed  into 
silence.  He  was  a  prototype  of  a  small  class  which  obtained  the  name  of  Cop 
perheads  during  the  late  Civil  War,  to  whom  the  loyal  men  of  the  nation  ad 
ministered  a  similar  rebuke. 

Mr.  Irving's  feelings  were  so  much  stirred  by  the  incident  that,  on  his  arrival  in  New  York,  he  offered  his  services  to 
Governor  Tompkins  as  his  aid.  They  were  accepted,  and  he  became  his  excellency's  aid  and  secretary,  with  the  rank 
of  colonel.  His  name  first  appears  attached  to  a  general  order  dated  September  2, 1814.  He  remained  on  the'govern- 
or's  staff  until  the  close  of  the  war,  a  few  months  afterward. 


OHAUKCBY'S  MONUMENT. 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  trying  Time  for  New  England.  The  Blockade  of  New  London.  Commodore  Lewis  in  Long  Island  Sound. 


CHAPTER  XXXVHL 

"Then,  warriors  on  shore,  be  brave, 

Your  wives  and  homes  defend ; 
Those  precions  boons  be  true  to  save, 

And  hearts  and  sinews  bend. 
Oh,  think  upon  your  fathers'  fame, 

For  glory  marked  the  way ; 
And  this  foe  aimed  the  blow, 

But  victory  crowned  the  day. 
Then  emulate  the  deeds  of  yore, 

Let  victory  crown  the  day."— OLD  SONG. 

ENGLAND  experienced  very  little  actual  war  within  its  bor 
ders,  yet  it  felt  its  pressure  heavily  in  the  paralysis  of  its  peculiar 
industries,  the  continual  drain  upon  its  wealth  of  men  and  money, 
and  the  wasting  excitement  caused  by  constantly  impending  men 
aces  and  a  sense  of  insecurity.  From  the  spring  of  1813  until  the 
close  of  the  contest,  British  squadrons  were  hovering  along  its 
coasts,  and,  in  connection  with  the  Embargo  Acts,  were  double- 
barring  its  sea-ports  against  commerce,  and  threatening  the  de 
struction  of  its  maritime  cities  and  villages. 

The  year  1814  was  a  specially  trying  one  for  New  England.  The  British  govern 
ment,  as  we  have  observed,  had  determined  and  prepared,  at  the  beginning  of  that 
year,  to  make  the  campaign  a  vigorous,  sharp,  and  decisive  one  on  land  and  sea. 
Hitherto  the  more  northerly  coasts  of  the  United  States  had  been  very  little  molest 
ed  by  the  enemy  excepting  by  threatenings,  for  Commodore  Hardy's  blockade  of 
New  London  and  its  vicinity  had  been  so  mild  that  it  was  practically  little  more  than 
a  jailor's  custody  of  two  prisoners — Decatur's  vessels — above  that  town.  Now  a  sys 
tem  of  petty  invasions  commenced,  and  were  followed  by  more  serious  operations. 

The  blockade  of  New  London  was  kept  up  in  1814,  and  as  early  as  April  a  party 
of  British  seamen  and  marines,  in  several  small  vessels  (each  armed  with  a  9  or  1 2 
pounder),  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Coote,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  went  up  the 
•  April  8,  Connecticut  River  in  the  evening,  and  at  four  o'clock  the  next  morninga  land- 
L814-  ed  on  Pautopaug  Point,  seven  miles  from  the  Sound,  spiked  the  heavy  guns 
found  there,  and  destroyed  twenty-two  vessels,  valued  at  one  hundred  and  sixty  thou 
sand  dollars.  At  ten  o'clock  they  went  down  the  river  two  or  three  miles  to  Brock- 
way's  Ferry,  where  they  indulged  in  similar  incendiary  sport.  In  the  mean  time  a 
body  of  militia,  with  some  marines  and  sailors  from  Decatur's  vessels  in  the  Thames, 
under  Captain  Jones  and  Lieutenant  Biddle,  gathered  on  the  shore  and  endeavored 
to  cut  off  their  retreat,  but,  under  cover  of  darkness  that  night,  and  with  the  silence 
of  muffled  oars,  they  escaped. 

At  about  this  time  Commodore  Lewis  made  his  appearance  in  the  Sound  with  thir 
teen  American  gun-boats  for  the  protection  of  the  coast-trade  against  the  Liverpool 
Packet  privateer,  which  was  cruising  very  mischievously  all  along  the  Connecticut 
shore.  She  fled  eastward  at  Lewis's  approach,  and  when  he  reached  Saybrook  he 
found  more  than  fifty  vessels  there,  afraid  to  weigh  anchor  for  fear  of  this  corsair. 
Lewis  told  them  to  follow  his  flotilla,  and  he  would  endeavor  to  convoy  them  safely 
to  New  London.  The  entire  fleet  sailed  on  the  25th,b  and  durino-  the  after- 

A.  Dril 

noon  Lewis  had  a  sharp  engagement  with  a  British  frigate,  sloop,  and  tender. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  889 

Lewis  attacks  the  Blockaders.        Amphibious  Warfare  on  the  New  England  Coast.        New  Bedford  and  Fair  Haven. 

The  merchant  fleet  entered  the  Thames  in  safety,  and  Lewis,  inspirited  by  his  suc 
cess,  determined  to  attack  the  blockading  squadron  with  his  gun-boats.  He  began 
by  hurling  hot  shot,  which  set  the  British  vessels  on  fire.  He  soon  disabled  the  sloop, 
which,  with  the  frigate,  had  attacked  him  while  convoying  the  coasting  vessels.  He 
so  maimed  the  frigate  that  she  was  on  the  point  of  surrendering,  when  night  set  in 
and  the  fire  of  the  gun-boats  ceased.  It  was  excessively  dark,  and  at  dawn  Lewis 
saw  the  enemy  in  the  far  distance  towing  away  the  wounded  vessel.  He  was  about 
to  pursue,  when  several  other  frigates  made  their  appearance,  and  he  prudently  aban 
doned  the  design. 

Early  in  June  the  enemy  commenced  depredations  on  the  coasts  of  Massachusetts. 
On  the  13th  a  detachment  of  two  hundred  men,  in  six.  barges,  were  sent  from  the  Su 
perb  and  Nimrod,  then  lying  in  Buzzard's  Bay,  to  destroy  the  shipping  at  Wareham, 
a  village  at  the  head  of  the  bay.  The  elevated  rocky  neck  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nar 
rows  concealed  the  approach  of  the  barges,  and  the  inhabitants  were  taken  by  sur 
prise.  The  enemy  fired  a  ship,  brig,  and  several  schooners  and  sloops.  The  ship  was 
partially  saved,  and  so  also  was  a  cotton  factory,  which  was  set  on  fire  by  a  Congreve 
rocket.  The  estimated  value  of  the  loss  was  $40,000.  Quite  a  number  of  the  lead 
ing  inhabitants  were  seized  and  carried  away  as  hostages,  so  as  to  prevent  the  mili 
tia  from  firing  on  the  vessels.  These  were  released  when  the  ships  arrived  at  their 
anchorage.  Similar  destruction  was  inflicted  at  Scituate  and  smaller  places.  Some 
times  the  militia  would  meet  the  marauders  and  drive  them  away,  but  in  most  cases 
the  blow  would  be  struck  before  a  foil  could  be  raised  to  avert  it. 

On  the  16th  of  June  the  Bulwark,  74,  Captain  Milne,  carrying  about  ninety  guns, 
anchored  off  the  mouth  of  Saco  River,  in  Maine,  and  her  commander  sent  one  hund 
red  and  fifty  armed  men,  in  five  large  boats,  to  destroy  property  on  the  Neck  belong 
ing  to  Captain  Thomas  Cutts.  That  gentleman  met  them  with  a  white  flag,  and  pro 
posed  a  money  commutation.  The  matter  was  referred  to  Captain  Milne,  who  soon 
afterward  came  ashore  in  his  gig.  He  assured  Cutts  that  he  had  positive  orders  to 
destroy,  and  could  not  spare.  The  torch  was  then  applied,  and  two  vessels  (one  fin 
ished,  the  other  on  the  stocks),  valued  at  $15,000,  were  destroyed,  and  another  one 
taken  away,  which  the  owner  afterward  ransomed  for  $6000.  They  also  plundered 
Mr.  Cutts's  store  of  goods  to  the  amount  of  $2000.* 

At  about  the  same  time  the  Nimrod  and  La  Hague  were  blockading  New  Bedford 
and  Fair  Haven,  little  villages  on  each  bank  of  the  Acushnet  River,  an  inlet  from 
Buzzard's  Bay.  They  lay  in  Tarpaulin  Cove,  watching  vigilantly  the  privateer  Yan 
kee,  belonging  to  De  Wolfe,  of  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  the  great  slave-merchant.  This 
vessel,  and  all  others  of  her  class,  were  unwelcome  to  the  New  Bedford  people,  who 
were  Federalists,  but  right  welcome  to  those  of  Fair  Haven,  who  were  Democrats — 
a  difference  of  opinion  which  led  to  the  separation  of  the  two  towns.  The  Fai-r  Haven 
people  cherished  all  privateers  and  other  enemies  of  the  British,  and  had,  moreover, 
a  fort  on  their  Point,  built  in  the  time  of  the  threatened  war  with  France  in  1798  on 
the  site  of  a  battery  of  the  Revolution.  It  now  had  about  a  dozen  iron  cannon  on  its 
ramparts,  and  was  guarded  by  a  small  garrison  under  Lieutenant  Selleck  Osborne, 
the  poet.2  Of  course,  the  British  blockaders  did  not  like  the  Fair  Haven  folk,  and 
one  dark  night  they  planned  an  attack  on  the  fort  and  the  destruction  of  the  village. 
Every  thing  was  ready  long  before  daylight,  and  the  Nimrod  was  to  be  the  executor 
of  the  plan.  Just  then  the  tin  horn  of  a  solitary  mail-carrier  was  heard,  and  the  clat 
ter  of  his  horse's  feet  as  he  galloped  across  the  Acushnet  bridge  and  causeway  sound- 

1  History  of  Saco  and  Biddeford,  by  George  Folsom,  page  309. 

a  Selleck  Osborne  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  a  printer  by  trade.  He  printed  a  paper  in  Litchfield  about  the 
year  1806.  He  was  afterward  an  editor  in  Wilmington,  Delaware.  He  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant  of  light  dra 
goons  in  July,  1SOS,  and  made  captain  in  1811.  His  company  was  disbanded  in  May,  1S14,  and  he  was  acting  as  lieuten 
ant  in  garrison  at  Fair  Haven.  He  went  to  Lnke  Champlain,  and  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Plattsburg.  In  1823  he 
published  a  volume  of  poems.  He  died  in  Philadelphia  on  the  1st  of  October,  1S26. 


890  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Sea-port  Towns  of  New  England  blockaded.          Appearance  of  Hardy's  Squadron.          The  British  capture  Eastport. 

ed  loudly  upon  the  night  air.  The  horn  was  mistaken  for  the  braying  of  a  trumpet 
sounding  an  advance,  and  the  rattle  of  hoofs  was  interpreted  as  the  forerunner  of  the 
approach  of  a  large  American  force.  The  Nimrod  hastened  to  withdraw  to  a  safe 
distance  from  the  fort,  and  New  Bedford  and  Fair  Haven  were  spared  the  notoriety 
of  a  battle.  The  fort  and  its  iron  cannon  yet  (1867)  remain,  monuments  of  the  wis 
dom  of  ample  preparation  for  evil. 

Other  places  were  menaced,  and  some  were  attacked.  Formidable  squadrons  were 
kept  before  New  York,  New  London,  and  Boston.  Eastport  and  Castine  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  British,  and  Stonington  became  the  theatre  of  a  most  distressing  bom 
bardment.  All  along  the  eastern  coast,  from  the  Connecticut  to  the  St.  Croix,  the 
enemy  carried  on  this  kind  of  warfare,  in  most  cases  marauding  on  private  property 
in  a  manner  which  degraded  the  actors  in  the  eyes  of  all  honorable  men  to  the  level 
of  mere  freebooters.  The  more  respectable  portion  of  British  writers  condemned  the 
policy,  for  it  was  damaging  to  the  British  interest.  Hitherto  lukewarm  New  En 
gland  now  became  intensely  heated  with  indignation  against  the  common  enemy,  and 
burned  with  a  war-fever  which  made  the  peace  party  in  that  region  exceedingly  cir 
cumspect. 

A  more  serious  invasion  of  the  New  England  coast  now  occurred.  Early  in  July 
-July  5,  Sir  Thomas  M.  Hardy  sailed  secretly  from  Halifax1  with  a  considerable  force 

S14'  for  land  and  sea  service.  His  squadron  consisted  of  the  Ramillies,  74,  his 
flag-ship ;  the  sloop  Martin,  brig  Borer,  the  Bream,  the  bomb-ship  Terror,  and  several 
transports  with  troops,  under  Colonel  Thomas  Pilkington.  The  squadron  entered 
Passamaquoddy  Bay  on  the  llth,  and  anchored  off  Fort  Sullivan  at  Eastport,1  which 
was  then  in  command  of  Major  Perley  Putnam,  of  Salem,2  with  a  garrison  of  fifty 
men  and  six  pieces  of  artillery.  The  baronet  demanded  an  instant  surrender  of  the 
post,  giving  the  commander  only  five  minutes  for  consideration.  Putnam  promptly 
refused  compliance,  but,  on  account  of  the  vehement  importunities  of  the  alarmed  in 
habitants,  who  were  indisposed  to  resist,  he  yielded  his  own  judgment,  and  gave  up 
the  post  on  condition  that  while  the  British  should  take  possession  of  all  public  prop 
erty,  private  property  should  be  respected.  When  this  agreement  was  signed,  a  thou 
sand  armed  men,  with  women  and  children,  a  battalion  of  artillery,  and  fifty  or  sixty 
pieces  of  cannon,  were  landed  on  the  main,  and  formal  possession  was  taken  of  the 
fort,  the  town  of  Eastport,  and  all  the  islands  and  villages  in  and  around  Passama 
quoddy  Bay.  Declaration  was  made  that  these  were  in  permanent  possession  of  the 
British,3  and  the  inhabitants  were  called  upon  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  within 
seven  days,  or  leave  the  territory.4  Two  thirds  of  them  complied.  The  custom 
house  was  opened  under  British  officials;5  trade  was  resumed;  the  fortifications 
around  Eastport  were  completed,  and  sixty  pieces  of  cannon  were  mounted ;  and  an 
arsenal  was  established.  Several  vessels,  and  goods  valued  at  three  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars,  accumulated  there  to  be  smuggled  into  the  United  States,  were  made 
prizes  of  by  the  British.  The  enemy  held  quiet  possession  of  that  region  until  the 
close  of  the  war. 

Having  established  British  rule  at  Eastport,  and  left  eight  hundred  troops  to  hold 

1  Eastport  is  on  Moose  Island,  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  which  the  British  claimed  as  belonging  to  New  Brunswick 
under  the  treaty  of  1TS3. 

2  After  the  declaration  of  war  in  June,  1812,  the  United  States  kept  a  garrison  at  Fort  Sullivan.    At  first  there  were 
two  militia  companies,  from  General  Blake's  brigade  on  the  Penobscot,  under  the  command  of  Major  Ulmer.    The 
United  States  afterward  took  possession,  and  substituted  regular  troops  for  militia.    In  the  autumn  of  1813  Major  Put 
nam  was  appointed  to  the  command  there. 

3  It  was  declared  that  "the  object  of  the  British  government  was  to  obtain  possession  of  the  islands  of  Passamaqnod- 
dy  Bay,  in  consequence  of  their  being  considered  within  their  boundary-line."— Letter  from  Lieutenant  Colonel  J.  Fitz- 
herbert  to  General  Brewer,  of  the  Washington  County  Militia,  July  12, 1814. 

*  A  "  royal  proclamation"  to  this  effect  was  made  by  Commodore  Hardy  on  the  14th,  in  which  notice  was  given  that 
"  all  persons  at  present  on  the  island  are  to  appear  before  us  on  Saturday  next,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  on  the 
ground  near  the  school-house  [at  Eastport],  to  declare  their  intentions,"  etc. 

»  They  took  all  the  public  property  from  the  custom-house,  and  vainly  endeavored  to  compel  the  collector  to  sign  un 
finished  treasury  notes  of  the  value  of  $9000.  He  refused,  saying  "  hanging  will  be  no  compulsion." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


891 


Tne  British  Squadron  off  Portsmouth. 


Vigilance  of  General  Montgomery. 


Attack  on  Boston  expected. 


the  conquered  region,  Hardy  sailed  west 
ward  with  his  squadron,  spreading  alarm 
along  the  coast.  Preparations  for  his  re 
ception  were  made  every  where.  Vigilant 
eyes  were  watching,  and  strong  arms  were 
waiting  for  the  appearance  of  the  foe  at 
Portsmouth,  where  little  Fort  Sumner  was 
manned.  The  energetic  General  Montgom 
ery,1  of  New  Hampshire,  ordered  every 
tenth  man  of  his  brigade  to  repair  to  Ports 
mouth  for  its  defense,  and  there  he  com 
manded  in  person.  Little  Fort  Lilly,  at 
Gloucester,  was  armed.  Fort  Pickering, 
near  Salem,  and  Fort  Sewall,  at  Marble- 
head,  were  strengthened  and  garrisoned. 
Fort  Warren,  on  Governor's  Island,  and 
Fort  Independence,  on  Castle  Island,  in 
Boston  Harbor,  were  put  in  readiness  for 
action,  and  well  garrisoned  by  Massachu 
setts  militia. 

An  attack  npon 
the  important  city 
of  Boston  was  con 
fidently  expected 
after  intelligence 

o 

was  received  of  the 
bombardment     of 


August  9, 
1814. 


FOET   PICKEKING.2 

Stonington,a  which  we  shall  presently  consider.  It  was  the  capital  of  New 
England,  and  the  moral  effect  of  its  capture  or  destruction  would  be  great. 
It  was  a  place  for  the  construction  of  American  war-vessels,  which  the  enemy  feared 
more  than  armies.  On  this  account  its  destruction  was  desirable.  It  was  also  a 
wealthy  town,  and  offered  a  rich  harvest  for  plunderers.  It  was  well  known,  too, 
that  it  was  almost  defenseless,  for  it  was  not  until  the  descent  of  the  enemy  upon 
Eastport,  and  his  hostile  operations  elsewhere,  had  aroused  the  authorities  of  Massa- 

1  John  Montgomery  was  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1769,  and  was  a  relative  of  General  Montgomery  who  was  killed 
at  Quebec.    He  became  a  spirited  and  successful  merchant,  and  when  the  War  of  1812  broke  out  he  had  just  sent  a  heavy 
consignment  of  goods  abroad,  which  were  totally  lost  to  him.    At  that  time  he  was  a  brigadier  general  of  New  Hamp 
shire  militia.    He  was  a  Federalist  in  politics,  but  when  his  country  was  in  danger  he  gave  the  government  his  support. 
When  Portsmouth  was  threatened  by  the  British  squadron,  he  took  command  in  person  at  that  place,  and  there  he  re 
mained  until  the  danger  disappeared. 

General  Montgomery  married  a  daughter  of  General  Henry  Knox,  of  the  Revolution,  by  whom  he  had  six  children, 
all  daughters.  He  died  at  Haverhill,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  29th  of  February,  1825,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  I  am 
indebted  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Samuel  Bachelder,  of  Cambridge,  for  the  above  portrait. 

2  This  view  is  from  the  slope  back  of  the  fort,  looking  seaward.    On  the  extreme  left,  in  the  distance,  is  seen  Beverly. 
A  little  to  the  right,  Misery  Island.    Still  farther  toward  the  right,  Baker's  Island  light-house.    On  the  extreme  right  is 
Marblehead  Point. 


892  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Alarm  in  Boston.  Preparations  for  the  Defense  of  the  City.  Citizens  at  Work  on  Fortifications. 

chusetts  from  their  dreams  of  peace  that  any  important  preparations  were  made  to 
repel  an  attack.1  The  people  had  seen  the  blockading  squadrons  from  the  tops  of 
their  houses,  and  trembled  for  the  safety  of  the  town,  but  it  was  not  until  the  close 
of  August  that  any  energetic  measures  were  taken  by  the  leading  men  of  the  city 
•August so,  toward  providing  for  its  defense.  Thena  a  public  meeting  was  called  to 
consider  the  matter ;  and  a  committee,  consisting  of  Harrison  Gray  Otis, 
James  Lloyd,  Thomas  H.  Perkins,  and  others,  were  appointed  to  wait  on  the  govern 
or,  and  present  to  him  an  address  on  the  defenseless  state  of  the  city.  They  assured 
him  that  the  people  were  ready  to  co-operate  in  any  way  for  the  security  of  the  cap 
ital  and  the  state. 

Governor  Strong,  whose  opposition  to  the  war  was  intense,  listened  to  this  appeal, 
and  at  once  instituted  measures  for  the  defense  of  the  whole  line  of  the  coast  of  Mas 
sachusetts  and  of  the  District  of  Maine,  its  dependent.  The  high  ground  on  Noddle's 
Island  (now  East  Boston),  known  as  Camp  Hill,2  was  chosen  for  the  site  of  a  new  and 
heavy  fort,  and  it  was  resolved  to  place  its  erection  under  the  supervision  of  Laommi 
Baldwin,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  as  engineer.  He  issued  his  first  official  no 
tice  on  the  10th  of  September,  when  he  asked  for  tools  and  volunteers  to  work  on 
the  fortification.  The  response  was  patriotic.  Large  numbers  of  the  inhabitants 
might  be  seen,  day  after  day,  toiling  like  common  laborers  with  pickaxe,  spade,  shov 
el,  and  barrow.  Every  class  of  citizens  was  represented.  "  I  remember,"  says  an 
eye-witness,  "  the  venerable  Rev.  Dr.  Lathrop,  with  the  deacons  and  elders  of  his 
church,  each  shouldering  his  shovel  and  doing  yeoman's  service  in  digging,  shovel 
ing,  and  carrying  sods  in  wheelbarrows."3  The  volunteers  were  soon  numbered  by 
hundreds.  A  regular  system  of  employment  was  adopted,  confusion  was  avoided, 
and  the  work  went  on  rapidly.4  The  fort  was  completed  at  the  close  of  October. 
On  the  26th  of  that  month  it  was  formally  named,  in  honor  of  Governor  Strong,  Fort 
Strong,  Lieutenant  Governor  Phillips  officiating  as  the  chief  actor  in  the  ceremonies. 
The  flag  was  hoisted  amid  the  roar  of  artillery  from  Noddle's  Island,  North  Battery, 
and  India  Whai'f,  and  on  the  29th  the  Selectmen  of  Boston  announced  that  "  the  im 
portant  post  of  Fort  Strong  was  completed,"  to  the  great  joy  of  the  people.5  Hap 
pily,  it  was  never  needed.6  A  battery  of  heavy  guns  was  placed  on  Dorchester 
Heights  (South  Boston),  and  other  defenses  were  prepared  on  prominent  points  at 
Roxbury  and  Cambridge. 

When  Commodore  Hardy  left  Eastport  he  rejoined  the  blockading  squadron  off* 

New  London.     He  was  not  long  inactive.     He  was  charged  with  a  part  of  the  duty 

b  isw     enj°me<i  in  the  terrible  order  of  Admiral  Cochrane,  to  destroy  the  coast  towns 

and  ravage  the  country,  and  on  the  9th  of  August1*  he  appeared  off  the  bor- 

1  The  demonstrations  near  Saybrook  and  in  Buzzard's  Bay  had  caused  some  alarm  in  Boston  early  in  the  summer; 
and  on  the  ICth  of  June  the  governor  and  council  appointed  the  Honorable  David  Cobb,  John  Brooks,  and  Timothy 
Pickering  commissioners  for  the  defense  of  the  sea-coast. 

a  On  the  crown  of  present  Webster  Street,  East  Boston,  near  Belmont  Square.  The  fort  was  between  the  square  and 
brow  of  the  hill,  near  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Lamson  in  1860. 

3  Funeral  sermon  at  the  burial  of  Dr.  Lathrop,  by  his  successor,  Eeverend  Dr.  Parkman. 

*  A  superintendent  was  appointed,  who  entered  in  a  register  the  names  of  the  inhabitants  who  offered  their  services. 
The  laborers  were  classified,  and  particular  days  assigned  for  particular  classes.  The  newspapers  of  that  period  were 
filled  with  accounts  of  the  patriotic  ardor  of  the  people  of  all  classes.  Notices  like  the  following  appeared :  "  Twenty- 
five  mechanics  from  each  ward  in  this  town  will  labor  on  the  fortifications  on  Noddle's  Island.  This  day  (September 
14)  to  embark  from  the  ferry  ways  at  half  past  six  o'clock."— Sentinel,  September  14.  "Dealers  in  dry  goods  and  in 
hardware  to  meet  the  next  Thursday  (20th)  to  do  a  day's  work  on  Fort  Strong,"  the  name  which  it  had  already  been 
determined  to  give  the  new  fortification.  Other  industrial  pursuits,  trades,  and  professions,  as  well  as  military  and 
civil  organizations,  were  continually  represented  on  the  work.  Citizens  also  came  from  the  interior.  The  Boston  Ga 
zette  of  October  3  has  the  following  paragraph  :  "  Fort  Strong  progresses  rapidly.  On  Saturday  the  citizens  of  Concord 
and  Lincoln,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred,  performed  labor  on  it ;  the  punctuality  of  the  patriotic  husbandmen  de 
served  the  highest  praise  of  their  fellow-citizens  of  the  metropolis.  The  volunteers  from  wards  1,  3,  and  4,  together 
with  others,  amounted  yesterday  to  five  hundred."  *  Sumner's  History  of  East  Boston,  page  415. 

6  Governor  Strong  had  called  an  extraordinary  session  of  the  Legislature  on  the  5th  of  October,  and  in  his  short  mes 
sage  to  that  body,  after  giving  the  General  Government  a  blow,  he  said :  "  But,  though  we  may  be  convinced  that  the 
war  in  its  commencement  was  unnecessary  and  unjust,"  etc.,  "and  though,  in  a  war  thus  commenced,  we  may  have  de 
clined  to  afford  our  voluntary  aid  to  offensive  measures,  yet  I  presume  there  will  be  no  doubts  of  our  rights  to  defend 
our  dwellings  and  possessions  against  any  hostile  attack  by  which  their  destruction  is  menaced." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  893 

The  British  Squadron  off  Stouington.  Surrender  of  the  Town  demanded  and  refused.  It  is  bombarded. 

ough  of  Stonington,  in  Connecticut,  for  that  purpose,  with  the  JKamillies,  74,  Pactolus, 
44,  bomb-ship  Terror,  the  brig  Dispatch,  22,  and  barges  and  launches.  He  anchored 
his  little  squadron  within  two  miles  of  the  town  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  a 
mile  and  a  half  being  the  nearest f)oint  to  the  village  which  the  depth  of  water  would 
allow  the  flag-ship  to  approach.  He  then  sent  a  flag  of  truce  ashore,  bearing  to  the 
selectmen  of  the  town  the  following  message,  dated  half  past  five  o'clock  P.M. :  "  Not 
wishing  to  destroy  the  unoffending  inhabitants  residing  in  the  town  of  Stonington, 
one  hour  is  granted  them  from  the  receipt  of  this  to  remove  out  of  the  town."1  "Will 
a  flag  be  received  from  us  in  return?"  inquired  the  magistrates  of  the  bearer  of 
Hardy's  letter.  "  No  arrangements  can  be  made,"  was  the  reply ;  and  in  answer  to 
a  question  whether  it  was  the  commodore's  intention  to  destroy  the  town,  they  were 
assured  that  it  was,  and  that  it  would  be  done  effectually.  Satisfied  that  no  accom 
modation  could  be  effected,  the  magistrates  returned  the  following  answer:  "We 
shall  defend  the  place  to  the  last  extremity ;  should  it  be  destroyed,  we  will  perish 
in  its  ruins !" 

The  inhabitants  were  now  in  a  state  of  great  consternation.  The  sick  and  infirm, 
the  women  and  children — all  who  were  incapable  of  bearing  arms,  left  the  village, 
and  the  most  valuable  articles  were  immediately  removed  or  concealed.  A  few  mi 
litia  under  Lieutenant  Hough  were  stationed  on  the  point  of  the  narrow  peninsula  on 
which  Stonington  stands,  to  watch  the  enemy  and  give  notice  of  his  nearer  approach ; 
a  precaution  adopted  none  too  soon,  for  toward  sunset  they  reported  the  Terror  mov 
ing  nearer  the  town  by  warping,  accompanied  by  barges  and  launches  each  carrying 
a  carronade.  At  eight  o'clock  the  bomb-ship  commenced  throwing  shell  from  a  13 
and  a  15  inch  mortar,  and  the  launches  hurled  rockets.  This  assault,  grand  in  appear 
ance  but  terrible  in  fact,  was  kept  up  until  midnight,  when  it  ceased,  and  it  was  as 
certained  that  no  life  had  been  lost,  and  no  serious  damage  inflicted  on  the  shore. 

In  the  mean  time  an  express  had  been  sent  to  General  Gushing,  the  United  States 
commander  of  the  district,  who  regarded  the  movement  as  a  feint  to  cover  a  real  at 
tack  on  Fort  Griswold,  at  Groton,  and  an  attempt  to  seize  Decatur's  frigates  in  the 
Thames  above  New  London.  He  made  corresponding  arrangements  with  General 
Williams,  the  commander  of  the  militia  of  the  district.  A  regiment  was  ordered  to 
Stonington ;  another  to  the  head  of  the  Mystic,  to  oppose  the  landing  of  the  enemy 
there ;  a  company  of  artillery  and  one  of  infantry  were  sent  to  a  point  on  the  Thames 
above  the  frigates ;  and  another  company  of  artillery  and  a  regiment  of  infantry  wTere 
ordered  to  re-enforce  the  garrison  of  Fort  Trumbull,  for  the  protection  of  New  Lon 
don.  These  prompt  dispositions  of  troops  disconcerted  the  enemy's  movements  to 
ward  the  Thames,  if  he  ever  had  a  design  of  making  any. 

During  the  bombardment  on  the  evening  of  the  9th,  some  bold  spirits  at  Stoning 
ton  took  measures  for  opposing  the  landing  of  the  enemy.  The  only  ordnance  in  the 
place  consisted  of  two  18,  one  6,  and  one  4  pound  cannon.  They  dragged  the  6  and 
one  18  pounder  down  to  the  extreme  point  of  the  peninsula,  cast  up  some  breastworks, 
and  placed  them  in  battery  there.  The  other  1 8-pounder  was  left  in  a  slight  battery 
on  the  southwest  point,  near  where  the  present  breakwater  leaves  the  shore.  By  the 
streaming  light  of  the  rockets  they  watched  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  reserving 
their  fire  until  the  barges  and  a  launch  came  in  a  line  near  the  southeast  point  of  the 
peninsula,  when  they  opened  upon  them  with  serious  effect.  The  guns,  loaded  with 
solid  balls,  were  double  shotted,  and  these  so  shattered  the  enemy's  vessels  that  the 
little  flotilla  retreated  in  confusion  toward  the  larger  warriors.  From  midnight  until 
dawn  quiet  prevailed,  and  during  that  time  considerable  numbers  of  militia  and  vol 
unteers  assembled  in  the  neighborhood. 

At  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  10th  the  frigate  Pactolus  and  brig  Dispatch 
were  seen  making  their  way  up  nearer  the  town,  and  at  the  same  time  the  barges  and 

1  This  was  received  by  two  magistrates,  and  Lieutenant  Hough  of  the  militia. 


894 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Bombardment  of  Stonington. 


Captain  Holmes  and  his  Gun. 


His  Flag  nailed  to  its  Staff. 


a  launch  had  approached  the  eastern  side  of  the  peninsula,  out  of  reach  of  the  battery, 
and  commenced  throwing  rockets.  A  number  of  volunteers,  with  muskets  and  the 
4-pounder,  immediately  crossed  the  peninsula  to  oppose  an  expected  landing  of  the 
enemy,  but  they  could  effect  little.  The  Dispatch  came  beating  up,  the  Terror  hurled 
her  shells,  and  the  rocketeers  of  the  barges  were  industrious.  The  Pactolus  ground 
ed  too  far  distant  to  hurt  or  to  be  hurt,  and  she  was  not  engaged  in  the  fight  that 
ensued.  So  severe  was  the  bombardment  of  the  Terror  that  the  mi 
litia  and  volunteers  who  had  assembled  dared  not  enter  the  town. 
Most  of  the  missiles  went  over  the  borough,  but  some  of  them  went 
crashing  through  the  village.  One  of  them,  called  a  carcass,1  unex- 
ploded,  may  still  (1867)  be  seen  on  a  granite  post  on  the  corner  of  Main 
and  Harmony  Streets,  in  Stonington.  It  weighs  two  hundred  and  fif 
teen  pounds.2 

At  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  some  bold  volunteers  came  over 
from  Mystic,  among  whom  was  the  now  (1867)  venerable  Captain  Jer 
emiah  Holmes,  who  had  been  a  prisoner  in  a  British  war-ship  some 
years  before,  and  had  learned  the  art  of  gunnery  well.  He  and  his 
companions  made  their  way  to  the  battery  on  the  point,  when  Holmes 
took  charge  of  the  old  18-pounder.  At  that  moment  the  Dispatch  was  making  her 
last  tack  preparatory  to  anchoring.  Holmes  sighted  the  gun,  which  was  double-shot 
ted  with  solid  round  balls,  and  at  a  favorable  moment  gave  the  word  to  fire.  Both 
shots  struck  the  hull  of  the  brig.  She  at  once  cast  anchor,  with  springs  on  her  cable, 
and  opened  fire  with  24-pound  shot.  The  Terror  sent  shells  in  quick  succession,  while 
Holmes  and  his  companions  kept  the  old  iron  cannon  busy.  The  fight  was  now  fairly 
opened,  and  it  continued  briskly  for  about  an  hour,  when  Holmes's  ammunition  gave 
out,  and  the  borough  was  searched  in  vain  for  more.  At  eight  o'clock  he  ceased  fir 
ing;  and  to  prevent  the  great  gun,  which  they  could  not  drag  away,  being  turned 
upon  the  town  by  the  enemy,  he  had  it  spiked. 

Stonington  was  now  wholly  defenseless,  for  the  militia  were  at  a  respectful  distance 
from  danger.     It  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  invaders,  and 
a  timid  citizen,  who  was  at  the  battery,  proposed  a  for 
mal  surrender  by  lowering  the  color  that  was  floating 
over  their  heads.     "  No  !"    shouted  Captain  Holmes, 
indignantly, "  that  flag  shall  never  come  down  while  I 
am  alive  !"     And  it  did  not,  in  submission  to  the  foe. 
When  the  wind  died  away,  and  it  hung  drooping  by 
the  side  of  the  staff",  the  brave  captain  held  out  the  flag 
on  the  point  of  a  bayonet  that  the  British  might  see  it, 
and  while  in  that  position  several  shots  passed  through 
it.     To   prevent   its   being   struck  by  some   coward, 
Holmes  held  a  companion  (J.  Dean  Gallup)  upon  his 
shoulders  while  the  latter  nailed  it  to  the  staff.    It  was 
completely  riddled  by  the  British  balls  fired  at  the  battery.     I  saw  it  in  Stonington 
in  the  autumn  of  1 860,  and  the  above  engraving  is  a  correct  sketch  of  its  appearance. 
The  old  cannon  was  not  long  silent.    Six  kegs  of  powder,  taken  from  the  privateer 
Halka,  and  belonging  to  Thomas  Swan,  had  been  concealed  by  sea-weed  behind  a 

1  These  carcasses  were  generally  made  of  iron  hoops,  canvas,  and  cord,  of  oblong  shape,  and  filled  with  combusti 
bles  for  burning  towns  and  ships.    This  one  is  of  cast-iron,  and  was  one  of  the  missiles  filled  with  fetid  substances,  and 
called  "stink-pots." 

2  Their  weight  varied  from  sixteen  to  two  hundred  and  sixteen  pounds.    One  of  the  carcasses  was  set  on  fire,  and 
burned  with  a  flame  ten  feet  in  height  and  emitting  a  horrible  stench.    Some  of  the  rockets  were  sharp-pointed,  others 
not,  and  all  were  made  of  thick  sheet-iron,  with  a  fuse.    The  rocket  (which  is  still  in  use  in  modified  form)  contains  in 
its  cylindrical  case  a  composition  of  nitre,  charcoal,  and  sulphur,  proportioned  so  as  to  burn  slower  than  gunpowder. 
The  head  is  either  a  solid  shot,  shell,  or  spherical  case-shot.    It  has  a  guide-stick  attached,  like  the  common  rocket  in 
pyrotechnic  displays.  • 


STONINGTON   FLAG. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  895 


Captain  Holmes  reopens  lire  on  the  British.  A  Deputation  sent  to  Hardy.  The  Result.  Parting  Shots. 

rock.  Their  hiding-place  was  revealed  by  a  lad,  and  at  about  nine  o'clock  the  pow 
der  was  placed  in  care  of  Captain  Holmes.  The  cannon  was  dragged  by  oxen  to 
the  blacksmith-shop  of  Mr.  Cobb,  the  spiking  taken  out,  and  then  it  was  drawn  back 
again  to  the  little  redoubt  and  placed  in  position.  To  the  astonishment  of  the  Brit 
ish,  it  reopened  fire  vigorously.  The  gun  was  always  double-shotted,  and  so  telling 
were  its  missiles  that  by  noon  the  Dispatch  was  so  much  injured  that  she  slipped 
her  cables  and  hauled  off  to  a  place  of  safety.  The  Terror  kept  throwing  shells  until 
night,  but  she  was  out  of  reach  of  the  little  battery. 

During  the  day  quite  a  number  of  militia  assembled  at  Stonington,  and  General 
Isham  took  chief  command.  Order  was  soon  restored,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants, 
somewhat  reassured,  came  back  to  their  homes.  During  the  afternoon,  a  deputation, 
consisting  of  Colonel  Williams  and  William  Lord,  went  with  a  flag  to  the  Ramillies 
as  bearers  of  a  note  from  the  authorities  of  the  borough  (signed  Amos  Denison,  bur 
gess,  and  William  Lord,  magistrate),  in  which  Hardy  was  informed  that  all  unoffend 
ing  inhabitants  had  left  the  village,  and  asked  what  was  to  be  the  fate  of  the  place. 
They  gave  him  assurances  that  no  torpedoes  had  been  fitted  out  from  that  port,  and 
that  none  should  be  in  the  future ;  and  he  agreed  to  cease  hostilities  and  spare  the 
town  on  condition  that  they  should  send  on  board  the  flag-ship,  by  eight  o'clock 
the  next  morning,  Mrs.  Stewart,  a  resident  of  New  London,  and  Avife  of  James  Stew 
art,  the  late  British  consul  at  that  place,  who  was  then  in  the  squadron.  The  depu 
tation  returned,  and  the  Ramillies  and  Pactolus  took  station  within  cannon-shot  of 
the  village  to  await  an  answer,  Hardy  having  threatened,  in  the  event  of  noncompli- 
ance  with  his  demand,  to  lay  the  village  in  ruins. 

At  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  llth,  the  authorities,  under  the  direction  of 
General  Isham,  sent  a  message  to  Commodore  Hardy,1  saying  (what  he  already  knew) 
that  the  borough  of  Stonington  had  no  power  to  comply  with  the  requisition.  "  I 
will  wait  till  twelve  o'clock  to-day,"  said  Hardy,  "  and  if  the  lady  shall  not  be  on 
board  my  ship  at  that  hour  I  shall  renew  the  assault  on  the  town." 

At  three  o'clock  the  Terror  resumed  the  bombardment,  and  threw  shells  until  even 
ing.  A  sufficient  military  force  had  now  arrived  to  prevent  the  landing  of  the  ene 
my,  but  they  could  do  his  shipping  no  harm. 

The  night  of  the  llth  was  an  anxious  one  for  the  inhabitants  of  Stonington.  There 
was  an  ominous  quietude  on  the  water.  It  was  broken  at  sunrise,*  when  .  August  12, 
the  Terror  opened  her  mortars  again.  The  Ramillies  and  Pactolus  warped 
up  near  the  town,  and  at  eight  o'clock  opened  fire.  At  this  time  an  order  was  given 
by  General  Isham  for  the  cannon  on  the  Point  to  be  removed  to  the  north  end  of  the 
town,  where  it  was  supposed  the  enemy  would  attempt  to  land.  About  twenty  of 
the  Norwich  artillery,  under  Lieutenant  Lathrop,  volunteered  to  perform  that  peril 
ous  service.  They  did  so  without  the  slightest  accident. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Ramillies  and  Pactolus  had  given  three  tremendous  broad 
sides  with  spiteful  vigor,  which  proved  to  be  a  parting  salute,  and  quite  harmless. 
They  then  withdrew,  but  the  Terror  kept  up  a  bombardment  until  past  noon.  At 
four  o'clock  the  assailants  all  withdrew,  and  the  little  squadron  anchored  far  away 
toward  Fisher's  Island.2 

During  this  whole  series  of  assaults  not  a  single  life  was  lost.  One  person  was 
mortally  wounded,3  and  five  or  six  slightly.  Among  the  latter  was  Lieutenant 

i  It  was  signed  Isaac  Williams,  William  Lord,  Alexander  G.  Smith,  magistrates ;  John  Smith,  warden ;  George  Hub- 
bard,  Amos  Denison,  burgesses. 

=  Perkins's  History,  etc.,  of  the  last  War ;  Reverend  Frederick  Denison's  paper  on  the  Bombardment  of  Stonington,  in 
The  Mystic  Pioneer;  Oral  statements  to  me  by  Captain  Jeremiah  Holmes;  Report  of  General  Gushing. 

3  This  was  Frederick  Denison,  from  Mystic  Bridge,  a  highly-respected  young  man,  nineteen  years  of  age,  who  was 
in  the  battery  with  Captain  Holmes.  While  outside  of  the  battery  relighting  the  match-rope  with  which  to  fire  the  old 
cannon,  he  was  struck  by  a  ball  from  the  Dispatch,  which  shattered  his  knee.  He  lingered  in  pain  many  weeks,  and 
then  died.  Over  |fs  grave  was  placed  a  stone  with  the  following  inscription:  "If  thy  country's  freedom  is  dear  te 
thee,  contemplate  here  congenial  virtue.  His  life  was  ehort,  but  its  sacrifice  deserves  a  grateful  recollection.  His 


896 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


THE   OOUB   HOUSE. 


Effects  of  the  Bombardment  at  Stonington.         The  Numbers  engaged  in  the  Affair.         The  Impoteucy  of  the  Attack. 

Hough.  About  forty  buildings  were  more  or  less  in 
jured,  and  two  or  three  were  nearly  ruined.  The  rock 
ets  and  shells  set  several  of  them  on  fire,  but  the  flames 
were  extinguished.  Among  the  four  houses  then  on  the 
Point,  only  one  remained  unaltered  when  I  visited  the 
spot  in  1860.  This  was  known  as  the"Cobb  House." 
It  was  ancient  in  form,  covered  on  the  sides  with  shin 
gles  instead  of  clap-boards,  and  presenting  many  a  scar 
of  wounds  received  during  the  bombardment.  It  stood 
on  Water  Street,  not  far  from  the  site  of  the  battery, 
and  was  owned  in  1814  by  Elkanah  Cobb.  Of  my  visit 
at  Stonington  and  in  its  vicinity  in  the  autumn  of 
1860  I  shall  write  presently. 
The  repulse  of  the  British  at  Stonington  was  one  of  the  most  gallant  affairs  of  the 
war,  and  the  spirit  there  shown  by  the  few  who  conducted  the  defense  caused  Hardy 
and  his  commanders  to  avoid  all  farther  attempts  to  capture  or  destroy  Connecticut 
sea-port  towns.  The  assailing  squadron  had  about  fifteen  hundred  men,  while  the 
number  actually  engaged  in  driving  them  away  did  not  exceed  twenty.1  It  was 
computed  that  the  British  hurled  no  less  than  fifty  tons  of  metal  on  to  the  little  pen 
insula  during  the  three  days.2  The  loss  to  the  British  was  twenty  lives,  over  fifty 
wounded,  and  the  expenditure  of  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling.  The  affair  spread  a 
feeling  of  joy  throughout  the  whole  country,  and  the  result  was  a  deep  mortifica 
tion  of  British  pride.  The  impotence  of  the  attack  was  the  point  of  many  a  squib 
and  epigram.3 

Hardy's  easy  conquest  at  Eastport  and  its  vicinity  encouraged  the  British  to  at 
tempt  the  seizure  of  the  whole  country  lying  between  Passamaquoddy  Bay  and  the 

body  moulders  beneath  this  stone,  but  his  spirit  has  fled  to  the  seat  of  immor 
tality. 

"There  the  brave  youth,  with  love  of  virtue  fired, 
Who  gallantly  in  his  country's  cause  expired, 
Shall  know  he  conquered." 

In  1856  the  State  of  Connecticut  caused  a  handsome  marble  monument,  eight 
een  feet  in  height,  to  be  erected  over  his  grave  in  the  cemetery  at  Mystic,  on 
which  are  the  following  inscriptions : 

Eastern  Side:  "Frederick  Denison,  died  Nov.  1, 1814,  aged  19.  He  was  mor 
tally  wounded  by  a  shot  from  the  enemy's  brig-of-war  Dispatch  while  acting  as 
a  volunteer  in  the  defense  of  Stonington  against  the  attack  of  the  British  squad 
ron,  August  10, 1814."  Northern  Side:  "Erected  by  the  State  of  Connecticut, 
1856,  that  the  deed  of  patriotic  devotion  may  be  handed  down  to  other  genera 
tions,  inspiring  them  with  fidelity  to  our  liberties,  and  prompting  them  to  such 
sacrifices  as  shall  win  their  country's  meed."  Southern  Side:  "  His  life  was  his 
legacy,  and  his  country  his  heir."  The  tablet  with  the  earlier  inscription  was 
lying  near  this  monument. 

Young  Denison  was  born  in  Stonington  township  on  the  27th  of  December, 
1795.  He  heard  the  roar  and  saw  the  smoke  of  battle  from  Mystic  on  the  morning  of  the  10th,  and,  borrowing  a  gnu, 
he  crossed  the  river  in  a  canoe,  stopped  a  moment  to  speak  with  his  sick  father  at  the  homestead,  and  hastened  to  the 
post  of  danger,  where  he  received  his  death-blow. 

1  The  following  are  the  names  which  have  been  preserved  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  defenders  of  Stonington : 
Jeremiah  Holmes,  George  Fellows,  Simeon  Haley,  Amos  Denison,  J.  Deane  Gallup,  Isaac  Miner,  Isaac  Denison,  Hora 
tio  Williams,  Jeremiah  Haley,  Asa  Lee,  William  Lord,  Nathaniel  Clift,  Ebenezer  Denison,  Frederick  Denison, Pot 
ter,  John  Miner. 

2  About  fifteen  tons  were  picked  up  by  the  inhabitants  of  Stonington,  and  sold  to  the  United  States  government. 
The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  a  New  York  paper  on  the  19th  of  November  following: 

"  Just  received,  and  offered  for  sale,  about  THREE  TONS  of  BOUND  SHOT,  consisting  of  6,  9, 12, 18,  24,  and  32  pounds,  very 
handsome,  being  a  small  proportion  which  were  fired  from  his  Britannic  majesty's  ships  on  the  unoffending  inhabitants 
of  Stouington  in  the  recent  brilliant  attack  on  that  place.  Likewise  a  few  carcases,  in  good  order,  weighing  about  200 
pounds  each.  Apply  to  S.  TBUMHUI.!.,  41  Peck  Slip." 

3  The  occasion  was  the  theme  of  one  of  the  most  popular  ballads  of  the  time,  written  by  Philip  Freneau,  the  bard  of 
the  Revolution,  in  which  the  impotence  of  the  attack  was  set  forth  in  the  following  verses : 

"  The  bombardiers,  with  bomb  and  ball,  They  dashed  away— and,  pray,  what  then  ? 

Soon  made  a  farmer's  barrack  fall,  That  was  not'taking  Stonington. 

And  did  a  cow-house  sadly  maul  „               „ 

That  stood  a  mile  from  Stomngton.  But  not  a  8he]1  of  a]1  th;y  threW) 

"  They  killed  a  goose,  they  killed  a  hen,  Though  every  house  was  full  i*view, 

Three  hogs  they  wounded  in  a  pen—  Could  burn  a  house  in  Stonington." 


KMT' 

DENISON'S  MONUMENT. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


897 


A  British  land  and  naval  Expedition  leaves  Halifax. 


It  appears  off  Castine,  at  the  Mouth  of  tte  Penobscot. 


Penobscot  River.  For  this  purpose  a 
British  fleet,  consisting  of  the  Bulwark, 
Dragon,  and  Spencer,  74  guns  each ;  the 
frigates  Bacchante  (late  from  the  Med 
iterranean)  and  Tenedos  ;  sloops-of-war 
Sylph  and  Peruvian  /  and  schooner  Pic- 
tan,  with  ten  transports,  sailed  from 
Halifax  on  the  26th  of  August,  1814.1 
The  latter  bore  almost  four  thousand 
troops,  under  the  command  of  Lieuten 
ant  General  Sir  John  Cope  Sherbrooke, 
governor  of  Nova  Scotia,  assisted  by 
Major  General  Gerard  Gosselin  and  Col 
onel  Douglass.  The  fleet  was  in  com 
mand  of  Rear  Admiral  Edward  Griffith. 

It  was  the  intention  of  Sherbrooke 
and  Griffith  when  they  sailed  to  stop 
and  take  possession  of  Machias  ;  but  on 
» August,  the  30tha  they  learned  from  the 

1814  commander  of  the  brig  Rifle 
man,  with  whom  they  fell  in,  that  the 
United  States  corvette  John 
Adams,  24,  Captain  Morris,  had 
gone  up  the  Penobscot,  so  they 
hastened  to  the  mouth  of  that  riv 
er  to  blockade  her.  Passing  up 
the  Green  Island  channel,  they  ar 
rived  in  the  fine  harbor  of  Castine, 
off  Cape  Bigaduce,2  on  which  the 
pleasant  village  of  Castine  now 
lies,  on  the  morning  of  the  1  st  of 
September.  Lieutenant  "Lewis,  of 
the  United  States  Army,  with  about  forty  men,  was  occupying  a  half-moon 


redoubt 


HALF-MOON   BEDOUUT. — FORT  PORTER.3 


which  the  Americans  had  erected  in  1808.    That  redoubt,  whose  embankments  were 

1  The  troops  consisted  of  the  1st  company  of  Royal  Artillery;  two  rifle  companies  of  the  7th  battalion  of  the  Sixtieth 
Regiment ;  detachments  from  the  Twenty-ninth,  Sixty-second,  and  Ninety-eighth  Regiments— the  whole  divided  into 
two  brigades. 

-  This  is  a  corruption  and  diminutive  of  MajaMguaduce,  the  Indian  name  of  the  peninsula,  which  the  Baron  Castine, 
of  whom  I  shall  presently  write,  wrote  Marche-biguitus,  the  u  in  the  last  syllable  being  pronounced  long.  It  is  on  the 
east  side  of  Penobscot  Bay,  in  full  view  of  the  ocean. 

3  The  engraving  is  a  view  of  the  remains  of  the  Half-moon  Redoubt  as  it  appeared  when  I  visited  the  spot  in  the  au 
tumn  of  1860,  looking  southward.  On  the  extreme  left,  in  the  distance,  are  Noddle's  Island,  Cape  Rozier,  and  Hook's 
Inland.  Directly  over  the  redoubt  is  seen  the  ocean ;  on  the  right,  the  main,  with  a  portion  of  the  Camden  Mountains. 
A  little  to  the  right  of  the  redoubt  is  seen  a  small  beacon  at  the  entrance  to  the  Marche-bigaduce,  or  Castine  Creek. 
This  redoubt  was  to  command  that  entrance. 


898 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Flight  of  Americans  from  Castine.  The  John  Adams  up  the  Penobscot  River.  The  British  go  np  that  Stream. 

very  conspicuous  on  the  edge  of  the  water  southward  of  the  village  when  the  writer 
was  there  in  1860,  was  armed  with  four  24-pounders  and  two  field-pieces.  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Nichols,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  who  had  been  sent  in  a  small  schooner 
to  reconnoitre,  sent  a  summons^to  Lewis,  at  sunrise,  to  surrender.  Lewis  saw  that 
resistance  would  be  vain,  so  he  resolved  to  flee.  He  gave  Nichols  a  volley  from  his 
24-pounders,  then  spiked  them,  blew  Tip  the  redoubt,  and,  with  the  field-pieces,  he  and 
the  garrison  fled  over  the  high  peninsula  to  its  neck,  and  escaped  up  the  Penobscot. 
Colonel  Douglass  immediately  landed  from  the  fleet  at  the  back  of  the  peninsula 
with  a  detachment  of  Royal  Artillery  and  two  companies  of  riflemen,  and  took  quiet 
possession  of  Castine,  and  with  it  the  control  of  Penobscot  Bay.  The  number  of 
troops  landed  was  about  six  hundred.  Governor  Sherbrooke  made  the  house  of 
Judge  Nelson  his  head-quarters,  and  the  court-house  and  other  suitable  buildings 
were  occupied  as  barracks  for  the  soldiers.  A  number  of  women  also  were  landed.1 
The  John  Adams  had  just  arrived  from  a  successful  cruise,  and  on  entering  Penob 
scot  Bay  in  thick  weather  had  struck  a  rock  and  received  so  much  injury  that  it  was 
found  necessary  to  lay  her  down  for  repairs.  She  was  taken  as  far  out  of  harm's  way 
as  possible.  It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  she  was  kept  afloat  until  she  reached 
Hampden,  a  few  miles  below  Bangor,  when  she  was  moored  at  Crosby's  Wharf,  with 
several  feet  of  water  in  her  hold.  Some  of  her  crew  were  disabled  by  scurvy,  and 
she  was  almost  helpless.  This  condition  and  position  of  the  Adams  was  made  known 
to  Sherbrooke  on  landing  at  Castine,  and  he  and  Griffith  immediately  detached  a  land 
and  naval  force  to  seize  or  destroy  that  vessel,  and  treat  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns 
on  the  Penobscot  as  circumstances  might  seem  4,o  require.  The  expedition  consisted 

of  the  Sylph  and  Peruvian,  a  small  schooner  as  a 
1/J  0fStSL^t/)  ten<^er>  the   transport  brig  Harmony,  and   nine 
launches,  commanded  by  Captain  Robert  Barrie, 
of  the  Royal  Navy  (commander  of  the  Dragon, 
74),  who  acted  as  commodore.     The  land  forces, 
seven  hundred  strong,  were  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Henry  John, 
assisted  by  Major  Riddle.     The  expedition  sailed  in  the  afternoon  of  the  day  of  the 
•  September  i,    arrival  at  Castine,a  and,  passing  Buckston  at  twilight,  anchored  for  the 
ISM.  night  in  Marsh  Bay.     In  the  mean  time  Sherbrooke  and  Griffith  had  is 

sued  a  joint  proclamation,  assuring  the  inhabitants  of  their  intention  to  take  posses 
sion  of  the  country  between  the  Penobscot  and  Passamaquoddy,  and  offering  them 
protection  on  condition  of  acquiescence.  All  persons  taken  in  arms  were  to  be  pun 
ished,  and  those  who  should  supply  the 
British  with  provisions  should  be  paid 
and  protected. 

There  was  no  disposition  among  the  in 
habitants  along  the  Penobscot  to  submit 
quietly  unless  absolutely  compelled  to. 
On  the  day  when  the  expedition  sailed 
up  the  river,  information  of  the  fact  was 
conveyed  by  express  to  Captain  Morris, 
at  Castine,  and  he  at  once  sent  word 
to  Brigadier  General  John  Blake,  at  his 
home  in  Brewer,  opposite  Bangor,  asking 
him  to  call  out  the  militia  immediately. 
Blake  mounted  his  horse,  and  late  in 
the  afternoon  was  at  Bangor,  issuing  or 
ders  for  the  assembling  of  the  brigade  of  GBNEKAT.  BLAKE'S  RESIDENCE. 

1  On  the  1st  and  5th  of  September  Sherbrooke  and  Griffith  issued  joint  proclamations  assuring  the  inhabitants  ample 
protection  and  quietude  if  they  should  conduct  themselves  peaceably. 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812.  899 

The  John  Adams  at  Hampden.  Preparations  there  to  oppose  the  British.  Gathering  of  the  Militia. 

the  tenth  Massachusetts  division,  of  which  he  was  commander,  and  the  same  evening 
he  rode  down  to  Hampden.  There  he  found  Captain  Morris  engaged  in  preparations 
for  defense.  He  had  dismantled  the  John  Adams,  dragged  her  heavy  guns  to  the 
summit  of  the  high  right  bank  of  the  Soadabscook,  fifty  rods  from  the  wharf,  and 
placed  them  in  battery  there,  so  as  to  command  the  river  approaches  from  below. 
On  the  following  morning  Blake  held  a  consultation  with  Morris,  and  citizens  of 
Bangor  and  Hampden,  on  the  best  methods  of  defense,  but  opinions  were  so  various 
that  no  specific  determination  was  arrived  at.  Morris  had  not  much  confidence  in 
the  militia,  and  declined  any  immediate  co-operation  with  them.  He  approved  of  a 
proposition  to  meet  the  foe  at  his  landing-place,  wherever  that  might  be,  and  ex- 
pessed  his  resolution  to  destroy  the  Adams  should  the  militia  retreat. 

On  the  morning  of  the  2d,  Belfast,  on  the  western  side  of  Penobscot  Bay,  was  taken 
possession  of  by  General  Gosselin,  at  the  head  of  six  hundred  troops,  without  resist 
ance  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  expedition  under  Barrie  and  John,  after  landing  a 
detachment  from  the  Sixtieth  and  Ninety-eighth  Regiments  at  Frankfort,  at  the  head 
of  Marsh  Bay,  proceeded  up  the  river.  The  detachment  marched  up  the  western 
side  of  the  Penobscot  unmolested,  and  the  little  squadron  arrived  at  Bald  Hill  Cove, 
near  Hampton,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The  troops  and  about  eighty  marines 
were  landed,  and  bivouacked  there  during  the  night  in  the  midst  of  a  drenching  rain 
storm. 

During  the  2d,  about  six  hundred  raw  militia,  who  had  never  seen  any  thing  more 
like  war  than  their  own  annual  parade,  assembled  at  Hampden,  and  General  Blake 
posted  them  in  an  admirable  position  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  where  the  residence  of 
Mr.  James  A.  Swett  was  standing  when  I  visited  Hampden  in  1860.  He  had  been 
joined  by  Lieutenant  Lewis  and  forty  regulars  who  fled  from  Castine.  The  artillery 
company  of  Blake's  brigade,  commanded  by  Captain  Hammond,  was  there  with  two 
brass  3-pounders ;  and  an  iron  18-pound  carronade  from  Morris's  vessel  was  placed  in 
battery  in  the  highway  near  the  meeting-house,  in  charge  of  Mr.  Bent,  of  the  artillery. 
Many  of  the  militia  were  without  weapons  and  ammunition,  and  these  were  supplied, 
as  far  as  possible,  by  Captain  Morris.  Such  was  Blake's  position  on  the  dark  and 
gloomy  morning  of  the  3d. 

Morris  in  the  mean  time  had  mounted  nine  short  18-pounders  from  the  Adams  upon 
his  redoubt  on  the  high  bank  over  Crosby's  Wharf,  and  placed  the  battery  in  charge 


OKOBBY'S  WHARF.' 


of  Lieutenant  Wadsworth,  the  first  of  the  Adams,  assisted  by  Lieutenants  Madison 
and  Purser.  With  the  remainder  of  his  guns  he  took  position  in  person  on  the  wharf, 
with  about  two  hundred  seamen  and  marines  and  twenty  invalids,  prepared  to  defend 
his  crippled  ship  to  the  last  extremity. 

1  This  is  a  view  of  Crosby's  Wharf  from  the  mouth  of  the  Soadabscook  Creek,  north  side,  looking  south.  The  place 
where  the  Adams  lay  is  indicated  by  the  vessel  at  the  end  of  the  wharf.  Hampden  is  seen  in  the  distance  over  the 
wharf.  Toward  the  right  is  Crosby's  old  store-house,  and  the  cleared  spot  to  the  right  and  above  it  is  the  place  where 
Morris's  battery  was  planted.  It  is  the  property  of  the  Honorable  Hannibal  Hamlin,  late  [1864]  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States.  Another  store-house,  like  the  one  seen  in  the  picture,  stood  on  the  end  of  the  wharf,  and  was  burnt 
when  the  John  Adams  was  destroyed. 


900 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  British  arrive  at  Hampden. 


Panic  arid  Plight  of  the  Militia. 


The  British  march  on  Bangor. 


The  whole  region  of  the  Penobscot  was  enveloped  in  a  dense  fog  on  the  morning 
of  the  3d.  The  British  at  Bald  Hill  Cove  had  been  joined  by  the  detachment  who 
landed  at  Frankfort,  and  at  five  o'clock  all  were  in  motion  toward  Hampden.  They 
moved  cautiously  in  the  mist,  with  a  vanguard  of  riflemen.  On  the  flanks  were  de 
tachments  of  marines  and  sailors,  with  a  6-pound  cannon,  a  6^-inch  howitzer,  and  a 
rocket  apparatus.  The  British  vessels  moved  slowly  up  the  river  at  the  same  time, 
within  supporting  distance. 

Blake  had  dispatched  two  flank  companies  to  watch  and  annoy  the  approaching 
enemy.  Between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  they  reported  them  crossing  the  little 
stream  that  divides  Hampden  Corners  from  Hampden,  and  ascending  the  hill  to  at 
tack  the  Americans.  The  fog  was  so  thick  that  no  enemy  could  be  seen,  but  Blake 
pointed  his  18-pounder  in  the  direction  of  the  foe,  and  with  his  field-pieces  blazed 
away  with  considerable  effect,  as  was  afterward  ascertained.  Pie  had  resolved  to  re 
serve  his  musket-firing  \intil  the  enemy  should  be  near  enough  to  be  seriously  hurt, 
but  the  ordeal  of  waiting,  without  breastworks  in  front,  was  too  severe  for  the  un 
tried  militia.  The  enemy  suddenly  advanced  at  a  "  double-quick,"  firing  volleys  in 
rapid  succession.  The  militia,  panic-stricken,  broke  and  fled  in  every  direction,  leav 
ing  Blake  and  his  officers  alone.  Lieutenant  Wadsworth,  at  Morris's  upper  battery, 
perceived  the  disaster  in  its  full  extent,  and  communicated  the  fact  to  his  chief  on 
the  wharf.  Morris  knew  the  impending  danger.  His  rear  and  flank  were  exposed, 
and  he  saw  no  other  way  for  salvation  than  flight.  He  ordered  Wadsworth  to  spike 
his  guns,  and  with  his  men  retreat  across  the  bridge  over  the  Soadabscook  while  it 
was  yet  open,  for  that  stream  was  fordable  only  at  low  water,  and  the  tide  was  ris 
ing.  Wadsworth  did  so,  his  rear  gal 
lantly  covered  by  Lieutenant  Watson 
with  some  marines.  The  John  Adams 
was  fired  at  the  same  time,  the  guns 
on  the  wharf  were  spiked,  and  the  men 
under  the  immediate  command  of  Mor 
ris  retreated  across  the  Soadabscook 
bridge.  Their  commander  was  the  last 
man  to  leave  the  wharf.  Before  he 
could  reach  the  bridge  the  enemy  were 
on  the  bank  above  him.  He  dashed 
across  the  stream,  arm-pit  deep,  under 
a  galling  musket-firing  from  the  Brit 
ish,  unhurt,  and,  joining  his  friends  on 
the  other  side,  retreated,  with  Blake, 
his  officers,  and  a  bare  remnant  of  his 
command,  to  Bangor.  From  there  Mor 
ris  soon  made  his  way  to  Portland  over 
land. 

The  British  took  possession  of  Hamp 
den  without  farther  resistance,  and  a 
part  of  their  force,  about  five  hundred 
strong,  with  their  vessels,  pushed  on 
toward  Bangor.  They  met  a  flag  of 
truce  a  mile  from  the  town,  with  a 
message  from  the  magistrates  asking 
terms  of  capitulation.  No  other  was 

i  Charles  Morris  was  born  in  Woodstock,  Connecticut,  on  the  26th  of  July,  1T84.  He  was  one  of  the  most  useful  men 
in  the  American  Navy.  He  entered  the  service  as  midshipman  in  July,  1799,  and  from  that  day  until  his  death,  a  pe 
riod  of  fifty-seven  years,  his  furloughs  and  absences  from  active  duty  amounted  only  to  two  years.  He  was  distin 
guished  in  the  Mediterranean  during  the  wars  with  the  Barbary  powers ;  and  as  a  volunteer  with  Decatur  in  the  de- 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


901 


Plundering  at  Bangor. 


Destruction  of  Vessels. 


Outrages  at  Hampden. 


Commodore  Morris. 


promised  excepting  respect  for  private  property.     They  entered  the  village  at  about 
ten  o'clock,a  when  Commodore  Barrie  gave  notice  that,  if  required,  sup 
plies  should  be  cheerfully  sent  in,  the  inhabitants  should  be  unharmed 
in  persons  and  property.     This  assurance  was  scarcely  uttered  before  Barrie  gave 
tacit  license  to  his  sailors  to  plunder  as  much  as  they  pleased ;  and  almost  every 
store  on  the  western  side  of  the  Kenduskeag  Creek,  which  there  enters  the  Penobscot, 
was  robbed  of  all  valuable  property.     Colonel  John,  on  the  contrary,  did  all  in  his 
power  to  protect  the  inhabitants. 

The  British  remained  at  Bangor  thirty-one  hours,  during  which  time  they  were 
quartered  on  the  inhabitants,  and  compelled  them  not  only  to  bring  in  and  surrender 
all  their  arms,  military  stores,  and  public  property  of  every  kind — even  a  few  dollars 
in  the  post-office — but  to  report  themselves  prisoners  of  war  for  parole,  with  the 
agreement  that  they  would  not  take  up  arms  against  the  British.  They  compelled 
General  Blake  to  come  to  Bangor,  surrender  himself  as  a  prisoner,  and  sign  the  same 
parole.  One  hundred  and  ninety  citizens  were  thus  bound  to  keep  themselves  from 
hostilities.  When  this  work  was  accomplished,  the  selectmen  were  required  to  give 
a  bond,  in  the  penal  sum  of  $30,000,  as  a  guaranty  for  the  delivery  of  vessels  on  the 
stocks  at  Bangor  to  the  commander  at  Castine  by  the  end  of  October.  The  speedy 
appearance  of  peace  canceled  this  bond. 

Having  finished  their  work,  and  despoiled  the  inhabitants  of  property  valued  at 
$23,000,  and  destroyed  several  vessels,1  the  marauders  left  Bangor,  and  spent  the  5th 
in  similar  employment  at  Hampden.  There  the  soldiers  and  sailors,  unrebuked  by 
Barrie,  performed  scenes  which  had  been  enacted  at  Havre  de  Grace  under  the  eye 
of  Cockburn.  They  committed  the  most  wanton  acts  of  destruction.  The  village 
meeting-house  (now  the  town-house — see  engraving,  next  page)  was  desolated.  They 
tore  up  the  Bible  and  Psalm-books,  and  demolished  the  pulpit  and  pews.  They  de 
stroyed  cattle  and  hogs  as  at  Havre  de  Grace.  They  carried  away  much  private 
property,  and  compelled  the  selectmen  to  sign  a  bond  for  $12,000  as  a  guaranty  for 
the  delivery  of  vessels  at  Hampden  to  the  commander  at  Castine.2  This  bond  shared 


structiou  of  the  Philadelphia,  he  was  the  first  on  her 
deck.  He  was  a  lieutenant  when  the  War  of  1812  broke 
out,  and  was  the  executive  officer  of  the  Constitution  at 
the  time  of  her  escape  from  a  British  squadron  (see  page 
439),  and  her  capture  of  the  Guerriere.  In  that  action 
he  was  shot  through  the  body  by  a  musket-ball.  He 
was  promoted  to  post  captain  in  September,  1813,  for 
special  services,  and  took  command  of  the  John  Adams 
sloop-of-war.  The  following  year,  as  we  have  seen  in 
the  text,  he  was  compelled  to  destroy  his  vessel.  The 
war  closed  soon  afterward,  and  he  was  employed  in  im 
portant  services.  He  was  captain  of  the  Brandywine 
when  she  conveyed  La  Fayette  back  to  France  in  1825, 
and  he  afterward  commanded  squadrons  on  the  Brazil 
and  Mediterranean  stations.  His  last  cruise  was  in  the 
Delaware  in  1S44,  after  which  he  was  almost  continually 
at  the  head  of  one  of  the  bureaus  in  the  Navy  Depart 
ment  at  Washington.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  at  Washington  on  the  2Tth  of  January,  1856, 
he  was  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Hydrography  and  Repairs. 
No  man  in  the  navy  ever  stood  higher  in  the  estimation 
of  his  countrymen  for  wisdom  and  integrity.  He  was  v 
buried,  with  appropriate  honors,  upon  a  beautiful  wood 
ed  slope  in  Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  near  Georgetown,  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  over  his  grave  is  a  beautiful 
white  marble  monument,  delineated  in  the  engraving, 
with  this  simple  inscription  on  its  western  side,  under 
an  anchor  enwreathed :  "  COM.  CHARLES  MOEEIS.  BOEN 
JULY  26, 1784.  DIED  JANUARY  2T,  1856." 

1  The  number  of  vessels  burned  was  fourteen,  and  six 
were  carried  away.  The  entire  property  destroyed  or 
carried  away  from  Bangor  was  valued  at  $46,000. — Wil 
liamson's  History  of  Maine,  ii.,  648,  note  *. 

'  History  of  Acadie,  Penobscot  Bay  and  River,  etc.,  by  Joseph  Whipple,  1S16  ;  MS.  History  of  thz  British  Operations  on 
the  Penobscot,  by  the  late  William  D.  Williamson,  author  of  a  Hiatory  of  the  State  of  Maine. 


COMMODORE   MORRIS'S   MONUMENT. 


902 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Loss  of  Property  at  Hampden. 


General  Blake  censured,  but  acquitted. 


Castine  in*  the  Revolution. 


OLD  MEETING-HOUSE    (NOW   XOWN-ilOUBE),  IIAMPDEN.2 


the  fate  of  the  one  given  at 
Bangor.  The  total  loss  of 
property  at  Hampden,  exclu 
sive  of  a  valuable  cargo  of 
brandy,  wine,  oil,  and  silk 
which  they  found  on  board 
the  schooner  Commodore 
Decatur,  was  estimated  at 
$44,000.! 

The  indignant  sufferers 
charged  a  greater  portion  of 
their  misfortunes  to  the  feeble  resistance  made  by  General  Blake  at  Hampden.  His 
tardiness ;  his  non-compliance  with  the  wishes  of  Morris  and  others  to  attack  the  en 
emy  at  their  landing-place ;  his  neglect  to  throw  up  breastworks  on  the  ridge  at 
Hampden,  and  other  evidence  of  inefficiency,  were  regarded  as  crimes ;  and  he  was 
charged  with  cowardice,  and  even  treason.  The  clamor  against  him  was  vehement 
for  some  time.  He  was  hung,  shot,  and  burned  in  effigy  ;3  and  for  a  while  his  per 
sonal  safety  was  not  considered  secure  in  some  districts.  The  public  indignation 
finally  cooled,  and  sober  judgment,  on  considering  the  crude  materials  of  his  little 
force,  acquitted  him  of  every  other  fault  but  a  lack  of  competent  military  ability  and 
experience  for  the  extraordinary  occasion.  A  court  of  inquiry  investigated  his  con 
duct,  and  acquitted  him  of  censure  or  suspicion.* 

On  the  12th  of  September  Sherbrooke  and  Griffith,  with  most  of  the  troops  and  a 
greater  part  of  the  fleet,  left  Penobscot  Bay,  and,  after  capturing  Machias,5  returned 
to  Halifax.  General  Gerard  Gosselin,  a  gentleman  in  manners  and  a  brave  soldier, 
was  left  in  command  at  Castine,  and  immediately  prepared  to  maintain  his  position 
by  thoroughly  repairing  the  fortifications  there.  Old  Fort  George,  in  the  centre  of 
the  peninsula,  which  was  built  by  the  British  in  1779,6  was  repaired,  fraised,  and 

i  In  the  midst  of  the  rapine  a  committee  waited  on  Barrie,  and  told  him  that  the  people  expected  at  his  hands  the 
common  safeguards  of  humanity,  if  nothing  more,  when  the  brutal  officer  replied,  "  I  have  none  for  you.  My  business 
is  to  burn,  sink,  and  destroy.  Your  town  is  taken  by  storm,  and  by  the  rules  of  war  we  ought  both  to  lay  your  village 
in  ashes  and  put  its  inhabitants  to  the  sword.  But  I  will  spare  your  lives,  though  I  doii't  mean  to  spare  your  houses." 
—  Williamson's  History  of  Maine,  ii.,  646. 

=  This  is  a  view  of  the  old  meeting-house,  now  used  as  a  town-house,  as  it  appeared  in  the  autumn  of  1960.  On  the 
left  is  seen  the  old  hearse-house,  and  in  the  distance  is  seen  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Swett,  mentioned  on  page  899  as  the 
position  of  General  Blake  when  attacked  by  the  British  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  September. 

3  A  small  building  was  yet  standing  in  Hampden  when  I  was  there  in  1860, 
in  which  the  effigy  of  General  Blake  was  made.    It  was  a  cabinet-maker's  shop, 
the  property  of  George  C.  Reed,  standing  about  ninety  rods  from  the  town- 
house.    In  one  corner  of  it  I  saw  a  post  into  which  a  cannon-ball  entered  dur 
ing  the  action,  and  was  still  lodged.    In  the  shop  was  a  rude  candelabra,  used 
on  the  occasion  of  exhibiting  the  effigy.    That  shop  is  one  of  the  scarred  relics 
of  the  fight,  and  is  represented  in  the  annexed  engraving. 

4  Williamson's  History  of  Maine,  ii.,  649. 

5  Machias  is  on  the  west  branch  of  the  Machias  River,  and  capital  of  Wash 
ington  County,  Maine.    At  the  time  we  are  considering,  the  fort  at  that  place 
was  garrisoned  by  fifty  United  States  troops  and  ten  militia,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Captain  Leonard.    When  the  British  appeared,  and  it  was  evident  that 
the  fort  could  not  be  held,  it  was  blown  up,  and  the  garrison  retreated  to  the 
block-house  near.    They  were  forced  to  fly  from  that,  and  escaped. 

6  In  1TT9,  the  British,  under  General  Francis  M'Lean,  took  possession  of  the 
peninsula  of  Bigaduce  [s«e  note  2,  page  897],  and  commenced  the  erection  of 

a  fort  on  the  high  central  part  of  the  land.  The  people  of  Massachusetts  resolved  to  expel  them,  for  they  were  on 
their  territory,  Maine  being  then  a  dependent  of  the  Old  Bay  State.  They  sent  a  fleet  of  nineteen  armed  vessels  and 
twenty-four  transports,  with  almost  four  thousand  men.  Commodore  Saltonstall  was  the  naval  commander,  and  Gen 
eral  Lovell  led  the  troops.  M'Lean  was  informed  of  this  expedition  four  days  before  its  arrival  in  Penobscot  Bay,. and 
prepared  to  receive  the  Americans.  They  arrived  on  the  25th  of  July,  and  landed  on  the  28th.  They  at  once  com 
menced  a  siege  of  the  fort,  and  continued  it  until  the  13th  of  August,  when  Lovell  was  informed  of  the  arrival  of  Sir 
George  Collier  with  a  heavy  naval  force.  He  immediately  re-embarked  his  troops  on  the  transports,  and  had  the  flo 
tilla  drawn  up  in  crescent  form  across  the  Penobscot,  to  dispute  the  passage  until  the  troops  in  the  boats  could  flee  up 
the  river.  Collier  sailed  boldly  in,  chased  the  Americans  up  the  river,  destroyed  all  their  vessels,  and  compelled  them 
to  find  their  way  home  through  the  wilderness.  The  British  then  completed  the  fort,  which  they  named  George,  in  hon 
or  of  the  king. 
The  Twenty-ninth  British  Regiment,  that  was  at  the  taking  of  Castine,  was  the  same  that  was  stationed  at  Boston 


REED'S  SHOP. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


903 


New  military  Works  at  Castine. 


An  Oath  of  Allegiance  exacted. 


Popularity  of  General  Gosselin. 


KEMAINS  OF  FOKT  GEORGE. 


armed.  The  half -moon  re 
doubt  was  rebuilt.  In  vari 
ous  parts  of  the  peninsula  new 
works  were  thrown  up  ;J  and 
through  the  Neck,  from 
Hatch's  Cove  to  Perkins's 
Back  Cove,  a  canal  was  cut. 
General  Gosselin  issued  a 
"October 31,  proclamation,a  by 
which  he  directed 
all  the  male  inhabitants  be 
tween  the  Penobscot  and  the 
boundary-line  of  New  Bruns 
wick,  above  sixteen  years  of 
age,  to  take  an  oath  of  alle 
giance  to  his  majesty,2  and 
also  of  neutrality.  By  the 
latter  they  agreed  that  they 
would  peaceably  and  quietly 
demean  and  conduct  themselves  while  in  that  territory ;  that  they  would  not  carry 

arms,  harbor   Brit 
ish    deserters,   nor 
give  intelligence  to 
^^^  the  king's  enemies 

"  /f  VI     ^^^//  during  the  current 

£S  \^£^yj  war3     The  gdect 

men   of  different 

towns  were  authorized  to  administer  these  oaths  of  allegiance  and  neutrality;  and 
the  permanent  occupation  of  the  country  by  the  British  was  quietly  accepted  by  the 
inhabitants  as  an  inevitable  necessity. 

General  Gosselin  made  himself  very  popular  at  Castine.  The  officers  were  quar 
tered  in  private  houses,  and  paid  fairly  for  all  they  received  from  the  inhabitants.4 
The  soldiers  were  housed  in  the  court-house  and  public  school  building.  The  barn 
of  Mr.  Hook,  the  collector  of  the  port,5  was  converted  into  a  theatre,  and  play-act 
ors  from  Halifax  afforded  much  amusement.  Had  these  new-comers  been  friends  in 
stead  of  enemies,  the  inhabitants  of  Castine  would  have  enjoyed  their  visit,  notwith 
standing  the  citizens  suffered  many  inconveniences.  It  was  not  very  long.  Peace 
was  proclaimed  early  in  1815,  and  on  the  25th  of  Aprilb  the  British  sailed  out  b 
of  Penobscot  Bay.6  The  event  was  celebrated  by  the  people  with  festivities 

at  the  time  of  the  "massacre"  there  in  1770.  The  celebrated  Sir  John  Moore,  whose  burial  was  the  subject  of  Wolfe's 
immortal  poem,  commencing 

"Not  a  gun  was  heard,  nor  a  funeral  note,"  etc., 

was  an  ensign  in  this  regiment,  and,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  said  that  the  first  time  he  ever  heard  an  enemy's  gun  was 
at  Castine  on  the  occasion  in  question.  He  then  commanded  a  picket. 

1  The  following  defensive  works  garnished  the  peninsula  at  the  close  of  the  year :  Fort  George  ;  batteries  Sherbrooke, 
Gosselin,  Penobscot,  Griffith,  Fnrieuse,  Castine,  and  United  States  ;  a  redoubt  called  Fort  Anne ;  little  batteries  on  North 
aud  West  Points,  and  a  block-house.    Battery  Castine  was  old  Fort  Castine,  now  in  the  village,  and  Battery  United 
States  was  the  half-moon  redoubt  blown  up  by  Lewis.    It  was  originally  called  Fort  Porter,  it  having  been  construct 
ed  by  an  officer  of  that  name  in  1808. 

2  The  following  was  the  form  of  the  oath  of  allegiance,  copied  from  an  original,  in  manuscript,  before  me : 

"I,  A.  B.,  do  swear  that  I  will  be  faithful,  and  bear  true  allegiance  to  his  majesty  King  George  the  Third.    So  help 
me  God." 

3  The  seal  and  signature  of  General  Gosselin  above  given  I  copied  from  his  proclamation  in  manuscript. 

4  See  note  1,  page  904. 

5  Mr.  Hook  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape  from  Castine  with  the  public  papers  before  the  British  landed. 

6  History  o/  Acadie,  Penobxcot  Bay  and  River,  by  Joseph  Whipple,  1816;  History  of  the  State  of  Maine,  by  William  D. 
Williams,  in  two  volumes,  1832 ;  MS.  Narrative  of  the  War  in  Maine,  placed  in  the  author's  hands  by  the  Hon.  Joseph 
Williamson,  of  Belfast ;  Oral  and  written  statements  to  the  author  by  Dr.  John  Mason  and  the  widow  of  the  Rev.  Wil- 


904 


PI.CTOHIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Departure  of  the  British  from  Penobscot  Bay. 


Visit  to  historic  Places  on  the  New  England  Coast. 


and  rejoicings.  Within  a  few  days  aft 
erward  not  an  armed  enemy  remained 
westward  of  the  St.  Croix  River  and 
Passamaquoddy  Bay.  Peace,  joy,  tran 
quillity,  and  prosperity  came  with  the 
birds  and  blossoms  in  the  spring  of  1815  ; 
and  from  that  day  until  now  no  foreign 
enemy  has  ever  appeared  on  our  coast 
with  hostile  intentions,  and  probably 
never  will.1 

I  visited  most  of  the  places  mentioned 
in  this  chapter  in  the  month  of  Novem 
ber,  1860.  Leaving  New  York  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  16th,  I  arrived  in  Bos 
ton  at  midnight,  and  spent  three  days 
there  visiting  men  and  places  associated 
with  the  War  of  1812,  in  company  with 
//,  a  friend ,2  to  whom  I  had  been  indebted 

'//  MEMENTO  OF   THE   BRITISH   AT   CASTINE.  n    .    i   •       -l  •  •      r  '  1-1 

for  kind  attentions  and  information  while 
seeking  materials  for  my  Pictorial  Field-book  of  the  Revolution  twelve  years  before. 

In  East  Boston3  we  visited  Mr.  Samuel  Dillaway,  who  was  a  soldier  and  a  priva- 
teersman  in  the  war.  He  was  captured  on  board  the  privateer  Sine  qua  non,  put 
into  a  prison-ship  at  Gibraltar,  sent  to  England,  and  finally  exchanged.  He  informed 
us  that  the  authorities  in  charge  of  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  sending  them  in 
cartel  ships  to  America,  generally  subjected  their  victims  to  as  much  annoyance  as 
possible.  They  were  in  the  habit  of  sending  prisoners  whose  homes  were  in  the 
Northern  States  to  some  Southern  port,  and  those  from  Southern  States  to  Northern 
ports.  This  produced  exasperation,  and  in  many  instances  the  prisoners  rose  and 
took  possession  of  the  ship.  That  was  the  case  when  Mr.  Dillaway  came  in  the  brig 
Shakespeare.  The  captain  was  ordered  to  a  Southern  port.  The  prisoners  took  pos 
session  of  the  ship  and  sailed  her  into  Boston. 

We  went  to  the  site  of  Fort  Strong,  in  East  Boston,4  saw  some  of  its  remaining 
mounds,  and  then  started  to  visit  Fort  Warren,  on  Governor's  Island,  which  became 
famous  as  a  prison  for  political  offenders  during  the  late  Civil  War.  The  sea  was 
too  rough  for  a  skiff,  and  we  contented  ourselves  with  gazing  at  the  venerable  fort 
ress  from  the  highest  part  of  East  Boston.  We  turned,  and  in  a  two-wheeled  chaise 
rode  over  to  Charlestown,  dined  with  Mr.  Frothingham,  the  accomplished  author  of 
The  Siege  of  Hoston,5  who  then  lived  in  the  shadow  of  Bunker's  Hill  Monument,  on 
Monument  Square,  and  with  him  visited  Mr.  Byron,  one  of  the  last  survivors  of  the 
crew  of  the  frigate  Constitution.  He  was  a  Baltimorean  and  a  musician.  He  en 
tered  the  land  service,  but,  preferring  the  sea,  became  a  fifer  on  board  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  was  made  a  "  minute-man ;"  that  is  to  say,  one  ready  to  fight  at  a  mo 
ment's  warning.  As  such  he  fought  gallantly  in  the  actions  of  that  vessel,  and  was 
highly  commended  by  his  superiors.  Mr.  Byron  was  lively  and  fluent  in  conversa- 
•  tion,  and  entertained  us  for  an  hour  with  grave  and  humorous  narratives  of  his  expe 
rience  in  the  service.  He  has  passed  away  since  my  visit. 

Ham  Mason,  of  Bangor ;  Major  Crosby  and  Mrs.  Stetson,  of  Hampden ;  Dr.  Joseph  L.  Stevens  and  Samuel  T.  Noyes,  of 
Castine,  and  Judge  Williams,  of  Belfast. 

i  A  curious  memento  of  the  British  at  Castine  was  yet  in  existence  when  I  visited  that  place  in  I860.  It  was  an  out 
line  of  the  British  flag  above  that  of  the  American  flag,  and  the  words  "Yankee  Doodle  upset,"  cut  by  Lieutenant  El 
liot,  of  the  British  Army,  with  a  diamond  on  a  window-pane  in  the  house  of  Mrs.  Whitney,  where  some  of  the  officers 
were  quartered.  That  pane  of  glass  was  the  only  one  in  the  sash  at  the  time  of  my  visit  that  was  not  badly  cracked. 
The  above  engraving  is  a  fac-simile  of  the  diamond-etching,  slightly  reduced.  2  Frederick  Kidder,  Esq. 

3  Noddle's  Island.    It  contained  25,000  inhabitants  in  18(50.  *  Page  892. 

5  History  of  the  Siege  of  Boston,  etc.,  by  Richard  Frothingham,  Jan. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


905 


Navy  Yard  at  Charlestown. 


The  Figure-head  of  the  Constitution. 


The  Place  of  her  Construction. 


'  1834. 


BILLET-HEAD. 


At  Charlestown  we  visited  the  national  dock-yard,  and  at 
the  head  of  the  dry-dock  saw  upon  a  post,  over  a  lamp,  the 
billet-head  which  the  Constitution  had  borne  during  her  bat 
tles  in  the  War  of  181 2.1  It  was  the  one  which  Commodore 
Elliott  removed  in  1834  while  she  was  lyyig  at  that  station, 
and  put  in  its  place  a  bust  of  General  Jackson,  then  President 
of  the  United  States.  The  substitution  of  that  image  for  the 
old  billet-head  which  had  braved  the  storms  of  battle  and  the 
seas  during  the  War  of  1812  was  considered  an  unpatriotic 
act,  and  was  vehemently  denounced  by  the  Opposition  as  a 
partisan  outrage.  Elliott  was  assailed  in  newspapers,  hand 
bills,2  and  speeches,  and  was  threatened  with  violence  in 
anonymous  letters  if  he  did  not  remove  the  obnoxious  effi 
gy.  He  disregarded  all  complaints ;  so,  one  night,  early  in 
July,a  during  a  fearful  storm  of  wind,  lightning,  and 
rain,  a  daring  young  man  from  New  York  went  out  to 
the  ship  in  a  skiff,  sawed  off  the  head  of  the  image,  and  car 
ried  it  to  Boston.  Great  efforts  were  made  to  discover  the 
mutilator  of  a  government  vessel,  but  in  vain.  The  excite 
ment  died  away,  and  at  near  the  close  of  Jackson's  adminis 
tration  the  iconoclast  went  to  Washington  City,  called  on  the 
President,  frankly  acknowledged  his  exploit,  and  assured  him  that  it  was  only  a 
"  young  man's  dare-devil  adventure."  He  amused  more  than  angered  the.  President, 
who  told  him  he  should  not  be  harmed.3 

In  the  museum  of  the  Navy  Yard  at  Charlestown  wre  saw  a  beautiful  alabaster 
model  of  the  monument  erected  to  the  memory  of  Lieutenant  Allen,  at  Hudson,  New 
York.  Under  it,  in  a  glass-case,  were  a  lock  of  Allen's  hair,  and  the  bullet  which 
caused  his  death.  We  found  little  else  of  interest  connected  with  the  history  of  the 
War  of  1812,  and,  after  a  brief  visit  to  Bunker's  Hill  Monument,  returned  to  Boston. 
On  the  following  day  the  writer  went  out  to  Salem  by  railway,  sixteen  miles  from 
Boston,  and  visited  Fort  Pickering,  Marblehead,  and  other  points  of  interest,  in  com 
pany  with  a  citizen  of  Salem.  It  was  a  cold  November  morning,  and  with  difficulty 
the  pencil  was  used  in  sketching  the  exterior  of  Fort  Pickering,  seen  on  page  891,  and 
the  view  of  the  interior  (see  next  page),  drawn  while  standing  on  the  southern  ram 
parts  of  the  fortification,  looking  northward  toward  Beverly.  This  fort  was  built  in 
1798,  and  named  in  honor  of  the  eminent  Timothy  Pickering,  who  was  born  in  that 
town,  and  whose  remains  lie  buried  in  its  soil.  It  was  an  irregular  work,  occupied 
about  an  acre  of  ground,  and  commanded  the  .harbor  and  the  entrance  to  the  North 

1  The  original  figure-head  of  the  Constitution  was  a  bust  of  Hercules.    It  was  shot  away  in  the  Tripolitan  war  [see 
Chapter  VI],  and  its  place  supplied  with  the  billet-head  delineated  in  the  engraving. 

2  One  of  these,  posted  about  the  streets  of  Boston,  was  headed,  "FREEMEN,  AWAKE!  OK  THE  CONSTITUTION  WILL 
SINK!  !"    It  then  went  on  to  say  that  the  President  had  issued  orders  "for  a  colossal  figure  of  his  royal  self,  in  Roman 
costume,  to  be  placed  as  a  ficure-head  on  OLD  IRONSIDES."    It  appealed  to  the  most  excitable  people  and  passions  to 
"save  the  ship"  by  the  cry  of  "all  hands  on  deck."    It  asked  the  citizens  to  assemble  at  Faneuil  Hall  to  take  action 
against  the  outrage.    "North  Enders !"  it  exclaimed,  "  shall  this  Boston-built  ship  be  thus  disgraced  without  remon 
strance  ?    Let  this  wooden  (/orf-this  old  Roman,  builded  at  the  expense  of  three  hundred  dollars  of  the  people's  money, 
be  presented  to  the  office-holders,  who  glory  in  such  worship,  but,  for  God's  sake,  SAVE  THE  SHIP  from  this  foul  disgrace." 
It  was  signed  "A  NORTH  ENDER." 

The  Constitution  was  built  where  Constitution  Wharf  now  is,  at  what  was  called,  even  before  the  Revolution,  The 
North  End— that  is,  of  Boston.  It  was  the  place  for  ship-building,  and  from  the  Revolution  until  the  War  of  1812  it  was 
the  focus  of  great  political  power.  Samuel  Adams  was  born  in  that  section  of  the  town,  and  always  had  great  influence 
with  the  people  there.  The  caulkers  were  a  numerous  class,  and  with  these  Adams  held  many  secret  meetings  when  the 
revolutionary  movements  were  going  on  from  1T64  to  1T74.  These  were  known  as  the  "  Caiilkers'  meetings,"  where 
revolutionary  measures  were  proposed  and  perfected.  From  this  fact  has  come  the  word  caucus  in  our  political  nomen-  ' 
clature— the  private  gathering  of  politicians  to  arrange  for  a  political  campaign.  It  is  said  that  these  caulkers  of 
Adams's  time  were  mostly  descendants  of  the  Huguenots. 

3  Oral  statement  to  the  author  by  the  adventurer.    He  is  yet  (18CT)  living— a  small,  fearless,  shrewd,  energetic  busi 
ness  man,  with  a  character  above  reproach  in  private  life.    Upon  his  address  card  he  yet  has  the  device  of  a  hand-saw, 
and  the  words  of  Csesar— "  I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered,"  in  allusion  to  the  exploit  of  his  earlier  days. 


906 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Forts  Pickering  and  Lee. 


Salem  Harbor  and  its  Surroundings. 


Situation  of  Marblehead. 


1-OKT   1'IOKERING,  NEAR   SALEM,  IN   I860. 


and  South  Rivers,  as  the  es 
tuaries  are  called  which  em 
brace  the  peninsula.  Its  em 
bankments,  composed  of  earth 
and  stone,  excepting  the  brick 
wall  in  the  rear  (see  picture 
on  page  891),  were  about 
eight  feet  in  height,  and  well 
preserved.  The  officers'  quar 
ters  (seen  on  the  right),  built 
of  brick,  and  shaded  by  balm 
of  Gilead  trees,  were  well  pre 
served.  There  the  keeper, 
Sergeant  Reuben  Cahoon,  re- 

o 

sided.  He  was  seventy-one 
years  of  age  when  I  was  there. 
He  was  a  soldier  on  the  North 
ern  frontier  in  1812,  and  yet 
carried  a  ball  in  his  leg  which  he  received  at  the  battle  of  Plattsburg.  His  wife  was 
his  only  companion. 

Not  far  from  Fort  Picker 
ing  we  passed  the  remains  of 
Fort  Lee,  near  the  house  of 
Mr.  Welch,  at  the  western  end 
of  the  causeway  leading  to 
Winter  Island.  It  was  an  ir 
regular  work,  built  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  War  of  1812, 
and  occupied  a  very  com 
manding  position,  especially 
as  the  guardian  of  Beverly 
Harbor.  It  also  commanded 
Salem  Harbor,  in  a  degree. 
From  its  mounds,  now  eight 
or  ten  feet  in  height,  we  ob 
tained  fine  views  of  Salem, 
Beverly,  and  the  whole  outer 
harbor.  The  water  which  it 
was  chiefly  designed  to  watch 
over  and  protect  was  the  estuary  called  Bass  Rivei-.  It  extends  up  to  Danvers,  or 
Old  Salem  Village,1  and  was  the  one  spanned  by  the  famous  "  Leslie  Bridge"2  of  the 
Revolution. 

Returning  to  Salem,  we  rode  out  to  Marblehead.  After  passing  a  fine  avenue  skirt 
ed  with  lofty  elms,  we  crossed  the  Forest  River,  near  the  Forest  City  Mills,  and,  as 
cending  the  gentle  slope  of  Marblehead  promontory,  soon  came  to  the  village  lying 
at  the  head  of  a  bay  in  which  there  is  a  good  harbor.  The  village  is  situated  among 
rocks,  and  the  street  lines  are  so  irregular  in  some  places  that  it  appears  as  if  the 
houses  might  have  dropped  from  the  clouds,  and  the  ways  among  them  had  been  laid 
out  afterward.  It  was  quite  natural  for  the  celebrated  Whitefield,  on  entering  the 

1  At  Danvers  Governor  Endicott  and  his  associates  made  the  first  settlement  in  1628.  There  was  the  scene  of  "Salem 
Witchcraft,"  and  there  the  famous  General  Israel  Putnam  was  born.  A  pear-tree  planted  by  Governor  Endicott  yet 
(1867)  bears  fruit.  It  was  planted  at  about  the  time  the  Stnyvesant  pear-tree  in  the  city  of  New  York,  that  died  in 
1S66,  was  brought  from  Holland.  a  See  Lossing's  Field-book  of  the  Revolution,  ii.,  374,  note  2. 


REMAINS   OF   FOKT   UEE,  6ALEM. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


907 


Port  Sewall  and  its  Keeper. 


A  Family  of  Soldiers. 


Marblehead  during  the  Revolution. 


town,  and  seeing  no  verdure  as  indicative  of  soil,  to  inquire,  "  Pray,  where  do  they 
bury  their  dead?"1  It  was  inhabited  chiefly  because  of  its  advantages  and  con 
venience  as  a  fishing  port,  a  character  which  it  has  always  borne.2  Its  trade  was 
almost  wholly  destroyed  during  the  Revolution,3  but  it  revived  soon  afterward. 


MAKULEIIEAD   HA.KBOK.4 

The  harbor  of  Marblehead  is  quite  spacious,  with  many  rocky  islands  at  its  en 
trance.     On  the  high  promon 
tory  near  the  village  was  Fort 
Sewall,  built  in  the  year  1800, 
and  rebuilt  early  in  the  War  C| 

of  1812.     When  I  visited  it  1   ^ 

Mrs.  Maria  T.  Perkins  was  the  M  *  ?fr 
United  States  Agent  in  charge 
of  the  property  there,  having 
been  a  resident  of  Fort  Sewall 
since  1835.  She  was  an  ener 
getic  woman,  and  with  the 
greatest  courtesy  she  received 
and  entertained  us.  On  the 
floor  of  one  of  her  rooms  wras 
a  carpet  of  which  she  was  just 
ly  proud.  It  was  made  en 
tirely  of  the  clothes  of  her  fa 
ther  (Sergeant  Stephen  Twist, 
of  the  Continental  Army)  and  her  two  brothers,  worn  by  them  during  the  War  of 
1812.  They  were  ever  afterward  in  the  military  service  of  the  United  States  up 
to  1857.6  She  was  engaged  in  piecing  it  during  twrenty  years.  The  carpet  was 
woven  by  Mrs.  Perkins  and  her  daughter,  in  Fort  Sewall,  a  few  months  before  my 
visit,  and  took  a  premium  at  a  Fair  in  Boston. 

On  returning  to  Salem  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Dr.  Benjamin  F.  Browne,  a 
native  of  that  place,  who  entered  the  naval  service  as  surgeon's  mate  in  the  privateer 
Alfred,  in  September,  1812,  when  he  was  only  nineteen  years  of  age.  While  in  the 
schooner  Frolic,  in  the  West  Indies,  he  was  captured,  taken  to  Barbadoes,  sent  to  En- 

1  Barber's  Historical  Collections  of  Massachusetts,  page  201,  note. 

2  A  hundred  years  ago  there  were  between  thirty  and  forty  ships,  scows,  and  topsail-schooners  owned  in  Marblehead, 
and  engaged  in  foreign  trade;  and  in  1770  it  contained  a  greater  number  of  inhabitants  than  any  town  in  Massachu 
setts  excepting  Boston. 

3  The  inhabitants  were  very  patriotic.    In  1774,  when  the  port  of  Boston  was  closed  by  order  of  Parliament,  the  in 
habitants  offered  the  use  of  their  harbor  to  the  Boston  merchants.    They  also  furnished  an  entire  regiment,  fully  offi 
cered,  for  the  Continental  Army.    Elbridge  Gerry,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was  born  at 
Marblehead. 

*  This  sketch  was  made  from  the  gravelly  beach.    On  the  left  is  seen  Fort  Sewall,  and  on  the  extreme  right,  in  the 

T>™v»f         T^T.rrt*./!    *Vi<i  luff     onrl    ovfonrlllirr  VmhinH    T^i^rfr   fiowall     ic   coon    T.r*«'oll    Tclanrl 


FORT    8KVVALL.3 


•  i  nis  sKetrn  was  mane  irom  tne  graveny  oeacn.     un  uio  leit,  is  KKKU  run,  oewaii,  aim  on  me  exirem( 
distance,  Marblehead  Point.    Toward  the  left,  and  extending  behind  Fort  Sewall,  is  seen  Lowell  Island. 

5  In  this  view,  from  the  entrance  to  the  fort,  with  back  to  the  harbor,  is  seen  the  row  of  bomb-proof  ca 
arched  windows  and  doors.     Above  them  is  seen  the  officers'  quarters,  built  of  brick,  in  which  Mrs.  Perki 

6  The  aggregate  time  of  military  service  by  her  father  and  two  brothers  was  about  one  hundred  years. 


isemate.a,  with 
•kins  resided. 


908 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  Survivor  of  the  Dartmoor  Prison.          Return  to  Boston  from  Salem.          Journey  to  Boston  and  Voyage  to  Castine. 

gland,  and  confined  six  months  in  the 
notorious  Dartmoor  prison,  of  which  I 
shall  write  hereafter.  The  cartel  ship 
Anne,  in  which  he  was  sent  home,  was 
ordered  to  Norfolk.  Most  of  the  pris 
oners  were  from  New  England  and 
New  York.  They  seized  the  ship,  and 
sailed  into  New  York  in  June,  1815. 
Dr.  Browne  was  in  the  Dartmoor  pris 
on  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  there, 
and  published  an  interesting  sketch  of 
it  in  the  Democratic  Review,  1845.1 
The  prisoners  were  chiefly  privateers- 
men,  and  a  very  large  proportion  of 
them  were  from  New  England.  He 
furnished  me  with  a  list  of  the  names 
of  more  than  one  hundred  survivors 
known  to  be  living  in  the  vicinity  of 
Salem  at  the  time  of  my  visit. 

In  the  evening  I  had  an  interview 
with  Mr.  William  Leavitt,  a  teacher  of 
navigation  at  Salem,  who  was  living 
there  during  the  war,  and  saw  the  Con 
stitution  chased  into  Marblehead  by  the 
British  frigates  Junon  and  Tenedos,  early  in  April,  1814.  Mr.  Leavitt  was  a  careful 
investigator  and  chronicler ;  and  he  furnished  me  with  a  most  interesting  list  of  all 
the  privateers  fitted  out  at  Salem  during  the  war,  and  of  the  names,  armament,  ton 
nage,  commanders,  etc.,  of  all  the  prizes  taken  by  them  during  that  period. 

I  passed  the  night  at  Salem,  returned  to  Boston  the  next  day,  and  toward  evening 
departed  on  a  visit  to  the  theatre  of  the  stirring  historic  scenes  on  the  Penobscot  Bay 
and  River,  in  Maine,  in  the  year  1814.  I  traveled  on  the  Eastern  Railway  to  Port 
land,  one  hundred  and  seven  miles,  where  I  embarked  for  Belfast,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  in  the  steamer  Daniel  Webster.  It  was  a  rough  and  stormy  night  on  the 
Atlantic,  but  we  made  the  voyage  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  in  good  time. 
When  we  entered  Penobscot  Bay  at  dawn,  the  storm-clouds  had  passed  away,  and 
the  sun  shone  out  brilliantly  when  we  landed  at  Belfast  between  seven  and  eight 
»  November  19,  o'clock  in  the  morning. a  Soon  after  breakfast  I  sailed  in  the  little  pack 
et  Spy  (formerly  a  Boston  pilot-boat),  with  raking  masts  and  schooner- 
rigged,  for  Castine,  on  the  eastern  side  of  Penobscot  Bay.  A  stiff  breeze  had  sprung 
up  from  the  northwest,  and  before  it  we  ran  across  the  bay,  thirteen  miles,  in  little 
more  than  an  hour.  It  was  an  exhilarating  voyage.  We  entered  the  picturesque 
harbor  of  Castine  at  eleven  o'clock,  and,  after  a  pleasant  and  profitable  interview  with 
Dr.  Joseph  L.  Stevens  and  Samuel  T.  Noyes,  Esq.  (the  former  a  physician  and  the  lat 
ter  a  ship-builder  of  Castine),!  rambled  over  the  interesting  peninsula  with  an  intel 
ligent  lad  who  was  familiar  with  the  historical  localities.  A  portion  of  the  peninsula 
is  high,  rocky,  and  covered  with  evergreens>  while  its  southwestern  slope  is  wet  and 
spongy,  bare,  and  abounding  in  juniper  bushes.  The  village  of  Castine  is  beautifully 
situated  on  a  slope  overlooking  several  picturesque  islands.  It  is  said  to  be  the 
wealthiest  town  in  Maine  in  proportion  to  its  size,  and  is  the  seat  of  customs  of  the 
Penobscot  district.2 

1  Dr.  Browne  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  in  1S31,  and  of  the  State  Senate  in  1843.    He  was  in  the 
enjoyment  of  remarkable  health,  having  never  been  sick  in  his  life. 
3  Castiue  is  a  pleasant  town  of  about  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants,  whose  principal  business  is  fishing  and  ship-build- 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


909 


Mementos  of  the  War  at  Castiue. 


Fort  George  and  View  from  it. 


Remains  of  Fort  Castiue. 


We  first  visited  Fort  George,1  the  principal  military  work  on  the  peninsula,  which 
lies  northwestward  of  the  town.  A  sketch  of  a  portion  of  the  ruins  from  the  south 
bastion  is  given  on  page  903,  in  which  one  of  the  casemates  is  seen.  In  that  bastion 
was  the  bomb-proof  magazine.  That,  and  all  of  the  casemates,  excepting  the  one  de 
lineated,  built  of  brick  and  stone,  had  been  carried  away  for  building  purposes.  The 
fort  was  a  quadrangle,  with  bastions  at  each  angle.  The  ditch  was  dug  down  to  the 
flat  rock,  about  six  feet  deep.  The  banks  were  about 
eighteen  feet  in  height  from  the  bottom  of  the  ditch 
when  I  visited  it,  and  were  covered  with  a  hard  sward. 
Near  the  fort  lay  a  24-pound  iron  cannon — a  relic  of 
the  War  of  1812 — on  a  decayed  carriage,  which  the 
citizens  on  some  occasion  had  dragged  up  from  the 
old  half-moon  redoubt  (Fort  Porter)  on  the  shore, 
where  two  of  the  same  kind  yet  lay. 

The  view  from  the  banks  of  Fort  George  is  very  interesting  at  every  point.     The 
little  picture  gives  an  outline  of  the  scenery  around  the  head  of  Penobscot  Bay,  look- 


VIEW   FEOM   FOBT   GEORGE. 

ing  northwestward  from  the  fort.  On  the  extreme  right  is  the  entrance  to  the  canal 
across  Castine  Neck,  cut  by  the  British.  This  canal  was  about  twelve  feet  in  width 
and  eighty  rods  in  length,  and  made  Castine,  or  Bigaduce  peninsula,  an  island.  It 
is  now  crossed  by  a  bridge.  Between  the  promontory  seen  beyond  Brigadier  Island 

ing.  It  derives  its  name  from  the  Baron  de  Castin,  a  French  nobleman,  who  established  a  residence  there  in  1667, 
married  the  daughter  of  Modockawando,  a  Penobscot  Indian  chief,  built  a  fort,  and  opened  a  profitable  trade  with  the 
natives,  among  whom  he  introduced  Christianity  in  the  form  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  gained  the  greatest 
influence  over  them.  The  baron  lived  there  thirty  years,  and  then  returned  to  France,  leaving  his  domain  in  possession 
of  his  half-blood  son,  Castin  the  Younger,  who  was  a  man  of  some  education.  When  the  country  fell  into  the  control 
of  the  English,  after  the  fall  of  Louisburg  in  1745,  the  Castiue  family  abandoned  it,  and  it  became  permanently  settled 
by  the  English  in  1760. 

Castin  was  a  foe  to  the  New  Englanders.  He  taught  the  Indians  around  him  the  use  of  fire-arms,  and  he  frequently 
co-operated  with  them  in  their  attacks  on  the  frontier  New  England  settlements.  The  penalty  for  these  sins  of  the  fa 
ther  was  unrighteously  visited  upon  the  son,  who  was  really  a  friend  to  the  English.  In  1721  he  was  secured  and  car 
ried  to  Boston,  and  there  kept  a  prisoner  for  several  months.  The  ruins  of  Castiu's  fort,  now  (1S67)  in  the  suburbs  of 


REMAINS   OP  FORT   OASTINE. 


the  village  of  Castine,  on  the  property  of  Mr.  George  Webb,  are  nearly  obliterated.  Indeed,  the  mounds  now  seen  are 
the  remains  of  the  embankments  cast  up  in  1812  on  those  of  the  ancient  fort.  In  the  above  view  are  seen  the  remains 
of  the  fort,  Castine  River,  and  the  islands  in  front  of  the  village,  with  the  high  head  of  a  peninsula.  The  highest  points 
are  called  the  Caterpillar  and  Hackett's  Hills.  The  little  island  with  the  evergreens,  between  the  two  vessels  on  the 
right,  is  Noddle's.  1  On  the  land  of  the  heirs  of  Captain  Joseph  Perkins,  near  the  residence  of  Charles  Abbott.Esq. 


910 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Remains  of  Fortifications  near  Oastine. 


Voyage  up  the  Penobscot. 


Historical  Localities. 


REMAINS   OF   FOKT   GRIFFITH. 1 


(then  the  property  of  David  Sears,  of  Boston),  near  the  centre  of  the  picture,  is  seen 
the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot  River.  On  the  extreme  left,  over  the  cedar-covered  point 
of  land  called  Banks's  Head,  is  seen  Belfast,  thirteen  miles  distant. 

From  Fort  George  we  went 
down  the  northwestern  slope 
toward  the  Neck  to  the  re 
mains  of  Fort  Griffith,  one  of 
the  larger  redoubts  built  by 
the  British,  and  named  in 
honor  of  the  English  admiral. 
It  was  intended  to  guard  the 
Neck.  There  was  another, 
called  Fort  Gosselin  in  honor 
of  the  general,  just  above  the 
present  bridge  over  the  canal.  After  sketching  the  remains  of  Fort  Griffith,  we  visit 
ed  those  of  two  or  three  others,  and  then  hastened  back  to  Castine,  and  embarked  in 
the  Spy  for  Belfast.  It  was  toward  evening,  and  the  light  wind  was  directly  ahead. 
The  voyage  was  long  and  tedious,  and  it  was  almost  eight  o'clock  before  I  was  ad 
mitted  to  the  comforts  of  a  warm  supper  at  our  destined  haven,  where  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  Judge  Joseph  Williamson,  son  of  the  historian  of  Maine,  and  to 
whom  I  am  indebted  for  valuable  information. 

On  the  morning  of  the  21st  I  left  Belfast  for  Hampden  on  the  steamer  Sanford, 
Captain  C.  B.  Sanford,  which  plied  between  Boston  and  Barigor.     The  voyage  up  the 
Penobscot — the  winding,  picturesque  Penobscot — was  a  delightful  one,  and  was  made 
particularly    instructive    to 
me  by  Captain  Sanford,  who 
kindly   pointed  out  every 
place  and  object  of  interest 
on  the  way.     Fourteen  miles 
from  Belfast  we  passed  Fort 
Point,  a  bluff  with   a  light 
house  upon  it.2 

Opposite  Bucksport,  on  the 
rugged  hills,  the  solid  mason 
ry  of  a  stupendous  fortifica 
tion,  called  Fort  Knox,  in  process  of  erection,  was  seen,  with  the  small  village  of  Pros 
pect  nestled  near.  A  little  above  we  passed  Indian  Point,  made  famous  as  the  site 
of  a  conflict  between  the  savages  and  Captain  Church,  the  decapitator  of  the  slain 
King  Philip.  Farther  on  we  entered  Marsh  Bay,  in  which  the  British  invading  squad 
ron  lay  one  night  on  their  way  toward  Hampden.3  It  is  an  expansion  of  the  Penob 
scot,  and  at  its  head  lies  the  pretty  little  village  of  Frankfort.  Westward  rises  the 
Musquito  Mountain,  a  huge  mass  of  granite,  where,  it  seems,  quarrying  might  be  car 
ried  on  for  a  thousand  years.  In  Frankfort,  M'Glathry's  store-house  was  pointed  out 
as  the  recipient  of  a  British  cannon-ball  when  the  invaders  landed  there  in  Septem 
ber,  1814  ;4  and  about  a  mile  above  the  landing  my  attention  was  called  to  a  thick 
Norway  pine,  the  only  one  in  that  region,  which  bears  the  name  of "  The  Bacon 
Tree."  It  is  a  round,  compact  tree,  its  short  trunk  composed  apparently  of  a  group 
of  smaller  ones,  and  the  limbs  so  near  the  ground  that  it  is  difficult  to  get  under  it. 

1  On  the  left  is  seen  Banks's  Head,  on  which  were  batteries.    One  was  named  Furieuse,  as  it  was  armed  with  cannon 
taken  from  a  French  vessel  of  that  name,  by  the  English.    On  the  right  is  Brigadier  Island  and  mouth  of  the  Penobscot. 

2  For  the  protection  of  the  Penobscot  River,  Governor  Pownall  caused  a  fort  to  be  built  on  this  point  in  1795.    He 
made  an  expedition  from  Boston  for  the  purpose  with  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  men.    It  was  completed  in  July 
at  a  cost  of  nearly  £5000.    It  was  named  Fort  Pownall.    Some  remains  of  it  may  yet  be  seen.    It  was  garrisoned  until 
the  Revolution,  when  it  was  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  the  British  by  a  Tory  commander.       3  Page  898.       *  Page  899. 


FORT   POINT. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


911 


The  Bacon  Tree. 


A  Visit  to  Hampden. 


Journey  to  Bangor. 


THE   BACON   TREE. 


I  had  a  good  view  of  it  through  a  telescope,  by  which  I 
was  enabled  to  make  the  annexed  sketch.  It  derived  its 
name  from  the  circumstance  that  when  the  British  land 
ed,  a  citizen  of  Frankfort,  having  a  large  quantity  of  ba 
con,  carried  it  to  this  tree,  and  hung  the  pieces  in  the 
branches  to  conceal  them  from  the  foe.  The  measure 
was  successful.  The  British  passed  along  the  road  a  short 
distance  from  the  tree  without  observing  its  savory  fruit, 
and  the  man  saved  his  bacon.  In  a  cove  off  Oak  Point, 
two  or  three  miles  above  Frankfort,  we  saw  the  ribs  of 
the  Warren,  one  of  the  Massachusetts  vessels  destroyed 
by  the  British  when  they  took  Castine  in  1779.1 

We  landed  at  Hampden  at  an  early  hour,  and  I  went 
immediately  in  search  of  the  historical  localities  of  that  pleasant  town.  I  called  on 
the  venerable  Mrs.  Stetson  with  a  letter  of  introduction  from  a  friend  in  Boston.  She 
was  then  eighty-seven  years  of  age,  and  lived  in  a  fine  old  mansion  in  the  Upper 
Town,  not  far  from  the  Soadabscook.  Her  husband  was  one  of  the  citizens  who  was 
confined  as  a  prisoner  on  board  the  Decatur.2  She  gave  me  a  most  vivid  description 
of  events  in  Hampden  at  the  time  of  the  invasion ;  and  she  furnished  me  with  such 
directions  that,  with  the  aid  of  a  young  man  whom  I  had  engaged  to  take  me  to 
Bangor  in  a  light  wagon,  I  experienced  no  difficulty  in  finding  all  I  had  come  to  see. 
I  went  down  the  winding  road  to  the  mouth  of  the  Soadabscook,  and  sketched  Cros 
by's  Wharf,3  climbed  to  the  place  of  Morris's  hill  battery,  and  visited  the  meeting 
(now  town)  house  and  the  site  of  Blake's  brief  encounter  with  the  invaders  near  the 
Lower  Town.  When  these  pleasant  tasks  were  accomplished,  we  dined  at  the  hotel, 
near  which  I  saw  a  small  building,  with  a  little  weather-beaten  sign-board  over  the 
door,  that  was  innocent  of  all  paint  excepting  the  black  letters  which  composed  the 
name  of  HANNIBAL  HAMLIN.  It  was  the  law  office4  of  that  distinguished  United 
States  Senator,  who  a  few  weeks  before  had  been  elected  Vice-President  of  the  Re 
public. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  I  left  Hampden  for  Bangor,  following  the  road 
which  the  British  traveled  in  their  march  to  that  place.5    I  spent  the  remainder  of 

the  afternoon  in  ram 
bling  about  that  fine 
inland  city  of  the  pic 
turesque  State  of 
Maine,  and  was  sur 
prised  by  the  great 
number  of  schooners 
that  lay  in  the  Penob- 
scot  and  in  the  mouth 
of  the  Kenduskeag. 
There  were  no  less 
than  two  hundred  and 
thirty.  It  was  the 


VIEW   AT   TliE   MOUTH   OF   THE   KENDIJSKEAG. 


Note  6,  page  902. 


»  Page  902. 


,  . 

3  Crosby's  Wharf  (see  picture  on  page  899)  was  erected  by  General  John  Crosby,  one  of  the  early  settlers,  who  came 
from  Woelwich  in  1775.  He  entered  into  commercial  business  there,  and  carried  on  an  extensive  trade  with  Europe 
and  the  West  Indies.  He  was  a  friend  and  correspondent  of  Washington  during  the  Revolution.  General  Crosby  died 
at  Hampden  in  May,  1843,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years.  For  a  more  minute  account  of  Hampden  and  its  people,  see 
Coolidge  and  Mansfield's  History  and  Description  of  Sew  England—  Maine. 

*  Mr.  Hamlin  settled  in  Hampden  as  a  lawyer  in  the  year  1S32. 

s  Bangor  is  a  fine  city  of  about  seventeen  thousand  inhabitants.    It  is  a  port  of  entry  and  a  great  lumber  depot.    I 
about  thirty  miles  from  the  month  of  the  Penobscot,  and  was  .originally  called  Kenduskeag,  from  the  Indian  name  of 
the  stream  that  there  enters  the  river. 


912 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Baugor. 


Henry  Van  Meter  and  his  History. 


From  Bangor  to  New  Bedford. 


time  for  these  vessels,  engaged  in  the  lumber-trade,  to  lay  up  for  the  winter,  and 
they  were  rapidly  filling  the  stream  below  the  bridge. 

I  remained  in  Bangor  two  days,  and  spent  a  greater  part  of  the  time  in  the  com 
pany  and  under  the  hospitable  roof  of 
Dr.  John  Mason.  With  him  I  visited 
places  of  interest  about  Bangor ;  rode 
over  to  Brewer,  and  sketched  the  resi 
dence  of  General  Blake,1  and  spent  some 
time  in  the  humble  dwelling  of  Henry 
Van  Meter,  a  remarkable  black  man, 
then  ninety-five  years  of  age.  He  was 
a  slave  to  Governor  Nelson,  of  Virginia, 
during  the  Revolution,  became  a  sea 
man  in  long  after  years,  and  was  one 
of  the  crew  of  the  privateer  Lawrence 
which  sailed  from  Baltimore  in  1814.2 
He  was  captured,  sent  to  Plymouth,  and 
confined  in  the  Dartmoor  Prison,  where 
he  saw  the  massacre  in  the  spring  of 
1815.  Van  Meter's  history,  as  he  re 
lated  it  to  me,  was  an  eventful  one.3 
His  mind  seemed  clear,  and  his  body  not 
very  feeble ;  and  when  I  had  finished 
the  annexed  sketch  of  him,  he 
wrote  his  name,  with  my  pencil, 
under  it,  as  well  as  he  could  with 
out  glasses. 

I  left  Bangor  on  the  morning  of  the  23d,a  and,  traveling  by  railway, 
reached  Boston  the  same  evening.  A  few  days  afterward,  just  at  twi 
light,  I  arrived  at  New  Bedford,4  spent  the  evening  with  Dr.  Charles  L.  Swasey,  and 
made  arrangements  for  a  ride  the  next  morning  to  the  old  fort  near  Fair  Haven, 
across  the  Acushnet,  spoken  of  on  page  889  as  having  been  saved  from  an  attack  by 
the  British  on  a  dark  night  in  1814  by  the  blast  of  a  postman's  tin-horn  and  the  clat 
ter  of  his  horse's  hoofs,  which  frightened  them  away.  A  heavy  storm  of  wind  and 
rain  arose  during  the  night ;  nevertheless  we  made  the  journey,  and  at  ten  o'clock 


November, 
1800. 


1  About  a  mile  and  a  half  above  Bangor,  on  the  same  side  of  the  Penohscot,  was  the  residence  of  General  Joseph 
Treat.  See  note  2,  page  807.  =  Sec  page  1006. 

3  Henry  remembered  seeing  Washington  many  times.  When  Governor  Nelson's  estate  was  sold  after  the  war  to 
pay  his  debts,  Henry  became  the  property  of  a  planter  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge,  on  the  extreme  frontier.  He  was  dis 
contented,  and  wished  to  leave,  notwithstanding  his  master  was  kind.  He  wished  Henry  to  marry  one  of  his  slave 
girls,  and  raise  children  foi>  him,  offering,  if  he  would  do  so,  to  order  in  his  will  that  he  should  be  made  a  free  man  at 
his  death.  "  I  didn't  like  the  gals,"  said  Henry,  "  and  didn't  want  to  '  wait  for  dead  men's  shoes.'  So  master  sold  me 
to  a  man  near  Lexington,  in  Kentucky,  and  there  was  only  one  log  house  in  that  town  when  I  went  there."  He  was 
soon  sold  to  one  of  those  vile  men  engaged  in  the  slave-trading  business,  who  treated  him  shamefully.  Henry  mount 
ed  one  of  his  master's  horses  one  night,  and  fled  to  the  Kentucky  River,  where  he  turned  him  loose,  and  told  him  to  go 
home  if  he  had  a  mind  to,  as  he  didn't  wish  to  steal  him.  Some  benevolent  white  people  helped  him  on  to  the  Ohio, 
and  at  Cincinnati,  then  a  collection  of  houses  around  Port  Washington,  he  took  the  name  of  Van  Meter,  borne  by  some 
of  the  family  of  his  kind  master  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

Henry  became  a  servant  of  an  officer  in  St.  Clair's  army,  and  served  in  the  company,  in  the  Northwest,  with  that  com 
mander  and  General  Wayne.  After  the  peace  in  1T95,  he  was  living  in  Chillicothe,  and  came  East  with  some  English 
men  with  horses,  by  way  of  Wheeling,  to  Philadelphia.  In  the  latter  city  some  Quakers  sent  him  to  school,  and  he  learned 
to  read  and  write.  When  the  war  broke  out  he  shipped  as  a  common  sailor  in  the  privateer  Lawrence,  having  previ 
ously  been  to  Europe  several  times  in  the  same  capacity,  and  when  cast  into  Dartmoor  he  held  a  prize  ticket  which  was 
worth,  when  he  got  home,  one  thousand  dollars.  He  let  a  captain  have  it  as  security  for  sixteen  dollars.  The  man  died 
of  yellow  fever  in  the  South,  and  Henry  never  recovered  his  ticket. 

*  The  half-shire  town  of  Bristol  County,  Massachusetts,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Acushnet  River,  an  arm  of  Buzzard's 
Bay.  It  is  beautifully  situated  upon  rising  ground,  and  is  the  child  of  the  whale-fishery,  that,  and  other  branches  con 
nected  with  it,  having  been  from  the  beginning  the  chief  business  of  the  inhabitants.  During  the  Revolution  it  was  a 
great  resort  for  privateers.  A  force  of  four  thousand  men,  under  General  Grey,  fell  upon  it,  and  destroyed  buildings, 
wharves,  vessels,  and  merchandise  to  the  amount  of  more  than  $320,000. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


913 


The  Port  at  Fair  Haven. 


Captain  Lemuel  Akin. 


Providence. 


New  London. 


Stonington. 


rode  into  the  parade  of  the  ruined  fortress  as  far  as  the  rocks  would  allow.  The  re 
mains  of  the  fort  were  upon  a  very  rough  cape  opposite  New  Bedford,  and  a  mile  be 
low  the  Acushnet  Bridge  and  causeway.  It  was  called  Fort  Phoenix,  and  was  little 
more  than  an  8  or  10  gun  battery,  whose  walls  were  of  hewn  stone  and  earth.  Sev 
eral  of  the  iron  cannon  (24-pounders)  with  which  it  was  armed  were  lying  within  it, 
never  having  been  removed  since  they  were  placed  there  in  1812. 

The  storm  was  beating  so  furiously  as  it  came  driving  in  from  the  sea  that  our  horse 
became  very  restive; 
so  the  kind  Doctor 
stood  out  in  the  blind 
ing  tempest,  and  held 
him  in  quietude  while, 
under  the  cover  of  the 
little  carriage,  I  made 
the  annexed  sketch  of 
the  interior  of  the  fort 
with  all  possible,  dis 
patch.1  Then  we  re 
turned  to  Fair  Haven 
village,  and  rode  out  to 
the  residence  of  Cap 
tain  Lemuel  Akin,  an 
exceedingly  intelli 
gent  and  well-read  gen 
tleman,  whose  home 
had  been  on  the  sea 
during  a  large  portion 
of  his  long  life.2  For 
the  good  cheer  with  which  he  welcomed  us,  and  for  much  valuable  information  which 
he  gave  me  then,  and  afterward  in  letters,  I  feel  grateful.  While  at  his  house  the 
storm  abated  somewhat.  We  rode  back  to  New  Bedford,  and  in  the  afternoon  I 
traveled  by  railway  to  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  where  I  passed  Thanksgiving  Day 
most  profitably  with  Dr.  Usher  Parsons,  the  surgeon  of  the  Lawrence,  Perry's  flag 
ship  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  whose  name  and  record  of  services  are 
familiar  to  the  readers  of  this  volume.  From  this  last  survivor  of  Perry's  commis 
sioned  officers  I  received  much  valuable  and  minute  information  concerning  the  army 
and  navy  on  the  Niagara  frontier  and  on  Lake  Erie.3  Dr.  Parsons  is  still  (1867)  liv 
ing,  in  the  enjoyment  of  excellent  health  of  body  and  mind. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  29tha  I  left  Providence  for  New  London,  » November, 
on  the  Thames,  fifty  miles  westward,  where  I  spent  the  day,  as  already  re 
corded  in  the  latter  part  of  Chapter  XXX.  of  this  work.  At  sunset  I  left  for  Ston 
ington,  a  few  miles  eastward,  and  became  the  guest  of  Dr.  George  E.  Palmer,  whose 
house  bears  evidence  of  the  cannonade  in  1814.  On  the  following  morning,  accom 
panied  by  Dr.  Palmer,  I  visited  places  of  interest  about  Stonington,  among  others  the 
old  arsenal  at  the  upper  end  of  Main  Street,  in  which  were  two  or  three  cannon.  It 

1  Between  the  walls  of  the  fort  and  the  wooden  building  more  in  the  foreground  is  seen  Ceres  Island,  with  the  city 
of  New  Bedford  beyond.    Since  my  visit  the  fort  has  been  revived.     "  For  five  months,"  Dr.  Swasey  wrote  to  me  in 
September,  1861  (six  months  after  the  great  Civil  War  had  begun),  "  the  old  fort  has  been  thoroughly  repaired,  and  gar 
risoned  by  the  Home  Guard  of  New  Bedford  and  Fair  Haven.    How  little  did  you  or  I  dream  of  the  events  and  neces 
sities  which  have  brought  about  this  change,  as  we  stood  on  that  old  place  that  day  when  you  sketched  the  fort !    How 
mild  and  gentle  was  even  that  storm  that  beat  on  our  unsheltered  heads  compared  with  the  tempest  of  war  that  has 
since  burst  over  our  beloved  land !" 

2  Mr.  Akin  was  engaged  in  the  merchant  service.    He  was  captured  off  the  Carolina  coast  by  the  British  frigate 
Severn,  taken  to  Amelia  Island,  and  sent  from  there  to  Bermuda,  where  he  was  exchanged.    Captain  Akin  died  in  1867, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  5  See  Chapter  XXV. 

3M 


KKMAINS   OF  1'OKT  PUIKNIX,  FAIE   HAVEN. 


914 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Hero  of  Stonington  and  his  Wife. 


The  Elm  Grove  Cemetery. 


The  Denison  Family. 


ARSENAL   AT   BTONINGTON. 

ward,  the  joyful  news 
of  peace  came,  and  the 
men  of  Stonington  and 
Mystic  were  celebra 
ting  the  event  at  a 
public  dinner,  Mrs. 
Holmes,  justly  consid 
ering  her  sex  entitled 
to  recognition  in  the 
public  demonstrations 
of  delight,  procured 
some  powder,  and,with 
the  aid  of  other  young- 
women,  loaded  and 
fired,  with  her  own 
hands,  a  heavy  cannon, 
in  joyful  commemora 
tion  of  the  great  event. 
She  bears  the  distinc 
tion  of  having  fired  the 
first  salute  in  that  re 
gion  as  a  voice  of  wel 
come  to  Peace. 

While  at  Mystic  we 


was  a  brick  building,  somewhat  altered  since  the  war, 
when  the  door  was  in  the  centre  where  the  arch  is  seen. 
Toward  noon  we  rode  over  to  Mystic,  to  visit  the  ven 
erable  hero,  Captain  Holmes,  who  performed  so  conspic 
uous  a  part  in  the  defense  of  Stonington,  as  already  re 
lated  in  this  chapter.  We  found  him  and  his  aged  wife 
in  the  enjoyment  of  good  health  of  mind  and  body, 
and  such  is  still  their  condition.11  .  December, 

Mrs.  Holmes  is  a  small  woman,  and  retains 
many  marks  of  the  beauty  of  her  earlier  years.     She 
was  as  energetic  and  patriotic   as  her  husband,  and 
did  all  a  woman   could  do  at  the  trying  time  when 
Stonington  was  attacked.    When,  several  months  after- 


DENIBON'S  OKAVB,  MYSTIC. 


visited  the  beautiful  Elm  Grove  Cemetery,  in  which,  as 
we  have  observed  in  note  on  page  896,  the  State  of  Con 
necticut  erected  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Freder 
ick  Denison,  who  lost  his  life  in  defense  of  Stonington. 
Near  that  monument  was  one  (delineated  in  the  annexed 
engraving)  in  commemoration  of  the  first  of  his  family 
~-  who  resided  in  that  vicinity  ;J  and  near  it  (seen  to  the 
left  of  the  monument  in  the  picture)  was  the  first  tomb 
stone  erected  in  the  town  of  Stoninsrton.2  It  is  of  dark 


1  Upon  it  is  the  following  inscription:  "GEORGE  DENISON,  a  first  settler  in  Stonington,  and  founder  of  the  Denison 
family.  Died  Oct.  23d,  1694,  aged  74  years.  This  stone  is  erected  by  his  descendants  in  1855.  Ann  B.,  his  wife,  died 
Sept.  26, 1712,  aged  97  years." 

3  It  bears  the  following  inscription:  "Here  lyes  ye  body  of  Ann  Denison,  who  died  Sept..ye  26th,  1712,  aged  97 
years."  This  stone  is  about  twenty  inches  In  height.  The  modern  monument  is  of  granite,  fifteen  feet  in  height. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812.  915 

Baron  de  Steuben's  Gold  Box.  The  faithful  Daughter.  *  Return  Home. 

slate,  with  the  cherub  on  the  arched  upper  part,  which  was  a  fashionable  ornament  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

We  returned  to  Stonington  toward  sunset,  and  called  on  the  Rev.  Mr.  Weston,  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  where  wre  saw  the  beautiful  gold  box  in  which  the 
freedom  of  the  city  of  New  York  was  publicly  presented  to  the  Baron  de  Steuben  by 
the  hands  of  his  old  friend  and  aid-de-camp,  General  North.  Around  its  edge  was 
the  following  inscription:  "Presented  by  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
with  the  freedom  of  the  City."  On  the  lid  are  the  arms  of  the  city,  engraved  by 
Maverick.  We  also  saw,  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  the  famous  Stonington  flag, 
delineated  on  page  894,  bearing  sixteen  stars,  the  then  number  of  States  in  the 
Union.  It  is  bunting,  about  six  yards  in  length  and  three  yards  and  a  half  in  width. 
It  was  in  the  possession  of  Captain  Francis  Amy,  of  Stonington. 

During  that  evening  I  heard  many  relations  of  stirring  incidents  connected  with 
the  attack  on  Stonington.  I  will  repeat  only  one,  a  touching  narrative  of  a  dying 
mother  and  her  faithful  daughter.  The  mother  (Mrs.  Hall)  was  a  poor  woman,  liv 
ing  in  the  old  barracks  near  the  "  Cobb  House"  (page  896),  in  the  last  stages  of  con 
sumption,  and  exposed  to  the  British  balls  when  they  were  hurled  upon  the  town. 
The  people  had  fled  in  terror,  and  none  but  Huldah,  the  daughter  of  the  dying  wom 
an,  remained.  She  was  faithful.  Sometimes,  when  the  balls  came  crashing  through 
the  building,  she  would  fly  to  the  cellar,  and  sometimes  to  the  garret,  and  then  im 
mediately  return  to  the  bedside  of  her  mother.  At  length  two  or  three  soldiers 
rushed  into  the  building,  and  bore  the  poor  woman  away  on  her  bed  to  the  burying- 
ground  near  the  present  Watawanuc1  Institute,  by  the  railway,  where  they  thought 
she  would  be  safe.  Just  as  they  had  laid  her  on  the  greensward,  a  bomb-shell  struck 
near  and  exploded,  by  which  a  deep  trench  was  scooped  from  the  earth.  The  shock 
was  too  much  for  the  poor  woman,  and  she  expired.  In  the  grave  dug  by  the  shell 
she  was  hastily  buried,  and  then  the  faithful  Huldah  hurried  away  to  a  place  of  great 
er  safety. 

At  a  late  hour  in  the  evening  I  bade  adieu  to  Dr.  Palmer  and  his  excellent  family, 
rode  over  to  New  London,  and  then  embarked  in  a  stanch  steamer  for  New  York, 
where  we  arrived  the  next  morning  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  snow-storm  of  the 
season.  I  had  seen  snow  but  once  before  since  my  departure  from  the  city,  and  that 
was  on  the  summits  of  the  lofty  Katahdin  mountains  of  Maine,  while  viewing  them 
from  the  hills  around  Bangor  at  a  distance  of  almost  a  hundred  miles  in  the  far  north 
east.  • 

So  ended  a  delightful  and  instructive  visit  to  the  eastern  coast  district  of  New  En 
gland,  where  I  gleaned  much  valuable  materials  for  History,  and  enjoyed  open-hand 
ed  hospitality  that  can  never  be  forgotten  by  the  recipient. 

i  Watawanuc  was  the  Indian  name  for  the  site  of  Stonington. 


916  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

The  National  Capital  in  Peril.  Events  suggesting  Danger.  Strange  Apathy  of  the  Government. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

"  A  veteran  host,  by  veterans  led, 
With  Ross  and  Cockburn  at  their  head, 
They  came— they  saw— they  burned — and  fled ! 

They  left  our  Congress  naked  walls- 
Farewell  to  towers  and  capitols  1 
To  lofty  roofs  and  splendid  halls ! 

To  conquer  armies  in  the  field 
Was,  once,  the  surest  method  held 
To  make  a  hostile  country  yield. 

The  warfare  now  the  invaders  make 
Must  surely  keep  us  all  awake, 
Or  life  is  lost  for  freedom's  sake. 

PHILIP  FEENEAU. 

HILE  the  events  recorded  in  the  preceding  chapter  were  occurring 
on  the  New  England  coast,  others  of  a  more  important  character 
in  the  vicinity  of  Chesapeake  Bay  were  attracting  public  atten 
tion.  We  have  already  observed  how  audaciously  the  British  op 
erated  along  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Bays 
during  the  year  1813,  continually  menacing  not  only  the  smaller 
coast  villages,  but  the  larger  cities.  The  national  capital  itself, 
situated  at  the  head  of  the  navigation  of  the  Potomac,  was  in  peril  at  times,  and  yet 
the  government  seemed  to  have  been  paralyzed  by  a  strange  delusion — a  conviction 
that  the  British  would  never  attempt  to  penetrate  the  country  so  far  as  the  city  of 
Washington,  and  that  the  archives  of  the  nation  were  safe  there.  Tokens  of  danger 
were  not  wanting.  First  came  intelligence,  late  in  January,  that  four  thousand  Brit 
ish  troops  destined  for  the  United  States  had  landed  at  Bermuda.  This  was  followed 
by  the  appearance  of  Admiral  Cockburn,  the  marauder,  in  Lynnhaven  Bay,  on  the  1st 
of  March,  with  a  74  line-of-battle  ship,  two  frigates,  and  a  brig,  and  who  commenced 
at  once  the  practice  of  his  wicked  amphibious  warfare.  At  the  close  of  April  a  ves 
sel  from  Europe  brought  the  startling  news  of  the  downfall  of  Napoleon ;  and  soon 
afterward  came  the  announcement  of  his  abdication  and  retirement  to  Elba,  and  the 
probable  release  of  a  large  British  force  that  might  be  sent  to  America. 

For  several  months  previous  to  the  advent  of  Cockburn,  thoughtful  men  had  called 
the  attention  of  the  President  and  his  constitutional  advisers  to  the  exposed  state  of 
the  entire  District  of  Columbia,  and  especially  the  capital,  and  to  the  importance  of 
adopting  vigorous  measures  for  its  defense.1  The  President  appears  to  have  feared 
danger,  but  his  cabinet  were  unmoved.  Even  when  the  foe  was  so  near  that  the 
booming  of  his  cannon  could  almost  be  heard,  they  could  not  be  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  impending  danger;  and  on  the  14th  of  May  the  government  organ  (National 
Intelligencer2}  said :  "  We  have  no  idea  of  the  enemy  attempting  to  reach  the  vicin 
ity  of  the  capital ;  and  if  he  does,  we  have  no  doubt  he  will  meet  such  a  reception  as 

1  So  early  as  the  middle  of  July,  the  previous  year,  when  ^ — N 


among  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  mem-   ^-^       |MM  ,     f 

bers  of  Congress  for  the  defense  of  the  capital. 

»  This  paper  is  still  (1867)  published  at  Washington  City,  and,  until  recently,  by  Gales  and  Seaton,  the  proprietors 
in  1S14. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


917 


A  Dearth  of  Troops  for  the  Defense  of  Washington.      The  Government  alarmed.      The  President's  Plan  for  Defense. 

he  had  a  sample  of  at  Craney  Island.  The  enemy  knows  better  than  to  trust  him 
self  abreast  of  or  on  this  side  of  Fort  Washington."  This  idle  boast  and  the  govern 
ment  apathy  were  terribly  rebuked  a  little  more  than  three  months  afterward  by 
British  arms  and  British  torches.  At  that  very  time  hostile  marauders  were  in  the 
waters  of  the  Potomac,  and  their  leaders,  employing  competent  spies,  had  made  them 
selves  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  condition  of  the  country,  and  of  military  affairs 
around  Washington. 

June  came,  and  yet  there  was  strange  apathy  in  official  circles,  and  very  little  prep 
aration  for  defense.  In  the  entire  Fifth  Military  District,  of  which  the  District  of 
Columbia  was  a  part,  there  were  only  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  effect 
ive  enlisted  men,  of  whom  one  half  were  at  Norfolk,  one  quarter  at  Baltimore,  *id 

the  remaining  quarter  divided  between  An 
napolis,  Fort  Washington,  and  St.  Mary's. 
There  were,  besides,  only  a  company  of  ma 
rines  in  the  barracks  at  Washington,  and  a 
company  of  artillery  at  Fort  Washington 
(late  Fort  Warburton),  on  the  Potomac, 
twelve  miles  below  the  capital.  Five  hund 
red  recruits  for  the  regular  army  from  North 
Carolina,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Clinch,1 
who  had  been  in  camp  near  Washington  for 
the  purpose  of  drill  and  exercise,  were  al 
lowed  to  leave  for  the  Northern  frontier 
quite  late  in  June,  when  the  public  mind 
was  filled  with  alarm  because  of  the  men 
aces  of  the  enemy. 

At  length  the  government  was  aroused  to 
a  sense  of  danger  and  responsibility  by  in 
telligence  that  a  number  of  the  largest  class 
of  transports  had  been  fitted  out  at  Ports 
mouth,  England,  "as  well  as  all  troop-ships  in 
that  port,"  for  the  purpose,  it  was  believed, 
of  going  to  Bordeaux  and  taking  on  board 
there  the  most  effective  of  Wellington's  reg 
iments  and  conveying  them  to  the  United  States.  This  was  confirmed  at  near  the 
close  of  June  by  the  arrival  at  New  York  of  a  cartel  froiri  Bermuda,  which  brought 
intelligence  that  she  left  at  that  port  "  a  fleet  of  transports,  with  a  large  force,  bound 
to  some  port  in  the  United  States,  probably  the  Potomac."  Official  intelligence  of 
this  fact  reached  the  government  on  the  26th,  and  on  the  1st  of  July  the  President 
called  a  cabinet  council  and  laid  before  them  a  well-considered  plan  of  defense  against 
threatened  invasion,  which  had  been  suggested,  if  not  actually  prepared,  by  General 
William  H.  Winder,  who  had  lately  been  exchanged,  and  had  returned  from  Canada.2 
It  contemplated  the  establishment  of  a  camp  of  regular  troops,  two  or  three  thousand 
strong,  somewhere  between  the  Eastern  Branch  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Patuxent 
Rivers,  in  Maryland,  and  the  concentration  of  ten  thousand  militia  in  the  vicinity  of 
Washington  City. 

i  Duncan  L.  Clinch  was  one  of  the  most  meritorious  officers  in  the  United  States  service.  He  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina,  and'entered  the  army  as  first  lieutenant  of  infantry  in  1SOS,  and  was  soon  made  regimental  paymaster.  He 
was  promoted  to  captain  in  1810,  and  lieutenant  colonel  in  August,  1813.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  retained  in  the 
army,  and  was  promoted  to  colonel  in  1819.  In  1829  he  was  breveted  brigadier  general  for  ten  years'  meritorious  serv 
ices.  He  was  an  efficient  officer  in  the  war  with  the  Seminoles  in  1S35  and  1S36.  He  resigned  in  September,  1836. 
From  1843  to  1846  he  was  a  representative  in  Congress  from  Georgia.  He  died  at  Macon,  Georgia,  on  the  28th  of  Octo 
ber,  1849.  He  was  a  brave  soldier  and  noble-hearted  man.  I  am  indebted  to  his  daughter,  the  wife  of  General  Kobert 
Anderson,  of  Fort  Sumter  fame,  for  the  above  portrait. 

«  Letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  June  30, 1814,  in  Winder's  Letter-book. 


918 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Preparations  for  defending  the  Capital.        General  Winder  in  military  Command.        The  States  called  on  for  Troops. 

The  Cabinet  approved  the  Presi 
dent's  plan.1  A  new  military  district, 
entitled  the  Tenth,  was  formed,  com 
prising  Maryland,  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  and  the  portions  of  Eastern 
Virginia  lying  between  the  Potomac 
and  Rappahannock  Rivers.  Brigadier 
General  Winder2  was  appointed  to  the 
command  of  it,  and  the  government 
made  a  requisition  upon  the  several 
States  for  militia  to  the  aggregate  of 
ninety-three  thousand  men,  who  were 
to  be  organized  at  home  and  held  in 
readiness.3  The  District  of  Columbia 
and  the  State  of  Maryland  were  called 
upon  to  furnish  their  respective  quo 
tas  immediately,  the  former  being  two 
thousand  men  and  the  latter  six  thou 
sand.  Pennsylvania  was  directed  to 
send  five  thousand  and  Virginia  two 
thousand  to  the  militia  rendezvous  at 
once.  The  naval  defenses  were  in 
trusted  to  Commodore  Barney,  a  vet 
eran  commander,  who  was  in  the  Patuxent  with  a  small  flotilla  of  gun-boats. 

In  official  orders  there  appeared  an  army  of  fifteen  thousand  militia  for  the  defense 
of  Washington,  and  General  Winder  was  envied  as  the  fortunate  commander  of  a 
larger  force  than  had  yet  appeared  in  the  field.  But  that  army  remained  hidden  in 

1  The  Secretary  of  War  could  not  be  made  to  believe,  even  as  late  as  August,  when  the  enemy  was  almost  at  the  door 
of  the  capital,  that  Washington  City  was  his  object.    "  What  the  devil  will  they  do  here  ?"  was  his  question  to  one  who 
expressed  a  belief  that  the  capital  was  in  danger.    "No,  no ;  Baltimore  is  the  place,  sir  ;  that  is  of  so  much  more  con 
sequence."— Statement  of  General  Van  Ness  before  a  Committee  of  Inquiry.    In  his  Notices  of  the  War  of  1812,  the  Secre 
tary  says  that  the  attack  on  Washington  was  an  after-thought  of  Admiral  Cochrane  when  he  had  caused  the  destruction 
of  Barney's  flotilla.    Cochrane,  in  a  letter  to  the  Board  of  Admiralty  in  September,  says  that  the  presence  of  a  flotilla 
at  the  head  of  the  Patuxent  gave  him  a  "  pretext  for  ascending  that  river,"  while  "  the  ultimate  destination  of  the  com 
bined  force  was  Washington,  should  it  be  found  that  the  attempt  might  be  made  with  any  prospect  of  success."   And  at 
the  beginning  of  August,  a  letter,  written  by  some  one  on  compulsory  duty  in  the  British  fleet  in  the  Chesapeake,  dated 
July  27th,  was  placed  in  Winder's  hands,  and  submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  in  which  the  intentions  of  the  enemy 
to  rush  to  the  capital  were  fully  revealed.    "The  manner  in  which  they  intend  doing  it  is,"  said  the  writer,  "to  take 
advantage  of  a  fair  wind  in  ascending  the  Patuxent,  and,  after  having  ascended  it  a  certain  distance,  to  land  their  men 
at  once  and  to  make  all  possible  dispatch  to  the  capital,  batter  it  down,  and  then  return  to  their  vessels  immediately. 
In  doing  this  there  is  calculated  to  be  employed  upward  of  seven  thousand  men."—  Winder  Papers. 

On  the  contrary,  Mr.  Gleig,  the  now  (1867)  venerable  chaplain  general  of  the  British  Army,  who  accompanied  the  in 
vaders,  says  that  the  destruction  of  Barney's  flotilla  was  the  sole  object  of  the  passage  up  the  Patuxent,  and  that  the 
capture  and  destruction  of  Washington  was  suggested  by  Cockburn,  the  marauder,  when  that  work  was  accomplished. 

2  William  H.  Winder  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Maryland,  on  the  18th  of  February,  1775.    His  ancestors  were 
among  the  earliest  settlers  in  that  state,  and  were  influential  men.    He  was  graduated  at  the  University  of  Pennsylva 
nia,  studied  law,  and  entered  upon  its  practice.    He  went  to  Nashville,  Tennessee,  to  settle,  but  found  so  little  encour 
agement  that  he  returned  to  his  native  state.    At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Maryland 
Legislature.    In  1802  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Baltimore,  and  soon  stood  in  the  foremost  rank  at  the  bar  in  that  city, 
where  his  rivals  and  friends  were  William  Pinkney,  Luther  Martin,  and  men  of  that  character.    In  March,  1812,  he 
received  the  commission  of  lieutenant  colonel  of  infantry,  and  was  promoted  to  colonel  in  July  following,  and  with 
troops  from  his  state  performed  eminent  service  on  the  Niagara  frontier.    He  was  commissioned  a  brigadier  in  March, 
1843,  and  in  June  following  he  was  captured  at  Stony  Creek,  in  Canada,  and  held  as  a  prisoner  of  war  until  the  spring 
of  1814.    In  May  of  that  year  he  was  appointed  adjutant  and  inspector  general,  and  at  the  beginning  of  July  he  was  as 
signed  to  the  command  of  the  Tenth  Military  District.    He  was  active  in  efforts  to  defend  Washington  City,  and  after 
ward  Baltimore.    After  the  retirement  of  the  British  he  was  ordered  to  the  Northern  frontier.    He  left  the  army  in 
1815,  and  returned  to  the  practice  of  his  profession  with  a  ruined  constitution.    He  was  twice  elected  state  senator.    His 
health  finally  gave  way,  and  he  died  in  Baltimore  on  the  24th  of  May,  1824,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  years.    He  was 
Grand  Master  of  the  Masonic  Order  in  Maryland.    No  private  citizen  was  ever  before  or  since  honored  with  such  a  fu 
neral  as  his ;  and  the  pen  of  William  Wirt  indited  a  most  eloquent  eulogy  of  his  character. 

3  The  requisition  upon  the  several  States  was  as  follows :  New  Hampshire,  3500 ;  Massachusetts,  10,000 ;  Rhode  Isl 
and,  500;  Connecticut,  3000;  New  York,  13,500;  New  Jersey,  5000;  Pennsylvania,  14,000;  Delaware,  1000;  Maryland, 
6000;  Virginia,  12,000  ;  North  Carolina,  7000 ;  South  Carolina,  5000 ;  Georgia,  3500  ;  Kentucky,  5500 ;  Tennessee,  2500 ; 
Louisiana,  1000 ;  Mississippi  Territory,  500.    Of  this  force  8400  were  to  be  artillery,  and  the  remainder  infantry. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812.  919 

Tardiness  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Apathy  of  the  People.  Winder's  Advice  and  Warnings. 

official  paragraphs,  and  only  a  small  portion  of  it  confronted  the  invader,  for  he  came 
before  the  States  on  whom  the  government  had  made  a  requisition  for  militia  had 
moved  in  the  matter.  There  was  extraordinary  tardiness  every  where,  and  indica 
tions  of  the  most  fatal  official  apathy  or  weakness.  The  Governor  of  Maryland,  re 
siding  within  an  easy  day's  ride  of  the  War  Office,  did  not  receive  a  copy  of  that  req 
uisition  until  six  days  after  it  was  ordered ;  and  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  did 
not  receive  his  until  ten  days  afterward.  And  it  was  not  until  the  day  when  the 
British  appeared  in  heavy  force  in  Chesapeake  Bay  (July  12, 1814)  that  the  Secretary 
of  War  placed  a  copy  of  it  in  the  hands  of  General  Winder,  and  then  it  was  accom 
panied  by  a  cautious  order  directing  him,  in  the  event  of  an  invasion,  to  call  for  a 
part  or  the  whole  quota  required  of  Maryland,  but  to  "  be  careful  to  avoid  unneces 
sary  calls,  and  to  apportion  the  call  to  the  exigency."1  Five  days  afterward  another 
order  from  the  War  Department  reached  him,  which  gave  him  authority  to  draw,  in 
addition  to  the  Maryland  quota,  two  thousand  men  from  Virginia  and  five  thousand 
from  Pennsylvania,  and  assuring  him  that  the  whole  of  the  militia  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  amounting  to  about  two  thousand,  were  kept  in  a  disposable  state,  and 
subject  to  his  orders. 

General  Winder  had  comprehended  the  difficulties  of  the  situation  from  the  begin 
ning.  As  early  as  the  9th  of  July,  before  he  had  received  notice  of  his  appointment 
to  the  command,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  full  of  sound  advice, 
wholesome  warning,  and  sagacious  predictions,  but  that  functionary  never  deigned 
to  reply  to  it.2  He  issued  orders  in  accordance  with  his  own  judgment  alone,  and 
with  an  apparent  obliviousness  to, stern  facts — orders  which  implied  the  organization 
and  readiness  of  the  troops  mentioned  when  there  was  not  a  shadow  of  such  force  in 
existence.  The  Governor  of  Maryland  (Levin  Winder),  after  issuing  drafts  for  three 
thousand  men,  found  that  scarcely  so  many  hundreds  could  be  collected ;  and  the 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania  informed  the  Secretary  of  War  that,  in  consequence  of  the 
defect  of  the  militia  laws  of  that  commonwealth,  the  executive  had  no  power  to  en 
force  the  draft. 

General  Winder  entered  upon  his  duties  with  alacrity,  under  the  inspiration  of  se 
ductive  promises  by  the  government ;  and,  notwithstanding  he  was  soon  made  to 
feel  that  he  was  the  victim  of  official  incompetency,  he  was  untiring  in  his  exertions 
to  make  the  defense  of  the  District  a  certainty.  He  visited  every  part  of  the  region 
to  be  defended,  inspecting  every  fortification  under  his  command,  and  reconnoitring 
every  position  thought  to  be  favorable  for  the  defense  of  the  capital.3  He  was  in 
daily  communication  with  the  government,  giving  information,  sounding  notes  of 
alarm,  and  making  wise  suggestions.  "  The  door  of  Washington"  (meaning  Annapo 
lis),  he  wrote  on  the  16th  of  July,  "is  wide  open,  and  can  not  be  shut  with  the  few 
troops  under  my  command."  Fort  Madison  there  was  utterly  defenseless,  and  too 
unhealthful  for  a  garrison  to  occupy  it.  He  warned  the  government  that  its  heavy 
armament  might  be  easily  seized  by  the  invaders,  and  turned  upon  the  town  and  Fort 
Severn  with  fatal  effect.4  He  begged  in  vain  for  efforts  to  save  that  post,  and  made 
stirring  appeals  to  the  people  to  come  forward  for  the  defense  of  the  state.  Yet,  not 
withstanding  the  danger  that  threatened,  and  his  great  personal  popularity,  height 
ened  by  good  deeds  on  the  Northern  frontier,  Winder  was  compelled  to  report  on  the 
1st  of  August  that  he  had  actually  in  camp  only  one  thousand  regulars,  and  about 

1  The  Secretary  of  War,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not  believe  that  the  British  would  attempt  to  penetrate  to  Washington  ; 
and  on  the  day  when  he  gave  this  cautions  order,  the  National  Intelligencer  (the  government  organ)  said,  "  It  is  not  prob 
able  they  will  be  required  to  be  embodied  unless  the  enemy  should  attempt  to  execute  his  threats  of  invasion." 

2  Autograph  Letter,  Winder  Papers  ;  Report  of  an  Investigating  Committee  of  Congress. 

3  It  is  related  that  a  farmer  living  near  Bladensburg,  who  having,  with  some  of  his  neighbors,  followed  some  direc 
tions  for  deep  plowing  given  in  a  book,  struck  the  gravel  below  his  soil,  and  allowed  all  his  manure  to  leach  through 
and  thus  ruin  his  land,  saw  General  Winder  one  day,  when  the  British  were  near,  with  a  map  in  his  hand,  inspecting 
that  region.    "  He'll  be  whipped,"  said  the  farmer.    "  Why  t"  asked  a  by-stander.    "  Because  he's  going  to  book-fight 
ing  the  British,  as  we  have  been  book-farming,  and  got  whipped."  *  Autograph  Letter. 


920  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  British  appear  in  Chesapeake  Bay.  Barney's  Flotilla.  General  Winder's  Calls  for  Troops. 

four  thousand  militia  enrolled,  a  larger  proportion  of  them  yet  to  be  collected.  The 
government  had  neglected  to  call  for  cavalry  and  riflemen,  very  important  branches 
of  the  service. 

While  these  feeble  efforts  were  in  operation  the  enemy  appeared  in  strong  force. 
On  the  16th  of  August  the  small  British  squadron  in  the  Chesapeake  was  re-enforced 
by  a  fleet  of  twenty-one  vessels  under  Admiral  Sir  Alexander  Cochrane,  the  senior 
commander  on  the  American  station.  These  were  soon  joined  by  another  under 
Commodore  Sir  Charles  Malcolm.  These  vessels  bore  several  thousand  land  troops 
commanded  by  General  Ross,  an  Irish  officer,  and  one  of  Wellington's  most  active 
leaders.  Washington  and  Baltimore  appear  to  have  been  chosen  objects  of  attack 
simultaneously.  A  part  of  the  British  naval  force,  under  Captain  Gordon,  went  up 
the  Potomac,  and  another  portion,  under  Sir  Peter  Parker,  went  up  the  Chesapeake 
toward  Baltimore. 

At  that  time  Commodore  Barney,  with  a  flotilla  of  thirteen  armed  barges  and  the 
schooner  Scorpion,  with  an  aggregate  of  about  five  hundred  men,  was  in  the  Patux- 
ent  River.  His  vessels  had  been  chased  out  of  the  Chesapeake,  and  blockaded  in  St. 

Leonard's  Bay.  Of  this  confinement 
they  were  relieved  by  some  artillery 
under  Colonel  Henry  Carbery,1  with 
which  he  drove  away  the  Loire,  the 
blockading  frigate,  when  the  released 
flotilla  went  up  the  Patuxent,  first  to  Benedict,  and  then  to  Nottingham,  that  it  might 
be  within  co-operating  distance  of  both  Washington  and  Baltimore.  Seeing  this,  the 
British  determined  to  capture  or  destroy  it,  and  on  the  18th  of  August  a  force  of  a 
little  more  than  five  thousand  men,  composed  of  regulars,  marines,  and  negroes,2  went 
up  the  Patuxent,  and  landed  at  Benedict  with  three  cannon  under  cover  of  an  armed 
brig.  Most  of  the  other  large  British  vessels  were  below,  some  of  them  aground,  and 
all  too  heavy  to  ascend  the  comparatively  shallow  stream. 

Barney,  then  at  Nottingham,3  promptly  informed  the  Navy  Department  of  this 
movement,  and  of  a  boast  of  the  British  admiral  that  he  would  destroy  the  American 
flotilla,  and  dine  in  Washington  the  following  Sunday.  General  Winder,  by  direction 
of  the  War  Department,  immediately  ordered  General  Samuel  Smith's  division  (the 
Third)  of  the  Maryland  militia  into  actual  service.  He  also  called  upon  General  John 
•August is,  P.  Van  Ness,a  com 
mander  of  the  militia 
of  the  District  of  Columbia,  for 
two  brigades,  to  be  encamped  S/fl  "'.  I—- 
near  Alexandria ;  and  he  sent  a 
circular  letter13  to  all 
the  brigadiers  of  the  Maryland  militia,  asking  for  volunteers  to  the  amount 
of  one  half  of  their  respective  commands.  By  his  orders,  his  adjutant  general,  Hite, 
issued  a  stirring  appeal  to  the  citizens  to  come  forward,  "  without  regard  to  sacri 
fices  and  privations,"  in  defense  of  the  national  capital.  Winder  also  asked  General 
Strieker,  of  Baltimore,  to  send  to  Washington  his  volunteer  regiments  of  infantry  and 
his  rifle  battalion.  These  calls  for  volunteers  were  approved  by  the  Secretary  of 
War,  who  enjoined  Winder  so  to  word  the  requisition  as  "to  guard  against  interfer 
ing  with  the  legal  draft."4 

1  Henry  Carbery  was  a  captain  in  the  American  Navy  in  1T92,  and  resigned  in  1T94.    He  entered  the  military  serv 
ice  in  Maryland  in  the  spring  of  1813  as  colonel.    He  died  on  the  26th  of  May,  1822. 

2  These  "disciplined  negroes"  had  been  forced  by  threats,  and  bribed  by  promises  of  freedom,  to  enter  the  British 
service. 

3  Barney  had  been  very  active  with  his  flotilla  in  opposing  the  marauding  expeditions  of  the  British.    On  the  9th  of 
July  he  wrote  from  Nottingham  to  a  friend,  saying,  "Six  times  in  one  month  I  have  beat  the  enemy,  always  increasing 
in  their  force,  so  that  I  believe  they  are  tired  of  me.    They  now  lie  at  the  mouth  of  the  Patuxent."— Autograph  Letter. 

*  Autograph  Letter,  Winder  Papers. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  921 

Gathering  of  Troops.  The  British  in  the  Patuxent.  Destruction  of  Barney's  Flotilla. 

The  veteran  patriot,  General  Smith,  promptly  responded  to  the  call  of  the  govern 
ment.    He  at  once  issued  a  division  order,a  in  which  he  gave  notice  of  the     a  August  19, 
invasion,  and  directed  the  whole   of  General  Stansbury's  brigade   (the         ™u- 
. — '*'  Third)  to  be  held  in  readiness 

^  ~^     "  for  active  service,  adding,  "The 

third  brigade  is  now  under  the 
pay  of  the  United  States,  in  its 
service,  and  subject  to  the  Ar 
ticles  of  War."1     That  corps  General  Smith  declared  to  be  "the  finest  set  of  men  he 
ever  saw."2    They  paraded  at  four  o'clock  the  same  day,  and  on  the  following  morn 
ing  General  Stansbury3  left  Baltimore  for  Washington  with  thirteen  hundred  of  his 
corps.   Another  force,  un 
der   Lieutenant    Colonel 
Joseph  Sterett,  consisting 
of  the   Fifth    Regiment 
of  Baltimore  Volunteers, 
Major  Pinkney's4  rifle 
battalion,  and  the   artil 
lery  companies   of  Cap 
tains  Myers  and  Magrti- 
der,  left  Baltimore  on  the  evening  of  the  20th,  and  joined  Stansbury  on  the  evening 
of  the  23d.     With  wise  precaution,  General  Smith  orderedb  the  eleventh 
brigade  and  Colonel  Moore's  cavalry  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to 
march  to  Baltimore  at  a  moment's  warning,  for  it  seemed  probable  that  the  enemy 
would  strike  at  both  cities  simultaneously.     They  were  ordered  to  Baltimore  on 
the  23d. 

The  British  in  the  mean  time  had  moved  up  the  Patuxent  from  Benedict,  the  land 
troops  being  accompanied  by  a  flotilla  of  launches  and  barges  that  kept  abreast  of 
them.  The  naval  forces  were  under  the  command  of  the  notorious  marauder,  Cock- 
burn.  They  reached  Lower  Marlborough  on  the  21st,  when  Barney's  flotilla,  then  in 
charge  of  Lieutenant  Frazier  and  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to  destroy  it  if  neces 
sary,  moved  up  to  Pig  Point,  where  some  of  the  vessels  grounded  in  the  shallow  wa 
ter.  Barney  had  landed  with  four  hundred  seamen  and  pushed  on  toward  Winder's 
head-quarters,  then  at  the  Wood  Yard,  on  the  road  between  Upper  Marlborough  and 
Washington,  and  twelve  miles  from  the  latter,  where  he  had  established  a  slightly- 
intrenched  camp.  Frazier  was  instructed  to  destroy  the  flotilla  at  Pig  Point  rather 
than  allow  it  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  foe.  This  order  was  obeyed,  and  the  flotil 
la  was  blown  up  on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  when  the  enemy  moved  up  from  Notting 
ham  in  forty  barges,  and  commenced  firing  upon  it  with  cannon  and  rockets.5  They 
found  only  the  ruins  of  Barney's  vessels  at  Pig  Point.  Their  land  force  pressed  for 
ward  to  Upper  Marlborough,  whence  a  road  led  directly  to  Washington  City,  and 
there  encamped,  leaving  Cockburn  and  the  British  flotilla  at  Pig  Point. 

Now  let  us  see  what  forces  were  at  the  disposal  of  General  Winder  for  the  defense 
of  Washington.  There  were  two  small  brigades  of  District  troops.  One  of  these 
comprised  the  militia  and  volunteers  of  Washington  and  Georgetown,  arranged  in 
two  regiments  under  Colonels  Magruder  and  Brent,  and  was  commanded  by  General 
Walter  Smith,  of  Georgetown.  Attached  to  the  brigade  were  two  companies  of  light 

1  General  Smith's  MS.  Order-book.    I  am  indebted  to  the  kind  courtesy  of  General  John  Spear  Smith,  of  Baltimore, 
son  of  General  Samuel  Smith,  and  his  aid-de-camp  in  1814,  for  the  use  of  his  father's  military  papers  of  this  period. 

2  Autograph  Letter  to  General  Winder. 

3  Tobias  E.  Stansbury  lived  to  the  great  age  of  ninety-three  years.    He  was  an  active  public  man  from  the  commence 
ment  of  the  Revolution  almost  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Baltimore  County,  Maryland,  on  the  25th  of 
October,  1849.    He  was  repeatedly  a  member  of  the  Maryland  Legislature,  and  was  Speaker  of  its  House  of  Delegates. 
He  always  enjoyed  the  perfect  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens.  *  See  sketch  of  William  Pinkney  on  page  148. 

*  Barney's  autograph  Letter  to  the  Investigating  Committee,  October  30, 1814. 


922 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


The  Forces  gathered  for  the  Defense  of  Washington  and  Baltimore. 


artillery,  commanded  respectively  by  Ma 
jor  George  Peter,  of  the  regular  army, 
and  Captain  Benjamin  Burch,  a  soldier 
of  the  Revolution.  There  were  also  two 
rifle  companies  under  Captains  Doughty 
and  Stull.  This  brigade  numbered,  on 
the  morning  of  the  21st  of  August,  one  thousand  and  seventy  men.  The  second  bri 
gade  was  commanded  by  General  Robert  Young,  and  numbered  five  hundred  men. 
It  comprised  a  company  of  artillery  led  by  Captain  Marsteller.  It  was  chiefly  em 
ployed  in  defending  the  approaches  to  Fort  Washington, 
about  twelve  miles  below  the  capital.  Brigadier  Gen 
eral  West,  of  Prince  George's  County,  had  troops  on  the 
lootout  toward  the  Potomac. 
The  troops  from  Baltimore  comprised  a  greater  portion  of  the  brigade  of  General 
Stansbury,  formed  in  two  regiments  under  Lieutenant  Colonels  Ragan  and  Schutz, 
thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  in  number ;  and  the  Fifth  Regiment,  under  Colonel  Ster- 
ett,  with  artillery  and-  riflemen  already  mentioned,  the  latter  under  the  celebrated 
William  Pinkney.  The  whole  force  from  Baltimore  was  about  two  thousand  two 
hundred,  commanded  by  General  Stansbury  as  chief.  Besides  these  there  were  vari 
ous  detachments  of  Maryland  militia,  under  the 
respective  command  of  Colonels  W.  D.  Beall  (of 
the  Revolution)  and  Hood,  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Kramer,  and  Majors  Waring  and  Maynard — in  all 
less  than  twelve  hundred.  There  was  also  a  regi 
ment  of  Virginia  militia  under  Colonel  George  Mi 
nor,  six  hundred  strong,  with  one  hundred  cavalry.  The  regular  army  contributed 

three  hundred  men  from  the  Twelfth,  Thirty-sixth, 
and  Thirty-eighth  Regiments,  under  Lieutenant 
Colonel  William  Scott.  To  these  must  be  added 
the  sailors  of  Barney's  flotilla,  four  hundred,  and 
one  hundred  and  twenty  marines  from  the  navy 
yard  at  Washington,  furnished  with  two  18-pound- 
ers  and  three  12-pounders.  There  were  also 
various  small  companies  of  volunteer  cav 
alry  from  the  District,  Maryland,  and  Vir 
ginia,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Tilghman, 
and  Majors  O.  H.  Williams  and  Charles  Ster- 
ett,  three  hundred  in  number,  and  a  squad 
ron  of  United  States  dragoons  commanded 
by  Major  Laval.  The  whole  force  was  about  seven  thousand  strong,  of  whom  nine 
hundred  were  enlisted  men.  The  cavalry  did  not  exceed  four  hundred  in  number. 
The  little  army  had  twenty-six  pieces  of  cannon,  of  which  twenty  were  only  6-pound- 
ers.  This  force,  if  concentrated,  would  have  been  competent  to  roll  back  the  inva 
sion  had  the  commanding  officer  been  untrammeled  by  the  interference  of  the  Presi 
dent  and  his  Cabinet.  • 

Winder's  vigilance  was  sleepless  after  the  appearance  of  the  invaders  in  the  Pa- 
tuxent.  He  was  actively  employed  with  the  cavalry  in  reconnoitring ;  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  22d  he  ordered  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott's  command,  Laval's  cavalry, 
Major  Peter's  artillery,  and  the  rifle  company  of  Stull,  and  another  under  Captain 
Davidson,  acting  as  riflemen,  with  several  field-pieces,  numbering  about  eight  hundred 
men,  to  proceed  immediately  to  Nottingham,  where  the  enemy  had  encamped  during 
the  night  just  passed,  and  reconnoitre  and  harass  them.  The  remainder  of  Winder's 
force  in  hand  was  directed  to  follow  in  their  support.  The  general  himself,  accompa- 
\ 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  923 

The  British  move  on  Washington.  Alarming  Note  from  Secretary  Monroe.  Removal  of  the  Public  Records. 

nied  by  his  limited  staff,  proceeded  in  advance  of  the  troops,  and  soon  discovered  the 
enemy  moving  up  the  river.  He  was  convinced  that  an  encounter  with  that  over 
whelming  force  would  be  perilous,  and  he  ordered  Scott  and  Peter  to  fall  back  to  the 
"Wood  Yard  and  wait  for  him.  The  main  body  of  the  troops,  under  General  W. 
Smith,  had  arrived  in  the  mean  time  within  two  miles  of  the  advance ;  and  the  whole 
American  force,  then  within  five  miles  of  the  invaders,  including  Barney's  men  and 
marines  from  the  "Washington  Navy  Yard,  numbered  about  twenty-five  hundred,  fair 
ly  armed  with  muskets  and  rifles,  and  five  pieces  of  heavy  artillery. 

On  arriving  at  the  junction  of  the  roads  leading  respectively  to  Marlborough  and 
the  Wood  Yard,  General  Ross,  who  led  the  British  column  in  person,  turned  into  the 
latter  with  the  seeming  intention  of  pushing  on  toward  Washington.  He  was  in 
duced  to  do  so  by  Cockburn,  who  thirsted  for  plunder,  and  who  argued  that  the  pres 
tige  which  the  British  would  acquire  by  the  capture  of  the  metropolis  of  the  republic 
would  be  of  immense  advantage  to  the  cause,  and  that  no  doubt  the  government,  to 
save  the  city,  would  make  a  liberal  offer  of  money,  a  circumstance  that  would  greatly 
increase  the  marauder's  amount  of  prize-money.  After  proceeding  a  short  distance, 
Ross  changed  his  course  and  proceeded  toward  Marlborough.  '  Winder  deemed  it  pru 
dent  to  avoid  an  encounter,  and  in  the  afternoon  he  retreated  toward  the  capital,  and  • 
encamped  at  a  place  called  Long  Old  Battalion  Fields,  about  eight  miles  from  the 
city,  where  he  might  be  within  easy  striking  distance  of  Bladensburg,  the  bridges 
over  the  East  Branch  of  the  Potomac,  and  the  road  leading  to  Fort  Washington.1 

Colonel  James  Monroe,  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  had  been  several  days  with 
Winder  reconnoitring  the  enemy,  and  watching  all  military  movements,  believed  that 
Washington  was  in  great  peril,  for  he  well  knew  the  weakness  of  the  American  forces. 
While  Ross  was  yet  advancing,  and  before  he  retraced  his  steps  and  went  toward 
Marlborough,  Monroe  sent  the  following  dispatch  to  the  President : 

"  The  enemy  are  advanced  six  miles  on  the  road  to  the  Wood  Yard,  and  our  troops 
are  retiring.  Our  troops  were  on  the  march  to  meet  them,  but  in  too  small  a  body 
to  engage.  General  Winder  proposes  to  retire  till  he  can  collect  them  in  a  body. 
The  enemy  are  in  full  march  to  Washington.  Have  the  materials  prepared  to  de 
stroy  the  bridges.  J-  MONROE. 

"  P.S. — You  had  better  remove  the  records."2 

This  message  produced  the  wildest  excitement  in  the  national  capital,  then  a  strag 
gling  town  of  between  eight  and  nine  thousand  inhabitants,  and  caused  a  sudden  and 
confused  exodus  of  all  the  timid  and  helpless  ones  who  were  able  to  leave. 

Winder's  situation  was  an  unenviable  one.  With  a  comparatively  strong  foe  on 
his  front,  ready  to  fall  upon  him  or  the  capital  he  was  expected  to  defend,  he  had 
only  about  twenty-five  hundred  armed  and  effective  men  in  camp,  and  many  of  these 
had  been  from  their  homes  only  three  or  four  days.  They  were  undisciplined  and 
untried,  and  surrounded  and  influenced  by  a  crowd  of  excited  civilians,  to  whose 
"  officious  but  well-intended  information  and  advice"  the  general  was  compelled  to 
listen.  In  addition  to  this  intrusion  and  interference  of  common  men,  he  was  embar- 

i  See  Map  on  page  929. 

a  Mr.  S.  Pleasanton,  then  employed  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  made  immediate  arrangements  for  the  re 
moval  of  the  books  and  papers  of  the  State  Department,  He  had  linen  bags  made  in  which  they  were  placed,  and 
then  conveyed  in  carts  across  the  Chain  Bridge,  over  the  Potomac,  two  miles  above  Georgetown,  to  the  grist-mill  of 
Ed^ar  Patterson,  in  Virginia.  Considering  them  unsafe  there,  Mr.  Pleasanton  had  them  conveyed  to  Leesburg,  thirty- 
five'  miles  from  Washington,  where  they  were  locked  up  in  an  unoccupied  house,  and  the  keys  given  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Littlejohn,  who  had  been  one  of  the  collectors  of  the  internal  revenue.  Thus  the  precious  documents  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  period  and  other  valuable  papers  now  in  the  Office  of  the  Rolls  at  Washington  City  were  saved  from  destruction. 
— Autograph  Letter  of  S.  Pleasanton  to  General  Winder,  August  7,  1848.  Mr.  Pleasanton,  in  his  account  of  this  trans 
action,  'lays :  "  While  engaged  in  the  passage-way  of  the  buildings  with  the  papers,  the  Department  of  State  being  on 
one  side,  and  the  War  Department  on  the  other  side  of  the  passage,  General  Armstrong,  then  Secretary  of  War,  on  his 
way  to  his  own  room,  stopped  a  short  time,  and  observed  to  me  that  he  thought  we  were  under  unnecessary  alarm,  as 
he  did  not  think  the  British  were  serious  in  their  intentions  of  coming  to  Washington."  To  this  belief  the  Secretary 
adhered  until  they  were  iii  full  march  upon  the  capital. 


924 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Preparations  for  Battle. 


Disposition  of  Troops. 


Battle-line  formed  near  Bladensburg. 


rassed  by  the  presence  and  suggestions  of  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  ministers, 
the  most  of  them  utterly  ignorant  of  military  affairs.  Better  would  it  have  been  for 
Winder  and  the  country  if  these  civilians,  from  the  President  down,  had  kept  away 
from  the  camp  and  the  field,  and  prudently  preserved  silence. 

The  fatigued  little  army  at  Long  Old  Fields  had  reposed  but  a  short  time  when,  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning  (August  23),  a  timid  sentinel  gave  a  false  alarm,  and  they 
were  summoned  to  their  feet  in  battle  order.  They  were  soon  dismissed,  and  slept 
on  their  arms  until  dawn.  At  sunrise  they  were  ordered  to  strike  their  tents,  load 
the  baggage  wagons,  and  have  every  thing  in  readiness  to  move  within  an  hour. 
When  every  thing  was  prepared  for  marching  they  were  reviewed  by  President  Mad 
ison.  In  the  mean  time  Winder  had  ascertained  from  scouts  that  the  British  were 
resting  quietly  in  their  camp  at  Upper  Marlborough,  and  he  resolved  to  concentrate 
all  the  troops  within  his  reach  at  some  point  between  his  present  camp  and  that  of 
the  enemy.  He  accordingly  sent  orders  to  General  Stansbury,  at  Bladensburg,  to 
inarch  with  his  own  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterett's  troops,  arid  take  position  in  the 
road  within  seven  miles  of  Marlborough.  The  same  order  was  sent  to  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Beall,  supposed  to  be  then  approaching  with  his  corps  from  Annapolis.  A 
detachment  from  General  Walter  Smith's  brigade,  under  Major  Peter,  composed  of 
the  same  companies  as  the  detachment  sent  forward  the  day  before,  was  ordered  to 
move  from  camp  in  the  same  direction  and  for  the  same  purpose — to  approach  as 
near  the  enemy  as  possible  without  incurring  too  much  risk,  and  annoy  him  whether 
in  motion  or  at  rest.  General  Winder  himself,  accompanied  by  a  troop  of  Laval's 
cavalry,  started  for  Bladensburg  at  noon  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  conference  with 
General  Stansbury.  When  within  four  or  five  miles  of  that  place,  he  was  overtaken 
by  Major  M'Kenney  with  intelligence  that  Major  Peter  had  met  and  skirmished  with 
the  vanguard  of  the  advancing  enemy,  two  or  three  miles  from  Marlborough,  on  the 
road  toward  the  Wood  Yard,  had  been  driven  back  toward  the  Old  Fields,  and  that 
General  Smith  had  sent  off  the  baggage  toward  Washington  across  the  Eastern 
Branch,  and  had  drawn  up  his  own  troops  and  Barney's  seamen  in  battle  order  to 
await  an  attack  from  the  foe.  Winder  immediately  sent  orders  to  Stansbury,  now 
moving  forward,  to  fall  back  toward  Bladensburg,  take  the  best  position  possible  with 
his  own  and  Sterett's  troops  in  front  of  that  village,  and  resist  the  enemy  if  attacked. 
If  driven,  he  was  to  re 
treat  toward  the  cap 
ital.  He  then  hasten 
ed  back  to  the  Old 
Fields,  where  he  found 
Smith  and  Barney  well 
posted.  Stansbury's 
force  took  position  in 
an  orchard  (near  a  mill 
yet  standing  near  Bla 
densburg)  on  a  gentle 
eminence,  and  there, 
behind  a  slight  breast 
work,  he  placed  six 
heavy  guns  in  position 
to  command  the  pass 
into  the  town  and  the 
bridge  south  westward 
of  it.  About  one  hun 
dred  yards  in  the  rear 


.MILL   NEAR   ULAlJENBliCKQ   IN    ISlil.1 


1  This  is  a  sketch  of  the  old  mill  made  near  the  close  of  1861.    Bladensburg  and  the  bridge  are  seen  in  the  distance. 


OF  THE  WAK   OF   1812.  925 


Advance  of  the  British.  Eetreat  of  the  Americans.  Winder  invites  the  Government  to  a  Council. 

of  this  position,  in  the  small  dwelling  on  Tournecliffe's  farm,  the  surgeons  of  the  com 
mand  were  placed,  to  receive  and  take  care  of  the  wounded  soldiers.1 

General  Ross  rested  at  Upper  Marlborough  until  after  noon  of  the  23d,  when,  being 
joined  by  Cockburn  and  his  seamen  and  marines,  he  moved  forward  at  two  o'clock, 
and,  as  we  have  observed,  encountered  and  drove  back  Major  Peter  and  his  command. 
He  then  pressed  steadily  on  unmolested  to  the  junction  of  the  roads  leading  respect 
ively  to  Washington  City  and  the  Alexandria  Ferry,  on  the  Potomac  River,  not  fat 
above  Fort  Washington.  There  they  halted.  The  Americans  were  puzzled.  Some 
believed  that  an  attack  on  Fort  Washington  in  the  rear,  simultaneously  with  an  as 
sault  by  the  British  fleet  in  front,  was  contemplated ;  but  more,  and  among  these 
General  Winder  and  Colonel  Monroe,  believed  the  national  capital  to  be  the  prize 
sought  to  be  won.  Impressed  with  this  conviction,  Winder  issued  orders  toward 
sunset  for  the  troops  to  retire  across  the  Eastern  Branch  Bridge  and  take  position  on 
the  borders  of  the  city,  where  greater  facility  would  be  afforded  for  assisting  General 
Young,  who  was  covering  Fort  Washington  with  a  small  force,  and  for  drawing  to 
himself  Stansbury  and  Sterett  if  the  enemy  should  advance  rapidly  upon  the  capital. 
Late  at  night  the  troops,  greatly  wearied  and  dispirited,  encamped  within  the  limits 
of  the  city.  "  Thus,"  said  General  Smith, "  terminated  the  four  days  of  service  of  the 
troops  of  this  District.  They  had  been  under  arms,  with  but  little  intermission,  the 
whole  of  the  time,  both  night  and  day ;  had  traveled,  during  their  different  marches 
in  advance  and  retreat,  a  considerable  tract  of  country,  exposed  to  the  burning  heat 
of  a  sultry  sun  by  day,  and  many  of  them  to  the  cold  dews  of  the  night,  uncover 
ed.  They  had  in  this  period  drawn  but  two  rations,  the  requisition  therefor  in  the 
first  instance  being  but  partially  complied  with,  and  it  being  afterward  almost  im 
possible  to  procure  the  means  of  transportation,  the  wagons  employed  by  our  quar 
termaster  for  that  purpose  being  constantly  impressed  by  the  government  agents 
for  the  purpose  of  removing  the  public  records  when  the  enemy's  approach  was 
known,  and  some  of  them  thus  seized  while  proceeding  to  take  in  provisions  for  the 
army." 

The  night  of  the  23d  of  August  was  marked  by  great  excitement  in  the  National 
capital.  The  President  and  his  Cabinet  indulged  in  no  slumbers,  for  Ross,  the  invad 
er,  was  bivouacked  at  Melwood,  near  the  Long  Old  Fields,  about  ten  miles  from  the 
city,  and  Winder's  troops,  worn  down  and  dispirited,  were  fugitives  before  him.  La 
val's  horsemen  were  exhausted,  and  Stansbury's  troops  at  Bladensburg  were  too 
wearied  with  long  marching  to  do  much  fighting  without  some  repose.  What  the 
morning  would  reveal  no  one  could  tell,  and  the  dark  hours  were  passed  in  great 
anxiety  by  the  troops  and  people.  The  Secretary  of  State  was  in  his  saddle  half 
the  night ;  and  at  midnight  he  had  visited  the  head-quarters  of  Stansbury,  acquaint 
ed  him  with  the  relative  positions  of  Winder  and  Ross,  and  advised  him  to  fall  in  the 
rear  of  the  latter.  Fortunately  the  military  leader  did  not  follow  the  advice  of  the 
civilian. 

Winder's  head-quarters  were  at  Combs's,  near  the  Eastern  Branch  Bridge,  and  at 
dawn  the  President  and  several  of  his  Cabinet  ministers  were  there.2  Before  their 
arrival,  General  Winder  (who  was  greatly  fatigued  in  body  and  mind,  and  had  re 
ceived  a  severe  injury  from  a  fall  during  the  night)  had  sent  a  note  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  expressing  a  desire  to  have  the  counsel  of  that  officer  and  of  the  government. 
This  was  a  mistake.  He  had  had  too  much  of  that  bane  to  success  already,  and  it 
was  now  administered  too  liberally  for  the  good  reputation  of  himself  and  his  coun 
try.  These  government  officers  were  so  officious  as  well  as  fickle— fickle,  because  im 
pulse,  and  not  judgment,  guided  them— that  the  general's  thoughts  and  plans  were 

i  I  have  before  me  a  very  interesting  narrative  in  manuscript  of  the  events  of  the  battle,  which  came  tinder  the  ob 
servation  of  Dr.  Samuel  B.  Martin,  one  of  the  surgeons  stationed  at  Tonrnecliffe's  house,  where  he  was  made  a  prisoner 
at  the  close  of  the  battle  2  Secretaries  of  War,  Navy,  and  Treasury,  and  the  Attorney  General. 


926  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  British  advance  on  Bladensbnrg.  The  Field  of  Action.  The  Secretary  of  War  and  General  Winder. 

interfered  with  at  a  moment  when  one  mind  should  control  all  movements,  and  that 
mind  be  free  to  act  untrammeled  and  unbiased.1 

While  Winder  and  the  government  were  in  council,  Ross  moved  toward  Bladens- 
burg.  Laval's  scouts  first  brought  intelligence  of  the  fact  to  head-quarters.  They 
were  soon  followed  by  an  express  from  Stansbury,  giving  positive  information  that 
the  British  were  marching  in  that  direction,  with  the  view,  no  doubt,  of  crushing  the 
little  force  of  Baltimoreaus  near  the  Bladensburg  Mill.  Up  to  that  moment  the  coun 
cil  believed  that  Ross  would  move  on  Fort  Washington,  or  on  the  city  by  the  very 
bridge  near  which  they  were  in  consultation.  This  delusive  idea  now  vanished,  and 
government,  general,  and  troops  all  moved  off  toward  the  point  of  danger.  Winder 
had  now  under  his  command  at  Washington  and  Bladensburg  five  thousand  one 
^hundred  effective  men.  The  force  of  the  enemy  was  about  the  same. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  Winder  ordered  General  W.  Smith,  with 
the  whole  of  his  troops,  to  hasten  toward  Bladensburg.  Barney  was  soon  afterward 
ordered  to  move  with  his  five  hundred  men,  and  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  had  seen 
some  military  service  in  the  Revolution,  was  requested  by  the  President  and  General 
Winder  to  hasten  to  Stansbury  and  assist  him  in  properly  posting  his  troops.  Mr. 
Monroe  was  immediately  followed  by  General  Winder  and  his  staff  The  Secretary 
of  War  then  followed ;  and  lastly  the  President  and  Attorney  General,  accompanied 
by  some  friends,  all  on  horseback,  rode  on  toward  the  expected  theatre  of  battle.2 
Stansbury  seems  not  to  have  been  well  pleased  with  the  aid  of  the  Secretary  of  State, 
for  he  afterward  intimated  that  "  somebody,"  without  consulting  him,  changed  and 
deranged  his  order  of  battle.  That  "  somebody"  was  Colonel  Monroe,  as  we  shall 
presently  observe. 

Let  us  for  a  moment  take  a  glance  at  the  theatre  on  which  the  opposing  forces  were 
soon  to  meet  face  to  face.  It  was  the  slopes  and  plain  around  Bladensburg,  then  a 
little  straggling  village  at  the  head  of  small-craft  navigation  on  the  Eastern  Branch 
of  the  Potomac,  up  which  for  four  miles  vessels  of  largest  class  might  ride.  The  vil 
lage  is  about  six  miles  from  Washington  by  the  old  post-road  from  that  city  to  Bal 
timore.  Another  road  from  Georgetown  joined  the  Washington  Road  at  an  acute 
angle  a  few  yards  from  the  bridge  less  than  a  hundred  feet  long,  that  spanned  the 
stream  at  Bladensburg.  Above  the  bridge  the  creek  was  every  where  fordable. 

In  the  triangular  field  formed  by  the  two  roads  just  mentioned,  and  near  the  mill, 
General  Stansbury's  command  was  posted  on  the  morning  of  the  24th.  On  the  brow 
of  a  little  eminence  in  that  field,  three  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  Bladensburg 
Bridge,  between  a  large  barn3  and  the  Washington  Road,  a  barbette  earth-work  had 
been  thrown  up  for  the  use  of  heavy  cannon.  Behind  this  work  were  the  artillery 
companies  from  Baltimore,  under  Captains  Myers  and  Magruder,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  strong,  with  six  6-pounders.  These  were  too  small  for  the  high  embankment, 
and  embrasures  were  cut  so  that  they  might  command  the  bridge  and  both  roads. 
Major  Pinkney's  riflemen  were  on  the  right  of  the  battery,  near  the  junction  of  the 

1  It  appears  from  contemporaneous  testimony  that,  at  the  interview  at  Winder's  head-quarters  that  morning,  it  was 
resolved  by  the  President  to  give  the  supreme  control  of  military  affairs  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  but  that  in  a  short 
time  the  President  changed  his  mind,  who  told  the  Secretary  that  "the  military  functionaries  should  be  left  to  the  dis 
charge  of  their  own  duties  on  their  own  responsibilities."— s'ee  General  Armstrong's  account  of  the  matter  in  his  Notices 
of  the  War  of  1S12.  The  now  (1S67)  venerable  Jacob  Barker,  of  New  Orleans,  who  was  at  the  seat  of  government  at  this 
time,  in  an  interesting  narrative  of  these  events,  says :  "  The  President  left  Washington  at  about  9  A.M.  [August  24],  in 
great  haste,  to  recall  General  Armstrong,  who  had  preceded  him  about  an  hour  with  the  President's  order  to  supersede 
General  Winder  in  the  defense  of  the  capital,  and  reaching  the  ground  a  few  minutes  before  the  fight  began,  said  to 
General  Armstrong,  '  It  is  too  late  to  make  any  change.  Come  with  me,  and  leave  the  defense  with  the  military  au 
thorities,  where  it  belongs.'  "—Letter  to  Mr.  Carroll,  February  8, 1S4S,  in  reply  to  one  from  that  gentleman  in  the  New 
York  Herald, December  1, 1S4T.  General  Armstrong  was  offended,  and,  as  he  says  in  his  narrative,  "now  became,  of 
course,  a  mere  spectator  of  the  combat." 

3  Richard  Rush,  then  Attorney  General,  says  that  the  President  informed  him,  when  they  were  riding  ont  toward 
Bladensburg,  that  one  motive  that  caused  his  going  to  the  field  was  to  be  on  hand  to  give  the  requisite  sanction  to  the 
claims  to  superior  command  of  General  Armstrong. 

3  This  barn,  on  the  Georgetown  Road,  was  yet  standing  in  1SG1.  A  small  drawing  of  it  is  seen  in  the  corner  of  the 
smaller  section  of  the  map  on  page  929. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


927 


Arrangements  for  Battle  near  Bladensbnrg. 


TILE   BBLDGE   AT   BLADE> 


roads,  and  concealed 
by  the  shrubbery  on 
the  low  ground  near 
the  river.  Two  com 
panies  of  militia,  un 
der  Captains  Ducker 
and  Gorsuch,  acting  as 
riflemen,  were  station 
ed  in  the  rear  of  the 
left  of  the  battery, 
near  the  barn  and  the 
Georgetown  Road. 
About  fifty  yards  in 
the  rear  of  Pinkney's 
riflemen  was  Sterett's 
Fifth  Regiment  of 
Baltimore  Volunteers, 
while  the  regiments 
of  Ragan  and  Schutz 
were  drawn  up  en  eche 
lon?  their  right  rest 
ing  on  the  left  of  Ducker's  and  Gorsuch's  companies,  and  commanding  the  George 
town  Road.  The  cavalry,  about  three  hundred  and  eighty  in  all,  were  placed  some 
what  in  the  rear,  on  the  extreme  left,  and  seem  not  to  have  taken  any  part  in  the  bat 
tle  that  ensued. 

This,  all  things  considered,  seems  to  have  been  a  judicious  arrangement ;  but  Colo 
nel  Monroe,  without  consulting  General  Stansbury,  and  in  face  of  the  enemy,  then  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Eastern  Branch,  proceeded  to  change  it,  by  moving  the  Balti 
more  regiments  of  Sterett,  Ragan"  and  Schutz  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  the  rear  of  the 
artillery  and  riflemen,  their  right  resting  on  the  Washington  Road.  This  formed  a 
second  line  in  full  view  of  the  enemy, 
within  reach  of  his  Congreve  rockets,  en 
tirely  uncovered,  and  so  far  from  the  first 
line  as  not  to  be  able  to  give  it  immedi 
ate  support  in  case  of  an  attack.  This 
was  a  blunder  that  proved  disastrous, 
but  it  was  made  too  late  to  be  corrected, 
the  enemy  was  so  near. 

General  Winder  in  the  mean  time  had 
arrived  on  the  field,  and  posted  a  third 
and  rear  line  on  the  crown  of  the  hills, 
near  the  residence  of  the  late  John  C. 
Rives,  proprietor  of  the  Washington 
Globe,  about  a  mile  from  the  Bladens- 
burg  Bridge.  This  line  embraced  a  reg 
iment  of  Maryland  militia,  under  Colonel 


RESIDENCE  OF  THE  LATE  JOHN   C.  BIVE6.3 


>  This  view  is  from  the  right  bank  of  the  Eastern  Branch,  on  the  road  leading  to  Washington. 

J  See  note  4,  page  652. 

»  This  mansion  stands  between  the  Baltimore  and  Washington  Railway  and  the  turnpike  leading  from  Washington 
to  Bladensbure.  It  is  about  four  miles  from  the  national  capital.  Mr.  Rives,  who  died  there  on  Sunday,  the  Iflth  of 
April,  1S64,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years,  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Washington  Globe,  the  official  organ  of  Presi 
dent  Jackson.  His  partner  in  the  establishment  of  that  paper,  Mr.  Blair,  survives  him.  Mr.  Blair  was  the  editor  of  the 
Globe,  and  Mr.  Rives  was  the  business  manager.  The  latter  was  the  publisher  of  the  Globe  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
was  a  noble  and  generous  citizen.  For  a  long  time  during  the  great  Civil  War  he  gave  from  his  private  purse  about 
$1000  a  month  to  the  families  of  the  volunteer  soldiers  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 


928 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Order  of  Battle  near  Bladensburg. 


Advance  of  the  British. 


Dueling-ground  at  Bladensburg. 


Beall,  which  had  just  arrived  from  Annapolis,  and  was  posted  on  the  extreme  right ; 
Barney's  flotilla-men,  who  formed  the  centre  on  the  Washington  Road,  with  two  18- 
pounders  planted  in  the  highway  a  few  yards  from  the  site  of  Rives's  barn,  a  portion 
of  the  seamen  acting  as  artillerists ;  and  Colonel  Magruder's  District  militia,  regulai's 
under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Scott,  and  Peter's  battery,  who  formed  the  left.  About 
five  hundred  yards  in  front  of  this  position  the  road  descends  into  a  gentle  ravine, 
which  was  then,  as  now,  crossed  by  a  small  bridge  (Tournecliffe's),  on  the  north  of 
which  it  widens  into  a  little  grassy  level,  and  formed  the  dueling-ground  where  De- 


DUELLNG'GBOCND  NEAK   BLADENSBtTRG.1 

catur  and  others  lost  their  lives.  Overlooking  it,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
from  the  road,  is  an  abrupt  bluff,  on  which  the  companies  of  Captains  Stull  and  Da 
vidson  were  posted 
in  position  to  com 
mand  that  high 
way.  L  i  e  u  t  e  n- 
ant  Colonel  Scott, 

with  his  regulars,  Colonel  Brent,  with  the  Second  Regiment  of  General  Smith's  bri 
gade,  and  Major  Waring,  with  the  battalion  of  Maryland  militia,  were  posted  in  the 
rear  of  Major  Peter's  battery.  Magruder  was  immediately  on  the  left  of  Barney's 
men,  his  right  resting  on  the  Washington  Road ;  and  Colonel  Kramer,  with  a  small 
detachment,  was  thrown  forward  of  Colonel  Beall. 

Such  was  the  disposition  of  Winder's  little  army  when,  at  noon,  the  enemy  were 
seen  descending  the  hills  beyond  Bladensburg,  and  pressing  on  toward  the  bridge. 
At  half  past  twelve  they  were  in  the  town,  and  came  within  range  of  the  heavy  guns 

i  This  is  a  view  of  Tournecliffe's  Bridge  and  the  Dueling-ground  from  the  north  side  of  the  road  from  Washington 
to  Bladensburg.  The  place  where  Decatur  and  Barren  fought  was  on  the  low  ground  by  the  creek,  seen  immediately 
over  the  two  figures  in  the  picture,  nearest  the  left  of  it.  These  officers  fought  with  pistols  on  the  22d  of  March,  1820, 
when  Decatur  was  mortally  wounded,  and  died  in  the  arms  of  his  distracted  wife  at  Kalorama,  near  Georgetown,  the 
same  night,  at  the  early  age  of  forty  years.  The  event  is  elsewhere  mentioned  in  this  volume.  Here,  also,  a  duel  was 
fought  by  Jonathan  Cilley,  of  Maine,  and  W.  J.  Graves,  of  Kentucky  (both  members  of  Congress),  on  the  24th  of  Febru 
ary,  1S38.  They  fought  with  rifles  at  eighty  yards'  distance.  Cilley  was  mortally  wounded  at  the  third  fire.  The  higher 
ground  seen  toward  the  right  of  the  picture  is  the  place  where  Captains  Davidson  and  Stull  were  posted. 

Other  duels  have  been  fought  on  this  ground.  The  first  was  in  1814,  when  one  of  the  parties  (Edward  Hopkins)  was 
killed.  The  next  was  in  1819,  by  A.  T.  Mason  and  John  M'Carty.  Mason  was  killed.  Decatur  and  Barron  fought  there 
the  next  year.  In  1822,  Midshipman  Locke,  and  Gibson,  Chief  Clerk  of  the  Treasury  Department,  fought  there.  Gibson 
was  shot.  Key  and  Sherborn  fought  there  in  1833,  when  Key  was  killed.  The  duel  of  Graves  and  Cilley,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  in  1838.  There  was  a  duel  there  in  1845,  when  a  lawyer  named  Jones  killed  Dr.  Johnson.  Hoole  and  Dallas 
exchanged  shots  there  in  1850  or  1851. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


929 


Battle-ground  at  Bladeneburg. 


of  the  first  American  line.1  The  British  commenced  hurling  rockets  at  the  exposed 
Americans,  and  attempted  to  throw  a  heavy  force  across  the  bridge,  but  were  driven 
back  by  their  antagonists'  cannon,  and  forced  to  take  shelter  in  the  village  and  be 
hind  Lowndes's  Hill,  in  the  rear  of  it,2  Again,  after  due  preparation,  they  advanced 
in  double-quick  time ;  and,  when  the  bridge  was  crowded  with  them,  the  artillery  of 


See  NOTE  on  page  943. 


2  Ross  made  the  house  of  Mr.  Lowndes  his  head-quarters  oil  that  day. 

8N 


930 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Battle  near  Bladensburg. 


Gallant  and  effective  Stand  by  Commodore  Barney. 


Winder's  first  and  second  lines  opened  upon  them  with  terrible  effect,  sweeping  down 
a  whole  company.  The  concealed  riflemen,  under  Pinkney,  also  poured  deadly"  vol 
leys  into  their  exposed  ranks ;  but  the  British,  continually  re-enforced,  pushed  gal 
lantly  forward,  some  over  the  bridge,  and  some  fording  the  stream  above  it,  and  fell 
so  heavily  upon  the  first  and  unsupported  line  of  the  Americans  that  it  was  com 
pelled  to  fall  back  upon  the  second.  A  company,  whose  commander  is  unnamed  in 
the  reports  of  the  battle,  were  so  panic-stricken  that  they  fled  after  the  first  fire,  leav 
ing  their  guns  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

The  first  British  brigade  were  now  over  the  stream,  and,  elated  by  their  success, 
did  not  wait  for  the  second.  They  threw  away  their  knapsacks  and  haversacks,  and 
pushed  up  the  hill  to  attack  the  American  second  line  in  the  face  of  an  annoying  fire 
from  Captain  Burch's  artillery.  They  weakened  their  force  by  stretching  out  so  as 
to  form  a  front  equal  to  that  of  their  antagonists.  It  was  a  blunder  which  Winder 
quickly  perceived  and  took  advantage  of.  He  was  then  at  the  head  of  Sterett's  reg 
iment.  With  this  and  some  of  Stansbury's  militia,  who  behaved  gallantly,  he  not 
only  checked  the  enemy's  advance,  but,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  pressed  their  at 
tenuated  line  so  strongly  that  it  fell  back  to  the  thickets  on  the  brink  of  the  river, 
near  the  bridge,  where  it  maintained  its  position  most  obstinately  until  re-enforced 
by  the  second  brigade.  Thus  strengthened,  it  again  pressed  forward,  and  soon  turned 
the  left  flank  of  the  Americans,  and  at  the  same  time  sent  a  flight  of  hissing  rockets 
over  and  very  near  the  centre  and  right  of  Stansbury's  line.  The  frightened  regi 
ments  of  Schutz  and  Ragan  broke,  and  fled  in  the  wildest  confusion.  Winder  tried 

to  rally  them,  but  in  vain.  Sterett's  corps 
maintained  their  ground  gallantly  until 
the  enemy  had  gained  both  their  flanks, 
when  Winder  ordered  them  and  the  sup 
porting  artillery  to  retire  up  the  hill. 
They,  foo,  became  alarmed,  and  the  re 
treat,  covered  by  riflemen,  was  soon  a 
disorderly  flight. 

The  first  and  second  line  of  the  Amer 
icans  having  been  dispersed,  the  British, 
flushed  with  success,  pushed  forward  to 
attack  the  third.  Peter's  artillery  an 
noyed,  but  did  not  check  them ;  and  the 
left,  under  the  gallant  Colonel  Thornton, 
soon  confronted  Barney,  in  .the  centre, 
who  maintained  his  position  like  a  genu 
ine  hero,  as  he  was.  His  18-pounders  en 
filaded  the  Washington  Road,  and  with 
them  he  swept  the  highway  with  such 
terrible  effect  that  the  enemy  filed  off 
into  a  field,  and  attempted  to  turn  Bar 
ney's  right  flank.  There  they  were  met 
by  three  12-pounders  and  marines,  under 
Captains  Miller  and  Sevier,  and  were 
badly  cut  up.  They  were  driven  back 
to  the  ravine  already  mentioned  as  the 
dueling-ground,  leaving  several  of  their 
wounded  officers  in  the  hands  of  the 
Americans.  Colonel  Thornton,  who  brave 
ly  led  the  attacking  column,  was  severely 
wounded,  and  General  Ross  had  his  horse  shot  under  him. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


931 


Barney  wounded,  made  Prisoner,  and  paroled. 


Biographical  Sketch  of  Barney. 


The  flight  of  Stansbury's 
troops  left  Barney  unsupported 
in  that  direction,  while  a  heavy 
column  was  hurled  against  Beall 
and  his  militia,  on  the  right,  with 
such  force  as  to  disperse  them. 
The  British  light  troops  soon 
gained  position  on  each  flank, 
and  Barney  himself  was  severely 
wounded  near  a  living  fountain 
of  water  on  the  estate  of  the  late 
Mr.  Rives,  which  is  still  known 
as  Barney's  Spring.1  When  it 
became  evident  that  Minor's  Vir 
ginia  troops  could  not  arrive  in 
time  to  aid  the  gallant  flotilla- 
men,  who  were  obstinately  main 
taining  their  position  against 
fearful  odds,  and  that  farther  re 
sistance  would  be  useless,  Win 
der  ordered  a  general  retreat. 
The  commodore,  too  severely 
hurt  to  be  moved,  became  a  pris 
oner  of  war,2  but  was  immediate 
ly  paroled  by  General  Ross,  and 
sent  to  Bladensburg  after  his 
wound  was  dressed  by  a  British 
surgeon.3  There  he  was  joined 

by  his  wife  and  son,  and  his  own  surgeon,  and  on  the  27th  wTas  conveyed  to 
at  Elkridge,  in  Maryland.     The  great  body  of  the  Americans  who  were 

1  The  picture  is  a  view  at  "Barney's  Spring"  when  I  visited  and  sketched  it  in  December,  1SGO.    It  is  a  little  south 
of  the  road  leading  between  Washington  and  Bladensburg,  and  about  two  hundred  yards  southwest  from  the  mansion 
of  the  late  Mr.  Rives.    Barney's  battery  was  in  the  road  near  by ;  and  the  stumps  of  two  cedar-trees,  a  short  distance 
from  the  site  of  the  battery,  indicate  the  spot  where  the  commodore's  horse,  which  was  shot  under  him,  was  buried. 

2  Joshua  Barney  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1759.  He  went  to  sea  when  a  small  boy,  and  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years  was  second  mate  of  a  vessel,  and  at  sixteen  was  commander.    After  many  adventures  abroad,  he 

arrived  in  the  Chesapeake  in  October,  1775.  The  following  June  he  was  appoint 
ed  a  lieutenant  in  the  United  States  Navy,  and  was  the  first  to  unfurl  the  Amer 
ican  flag  in  Maryland.  He  was  a  very  active  officer  during  the  whole  war.  He 
brought  the  first  news  of  peace  with  Great  Britain,  on  the  12th  of  March,  1783. 
Continuing  in  service,  he  was  one  of  the  six  commanders  appointed  under  the 
act  of  1793,  but  he  declined  the  honor.  He  went  to  France  with  Monroe,  and  was 
the  bearer  of  the  American  flag  to  the  National  Convention.  He  entered  the 
French  service  in  command  of  two  fine  frigates.  He  resigned  his  French  com 
mission-in  1802,  and  returned  home.  He  again  entered  the  naval  service  of  the 
United  States  in  1812,  and  distinguished  himself  during  the  war  that  ensued.  He 
died  of  a  bilious  fever  at  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  1st  of  December,  1818, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-nine  years.  His  remains  were  interred  in  the  burying-ground 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  at  Pittsburg,  and  over  them  a  plain  white  mar 
ble  slab  was  laid  by  his  widow.  They  were  removed  to  the  Alleghany  Cemetery 
on  the  12th  of  May,  1848,  where  they  repose  in  the  shadow  of  thrifty  young  trees, 
without  a  record  there  on  wood  or  stone.  The  bullet  which  finally  caused  the 
death  of  Commodore  Barney  was  never  extracted  during  his  lifetime.  In  obe 
dience  to  his  orders,  it  was  sought  for  after  his  death,  and  found.  It  is  preserved 
in  a  disc  of  brass,  with  an  inscription,  in  the  archives  of  the  Navy  Department 
at  Washington  City.  The  annexed  engraving  is  a  representation,  the  exact  size, 
of  the  bullet,  the  disc,  and  the  inscription.  The  portrait  of  Barney  on  the  oppo- 
'  site  pacre  was  painted  by  Joseph  Wood,  of  Washington  City,  in  1818. 

3  Dr/Martin,  in  his  MS.  Reminiscences,  already  mentioned,  says  that  when  he  and  other  prisoners  were  going  up  the 
hill  toward  where  Barney  fell,  they  met  a  litter  with  the  wounded  commodore  on  it.    He  desired  his  guard  to  halt,  and 
call  the  prisoners  to  him.    The  leader  called  out  to  them,  "  Coom  over  here,  Yankees,  to  see  your  coonthryman,  Barney ; 
he  looks  like  a  spread  aigle,  Yankees  !"    The  prisoners  shook  hands  with  the  brave  old  commodore,  who  gave  them 
words  of  cheer. 


VIEW  AT  BASKET'S  SPRING. 


his  farm 
not  dis- 


932 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Close  of  the  Battle  of  Bladensburg.        The  British  march  on  Washington.        An  Excuse  for  burning  the  City  wanted. 

persed  retreated  toward  Montgomery  Court-house,  in  Maryland,  leaving  the  battle 
field  in  full  possession  of  the  enemy,  and  their  way  to  the  national  capital  unobstruct 
ed  except  by  the  burning  of  the  two  bridges  over  the  Eastern  Branch  of  the  Poto 
mac.1  The  Americans  lost  twenty-six  killed  and  fifty-one  wounded.  The  British 
loss  was  manifold  greater.  According  to  one  of  their  officers  who  was  in  the  battle, 
and  yet  living  (Mr.  Gleig,  Chaplain  General  of  the  British  Army),  it  was  "  upward 
of  five  hundred  killed  and  wounded,"  among  them  "  several  officers  of  rank  and  dis 
tinction."  The  battle  commenced  at  about  noon,  and  ended  at  four  o'clock. 

Up  to  this  time  the  conduct  of  the  British  had  been  in  accordance  with  the  rules 
of  modern  warfare.  Now  they  abandoned  them,  and  on  entering  the  national  capi 
tal  they  performed  deeds  worthy  only  of  barbarians.  In  a  proclamation  issued  by 
the  President  on  the  1st  of  September  he  submitted  the  following  indictment :  "  They 
wantonly  destroyed  the  public  edifices,  having  no  relation  in  their  structure  to  oper 
ations  of  war,  nor  used  at  the  time  for  military  annoyance ;  some  of  these  edifices 
being  also  costly  monuments  of  taste  and  of  the  arts,  and  others  depositories  of  the 
public  archives,  not  only  precious  to  the  nation  as  the  memorials  of  its  origin  and  its 
early  transactions,  but  interesting  to  all  nations  as  contributions  to  the  general  stock 
of  historical  instruction  and  political  science."  Let  us  briefly  examine  the  testimony 
of  history. 

When  Ross  was  assured  of  complete  victory,  he  halted  his  army  a  short  time  on 
the  field  of  battle,  and  then,  with  the  fresh  Third  Brigade,  which  had  not  been  in  the 
j;_  _    _.__  n  conflict,  he  crossed  the  East-' 

ern  Branch  Bridge.  Assured 
of  the  retreat  of  the  Americans 
beyond  Georgetown,  Ross  left 
the  main  body  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  the  Capitol,  and  en 
tered  the  town,  then  contain 
ing  about  nine  hundred  build 
ings.  He  came  to  destroy  the 
public  property  there.  It  was 
an  errand,  it  is  said,  not  at  all 
coincident  with  his  taste  or  habits,  and  what  was  done  by  him  appears  to  have  been 
performed  as  humanely  as  the  orders  of  his  superiors  would  allow.2  When,  on  his 
arrival  in  the  Chesapeake,  he  had  been  ^nformed  by  Admiral  Cochrane  that  he  (the 
admiral)  had  been  urged  by  Sir  George  Prevost,  the  Governor  General  of  Canada 
(who  was  not  satisfied  with  the  terrible  devastation  of  the  Niagara  frontier  at  the 
close  of  181 3),3  to  retaliate  in  kind  upon  the  Americans  for  the  destruction  of  the  gov- 
ernmentbuildings  at  York4  and  the  village  of  Newark,5  he  demurred,  saying  that  they 

1  The  lower  bridge,  near  the  navy  yard,  had  been  left  in  charge  of  Captain  Creighton,  with  orders  to  destroy  it  on  the 
approach  of  the  enemy.    It  was  fired  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

2  Hoping  to  spare  the  town,  Ross  had  sent  an  agent  to  negotiate  for  a  pecuniary  ransom.    There  was  no  competent 
authority  to  meet  his  agent,  and  if  there  was,  the  proposition  would,  as  the  President  afterward  said,  have  been  treated 
with  contempt.  3  gee  page  634.  4  See  page  028. 

5  See  page  632.  Evidently  ashamed  of  the  barbarism  committed  by  British  hands,  Vice  Admiral  Cochrane  attempted 
to  palliate  it  by  a  pitiful  trick.  After  the  destruction  of  the  capital,  and  the  invaders  were  safely  back  on  their  vessels 
in  the  Patuxent,  Cochrane  wrote  a  letter  to  Secretary  Monroe,  in  which  he  said  to  him,  "Having  been  called  upon  by 
the  Governor  General  of  the  Canadas  to  aid  him  in  carrying  into  effect  measures  of  retaliation  against  the  inhabitants 
of  the  United  States  for  the  wanton  destruction  committed  by  their  army  in  Upper  Canada,  it  has  become  imperiously 
my  duty,  conformably  with  the  governor  general's  application,  to  issue  to  the  naval  force  under  my  command  an  order 
to  destroy  and  lay  waste  such  towns  and  districts  upon  the  coast  as  may  be  found  assailable."  Cochrane  then  expressed 
a  hope  that  the  "conduct  of  the  executive  of  the  United  States  would  authorize  him  in  staying  such  proceedings,  by 
making  reparation  to  the  suffering  inhabitants  of  Upper  Canada,"  etc.  This  letter  was  antedated  August  18,  or  six  days 
before  the  battle  of  Bladensburg,  so  as  to  appear  like  a  humane  suggestion,  in  the  non-compliance  with  which  might  be 
found  an  excuse  for  the  destruction  of  the  national  capital.  It  did  not  reach  Mr.  Monroe  until  the  morning  of  the  31st 
of  August,  a  week  after  Washington  was  devastated,  when  that  officer,  in  a  dignified  reply,  reminded  the  vice  admiral 
that  the  wanton  destruction  by  the  British  of  Frenchtown,  Frederick,  Georgetown,  and  Havre  de  Grace,  and  the  out 
rages  at  Hampton  by  the  same  people,  had  occurred  long  before  the  destruction  of  Newark. 


TUB   CAPITOL   IN   1814,  FROM   PENNSYLVANIA   AVENUE. 


933 


The  British  enter  Washington. 


Cockburn  in  his  Element. 


Destruction  of  the  Public  Buildings. 


had  carried  on  the  war  on  the  Peninsula  and  in  France  with  a  very  different  spirit, 
and  that  he  could  not  sanction  the  destruction  of  public  or  private  property,  with  the 
exception  of  military  structures  and  warlike  stores.1  "  It  was  not,"  says  one  of  Ross's 
surviving  aids,  Sir  Duncan  M'Dougall,  in  a  letter  to  the  author  in  1861, "  until  he  was 
warmly  pressed  that  he  consented  to  destroy  the  Capitol  and  President's  house,  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  a  repetition  of  the  uncivilized  proceedings  of  the  troops  of 
the  United  States."  Fortunately  for  Ross's  sensibility  there  was  a  titled  incendiary 
at  hand  in  the  person  of  Admiral  Sir  George  Cockburn,  who  delighted  in  such  inhu 
man  work,  and  who  literally  became  his  torch-bearer. 

The  bulk  of  the  invaders,  having  crossed  the  Eastern  Branch,  halted  upon  the  plain 
between  the  Capitol  and  the  site  of  the  Congressional  Burying-ground,  when  General 
Ross,  accompanied  by  Cockburn  and  a  guard  of  two  hundred  men,  rode  into  the  city 
at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening.  They  were  fired  upon  from  behind  the  house  of  Rob 
ert  Sewall,  near  the  Capitol,  by  a  single  musket,  and  the  horse  on  which  the  general 
was  riding  was  killed.  Mr.  Sewall's  house  was  immediately  destroyed.  The  same 
fate  awaited  the  materials  in  the  office  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  the  government 
organ,  whose  strictures  on  the  brutality  of  Cockburn  had  filled  that  marauder  with 
hot  anger.2  These,  and  some  houses  on  Capitol  Hill,  a  large  rope-walk,  and  a  tavern, 
comprised  the  bulk  of  private  property  destroyed,  thanks  to  the  restraining  power  of 
General  Ross.  Several  houses  and  stores  were  also  plundered.  The  unfinished  Cap 
itol,  in  which  was  the  library  of  Congress,  the  President's  house,  a  mile  distant,  the 
Treasury  buildings,  the  Arsenal,  and  barracks  for  almost  three  thousand  troops,  were 
soon  in  flames,  whose  light  was  plainly  seen  in  Baltimore,  about  forty  miles  north 
ward.  In  the  course  of  a  few  hours  nothing  of  the  superb  Capitol  and  the  Presiden 
tial  mansion  was  left  but  their  smoke-blackened  walls.3  Of  the  public  buildings  only 
the  Patent-office  was  saved. 

All  the  glory  that  the  British  had  won  on  the  battle-field  was  lost  in  this  barbarian 


REMAINS  OF  TIIE   CAPITOL  AFTEB  TUE   FIKE. 

conflagration.  "  Willingly,"  said  the  London  Statesman  newspaper,  "  would  we 
throw  a  veil  of  oblivion  over  our  transactions  at  Washington.  The  Cossacks  spared 
Paris,  but  we  spared  not  the  capital  of  America."  The  British  Annual  Register  for 
1814  denounced  the  proceedings  as  "  a  return  to  the  times  of  barbarism."  It  can  not 
be  concealed,"  the  writer  continued, "  that  the  extent  of  devastation  practiced  by  the 
victors  brought  a  heavy  censure  upon  the  British  character,  not  only  in  America,  but 

i  Dr.  Martin  (see  note  1,  page  925)  says :  "  General  Ross  was  the  perfect  model  of  the  Irish  gentleman,  of  easy.and 
beautiful  manners,  humane  and  brave,  and  dignified  in  his  deportment  to  all.  He  was  beloved  by  all  his  officers,  and 
his  prisoners  had  no  reason  to  regret  falling  into  such  hands." 

*  Cockburn  was  about  to  apply  the  torch,  when  he  was  prevailed  upon  by  the  women  of  adjoining  residences  not  to 
do  so,  as  it  would  endanger  their  dwellings.  He  caused  all  the  type  and  other  printing  materials  to  be  thrown  into  the 
street,  the  printing-presses  to  be  destroyed,  and  the  library,  containing  several  hundred  volumes,  to  be  burned.  He  as 
sisted  in  this  work  with  his  own  hands.  His  companions  in  the  business  were  some  sailors  and  soldiers. 

3  These  buildings  were  fired  under  the  direct  superintendence  of  Lieutenant  George  Pratt,  the  second  of  the  Sea-liorse, 
who  was  shot  in  the  gun-boat  battle  on  Lake  Borgne,  near  New  Orleans,  a  few  months  afterward. 


934 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Barbarities  of  the  British  condemned  by  their  Countrymen.    The  Navy  Yard  destroyed.     The  Long  Bridge  burnt 


REMAINS   OF   TI1E    PRESIDENT  S   HOUSE   AFTER   TI1E   FIRE. 


on  the  Continent  of  Europe."  Continental  writers  and  speakers  condemned  the  act 
in  unmeasured  terms ;  and  yet  the  government  of  England,  which  has  seldom  repre 
sented  the  sentiments  of  the  people,  caused  the  Tower  guns  to  be  fired  in  honor  of 
Ross's  victory ;  thanked  the  actors  through  Parliament ;  decreed  a  monument  to  that 
general  in  Westminster  Abbey  at  his  death ;  and,  making  additions  to  his  armorial 
bearings,  authorized  his  descendants  forever  to  style  themselves  "  Ross  of  Bladens- 
burg  !"» 

While  the  public  buildings  in  Washington  were  in  flames,  the  national  shipping, 
stores,  and  other  property  were  blazing  at  the  navy  yard;  also  the  great  bridge 
over  the  Potomac,  from  Washington  City  to  the  Virginia  shore.  Commodore  Thomas 

Tingey  was  in  command  of  the 
navy  yard,  and,  before  the  bat 
tle,  had  received  orders  to  set 
fire  to  the  public  property  there 
in  the  event  of  the  British  gain 
ing  a  victory,  so  as  to  prevent 
its  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  invaders.  Tingey  delayed  the  execution  of  the  order 
for  four  hours  after  the  contingency  had  occurred.  When,  at  l|alf  past  eight  in  the 
evening,  he  was  informed  that  the  enemy  was  encamped  within  the  city  limits,  near 
the  Capitol,  he  applied  the  torch,  and  property  valued  at  about  a  million  of  dollars 
was  destroyed.  The  schooner  Lynx  was  saved,  and  most  of  the  metallic  work  at  the 
navy  yard  remained  but  little  injured.2  The  fine  naval  monument,  delineated  on 
page  124,  was  somewhat  mutilated,  but  whether  accidentally  at  the  time  of  the  con 
flagration,  or  wantonly  by  the  British,  who  went  there  the  next  day  to  complete  the 
destructive  work,  is  an  unsettled  question.3  At  the  same  time,  the  Long  Bridge  over 
the  Potomac  was  fired  at  both  ends.  The  Americans  on  the  Virginia  side  thought 
a  large  body  of  British  troops  were  about  to  pass  over,  and  fired  that  end  to  foil 
them,  while  the  British  on  the  city  side,  perceiving,  as  they  thought,  a  large  body  of 
Americans  about  to  cross  over  from  the  Virginia  side,  fired  the  Maryland  end  of  the 
bridge.  The  value  of  the  entire  amount  of  property  destroyed  at  Washington  by  the 

i  The  London  Times,  then,  as  now,  the  exponent  of  the  principles  of  the  ruling  classes  in  England,  and  the  bitter  foe 
of  the  American  people,  gloried  over  the  destruction  of  the  public  buildings,  and  the  expulsion  of  the  President  and 
Cabinet  from  the  capital,  and  indulged  iu  exulting  prophecies  of  the  speedy  disappearance  of  the  great  republic  in  the 
West.  "That  ill-organized  association,"  said  the  Times,  "is  on  the  eve  of  dissolution,  and  the  world  is  speedily  to  be 
delivered  of  the  mischievous  example  of  the  existence  of  a  government  founded  on  democratic  rebellion."  In  long  after 
years,  when  Cockburn  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-two,  the  Times  lauded  him  chiefly  for  his  marauding  exploits  in  this 
country,  and  his  "  splendid  achievement"  in  firing  our  national  capital. 

'  Letter  of  Commodore  Tingey  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  August  2T,  1814.  The  officers  and  other  persons  at  the 
navy  yard  fled  in  boats  to  Alexandria. 

3  On  the  day  after  the  entrance  of  the  British  into  Washington  (August  20),  a  party  of  two  hundred  of  them  were 
sent  to  finish  the  work  of  destruction  at  the  navy  yard.  A  large  quantity  of  powder,  shot,  and  shell  had  been  thrown 
into  a  well.  A  British  artilleryman  accidentally  dropped  a  match  into  it,  when  a  terrible  explosion  occurred,  and  com 
municated  fire  to  a  small  magazine  of  powder  near  by.  That  also  exploded.  Earth,  stones,  bricks,  shot,  shells,  etc., 
were  thrown  into  the  air,  and.  falling  among  the  invaders,  killed  twelve  men,  and  wounded  more  than  thirty  others. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


935 


Flight  of  the  President  and  his  Cabinet. 


Mrs.  Madison's  Patriotism. 


Jacob  Barker  at  the  President's  House. 


British  and  Americans  was  estimated  at  about  two  million  dollars.     The  walls  of 
the  Capitol  and  President's  house  stood  firm,  and  were  used  in  rebuilding. 

President  Madison,  and  other  civil  offi 
cers  who  went  out  to  see  the  fight  and 
give  such  assistance  as  they  might,  re 
mained  on  the  field  until  Barney  fell,  when 
they  fled  to  the  city  as  fast  as  swift-footed 
horses  could  carry  them,  and  were  among 
the  first  to  announce  the  startling  intelli 
gence  that  the  British,  victorious,  were 
probably  marching  on  the  town.1  Mrs. 
Madison2  had  already  been  apprised  of  the 
danger.  When  the  flight  of  Congreve 
rockets  caused  the  panic-stricken  militia  to 
fly,  the  President  sent  messengers  to  in 
form  her  that  the  defeat  of  the  Americans 
and  the  capture  of  the  city  seemed  to  be 
promised,  and  to  advise  her  to  fly  to  a 
place  of  safety.  These  messengers  reached 
her  between  two  and  three  o'clock.  Mrs. 
Madison  ordered  her  carriage,  and  sent 
away  in  a  wagon  silver  plate  and  other 
valuables,  to  be  deposited  in  the  Bank  of 
Maryland.  She  anxiously  waited  for  her  husband,  and  in  the  mean  time  took  meas 
ures  for  preserving  the  full-length  portrait  of  Washington,  painted  by  Stuart,  which 
hung  in  the  presidential  mansion.3  Finding  the  process  of  unscrewing  the  frame 
from  the  wall  too  tedious  for  the  exigency,  she  had  it  broken  in  pieces,  and  the  pic 
ture  removed  with  the  "  stretcher,"  or  light  frame  on  which  the  canvas  was  nailed. 
This  she  did  with  her  own  hands.  Just  as  she  had  accomplished  so  much,  two  gen 
tlemen  from  New*  York,  one  of  whom  was  th.e  now  (1867)  venerable  New  Orleans 
banker,  Jacob  Barker,4  entered  the  room.  The  picture  was  lying  on  the  floor.  The 
sounds  of  approaching  troops  were  heard.  They  might  be  the  invaders,  who  would 
be  delighted  by  the  possession  of  so  notable  a  captive  as  the  beautiful  wife  of  the 
President.  It  was  time  for  her  to  fly.  "  Save  that  picture,"  she  said  to  Mr.  Barker 
and  Mr.  R.  G.  L.  De  Peyster,  his  companion  —  "  save  that  picture,  if  possible ;  if  not 
possible,  destroy  it :  under  no  circumstances  allow  it  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 

1  The  Opposition  press  and  speakers  were  merry  over  the  flight  of  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  from  the  battle-field. 
A  New  York  paper  said :  "Should  some  Walter  Scott  in  the  next  century  write  a  poem,  and  call  it  Madison,  or  the  Bat 
tle  <of  Bladensburg,  we  would  suggest  the  following  lines  for  the  conclusion,  to  be  put  into  the  mouth  of  his  hero : 

"  '  Fly,  Monroe,  fly !  run,  Armstrong,  run  ! 
Were  the  last  words  of  Madison.' " 

2  Dolly  Payne  was  the  maiden  name  of  Mrs.  Madison.    She  was  the  daughter  of  Quaker  parents,  residents  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  was  born  on  the  20th  of  May,  1767,  while  her  mother  was  visiting  some  friends  in  North  Carolina.    Her  fa 
ther  manumitted  his  slaves,  and  made  Philadelphia  his  residence.    There  Dolly  married  a  young  lawyer  named  Todd, 
who  was  also  a  Quaker.    He  died,  leaving  her  a  young  widow  with  an  infant  son  ;  and  in  1794  she  married  Mr.  Madi 
son,  then  a  distinguished  member  of  Congress,  and  Montpellier,  in  Virginia,  became  their  home.    She  adorned  every 
station  in  life  in  which  she  was  placed.    She  died  in  July,  1850,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years,  having  survived  her 
husband  fourteen  years. 

3  Mrs. Madison  wrote  to  her  sister  at  intervals.    At  three  o'clock  she  wrote:  "Mr. Madison  comes  not.    May  God 

protect  him  !    Two  messengers,  covered  with  dust,  come  to  bid  me  fly,  but  I  wait  for  him Our  kind  friend,  Mr. 

Carroll,  has  come  to  hasten  my  departure,  and  is  in  a  very  bad  humor  with  me  because  I  insist  on  waiting  until  the 
large  picture  of  General  Washington  is  secured,  and  it  requires  to  be  unscrewed  from  the  wall." 

*  Jacob  Barker  is  one  of  the  remarkable  men  of  this  country.  He  was  born  in  Maine  on  the  17th  of  December,  1779. 
His  mother  was  a  Quaker,  and  he  has  been  a  member  of  that  Society  through  life.  He  entered  early  into  mercantile 
life,  and  became  largely  interested  in  commerce  as  an  extensive  ship-owner.  He  was  a  firm  and  efficient  supporter  of 
the  administration  during  the  war,  and  aided  the  government  largely  in  its  financial  operations.  He  was  an  intimate 
family  friend  of  President  Madison.  He  became  extensively  engaged  in  banking,  and  his  long  and  active  life  has  been 
a  scene  of  many  vicissitudes  for  him.  He  is  now  (1867),  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine  years,  engaged  in  banking  in  the  city 
of  New  Orleans. 


936 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


The  Declaration  of  Independence  saved.    Original  Object  of  this  British  Invasion.    Their  Fears  of  the  aroused  People. 

British."  Then,  snatching  up  the  pre 
cious  parchment  on  which  was  written 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
the  autographs  of  the  signers,  which 
she  had  resolved  to  save  also,  she  hast 
ened  to  the  carriage  with  her  sister 
(Mrs.  Cutts)  and  her  husband,  and  two 
servants,  and  was  borne  away  to  a  place 
of  safety  beyond  the  Potomac.1 

Just  as  Barker  and  De  Peyster  had 
taken  the  picture  from  the  stretcher 
and  rolled  it  up,  a  portion  of  the  flying 
American  army  came  up,  and  halted  in 
front  of  the  President's  house.     Some 
refreshments  were  given  to  them,  when 
they  marched  on  toward  Montgomery 
Court-house,  the    appointed  place   of 
rendezvous  for  the  broken  army,  fol 
lowed  by  those  gentlemen  with  the  pic 
ture.    They  left  it  in  charge 
of  a  farmer  in  whose  house 
they  lodged  that  night,  and 
a  few  weeks  afterward  Mr. 
Barker  restored  the  portrait 
to  Mrs.  Madison.2    It  now 
har-gs  upon  the  wall  in  the  Blue  Room  of  the  Presidential  mansion. 

It  was  not  the  design  of  the  British  to  hold  the  territory  which  they  had,  unex 
pectedly  to  themselves,  acquired.  Indeed,  the  whole  movement  up  the  Chesapeake 
was  originally  intended  as  a  feint — a  menace  of  Baltimore  and  Washington,  to  en 
gage  the  attention  of  the  government  and  people,  and  to  draw  in  that  direction  the 
military  force  of  the  country,  while  the  far  more  important  measure  of  invading  Lou 
isiana  with  a  formidable  force,  and  taking  possession  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  should 
be  matured  and  executed.  Accordingly,  when  Winder's  forces  were  defeated  and 
routed,  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  driven  from  the  national  capital,  and  the  pub 
lic  buildings  were  destroyed,  the  invaders  retreated  precipitately,  evidently  in  fear 
of  a  reactive  blow.  While  the  British  Cabinet,  judging  from  metropolitan  influence 
in  European  countries,  were  disposed  to  believe  that,  with  the  loss  of  their  capital, 
the  Americans  would  consider  all  gone,  and  would  yield  in  despair  to  their  victors, 
those  conquerors,  on  the  spot,  saw  too  well  the  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  the 
spirit  of  a  people  aroused  to  greater  exertions,  and  with  more  united  energy,  because 
of  that  very  misfortune. 

i  The  flight  of  the  President  from  the  battle-field,  and  of  Mrs.  Madison  from  the  Presidential  mansion,  formed  the 
subject  of  many  squibs  for  the  Opposition.  Among  others  was  a  witty  parody  on  John  Gilpirfa  Ride,  only  one  stanza 
of  which  I  can  now  recall.  It  is  descriptive  of  Mrs.  Madison's  directions  for  the  flight  of  the  family,  where  she  says  to 
the  President : 

"  Sister  Cutts,  and  Cutts  and  I, 

And  Cutts's  children  three, 
Shall  in  the  coach— and  you  shall  ride 

On  horseback  after  we." 

According  to  letters  among  General  Winder's  papers,  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  fled  to  different  places.  On  the 
26th,  the  day  after  the  British  withdrew  from  Washington,  the  President,  with  General  Mason,  the  Commissary  of  Pris 
oners,  and  Richard  Rush,  the  Attorney  General,  was  at  Brookville,  in  Maryland :  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  with 
the  President's  family  in  London  County,  Virginia :  and  the  Secretary  of  War  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  were  at 
Frederick,  in  Maryland,  on  the  Monocacy  River.  As  soon  as  the  President  was  certified  of  the  flight  of  the  invaders  to 
their  ships,  he  summoned  his  Cabinet  to  a  reunion  at  Washington.  The  President,  with  the  Secretary  of  State,  arrived 
there  on  the  28th.  The  reunion  took  place  on  the  29th.— Autograph  Letters  of  Monroe  and  Armstrong,  August  26  and 
2">  1814.  a  Oral  statement  of  Mr.  Barker  to  the  author  at  New  Orleans  in  April,  1861. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


93^ 


British  retreat  from  Washington. 


An  Account  by  an  Eye-witness. 


Effect  of  the  Invasion. 


Impressed  with  a  sense  of  this  danger, 
Ross  and  Cochrane  moved  away  with 
their  forces  with  great  secrecy  on  the 
night  of  the  25th  of  August,  after  order 
ing  every  inhabitant  of  Washington  to 
remain  within  doors  from  sunset  till  sun 
rise,  on  pain  of  death,  and  increasing  their 
camp-fires,  so  as  to  deceive  the  Ameri 
cans.  It  was  immediately  after  the  pas 
sage  of  a  terrific  tempest  of  wind,  light 
ning,  and  rain,  during  which  houses  were 
unroofed  and  trees  were  uprooted.  Soft 
ly  these  victors  stole  away  in  the  gloom. 
"  No  man  spoke  above  his  breath,"  says 
one  of  the  British  officers  who  was  pres 
ent.  "  Our  very  steps  were  planted 
lightly,  and  we  cleared  the  town  without 
exciting  observation."1  At  midnight, 
just  as  the  moon  arose  and  cast  a  pale 
light  over  the  scenes,  they  passed  the 
battle-field  and  Bladensbur^,  leaving 

O  '  O 

their  dead  unburied,  and  full  ninety  of 
their  wounded  to  the  humanity  of  Com 
modore  Barney  and  his  men.  It  was  hu 
miliating  to  the  British  troops  thus  to  steal  away  in  the  dark  from  the  field  of  their 
conquest.  They  moved  sullenly  onward,  so  wearied  with  fatigue  and  loss  of  sleep 
that,  when  the  columns  halted  for  a  few  minutes,  the  roads  would  be  filled  with  sleep 
ing  soldiers.  At  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  finding  themselves  but  little  annoyed 
by  pursuers,  they  halted  for  rest  and  refreshments  for  several  hours.  At  noon  they 
moved  forward,  encamped  at  Marlborough,  and,  marching  leisurely,  reached  Benedict 
on  the  29th,  where  they  embarked  on  the  transports  the  next  day.a2 

The  loss  of  the  battle  at  Bladensburg  and  of  the  national  capital  filled 
the  American  people  with  mortification,  and  produced  the  most  intense  excitement 
throughout  the  country.3  Crimination  and  recrimination  kindled  widespread  ano-er 
that  burned  intensely  while  the  actors  lived.  The  public  were  disposed  toehold  the 
Secretary  of  "War  responsible  for  the  misfortune,  because  of  his  alleged  obstinacy  and 
inefficiency,  and  on  the  3d  of  September  he  left  the  Cabinet,  and  retired  to  private 

1  Rev.  George  R.  Gleig,  now  (1S07)  chaplain  general  of  the  British  Army.    He  entered  the  army  at  an  early  age,  was 
in  the  Peninsular  War  with  Wellington,  and  served  as  a  subaltern  in  America  at  Baltimore,  and  Washington,  and  New 
Orleans.    He  was  severely  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Bladensburg.    He  has  published  two  works  on  these  campaigns, 
one  entitled  The  Subaltern  in  America,  and  the  other  Campaigns  of  Washington  and  Xcw  Orleans.    To  these  books,  writ 
ten  with  great  candor,  I  am  indebted  for  much  information  concerning  the  movements  of  the  British  in  these  cam 
paigns.    Mr.  Gleig  has  been  an  industrious  book-maker.    After  the  war  in  this  country  he  took  orders,  and  was  chap 
lain  of  Chelsea  Hospital  for  some  time.    He  was  made  chaplain  general  to  the  forces  in  1S46.    A  fine  lithographed  por 
trait  of  him,  from  which  the  above  picture  was  copied,  and  his  signature,  I  received  from  him  through  the  hands  of  a 
gentleman  residing  in  London. 

2  The  chief  authorities  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  the  narrative  of  the  capture  of  Washington  are  the  official 
reports  of  the  commanders;  Wilkinson's  Memoirs;  Armstrong's  Notices  of  the  War  of  1812;  files  of  the  National  In 
telligencer  ;  Niles's  Register  ;  Ingraham's  Sketch  of  the  Events  which  preceded  the  Capture  of  Washington  ;  Ingersoll's 
historical  Sketch  of  the  Second  War,  etc.  ;  Williams's  History  of  the  Invasion  and  Capture  of  Washington  ;  the  MS. 
Papers  of  General  Winder  and  Commodore  Barney  ;  Gleig's  Campaign  of  Washington,  etc.  ;  Statements  of  Survivors, 
etc.,  etc. 

3  Intelligence  of  the  disaster  reached  Cincinnati  on  the  6th  of  September.    General  Harrison  was  there.    Forgetful 
of  the  ill  treatment  which  he  had  received  from  those  in  power,  and  anxious  to  save  his  country,  he  at  once  addressed 
a  letter  to  the  Governors  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  to  'whom  appeals  had  never  been  made  in  vain,  suggesting  the  propri 
ety  of  sending  a  volunteer  force  of  dragoons  and  mounted  riflemen  to  the  aid  of  the  people  on  the  sea-board.    Move 
ments  for  that  purpose  were  set  on  foot,  when  the  repulse  of  the  British  at  Baltimore,  and  their  abandonment  of  expe 
ditions  (if  ever  conceived)  against  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  rendered  farther  operations  in  the  West  unnecessary.— 
Autograph  Letter  of  General  Harrison  to  Governor  Shelby,  September  6,  1314. 


Au(rnst  30 


938  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Who  was  to  blame  for  the  Defeat  at  Bladeusburg.  Slavery  the  Culprit.  Fort  Washington. 

life.1  The  government  gladly  attempted  to  fix  the  odium  upon  the  militia  of  Mary 
land  and  the  District  of  Columbia,  who  were  easily  panic-stricken,  and  who,  on  being 
driven  from  the  field,  fled  in  disorder  to  their  homes ;  and  General  Winder  received 
a  full  share  of  blame,  how  worthily  let  the  preceding  narrative  determine.  Only  Bar 
ney  and  his  seamen  were  praised.  Historians,  puzzled  by  contemporaneous  quarrels, 
have  generally  agreed  in  condemning  both  the  government  and  the  militia — the  for 
mer  for  imbecility,  and  the  latter  for  cowardice.  A  culprit  more  culpable  than  either 
may  be  discovered  by  close  research.  The  late  Alvan  Stewart,  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Bailey  on  the  30th  of  August,  1845,  gives  us  a  clew  to  the  identity  of  the  criminal. 
He  says:  "General  Smith,2  of  Georgetown,  District  of  Columbia,  told  me  in  1818, 
while  passing  over  this  very  ground  [between  Bladensburg  and  the  national  capital], 
in  a  journey  I  was  taking  to  Washington  City,  that  he  commanded  a  brigade  in  the 
fleeing  army  of  ours,  and  that  the  secret  of  our  disgraceful  flight  was,  that  a  story  had 
been  circulated  through  the  District  and  adjacent  counties  of  the  two  states,  that 
on  that  day  the  slaves  were  to  rise  and  assert  their  liberty,3  and  that  each  man  more 
feared  the  enemy  he  had  left  behind,  in  the  shape  of  a  slave  in  his  own  house  or  plan 
tation,  than  he  did  any  thing  else.*  The  officers  and  soldiers  had  their  minds  distract 
ed  with  the  possibility  of  this  insurrection,"  said  General  Smith, "  and  therefore  fled 
to  their  homes  before  an  inferior  force,  and  left  Washington  to  the  mercy  of  its  cap 
tors."5  Barney's  men,  having  no  such  fears,  fought  gallantly  and  persistently.  May 
we  not  look  for  the  chief  cause  of  the  disaster  at  Bladensburg,  and  the  loss  of  the  na 
tional  capital  in  1814,  to  the  slave  system,  which  has  cursed  every  thing  upon  which 
the  blight  of  its  influence  has  fallen  ? 

While  Cochrane  and  Ross  were  making  their  way  toward  Washington,  a  portion 
of  the  British  fleet,  consisting  of  two  frigates  of  thirty-six  and  thirty-eight  guns,  two 
rocket-ships  of  eighteen  guns  each,  two  bomb-vessels  of  eight  guns  each,  and  one 
schooner  of  two  guns,  sailed  up  the  Potomac  River,  under  Commodore  Gordon,  of  the 
/Sea-horse,  to  co-operate  with  them.  The  only  obstruction  to  the  passage  of  the  fleet 
on  which  the  Americans  might  place  the  least  reliance  was  Fort  Washington  (late 
Warburton),  on  the  Maryland  side  of  the  Potomac,  about  twelve  miles  below  the  Na 
tional  capital.  It  was  a  feeble  fortress,  but  capable  of  being  made  strong.  So  early 
as  May,  1813,  a  deputation  from  Alexandria,  Georgetown,  and  Washington  waited 
upon  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  represented  the  importance  of  strengthening  that 

post.  An  engineer  (Colonel  Decius  Wads- 
wortn)  was  sent  *°  examine  it.  He  re- 
ported  in  favor  of  additional  works  in  the 
rear,  while  he  believed  that  the  armament 
of  the  fort,  and  its  elevated  situation,  would  enable  a  well-managed  garrison  to  re 
pulse  any  number  of  ships  of  war  that  might  attempt  to  pass  up  the  river.  Nothing 
more  was  done.  In  July,  1814,  when  a  British  fleet  and  army  were  in  the  Chesa 
peake,  the  authorities  of  Alexandria  again  called  the  attention  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  to  the  feeble  condition  of  Fort  Washington.  The  Secretary  did  not  believe  the 
enemy  would  push  for  the  capital,  and  nothing  was  done.  The  Alexandrians  appealed 

1  On  the  29th  of  August  President  Madison  informed  General  Armstrong  that  there  was  a  high  degree  of  excitement 
against  him  among  the  militia  of  the  District,  and  that  an  officer  of  a  corps  had  given  notice  that  he  would  no  longer 
obey  any  order  coming  through  the  then  Secretary  of  War.    He  told  Armstrong  that  he  must  so  far  yield  to  public 
clamor  as  to  permit  some  other  person  to  perform  the  duties  of  his  office  in  relation  to  the  defense  of  the  District.    Arm 
strong  would  not  consent  to  a  division  of  his  duties,  and  resigned.    In  his  letter  of  resignation,  and  in  a  subsequent 
paper,  he  offered  a  vindication  of  his  conduct.    In  the  year  1830  General  Armstrong  published  a  still  more  elaborate 
vindication,  in  two  small  volumes,  entitled  Notices  of  the  War  of  1812. 

2  General  Walter  Smith.    See  page  922. 

3  On  several  occasions  during  the  war  the  British  had  offered  liberty  to  the  slaves  if  the  latter  would  join  them,  and 
on  one  occasion,  as  we  have  seen  (page  690),  preparations  were  made,  on  that  account,  for  a  general  insurrection  in 
South  Carolina. 

4  See  the  testimony  of  John  Eandolph  on  this  point  in  a  speech  on  the  floor  of  Congress  in  the  year  1811.    See 
page  214. 

*  Writings  and  Speeches  of  Alvan  Stewart  on  Slavery,  edited  by  his  son-in-law,  Luther  R.  Marsh,  page  372. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


939 


Fort  Washington  neglected. 


It  is  deserted  and  blown  up. 


British  Ships  pass  up  the  Potomac. 


July  25, 
1814. 


to  General  Winder,  who,  in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,a  recommended 
the  strengthening  of  the  post.  Three  of  the  banks  of  Alexandria  offered  to 
loan  the  government  fifty  thousand  dollars  foj-  the  construction  of  more  defenses  for 
the  District.  The  money  was  accepted,  but  nothing  was  done  to  Fort  Washington. 
When  the  battle  of  Bladensburg  occurred,  and  the  seat  of  government  was  left  to  the 
mercy  of  the  invaders,  Fort  Washington  was  as  feebly  armed  as  ever,  and  its  gar 
rison  consisted  of  only  about  eighty  men,  under  Captain  Samuel  T.  Dyson,  who  had 
received  orders  from  General  Winder  to  be  very  watchful,  and,  in  the  event  of  its  be 
ing  approached  by  the  enemy  on  land,  to  blow  up  the  fortification  and  retreat  across 
the  river. 
The  British  squadron  appeared  before  Fort  Washington  on  the  27th  of  August, 


FORT   WASHINGTON.1 


three  days  after  the  capture  of  the  capital.  Captain  Dyson  either  misunderstood 
General  Winder's  order,  or  was  influenced  by  mortal  feai%,  for  he  blew  up  and  aban 
doned  the  fort  without  firing  a  gun.2  No  doubt  the  BVitish  fleet  could  have  been 
kept  below  by  the  heavy  cannon  of  the  fort.  Dyson  chose  not  to  try  the  experiment, 
and  for  his  injui'ious  conduct  he  was  dismissed  from  the  service. 

The  British  squadron  now  had  nothing  to  fear,  and  without  hinderance  it  sailed  on, 
and  was  anchored  off  Alexandria  on  the  evening  of  the  28th.  On  the  morning  of  the 
29th  it  assumed  a  hostile  attitude  a  hundred  yards  from  the  wharves,  and  was  well 
prepared  to  lay  every  building  in  the  town  in  ashes.  The  citizens  had  done  what 
they  could  to  protect  their  city.3  The  able-bodied  men  and  their  heavy  guns  had 
been  called  to  the  defense  of  Washington  City,  and  only  exempts  and  a  few  others, 
not  more  than  one  hundred  in  all,  were  left.  When  the  squadron  came  they  had  no 
effective  means  to  oppose  the  intruders,  and  the  citizens  sent  a  deputation  to  Com 
modore  Gordon  to  ask  upon  what  terms  he  would  consent  to  spare  the  town.  He 
replied  that  all  naval  stores  and  ordnance ;  all  the  shipping  and  its  furniture  ;  mer 
chandise  of  every  description  in  the  city,  or  which  had  been  carried  out  of  it  to  a 
place  of  safety ;  and  refreshments  of  every  kind,  must  be  immediately  given  up  to 
him.  Also  that  the  vessels  which  had  been  scuttled  to  save  them  from  destruction 
must  be  raised,  and  delivered  up  to  him.  "  Do  all  this,"  he  said,  "  and  the  town  of 
Alexandria,  with  the  exception  of  public  works,  shall  be  spared,  and  the  inhabitants 

1  This  is  a  view  of  Fort  Washington  from  the  rear,  looking  across  the  Potomac  to  the  Virginia  shore,  as  it  appeared 
in  November,  1861.    It  is  on  the  Maryland  shore,  about  three  miles  higher  up  the  river  than  Mount  Vernon. 

2  In  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  dated  "Camp  at  Macon's  Island,  August  29, 1S14,"  Captain  Dyson  excused  his 
conduct  by  saying  he  had  been  informed  that  the  enemy  had  been  re-enforced  at  Benedict  by  six  thousand  men,  and 
were  marching  on  Fort  Washington  to  co-operate  with  the  fleet.    This  was  a  false  rumor.    He  acted  too  precipitately 
to  find  out  the  truth,  but  not  until  it  was  too  late  to  be  useful. 

3  At  about  the  time  when  the  British  fleet  appeared  in  the  Potomac,  General  Winder  received  from  an  unknown  hand 
a  sketch  of  a  simple  torpedo  for  blowing  up  vessels,  with  a  description  of  its  construction  and  use.    The  engraving  of 
it  on  the  next  page  is  a  fac-simile  of  the  original  pen-and-ink  sketch  found  among  the  Winder  papers.    General  Winder 
believed  it  was  from  General  Guy,  of  Alexandria,  who  had  conversed  with  him  on  the  subject  previously. 

The  torpedo's  construction  and  use  were  described  as  follows :  Ascertain  the  depth  of  the  channel  in  which  a  row  of 
torpedoes  are  to  be  placed,  and  cut  trees  three  feet  in  diameter  of  such  length  as  will  allow  ships  to  pass  over  them 
when  they  stand  perpendicular.  Bore  them  out  with  a  pump  auger,  the  hole  being  large  enough  for  a  12-pouud  ball. 


940 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Alexandria  plundered. 


Preparations  to  intercept  the  British  Vessels  in  the  Potomac. 


A  Torpedo. 


shall  remain  unmolested.  These  were  harsh  and  humiliating  terms,  and  the  inhabit 
ants  were  allowed  only  one  hour  for  consideration.  They  were  powerless,  and  were 
compelled  to  submit.  The  merchandise,  that  had  been  carried  from  the  town  and  the 
sunken  vessels  could  not  be  given  up  to  the  invader,  so  he  contented  himself  by  burn 
ing  one  vessel  and  loading  several  others,  chiefly  with  flour,  cotton,  and  tobacco. 
With  these  in  charge,  the  squadron  weighed  anchor  and  sailed  down  the  Potomac.1 
On  hearing  of  the  surrender  of  Alexandria,  the  government  determined  to  annoy, 
and,  if  possible,  capture  or  destroy  the  British  squadron  in  its  descent  of  the  Potomac. 
The  Maryland  and  District  militia  could  not  be  rallied  in  time,  so  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  sent  an  express  to  Commodore  Rodgers,  at  Baltimore,2  for  him  to  hasten  to  the 
Potomac  with  as  large  a  number  of  seamen  as  he  could  collect.  These  were  placed 
under  the  command  of  Commodores  Rodgers,  Perry,  Porter,  and  Creighton.3  Armed 
boats  and  fire-ships  were  soon  prepared,  and  the  seamen,  in  conjunction  with  the  Vir 
ginia  militia,  gave  the  enemy  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  Batteries  were  erected  on  the 
river  bank  at  the  "  White  House,"  a  short  distance  below  Mount  Vernon,  and  on  In 
dian  Head,  both  commanding  points  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  stream.  Musketeers 
were  stationed  on  the  thickly-wooded  shores.  Cannon  were  taken  by  District  Volun 
teers,  and  placed  in  battery  with  all  possible  dispatch,  and  for  several  days  from  the 
1st  of  September  they  kept  the  British  war  and  plunder  vessels  from  descend 
ing  the  river.  Meanwhile  the  batteries  and  the  militia  were  strengthened  by 
accessions  of  guns  sent  down  from  Washington  and  men  from  the  neighboring  coun 
try,  and  at  times  .there  was  heavy  fighting.  Finally  the  war  vessels,  ten  in  number, 
with  an  aggregate  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  guns,  brought  their  concentrated 


1814. 


Then  fill  the  place 
with  hot  tallow,  so 
that  it  will  thorough- 
ly  enter  the  pores  of 
the  wood,  and  make 
it  impervious  to  wa 
ter.  Then  bore  it 
out  again,  and  put  in 
powder  in  flannel 
cartridges.  Over  the 
powder  place  two 
balls,  and  then  pour 
in  melted  tallow 
again,  so  as  to  com 
pletely  inclose  the 
powder.  Over  the 
balls  put  a  wad  of 

oakum,  also  covered  at  top  with  tallow.  Before  putting  in  the  powder,  a  hole 
must  be  made  in  the  log,  and  a  wire  inserted  so  as  to  penetrate  the  cartridge,  and 
the  hole  then  made  water-tight.  This  wire  was  to  extend  to  the  shore.  It  was 
to  be  a  conductor  of  an  electric  spark  to  the  powder.  To  secure  the  trees  from 
bursting  with  the  powder  explosion,  they  were  to  be  hooped.  The  following  are 
the  directions  for  the  working  of  the  torpedo,  given  by  the  projector: 

1,  a  tree  on  the  shore,  serving  as  a  mark  by  day,  and  having  a  lantern  hanging 
upon  it  by  night.  2,  position  of  a  sentinel,  who  views  an  object  on  the  water  be 
tween  himself  and  the  tree  1  through  a  fixed  tube.  3,  another  tree,  with  a  lantern 
at  night.  4,  5,  C,  7,  8,  other  sentinels  on  the  shore,  who  look  through  fixed  tubes 
upon  tree  number  3,  their  vision  crossing  that  of  sentinel  number  2  at  different 
positions.  The  circles  in  the  channel  of  the  river  show  the  position  of  five  tree  torpedoes.  Thus  stationed,  the  differ 
ent  seutinels  would  all  see  a  vessel,  as  it  crossed  their  vision  between  them  and  free  3,  at  different  points.  When  the 
sentinel  at  4,  5,  6,  7,  or  8  sees  an  object  on  his  line  of  vision,  he  will  immediately  pull  a  cord  to  convey  information  of 
the  fact  to  number  2,  and  if,  at  the  same  time,  that  object  covers  the  vision  of  the  sentinel  on  line  1  and  2,  the  vessel 
must  be  over  one  of  the  torpedoes.  Then  number  2,  having  in  charge  the  electric  wire,  will  communicate  the  spark  to 
the  powder  of  the  torpedo. 

1  The  loss  sustained  by  the  Alexandrians  by  the  surrender  of  the  city  consisted  of  three  ships,  three  brigs,  several 
small  bay  and  river  craft,  16,000  pounds  of  flour^  1000  hogsheads  of  tobacco,  150  bales  of  cotton,  and  $5000  worth  of  wines 
and  segars. 

2  Commodore  Eodgers  was  at  Philadelphia  when  the  British  captured  Washington.    As  early  as  the  26th  he  had  re 
ceived  an  order  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  hasten  to  Washington  with  all  the  force  under  his  command.    He 
started  with  four  hundred  seamen  and  fifty  marines  armed  with  muskets,  and  four  pieces  of  artillery  (12-pounders),  but 
before  he  reached  Baltimore  he  heard  of  the  fall  of  the  capital.    At  Baltimore  he  awaited  farther  orders.— Rodgers  to 
Winder — Autograph  Letter  among  the  Winder  Papers. 

3  Perry  and  Porter  were  in  Baltimore  at  the  time,  and  accompanied  Eodgers  to  Washington.    The  former  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  frigate  Java,  recently  launched  at  Baltimore. 


FAC-SIMII.E   OF    DRAWING   OF 
TORPEDO. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812.  941 


British  Ships  pass  American  Batteries  and  escape.      Visit  to  the  Battle-ground  at  Bladeusburg.      Oak  Hill  Cemetery. 

power  to  bear  upon  Porter's  battery  at  the  "  White  House"  and  its  supports,  and 
drove  all  away.  Perry's  battery  at  Indian  Head  received  like  attention.  His  guns 
were  skillfully  managed  by  Lieutenant  (late  Commodore)  George  C.  Read  ;J  but 
Perry,  like  Porter,  overwhelmed  by  a  vastly  superior  force,  was  compelled  to  retire, 
and  allow  the  enemy,  with  his  plunder,  to  pass  on  to  Chesapeake  Bay.2 

Thus  ended  the  invasion  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Washington  City,  the  de 
struction  of  its  public  buildings  and  navy  yard,  the  surrender  and  plunder  of  Alexan 
dria,  and  the  profound  regret  and  humiliation  of  the  American  people.3 

I  visited  the  theatre  of  many  of  the  events  described  in  this  chapter,  in  the  years 
1860  and  1861.  At  the  close  of  the  former  year  I  was  in  Washington  City,  on  my 
way  southward  to  go  over  the  region  of  the  Creek  War  in  Alabama4  from  the  Ten 
nessee  River  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  to  view  the  grounds  of  conflict  in  the  vicin 
ity  of  New  Orleans.  I  was  met  there  by  a  letter  from  a  distinguished  South  Caro 
lina  author,  informing  me  that  on  a  certain  day  a  Convention  would  declare  that 
state  seceded  from  the  Union,5  and  advising  me  to  defer  my  visit  on  account  of  the 
excitement  and  confusion  that  must  inevitably  follow  such  revolutionary  action.  On 
the  day  after  receiving  this  letter, a  and  while  conversing  with  the  ven-  .  December  20, 
erable  General  Cass  (who  had  lately  left  Mr.  Buchanan's  Cabinet  in  dis-  185°- 

gust)  at  his  own  house,  a  messenger  brought  to  him  the  startling  intelligence  of  the 
passage  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  by  the  South  Carolina  Conven- 

**  December  20 

tion  of  politicians.1*     I  shall  never  forget  the  extreme  sadness  of  counte 
nance,  voice,  and  words  of  the  eminent  statesman  after  that  announcement.     "  I 
hoped,"  he  said,  "  to  leave  to  my  children,  as  an  inheritance  from  patriotic  men,  a 
united,  prosperous,  and  happy  country ;  but  all  is  over !     This  is  but  the  beginning 
of  the  end!" 

The  political  firmament  was  so  cloudy  that  I  concluded  to  defer  my  visit  to  the 
Gulf  region  until  a  more  propitious  time,  and  so  I  spent  a  week  among  the  public 
records  in  the  Departments  at  Washington,  and  in  visiting  the  battle-ground  at  Bla- 
densburg.  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  go  over  that  field  of  strife  with  the  late  John 
C.  Rives,  whose  residence,  we  have  observed,6  was  near  the  place  where  Barney  fought 
and  fell.  Being  his  guest  for  a  day,  we  spent  nearly  the  whole  time  in  exploring  the 
battle-ground,  and  making  the  sketches  on  preceding  pages.  Not  long  afterward  the 
great  Civil  War  broke  out,  and  it  was  a  year  after  the  visit  now  considered  before  I 
was  again  in  the  National  capital  in  the  prosecution  of  this  work,  when  it  was  filled 
with  soldiery  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  war.  Accompanied  by  a  young  kins 
woman,  I  then  visited  localities  of  interest  connected  with  the  War  of  1812  in  and 
around  Washington  City,  at  Baltimore,  North  Point,  Havre  de  Grace,  and  other 
places. 

It  was  a  bright  day  in  November0  when  we  rode  over  to  Oak  Hill  Ceme- 

c  Iftfil 

tery,  near  Georgetown,  to  visit  the  graves  of  General  Towson  and  Commodore 
Morris.     It  was  a  beautiful  spot.     The  burial-places  were  spread  over  the  slopes  of  a 
broad  ravine  that  went  down  to  Piney  Branch  Creek,  where  the  gentle  murmur  of  a 
small  cascade  was  heard.     The  ground  was  covered  with  stately  oaks,  and  among 
them  stood  many  commemorative  monuments.    I  sketched  those  of  Towson  and  Mor- 

1  Commodore  Read  died  at  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  Governor  of  the  Naval  Asylum,  in  August,  1863. 

2  On  the  5th  of  September  twenty-six  sail  passed  Point  Lookout,  and  at  four  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  9th 
twenty-one  ships,  six  brigs,  and  three  smaller  vessels  were  seen  beating  up  the  Chesapeake.— Autograph  Letters  from 
Thomas  Swann,  at  Point  Lookout,  among  the  Winder  Papers. 

3  The  slight  resistance  offered  to  the  invaders  during  their  operations  in  the  space  of  twelve  days  excited  great  sur 
prise,  alarm,  and  indignation.    They  had  been  performed  in  the  midst  of  a  population  most  interested  in  the  events, 
and  capable  of  furnishing  at  least  20,000  able-bodied  men  for  the  defense  of  their  homes  and  the  National  capital.    The 
national  honor  required  an  investigation,  and  early  in  the  next  session  of  Congress  a  committee  for  that  purpose  was 
appointed  by  the  House  of  Representatives.    Their  report  exculpated  the  President  and  General  Winder,  but  left  Con 
gress  and  the  people  to  form  their  own  judgment  from  the  facts  presented.  *  See  Chapters  XXIII  and  XXIV. 

*  The  writer  was  William  Gilmore  Simms.  His  letter  was  dated  December  13, 1860.  "  In  ten  days  more,"  he  wrote, 
"  South  Carolina  will  have  certainly  seceded ;  and  in  reasonable  interval  after  this  event,  if  the  forts  in  our  harbor  are 
not  surrendered  to  the  state,  they  will  be  taken."  6  See  page  927. 


942 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Kalorama. 


Barlow's  Vault. 


The  Death  of  Decatur. 


Van  Rensselaer's  Letter. 


ris,1  and  a  small  uninscribed  stone,  with  a  cross  upon  it, 
near  the  latter,  and  then  we  rode  back,  crossed  Piney 
Creek,  and,  a  mile  from  Georgetown,  entered  a  pleasant 
lane  shaded  with  oaks,  that  led  to  the  beautiful  mansion 
of  Kalorama,  on  the  brow  of  a  hill,  which  was  once  the 
residence  of  the  eminent  Joel  Barlow.2  At  the  time  of 
our  visit  it  was  used  as  a  hospital  for  soldiers  sick  with 
small-pox  and  measles.  Before  it  was  a  gentle  wooded 


THE   UNKNOWN. 


slope,  at  the  foot  of  which 
was  a  circular  plain  of  ten 
or  twelve  acres,  then  beat 
en  hard  by  the  tread  of 
troops,  for  it  had  been 
made  a  camp-ground.  On 
the  edge  of  this  plain, 
overlooking  a  steep  slope 
covered  with  oaks,  was 
the  family  vault  of  Mr. 
Barlow,3  in  which  the 


KALOEAJIA. 


BAKU)  W '8   VACLT. 


body  of  Commodore  Decatur  was  laid  on  the  24th  of 
March,  1820,  two  days  after  he  fell  in  a  duel  with  Commodore  Barron,  near  Bladens- 
burg.4  It  was  followed  to  this  tomb  by  a  vast  concourse  of  people,  and  was  placed 
in  it  with  military  honors.5 

We  returned  to  Washington  just  as  the  stars  were  appearing.  Early  the  next  day 
we  rode  out  to  the  Congressional  Burial-ground,  which  lies  party  upon  a  plain,  and 

1  A  picture  of  Towson's  appears  on  page  809,  and  Morris's  on  page  901.  2  See  page  94. 

3  On  each  side  of  the  entrance  door  to  the  vault  was  a  white  marble  slab,  suitably  inscribed.  Commencing  on  one,  and 
running  across  to  the  other,  are  the  words  "  Sacred  to  the  repose  of  the  dead  and  the  meditation  of  the  living."  On  the 
left-hand  slab  we  read:  "Joel  Barlow,  Patriot,  Poet,  and  Philosopher,  lies  buried  at  Zarowitch,  Poland,  where  he  died, 
26th  December,  1812,  aged  fifty-seven  years." 

"  Judith  Baldwin  Barlow,  his  wife,  died  29th  of  May,  1818,  aged  sixty-two." 

"Abraham  Baldwin,  her  brother,  died  a  senator  in  Congress  from  Georgia,  4th  of  March,  180T,  aged  fifty-two  years. 
His  memory  needs  no  marble  ;  his  country  is  his  monument ;  the  Constitution  his  greatest  work."  Mr.  Baldwin  was 
a  member  from  Georgia  of  the  Convention  that  framed  the  National  Constitution  in  1787.  On  the  right-hand  side  are 
inscriptions  commemorative  of  the  Bomford  family. 

*  General  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  then  in  Washington  City,  wrote  as  follows  to  Mrs.  Van  Kensselaer : 

"Washington,  March  20, 1820. 

"DEAB  HARRIET,—  I  have  only  time,  after  writing  to  several,  to  say  that  an  affair  of  honor  took  place  this  morning 
between  Commodores  Decatur  and  Barron,  in  which  both  fell  at  the  first  fire.  The  ball  entered  Decatur's  body  two 
inches  above  the  hip,  and  lodged  against  the  opposite  side.  I  just  came  from  his  house.  He  yet  lives,  but  will  never 
see  another  sun.  Barron's  wound  is  severe,  but  not  dangerous.  The  ball  struck  the  upper  part  of  his  hip,  and  turned 
to  the  rear.  He  is  ruined  in  public  estimation.  The  excitement  is  very  great." 

On  the  following  day  Van  Rensselaer  wrote  of  his  death,  and  said :  "  His  poor  wife  (they  have  no  children)  is  dis 
tressed  beyond  expression.  She  would  suffer  no  one  to  be  in  her  room,  and,  strange  to  say,  she  did  not  see  him  until 
after  his  death."  General  Van  Rensselaer  was  misinformed,  for  she  was  present  when  he  died.  Mrs.  Decatur  survived 
her  husband  about  forty  years.  She  died  at  Georgetown,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  in  1SCO. 

5  Decatur's  remains  were  taken  from  his  late  residence  in  Washington  City  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  borne 
to  Kalorama  by  the  following  officers:  Commodores  Tingey, Macdouough,  Rodgers,  and  Porter,  Captains  Cassin,  Bal- 
lard,  and  Chauucey,  Generals  Brown  and  Jesup,  and  Lieutenant  M'Pherson.  The  funeral  was  attended  by  nearly  all 
the  public  functionaries  in  Washington,  American  and  foreign,  and  a"  great  number  of  citizens.  While  the  procession 
was  moving,  minute-guns  were  fired  at  the  navy  yard. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


943 


The  Congressional  Burying-ground. 


A  Visit  to  Fort  Washington. 


Departure  from  the  National  Capital. 


CENOTAPH. 


partly  upon  an  uneven  slope  toward  the  Anacostia,  or  East 
ern  Branch  of  the  Potomac.  It  contains  many  beautiful 
monuments,  and  also  monotonous  rows  of  small  marble  cen 
otaphs  erected  to  the  memory  of  members  of  Congress  who 

died  while  representatives 
t  of  districts,  but  who  were 
not  buried  there.  Among  the 
most  elaborately  wrought  of 
the  fine  monuments  is  that 
of  Elbridge  Gerry,  who  died 

suddenly  while  he  was  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States.1  It  is  of  white  marble,  about  thirteen  feet  in 
height,  with  a  neat  iron  railing  around  it.2  After 
sketching  this  monument  and  those  of  several  other 
distinguished  public  servants,  we  returned  to  the 
city,  and  passed  the  evening  pleasantly  with  Colonel 
C.  S.  Todd,  one  of  General  Harrison's  staff  in  the 
War  of  1812,  already  mentioned,3  and  the  late  ven 
erable  \Elisha  Whittlesey,  Comptroller  of  the  Nation 
al  Treasury,  who  was  also  an  active  participant  in 
the  Second  War  for  Independence.4 

Having  procured  a  special  letter  of  permission 
from  General  M'Clellan,  we  stai'ted  for  old  Fort 
Washington,  twelve  miles  down  the  Potomac,  on 
the  following  morning,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Samuel 
Yorke  At  Lee,  Librarian  of  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment.  Beyond  the  Potomac,  from  Arlington  Heights 
to  Alexandria  and  below,  we  saw  the  white  tents  of 
At  Fort  Washington,  which  stands  upon  the  high 
bank  of  the  Potomac,  on  the  Maryland  side,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataway  Creek, 
we  were  courteously  received  by  Major  Haskin,  the  commander  of  the  garrison ;  and 
while  making  the  sketch  seen  on  page  939,  we  heard  the  heavy  guns  of  the  Confeder 
ates,  who  then  blockaded  the  Potomac.  It  was  twilight  when  we  returned  to  Wash 
ington  City.  At  an  early  hour  the  next  morning  we  crossed  the  Long  Bridge  into 
Virginia,  made  a  journey  of  almost  twenty  miles  among  camps  and  forts  in  the  vicin 
ity  of  the  National  capital,  and  returned  to  Washington  at  dusk.  On  Monday  morn 
ing  we  departed  for  Baltimore,  to  visit  places  of  historic  interest  there  and  in  its 
vicinity. 

1  Mr.  Gerry  was  boarding  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Wilson,  and  was  on  his  way  from  there  to  the  Capitol  when  the  death- 
summons  came  to  him  in  the  street.    At  his  funeral  his  body  was  taken  from  Mrs.  Wilson's  to  the  hall  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  charge  of  a  committee  of  arrangements.    From  there  it  was  conveyed  to  the  Congressional  Bury 
ing-ground  by  Messrs.  Tallmadge,  Macon,  Brower,  Sevier,  Wright,  Findley,  Nelson,  and  Brigham,  chosen  pall-bearers, 
followed  by  all  the  public  functionaries  in  Washington,  domestic  and  foreign. 

2  Mr.  Gerry  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  had  ever  been  conspicuous  in  public  life. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  inscription  on  his  monument :  East  Side—"  The  tomb  of  ELBRIDGE  GEEKY,  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States,  who  died  suddenly  in  this  city,  on  his  way  to  the  Capitol  as  President  of  the  Senate,  November  23d, 
1814,  aged  seventy,  thus  fulfilling  his  own  memorable  injunction,  'It  is  the  duty  of  every  citizen,  though  he  may  have 
but  one  day  to  live,  to  devote  that  day  to  the  good  of  his  country.' "     West  Side—"  Erected  by  order  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  1823."  3  See  page  548.  *  See  page  341. 

NOTE.— In  the  smaller  section  of  the  map  on  page  929  are  figures  which  indicate  the  position  of  certain  troops,  as  fol 
lows:  5,  Second  Regiment,  of  Smith's  brigade;  6,M^Jor  Peter's  battery;  7,  Major  Waring's  battalion;  8,  Scott's  regu 
lars  ;  9,  companies  of  Stull  and  Davidson  ;  10,  Ragan's  regiment ;  11,  Schntz's  ;  12,  Fifth  Baltimore  Regiment ;  13, 
Btirch's  artillery ;  16,  militia  and  riflemen  ;  IT,  Baltimore  artillery ;  20,  the  British. 


GERRY'S  MONUMENT. 


various  military  encampments. 


944 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  British  in  Chesapeake  Bay. 


An  Attack  on  St.  Michael's. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

"  The  gen'ral  gave  orders  for  the  troops  to  march  clown, 

To  meet  the  proud  Ross,  and  to  check  his  ambition ; 
To  inform  him  we  have  decreed  in  our  town 

That  here  he  can't  enter  without  our  permission. 
And  if  life  he  regards,  he  will  not  press  too  hard, 
For  Baltimore  freemen  are  ever  prepared 
To  check  the  presumptuous,  whoever  they  be, 
That  may  rashly  attempt  to  evade  our  decree." — OLD  SONG. 

ALTIMORE  was  menaced  while  Washington  was  assailed.  In 
deed,  the  whole  coast  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  from  its  mouth  to 
the  Patapsco,  was  continually  harassed  by  the  invaders  during 
August  and  September,  1.814.  "Whenever  a  favorable  oppor 
tunity  presented  itself,"  wrote  a  British  officer  who  participated 
in  the  capture  of  Washington,  "  parties  landed,  plundered  or  de 
stroyed  the  government  stores,  and  brought  oif  all  the  shipping 
which  could  be  reached.  In  a  word,"  he  says,  with  great  candor, 
"  the  hostilities  carried  on  in  the  Chesapeake  resembled  the  expeditions  of  the  an 
cient  Danes  against  Great  Britain  rather  than  a  modern  war  between  civilized  na 
tions."  He  added, "  But  these  hasty  excursions,  though  generally  successful,  were 
not  always  performed  without  loss  to  the  invaders."1  We  will  here  record  two 
events  in  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  last  observation,  in  which  the  courage  and  spirit 
of  the  Maryland  militia  were  very  conspicuous. 

Among  other  places  on  the  Chesapeake  which  received  special  attention  from  the 
British  was  the  little  village  of  St.  Michael's,  in  Talbot  County,  on  the  eastern  shore 
of  the  bay.  It  was  founded  by  ship-builders,  and  was  famous  as  the  place  where 
most  of  the  swift-sailing  privateers,  called  "  Baltimore  clippers,"  were  constructed. 
At  the  time  in  question  seven  of  these  were  on  the  sto'cks  there.  Cockburn,  the  ma 
rauder,  determined  to  destroy  them,  the  ship-yards,  and  the  town.  Intimation  of  his 
intentions  had  been  received  at  the  village,  and  the  veteran  General  Derry  Benson, 
commander  of  the  militia  of  Talbot  County,  prepared  to  receive  them.  He  construct 
ed  two  batteries,  one  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  or  creek,  mounting  three  6-pound- 
ers  and  one  long  9-pounder,  and  the  other  on  an  eminence  in  front  of  the  town,  armed 
with  two  6-pounders. 

Two  companies  from  Easton,  and  two  or  three  from  the  adjacent  country,  were 
called  to  the  defense  of  St.  Michael's,  numbering  in  the  aggregate  about  three  hun 
dred  souls.  They  were  in  readiness  for  some  time,  waiting  for  the  invaders.  They 
appeared  early  in  August,a  in  a  small  squadron,  that  entered  Eastern  Bay  be-, 
tween  the  Talbot  County  main  and  Kent  Island.  Between  midnight  and  the 
dawn  of  the  llth,  while  the  darkness  was  intensified  by  thick  clouds,  they  made  their 
way  in  eleven  barges  (each  armed  with  a  6-pound  field-piece),  with  oars  muffled,  so 
secretly  that  the  booming  of  their  cannon  was  the  first  intimation  the  Americans  re 
ceived  of  their  near  presence.  The  Marylanders  were  a  little  surprised,  yet  they  be 
haved  most  gallantly.  They  returned  the  fire  with  spirit  from  the  lower  battery. 
The  9-pounder  was  in  charge  of  Captain  William  Dodson,  of  St.  Michael's,  and  did 
terrible  execution.  He  had  literally  crammed  it  with  grape  and  canister  shot,  and 

i  Campaigns  of  Washington  and  New  Orleans,  by  the  Eev.  G.  R.  Gleig.    See  page  937. 


1814. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  945 


The  Defense  of  St.  Michael's.  Exploits  of  Sir  Peter  Parker.  Infamous  Conduct  of  Admiral  Cockburn. 

being  well  acquainted  with  every  foot  of  the  locality,  he  knew  precisely,  by  sounds, 
where  to  fire  most  effectively  in  the  gloom.  The  invaders,  under  cover  of  their  heavy 
guns,  had  landed  in  a  compact  body  for  the  purpose  of  storming  the  batteries,  and 
when  Dodson  opened  his  great  gun  upon  them,  a  wide  swathe  was  cut  through  their 
line.  Nineteen  of  the  British  were  killed,  and  many  were  wounded.  The  Ameri 
cans,  finding  themselves  outnumbered,  fled  to  the  upper  battery,  whose  guns,  worked 
by  Captains  Vickers  and  Auld,  kept  up  a  continuous  fire  on  the  foe.  The  fight  con 
tinued  until  daylight,  when  the  British  fled  to  their  boats  and  abandoned  the  enter 
prise.  They  had  spiked  the  guns  in  the  lower  battery,  and  this  was  the  principal 
loss  sustained  by  the. Americans.1  St.  Michael's  and  its  ship-yards  were  saved  by  the 
gallantry  of  a  few  spirited  militia,  and  no  attempt  to  enter  its  harbor  was  ever  after 
ward  made  by  a  British  armed  vessel.  It  is  yet  a  flourishing  town  of  about  eight 
hundred  people,  surrounded  by  fertile  land  and  deep  estuaries  of  the  Chesapeake. 

Soon  after  the  expulsion  of  the  invaders  from  St.  Michael's,  Sir  Peter  Parker,  of  the 
Royal  Navy,  appeared  in  the  Upper  Chesapeake  for  the  purpose  of  patrolling  its  wa 
ters  and  blockading  the  harbor  of  Baltimore  with  two  vessels  under  his  command, 
while  Cochrane,  and  Ross,  and  Cockburn  were  penetrating  the  country  to  Washing 
ton.  His  flag-ship  was  the  frigate  Menelaiis,  38,  and  his  deportment  was  so  haughty, 
and  his  acts,  under  the  direction  of  his  superior,  Cockburn,  were  so  cruel,2  that  the 
Americans  became  greatly  exasperated.  He  frequently  sent  parties  ashore  to  plun 
der  and  destroy  private  as  well  as  public  property,  and  he  swept  domestic  commerce 
from  the  bay.  He  boasted  to  his  superiors  that  during  the  month  of  his  blockading 
service  not  a  single  American  boat  crossed  the  waters  of  the  Chesapeake. 

On  the  fall  of  Washington  Sir  Peter  was  ordered  to  proceed  down  the  bay.     "I 
must  first  have  a  frolic  with  the  Yankees,"  he  said.3     Accordingly,  on  the  night  of 
the  30th  of  August,*  after  a  jolly  dinner  with  his  officers,  and  indulgence  in 
drinking  and  dancing,  he  proceeded  to  engage  in  the  sport.     He  had  been  in 
formed  that  a  body  of  Maryland  militia  were  encamped  at  Moorfields,  near  the  George 
town  Cross  Roads,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland  (not  far  from  Chestertown),  and 
he  prepared  to  surprise  them.     They  were  less  than  two  hundred  in  number,  under 
the  vigilant  Colonel  Read,  who  was  fully  apprised  of  the  movement. 

The  Menelaus  ran  into  one  of  the  numerous  estuaries,  and  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night 
landed  a  force  of  seamen  and  marines,  armed  with  muskets,  pikes,  and  cutlasses. 

1  Communications  to  the  author  by  Messrs.  Dr.  Goldsborough,  M.  Spencer,  and  William  H.  Groome,  of  Easton.Mary- 
land,  in  March,  1860. 

2  A  British  officer,  who  served  with  Cockburn  and  Parker,  published  some  spicy  sketches  of  his  experience  in  ma 
rauding  expeditions  along  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake.    He  relates  one,  commanded  by  Cockbum  in  person,  with 
Parker  and  General  Ross  as  "  amateurs,"  as  he  expresses  it.    The  object  was,  he  says,  "  to  destroy  a  factory  village, 
which  was  not  only  the  abode  of  innocent  labor,  but  likewise  the  resort  of  some  few  militiamen  guilty  of  the  unnatural 
sin  of  defending  their  own  county."    Their  approach  being  known,  all  but  women  and  children  had  fled  from  the  town. 
"We  therefore,"  he  says,  "most  valiantly  set  fire  to  the  unprotected  property,  notwithstanding  the  tears  of  the  wom 
en,  and,  like  a  parcel  of  savages,  as  we  were,  we  danced  round  the  wreck  of  ruin."    The  excuse  was  the  necessity  of  re 
taliation  for  the  destruction  of  Newark,  in  Canada.    See  pages  C34  and  932.    "  Every  house,"  he  continues,  "which  we 
could  by  ingenuity  vote  into  the  residence  of  a  military  man,  was  burned."    He  then  gives  an  account  of  scenes  at  a 
dwelling-house  near  the  beach  which  they  surrounded.     "Like  midnight  murderers,"  he  says,  "we  cautiously  ap 
proached  the  house.    The  door  was  open,  and  we  unceremoniously  intruded  ourselves  upon  three  young  ladies  sitting 
quietly  at  tea.    Sir  George  Cockburn,  Sir  Peter  Parker,  and  myself  entered  the  room  rather  suddenly,  and  a  simultane 
ous  scream  was  our  welcome."    Sir  George,  he  said,  was  austere,  but  Sir  Peter  "was  the  handsomest  man  in  the  navy," 
and  to  the  latter  the  ladies  appealed.    Cockburn  told  them  that  he  knew  their  father  to  be  an  American  officer— a  col 
onel  of  militia,  and  that  his  duty  being  to  burn  their  house,  he  gave  them  ten  minutes  for  removing  what  they  most  de 
sired  to  save.    The  young  women,  on  their  knees,  begged  the  admiral  to  spare  their  house.    "The  youngest,  a  girl  of 
sixteen,  and  lovely  beyond  the  general  beauty  of  those  parts,  threw  herself  at  Sir  Peter's  feet,  and  prayed  him  to  inter 
fere.    The  tears  started  from  his  eyes  in  a  moment,  and  I  was  so  bewildered  at  the  afflicting  scene  that  I  appeared  to 
see  through  a  thick  mist."    Cockburn  was  unmoved,  with  his  watch  on  the  table,  measuring  the  fleeting  minutes.    The 
other  girls  were  in  tears,  and  asking  for  mercy.    Sir  Peter  had  opened  his  lips  to  plead  for  them,  when  the  brutal  Cock- 
burn  stopped  him,  and  ordered  men  to  bring  the  fire-balls.     "Never  shall  I  forget  the  despair  of  that  moment.    Poor 

'  Sir  Peter  wept  like  a  child,  while  the  girl  clung  to  his  knees  and  impeded  his  retreat.  The  admiral  walked  out  with 
his  usual  haughty  stride,  followed  by  the  two  elder  girls,  who  vainly  implored  him  to  countermand  the  order.  In  a  mo 
ment  the  house  was  in  flames.  "  We  retreated  from  the  scene  of  ruin,  leaving  the  three  daughters  gazing  at  the  work 
of  destruction,  which  made  the  innocent  houseless  and  the  affluent  beggars By  the  light  of  that  house  we  em 
barked  and  returned  on  board.  It  was  a  scene  which  impressed  itself  upon  my  heart,  and  which  my  memory  and  my 
hand  unwillingly  recall  and  publish."  3  Niles's  Weeklij  Register,  vii.,  11. 

3  O 


946 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Kepulse  of  the  British. 


Death  of  Sir  Peter  Parker. 


The  British  Fleet  in  the  Chesapeake. 


The  moon  was  shining  brightly.  Stealth 
ily  they  moved  forward,  and  fell  furi 
ously  upon  the  Marylanders,  who  were 
in  battle  order  to  receive  them.  A  fierce 
conflict  of  an  hour  ensued,  when  the  in 
vaders,  repulsed,  fled  back  to  their  frig 
ate,  leaviner  thirteen  dead  and  three 

O 

wounded  on  the  field.  Among  those 
mortally  hurt  was  the  gallant  Sir  Peter, 
a  brave  and  generous  Irishman,  descend 
ed  from  Archbishop  Parker  and  Admiral 
Byron,  and  then  only  twenty-eight  years 
of  age.  He  was  at  the  head  of  his  men, 
cheering  them  on,  when  a  musket-ball 
cut  the  main  artery  in  his  thigh.  "  They 
have  hit  me,  Pearce,"  he  said  to  his  first 
lieutenant,  "but  it  is  nothing  ;  push  onr 
my  brave  boys,  and  follow  me  !"  He 
attempted  to  cheer,  but  his  voice  failed 
him.  He  fell  in  the  arms  of  Pearce,  and 
before  he  could  be  conveyed  to  the  frig 
ate  or  receive  surgical  aid  he  bled  to 
death.1  The  invaders  fled  to  their  ship, 
and  the  Menelaus  sailed  down  the  bay. 
Sir  Peter's  body  was  preserved  in  spirits  and  sent  to  England,  and  on  the  14th  of 
May,  1815,  it  was  deposited  in  the  family  vault  in  St.  Margaret's  Church,  West 
minster.2 

Let  us  now  observe  the  movements  of  the  British  army  and  navy,  under  General 
Ross  and  Admiral  Cochrane,  after  the  flight  of  the  former  from  the  smoking  ruins  of 
Washington  City. 

We  left  the  invaders  re-embarked  on  their  vessels  in  the  Patuxent.  They  re 
mained  there  several  days  to  rest,  recruit,  and  make  provision  for  their  wounded. 
These  were  placed  on  board  vessels,  and  sent,  some  to  Halifax  and  others  to  England, 
and  by  the  Iphigenia  dispatches  were  sent  to  the  home  government.  Preparations 
were  made  in  the  mean  time  for  other  offensive  operations.  At  daybreak  on  the 
6th  of  September  the  whole  fleet  weighed  anchor,  and  stood  toward  the  Chesapeake 
with  a  fair  wind.  Down  that  bay  they  sailed,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  entered 
the  Potomac.  For  two  days  they  moved  up  that  stream  to  assist  Gordon  in  his 
operations  against  Fort  Washington  and  Alexandria.  Hearing  of  his  success,  they 
» September  9,  turned,a  hastened  back  to  the  Chesapeake,  and  stood  for  the  mouth  of 
the  Patapsco,b  spreading  terror  along  the  entire  coasts  of  the  bay.  The 
"  September  10.  peOpje  fle(j  from  t}iejr  <}wenings  an(j  the  villages  with  their  most  valued 
property  that  might  be  carried  away,  and  at  every  light-house  and  signal-station 
alarm  guns  were  fired.  On  Sunday,  the  llth,  they  entered  the  Patapsco  with  fifty 


1  Dallas's  Biographical  Memoir  of  Sir  Peter  Parker,  Bart. 

2  Sir  Peter  Parker  was  a  son  of  Admiral  Christopher  Parker,  and  first  cousin  of  the  eminent  poet,  Lord  Byron.    He 
inherited  from  his  father  a  love  of  the  naval  service,  and  from  his  mother  much  personal  beauty.    He  was  educated  at 
Westminster  School,  and  entered  the  navy  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years,  with  his  grandfather,  Sir  Peter  Parker,  who  com 
manded  the  British  fleet  at  Charleston  in  the  summer  of  1776.    He  rose  rapidly  in  his  profession  under  Lord  Nelson, 
Earl  St.  Vincent,  and  others,  and  in  1810  he  was  made  commander  of  the  Menelaus,  a  new  ship,  in  which  he  performed 
gallant  service.    He  accompanied  Admiral  Malcolm  to  Bermuda  in  the  spring  of  1814,  and  with  him  went  with  his 
frigate  to  the  Chesapeake,  where,  as  the  text  relates,  he  lost  his  life.   'His  body  was  first  conveyed  to  Bermuda,  and 
there  received  the  honors  of  a  public  funeral.    It  was  afterward  conveyed  in  the  same  vessel  (the  Hebrus)  to  England, 
and  was  again  buried  with  a  public  funeral.    Lord  Byron  wrote  a  poetic  eulogy  of  Sir  Peter.    His  friend,  and  one  of  the 
chief  mourners  at  his  funeral,  wrote  a  touching  Biographical  Memoir  of  him,  dedicated  to  his  wife,  from  which  the 
above  portrait,  from  a  painting  by  Hoppner,  of  the  Royal  Academy,  was  copied. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


947 


Baltimore  threatened. 


Exasperation  against  it. 


General  Samuel  Smith. 


sail  of  vessels,  bearing  at  least  six  thousand  fighting  men,  for  the  purpose  of  attack 
ing  Baltimore.  The  victorious  Ross,  elated  by  his  good  fortune,  had  boasted  that  he 
would  make  that  fine  city  of  forty  thousand  inhabitants  (one  fifth  negroes)  his  win 
ter  quarters. 

Baltimore  stands  on  the  Patapsco  River,  ten  miles  from  the  Chesapeake.  The  har 
bor  is  entered  by  a  narrow  strait,  commanded  by  Fort  M'Henry,  which  stood  there 
at  the  time  we  are  considering.  The  growth  of  the  city  had  been  extremely  rapid, 

In  1814  it  was  the  third  in  population, 
and  fourth  in  wealth  and  commerce,  in 
the  United  States. 

Intelligence  of  the  capture  of  Wash 
ington  created  intense  excitement  in 
Baltimore.  It  was  believed  that  the 
victorious  Ross  would  fall  upon  it  im 
mediately,  either  by  land  or  water;  and 
the  veteran  soldier  of  the  Revolution, 
General  Samuel  Smith,1  renewed  his  ex 
ertions  for  the  defense  of  the  city,  and 
Annapolis,  the  political  capital  of  Mary 
land.  That  vigilant  officer  had  been 
active  ever  since  the  first  appearance 
of  danger  in  the  spring  of  1813,  when  a 
British  squadron  appeared  in  the  Ches 
apeake.  It  was  well  known  that  the 
enemy  felt  great  exasperation  toward 
the  Baltimoreans  because  they  had  sent 
out  so  many  swift  "  clipper-built"  ves 
sels  and  expert  seamen  to  smite  terri 
bly  the  commerce  of  Great  Britain  on 
the  high  seas.  "  It  is  a  doomed  town," 
declared  Vice-admiral  Warren.  "  The 
American  navy  must  be  annihilated," 
said  a  London  paper;  his  arsenals  and 
dock -yards  must  be  consumed,  and 

1  Samuel  Smith  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  July  27, 1752.  His  education,  commenced  at  Carlisle, 
was  completed  at  an  academy  at  Elkton,  in  Maryland,  after  his  father  made  Baltimore  his  place  of  residence.  He  was 
in  his  father's  counting-house  five  years,  and  then,  in  1772,  sailed  for  Havre  in  one  of  his  father's  vessels  as  supercargo. 
Having  traveled  extensively  in  Europe,  he  returned  home  to  tind  his  countrymen  in  the  midst  of  the  excitements  of 
the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  hostilities.  The  battles  of  Lexington,  Concord,  and  Bunker  Hill  had  been  fought. 
Fired  with  patriotic  zeal,  he  sought  to  serve 
his  country  in  the  army,  and  in  January,177G, 
obtained  a  captain's  commission  in  Colonel 
Smallwood's  regiment.  He  was  soon  after 
ward  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major,  and 
early  in  1777  he  received  a  lieutenant  colo 
nel's  commission.  In  that  capacity  he  served 
with  distinction  in  the  battles  of  Brandy  wine 
and  Fort  Mifflin,  suffered  at  Valley  Forge, 
and  participated  in  the  action  on  the  plains 
of  Moumouth.  For  his  gallantry  at  Fort 
Mifflin,  Congress  voted  him  thanks  and  a 
sword.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  ap 
pointed  a  brigadier  general  of  militia,  and 
commanded  the  Maryland  quota  of  troops 
in  the  "  Whisky  Insurrection"  in  Pennsylva 
nia.  He  served  as  major  general  in  the  War 
of  1S12,  and  commanded  the  troops  assembled 
for  the  defense  of  Baltimore  in  1814.  At  that 
period  he  was  spending  much  of  his  time  at 
his  e'egmit  country-seat  of  Montebelln,  north 
of  Baltimore,  which  is  yet  (1S07)  standing.  During  a  riot  in  Baltimore  in  1S36,  when  the  civil  power  was  inadequate  to 


MONTtliELLO. 


948  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Preparations  for  the  Defense  of  Baltimore  in  1813  and  1814.  Patriotism  of  the  Citizens. 

the  truculent  inhabitants  of  Baltimore  must  be  tamed  with  the  weapons  which  shook 
the  wooden  turrets  of  Copenhagen." 

So  early  as  the  13th  of  April,  1813,  the  City  Councils  of  Baltimore  appropriated 
twenty  thousand  dollars  to  be  used  for  the  defense  of  the  city,  under  the  direction  of 
the  mayor,  Edward  Johnson,  and  seven  other  citizens,  who  were  named  as  a  Com 
mittee  of  Supply.1  The  governor  of  the  State  (Levin  Winder)  also  called  an  extra 
ordinary  session  of  the  Legislature,  to  meet  at  Annapolis  on  the  third  Monday  in 
May.  Meanwhile  a  rumor  reached  the  city  that  the  enemy  were  approaching,  and 
within  a  few  hours  at  least  five  thousand  armed  men  were  found  in  their  proper 
places,  and  several  companies  of  militia  from  the  country  came  pouring  into  Balti 
more.  Several  persons  were  arrested  as  traitors  and  spies.  These  demonstrations 
of  preparation  and  power  undoubtedly  saved  the  city  from  assault  at  that  time. 
Very  soon  afterward,  Strieker's  brigade,  and  other  military  bodies  in  the  city,  full 
five  thousand  strong,  with  forty  pieces  of  artillery,  were  reviewed.  At  the  beginning 
of  June  a  battery  was  erected  at  Fort  M'Henry  for  the  marine  artillery  of  Baltimore 
one  hundred  and  sixty  in  number,  under  Captain  George  Stiles,  and  composed  of  mas 
ters  and  master's-mates  of  vessels  there.  It  was  armed  with  42-pounders.2 

In  September51  the  British  fleet  went  to  sea,  and  Baltimore  enjoyed  a  season 
of  repose.  The  blockaders,  as  we  have  observed,  reappeared  in  the  Chesa 
peake  in  the  spring  of  1814,  and  all  the  summer  and  early  autumn  infested  its  wa 
ters,  during  which  time  occurred  the  destructive  invasion  recorded  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  when  every  thing  that  could  be  done  by  vigilant  men  for  the  safety  of  Bal 
timore  was  accomplished.  A  Committee  of  Vigilance  and  Safety,  of  which  Mayor 
Johnson  was  Chairman,  and  Theodore  Bland  was  secretary,  co-operated  unceasingly 
with  General  Smith  and  the  military.  On  the  27th  of  August,  three  days  after  the 
capture  of  Washington,  that  committee  called  upon  the  citizens  to  organize  into 
working  parties,  and  to  contribute  implements  of  labor  for  the  purpose  of  increasing 
the  strength  of  the  city  defenses.  The  city  was  divided  into  four  sections,  and  the 
people  of  each  labored  alternately  on  the  fortifications.  The  exempts  from  military 
service  and  free  colored  men  were  required  to  assemble  for  labor,  with  provisions  for 
a  day,  at  Hempstead  Hill  (equally  well  known  as  Loudenslager's  Hill),  on  Sunday, 
the  28th  of  September  ;  at  Myer  Garden  on  Monday ;  at  Washington  Square  on  Tues 
day  ;  and  at  the  intersection  of  Eutaw  and  Market  Streets  on  Wednesday.  Each 
portion,  comprising  a  section,  was  under  the  command  of  appointed  superintendents. 
The  response  of  the  citizens  in  men  and  money  was  quick,  cordial,  and  ample ;  and 
volunteers  to  work  on  the  fortifications  came  from  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Vir 
ginia.  By  the  10th  of  September  General  Winder  was  in  Baltimore,  with  all  the  forces 
of  the  Tenth  Military  District  at  his  command. 

The  principal  fortifications  constructed  by  the  people  consisted  of  a  long  line  on 
Hempstead,  or  Loudenslager's  Hill,  now  the  site  of  Patterson  Park.  At  proper  dis 
tances  several  semicircular  batteries  were  constructed,  well  mounted  with  cannon  and 

quell  the  violence  of  the  mob,  the  aged  general,  then  eighty-four  years  old,  appeared  in  the  streets  with  the  United 
States  flag,  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  peaceful  citizens,  and  very  soon  restored  order  arid  tranquillity.  In  the  au 
tumn  of  that  year  he  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death  on  the  22d  of  April,  1839,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-seven  years.  General  Smith  was  elected  a  representative  in  Congress  in  1793,  and  served  until  1803.  He 
was  again  elected  in  1S1G,  and  served  six  years  longer.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  for  a  period 
of  twenty-three  years.  The  portrait  on  the  preceding  page  is  from  a  painting  in  possession  of  his  son,  General  John 
Spear  Smith,  who  was  his  volunteer  aid-de-camp  during  the  defense  of  Baltimore  in  1814.  It  was  painted  by  Gilbert 
Stuart  when  the  general  was  about  forty-five  years  of  age.  He  is  in  the  uniform  of  a  major  general  of  that  day  (1T97), 
and  shows  the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati  suspended  from  a  button-hole. 

1  These  were  James  Mosher,  Luke  Tiernau,  Henry  Payson,  Dr.  J.  C.  White,  James  A.  Buchannan,  Samuel  Sterett,  and 
Thorndike  Chase. 

2  This  corps  was  celebrated  for  its  gallantry.    Dr.  Martin  (see  note  1,  page  925)  says,  in  his  MS.  Reminiscences  before 
me,  that  when  he  was  atBladensburg,  the  British  officers,  who  were  expecting  re-enforcements  for  Winder  from  Balti 
more,  "were  particularly  anxious  about  the  marine  artillery— the  material  of  which  it  was  composed,  the  weight  of 
metal,  number  of  men,  etc.    I  exaggerated  the  condition  of  its  ability  to  do  effective  service,"  he  said,  "and  I  confident 
ly  believe  that,  had  they  been  part  of  our  force  at  Bladensburg,  we  would  have  succeeded  in  driving  back  the  enemy,  if 
not  in  capturing  the  whole  force,  for  I  never  saw  men  so  completely  exhausted  as  were  the  foe." 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


949 


Fortifications  at  Baltimore. 


Troops  for  Defense,  and  their  Disposition. 


ably  manned,  some  of  them  by  volunteer  artillery  companies  of  Baltimore,  but  chiefly 
by  men-of-war's  men,  about  twelve  hundred  in  number,  under  the  general  command 
of  Commodore  Rodgers.  The  spaces  between  these  batteries  were  filled  with  mili 
tia.  One  of  the  larger  of  these  bastions,  known  as  Rodgers's  Bastion,  may  now  (1867) 


BOIMUEM's  BASTION.  J 

be  seen,  well  preserved,  on  the  harbor  side  of  Patterson  Park,  and  overlooking  Fort 
M'Henry  and  the  region  about  it.  Four  of  the  smaller  batteries  on  this  line  were  in 
charge  of  officers  of  the  Guerriere  and  Erie,  the  former  then  lying  in  Baltimore  Har 
bor.2 

A  brigade  of  Virginia  Volunteers  and  of  regular  troops,  including  a  corps  of  cav 
alry  under  Captain  Bird,  were  placed  under  the  command  of  General  Winder ;  the 
City  Brigade  of  Baltimore  was  commanded  by  General  Strieker ;  and  the  general 
management  of  the  entire  military  force  destined  for  the  defense  of  the  city  was  in 
trusted  to  General  Smith.  Fort  M'Henry  was  garrisoned  by  about  one  thousand 
men,  volunteers  and  regulars,  commanded  by  Major  George  Armistead.  To  the  right 
of  it,  guarding  the  shores  of  the  Patapsco,  on  the  Ferry  Branch,  from  the  landing  of 
troops  who  might  endeavor  to  assail  the  city  in  the  rear,  were  two  redoubts,  named 
respectively  Fort  Covington,  and  City,  or  Babcock  Battery.  The  former  was  manned 
by  a  detachment  of  seamen  under  Lieutenant  Newcomb,  and  the  latter — a  6-gun  bat 
tery — by  another  detachment  from  Barney's  flotilla  under  Sailing-master  John  A. 
Webster.  In  the  rear  of  these,  upon  high  ground,  at  the  end  of  Light  Street,  near  the 
present  Fort  Avenue,  was  an  unfinished  circular  redoubt  for  seven  guns,  in  charge  of 
Lieutenant  George  Budd.  On  Lazaretto  Point,  across  the  entrance  channel  to  Bal 
timore  Harbor,  opposite  Fort  M'Henry,  was  also  a  small  battery,  in  charge  of  Lieu 
tenant  Rutter,  of  the  flotilla.  To  these  several  batteries,  and  to  Fort  M'Henry,  the 
citizens  of  Baltimore  looked  most  confidently  for  defense.3 

Such  were  the  most  important  preparations  for  the  reception  of  the  enemy,  when, 
on  Sunday  evening,  the  llth  of  September,  they  were  seen  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pa- 

1  This  view  is  from  one  side  of  the  bastion,  looking  toward  the  harbor.    On  the  point  on  the  right  is  seen  Fort 
M'Henry.    The  point  opposite  is  Lazaretto  Point. 

2  These  were  Lieutenant  Gamble,  the  first  of  the  Guerriere,  Midshipman  Field,  Sailing-master  Ramage,  and  Midship 
man  Salter,  of  the  same  vessel,  and  Sailing-master  De  la  Roche,  of  the  Erie. 

3  Letter  of  Commodore  Rodgers.  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  September  28,1814;  Letter  of  Sailing-master  (now  Cap 
tain)  John  A.  Webster  to  Brantz  Mayer,  Esq.,  July  22, 1853. 


950 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  British  land  at  North  Point.      Preparations  for  advancing  on  Baltimore.      General  Strieker  sent  to  oppose  them. 

tapsco,  in  strong  force,  preparing  to  land  at  North  Point,  twelve  miles  from  Balti 
more  by  water,  and  fifteen  miles  by  land.  Off  that  point  the  fleet  anchored  that 
evening.  The  night  was  a  delightful  one.  The  air  was  balmy,  and  the  full  moon 
shone  brightly  in  a  cloudless  sky.  The  earth  was  refreshed  by  the  falling  of  a  heavy 
dew.  The  fleet  lay  two  miles  from  the  shore.  Brief  repose  was  given  to  its  people, 
»  September  12,  for,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,a  the  boats  of  every  ship  were  low 
ered,  and  then  the  land  troops  and  seamen  went  to  the  shore,  under  cover 
of  several  gun-brigs  anchored  within  a  cable's'length  of  the  beach.  The  boats  went 
in  divisions,  and  the  leading  one  of  each  was  armed  with  a  carronade  ready  for  action. 

At  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  General  Ross  and  Admiral  Cockburn  were 
on  shore,  with  a  force  nine  thousand  strong,  composed  of  five  thousand  land  troops, 
two  thousand  marines,  and  two  thousand  seamen,  led  by  Captain  E.  Crofton.  They 
were  furnished  with  cooked  provisions  sufficient  for  three  days.  Each  combatant 
bore  eighty  rounds  of  ammunition,  and  carried  as  "little  baggage  as  possible,  for  they 
were  to  march  rapidly  and  take  Baltimore  by  surprise,  where  Ross  had  boasted  that 
he  should  eat  his  Sunday  dinner.  At  the  same  time,  a  frigate  was  sent  to  try  the 
depth  and  take  the  soundings  of  the  channel  leading  to  Baltimore,  as  the  navy,  under 
the  immediate  command  of  Captain  Nourse,  of  Cockburn's  flag-ship  Severn,  was  to 
co-operate  with  the  army.  Intelligence  of  these  movements  produced  great  alarm  in 
Baltimore.  A  large  number  of  families,  with  portable  articles  of  value,  were  sent  into 
the  interior  of  the  country,  and  every  inn,  for  almost  a  hundred  miles  northward  of 
the  city,  was  crowded  with  the  refugees. 

When  it  was  known  that  the  British  fleet  was  anchor 
ed  off  North  Point,  General  Smith,  wTho  had  about  nine 
thousand  troops  under  his  command,  sent  General  Striek 
er1  with  three  thousand  two  hundred  in  that  direction 
to  watch  the  movements  of  the  enemy  and  act  as  circum 
stances  might  warrant.  He  left  the  city  toward  even 
ing,  and  just  before  sunset  reached  a  meeting-house  (yet 

stand- 


METIIODIST   MEETING-HOUSE. 


ing)  almost  seven  miles  from  the 
town,  near  the  junction  of  the  roads 
leading  respectively  to  North  Point 
and  Bear  Creek.  Meanwhile  Major 
Randall,  of  the  Maryland  militia,  had 
been  sent  with  a  light  corps  from 
General  Stansbury's  brigade,  and 
the  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  to  the 
mouth  of  Bear  Creek,  to  co-operate 
with  Strieker,  and  to  check  the  de 
barkation  of  the  enemy,  should  it  be 
attempted  at  that  point. 

Strieker's  little  army  rested  until 
morning  at  the  meeting-house,  not 
far  from  what  was  then  called  Long 
Log  Lane  (now  the  road  to  North 
Point),  with  the  exception  of  a  de 
tachment  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
horsemen  under  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Biays,  who  were  ordered  forward, 
three  miles,  to  Gorsuch's  farm,  and 


i  The  above  portrait  of  General  Strieker  is  from  a  painting  in  the  possession  of  the  Maryland  Historical  Society.    Gen 
eral  Strieker  died  in  Baltimore  on  the  23d  of  June,  1825. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  951 

Position  of  the  American  Troops.  Disposition  of  the  British  Troops.  Preliminary  Skirmish. 

one  hundred  and  fifty  riflemen  under  Captain  Dyer,  who  were  directed  to  take  posi 
tion  at  a  blacksmith's  shop  one  mile  in  the  rear  of  the  cavalry.  So  they  remained 
until  the  morning  of  the  12th,  when  information  was  received  from  the  vedettes  that 
the  enemy  had  landed  at  North  Point,  when  Strieker  immediately  sent  back  his  bag 
gage  under  a  strong  guard,  and  disposed  his  troops  for  battle  in  three  lines,  stretch 
ing  from  a  branch  of  Bear  Creek  on  his  right,  to  a  swamp  on  the  margin  of  a  branch 
of  Back  River  on  his  left.  The  several  corps  were  posted  as  follows :  the  Fifth  Bal 
timore  Regiment,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sterett,  five  hundred  and  fifty  strong,  were 
placed  on  the  right,  extending  from  Long  Log  Lane  to  a  branch  of  Bear  Creek ;  the 
Twenty-seventh  Maryland  Regiment,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Long,  numbering  the  same, 
were  on  the  left  of  the  Fifth,  extending  from  the  Lane  to  the  swamp  ;  and  the  Union 
Artillerymen  of  Baltimore,  seventy-five  in  number,  with  six  4-pounders,  under  Cap 
tain  Montgomery,  then  Attorney  General  of  the  State,  were  in  the  Lane.  The  Thirty- 
ninth  Regiment,  four  hundred  and"  fifty  men,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Fowler,  were 
posted  three  hundred  yards  in  the  rear  of  the  Twenty-seventh  and  parallel  with  it ; 
and  on  the  right  of  the  Thirty-ninth,  at  the  same  distance  in  the  rear  of  the  P^ifth, 
were  the  Fifty-first  Regiment,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Amey.  These  formed  the 
second  line.  About  half  a  mile  in  the  rear  of  this  line,  near  the  site  of  the  present 
(1867)  Battle-ground  House,  was  a  reserve  corps,  consisting  of  the  Sixth  Regiment 
(six  hundred  and  twenty  men),  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  M'Donald.  Thus  judicious 
ly  posted,  Strieker  awaited  the  approach  of  Ross. 

The  British  general  disposed  his  troops  as  at  Bladensburg.  A  corps  composed  of 
the  light  companies  of  the  Fourth,  Twenty-first,  and  Forty-fourth  Regiments,  the  en 
tire  Eighty-fifth,  a  battalion  of"  disciplined  negroes,"  and  a  company  of  marines,  num 
bering  in  the  aggregate  about  eleven  hundred  men,  under  Major  Jones,  were  sent  in 
advance.  These  were  followed  by  six  field-pieces  and  two  howitzers  drawn  by  horses ; 
and  the  whole  formed  the  first  brigade.  The  second  brigade,  under  Colonel  Brooke, 
was  composed  of  the  Fourth  and  Forty-fourth  Regiments,  about  fourteen  hundred 
strong,  and  was  followed  by  more  than  a  thousand  sailors  led  by  Captain  Crofton. 
The  rear,  or  third  brigade,  consisted  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment,  and  a  battalion  of 
marines,  numbering  in  all  about  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty  men,  under  Colonel  Pat 
terson.  At  the  same  time,  the  fleet  moved  toward  Baltimore  to  attack  Fort  M'Henry. 

Feeling  confident  of  success,  Ross  and  Cockburn  rode  gayly  forward  at  the  head 
of  the  troops  for  about  an  hour,  when  they  halted  at  Gorsuch's  farm,  and  spent  an 
other  hour  in  resting  and  careless  carousing.  The  American  riflemen  in  the  advance 
had  fallen  back  in  the  mean  time,  with  the  impression  that  the  British  were  landing 
on  Back  River  or  Bear  Creek  to  cut  them  off,  and  they  were  placed  on  the  right  of 
Strieker's  front  line.  When  the  general  was  informed  of  the  exact  position  of  the 
invaders,  he  sent  forward  to  attack  them  the  companies  of  Captains  Levering  and 
Howard  from  Sterett's  Fifth,  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  number,  under  Major  Richard 
K  Heath,  and  Asquith's  and  a  few  other  riflemen,  numbering  about  seventy,  with  a 
small  piece  of  artillery  and  some  cavalry  under  Lieutenant  Stiles.  They  met  the 
British  advancing,  and  a  skirmish  ensued  near  the  house  occupied,  when  the  writer 
visited  the  spot  in  1861,  by  Samuel  C.  Cole  as  a  store  and  dwelling,  seven  and  a  half 
miles  from  Baltimore,'and  about  seven  from  the  landing-place  of  the  British.  Ross 
was  mortally  wounded  by  one  of  two  young  men,  natives  of  Maryland,  belonging  to 
Asquith's  rifle  corps,  and  who  had  both  fought  in  the  battle  at  Bladensburg.  Their 
names  were  Daniel  Wells  and  Henry  C.  M'Comas.  They  w^re  concealed  in  a  hollow, 
and  fired  the  fatal  shot  when  Ross  appeared  upon  a  little  knoll  near  them.  That 
commander  died  in  the  arms  of  his  favorite  aid,  the  now  (1867)  venerable  Sir  Duncan 
M'Dougall,  of  London,1  before  his  bearers  reached  the  boats  at  North  Point.  "  He 

i  Sir  Duncan  M'Dougall,  K.C.F.,  son  of  Patrick  M'Dougall,  Esq.,  of  Argyleshire,  Scotland,  was  born  in  1789.  He  en 
tered  the  army  in  1804,  and  served  in  several  regiments,  and  on  the  staff  in  Portugal,  Spain,  France,  America,  Cape  of 


952 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Death  of  General  Ross. 


Advance  of  the  British. 


A  spirited  Battle. 


lived  only  long  enough,"  says  Gleig,"  to 
name  his  wife,  and  to  commend  his  fam 
ily  to  the  protection  of  his  country."  In 
this  skirmish  Heath's  horse  was  shot 
under  him,  and  several  Americans  were 
killed  or  wounded.  Among  the  slain 
were  the  two  young  men  whose  bullets 
brought  Ross  to  the  earth.1  The  ad 
vancing  British  far  outnumbered 
Heath's  detachment,  and  he  ordered 
them  to  fall  back.  Finding  the  com 
panies  of  Levering  and  Howard  too  fa 
tigued  to  engage  efficiently  in  the  im 
pending  battle,  Strieker  ordered  them 
to  the  rear  to  attach  themselves  to  the 
reserve. 

On  the  fall  of  Ross  the  command  of 
the  British  troops  devolved  on  Colonel 
A.  Brooke,  of  the  Forty-fourth  Regi 
ment,  and  under  his  direction  the  entire 
invading  force  pressed 
vigorously  forward.  At 
about  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  they  came 
within  cannon  -  shot  of 
the  American  line,  and 
were  immediately  formed  in  battle  order.  Their  first  brigade,  supported  by  the  For 
ty-fourth  Regiment,  the  seamen  and  marines,  menaced  the  entire  front  of  the  Amer 
icans,  and  commenced  the  action  by  opening  a  brisk  discharge  of  cannon  and  rockets 
upon  them.  The  British  Twenty-first  remained  in  column  as  a  reserve;  and  the 
Fourth  made  a  circuitous  march  to  turn  the  left  flank  of  the  Americans,  against  which 
also  artillerists  and  rocketeers  directed  their  missiles,  and  were  replied  to  by  Captain 
Montgomery's  cannon.  General  Strieker  instantly  comprehended  the  meaning  of  the 
flank  movement  and  artillery  attack,  and  brought  up  the  Thirty-ninth  Regiment, 
with  two  field-pieces,  to  its  support  in  a  line  with  the  Twenty-seventh,  which  was 
behaving  most  gallantly.  He  also  ordered  the  Fifty-first,  under  Colonel  Amey,  to 
form  in  line  at  right  angles  with  the  first  line,  with  its  right  resting  on  the  left  of 
the  Thirty-ninth.  This  movement  was  productive  of  some  confusion,  but  Strieker's 
staff  soon  brought  out  order.  The  battle  was  continued  with  great  spirit  on  both 
sides,  in  the  mean  time,  with  Victory  coquetting  first  with  one  and  then  with  the 
other,  and  the  armies  swaying  backward  and  forward  with  mutual  pressure. 

When  the  contest  had  been  carried  on  for  about  two  hours  the  enemy's  right  col 
umn  fell  upon  and  endeavored  to  turn  the  American  left.  The  Fifty-first  were  sud 
denly  struck  with  dismay,  and,  after  firing  a  volley  at  random,  broke,  and  fled  in 
wild  disorder,  producing  a  like  effect  in  the  second  battalion  of  the  Thirty-ninth. 

Good  Hope,  and  West  Indies.  He  has  the  distinction  .of  having  received  into  his  arms  two  eminent  British  generals 
when  they  fell  in  battle,  namely,  General  Ross,  killed  near  Baltimore,  and  General  Pakenham,  slain  near  New  Orleans. 
.He  commanded  the  Seventy-ninth  ftighlanders  for  several  years.  His  son  and  heir,  Colonel  Patrick  Leonard  M'Dou- 
gall,  is  commandant  of  the  Royal  Stall  College.  The  family  is  descended,  in  a  direct  line,  from  Somerled,  the  Prince  of 
the  western  coast  of  Argyleshire,  and  famous  "Lord  of  the  Isles."  The  above  portrait  of  the  gallant  soldier  is  from  a 
carte  de  visite  likeness,  sent  to  me  at  my  request  by  Sir  Duncan  in  the  summer  of  1861. 

1  The  remains  of  these  young  men  were  veinterred  in  a  vault  in  Ashland  Square  on  the  12th  of  September,  1858,  with 
civic  and  military  honors.  The  mayor  of  the  city,  Thomas  Swann,  made  some  remarks,  and  was  followed  by  Hon.  John 
C.  Le  Grand,  who  pronounced  an  oration.  A  dirge  was  executed  by  the  East  Baltimore  band,  and  before  the  remains 
were  laid  in  the  vault,  over  which  a  monument  is  to  be  erected,  the  Law  Greys  fired  a  volley  over  them. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


953 


Picture  of  the  Battle  of  North  Point. 


All  eiForts  to  rally  the  fugitives  were  vain.     But  the  remainder  of  the  Thirty-ninth 


954 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Retreat  of  the  Americans. 


The  British  Fleet  approaches  Baltimore. 


Preparations  to  attack  Fort  M 'Henry. 


and  the  gallant  Twenty-seventh  (whose  tattered  bat 
tle-flag,  now  in  the  possession  of  its  bearer  in  the  fight, 
Captain  Lester,  of  Baltimore,  attests  the  severity  of 
their  conflict)  bravely  maintained  their  position.  Fi 
nally,  at  about  four  o'clock,  when  the  superior  force  of 
the  enemy  could  no  longer  be  kept  in  check,  General 
Strieker  ordered  a  retreat  upon  his  reserved  corps. 
This  movement  was  performed  in  good  order.  Some 
of  the  wounded  and  two  field-pieces  were  abandoned. 
Strieker  reformed  his  brigade,  and  then  fell  back  to 
ward  the  city  as  far  as  Worthington's  Mill,  about  half 
a  mile  in  advance  of  the  intrenchments  cast  up  by  the 
citizens.  There  he  was  joined  by  General  Winder,  with 
General  Douglass's  Virginia  Brigade  and  Captain 

Bird's  United  States  Dragoons,  who  took  post  on  his   ^^^-^^^^^^^  J^~^9 — ^ 
left.     The  British  bivouacked  on  the  battle-field  that 
night,  after  calling  in  some  pursuers  and  collecting  the  stragglers. 

While  these  movements  were  in  operation  on  the  land,  the  British  fleet  was  pre 
paring  to  perform  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  drama.  Frigates,  schooners,  sloops,  and 
bomb-ketches  had  entered  the  Patapsco  early  in  the  morning  of  the  12th,  while  Ross 
was  moving  from  North  Point,  and  anchored  off  Fort  M'Henry  (then  about  one  half 
its  present  dimensions),  beyond  the  reach  of  its  guns,  near  the  present  Fort  Carroll. 


BATTLE-FLAG   OF   THE   TWENTY-SEVENTH 
KEGIMENT.1 


FOKT  M'HENRY  IN  1801. 


During  the  day  and  evening  the  bomb  and  rocket  vessels  were  so  posted  as  to  act 
upon 'the  fortifications  on  the  hill,  commanded  by  Rodgers,  as  well  as  on  Fort 
M'Henry,  while  the  frigates  were  stationed  farther  outward,  the  water  being  so  shal 
low  that  they  could  not  approach  nearer  the  city  than  four  or  five  miles,  nor  the  fort 
within  two  and  a  half  miles.  The  Americans  had  already  sunk  some  vessels,  as  we 
have  observed,  in  the  narrow  channel  at  Fort  M'Henry,  which  prevented  any  passage 
by  the  ships  of  the  enemy.2  During  the  night  of  the  12th  the  fleet  made  full  prepa 
rations  for  an  attack  on  the  fort  and  hill  intrenchments  on  the  morning  of  the  1 3th, 
when  Brooke  was  to  move  on  Baltimore  with  the  British  land  force  from  the  battle 
field  of  the  day  before.  The  fleet  prepared  for  action  consisted  of  sixteen  heavy  ves 
sels,  five  of  them  bomb-ships. 
Fort  M'Henry  was  commanded  by  a  brave  soldier,  and  defended  by  gallant  com- 

1  This  little  picture  represents  the  tattered  battle-flag  of  the  Jefferson  Blues,  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  of  the  Mary 
land  Militia,  who  fought  gallantly  on  the  12th  of  September,  1814.    It  was  in  the  possession  of  Captain  John  Lester,  of 
Baltimore,  when  I  made  a  sketch  of  it  in  1862.    He  has  presented  it  to  the  Maryland  Historical  Society.    It  is  blue  silk, 
with  the  designs  in  gold.    Its  width  is  four  feet  six  inches.    It  is  quite  tattered.    The  black  spots  represent  the  forms 
of  cannon-ball  holes  made  during  the  battle.    On  scrolls  are  the  words  Jefferson  Blues  and  Nvn  sibi  aedpatria. 

2  General  Smith,  on  the  recommendation  of  Commodore  Rodgers,  caused  twenty-four  vessels  then  lying  in  the  harbor 
to  be  sunk  in  the  narrow  channel  between  Fort  M'Henry  and  Lazaretto  Point.    These  were  afterward  raised  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  United  States.    The  aggregate  amount  of  money  paid  to  the  owners  afterward  was  about  $100,000. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


955 


The  Defenders  of  Fort  M 'Henry. 


Bombardment  of  the  Fort. 


Its  effective  Reply. 


panions.  The  latter  were  composed  of  one  company  of  United  States  Artillery,  un 
der  Captain  Evans  ;  two  companies  of  Sea-fencibles,  under  Captains  Bunbury  and  Ad- 
dison  ;  two  companies  of  volunteers  from  the  city,  named  respectively  the  "  Washing 
ton  Artillery"  and  the  "  Baltimore  Independent  Artillerists,"  the  former  commanded 
by  Captain  John  Berry,  and  the  latter  by  Lieutenant  Commanding  Charles  Penning- 
ton  ;  the  "  Baltimore  Fencibles,"  a  fine  company  of  volunteer  artillerists  led  by  Judge 
Joseph  H.  Nichol-  ^ 

son;  a  detachment          (j  ,? 

of  Barney's  flotil-     //^^  ^ 
la-men,  command-   // 
ed  by  Lieutenant 
Redman  ;  and  de 
tachments  of  regulars,  in  all  six  hundred  men,  furnished  by  General  Winder  from  the 
/    s-\  Twelfth,  Fourteenth,  Thirty -sixth,  and  Thirty -eighth  Regi- 

<— 4S  ^"ly-  p.  *  ments,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Stewart  and 
V^  c^^VvJC/  Major  Lane.  The  regular  artillerists  under  Captain  Evans, 
and  the  volunteers  under  Captain  Nicholson,  manned  the  bastions  in  the  Star  Fort. 
The  commands  of  Bunbury,  Addison,  Redman,  Berry,  and  Pennington  were  stationed 
in  the  lower  works ;  and  the  infantry,  under  Stewart  and  Lane,  were  placed  in  the 
outer  ditch,  to  meet  the  enemy  at  his  landing,  if  he  should  attempt  it. 

The  bomb-vessels  opened  a  heavy 
fire  upon  the  American  works  at  sun 
rise  on  Tuesday  morning,  the  13th,  at 
about  seven  o'clock,  at  a  distance  of 
two  miles,  and  kept  up  a  well-directed 
bombardment  until  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.     Armistead  immediately 
opened  the  batteries  of  Fort  M'Henry 
upon  them,  and  kept  up  a  brisk  fire 
for  some  time  from  his  guns  and  mor 
tars,  when,  to   his   great   chagrin,  he 
found  that  his  missiles  fell  short,  and 
were  harmless.     The  garrison  was  ex 
posed  to  a  tremendous  shower  of  shells 
for  several  hours  without  power  to  in 
flict  injury  in  turn,  or  even  to  check 
the  fury  of  the  assault ;  yet  they  kept 
at  their  posts,  and  endured  the  trial 
with  cool  courage  and  great  fortitude. 
At   length   a  bomb-shell   dis 
mounted  one  of  the  24-pound- 
ers  in  the  southwest  bastion, 
under  the  immediate  command 
of  Captain  Nicholson,  killing 
his    second   lieutenant    (Clag- 
gett),  and  wounding  several  of 
his  men.     The  confusion  in  the 

fort  produced  by  this  accident  was  observed  by  Cochrane,  who  commanded  the  fleet, 
and,  hoping  to  profit  by  it,  he  ordered  three  of  his  bomb-vessels  to  move  up  nearer 
the  fort  in  order  to  increase  the  effectiveness  of  their  guns.  This  movement  delight 
ed  Armistead.  His  turn  for  inflicting  injury  had  come,  and  he  quickly  took  advan 
tage  of  it.  He  ordered  a  general  cannonade  and  bombardment  from  every  part  of 
the  fort ;  and  so  severe  was  his  punishment  of  the  venturesome  intruders,  that  within 


956  .PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Attempt  to  seize  Fort  Coviugton.  The  Invaders  driven  off.  End  of  the  Bombardment. 

half  an  hour  they  fell  back  to  their  old  anchorage.  The  rocket-vessel  Erebus  was  so 
much  injured  that  they  were  compelled  to  send  a  division  of  small  boats  to  tow  her 
beyond  the  range  of  Armistead's  guns  to  save  her  from  destruction.  The  garrison 
gave  three  cheers,  and  the  firing  ceased. 

After  resuming  their  former  stations  the  vessels  kept  up  a  more  furious  bombard 
ment  than  before,  with  slight  intermissions,  until  past  midnight,  when  it  was  discov 
ered  that  the  enemy  had  thrown  a  considerable  force  up  the  Patapsco  to  the  right  of 
the  fort,  and  between  it  and  the  city,  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  for  the  purpose  of 
capturing  Fort  Covington,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Newcomb,  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  and  the  City  Battery,  in  charge  of  the  gallant  sailing-master  of  Barney's  flotil 
la,  and  assaulting  Fort  M'Henry  in  the  rear.  For  this  service  twelve  hundred  and 
fifty  picked  men  were  sent  in  barges,  with  scaling-ladders  and  other  implements  for 
storming  the  fort.  For  the  purpose  of  examining  the  shores,  when  near  Covington 
they  threw  up  some  small  rockets.  These  gave  the  alarm,  and  Fort  M'Henry,  as  well 
as  the  two  redoubts  on  the  Patapsco,  opened  a  heavy  fire  upon  the  invaders.  It  was 
kept  up  for  nearly  two  hours,  when  the  enemy  were  driven  away.  The  concussion 
was  tremendous.  The  houses  in  the  city  were  shaken  to  their  very  foundations. 
Hodgers's  men  in  Fort  Covington  worked  their  guns  with  great  effect,  but  to  the 
continuous  and  skillful  cannonade  kept  up  by  Webster  with  his  six-gun  battery, 
nearer  the  shore,  Major  Armistead  said  he  was  "  persuaded  the  country  was  much  in 
debted  for  the  final  repulse  of  the  enemy."  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  I  think,  that 
Captain  Webster's  gallant  conduct  on  that  occasion,  which  frustrated  the  plans  of 
the  British  boat  expedition,  saved  Fort  M'Henry  and  Baltimore.  Two  of  the  enemy's 
vessels  were  sunk,  and  a  large  number  of  his  men  were  slain.  Sailing-master  (after 
ward  Captain)  Webster  yet  (1867)  lives,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  to  enjoy  the  re 
spect  -and  gratitude  of  his  countrymen.  He  was  in  active  service  until  the  year 
1852. 

The  bombardment  from  the  vessels  was  continued  until  seven  o'clock  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  14th,  when  it  ceased  entirely.1  The  night  had  been  passed  in  the  greatest 
anxiety  by  the  inhabitants  of  Baltimore,  for  in  the  maintenance  of  Fort  M'Henry  was 

their  chief  hope  for  the  safety  of  the  city.     An  incident 
^hich  occurred  at  that  time  gave  birth  to  one  of  the  most 
popular  of  our  national  songs,  the  Star-spangled  Banner? 
J        in  which  that  anxiety  is  graphically  expressed.     It  was 
"^^^^  written  by  Francis  S.  Key,  who  was  a  resident  of  George 

town,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  then  a  volunteer  in  the  light  artillery  com 
manded  by  Major  Peter.3 

»  The  bombardment  of  Fort  M'Henry  lasted  twenty-five  hours,  with  two  slight  intermissions,  and  it  was  estimated 
by  Armistead  that  during  that  time  from  1500  to  1800  shells  were  thrown  by  the  enemy.  A  few  of  them  fell  short,  but 
a  greater  number  burst  over  the  fort,  throwing  their  fragments  among  the  garrison.  About  400  shells  fell  within  the 
works,  some  of  them,  afterward  dug  up,  weighing  210  and  220  pounds.  "  Wonderful  as  it  may  appear,"  said  the  com 
mander  in  his  report,  "  our  loss  amounts  only  to  four  men  killed  and  twenty-four  wounded.  The  latter  will  all  recov 
er."  The  wife  of  a  soldier,  while  conversing  with  her  husband  before  the  tents  outside  of  the  fort,  was  cut  in  two  by  a 
cannon-ball.  A  shell  fell  into  the  magazine,  but  did  not  explode. 

2  The  fac-simile  of  the  original  manuscript  of  the  first  stanza  of  the  "Star-spangled  Banner,"  given  on  the  opposite 
page,  was  first  published,  by  permission  of  its  owner  (Mrs.  Howard),  daughter  of  the  author,  in  "Autograph  Leaves  of 
our  Country's  Authors,"  a  volume  edited  by  John  P.  Kennedy  and  Alexander  Bliss  for  the  Baltimore  Sanitary  Fair,  1SG4. 

3  On  the  return  of  the  British  to  their  vessels  after  the  capture  of  Washington  City,  they  carried  with  them  Dr. 
Beanes,  an  influential  citizen  and  well-known  physician  of  Upper  Marlborough.    His  friends  begged  for  his  release, 
but  Cockburn  refused  to  give  him  up,  and  sent  him  on  board  the  flag-ship  of  Admiral  Cochrane.    Mr.  Key,  well  known 
for  his  affability  of  manner,  was  solicited  to  go  to  Cochrane  as  a  pleader  for  the  release  of  the  doctor.    He  consented. 
The  President  granted  him  permission,  and,  in  company  with  the  late  General  J.  S.  Skinner,  he  went  in  the  cartel-ship 
Minden,  under  a  flag  of  truce.    They  found  the  British  fleet  at  the  month  of  the  Potomac,  preparing  to  attack  Baltimore. 
Cochrane  agreed  to  release  Beanes,  but  refused  to  let  him  or  his  friends  return  then.    They  were  placed  on  board  the 
Surprise,  where  they  were  courteously  treated.    The  fleet  sailed  up  to  the  Patapsco,  where  they  were  transferred  to  their 
own  vessel,  but  with  a  guard  of  marines  to  prevent  their  landing  and  communicating  information  to  their  countrymen. 
The  Minden  was  anchored  in  sight  of  Fort  M'Henry,  and  from  her  deck  the  three  friends  saw  the  bombardment  of  that 
fortress  which  soon  ensued.    It  ceased,  as  we  have  observed  in  the  text,  soon  after  midnight.    Having  no  communica 
tion  with  the  shore,  these  anxious  Americans  did  not  know  whether  the  fort  had  surrendered  or  not.    They  awaited 
the  dawn  with  the  greatest  solicitude.    In  the  dim  light  of  the  opening  morning  they  saw  through  their  glasses  that 


OF   THE   WAK   OF   1812. 


957 


The  Star-spangled  Banner. 


Simultaneously  with  the  movement  of  the  fleet  toward  Fort  M'Henry,  on  the  morn- 

"  our  flag  was  still  there  !"  To  their  great  joy,  they  soon  learned  that  the  attack  on  Baltimore  had  failed,  that  Rose  was 
killed,  and  that  the  British  were  re-embarking.  When  the  fleet  was  ready  to  sail,  Key  nnd  his  friends  were  released, 
and  returned  to  the  city. 

It  was  during  the  excitement  of  the  bombardment,  and  when  pacing  the  deck  of  the  Minden  with  intense  anxiety  be 
tween  midnight  and  dawn,  that  Key  composed  that  gong—"  The  Star-spangled  Banner"— which  immortalized  him,  and 
whose  first  stanza  expressed  the  feelings  of  thousands  of  eye-witnesses  of  the  scene : 


958  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  British  move  toward  Baltimore.  Arrangements  for  an  Assault  on  the  Defenses  of  the  City. 

ing  of  the  13th,  was  that  of  the  land  forces  of  the  British  from  their  smouldering 
camp-fires  on  the  battle-field,  until  they  arrived  at  the  brow  of  the  slope  on  which  lay 
Surrey  Farm  (now  the  valuable  estate  of  Mrs.  Jane  Dungan),then  the  fine  residence 
of  Colonel  Sterett,1  of  the  Fifth  Maryland  Regiment,  who  was  busily  engaged  in  cast 
ing  up  intrenchments  on  Loudenslager's  Hill,  about  two  miles  distant,  between  them 
and  Baltimore.  There  they  halted  to  reconnoitre,  and  Colonel  Brooke  made  his  head 
quarters  at  the  old  farm-house  of  Mr.  Ernest,  farther  in  the  rear.  They  were  in  sight 
of  the  American  intrenchments,  behind  which  were  the  brigades  of  Stansbury  and 
Foreman  ;  the  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  under  Colonels  Cobeau  and  Findlay ;  the 
marines,  under  Rodgers  ;  the  Baltimore  Artillery,  under  Colonel  Harris ;  and  the 
Marine  Artillery,  under  Captain  Stiles,  who  had  spent  the  night  under  arms,  expect 
ing  a  vigorous  pursuit  and  attack  by  the  British. 

The  enemy  manoeuvred  a  good  deal  in  the  morning  toward  the  left  of  the  American 
works,  and  at  one  time  seemed  disposed  to  move  upon  them  by  the  York  and  liar- 
ford  Roads ;  but  they  were  baffled  by  countervailing  movements  on  the  part  of  Gen 
erals  Winder  and  Strieker.  At  noon  they  concentrated  in  front,  and  moved  to  within 
a  mile  of  the  intrenchments,  when  they  made  arrangements  for  an  assault  that  even 
ing.  Perceiving  this,  General  Smith  ordered  Winder  and  Strieker  to  move  to  the 
right  of  the  enemy,  and,  in  the  event  of  their  making  an  attack,  to  fall  upon  their 
flank  and  reai\  Brooke  was  cautious  and  watchful,  and  clearly  saw  the  peril  of  his 
proposed  undertaking.  He  was  also  aware  that  the  bombardment  of  Fort  M'Henry 
from  morning  until  evening  had  produced  very  little  effect  upon  that  work,  and  that 
the  vessels  could  not  run  by  it  because  of  the  obstructions  in  the  channel.  Instead 
of  opening  a  battle,  he  sought  and  obtained  a  conference  with  Admiral  Cochrane  dur 
ing  the  evening.  The  result  of  the  interview  was  the  conclusion  that  the  effort  of 

0  o  • 

"O  say  !  can  you  see,  by  the  dawn's  early  light, 

What  so  proudly  we  hailed  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming, 
Whose  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars,  through  the  perilous  fight, 

O'er  the  ramparts  we  watched  were  so  gallantly  streaming  ? 
i  And  the  rockets'  red  glare,  the  bombs  bursting  in  air, 

Gave  proof  through  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there : 
O  say  !  does  that  star-spangled  banner  yet  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave?" 

The  rude  substance  of  the  song  was  written  on  the  back  of  a  letter  which  Key  happened  to  have  in  his  pocket,  and 
he  wrote  it  out  in  full  ou  the  night  after  his  arrival  in  Baltimore.  On  the  following  morning  he  read  it  to  his  uncle, 
Judge  Nicholson,  one  of  the  gallant  defenders  of  the  fort,  and  asked  his  opinion  of  it.  The  judge  was  so  pleased  with 
it  that  he  took  it  to  the  printing-office  of  Captain  Benjamin  Edes,  on  the  corner  of  Baltimore  and  Gay  Streets,  and  di 
rected  copies  of  it  to  be  struck  off  in  hand-bill  form.  Edes  was  then  on  duty  with  the  gallant  Twenty-seventh  Regi 
ment,  and  his  apprentice,  Samuel  Sands,  who,  I  believe,  is  yet  living  in  Baltimore,  set  up  the  song  in  type,  printed  it, 
and  distributed  it  among  the  citizens.*  It  was  first  sung  in  a  restaurant  in  Baltimore,  next  door  to  the  Holiday  Street 
Theatre,  by  Charles  Durang,  to  an  assemblage  of  the  patriotic  defenders  of  the  city,  and  after  that,  nightly  at  the  thea 
tre.  It  created  intense  enthusiasm,  and  was  every  where  sung  in  public  and  in  private. 

"The  Star-spangled  Banner"  itself,  the  old  garrison  flag  that  waved  over  Port  M'Henry  during  that  bombardment, 
is  still  in  existence.  I  saw  it  at  the  house  of  Christopher  Hughes  Armistead  (a  son  of  the  gallant  defender  of  the  fort) 
in  Baltimore  during  the  late  Civil  War.  It  had  eleven  holes  in  it,  made  there  by  the  shot  of  the  British  during  the 
bombardment. 

1  When  the  British  discovered  that  they  were  in  actual  possession,  for  a  day,  of  the  mansion  of  one  of  the  officers  of 
the  American  army  then  confronting  them,  they  made  its  contents  the  object  of  their  special  attention.    The  family 
had  fled  that  morning,  leaving  the  house  in  charge  of  only  the  colored  butler  and  cook.    Some  British  officers  took 
possession  of  it.    In  the  cellar  was  found  a  large  quantity  of  choice  wine.    It  was  freely  used,  and  what  was  not  con 
sumed  on  the  premises  was  carried  away  as  lawful  plunder.    Wax-candles,  bedding,  and  other  things  were  also  carried 
away,  and  all  the  bureau-drawers  were  broken  open  in  a  search  for  valuables.    Among  other  things  prized  by  the  fam 
ily  which  the  plunderers  seized  was  the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati  that  had  belonged  to  the  deceased  father  of  Mrs.  Ster 
ett.    Finally,  after  keeping  the  cookJbusy,  and  faring  sumptuously,  and  when  they  were  about  to  depart,  the  following 
good-natured  but  impudent  note  was  written  and  left  on  the  sideboard : 

"Captains  Brown,  Wilcox,  and  M'Namara,  of  the  Fifty-third  Regiment,  Royal  Marines,  have  received  every  thing 
they  could  desire  at  this  house,  notwithstanding  it  was  received  at  the  hands  of  the  butler,  and  in  the  absence  of  the 
colonel."  I  saw  the  original  of  this  note  in  I860,  in  the  possession  of  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Sterett,  the  wife  of  J.  M. 
Ilollius,  then  a  captain  in  the  United  States  Navy.  It  was  written  on  a  piece  of  paper  on  one  side  of  which  an  epitaph 
for  the  tomb-stone  of  Mrs.  Sterett's  father  had  been  prepared. 

*  The  words  of  the  song  were  inclosed  in  an  elliptical  border  composed  of  the  common  type  ornaments  of  that  day. 
Around  that  border,  and  a  little  distance  from  it,  on  a  line  of  the  same  form,  are  the  words  "  Bombardment  of  Fort 
M'Henry."  The  letters  of  these  words  are  wide  apart,  and  each  one  is  surrounded  by  a  circle  of  stars.  Around  the 
four  edges  of  the  hand-bill  is  a  heavy  border  of  common  type  ornaments.  Below  the  song,  within  the  ellipse,  are  the 
words  "  Written  by  Francis  S.  Key,  of  Georgetown,  D.  C." 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  959 

The  British  fall  back  and  return  to  their  Ships.         Effect  of  the  Repulse  of  the  Invaders.          The  British  Programme. 

the  combined  forces  to  capture  Baltimore  was  already  a  failure,  and  that  prudence 
demanded  an  immediate  relinquishment  of  the  enterprise.  Brooke  hastened  back  to 
camp.  The  rain,  which  commenced  dropping  twenty-four  hours  before,  was  yet  fall 
ing  copiously,  and  the  night  was  very  dark.  In  the  midst  of  the  gloom,  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  14th,  while  the  ships  kept  up  the  bombardment  to  di 
vert,  the  attention  of  thefAmericans,  the  British  stole  off  to  North  Point,  and  fled  in 
boats  to  the  fleet.  The  latter  also  withdrew  at  an  early  hour,  and  Baltimore  was 
saved. 

When,  at  dawn,  the  retreat  of  the  British  was  discovered,  General  Winder,  with 
the  Virginia  brigade,  Captain  Bird's  dragoons,  Major  Randall's  light  corps,  and  all 
the  cavalry,  were  immediately  detailed  in  pursuit.  But  the  troops  were  so  exhaust 
ed  by  continued  watching  and  working  after  the  battle  and  retreat,  having  been  un 
der  arms  during  three  days  and  three  nights,  a  portion  of  the  time  drenched  by  rain, 
that  it  was  found  impossible  to  accomplish  any  thing  of  moment  beyond  the  picking 
up  of  a  few  stragglers  of  the  enemy.  The  troops  were  taken  on  board  the  fleet  on 
the  evening  of  the  14th,  and  on  the  following  morning  the  entire  land  and  naval  ar 
mament  of  the  enemy  went  down  the  bay,  crestfallen  and  badly  punished.  In  the 
battle  of  the  12th  they  had  lost  their  general,  a  lieutenant,  and  thirty-seven  men 
killed,  and  eleven  officers  and  two  hundred  and  forty  men  wounded.  The  Americans 
lost  twenty-four  men  killed,  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  wounded,  fifty  prisoners, 
and  two  field-pieces.  In  the  attack  on  the  forts  by  the  shipping  the  British  lost  not 
a  man  killed  or  wounded,  while  the  Americans  lost  four  men  killed  and  twenty-four 
wounded,  as  we  have  before  observed,  chiefly  by  the  explosion  of  the  shell  that  dis 
mounted  Nicholson's  24-pounder. 

The  successful  defense  of  Baltimore  was  hailed  with  great  delight  throughout  the 
country,  and  trembling  Philadelphia  and  New  York  breathed  freer.  It  was  a  very 
humiliating  blow  to  the  British,  for  great  confidence  of  success  was  felt  throughout 
the  realm.  After  the  capture  of  Washington,  that  of  Baltimore  seemed  but  holiday 
sport ;  and  so  well  assured  of  Ross's  success  there  was  the  Governor  General  of  Can 
ada,  that  the  proposed  public  rejoicings  at  Montreal  because  of  the  capture  of  Wash 
ington  were  postponed,  so  that  they  might  celebrate  that  of  Baltimore  at  the  same 
time !  In  England  no  one  seemed  to  doubt  that  an  army  from  Canada  would  meet 
that  of  Ross  on  the  Susquehanna  or  the  Schuylkill  as  conquerors  of  the  country,  and 
that- Baltimore  would  be  their  base  for  future  operations.  "In  the  diplomatic  circles 
it  is  rumored,"  said  a  London  paper  as  early  as  the  17th  of  June,  "  that  our  naval  and 
military  commanders  on  the  American  station  have  no  power  to  conclude  any  armis 
tice-  or  suspension  of  arms.  They  carry  with  them  certain  terms,"  the  supercilious 
writer  continued,  "  which  will  be  offered  to  the  American  government  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  America  will  be  left  in  a  much  worse 
situation,  as  a  naval  and  commercial  power,  than  she  was  at  the  commencement  of 
the  war." 

This  programme,  so  delightsome  to  British  arrogance  and  British  commercial  greed, 
was  not  carried  out.  On  the  very  day  when  Ross  and  his  army  anchored  off  North 
Point,a  Sir  George  Prevost,  the  Governor  General  of  Canada,  and  his  .  September  n. 
army,  making  their  way  toward  the  Susquehanna,  were  so  smitten  at 
the  very  beginning  of  their  march — within  the  sound  of  cannon-booming  of  the  Can 
ada  line — that  they  fled  back  toward  the  St.LaAvrence  in  wild  disorder.1  Instead  of 
mourning  as  captives,  the  Americans  were  jubilant  as  victors. 

The  prowess  of  Colonel  Armistead  and  his  little  band  in  defending  Fort  M'Henry 
was  a  theme  for  praise  upon  every  lip.  The  grateful  citizens  of  Baltimore  presented 
him  with  a  costly  and  appropriate  testimonial  of  their  appreciation  of  his  services  in 
the  shape  of  an  elegant  silver  vase,  in  the  form  and  of  the  size  of  the  largest  bomb- 

i  See  page  875. 


960 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Honors  to  Colonel  Armistead. 


Tokens  of  public  Gratitude. 


The  Armistead  Family. 


shell  thrown  into  the  fort 
by  the  British ;  also  goblets 
and  salver  of  the  same  ma 
terial.1  These  are  in  the 
possession  of  his  son,  who, 
as*  we  have  observed,  lias 
the  old  "  Star-spangled  Ban 
ner,"  and  also  a  sword  voted 
to  him  by  the  State  of  Vir 
ginia.2  After  his  death  a 
tine  marble  monument  was 
erected  to  his  memory,  on 
which  the  following  words 
were  written  with  a  pen  of 
steel:  " Colonel GEOEGE AR 
MISTEAD,  in  honor  of  whom 
this  monument  is  erected, 


THE    AKMISTEAl)   TASK. 


was  the  gallant  defender  of  Fort  M'Henry 
during  the  bombardment  of  the  British  fleet, 
13th  September,  1814.  He  died,  universally 
esteemed  and  regretted,  on  the  25th  of  April, 
1818,  aged  thirty-nine  years."3 

The  grateful  citizens  \vere  not  contented 
with  bestowing  praises  upon  their  defenders, 
so  they  devised  a  memorial  as  perpetual  and 
enduring  as  marble  could  make  it.  In  the 

~ 

now  gi-eat  city  of  Baltimore,  containing  (1867) 
full  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  souls, 
may  be  seen  a  noble  monument  designed  by 
Maximilian  Godefroy,  and  wrought  in  white 
marble.  It  was  erected  in  1815,  at  a  cost  of 
sixty  thousand  dollars,  in  commemoration  of 
those  who,  on  the  13th  and  14th  of  Septem- 


ARMISTEAD'S  MONUMENT. 


i  The  vase  was  made  to  answer  the  purpose  of  a  punch-bowl.  The  ladle  is  in  the  form  of  a  shrapnel  shell.  The  body 
rests  upon  four  eagles  with  outspread  wings.  Upon  one  side  is  an  engraving,  surrounded  by  military  trophies,  repre 
senting  the  bombardment  of  Fort  M'Henry.  Upon  the  other  side  is  the  following  inscription :  "Presented  by  a  num 
ber  of  the  citizens  of  Baltimore  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  George  Armistead,  for  his  gallant  and  successful  defense  of  Fort 
M'Henry  during  the  bombardment  by  a  large  British  force  on  the  12th  and  13th  of  September,  1814,  when  upward  of 
1500  shells  were  thrown,  400  of  which  fell  within  the  area  of  the  fort,  and  some  of  them  of  the  diameter  of  this  vase." 
I  am  indebted  to  the  kind  courtesy  of  Mr.  C.  Hughes  Armistead  for  the  photograph  of  the  vase  and  surroundings  from 
which  the  above  picture  was  engraved. 

'  That  sword  was  presented  to  his  son,  C.  Hughes  Armistead,  and  bears  the  following  inscription :  "  The  State  of  Vir 
ginia  to  Colonel  George  Armistead,  U.  S.  A.  Honor  to  the  brave.  Presented  by  the  State  of  Virginia  to  the  son  of  Col 
onel  George  Armistead,  late  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  as  an  evidence  of  the  high  esteem  and  admiration  enter 
tained  by  his  native  state  of  the  courage  and  soldierlike  conduct  of  Colonel  Armistead  in  the  cannonade  of  Fort  George 
by  Niagara,  and  in  the  gallant  defense  of  Fort  M'Henry,  September  14, 1814." 

3  George  Armistead  was  born  at  New  Market,  Caroline  County,  Virginia,  on  the  10th  of  April,  1780,  and  was  related 
to  several  of  the  most  distinguished  families  in  that  state.  He  entered  the  army  as  second  lieutenant  in  1709.  He  was 

appointed  assistant  military  agent  at  Fort  Niagara  in  1S02,  and  as 
sistant  paymaster  in  1806.  He  rose  to  the  rank  of  major  of  the 
Third  Artillery  in  1813,  and  was  distinguished  at  the  capture  of  Fort 
George,  in  May,  1813,  where  his  brother,  William  Keith  Armistead, 
as  chief  engineer  on  the  Niagara,  was  conspicuous  in  the  bombard 
ment  of  Fort  Niagara  in  November,  1812.  For  his  gallantry  at  Fort  George,  the  subject  of  this  notice  was  breveted 
lieutenant  colonel.  He  had  five  brothers  in  the  army  during  the  War  of  1812,  three  in  the  regular  service  and  two  in 
the  militia.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Armistead  served  much  among  the  Indians  previous  to  his  marriage  with  a  sister  of 
the  eminent  Christopher  Hughes,  in  1810.  While  in  command  of  Fort  M'Henry,  after  the  war,  a  number  of  chiefs  visit 
ed  him,  and  partook  of  refreshments  out  of  the  silver  bomb-shell. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


961 


Battle  Monument  in  Baltimore. 


A  Visit  to  Baltimore. 


Services  of  a  valued  Friend. 


ber,  1814,  fell  on  the  field 
and  in  the  fort.  The  en 
graving  depicts  it  as  it  ap 
peared,  with  its  surround 
ings,  in  the  autumn  of  1861, 
when  the  writer  sketched 
it  from  the  steps  of  Bar- 
num's  Hotel. 

I  visited  the  theatre  of 
scenes  described  in  the  few 
preceding  pages  in  Novem 
ber,  1861,  on  my  return 
homeward  from  Washing 
ton,  mentioned  on  page 
943.  On  arriving  at  the 
Eutaw  House,  Baltimore, 
in  the  evening,  I  had  the 
good  fortune  to  meet  an 
esteemed  friend,  Brantz 
Mayer,  Esq.,  a  resident  of 
that  city,  and  perfectly  fa 
miliar  with  the  men,  events, 
and  localities  we  have  just 
been  considering.  To  his 
kind  courtesy  I  am  indebt 
ed  for  much  valuable  infor 
mation,  and  for  facilities  for 


BATTLE   MONUMENT.1 


Armistead  was  in  command  of  Fort  M'Henry  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  held  it  until  its  close.  His  gallant  defense 
of  that  position  is  made  more  conspicuous  from  the  fact  that  he,  and  he  alone,  knew  that  the  magazine  was  not  bomb 
proof  when  the  foe  approached.  He  dared  not  reveal  the  fact,  for  fear  his  men  might  refuse  to  remain  in  the  fort.  With 
these  enormous  chances  against  him,  he  faithfully  sustained  that  siege,  and  won  a  victory  and  a  name.  The  sense  of 
responsibility,  and  the  tax  upon  his  nervous  system  during  that  bombardment,  left  him  with  a  disease  of  the  heart,  and 
three  years  and  a  half  afterward,  or  on  the  25th  of  April,  1818,  he  expired,  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight  years.  Colonel  Ar 
mistead  was  buried  with  military  honors.  There  was  an  immense  funeral  procession,  civil  and  military,  and  during  the 
ceremonies  artillerists  fired  minute-guns  on  Federal  Hill.  It  was  said  to  have  been  the  largest  procession  that  had  ever 
been  seen  in  Baltimore.  The  likeness  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Armistead  on  page  955  is  from  a  miuiature  in  possession 
of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Mary  Bradford,  of  Westchester,  Pennsylvania,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  much  minute  and  valu 
able  information. 

1  The  monument  represents  a  cenotaph  surmounted  by  a  short  column,  and  rests  upon  a  plinth,  or  terrace,  of  the 
same  material,  forty  feet  square  and  four  feet  high.  At  each  angle  is  placed  a  cannon  erect,  having  a  ball  apparently 
issuing  from  its  mouth.  Between  the  cannon  are  continuous  rows  of  spear-shaped  railing,  and  eight  heavy  supporting 
fasces,  all  of  iron.  Outside  of  all  is  a  chain  guard.  The  lower  part  of  the  monument  is  of  Egyptian  form  and  ornament 
ation,  composed  of  eighteen  layers  of  stone,  the  then  number  of  the  states  of  the  republic.  At  each  of  four  angles  of  the 
surmounting  cornice  is  a  massive  griffin,  wrought  of  marble.  The  column  represents  a  huge  fasces,  symbolical  of  the 
Union,  the  rods  of  which  are  bound  by  a  fillet,  on  which,  in  bronze  letters,  are  the  names  of  the  honored  dead,  whose 
brave  conduct  strengthened  the  bands  of  that  Union.  Wreaths  of  laurel  and  cypress,  emblems  of  glory  and  mourning, 
bind  the  top  of  the  great  fasces  ;  and  between  them,  in  bronze  letters,  are  the  names  of  the  following  officers  who  per 
ished  on  the  occasion : 

JAMES  LOWEY  DONALDSON,  Adjutant  Twenty-seventh  Regiment ;  GKEGOKIUB  ANDEEE,  Lieutenant  First  Rifle  Battal 
ion  ;  LEVI  CLAGGETT,  Third  Lieiitenant  Nicholson's  Artillerists.  On  the  fillet  are  the  following  names  of  the  slain  non 
commissioned  officers  and  privates  :  John  Clemm,  T.  V.  Beaston,  S.  Hanbert,  John  Jephson,  T.  Wallace,  J.  H.  Marriot 
of  John,  E.  Marriot,  Wm.  Ways,  J.  Armstrong,  J.  Richardson,  Benj.  Pond,  Clement  Cox,  Cecilius  Belt,  John  Garrett,  H. 
G.  M'Comas,  Win.  M'Clellan,"john  C.  Bird,  M.  Desk,  Daniel  Wells,  Jun.,  John  R.  Cop,  Benj.  Neal,  C.  Reynolds,  D.  How 
ard,  Uriah  Prosser,  A.  Randall,  R.  H.  Cooksey,  J.  Gregg,  J.  Evans,  A.  Maas,  G.  Jenkins,  W.  Alexander,  C.  Fallier,  T. 
Burneston,  J.  Dunn,  P.  Byard,  J.  Craig. 

On  the  lower  part  of  the  fasces  are  two  basso-relievos,  one  representing  the  battle  of  North  Point  and  the  death  of 
General  Ross,  and  the  other  a  battery  of  Fort  M'Henry  at  the  moment  of  the  bombardment.  On  the  east  and  west 
fronts  are  lachrymal  urns,  emblematic  of  regre£  and  sorrow.  On  the  south  part  of  the  square  base  of  the  fasces,  below 
the  basso-relievos,  is  the  following  inscription  in  bronze  letters :  "  Battle  of  North  Point,  12th  September,  A.D.  1814,  and 
of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  thirty-ninth."  On  the  north  front,  corresponding  to  this,  is  the  following  : 
"  Bombardment  of  Fort  M'Henry,  13th  September,  A.D.  1S14,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  the  thirty- 
ninth."  That  base  and  fasces  together  form  a  column  thirty-nine  feet  in  height,  to  show  that  the  events  commemorated 
occurred  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  the  independence  of  the  republic.  The  whole  monument,  including  the  exquisitely- 
wronsht  female  figure,  representing  the  City  of  Baltimore,  that  surmounts  it,  rises  to  the  heisrht  of  almost  fifty-three 
feet.  Upon  the  head  of  that  figure  is  a  mural  crown,  the  emblem  of  a  city.  In  one  hand  she  holds  an  antique  rudder, 

3P 


962 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  Visit  to  Patterson  Park  and  other  historical  Localities. 


The  City  Spring. 


acquiring  more.  His  introduction  was  a  key  to  the  treasures  of  the  Maryland  His 
torical  Society.  He  accompanied  me  to  many  places  of  interest  in  the  city  and  its 
vicinity,  among  others  Patterson  Park  and  Rodgers's  Battery.  There  we  met  the 
venerable  John  M'Lean,  the  keeper  of  the  park,  who  was  then  seventy-eight  years  of 
age.  He  was  a  member  of  Captain  Benjamin  Ringgold's  company  in  the  battle  of 
North  Point.  After  listening  with  pleasure  to  his  reminiscences,  we  returned  to  the 
city,  where  I  was  introduced  to  General  John  Spear  Smith,  a  son  of  the  chief  com 
mander  in  the  defense  of  Baltimore,  and  his  volunteer  aid  on  that  occasion.  General 
Smith  subsequently  placed  in  my  hands  his  father's  military  papers  of  that  period, 
which  I  freely  used  in  the  preparation  of  the  foregoing  narrative. 
We  went  to  the  pleasant  inclosure  of  the  City  Spring,  to  see  the  monument  erected 


T11E   CITY   SPRING  AND   AKMISTEAD'S   MONUMENT.1 


there  to  the  memory  of  Colonel  Armistead  (delineated  on  page  900),  but  found  it  re 
moved,  and  the  embattled  edifice  around  it,  seen  beyond  the  figures  in  the  above  pic 
ture,  nearly  demolished.  Nor  could  we  find  any  clew  to  it.  On  leaving  that  shaded 
spot,  where  so  many  Baltimoreans  have  promenaded  during  the  heats  of  summer,  I 
was  introduced  to  Captain  John  Lester,  a  veteran  soldier,  seventy-one  years  of  age, 
who  (then  an  ensign)  was  the  color-bearer  of  the  gallant  Twenty-seventh  Maryland 
Regiment  in  the  battle  of  North  Point.  He  seemed  quite  too  young  to  claim  the 
patriarchal  honors  of  thi-eescore  and  ten  years.  I  found  in  his  possession  the  tattered 
flag  of  the  Twenty-seventh  (delineated  on  page  954),  whose  wounds  were  received 
while  it  was  borne  in  his  hands  forty-seven  years  before.  Twenty-seven  years  after- 
symbolic  of  navigation,  and  in  the  other  a  crown  of  laurel;  while,  with  a  graceful  inclination  of  the  head,  she  looks  in 
the  direction  of  the  theatre  of  conflict.  At  her  feet,  on  her  right,  is  an  eagle,  and  near  it  a  bomb-shell,  commemorative 
of  the  bombardment.  This  monument,  in  its  conception  and  execution^  is  worthy  of  the  great  events  commemorated. 

A  few  years  ago,  a  thin  volume  was  published  in  Baltimore  entitled  The  Citizen  Soldiers  at  North  Point  and  Fort  Ml  Henry, 
September  12  and  13, 1814.  It  contains  the  names  of  all  the  men,  officers  and  privates,  who  were  on  duty  at  that  time, 
and  is  dedicated  to  "Major  General  Samuel  Smith,  the  Hero  of  two  Wars." 

1  This  is  a  view  of  the  City  Spring  and  its  surroundings  taken  from  Saratoga  Street  a  short  time  before  the  monu 
ment  was  removed.  That  monument  was  placed  in  a  recess  of  the  building  with  battlements,  seen  toward  the  left  of 
the  picture,  with  an  iron  railing  in  front.  The  City  Spring  is  under  the  temple-shaped  pavilion  in  the  foreground,  which 
is  yet  (1SG7)  standing,  I  believe,  with  the  same  lantern  hanging  beneath  its  dome. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    ]  8  1  2. 


963 


The  Color-bearer  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Regiment. 


Visit  to  North  Point  Battle-ground. 


'1841. 


warda  he  bore  the  same  flag  at 

the  head  of  about  thirty  surviv 
ors  of  the  Twenty-seventh,  who  were 
in  the  funeral  procession  at  the  burial 
of  President  Harrison,  the  distinguish- 

7  O 

ed  soldier  of  the  Second  War  for  Inde 
pendence. 

Captain  Lester  accompanied  my 
traveling  companion  and  myself  to 
the  North  Point  battle-ground  on  the 
"November,  morning  of  the  20th.b  .The 
air  was  very  chilling,  but 
in  a  covered  carriage,  with  fleet  horses 
and  a  good  postillion,  we  made  the 
journey  comfortably  and  quickly  to 
the  battle-ground,  seven  miles  from 
the  city.  On  our  way,  as  we  approach 
ed  Long  Log  Lane,  I  sketched  the 
Methodist  meeting-house,  which  was 
used  for  a  hospital  after  the  battle,  and 
where  General  Strieker  biv 
ouacked  on  the  night  of  the 
«  September,  Hthc.  A  short  dis 
tance  from  it,  on  the 
corner,  where  a  road  leads  to 
Hancock's  Pavilion,  on  Bear 
Creek,  was  a  place  of  refreshment  called  the  Battle-ground  House.  In  a  field  adjoin 
ing  it  we  saw  a  rough-hewn  block  of  granite,  with  a  square  hollow  in  it,  which  was 
pointed  out  as  the  corner-stone  of  a  monument  which  it  is  proposed  to  erect  on  the 
field  of  strife.  This  was  on  the  right  of  Long  Log  Lane  going  out.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  lane  (which  is  now  the  highway  to  North  Point)  was  the  scene  of  the 
heaviest  of  the  battle,  which  was  then  an  open  oak  wood,  as  delineated  in  the  accom 
panying  picture  of  the  battle-ground,  drawn  a  few  days  after  the  conflict  by  Thomas 


NOBTil   POINT  BATTLE-GROUND.1 

Ruckle,  who  was  in  the  fight.  The  view  is  from  the  site  of  the  Battle-ground  House. 
The  stately  oaks  which  then  shaded  the  ground  have  disappeared,  and  it  is  covered 
by  a  new  and  smaller  growth,  and  in  some  places  by  a  tangled  undergrowth. 

We  rode  on  to  the  house  of  Richard  Brady  (occupied  at  the  time  of  our  visit  by 

1  In  this  view,  copied  from  Ruckle's  picture  in  the  Maryland  Historical  Society,  Long  Log  Lane  is  seen  over  the 
equestrian  figures  toward  the  right,  and  on  the  extreme  right  the  head  of  Bear  Creek.  The  conflict  occurred  within 
the  spaces  included  in  the  picture. 


964 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Monument  where  Ross  fell. 


A  Visit  to  Fort  M 'Henry. 


Samuel  Cole),  in  front  of  which  General  Ross  received  his  death-wound,  as  related  on 
page  951.  Near  that  spot,  by  the  side  of  the  road,  the  soldiers,  commanded  by  Cap 
tain  Benjamin  C.  Howard  on  that  occasion,  and  known  as  the  First  Mechanical  Vol 
unteers,  erected  a  monument,  about  eight  feet  in  height,  partly  in  commemoration 


MONUMENT   WHEBE   BOSS   FELL. 


of  the  action,  but  specifically,  as  the  inscription  declares,1  "as  a  tribute  of  respect  for 
the  memory  of  their  gallant  brother"  in  arms,  Aquila  Randall,  who  fell  there.  The 
view  in  the  engraving  was  sketched  from  Mr.  Cole's  house,  in  which  is  seen,  toward 
the  left,  the  venerable  oak-tree  under  which  Ross  was  laid  for  a  few  minutes  by  Cap 
tain  M'Dougall,  and  in  the  centre,  over  the  horseman,  a  part  of  Bear  Creek.  Ross 
was  shot  on  the  gentle  rise  of  ground  in  the  road  a  few  rods  eastward  of  the  monu 
ment. 

We  returned  to  Baltimore  at  a  little  past  noon,  turning  off  from  the  direct  road  to 
visit  the  homestead  of  Colonel  Sterett,  mentioned  on  page  958.  The  mansion  was 
upon  a  beautiful  terraced  slope  along  the  old  Philadelphia  Road.  We  did  not  stop 
in  the  city,  but  riding  through  it  to  Fort  Avenue,  which  traverses  the  length  of  Fell's 
Point  to  Fort  M'Henry,  we  passed  along  that  fine  stone  road  a  full  mile,  to  the  en 
trance-gate  to  the  outer  grounds  of  the  fort.  A  pass  from  General  Duryee,  then  in 
command  at  Baltimore,  opened  the  portals.  We  were  kindly  received  by  the  courte 
ous  Colonel  (afterward  General)  W.Morris, the  commandant  (since  dead),  and  were 
allowed  to  visit  every  part  of  the  venerated  fortification.  After  making  the  sketch 
on  page  954,  we  returned,  stopping  on  the  way  to  make  a  drawing  of  the  circular 
seven-gun  battery  mentioned  on  page  949,  and  to  find  the  sites  of  Fort  Covington 
and  the  City  Battery,  which  was  commanded  by  the  gallant  Webster.  These  were 

1  The  following  are  the  inscriptions  on  the  monument:  North  Side:  "Sacred  to  the  memory  of  AQUILA  RANDALL, 
who  died  in  bravely  defending  his  country  and  his  home  on  the  memorable  12th  of  September,  1814,  aged  24  years." 
East  Side:  "In  the  skirmish  which  occurred  at  this  spot  between  the  advanced  party  under  Major  Richard  K.  Heath, 
of  the  5th  Regt.  M.  M.,  and  the  front  of  the  British  column,  Major  General  Ross,  the  commander  of  the  British  forces, 
received  his  mortal  wound."  WestSide:  "The  First  Mechanical  Volunteers,  commanded  by  Captain  Benjamin  C.How 
ard,  in  the  5th  Regt.  M.  M.,  have  erected  this  monument  as  a  tribute  of  their  respect  for  the  memory  of  their  gallant 
brother."  South  Side:  "  How  beautiful  is  Death  when  earned  by  Virtue." 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


965 


The  Circular  Battery  and  its  Outlook. 


New  York  and  Philadelphia  relieved. 


Philadelphia  Troops. 


REMAINS   OF  T1IE   CIRCULAR  BATTEEY. 


situated  on  the  river  bank,  below  the  circular  battery,  and  nearly  half  a  mile  distant. 
Webster's  battery  was  on  a  line  with  it,  in  the  direction  of  the  river,  and  Fort  Cov- 
ington  was  about  five  hundred  yards  farther  up  the  stream.  The  circulaV  battery 
was  at  the  end  of  Light  Street,  that  skirts  Federal  Hill,  on  which,  at  the  time  of  my 
visit,  were  heavy  earth-works,  in  charge  of  Duryee's  Zouaves,  thrown  up  as  a  protec 
tion  to  Fort  M'Henry  against  land  attacks  by  insurgents.  The  mounds  of  the  old 
circular  battery  were  six  or  eight  feet  high  in  some  places.  It  was  in  a  commanding 
position.  Our  view,  taken  from  within  it,  compi-ises  the  entire  theatre  of  the  opera 
tions  of  the  British  boat  expedition  on  that  eventful  night.  We  are  looking  toward 
Chesapeake  Bay.  On  the  left  is  seen  Fort  M'Henry,  and  in  the  extreme  distance,  ap 
pearing  like  a  speck  near  the  mouth  of  the  Patapsco,  is  Fort  Carroll. 

On  the  following  morninga  I  made  a  careful  drawing  of  the  Battle  •  November  21, 
Monument,  delineated  on  page  960.  We  afterward  spent  several  hours 
in  the  rooms  of  the  Historical  Society,  and  in  the  afternoon  called  on  Mr.  Armistead, 
where  we  were  kindly  shown  the  old  garrison  flag,  tattered  and  faded — the  identical 
Star-spangled  Banner  on  which  Key  and  his  companions  so  anxiously  gazed  "  at  the 
twilight's  last  gleaming."  On  the  same  evening  we  left  Baltimore  for  Havre  de 
Grace,  where,  as  we  have  observed  on  page  943,  we  passed  the  night  and  the  follow 
ing  day. 

We  have  remarked  that  when  the  British  were  driven  away  from  Baltimore,  the 
trembling  citizens  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York  breathed  freer.  Both  felt  them 
selves  seriously  menaced  by  the  heavy  British  force  in  the  Chesapeake,  and  both  had 
made  such  vigorous  preparations  for  attack  that  the  enemy  did  not  deem  it  prudent 
to  attempt  it.  Indeed,  it  was  not  their  intention  to  do  so  at  that  time,  and  they 
sailed  away  to  the  Bermudas  to  join  in  the  more  important  work  of  invading  Lou 
isiana. 

When,  as  we  have  already  observed,  the  depredations  of  Cockburn  on  the  shores 
of  the  Delaware,  in  the  spring  of  1813,  were  made  known  at  Philadelphia,  an  intense 
martial  spirit  was  aroused  in  that  city,  and  along  the  shores  of  the  Delaware  River 
and  Bay.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  that  spirit  was  almost  dormant.  The  fine 
corps  known  as  the  M'Pherson  Blues*-  had  been  disbanded  twelve  years  before  the 
declaration  of  war,  and  another,  called  Sheets  Legion,  was  no  more.  Only  three  or 
four  volunteer  companies  of  any  note  then  existed  in  Philadelphia,  the  oldest  of  which, 
a  company  of  cavalry,  was  called  the  First,  or  old  City  Troop,  Captain  Charles  Ross, 
which  was  formed  in  the  autumn  of  1774,  and  did  good  service  in  the  Revolution 
under  Captain  Morris.  They  formed  a  body-guard  for  General  Washington  when 
he  traveled  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York  in  1775  to  take  command  of  the  army 
at  Cambridge.  These,  with  Captain  Rush's  old  Philadelphia  Blues,  and  Captain 
Fottevall's  Independent  Volunteers,  both  large  companies,  composed  the  most  of  the 

i  See  page  111. 


966  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

The  Volunteer  Companies  of  Philadelphia.  Protection  for  Duponts'  Powder-mills.  Captain  James  Page. 

uniformed  militia  of  that  vicinity.  During  the  summer  of  1812 
a  new  uniform  company  was  formed,  called  the  State  Fencibles, 
which,  like  the  City  Troop,  is  still  an  prganized  corps,  and  until  a 
few  years  ago  was  led  by  Captain  James  Page,  who  was  elected 
its  commander  in  June,  1818.  *  The  original  manuscript,  contain 
ing  the  call  for  the  formation  of  this  company,  is  before  me,  having 
been  kindly  placed  in  my  hands  by  the  veteran  Captain  Page,  of 
Philadelphia,  who  was  a  private  in  that  company  during  the  War 
of  1812.  The  first  name  on  the  list  is  that  of  one  of  Philadelphia's 
most  honored  sons,  Hon.  Joseph  R.  Ingersoll,  and  the  third  is  that 
of  the  late  Colonel  Clement  C.  Biddle.  The  latter,  who  was  the 
originator  of  the  company,  was  chosen  captain,  and  the  former  first 
lieutenant.  Captain  Page  is  yet  (1867)  a  vigorous  man,  nearly 
eighty  years  of  age,  and  to  him  I  am  indebted  for  much  valuable 
information  concerning  military  affairs  in  and  around  Philadelphia 
during  the  war.2 

When  the  news  of  the  presence  of  the  British  in  the  Delaware 
reached  Philadelphia,  great  alarm  was  felt  because  of  the  defense-  8TATE  ^NCI 
less  state  of  the  city.  Fort  Mifflin,  just  below,  its  only  defense  on  the  water,  was  gar 
risoned  by  only  eleven  recruits,  under  Captain  James  N.  Barker.  Something  must  be 
done  immediately  to  strengthen  that  post.  James  M.  Porter,  Secretary  of  the  "  Young 
Men's  Democratic  Society"  of  Philadelphia,  a  young  lawyer,  called  a  meeting  on  the 
20th  of  March  at  Sti'atton's  Tavern.  It  was  fully  attended,  and  about  seventy  young 
men  who  were  present  formed  a  volunteer  company  for  artillery  service  on  that  very 
evening.  They  organized  by  the  election  of  officers  the  next  day,  with  the  name  of 
The  Junior  Artillerists.  They  at  once  tendered  their  services  to  General  Bloomfield, 
the  commander  of  the  district,  to  re-enforce  the  garrison  at  Fort  Mifflin.  They  were 
accepted,  and  within  three  days  after  they  were  organized  they  marched  to  Fort 
Mifflin,  under  Captain  Fisler,  each  with  a  cockade  in  his  hat,  and  wearing  a  coat  with 
bright  buttons,  accompanied  by  Captain  Mitchell's  volunteer  corps  of  eighty  men, 
dressed  in  blue  and  buff,  and  known  as  the  Independent  Blues.  The  latter,  with  the 
Independent  Volunteers,  and  a  newly -organized  company  called  the  Washington 
Guards,  Captain  Raguet — the  first  new  company  of  infantry  formed  in  Philadelphia 
at  that  time — left  the  city  for  the  State  of  Delaware  on  the  afternoon  of  the  12th  of 
May,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Lewis  Rush.  They  proceeded  to  Staunton, 
about  six  miles  beyond  Wilmington,  and  near  that  place  formed  a  camp  at  a  spot  se 
lected  by  General  Bloomfield. 

At  about  that  time  it  was  rumored  that  Duponts'  powder-mills  at  Wilmington 
were  about  to  be  attacked.  Colonel  Rush  disposed  his  troops  in  that  vicinity  so  as 
to  protect  them,  and  there  they  remained  until  the  invaders  left  the  neighboring  wa 
ters.  The  inhabitants  of  Delaware,  in  the  mean  time,  had  raised  several  volunteer 
companies ;  and  the  names  of  the  Duponts,  Rodney,  Young,  Van  Dyke,  Warren,  Wil- 

1  Captain  Page  was  commander  of  the  First  Company.    When,  in  April,  1SG1,  the  President  of  the  United  States 
called  for  seventy-five  thousand  troops  to  put  down  the  great  insurrection  of  the  slaveholders  against  the  government, 
the  Pencibles  offered  themselves  as  volunteers,  and  were  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  formed  a 
part  of  the  Eighteenth  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Volunteers.    They  served  the  full  term  of  three  months,  when  they  were 
mustered  out  of  the  service,  and  honorably  discharged.    Many  of  them  afterward  entered  the  service  as  volunteers  in 
different  corps.    The  Pennsylvania  militia  law  of  May,  1S64,  dissolved  the  organization,  and  the  State  Fencibk*,  after  an 
honorable  career  of  more  than  half  a  century,  passed  into  History  as  an  extinct  military  association.    The  last  captain 
was  John  Miller.    Among  the  brave  men  of  the  corps  who  went  into  the  War  for  the  Union,  Captain  Hesser,  made 
colonel  of  the  Seventy-second  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  deserves  honorable  mention.    He  fell  at  the  head 
of  his  regiment,  at  Orange  Court-house,  Virginia,  in  November,  1863. 

2  In  1S59  former  members  of  the  State  Fencibles  presented  to  Captain  Page  a  sword,  on  which  is  the  following  in 
scription  :  "  Presented  to  Captain  James  Page  by  retired  members  of  the  State  Fencibles,  as  a  token  of  their  esteem 
for  him  as  a  citizen  and  soldier,  and  of  their  appreciation  of  his  services  as  commanding  officer  of  that  corps  for  a  pe 
riod  of  forty  years.    Philadelphia,  December  29, 1859." 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812.  967 


Organization  of  Troops.  Camp  Dnpont.  Camp  at  Marcus's  Hook. 

son,  Leonard,  and  others,  are  held  in  grateful  remembrance  to  this  day  as  prominent 
actors  in  the  business  of  state  defense. 

On  the  receipt  of  the  requisition  for  troops  from  the  War  Department  early  in  July, 
1814,  Governor  Snyder,  of  Pennsylvania,  caused  a  general  order  to  be  issued  for  the 
mustering  of  the  militia  and  the  raising  of  volunteers,  in  which  several  military  com 
panies  of  Philadelphia,  and  elsewhere  in  the  state,  who  had  offered  their  services  to 
the  government  in  the  summer  of  1812,  were  named  as  accepted  volunteers,  and  as 
forming  a  part  of  the  quota  of  the  state.1  Recruiting  went  briskly  on,  and  it  was 
greatly  promoted  by  intelligence  of  the  capture  of  Washington  toward  the  close  of 
August.  Volunteers  flocked  to  the  standard  of  General  Bloomfield  in  great  num 
bers.2  Kennet  Square,  in  Chester  County,  thirty-six  miles  southwest  from  Philadel 
phia,  was  the  designated  place  of  rendezvous,  and  there,  at  the  close  of  August,  a 
camp  was  formed,  under  the  direction  of  Captain  C.  W.  Hunter,  and  named  Camp 
Bloomfield.  On  the  7th  of  September,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Clemson,  of  the  United 
States  Army,  assumed  the  command,  and  on  the  14th  he  was  succeeded  by  Brigadier 
General  Thomas  Cadwalader.  The  troops  were  brigaded,  and  the  corps  was  called 
The  Advanced  Light  Guard.3  Captain  Ross,  with  his  First  City  Troop,  took  post  on 
Mount  Bull,  a  height  overlooking  the  Chesapeake,  thirteen  miles  below  Elkton,  to 
watch  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  and  held  communication  with  the  camp  and  Phila 
delphia  by  a  line  of  vedettes. 

The  brigade  changed  its  position  several  times,  but  was  continually  in  the  vicinity 
of  Wilmington.  The  last  one  that  it  occupied  was  called  Camp  Dupont,  about  three 
miles  west  of  Wilmington,  where  it  remained  until  the  30th  of  November,  when,  all 
danger  seeming  to  be  distant,  the  troops  were  marched  back  to  Philadelphia,  and 
there  disbanded  on  the  3d  of  January,  1815.4 

In  the  mean  time  a  body  of  almost  ten  thousand  men  was  assembled  near  Marcus's 
Hook,  on  the  Delaware,  twenty  miles  below  Philadelphia,  which  was  at  first  organ 
ized  by  Adjutant  General  William  Duane,  under  the  command  of  Major  General  Isaac 
Worrall.  It  was  composed  of  Pennsylvania  militia  and  volunteers.  Its  rendezvous 
was  called  Camp  Gaines,  in  honor  of  General  E.  P.  Gaines,  who  succeeded  Bloomfield 
in  the  command  of  the  Department,  in  September.  This  camp  was  broken  up  on  the 
5th  of  December,  1814.  Besides  these,  several  companies  were  organized  in  the  city 
and  county  of  Philadelphia  who  did  not  take  the  field.5  When  Gaines  left  for  New 
Orleans  in  December,  General  Cadwalader6  succeeded  him  as  chief  of  the  Fourth 
Military  Department. 

While  the  volunteers  were  hastening  to  the  camps  to  be  enrolled  as  soldiers,  the 
inhabitants  of  Philadelphia  were  vigorously  making  preparations  for  the  defense  of 

i  These  were  the  Harrisburg  Volunteers,  Captain  Thomas  Walker;  State  Fencibles,  Captain i  C.  C  Bid  die ;  three  rifle 
companies,  commanded  respectively  by  Captains  Andrew  Mitchell,  Nicholas  Beckwith,  and  Samuel  Dunn;  Benevolent 
Blues.  Henry  Reed ;  and  Light  Dragoons,  James  Noble. 

'  "  The  very  flower  of  the  yonth  and  best  hopes  of  the  nation,"  wrote  an  eye-witness-"  citizens  of  every  rank  and 
profession,  and  of  every  political  name,  were  there  commingled  in  the  ranks,  united  in  a  common  cause  for  the  defense 
of  their  conntry,  and  exhibiting  to  the  monarchs  of  Europe  the  glorious  spectacle  of  practical  equality.  -Author  of  A 
Short  Sketch  of  the  Military  Operations  on  the  Delaware  during  the  late  War,  etc.  I 

'  The  brigade  staff  consisted  of  the  following  officers:  Thomas  Cadwalader,  brigadier  general ;  John  Hare  Powell, 
brigade  major,  in  place  of  Hunter,  promoted  ;  Richard  M'Call  and  John  G.  Biddle,  aids-xle-camp  ;  Henry  Sergeant,  as- 


Total  3504 

*  Among  the  gallant  officers  at  Camp  Dnpont  was  Captain  John  Ross  Mifflin,  of  the  Washington  Guards     He  was  . 
nephew  of  Captain  Ross,  and  died,  unmarried,  in  Philadelphia  in  1825.    He  wrote  a  series  of  interesting  leters  from 
Camp  Dupont,  copies  of  some  of  which  were  kindly  placed  in  my  hands  by  Miss  Elizabeth  Mifflin,  of  Philadelphia. 
These  give  a  lively  picture  of  camp  life  there. 

*  A  Short  Sketch  of  Military  Operations  on  the  Delaware  during  the  late  War,  pages  3  to  29  inclusive. 

6  Son  of  General  John  Cadwalader,  of  the  Continental  Army.  He  was  born  on  the  23th  of  October,  1T.O.  He  waa 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  Philadelphia  in  1S01.  He  studied  military  science  intently,  and  entered  the  service  as  captain  in 
1812.  He  rose  to  the  rank  of  brigadier  general  in  1814.  After  the  war  he  became  major  general  of  Pennsylvania  mill, 
tia.  He  assisted  in  forming  a  system  of  cavalry  tactics  in  1826.  He  died  on  the  26th  of  October,  1S4L 


968  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Public  Meeting  in  Philadelphia.  Committee  of  Defense.  Citizens  construct  Fortifications. 

the  city.  When  intelligence  of  the  capture  of  Washington  reached  them,  a  public 
meeting  was  held,  and  a  committee  of  defense  was  appointed,  with  ample  powers  to 
adopt  such  measures  as  the  exigency  seemed  to  require.1  "They  determined,"  says 
Mr.  Wescott,2  "  that,  for  the  safety  of  the  city,  field  fortifications  should  be  thrown 
up  in  the  most  eligible  situations  on  the  western  side  of  the  town,  and  where  an  at 
tack  might  be  expected.  A  fort  was  planned  near  Gray's  Ferry,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Schuylkill  River,  at  the  junction  of  the  Gray's  Ferry  and  Darby  Roads;  also  a 
redoubt  opposite  Hamilton's  Grove,  another  upon  the  Lancaster  Road,  and  a  third 
upon  the  site  of  an  old  British  redoubt  on  the  southern  side  of  the  hill  at  Fairmount, 
which  would  command  the  bridge  at  Market  Street  and  the  roads  leading  to  it. 

"  To  construct  these  works  required  much  labor,  and,  under  the  circumstances,  they 
could  not  have  been  built  without  the  voluntary  assistance  of  the  citizens.  A  hearty 
enthusiasm  was  shown  in  the  service.  Companies,  societies,  and  the  artificers  of  the 
different  trades  organized  themselves  for  the  purpose.  Day  after  day  these  parties 
assembled,  and  left  the  city  at  from  five  to  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and,  with  knap 
sacks  or  handkerchiefs  containing  a  supply  of  food,  marched  out  to  the  fortifications 
to  a  day  of  toilsome  labor  at  an  occupation  to  which  but  few  of  them  were  accus 
tomed.  Labor  commenced  on  the  3d  of  September,  and  from  that  time  until  about 
the  1st  of  October,  when  the  field-works  were  finished,  the  toil  was  participated  in 
by  parties  having  the  following  numbers  :  House  carpenters,  62  ;  victualers,  400  ;  the 
Tammany  Society,  400  ;  painters,  70  ;  hatters  and  brickmakers,  300  ;  Philadelphia  Be 
nevolent  Society  and  Fourth  Washington  Guard,  160;  Rev.  Mr.  Staughton  and  the 
members  of  his  church,  60;  printers,  200  ;  crew  of  the  Wasp,  140;  watchmakers,  sil 
versmiths,  and  jewelers  (on  Monday,  September  11),  400 ;  cabinet-makers  and  joiners, 
300  ;  Washington  Association,  70  ;  True  Republican  Society,  70  ;  teachers,  30  ;  friend 
ly  aliens,  500  ;  Freemasons,  grand  and  subordinate  lodges,  510  ;  Washington  Benev 
olent  Society,  500  ;  Sons  of  Erin,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  2200  ;  Tammany  Soci 
ety,  second  day,  130;  friendly  aliens,  second  day,  150  ;  German  societies,  540  ;  colored 
men,  650  ;  citizens  of  Germantown,  400  ;  Scotchmen,  100  ;  Sons  of  Erin,  second  day, 
350.  The  colored  people  also  gave  a  second  day  to  the  work.  Small  bodies,  not 
enumerated,  including  beneficial  societies  and  social  clubs,  participated.  The  physi 
cians  and  artists  of  the  city  also  labored  at  the  works.  When  the  fortifications  were 
completed,  it  was  found  that  about  fifteen  thousand  persons  had  labored  on  them.  In 
lieu  of  work,  many  who  were  unable  or  unwilling  to  assist  in  that  manner  gave  money. 
The  collections  from  this  source  amounted  to  about  six  thousand  dollars. 

"  Arriving  at  the  fortifications,  the  citizens,  having  been  previously  divided  into 
companies,  were  put  to  work.  At  ten  o'clock  the  drum  beat  for  '  grog,'  when  liquor 
sufficient  for  each  company  was  dealt  out  by  its  captain.  At  twelve  o'clock  the  drum 

1  The  public  meeting  was  held  in  the  State  House  Yard,  on  the  26th  of  August,  1814.    Thomas  M'Kean  was  chair 
man,  and  Joseph  Reed  was  secretary.    A  committee,  of  which  Jared  Ingersoll  was  chairman,  was  appointed  "to  con 
sider  and  report  what  measures  ought,  in  their  opinion,  to  be  adopted  for  protection  and  defense."    They  reported 
resolutions,  the  first  of  which  nominated  a  number  of  gentlemen  as  a  committee  of  defense,  for  the  purpose  of  organiz 
ing  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  and  of  the  northern  and  southern  districts,  for  defense,  with  power  to  appoint  commit 
tees  under  them,  correspond  with  the  state  and  general  governments,  make  arrangements  for  supplies,  fix  on  places  of 
rendezvous,  etc.    This  committee  consisted  of  the  following  named  persons :  For  the  city  of  Philadelphia— Charles 
Biddle,  Thomas  Leiper,  Thomas  Cadwalader,  Gen.  John  Steel,  George  Latimer,  John  Barker,  Henry  Hawkins,  Liberty 
Browne,  Charles  Ross,  Manuel  Eyre,  John  Connelly,  Condy  Raguet,  Wm.  M'Faden,  John  Sergeant,  John  Geyer  (Mayor), 
and  Joseph  Reed.    For  the  Northern  Liberties  and  Penn  Township— Colonel  Jonathan  Williams,  John  Goodman,  Dan 
iel  Groves,  John  Barclay,  John  Naglee,  Thomas  Snyder,  J.  W.  Norris,  Michael  Lieb,  Jacob  Huff,  and  James  Whitehead. 
For  the  district  of  Southwark  and  townships  of  Moyamensing  and  Passyunk — James  Josiah,  R.  M 'Mullen,  John  Thomp 
son,  E.  Ferguson,  James  Ronaldson,  P.  Miercken,  R.  Palmer,  and  P.  Pitts. 

These  citizens  met  on  the  day  of  their  appointment,  at  the  State  House,  where  they  were  organized  into  a  committee 
of  defense,  with  Charles  Biddle  as  chairman,  and  John  Goodman  as  secretary.  The  labors  of  the  committee  were  very 
useful  and  important.  The  organization  was  continued  until  the  IGth  of  August,  1815,  when,  at  the  eighty-second  meet 
ing,  their  labors  ceased.  The  minutes  of  the  committee,  carefully  kept  by  Mr.  Goodman,  and  giving  the  details  of  their 
proceedings,,  were  published  in  1SG7  as  the  eighth  volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  accom 
panied  by  brief  biographical  notices  of  the  members  of  the  committee. 

2  History  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia  from  16S2  to  1854,  by  Thompson  Wescott,  Esq.    This  history  was  in  manuscript 
when  Mr.  Wescott  kindly  allowed  me  to  copy  the  matter  quoted  in  the  text. 


OF  THE  WAR   OF   1812.  969 


New  York  stirred  up.  Committee  of  Defense.  Patriotic  Action  of  the  Citizens. 

beat  for  dinner,  when  more '  grog'  was  furnished.  This  was  also  the  case  at  three  and 
at  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  At  six  the  drum  beat  the  retreat,  when  it  was  sug 
gested  in  General  Orders, '  For  the  honor  of  the  cause  we  are  engaged  in,  freemen  to 
live  or  die,  it  is  hoped  that  every  man  will  retire  sober.'' " 

So  did  Philadelphians  prepare  for  the  invader.  Happily  the  enemy  did  not  come, 
and  their  beautiful  city  was  spared  the  horrors  of  war. 

New  York  was  likewise  fearfully  excited  by  apprehensions  of  danger  during  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  1814.  Like  Philadelphia  and  Boston,  its  defenses  were  few 
and  weak  at  that  critical  moment.  The  appearance  of  the  powerful  British  force  in 
the  Chesapeake  aroused  the  citizens  to  a  sense  of  their  immediate  danger,  and  they 
soon  put  forth  mighty  efforts  in  preparations  to  repel  the  invader.  The  mayor  of  the 
city,  De  Witt  Clinton,  issued,  through  the  medium  of  the  City  Council,  a  stirring  ad 
dress  to  the  people  on  the  2d  of  August,  in  which  he  set  forth  the  importance  of  New 
York  to  the  enemy  on  account  of  its  wealth  and  geographical  position,  which  in 
creased  its  liabilities  to  attack.  He  recommended  the  militia  to  hold  themselves  in 
readiness  for  duty,  and  called  upon  the  citizens  to  offer  their  personal  services  and 
means  cheerfully  to  the  United  States  officers  in  command  there,  to  aid  in  the  com 
pletion  of  the  unfinished  fortifications  around  the  city. 

In  response  to  the  mayor's  appeal,  a  large  meeting  of  citizens  was  held  in  the  City 
Hall  Park,  on  Tuesday,  the  9th  of  August,1  when  a  Committee  of  Defense,  chosen  from 
the  Common  Council,  was  appointed,2  clothed  with  ample  powers  to  direct  the  ef 
forts  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  business  of  protection.  On  the  same  morning  the  offi 
cers  of  General  Mapes's  brigade,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred,  gave  the  first  prac 
tical  response  to  the  mayor's  appeal  by  crossing  the  East  River  from  Beekman's  Slip, 
and,  with  Captain  Andrew  Bremmer's  artillery,  marching  to  the  lines  traced  out  for 
the  fortifications  on  the  heights  around  Brooklyn  by  General  Swift,  and  taking  pick 
axes,  and  shovels,  and  every  other  appropriate  implement  at  hand,  breaking  ground  at 
eight  o'clock,  and  working  lustily  all  day.  They  were  followed  the  next  morning  by 
as  many  carpenters  and  cabinet-makers ;  and  only  four  days  after  the  meeting  in  the 
Park,  the  Committee  of  Defense  announced11  that  three  thousand  persons  a  ^  ^  ^ 
were  at  work  on  the  fortifications.  They  also  reported  the  receipt  of 
large  sums  of  money ;  and  on  the  same  day  it  was  announced  that  "  two  hundred 
journeymen  printers,  one  thousand  Sons  of  Erin,  thirty  pilots,  seventy  men  from  the 
Asbury  (African)  Church,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  other  colored  men,  two  hundred 
weavers,  and  many  heads  of  manufacturing  establishments,"  were  at  work  on  the 
lines.  Two  days  afterward  the  city  newspapers  were  suspended,  that  all  hands  might 
work  on  the  fortifications;  and  on  the  20th  of  August  five  hundred  men  "left  on  the 
Jersey  steam-boat  for  Harlem  Heights,"  to  work  on  intrenchments  there  ;  and,  at  the 
same  time,  fifteen  hundred  "  patriotic  Sons  of  Erin"  crossed  the  ferry  to  Brooklyn  for 
the  same  purpose.  Two  days  afterward  nearly  one  thousand  colored  people  crossed 
the  Catharine  Ferry  to  work  on  the  fortifications  between  Fort  Greene  and  Gowanus 
Creek ;  and  on  the  25th  the  Washington  Benevolent  Society,  an  organization  opposed 
to  the  war,  inspired  with  zeal  for  the  common  cause,  went  over  in  a  body,  with  their 
banner  bearing  the  portrait  of  Washington— the  largest  number  belonging  to  one 
society  that  had  crossed  over  at  one  time.  On  the  same  day  the  butchers  went  to 
the  lines  to  labor,  bearing  the  flag,  on  which  was  the  figure  of  an  ox  prepared  for 
slaughter,  which  had  been  used  by  them  in  the  great "  Federal  Procession"  in  honor 
of  the  ratification  of  the  National  Constitution  in  1789.  Masonic  and  other  societies 
went  in  bodies  to  the  patriotic  task ;  and  school-teachers  and  pupils  went  together 
to  give  their  aid.  Little  boys,  too  small  to  handle  a  spade  or  pickaxe,  carried  earth  on 

1  The  call  was  signed  by  Henry  Rutger  and  Oliver  Wolcott.    The  chief  organ  of  the  Opposition— the  Evening  Post— 
denounced  it,  and  asked,  "  Has  it  not  a  squinting  toward  the  charter  election  ?" 

2  The  committee  consisted  of  Nicholas  Fish,  Gideon  Tucker,  Peter  Mesier,  George^uckmaster,  and  J.  Nitchie. 


970 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Neighbors  assist  New  York. 


Gathering  of  Troops  in  and  around  the  City. 


"  The  Patriotic  Diggers." 


shingles,  and  so  added  their  mites  in  rearing  the  breastworks.  It  was  a  scene  like 
that  of  cairn-building  in  the  olden  time.  The  infection  spread,  and  every  day  citi 
zens  from  neighboring  towns  on  Long  Island,1  on  the  Hudson,  and  from  New  Jersey, 
proffered  their  services.  Nor  were  the  nights  undisturbed  by  the  sound  of  the  patri 
otic  toil.  On  that  of  the  31st  of  August  it  is  recorded  that  full  six  hundred  men 
went  over  to  Brooklyn,  and  worked  "  by  the  light  of  the  moon." 

Intelligence  of  the  capture  of  Washington  City  reached  New  York  on  the  27th  of 
August,  three  days  after  that  sad  occurrence.  The  zeal  and  patriotism  of  the  citi 
zens  were  increased  there 
by.  In  General  Orders, 
Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  gov 
ernor  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  who  had  been  untir 
ing  in  his  exertions  for  the 
public  good  from  the  be 
ginning  of  the  Avar,  called  on  the  inhabitants  to  send  arms  of  every  description  to  the 
State  Arsenal,  Avhere  all  fit  for  service  Avould  be  paid  for.  The  call  was  promptly 
answered.  He  also  ordered  the  organization  of  a  battalion  of  Sea  Fencibles,  to  be 
commanded  by  Captain  James  T.  Leonard ;  and  expressed  a  desire  to  enroll  volun 
teers  for  one  or  two  months'  service.  Already  nearly  four  thousand  militia  had 
come  down  the  Hudson  in  sloops ;  and  Commodore  Decatur  had  been  assigned  to 
the  command  of  the  naval  force  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  with  orders  to  co-op 
erate  with  the  military  in  defense  of  the  city.  On  the  1st  of  September  the  gov 
ernor  issued  a  proclamation  for  an  extraordinary  session  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State,  to  commence  on  the  27th  of  that  month. 

On  the  31st  of  August  there  was  a  grand  military  review  in  the  city  of  NCAV  York, 
Avhen  about  six  thousand  men  were  under  arms.  On  the  2d  of  September  the  militia 
were  mustered  into  actual  service,  when 
the  division  of  General  Ebenezer  Stevens  /^  „ 

was  transferred  to  the  command  of  Major  C. ^S// £/?**/y  fif/l^  ^/f^C^\j 

General  Morgan  Lewis.  Cadwallader  D. 
Colden  Avas  appointed  to  the  command  of 
all  the  uniformed  militia  companies  of  the 
city  and  county,  and  every  thing  pertain 
ing  to  the  military  Avas  put  upon  the  war  footing  of  actual  service.  The  citizens  con 
tinued  their  zealous  labors  on  the  military  woi-ks  all  through  September  and  in  Octo 
ber,  and  made  the  lines  of  fortifications  around  NCAV  York  truly  formidable.2 

1  On  the  17th  of  August,  the  people  of  Bushwick,  Long  Island,  led  by  theRev.Mr.Bassett,  repaired  to  Fort  Swift  (erect 
ed  on  the  old  redoubt  of  the  Revolution  on  Cobble  Hill)  to  labor  on  that  work.    The  venerable  pastor  of  the  flock  that 
followed  him  opened  the  operations  with  prayer,  and  he  remained  with  them  throughout  the  day,  encouraging  them 
and  distributing  refreshments  among  them. 

2  These  displays  of  patriotism  inspired  Samuel  Woodworth,  an  American  poet  of  considerable  eminence,  and  then  the 
editor  and  publisher  of  a  weekly  record  of  events  entitled  The  War,  to  write  a  very  popular  ballad  called  Tlie  Patriotic 
Diggers,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy : 


'Johnny  Bull,  beware, 

Keep  at  proper  distance, 
Else  we'll  make  you  stare 
At  our  firm  resistance  ; 
Let  alone  the  lads 

Who  are  freedom  tasting, 
Recollect  our  dads 
Gave  you  once  a  basting. 
Pickaxe,  shovel,  spade, 

Crowbar,  hoe,  and  barrow, 
Better  not  invade, 
Yankees  have  the  marrow. 

'  To  protect  our  rights 

'Gainst  your  flints  and  triggers, 
See  on  Brooklyn  Heights 


Our  patriotic  diggers ; 
Men  of  every  age, 

Color,  rank,  profession, 
Ardently  engage, 

Labor  in  succession. 
Pickaxe,  etc. 

1  Grandeur  leaves  her  towers, 

Poverty  her  hovel, 
Here  to  join  their  powers 

With  the  hoe  and  shovel. 
Here  the  merchant  toils 

With  the  patriot  sawyer, 
There  the  laborer  smiles, 
Near  him  sweats  the  lawyer. 
Pickaxe,  etc. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


971 


General  Swift's  Report  of  the  Fortifications  around  New  York. 


Earlier  than  the  movements  of  the  public  authorities  and  inhabitants  of  New  York 
and  Philadelphia  for  the  defense  of  their  cities,  recorded  in  the  preceding  pages,  the 


"Here  the  mason  builds 

Freedom's  shrine  of  glory, 
While  the  painter  gilds 

The  immortal  story. 
Blacksmiths  catch  the  flame, 

Grocers  feel  the  spirit, 
'  Printers  share  the  fame, 
And  record  their  merit. 

Pickaxe,  etc. 
"  Scholars  leave  their  schools 

With  their  patriot  teachers  , 
Farmers  seize  their  tools, 

Headed  by  their  preachers. 
How  they  break  the  soil ! 

Brewers,  butchers,  bakers ; 
Here  the  doctors  toil, 
There  the  undertakers. 
Pickaxe,  etc. 

"Bright  Apollo's  sons 

Leave  their  pipe  and  tabor, 
'Mid  the  roar  of  guns 

Join  the  martial  labor ; 
Round  the  embattled  plain 

In  sweet  concord  rally, 


And  in  freedom's  strain 
Sing  the  foe's  finale  1 
Pickaxe,  etc. 

Plumbers,  founders,  dyers, 

Tiumen,  turners,  shavers, 
Sweepers,  clerks,  and  criers, 

Jewelers,  engravers, 

Clothiers,  drapers,  players, 

Cartmen,  hatters,  tailors, 

Gangers,  sealers,  weighers, 

Carpenters  and  sailors. 

Pickaxe,  etc. 
"  Better  not  invade ; 

Recollect  the  spirit 
Which  our  dads  displayed, 

And  their  sons  inherit. 
If  you  still  advance, 

Friendly  caution  slighting, 
You  may  get,  by  chance, 
A  bellyful  of  fighting. 
Pickaxe,  shovel,  spade, 

Crowbar,  hoe,  and  barrow, 
Better  not  invade, 
Yankees  have  the  marrow. 


The  most  authentic  account  of  the  fortifications  thrown  up  around  New  York  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1814  may 
be  found  in  the  report  of  General  Joseph  Swift,  Chief  Engineer  (see  page  638),  to  the  Common  Council  Committee  of 
Defense,  made  at  the  close  of  the  year  1S14.  I  have  compiled  the  following  statements  from  the  original  manuscript 
of  that  report,  with  its  maps,  and  landscape  and  topographical  drawings,  which  are  now  before  me. 

The  city  of  New  York  might  be  approached  by  an  enemy  by  way  of  Sandy  Hook  and  the  Narrows,  Long  Island  Sound 
and  the  East  River,  and  across  Long  Island.  To  guard  against  invasion  by  either  one  of  these  approaches,  and  to  be 
prepared  at  all  points,  old  fortifications,  built  during  the  Revolution,  or  when  war  with  France  seemed  inevitable  in  17£8 
and  1790,  were  strengthened  and  new  ones  were  erected.  The  commanding  situations  near  the  dangerous  passage  in 
the  East  River  known  as  Hell  Gate,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Harlem  River,  were  occupied  by  batteries,  some  of  which  were 
covered  by  towers.  The  heights  overlooking  Harlem  Plains,  and  those  around  Brooklyn,  on  Long  Island,  were  also 
covered  with  military  works,  within  which  necessary  magazines  and  barracks  were  erected.  The  position  of  these  va 
rious  works,  and  those  around  and  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  may  be  seen  at  a  glance  by  reference  to  the  map  on  the 
iiext  page. 

In  the  rear  of  Brooklyn  works  were  erected  which  completely  isolated  the  town.  On  the  high  ground  overlooking 
the  Wallabout  and  the  navy  yard  was  Fort  Greene,  mounting  twenty-three  heavy  cannon,  and  between  it  and  Gowanus 
Creek,  which  ran  through  a  low  morass,  Redoubts  Cummings  and  Masonic,  Washington  Battery  and  Fort  Firemen  were 
erected.  These  were 
united  by  lines  of  in- 
trenchments.  In  each 
of  these  redoubts,  as 
well  as  at  the  salient 
angles  of  the  intrench- 
ments,  twelve -pound 
ers  were  placed.  The 
intervals  between  them 
did  not  exceed  half 
grape-shot  distance  of 
guns  of  that  capacity. 
On  a  small  eminence  on 
the  margin  of  Gowanus 

FORT   STEVENS   AND   MILL   KOCK." 

Creek,  on  the  right  flank  of  these  lines,  was  a  little  redoubt,  open  in  the  rear,  cal- 
J  cnlated  for  three  heavy  guns,  to  defend  the  mill-dam  and  bridge.    On  a  com 

manding  conical  hill  forming  a  part  of  Brooklyn  Heights,  and  nearly  on  the  site 
of  Fort  Stirling  of  the  Revolution,  was  a  strong  redoubt  called  Fort  Swift;  and 
another,  named  Fort  Lawrence,  was  constructed  at  the  southwestern  extremity 
of  the  heights,  and  overlooking  Gowanus  Bay  and  Governor's  Island. 

On  Haliett's  Point,  Long  Island,  near  Hell  Gate,  was  quite  an  extensive  work 
called  Fort  Stevens,  in  honor  of  General  Ebenezer  Stevens,  who  had  been  in 
command  of  the  troops  in  and  around  New  York.  On  Lawrence's  Hill,  in  the 
rear,  and  commanding  an  extensive  view,  was  a  tower.  In  front  of  it,  in  the 
middle  of  the  East  River,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Harlem  River,  stood  (and  yet 
stands)  Mill  Rock.  On  this  a  very  strong  block-house  and  a  powerful  battery 
were  erected.  On  the  shore  of  York  Island,  opposite,  at  a  place  known  as  Rhine- 
lander's  Point  (Horn's  Hook  in  the  Revolution),  not  far  above  the  present  Asto- 


TOWEE  AT  IIAT.LETT'S  POINT. 


*  This  is  a  view  from  the  tower  on  Lawrence's  Hill,  back  of  Fort  Stevens,  and  looking  up  the  Harlem  River.  Directly 
over  the  fort  is  seen  the  block-house  on  Mill  Rock.  Over  the  island  on  the  left  is  seen  Rhinelander's  Point.  At  the 
extreme  right  is  Hell  Gate. 


972 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Fortifications  around  New  York. 


subject  of  harbor  defenses  had  occupied  much  of  the  public  attention  in  sea-coast 

ria  Ferry,  was  a  redoubt  to  cover  the  Hell  Gate  passage.  These  works,  in  the  aggregate,  were  of  sufficient  capacity  to 
mount  thirty  large  cannon,  besides  mortars,  so  arranged  that  half  of  them  might  be  concentrated  at  one  time  upon  any 
object  in  the  river.  At  Benson's,  nearly  on  a  line  with  the  present  Second  Avenue,  was  a  redoubt  to  guard  a  mill-dam 
and  fording-place  on  the  Harlem  Creek,  which  empties  into  the  Harlem  River  near  by.  Intrenchments  extended  back 
to  another  short  creek,  where  they  were  flanked  by  a  battery.  At  the  head  of  Harlem  Creek  commenced  a  parapet  and 
ditch,  running  to  Fort  Clinton  (delineated  on  the  next  page),  which  was  situated  on  an  elevated  rock  at  M'Gowan's 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


973 


General  Swift's  Report. 


towns,  especially  in  the  fast-growing  commercial  city  of  New  York.     Among  the  sci- 


Paes,  now  called  Mount  St. 
Vincent,  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  Central  Park.  Con 
nected  with  Fort  Clinton,  and 
extending  like  a  bridge  over 
M'Gowan's  Pass,  were  a  block 
house  and  Nutter's  Battery  (a 
sketch  of  which  is  given  on 
the  following  page),  the  whole 
joined  to  and  commanded  by 
Fort  Fish  (a  view  of  the  inte 
rior  of  which,  with  Harlem  in 
the  distance,  will  also  be  found 
on  the  following  page),  on  an 
other  eminence  westward  of 
the  pass,  on  which  five  heavy 
cannon  were  planted.  This 
pass,  on  the  old  Kingsbridge 
Road  (between  the  present 
Fifth  and  Sixth  Avenues  and 
One  Hundred  and  Fifth  and 
One  Hundred  and  Eighth 
Streets),  was  a  very  important 
point,  and  great  efforts  were 
used  to  make  it  a  Thermopylae 


FOKT   CLINTON   AT   M 'GO WAN'S  PASS. 


to  any  foe  that  might  attempt  to  go 
through. 

Immediately  west  of  Fort  Fish,  and 
at  the  foot  of  the  works,  was  a  deep, 
rough,  wooded  valley,  which  is  now 
within  the  Central  Park,  and  pre 
served  in  all  its  original  rudeness. 
On  the  opposite  side  of  this  valley 
was  a  range  of  wooded  and  rocky 
heights,  of  difficult  ascent  excepting 
in  one  place,  and  there  for  only  the 
lightest  troops.  On  these  heights, 
extending  to  Manhattanville,  several 
block -houses  were  erected,  mostly 
of  stone,  within  supporting  distance 
from  each  other.  These  extended 
from  near  M'Gowan's  Pass  almost 
to  the  Bloomingdale  Road.  The 
one  nearest  that  road,  and  overlook 
ing  Manhattanville,  was  called  Fort 
Laight.  All  of  them  had  heavy  guns 
mounted  en  barbette,  that  is,  on  the 
top,  without  embrasures. 

From  Fort  Laight  ran  a  line  of  in- 
trenchments  westwardly  across  the 
Bloomingdale  Road,  which  ended  on 
the  high,  precipitous  bank  of  the 
Hudson.  Here,  near  the  then  resi 
dence  of  Viscount  Courtenay  (after 


ward  the  Earl  of  Dev 
on),  was  a  strong  stone 
tower  (see  picture  on 
page  975)  which  com 
manded  Manhattan 
ville,  and  from  which 
was  a  fine  view  of  the 
Palisades  of  the  Hud 
son,  and  of  the  river  al 
most  to  the  Highlands. 
Such  were  the  fortifica 
tions  described  in  Gen 
eral  Swift's  report,*  at 
the  conclusion  of  which 
he  said : 

"The  works  compre 
hended  in  the  foregoing 


FORT  CLINTON  AND  HARLEM  CREEK. 


General  Swift's  aid-de-camp,  Lieutenant  Gadsden,  of  the  United  States  Engineers,  superintended  the  erection  of  the 
works  at  Brooklvn,  assisted  by  Messrs.  Nicholls  and  Mercein.  Major  Horn  superintended  those  in  the  vicinity  of  Har 
lem  The  survey*  maps,  and  small  views  presented  in  the  report  were  furnished  by  Captain  (late  Professor  in  Colum 
bia  College,  New  York)  Renwick,  of  General  Mapes's  brigade,  aided  by  Lieutenants  Gadsden,  Craig,  Turner,  De  Russy, 
Kemble,  and  Oothout.  The  larger  views  were  drawn  by  Mr.  Holland. 


974 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Fortifications  around  New  York. 


A  proposed  Revolving  Battery. 


entific  men  of  that  day,  John  Stevens  and  Robert  Fulton  appear  most  conspicuous  in 
proposing  plans  for  that  purpose.  Earlier  than  this  (in  1807),  Abraham  Bloodgood, 
of  Albany,  suggested  the  construction  of  a  floating  revolving  battery,  not  unlike,  in 
its  essential  character,  the  turret  of  Captain  Ericsson's  Monitor  of  1862. !  In  March, 

description  have  been  chiefly  con 
structed  by  the  labor  of  the  citizens 
of  the  city  of  New  York,  Long  Isl 
and,  and  of  the  neighboring  towns 
near  the  North  Eiver,  and  in  New 
Jersey,  all  classes  volunteering  daily 
working-parties  of  from  five  to  fif 
teen  hundred  men.  The  fortifica 
tions  are  testimonials  of  patriotic 
zeal,  honorable  to  the  citizens  and 
to  the  active  and  assiduous  Commit 
tee  of  Defense." 

Besides  these  works  there  were 
old  Fort  George,  at  the  foot  of  Broad 
way;  the  North  Battery  (given  be 
low),  at  the  foot  of  Hubert  Street ; 
and  a  partly  finished  work  near  the 
foot  of  the  present  Twenty -third 
Street,  called  Fort  Gansevoort.  At 
Princes  Bay,  Staten  Island,  a  tower 
was  erected  to  command  the  only 
secure  anchorage  for  the  shipping 
and  safe  landing-place  of  a  foe.  For 
tifications  were  commenced  on  the 
wvYi^/ 

WOKKS  AT  M'GOWAN'S  PASS. 

Staten  Island  Shore  at  the  Narrows,  and  near  there  a  brigade 
of  two  thousand  militia  from  the  Hudson  River  counties  were 
stationed  from  August  to  December,  1814.  On  Governor's  Isl 
and,  very  near  the  city,  were  Forts  Jay  and  Castle  Williams.  Of 
all  these  works  only  those  on  Governor's  Island  remain,  ex 
cepting  one  of  the  block-houses  near  M'Gowan's  Pass,  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  Central  Park,  between  Seventh  and  Eighth 
Avenues,  at  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Street,  overlooking  Har 
lem  Plains.  Its  massive  walls  are  well  preserved,  as  may  be 
seen  from  the  drawing  of  it  given  on  page  975.  The  mounds 
of  Forts  Fish  and  Clinton,  at  M'Gowan's  Pass,  were  also  well 
preserved  as  late  as  1800,  when,  from  the  north,  they  presented 
the  appearance  given  in  the  engraving  on  the  opposite  page.  JSOBTH  UATTERY. 


VIEW  FKOM   FORT   FISH,  LOOKING  TOWARD   HAKLEM. 

1  In  a  volume  containing  the  proceedings  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Useful  Arts  in  the  State  of  yew  York,  pub 
lished  at  Albany  in  180T,  is  the  following  account  of  Mr.  Bloodgood's  plan,  reference  being  had  to  accompanying  draw 
ings  :  "The  model  of  this  battery  was  exhibited  to  the  society  with  a  verbal  description  only.  The  annexed  plate 
shows  an  exact  profile  of  its  body,  the  shape  of  which,  as  seen  above,  is  circular.  It  is  to  be  connected  at  the  centre  of 
its  bottom  with  a  strong  keel,  in  such  a  manner  that,  while  the  keel  is  held  by  cables  and  anchors  in  one  position,  the 
battery  is  made  to  turn  round  on  its  centre.  This  motion  may  be  given  to  it  either  by  the  tide  acting  on  float-boards  at 
tached  to  the  body  of  the  battery,  by  sails  raised  on  its  exterior  parts,  or  by  manual  application.  In  this  last  way  it  may 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


975 


Description  of  proposed  Revolving  Battery. 


A  proposed  iron-clad  Vessel. 


Remains  of  a  Block-house. 


1814,  Thomas  Gregg,  of  Pennsylvania,  obtained  a  patent  for  a  proposed  iron-clad 


be  effected  by  men  in  the  hold 
drawing  on  a  lever  fastened  to  a 
post  fixed  to  the  keel  and  rising 
through  a  well-hole  in  the  centre 
of  the  battery.  The  strength  of 
horses  might  perhaps  be  applied 
to  the  game  purpose.  The  cables 
by  which  the  keel  is  held  are  to 
be  entirely  under  water,  and  thus 
secure  from  an  enemy's  shot. 
The  advantages  of  such  a  battery 
would  be  —  1.  Its  rotary  motion 
would  bring  all  its  cannon  to  bear 
successively,  as  fast  as  they  could 
be  loaded,  on  objects  in  any  direc 
tion.  2.  Its  circular  form  would 
cause  every  shot  that  might  strike 
it  not  near  the  centre  to  glance. 
3.  Its  motion,  as  well  as  its  want 
of  parts  on  which  grapplings 
might  be  fastened,  would  render 
boarding  almost  impossible.  4. 
The  steadiness  with  which  it 
would  lie  on  the  water  would  ren 
der  its  fire  more  certain  than  that 
of  a  ship.  5.  The  guns  would  be 
more  easily  worked  than  is  com 
mon,  as  they  would  not  require 
any  lateral  movement.  6.  The 


OOURTENAY  S  AND   THE   HUDSON   TOWER. 


REMAINS   OF   BLOCK-HOUSE   OVERLOOKING   IIABLEM   PLAINS   IN   lS60.t 


men  would  be  completely  sheltered  from  the  fire  of  the 
elevated  parts  of  an  enemy's  ship.  7.  The  battery  might 
be  made  so  strong  as  to  be  impenetrable  to  common  shot, 
etc." 

*  The  house  in  which  Viscount  Conrtenay,  son  of  the 
Earl  of  Devon,  lived  was  built  by  the  elder  Doctor  Post, 
of  New  York,  and  named  Clermont.  There  Joseph  Bona 
parte  resided  for  a  while.  It  is  now  (1867)  known  as 
Jones's  Claremont  Hotel,  and  is  a  place  of  great  resort  in 
fine  weather  for  pleasure-seekers  who  frequent  the  Bloom- 
ingdale  and  Kingsbridge  Roads.  The  appearance  of  the 
mansion  has  been  entirely  changed  by  additions. 

t  This  sketch  shows  the  character  of  the  rocky  heights 
on  which  the  line  of  block-houses  was  built.  In  the  dis 
tance  is  seen  the  "  High  Bridge,"  or  Croton  Aqueduct, 
over  Harlem  River.  The  walls  of  the  block-house  are 
twelve  or  fifteen  feet  in  height,  and  four  feet  in  thick 
ness. 

}  The  remains  of  Fort  Clinton  are  seen  on  the  left 


.M'GOWAN'B  PASS  IN 


976 


PICTOKIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Iron-clad  Gun-boat. 


A  Floating  Battery  authorized  by  Congress. 


Launch  of  the  Battery. 


steam  vessel  of  war,  resembling  in  figure  vessels  used  during  our  late  great  Civil 
War.  Drawings  of  it  may  be  seen  in  the  Patent-office,  with  full  specifications.1 
Our  little  sketch  below  was  copied  from  one  of  these  drawings. 

At  about  the  same  time  a  committee  of  citizens  examined  a  plan  of  a  floating  bat 
tery  submitted  by  Robert  Fulton,  and  approved  by  such  tried  naval  officers  as  Cap 
tains  Decatur,  Jones,  Evans,  Biddle,  Perry,  Warrington,  and  Lewis.  It  -was  to  be  in 
the  form  of  a  steam-ship  of  peculiar  construction,  that  might  move  at  the  rate  of  four 
miles  an  hour,  and  furnished,  in  addition  to  its  regular  arnlament,  with  submarine 
guns.  The  committee  memorialized  Congress  on  the  subject,  and  asked  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy  to  give  it  his  official  favor.  It  was  objected  that  a  discussion  in 
Congress  would  reveal  the  matter  to  the  enemy,  and  also  that  the  President  was  not 
authorized  to  make  an  appropriation  without  the  special  authority  of  law.  To  meet 
these  objections,  the  committee  agreed  to  have  the  vessel  constructed  at  their  own 
expense  and  risk,  provided  assurances  should  be  given  that  the  government,  which 
alone  could  employ  her,  would  receive  and  pay  for  her  when  her  utility  should  be 
demonstrated.  It  was  estimated  that  she  would  cost  nearly  as  much  as  a  first-class 
frigate,  or  about  three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The  liberal  offer  was 
a  March,  accepted,  and  Congress  authorized  the  President11  to  have  one  or  more  float- 
1814.  jng  batteries  built,  under  the  supervision  of  the  Coast  and  Harbor  Defense 

Committee.2  They  appointed 
Mr.  Fulton  the  engineer,  and 
Adam  and  Noah  Brown  the 
architects.  The  keel  was  laid 
at  the  ship-yard  at  Corlear's 
Hook,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
on  the  20th  of  June,  1814,  and 
she  was  launched  at  9  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  the  29th  of  October  following,  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  assemblage 
of  people.  The  scene  was  described  as  very  exciting.  It  wras  a  bright  autumnal 
day.  Fleets  of  vessels  and  crowds  of  spectators  might  be  seen  on  every  hand ;  and 
she  went  into  the  water  amid  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the  shouts  of  a  multitude  full 
twenty  thousand  in  number.3  Her  engines  were,  put  on  board,  and  her  machinery 

1  The  following  is  a  portion  of  the  specifi 
cation  : 

"  The  boat  is  framed  on  an  angle  of  about 
eighteen  degrees  all  round  the  vessel,  when 
the  top  timbers  elevate  the  balls,  and  the 
lower  ones  direct  them  under  her.  The  top 
deck,  which  glances  the  ball,  may  be  hung 
on  a  mass  of  hinges  near  the  ports.  Said 
deck  is  supported  by  knees  and  cross-timbers 
on  the  lower  sides,  so  that  it  may  be  sprung 
with  powder,  if  required  (when  boarded  by 
the  enemy),  to  a  perpendicular,  when  the  said 
deck  will  be  checked  by  stays,  while  the  pow 
er  of  powder  will  be  exhausted  in  the  open 
air,  and  then  fall  or  spring  to  the  centre  of 
the  deck  again.  The  aforesaid  deck  will  run 
up  and  down  with  the  angle,  which  may  be 
coppered  or  laid  with  iron.  The  gun-deck 
may  be  bored  at  pleasure,  to  give  room,  if  required,  as  the  men  and  guns  are  under  said  deck.  The  power  is  applied 
between  her  keels,  where  there  is  a  concave  formed  to  receive  them  from  the  bow  to  the  stern,  except  a  small  distance 
in  each  end,  forming  an  eddy.  The  power  may  be  reversed  to  propel  her  either  way.  Said  power  is  connected  to  up 
right  levers  to  make  horizontal  strokes  alternately.  The  elevation  of  her  timbers  and  gearing  will  be  proportioned  by 
her  keel  and  tonnage." 

2  That  committee  consisted  of  General  Dearborn,  then  commanding  the  district,  Colonel  Henry  Rutgers,  Oliver  -Wol- 
cott,  Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  and  Thomas  Morris. 

3  The  New  York  Evening  Post  published  an  account  of  the  launching  of  this  vessel,  and  gave  the  following  as  her 
dimensions  and  capacity  for  armament:    "She  measures  one  hundred  and  forty-five  feet  on  deck,  and  fifty-five  feet 
breadth  of  beam,  draws  only  eight  feet  of  water,  mounts  thirty  32-pound  carronades,  and  two  columbiads  of  one  hun 
dred  pounds  each.    She  is  to  be  commanded  by  Captain  Porter."    It  may  be  added  that  it  was  a  structure  resting  upon 
two  boats  and  keels,  separated  from  end  to  end  by  a  channel  fifteen  feet  wide  and  sixty-six  feet  long.    One  boat  con- 


IKOJf-CLAD  VESSEL   IN   1814. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


977 


Steam-ship  or  Floating  Battery,  Fulton  the  First. 


Extravagant  Stories  concerning  her. 


tested,  in  the  month  of  May  following,*  when  Fulton  was  no  more,  he  having 
died  in  February.1     She  made  a  trial  trip  to  the  ocean  and  back,  fifty-three 
miles,  on  the  4th  of  July,  at  the  rate  of  about  six  miles  an  hour  by  her  engines  alone. 
In  September  she  made  another  voyage  to  the  sea,  with  her  whole  armament  on 
board,  at  the  rate  of  five  and  a  half  miles  an  hour  against  wind  and  tide.     The  vessel 
was  named  FULTOX  THE  FIRST. 

At  the  close  of  1814  active  war  had  ceased  in  the  Northern  States.  Its  chief  thea 
tre  of  operations  was  in  Louisiana  and  on  the  ocean,  to  which  we  will  now  turn  our 
attention. 

tained  the  boiler  for  generating  steam,  which  was  made  of  copper.  The  machinery  occupied  the  other  boat.  The  wa 
ter-wheel  (A)  revolved  in  the  space  between  them.  The  main  or  gnn-deck  supported  the  ar 
mament,  and  was  protected  by  a  parapet  four  feet  ten  inches  thick,  of  solid  timber,  pierced  by 
embrasures.  Through  twenty-five  port-holes  were  as  many  32-pounders,  intended  to  fire  red-hot 
shot,  which  could  be  heated  with  great  safety  and  convenience.  Her  upper,  or  spar-deck,  upon 
which  many  hundred  men  might  parade,  was  encompassed  with  a  bulwark,  for  safety.  She  was 
rigged  with  two  stout  masts,  each  of  which  supported  a  large  lateen  yard  and  sails.  She  had  two 
bowsprits  and  jibs,  and  four  rudders,  one  at  each  extremity  of  each  boat,  so  that  she  might  be 
steered  with  either  end  foremost.  Her  machinery  was  calculated  for  an  additional  engine, 
which  might  discharge  an  immense  column  of  water,  which  it  was  intended  to  throw  upon  the 
decks  and  through  the  port-holes  of  an  enemy,  and  thereby  deluge  her  armament  and  ammu 
nition. — See  Colden's  Life  of  Robert  Fulton,  page  229. 

The  most  extravagant  stories  concerning  this  monster  of  the  deep  went  forth  at  about  the 
time  of  her  being  launched.  In  a  treatise  on  steam-vessels,  published  in  Scotland  soon  after 
ward,  the  author  said  :  "  Her  length  is  300  feet ;  breadth,  200  feet ;  thickness  of  her  sides,  13 
feet,  of  alternate  oak  plank  and  corkwood  ;  carries  44  guns,  four  of  which  are  100-pounders  ;  can 
discharge  100  gallons  of  boiling  water  in  a  few  minutes,  and  by  mechanics  brandishes  300  cutlasses  with  the  utmost 
regularity  over  her  gunwales  ;  works,  also,  an  equal  number  of  pikes  of  great  length,  darting  them  from  her  sides  with 
prodigious  force,  and  withdrawing  them  every  quarter  of  a  minute."  J  See  page  242. 

3Q 


SECTION   OF  THE   FLOAT 
ING   BATTERY. 


FU1/1UN   TilE   FIEST. 


978  PICTOKIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

New  Vessels  for  the  American  Navy.  The  Adams  runs  the  Blockade.  Her  Escape  from  Danger. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

"We  had  sailed  out  a  letter  of  marque, 

Fourteen  guns  and  forty-five  men, 
And  a  costly  freight  our  gallant  barque 

Was  bearing  home  again. 
We  had  ranged  the  seas  the  whole  summer  tide, 

Crossed  the  main  and  returned  once  more ; 
And  our  sails  were  spread,  and  from  the  mast-head 

The  look-out  saw  the  distant  shore. 
A  sail !  a  sail  on  our  weather-bow ! 

Hand  over  hand  ten  knots  an  hour ; 
Now  God  defend  it  ever  should  end 

That  we  should  fall  in  the  foeman's  power."1 — CAEOLLNE  F.  OENE. 

iTJR  story  of  the  operations  of  the  American  Navy  during  the  year  1813 
closed  with  the  cruise  of  the  President,  under  Commodore  Rodgers, 
and  her  bold  dash  through  the  British  blockading  squadron  off  Sandy 
Hook  into  the  harbor  of  New  York,  at  the  middle  of  February,  1814, 
when  the  broad  pennant  of  Commodore  Decatur  was  unfurled  over 
her  deck. 

The  Guerriere,  44,  the  first  frigate  built  by  the  United  States  gov 
ernment  on  the  sea-board  since  1804,  was  launched  at  Philadelphia  on 
the  20th  of  June,  1814,  in  the  presence  of  fifty  thousand  persons,  and 
was  placed  under  the  command  of  Commodore  Rodgers.  On  the  20th 
of  July,  the  Independence,  74,  was  launched  at  Charlestown,  amid  the  roar  of  cannon 
and  the  shouts  of  a  great  multitude.  She  was  placed  in  charge  of  Commodore  Bain- 
bridge.  The  Independence  was  a  two-decker,  the  first  that  had  ever  been  built  for 
the  service  of  the.  United  States.2  The  keels  of  two  others  were  laid,  but  they  were 
not  put  afloat  until  the  war  had  ceased.  The  Java,  44,  was  launched  at  Baltimore 
on  the  1st  of  August,  while  twenty  thousand  people  were  looking  on.  She  was  placed 
under  the  command  of  Commodore  Perry.  Several  new  sloops  of  war  were  made 
ready  for  sea  during  the  summer  of  1814 ;  and  the  Adams,  28,  had  been  cut  down  to 
a  sloop  and  lengthened  the  previous  autumn  at  Washington,  and  armed  with  the 
same  number  of  guns,  but  on  a  single  deck. 

On  the  night  of  the  18th  of  January,  1814,  the  Adams,  Captain  Charles  Morris, 
passed  the  blockading  squadron  in  Lynnhaven  Bay,  put  to  sea,  and  ran  off  to  the 
northeast  to  cross  the  track  of  the  British  West  India  merchantmen.  She  made  a 
few  prizes.  On  the  25th  of  March  she  captured  the  Indiaman  Woodbridge,  and,  while 
taking  possession  of  her,  observed  twenty-five  merchant  vessels,  with  two  ships  of 
war,  bearing  down  upon  her  with  a  fair  wind.  Morris  abandoned  his  prize,  and  gave 
the  Adams  wings  for  flight  from  danger.  She  escaped,  sailed  down  the  coast,  and 
entered  the  harbor  of  Savannah  for  supplies  in  the  month  of  April.  On  the  5th  of 
May  she  sailed  for  the  Manilla  Reef  to  watch  for  the  Jamaica  convoy.  The  fleet 
passed  her  in  the  night.  She  gave  chase  in  the  morning,  gained  upon  the  fugitives, 
but  was  kept  at  bay  by  two  vessels  of  war. 

The  Adams  now  stood  to  the  northward,  and  on  the  3d  of  July  was  off  the  Irish 
coast,  where  she  was  chased  by  British  frigates  at  different  times,  but  always  escaped. 

1  From  a  spirited  poem,  in  manuscript,  written  by  Miss  Orne,  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  entitled  "The  Letter  of 
Marque." 

2  The  America,  of  the  same  class,  was  presented  to  the  French  government  while  she  was  yet  on  the  stocks. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF   1812. 


979 


Destruction  of  the  Adams. 


Cruise  of  the  Wasp. 


She  captures  the  Reindeer. 


The  weather  was  cold,  damp,  and  foggy  for  nearly  two  months,  because  the  ocean 
was  dotted  with  icebergs  floating  down  from  circumpolar  waters.  Her  crew  sick 
ened,  and  Captain  Morris  determined  to 
go  into  port.  He  entered  the  Penobscot 
River,  in  a  somewhat  disabled  condition, 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  17th  of  August, 
and  made  his  way  with  the  Adams  to 
Hampden,  far  up  the  river,  where  he  was 
soon  afterward  compelled  to  destroy  his 
vessel  to  prevent  its  falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  British,  as  we  have  already  ob 
served.1 

Captain  Johnston  Blakeley  left  the  har 
bor  of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  on 
the  1st  of  May,  1814,  in  command  of  the 
new  sloop-of-war  Wasp,  18,  and  soon  ap 
peared  in  the  chops  of  the  British  Chan 
nel.  There  he  spread  terror  among  the 
merchant  ships  and  the  people  of  the  sea 
port  towns,  and  revived  painful  recollec 
tions  of  the  exploits  of  the  Argus.2  On 
the  morning  of  the  28th  of  June,  wThile 
some  distance  at  sea,  the  Wasp  was  chased 
by  two  vessels.  These  were  joined  by  a 
third  at  ten  o'clock,  when  the  foremost 
one  showed  English  colors.  After  a  good 
deal  of  manoeuvring  until  a  little  past  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  foe 
was  within  sixty  yards  of  the  Wasp  and  on  her  weather-quarter,  the  former  opened 
fire  with  a  12-pound  carronade,  and  gave  four  heavy  discharges  of  round  and  grape 
shot  before  her  antagonist  could  bring  one  of  her  guns  to  bear.  At  about  half  past 
three  the  Wasp  opened  fire,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  action  became  very  severe. 
Several  times  the  men  of  the  stranger  attempted  to  board  the  Wasp,  but  were  re 
pulsed.  Her  crew  finally  boarded  the  stranger,  and  at  the  end  of  twenty-eight  min 
utes  after  the  combat  commenced  the  latter  was  a  prize  to  the  Wasp.  The  van 
quished  vessel  was  the  British  sloop-of-war  fieindeer,  Captain  William  Manners.  She 
was  terribly  shattered.  Her  people  had  fought  bravely,  and  her  captain  and  purser 
(Barton),  and  twenty-three  others,  were  killed,  and  forty-two  were  wounded.  The 
Wasp  was  hulled  six  times,  but  was  not  very  seriously  damaged.  Her  loss  was  five 
men  killed  and  twenty-two  wounded.  She  was  every  way  the  superior  of  the  Rein 
deer.  She  was  new,  mounted  twenty  32-pound  carronades  and  two  long  guns,  and 
her  complement  was  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  men.  That  of  the  Reindeer  was 
only  one  hundred  and  eighteen.  Blakeley  put  some  of  his  wounded  prisoners  on  a 
neutral  vessel,  and  with  the  remainder  sailed  for  L'Orient,  where  he  arrived  on  the 
8th  of  July.  He  had  burned  the  wrecked  Reindeer.  For  his  gallant  conduct  on  this 
occasion  Congress  voted  him  a  gold  medal.3 

Blakeley  left  L'Orient  on  another  cruise  in  the  Wasp  on  the  27th  of  August.  On 
the  evening  of  the  1st  of  September  he  discovered  four  sail  ahead,  two  on  the  lar 
board  and  two  on  the  starboard  bow  of  the  Wasp.  He  bore  down  upon  them,  and 
at  almost  half  past  nine  in  the  evening  be  Avas  so  near  one  of  them  that  he  opened 

•  See  pa<re  899  *  See  page  715- 

3  On  one  side  of  the  medal  is  a  bust  of  Captain  Blakeley  in  profile,  with  the  words  around  it  "  JOHNSTON  BLAKELEY 
EEIP  VJED   AM   NAV  WASP  iwx."    On  the  other  side  is  represented  a  naval  action,  with  the  legend  "EIIETT!  BIS  vic- 

TOB.  PATBIA  TPA  TE   LUGET  PLAUDITO."      BeloW,  "  INTER  WASP  NAV.  AMEBI.    ET  EE1NDEEE   NAV.  ANQ.       DIE  XXVIII. 
MDCCOX1V." 


980 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Combat  between  the  Wasp  and  Avon.  Loss  of  the  Wasp  and  all  on  board.  Blakeley  and  Warrington. 


INTER  WASP     NAV.    AMERI. 
ET  REINDEER. 

DIE     XXVm    JUNTOS 
MDCCCXW. 


BI.AKELEY  8   MEDAL. 


fire  upon  her  with  a  12-pound  carronade.  The  shot  was  promptly  returned.  The 
night  was  intensely  dai-k,  the  wind  was  blowing  freshly,  and  the  vessels  were  run 
ning  at  the  rate  of  ten  knots  an  hour.  After  the  exchange  of  shots,  the  commanders 
of  both  vessels  hailed;  and  soon  afterward  the  Wasp  opened  a  broadside  upon  her 
antagonist.  A  severe  engagement  ensued.  Thirty  minutes  later  the  fire  of  the 
stranger  ceased.  "  Have  you  surrendered  ?"  inquired  Blakeley.  He  was  answered 
by  a  few  shots,  when  he  gave  his  foe  another  broadside,  followed  by  the  same  ques 
tion.  It  was  answered  in  the  affirmative,  when  a  boat  was  lowered  from  the  Wasp, 
with  an  officer  to  take  possession  of  the  prize.  Just  then  another  vessel  appeared 
astern,  rapidly  approaching ;  then  another,  and  another.  Blakeley  felt  compelled  to 
abandon  his  prize,  so  nearly  in  his  possession.  He  could  not  ascertain  the  name  or 
power  of  his  antagonist,  but  believed  her  to  be  one  of  the  largest  brigs  in  the  British 
Navy.  It  was  afterward  ascertained  that  it  was  the  Avon,  18,  Captain  Arbuthnot, 
and  that  the  vessel  that  first  came  to  her  aid  was  the  Castilian,  18.  The  Avon  was 
so  much  shattered  in  the  conflict  that  she  sunk  almost  immediately.  The  survivors 
of  her  people  were  rescued  by  their  friends  in  the  other  vessels. 

The  Wasp  continued  her  cruise,  capturing  several  prizes.  Among  others,  she  took 
the  Atlanta,  near  the  Azores,  on  the  21st  of  September.  The  prize  was  so  valuable 
that  Blakeley  sent  her  home  in  command  of  Midshipman  (late  Commodore)  David 
Geisinger.1  She  arrived  safely  at  Savannah  on  the  4th  of  November.  On  the  9th 
of  October  the  Wasp  was  spoken  by  the  Swedish  bark  Adonis,  making  her  way  to 
ward  the  Spanish  Main.  On  that  occasion  two  officers  of  the  Essex  (Acting  Lieuten 
ant  M'Kniglit  and  Master's-mate  Lyman),  who  were  passengers  in  the  Adonis,  left 
her  for  the  Wasp.  This  was  the  last  that  was  ever  heard  of  that  vessel  and  of  those 
t>n  board  of  her  at  that  time.  She  and  all  her  people  perished  in  some  unknown  way 
in  the  solitudes  of  the  sea.2 

In  March,  1814,  the  Peacock,  18,  Captain  Warrington,3  sailed  on  a  cruise  from  New 

1  Commodore  Geisinger  died  at  his  residence  in  Philadelphia  on  Saturday,  the  10th  of  March,  I860,  at  the  age  of  about 
seventy  years.    He  was  among  the  oldest  officers  of  the  navy.    His  commission  as  captain  was  dated  May  24, 183S. 
For  several  years  he  was  stationed  at  the  Naval  Asylum  in  Philadelphia. 

2  Johnston  Blakeley  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  where  he  was  born  in  the  month  of  October,  1781.    His  father  emigrated 
to  the  United  States  with  his  family  in  1783,  and  settled  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  afterward  made  Wilming 
ton,  in  North  Carolina,  his  home.    He  sent  Johnston,  his  only  surviving  son,  to  New  York  to  be  educated.    He  finished 
his  education  at  Chapel  Hill,  in  North  Carolina.    He  entered  the  navy  as  a  midshipman  in  the  year  1800.    He  served 
with  faithfulness,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  captain.    In  1814  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Wasp,  in  which,  as 
we  have  observed  in  the  text,  he  perished  toward  the  close  of  that  year,  when  he  was  only  thirty-three  years  of  age. 

3  Lewis  Warrington  was  born  at  Williamsburg,  in  Virginia,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1782.    He  was  educated  at  Wil 
liam  and  Mary  College  in  that  state.    He  entered  the  naval  service  as  midshipman  in  January,  1800,  and  made  his  first 
cruise  with  Captain  Barren  in  the  Chesapeake.    He  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  in  1807,  and  to  master  commandant  on 
the  24th  of  July,  1813.    This  was  the  office  which  he  held,  by  commission,  when  he  started  on  the  cruise  in  the  Peacock. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


981 


Fight  between  the  Peacock  and  Epervier, 


Capture  of  the  latter. 


Her  Escape  from  Recapture. 


0Z 


York.  She  went  down  the  coast,  and 
was  off  the  shores  of  Florida  for  some 
time  without  encountering  any  conspic 
uous  adventures.  Finally,  on  the  29th 
of  April,  Warrington  discovered  three 
sail  to  the  windward,  under  convoy  of 
an  armed  brig  of  large  dimensions.  The 
merchantmen  were  an  English  briff,  and 

O  O  3 

a  Russian  and  a  Spanish  ship.  The  two 
war  vessels  made  for  each  other>  and 
very  soon  a  close  and  severe  battle  com 
menced.  The  Peacock  was  so  badly 
wounded  in  the  rigging  by  a  broadside 
from  her  antagonist,  which  proved  to  be 
the  Epervier,  1 8,  Captain  Wales,  that  she 
was  compelled  to  fight  "  running  large," 
as  the  phrase  is.  She  could  not  manoeu 
vre  much,  and  the  contest  became  one 
of  gunnery.  The  Peacock  won  the  game 
at  the  end  of  forty  minutes  after  it  be 
gan,  when  the  Epervier  struck  her  col 
ors.  She  was  extensively  injured.  No 
less  than  forty-five  round  shot  had  struck 
her  hull,  and  twenty-two  of  her  men  were  slain  or  disabled.  The  hull  of  the  Pea 
cock  was  scarcely  bruised,  and  within  an  hour  after  the  conclusion  of  the  combat 
she  was  in  perfect  fighting  order.  Not  a  round  shot  had  touched  her  hull,  and  not 
a  man  on  board  of  her  was  killed.  Only  two  men  were  wounded. 

The  Peacock  was  the  heavier  of  the  two  vessels,  fully  manned,  and  in  stanch  order. 
The  Epervier  was  also  fully  manned.  She  was  a  valuable  prize.  The  vessel  sold  for 
fifty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  on  board  of  her  were  found  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
thousand  dollars  in  specie.  She  was  so  rich,  and  the  waters  of  the  Southern  coast 
was  then  so  much  infested  by  British  cruisers,  that  Warrington  determined  to  con 
voy  her  into  Savannah.  He  placed  J.  B.  Nicholson,  his  first  lieutenant,  on  board  of 
her,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the  capture  started  for  port.  On  the  following 
day,  when  abreast  Amelia  Island,  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  they  encountered  two  Brit 
ish  frigates.  Arrangements  were  at  once  made  to  send  the  prize  into  St.  Mary's, 
and  to  haul  to  the  southward  with  the  Peacock.  By  this  means  the  fi-igates  were 
separated,  and  the  one  in  chase  of  the  Peacock  was  led  off  the  coast,  and  lost  sight 
of  her  intended  victim  on  the  1st  of  September.  The  Epervier,  while  veering  along 
the  coast  toward  Savannah,  fell  in  with  the  other  frigate.  The  water  was  shoal  in 
which  the  prize  vessel  ran.  The  boats  of  the  frigate  were  lowered,  filled  with  armed 
men,  and  sent  in  chase  of  the  Epervier,  which  moved  slowly  before  a  very  light  wind. 
The  boats  gained  upon  her,  and  her  position  became  critical,  for  Nicholson  had  only 
sixteen  officers  and  men  with  him.  He  employed  a  stratagem  successfully.  Using 
the  trumpet,  as  if  his  vessel  was  full  of  men,  he  summoned  them,  in  a  loud  voice,  to 
prepare  to  fire  a  broadside.  The  men  in  the  boats  heard  the  order,  and  fled.  Had 
they  known  the  real  state  of  affairs,  they  might  have  captured  the  Epervier  in  less 
than  five  minutes  with  little  loss.  She  escaped,  and  reached  Savannah  on  the  1st  of 
May.  The  Peacock  entered  the  same  port  on  the  4th. 

Because  of  his  success,  he  was  promoted  to  captain  in  November,  1814.  He  had  served  with  distinction  under  Decatur 
and  others.  He  was  a  very  active  and  useful  officer  during  the  whole  of  the  second  War  for  Independence,  and  subse 
quently  performed  much  important  service  afloat  and  ashore.  For  many  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Navy 
Commissioners  ;  and  in  September,  1842,  he  was  appointed  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Ordnance  and  Hydrography,  which 
office  he  he!d  at  the  time  of  his  death.  That  event  occurred  at  Washington  City  on  the  12th  of  October,  1851. 


982 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Barney's  Flotilla  in  Chesapeake  Bay. 


It  is  blockaded. 


Fight  with  the  Blockaders. 


The  capture  of  the  Epervier  produced  much  exultation  throughout  the  country. 
The  name  of  Warrington  was  upon  every  lip  in  phrases  of  honor,  and  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  ordered  a  gold  medal  to  be  struck  and  presented  to  him  because 
of  this  exploit.1 


ESfTEB-PEACOCJC  U-AV.  AMRT 
JtNTG. 


WAKEI:NGTO>!'S  MEDAL. 


Soon  after  her  return  to  Savannah  the  Peacock  went  on  another  cruise,  and  entered 
the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  the  waters  on  the  coast  of  Portugal.  She  captured  fourteen 
merchantmen,  but  had  no  engagement  with  a  ship  of  war.  She  returned  to  New 
York  at  the  end  of  October. 

We  have  alluded  to  Barney's  operations  with  a  flotilla  in  the  Chesapeake  in  the 
summer  of  1814.  The  brave  and  active  veteran  left  the  Patuxent  on  the  1st  of  June, 
with  the  Scorpion  as  his  flag-ship,  two  gun-boats,  and  several  large  barges,  in  chase 
of  two  British  schooners.  By  the  vigorous  use  of  sweeps  he  was  fast  overhauling 
the  fugitives,  when  a  large  ship  was  seen  at  the  southward.  The  wind  commenced 
blowing  freshly,  and  the  great  vessel,  being  to  windward,  was  seen  bearing  down  upon 
the  flotilla.  Barney  signaled  the  return  of  his  boats,  and  all  fled  back  to  the  Patux 
ent,  followed  for  a  while  by  the  huge  enemy,  a  two-decker,  which  anchored  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river.  On  the  6th  of  June  this  ship  was  joined  by  two  others,  and  Bar 
ney's  flotilla  was  thoroughly  blockaded.  On  the  8th,  the  ship  of  the  line,  a  brig,  two 
schooners,  and  fifteen  barges  sailed  up  the  Patuxent  with  a  fair  wind,  and  Barney 
moved  to  St.  Leonard's  Creek,  two  miles  farther  up,  and  there,  in  battle  order,  await 
ed  their  approach.  The  heavier  British  vessels  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek, 
and  the  barges  advanced,  led  by  a  rocket-boat.  Barney,  with  thirteen  barges,  ad 
vanced  to  meet  them,  when  they  retreated.  The  movement  was  repeated  in  the  aft- 
» June  9,  ernoon.  Twenty-four  hours  afterward*  the  enemy  sent  twenty  barges  up 
1814-  the  creek,  which,  after  a  sharp  skirmish,  fled  back  to  the  protection  of  the 
large  armed  vessels.  On  the  llth,  twenty-one  barges,  and  two  schooners  in  tow,  re 
newed  the  attack,  when,  after  receiving  a  more  sevei-e  punishment  than  at  any  time 
before,  they  were  again  compelled  to  fly,  with  considerable  loss. 

Barney  now  caused  some  small  earth-works  to  be  thrown  up  on  the  shore  to  pro 
tect  his  flotilla.  These  were  placed  in  the  command  of  Captain  Miller,  of  the  Marine 
Corps,  and  a  considerable  force  of  militia,  under  Colonel  Decius  Wadsworth,  of  the 
Ordnance  Corps.  The  combined  force  attempted  to  end  the  blockade  on  the  26th. 
A  raking  shot  ripped  a  plank  from  the  bottom  of  the  lai'ge  British  ship,2  and  she  was 

1  On  one  side  of  the  medal  is  a  bust  in  profile  of  Captain  Warrington,  and  the  words  "  i.tmovioua  WAKRINGTON  DUX 
NAVAOS  AMRI."    On  the  other  side  is  a  representation  of  a  naval  battle,  and  around  it  the  legend  "PEO  PATEIA  PAEA- 

TTJB  ATJT  VINCEEE   AUT   MOKI."      Below,  "  INTEB  PEACOCK  NAV.  AMKI.  ET  EPEEVIEE  NAT.  ANO.  DIE  XXIX  MABCU  MDOCCXIV." 

2  This  was  either  the  Severn  or  the  Loire. 


OF  THE  WAR  OF   1812.  983 


Reappearance  of  the  Constitution.  She  is  chased  into  Marblehead  Harbor.  Again  puts  to  Sea. 

compelled  to  run  on  a  sand-bank  to  avoid  sinking.  The  engagement  continued  about 
two  hours,  during  which  time  Barney  lost  thirteen  men  in  killed  and  wounded.  The 
blockade  was  effectually  raised,  for  the  enemy  prudently  dropped  down  the  Patux- 
ent.  Barney  and  his  flotilla  remained  in  that  river  until  about  the  middle  of  Au 
gust,  when  the  British  commenced  those  operations  which  resulted  in  the  destruc 
tion  of  his  vessels  by  order  of  its  commander,1  and  the  capture  of  Washington  City, 
as  recorded  in  a  preceding  chapter. 

Now  the  gallant  Constitution,  44,  again  appears  on  the  scene  of  strife.  When 
Bainb ridge  relinquished  the  command  of  her  in  1813  she  was  thoroughly  repaired. 
A  greater  portion  of  her  crew  were  sent  to  the  Lakes,  and  when  she  was  ready  for 
sea  a  new  one  was  entered,  and  she  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Captain  Charles 
Stewart.  She  left  Boston  Harbor  for  a  cruise  on  the  30th  of  December,  1813,  and  for 
seventeen  days  did  not  see  a  sail.  She  was  on  the  coast  of  Surinam  at  the  beginning 
of  February,  and  on  the  14th  of  that  month  she  captured  the  British  war  schooner 
Picton,  16,  together  with  a  letter-of-marque  which  was  under  her  convoy.  Return 
ing  northward  through  the  West  India  Islands,  she  chaseda  the  British  a  February  18, 
frigate  La  Pique,  36,  Captain  Maitland,  off  Porto  Rico.  Night  coming 
on,  that  vessel  escaped  through  the  Mona  Channel.  The  Constitution  continued  her 
way  homeward,  and  early  in  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the  3d  of  April,  when  off  Cape 
Anne,  discovered  two  large  sail  to  the  southeast  standing  for  her,  and  nearing  her 
rapidly  with  a  fair  breeze.  They  were  two  British  frigates  of  great  weight,  the  Ju- 
non  and  La  Nymphe.  Boston  Harbor  was  her  destination,  but  she  was  compelled 
to  seek  safety  in  that  of  Marblehead.  By  great  exertions,  superior  skill  in  manage 
ment,  and  lightening  her  of  much  of  her  burden,  Stewart  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
harbor  of  Marblehead  in  safety.  The  situation  of  the  Constitution  was  still  one  of 
great  peril.  An  express  was  immediately  sent  to  Commodore  Bainbridge,  at  Boston, 
who  proceeded  with  all  the  force  at  his  command  to  her  relief.  Several  companies 
of  militia,  artillery,  and  infantry  hastened  to  Marblehead.  The  pursuers  kept  at  a 
respectful  distance,  and  the  Constitution  was  soon  afterward  safely  anchored  in  the 
harbor  of  Salem,  from  whence  she  sailed  in  due  time  to  Boston,  where  she  remained 
until  near  the  close  of  the  year. 

At  the  close  of  December,13  the  Constitution,  still  commanded  by  Captain  b  lgu 
Stewart,  put  to  sea.  She  went  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay  by  way  of  Bermuda  and 
Madeira,  and  then  cruised  some  time  farther  southward  off  Lisbon.  While  in  sight 
of  the  Portuguese  capital,  Stewart  observed  a  large  ship  seaward,  and  immediately 
gave  chase.  Stopping  to  capture  and  secure  a  prize,  he  lost  sight  of  her.  She  was 
the  Elizabeth,  74,  on  her  way  to  the  port  of  Lisbon.  On  her  arrival  there  her  com 
mander  was  informed  of  the  presence  of  the  Constitution  on  the  coast,  and  he  went 
out  at  once  in  search  of  her.  He  was  unsuccessful. 

Stewart  sailed  farther  southward  toAvard  Cape  St. Vincent,  and  on  the  20th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1815,  he  discovered  a  strange  sail  and  made  chase.  At  about  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  a  second  vessel  appeared  farther  to  the  leeward.  Both  were  ships,  and 
evidently  in  company.  Toward  evening  one  signaled  the  other,  and  they  drew  to 
gether.  The  Constitution  still  kept  up  the  chase,  and  crowded  all  sail  to  get  the  near 
est  of  the  two  under  her  guns  before  night  should  set  in.  At  near  sunset  she  fired  a 
few  shots,  but  they  fell  short.  Stewart  found  he  was  slowly  gaining  on  the  fugitives, 
and  cleared  the  Constitution  for  action.  At  six,  being  within  range,  he  showed  his 
colors,  when  the  two  strangers  flung  out  the  British  flag. 

The  position  of  the  three  vessels  now  became  very  interesting.  The  Constitution 
shot  by,  and  the  three  ships  were  so  ranged  that  they  formed  the  points  of  an  equi 
lateral  triangle,  Stewart's  vessel  to  windward  of  the  other  two.  In  this  advantageous 
position  tt\Q  Constitution  commenced  the  action,  the  three  vessels  keeping  up  an  un- 

i  See  page  921. 


984  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Battle  between  the  Constitution  and  British  Vessels  Cyane  and  Levant.  The  Constitution  captures  both. 

ceasing  and  terrific  fire  for  about  fifteen  minutes,  when  that  of  the  enemy  slackened. 
An  immense  volume  of  heavy  smoke  hung  over  the  combatants,  admitting  only  an 
occasional  gleam  of  moonlight.  The  Constitution  also  became  silent ;  and  as  the 
cloud  of  smoke  rolled  sullenly  away  as  a  very  light  breeze  sprung  up,  Stewart  per 
ceived  the  leading  ship  of  the  enemy  to  be  under  the  lee-beam  of  his  own  vessel, 
while  the  sternmost  was  luffing  up  as  if  with  the  intention  of  tacking,  and  ci'ossing 
the  stern  of  the  Constitution.  The  latter  delivered  a  broadside  into  the  ship  abreast 
of  her,  and  then,  by  a  skillful  management  of  the  sails,  backed  swiftly  astern,  com 
pelling  the  foe  to  fill  again  to  avoid  being  raked. 

The  leading  ship  now  attempted  to  tack  so  as  to  cross  the  bow  of  the  Constitution. 
For  some  time  both  vessels  manoauvred  admirably,  pouring  heavy  shot  into  each 
other  whenever  opportunity  offered,  when,  at  a  quarter  before  seven,  the  British  ves 
sel  fired  a  gun  to  leeward  and  struck  her  flag.  Lieutenant  Hoffman  was  sent  to  take 
possession  of  her.  She  was  the  frigate  Cyane,  36,  Captain  Falcoln,  manned  by  a  crew 
of  one  hundred  and  eighty  men. 

Stewart  now  looked  after  the  Cyane*s  consort,  which  had  been  forced  out  of  the 
combat  by  the  crippled  condition  of  her  running  gear,  and  to  avoid  damage  from  the 
Constitution's  heavy  cannonading.  She  was  ignorant  of  the  fate  of  her  consort. 
About  an  hour  after  the  action  had  ceased,  having  repaired  damages,  she  bore  up, 
and  met  the  Constitution  coming  down  in  search  of  her.  They  crossed  on  opposite 
tacks,  each  delivering  a  broadside  as  they  did  so.  For  a  time  there  was  a  brisk  run 
ning  fight,  the  Constitution  chasing,  and  her  bow  guns  sending  shot  that  ripped  up 
the  planks  of  her  antagonist.  The  latter  was  soon  overpowered,  and  at  ten  o'clock 
at  night  she  fired  a  gun  to  leeward  and  surrendered.  Lieutenant  (now  Admiral)  W.  B. 
Shubrick  was  sent  to  take  possession  of  her.  She  was  found  to  be  the  Levant,  18, 
Captain  Douglass. 

The  Constitution  at  this  time  was  equipped  with  fifty-two  guns,  and  her  comple 
ment  of  men  and  boys  was  about  four  hundred  and  seventy.  The  Cyane  was  a 
frigate-built  ship,  mounting  twenty  32-pound  carronades  on  her  gun-deck,  and  ten 
1 8:pound  carronades,  with  two  chase-guns,  on  her  quarter-deck  and  forecastle,  making 
thirty-four  in  all.  Her  complement  of  men  was  one  hundred  and  eighty-five.  The 
Levant  was  a  new  ship,  mounting  eighteen  32-pound  carronades,  a  shifting  18  on  her 
top-gallant  forecastle,  and  two  chase-guns,  making  twenty-one  in  all.  Her  regular 
complement  was  one  hundred  and  thirty  souls.  Both  vessels  had  additional  numbers 
on  board,  going  to  the  Western  Islands  to  bring  away  a  ship  that  was  being  built 
there.  The  loss  of  the  Constitution  in  this  gallant  action  was  three  killed  and  twelve 
wounded.  That  of  the  enemy,  in  the  two  vessels,  was  estimated  at  seventy-seven 
killed  and  wounded. 

The  Constitution  was  so  little  damaged  that  in  three  hours  after  her  last  conflict 
she  was  again  ready  for  action.  She  had  been  engaged  for  three  hours  with  her  an 
tagonists,  but  the  actual  fighting  had  not  occupied  more  than  forty-five  minutes.  She 
had  not  a  single  officer  hurt.  It  was  a  most  gallant  fight  in  that  moonlit  sea  by  the 
three  vessels ;  and  the  commanders  of  all  received,  as  they  deserved  to,  the  highest 
praise. 

Placing  Lieutenant  Hoffman  on  the  Cyane,  and  Lieutenant  Ballard  on  the  Levant, 
as  commanders,  Captain  Stewart  proceeded  with  the  Constitution  and  her  prizes  to 
Porto  Praya,  the  capital  of  Santiago,  one  of  the  Cape  de  Verde  Islands,  where  he  ar 
rived  on  the  10th  of  March,  1815.  On  the  following  day,  while  Lieutenant  Shubrick 
was  walking  the  quarter-deck,  he  heard  one  of  the  prisoners,  a  midshipman,  exclaim, 
"  There's  a  large  ship  in  the  offing !"  One  of  the  English  captains  severely  repri 
manded  him  in  a  low  tone.  Shubrick's  vigilance  was  aroused.  The  ocean  was  cov 
ered  with  a  thick  fog  resting  low  on  the  water.  Above  it,  in  thick  luminous  mist,  he 
saw  the  sails  of  a  large  ship,  set  portward.  He  immediately  reported  to  Stewart, 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  935 


The  Constitution  escapes  from  three  British  Frigates.  Fate  of  her  Prizes.  Honors  to  Commodore  Stewart. 

who  was  below.  That  officer  coolly  replied  that  it  was  probably  an  English  frigate, 
and  directed  Shubrick  to  return  to  the  deck,  call  all  hands,  and  get  ready  to  go  out 
and  attack  her.  Shubrick  did  so,  when  he  discovered  the  sails  of  two  other  vessels 
above  the  fog-bank,  and  they  were  evidently  those  of  men-of-war.  Again  he  reported 
to  Captain  Stewart,  when  that  officer,  perfectly  unmoved  by  what  he  knew  to  be  im 
minent  peril  to  his  vessel,  immediately  ordered  the  cables  of  the  Constitution  to  be 
cut  and  signals  made  for  the  prizes  to  follow.  He  well  knew  that  the  English  would 
have  no  respect  for  the  neutrality  of  that  port,  and  that  he  was  too  feeble  to  cope 
with  three  heavy  men  of  war ;  and  within  fifteen  minutes 
after  the  first  ship  had  been  seen,  the  Constitution  was  mak 
ing  her  way  out  of  the  roads  of  Porto  Praya,  followed  by 
the  two  prizes.  They  were  chased  by  the  strangers,  which 
were  the  British  frigates  Leander-,  50,  Sir  George  Collier; 
Newcastle,  50,  Lord  George  Stuart ;  and  Acasta,  40,  Captain 
Kerr.  They  pressed  hard  upon  the  fugitives.  The  Cyane 
was  falling  astern,  and  must  soon  become  a  prey  to  her  pur 
suers.  Stewart  signaled  for  her  to  tack.  Hoffman  prompt 
ly  obeyed,  and  she  was  soon  lost  to  view  in  the  fog,  under 
cover  of  which  she  escaped,  and  reached  New  York  on  the 

BILLET-HEAD.  10th    Of  April.1 

The  three  ships  continued  to  chase  the  Constitution,  and  finally  the  Newcastle  began 
to  fire  her  chase-guns,  but  without  effect.  Meanwhile  the  Levant  had  fallen  far  in  the 
rear,  and  Stewart  signaled  for  her  commander  to  tack.  Ballard  obeyed,  when  the 
three  British  ships,  abandoning  the  chase  of  the  Constitution,  pursued  him.  He  ran 
the  Levant  back  to  port,  and  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  anchored  her  within  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  the  shore,  under  the  shelter  of  what  he  supposed  to  be  'at 
least  a  neutral  battery  of  thirty  or  forty  guns.  He  was  mistaken.  The  English  pris 
oners,  one  hundred  and  twenty  in  number,  whom  Stewart  had  landed  there  on  parole 
before  the  British  squadron  hove  in  sight,  regardless  of  the  neutral  character  of  the 
port  (Portuguese),  took  possession  of  the  -battery  and  opened  it  upon  the  Levant.  Sh"e 
received  the  fire  of  her  pursuers  at  the  same  time,  and  was  compelled  to  strike  her 
colors.  She  was  sent  to  Barbadoes  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Jellicoe,  formerly  of  the 
Cyane. 

With  these  exploits,  performed  after  peace  had  been  proclaimed  in  the  United 
States,  ended  the  career  of "  Old  Ironsides,"  as  the  Constitution  was  called,  in  the 
War  of  1812.  Stewart  landed  many  of  his  prisoners  at  Maranham,  in  Brazil ;  and  at 
Porto  Rico  he  heard  of  the  proclamation  of  peace.  He  immediately  sailed  home 
ward,  and  arrived  in  New  York  at  the  middle  of  May,  bringing  with  him  the  intel 
ligence  of  the  capture  of  the  Cyane  and  Levant.  The  arrival  of  the  Constitution 
was  hailed  with  delight.  The  Common  Council  of  New  York  gave  him  the  freedom 
of  the  city  in  a  gold  box,2  and  tendered  to  him  and  his  officers  the  hospitalities  of 
the  city  at  a  public  dinner.  The  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  gave  him  thanks  in 
the  name  of  the  state,  and  voted  him  a  gold-hilted  sword;  and  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  voted  him  and  his  brave  men  the  thanks  of  the  nation,  and  directed  a 
gold  medal,  commemorative  of  the  capture  of  the  Cyane  and  Levant,  to  be  struck 
and  presented  to  him.  His  exploits  and  that  of  his  ship  became  the  theme  for  ora 
tory  and  song,  and  from  that  day  to  this  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  held 
that  vessel  in  peculiar  reverence.  She  was  always  fortunate  in  having  skillful  com 
manders,  and  brave  and  intelligent  men.  Her  crews  were  principally  men  of  New 
England.  From  the  time  of  the  Tripolitan  War  until  she  left  off  cruising  and  be 
came  a  school-ship,  she  always  ranked  as  a  "  lucky  vessel." 

1  The  billet-head  of  the  Cyane,  finely  carved,  is  preserved  at  the  Philadelphia  Navy  Yard.    It  is  abont  three  feet  six 
inches  in  height,  and  has  the  representation  of  a  dragon  carved  upon  it.  »  See  note  3,  page  841. 


986 


PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


Admiral  Stewart. 


His  Home  in  New  Jersey. 


Biographical  Sketch. 


STEWART'S  MEDAL.1 


COMMODORE   STEWAET's   RESIDENCE. 


The  gallant  commander  of  the 
Constitution  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
who  was  then  a  veteran  in  the  serv 
ice,  still  (1867)  survives,  and  is  oft 
en  called  affectionately  by  the  name 
given  to  his  vessel  — "  Old  Iron 
sides."  He  lives  in  retirement,  with 
a  sufficiency  of  this  world's  goods, 
in  an  unostentatious  dwelling  on 
the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  at  Bor- 
dentown,  New  Jersey,  around  which 
are  delightful  grounds  attached  to 
the  mansion.2 

In  the  summer  of  1814,  Commo 
dore  Decatur,  who  had  been  endur- 


1  The  above  picture  represents  the  medal,  full  size.    On  one  side  is  a  bust  of  Stewart,  with  the  words  around  it  "  CA- 
ROLTJS  STEWART  NAvis  AMER.  CONSTITUTION  DUX."    On  the  other  side  a  representation  of  the  capture  of  the  Cyane  and 
Levant,  and  the  words  "  UNA  VICTORIAM  ERIPUIT  RATtiius  BINIS."    Below,  "INTER  OONSTITU. 

JiAV.  AMERI.  ET   LEVANT   ET   CYANE   NAV.  ANG.  DIE   XX   FEBH.  MDOOOXV." 

2  The  writer  visited  Admiral  Stewart  at  his  pleasant  home,  near  Bordentown,  in  the  summer 
of  1SG3,  in  company  with  Dr.  Peterson,  his  neighbor  and  friend.    I  was  then  on  my  return  from 
the  then  fresh  battle-field  at  Gettysburg.    At  that  time  he  was  eighty-six  years  of  age,  a  firm 
and  compactly-knit  man,  about  five  feet  nine  inches  in  height,  and  possessed  of  great  bodily 
and  mental  vigor.    His  narrative  of  adventures  on  sea  and  land  in  the  service  of  his  country 
far  more  than  sixty  years  were  full  of  romance  of  the  most  stirring  character.    He  showed  us 
a  plain  sword,  the  blade  of  which  was  presented  to  him  by  the  King  of  Spain  in  1804  because 
of  his  services,  while  in  command  of  the  Experiment,  in  the  West  Indies,  in  saving  from  destruc 
tion  about  sixty  persons,  many  of  them  women,  who  were  flying  from  insurgent  blacks  of  St. 
Domingo.    He  could  not  constitutionally  receive  a  sword  from  a  foreign  potentate,  but  he  might 
a  blade  for  his  defense.    He  had  it  plainly  mounted,  and  wore  it  on  the  occasion  of  the  combat 
with  the  Cijane  and  Levant.    During  that  contest  the  guard  was  carried  away  by  a  cannon-ball 
that  grazed  the  commander's  side.    The  blacksmith  of  the  Constitution  constructed  a  rude 
guard,  and  it  still  remains.    He  also  showed  us  a  dirk,  a  foot  long,  with  a  handle  made  of  a 
rhinoceros  tooth,  which  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Turk  with  whom  Decatur  engaged  in  mortal 
struggle  on  the  deck  of  the  Philadelphia  in  the  harbor  of  Tripoli,  mentioned  on  page  122. 

Charles  Stewart  was  born  in  Philadelphia  on  the  22d  of  July,  1776.  His  parents  were  natives 
of  Ireland.  His  father,  who  was  a  mariner  in  the  merchant  service,  came  to  America  at  an 
early  age.  Charles  was  the  youngest  of  eight  children,  and  lost  his  father  before  he  was  two 
years  of  age.  He  entered  the  merchant  service  on  the  ocean  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years  as  a 
cabin-boy,  and  rose  gradually  to  the  office  of  captain.  In  March,  1798,  he  was  commissioned  a 
lieutenant  in  the  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  made  his  first  cruise  under  Commodore  Bar 
ney.  In  1SOO  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  armed  schooner  Experiment.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  autumn  of  that  year  he  fought  and  captured  the  French  schooner  Two  Friends, 
after  an  action  often  minutes,  without  incurring  loss  on  his  part.  From  that  time  the  career 
of  Lieutenant  Stewart  was  a  most  honorable  one  to  himself  and  the  navy  of  his  country.  He 
was  conspicuous  in  the  war  with  Tripoli,  and  was  greatly  beloved  by  the  brave  Decatur  for  his 


STEWART'S  SWORD. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


987 


Decatur's  Squadron. 


He  puts  to  Sea  in  the  President. 


The  President  chased. 


ing  inaction  for  a  long  time  on  account  of  the  blockade  of  his  vessels  in  the  Thames 
above  New  London,  was  transferred  to  the  command  of  the  President,  44,  which 
Rodgers  had  left  for  the  new  ship  Ckterriere.  Captain  Biddle,  commander  of  the 
Hornet,  which  had  been  long  engaged  in  protecting  the  United  States  and  the  Mace 
donian  in  the  Thames,  was  finally  ordered  to  join  Decatur,  and,  with  joyous  alacrity, 
he  obeyed.  He  soon  found  an  opportunity  to  avoid  the  blockading  squadron,  and  in 
November  he  joined  Decatur  with  his  ship  at  New  York,  when  that  commander's 
squadron,  assembled  there,  consisted  of  the  President  (the  flag-ship) ;  Peacock,  18, 
Captain  Warrington ;  Hornet,  1 8,  Captain  Biddle ;  and  Tom  Bowline,  store-ship. 

Decatur  had  been  engaged  all  the  summer  and  autumn  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
York,  watching  for  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  who  were  ravaging  the  country  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  Ignorant  of  the  real  destination  of  the  British 
when  they  left  those  waters,  the  government  detained  Decatur  so  long  as  there  were 
any  apprehensions  of  an  attack  on  New  York.  He  finally  received  an  order  to  pre 
pare  for  a  cruise  in  the  East  Indies,  to  spread  havoc  among  the  British  shipping  in 
that  remote  quarter  of  the  world.  He  was  ready  at  the  middle  of  January,a  »1815. 
and  on  the  night  of  the  14thb  the  President  dropped  down  to  Sandy  Hook,  b  January, 
leaving  the  other  vessels  at  their  anchorage  near  Staten  Island.  She  grounded  on 
the  bar  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  but  was  floated  off  by  the  rising  tide  in  time  to 
clear  the  coast  and  the  British  blockading  squadron  before  morning. 

There  had  been  a  heavy  gale  on  the  1 4th,  and  Decatur,  believing  that  the  block- 
aders  had  been  driven  by  it  to  the  leeward,  kept  the  President  close  along  the  Long 
Island  shore  for  about  fiVe  hours,  when  he  sailed  boldly  out  to  sea  in  a  southeasterly 
by  easterly  direction.  Two  hours  after  changing  his  course  he  discovered  by  the 
starlight  a  sti'ange  sail  ahead,  and  within  gun-shot  distance.  Two  others  soon  made 
their  appearance,  and  at  dawn  the  President  was  chased  by  four  ships  of  war,  two  on 
her  quarters  and  two  astern.  These  were  the  Endymion,  40 ;  Pomone,  38 ;  Tenedos, 

services  there,  and  his  generous  friendship  ever  afterward.  In  the  month  of  May,  1804,  he  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  master  commandant,  and  to  that  of  captain  in  1806.  During  that  and  the  following  year  he  was  employed 
in  superintending  the  construction  of  gun-boats.  In 
1812  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  frigate 
Constitution.  He  was  with  her  in  Hampton  Roads 
in  February,  1813,  where,  by  skillful  management,  he 
eluded  the  enemy,  and  took  his  ship  safely  to  Norfolk. 
In  June  following  he  was  appointed  to  the  command 
of  the  Constitution,  and  in  her  performed  the  gallant 
services  recorded  in  the  text.  After  the  war  he  was 
placed  in  command  (1816)  of  the  Franklin,  74,  and  con 
veyed  the  Hon.  Richard  Rush,  American  minister,  to 
England.  Until  very  recently  he  has  been  employed, 
afloat  or  ashore,  in  the  naval  service  of  his  country,  and 
on  all  occasions  evincing  eminent  executive  ability 
and  statesmanlike  views.  The  annexed  portrait  of  the 
venerable  admiral  is  from  a  photograph  taken  in  1S64. 

Admiral  Stewart  is  the  only  surviving  officer  in  the 
civil  or  military  service  of  the  United  States  who  holds 
a  commission  dated  in  the  last  century.  He  is  a  most 
interesting  link  between  the  fathers  of  the  Revolution 
and  the  patriots  and  heroes  of  our  day.  Our  visit  with 
him  in  his  pleasant  home  was  far  too  short  for  our  own 
inclination,  and  we  reluctantly  parted  with  one  so  fa 
mous  in  our  annals,  and  so  fluent  in  speech  in  the  re 
cital  of  the  events  of  his  wonderful  experience.  We 
bade  the  hale  old  admiral  farewell  with  feelings  coin 
cident  with  those  of  an  anonymous  poet,  who  wrote, 
"Oh,  oft  may  you  meet  with  brave  Stewart, 

The  tar  with" the  free  and  the  true  heart; 

A  bright  welcome  smile,  and  a  soul  free  from  guile, 

You'll  find  in  the  hero,  Charles  Stewart. 

A  commander  both  generous  and  brave,  too, 

Who  risked  his  life  others  to  save,  too ; 

And  thousands  that  roam  by  his  neat  Jersey 
home 

Bless  the  kin  d  heart  of  gallant  Charles  Stewart." 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Battle  between  the  President  and  Endymion. 


Capture  of  the  President. 


38  ;  and  Majestic,  razee,  of  the  blockading 
squadixm,  which  had  been  blown  off  the  coast 
by  the  gale,  and  were  now  returning  to  the 
cruising-ground  off  Sandy  Hook. 

The  chase  continued  during  the  morning, 
with  a  light  and  baffling  wind,  and  the  Presi 
dent,  deeply  laden  with  stores  for  a  long  cruise, 
soon  found  the  Endymion,  Captain  Hope,  the 
nearest  vessel,  rapidly  overtaking  her.  Deca- 
tur  at  once  gave  orders  for  lightening  his  own 
ship  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  her  speed. 
It  availed  but  little.  At  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  the  Endymion  came  down  with  a 
fresh  breeze,  which  the  President  did  not  feel, 
and  opened  her  bow-guns  upon  the  fugitive. 
The  President  promptly  returned  the  fire  in 
an  effort  to  damage  the  spars  and  rigging  of 
her  pursuer,  but  without  effect.  Her  shot 
moved  feebly  and  fell  short,  as  if  propelled  by 
weak  powder.  On  came  the  En- 
dymion,  and  at  five  o'clock  she 
gained  a  position  in  which  she 
terribly  a'nnoyed  her  antagonist. 
The  President  could  not  bring  a  gun  to  bear  upon  the  foe,  and  was  lacerated  by  every 
shot  of  her  pursuer.  It  was  evident  that  the  Endymion  was  endeavoring  to  secure 
a  victory  by  gradually  crippling  the  President,  and  reducing  her  to  an  unmanageable 
wreck. 

Decatur  quickly  penetrated  the  design  of  his  enemy,  and  prepared  to  frustrate  it 
by  boldly  running  down  upon  the  Endymion,  carrying  her  by  a  hand-to-hand  fight, 
and,  abandoning  his  own  vessel,  seize  his  antagonist  as  a  prize,  and  in  her  run  away 
from  the  other  pursuers.  But  the  commander  of  the  Endymion  was  as  wary  as  he 
was  skillful,  and  was  not  to  be  caught  in  that  manner.  He  accommodated  the  move 
ments  of  his  own  ship  to  those  of  his  antagonist,  until  at  length  they  were  brought 
abeam  of  each  other,  and  both  opened  tremendous  broadsides.  Every  attempt  of 
Decatur  to  lay  the  President  alongside  the  Endymion  was  foiled  by  Captain  Hope, 
who  adroitly  kept  his  ship  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  his  antagonist. 

Decatur  now  determined  to  dismantle  the  Endymion.  The  two  frigates  kept  run 
ning  dead  before  the  wind,  head  and  head,  each  discharging  heavy  broadsides  upon 
the  other  for  two  hours  and  a  half,  when  the  Endymion,  having  most  of  her  sails  cut 
from  the  yards,  fell  astern.  The  President,  no  doubt,  could  have  compelled  her  ad 
versary  to  strike  her  colors  in  a  few  minutes,  but  just  at  that  moment  the  other  ves 
sels  in  chase  were  seen  b.y  the  dim  starlight  to  be  approaching.  They  had  been  joined 
by  the  Dispatch.  The  President  therefore  kept  on  her  course  in  efforts  to  escape. 
In  this  she  failed.  The  pursuers  closed  upon  her.  At  1 1  o'clock  the  Pomone  got  on 
the  weather-bow  of  the  President,  and  gave  her  a  damaging  broadside.  The  Tenedos 
was  coming  up  and  closing  on  her  quarter,  and  the  Majestic  and  Dispatch  were  with 
in  gun-shot  distance  astern.  They  all  fell  upon  her  with  energy.  Farther  resistance 
would  have  been  useless.  The  President  struck  her  colors,  and  Decatur  surrendered 
his  sword  to  Captain  Hayes,  of  the  Majestic,  which  was  the  first  vessel  that  came 
alongside  of  the  vanquished  frigate. 

In  the  chase  and  running  fight  the  President  lost  twenty-four  men  killed  and  fifty- 
six  wounded.  Among  the  slain  were  her  first,  fourth,  and  fifth  lieutenants,  Messrs. 
Babbitt,  Hamilton,  and  Howell.  The  Endymion  had  eleven  killed  and  fourteen 


OF    THE    WAE    OF    1812. 


989 


The  rest  of  Decatur's  Squadron  puts  to  Sea. 


Biographical  Sketch  of  Decatur. 


wounded.  It  was  found  that  her  hull  had  been  struck  by  many  balls  which  did  not 
penetrate,  and  this  fact  confirmed  the  impressions  of  Decatur  at  the  beginning  of  the 
contest  that  the  powder  was  inferior. 

After  the  action,  the  President,  accompanied  by  the  Endymion,  sailed  for  Bermuda. 
Both  vessels  were  dismasted  in  a  gale  before  reaching  port.  Decatur  wrote  an  offi 
cial  account  for  the  Secretary  of  War  on  board  of  the  Endymion  on  the  1 8th.  He 
was  soon  after  paroled,  and  returned  to  New  York  at  the  beginning  of  March.  A 
court  of  inquiry  was  convened,  and  he  and  all  of  his  officers,  tried  for  losing  their  ship, 
were  honorably  acquitted.  It  was  proven,  and  was  admitted  by  the  English,  that 
the  President  was  captured  by  the  squadron,  and  not  by  a  single  vessel.1  And  when 
the  details  of  the  combat  became  known,  the  heroism  of  Decatur  and  his  men  pro 
duced  the  most  profound  sensation.  Language  was  too  feeble  to  express  the  admi 
ration  of  the  American  people.2 

On  the  22d  of  Januarya  the  Peacock,  Hornet,  and  Tom  Bowline  followed  the 
President  to  sea.  Their  commanders  were  ignorant  of  her  fate.  They  passed 
the  bar  at  daylight,  regardless  of  the  blockading  squadron,  and  passed  out  upon  the 
broad  ocean  unmolested.  Each  made  its  way,  sometimes  alone  and  sometimes  con 
sorting  with  another,  for  the  port  of  Tristan  d'Acunha,  the  principal  of  a  group  of 
islands  in  the  South  Atlantic,  in  latitude  3*7°  S.,  and  longitude  12°  W.  from  Washing 
ton.  That  was  the  place  of  rendezvous  designated  by  Decatur.  The  Peacock  and 


1815. 


1  The  force  of  the  President  was  thirty-two  long  24-pounders,  one  24-pound  howitzer,  twenty  42-pound  carronades, 
and  five  small  pieces  in  her  tops.    The  Endymion  mounted  twenty-six  long  24-ponnders,  twenty-two  32-pounders,  one 
12-pound  carronade,  and  one  long  IS.    The  Majestic  rated  5C  guns  ;  the  Tenedos,  38 ;  the  Pomone,  38.    That  of  the  Dis 
patch  is  unknown. 

2  We  have  noticed  on  pages  457  and  45S  the  honors  showered  upon  Decatur  on  another  occasion,  when  Congress  voted 
him  a  gold  medal.    Stephen  Decatur  was  born  in  Worcester  County,  Maryland,  on  the  5th  of  January,  1779.    He  en 
tered  the  navy  as  a  midshipman  in  the  frigate  United  States,  Commodore  Barry.    In  1801  he  was  promoted  to  lieutenant, 
and  sailed  in  the  Essex,  then  of  Commodore  Dale's  squadron,  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.    On  account  of  an  affray  with 
a  British  officer  at  Malta,  he  was  suspended,  and  returned  home.    An  investigation  proved  him  to  have  been  blameless, 
and  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Argus,  of  Treble's  squadron,  then  lying  hefore  Tripoli.    His  services  in 
that  field  of  duty  have  been  noticed  in  the  text.    On  his  return  to  America  he  was  appointed  to  superintend  the  build 
ing  of  gun-boats,  and  finally  succeeded  Barron  in  com 
mand  of  the  frigate  Chesapeake.    His  services  during  the 

Second  War  for  Independence  have  been  recorded  in  the 
text.  After  the  peace  with  England  he  was  sent  to  the 
Mediterranean  with  a  squadron  to  chastise  the  Alge- 
rines,  and  his  vigorous  action  there  caused  the  discon 
tinuance  of  the  practice  of  paying  tribute  to  the  Barbary 
powers,  not  only  by  the  United  States,  but  by  the  pow 
ers  of  Western  Europe.  On  his  return  home  he  was  ap 
pointed  one  of  the  Board  of  Naval  Commissioners,  and 
resided  at  Kalorama,  near  Georgetown  (see  page  942), 
nntil  his  death  in  March,  1820.  He  was  mortally  wound 
ed  in  a  duel  with  Commodore  Barron,  fought  near  Bla- 
densburg  (see  page  92S)  on  the  20th  of  that  month,  and 
died  at  Kalorama  the  same  evening.  His  remains  were 
laid  in  the  family  vault  of  Joel  Barlow,  where  they  re 
mained  until  1S46,  when  they  were  reinterred,  with  ap 
propriate  ceremonies,  in  the  burial-ground  of  St.  Peter's 
Church,  Philadelphia,  by  the  side  of  those  of  his  father 
and  family,  and  over  them  a  beautiful  monument,  de 
picted  in  the  annexed  engraving,  was  erected,  bearing 
the  following  inscriptions : 

North  Side:  "Stephen  Decatur,  born  January  5, 1779. 
Entered  the  navy  of  the  United  States  as  midshipman 
April  30, 1793.  Became  lieutenant  June  3, 1799.  Made 
captain  for  distinguished  merit,  passing  over  the  rank 
of  commander,  February  16, 1S04.  Died  March  22, 1820." 
East  Side:  "Devoted  to  his  country  by  a  patriot  father, 
he  cherished  in  his  heart,  and  sustained  by  his  intrepid 
actions,  the  inspiring  sentiment,  'Our  country,  right  or 
wrong.'  A  nation  gave  him  in  return  its  applause  and 
gratitude."  South  Side:  "The  gallant  officer  whose 

prompt  and  active  Valor,  always  on  the  watch,  was  DEOATUK'S'MOXUMEM. 

guided  by  a  Wisdom  and  supported  by  a  Firmness  which 

never  tired.  Whose  exploits  in  arms  reflected  the  daring  features  of  Romance  and  Chivalry."  West  Side:  "A  name 
brilliant  from  a  series  of  heroic  deeds  on  the  coast  of  Barbary,  and  illustrious  by  achievements  against  more  disciplined 
enemies ;  the  pride  of  the  Navy,  the  glory  of  the  Republic." 


990 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Battle  between  the  Hornet  and  Penguin. 


Tom  Bowline  arrived  there  together  at 
the  middle  of  March,  and  were  driven 
away  by  a  storm.  The  Hornet,  Captain 
Biddle,  entered  the  port  on  the  23d,  and 
was  about  to  cast  her  anchor,  when  a 
strange  sail  was  discovered  to  the  wind 
ward.  Captain  Biddle  immediately 
spread  the  sails  of  the  Hornet,  and  went 
seaward  to  reconnoitre.  The  stranger 
soon  came  running  down  before  the 
wind,  and  at  a  quarter  before  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  approached  the  Hornet 
within  musket-shot  distance,  displayed 
English  colors,  and  fired  a  gun.  The 
Hornet  accepted  the  challenge,  and  for 
about  fifteen  minutes  a  sharp  cannonade 
was  kept  up.  The  fire  of  the  Hornet 
was  so  severe  that  her  antagonist  ran 
down  for  the  purpose  of  boarding  her. 
The  vessels  became  entangled,  and  a 
good  opportunity  was  offered  to  the 
stranger  to  accomplish  her  purpose. 
But  her  first  lieutenant  could  not  in 
duce  his  men  to  follow  him.  Biddle's  men,  on  the  contrary,  were  eager  to  rush  into 
the  British  ship  for  a  hand-to-hand  fight.  His  advantage  lay  with  his  guns,  and  he 
would  not  allow  his  people  to  leave  the  ship.  His  broadsides  raked  the  foe  terribly, 
and  very  soon  an  officer  on  board  the  stranger  called  out  that  she  had  surrendered. 
Firing  ceased,  and  Captain  Biddle  sprang  upon  the  taffrail  to  inquire  whether  his  an 
tagonist  had  actually  surrendered,  when  two  British  marines  fii'ed  at  him.  One  bul 
let  wounded  him  severely  in  the  neck.  The  assassins  were  instantly  slain  by  bullets 
fired  from  the  Hornet.  She  immediately  wore  round,  after  being  disentangled  from 
her  foe  by  a  lurch  given  by  the  sea,  and  was  preparing  to  fire  another  broadside, 
when  at  least  twenty  men  appeared  on  her  antagonist  throwing  up  their  hands  and 
asking  for  quarter.  It  was  difficult  to  restrain  the  indignant  Americans,  who  wanted 
to  avenge  the  injury  done  to  their  commander.  It  was  done,  however.  The  van 
quished  vessel,  after  a  contest  of  twenty-three  minutes,  struck  her  colors.  She  was 
the  brig  Penguin,  18,  Captain  Dickenson,  which  had  been  fitted  and  manned  express 
ly  to  encounter  the  privateer  Young  Wasp,  a  more  powerful  vessel  than  herself.  She 
mounted  nineteen  carriage-guns,  besides  guns  on  her  tops,  and  her  size  and  weight  of 
metal  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  Hornet.  Her  complement  of  men  was  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty-two. 

The  Hornet  lost  one  man  killed  and  ten  wounded.  Among  the  latter  were  Cap 
tain  Biddle,  Lieutenant  (afterward  Commodore)  Conner,  and  eight  men.  Not  a 
round  shot  marred  the  hull  of  the  Hornet,  but  her  rigging  was  much  cut,  while  the 
Penguin  was  terribly  riddled.  Her  foremast  and  bowsprit  were  shot  away,  and  her 
mainmast  was  so  much  shattered  that  it  could  not  be  secured  for  farther  use. 
Among  her  slain  were  her  commander  and  boatswain.  After  taking  from  her  all 
that  was  valuable,  Captain  Biddle  scuttled  her  on  the  morning  of  the  25th,  and  she 
went  to  the  bottom  of  the  deep  South  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  conflict  between  the  Hornet  and  Penguin  was  regarded  by  naval  men  as  one  of 
the  most  creditable  actions  of  the  war,  and  the  American  people  testified  their  appre 
ciation  of  the  services  of  Captain  Biddle  by  the  bestowal  of  special  honors  upon  him.1 

1  James  Biddle  was  born  in  Philadelphia  on  the  ISth  of  February,  1T83.    He  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Perm- 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


991 


Honors  to  Captain  Biddle. 


Biographical  Sketch. 


When  he  arrived  in  New  York  a  public  dinner  was  given  him  in  that  city.  Citizens 
of  his  native  town,  Philadelphia,  presented  to  him  a  beautiful  service  of  silver  plate  j1 
and  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  the  name  of  the  Republic,  gave  him  thanks, 
and  ordered  a  gold  medal  to  be  struck  in  commemoration  of  the  victory,  and  pre^ 
sented  to  him. 


OIT  TRISTA5T     D'ACTOiJIA, 
JtfARCH     XXIIt 

MDCCCXV: 


BIDDLE'S  MEDAL.' 

On  the  same  day,a  and  a  few  hours  after  the  action  with  the  Penguin,  .  March  23, 
Captain  Biddle  discovered  another  sail  in  sight.  It  proved  to  be  the  Pea-  1815- 
cock,  having  the  Tom  Bowline  in  company.  He  converted  the  latter  into  a  cartel 
ship,  and  sent  her  to  Rio  de  Janeiro  with  his  prisoners.  They  then  continued  on 
their  course,  after  remaining  in  Tristan  d'Acunha  the  length  of  time  appointed  by 
Decatur  (until  the  13th  of  April),  and,  in  the  mean  time,  they  had  intelligence  that 
the  President  was  probably  captured. 

While  sailing  onward  toward  the  Indian  Seas  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  April, 
Captain  Warring-ton,  of  the  Peacock,  signaled  to  Captain  Biddle  that  a  strange  ves 
sel  was  seen  in  the  distance.  Both  sloops  started  in  chase  with  a  light  wind,  and 
before  evening  they  had  rapidly  gained  on  the  stranger.  She  was  yet  in  sight  in  the 
morning.  The  Peacock  was  two  leagues  ahead  of  the  Hornet  between  two  and  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,1*  and  at  that  time  began  to  show  some  caution  in 

b  April  28. 

her  movements.     It  was  soon  discovered  that  the  stranger  was  a  heavy 
line-of-battle  ship  and  an  enemy,  and  that  she  was  about  to  give  chase.     The  Pea- 

sylvania.  He  and  his  brother  Edward  entered  the  navy  in  1800  as  midshipmen  in  the  frigate  President.  James  made 
a  cruise  in  the  Mediterranean  under  Captain  Murray,  and  afterward  under  Bainbridge.  His  conduct  while  in  those 
waters,  and  especially  at  Tripoli,  was  distinguished  by  great  courage  and  nautical  skill.  He  was  a  prisoner  among  the 
semi-barbarians  of  that  region  for  nineteen  months.  On  his  return  in  1S05  he  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy,  and  was 
in  active  service  most  of  the  time  until  the  war  broke  out  in  1812,  when  he  sailed  in  the  Wasp,  Captain  Jones,  in  which 
he  acquired  special  honor  in  the  fight  of  that  vessel  with  the  Frolic.  Soon  after  that  affair  Lieutenant  Biddle  was  pro 
moted  to  master  commandant,  and  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Hornet.  With  her  he  gained  new  laurels,  as  record 
ed  in  the  text.  On  his  return  to  the  United  States  in  the  summer  of  1815  he  was  promoted  to  post  captain.  He  con 
tinued  in  active  service  until  his  death.  His  special  services  were  important.  In  1817  he  took  possession  of  Oregon 
Territory ;  in  1826  he  signed  a  commercial  treaty  with  Turkey  ;  from  1838  to  1842  he  was  Governor  of  the  Naval  Asylum, 
Philadelphia  ;  and  in  1845,  while  in  command  of  a  squadron  in  the  East  Indies,  he  exchanged  the  ratifications  of  the  first 
American  treaty  with  China.  He  was  at  Japan,  and,  crossing  the  Pacific,  he  engaged  in  some  of  the  scenes  in  the  war 
with  Mexico  on  the  coast  of  California.  He  returned  here  in  March,  1848,  and  died  at  Philadelphia  on  the  1st  of  Oc 
tober  following.  The  portrait  of  Commodore  Biddle  on  the  opposite  page  was  copied  from  one  in  the  possession  of 
the  Navy  Department  at  Washington.  • 

1  He  had  already  received  from  his  townsmen  and  friends  a  beautiful  testimonial  of  their  esteem  the  previous  year. 
See  page  453. 

2  The  above  picture  represents  the  medal,  the  exact  size.    On  one  side  is  a  bust  of  Captain  Biddle,  and  the  words 
"THE  CONGRESS  OF  THE  TT.  s.  TO  CAPT.  JAMES  KIDDLE  FOR  HIS  GALLANTRY,  GOOD  CONDUCT,  AND  SERVICES."    On  the  other 
side  is  represented  a  naval  action,  with  the  Peak  of  Tristan  d'Acunha  in  sight  beyond  the  smoke.    Around  this  are  the 

Words  "  CAPTURE  OF  THE  BRITISH  BEIG  PENGUIN  BY  THE  V.  8.  SHIP  HORNET.  BelOW,  "  OFF  TRI8TAU  D'ACUICIA,  MARCH  XXIII. 
MDCCCXV." 


992  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Cruise  of  the  Hornet  and  Peacock.  The  War  over.  The  American  Navy  at  the  close  of  the  War. 

cock  and  the  Hornet  spread  their  sails  for  flight.  The  latter  was  more  particularly 
in  peril,  as  she  was  a  slower  sailer  than  her  consort.  The  huge  Englishman  was  gain 
ing  upon  her.  Biddle  began  to  lighten  her,  and  the  chase  became  intensely  interest 
ing  during  the  entire  night  of  the  28th  and  early  morning  of  the  29th.  At  dawn  the 
enemy  was  within  gun-shot  distance  of  the  Hornet  on  her  lee  quarter.  At  seven 
o'clock  English  colors  and  a  rear  admiral's  flag  was  displayed  by  the  stranger,  and 
she  commenced  firing.  On  sped  the  Hornet,  casting  overboard  shot,  anchors,  cables, 
spars,  boats,  many  heavy  articles  on  deck  and  below,  and  all  of  her  guns  but  one. 
At  noon  the  pursuer  was  within  a  mile  of  her,  and  again  commenced  firing,  three  of 
the  balls  striking  the  Hornet.  Still  on  she  sped,  her  gallant  commander  having  re 
solved  to  save  his  ship  at  all  hazards.  He  did  so.  By  consummate  seamanship  and 
prudence,  he  soon  took  the  Hornet  out  of  harm's  way,  and  with  her  single  gun,  and 
without  .boat  or  anchor,  she  made  her  way  to  New  York,  where  she  arrived  on  the 
9th  of  June.  Biddle's  skill  in  saving  his  vessel  elicited  the  unbounded  praise  of  his 
countrymen.  It  was  afterward  ascertained  that  the  pursuer  of  the  Hornet  was  the 
Cornwallis,  74,  on  her  way  to  the  East  Indies,  and  bearing  the  flag  of  an  officer  in 
that  service. 

Warrington  continued  his  cruise  in  the  Peacock,  and  on  the  30th  of  June,a 

a  IglR 

when  off  Anjer,  in  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  between  Borneo  and  Sumatra,  he  fell 
in  with  the  East  India  Company's  cruiser  Nautilus,  14,  Lieutenant  Charles  Boyce. 
Broadsides  were  exchanged,  when  the  Nautilus  struck  her  colors.  She  had  lost  six 
men  killed  and  eight  wounded.  The  Peacock  lost  none.  This  event  occurred  a  few 
days  after  the  period  set  by  the  treaty  of  peace  for  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  "War 
ring  ton  was  ignorant  of  any  such  treaty,  but,  being  informed  of  its  ratification  on  the 
next  day,  he  gave  up  the  Nautilus,  and  did  every  thing  in  his  power  to  alleviate  the 
sufferings  of  her  wounded  people.  He  then  returned  home,  bearing  the  honor  of  hav 
ing  fired  the  last  shot  in  the  Second  War  for  Independence.  The  combat  between 
the  Hornet  and  Penguin  was  the  last  regular  naval  battle,  the  affair  between  the  Pea 
cock  and  Nautilus  being  only  a  rencounter. 

When  the  Peacock  reached  America,  every  cruiser,  public  and  private,  that  had 
been  out  against  the  British  had  returned  to  port,  and  the  war  was  over.  "  The 
navy,"  says  Cooper, "  came  out  of  this  struggle  with  a  vast  increase  of  reputation. 
The  brilliant  style  in  which  the  ships  had  been  carried  into  action,  the  steadiness  and 
rapidity  with  which  they  had  been  handled,  and  the  fatal  accuracy  of  their  fire  on 
nearly  every  occasion,  produced  a  new  era  in  naval  warfare.  Most  of  the  frigate  ac 
tions  had  been  as  soon  decided  as  circumstances  would  at  all  allow ;  and  in  no  in 
stance  was  it  found  necessary  to  keep  up  the  fire  of  a  sloop  of  war  an  hour  when 
singly  engaged.  Most  of  the  combats  of  the  latter,  indeed,  were  decided  in  about 
half  that  time.  The  execution  done  in  these  short  conflicts  was  often  equal  to  that 
made  by  the  largest  vessels  of  Europe  in  general  actions,  and  in  some  of  them  the 
slain  and  wounded  comprised  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  crews.  It  is  not  easy  to 

say  in  which  nation  this  unlooked-for  result  created  the  most  surprise The 

ablest  and  bravest  captains  of  the  English  fleet  were  ready  to  admit  that  a  new  pow 
er  was  about  to  appear  on  the  ocean,  and  that  it  was  not  improbable  the  battle  for 
the  mastery  of  the  seas  would  have  to  be  fought  over  again."1 

It  now  remains  for  us  only  to  consider  the  principal  exploits  of  the  American  pri 
vateers,  whose  services  appear  in  most  admirable  conspicuousness  at  every  period  of 
the  war,  from  the  month  after  it  was  proclaimed  until  some  time  after  peace  was  as 
sured  by  solemn  treaty.  Although  privateering  is  nothing  less  than  legalized  piracy, 
it  has  ever  been  sanctioned  by  the  laws  of  nations  since  such  codes  were  first  estab 
lished,  and  the  foremost  of  the  American  statesmen  at  the  period  we  are  considering 
advocated  it  as  a  just  and  expedient  measure  for  a  nation  so  feeble  as  ours  in  mari- 

i  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.,  4T9. 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  993 


Privateers  commissioned.     The  first  Cruisers  of  that  Class.  Privateering  approved. 

time  strength  when  contending  with  one  so  powerful  as  Great  Britain.1  So  regard 
ing  it,  Congress,  in  the  act  declaring  war,  sanctioned  it,  by  authorizing  the  President 
to  "  issue  to  private-armed  vessels  of  the  United  States  commissions,  or  letters  of 
marque  and  reprisal,"  as  they  were  termed,  in  such  manner  as  he  should  think  proper. 
The  President  was  not  tardy  in 
issuing  such  commissions  under  a 
specific  act  of  Congress  passed  on 


>  1812 

soon  swift-sailing  brio-s  and 

o  o 

schooners,  and  armed  pilot-boats, 
were  out  upon  the  high  seas  in 
search  of  plunder  from  the  com 
mon  enemy.  Of  these  the  clip 
per-built  schooner  represented  in 
the  engraving  was  the  favorite. 
The  most  noted  of  these  were 
built  at  Baltimore.  They  gener 
ally  carried  from  six  to  ten  guns, 
with  a  single  long  gun,  called 
"  Long  Tom,"  mounted  on  a  swiv- 

d-         .1    _  mi  CLU'l'EB-iJUILT   PKIVATEEB   bCUOONKK. 

in  the  centre.     1  hey  were  usu 
ally  manned  with  fifty  persons,  besides  officers,  all  armed  with  muskets,  cutlasses,  and 
boarding-pikes,  commanded  to  "  burn,  sink,  and  destroy"  the  property  of  an  enemy 
wherever  it  might  be  found,  either  on  the  high  seas  or  in  British  ports. 

Ltfo  the  port  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  which  became  famous  as  the  home  of  priva 
teers  during  the  contest,  the  first  prize  captured  on  the  ocean  after  the  declaration 
of  war  was  taken.  On  the  10th  of  July  the  private-armed  schooner  Fame,  Captain 
Webb,  took  into  that  harbor  two  British  ships,  one  laden  with  timber  and  the  other 
with  tar.  On  the  same  day  the  privateer Dash,  Captain  Carroway,  of  Baltimore,  en 
tered  Hampton  Roads  and  captured  the  British  government  schooner  Whiting,  Lieu 
tenant  Maxey,  who  was  bearing  dispatches  from  London  to  Washington. 

On  the  14th  of  July,  a  stanch  privateer  of  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  named  the 
Madison,  fell  in  with  a  British  transport  ship  from  Halifax  bound  to  St.  John's.  She 
had  been  under  convoy  of  the  Indian,  a  British  sloop  of  war,  which  had  just  given 
chase  to  the  Potty  and  Dolphin,  two  American  privateers.  The  Madison  pounced 
on  and  captured  the  transport,  which,  with  the  cargo,  was  valued  at  $50,000.  She 
was  sent  into  Gloucester.  On  the  following  day  the  Indian,  after  chasing  the  Polly 
for  some  time,  manned  her  launch  and  several  boats,  and  sent  them  to  capture  the 
fugitive.  The  Polly  turned,  and  resisted  so  gallantly  that  she  caused  the  launch  to 
strike  her  colors.  By  this  time  the  Indian  was  almost  within  gun-shot,  when  the 
Polly  took  to  her  sweeps  and  escaped.  The  Madison  soon  afterward  captured  a  Brit 
ish  ship  of  twelve  guns,  name  not  given,  and  the  brig  Eliza,  of  six  guns. 

On  the  18th  of  July  the  letter  of  marque  schooner  Falcon,  of  Baltimore,,  armed 

i  Immediately  after  the  declaration  of  war,  Thomas  Jefferson  wrote  on  the  subject  (July  4, 1812),  and  after  asking 
"What  is  war?"  answered,  "It  is  eimply  a  contest  between  nations  of  trying  which  can  do  the  other  the  most  harm." 
Again  he  asked  and  answered  as  follows  :  "Who  carries  on  the  war?  Armies  are  formed  and  navies  manned  by  indi 
viduals.  What  produces  peace  ?  The  distress  of  individuals.  What  difference  to  the  sufferer  is  it  that  his  property  is 
taken  by  a  national  or  private-armed  vessel  ?  Did  our  merchants,  who  have  lost  917  vessels  by  British  captures,  feel  any 
gratification  that  most  of  them  were  taken  by  bis  majesty's  men-of-war  ?  Were  the  spoils  less  rigidly  enforced  by  a  74- 
gun  ship  than  by  a  privateer  of  four  guns,  and  were  not  all  equally  condemned  ?  ....  In  the  United  States  every  pos 
sible  encouragement  should  be  given  to  privateering  in  time  of  war  with  a  commercial  nation.  We  have  tens  of  thou 
sands  of  seamen  that  without  it  would  be  destitute  of  the  means  of  support,  and  useless  to  their  country.  Our  national 
ships  are  too  few  in  number  to  give  employment  to  one  twentieth  part  of  them,  or  retaliate  the  acts  of  the  enemy.  By 
licensing  private-armed  vessels,  the  whole  naval  force  of  the  nation  is  truly  brought  to  bear  on  the  foe  ;  and  while  the 
contest  lasts,  that  it  may  have  the  speedier  termination,  let  every  individual  contribute  his  mite,  in  the  best  way  he  can, 
to  distress  and  harass  the  enemy,  and  compel  him  to  peace."  So  argued  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  founder  of  the  Democratic 
party,  then  administering  the  national  government,  and  which  was  a  unit  in  favor  of  war  with  Great  Britain. 

3R 


994  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Effects  of  American  Privateering.  Cruise  of  the  Rossie. 

with  four  guns  and  sixteen  men,  fought  the  British  cutter  Hero,  five  guns  and  fifty- 
five  men,  on  the  coast  of  France,  for  two  hours  and  a  half,  and  drove  her  off.  On  the 
following  day  the  Falcon  was  attacked  by  a  British  privateer  of  six  guns  and  forty 
men.  She  resisted  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  when,  her  captain  having  been  killed  and 
several  of  her  crew  wounded,  she  struck  her  colors,  and  was  taken  into  a  Guernsey 
port.  The  first  prize  that  arrived  at  Baltimore  was  a  British  schooner  laden  with  a 
cargo  of  sugar,  valued  at  $18,000.  She  was  captured  by  the  Dolphin.  This  was  on 
the  26th  of  July.  A  little  more  than  a  month  had  elapsed  since  the  declaration  of 
war,  yet  within  that  time  such  displays  of  American  valor  had  been  made  on  the  sea 
that  the  British  began  to  feel  some  respect  for  their  new  foe  on  that  element.  Dur 
ing  the  month  of  July  more  than  fifty  vessels  were  taken  from  the  British  by  Amer 
ican  privateers,  and  taken  into  the  harbors  of  the  United  States. 

Toward  the  middle  of  July  seven  privateers  sailed  from  Baltimore  on  a  cruise. 
One  of  them  was  the  swift  clipper-built  schooner  Rossie,  fourteen  guns  and  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  men,  commanded  by  the  veteran  Commodore  Barney.     His  manu 
script  journal  of  that  and  a  second  cruise  lies  before  me,  and  bears  evidence  that  it 
was  one  of  the  most  exciting  voyages  on  record.    He  sailed  from  Baltimore  on  the  12th 
of  July,a  and  cruised  along  the  eastern  coast  of  the  United  States  for  forty-five 
days  without  entering  port.     He  was  almost  daily  capturing  English  vessels, 
chasing  and  being  chased,  and  informing  all  American  vessels  that  fell  in  his  way  of 
the  beginning  of  war. 

Nine  days  after  he  left  Baltimore15  Barney  fell  in  with  the  brig  Nymph, 
of  Newburyport,  and  seized  her  for  violating  the  Non-importation  Act.  On 
the  following  day  the  Rossie  was  chased  by  a  British  frigate,  which  hurled  twenty- 
five  shots  after  her,  but  without  effect.  The  Rossie  outsailed  the  frigate,  an/i  es- 
c  July  so.  caped.  Six  days  afterward0  she  was  chased  by  another  frigate,  and  again 
outsailed  the  pursuer.  On  the  following  day  Barney  took  and  burned  the 
*  August  i.  snip  Princess  Royal,  and  the  day  following*1  took  and  manned  the  ship 
Kitty.  On  the  2d  of  August  he  took  and  burned  the  brigs  Fame  and  Devonshire, 
and  schooner  Squid  /  and  on  the  same  day  he  captured  the  brig  Two  Brothers,  put 
on  board  of  her  sixty  of  his  prisoners,  and  ordered  her  as  a  cartel  to  St.  John's,  New 
Brunswick,  to  effect  an  exchange  for  as  many  American  prisoners.  Barney  sent  his 

compliments  to  Admiral  Sawyer,  the  British 
commander  on  the  Halifax  station,  desired  him 
to  treat  the  prisoners  well,  and  assured  him, 
very  coolly,  that  he  should  soon  send  him  an 
other  shipload  of  captives  for  exchange.  On 
the  next  day  he  took  and  sunk  the  brig  Henry,  and  schooners  Race-horse  and  Hali 
fax,  captured  and  manned  the  brig  William,  and  added  forty  prisoners  to  the  num 
ber  on  board  the  Two  Brothers.  On  the  9th  of  August  he  captured  the  ship  Jenny, 
of  twelve  guns,  after  a  brief  action ;  and  on  the  following  day  he  seized  the  brig  Re 
becca,  of  Saco,  from  London,  for  a  breach  of  the  non-importation  law.  On  the  28th 
he  seized  the  Euphrates,  of  New  Bedford,  for  the  same  reason ;  and  on  the  30th  he 
ran  into  Narraganset  Bay,  and  anchored  off  Newport.  During  his  cruise  of  forty- 
five  days  he  seized  and  captured  fourteen  vessels,  nine  of  which  he  destroyed.  Their 
aggregate  capacity  amounted  to  two  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fourteen  tons,  and 
they  were  manned  by  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  men.  The  estimated  value  of  his 
prizes  was  $1,289,000. 

Barney  remained  in  Newport  until  the  7th  of  September,6  when  the  Rossie 

started  on  another  cruise.     On  the  9th  she  was  chased  by  three  British  ships 

of  war,  but  by  superior  speed  she  soon  left  them  out  of  sight.     On  the  12th  she  was 

chased  by  an  English  frigate  for  six  hours,  when  she,  too,  was  left  so  far 

'  ScDtcnibcr  16 

,  behind  that  she  gave  up  the  pursuit.     Four  days  afterwardf  she  fell  in 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


995 


Cruise  of  the  Rossie.  First  Prize  in  Baltimore. 


Cruise  of  the  Globe. 


with  and  captured  the  British  armed  packet  Princess  Amelia.  They  had  a  severe 
engagement  for  almost  an  hour,  at  pistol-shot  distance  most  of  the  time.  Mr.  Long, 
Barney's  first  lieutenant,  was  severely  wounded;  and  six  of  the  crew  were  injured^ 
but  not  so  badly.  The  Princess  Amelia  lost  her  captain,  sailing-master,  and  one  sea 
man  killed ;  and  the  master's  mate  and  six  seamen  were  wounded.  The  Rossie  suf 
fered  in  her  rigging  and  sails,  but  not  in  her  hull,  while  the  Princess  Amelia  was  ter 
ribly  cut  up  in  all. 

Barney  had  just  secured  his  prize  when  he  fell  in,  on  the  same  day,a  .September  12 
with  three  ships  and  an  armed  brig.  From  the  latter  the  Rossie  re-  1S12- 

ceived  an  eighteen-pound  shot  through  her  quarter,  which  wounded  a  man  and  lodged 
in  the  pump.  She  dogged  the  three  vessels  for  four  days  in  hopes  of  seeing  them 
separated,  and  thus  affording  an  opportunity  to  pounce  on  one  of  them.  They  kept 
together,  and  he  gave  up  the  game.  On  the  23d  he  spoke  the  privateer  Globe,  Cap 
tain  Murphy,  of  Baltimore,  and  the  two  went  in  search  of  the  three  ships,  but  could 
not  find  them.  On  the  8th  of  October,  while  they  were  sailing  together,  they  cap 
tured  the  British  schooner  Jubilee,  and  sent  her  into  port.  On  the  22d  Barney  seized 
the  ship  Merrimack  for  a  violation  of  law.  She  was  laden  with  a  valuable  cargo. 
On  the  10th  of  !STovemberb  he  returned  to  Baltimore.  The  result  of  his  two 
cruises  in  the  Rossie  since  he  left  that  city  was  3698  tons  of  shipping,  valued 
at  $1,500,000,  and  two  hundred  and  seventeen  prisoners. 

The  Dolphin,  of  Baltimore,  Captain  Stafford,  was  a  successful  privateer.  She  car 
ried  twelve  guns  and  one  hundred  men.  The  first  prize  sent  into  Baltimore  after  the 
declaration  of  war  was  hers,  as  we  have  observed  on  the  opposite  page ;  and  other 
ports  received  her  captives.  She  entered  Salem,  Massachusetts,  on  the  23d  of  July, 
after  a  cruise  of  twenty  days,  during  which  time  she  had  taken  six  vessels  without 
receiving  the  least  injury.  She  was  repeatedly  chased  by  British  cruisers,  but  al 
ways  outsailed  them.  Captain  Stafford  was  remarkable  for  kindness  of  manner  to 
ward  his  prisoners.  Such  was  its  power,  that  on  several  occasions,  when  he  was  com 
pelled  to  use  sweeps  to  escape  from  the  English  men-of-war,  they  volunteered  to  man 
them. 

The  privateer  Globe,  of  Baltimore,  Captain  Murphy,  carrying  eight  guns  and  about 
eighty  men,  went  to  sea  on  the  24th  of  July  in  company  with  the  letter  of  marque 
Cora.  On  the  31st  of  that  month  she  chased  a  vessel  about  three  hours,  when  she 
was  within  gun-shot,  and  commenced  firing.  The  fugitive  hoisted  British  colors,  and 
returned  the  shots  from  her  stern-chasers,  consisting  of  two  long  9-pounders.  The 
Globe  could  only  bring  a  long  nine  amidships  to  bear  during  an  action  of  about  forty 
minutes,  for  it  was  blowing  very  fresh,  and  the  enemy  crowded  all  sail.  The  Globe 
finally  gained  on  her,  and  commenced  firing  broadsides.  Her  antagonist  returned 
broadside  for  broadside,  until  the  Globe,  getting  within  musket-shot  distance,  fired 
deadly  volleys  of  bullets.  After  a  brisk  engagement  of  an  hour  and  a  half  at  close 
quarters,  the  British  vessel  struck  her  colors.  She  proved  to  be  the  English  letter  of 
marque  Boyd,  from  New  Providence  for  Liverpool,  mounting  ten  guns.  No  person 
was  injured  on  either  ship.  The  Boytfs  boats  were  destroyed,  and  she  suffered  much 
in  hull  and  rigging.  The  Globe  suffered  in  sails  and  rigging,  but  was  able,  after  send 
ing  her  prize  to  Philadelphia,  to  proceed  on  her  cruise.  On  the  14th  of  August  she 
captured  a  British  schooner  of  four  guns,  laden  with  mahogany ;  and,  a  few  days  aft 
erward,  she  arrived  at  Hampton  Roads,  accompanied  by  a  large  British  ship  carry 
ing  twenty-two  guns,  richly  laden,  and  bound  for  Glasgow,  which  she  captured  not 
far  from  the  Bermudas.  Having  secured  her  prize  in  port,  the  Globe  started  immedi 
ately  on  another  cruise.1 


i  While  cruising  off  the  coast  of  Portugal,  the  Globe  had  a  severe  engagement  with  an  Algerine  sloop  of  war,  which 
lasted  three  hours,  at  half  gun-shot  distance.  The  Algerine  shot  high.  The  Globe  received  no  less  than  eighty-two 
shot  through  her  sails,  but  had  not  a  man  killed,  and  only  two  wounded.  It  was  a  drawn  battle. 


996  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Cruises  of  the  Highflyer,  Yankee,  and  Shadow. 

The  Highflyer,  Captain  Gavit,  of  Baltimore,  was  another  successful  cruiser  on  pri 
vate  account.  She  was  armed  with  eight  guns,  and  manned  by  one  hundred  men. 
She  left  Baltimore  early  in  July,  and  on  the  26th  captured  the  British  schooner  Har 
riet,  in  ballast,  but  with  $8000  in  specie  on  board.  On  the  19th  of  August,  while  in 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  Captain  Gavit  discovered  the  Jamaica  fleet  of  merchantmen,  and 
gave  chase.  He  soon  observed  that  they  were  convoyed  by  a  British  frigate.  That 
vessel  gave  chase  to  the  Highflyer.  The  latter  outsailed  her,  and  on  the  21st  pounced 
xipon  the  Diana,  one  of  the  fleet,  and  captured  her.  She  was  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  tons  burden,  and  laden  with  a  valuable  cargo  of  rum,  sugar,  coffee,  etc.  Gavit 
took  out  her  crew,  and  sent  her  as  a  prize  to  the  United  States.  On  the  following 
day  the  Highflyer  fell  in  with  and  engaged  two  other  British  vessels  at  half  gun-shot 
distance,  giving  them  about  sixty  shot.  The  breeze  was  too  stiff"  to  allow  safety  in 
boarding  them,  and  so  he  hauled  off  and  left  them.  These  were  the  Jamaica,  of  Liv 
erpool,  and  the  Mary  Ann,  of  London,  the  former  carrying  seven  guns  and  twenty- 
one  men,  and  the  latter  twelve  guns  and  eighteen  men.  On  the  23d  the  Highflyer 
fell  upon  the  vessels  again,  the  wind  having  moderated.  Her  people,  after  a  severe 
cannonading  and  musket  firing  from  both  sides,  boarded  the  Jamaica,  and  captured 
her.  The  Mary  Ann  struck  her  colors  at  the  same  time.  During  the  action  Captain 
Gavit  was  shot  through  his  right  arm  by  a  musket-ball,  and  one  of  his  seamen  was 
wounded  in  the  cheek.  These  were  the  only  casualties,  excepting  the  damage  (which 
was  considerable)  done  to  the  sails  and  rigging  of  the  Highflyer.  Her  antagonists 
were  severely  bruised.  Several  of  their  seamen  were  wounded.  Both  ships  were 
richly  laden  with  the  products  of  the  West  Indies. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  the  privateer  Yankee,  carrying  ten  guns,  while  cruising  off 
the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  fell  in  with  the  letter  of  marque  Royal  Bounty,  also  carry 
ing  ten  guns.  She  was  a  fine  vessel  of  six  hundred  and  fifty-eight  tons,  and  manned 
by  twenty-five  men.  The  Yankee  had  the  advantage  of  wind,  and,  bearing  down 
upon  the  weather  quarter  of  the  Royal  Bounty,  gave  her  a  division  broadside,  which 
made  her  quake  in  every  fibre.  Making  a  quick  movement,  she  gave  her  an  entire 
broadside,  which  was  returned  with  spirit.  ,The  mariners  of  the  Yankee  were  most 
ly  sharp-shooters,  and  their  execution  was  terribly  galling.  At  the  same  time  the 
ship  was  well  managed,  and  her  great  guns  were  making  havoc  with  her  enemy's 
sails  and  rigging.  The  Royal  Bounty's  helmsman  was  killed,  and  she  became  so  un 
manageable  that,  after  fighting  an  hour,  she  was  compelled  to  surrender.  She  was 
terribly  wounded.  All  her  boats  were  stove,  and  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
round  shot  of  various  kinds  went  through  her  rigging  and  sails,  or  lodged  in  her  hull 
and  spars. 

The  schooner  Shadow,  Captain  Taylor,  of  Philadelphia,  had  a  severe  encounter  with 
the  British  letter  of  marque  May,  Captain  Affleck,  from  Liverpool  bound  to  St.  Lucia, 
carrying  fourteen  guns  and  fifty  men.  At  noon  on  the  4th  of  August  the  Shadow 
discovered  the  May,  and  gave  chase.  It  continued  until  almost  smiset,  when  an  ac 
tion  was  fought.  At  six  o'clock,  when  the  vessels  were  within  gun-shot  of  each  oth 
er,  the  May  commenced  firing  from  her  stern  guns.  The  action  commenced  at  seven, 
and  at  half  past  seven  the  May  hoisted  a  light  in  her  mizzen  rigging.  The  Shadow 
then  hailed  her,  and  Captain  Taylor  ordered  her  to  send  her  papers  on  board  of  his  ves 
sel  that  he  might  examine  them.  This  was  only  partially  complied  with.  Taylor  im 
mediately  sent  a  boat's  crew  to  the  May  with  a  demand  for  the  instant  surrender  of 
all  her  papers.  The  British  captain  refused.  He  sent  a  note  to  this  effect  to  Captain 
Taylor,  stated  the  character  and  force  of  his  vessel,  and  informed  him  that  a  change 
of  ministry  had  taken  place  in  England,  and  that  the  Orders  in  Council  had  been  re 
scinded.  Again  Captain  Taylor  demanded  Affleck's  papers,  and  again  they  were  re 
fused.  At  half  past  eight  o'clock  the  action  was  renewed.  The  night  was  squally 
and  dark.  The  vessels  kept  near  each  other,  occasionally  exchanging  shots,  and  in 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  997 


Salem  and  Baltimore  Privateers. 


the  morning  early  they  commenced  a  severe  fight.  Captain  Taylor  was  shot  through 
the  head  and  instantly  killed,  and  the  Shadow  was  so  much  damaged  that  she  with 
drew,  and  by  superior  sailing  escaped,  and  returned  to  Philadelphia. 

On  the  3d  of  August,  the  schooner  Atlas,  Captain  David  Maffit,  attacked  two  Brit 
ish  armed  ships  at  the  same  time.  After  an  engagement  of  about  an  hour  the  smaller 
vessel  of  the  foe  surrendered,  and  the  fire  of  the  Atlas  was  wholly  directed  upon  the 
larger  one.  Suddenly  the  smaller  one,  notwithstanding  her  colors  were  down,  again 
opened  her  fire ;  but  the  Atlas  soon  silenced  her,  and  in  less  than  an  hour  and  a  half 
from  the  time  of  the  attack  both  vessels  were  captured.  They  proved  to  be  the  ship 
Pursuit,  sixteen  guns  and  a  complement  of  thirty-five  men,  and  the  ship  Planter, 
twelve  guns  and  fifteen  men.  They  were  both  stored  with  valuable  cargoes  from 
Surinam,  and  bound  to  London.  They  were  sent  to  the  United  States.  The  Atlas 
was  badly  damaged  in  the  contest. 

At  about  this  time  the  privateer  John,  Captain  Benjamin  Crowninshield,  of  Salem, 
returned  to  that  port  after  a  cruise  of  three  weeks,  during  which  time  she  made 
eleven  captures.  All  along  the  coasts  of  the  United  States  and  the  West  Indies  the 
American  privateers  were  now  exceedingly  active.  None  were  more  so  than  the 
Paul  Jones,  Captain  Hazard,  of  New  York.  Within  a  very  short  space  of  time  she 
captured  fourteen  vessels  near  the  island  of  Porto  Rico,  some  of  them  of  considerable 
value ;  and  she  obtained  a  crowning  glory  by  the  capture,  early  in  August,  of  the 
British  ship  Hassan,  fourteen  guns  and  twenty  men,  sailing  from  Gibraltar  for  Ha 
vana  with  wines  and  dry  goods  valued  at  $200,000.  This  was  accomplished  after  a 
contest  of  only  half  an  hour. 

One  of  the  boldest  of  the  privateersmen  was  Captain  Thomas  Boyle,  of  Baltimore, 
who  sailed  the  Comet,  of  fourteen  guns  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  men.  One  of 
his  earliest  exploits  in  the  Comet  was  the  capture,  in  August,  1812,  of  the  British  ship 
Hopeicett,  carrying  fourteen  guns  and  twenty-five  men.  She  was  bound  from  Surinam 
for  London  with  a  cargo  valued,  with  the  ship,  at  $150,000.  The  two  vessels  had  an 
obstinate  combat,  but  the  Comet  was  the  victor.  The  prize  was  sent  into  Baltimore. 
Of  the  Comet  and  her  captain  we  shall  have  more  to  say  hereafter. 

Another  active  and  successful  Baltimore  privateer  was  the  Nonsuch,  Captain  Leve- 
ley,  armed  with  twelve  guns,  and  carrying  about  one  hundred  men.  She  was  one  of 
the'  famous  "  Baltimore  clippers."  On  the  27th  of  September,  when  cruising  near  the 
island  of  Martinique,  she  fell  in  with  a  British  ship  mounting  sixteen  guns,  with 
about  two  hundred  troops  on  board,  and  a  schooner  mounting  six  4-pounders,  and 
manned  with  a  crew  of  about  fifty  or  sixty  men.  The  Nonsuch  ran  in  between  the 
two  vessels,  within  pistol-shot  of  each,  and  commenced  a  hot  contest  which  lasted 
three  hours  and  twenty  minutes.  It  was  a  fierce  fight.  The  guns  of  the  Nonsuch 
(carronades)  became  much  heated  by  continual  firing.  Their  bolts  and  breachmgs 
were  carried  away,  and  they  were  all  dismounted.  Captain  Leveley  now  deter 
mined  to  board  his  antagonists;  but  the  damage  done  to  the  rigging  of  the  Nonsuch 
so  disabled  her  that  he  was  not  able  to  bring  her  alongside  for  the  purpose.  In  con 
sequence  of  this  disability  the  two  vessels  escaped,  but  not  without  severe  punish 
ment  The  larger  ship  was  much  damaged  in  hull  and  rigging,  and  lost  twenty-three 
of  her  men  killed  and  wounded.  The  schooner  was  also  much  damaged.1  The  per 
formance  of  the  Nonsuch  was  called,  by  the  journals  of  the  day, "  gallant,  but  un 
profitable  conduct."  The  British  spoke  of  the  attack  upon  them  as  "  exceedingly 
brave  "  Several  persons  of  distinction  in  these  ships  were  injured. 

The  privateer  Saratoga,  of  New  York,  Captain  Riker,  armed  with  eighteen  guns 
and  one  hundred  and  forty  men,  was  a  successful  cruiser.     In  the  autumn  of  1 
captured  the  ship  Quebec,  sixteen  guns,  from  Jamaica,  with  a  cargo  valued  at  $300,000. 
In  December  following  she  had  a  desperate  fight  off  Laguira,  Venezuela.     It  was  on 

i  Lo-book  onhe^^ATqnoted  in  The  War,  i.,  92 ;  and  Niles'B  Register,  iii.,  172. 


998  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

Privateering  to  the  close  of  1812.  Captain  Shaler's  Letter.  The  Comet,  of  Baltimore 

the  llth  of  that  month,  and  she  was  then  in  command  of  Captain  Charles  W.  Woos- 
ter.  She  entered  the  port  of  Laguira  the  10th,  but  was  wai'ned  off,  the  authorities  be 
ing  neutrals.  Going  out  of  the  bay,  she  captured  a  vessel  with  goods  worth  $20,000, 
•  December  ii,  anfi  a*  nine  in  the  morning  on  the  following  day,a  after  the  clearing  up 
of  the  fog,  she  fell  in  with  the  brig  Rachel,  from  Greenock,  Scotland, 
which  mounted  twelve  guns  and  carried  sixty  men.  They  were  in  sight  of  the  town, 
and  almost  the  entire  population,  from  the  beggar  to  the  commander,  turned  out  to 
see  the  conflict  from  the  house-tops.  The  combat  was  quick  and  furious.  It  result 
ed  in  victory  for  the  Saratoga,  whose  loss  was  only  one  man  slightly  wounded.  The 
Rachel  suffered  much.  The  second  mate  was  the  only  officer  alive  after  the  action.1 

Such  is  a  brief  record  of  some  of  the  most  prominent  events  in  the  history  of 
American  privateering,  from  the  declaration  of  war  in  June,  1812,  until  the  close  of 
the  year.  The  record  is  of  a  small  portion  of  the  swarm  of  private-armed  vessels 
which  were  out  at  the  beginning  of  1813.  These  were  harassing  British  commerce 
in  all  directions,  and  affording  powerful  and  timely  aid  to  the  little  navy  of  the  re 
public.  The  business  was  recognized  as  legitimate,  useful,  and  practically  patriotic. 
Merchants  and  other  citizens  of  the  highest  respectability  engaged  in  it,2  and  Con 
gress  passed  laws  to  encourage  it  by  the  allowance  of  liberal  privileges,  making  pro 
visions  for  pensions  for  those  engaged  in  the  service,  and  for  the  families  of  those 
who  might  be  lost  on  board  private-armed  vessels,  etc. 

The  history  of  American  privateering  in  1813  opens  with  a  letter  from  Captain 
Shaler,3  of  the  schooner  Governor  Tompkins,  which  was  armed  with  fourteen  car- 
ronades  and  one  "  Long  Tom,"  and  manned  by  about  a  hundred  and  forty  men.  She 
was  built  in  New  York,  and  was  first  commanded  by  Captain  Skinner.  Shaler  wrote 
on  the  1st  of  January  that  on  the  25th  of  December  he  chased  three  British  vessels, 
which  appeared  to  be  two  ships  and  a  brig.  The  larger  he  'took  to  be  a  transport, 
and  ran  down  to  attack  her,  when  he  found  himself  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  a 
large  frigate,  which  had  been  completely  masked.  He  boldly  opened  fire  upon  her, 
and  received  a  terrible  response.  Of  course  he  could  not  sustain  a  contest  with 
such  overwhelming  odds,  so  he  spread  his  sails  to  fly.  He  was  successful.  "  Thanks 
to  her  heels,"  he  said, "  and  the  exertions  of  my  brave  officers  and  crew,  I  still  have 
the  command  of  her."  He  got  out  all  his  sweeps,  threw  overboard  all  the  lumber 
on  his  decks,  and  about  two  thousand  pounds  of  shot  from  the  after-hold,  and  at  half 
past  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his  pursuer  far  behind, 
heaving  about.  The  Tompkins  lost  two  men  killed  and  six  wounded.  One  of  the 
former,  a  black  man  named  Johnson, "  ought  to  be  registered  on  the  book  of  fame," 
Captain  Shaler  wrote, "  and  remembered  with  reverence  as  long  as  bravery  is  con 
sidered  a  virtue.  A  24-pound  shot  struck  him  in  the  hip,  and  took  away  all  the 
lower  part  of  his  body.  In  this  state  the  poor  brave  fellow  lay  on  the  deck,  and  sev 
eral  times  exclaimed  to  his  shipmates, "  Fire  away,  boys  ;  neber  haul  de  color  down  !" 
The  other  man  killed  was  also  colored,  and  was  wounded  in  a  similar  manner.  "  Sev 
eral  times,"  says  Shaler,  "  he  requested  to  be  thrown  overboard,  saying  he  was  only 
in  the  way  of  the  others.  While  America  has  such  sailors  she  has  little  to  fear  from 
the  tyrants  of  the  ocean." 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  Comet,  of  Baltimore,  and  her  brave  commander, 
Captain  Boyle.  She  sailed  from  that  port  late  in  December,  1812,  passed  through 
the  British  blockading  squadron  on  a  dark  night,  and  went  on  a  cruise  toward  the 

1  Letter  from  Laguira,  quoted  in  Coggeshall's  History  of  the  American  Privateers,  etc.,  page  70. 

2  Washington  and  other  patriots  were  speculators  in  the  profits  of  privateering  during  the  Revolution.    In  a  letter 
before  me,  written  to  John  Parke  Custis,  and  dated  at  Whitemarsh,  November  14, 177T,  in  answer  to  one  from  that 
gentleman  on  the  subject  of  a  sale  of  a  portion  of  a  privateer  ship,  Washington  said :  "  It  is  perfectly  agreeable,  too, 
that  Colonel  Baylor  should  share  part  of  the  privateer.    I  have  spoken  to  him  on  the  subject.    I  shall  therefore  con 
sider  myself  as  possessing  one  fourth  of  your  full  share,  and  that  yourself,  Baylor,  Lund  Washington,  and  I  are  equally 
concerned  in  the  share  you  at  first  held." — MS.  Letter. 

3  Quoted  by  Coggeshall  in  his  History  of  the  American  Privateers,  page  140. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812.  999 


Cruise  of  the  Comet.  Her  wonderful  Career.  The  Chasseur. 

coast  of  Brazil.  On  the  9th  of  January,  1813,  she  was  off  the  harbor  of  Pernambuco, 
and  Boyle  was  informed  by  a  coaster  that  some  British  vessels  were  about  to  sail 
from  that  port.  The  Comet  watched  until  the  14th,  when,  at  a  little  past  noon,  four 
sail  appeared.  Boyle  waited  until  they  were  well  clear  of  the  land,  and  then  gave 
chase.  The  Comet  was  a  swift  clipper,  and  soon  overhauled  them ;  and  at  seven  in 
the  evening,  having  prepared  for  action,  she  hoisted  her  colors,  and  made  for  the 
larger  of  the  four  vessels,  which  proved  to  be  a  Portuguese  brig,  mounting  twenty 
heavy  guns  (32-pounders),  and  manned  by  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  men.  She  was 
convoying  three  English  merchant  ships  laden  with  wheat,  and  warned  Captain  Boyle 
not  to  molest  them.  To  this  injunction  Boyle  replied  that  his  commission  authorized 
him  to  capture  them  if  he  could,  and  that  the  Portuguese  warrior  had  no  right  to  in 
terfere. 

All  the  vessels  were  now  crowding  sail  with  a  stiffening  breeze.  The  Comet  shot 
past  the  others,  when  Boyle  summoned  the  Englishmen  to  heave  to,  with  a  threat 
that  if  they  did  not  he  would  open  a  broadside  upon  them.  The  Portuguese  gave 
chase  to  the  Comet.  The  latter  tacked,  came  alongside  of  the  merchantmen  at  half 
past  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  so  distributed  a  heavy  fire  that  she  wounded 
all  three.  The  Portuguese  suffered  severely  in  the  contest  which  followed,  for  the 
quick  movements  of  the  clipper  gave  the  latter  great  advantages  of  position.  The 
combat  continued  until  an  hour  past  midnight,  when  the  moon  went  down,  and  the 
night  became  dark  and  squally.  In  the  mean  time  the  merchantmen  had  surrendered, 
and  one  of  them  was  taken  possession  of  by  Boyle.  At  dawn,  the  Portuguese  brig, 
with  the  other  two  English  vessels,  fled  for  Pernambuco,  while  the  Comet  and  her 
prize,  the  Bowes,  proceeded  homeward.  Boyle  soon  afterward  captured  the  Scotch 
ship  Adelphi,  and  outsailed  the  famous  British  frigate  Surprise,  that  gave  chase. 

On  the  6th  of  February  the  Comet  captured,  first,  the  brig  Alexis,  of  Greenock,  and 
soon  afterward  an  armed  brig  .which  formed  part  of  a  convoy  for  nine  merchantmen 
from  Demerara.  At  the  same  time  another  man-of-war,  called  the  Swaggerer,  ap 
peared.  Boyle  was  anxious  to  get  his  prizes  off,  and  he  amused  the  brig  until  that 
desired  end  was  accomplished.  In  the  mean  time  he  added  the  Dominica,  a  Liver 
pool  packet,  to  his  list  of  prizes.  When  these  were  fairly  on  their  way  he  turned  his 
heels  upon  the  Swaggerer,  and  soon  outsailed  his  pursuer.  At  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  he  captured  the  schooner  Jane,  and  before  sunset  he  lost  sight  of  the  Swag 
gerer  entirely. 

Soon  after  this  encounter  Boyle  turned  his  face  homeward,  and  on  the  way  met 
and  fought  a  terrible  battle  for  eight  hours  with  the  British  ship  Jlibernia,  eight  hun 
dred  tons,  twenty-two  guns,  and  a  full  complement  of  men.  The  Comet  lost  three 
killed  and  sixteen  wounded.  The  Jlibernia  lost  eight  killed  and  thirteen  wounded. 
The  Comet  put  into  Porto  Rico  for  repairs,  and  the  Hibernia  into  St.  Thomas.  Both 
were  much  injured.  The  Comet  arrived  at  Baltimore  on  the  17th  of  March. 

Boyle  was  not  long  on  land.  His  next  cruise  was  in  the  beautiful  Chasseur,  a  pri 
vateer  brig,  elegant  in  model,  and  formidable  in  men  and  arms.  She  was  the  fleetest 
of  all  vessels,  and  the  story  of  her  cruises  is  a  tale  of  romance  of  the  most  exciting 
kind.  She  seemed  as  ubiquitous  as  the  "  Phantom  Ship."  Sometimes  she  was  in  the 
West  Indies  ;  then  on  the  coasts  of  Spain,  Portugal,  and  France  ;  and  then  in  the 
Irish  and  British  Channels,  spreading  the  wildest  alarm  among  England's  commercial 
marine.  So  much  was  she  feared  in  the  West  Indies  and  the  islands  of  the  Carib 
bean  Sea,  that  the  merchants  there  implored  Admiral  Dunham  to  send  them  "at  least 
a  heavy  sloop  of  war"  to  protect  their  property.  The  admiral  immediately  sent  them 
the  frigate  Uarrossa,  which  the  fleet  Chasseur  delighted  to  tease. 

1he°Cha8Sffur  captured  eighty  vessels,  of  which  thirty-two  were  of  equal  force  with 
herself,  and  eighteen  her  superior.  Many  of  the  prizes  were  of  great  value.  Three 
of  them  alone  were  valued  at  $400,000.  She  seemed  to  sweep  over  the  seas  with  im- 


1000  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Boyle's  Proclamation  of  Blockade.  Cruises  of  the  Dolphin,  Saratoga,  Lottery,  and  Yankee. 

punity,  and  was  as  impudent  as  he  was  bold.  On  one  occasion,  while  in  the  British 
Channel,  he  issued  a  proclamation,  as  a  burlesque  on  those  of  Admirals  Warren  and 
Cochrane  concerning  the  blockade  of  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  in  which  he  de 
clared  "  all  the  ports,  harbors,  bays,  creeks,  rivers,  inlets,  outlets,  islands,  and  sea-coast 
of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  in  a  state  of  rigorous  blockade." 
He  assured  the  world  that  he  possessed  a  sufficient  force  (the  Chasseur)  to  compel 
obedience.  This  proclamation  he  caused  to  be  sent  in  a  cartel  to  London,  with  a  re 
quest  to  have  it  posted  up  at  Lloyd's  Coffee-house  ! 

We  have  already  noticed  some  of  the  earlier  operations  of  the  Dolphin,  Captain 
Stafford.  On  the  25th  of  January,  1813,  she  fell  in  with  a  large  ship  and  a  brig  off 
Cape  St.  Vincent,  and,  as  was  common  with  the  more  daring  American  privateers,  en 
gaged  them  both.  After  a  severe  fight  they  were  captured,  and  sent  to  the  United 
States.  They  were  richly  laden,  and  were  valuable  prizes.  The  wounded  Captain 
Brigham,  of  the  British  ship  (Hebe,  16),  thought  his  capture  "extronary."  He  did 
"  not  expect  to  find  a  damned  Yankee  privateer  in  that  part  of  the  world !"  and  when 
assured  by  Stafford  that  they  would  appear  in  the  Thames  by-and-by,  his  eyes  dilat 
ed  with  mute  wonder.  Stafford's  kind  good-nature  won  Brigham's  heart ;  and  in  a 
card,  published  on  his  arrival  in  Boston  in  February,  he  thanked  the  commander  of 
the  Dolphin  and  his  associates  for  their  attentions,  saying,  "  Should  the  fortune  of 
war  ever  throw  Captain  Stafford  or  any  of  his  crew  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  it 
is  sincerely  hoped  he  will  meet  a  similar  treatment."1 

We  again  find  the  Saratoga,  Captain  Woolsey,  on  her  destructive  errand  in  Febru 
ary,  1813.  On  the  9th  of  that  month  she  captured  the  Lord  Nelson,  of  six  hundred 
tons,  and  one  of  the  finest  vessels  in  the  British  merchant  service.  She  was  sent  into 
New  Orleans.  At  about  the  same  time  the  Saratoga  captured  the  British  packet 
Morgiana,  eighteen  guns.  The  Saratoga  had  just  been  chased  by  a  British  frigate, 
and  had  been  compelled,  in  order  to  lighten  her  to  increase  her  speed,  to  throw  over 
board  twelve  of  her  guns.  She  had  only  four  to  attack  the  Morgiana  with.  Her 
armory  was  replenished  with  several  of  the  fine  brass  pieces  of  the  captive,  and  the 
prize  was  sent  to  Newport  with  her  captain.  The  kindness  of  the  prize-master  was 
so  conspicuous  that  the  captain  of  the  Morgiana  thanked  him  in  the  Newport  news 
papers. 

On  the  15th  of  February a  the  letter  of  marque  Lottery,  of  Baltimore,  armed 
with  six  guns  and  manned  by  thirty-five  men,  had  a  desperate  fight  in  Chesa 
peake  Bay  with  nine  British  barges  containing  two  hundred  and  forty  men.  She 
fought  them  an  hour  and  a  half,  during  which  time  it  was  believed  that  more  of  the 
foe  were  killed  than  the  number  of  the  whole  crew  of  the  letter  of  marque.  At  length 
Captain  Southcote,  commander  of  the  schooner,  was  severely  wounded,  and  the  ene 
my,  in  overwhelming  numbers,  boarded  the  vessel,  hauled  down  the  colors,  and  made 
her  a  prize. 

At  about  this  time  we  find  the  privateer  Yankee,  whose  exploits  we  have  already 
observed,  entering  the  harbor  of  Newport  after  a  cruise  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
days,  during  Avhich  time  she  had  scoured  the  whole  western  coast  of  Africa,  taken 
eight  prizes,  made  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  prisoners,  and  secured  as  trophies 
sixty-two  cannon,  five  hundred  muskets,  and  property  worth  almost  $300,000. 

The  merchants  of  New  York  fitted  out  no  less  than  twenty-six  fast-sailing  priva 
teers  and  letters  of  marque  within  a  hundred  and  twenty  days  after  the  declaration 
of  war,  carrying  almost  two  hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  and  manned  by  over  two 
thousand  seamen.  Among  the  most  noted  of  these  privateers  was  a  moderate-sized 
schooner,  mounting  a  Long  Tom  42-pounder,  and  eighteen  carronades.2  Her  comple 
ment  w'as  one  hundred  and  forty  men,  and  her  first  commander  was  Captain  Barnard. 

1  History  of  American  Privateers  and  Letters  of  Marque,  by  George  Coggeshall,  page  129. 

2  See  table  of  New  York  privateers  in  Niles's  Register,  iii.,  120. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  1001 

Cruises  of  the  General  Armstrong,  Xed,  aud  Scourge.  Valuable  Prizes  taken  by  the  Yankee. 

Early  in  March,  1813,  the  General  Armstrong  was  in  command  of  Guy  R.  Cham- 
plin,  and  cruising  off  the  Surinam  River,  on  the  coast  of  South  America.  Early  in 
the  morning  of  the  llth  she  gave  chase  to  the  Coquette,  a  British  sloop  of  war  mount 
ing  twenty-seven  guns,  and  manned  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  men  and  boys. 
Between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  the  vessels  were  within  gun-shot,  and  commenced  a 
brisk  engagement.  Convinced  by  observation  that  his  antagonist  was  a  British  let 
ter  of  marque,  Champlin  and  his  men  agreed  to  board  her,  and  for  this  purpose  they 
ran  the  Armstrong  down  upon  her,  when,  too  late  to  retreat,  they  discovered  her  to 
be  a  much  heavier  vessel  than  they  imagined.  The  two  vessels  poured  heavy  shot 
into  each  other,  and  for  a  while  the  fight  was  fierce  and  obstinate,  within  pistol-shot 
distance  for  almost  an  hour.  The  Armstrong  was  severely  injured,  and  her  captain 
received  a  ball  in  his  shoulder,  but  continued  some  time  on  duty  after  the  wound  was 
dressed,  and  from  the  cabin  gave  orders  until  his  vessel  was  fairly  out  of  the  clutches 
of  the  enemy.  By  the  vigorous  use  of  sweeps  the  Armstrong  escaped,  under  a  heavy 
fire  from  the  Coquette.  For  his  gallant  conduct  on  this  occasion,  and  his  skill  in  sav 
ing  his  vessel,  the  stockholders,  at  a  meeting  held  at  Tammany  Hall  on  the  14th  of 
April,  presented  Captain  Champlin  an  elegant  sword,  and  voted  thanks  to  his  com 
panions  in  the  combat.  We  shall  meet  the  Armstrong  hereafter. 

The  Ned,  Captain  Dawson,  a  New  York  letter  of  marque,  arrived  at  that  port  ten 
days  after  the  SAVord-presentation  to  Champlin,  and  brought  with  her  the  British  let 
ter  of  marque  Malvina,  of  Aberdeen,  mounting  ten  guns.  The  Ned  captured  her 
after  an  action  of  almost  an  hour.  Her  captain  was  killed,  and  in  the  combat  the 
Ned  had  seven  men  badly  wounded.  The  Malvina  was  laden  with  wine  from  the 
Mediterranean,  and  was  a  valuable  prize. 

Another  successful  privateer,  owned  in  New  York,  was  the  Scourge,  Captain  Nicoll. 
She  mounted  fifteen  guns,  and  sailed  from  port  in  April,  1813,  for  a  long  cruise  in 
European  waters,  and  was  frequently  in  consort  with  the  Rattlesnake,  of  Philadelphia, 
Captain  David  Maffit.  This  commander  went  into  the  business  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  with  the  Atlas,  and  continued  its  pursuit  until  the  close  of  the  contest  in 
1815.  The  Rattlesnake  was  a  fast-sailing  brig  of  fourteen  guns. 

Captain  Nicoll  was  often  absent  from  the  Scourge  while  on  the  coast  of  Norway, 
because  he  found  it  more  profitable  to  remain  on  shore  and  attend  to  the  sale  of 
prizes  brought  or  sent  in,  Avhile  his  first  officer  skillfully  commanded  her  in  cruises. 
The  Scourge  made  a  large  number  of  captures  on  the  coast  of  Norway,  and  these 
were  nearly  all  sent  into  Drontheim  and  disposed  of  there.  The  aggregate  tonnage 
of  prizes  then  and  there  disposed  of,  captured  by  the  Scourge  and  Rattlesnake,  was 
4500.  The  trophies  Avere  sixty  guns.  On  her  homeAvard  passage  from  Norway  the 
Scourge  made  several  captures.  She  arrived  at  Cape  Cod  in  May,  1814,  having  been 
absent  little  more  than  a  year.  During  her  cruise  she  had  made  four  hundred  and 
twenty  prisoners.  Her  deeds  made  her  name  an  appropriate  one,  for  she  scourged 
British  commerce  most  severely. 

The  Yankee,  already  mentioned,  left  Newport  on  a  cruise  on  the  23d  of  May,  1813. 
A  month  afterward,  when  off  the  coast  of  Ireland,  she  captured  the  British  cutter 
sloop  Earl  Camden,  valued  at  $10,000.  Eight  days  afterwarda  she  cap-  Bjune30 
tured  the  brig  Elizabeth,  valued  at  $40,000,  and  the  brig  Watson,  laden  with 
cotton,  valued  at  $70,000.  On  the  2d  of  July  she  took  the  brig  Mariner,  with  a  cargo 
valued  at  $YO,000.  All  of  these  prizes,  Avorth  in  the  aggregate  about  $200,000,  Avere 
sent  to  French  ports  for  adjudication  and  sale.  The  Avork  was  accomplished  in  the 
space  of  about  six  weeks.  The  Yankee  returned  to  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  on 
the  19th  of  August,  without  having  lost  a  man  during  the  cruise  either  killed  or 

Avounded. 

The  records  of  privateering  during  the  summer  of  1813  present  one  dark  chapter 
in  the  deed  of  a  desperate  Avretch  named  Johnson,  who  commanded  the  Teaser,  a  lit- 


1002  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Destruction  of  the  Teaser. .  Capture  of  the  Eagle.  Cruise  of  the  Decatur. 

tie  two-gun  vessel,  that  went  out  from  New  York  with  fifty  men.  When  that  vessel 
was  captured  by  one  of  Admiral  Warren's  fleet,  Johnson  was  released  on  his  parole. 
Soon  afterward,  without  waiting  to  be  exchanged,  he  entered  as  first  lieutenant  on 
board  another  privateer  named  the  Young  Teaser,  Captain  Dawson.  In  June,  1813, 
she  was  closely  pursued  by  an  English  man-of-war.  She  was  likely  to  be  overtaken, 
and  Johnson  knew  that  death  would  be  his  fate  should  he  be  caught.  Dawson  called 
his  officers  aft  in  consultation,  and  while  they  were  deliberating  on  the  subject  one 
of  the  sailors  called  out  to  the  captain  that  Lieutenant  Johnson  had  just  gone  into 
the  cabin  with  a  blazing  fire-brand.  The  next  instant  the  Teaser  was  blown  into 
fragments.  Only  six  of  all  her  people  escaped  destruction.  The  captain,  Johnson, 
and  all  the  others,  had  perished  in  a  moment. 

Toward  midsummer,  1813,  an  affair  occurred  off  Sandy  Hook,  New  York,  which 
created  a  great  sensation.  It  properly  belongs  to  the  history  of  privateering.  Com 
modore  Lewis  was  then  in  command  of  a  flotilla  of  gun-boats  on  that  station,  and 
the  British  man-of-war  Poictiers,  74,  was  cruising  in  those  waters.  She  had  for  ten 
der  the  sloop  Eagle,  and  on  the  5th  of  July  Lewis  sent  out  a  little  fishing-smack 
named  Yankee,  which  he  borrowed  at  Fly  Market,  in  New  York,  to  capture  this  ten 
der  by  stratagem.  With  a  calf,  a  sheep,  and  a  goose  secured  on  deck,  and  between 
thirty  and  forty  well-armed  men  below,  the  smack  stood  out  for  sea  with  only  three 
men  in  sight,  in  fishermen's  garb,  as  if  going  to  the  fishing-banks.  The  Eagle  gave 
chase,  overhauled  her,  and,  seeing  live-stock  on  board,  ordered  her  to  go  to  the  com 
modore.  The  watchword  "  Lawrence"  was  then  given,  when  the  armed  men  rushed 
to  the  deck,  and  delivered  a  volley  of  musketry  which  sent  the  crew  of  the  Eagle  be 
low  in  dismay.  Sailing-master  Percival,  who  commanded  the  expedition,  ordered  the 
firing  to  cease,  when  one  of  the  Eagle's  company  came  up  and  struck  her  colors.  The 
surprise  was  so  complete  that  her  heavy  brass  howitzer,  loaded  with  canister-shot, 
remained  undischarged.  Her  crew  consisted  of  her  commander,  a  midshipman,  and 
eleven  seamen.  The  two  former  and  a  marine  were  slain.  The  Eagle  and  prisoners 
were  taken  to  the  city  in  view  of  thousands  of  the  inhabitants,  who  were  on  the  Bat 
tery  celebrating  the  anniversary  of  the  National  Independence.1  They  were  received 
with  shouts,  salvos  of  artillery,  the  waving  of  hats  and  handkerchiefs,  and  the  ring 
ing  of  bells. 

A  month  after  the  capture  of  the  Eagle,  the  privateer  schooner  Commodore  Deca 
tur,  Captain  Diron,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  carrying  seven  guns  and  a  little 
over  a  hundred  men,  had  a  desperate  encounter  with  the  British  war  schooner  Do 
minica,  Lieutenant  Barrette,  carrying  sixteen  guns  and  eighty-eight  men.  The  De 
catur  was  cruising  in  the  track  of  the  West  India  traders  on  their  return  to  England, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  Augusta  gave  chase  to  a  ship  and  a  schoon 
er.  At  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  they  were  so  near  each  other  that 
the  schooner  fired  a  shot  at  the  Decatur.  The  latter  was  immediately  prepared  for 
action,  not  with  heavy  guns  alone,  but  with  implements  for  boarding.  Diron  intend 
ed  to  run  down  near  his  adversary,  discharge  all  his  guns,  great  and  small,  and  then 
board  her  under  cover  of  the  smoke.  This  was  not  immediately  accomplished,  for 
the  Dominica  was  on  the  alert,  and  manoeuvred  so  as  to  give  the  Decatur  some  dam 
aging  broadsides.  Twice  her  crew  attempted  to  board  her  antagonist,  but  failed, 
and  the  contest  was  kept  up  with  cannon  and  musketry.  Finally,  at  about  half  past 
three  o'clock,  the  Decatur  forced  her  bowsprit  over  the  stern  of  the  Dominica,  and 
her  jib-boom  penetrated  the  Englishman's  mainsail.  In  face  of  a  murderous  fire  of 
musketry,  the  Decatur's  men,  led  by  First  Prize-master  Safifth  and  Quartermaster 
Wasborn,  rushed  from  her  bow  along  the  bowsprit,  boarded  the  enemy,  and  engaged 
in  a  most  sanguinary  fight,  hand-to-hand,  with  swords,  pistols,  and  small-arms.  Both 
parties  fought  with  the  greatest  courage  and  determination.  The  decks  were  co\f- 

i  It  fell  on  Sunday  in  1813,  and  the  event  was  celebrated  on  Monday,  the  5th. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  1003 

Cruise  of  the  David  Porter,  Globe,  and  Harptj. 

ered  with  the  dead  and  wounded.  The  colors  of  the  Dominica  were  hauled  down 
by  the  boarders,  and  she  became  the  Decalitres  prize.  The  Dominica  lost  sixty-five 
killed  and  wounded.  Among  the  former  were  the  captain,  sailing-master,  and  purser. 
The  Decatur  lost  twenty  killed  and  wounded.  Diron  started  with  his  prize  for  Charles 
ton,  and  on  the  following  day  captured  the  London  Trader,  bound  from  Surinam  to 
London  with  a  valuable  cargo.  She  reached  Charleston  in  safety  with  both  prizes.1 

In  the  autumn  of  181 3,  Captain  George  Coggeshall,  whose  History  of  the  American 
Privateers  has  been  alluded  to,  commanded  the  letter  of  marque  schooner  David  Por 
ter,  of  New  York.  Late  in  October  she  was  lying  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  where 
the  President,  Commodore  Rodgers,  was  blockaded.  In  a  thick  snow-storm  on  the 
14th  of  November,  and  under  the  cover  of  night,  the  Porter  passed  the  blockading 
squadron  and  put  to  sea.  She  reached  Charleston,  her  destined  port,  in  safety,  where 
she  was  freighted  for  France  with  Sea  Island  cotton,  and  sailed  for  "  Bordeaux,  or  a 
port  in  France,"  on  the  20th  of  December.  In  the  Bay  of  Biscay  she  encountered  a 
terrible  and  damaging  gale,  but  weathered  it,  and  on  the  20th  of  January  entered  the 
port  of  La  Teste.  Coggeshall  sent  his  vessel  home  in  charge  of  his  first  officer,  and 
remained  in  France  some  time.  The  Porter  captured  several  prizes  on  her  way  to  the 
United  States. 

We  have  noticed  the  arrival  at  Hampton  Roads,  with  a  large  British  ship  as  a 
prize,  the  privateer  Globe,  of  Baltimore,  and  her  departure  on  another  cruise.2  She 
was  successful  in  the  capture  of  prizes,  but  did  not  meet  with  any  fair  tests  of  her 
sailing  qualities,  or  the  valor  and  skill  of  her  men,  until  November,  1813.  On  the  1st 
of  that  month,  while  cruising  oif  the  coast  of  Madeira,  she  fell  in  and  exchanged  shots 
with  a  large  armed  brig,  but  considered  it  prudent  to  keep  at  a  respectful  distance 
from  her.  She  then  proceeded  to  the  offing  of  Funchal,  where,  on  the  2d,  she  chased 
two  vessels  in  vain,  for  night  came  on  dark  and  squally,  and  she  lost  sight  of  them. 
On  the  3d  the  Globe  again  chased  two  vessels,  and  at  eleven  o'clock  were  so  near  that 

B 

the  larger  of  the  fugitives  opened  her  stern  guns  on  her  pursuer.  A  severe  action 
ensued,  when,  at  noon,  the  crew  of  the  Globe  attempted  to  board  her  adversary. 
They  failed.  Their  vessel  was  much  damaged,  and  while  in  this  condition  the  other 
vessel  came  up  and  gave  the  Globe  a  terrible  raking  fire,  which  almost  disabled  her. 
Yet  they  fought  on  at  close  quarters,  and  at  half  past  three  o'clock  the  larger  vessel 
was  compelled  to  strike  her  colors.  The  other  one  poured  in  broadside  after  broad 
side  within  half  pistol-shot  distance.  The  Globe  was  reduced  to  an  almost  sinking 
condition,  yet  she  managed  to  give  her  second  antagonist  such  blows  that  she,  too, 
struck  her  colors.  She  then  hauled  to  windward  to  take  possession  of  the  first  prize, 
when  that  vessel  hoisted  her  colors  and  gave  the  Globe  a  tremendous  broadside.  She 
was  compelled  to  haul  off  for  repairs,  and  the  two  vessels,  believed  to  be  severely  in 
jured,  sailed  slowly  away.  They  were  packet  brigs,  one  mounting  eighteen  and  the 
other  sixteen  cannon,  mostly  brass.  The  Globe  lost  eight  men  killed  and  fifteen 
wounded  in  this  desperate  encounter. 

During  the  first  eight  or  nine  months  of  the  year  1814,  although  the  American  pri 
vate-armed  ships  were  active  and  successful,  there  seems  not  to  have  been  any  per 
formance  by  them  that  deserves  the  name  of  a  naval  action.  This  monotony  of 
quiet  business  was  broken  in  September,  when  the  privateer  Harpy  fell  in  with  the 
British  packet  Princess  Elizabeth,  and  captured  her  after  a  shdtt  but  sharp  conflict. 
The  Elizabeth  was  armed  with  ten  guns,  and  manned  by  thirty-eight  men.  She  had 
on  board  a  Turkish  embassador  for  England,  an  aid-de-camp  to  a  British  general,  a 
lieutenant  of  a  74  line  of  battle  ship,  and  $10,000  in  specie.  This  specie,  with  sev 
eral  pipes  of  wine  and  some  of  the  cannon,  were  transferred  to  the  Harpy. 
mainder  of  her  armament  was  thrown  overboard,  and  the  ship  was  ransomed 
$2000,  when  she  was  allowed  to  proceed  on  her  voyage. 

»  Coggeshall's  History  of  American  Privateers,  page  1T2. 


1004 


PICTOKIAL   FIELD-BOOK 


The  Career  of  the  General  Armstrong. 


How  New  Orleans  was  saved. 


The  most  desperate  and  famous  combat  recorded  in  the  history  of  privateering 
during  the  war  was  that  maintained  by  the  General  Armstrong,  of  New  York,  Cap 
tain  Samuel  C.  Reid  (whose  earlier  exploits  we  have  already  noticed),  in  the  harbor 
of  Fayal,  one  of  the  Azores  islands  of  that  name  belonging  to  Portugal.  It  occurred 
on  the  26th  of  September,  1814.  While  she  lay  there  at  anchor,  in  a  neutral  port, 
she  was  attacked  by  a  large  British  squadron  under  the  command  of  Commodore 
Lloyd.  The  attacking  vessels  consisted  of  the  flag-ship  Plantagenet,  74 ;  the  frigate 
Rota,  44,  Captain  Somerville ;  and  the  brig  Carnation,  1 8,  Captain  Bentham,  each 
with  a  full  complement  of  men.  The  Armstrong  carried  only  seven  guns  and  ninety 
men,  including  her  officers. 

In  flagrant  violation  of  the  laws  and  usages  of  neutrality,  Lloyd  sent  in,  at  eight 
•  September  26,  o'clock  in  the  evening,a  four  large  and  well-armed  launches,  manned  by 
about  forty  men  each.  At  that  time  Reid,  suspecting  danger,  -was 
warping  his  vessel  under  the  guns  of  the  castle.  The  moon  was  shining  brightly. 
These  and  the  privateer  opened  fire  almost  simultaneously,  and  the  launches  were 
driven  off  with  heavy  loss.  The  first  lieutenant  of  the  Armstrong  was  wounded,  and 
one  man  was  killed. 

Another  attack  was  made  at  midnight  with  fourteen  launches  and  about  five  hun 
dred  men.  A  terrible  conflict  ensued,  which  lasted  forty  minutes.  The  enemy  were 
repulsed  with  a  loss  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty 
wounded.  At  daybreak  a  third  attack  was  made  by  the  brig  of  war  Carnation,  She 
opened  heavily,  but  was  very  soon  so  cut  up  by  the  rapidly-delivered  and  well-di 
rected  shots  of  the  Armstrong  that  she  hastily  withdrew.  The  privateer  was  also 
much  damaged.  It  was  evident  that  she  could  not  maintain  another  assault  of  equal 
severity,  so  Captain  Reid,  who  had  cool 
ly  given  orders  from  his  quarter-deck 
during  the  attacks,  directed  her  to  be 
scuttled,  to  prevent  her  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  She  was  then  aban 
doned,  when  the  British  boarded  her  and 
set  her  on  fire.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that, 
while  the  British  lost  over  three  hundred 
in  killed  and  wounded  during  ten  hours, 
the  Americans  lost  but  two  killed  and 
seven  wounded.1 

In  addition  to  the  glory  won  by  the 
bravery  of  this  resistance  to  the  British 
squadron,  Captain  Reid  and  his  gallant 
men  deserve  the  just  credit  of  having 
thereby  saved  the  city  of  New  Orleans 
from  capture.  This  squadron  was  part 
of  the  expedition  then  gathering  at  Ja 
maica  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  New 
Orleans,  and  the  object  of  their  attack 
on  the  Armstrong  was  to  capture  her, 
and  make  her  a  useftd  auxiliary  in  the 
work.  She  so  crippled  her  assailants 
that  they  did  not  reach  Jamaica  until  full  ten  days  later  than  the  expedition  expected 

1  For  a  detailed  account  of  this  affair,  see  American  State  Papers,  xiv.,  Naval  Affairs,  page  493,  and  Coggeshall's  His 
tory  of  the  American  Privateers,  page  370.  The  Portuguese  government  demanded  and  received  from  that  of  England 
an  apology  for  this  violation  of  neutrality ;  also  restitution  for  the  destruction  of  Portuguese  property  at  Fayal  during 
the  action.  That  government  also  demanded  satisfaction  and  indemnification  for  the  destruction  of  the  American  ves 
sel  in  their  neutral  port.  This  England  refused,  and  from  that  day  to  this  the  owners  of  the  privateer  and  their  heirs 
have  never  been  able  to  procure  indemnification  for  their  losses  either  from  England  or  Portugal,  or  from  their  own 
government. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812.  1Q05 


Honors  to  Captain  Reid.  The  American  Flag.  Cruise  of  the  Prince  de  Neufch&tel. 

to  sail  from  there.  That  expedition  waited  for  Commodore  Lloyd ;  and  when  it  final 
ly  approached  New  Orleans,*  General  Jackson  was  hastening  to  make  .  December  6, 
competent  arrangements  for  its  defense.  Had  the  fleet  arrived  ten  days  18W- 

sooner,  that  city  would  have  been  an  easy  prey  to  the  British,  for  it  was  utterly  de 
fenseless  until  that  general's  arrival  with  his  troops. 

The  defense  made  by  the  Armstrong,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  attack,  pro 
duced  a  great  sensation  throughout  the  United  States.  Captain  Reid  was  justly 
praised  as  one  of  the  most  daring  of  American  naval  commanders,  and  he  received 
various  honors  in  abundance.  The  State  of  New  York  gave  him  thanks  and  a  sword, 
and  he  was  every  where  received  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm  on  his  return  to  the 
United  States.1 

The  New  Yorkers  sent  out  a  splendid  vessel  of  seventeen  guns  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  called  the  Prince  de  Neufchdtel,  in  command  of  Captain  Ordronaux. 
She  was  a  very  fortunate  privateer.  During  a  single  cruise  she  was  chased  by  no 
less  than  seventeen  armed  British  vessels,  and  escaped  them  all ;  and  she  brought  to 
the  United  States  goods  valued  at  $300,000,  with  much  specie.  On  the  llth  of  Oc 
tober,  1814,  she  encountered  five  armed  boats  from  the  British  frigate  Endymlon  off 
Nantucket.  The  Neufchdtel  was  then  very  light  handed,  having,  when  the  fierce  bat 
tle  that  ensued  commenced,  only  thirty-six  men  at  quarters.  Early  in  the  forenoon 
the  engagement  began.  The  boats  were  arranged  for  the  assault  one  on  each  side, 
one  on  each  bow,  and  one  under  the  stern.  Within  the  space  of  twenty  minutes  the 
assailants  cried  for  quarter.  It  was  granted.  One  of  the  boats  had  gone  to  the  bot 
tom  with  forty-one  out  of  forty-three  of  her  crew.  The  whole  number  of  men  in  the 
five  boats  was  one  hundred  and  eleven,  a  larger  portion  of  whom  were  killed,  wound 
ed,  or  made  prisoners.  The  privateer  lost  seven  killed  and  twenty-four  wounded. 
She  returned  to  Boston  on  the  15th  of  October.  The  Neufchdtel  was  afterward  cap 
tured  and  sent  to  England. 

At  this  time  the  terror  inspired  by  the  doings  of  the  American  privateers  was  in 
tense.  The  British  began  to  seriously  contemplate  the  probabilities  of  the  complete 
destruction  of  their  commerce.  Fear  magnified  the  numbers,  powers,  and  exploits  of 

1  On  his  return  to  the  United  States  Captain  Reid  landed  at  Savannah,  and  made  his  way  north  by  land.  At  Rich 
mond  he  was  invited  to  a  public  dinner  by  members  of  the  Virginia  Legislature,  at  which  were  seated  the  governor, 
members  of  his  council,  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  other  distinguished  men.  It  was  the  first  opportunity  the 
Virginians  had  enjoyed  of  paying  their  personal  respects  to  a  hero  of  the  war,  and  they  did  it  with  enthusiasm.  The 
speaker  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  presided,  and  William  Wirt  was  vice-president.  When  Captain  Reid  retired,  the 
chairman  gave  as  a  sentiment,  "  Captain  Reid— his  valor  has  shed  a  blaze  of  renown  upon  the  character  of  oar  seamen, 
and  won  for  himself  a  laurel  of  eternal  bloom." 

On  the  7th  of  April,  1815,  the  Legislature  of  New  York  voted  the  thanks  of  the  state  and  a  sword  to  Captain  Reid.  At 
Tammany  Hall,  in  New  York,  he  was  presented,  in  the  name  of  the  citizens,  with  a  handsome  service  of  plate. 

Samuel  Chester  Reid  was  born  at  Norwich,  Connecticut,  on  the  25th  of  August,  1783.  He  went  to  sea  at  the  age  of 
eleven  years,  and  was  captured  by  a  French  privateer  and  taken  to  Guadaloupe.  He  was  a  midshipman  with  Commo 
dore  Truxtun.  The  occasion  in  his  public  life  which  gave  him  most  fame  was  this  defense  of  the  General  Armstrong 
at  Fayal.  After  the  War  of  1812  Captain  Reid  was  appointed  a  sailing-master  in  the  United  States  Navy,  and  held  that 
office  until  his  death.  He  was  port-warden  at  New  York  for  some  time,  and  a  weigher  of  customs.  He  was  about  be 
ing  made  collector  of  the  customs  there,  in  place  of  Swartwout,  by  Secretary  Duane,  when  that  officer  was  removed  by 
President  Jackson.  He  invented  and  erected  the  signal  telegraphs  at  the  Battery  and  the  Narrows,  and  is  also  distin 
guished  as  the  designer  of  the  present  arrangement  of  the  stripes  and  stars  on  our  national  standard.*  Captain  Reid 
was  simple  in  his  habits  and  manners,  upright  in  conduct,  and  honest  in  all  his  ways.  He  was  the  chosen  social  com 
panion  of  many  of  the  best  and  most  distinguished  American  citizens,  and  his  memory  is  sweetest  to  those  who  knew 
him  best.  He  died  in  the  city  of  New  York  on  the  28th  of  January,  1861.  His  funeral  took  place  at  Trinity  Church,  and 
was  largely  attended.  His  remains  were  escorted  to  their  last  resting-place  in  Greenwood  Cemetery  by  the  marines 
of  the  navy  yard  at  Brooklyn. 

*  Onr  flag  originally  bore  thirteen  stars  and  thirteen  stripes.  As  new  states  came  in,  the  number  of  the  stars  and 
stripes  was  correspondingly  increased,  pursuant  to  an  act  of  Congress  passed  in  1794.  This  was  found  to  be  impracti 
cable  ;  for,  as  the  states  increased,  the  width  of  the  stripes  had  to  be  lessened.  Besides,  there  was  nothing  in  the  device 
to  recall  the  original  confederacy  of  thirteen  states.  To  return  to  the  use  of  only  thirteen  stars  and  stripes  would  be 
inappropriate,  because  the  device  would  give  no  hint  of  the  growth  of  the  republic.  Captain  Reid  proposed  to  retain 
the  original  thirteen  xtripes  as  a  memento  of  the  original  Union,  and  to  add  a  new  star  whenever  a  new  state  was  ad 
mitted,  as  indicative  of  the  growth  of  the  states.  This  suggestion  was  adopted.  A  flag  with  this  new  arrangement  was 
first  raised  over  the  Hall  of  Representatives  at  Washington  on  the  4th  of  April,  ISIS,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
At  that  time  the  Senate  Chamber  and  Hall  of  Representatives  of  the  Capitol  were  separated,  the  centre  of  the  building 
not  being  completed.  Resolutions  of  thanks  to  Captain  Reid  "  for  having  designed  and  formed  the  present  flag  of  the 
United  States"  were  offered  in  Congress. 


1006  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Effect  of  American  Privateering  on  British  Commerce.  Cruise  of  the  Saucy  Jack  and  Kemp. 

the  privateers.  Meetings  of  merchants  were  held  to  remonstrate  against  their  depre 
dations.  It  was  asserted  that  one  of  these  "  sea-devils"  was  rarely  captured,  and  that 
they  impudently  bid  defiance  alike  to  English  privateers  and  stately  seventy-fours. 
Insurance  was  refused  on  most  vessels,  and  on  some  the  premium  was  as  high  as  thir 
ty-three  per  cent.  "Thirteen  guineas  for  one  hundred  pounds,"  said  a  London  jour 
nal,  "  was  paid  to  insure  vessels  across  the  Irish  Channel !  Such  a  thing  never  hap 
pened,  we  believe,  before."  The  Board  of  Admiralty  and  the  Prince  Regent  were 
petitioned  for  aid  in  checking  these  depredations;  and  the  government  was  com 
pelled,  because  of  the  state  of  public  feeling,  to  give  assurances  (which  they  had  no 
power  to  support)  that  ample  measures  should  be  taken  for  the  protection  of  British 
commerce. 

We  have  referred  to  the  impudence,  as  well  as  boldness,  of  the  American  priva 
teers.  A  small  one  belonging  to  Charleston,  mounting  six  carriage  guns  and  a  Long 
Tom,  appropriately  named  Saucy  Jack,  affords  an  illustration.  She  was  every  where, 
and,  being  clipper-built  and  skillfully  managed,  was  too  fleet  for  the  English  cruisers. 
On  one  occasion,  when  cruising  off  the  west  end  of  St.  Domingo,  she  chased  two  ves 
sels.  It  was  on  the  31st  of  October,  1814,  at  midnight;  and  when  near  enough,  at 
one  in  the  morning,  she  fired  upon  them.  On  coining  up,  it  was  ascertained  that  one 
of  them  carried  sixteen,  and  the  other  eighteen  guns.  Nothing  daunted  by  this  dis 
covery,  she  boarded  one  of  them  at  seven  in  the  morning,  when  it  was  found  that  she 
was  full  of  men,  and  a  war  vessel.  The  boarders  fled  back  to  the  Saucy  Jack,  and 
the  little  privateer  made  haste  to  get  away.  The  two  ships  chased  her,  pouring 
grape  and  musket-balls  upon  her,  but  within  an  hour  she  was  out  of  reach  of  even 
their  great  guns.  She  lost  eight  men  killed  and  fifteen  wounded.  Her  chief  antag 
onist  was  the  British  bomb-ship  Volcano,  with  the  transport  Golden  Fleece.  One  of 
the  lieutenants  and  two  of  the  men  of  the  Volcano  were  killed  and  two  were  wound 
ed.  On  Sunday,  the  1st  of  May,  the  Saucy  Jack  captured  the  fine  English  ship  Pel- 
ham,  carrying  ten  guns  and  thirty-eight  men.  She  was  bound  from  London  for  a 
"West  India  port,  and  had  a  cargo  valued  at  $80,000. 

The  schooner  Kemp,  of  Baltimore,  was  a  very  successful  privateer.  She  was  com 
manded  by  Captain  Jacobs.  At  the  close  of  November,  1814,  she  sailed  on  a  cruise 
in  the  West  Indies  from  Wilmington,  North  Carolina.  On  the  1st  of  December  she 
chased  a  squadron  of  eight  merchant  ships  in  the  Gulf  Stream  under  convoy  of  a  frig 
ate.  The  frigate,  in  turn,  gave  chase,  but  the  Kemp  dodged  her  in  the  darkness  of 
the  ensuing  night,  and  the  next  morning  again  gave  chase  to  the  merchantmen.  At 
noon  the  following  daya  she  found  them  drawn  up  in  battle  line,  and  at 

a  DftC6mu6r  3 

two  o'clock  they  bore  down  upon  the  privateer,  each  giving  her  some 
shots  as  they  passed.  She  reserved  her  fire  until,  by  a  skillful  movement,  she  broke 
through  the  line,  and  discharged  her  whole  armament  into  the  enemy.  This  pro 
duced  the  greatest  confusion,  and  within  an  hour  and  a  half  four  of  the  eight  vessels 
were  the  prizes  of  the  Kemp.  She  would  have  taken  the  whole  of  them,  but  she  had 
not  men  enough  to  man  them.  The  other  four  proceeded  on  their  voyage.  The  con 
voy  frigate  all  this  time  was  absent,  vainly  looking  for  the  saucy  privateer !  These 
prizes,  which  gave  an  aggregate  of  forty-six  cannon  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
men,  were  all  sent  into  Charleston.  It  was  a  profitable  cruise  of  only  six  days.  The 
Monmouth  privateer,  of  Baltimore,  at  about  the  same  time  Avas  dealing  destruction 
to  British  commerce  off  Newfoundland.  She  had  a  desperate  encounter  with  an  En 
glish  transport  ship  with  over  three  hundred  troops  on  board.  Her  superior  speed 
saved  her  from  capture.  Another  successful  Baltimore  privateer  was  the  Lawrence, 
of  eighteen  guns  and  one  hundred  and  eleven  men.  During  a  single  cruise,  which 
terminated  at  New  York  on  the  25th  of  January,  1815,  a  month  before  the  proclama 
tion  of  peace,  she  captured  thirteen  vessels.  She  took  one  hundred  and  six  prisoners, 
and  the  aggregate  amount  of  tonnage  seized  by  her  was  over  three  thousand  tons. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  1007 

Cruise  of  the  Macdorutwjh  and  Amelia.  Close  of  the  War.  The  American  Privateers  and  their  Doings. 

One  of  the  original  crew  of  the  Lawrence  was  a  colored  man  named  Henry  Van  Me 
ter,  mentioned  on  page  912. 

The  Macdonough,  of  Rhode  Island,  had  a  severe  fight  with  a  British  ship,  whose 
name  is  not  recorded,  on  the  31st  of  January,  1815.  The  action  commenced  at  mus 
ket-shot  distance  at  half  past  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  tremendous  musket- 
fire  of  the  enemy  caused  the  people  of  the  Macdonough  to  suspect  her  of  being  a 
troop-ship.  Such  proved  to  be  the  case.  She  had  at  least  three  hundred  soldiers  on 
board  besides  her  crew.  The  Macdonough  suffered  terribly  in  sails,  and  rigging,  and 
loss  of  men,  for  her  antagonist,  in  addition  to  the  overwhelming  number  of  men,  car 
ried  eighteen  9-pounders.  She  succeeded  in  escaping  from  the  British  vessel,  and 
reached  Savannah  on  the  7th  of  March. 

The  war  ended  early  in  1815,  but  it  was  some  time  after  the  proclamation  of  peace 
had  been  promulgated  before  all  of  the  fifty  privateers  then  at  sea  were  apprised  of 
it,  and  many  captures  were  made  after  the  joyful  event  had  occurred.  One  of  the 
latest  arrivals  of  successful  privateers  was  that  of  the  Amelia,  of  Baltimore,  in  April, 
1815.  She  had  a  full  cargo  of  valuable  goods.  During  her  cruise  she  had  captured 
ten  British  vessels.  Some  she  destroyed,  others  she  sent  into  port,  and  one  she  gave 
up  as  a  cartel  for  her  prisoners.  She  carried  only  six  guns  and  seventy-five  men. 
The  vessels  she  captured  amounted  in  the  aggregate  to  about  two  thousand  three 
hundred  tons,  and  her  prisoners  numbered  one  hundred  and  twelve.  Her  trophies 
in  arms  were  thirty-two  cannon  and  many  muskets.  She  was  frequently  chased  by 
English  cruisers,  but  her  fleetness  allowed  her  to  escape. 

In  this  outline  sketch  of  American  privateering1  during  the  Second  War  for  Inde 
pendence,  notice  has  been  taken  of  only  the  most  prominent  of  the  vessels  which  ac 
tually  sustained  a  conflict  of  arms  on  the  ocean  of  sufficient  importance  to  entitle  the 
act  to  the  name  of  a  naval  engagement.  The  record  shows  the  wonderful  boldness 
and  skill  of  American  seamen,  mostly  untaught  in  the  art  of  naval  warfare,  and  the 
general  character  of  the  privateering  service.  Nothing  more  has  been  attempted. 
The  full  history  of  the  service  as  it  lies,  much  of  it  ungarnished,  in  the  newspapers 
of  the  day.  and  the  manuscript  log-books  of  the  commanders,  exhibits  marvelous  ac 
tions  and  results. 

After  the  first  six  months  of  the  war  the  bulk  of  naval  conflicts  was  carried  on 
upon  the  ocean,  on  the  part  of  the  Americans,  by  private-armed  vessels,  which  "took, 
burned,  and  destroyed"  about  sixteen  hundred  British  merchantmen,  of  all  classes,  in 
the  space  of  three  years  and  nine  months,  while  the  number  of  American  merchant 
vessels  destroyed  during  the  same  period  did  not  vary  much  from^ue  hundred.  The 
American  merchant  marine  was  much  smaller  than  that  of  the  British,  and,  owing 
to  embargo  acts  and  apprehensions  of  war  several  months  before  it  was  actually  de 
clared,  a  large  proportion  of  it  was  in  port.  When  war  was  declared  many  vessels 
were  taken  far  up  navigable  rivers  for  security  against  British  cruisers  and  maraud 
ing  soldiers,  while  others  were  dismantled  in  safe  places. 

The  American  private-armed  vessels  which  caused  such  disasters  to  British  com 
merce  numbered  two  hundred  and  fifty.2  Of  these,  forty-six  were  letters  of  marque, 
and  the  remainder  were  privateers.  Of  the  whole  number,  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  were  sent  out  from  the  four  ports  of  Baltimore,  New  York,  Salem,  and  Boston 
alone.  The  aggregate  number  sent  out  from  Philadelphia,  Portsmouth  (N.  H.),  and 
Charleston  was  thirty-five.  Large  fortunes  were  secured  by  many  of  the  owners, 
and  some  of  them  are  enjoyed  by  their  descendants  at  the  present  day. 

1  The  materials  for  this  sketch  have  been  gathered  from  official  documents,  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  Coggeshall's 
History  of  American  Privateers,  and  personal  and  written  communications  to  the  author. 

2  This  was  115  less  than  were  commissioned  while  there  were  difficulties  with  France  in  the  years  1798  and  1799. 
The  number  of  private-armed  vessels  then  commissioned  was  365.    Their  tonnage  was  66,991.    Number  of  guns,  2723 ; 
and  of  men,  6847. 


1008 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


A  Peace  Faction. 


Boston  the  Centre  of  illicit  Trade. 


The  Government  as  a  Borrower. 


CHAPTER  XLH. 

"Brave  sonscof  the  West,  the  blood  in  your  veins 

At  danger's  approach  waited  not  for  persuaders ; 
You  rushed  from  your  mountains,  your  hills,  and  your  plains, 
And  followed  your  streams  to  repel  the  invaders." 

OLD  SONG. 

ET  us  now  take  a  glance  at  some  prominent  civil  affairs  during 
the  year  1814,  before  proceeding  to  consider  the  great  and  de 
cisive  military  events  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Orleans  with  which 
the  war  on  the  land  closed. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  contest,  as  we  have  seen,  there  was 
an  active  and  influential  body  in  the  Federal  party  known  as  the  Peace  Faction,  many 
of  whom  were  selfish  and  unpatriotic  politicians,  and  who,  by  their  endeavors  to 
thwart  the  government  in  its  efforts  to  provide  means  for  carrying  on  the  war, 
brought  discredit  upon  the  great  and  patriotic  party  to  which  they  belonged,  and 
deeply  injured  their  country.  These  politicians  were  chiefly  confined  to  New  En 
gland,  whose  commercial  interests  had  been  ruined  by  the  war,  and  Boston  was  their 
head-quarters.  Embargo  acts  had  closed  all  American  ports  against  the  legal  admis 
sion  of  goods  from  abroad,  and. these  could  only  be  obtained  through  contraband 
trade.  Such  trade  was  carried  on  extensively  at  the  New  England  capital,  where,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  magistrates  were  not  zealous  in  the  maintenance  of  the  restrictive 
laws.  Smuggling  became  almost  respectable  in  the  eyes  of  many  because  of  its  prev 
alence,1  and  foreign  goods,  shut  out  from  other  sea-ports,  found  their  way  there. 
Many  valuable  British  prizes  were  taken  into  that  port,  and  upon  Boston  the  mer 
chants  of  other  cities  became  dependent  for  a  supply  of  foreign  goods.  For  these 
they  paid  partly  in  bills  of  the  banks  of  the  Middle  and  Southern  States,  and  partly 
in  their  own  promissory  notes.  By  this  means  Boston  became  a  financial  autocrat, 
having  in  its  hands  despotic  power  to  control  the  money  affairs  of  the  country.  This 
fact  suggested  to  the  leaders  of  the  Peace  Faction  in  New  England  a  scheme  for  crip 
pling  the  government  financially,  and  thereby  compelling  it  to  abandon  the  struggle 
with  Great  Britain  with  dishonor.  They  were  quick  to  act  upon  the  suggestion  and 
to  put  the  scheme  into  operation. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  government  was  compelled  to  ask  for  loans,  and 
the  Peace  Faction  made  such  persistent  opposition,  for  the  purpose  of  embarrassing 
the  administration,  that  in  every  case  a  bonus  was  paid  for  all  sums  borrowed.  In 
January,  1813,  a  loan  of  $16,000,000  was  authorized.  It  was  obtained  principally  from 
individuals  at  the  rate  of  $88  for  a  certificate  of  stock  for  $100,  by  which  lenders  re 
ceived  $2,100,377  as  a  bonus  on  that  small  loan.  In  August  the  same  year  a  further 
loan  of  $7,500,000  was  authorized ;  and  in  March,  1814,  a  loan  of  $25,000,000  was  au 
thorized.  This  was  the  darkest  hour  of  the  war,  and  then  it  was  that  the  Peace  Fac 
tion  at  political  meetings,  through  the  press,  and  even  from  the  pulpit,  cast  every 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  government.  That  opposition  now  assumed  the  form  of 

1  One  of  the  most  eminent  members  of  the  Federal  party  (Harrison  Gray  Otis)  charged  the  administration  and  the 
war  with  the  authorship  of  that  "monstrous  depreciation  of  morals"  and  "execrable  course  of  smuggling  and  fraud"," 
and  said  that  a  class  of  citizens,  "encouraged  by  the  just  odium  against  the  war,  sneer  at  the  restraints  of  conscience, 
Vuigh  at  perjury,  mock  at  legal  restraints,  and  acquire  ill-gotten  wealth  at  the  expense  of  public  morals,  and  of  the  more 
sober,  conscientious  part  of  the  community." 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  1009 


The  Weakness  of  the  Government  a  Reason  for  rejoicing.  The  public  Credit  assailed. 

virtual  treason.  The  government  was  weak  and  in  great  need,  and  its  internal  ene 
mies  knew  it,  and  in  proportion  to  its  wants  they  became  bolder  and  more  outspoken. 
Their  denunciations  of  the  government,  and  those  who  dared  to  lend  it  a  helping 
hand,  were  violent  and  effective.  By  inflammatory  and  threatening  publications  and 
personal  menaces,  they  intimidated  many  capitalists.1  The  result  was,  that  only 
$11,400,000  of  the  proposed  loan  were  raised  in  the  spring  of  1814,  and  this  by  pay 
ing  a  bonus  of  $2,852,000,  terms  so  disastrous  that  only  one  more  attempt  was  made 
to  borrow  money  during  the  war,  the  deficiency  being  made  up  by  the  issue  of  treas 
ury  notes  to  the  amount  of  $18,452,000.  Over  this  failure  of  the  government  these 
unpatriotic  men  rejoiced.  One  of  them,  writing  from  Boston  in  February,  1815,  said, 
exultingly,  "  This  day  $20,000  six  per  cent,  stock  was  put  up  at  auction,  $5000  of 
which  only  was  sold  for  want  of  bidders,  and  that  at  forty  per  cent,  under  par.  As 
for  the  former  war  loan,  it  would  be  considered  little  short  of  an  insult  to  offer  it  in 
the  market,  it  being  a  very  serious  question  who  is  to  father  the  child  in  case  of  na 
tional  difficulties"  The  last  expression  referred  to  the  hopes  of  the  conspirators  that 
a  dissolution  of  the  Union  would  be  brought  about  by  the  body  known  in  history  as 
the  Hartford  Convention,  which  had  adjourned,  to  meet  again  if  necessary — a  body 
of  men  inspired  by  motives  and  actions  too  lofty  to  be  comprehended  by  the  vulgar 
politicians  who  were  the  leaders  of  the  Peace  Faction  of  that  day. 

But  these  machinations  failed  to  produce  the  full  effect  desired.  Patriotic  men  in 
New  England  of  the  Opposition  party  subscribed  to  the  loan ;  and  in  the  Middle 
States  they  did  so  openly  and  liberally,  to  the  disgust  of  the  Peace  Faction,  who  now 
resorted  to  a  more  reprehensible  scheme  for  embarrassing  the  government.  We  have 
observed  that,  for  reasons  named,  Boston  became  the  centre  of  financial  power.  These 
men  determined  to  use  that  power  to  embarrass  the  administration,  and  they  did  it 
in  this  wise :  The  banks  in  the  Middle  and  Southern  States  were  the  principal  sub 
scribers  to  the  loan,  and  measures  were  adopted  to  drain  them  of  their  specie,  and 
thus  produce  an  utter  inability  to  pay  their  subscriptions.  Some  of  the  Boston  banks 
became  parties  to  the  scheme.  The  notes  of  those  in  New  York  and  cities  farther 
south  held  by  these  banks  were  transmitted  to  them,  with  demands  for  specie,  and  at 
the  same  time  drafts  were  drawn  on  the  New  York  banks  for  the  balances  due  the 

i  "Will  Federalists  subscribe  to  the  loan?  Will  they  lend  money  to  our  national  rulers?"  a  leading  Boston  paper 
significantly  asked.  "It  is  impossible,  first,  because  of  the  principle,  and,  secondly,  because  of  principal  and  interest. 
If  they  lend  money  now,  they  make  themselves  parties  to  the  violation  of  the  Constitution,  the  cruelly  oppressive 
measures  in  relation  to  commerce,  and  to  all  the  crimes  which  have  occurred  in  the  field  and  in  the  cabinet.  .  .  .  Any 
Federalist  who  lends  money  to  the  government  will  be  called  infamous .'"  The  people  were  then  adroitly  warned  that 
money  loaned  to  the  government  would  not  be  safe.  "How,  where,  and  when,"  asked  this  disloyal  newspaper,  "  are 
the  government  to  get  money  to  pay  interest  ?"  Then,  in  language  almost  the  same  as  that  of  a  distinguished  leader 
of  a  Peace  Faction  of  our  day,  a  threat  of  future  repudiation  was  thrown  out,  to  create  distrust  in  the  government  se 
curities.  "  Who  can  tell,"  said  the  writer  above  alluded  to,  "  whether  future  rulers  may  think  the  debt  contracted  under 
such  circumstances,  and  by  men  who  lend  money  to  help  out  measures  which  they  have  toudly  and  constantly  condemned, 
ought  to  be  paid  f" 

Another  newspaper  said  of  the  Boston  merchants :  "They  will  lend  the  government  money  to  retrace  their  steps,  but 
none  to  persevere  in  their  present  course.  Let  every  highwayman  find  his  own  pistols."  And  a  doctor  of  divinity 
shouted  from  the  pulpit  at  Byfield :  "  If  the  rich  men  continue  to  furnish  money,  war  will  continue  till  the  mountains 
are  melted  with  blood— till  every  field  in  America  is  white  with  the  bones  of  the  people;"  while  another  said,  "Let 
no  man  who  wishes  to  continue  the  war  by  active  means,  by  vote  or  lending  money,  dare  to  prostrate  himself  at  the 
altar  on  the  fast-day,  for  such  are  actually  as  much  partakers  in  the  war  as  the  soldier  who  thrusts  his  bayonet,  and  the 
judgment  of  God  will  await  them." 

These  extracts  give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  violence  of  the  leaders  of  that  faction.  Many  capitalists  were  intimidated, 
and  were  afraid  tcTnegotiate  for  the  loan  openly,  a  fact  which  brokers  at  that  time  have  placed  on  record.  Gilbert  and 
Dean  advertised  that  the  "  names  of  all  subscribers  shall  be  known  only  to  the  undersigned."  Another  made  it  known 
that  "the  name  of  every  applicant  shall,  at  his  request,  be  known  only  to  the  subscriber."  Another  assured  the  people 
that  he  had  made  arrangements  "  for  perfect  secrecy  in  the  transaction  of  his  business." 

These  advertisements  excited  the  venom  of  the  Peace  party  exceedingly,  and  they  poured  abuse  upon  the  subscribers 
and  the  o-OVeriiment  together.  "Money,"  said  one  of  the  most  prominent  among  them,  with  great  bitterness,  "  is  such 
a  drug  (the  surest  signs  of  the  former  prosperity  and  present  insecurity  of  trade),  that  men,  against  their  consciences, 
their  honor,  their  duty,  their  professions  and  promises,  are  willing  to  lend  it  secretly  to  support  the  very  measures  which 
are  both  intended  and  calculated  for  their  ruin."  Another  said,  "How  degraded  must  our  government  be  even  in  her 
own  eyes  when  they  resort  to  such  tricks  to  obtain  money,  which  a  common  Jew  broker  would  be  ashamed  of.  They 
must  be  well  acquainted  with  the  fabric  of  the  men  who  are  to  loan  them  money  when  they  offer  that  if  they  will  have 
the  goodness  to  do  it  their  names  shall  not  be  exposed  to  the  world." 

3S 


1010  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Conduct  of  Boston  Bankers.  Effects  of  the  Conspiracy  against  the  public  Credit. 

Boston  corporations,  to  the  amount,  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  of  about  $8,000,000. 
The  New  York  bankers  were  compelled  to  draw  largely  on  those  of  Philadelphia,  and 
the  latter  on  those  of  Baltimore,  and  so  on.  A  panic  was  created.  No  one  could 
predict  the  result.  Confidence  was  shaken.  Wagons  were  seen,  loaded  with  specie, 
leaving  bank  doors  with  the  precious  freight,  going  from  city  to  city,  to  find  its  way 
finally  into  the  vaults  of  those  of  Massachusetts.1  The  banks  thus  drained  were  com 
pelled  to  curtail  their  discounts.  Commercial  derangement  and  bankruptcies  ensued. 
Subscribers  to  the  loan  were  unable  to  comply  with  their  promises,  and,  so  uncertain 
was  the  future  to  the  minds  of  many  who  intended  to  subscribe,  that  they  hesitated. 
The  effect  of  the  conspiracy  against  the  public  credit  was  potent  and  ruinous,  and  for 
a  while  it  was  thought  impossible  for  the  government  to  sustain  its  army  and  navy. 
The  banks  out  of  New  England  were  compelled  to  suspend  specie  payments,  and  the 
effect  upon  the  paper  currency  of  the  country  was  most  disastrous.2 

Nor  was  this  all.  To  make  the  blow  against  the  public  credit  still  more  effectual, 
the  conspirators  made  arrangements  with  agents  of  the  government  authorities  of 
Lower  Canada  whereby  a  very  large  amount  of  British  government  bills,  drawn  on 
Quebec,  were  transmitted  to  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  and  offered  on 
such  advantageous  terms  to  capitalists  as  induced  them  to  purchase.3  By  this  means 
an  immense  amount  of  gold  was  transmitted  to  Canada,  placed  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  put  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  to  give 
succor  to  the  war  they  were  waging  against  the  independence  of  the  republic.  Had 
the  conspirators  fully  succeeded,  the  national  armies  must  have  been  disbanded,  and 
the  country  reduced  to  a  dependency  of  Great  Britain. 

It  was  during  the  despondency  incident  to  the  gloomy  aspect  of  financial  affairs, 
the  capture  of  Washington  and  the  destruction  of  the  public  buildings  and  archives, 
the  utter  prostration  of  business,  the  certainty  that  a  very  lai'ge  British  force  would 
be  speedily  sent  to  our  shores,  and  the  neglect  and  discourtesy  with  which  the  Brit 
ish  government  had  treated  the  American  ministers  sent  to  Europe  to  negotiate  a 
treaty  of  peace,  that  a  convention  of  representatives  of  the  Opposition  party  in  New 

i  When,  in  deference  to  public  opinion,  the  Boston  bankers  attempted  to  explain  their  movement  in  this  matter,  they 
made  the  specious  plea  of  their  right  to  the  balances  due  them  from  other  banks.  This  was  not  satisfactory.  Matthew 
Carey,  one  of  the  ablest  publicists  of  the  day,  says  that  the  demand  was  made  at  a  season  of  the  year  when  freight  on 
the  specie,  on  account  of  the  bad  state  of  the  roads,  was  from  twenty  to  thirty  per  cent,  more  than  it  would  have  been 
had  they  waited  a  few  weeks.  That  they  could  have  waited  without  detriment  to  any  interest  is  made  manifest  by 
the  following  statement  of  the  condition  of  the  banks  in  Massachusetts  in  January,  1814,  just  before  the  movement  was 
made: 

Specie.  Notes  in  Circulation. 

Massachusetts  Bank $2,114,164 $682,708 

Union 65T,T95 283,225 

Boston 1,182,572 369,903 

State 659,066 509,000 

New  England 284,456 161,170 

Mechanics' 47,391 44,595 

$4,945,444  $2,000,601 

^  By  this  statement  it  appears  that  they  had  in  their  vaults  about  $250  in  specie  for  every  $100  of  their  notes  in  circula 
tion  :  "  a  state  of  things,"  says  Carey,  "  probably  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  banking  from  the  days  of  the  Lombards 
to  the  present  time." 

1  The  injurious  effects  upon  the  paper  currency  of  the  country  may  be  seen  by  the  following  price  current,  published 
on  the  7th  of  February,  1815 : 

Below  Par.  Below  Par. 

All  the  banks  in  New  York  State,  Philadelphia  City  Banks 24  per  cent 

Hudson  and  Orange  excepted...  19  to  20  per  cent.  Baltimore  Banks 30       " 

HudsonBank 20       "  Treasury  Notes 24  to  25       " 

Orange  Bank.. 24       "  United  States  six  per  cents 30       " 

3  These  transactions  with  the  public  were  made  so  boldly  that  advertisements  like  the  following  appeared  in  the 
Boston  papers : 

"1  bill  for £800  )         British  Government  Bills, 

1    do-     250  (  Forsaleby 

1    do-     203  (  CHARLES  W.  GREEN, 

£1,253  )  No.  14  India  Wharf." 

So  great  was  the  drain  caused  by  the  transmission  of  gold  to  Canada,  and  the  demand  for  specie  to  pay  for  smuggled 
goods  brought  from  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia,  that  the  specie  in  the  Massachusetts  banks  was  reduced  in  the  course  of 
six  months  nearly  $3,500,000— the  amount  being  $5,468,604  on  the  1st  of  July,  1814,  and  only  $1,999,368  on  the  1st  of  Jan- 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


1011 


Cabinet  Changes. 


New  financial  Measures  proposed. 


Revival  of  the  public  Credit. 


England,  to  consider  public  affairs,  was  conceived,  not  by  the  factious  politicians  we 
have  just  noticed,  but  by  thoughtful  and  earnest  patriots  of  the  Federal  party. 

After  the  invasion  of  Washington  there  were  some  changes  in  President  Madison's 
Cabinet.     Mr.  Monroe  continued  in  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State,  and  was  Acting 

Secretary  of  War  after  the  close  of  Septem- 
ber,  1814,  when  Mr.  Armstrong  had  resigned.1 
George  W.  Campbell,  of  Tennessee,  the  Secre- 
tary  of  the  Treasury,  was  succeeded  by  Alex 
ander  J.  Dallas — a  man  of  courage,  energy,  and  decision — early  in  Octo-  .  October  6, 
ber.a  The  new  secretary  entered  upon  his  duties  with  a  determination  to 
revive  the  public  credit,  if  possible,  and  he  did  it.  The  prospect  was  unpromising. 
Campbell's  report  of  the  condition  of  the  Treasury  immediately  preceding  his  resig 
nation  was  a  deplorable  picture  of  the  national  finances.  So  great  was  the  general 
distrust  that,  when  an  attempt  was  made  to  borrow  $6,000,000,b  there  were  b  August, 
not  bids  for  one  half  the  amount ;  and  so  great  were  the  government  needs, 
that,  in  order  to  procure  $2,500,000,  the  secretary  had  been  compelled  to  issue 
stock  to  the  amount  of  $4,266,000.  There  were  $8,000,000  treasury  notes  outstand 
ing,  one  half  of  which  would  fall  due  the 
next  year.  The  entire  amount  to  be  paid 
within  the  fiscal  year  was  not  less  than 
$25,000,000,  while  the  new  revenues,  al 
ready  provided  for,  including  new  taxes, 
could  not  be  expected  to  produce  above 
$8,000,000,  owing  to  the  total  destruction 
of  commerce.  Yet  Dallas  was  not  dis 
mayed,  nor  even  discouraged.  He  pro 
posed  methods  which  startled  Congress 
and  the  people.  The  crisis  demanded  im 
mediate  and  effective  measures,  so  he  pro 
posed  new  and  increased  taxes ;  and,  as  a 
means  for  furnishing  a  circulating  medium 
and  immediate  resources  in  the  way  of 
loans,  he  recommended  the  establishment 
of  a  national  bank,  the  government  to  be  a 
large  and  controlling  stockholder,  and  the 
bank  to  be  compelled  to  loan  to  the  gov 
ernment  $30,000,000.2  Congress  consider 
ed  the  propositions  favorably;  and  such 
was  the  confidence  which  the  character  and 


i  John  Armstrong  was  born  at  Carlisle,  in  Pennsylvania,  on  the  25th  of  November,  1758.  He  was  a  student  at  Prince 
ton  College  when  the  old  War  for  Independence  broke  out,  when  he  joined  the  army,  and  soon  became  a  member  of  the 
staff  of  General  Mercer.  He  was  afterward  on  the  staff  of  General  Gates,  and  was  for  a  while  adjutant  general  of  the 
Southern  Army  under  that  leader.  He  remained  with  that  officer  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Young  Armstrong  was 
the  author  of  the  celebrated  Aew'&wrgr  Addresses  just  at  the  close  of  hostilities.  While  their  tendency  was  most  danger 
ous  to  the  public  welfare,  Washington  bore  testimony  to  the  patriotic  motives  of  the  writer.  Armstrong  was  Secretary 
of  State  of  Pennsylvania.  After  marrying  the  sister  of  Chancellor  Livingston,  of  New  York,  he  settled  on  the  Hudson, 
in  that  State,  near  Red  Hook,  where  he  resided  until  his  death  on  the  1st  of  April,  1833.  He  was  United  States  senator 
in  the  year  1800,  and  in  1804  President  Jefferson  appointed  him  minister  to  France,  where  he  performed  his  duties  with 
ability.  He  was  appointed  brigadier  general  when  the  war  broke  out  in  1S12,  and  the  following  year  he  was  called 
to  the  office  of  Secretary  of  War,  which  he  reluctantly  accepted.  When  he  retired  from  that  post  he  left  public  life 
forever. 

=  Dallas's  proposition  contemplated  a  national  bank  with  a  capital  of  $50,000,000,  one  tenth  in  specie  and  the  remain 
der  in  government  stocks;  the  government  to  subscribe  two  fifths  of  the  capital,  and  to  have  the  appointment  of  the 
president  and  a  third  of  the  directors,  and  power  also  to  authorize  the  suspension  of  specie  payments.  A  bill  charter 
ing  a  national  bank  was  passed  in  1815,  but  was  vetoed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Finally,  in  April,  1816, 
an^act  incorporating  a  national  bank  became  a  law.  This  was  the  famous  United  States  Bank,  whose  existence  termi 
nated  in  1836. 

Alexander  J.  Dallas  was  born  in  the  island  of  Jamaica  in  1759.  His  father  was  a  Scotchman,  and  an  eminent  physi 
cian  there.  This  son  was  educated  at  Edinburg  and  Westminster.  After  the  death  of  his  father  he  settled  in  Philadel- 


1012  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Measures  for  increasing  the  Army.  Peace  apparently  remote.  Discontents  in  New  England. 

immediate  acts  of  Dallas  inspired,  that  the  loan  vainly  attempted  to  be  made  in  Au 
gust  was  favorably  negotiated  in  October ;  and  treasury  notes,  which  then  "  none  but 
necessitous  creditors,  or  contractors  in  distress,  or  commissaries,  quartermasters,. and 
navy  agents,  acting  as  it  were  officially,  seemed  willing  to  accept,"  were,  early  in  Jan 
uary  following,  sold  at  par,  with  the  interest  added. 

Mr.  Monroe,  as  acting  Secretary  of  War,  proposed  vigorous  measures  for  giving 
strength  to  the  army.  Volunteering  had  ceased,  and  he  proposed  to  raise,  by  con 
scription  or  draft,  sufficient  men  to  make  the  existing  army  number  nearly  sixty-three 
thousand,  and  to  provide  forty  thousand  men  as  a  regular  force,  to  be  locally  em 
ployed  in  the  defense  of  the  frontiers  and  the  sea-coast.  Bills  for  this  purpose  were 
« October  27,  introduced  in  Congress  ;a  and  this  and  other  war  measures  were  more  fa 
vorably  received  than  usual,  because  of  the  waning  prospects  of  peace 
with  Great  Britain  excepting  on  terms  humiliating  to  the  United  States.  Negotia 
tions  for  peace  were  then  in  progress  at  Ghent,  in  Belgium ;  but  the  unfair  demands 
and  denials  of  Great  Britain,  through  her  commissioners,  gave  very  little  promise  of 
satisfactory  results.  That  haughty  power  would  not  consent  to  make  peace  except 
ing  on  very  humiliating  terms  for  the  Americans ;  and  yet  there  were  those  who 
could  not  value  national  independence,  nor  comprehend  their  duty  to  posterity,  who 
thought  that  peace  would  be  cheaply  purchased  even  on  such  terms.  While  the 
Legislature  of  New  York  called  them  "  extravagant  and  disgraceful,"  and  that  of 
Virginia  spoke  of  those  terms  as  "  arrogant  and  insulting,"  the  New  England  Legis 
latures  had  no  word  of  condemnation. 

The  proposition  to  raise  a  large  force  by  conscription  brought  matters  to  a  crisis 
in  New  England.  In  some  of  the  other  states  the  matter  of  local  defenses  had  been 
left  almost  wholly  to  the  discretion  of  the  respective  governors.  But  the  President, 
made  suspicious  of  the  loyalty  of  New  England  because  of  the  injurious  action  of  the 
Peace  Faction,  insisted  upon  the  exclusive  control  of  all  military  movements  there. 
Because  the  Massachusetts  militia  had  not  been  placed  under  General  Dearborn's  or 
ders,  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  an  official  letter  to  Governor  Strong,  refused  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  defending  Massachusetts  from  the  common  enemy.  Similar  action 
for  similar  cause  had  occm-red  in  the  case  of  Connecticut,  and  a  clamor  was  instantly 
raised  that  New  England  was  abandoned  to  the^enemy  by  the  National  Government. 
A  joint  committee  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  made  a  report  on  the  state  of 
public  affairs,  which  contained  a  covert  threat  of  independent  action  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  that  section,  saying  that,  in  the  position  in  which  that  state  stood,  no  choice 
was  left  it  between  submission  to  the  enemy,  which  was  not  to  be  thought  of,  and 
the  appropriation  to  her  own  defense  of  those  revenues  derived  from  the  people,  but 
which  the  General  Government  had  hitherto  thought  proper  to  expend  elsewhere. 
The  committee  recommended  a  conference  of  sympathizing  states  to  consider  the  pro 
priety  of  adopting  "  some  mode  of  defense  suited  to  the  circumstances  and  exigencies 
of  those  states,"  and  to  consult  upon  a  radical  reform  in  the  National  Constitution. 

The  administration  minority  protested  against  this  action,  and  denounced  it  as  a 
disguised  movement  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  Their  pro 
test  was  of  no  avail.  The  report  of  the  committee  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  three  to 
one,  and  the  Legislature  addressed  a  circular  letter  to  the  governors  of  the  other  New 
England  States,  inviting  the  appointment  of  delegates,  to  meet  in  Convention  at  an 
early  day,  it  said, "  to  deliberate  upon  the  dangers  to  which  the  states  in  the  east 
ern  section  of  the  Union  are  exposed  by  the  course  of  the  war,  and  which  there  is 
too  much  reason  to  believe  will  thicken  round  them  in  its  progress ;  and  to  devise, 
if  practicable,  means  of  security  and  defense  which  may  be  consistent  with  the  pres- 

phia  in  1783,  and  studied  law.  He  was  fond  of  literary  pursuits,  and  at  one  time  edited  the  Columbian  Magazine.  In  1801 
President  Jefferson  appointed  him  United  States  Attorney  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania.  In  October,  1814, 
he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  in  March,  1815,  assumed  the  additional  duties  of  Secretary  of  War.  In 
November,  1816,  he  resigned,  and  returned  to  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  died  on  the  16th  of  January,  1817. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  1013 

A  Convention  called  at  Hartford.  Composition  of  the  Convention.  Its  proposed  Work. 

ervation  of  their  resources  from  total  ruin,  and  adapted  to  their  local  situation,  mu 
tual  relations  and  habits,  and  not  repugnant  to  their  obligations  as  members  of  the 
Union."  They  also  proposed  a  consideration  of  some  amendments  to  the  Constitu 
tion  on  the  subject  of  slave  representation,  that  might  secure  to  the  New  England 
States  equal  advantages  with  others. 

The  proposition  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  was  acceded  to,  and  on  Thursday 
morning,  the  15th  of  December,  1814,  a  Convention,  composed  of  twenty-six  delegates, 
representing  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire,  and  Ver 
mont,  assembled  at  Hartford,  in  Connecticut,  then  a  town  of  four  thousand  inhabit 
ants,  and  organized  by  the  appointment  of  George  Cabot,  of  Boston,  as  president  of 
that  body,  and  Theodore  D  wight  as  secretary.1 

The  sessions  of  the  Convention  continued  three  weeks,  and  were  held  with  closed 
doors.  The  movement  had  created  much  alarm  at  the  seat  of  government,  especially 
because  at  about  that  time  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  appropriated  a  million 
dollars  toward  the  support  of  ten  thousand  men  to  relieve  the  militia  in  service,  and 
to  be,  like  that  militia,  exclusively  under  state  control.  All  sorts  of  wild  rumors  and 
suggestions  were  put  afloat,  and  the 
government  found  it  convenient  to 
have  Major  (afterward  General)  T.  S. 
Jesup  at  Hartford,  with  his  regiment, 
at  the  opening  of  the  Convention, 
nominally  for  the  purpose  of  recruit 
ing  for  the  regular-  army,  but  really  under  instructions,  no  doubt,  to  watch  the  move 
ments  of  the  supposed  traitorous  conclave. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  session,  a  committee,  appointed  for  the  purpose,  submit 
ted  a  series  of  topics  proper  for  the  consideration  of  the  Convention,  which  were  as 
follows :  "  The  powers  claimed  by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States,  to  determine 
conclusively  in  respect  to  calling  out  the  militia  of  the  states  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States ;  and  the  dividing  of  the  United  States  into  military  districts,  with  an 
officer  of  the  army  in  each  thereof,  with  discretionary  authority  from  the  executive 
of  the  United  States  to  call  for  the  militia,  to  be  under  the  command  of  such  officer. 
The  refusal  of  the  executive  of  the  United  States  to  supply  or  pay  the  militia  of  cer 
tain  states,  called  out  for  their  defense,  on  the  grounds  of  their  not  having  been  called 
out  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  or  not  having  been,  by  the  Executive 
of  the  state,  put  under  the  command  of  the  commander  over  the  military  district. 
The  failure  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  supply  and  pay  the  militia  of 
the  states,  by  them  admitted  to  have  been  in  the  United  States  service.  The  report 
of  the  Secretary  of  War  to  Congress  on  filling  the  ranks  of  the  army,  together  with 
a  bill  or  act  on  that  subject.  A  bill  before  Congress  providing  for  classifying  and 
drafting  the  militia.  The  expenditure  of  the  revenue  of  the  nation  in  offensive  oper 
ations  on  the  neighboring  provinces  of  the  enemy.  The  failure  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States  to  provide  for  the  common  defense,  and  the  consequent  obligations, 
necessity,  and  burdens  devolved  on  the  separate  states  to  defend  themselves,  together 
with  the  mode,  and  the  ways  and  means  in  their  power  for  accomplishing  the  object." 
Such  was  the  work  which  the  Convention,  at  the  outset,  proposed  for  itself. 

On  the  20th  of  December  a  committee  was  appointed  to  "  report  a  general  project 
of  such  measures"  as  might  be  proper  for  the  Convention  to  adopt ;  and,  four  days 
afterward,  they  adopted  a  report  that  it  would  be  expedient  for  the  Convention  to 

i  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  delegates:  George  Cabot,  Nathan  Dane,  William  Prescott,  Harrison  Gray  Otis, 
Timothy  Bi^elow,  Joshua  Thomas,  Samuel  Sumner  Wilde,  Joseph  Lyman,  Stephen  Longfellow,  Jr.,  Daniel  Waldo,  Ho- 
dijah  Bayliel,  and  George  Bliss,  from  Massachusetts;  Chauncey  Goodrich,  John  Treadwell,  James  Hillhouse,  Zephaniah 
Swift,  Nathaniel  Smith,  Calvin  Goddard,  and  Roger  Minot  Sherman,  from  Connecticut;  Daniel  Lyman,  Samuel  Ward, 
Edward  Manton,  and  Benjamin  Hazard,  from  Rhode  Island;  Benjamin  West,  and  Mills  Olcott,  from  Sew  Hampshire; 
and  William  Hall,  Jr.,  from  Vermont. 


1014 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Signatures  of  the  Members  of  the  Hartford  Convention. 


Proposed  Amendments  to  the  Constitution. 


prepare  a  general  statement  of 
the  unconstitutional  attempts  of 
the  executive  government  of  the 
United  States  to  infringe  upon 
the  rights  of  the  individual  states 
in  regard  to  the  military,  etc. ; 
and  to  recommend  to  the  Legis 
latures  of  the  states  the  adoption 
of  the  most  effectual  and  decisive 
measures  to  protect  the  militia 
and  the  states  from  the  usurpa 
tions  contained  in  those  proceed 
ings.  Also  to  prepare  a  state 
ment  concerning  the  general  sub 
ject  of  state  defenses,  and  a  rec 
ommendation  that  an  application 
be  made  to  the  national  govern 
ment  for  an  arrangement  with 

'$•  r  the  states  by  which  they  would 

'  /y  be  allowed  to  retain  a  portion  of 

/jfc  ^^^-7^^^^  the  taxes  levied  by  Con- 
£/'  *•""  /    gress,  to  be  devoted  to 

the  expenses  of  self-de- 

FAO-SIMILE   OF   THE   SIGNATURES   TO   TUB   REPORT  OF   TUB   HARTFORD  CONVENTION.  .,  m-l 

fense,  et  cetera.     They 
also  proposed  amendments  to  the  Constitution.1 

1  They  proposed,  by  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  to  accomplish  the  following  results :  1.  The  restriction  of  the 
power  of  Congress  to  declare  and  make  war.  2.  A  restraint  of  the  exercise  of  unlimited  power  by  Congress  to  make 
new  states  and  admit  them  into  the  Union.  3.  A  restraint  of  the  powers  of  Congress  in  laying  embargoes  and  restric 
tions  on  commerce.  4.  A  stipulation  that  a  President  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  elected  from  the  same  state  two 
consecutive  terms.  5.  That  the  same  person  shall  not  be  elected  President  a  second  time.  C.  That  alterations  be  made 
concerning  slave  representation  and  taxation. 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


1015 


Adjournment  of  the  Hartford  Convention. 


Suspicions  respecting  its  Work. 


The  Substance  of  that  Work. 


The  labors  of  the  Hartford  Convention  ended  on  the  4th  of  January,  1816,  with  a 
report  and  resolutions,  signed  by  the  delegates  present,  to  be  laid  before  the  Legisla 
tures  of  the  respective  states  represented  in  the  Convention.     The  report  and  resolu 
tions  were  adopted  as  expressions  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Convention.1     On  the  fol 
lowing  morning,a  at  nine  o'clock,  after  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Strong,  the     .  January  5, 
Convention  adjourned,  but  with  the  impression  on  the  part  of  the  mem 
bers  that  circumstances  might  compel  it  to  reassemble.     For  that  reason  the  seal  of 
secrecy  was  not  removed  from  the  proceedings.     This  gave  wide  scope  for  conjecture 
concerning  them,  some  declaring  that  they  were  patriotic,  and  others  that  they  were 
treasonable  in  the  extreme.     Because  the  members  of  that  Convention  were  of  the 
political  party  to  which  the  Peace  Faction  belonged,  they  incurred  much  odium. 
They  and  the  party  became  the  target  at  which  the  shafts  of  sharpest  wit,  as  well  as 
bitter  denunciations,  were  hurled  ;  and  at  the  next  election  in  Massachusetts,  the  ad 
ministration,  or    Democratic 
party,  issued  a  hand-bill,  with 
a  wood-cut  indicative  of  the 
character  of  the  opposing  par 
ties,  a  copy  of  which,  on  a  re 
duced  scale,  is  given  in  the 
annexed  cut. 

He  who  will  take  pains  to  in 
quire,  without  prejudice,  will 
be  satisfied  that  the  twenty- 
six  eminent  men  who  com 
posed  the  Hartford  Conven 
tion  were  as  wise,  as  loyal, 
and  as  patriotic  as  the  aver 
age  of  the  legislators  and  pol 

iticians  of  that  day  or  since.     They  represented  the  conservative  sentiment  of  discon 
tented  New  England  during  a  season  of  great  trial.2 


i  The  report,  moderate  but  firm,  able  in  construction,  and  forcible  though  heretical  in  arguments  and  conclusions, 
was  immediately  published,  and  extensively  circulated  throughout  the  country.  It  was  read  with  the  greatest  avidity. 
It  disappointed  the  expectations  of  the  radical  Federalists  and  the  suspicious  Democrats.  The  few  disunionigts  of  New 
England  found  in  it  no  promises  of  a  separation,  and  the  administration  party  perceived  in  it  no  signs  of  sedition  or 
treason.  It  presented  a  concise  view  of  the  current  and  past  policy  of  the  government,  and  summed  up  the  sentiments 
of  the  Convention  in  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  recommended  for  adoption  to  the  state  Legislatures: 

"Resolved,  That  it  be  and  hereby  is  recommended  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  states  represented  in  this  Conven 
tion  to  adopt  all  such  measures  as  may  be  necessary  effectually  to  protect  the  citizens  of  said  states  from  the  operation 
and  effects  of  all  acts  which  have  been  or  may  be  passed  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  contain  pro 
visions  subjecting  the  militia  or  other  citizens  to  forcible  drafts,  conscriptions,  or  impressments  not  authorized  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"Resolved  That  it  be  and  hereby  is  recommended  to  the  said  Legislatures  to  authorize  an  immediate  and  earnest  ap 
plication  to  be  made  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  requesting  their  consent  to  some  arrangement  whereby 
the  said  states  may,  separately  or  in  concert,  be  empowered  to  assume  upon  themselves  the  defense  of  their  territory 
against  the  enemy;  and  a  reasonable  portion  of  the  taxes  collected  within  said  states  may  be  paid  into  the  respective 
treasuries  thereof,  and  appropriated  to  the  payment  of  the  balance  due  said  states,  and  to  the  future  defense  of  the  same. 
The  amount  so  paid  into  the  said  treasuries  to  be  credited,  and  the  disbursements  made  as  aforesaid  to  be  charged,  to 


has 
the 
the 


That'it  be  and  it  hereby  is  recommended  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  aforesaid  states  to  pass  laws  (where  it 


,  , 

governor  of  either  of  the  other  states,  to  employ  the  whole  of  such  detachments  or  corps  as  well  as  the  regular  force 
ereof  as  may  be  required,  and  can  be  spared  consistently  with  the  safety  of  the  state,  in  as- 
repel  any  invasion  thereof  which  shall  be  made  or  attempted  by  the  public 


eDTheyre'  were  other  resolutions,  but  they  referred  to  amendments  of  the  Constitution  already  alluded  to.  The  most  that 
ea™ sa?d agafnst th re  1  ions  jusl  quoted  is,  that  they  abandon  the  doctrine  of  a  consolidated  nation  formed  by 
'he  ratiSion  of  the  Constitution  by  the  people,  for  which  the  Washingtonian  Federalists  so  strenuously  contended 
and  are  deeply  tinged  with  the  fatal  heresy  of  state  supremacy,  or,  at  least,  state  independence,  which  has  produced 

T Se6  »uthoMBnindebred  to  the  kindness  of  Messrs.  E.  B.  and  E.  C.  Kellogg,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  for  a  careful 
copy  of  the  signatures  of  the  members  of  the  Convention,  printed  on  the  opposite  page,  precisely  as  they  are  attached 


1016  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Sketches  of  the  Members  of  the  Hartford  Convention. 

While  the  country  was  agitated  by  the  political  events  just  recorded,  and  the  peo 
ple  were  despondent  because  of  the  seeming  remoteness  of  peace  and  the  gloomy  as 
pect  of  public  affairs  in  general,  other  events  of  great  importance,  and  having  a  most 
powerful  influence  in  the  direction  of  peace,  were  occurring  on  the  southwestern  bor 
ders  of  the  republic.  Let  us  consider  them. 

We  have  seen  how  the  Creek  Indians  in  Alabama  were  led  into  war,  and  thereby 
to  the  ruin  of  their  nation,  by  white  enemies  of  the  republic  and  the  influence  of  Te- 

to  the  address  and  resolutions.    The  following  brief  notices  of  those  members,  compiled  from  sketches  made  by  Mr. 
Dwight,  the  secretary  of  the  Convention,  will  give  the  reader  some  idea  of  the  dignity  of  that  body : 

George  Cabot,  the  president  of  the  Convention,  was  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  discoverers  of  the  American  conti 
nent  of  that  name.  He  was  a  warm  Whig  during  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  and,  soon  after  the  adoption  of  the  Na 
tional  Constitution,  was  chosen  a  senator  in  Congress  by  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  pure-hearted, 
lofty-minded  citizen,  a  sound  statesman,  and  a  man  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him. 

Nathan  Dane  was  a  lawyer  of  eminence,  and  was  also  a  Whig  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  a  representa 
tive  of  Massachusetts  in  Congress  during  the  Confederation,  and  was  specially  noticed  for  his  services  in  procuring  the 
insertion  of  a  provision  in  the  famous  Ordinance  of  1787,  establishing  territorial  governments  over  the  Territories  north 
west  of  the  Ohio,  which  forever  excluded  slavery  from  those  regions.  He  was  universally  esteemed  for  his  wisdom  and 
integrity. 

William  Prescott  was  a  son  of  the  distinguished  Colonel  Prescott,  of  the  Revolution,  who  was  conspicuous  in  the  bat 
tle  of  Bunker  Hill.  He  was  an  able  lawyer,  first  in  Salem,  and  then  in  Boston.  He  served  with  distinction  in  both 
branches  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature. 

Harrison  Gray  Otis  was  a  native  of  Boston,  and  member  of  the  family  of  that  name  distinguished  in  the  Revolution. 
He  was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  served  the  public  in  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  and  in  the  National  Congress. 
He  was  an  eloquent  speaker,  and  as  a  public  man,  as  well  as  a  private  citizen,  he  was  very  popular. 

Timothy  Bigelow  was  a  lawyer,  and  for  several  years  was  speaker  of  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives. 

Joshua  Thomas  was  judge  of  Probate  in  Plymouth  County,  Massachusetts,  and  was  a  man  of  unblemished  reputation 
in  public  and  private  life. 
y    Joseph  Lyman  was  a  lawyer,  and  for  several  years  held  the  office  of  sheriff  of  his  county. 

George  Bliss  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  distinguished  for  his  learning,  industry,  and  integrity.  He  was  several 
times  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature. 

Daniel  Waldo  was  a  resident  of  Worcester,  where  he  established  himself  in  early  life  as  a  merchant.  He  was  a  state 
senator,  but  would  seldom  consent  to  an  election  to  office. 

Samuel  Sumner  Wilde  was  a  lawyer,  and  was  raised  to  a  seat  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts. 

Hodijah  Baylies  was  an  officer  in  the  Continental  Army,  in  which  position  he  served  with  reputation.  He  was  for 
many  years  judge  of  Probate  in  the  county  in  which  he  lived,  and  was  distinguished  for  sound  understanding,  fine  tal 
ents,  and  unimpeachable  integrity. 

Stephen  Longfellow,  Jr.,  was  a  lawyer  of  eminence  in  Portland,  Maine,  where  he  stood  at  the  head  of  his  profession. 
He  was  a  representative  in  Congress. 

Chauncey  Goodrich  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  was  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut  in 
both  of  its  branches.  He  was  also  a  member  of  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  lieutenant  governor  of  Connecticut.  His 
reputation  was  very  exalted  as  a  pure  statesman  and  useful  citizen. 

John  Treadwell  was  in  public  stations  in  Connecticut  a  greater  part  of  his  life,  where  he  was  a  member  of  both  legis 
lative  branches  of  the  government,  was  a  long  time  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  was  both  lieutenant 
governor  and  governor  of  the  state.  He  was  a  Whig  in  the  Revolution,  and  a  politician  of  the  Washington  school. 

James  Hillhouse  was  a  man  of  eminent  ability,  and  widely  known.  He  was  a  lawyer  of  celebrity,  served  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut,  and  was  for  more  than  twenty  years  either  a  senator  or  representative  in  Con 
gress.  He  fought  bravely  for  his  country  in  the  old  War  for  Independence,  and  was  always  active,  energetic,  and  pub 
lic-spirited. 

Zephaniah  Swift  was  a  distinguished  lawyer.  He  served  as  speaker  of  the  Connecticut  Assembly,  and  was  a  member 
of  Congress,  a  judge,  and  for  a  number  of  years  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Connecticut. 

Nathaniel  Smith  was  an  extraordinary  man.  He  was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  for  many  years  was  considered  as 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  his  profession  in  Connecticut.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress,  and  a  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Connecticut.  His  whole  life  was  marked  by  purity  of  morals  and  love  of  country. 

Calvin  Goddard  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  but  studied  and  practiced  law  in  Connecticut,  and  became  a  distin 
guished  citizen  of  that  state.  He  arose  to  great  eminence  in  his  profession,  and  was  in  Congress  four  years.  He  was 
repeatedly  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  was  appointed  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  state. 

Roger  Miuot  Sherman  was  another  distinguished  lawyer  of  Connecticut,  and  was  for  a  long  time  connected  with  the 
government  of  that  state.  He  was  a  man  of  highest  reputation  as  the  possessor  of  the  qualities  of  a  good  citizen. 

Daniel  Lyman  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  major  in  the  Continental  Army.  After  the 
peace  he  settled  as  a  lawyer  in  Rhode  Island,  where  he  became  distinguished  for  talents  and  integrity.  He  was  chief 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  state. 

Samuel  Ward  was  a  son  of  Governor  Ward,  of  Rhode  Island,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  was  a  captain  in  the 
Continental  Army.  He  was  with  Arnold  in  his  expedition  to  Quebec  in  1775.  At  that  city  he  was  made  a  prisoner. 
Before  the  close  of  the  war  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  colonel.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Convention  held  at  Annap 
olis,  in  Maryland,  in  1786,  which  was  the  inception  of  the  Convention  which  framed  the  National  Constitution. 

Benjamin  Hazard  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and  a  lawyer,  in  which  profession  he  was  eminent.  He  served  for 
many  years  in  the  Legislature  of  his  state. 

Edward  Manton  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and  rarely  mingled  in  the  political  discussions  of  his  day.  He  was  a 
man  of  sterling  worth  in  every  relation  in  life. 

Benjamin  West  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  and  a  lawyer  by  profession,  in  which  he  had  a  good  reputation. 

Mills  Olcott  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  and  a  son  of  Chief  Justice  Olcott,  of  that  state.  He  was  a  lawyer  by 
profession. 

William  Hall,  Jr.,  was  a  native  of  Vermont.  His  business  was  that  of  a  merchant,  and  he  was  frequently  a  member 
of  the  State  Legislature.  He  was  universally  esteemed  and  respected  by  all  good  men. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


1017 


General  Jackson  recalled  into  active  Service. 


His  Vigilance. 


Hostile  Movements  at  Pensacola. 


cumtha,  the  Indian  al 
ly  of  the  British  ;'  and 
we  left  General  Jack- 

•  April,      son»a  who   had 

1814.  been  the  chief 
instrument  in  the  de 
struction  of  that  na 
tion,  resting  at  "The 
Hermitage,"  his  man 
sion  and  estate,  a  few 
miles  from  Nashville, 
in  Tennessee.  From 
that  pleasant  retreat 
he  was  soon  recalled 
to  active  duty,  having 
been  appointed  a  ma 
jor  general  in  the 
army  of  the  United 
S  t  a  t  e  s,b  and 
commander  of 


April. 


THE  UEKMITAGE"  IN  1861. 2 


the  Seventh  Military  District,  with  his  head-quarters  at  Mobile,  which  post  the  Amer 
icans  had  taken  possession  of  as  early  as  April,  1812,3  when  the  Spaniards  retired  to 
Pensacola.  Jackson  was  instructed  to  stop  on  his  way  to  Mobile  to  make  a  defini 
tive  treaty  with  the  remnant  of  the  Creek  nation,  which  he  did  at  Fort  Jackson4  on 
the  14th  of  August.0 

Jackson's  vigilance  was  sleepless.  It  was  in  marked  contrast  with  the  slum 
bering  apathy  or  indifference  at  the  War  Department.  He  was  promptly  informed 
of  what  was  occurring  not  only  in  his  own  department,  but  in  the  whole  region 
around  him,  for  he  had  trusty  spies,  pale  and  dusky,  every  where.  He  had  observed 
with  indignation  and  alarm  that  the  authorities  at  Pensacola,  with  usual  Spanish  du 
plicity,  while  professing  neutrality,  were  in  practical  alliance  with  the  British  and  In 
dians.  Of  this  the  government  was  promptly  informed ;  but  Jackson  received  no 
responses  to  his  warnings.  He  continued  to  receive  evidences  of  gathering  danger 
at  Pensacola,  and  finally,  late  in  August,  the  mask  of  Spanish  neutrality  was  removed,. 
Nine  British  ships  of  war  then  lay  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  there.  Marines  were  land 
ed  from  them  and  allowed  to  encamp  on  the  shore.  Their  commander,  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Edward  Nichols,  was  made  a  welcome  guest  of  the  Spanish  governor,  and 
the  British  flag  was  unfurled  over  one  of  the  forts.  Indian  runners  were  sent  on 
swift  errands  among  the  neighboring  Creek  and  Seminole  Indians  to  invite  them  to 
Pensacola,  there  to  be  enrolled  in  the  service  of  the  British  crown.  The  response  to 
their  call  was  the  speedy  gathering  of  almost  a  thousand  savages  at  that  Spanish  post, 
where  they  received  arms  and  ammunition  in  abundance  from  the  British  officers. 
Then  went  forth  a  general  order  from  Nichols  to  his  soldiers,  followed  soon  afterward 
by  a  proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana  and  Kentucky,  both  of  which  re 
vealed  hostile  intentions.  To  his  troops  Nichols  spoke  of  their  being  called  upon  "  to' 
perform  long  and  tedious  marches  through  wildernesses,  swamps,  and  water-courses," 
and  he  exhorted  them  to  conciliate  their  Indian  allies,  and  to  "  never  give  them  just 
cause  for  offense."  In  his  proclamations  he  addressed  the  most  inflammatory  appeals 
to  the  prejudices  of  the  French  and  the  discontents  of  the  Kentuckians,  which  a  seem 
ing  neglect  by  their  government  and  the  arts  of  politicians  had  engendered.5  In  fact, 

~  See  Chapter  XXXIII. 

2  This  was  the  appearance  of  The  Hermitage  when  the  writer  visited  and  sketched  it  in  the  spring  of  1861. 

3  See  page  742.  4  See  PaSe  T82- 

•  The  British  counted  largely  upon  the  passive  acquiescence,  if  not  actual  assistance,  of  the  French  and  Spanish  in- 


1018  PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Outlaws  at  Barataria  Bay.  Their  Leader.  Invitation  to  join  the  British  Navy. 

Nichols,  with  a  strange  imprudence,  seemed  to  take  particular  pains  to  proclaim  that 
the  land  and  naval  forces  at  Pensacola  were  only  the  van  of  far  more  formidable  ones 
composing  an  expedition  for  the  seizure  of  New  Orleans  and  the  subjugation  of 
Louisiana. 

There  was  another  revelation  of  impending  danger  made  to  the  Americans  at  this 
time,  and  this,  with  the  proceedings  at  Pensacola,  aroused  the  people  of  the  South 
west,  and  the  civil  and  military  authorities,  to  the  greatest  vigilance  and  speedy  prep 
arations  to  meet  an  invasion.  This  was  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  British  to  ob 
tain  the  aid  of  a  community  of  outlaws  on  the  borders  of  the  Gulf.  These  were  pri- 
vateersmen  and  smugglers,  whose  head-quarters  were  on  a  low  island  called  Grand 
Terre,  six  miles  in  length  and  one  and  a  half  in  breadth,  which  lies  at  the  entrance  to 
Barataria  Lake  or  Bay,  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  little  less  than  sixty  miles  southwest 
from  New  Orleans  in  a  direct  line.  From  that  island  there  is  a  water  communica 
tion  for  small  vessels  through  lakes  and  bayous  to  within  a  mile  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  just  above  New  Orleans.  Toward  the  Gulf  is  a  fine  beach,  and  to  it  inhabit 
ants  of  the  "  Crescent  City"  resort  during  the  heats  of  the  summer  months.  The  bay 
forms  a  sheltered  harbor,  in  which  the  privateers  of  the  Baratarians  (as  the  smug 
glers  were  called)  and  those  associated  with  them  lay  securely  from  the  besom  of  the 
"  Norther"  that  sweeps  occasionally  over  the  Gulf,  and  also  from  the  cannon  of  ships 
of  war,  for  the  bay  was  inaccessible  to  such  ponderous  and  bulky  craft  as  were  then 
used.  The  community  of  marauders  there  formed  a  regularly  organized  association, 
at  the  head  of  which  was  Jean  Lafitte,  a  shrewd  Frenchman  and  blacksmith  from 
Bordeaux,  and  late  resident  of  New  Orleans.  He  had  caused  a  battery  of  heavy  guns 
to  be  pointed  seaward  for  the  protection  of  his  company ;  and  there  might  be  seen  at 
all  times  shrewd  and  cautious  men  from  New  Orleans,  having  "  honorable  mention" 
in  that  community,  purchasing  at  cheap  rates  for  profitable  sales  the  rich  booty  of 
the  sea-robbers,  and  thereby  laying  broadly  the  foundations  of  the  fortunes  of  many 
a  wealthy  family  living  in  the  Southwest  when  the  Civil  War  broke  out  in  1861. 
Lafitte  became  known  in  history,  romance,  and  song  as  the  "  Pirate  of  the  Gulf,"  of 
whom  Byron  erroneously  said  he 

"  Left  a  corsair's  name  to  other  times, 
Linked  with  one  virtue  and  a  thousand  crimes." 

He  was  not  a  corsair  in  the  meaning  of  the  law  of  nations ;  and  his  crimes,  such  as 
they  were,  were  not  against  humanity,  but  were  violations  of  the  revenue  and  neu 
trality  laws  of  the  United  States.  "  I  may  have  evaded  the  payment  of  duties  at  the 
custom-house,  but  I  have  never  ceased  to  be  a  good  citizen,"  said  Lafitte,  on  one  oc 
casion  ;  and  then,  with  the  usual  plea  of  a  culprit,  he  added, "  All  the  offenses  I  have 
ever  committed  have  been  forced  upon  me  by  certain  vices  in  the  laws." 

The  fact  that  the  United  States  government  had,  by  legal  proceedings,  made  the 
Baratarians  outlaws,  and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  it  was  supposed,  the  bitter  ene 
mies  of  that  government,  caused  the  British  to  seek  an  alliance  with  them,  not  doubt- 
"1814  *n=>  ^a*  ^  wou^  gladly  be  afforded.  Accordingly,  on  the  1st  of  September,"1 
the  British  sloop  of  war  Sophia,  Captain  Lockyer,  sailed  from  Pensacola  with 
dispatches  for  Jean  Lafitte,  among  which  was  an  invitation  from  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Nichols,  already  mentioned,  inviting  that  leader  and  his  band  to  enter  the  British 
service,  and  a  letter  from  Captain  W.  H.  Percy,  a  son  of  Lord  Beverly,  the  command 
er  of  the  British  squadron  at  Pensacola,  in  which  Lafitte's  fears  were  appealed  to.1 
Lafitte  took  the  offered  documents,  and  was  assured  by  Lockyer  that  his  vessels  and 

habitants  of  Louisiana,  who  had  been  opposed  to  the  rule  of  the  United  States  government,  and  also  upon  the  aid  of  the 
slaves,  whose  freedom  was  to  be  proclaimed  when  the  British  should  obtain  a  sure  foothold  on  the  borders  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  Eiver  or  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

1  The  package  contained,  besides  these  two  letters,  Nichols's  proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana,  and  a 
copy  of  Captain  Percy's  orders  to  Captain  Lockyer,  in  which  the  latter  was  directed,  if  successful  in  his  mission,  to 
"  concert  measures  for  the  annoyance  of  the  enemy,  having  an  eye  to  the  juncture  of  the  small  armed  vessels"  of  the 
Baratarians  with  those  of  the  British  "for  the  capture  of  Mobile,"  etc. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


1019 


A  Leader  of  Smugglers  turns  Patriot. 


Jackson  perceives  Mischief. 


Mobile  and  its  Defenses. 


WILLIAM    O.  C.  OLAIIiOENE. 


men  would  be  received  into  the  honorable 
service  of  the  Royal  Navy.  These  docu 
ments  Lafitte  sent  to  William  C.  C.  Clai- 
borne,  then  governor  of  Louisiana,  with  a 
letter,  saying,  "  Though  proscribed  in  my 
adopted  country,  I  will  never  miss  an  occa 
sion  of  serving  her,  or  of  proving  that  she 
has  never  ceased  to  be  near  to  me."1 

Before  these  revelations  were  made,  Jack 
son's  sagacity  and  forecast,  when  consider 
ing  rumors  and  positive  information  that 
reached  him  from  time  to  time,  had  made 
him  suspicious  that  such  hostile  movements 
were  in  preparation ;  and,  while  a  handful 
of  men  were  trampling  upon  the  national 
capital,  he  was  planning  a  scheme  for  crush 
ing  at  one  blow  the  triple  alliance  of  Brit 
ish,  Spanish,  and  Indians  at  Pensacola,  and 
ending  the  war  in  the  Southwest.  Now, 
with  positive  testimony  of  danger  before 
him  (copies  of  the  documents  furnished  by 
Lafitte  having  been  sent  to  him),  he  resolved  to  act  promptly,  without  the  advice  or 
sanction  of  his  government.2  He  squarely  accused  Manrequez,  the  Spanish  governor 
at  Pensacola,  with  bad  faith,  when  a  spicy  correspondence  ensued.  This  Jackson 
ended  by  saying  to  the  governor,  "  In  future  I  beg  you  to  withhold  your  insulting 
charges  against  my  government  for  one  more  inclined  to  listen  to  slander  than  I  am ; 
nor  consider  me  any  more  a  diplomatic  character  unless  so  proclaimed  from  the  mouth 
of  my  cannon."  Then  he  sent  his  adjutant  general,  Colonel  Robert  Butler,  into  Ten 
nessee  to  beat  up  for  volunteers,  with  a  determination  to  give  tangible  shape  to  the 
threat  contained  in  the  last  clause  of  his  letter.  In  a  very  short  time  no  less  than 
two  thousand  of  the  sturdy  young  men  of  Tennessee  were  ready  for  the  field. 

Meanwhile,  hostilities  had  actually  commenced  in  that  quarter.  When  Jackson 
reached  Mobile,  late  in  August,  he  was  satisfied  that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to 
seize  that  post  as  soon  as  the  great  expedition  of  which  he  had  rumors  should  be  pre 
pared  to  move.  Mobile  was  then  only  a  little  village  of  wooden  houses,  with  not  a 
thousand  inhabitants,  with  no  defenses  against  artillery,  and  scarcely  sufficient  to 
withstand  an  attack  from  the  rifles  of  Indians.  At  the  entrance  to  Mobile  Bay,  thirty 
miles  from  the  village,was  Fort  Bowyer  (now  Fort  Morgan),  occupying  the  extremity 
of  a  narrow  sand  cape  on  the  eastern  side  of  that  entrance,  and  commanding  the  en 
tire  channel  between  it  and  Dauphin  Island.  It  was  a  small  work,  semicircular  in 
form  toward  the  channel,  and  of  redan  shape  on  the  land  side.  It  was  weak,  being 
without  bomb-proofs,  and  mounting  only  twenty  guns,  and  all  but  two  of  these  were 
12-pounders  and  less.  And  yet  this  was  the  chief  defense  of  Mobile  ;  for,  the  enemy 
once  inside  of  the  bay,  there  would  be  no  hope  for  holding  the  post  with  the  troops 
then  at  hand.  So,  when  Jackson  perceived,  early  in  September,  that  a  speedy  move-' 
ment  against  Mobile  from  Pensacola  was  probable,  he  threw  into  Fort  Bowyer  one 
hundred  and  thirty  of  the  Second  regular  infantry,  under  Major  William  Lawrence, 

1  Lafltte  had  amassed  a  large  fortune  by  his  lawless  pursuits,  and  perceived  the  danger  that  menaced  his  trade,  his 
possessions,  and  his  liberty.  "Already  his  brother,  who  had  been  his  chief  agent  in  New  Orleans,  was  iu  prison  for  his 
offenses,  and  the  authorities  of  the  United  States  were  preparing  to  strike  a  withering  blow  at  Barataria.  Lafltte,  will 
ing  to  save  himself  and  his  possessions,  and  preferring  to  be  called  a  patriot  rather  than  a  pirate,  asked  the  British  mes 
sengers  to  allow  him  a  few  days  for  consideration.  When  Lockyer  departed  Lafltte  sent  the  documents  up  to  New  Or 
leans,  as  mentioned  in  the  text. 

=  An  order  was  actually  issued  from  the  War  Department  authorizing  Jackson  to  seize  Pensacola,  but  it  did  not  reach 
him  until  six  months  afterward,  when  the  war  had  ceased. 


1020 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Tort  Bowyer  garrisoned  and  strengthened. 


A  British  Squadron  threatens  it. 


Preparations  for  Attack. 


one  of  the  most  gallant  officers  in  the 
service.  At  the  same  time,  he  sent 
orders  for  Colonel  Butler  to  call  out 
the  enrolled  Tennessee  Volunteers, 
and  have  them  led  immediately  to 
Mobile. 

Major  Lawrence  made  vigorous 
preparations  to  resist  the  enemy  by 
strengthening  the  fort  as  much  as  pos 
sible,  and  providing  against  attacks 
upon  it  from  cannon  that  might  be 
planted  upon  sand-hills  near,  which 
commanded  it.  These  preparations 
were  not  completed  when,  on  the 
morning  of  the  12th  of  September, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Nichols  appeared 
on  the  peninsula,  in  rear  of  the  fort, 
with  one  hundred  and  thirty  marines 
and  six  hundred  Indians,  the  latter 
led  by  Captain  Woodbine,  who  had 
been  attempting  to  drill  them  at  Pen- 
sacola.  Toward  evening  four  British 
vessels  of  war  hove  in  sight,  and  an 
chored  within  six  miles  of  Mobile 
Point.  These  were  the  Hermes,  22 ; 
Sophia,  1 8 ;  Caron,  20 ;  and  Anacon 
da,  1 8,  the  whole  under  Captain  Per 
cy,  the  commander  of  the  squadron 
of  nine  vessels  in  Pensacola  Bay,  al 
ready  mentioned,  of  which  these  were 
a  part.  In  the  presence  of  these,  for 
midable  forces,  the  little  garrison  slept 
upon  their  arms  that  night. 

On  the  following  morning  Nichols  reconnoitred  the  fort  from  behind  the  sand-hills 
in  its  rear,  and,  dragging  a  howitzer  to  a  sheltered  position  within  seven  hundred 
yards  of  the  work,  threw  some  shells  and  a  solid  shot  upon  it  without  much  effect. 
Responses  from  Major  Lawrence  were  equally  harmless ;  but  when,  later  in  the  day, 
Percy's  men  attempted  to  cast  up  intrenchments,  Lawrence's  guns  quickly  dispersed 
them.  Meanwhile  several  light  boats,  engaged  in  sounding  the  channel  nearest  the 
fort,  were  dispersed  in  the  same  way. 

8  September  14,  The  succeeding  daya  was  similarly  employed ;  but  easily  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  15th  it  was  evident  to  the  garrison  that  an  assault  was  about 
to  be  made  from  land  and  water.  The  forenoon  wore  away,  while  a  stiff  breeze  was 
blowing,  and  when  it  slackened  to  a  slight  one  from  the  southeast,  toward  noon,  the 
*  ships  stood  out  to  sea.  They  tacked  at  two  o'clock,  and  bearing  down  upon  the  fort 
in  order  of  "  line  ahead,"  the  Hermes  (Percy's  flag-ship)  leading,  took  position  for  at 
tack.  The  Hermes  and  Sophia  lay  nearly  abreast  the  northwest  face  of  the  fort, 
while  the  Caron  and  Anaconda  were  more  distant.  Lawrence  then  called  a  council 
of  officers,  when  it  was  detennined  to  resist  to  the  last,  and  not  to  surrender,  if  finally 
compelled  to,  unless  ijpon  the  conditions  that  officers  and  privates  should  retain  their 
arms  and  private  property,  be  protected  from  the  savages,  and  be  treated  as  prison- 


1  This  is  from  the  portrait  of  General  Jackson  in  the  City  Hall,  New  York,  which  was  painted  by  order  of  the  Com 
mon  Council  for  the  city  by  John  Vanderlyn,  in  1819,  when  Jackson  was  fifty-two  years  of  age. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


1021 


Attack  on  Fort  Bowyer. 


The  British  repulsed. 


Effect  of  the  Repulse. 


ers  of  war.     This  being  their  resolution,  the  words  "  Don't  give  up  the  fort''''  were 
adopted  as  the  signal  for  the  day.1 

The  Hermes  drew  nearer  the  fort,  and  when  within  range  of  its  guns  the  two  24- 
pounders  were  opened  upon  her  without  much  effect.  She  made  a*faint  reply,  and 
anchored  within  musket  range  of  the  work,  while  the  other  three  vessels  formed  in 
battle  line  under  a  heavy  fire.  It  was  now  half  past  four  in  the  afternoon.  The  four 
vessels  simultaneously  opened  fire,  and  the  engagement  became  general  and  fierce, 
for  broadside  after  broadside  was  fired  upon  the  fort  by  the  ships,  while  the  circular 
battery  was  working  fearfully  upon  the  assailants.  Meanwhile  Captain  Woodbine 
opened  fire  from  a  howitzer  and  a  12-pounder  from  behind  a  sand  dune  seven  hun 
dred  yards  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  fort.  The  battle  raged  until  half  past  five, 
when  the  flag  of  the  Hermes  was  shot  away,  and  Lawrence  ceased  firing  to  ascertain 
whether  she  had  surrendered.  This  humane  act  was  followed  by  a  broadside  from 
the  Caron,  and  the  fight  was  renewed  with  redoubled  vigor.  Very  soon  the  cable  of 
the  Hermes  was  severed  by  a  shot,  and  she  floated  away  with  the  current,  her  head 
toward  the  fort,  and  her  decks  swept  of  men  and  every  thing  else  by  a  raking  fire. 
Then  the  flag-staff  of  the  fort  was  shot  away  and  the  ensign  fell,  when  the  ships,  con 
trary  to  the  humane  example  of  the  garrison,  redoubled  their  fire.  At  the  same  time, 
Woodbine,  supposing  the  garrison  had  surrendered,  approached  with  his  Indians, 
when  they  were  driven  back  in  great  terror  by  a  storm  of  grape-shot.  Both  sailors 
and  marines  found  the  garrison  in  full  vigor,  and  only  a  few  minutes  after  the  flag 
fell  it  was  seen  floating  over  the 
fort  at  the  end  of  a  sponge-staff 
to  which  Major  Lawrence  had 
nailed  it. 

The  attacking  vessels,  batter 
ed  and  in  peril,  soon  withdrew, 
excepting  the  helpless  Hermes, 
which  grounded  upon  a  sand 
bank,  when  Percy  fired  and 
abandoned  her.  At  almost  mid 
night  the  magazine  of  the  Her 
mes  exploded.  So  ended,  in  a 
repulse  of  the  British,  the  attack 
on  Fort  Bowyer,  upon  which 
ninety-two  pieces  of  artillery 
had  been  brought  to  bear,  and' 
over  thirteen  hundred  men  had 
been  arrayed  against  a  garrison  of  one  hundred  and  thirty.  The  latter  lost  only 
eight  men,  one  half  of  whom  were  killed.  The  assailants  lost  two  hundred  and  thir 
ty-two  men,  of  whom  the  unusual  proportion  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  were 
killed. 

The  result  of  the  strife  at  Mobile  Point  was  very  mortifying  to  the  British.  It 
was  wholly  unexpected.  Percy  had  declared  that  he  should  allow  the  garrison  only 
twenty  minutes  to  capitulate.  That  garrison— that  handful  of  men— had  beaten  off 
his  ships  and  his  co-operating  land  force  with  ease.  The  repulse  was  fatal  to  the 
prestige  of  the  British  name  among  the  Indians,  and  a  large  portion  of  them  deserted 
their  allies  and  sought  safety  from  the  wrath  of  Jackson,  whom  they  feared,  by  con 
cealment  in  the  interior  of  their  broad  country.  The  result  was  most  gratifying 
to  the  Americans,  and  gave  an  impetus  to  volunteering  for  the  defense  of  New  Or- 


ATTACtC 

FT, 


i  Latour  says  that  the  officers  of  the  garrison  took  an  oath  not  to  recede  from  this  determination  in  any  case  nor  on 
any  pretext,  and  that  in  the  event  of  the  death  of  one  of  them  all  the  others  should  adhere  to  it.-Histoncal  Memoir 
of  the  War  in  West  Florida  and  Louisia>M,  by  Major  A.  La  Carriere  Latour. 


1022  PICTOEIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Reception  of  the  British  at  Pensacola.  Jackson  marches  on  that  Place.  Violation  of  a  Flag  of  Truce. 

leans.  Jackson  wrote  a  commendatory  letter  to  Major  Lawrence,  and  that  officer 
received  one  also  from  Edward  Livingston,  chairman  of  the  Defense  Committee  of 
New  Orleans,  assuring  him  of  the  joy  and  gratitude  felt  by  the  inhabitants  of  that 
city  when  they  lieard  of  his  gallant  defense  of  Fort  Bowyer.  At  the  same  time  it 
was  resolved  to  present  to  Major  Lawrence  an  elegant  sword  in  the  name  of  the  cit 
izens  of  New  Orleans.1 

When  the  discomfited  British  returned  to  Pensacola  they  were  publicly  received 
as  friends  and  allies.  This  circumstance,  the  attack  on  Fort  Bowyer,  and  the  revela 
tions  just  made  concerning  an  attempt  by  the  British  to  engage  a  band  of  outlaws  to 
assist  them  in  an  attempt  to  captui*e  New  Orleans,  which  we  shall  consider  presently, 
kindled  the  hottest  indignation  in  the  minds  of  Jackson  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
» September  21,  Southwest.  The  general  issued*  a  fiery  proclamation  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Louisiana  as  a  counterblast  to  that  of  Nichols,  in  which  he  set  forth 
the  conduct  of  the  British  and  the  perfidy  of  the  Spaniards,  calling  them  to  arouse  in 
defense  of  their  threatened  country.  He  also  put  forth  an  address  on  the  same  day 
to  the  free  colored  people  of  Louisiana,  inviting  them  to  unite  with  the  rest  of  their 
fellow-citizens  in  defending  their  common  country  from  invaders.  The  people  were 
already  much  excited  by  the  threatening  aspect  of  affairs,  and  these  appeals  aroused 
them  to  vigorous  action. 

Jackson  had  determined  to  march  on  Pensacola  as  soon  as  the  Tennessee  Volunteers 
should  arrive,  and  break  up  that  rendezvous  of  the  enemies  of  the  republic.  The 
time  for  such  movement  was  looked  for  with  great  impatience.  It  was  even  weeks 
remote,  for  it  was  the  beginning  of  November  before  Jackson  had  his  forces  on  hand 
for  the  purpose.  These  were  assembled  at  Fort  Montgomery,  due  north  from  Pensa 
cola,  four  thousand  strong,2  and  marched  for  the  doomed  fort  on  the  3d,b 

b  November.  ....  . 

some  Mississippi  dragoons  in  advance.  The  whole  army  encamped  within 
two  miles  of  Pensacola  on  the  evening  of  the  6th,  when  Jackson  sent  Major  Pierre 
with  a  flag  of  truce  to  the  governor,  with  an  assurance  that  the  expedition  was  not 
to  make  war  upon  a  neutral  power,  nor  to  injure  the  town,  but  to  deprive  the  ene 
mies  of  the  republic  of  a  place  of  refuge.  He  was  instructed,  also,  to  demand  the 
surrender  of  the  forts.  But  when  the  flag  approached  it  was  fired  upon  by  a  12- 
pounder  at  Fort  St.  Michael,  which  was  garrisoned  by  the  British,  and  over  which 
the  Spanish  and  British  flags  had  been  conjointly  waving  until  the  day  before.  When 
Pierre  reported  these  facts,  Jackson  sent  a  Spanish  prisoner,  whom  he  had  captured 
on  the  way,  to  the  governor,  with  a  message  demanding  an  explanation.  Manrequez 
denied  all  knowledge  of  the  outrage,  and  gave  an  assurance  that  if  another  flag  should 
be  sent  it  would  be  respected.  Pierre  went  again  at  midnight,  and  submitted  to  the 
governor  a  proposal  from  Jackson  that  American  garrisons  should  be  admitted  into 
Forts  St.  Michael  and  Barancas  until  the  Spanish  government  could  procure  a  suf 
ficient  force  to  enable  it  to  maintain  its  neutrality  against  violations  of  it  by  the 
British,  who  had  possessed  themselves  of  the  fortresses,  notwithstanding  the  alleged 
remonstrances  and  protests  of  the  Spanish  governor ;  also  that  the  American  troops 
should  be  withdrawn  as  soon  as  such  a  respectable  force  should  arrive. 

Jackson's  proposition  was  rejected  by  the  governor  after  consultation  with  his 
chief  officers.  The  consequence  was,  that,  before  dawn,  troops  were  marching  upon 
Pensacola,  three  thousand  in  number,3  for  Jackson  had  resolved  to  have  no  farther 

1  William  Lawrence  was  a  native  of  Maryland.    He  entered  the  service  as  second  lieutenant  of  infantry  in  June,  1801. 
He  was  adjutant  in  1807,  captain  in  1810,  major  in  April,  1S14,  and  was  breveted  lieutenant  colonel  for  his  gallant  serv 
ices  at  Fort  Bowyer.    He  was  made  full  lieutenant  colonel  in  1818,  and  in  1824  was  breveted  colonel  for  ten  years'  faith 
ful  services.    He  was  made  full  colonel  in  1828,  and  resigned  in  July,  1831. 

2  These  consisted  of  about  one  thousand  regulars,  composed  of  the  Third,  Thirty-ninth,  and  Forty-fourth  Infantry, 
the  Tennessee  Volunteers,  and  a  battalion  of  volunteer  dragoons  from  the  Mississippi  Territory. 

3  The  right  of  the  column  consisted  of  Tennessee  Volunteers,  under  General  Coffee ;  the  centre,  of  the  Thirty-third 
and  Forty-fourth  regulars,  under  Major  Woodruff;  and  the  left,  of  the  Tennessee  militia  and  Choctaw  Indians,  under 
Majors  Blue  and  Kennedy,  with  a  battalion  of  Mississippi  dragoons  commanded  by  Major  Hinds. 


OF   THE   WAK    OF    1812.  1023 

The  Americans  in  Pensacola.  Flight  of  the  British  and  Indians.  New  Orleans  aroused. 

parley  with  the  authorities.  They  took  a  direction,  under  the  mask  of  some  mount 
ed  men,  to  avoid  the  fire  of  Fort  St.  Michael  and  the  ships  in  the  harbor.  Their 
course  lay  along  the  beach,  toward  the  east  part  of  the  town,  but  the  sand  was  so 
heavy  that  they  could  not  drag  the  cannon  through  it.  Then  the  centre  of  the  col 
umn  was  ordered  to  charge  into  the  town.  This  was  gallantly  done,  and  in  the  prin 
cipal  street  they  were  met  by  a  two-gun  battery,  which  opened  upon  them  with  balls 
and  grape-shot,  while  a  shower  of  musketry  was  poured  upon  them  from  the  gardens 
and  houses.  Captain  Laval  and  his  company  charged  the  battery  and  captured  it, 
when  the  frightened  governor  appeared  with  a  white  flag,  and  made  promises  to 
comply  with  any  terms  Jackson  might  propose  if  he  would  spare  the  town.  An  in 
stant  surrender  of  all  the  forts  was  demanded  and  promised,  and  after  some  delay 
this  was  done.  But  Fort  Barancas,  six  miles  distant,  and  commanding  the  harbor,  in 
which  the  British  ships  lay  (the  most  important  of  all  the  fortifications),  was  yet  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  This  Jackson  determined  to  march  suddenly  upon  the  next 
morning,  and,  seizing  it,  turn  its  guns  on  the  British  ships,  and  capture  or  greatly  in 
jure  them  before  they  could  escape.  But  before  morning  the  fort  was  abandoned 
and  blown  up,  and  the  British  squadron  had  left  the  port,  bearing  away  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Nichols,  Captain  Woodbine,  and  a  considerable  number  of  Indians,  with  the 
Spanish  commandant  of  the  fort,  and  its  garrison  of  about  four  hundred  men. 

Jackson  suspected  that  the  British,  who  had  so  suddenly  left  Pensacola,  had  re 
turned  to  make  another  attempt  against  Mobile  while  he  was  absent,  so  he  immedi 
ately  withdrew,  and  hastened  with  his  troops  in  the  same  direction  by  way  of  Fort 
Montgomery,  leaving  Manrequez  indignant  because  of  the  flight  of  his  British  friends, 
and  the  Indians  deeply  impressed  with  a  feeling  that  it  would  be  very  imprudent  to 
again  defy  the  wrath  of  Andrew  Jackson.  That  leader  had,  by  this  expedition,  ac 
complished  three  important  results,  namely,  the  expulsion  of  the  British  from  Pen 
sacola  ;  the  scattering  of  the  Indians  through  the  forests,  alarmed  and  dejected ; 
and  the  punishment  of  the  Spaniards  for  much  perfidy.  He  was  denounced  by  the 
Opposition,  and  was  not  fully  sustained  by  his  government,  in  thus  invading  the  ter 
ritory  of  a  neutral  without  orders ;  but  the  people  of  the  West  and  South,  and  the 
Democratic  newspapers,  applauded  his  act,  which  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
seemed  to  justify. 

Jackson  reached  Mobile  on  the  llth  of  November,*  where  he  found  mes-  ^^ 
sages  urging  him  to  hasten  to  the  defense  of  New  Orleans.  The  revelations 
made  by  Lafitte  had  not  been  accepted  as  true  by  the  government  officials ;  but  the 
people  believed  them,  and  held  a  large  meeting,  in  consequence,  at  the  St.  Louis  Ex 
change,  in  New  Orleans,  on  the  16th  of  September.  They  were  eloquently  addressed 
by  the  late  Edward  Livingston,  then  a  leading  citizen  of  Louisiana,  who  urged  the 
inhabitants  to  make  immediate  preparations  to  repel  the  contemplated  invasion. 
They  appointed  a  Committee  of  Safety,1  composed  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens 
of  New  Orleans,  with  Livingston  as  chairman,  who  sent  forth  a  stirring  address  to 
the  people.  Governor  Claiborne,  who,  like  Livingston,  believed  the  statements  of 
Lafitte,  sent  copies  of  the  British  papers  to  General  Jackson,  then  at  Mobile.  Then 
it  was  that  the  latter  issued  his  vigorous  counter-proclamation,  and  proceeded  to  the 
prosecution  of  measures  for  breaking  up  the  nest  of  enemies  at  Pensacola,  as  just  re 
corded. 

Jackson  departed  for  New  Orleans  on  the  21st  of  November,  and  arrived  there  on 
the  2d  of  December,  making  his  head-quarters  at  what  is  now  86  (formerly  104) 
Royal  Street  (see  engraving  on  next  page).  He  found  the  city  utterly  defenseless, 
and  the  councils  of  the  people  distracted  by  petty  factions.  The  patriotic  Governor 
Claiborne  had  called  the  Legislature  together  as  early  as  the  5th  of  October.  The 

i  This  committee  consisted  of  Edward  Livingston,  Pierre  Foncher,  Dussan  de  la  Croix,  Benjamin  Morgan,  George  Og- 
den,  Dominique  Bouligny,  J.  A.  Destrehan,  John  Blanqne,  and  Augustine  Macarte. 


1024 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Weakness  of  New  Orleans. 


Jackson's  Arrival  hailed  with  Joy. 


Approach  of  the  Invaders. 


members  were  divided  into  several  factions,  and 
there  was  neither  union,  nor  harmony,  nor  confi 
dence  to  be  found.  The  people,  alarmed  and  dis 
trustful,  complained  of  the  Legislature  ;  that  body, 
in  turn,  complained  of  the  governor ;  and  Claiborne 
complained  of  both  the  Legislature  and  the  people. 
Money  and  credit  were  equally  wanting,  and  arms 
and  ammunition  were  very  scarce.  There  was  no 
effective  naval  force  in  the  adjacent  waters ;  and 
only  two  small  militia  regiments,  and  a  weak  bat 
talion  of  uniformed  volunteers,  commanded  by  Ma 
jor  Plauche,  a  gallant  Creole,  constituted  the  mil 
itary  force  of  the 
city.1  The  store 
houses  were  filled 
with  valuable  mer 
chandise,  and  it 
would  be  natural 


JACKSON'S  CITY  UEAD-QUAETEKS. 


MAJOR  I'LAFOIIE. 


for  the  owners  to  prefer  the  surrender 
of  the  city  at  once  to  a  seemingly  in 
vincible  foe,  to  incurring  the  risk  of 
the  destruction  of  their  property  by  a 
resistance  that  should  invite  a  fiery 
bombardment.  In  every  aspect  the 
situation  was  most  gloomy  when  Jack 
son  arrived,  worn  down  with  sickness, 
fatigue,  and  anxiety.  His  advent  was 
hailed  with  great  joy  by  the  citizens, 
for  he  was  regarded  as  a  host  in  him 
self;  and  the  cry  of  "  Jackson's  come ! 
Jackson's  come  !"  went  like  an  electric 
spark  in  eager  words  from  lip  to  lip, 
giving  hope  to  the  desponding,  courage 
to  the  timid,  and  confidence  to  the  patriotic. 

Jackson  did  not  rest  for  a  moment.  He  organized  the  feeble  military  force  in  the 
city ;  took  measures  for  obstructing  the  large  bayous,  whose  waters  formed  convenient 
communications  between  the  Mississippi  near  New  Orleans  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  proceeded  to  inspect  and  strengthen  the  fortifications  in  the  vicinity  and  to  erect 
new  ones.  Fort  St.  Philip,  below  the  city,  was  the  object  of  his  special  care,  for  on 
that  he  mainly  relied  for  preventing  the  passage  of  the  river  by  the  vessels  of  the 
invaders. 

The  expected  enemy  soon  appeared.  The  army  that  captured  Washington  and 
was  repulsed  at  Baltimore  had  left  the  Chesapeake  toward  the  middle  of  October, 
three  thousand  strong,  and  sailed  away  for  the  West  Indies  in  the  fleets  of  Admirals 
Cochrane  and  Malcolm.  These  were  soon  joined  by  over  four  thousand  troops  under 
General  Keane,  a  gallant  young  Irish  officer,  who  had  sailed  from  Plymouth  in  Sep 
tember.  The  combined  forces  were  assembled  in  Negril  Bay,  Jamaica,  and  in  over 
fifty  vessels  of  all  sizes  more  than  seven  thousand  land  troops  were  borne  across  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  in  the  direction  of  New  Orleans.  They  left  Negril  Bay  on  the  26th 
of  November,  and  first  saw  the  northern  shore  of  the  Gulf,  off  the  Chandeleur  Islands, 


i  This  battalion  numbered  three  hundred  and  eighty-five  men,  and  was  composed  of  the  companies  named  respect 
ively  Hulans,  or  foot  dragoons,  under  Captain  St.  Genre  ;  Francs,  Captain  Hudry ;  Louisiana  Blues,  Captain  Mauusel 
White ;  and  Chasseurs,  Captain  Guibert. 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812.  1025 


The  British  deceived.          Preparations  to  receive  the  Invaders.          The  British  prepare  for  a  Fight  on  Lake  Borgne. 

between  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  Lake  Borgne,  in  the  midst  of  a  furious 
storm,  on  the  9th  of  December.  Music,  dancing,  theatrical  performances,  and  hilarity 
of  every  kind  had  been  indulged  in  during  the  passage  of  the  Gulf,  for  every  man  felt 
confident  that  an  easy  conquest  of  Louisiana  awaited  them.  The  wives  of  many  offi- 
cers  accompanied  them,  and  were  filled  with  the  most  delightful  anticipations  of 
pleasure  in  the  beautiful  New  World  before  them. 

The  British  supposed  the  Americans  to  be  profoundly  ignorant  of  their  expedition. 
They  anchored  the  fleet  in  the  deep  channel  between  Ship  and  Gat  Islands,  near  the 
entrance  to  Lake  Borgne,  and  prepared  small  vessels  for  the  transportation  of  troops 
over  the  shallow  waters  of  that  region  with  great  expedition,  hoping  to  surprise  and 
capture  New  Orleans  before  their  presence  should  be  fairly  suspected.  They  were 
disappointed.  The  revelations  of  Lafitte  had  made  officers  and  people  vigilant ;  and 
early  in  December,  Commander  Daniel  T.  Patterson,1  then  commanding  the  naval  sta 
tion  at  New  Orleans,  was  warned  by  a  letter  from  Pensacola  of  the  approach  of  a 
powerful  British  land  and  naval  armament.  That  vigilant  officer  immediately  sent 
out  five  gun-boats,  a  tender,  and  a  dispatch-boat  toward  the  passes  of  Mariana  and 
Christian,  as  scouts  to  watch  for  the  enemy.  They  were  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
(late  Commodore)  Thomas  Ap  Catesby  Jones,  who  sent  two  gun-boats,  under  the  re 
spective  commands  of  Lieutenant  M'Keever  and  Sailing-master  Ulrick,  to  Dauphin 
Island,  at  the  entrance  to  Mobile  Bay,  to  catch  the  first  intelligence  of  the  foe.  They 
discovered  the  great  fleet  on  the  10th  of  December,  and  hastened  to  report  the  fact  to 
Lieutenant  Jones.  Patterson  had  ordered  that  officer  to  take  such  position  as  would 
enable  him,  in  the  event  of  the  enemy  making  their  way  into  Lake  Borgne,  to  cut  off 
their  barges  and  prevent  the  landing  of  troops.  If  Jones  should  be  hard  pressed,  he 
was  to  fall  back  to  the  mud  fort  of  Petites  Coquilles,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rigolets, 
between  Lakes  Borgne  and  Pontchartrain,  and  shelter  his  vessels  under  its  guns. 

When,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  10th,  the  fog  that  succeeded  the  storm  had  cleared 
away,  and  the  British  fleet  were  in  full  view,  Jones  made  for  the  Pass  Christian  with 
his  little  flotilla,  where  he  anchored,  and  waited  the  approach  of  the  invaders.  He 
was  discovered  by  the  enemy  on  the  13th,  much  to  their  astonishment.  It  was  evi 
dent  that  the  Americans  were  acquainted  with  the  intentions  of  the  British,  and  had 
made  preparations  to  meet  them.  Cochrane  immediately  gave  orders  for  a  change 
in  the  plan  of  operations.  It  would  not  do  to  attempt  the  landing  of  troops  while 
American  gun-boats  were  patrolling  the  waters  of  Lake  Borgne.  So  he  prepared  a 
flotilla  of  almost  sixty  barges,  the  most  of  them  carrying  a  carronade  in  the  bow  and 
an  ample  number  of  armed  volunteers  from  the  fleet,  and  sent  them,  in  command  of 
Captain  Lockyer,  to  capture  or  destroy  the  American  vessels.  These  were  observed 
by  Jones  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when,  in  obedience  to  orders,  he  proceeded 
w'ith  his  flotilla  toward  the  Rigolets.  A  calm,  and  adverse  water  currents  would  not 
allow  him  to  pass  the  channel  between  Point  Clear  of  the  main  and  Malheureux  Isl 
and,  and  there  he  anchored  at  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  14th.  Jones's  flag 
ship  was  a  little  sloop  of  eighty  tons,  and  the  other  ves 
sels  of  his  tiny  squadron  were  commanded  respectively 
by  Sailing-masters  Ferris  and  Ulrick,  and  Lieutenants 
M'Keever  and  Speddon.  The  total  number  of  men  was 
one  hundred  and  eighty-two,  and  of  guns  twenty-three. 


i  Daniel  T.  Patterson  was  born  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  entered  the 
navy  as  a  midshipman  in  1800,  under  Commodore  Bainbndge  and  was  with 
that  officer  as  a  captive  in  Tripoli.    He  was  promoted  to  lieutenant  in  1807, 
and  to  master  commandant  in  1813.    After  his  <££U"£^££££ 
Orleans  he  was  promoted  to  captain,  in  February,  1815.    From  1828  to  1 
served  as  navy  commissioner,  and  from  1832  to  1835  commanded  -yqnaclron 
in  the  Mediterranean.    He  died  while  in  command  of  the  navy  yard  at  Wash 
ington  on  the  15th  of  August,  1839,  and  was  buried  in  the  Congressional  Buiy-  PATTEBSON  8  MONUMENT. 
ing-ground  near  that  city,  where  a  small,  neat  monument  marks  his  grave. 

o    -L 


1026 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Battle  of  Barges  and  Gun-boats. 


Capture  of  the  American  Flotilla. 


Preparations  to  attack  New  Orleans. 


With  a  cool  morning  breeze,  the  British  barges,  containing  twelve  hundred  men, 
bore  down  upon  Jones's  flotilla,  while  the  tender,  Alligator ,  was  in  the  distance,  vainly 
endeavoring  to  join  the  Americans.  The  barges,  with  six  oars  on  each  side,  formed 
a  long,  straight  line,  and  in  that  order  swept  rapidly  forward,  while  Jones  reserved  his 
fire  until  they  were  within  close  range.  Then  M'Keever  hurled  a  3  2-pound  ball  over 
the  water,  and  a  shower  of  grape-shot,  which  broke  the  British  line  and  made  great 
confusion.  But  the  invaders  pushed  forward,  and  at  half  past  eleven  o'clock  the  en 
gagement  became  general  and  desperate.  At  one  time  Jones's  boat  was  attacked  by 
no  less  than^  fifteen  barges.  The  Alligator  was  captured  early,  and,  by  the  force  of 


GUNBOATS 

DEC.14TH.1814. 


overwhelming  numbers,  the  British,  after  a  combat  of  almost  an  hour,  gained  a  com 
plete  victory.  It  was  at  the  cost  of  several  of  their  barges,  that  were  shattered  and 
sunk,  and  about  three  hundred  men  killed  and  wounded.  The  Americans  lost  only 
six  men  killed  and  thirty-five  wounded.  Among  the  latter  were  Lieutenants  Jones, 
M'Keever,  Parker,  and  Speddon.  The  British  commander  (Lockyer)  was  severely 
wounded ;  so  also  was  Lieutenant  Pratt,  who,  under  the  direction  of  Cockburn,  had 
fired  the, national  buildings  of  Washington  City  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  days 
before. 

The  capture  of  the  American  gun-boats  gave  the  British  complete  control  of  Lake 
Borgne,  and  the  lighter  transports,  filled  with  troops,  immediately  entered'  it.  Ship 
after  ship  got  aground,  until  at  length  the  troops  were  all  placed  in  small  boats  and 
conveyed  about  thirty  miles  to  the  Isle  des  Pois  (or  Pea  Island),  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Pearl  River,  and  that  desert  spot  was  made  the  place  of  general  rendezvous.  There 
they  landed  between  the  16th  and  20th  of  December,- and  there  General  Keane  organ 
ized  his  army  for  future  operations. 

Cochrane  had  been  informed  by  some  former  Spanish  residents  of  New  Orleans 
that  at  the  northwestern  extremity  of  Lake  Borgne  there  was  a  bayou  (Bienvenu) 
navigable  for  large  barges  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Mississippi  River,  just 
below  New  Orleans.  He  sent  a  party  to  explore  it.  They  followed  this  bayou,  and 
a  canal  across  Villere's  plantation,  to  a  point  half  a  mile  from  the  Mississippi  and  nine 
miles  below  the  city,  and,  hastening  back,  reported  that  the  transportation  of  troops 
through  that  bayou  was  feasible.  Vigorous  measures  were  immediately  adopted  for 
an  advance  upon  New  Orleans,  where  the  British  troops  were  assured  that  wealth  and 
ease  awaited  them.  They  were  encouraged  by  ex-officials  of  the  old  Spanish  govern 
ment  of  Louisiana,  who  went  to  the  British  camp  from  New  Orleans  and  represented 
Jackson  as  an  ignorant  tyrant,  detested  by  the  people,  and  void  of  any  efficient  means 
for  defending  the  city. 

Jackson  was  informed  of  the  capture  of  the  American  gun-boats  early  on  the  15th, 


OF    THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


1027 


Jackson's  Preparations  for  Defense. 


A  grand  Review. 


Disposition  of  Troops. 


when  returning  from  a  tour  of  observation  in  the  direction  of  the  River  Chef  Men- 
teur,  northeastward  of  the  city.  He  at  once  perceived  the  importance  of  securing 
the  passage  of  the  Chef  Menteur  Road,  that  crosses  the  plain  of  Gentilly  in  that  di 
rection  from  the  city  to  the  strait  between  Lakes  Borgne  and  Pontchartrain,  and  he 
ordered  Major  Lacoste,  with  his  mililia  battalion  of  colored  men  and  the  dragoons  of 
Feliciana,  to  proceed  at  once  with  two  pieces  of  artillery,  take  post  at  the  confluence 
of  Bayou  Sauvage  and  the  River  Chef  Menteur,  guard  the  road,  cast  up  a  redoubt  at 
its  terminus,  and  watch  and  oppose  the  enemy.  He  also  proceeded  to  fortify  and 
strengthen  every  point  of  approach  to  the  city ;  sent  messengers  to  Generals  Coffee, 
Carroll,  and  Thomas,  urging  them  to  hasten  to  New  Orleans  with  their  commands  as 
quickly  as  possible,  and  forwarded  a  dispatch  to  General  Winchester,  in  command  at 
Mobile,  directing  him  to  be  on  the  alert.  Then  he  appointed  the  18th  of  December 
for  a  grand  review  of  all  the  remaining  troops  in  New  Orleans,  in  front  of  the  old 
Cathedral  of  St.  Louis,  in  the  Place  d'Armes  (now  Jackson  Square),  one  of  the  yet  re 
maining  relics  of  the  Spanish  dominion  in  Louisiana.  It  was  a  memorable  day  in 


T1IE   OLD  SPAN18II   CATI1EDKAL  A>'1>   (iOVERNMEJiT   UOUSE.1 


New  Orleans.  The  whole  population  were  out  to  witness  the  spectacle.  The  impend 
ing  danger  was  great,  while  the  military  force  was  small  and  weak.  Strength  and 
resolution  were  communicated  to  it  by  stirring  sentences  from  the  lips  of  Jackson, 
and  a  thrilling  and  eloquent  appeal  which  was  read  by  his  aid-de-camp,  Edward  Liv 
ingston.2  The  enthusiasm  of  the  soldiers  and  citizens  was  intense ;  and  Jackson,  tak 
ing  advantage  of  that  state  of  public  feeling,  silenced  the  distracting  voices  of  faction 
by  declaring  martial  law  and  the  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas 

corpus. 

"When  the  review  was  over,  Major  Plauche  was  sent  with  his  battalion  to  the 
Bayou  St.  John,  northward  of  the  city;  and  at  its  mouth,  on  Lake  Pontchartrain, 
Major  Hughes  was  in  command  of  Fort  St.  John.  The  Baratarians,  on  the  urgent 
solicitation  of  their  chief,  Lafitte,  were  accepted  as  volunteers,  mustered  into  the 

i  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  author  in  April,  1861,  from  Jackson  Square.    The  Government  House  is  seen  on 

tbs  Frhvird  Livineeton  was  born  on  the  Livingston  manor,  on  the  Hudson,  in  1764.  He  was  graduated  at  Princeton 
College  in  1781,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1785.  He  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  Congress  in  1794,  to  which  he  was  re- 
elected  until  1S01  when  President  Jefferson  appointed  him  United  States  District  Attorney  for  New  York.  He  made 
New  Orleans  his  residence.  He  was  the  author  of  the  penal  code  of  Louisiana,  adopted  in  1824  He  was  again  in  Con- 
gress  in  1S»3  and  in  the  National  Senate  in  1829.  He  was  appointed  Amencan  mimster  to  the  French  Court  m  1833. 
He  died  at  his  residence  in  Duchess  County,  New  York,  on  the  23d  of  May,  1837. 


1028 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Temper  of  the  People. 


The  British  approach  the  Mississippi. 


They  capture  a  Picket-guard. 


FOKT   ST.  JOHN   IN    1801. 


ranks,  and  drilled  to  the  per 
formance  of  important  serv 
ices,  under  the  command  of 
Captains  Dominique  You,  Be- 
luche,  Songis,  Lagaud,  and 
Colson,  at  Forts  Petites  Co- 
quilles,  St.  Philip,  and  St. 
John.  The  people  cheerful 
ly  submitted  to  martial  law ; 
and,  in  the  languages  of  En 
gland,  France,  and  Spain,  the 
streets  were  made  to  resound 
with  "Yankee  Doodle,"  the 
"  Marseillaise  Hymn,"  and 
the  "  Chant  du  Depart."  The 
women  were  as  enthusiastic 
as  the  men,  and  at  windows, 
on  balconies,  in  the  streets, 
and  public  squares,  they  applauded  the  passing  soldiers  by  waving  of  scarfs  and 
handkerchiefs  and  uttering  cheering  words.  Martial  music  was  continually  heard, 
and  New  Orleans  appeared  more  like  a  military  camp  than  a  quiet  mart  of  commerce. 
Business  was  mostly  suspended,  and  the  Legislature  passed  a  law  for  prolonging  the 
term  of  payment  on  all  contracts  until  the  first  of  the  ensuing  May.  Military  rule 
was  complete.  Able-bodied  men  of  every  age,  color,  and  nationality,  excepting  Brit 
ish,  were  pressed  into  the  service ;  suspicious  persons  were  sent  out  of  the  city,  and 
no  one  was  allowed  to  pass  the  chain  of  sentinels  around  it  without  a  proper  official 
permission. 

While  these  preparations  for  the  reception  of  the  invaders  were  in  progress,  the 
British  were  making  unceasing  efforts  to  press  forward  and  take  New  Orleans  by 
surprise.  They  had  determined  to  make  use  of  the  Bayou  Bienvenu  and  Villere's 
Canal  for  the  purpose ;  but  with  all  their  exertions,  and  after  pressing  the  captured 
gun-boats  into  the  service,  they  could  not  muster  vessels  enough  fitted  to  navigate 
that  bayou  to  carry  more  than  one  thii'd  of  the  army.  Keane  felt  so  confident  of 
success,  even  with  a  small  part  of  his  force,  that  he  could  not  brook  farther  delay ; 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  December — a  rainy,  chilly,  cheerless  morning — a 
flotilla  filled  with  troops  set  out,  the  advance,  comprising  eighteen  hundred  men, 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Thornton,  who  had  been  wounded  at  Bladensburg. 
These  were  accompanied  by  General  Keane  and  his  staff  and  other  important  officers, 
and  were  followed  by  the  remainder.  Admiral  Cochrane  was  in  a  schooner,  at  a  prop 
er  distance  to  watch  and  direct  the  squadron.  All  clay  and  all  night  they  were  out 
upon  the  lake  in  open  boats.  A  clear  sky  and  biting  frost  came  at  sunset,  and  the 
wet  clothing  of  the  soldiers  was  stiffened  into  iciness  by  the  cold  night  air.  Their 
discomforts  ended  "in  a  measure  at  dawn,  when  they  reached  the  Fisherman's  Village 
(inhabited  by  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  who  were  spies  and  traitors),  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Bayou  Bienvenu.  They  were  only  twelve  miles  from  New  Orleans,  and  not  a 
soul  in  that  city  suspected  their  approach. 

Yet  there  were  vigilant  eyes,  wide  open,  watching  the  invaders.  At  the  head  of 
the  Bayoii  Bienvenu  was  the  plantation  of  General  Villere,  the  commander  of  the 
first  division  of  Louisiana  militia.  Jackson  had  instructed  his  son,  Major  Gabriel 
Villere,  to  watch  that  bayou  with  a  competent  picket-guard.  He  did  so,  faithfully ; 
but  when  the  British  landed  at  Fisherman's  Village  they  captured  the  most  of  them. 
It  proved  to  be  a  fortunate  circumstance,  for  these  men  so  magnified  the  number  of 
Jackson's  troops,  and  the  strength  of  the  defenses  around  New  Orleans,  that  they 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812.  1029 


The  British  at  Villere's.  Jackson  warned  of  Danger.  The  Response  to  his  Call  for  Troops. 

moved  cautiously,  and  failed  to  surprise  the  vigilant  hero  in  the  city.  They  moved 
slowly  up  the  bayou ;  but  when  they  reached  Villere's  Canal  the  active  Thornton 
pushed  forward  with  a  detachment,  surrounded  the  mansion  of  the  plantation,  which 
is  in  sight  of  the  Mississippi,  and  succeeded  in  capturing  Major  Villere.  He  soon  es- 


VILLEBE'S  MANSION.' 


caped,  fled  to  the  house  of  his  neighbor,  the  gallant  Colonel  De  la  Ronde,  and  in  a 
boat  they  hastened  across  the  Mississippi.  There,  at  the  stables  of  M.  De  la  Croix, 
one  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  of  New  Orleans,  they  procured  fleet  horses, 
and  with  that  gentleman  rode  swiftly  up  the  levee  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  and 
crossed  again  at  New  Orleans  to  warn  Jackson  of  the  approach  of  the  foe.  Augustus 
Rousseau,  an  active  young  Creole,  who  had  been  sent  by  Captain  Ducros,  was  already 
there.  He  had  reached  Jackson's  head-quarters  in  Royal  Street  with  the  startling 
intelligence  at  about  one  o'clock,  and  a  few  minutes  afterward  Major  Villere  and  his 
party  entered.  "  Gentlemen,"  said  Jackson  to  the  officers  and  citizens  around  him, 
"  the  British  are  below ;  we  must  fight  them  to-night !"  He  then  ordered  three  dis 
charges  of  cannon  to  give  the  alarm,  and  sent  marching  orders  to  several  of  the  mil 
itary  commanders. 

Jackson's  call  upon  Coffee,  Carroll,  and  others-  had  been  quickly  responded  to. 
Coffee  came  speedily  over  the  long  and  tedious  route  from  Fort  Jackson,  on  the  Ala 
bama  River,  to  Baton  Rouge,  and  was  now  encamped,  with  his  brigade  of  mounted 
riflemen,  on  Avart's  plantation,  five  miles  above  New  Orleans.  The  active  young 
Carroll,  who  had  left  Nashville  in  November  with  Tennessee  militia,  arrived  in  flat- 
boats  and  barges  at  about  the  same  time,  and  brought  into  camp  a  regiment  of  young, 
brave,  well-armed,  but  inexperienced  soldiers,  expert  in  the  use  of  the  rifle,  and  eager 
for  battle.  They  landed  on  the  22d  of  December,  and  were  hailed  by  Jackson  with 
great  joy.  A  troop  of  horse,  under  the  dashing  young  Hinds,  raised  in  Louisiana, 
came  at  about  the  same  time. 

When,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  23d,  Jackson  issued  his  marching  orders,  Coffee's  bri 
gade  was  five  miles  above  the  city ;  Plauche's  battalion  was  at  Bayou  St.  John,  two 
miles  distant ;  the  Louisiana  militia  and  half  of  Lacoste's  colored  battalion  were  three 
miles  oif,  on  the  Gentilly  Road  ;  and  the  regulars  (Forty-fourth)  under  Colonel  Ross, 

i  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  author  in  April,  1801.  The  buildings  seen  in  the  distance,  beyond  the  avenue  of 
trees,  were  the  sugar-works  of  the  plantation. 


1030 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Jackson  moves  against  the  Invaders.     Their  Camp  broken  up  by  the  Carolina.     American  Troops  hasten  to  the  Scene. 

with  Colonel  M'Rea's  artillery,  a  little  more  than  eight  hundred  strong,  were  at  Fort 
St.  Charles,  on  the  site  of  the  present  United  States  Branch  Mint  in  New  Orleans, 
and  in  the  city  barracks.  Within  an  hour  after  Jackson  was  informed  that  the  in 
vaders  were  on  the  direct  road  to  the  city,  along  the  river,  and  only  nine  miles  dis 
tant,  these  troops  were  all  in  motion  under  special  orders.  Carroll  and  his  Tennes- 
seeans  were  dispatched  to  the  upper  branch  of  the  Bayou  Bienvenu ;  farther  up  the 
Gentilly  Road  Governor  Claiborne  was  stationed  with  the  Louisiana  militia ;  and 
Coffee's  brigade,  Plauche's  and  D'Aquin's  battalions,  Hinds's  dragoons,  the  New  Or 
leans  Rifles,  under  Captain  Beale,  and  a  few  Choctaw  Indians,  commanded  by  Captain 
Jugeat,  were  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Montreuil's  plantation,  and  hasten  to  Canal 
Rodriguez,  six  miles  below  the  city,  and  there  prepare  to  advance  upon  the  foe. 
Commodore  Patterson  was  directed  to  proceed  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  flank  of 
the  British  at  Villere's  with  such  ai'med  vessels  as  might  be  in  readiness.  Such  was 
the  scanty  force  with  which  Jackson  proceeded  to  fight  a  foe  of  unknown  numbers 
and  strength. 

While  Jackson  was  assembling  his  troops,  the  invaders  were  making  ready  to  march 
on  New  Orleans  that  night  and  take  it  by  surprise.  They  sent  forward  a  negro  to 
distribute  a  proclamation,  signed  by  General  Keane  and  Admiral  Cochrane,  printed 
in  French  and  Spanish,  which  read  thus : 

" Loitisianians !  remain  quietly  in  your  homes;  your  slaves  shall  be  preserved  to 
you,  and  your  property  respected.  We  make  war  only  against  Americans." 

The  British  were  bivouacked  on  the  highest  part  of  Villere's  plantation,  at  the  side 
of  the  levee  and  on  the  plain  ;  and  in  the  court  between  Villere's  house  (in  which 
Keane  and  some  of  his  officers  made  their  head-quarters)  and  his  sugar-works1  they 
had  mounted  several  cannon.  They  were  in  fine  spirits.  Full  one  half  of  the  invad 
ing  troops  had  been  brought  to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  only  nine  miles  from 
New  Orleans,  without  firing  a  gun  after  capturing  Jones's  flotilla,  and  they  believed 
their  near  approach  to  be  wholly  unknown,  and  not  even  suspected,  in  the  city.  They 
were  soon  undeceived. 

i  At  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  schooner  Carolina,  the  only  vessel  in  readiness 
jat  New  Orleans,  commanded  by  Captain  Henley,  dropped  down  the  river,  and  an 
chored  off  Villere's,  within  musket-shot 
distance  of  the  centre  of  the  British 
camp.  At  half  past  seven  she  opened 
a  tremendous  fire  from  her  batteries, 
and  in  the  course  of  ten  minutes  killed 
or  wounded  at  least  a  hundred  men. 
The  British  extinguished  their  camp- 
fires,  and  poured  upon  the  Carolina  a 
shower  of  bullets  and  Congreve  rock 
ets,  but  with  no  serious  effect.  In  less 
than  half  an  hour  the  schooner  drove 
the  enemy  from  their  camp,  and  pro 
duced  great  confusion  among  them. 
The  American  troops  in  the  mean  time, 
startled  by  the  concerted  signal  of  the 
Carolina's  cannonade,  were  moving  on, 
guided  by  Colonel  De  la  Ronde,  who 
was  a  volunteer  with  Beale's  riflemen, 
ahd  Major  Villere,  who  accompanied 
the  commander -in -chief.  The  right, 
under  Jackson,  was  composed  of  the 


DENNIS  BE   I,A   RONDE. 


1  See  note  and  picture  on  page  1029. 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


1031 


The  British  Alarmed  and  Confused. 


A  Night  Battle. 


regulars,  Plauche's  and  D'Aquin's  brigades,  M'Rea's  artillery,  and  some  marines,  and 
moved  down  the  road  along  the  levee ;  while  the  left,  under  Coffee,  composed  of  his 
brigade,  Hinds's  dragoons,  and  Beale's  rifles,  skirted  the  edge  of  a  cypress  swamp  for 
the  purpose  of  endeavoring  to  cut  off  the  communications  of  the  invaders  with  Lake 
Borgne.  Such  was  the  simple  plan  of  the  battle,  on  the  part  of  the  Americans,  on 
the  night  of  the  23d  of  December,  1814. 

The  alarm  and  confusion  in  the  British  camp,  caused  by  the  attack  of  the  Carolina, 
had  scarcely  been  checked  when  they  were  startled  by  the  crack  of  musketry  in  the 
direction  of  their  outposts.  Keane  now  gave  full  credence  to  the  tales  of  his  prison 
ers  about  the  large  number  of  troops  —  "more  than  twelve  thousand"  —  in  New 
Orleans,  and  gave  the  dashing  Thornton  full  liberty  to  do  as  he  liked.  Thornton  at 
once  led  a  detachment,  composed  of  the  Eighty-fifth  and  Ninety-fifth  Regiments,  to 
the  support  of  the  pickets,  and  directed  the  Fourth,  five  hundred  strong,  to  take  post 
on  Villere's  Canal,  near  head-quarters,  to  keep  open  the  communication  with  Lake 
Borgne.  Thornton  and  his  detachment  were  soon  met  by  a  resolute  column  under 
the  immediate  command  of  Jackson.  He  had  made  the  Canal  Rodriguez,  which  con 
nected  the  Mississippi  with  the  cypress  swamp,  his  base  of  operations.  He  advanced 
with  about  fifteen  hundred  men  and  two  pieces  of  artillery,  perfectly  covered  with 
the  gloom  of  night.  Lieutenant  M'Clelland,  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  the  Seventh, 
filing  through  De  la  Ronde's  gate,  advanced  to  the  boundary  of  Lacoste's  plantation, 
where,  under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Piatt,  the  quartermaster  general,  he  encoun 
tered  and  attacked  the  British  pickets,  who  were  posted  in  a  ditch  behind  a  fence, 
and  drove  them  back.  These  were  speedily  re-enforced,  and  a  brisk  engagement  en 
sued,  in  which  Piatt  received  a  wound,  and  M'Clelland  and  a  sergeant  were  killed. 

In  the  mean  time  the  artillerists  advanced  up  the  Levee  Road  with  the  marines, 
when  the  British  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  seize  their  guns.  There  wras  a  fierce 
struggle.  Jackson  saw  it,  and  hastening  to  the  spot,  in  the  midst  of  a  shower  of  bul 
lets,  he  shouted, "  Save  the  guns,  my  boys,  at  any  sacrifice  !"  They  did  so,  when  the 
Seventh  Regiment,  commanded  by  Major  Pierre,  advanced,  and,  being  joined  by  the 
Forty-fourth,  the  engagement  became  general  between  them  and  Thornton's  detach 
ment.  Plauche  and  D'Aquin  soon  joined  their  comrades,  and  the  tide  of  success 
turned  in  favor  of  the  Americans.  The  British,  hard  pressed,  fell  sullenly  back  to 
their  original  line  unmolested,  for  the  prudent  Ross,  commanding  the  regulars,  would 
not  allow  a  pursuit.  Had  it  been  permitted,  it  would  have  resulted,  as  was  after 
ward  discovered,  most  disastrously  for  the  invaders.  This  conflict  occurred  not  far 
from  De  la  Ronde's  garden. 

General  Coffee  in  the  mean  time  had  advanced  to  the  back  of  De  la  Ronde's  plan 
tation,  where  his  riflemen  were  dismount 
ed,  and  their  horses  placed  in  charge  of  a 
hundred  men  at  the  canal  that  separated 
De  la  Ronde's  from  Lacoste's  farm,  the 
latter  now  the  property  of  D.  and  E.  Vil- 
lere.  The  ground  was  too  much  cut  up 
with  ditches  to  allow  successful  cavalry 
movements,  and  Major  Hinds  and  his  men 
remained  at  one  of  them,  near  the  middle 
of  Lacoste's.  Coffee's  division  extended 
its  front  as  much  as  possible,  and  moved 
in  silence,  while  Beale  and  his  riflemen 
stole  around  the  enemy's  extreme  left,  on 
Villere's  plantation,  and  by  a  sudden  move 
ment  penetrated  almost  to  the  very  heart 
of  the  British  camp,  killing  several,  and 


l^A.OOSTE'8  MANSION. 


1032 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  British  fall  back  to  shelter. 


Strength  of  the  Combatants. 


Sir  De  Lacy  Evans. 


making  others  prisoners.  By  a  blunder,  made  in  consequence  of  the  darkness,  a  num 
ber  of  Beale's  men  were  captured.  In  the  mean  time,  Thornton,  with  the  Eighty- 
fifth,  fell  heavily  on  Coffee's  line,  and  for  some  time  a  battle  raged  fiercely,  not  in 
regular  order,  but  in  detachments,  squads,  and  often  duels.  In  the  darkness  friends 
fought  each  other,  supposing  each  to  be  a  foe.  The  Tennesseeans  and  British  rifle 
men  were  almost  equally  expert  as  sharp-shooters ;  but  the  short  weapons  of  the  En- 
lish  were  not  so  efficient  as  the  long  ones  of  the  American  backwoodsmen.  The  Ten 
nesseeans  also  used  long  knives  and  tomahawks  vigorously.  At  last  the  British  fell 
back,  and  took  shelter  behind  the  levee,  more  willing  to  incur  the  danger  of  shots 
from  the  Carolina  than  bullets  from  the  rifles  of  the  Tennesseeans.1 


AFFAIR  BELOW 

NEW  ORLEANS.  ^fcj*  /  * 

•"-  >.23rd.1814  * 


AMERICANS 
BRITISH  •• 


1  The  loss  of  the  Americans  in  the  affair  on  the  night 
of  the  23d  of  December  was  twenty-four  killed,  one  hun 
dred  and  fifteen  wounded,  and  seventy-four  prisoners  ; 
in  all,  two  hundred  and  thirteen.  Among  the  killed  was 
the  brave  Lieutenant  Colonel  Lauclerdale,  of  Coffee's  bri 
gade  of  mounted  riflemen.  The  British  loss  was  about 
four  hundred  men.  According  to  the  most  careful  esti 
mates,  the  number  of  Americans  engaged  in  the  battle 
was  about  eighteen  hundred,  while  that  of  the  invaders, 
including  the  re-enforcements  that  came  during  the  en 
gagement,  was  about  twenty-five  hundred.  The  Caro 
lina  gave  the  Americans  a  great  advantage,  and  made 
the  effective  power  about  equal  to  that  of  the  foe. 

One  of  the  distinguished  British  officers  wounded  in 
this  engagement,  and  who  yet  (1S67)  survives,  was  Sir 
De  Lacy  Evans.  He  was  also  wounded  in  the  battle 
nearer  New  Orleans,  which  occurred  a  little  more  than 
a  fortnight  later.  Sir  De  Lacy  was  born  in  Ireland  in 
1T87.  He  entered  the  British  Army  in  the  East  Indies 
as  ensign,  and  served  there  from  1807  to  1810  in  the  war 
against  Ameer  Khan.  He  also  served  with  distinction 
in  Spain.  In  1814  he  became  brevet  lieutenant  colonel 
of  a  West  India  regiment,  and  was  with  General  Boss  in 
the  battle  of  Bladensburg,  where  he  had  two  horses  shot 
under  him.  He  led  the  column  into  Washington  City. 
He  was  active  also  in  the  movement  on  Baltimore.  Aft 
er  his  second  wound  before  New  Orleans  he  was  sent 
home,  and  was  afterward  with  Wellington  at  Quatre 
Bras.  When  the  Crimean  War  broke  out  he  was  ap 
pointed  lieutenant  general,  and  commanded  the  second 
division  of  the  British  Army.  He  greatly  distinguished 
himself  in  that  war.  For  his  services  there  he  received 
the  Grand  Cross  of  the  Bath,  and  Louis  Napoleon  made  him  grand  officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 


SIR  DE   I.ACY   EVANS. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


1033 


The  Americans  Withdraw. 


A  Skirmish  on  Jumonville's  Plantation. 


A  Memento  of  the  Battle. 


During  the  engagement  the  second  division  of  the  British  arrived  from  Bayou  Bien- 
venu,  and  were  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  with  Coffee  for  a  while ;  but  the  fear  of 
being  cut  off  from  communication  with  the  lake  and  their  ships  made  the  enemy  too 
cautious  and  timid  to  achieve  what  their  superior  numbers  qualified  them  to  perform. 
They  kept  within  the  lines  of  their  camp,  and  by  concentration  presented  a  strong 
front.  Jackson  perceived  that  in  the  darkness,  intensified  by  a  fog  that  suddenly 
appeared,  he  could  not  follow  up  his  victory  with  safety,  so  he  led  the  right  division 
back  to  the  main  entrance  to  De  la  Ronde's  plantation,  while  Coffee  encamped  near 
De  la  Ronde's  garden.1 

It  was  about  half  past  nine  when  the  conflict  ceased,  and  at  half  past  eleven,  when 
all  was  becoming  quiet  in  the  respective  camps,  musket-firing  was  heard  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Jumonville's  plantation,  below  Villere's.  It  was  caused  by  the  advance  of 
some  Louisiana  drafted  militia,  stationed  at  a  sharp  bend  of  the  Mississippi  called  the 
English  Turn,  under  General  David  Morgan,  who  had  insisted  upon  being  led  against 
the  enemy  when  they  heard  the  guns  of  the  Carolina  early  in  the  evening.  They 
met  some  British  pickets  at  Jumonville's,  exchanged  shots  with  them,  encamped  there 
for  the  night,  and  at  dawn  returned  to  their  post  at  the  English  Turn. 

i  In  the  room  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Tennessee,  in  the  Capitol  at  Nashville,  may  be  seen  an  interesting  memento 
of  the  battle  on  the  night  of  the  23d  of  December,  1814.  It  is  a  tattered  flag  that  was  borne  through  that  battle  by  a 
company  from  Shelbyville,  Tennessee,  commanded  by  Captain  James  Moore.  It  was  presented  to  that  company  by  the 
women  of  Bedford  County.  It  is  of  silk,  of  the  pattern  of  the  national  flag,  on  which  was  painted  a  gray  eagle  bearing 
a  national  shield,  and  a  ribbon  inscribed  LIBERTY  AND  INDEPENDENCE.  Its  appearance  when  the  writer  made  a  sketch 
of  it  in  the  spring  of  1SC1  is  indicated  in  the  picture  below. 


V 


1034 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Jackson's  Work  not  yet  done. 


He  casts  up  a  Line  of  Defenses. 


The  Levee  cut. 


CHAPTER  XLIIL 

"America's  glory,  which  dazzled  the  world 

When  the  toils  of  our  sires  had  achieved  independence, 
Was  brightened  when  Jackson  her  banners  unfurled 
To  protect  the  dear  boon  for  their  grateful  descendants — 
When  the  conquerors  of  Spain 
Crossed  the  boisterous  main, 
Boldly  threat'ning  to  rivet  our  fetters  again ; 
But  a  happy  new  year  for  Columbia  begun 
When  our  Jackson  secured  what  our  Washington  won." 

SAMUEL  WOODWOETH. 

"  White-wingedPeace,  the  dove  from  heaven's  portal, 
Brought  with  its  olive-branch  a  song  immortal, 
That  filled  all  hearts  with  melody  supernal, 
While  yet  was  heard  the  battle  din  infernal." 

ROMPTNESS  and  vigor  marked  the  whole  conduct  of  General 
Jackson  at  the  critical  moment  we  are  considering.  By  his  ad 
vance  to  meet  the  invaders  he  had  saved  New  Orleans  fi-om  cap 
ture,  and  Louisiana  and  the  Mississippi  Valley  from  conquest. 
The  whole  country  blessed  him  for  the  act.  But  his  full  task 
was  not  accomplished,  and  he  knew  it.  A  host  of  veteran  sol 
diers,  fresh  from  the  battle-fields  of  Continental  Europe,  were  be 
fore  him,  and  they  were  not  likely  to  relinquish  the  footing  they 
had  gained  on  Amer 
ican  soil  without  a 
desperate  struggle,  so 
he  prepared  for  it. 
Leaving  the  regulars 
and  some  dragoons 
at  De  la  Ronde's  to 
watch  the  enemy,  he 
fell  back  with  the  re 
mainder  of  his  army 
to  Rodriguez's  Canal, 
and  set  his  soldiers  to 
work  casting  up  in- 
trenchments  along  its 
line  from  the  river  to 
the  cypress  swamp. 
All  day  they  plied  the 
implements  of  labor 
with  the  greatest  vig 
or.  At  sunset  a  breast 
work  three  feet  in  height  appeared  along  the  entire  line  of  Jackson's  army ;  and  the 
soldiers  spent  that  Christmas  eve  in  much  hilarity,  for  the  events  of  the  previous 
evening  had  given  them  the  confidence  of  veterans.  In  the  mean  time,  Latour,  the 
chief  engineer,  had  cut  the  levee  in  front  of  Chalmette's  plantation,  so  as  to  flood  the 
plain  between  the  two  armies,  and  two  6-pounders  were  placed  in  battery  at  the 

i  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  author  in  April,  1861. 


DE  LA  KONDE'S  MANSION.' 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812.  IQ35 


Effect  of  cutting  the  Levee.  A  gloomy  Day.  Arrival  of  General  Pakenham.  Destruction  of  the  Carolina. 

levee  to  command  the  road.  The  river  was  so  low  that  the  overflow  was  of  little 
account.  Behind  these  intrenchments,  of  which  each  worker  was  proud,  Jackson's 
little  army  spent  the  Christmas  day  of  1814  in  preparations  for  a  determined  defense 
of  New  Orleans  and  their  common  country.1  On  the  same  day  General  Morgan  re 
ceived  orders  to  evacuate  the  post  at  English  Turn,  place  his  cannon  and  a  hundred 
men  in  Fort  St.  Leon,  and  take  position  with  the  remainder  on  Flood's  plantation, 
opposite  Jackson's  camp,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  The  cutting  of  the 
levee  at  Chalmette's  and  Jumonville's  helped  the  enemy  more  than  it  did  the  Amer 
icans,  for  it  caused  the  almost  dry  canals  and  bayous  to  be  filled  with  sufficient  water 
to  allow  the  British  to  bring  up  their  heavy  artillery.  Had  the  Mississippi  been  full, 
the  invaders  would  have  been  placed  on  an  island. 

That  Christmas  day  dawned  gloomily  for  the  invaders.  The  events  of  .  December, 
the  23da  had  greatly  depi'essed  their  spirits,  and  the  soldiers  had  lost  con 
fidence  in  Keane,  their  commander.  The  sky  was  clouded,  the  ground  was  wet,  and 
the  atmosphere  was  chilly,  and  shadowing  disappointment  was  seen  in  every  face. 
The  gloom  was  suddenly  dispelled  by  an  event  which  gave  great  joy  to  the  whole 
army.  It  was  the  arrival  at  camp  on  that  gloomy  morning  of  Lieutenant  General 
Sir  Edward  Pakenham,  the  "Hero  of  Salamanca,"  then  only  thirty-eight  years  of 
age,  who  came  to  assume  the  chief  command  of  the  invading  army.  He  was  a  true 
soldier  and  an  honorable  man ;  and  the  charge  (which  might  be  justly  brought  against 
some  of  the  subordinate  commanders  in  that  army)  that  he  offered  his  soldiers,  as  a 
reward  for  their  services,  in  the  event  of  their  capturing  New  Orleans,  "the  beauty 
and  booty"  of  the  city,  is  doubtless  wholly  untrue,  for  his  character  was  the  very  op 
posite  of  the  infamous  Cockburn's.  There  is  proof  on  record  that  some  of  the  officers 
made  calculations  of  personal  profit  from  the  spoils  that  New  Orleans  would  afford. 
Pakenham  came  fresh  from  Europe,  with  the  prestige  of  eminent  success  as  a  com 
mander,  and  his  advent  at  Villere's  mansion2  was  hailed  with  delight  by  officers  and 
soldiers.  He,  too,  was  delighted  when  he  perused  the  list  of  the  regiments  which  he 
was  to  command,  for  those  troops,  excepting  the  Ninety-third  and  the  colored  regi 
ments,  had  fought  all  through  the  war  on  the  Spanish  Peninsula. 

While  Jackson  was  intrenching,  the  British  were  not  idle.  They  were  employed, 
day  and  night, -in  preparing  a  heavy  battery  that  should  command  the  Carolina.  It 
was  completed  on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  and  at  seven  o'clock  a  heavy  fire  was 
opened  from  it  upon  the  little  schooner  from  several  twelve  and  eighteen  pounders, 
and  a  howitzer.  They  hurled  hot  shot,  which  fired  the  Carolina,  when  her  crew  aban 
doned  her,  and  she  blew  up  with  a  tremendous  explosion.  The  schooner  Louisiana, 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Thompson,  had  come  down  to  aid  her,  and  was  in  great 
peril.  She  was  the  only  armed  vessel  in  the  river  remaining  to  the  Americans.  By 
great  exertions  she  was  towed  beyond  the  sphere  of  danger,  and  was  saved  to  play 
a  gallant  part  in  events  the  following  day.  She  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  riv 
er,  anchored  nearly  abreast  of  the  American  camp. 

The  destruction  of  the  Carolina  gave  fresh  confidence  to  the  invaders,  and  Paken 
ham  issued  orders  for  his  whole  army,  then  eight  thousand  strong,  to  move  forward 
and  carry  the  American  intrenchments  by  storm.  He  had  arranged  that  army  into 
two  columns.  One  was  commanded  by  General  Keane,  and  the  other  by  General 
Gibbs,  a  good  and  experienced  soldier,  who  came  with  Pakenham  as  his  second  in 
command.  Toward  evening  the  entire  force  moved  forward,  driving  in  the  American 
pickets  and  outposts,  and  at  twilight  they  halted  on  the  plantations  of  Bienvenu  and 
Chalmette,  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  American  lines.  There  a  part  sought 
repose,  while  others  commenced  the  construction  of  batteries  near  the  river.  Sleep 
was  denied  them,  for  all  night  long  Hinds's  troopers  and  other  active  Americans  an- 

i  The  common  impression  that  Jackson's  breastworks  were  constructed  chiefly  of  cotton  bales  is  an  erroneons  one. 
A  few  were  used  at  the  end  next  the  river,  but  they  were  not  useful,  and  were  rejected.  *  See  page  1029. 


1036 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Seat  of  War  iu  Louisiana  and  Florida. 


noyed  their  flanks  and  rear  with  quick,  sharp  attacks,  which  the  British  denounced  as 
"  barbarian  warfare." 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


1037 


Jackson  prepared  to  receive  the  British. 


They  advance  to  an  Attack. 


A  severe  Battle. 


Jackson,  in  the  mean  time,  had  been  preparing  to  receive  them.  He  was  aware 
of  the  arrival  of  Pa- 
kenham,  and  expected 
vigorous  warfare  from 
him.  His  head-quar 
ters  were  at  the  spa 
cious  chateau  of  M. 
*  Macarte,  a  wealthy 
Creole,  and  from  its 
wide  gallery  and  a 
dormer  window,  seen 
in  the  accompanying 
picture,  aided  by  a  tel 
escope,  he  had  a  full 
view  of  the  whole  field 
of  operations.  From 
that  chateau,  which  is 
yet  standing,  he  sent 
forth  his  orders.  They 
were  numerous  and 

prompt ;  for  that  night  MAOARTE'S,  JACKSON'S  HEAU-QUARTEBS.  l 

of  the  27th  of  December,  when  a  flushed  foe  in  his  immediate  front  was  ready  to 
pounce  with  tiger-like  fierceness  upon  him  at  dawn,  was  an  exceedingly  busy  one  for 
the  commander-in-chief.  He  had  caused  Chalmette's  buildings  to  be  blown  up  when 
the  enemy  advanced,  that  the  sweep  of  his  artillery  might  not  be  obstructed,  and  he 
had  called  to  the  line  some  Louisiana  militia  from  the  rear.  He  also  planted  heavy 
guns ;  and  by  the  time  that  the  couchant  foe  was  ready  for  his  murderous  leap,  Jack 
son  had  four  thousand  men  and  twenty  pieces  of  artillery  to  receive  him,  while  the 
Louisiana  was  in  position  to  use  her  cannon  with  signal  effect  in  co-operation  with 
the  great  guns  on  land. 

The  28th  dawned  brightly,  and  as  soon  as  the  light  fog  of  early  morning  had  passed 
away  a  battle  began.  The  enemy  approached  in  two  columns.  Gibbs  led  the  right, 
which  kept  near  the  great  swamp,  throwing  out  a  skirmish  line  to  meet  those  of  the 
left  column,  commanded  by  Keane,  who  kept  close  to  the  river,  with  artillery  in  his 
front.  There  was  also  a  party  of  skirmishers  and  light  infantry  detailed  from  Gibbs's 
command,  under  Colonel  Robert  Rennie,  a  very  active  officer,  who  was  ordered  to  turn 
the  American  left  flank  and  gain  the  rear  of  their  camp.  Pakenham  and  his  staff 
rode  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  line.  At  this  moment  Jackson  saw,  with  great  satis 
faction,  a  band  of  rough-looking  armed  men  coming  down  the  road  from  the  direction 
of  the  city.  They  were  Baratarians,  under  You  and  Beluche,  who  had  run  all  the 
way  from  Fort  St.  John.  They  were  immediately  placed  in  charge  of  one  of  the  24- 
pounders,  and  performed  excellent  service.  They  were  followed  by  the  escaped  crew 
of  the  Carolina,  under  Lieutenants  Norris  and  Crawley,  who  were  placed  in  the  line 
as  managers  of  a  howitzer  on  the  right. 

The  British  under  Keane  advanced  in  solid  column,  in  the  face  of  a  galling  fire  of 
musketry,  when  they  were  suddenly  checked  by  the  opening  of  some  of  Jackson's 
heavy  guns  and  the  batteries  of  the  Louisiana,  which  swept  their  line  obliquely  with 
terrible  effect.  More  than  eight  hundred  shots  were  hurled  from  her  guns  with  dead 
ly  power.  One  of  them  killed  and  wounded  fifteen  men.  At  the  same  time  the  Brit 
ish  rocketeers  were  busy,  but  their  missiles  did  very  little  damage,  and  the  Americans 
soon  became  too  familiar  with  their  harmless  noise  to  be  much  affected  by  them. 

For  a  short  time  Keane's  men  endured  the  terrible  storm  that  was  thinning  their 

1  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  author  in  April,  1861. 


1038  PICTORIAL   FIELD-BOOK 

The  British  vanquished  atid  repulsed.  They  hold  a  Council  of  War.  The  American  Lines  of  Defense. 

ranks,  when  the  maintenance  of  their  position  became  mere  fool-hardiness,  and  they 
were  ordered  to  seek  shelter  in  the  little  canals.  Away  they  ran,  pell-mell,  to  these 
places  of  refuge,  and  in  mud  and  water  almost  waist-deep  they  "  leaned  forward,"  as 
one  of  their  companions  wrote,  "  concealing  themselves  in  the  rushes  which  grew  on 
the  banks  of  the  canal."  It  was  a  humiliating  position  for  "  Wellington's  veterans" 
in  the  face  of  a  few  rough  backwoodsmen,  as  they  regarded  Jackson's  troops.  Their 
batteries  were  half  destroyed,  and  were  abandoned,  and  the  shattered  column,  thor 
oughly  repulsed,  fell  back  to  a  shelter  behind  the  ruins  of  Chalmette's  buildings  and 
the  perfect  ones  of  Bienvenu. 

Gibbs  in  the  mean  time  was  actively  engaged  on  the  British  right.  The  gallant 
Rennie  dashed  into  the  edge  of  the  swamp  to  flank  the  American  left,  and,  driving  in 
the  pickets,  approached  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  line  behind  which  lay  Car 
roll  and  his  Tennesseeans.  The  movement  was  observed  by  Carroll,  who  sent  Cjolo- 
nel  Henderson,  with  two  hundred  Tennesseeans,  to  gain  Rennie's  rear  and  cut  him 
oif  from  the  main  body.  Advancing  too  far,  Henderson  encountered  a  large  British 
force,  and  he  and  five  of  his  m.en  were  killed,  and  several  were  wounded.  The  re 
mainder  reti'aced  their  steps.  Rennie  was  then  pressing  Carroll's  left  very  severely, 
when  Gibbs,  observing  the  fierceness  of  the  fight  on  the  part  of  Keane's  column,  or 
dered  the  dashing  colonel  to  fall  back  on  the  main  line.  Rennie  reluctantly  obeyed, 
and  was  compelled  to  be  an  idle  spectator  of  Keane's  disaster.  At  length  Paken- 
ham  ordered  a  general  retrograde  movement,  and  he  retired  to  his  head-quarters  at  Vil- 
lere's  deeply  mortified  by  the  failure  of  his  plans,  of  whose  success  he  had  not  allowed 
himself  to  doubt.  In  this  repulse  the  Louisiana,  which  was  stationed  near  the  right 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  played  the  most  efficient  part,  and  lost  but  one  man  killed. 
The  loss  of  the  Americans  was  nine  killed  and  eight  wounded.  The  British  loss  was 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

Pakenham  called  a  council  of  war,  when  it  was  resolved  to  bring  forward  heavy 
siege-guns  from  the  navy  before  making  another  serious  attempt  to  carry  Jackson's 
lines.  The  British  established  their  hospital  on  Jumonville's  plantation,  next  below 
Villere's,  and  prepared  for  heavy  work.  The  experience  of  the  28th  had  given  Pa 
kenham  a  test  of  the  spirit  of  his  opposers,  and  he  was  convinced  that  the  task  before 
him  was  not  only  difficult,  but  dangerous,  and  that  the  very  salvation  of  his  army  de 
pended  upon  cautious  movements,  courage,  and  perseverance. 

Jackson  was  busy  at  the  same  time  strengthening  his  position  at  Rodriguez's  Ca 
nal,  over  which  not  a  single  British  soldier  had  passed  except  as  a  prisoner.  He 
placed  two  12-pounders  on  his  extreme  left,  near  the  swamp,  in  charge  of  General 
Garrigue  Flauzac,  a  veteran  French  soldier  who  had  volunteered ;  and  also  a  six  and 
an  eighteen  pounder  under  Colonel  Perry.  His  line  of  intrenchments  was  extended 
into  the  swamp,  so  as  to  prevent  a  flank  movement.  He  ordered  a  line  of  similar 
structure  to  be  established  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  Commander 
Patterson,  pleased  with  the  effects  of  the  guns  of  the  Louisiana  from  the  same  side, 
established  a  battery  behind  the  levee  on  Jourdan's  plantation,  which  he  armed  with 
heavy  guns  from  the  schooner,  and  manned  with  sailors  enlisted  or  pressed  into  the 
service  in  New  Orleans.  It  commanded  the  front  of  Jackson's  lines,  and  soon  com 
pelled  the  British  to  abandon  Chalmette's  plantation  and  fall  back  to  the  line  be 
tween  Bienvenu's  and  De  la  Ronde's.  A  brick-kiln  on  the  bank  opposite  New  Or 
leans  was  converted  into  a  square  battery,  which  was  armed  with  two  heavy  guns 
that  commanded  the  city  and  the  river  road,  and  placed  in  charge  of  Captain  Henley, 
of  the  Carolina.  At  Jackson's  head-quarters,  at  Macarte's,  was  a  company  of  young 
men  from  the  best  families  in  the  city,  under  Captain  Ogden,  who  constituted  his 
body-guard,  and  were  subservient  to  his  immediate  orders  alone.  These  were  posted 
in  Macarte's  garden.  There^was  incessant  activity  every  where  among  all  his  troops, 
for  his  own  spirit  was  infused  into  them.  The  Tennessee  riflemen,  in  particular,  de- 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


1039 


Redoubts  secretly  constructed  by  the  British.        A  heavy  Fire  from  them.       Jackson  driven  from  his  Head-quarters. 


CHALMETTE'S  PLANTATION.  ' 


lighted  in  going  on  "  hunts,"  as  they  called  theirs— that  is  to  say,  expeditions  alone, 
to  pick  off  sentinels  and  annoy  the  enemy.  This  was  carried  to  such  an  extent  on 
Jackson's  exfreme  left  that  the  British  dared  not  post  sentinels  very  near  the  swamp. 
They  contented  themselves  with  throwing  up  a  strong  redoubt  in  that  direction, 
which  Captain  You  and  Lieutenant  Crawley  continually  battered  with  heavy  shot 
from  their  cannon.  The  enemy  persevered,  and  at  the  close  of  the  month  had  several 
great  guns  mounted  on  the  redoubt. 

On  the  31st  the  guns  of  the  new  redoubt  opened  vigorously  on  Jackson's  left ;  and 
that  night  the  whole  British  army  moved  rapidly  forward,  took  position  within  a  few 
hundred  yards  of  the  American  lines,  and  in  the  gloom  commenced  vigorous  work 
with  pickaxe  and  spade.  They  had  brought  up  heavy  siege-guns  from  the  lake,  and 
all  night  long  that  army  labored  in  the  construction  of  redoubts  for  them,  under  the 
superintendence  of  Colonel  Sir  John  Burgoyne,  with  the  intention  of  making  an  im 
mediate  effort  to  break  the  American  line.  Before  dawn  they  had  completed  three  sol 
id  demi-lunettes,  or  half-moon  batteries,  right,  centre,  and  left,  six  hundred  yards  from 
the  American  lines,  at  nearly  equal  distances  apart.  They  were  constructed  of  earth, 
hogsheads  of  sugar,  and  every  thing  that  might  produce  resistance  ;  and  upon  them 
were  placed  thirty  pieces  of  heavy  ordnance,  manned  by  picked  g\mners  of  the  fleet, 
who  had  served  under  Nelson,  Collingwood,  and  St.  Vincent. 

These  works  were  hidden  by  a  heavy  fog  on  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  January,  which 
hung  thickly  over  the  belligerent  armies  until  after  eight  o'clock.  When  it  was  lifted 
by  a  gentle  breeze  the  British  opened  a  brisk  fire,  not  doubting  that  in  a  few  minutes 
the  contemptible  intrenchments  of  the  Americans  would  be  scattered  to  the  winds, 
and  that  the  army,  placed  in  battle  order  for  the  purpose,  would  find  it  an  easy  mat 
ter  to  rush  forward  and  take  them.  Every  moment  their  cannonade  and  bombard 
ment  became  heavier,  and  the  rocketeers  sent  an  incessant  shower  of  their  fiery  mis 
siles  into  the  American  lines.  Jackson's  head-quarters  at  Macarte's  was  a  special  tar 
get.  In  the  course  of  ten  minutes  more  than  a  hundred  balls,  shells,  and  rockets 
struck  the  building,  and  compelled  the  commander-in-chief  and  his  staff  to  evacuate 
it.  The  marks  of  that  furious  assault  may  be  seen  in  all  parts  of  the  house  to 
this  day.a 

1  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  author  in  April,  I860,  from  the  foot  of  the  shaft  of  the  unfinished  monument, 
near  Jackson's  head-quarters  and  line  of  intrenchments.  This  shows  the  principal  field  on  which  the  battles  in  De 
cember  and  January,  1815,  were  fought.  The  plain  is  a  dead  level.  In  the  distance  is  seen  the  line  of  the  swamp 
which  flanked  both  armies. 


1040 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Topography  of  the  Battle-field. 


Reply  of  the  Americans  to  the  British  Attack. 


Jackson,  in  the  mean  time,  had  opened  his  heavy  guns  on  the  assailants.  The  can 
nonade  was  led  off  by  the  gallant  and  imperturbable  Humphrey  on  the  left,  followed 
by  the  fierce  You  and  his  Baratarians — Crawley,  Norris,  Spotts,  and  the  veteran  Gar- 
rigue.  The  American  artillery  thundered  along  their  whole  line,  to  the  amazement 
of  the  British,  who  wondered  how  they  got  their  guns  and  gunners.  Pakenham  soon 
saw  that  he  had  underrated  the  strength  and  skill  of  his  adversary ;  and  Cochrane, 
whose  gallant  tars  were  at  the  guns,  did  every  thing  in  his  power  to  encourage  them. 
The  conflict  became  terrible.  Batteries  on  the  Levee  fought  with  Patterson  on  the 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  1041 


The  British  again  vanquished  and  repulsed.  New  Arrangements  for  Attack.  The  British  re-enforced. 

opposite  side ;  and  in  them  were  kept  in  readiness  red-hot  shot  for  the  destruction  of 
the  Louisiana,  if  she  should  come  within  range  of  the  guns.  Pakenham  also  sent  a 
detachment  of  infantry  to  attempt  the  turning  of  the  American  left,  in  the  swamp ; 
but  they  were  driven  back  in  terror  by  Coffee's  Tennesseeans ;  so  only  the  battle  of 
the  batteries  went  on. 

Toward  noon  the  fire  of  the  British  visibly  slackened,  while  that  of  the  Americans 
was  unceasing.  The  demi-lunes  of  the  foe  were  crushed  and  broken.  The  sugar 
hogsheads  had  been  converted  into  splinters,  and  their  contents,  mingling  with  the 
moist  earth,  soon  lost  their  volume.  The  guns  not  dismounted  were  careened,  and 
were  worked  with  great  difficulty ;  and  by  the  time  their  voices  ceased  altogether 
the  batteries  on  the  Levee  were  nearly  demolished.  The  invaders  abandoned  their 
works  at  meridian,  and  fled  in  inglorious  haste,  helter-skelter,  to  the  ditches,  in  search 
of  safety ;  and,  under  cover  of  the  ensuing  night,  they  crawled  sullenly  back  to  their 
camp,  dragging  with  them  over  the  spongy  ground  a  part  of  their  heavy  cannon,  and 
leaving  five  of  them  a  spoil  for  the  Americans.  Their  disappointment  and  chagrin 
were  intense,  and  it  was  equally  shared  by  officers  and  men.  Their  New-Year's  Day 
wTas  a  far  gloomier  one  than  that  of  Christmas.  They  had  been  without  food  or  sleep 
for  nearly  sixty  hours.  They  all  cast  themselves  down  on  the  damp  ground,  too 
wearied  for  thought,  and  their  troubles  were  soon  ended  for  the  time  by  deep  slum 
ber.  Pakenham  was  in  his  old  quarters  at  Villere's,  which  he  had  left  in  the  morn 
ing  with  the  confident  expectation  of  sleeping  in  New  Orleans  that  night  as  a  con 
queror.1  In  the  American  camp  there  was  great  joy  that  night.  It  was  intensified 
in  the  morning  by  the  arrival  of  Brigadier  General  John  Adair  with  intelligence  of 
the  near  approach  of  more  than  two  thousand  drafted  militia  from  Kentucky,  under 
Major  General  John  Thomas.  They  arrived  in  the  city  on  the  4th  of  January,  and 
seven  hundred  of  them  were  sent  to  the  front  under  Adair. 

Pakenham  was  disheartened,  but  he  by  no  means  despaired  of  success.  He  conceived 
the  bold  and  hazardous  plan  of  carrying  Jackson's  lines  on  both  sides  of  the  river  by 
storm.  Those  on  the  right  bank  had  been  strengthened,  but  were  feebly  manned, 
and  were  under  the  chief  command  of  General  Morgan.  Pakenham  resolved  to  send 
over  fifteen  hundred  infantry,  with  some  artillery,  and,  under  the  cover  of  night,  at- 
'  tack  Morgan,  carry  the  works,  occupy  them,  and,  from  batteries  there,  enfilade  Jack 
son's  line,  while  the  main  army  should  be  engaged  in  storming  it.  The  transportation 
of  these  men  to  the  other  side  of  the  river  was  confided  to  Admiral  Cochrane,  who, 
in  opposition  to  the  opinions  and  wishes  of  the  army  officers,  set  the  wearied  soldiers 
and  sailors  to  work  widening,  and  deepening,  and  prolonging  to  the  Mississippi,  Vil 
lere's  Canal,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  over  boats  from  the  Bayou  Bienvenu,  instead 
of  dragging  them  on  rollers  as  they  had  heavier  cannon.  The  labor  was  completed 
on  the  7th,  when  the  army  was  in  fine  spirits  because  of  the  arrival,  the  day  before, 
of  a  considerable  body  of  re-enforcements  under  Major  General  John  Lambert,  a 
young  officer  of  Wellington's  army,  who  had  sailed  from  England  toward  the  close 
of  October.  Pakenham's  own  regiment  (Seventh  Fusileers)  was  among  them  ;  and 
the  army  that  confronted  Jackson  now  consisted  of  ten  thousand  of  the  finest  sol 
diers  in  the  world.  These  were  divided  into  three  brigades,  and  placed  under  the 
respective  commands  of  Generals  Lambert,  Gibbs,  and  Keane. 

Pakenham's  plan  of  operations  for  the  new  attack  was  simple.  Colonel  Thornton 
was  to  cross  the  Mississippi  on  the  night  of  the  Yth  with  the  Eighty-fifth  and  one 

i  The  forlorn  condition  of  these  troops,  as  a  body,  was  such  that  Jackson  was  at  a  loss  to  determine  whether  their 
Dre«ence  should  be  considered  fortunate  or  unfortunate  for  the  cause.  They  had  come  with  the  erroneous  belief  that  an 
ample  supply  of  arms  and  clothing  would  be  furnished  them  at  New  Orleans,  and  a  large  number  of  them  were  sadly  defi 
cient  in  these  Of  the  seven  hundred  sent  to  the  front,  only  five  hundred  had  weapons  of  any  kind.  The  commisera 
tion  of  the  citizens  was  excited,  and  by  an  appropriation  by  the  Legislature  and  the  liberal  gifts  of  the  citizens  the  sum 
of  sixteen  thousand  dollars  was  speedily  raised,  with  which  goods  were  purchased  and  placed  in  the  willing  hands  of 
the  women  of  New  Orleans  Within  a  week  these  were  converted  by  them  into  blankets,  garments,  and  bedding.  The 
men  constituted  excellent  raw  material  for  soldiers,  and  they  were  very  soon  prepared  for  efficient  service. 

3  U 


1042 


PICTOKIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  British  Plan  of  Attack. 


The  American  Line  of  Intrenchments. 


Disposition  of  Forces  on  it. 


West  India  regiment,  marines  and  sailors,  and  a  corps  of  rocketeers,  and  fall  upon  the 
Americans  before  the  dawn.  The  sound  of  his  guns  was  to  be  the  signal  for  General 
Gibbs,  with  the  Forty-fourth,  Twenty-first,  and  Fourth  regiments,  to  storm  the  Amer 
ican  left ;  while  General  Keane,  with  the  Ninety-third,  Ninety-fifth,  and  two  light 
companies  of  the  Seventh  and  Forty-third,  with  some  West  India  troops,  should 
threaten  the  American  right  sufficient  to  draw  their  fire,  and  then  rush  upon  them 
with  the  bayonet.  Meanwhile  the  two  British  batteries  near  the  Levee,  which  the 
Americans  destroyed  on  the  1st,  were  to  be  rebuilt,  well  mounted,  and  employed  in 
assailing  the  American  right  during  Keane's  operations.  Keane's  advance  corps 
were  furnished  with  fascines  to  fill  the  ditches,  and  scaling  ladders  to  mount  the  em 
bankments.  Such  was  the  substance  of  Pakenham's  General  Order  issued  on  the  7th 
of  January,  1815. 

Jackson  penetrated  Pakenham's  design  on  the  6th,  and  prepared  to  meet  and  frus 
trate  it.    His  line  of  de- 

-•     i  '^MM^BUI1111     ilh        -._._  fense,  extending,  as  we 

have  observed,  from 
the  Mississippi  to  an 
impassable  cypress 
swamp,  a  mile  and  a 
half  in  length,  along 
the  line  of  the  half- 
choked  Rodriguez's 
Canal,  was  very  irreg 
ular.  In  some  places 
it  was  thin,  in  others 
thick;  in  some  places 
the  banks  were  high,  in 
others  very  low.  They 
had  been  cast  up,  not  by 
the  soldiery  alone,  nor 
by  the  slaves,  but  by 
the  hands  of  civilians 
from  the  city,  includ 
ing  merchants  and  their  clerks,  lawyers  and  physicians  and  their  students,  and  many 
young  men  who  never  before  had  turned  a  spadeful  of  earth.  Along  this  line  artil 
lery  was  judiciously  placed.  On  the  edge  of  the  river  a  redoubt  was  thrown  up  and 
mounted  with  cannon,  so  as  to  enfilade  the  ditch  in  front  of  the  American  lines.  Be 
sides  this  there  were  eight  batteries,  placed  at  proper  distances  from  each  other,  com 
posed  of  thirteen  guns  carrying  from  six  to  thirty-two  pound  balls,  a  howitzer,  and 
a  carronade.  Across  the  river  was  Patterson's  marine  battery  for  auxiliary  service 
in  the  defense  of  this  line,  mounting  nine  guns ;  and  the  Louisiana  was  prepared  to 
perform  a  part,  if  possible,  in  the  drama  about  to  open. 

Jackson's  infantry  were  disposed  as  follows :  Lieutenant  Ross,  with  a  company  of 
Pierre's  Seventh  Regiment,  guarded  the  redoubt  on  the  extreme  right,  in  which  tents 
were  pitched.  Between  Humphrey's  battery  and  the  river,  on  the  right,  Beale's 
New  Orleans  riflemen  were  stationed.  From  their  left  the  Seventh  Regiment  ex 
tended  so  as  to  cover  another  battery,  and  connected  with  a  part  of  Plauche's2  bat 
talion  and  the  colored  corps  under  Colonel  Lacoste,  which  filled  the  interval  between 

i  This  is  a  view  of  the  choked  canal  at  the  wood  that  skirts  the  levee,  sketched  by  the  author  in  April,  1861.  There 
is  a  lane,  near  the  end  of  which  stands  the  unfinished  monument  to  be  erected  in  commemoration  of  the  battles  here 
fought  and  the  victory  won  by  the  Americans.  The  partly-finished  shaft  is  seen  on  the  left.  It  is  made  entirely  of 
marble  from  Westchester  County,  New  York,  and  is  to  be  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height.  It  is  erected  by  the 
State  of  Louisiana. 

3  Jean  B.  Plauche  was  a  native  of  New  Orleans,  and  was  born  there  when  it  was  a  Spanish  colony.  He  was  a  French 
Creole,  and  through  life  bore  the  character  of  one  of  the  most  esteemed  citizens  of  New  Orleans.  After  the  war  he  re- 


REMAIN8   OF  BODHIGUEZ'8   CANAL.1 


OF   THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


1043 


Character  of  the  American  Troops. 


Interior  Lines  of  Defense. 


The  Tombs  of  Plauche  and  You. 


Batteries  Nos.  3  and  4  (see  map  on  page  1040),  the  guns  of  the  latter  being  covered  by 
D'Aquin's  free  men  of  color.  Next  to  D'Aquin  was  the  Forty-fourth  Regiment,  which 
extended  to  the  rear  of  Battery  No.  5.  The  remainder  of  the  line  (full  two  thirds  of 
its  entire  length)  was  covered  by  the  commands  of  Carroll1  and  Coffee.2  The  former 
had  been  re-enforced  that  day  (7th)  by  a  thousand  Kentuckians  under  General  Adair, 
and  with  him,  on  the  right  of  Battery  No.  7,  were  fifty  marines  under  Lieutenant 
Bellevue.  Coffee,  with  five  hundred  men,  held  the  extreme  left  of  the  line,  on  the 
edge  of  the  swamp,  where  his  men  were  compelled  to  stand  in  the  water,  and  to  sleep 
on  floating  logs  which  they  lashed  to  the  trees.  Captain  Ogden,  with  cavalry  (Jack 
son's  body-guard),  was  at  head-quarters,  yet  at  Macarte's  chateau  ;  and  on  De  Lerey's 
plantation,  in  the  rear  of  it,  Hinds  was  stationed  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  mounted 
men.  Near  Pierna's  Canal  a  regiment  of  Louisiana  militia,  under  Colonel  Young, 
were  encamped  as  reserves. 

Jackson's  whole  force  on  the  New  Orleans  side  of  the  river  on  the  7th  was  about 
five  thousand  in  number,  and  of  these  only  two  thousand  two  hundred  were  at  his 
line.  Only  eight  hundred  of  the  latter  were  regulars,  and  most  of  them  were  new 
recruits  commanded  by  young  officers.  His  army  was  formed  in  two  divisions,  the 
right  commanded  by  Colonel  Ross,  acting  as  brigadier,  and  the  left  by  Generals  Car 
roll  and  Coffee,  the  former  as  major  general  and  the  latter  as  brigadier  general.  A 
mile  and  a  half  in  the  rear  of  his  main  line  another  intrenchment  had  been  thrown 
up,  behind  which  the  weaker  members  of  his  army  were  stationed  with  pickaxes  and 
spades.  This  line  was  prepared  for  a  rallying-point  in  the  event  of  disaster  following 
the  impending  conflict.  Jackson  also  established  a  third  line  at  the  lower  edge  of 
the  city.  General  Morgan,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  prepared  to  defend  his 
lines  with  only  eight  hundred  men,  all  militia,  and  indifferently  armed.  On  his  left 
were  two  6-pounders,  in  charge  of  Adjutant  Nixon,  of  the  Louisiana  militia,  and  a  12- 
pounder  under  Lieutenant  Philibert,  of  the  navy.  Patterson's  battery,  in  Morgan's 

sumed  his  vocation  as  merchant.  He  generally  declined  public 
offices,  yet  he  was  .induced  to  take  that  of  Lieutenant  Governor 
of  Louisiana.  He  died  in  January,  1860,  and  in  an  elegant  tem 
ple  -  shaped  tomb  in  St.  Louis  Cemetery  in  New  Orleans  his 
remains  rest  The  annexed  picture  of  the  tomb  is  from  a  sketch 
made  by  the  author  in  April,  1S61.  It  is  built  of  white  marble, 
with  black  inscription  tablets  in  front.  On  one  of  these  is  the 
following :  "  General  J.  B.  PLAUCHE,  ne  a  la  Nouvelle  Orleans  le 
28  Janvier,  1785,  de-cede  le  2  Janvier,  I860.  En  1S14-'15  major  com 
mandant  le  bataillon  d'Orleans.  En  1850  lieutenant  gouverneur 
de  Petat  de  Lonisiane.  Homme  vertueux,  bon  p6re  et  bon  ci- 
toyen,  il  a  bien  merite  de  sa  patrie  et  legue  a  sa  famille  uu  nom 

honorable." 

In  the  same  ceme 
tery,  and  not  far  from 
thetombofthePlan- 
§§j|si*  -.  ch6  family,  was  that 
of  Dominique  You, 
mentioned  in  these 
pages  as  a  noble  de 
fender  of  New  Or 
leans.  On  his  tomb, 
made  of  brick  and 
stuccoed,  the  writer 
found  the  following 

inscription    written  PLAUCHE'S  TOMB. 

on  a  clouded  marble 

slab  :  "  DOMINIQUE  You.  Intrepide  gnerrier  sur  la  terre  et  sur  Ponde,  il  put 
dans  cent  combats  signaler  sa  valeur ;  et  ce  nouveau  Bayard,  saus  reproche 
et  sans  penr,  aurait  pu,  sans  trembler,  voir  s'ecrouler  le  monde." 

i  William  Carroll  was  born  in  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  in  1778.  In  1813  he 
became  inspector  general  of  the  Tennessee  Militia  and  Volunteers  under  Jackson.  He  was  commissioned  a  colonel, 
and  served  with  distinction  in  the  war  with  the  Creek  Indians.  He  left  the  service  at  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
Governor  of  Tennessee  from  1821  to  1827,  and  from  1830  to  1835.  He  died  on  the  22d  of  March,  1844. 

2  John  Coffee  was  a  native  of  Nottaway  County,  Virginia,  and  entered  the  military  service  under  Jackson  in  1812.  He 
was  active  with  him  in  the  Creek  War,  and  in  the  attack  on  Pensacola  in  the  autumn  of  1814.  He  was  distinguished  in 
the  battles  near  New  Orleans.  In  March,  1817,  he  was  appointed  surveyor  of  public  lands.  He  died  near  Florence,  in 
Alabama,  on  the  7th  of  July,  1S44. 


DOMINIQUE   YOU'8  TOMB. 


1044 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Position  of  the  Army  on  the  7th  of  January. 


A  Message  from  Patterson. 


Jackson  calls  his  Staff  to  Action. 


rear,  could  render  him  no  service,  for  its  guns  were  turned  so  as  to  command  the 
plain  of  Chalmette,  in  front  of  Jackson's  line. 

Such  was  the  strength  and  position  of  the  two  armies  on  the  night  of  the  memora 
ble  7th  of  January,  1815,  preparatory  to  the  great  conflict  on  the  following  day. 


It  was  not  until  the  afternoon  of  the  7th  that  Jackson  could  determine  with  any 
certainty  whether  the  enemy  would  first  attack  his  own  or  Morgan's  line.  Then, 
from  the  gallery  of  head-quarters,  with  his  telescope,  he  could  see  such  preparations 
by  the  foe  as  convinced  him  that  his  own  line  would  first  feel  the  shock  of  battle ; 
and  when  the  darkness  of  night  fell  he  could  distinctly  hear  the  sounds  of  labor  in 
reconstructing  the  British  batteries  which  the  Americans  had  destroyed.  His  pick 
ets  and  sentinels  were  strengthened,  and  sleepless  vigilance  marked  a  large  portion 
of  the  troops  behind  his  intrenchments  that  night.  The  Chief  lay  down  to  rest  on  a 
sofa,  after  a  day  of  great  fatigue,  surrounded  by  his  aids,  and  was  slumbering  sweet 
ly  when,  at  a  little  past  midnight,  he  was  awakened  by  an  aid  of  Commander  Pat 
terson  (Mr.  R.  D.  Shepherd),  who  had  been  sent  to  inform  the  general  that  there 
seemed  to  be  positive  indications  in  the  British  camp  that  Morgan  was  to  be  first  at 
tacked,  and  that  he  needed  more  troops  to  maintain  his  position.  "Hurry  back,"  said 
Jackson, "  and  tell  General  Morgan  that  he  is  mistaken.  The  main  attack  will  be  on 
this  side.  He  must  maintain  his  position  at  all  hazards."  Then,  looking  at  his  watch, 
he  spoke  aloud  to  his  aids, "  Gentlemen,  we  have  slept  long  enough.  Arise  !  for  the 
enemy  will  be  upon  us  in  a  few  minutes.  I  must  go  and  see  General  Coffee."  One 


OF  THE   WAR    OF    1812.  1045 

Thornton  crosses  the  River  to  attack  Morgan.  Advance  of  the  British  Line.  Opening  of  Battle. 

of  his  first  orders  was  for  General  Adair1  to  send  over  five  hundred  Kentuckians  to 
re-enforce  Morgan. 

Let  us  observe  the  movements  in  the  British  camp  on  that  memorable  night. 

According  to  the  plan  already  mentioned,  Colonel  Thornton  proceeded  to  cross  the 
Mississippi  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  Morgan.  He  marched  to  the  levee,  at  the 
end  of  the  newly-cut  canal  in  extension  of  Villere's,  and  there  waited  with  the  great 
est  impatience  the  arrival  of  the  boats  that  were  to  carry  him  and  his  troops  over. 
The  banks  of  the  ditch  had  caved  in  in  some  places,  and  the  falling  of  the  water  in 
the  river  had  made  that  of  the  canal  so  shallow  that  the  sailors  were  compelled  to 
drag  the  boats  through  thick  mud  in  many  places.  It  was  three  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing  before  even  a  sufficient  number  of  vessels  to  convey  one  half  of  the  detachment 
had  arrived.  Farther  delay  would  be  fatal  to  the  enterprise ;  so,  with  Pakenham's 
sanction,  Thornton  dismissed  half  of  his  force,  embarked  the  remainder,  and  crossed 
the  river  in  a  flotilla  commanded  by  Captain  Roberts,  of  the  Royal  Navy.  Ignorant 
of  the  fact  that  the  Mississippi  was  flowing  with  a  quiet,  powerful  current,  at  the  rate 
of  five  miles  an  hour,  and  making  no  provisions  for  this  obstacle  to  a  quick  and  direct 
passage,  they  were  landed,  after  great  fatigue,  at  least  a  mile  and  a  half  below  their 
intended  point  of  debarkation.  Before  they  had  all  left  the  boats  the  day  dawned, 
and  the  roar  of  cannon  was  heard  on  the  plain  of  Chalmette. 

Pakenham  and  his  officers  had  passed  an  almost  sleepless  night,  and  at  the  time 
when  Jackson  aroused  his  slumbering  staff  the  divisions  of  Gibbs  and  Keane  were 
called  up,  formed  into  line,  and  advanced  to  within  four  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of 
the  American  intrenchments.  Lambert's  division  was  left  behind  as  a  reserve.  There 
stood  the  British  soldiers  in  the  darkness  and  the  chilly  morning  air,  enveloped  in  a 
thick  fog,  and  anxiously  listening  for  the  booming  of  Thornton's  guns  in  his  attack 
on  Morgan.  He  was  yet  battling  with  the  current  of  the  Mississippi.  Tediously  the 
minutes  and  the  hours  passed,  and  yet  that  signal-gun  remained  silent. 

Day  dawned  and  the  mist  began  to  disperse,  and  as  the  dull  red  line  of  the  British 
host  was  dimly  seen  in  the  early  morning  light  through  the  veil  of  moisture,  Lieuten 
ant  Spotts,  of  Battery  No.  7,  opened  one  of  his  heavy  guns  upon  it.  It  was  the  sig 
nal  for  battle.  As  the  fog  rolled  away  the  British  line  was  seen  stretching  two  thirds 
across  the  plain  of  Chalmette.  From  its  extreme  left  and  right  rockets  shot  high  in 
air,  and,  like  a  dissolving  view,  that  red  line  almost  disappeared  as  it  was  broken  into 
columns  by  companies. 

Gibbs  now  advanced  obliquely  toward  the  wooded  swamp,  with  the  Forty-fourth 
in  front,  followed  by  the  Twenty-first  and  Fourth,  terribly  pelted  by  the  storm  that 
came  from  Batteries  Nos.  6,  7,  and  8,  and  vainly  sought  shelter  behind  a  bulging  pro 
jection  of  the  swamp  into  the  plain.  These  batteries  poured  round  and  grape  shot 
incessantly  into  Gibbs's  line,  making  lanes  through  it,  and  producing  some  confusion. 
This  was  heightened  by  the  fact  that  the  Forty-fourth,  with  whom  had  been  intrust 
ed  fascines  and  scaling-ladders,  had  advanced  without  them.  To  wait  for  these  to  be 
brought  up  was  impossible  in  the  focus  of  that  cannonade.  So  Gibbs  ordered  them 
forward,  the  Twenty-first  and  Fourth  in  solid  and  compact  column,  covered  in  front 
by  blazing  rockets  and  cheered  by  their  own  loud  huzzas.  Whole  platoons  were 
prostrated,  when  their  places  were  instantly  filled  by  others,  and  the  column  pressed 
on,  without  pause  or  recoil,  toward  the  batteries  on  the  left,  and  the  long  and  weaker 
line  covered  by  the  Tennesseeans  and  Kentuckians. 

By  this  time  all  the  American  batteries,  including  Patterson's  on  the  right  bank 


of  the  Thames  and  in  1S14  was  bdgad  r  general  of  Kentucky  militia.  He  left  the  service  at  the  close  of  the  war.  He 
was  Governo^ of ^eStuc^  from  IS  to  1824,  and  representative  in  Congress  from  1831  to  1833.  He  died  at  Harrods- 
burg,  Kentucky,  on  the  19th  of  May,  1840. 


1046  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Battle  of  New  Orleans. 


of  the  river,  were  in  full  play.  Yet  steadily  on  marched  Wellington's  veterans,  step 
ping  firmly  over  the  dead  bodies  of  their  slain  comrades  until  they  had  reached  a 
point  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the  American  line,  behind  which,  concealed  from 
the  view  of  the  invaders,  lay  the  Tennesseeans  and  Kentuckians  four  ranks  deep. 
Suddenly  the  clear  voice  of  General  Carroll  rang  out,  Fire  !  His  Tennesseeans  arose 
from  cover,  and,  each  man  taking  sure  aim,  delivered  a  most  destructive  volley  on 
the  foe,  their  bullets  cutting  down  scores  of  the  gallant  British  soldiery.  The  storm 
ceased  not  for  a  moment ;  for  when  the  Tennesseeans  had  fired  they  fell  back,  and  the 
Kentuckians  took  their  places,  and  so  the  four  ranks,  one  after  another,  participated 
in  the  conflict.  At  the  same  time  round,  grape,  and  chain  shot  went  crashing  through 
the  ranks  of  the  British,  making  awful  gaps,  and  appalling  the  stoutest  hearts.  The 
line  began  to  waver,  and  would  have  broken  but  for  the  cool  courage  and  untiring 
energy  of  the  officers,  and  the  inspiriting  cry, "  Here  comes  the  Forty-fourth  with  the 
fascines  and  ladders !" 

A  detachment  of  the  Forty-fourth  had  indeed  come  with  scaling  implements,  and 
Pakenham  at  their  head,  who  encouraged  them  by  stirring  words  and  bold  deeds  for 
a  few  minutes,  when  his  bridle-arm  was  made  powerless  by  a  bullet,  and  his  horse  was 
shot  under  him.  He  at  once  mounted  the  black  Creole  pony  of  his  favorite  aid,  the 
now  (1 867)  venerable  Sir  Duncan  M'Dougall,  of  London.1  Other  officers  fell,  until  there 
were  not  enough  to  command,  and  the  column  began  to  break  up  into  detachments, 
a  greater  part  of  them  falling  back  to  the  shelter  of  the  projecting  swamp.  There 
they  were  rallied,  and,  throwing  away  their  knapsacks,  they  rushed  forward  to  scale 
and  carry  the  works  in  front  of  Carroll  and  his  sharp-shooters.  At  the  same  time, 
Keane,  contrary  to  instructions,  but  with  zealous  concern  for  the  cause,  wheeled  his 
column  into  line  and  led  a  portion  of  it  to  the  assistance  of  the  right  wing.  They 
were  terribly  scourged  by  the  enfilading  fire  of  the  American  batteries  as  they  strode 
across  the  plain.  Among  them  was  the  Ninety-third  Regiment,  composed  of  nine 
hundred  sinewy  Highlanders,  who  had  won  victories  on  many  a  field  in  Continental 
Europe,  and  were  now  unmoved  by  the  storm  that  poured  in  such  fury  upon  them. 
Their  presence  and  example  encouraged  the  broken  column  of  the  right,  which,  with 
these  Highlanders,  rushed  into  the  very  heart  of  the  tempest  from  Carroll's  rifles, 
having  Gibbs  on  their  right  and  Pakenham  on  their  left.  In  a  few  minutes  the  right 
arm  of  the  latter  was  disabled  by  a  bullet,  and  as  he  was  riding  to  the  rear  on  the 
led  pony,  shouting  huzzas  to  the  troops,  there  came  a  terrible  crashing  of  round  and 
grape  shot  through  the  ranks,  that  scattered  dead  men  all  around  him.  One  of  the 
balls  passed  through  the  general's  thigh,  killed  his  horse,  and  brought  both  to  the 
ground.  Pakenham  was  caught  in  the  arms  of  his  faithful  aid,  Captain  M'Dougall, 

f  who  had  performed  a  similar  service  for  General  Ross  when  he  fell,  mortally  wound 
ed,  near  Baltimore  a  few  months  before.2  The  commander  was  conveyed  to  the  rear 
in  a  dying  condition,  and  placed  under  a  venerable  live-oak  tree,  which  disappeared 
only  a  few  years  ago.  There  he  soon  expired  in  the  arms  of  M'Dougall. 

General  Gibbs  was  also  mortally  wounded,  and  died  the  next  day ;  and  Keane  was 
so  severely  shot  through  the  neck  that  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  field.  The 
command  was  then  assumed  by  Major  Wilkinson,  the  officer  of  highest  grade  left  in 
the  saddle.  Under  his  leadership  the  broken  battalions  endeavored  to  scale  the 
breastworks.  They  were  repulsed,  and  Wilkinson  fell  on  the  parapet  mortally 

'  wounded.  His  discomfited  men  fell  back,  and  all  of  the  assailants  withdrew  in  wild 
confusion.  Of  the  gallant  nine  hundred  Highlanders,  with  twenty-five  officers,  of  the 
Ninety-third  Regiment  who  went  into  the  fight,  only  one  hundred  and  thirty  men 
and  nine  officers  could  be  mustered  at  its  close.  The  Twenty-first  Regiment  lost  five 
hundred  men,  and  every  company  came  out  of  the  terrible  conflict  a  mere  skeleton  in 
numbers. 

i  See  page  952.  2  See  page  951. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


1047 


Battle  of  New  Orleans. 


=  3--  iJniff   ~        •- ••!'••••»  ^  •'•  iK''- ; ' 

While  this  sanguinary  work  was  in  progress  on  the  British  right,  a  more  successful 
movement,  for  a  time,  was  made  by  them  on  their  left.  Keane's  whole  division  moved 
when  he  led  the  Highlanders  to  the  right.  Nearly  a  thousand  men,  under  the  active 


1048 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Colonel  Rennie,  composed  of  the  Ninety-fifth  Rifles,  companies  of  the  Seventh,  Nine 
ty-third,  and  Forty-third  Infantry,  and  some  West  India  troops,  had  pushed  rapidly 
forward  near  the  river  in  two  columns,  one  on  the  road,  and  the  other  nearer  the 
water,  under  shelter  of  the  levee,  and,  driving  in  the  American  pickets,  succeeded  in 
taking  possession  of  the  unfinished  redoubt  on  Jackson's  extreme  right.  They  drove 
out  the  Americans,  but  they  did  not  hold  it  long.  The  invaders  on  the  road  were 
terribly  smitten  by  Humphrey's  batteries  and  the  Seventh  Regiment,  and  were  kept 
in  check.  At  the  same  time  Rennie  led  the  column  along  the  water's  edge,  where 
they  were  greatly  annoyed  by  Patterson's  battery,  and,  with  several  other  officers, 
scaled  the  parapet  of  the  American  redoubt.  The  New  Orleans  Rifles,  under  Beale, 
now  poured  upon  these  officers  and  the  inmates  of  the  redoubt  such  a  terrible  fire  that 
nearly  every  man  was  killed  or  mortally  wounded.  Rennie  had  just  exclaimed 
"  Hurrah,  boys,  the  day  is  ours !"  when  he  fell  to  rise  no  more. 

This  attacking  column  also  fell  back  in  great  disorder  under  cover  of  the  levee, 
and,  like  those  on  the  British  right,  sought  shelter  in  the  plantation  ditches  from  the 
terrible  storm  that  came  from  Jackson's  lines.  General  Lambert,  with  his  reserves, 
had  come  forward  on  hearing  of  the  disasters  to  Pakenham,  Gibbs,  and  Keane ;  but 
he  was  in  time  only  to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  battered  and  flying  columns,  and  not 

to  retrieve  the  fortunes  of  the  day.  The  fire  of  the  mus 
ketry  had  ceased  by  half  after  eight  in  the  morning,  but 
the  artillery  kept  up  their  fire  until  about  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that,  from  the  flight 
of  the  first  signal  rocket  of  the  British  to  the  close  of  the 
contest,  the  New  Orleans  Band  (stationed  near  the  centre 
of  the  line,  and  not  far  from  the  spot  where  the  monument 
now  stands,  and  where  the  American  standard  was  kept 
flying  during  the  struggle),  played  incessantly,  cheering 
the  troops  with  national  and  military  airs.  The  British, 
on  the  contrary,  had  no  other  musical  instrument  than  a 
bugle,  and  as  their  columns  advanced  no  drum  was  heard 
in  their  lines,  nor  even  the  stirring  tones  of  the  trumpet. 
From  their  first  landing  at  the  Fisherman's  Village,  the 
experience  of  that  army  had  been  almost  unbroken  drear 
iness.1 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  movements  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Mississippi. 

We  left  Colonel  Thornton  and  his  men  just  debarked, 
after  battling  with  the  current  of  the  Mississippi  for  some 
time.  Morgan  had  sent  forward  his  advance  of  less  than 
three  hundred  men  (one  third  of  whom  were  Arnaud's 
Louisiana  militia)  under  Major  Tessier,  and  the  remain 
der,  fatigued  and  poorly-armed  Kentuckians  under  Colonel  Davis,  chosen  from  those 
sent  over  on  the  7th  by  General  Adair,  were  directed  to  take  position  on  Mahew's 
Canal,  about  a  mile  in  advance  of  Morgan's  line,  near  which  it  was  supposed  the  Brit 
ish  would  land.  The  line  which  this  small  force  was  expected  to  hold  extended  from 
the  river  to  the  swamp,  a  distance  of  a  mile,  and  required  at  least  a  thousand  men 
and  several  pieces  of  artillery  to  give  it  respectable  strength.  Davis's  troops  were 
placed  on  the  left,  resting  on  the  levee,  and  Tessier's  were  on  their  right,  extending 

1  Latour  says  it  was  reported  that  there  were  divisions  in  the  councils  of  the  British  officers  concerning  the  point  of 
attack,  and  that  Admiral  Cochrane,  with  a  feeling  of  contempt  for  the  American  militia,  declared  he  would  undertake 
to  storm  Jackson's  lines  with  two  thousand  sailors,  armed  only  with  swords  and  pistols.    This  confidence  in  the  invin 
cibility  of  the  British  on  this  occasion  contributed  largely  to  their  disaster. 

2  This  monument,  between  the  site  of  Jackson's  lines  and  his  head-quarters  (Macart6's),  was  unfinished  when  the 
writer  visited  the  spot  in  April,  1861.    Work  upon  it  had  then  ceased.    The  stones  had  been  laid  to  the  height  of  about 
seventy  feet.    See  note  1,  page  1042. 


MONUMENT.2 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812.  1049 


Battle  of  New  Orleans.  Its  Results. 

to  the  swamp.  Both  watched  vigilantly  for  signs  of  the  coming  of  the  invaders. 
Their  vigilance  was  vain,  for  Thornton  landed  a  mile  below  them  under  cover  of 
three  gun-boats  under  the  command  of  Captain  Roberts. 

Pushing  rapidly  up  the  road,  Thornton  encountered  Morgan's  advance,  when  he 
divided  his  superior  force,  sending  a  part  to  attack  Tessier,  while  with  the  remainder, 
and  aided  by  Roberts's  carronades,  he  assailed  Davis.  Both  commands  were  soon 
put  to  flight,  and  fell  back  in  confusion  on  Morgan's  line.  Tessier's  men  could  not 
gain  the  road,  and  many  of  them  took  refuge  in  the  swamps,  where  they  suffered 
much  for  several  hours. 

When  Thornton  gained  the  open  fields  in  front  of  Morgan's  line  he  extended  his 
force,  and  with  the  sailors  in  column  on  the  road,  and  the  marines  placed  as  a  reserve, 
he  advanced  upon  the  American  works  under  cover  of  a  flight  of  rockets,  and  with 
the  aid  of  Captain  Roberts's  carronades.  As  the  sailors  rushed  forward  they  were 
met  by  volleys  of  grape-shot  from  Philibert  which  made  them  recoil.  Seeing  this, 
Thornton  dashed  forward  with  the  Eighty-fifth,  and,  handling  the  men  with  great 
skill  and  celerity,  soon  put  the  Kentuckians  to  flight,  who  ran  in  wil'd  confusion,  and 
could  not  be  rallied.  Following  up  this  advantage,  Thornton  soon  drove  the  Louisi- 
anians  from  the  iriti'enchments,  and  gained  possession  of  Morgan's  line  after  that  gen 
eral  had  spiked  his  cannon  and  cast  them  into  the  river.  He  next  made  for  Patter 
son's  battery,  three  hundred  yards  in  the  rear.  Its  guns,  which  had  been  playing  ef 
fectually  on  the  British  in  front  of  Jackson's  lines,  were  now  trailed  on  the  nearer  foe 
on  the  river  road.  But  Patterson,  thi-eatened  by  a  flank  movement,  was  compelled 
to  give  way ;  so  he  spiked  his  guns,  and  fled  on  board  the  Louisiana,  while  his  sail 
ors  assisted  in  getting  her  into  the  stream,  out  of  the  reach  of  the  enemy. 

A  large  number  of  the  troops  were  rallied  and  formed  on  the  bank  of  the  Boisger- 
vais  Canal,  and  prepared  to  make  a  stand  there.  But  the  British  did  not  advance 
beyond  Patterson's  battery.  There  Thornton  was  informed  of  the  terrible  disasters 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  soon  afterward  received  orders  from  General 
Lambert  to  rejoin  the  main  army.  Jackson,  in  the  mean  time  having  heard  of  Mor 
gan's  disaster,  sent  over  General  Humbert  (a  gallant  Frenchman  who  was  acting  as 
a  volunteer)  with  four  hundred  men  to  re-enforce  him.  Their  services  were  not 
needed.  Thornton  had  withdrawn,  and  at  twilight  re-embarked  his  troops.  That 
night  the  Americans  repossessed  their  works,  and  before  morning  Patterson  had  re 
stored  his  battery  in  a  better  position,  and  announced  the  fact  to  Jackson  at  dawn 
by  discharges  of  heavy  cannon  at  the  British  outposts  at  Bienvenu's.1 

After  the  conflict  had  ceased,  Jackson,  accompanied  by  his  staff",  passed  slowly 
along  his  whole  line,  addressing  words  of  congratulation  and  praise  to  the  officers 
and  men  every  where.  Then  the  band  struck  up  "  Hail,  Columbia,"  and  cheer  after 
cheer  for  the  hero  went  up  from  every  part  of  the  line.  These  were  echoed  from  the 
lips  of  excited  citizens  who  had  been  watching  the  battle  at  a  distance  with  the 
greatest  anxiety.  Then  the  soldiers,  after  partaking  of  some  refreshments,  turned  to 
the  performance  of  the  sad  duty  of  caring  for  the  wounded  and  the  bodies  of  the 
dead,  which  thickly  strewed  the  plain  of  Chalmette  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  back  from 
the  front  of  Jackson's  lines.  These  were  the  maimed  and  slain  of  the  British  army. 
No  less  than  twenty-six  hundred  were  lost  to  the  enemy  in  that  terrible  battle,  of 
whom  seven  hundred  were  killed,  fourteen  hundred  were  wounded,  and  five  hundred 
were  made  prisoners.  The  Americans  lost  only  eight  killed  and  thirteen  wounded ! 
The  history  of  human  warfare  presents  no  parallel  to  this  disparity  in  loss.  The 
Americans  were  thoroughly  protected  by  their  breastworks,  while  the  British  fought 
in  front  of  them  on  an  open  level  plain. ^^ 

i  The  loss  of  the  British  on  this  occasion,  in  killed  and  wounded,  was  a  little  more  than  one  hundred.    The  Ameri 
cans  lost  one  man  killed  and  five  wounded.    On  that  side  of  the  Mississippi  the  British  acquired  their  sole  trophy  dur- 
w  their  efforts  to  capture  New  Orleans.    It  was  a  small  flag,  and  now  [1867]  hangs  conspicuously  among  other  war 
trophies  in  Whitehall,  London,  with  the  inscription,  "  Taken  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  January  8, 1S15." 


1050 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


The  Burial  of  the  Dead. 


Disposition  of  the  Bodies  of  the  slain  British  Officers. 


After  the  battle  General  Lambert  sent  a  flag  of  truce  asking:  for  an  armistice  in 
order  to  bury  his  dead.  Jackson  granted  it  on  the  condition  that  it  should  not  be 
extended  to  operations  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river.  The  result  of  this  exception 
was,  as  we  have  observed,  the  immediate  withdrawal  of  Thornton  from  Morgan's 
line.  On  the  following  morning  detachments  from  both  armies  were  drawn  up  three 
hundred  yards  in  front  of  the  American  lines,  when  the  dead  bodies  between  that 
point  and  the  intrenchments  were  carried  and  delivered  to  the  British  by  the  Ken- 
tuckians  and  Tennesseeans  on  the  very  scaling-ladders  left  by  the  enemy  when  driv 
en  back.  The  British  then  carried  their  dead  to  a  designated  spot  on  Bienvenu's 
plantation  which  had  been  marked  out  as  the  cemetery  of  "  the  Army  of  Louisiana." 
There  they  were  buried,  and  to  this  day  that  consecrated  "  God's  Acre"  has  never 
been  disturbed.  It  is  distinguished  in  the  landscape  by  a  grove  of  small  cypress- 
trees,  and  is  a  spot  regarded  with  superstitious  awe  by  the  negroes  in  that  neighbor 
hood.  The  wounded,  who  were 
made  prisoners,  were  carefully  con 
veyed  to  New  Orleans,  where  they 
were  placed  in  the  barracks,  and 
tenderly  cared  for  by  the  citizens. 

The  bodies  of  the  dead  British 
officers  were  carried  to  Villere's, 
the  head-quarters,  in  whose  garden 
some  of  them  were  buried  by  torch 
light  that  night  with  solemn  cere 
monies.  Those  of  Pakenham,Gibbs, 
Rennie,  and  one  or  two  other  offi 
cers,  were  disemboweled,  placed  in 
casks  of  rum,  and  sent  to  their 
friends  in  England.  Their  viscera 
were  buried  beneath  a  stately  pe 
can-tree,  which,  with  another  quite 
as  stately,  seen  in  the  annexed 
sketch,  was  yet  standing  in  vigor 
ous  health  on  the  lawn  a  few  yards 
from  Villere's  house  when  the  writ 
er  sketched  the  two  in  April,  1861. 
It  is  said  to  be  a  notable  fact  that 
this  tree,  fruitful  before  its  branches 
were  made  to  overshadow  the  re- 
The  tree  nearest  the  figure  of  the 


PECAN-TREES. 


mains  of  the  invaders,  has  been  barren  ever  since, 
man  is  the  historic  one. 

While  the  armies  were  burying  their  dead  on  the  field  of  strife,  a  portion  of  the 
British  were  seeking  to  secure  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  below  New  Or 
leans  for  themselves  by  capturing  Fort  St.  Philip,  at  a  bend  of  the  stream  seventy  or 
eighty  miles  below  the  city  in  a  direct  line,  and  which  was  considered  by  both  par 
ties  as  the  key  of  Louisiana.  It  contained  at  that  time  a  garrison  of  three  hundred 
and  sixty-six  men,  under  Major  Overton,1  of  the  Rifle  corps,  and  the  crew  of  a  gun 
boat  which  had  been  warped  into  the  bayou  at  its  side.  On  the  morning  of  the  9th, 
at  about  the  time  when  disposition  was  being  made  of  the  British  dead  in  front  of 
Jackson's  lines,  a  little  squadron  of  five  hostile  vessels  appeared  near  the  fort.  They 
consisted  of  a  sloop  of  war,  a  gun-brig,  and  a  schooner  (Herald,  Sophia,  and  Tender), 

1  Walter  H.  Overton,  of  Tennessee,  entered  the  army  in  1808,  and  was  commissioned  a  major  in  February,  1814.  For 
his  gallantry  iu  defending  Fort  St.  Philip  he  was  breveted  lieutenant  colonel.  He  resigned  in  1816.  He  was  a  member 
of  Congress  from  Louisiana  from  1829  to  1831. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


1051 


Attack  on  Fort  St.  Philip. 


Capture  of  Fort  Bowyer. 


Jackson's  Army  enters  New  Orleans. 


and  two  bomb  vessels.  They  anchored  out  of  range  of  the  heavy  guns  of  the  fort, 
the  bomb  vessels  with  their  broadsides  toward  St.  Philip.  At  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  they  opened  fire,  and,  finding  they  had  the  range  of  the  fort,  continued  the 
bombardment,  with  little  interruption,  until  daybreak  of  the  18th,  casting  more  than 
a  thousand  shells,  with  the  expenditure  of  twenty  thousand  pounds  of  powder,  besides 
many  round  and  grape  shot.  For  nine  days  the  Americans  were  in  their  battery  (five 
days  without  shelter),  exposed  to  cold  rain  part  of  the  time.  The  proceeds  of  this 
expenditure  secured  by  the  British  consisted  of  two  Americans  killed  and  seven 
wounded.  The  assailants  withdrew  on  the  18th  without  gaining  either  the  fort, 
spoils,  or  glory.1 


February  9, 
1815. 


On  the  18th  of  January,  in  accordance  with  an  arrangement  made  the  previous 
day,  a  general  exchange  of  prisoners  took  place;  and  on  the  19th  the  British,  under 
Lambert,  were  wholly  withdrawn  from  the  Mississippi,  having  stolen  noiselessly  away 
under  cover  of  darkness  the  previous  night.  They  reached  Lake  Borgne  at  dawn  on 
the  19th,  but  they  were  yet  sixty  miles  from  their  fleet,  exposed  to  quite  keen  wintry 
air,  and  considerably  annoyed  by  mounted  men  under  Colonel  De  la  Ronde,  who  hung 
upon  their  rear.  There  they  remained  until  the  27th,  when  they  embarked,  and  two 
days  afterward  reached  the  fleet  in  the  deep  water  between  Cat  and  Ship  Islands. 
The  vigilant  Jackson,  in  the  mean  time,  had  made  such  disposition  of  his  forces  as  to 
guard  every  approach  to  the  city,  for  he  thought  the  foiled  enemy,  enraged  by  disap 
pointment,  might  attempt  to  strike  a  sudden  blow  at  some  other  quarter. 

When  the  British  departed  from  the  vicinity  of  New  Orleans  they  proceeded  to 
invest  Fort  Bowyer,a  yet  in  command  of  Major  Lawrence.2  They  be 
sieged  it  for  nearly  two  days,  when  the  gallant  Lawrence  was  compelled 
to  surrenderb  to  a  superior  force.  Mobile  was  then  at  the  mercy  of  the  b  February  12. 
foe ;  but  their  farther  conquests  were  arrested  by  news  of  peace,  brought  directly  to 
General  Lambert  by  a  ship  sent  from  England  for  the  purpose. 

On  the  21st  of  January,  Jackson,  with  the  main  body  of  his  army,  entered  New  Or 
leans.  They  were  met  in  the  suburbs  by  almost  the  entire  population  of  all  ages  and 
sexes,  who  greeted  the  victors  as  their  saviors ;  and  they  entered  the  town  in  tri 
umphal  procession,  with  far  more  honest  pride  than  ever  swelled  the  bosoms  of  vic 
torious  conquerors  or  emperors  of  other  centuries  of  time.3 

i  The  chief  sources  from  which  the  materials  for  the  account  of  the  battles  near  New  Orleans  were  drawn  were  the  of 
ficial  reports  of  the  officers  engaged  in  them ;  Latour's  Memoir  of  the  War  in  West  Florida  and  Louisiaita;  Judge  Walk 
er's  Jackson  and  New  Orleam;  the  several  histories  of  the  War  of  1812;  and  numerous  statements  to  the  author,  oral 
and  written,  by  actors  in  the  scenes.  2  See  page  1021. 

3  Two  days  afterward'  New  Orleans  was  the  theatre  of  a  most  imposing  spectacle.    At  the  request  of   c  Jan         23 
Jackson  the  Abbe  Du  Bourg,  Apostolic  Prefect  for  Louisiana,  appointed  that  a  day  for  the  public  offer- 
in"  of  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  his  interposition  in  behalf  of  the  American  people  and  nationality.    The  dawn  was 


1052 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Honors  accorded  to  Jackson  and  his  Troops. 


The  news  of  the  gallant  defense  of  New  Orleans  produced  a  thrill  of  intense  joy 
throughout  the  land.  State  Legislatures  and  other  public  bodies  thanked  the  hero 
who  commanded  the  victorious  little  army.  A  small  medal  was  struck  and  exten 
sively  circulated  among  the  people.  Congress  voted  him  the  thanks  of  the  nation, 
and  ordered  a  commemorative  gold  medal  to  be  given  him. 


GOLD   MEDAL   PRESENTED   TO   JACKSON.1 


greeted  by  the  booming  of  cannon. 
It  was  a  bright,  and  beautiful  winter 
morning  on  the  verge  of  the  tropics. 
The  religious  ceremonies  were  to  be 
held  in  the  old  Spanish  Cathedral, 
which  was  decorated  with  evergreens 
for  the  occasion. 

In  the  centre  of  the  public  square, 
in  front  of  the  Cathedral,  where  the 
equestrian  statue  of  Jackson  now 
stands,  was  erected  a  temporary  tri 
umphal  arch,  supported  by  six  Corin 
thian  columns,  and  festooned  with 
flowers  and  evergreens.  Beneath  the 
arch  stood  two  beautiful  little  girls, 
each  upon  a  pedestal,  and  holding  in 
her  hand  a  civic  crown  of  laurel.  Near 
them  stood  two  damsels,  one  person 
ifying  Liberty  and  the  other  Justice. 
From  the  arch  to  the  church,  arranged 
in  two  rows,  stood  beautiful  girls,  all 
dressed  in  white,  and  each  covered 
with  a  blue  gauze  veil  and  bearing  a 
silver  star  on  her  brow.  These  per 
sonified  the  several  States  and  Terri 
tories  of  the  Union.  Each  carried  a 
flag  with  the  name  of  the  state  which 
she  represented,  upon  it.  Each  also 
carried  a  small  basket  trimmed  with 
blue  ribbon  and  filled  with  flowers  ; 
and  behind  each  was  a  lance  stuck  in 
the  ground  bearing  a  shield  on  which 
was  inscribed  the  name  and  legend 
of  the  state  or  territory  which  she 

represented.    These  were  linked  by  STATUE  OF  JACKSON  IN  FRONT  OF  THE  CATHEDRAL. 

evergreen  festoons  that  extended  from  the  arch  to  the  door  of  the  Cathedral. 

At  the  appointed  time,  General  Jackson,  accompanied  by  the  officers  of  his  staff,  passed  through  the  gate  of  the  Grand 
Square  fronting  the  river,  amid  the  roar  of  artillery,  and  was  conducted  between  lines  of  Blanche's  New  Orleans  battal- 
ion  of  Creoles  (which  extended  from  thegate  to  the  chu^h)  to  the  raised  floor  of  the  arch.  As  he  stepped  upon  it  the 

1  On  one  side  of  the  medal  is  a  profile  of  the  bust  of  Jackson,  and  on  the  other  a  figure  of  Victory  seated,  supporting 
a  tablet  before  her  with  her  left  hand,  in  which  is  also  a  laurel  wreath.  She  is  making  a  record  of  the  triumph  on  the 
Sth  of  January.  She  has  written  the  word  "Orleans,"  when  she  is  interrupted  by  another  figure,  personating  Peace, 
who  holds  an  olive-branch  in  her  right  hand.  With  her  left  she  points  to  the  tablet,  as  if  directing  Victory  to  record 
the  peace  which  had  already  been  agreed  upon  by  the  belligerents.  Victory  is  in  the  act  of  listening.  The  inscriptions 
on  the  medal  are  simple—"  MAJOR  GENERAL  ANDREW  JACKSON.  BATTLE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS,  JANUARY  8, 1S15.  RESOLUTION 

OF  CONGRESS,  FEBRUARY  27,  1S15." 


OF    THE    WAR    OF    1812. 


1053 


Rumors  of  Peace  disregarded. 


Martial  Law  and  military  Discipline  continued. 


Although  no  one  sup 
posed  the  British  would 
return,  Jackson,  like    a 
true  soldier,  did  not  re 
lax  his  vigilance  and  dis 
cipline.    Martial  law  was 
rigorously    maintained 
after    rumors    of   peace 
reached     New     Orleans 
through  seemingly  relia 
ble  sources.     He  did  not 
feel  bound  to  be  govern 
ed  by  rumors.   He  retain 
ed  all  the  troops;  kept  up 
the  regular  discipline  of 
the  camp;   made  drafts 
and  bills  of  exchange  on 
his  government  as  usual 
for   funds   to   prosecute 
hostilities  (a  fac-simile  of 
one  of  which  is  given  in 
the  annexed  engraving), 
and  in  eveiy  way  acted 
as  if  war  was  in  full  ca 
reer.     Finally  a  messen 
ger  arrived  from  Wash- 
» March  6,     ingtona    with 
1815<        an    official    an 
nouncement    of  peace. 
Jackson    was    then    in 
volved   in  a   contention 
with    the    civil   authori 
ties.     This  culminated  in 
great  public  excitement.1 
It  soon  ended,  and  on  the 
30th  of  March  the  "Hero 
of  Xe  w  Orleans,"  as  Jack 
son  was  ever  afterward 
called,    departed    from 
that  city  for  his  humble 
home  in  Tennessee,  a  losr 

/  o 

house  in  the  forest. 

I  visited  the  theatre 
of  war  around  New  Or 
leans,  with  a  young  kins- 


two  little  girls  leaned  gently  forward  and  placed  the  laurel  crown  upon  his  head.  At  the  same  moment  a  charming 
Creole  girl  (Miss  Kerr),  as  the  representative  of  Louisiana,  stepped  forward,  and  with  modesty  supreme  in  voice  and 
manner  addressed  a  few  congratulatory  words  to  the  chief,  eloquent  with  expressions  of  the  most  profound  gratitude. 
To  these  words  Jackson  made  a  brief  reply,  and  then  passed  on  toward  the  church,  his  pathway  etrewn  with  flowers  by 
the  sweet  representatives  of  the  states. 

At  the  Cathedral  entrance  the  honored  hero  was  met  by  the  Abbe  Du  Bonrg  in  his  pontifical  robes,  and  supported  by 
a  college  of  priests  in  their  sacerdotal  garments.  The  abbe  addressed  the  general  with  eloquent  and  patriotic  discourse, 
after  which  the  chief  was  conducted  to  a  conspicuous  seat  near  the  great  altar,  when  the  Te  Denm  Laudamus  was  chant 
ed  by  the  choir  and  people.  When  the  imposing  pageant  was  over,  the  general  retired  to  his  quarters  to  resume  the 
stern  duties  of  a  soldier;  and  that  night  the  city  of  New  Orleans  blazed  with  a  general  illumination. 

1  The  story  of  Jackson's  difficulties  with  the  civil  authorities  may  be  told  in  a  few  words.    In  the  Legislature  of  Lou- 


1054 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Jackson's  Obedience  to  Civil  Law. 


Scene  in  the  old  Court-house. 


Biographical  Sketch  of  Jackson. 


woman  as  a  traveling  companion,  in  the  month  of  April,  1861.  We  left  New  York 
on  the  28th  of  March  for  Baltimore,  from  which  city  we  passed  over  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railway  to  Parkersburg,  in  Virginia,  on  the  Ohio  River,  stopping  over 
night  at  Harper's  Ferry,  where,  three  weeks  later,  the  torch  of  civil  war,  then  just 
lighted,  made  sad  devastation.  We  crossed  the  Ohio  River  at  Parkersburg,  and 
journeyed  by  railway  to  Cincinnati.  There  we  again  crossed  that  stream  to  Cov- 


isiana  was  a  powerful  faction  personally  opposed  to  Jackson— so  powerful  that,  when  the  officers  and  troops  were 
thanked  by  that  body  on  the  2d  of  February,  the  name  of  their  chief  leader  was  omitted.  This  conduct  highly  incensed 
the  people.  Their  indignation  was  intensified  by  a  seditious  publication,  put  forth  by  one  of  the  members  of  the  Leg 
islature,  which  was  calculated  to  produce  disaffection  in  the  army.  This  was  a  public  matter,  and  Jackson  felt  bound  to 
notice  it.  He  ordered  the 
arrest  of  the  author,  and  ^^~\  s> 

his  trial  by  martial  law.       "  s~>.^~^ 

Judge  Dominic  A.  Hall, 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  issued 
a  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
in  favor  of  the  offender. 
Jackson  considered  this 
a  violation  of  martial  law, 
and  ordered  the  arrest  of 
the  judge  and  his  expul 
sion  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  city.  The  judge,  in 
turn,  when  the  military 
law  was  revoked  on  the 

13th  of  March,  in  consequence  of  the  official  proclamation  of  peace,  required  Jackson  to  appear  before  him  and  show 

cause  why  he  should  not  be 
punished  for  contempt  of  court. 
He  cheerfully  obeyed  the  sum 
mons,  and  entered  the  crowded 
court-room  in  the  old  Spanish- 
built  court-house,  269  Royal 
Street,  in  citizen's  dress.  He 
had  almost  reached  the  bar  be 
fore  he  was  recognized,  when 
he  was  greeted  with  huzzas  by 
a  thousand  voices.  The  judge 
was  alarmed,  and  hesitated. 
Jackson  stepped  upon  a  bench, 
procured  silence,  and  then, 
turning  to  the  trembling  judge, 
said,  "  There  is  no  danger  he:  e 
—  there  shall  be  none.  The 
same  hand  that  protected  this 
city  from  outrage  against  the 
invaders  of  the  country  will 
shield  and  protect  this  court, 
or  perish  in  the  effort.  Proceed 
with  your  sentence."  With 
quivering  lips  the  judge  pro- 
nouncecPhim  guilty  of  con 
tempt  of  court,  and  fined  him  a 
thousand  dollars.  The  act  was 
greeted  by  a  storm  of  hisses. 
Jackson  immediately  drew  a 
check  for  the  amount,  handed 

it  to  the  marshal,  and  then  made  his  way  for  the  court-house  door.  The  excitement  of  the  people  was  intense.  They 
lifted  Jackson  upon  their  shoulders,  bore  him  to  the  street,  and  then  the  immense  crowd  sent  up  a  shout  that  blanched 
the  cheeks  of  Judge  Hall,  and  gave  evidence  of  the  unbounded  popularity  of  the  heroic  soldier  who  was  so  prompt  in 
his  obedience  to  the  mandates  of  the  civil  law.  He  was  placed  in  a  carriage,  from  which  the  people  released  the  horses 
and  dragged  it  themselves  to  Maspero's  house,  where  he  addressed  the  populace,  urging  them  to  show  their  apprecia 
tion  of  the  blessings  of  liberty  and  free  government  by  a  willing  submission  to  the  authorities  of  their  country.  In  the 
mean  time  a  thousand  dollars  had  been  collected  by  voluntary  subscriptions  and  placed  to  his  credit  in  a  bank.  Jack 
son  politely  refused  to  accept  it,  and  begged  his  friends  to  distribute  it  among  the  relatives  of  those  who  had  fallen  in 
a  1843.  the  late  battles.  Nearly  thirty  years  afterward  Congress  refunded"  the  sum,  with  interest,  amounting  in  all  to 

two  thousand  seven  hundred  dollars. 

Andrew  Jackson  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  County,  North  Carolina,  on  the  15th  of  March,  1TCT.  He  was  designed  by 
his  mother  for  the  Christian  ministry,  but  his  studies  were  interrupted  by  the  old  War  for  Independence,  whose  tumults 
were  loud  in  the  region  where  the  boy  resided,  his  home  then  being  in  the  northern  part  of  South  Carolina.  He  went 
into  the  service  a  mere  lad,  and  was  made  a  prisoner  in  1781.  His  mother,  his  only  surviving  parent,  died  at  that  time, 
and  he  was  left  alone.  He  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1786.  He  settled  in  Tennessee,  and  at  Nash 
ville,  which  he  made  his  home  in  1790,  he  was  married  to  an  excellent  woman.  In  1795  he  assisted  in  forming  a  State 
Constitution  for  Tennessee.  He  was  the  first-elected  Congressman  from  that  state,  and  represented  it  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  in  1797.  He  was  soon  appointed  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee,  and  for  many  years  he 


THE   OLD   COUET-UOUSE. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF    1812. 


1055 


Journey  from  Baltimore  to  Lexington,  in  Kentucky. 


'Ashland." 


Clay's  Monument. 


Jackson's  Tomb. 


insfton,  and  traveled  southward  through 

o        •  *  o 

a  beautiful  region  of  Kentucky  to  Lexing 
ton,  where  we  tarried  a  day  and  a  night. 
We  rode  out  to  Ashland,  the  residence  of 
Henry  Clay,  a  short  distance  from  the 
town,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  dwell 
ing-place  of  that  eminent  man  for  many 
years  before  his  death,  and  tendering  our 
respects  to  his  venerable  widow,  then  re 
siding  there.  We  were  met  by  disap 
pointment.  The  venerated  mansion  had 
been  demolished  by  a  son  of  the  states 
man  (James  B.  Clay),  and  upon  its  site 
stood  a  pretentious  brick  dwelling — so 
pretentious  that  persons  living  long  dis 
tances  from  it  went  to  see  it.  Mrs.  Clay 
was  too  feeble  to  receive  strangers,1  and  after  a  brief  interview  with  the  proprietor 

of  the  estate  we  turned  with  sadness  from  the  shadows 
of  the  grand  old  trees  under  which  the  former  master 
delighted  to  loiter  in  his  retirement  from  public  life.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  his  son  did  not  comply  with  the 
desires  of  the  people  of  Kentucky  that  the  mansion  at 
Ashland  should  belong  to  that  state,  and  be  preserved 
as  a  perpetual  memorial  of  her  honored  son. 

We  returned  to  Lexington,  and  rode  out  to  the  pub 
lic  cemetery  wherein  lie  the  remains  of  Henry  Clay  and 
his  family,  and  where,  on  the  verge  of  a  plain,  stands  a 
beautiful  monument  (a  sketch  of  which  is  given  on  the 
next  page)  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  statesman. 


BOUI.EY'S  GKAVE.Z 


JACKSON'S  TO.MIJ. 


was  chief  military  commander  in  that 
section.  His  services  in  the  War  of 
1S12  are  recorded  in  this  volume.  He 
remained  in  the  service  some  time 
after  the  war.  In  1821  he  was  ap 
pointed  Governor  of  the  Territory  of 
Florida,  and  in  18'24he  was  an  unsuc 
cessful  candidate  for  president  of  the 
Republic.  He  was  elected  to  that  of 
fice  in  1S28,  and  served  two  consecu 
tive  terms.  In  1837  he  retired  from 
public  life  forever,  and  passed  the  re 
mainder  of  his  days  at  the  "Hermit 
age"  (see  page  1016),  where  he  died 
on  the  8th  of  June,  1845.  Beneath  the 
roof  of  a  little  temple-like  structure 
in  the  garden  of  the  "Hermitage" 
rested  the  remains  of  General  Jack 
son,  by  the  side  of  those  of  his  wife, 
when  the  author  visited  the  place  in 
the  spring  of  1861. 

1  Mrs.  Lucretia  Hart  Clay  was  the 
daughter  of  Colonel  Hart,  of  Lexing 
ton,  and  sister  of  Captain  Hart,  who 
was  killed  at  Frenchtowu  (see  page 
359),  on  the  Raisin  River.    Mrs.  Clay 
had  eleven  children,  of  whom  only 
three  now  (186T)  survive.    She  died 
at  the  residence  of  her  son,  John  M., 
near  Lexington,  on  the  evening  of 
the  6th  of  April,  1864,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-three  years. 

2  The  slab  bears  these  few  words : 
"  General  THOMAS  BODLET.    Born  4th 
July,  1TT2.    Died  llth  June,  1833." 


1056 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Frankfort  and  its  Cemetery. 


Graves  of  Daniel  Boone  and  his  Wife. 


CLAY'S  MONUMENT.  1 


His  body  was  laid  by  the 
side  of  the  remains  of  his 
mother,  in  the  western  part 
of  the  cemetery;  and  not  far 
from  them  were  the  grave 
and  modest  little  monument 
of  General  Thomas  Bodley 
(see  preceding  page),  who 
was  the  deputy  quartermas 
ter  general  to  the  Kentucky 
Volunteers  under  General 
Harrison  in  1813,  with  the 
rank  of  major. 

From  Lexington  we  jour 
neyed  by  railway  through 
the  rich  "  blue-grass  region" 
to  Frankfort,  the  capital  of 
the  state.  It  is  on  the  Ken 
tucky  River,  and  is  the  cen 
tre  of  a  theatre  of  romantic 
events  in  the  early  history 
of  Kentucky,  in  which  Dan 
iel  Boone  and  his  compan 
ions  were  so  conspicuous. 

There  we  were  favored  with  the  company  and  kind  offices  of  General  Leslie  Combs, 

whose  gallant  services  in  the  War  of  1812  are  recorded  in  this  volume.     With  him 

we  visited  the  Frankfort  Cemetery,  on  the  high  right  bank  of  the  Kentucky  River,  a 

short    distance    from 

the    city,  where,  side 

by    side,  under    the 

shadows    of   magnifi 
cent    sycamore  -  trees 

that  stood  there  when 

the   pioneers   were 

fighting   the   Indians, 

were    the    graves    of 

Daniel  Boone  and  his 

wife,  with  nothing  to 

mark   their  place    of 

sepulchre    but  little 

mounds  covered  with 

green  grass  and  wild 

flowers  of  the  woods.2 

Not  far  from  these 

humble    graves    we 

found  the  fine  monu 
ment    erected   to   the 

memory  of  Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson,  delineated  on  page  496  ;  and  in  its  vicinity 


GEAVE8   OF   DANIEL   BOONE  AND   HIS   WIFE. 


1  This  monument  is  of  white  marble.  It  is  composed  of  an  Egyptian  cenotaph,  upon  which  stands  a  Corinthian  cap 
ital  bearing  a  statue  of  the  statesman. 

*  These  graves  were  near  the  steep  bank  of  the  river,  which  the  Indians  in  Boone's  time  called  Kain-tuck-ee.  The 
bank  was  here  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height.  Near  the  graves  and  covering  a  slope  were  stumps,  stones, 
shrubbery,  and  vines,  purposely  left  with  rude  aspect  as  appropriate  to  the  resting-place  of  the  remains  of  the  pioneer. 
The  tall  shaft  seen  beyoud  the  trees  in  the  picture  is  that  of  the  Soldiers'  Monument  given  on  the  next  page. 


OF   THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


1057 


Louisville  and  Nashville. 


A  Visit  to  the  Hermitage. 


Dr.  Felix  Robertson. 


stands  a  lofty  and  elegant  white 
marble  shaft,  upon  a  rich  pedes 
tal,  and  with  more  elaborated  sur- 
mountings,  that  was  erected  by  the 
State  of  Kentucky  in  commemora 
tion  of  its  deceased  soldiers  who 
had  served  in  any  war.1  "We  spent 
much  of  the  day  in  that  "city  of 
the  dead,"  and  on  the  following 
morning  went  by  railway  to  Louis 
ville,  at  the  "  Falls  of  the  Ohio,"  so 
often  spoken  of  by  the  early  voya 
gers  on  that  stream.  Thence  we 
traveled  by  the  same  means  to 
Nashville,  on  the  Cumberland  Riv 
er,  where  we  spent  the  Sabbath, 
and  on  Monday  rode  out  to  the 
"  Hermitage,"  the  home  of  Andrew 
Jackson,2  about  twelve  miles  from 
the  city.  It  was  a  spacious  brick 
mansion,  built  in  1835,  after  the 
earlier  one  was  burned.  There  we 
were  hospitably  entertained  by 
Mrs.  Jackson,  wife  of  the  adopt 
ed  son  of  the  President,  who  per 
mitted  me  to  copy  from  the  origi 
nal  the  portrait  of  General  Coifee 
seen  on  page  759.  There  we  saw 
two  of  the  general's  old  house-serv 
ants — Aaron  and  Hannah — the  for 
mer  nearly  eighty,  and  the  latter 
almost  seventy  years  of  age.  Hannah  went  with  us  to  the  tomb  of  the  patriot  in* 
the  garden,  where  I  made  the  sketch  seen  on  page  1055.  She  gave  us  many  inter 
esting  incidents  of  the  latter  days  of  her  old  master,  and  pointed  to  two  thrifty  wil 
lows  near  the  tomb  which  she  saw  him  plant  with  his  own  hand  a  few  evenings  after 
his  wife  was  buried  there. 

On  our  return  to  Nashville  toward  evening,  I  passed  an  hour  with  the  late  venera 
ble  Dr.  Felix  Robertson,  a  portrait  of  whom  is  given  on  the  next  page,  whose  resem 
blance  to  Jackson  was  very  remarkable.  He  was  the  son  of  General  James  Robert 
son  (see  page  747),  and  was  the  first  white  child  born  on  the  site  of  Nashville,  his 
mother  then  being  in  the  little  log  fort  there.  On  the  following  morning  we  departed 
by  railroad  for  New  Orleans,  going  by  way  of  Decatur,  in  Northern  Alabama,  then 
westward  to  Grand  Junction,  and  then  southward  to  the  "  Crescent  City."  We  ar 
rived  in  New  Orleans  at  noon  on  the  llth  of  April,  took  rooms  at  the  St.  Charles, 
and  remained  there  nearly  a  week,  visiting  places  of  historic  interest  in  and  around 
the  city,  and  gathering  materials,  by  the  use  of  pen  and  pencil,  for  the  narrative  of 
the  events  of  the  war  there,  given  in  this  and  the  preceding  chapter.  For  much  in 
formation,  and  for  facilities  for  acquiring  more,  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  the  kindness 

i  This  monument  stands  upon  a  mound.  Upon  the  bands  which  are  seen  embracing  the  square  shaft  are  the  names 
of  battles,  and  beneath  each  are  the  names  of  soldiers  who  fell  in  those  battles.  The  shaft  is  a  single  piece  of  marble. 
Upon  a  tablet  on  the  south  front  of  the  pedestal  is  a  group  in  relief,  composed  of  two  feminine  figures,  one  on  each  side 
of  an  altar.  One,  with  an  open  book  in  her  hand,  represents  History  ;  the  other,  with  a  short  Roman  sword  and  olive 
wreath,  represents  Victory.  The  other  hands  of  the  two  figures  are  employed  in  holding  a  wreath  over  the  altar.  At 
each  corner  of  the  top  of  the  pedestal  is  an  eagle.  The  shaft  is  surmounted  with  a  figure  of  Fame,  with  arms  extended, 
and  holding  a  wreath  in  each  hand.  a  See  page  1017. 

3X 


KENTCCKV  SOLDIERS'  MONUMENT. 


1058 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Historical  Places  in  New  Orleans. 


One  of  Jackson's  Life-guardsmen. 


A  Visit  to  the  Battle-ground. 


of  Judge  Walker,  author  of  Jackson  and 
N~ew  Orleans  /  the  late  General  H.  W. 
Palfrey,  who  was  a  participant  in  the 
battle ;  and  especially  to  Alfred  Hen- 
ner,  Esq.  (a  leading  lawyer  in  New  Or 
leans),  who  was  one  of  Jackson's  mount 
ed  life-guard,  and  was  engaged  in  active 
and  perilous  duty  on  the  memorable  8th 
of  January,  1815.  *     It  was  chiefly  under 
the   direction    of  Mr.  Henner  that  we 
found  the  various  localities  of  interest 
in  the  city  and  its  suburbs. 
» April  12,        On  the  morning  after  our  ar- 
is6i.        rival*  we    rode   down  to  the 
battle-ground  in  a  pleasant  bai'ouche. 
General  Palfrey  had  made  arrangements 
to  accompany  us,  but  on  that  morning 
news  had  arrived  of  the  attack  of  insur 
gents   on  Fort   Sumter,  in   Charleston 
Harbor,  and  he  was  too  busy 
with  public  matters  to  go 
with  us.     That  outbreak  of 
the   Great  Rebellion   ab- 
sorbed  all  minds.    Our  driver  had  been  over 


ALFRED   IIENXER. 


Lacoste5  and  De  la  Ronde,6  we  returned  to 


the  battle-ground  often,  and  was  a  com 
petent  guide,  so  we  rode  down  alone 
along  the  Levee,  the  water  in  the  brim 
ful  Mississippi  being  quite  four  feet 
higher  than  our  roadway,  with  only 
twenty-five  feet  thickness  of  earth  be 
tween  us  and  the  flood.  It  was  a 
clear  and  very  warm  day.  The  gar 
dens  were  full  of  blooming  roses,  and 
the  orange  hedges  around  them  were 

,    _    , 

bright  with  the  golden  fruit.  We 
were  kindly  entertained  by  Madame 
Macarte,  at  Jackspn's  head:quarters,2 
and  we  found  a  cordial  welcome  at 
the  Villere  mansion  by  the  family  of 
the  grandson  of  Governor  Villere, 
where  we  were  regaled  with  orange 
sherbet  and  the  delicious  elfe,  or  Japan 
plum,  trees  of  which,  full  of  the  fruit, 
formed  a  grove  near  the  house.3  Aft 
er  making  drawings  of  that  mansion, 
the  pecan-trees,4  and  the  dwellings  of 
Macarte's",  and  while  seated  on  the  base 


1  Captain  Ogden  was  the  commander  of  the  Life-guard.  The  officers  alone  were  uniformed.  Mr.  Henner  was  one  of 
only  three  survivors  of  that  guard  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  the  other  two  being  Ex-Governor  Henry  Johnson  and  James 
Hopkins.  He  became  a  resident  of  New  Orleans  in  1S09,  when  the  city  contained  about  14,000  inhabitants.  He  was 
there  in  1801,  having  been  sent  by  his  father  on  a  flat-boat  with  the  first  bales  of  cotton  ever  taken  to  that  city.  He 
placed  them  in  the  Jesuits'  warehouse,  on  the  site  of  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  above  Canal  Street.  It  was  in  the  fields  out 
side  of  the  palisades,  which  then  occupied  the  line  of  the  present  broad  Canal  Street.  2  See  page  1037. 

3  See  page  1029.  This  fruit  grows  in  clusters  like  cherries,  on  trees  about  the  size  of  cherry-trees,  and  averages  the 
size  given  in  the  engraving  at  the  head  of  the  opposite  page.  Some  are  larger.  When  ripe  it  is  of  a  yellow  color,  and 
is  filled  with  a  bountiful  supply  of  delicious  acid  juice. 

*  See  page  1050.  5  see  page  1031.  6  See  page  1084. 


OF   THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


1059 


en  by  Insurgents. 


Uprising  of  the  People. 


Negotiations  for  Pe 


JAl'AN   PLTJM. 


May  1, 

1861. 


of  the  monument  there,1  at  a  little  past  two 

o'clock,  sketching  the  plain  of  Chalmette,2  we 

heard  some  discharges  of  cannon  at  the  city. 

"  Fort  Sumter  is  doubtless  gone,"  I  said  to  my 

companion.    So  it  was.    The  news  had  reached 

the  city  at  that  hour,  and  these  cannon  were 

expressing  the  joy  of  the  secessionists  of  New 

Orleans.     On  our  return  we  found  the  city  alive 

with  excitement ;  and  during  our  stay  there  a 

few  days  longer,  and  on  our  journey  northward 

to  the  Ohio  River,  we  saw  the  uprising  of  the 

insurgents  in  the  slave-labor  states  at'the  be 
ginning  of  the  Civil  War.     After  crossing  the 

Ohio  River  and  journeying  eastward  through 

Ohio  State,  over  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and 

through  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  to  New 

York,*  we  saw  the  more  marvelous  uprising  of  the  loyal  people,  with  a  de 
termination  to  suppress  the  rebellion.     The  whole  country,  whether  on  the 

mountain  tops  or  in  the  valleys,  seemed  iridescent,  for  the  national  flag,  with  its 
red,  white,  and  blue,"  was  every  where  seen.3 
We  have  observed  that,  very  soon  after  the  battle  of  the  8th  of  January,  1815,  near 

New  Orleans,  rumors  reached  that  city  that  peace  had  been  concluded  between  the 
5tates  and  Great  Britain,  and  that  an  official  notification  of  such  action  was 

spe(  lily  given  to  General  Jackson.     It  was  a  consummation  ardently  desired  by  the 

Americans.'    They  had  taken  up  arms 
most  reluctantly,  after  the  gravest  prov 
ocations,  and  only  in  defense  of  the  in 
dependence  of  the  nation.    From  the  be 
ginning  of  the  war  they  were  anxious 
for  a  reconciliation  with  Great  Britain 
on  honorable  terms;  and  we  have  ob 
served  (page  470)  with  what  eagerness 
the  President,  at  an  early  period  of  the 
war,  acted  upon  a  proposition  for  the 
mediation  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia  to 
that  end,  by  appointing  James  A.  Bay 
ard  and  Albert  Gallatin  commissioners 
to  act  with  John  Quincy  Adams,4  then 
American  embassador  at  St. Petersburg, 
in  negotiating  a  treaty  of  peace.     The 
British  government  refused  to  treat  un 
der  the  mediation  of  Russia,  but  offered 
to  open  negotiations  in  London,  or  in 
Gottenburg,  in  Sweden.     The  President 
accepted  the  proposition,  and  chose  the 

1  See  page  1048.          2  See  page  1039.          3  See  Lossing's  Pictorial  Field-book  of  the  Civil  War,  Chapter  XIV.,  volume  i. 

*  John  Qnincy  Adams  was  born  at  the  homestead  of  his  family  at  Qnincy,  Massachusetts,  on  the  llth  of  July,  1767. 
When  only  eleven  years  of  age  he  accompanied  his  father  to  Europe,  and  was  much  in  the  society  of  diplomatists  and 
other  distinguished  men.  He  received  much  of  his  education  abroad,  and  when  only  fourteen  years  of  age  he  was  the 
private  secretary  of  Mr.  Dana,  United  States  minister  at  St.  Petersburg.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
July,  1787,  and  studied  law  and  entered  upon  its  practice  in  Boston.  He  took  an  active  part  in  politics.  In  1794  Wash 
ington  appointed  him  resident  minister  in  the  Netherlands.  He  afterward  held  the  same  office  in  Portugal  and  Prus 
sia.  He  returned  to  Boston  in  1801,  and  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  Massachusetts  Senate.  He  was  sent  to  the  Na 
tional  Senate  in  1803.  In  1809  he  was  sent  as  minister  to  the  Russian  court,  where  he  was  a  great  favorite  with  the 
Emperor  Alexander.  He  was  at  the  head  of  the  American  commissioners  in  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty  of  peace 
at  Ghent  in  1814,  and  in  1815  he  was  appointed  minister  to  the  British  court.  He  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State  in 


1060 


PICTORIAL  FIELD-BOOK 


Peace  Commissioners. 


Negotiations  opened  at  Ghent. 


Adams,  Bayard,  Clay,  and  Gallatin. 


JAMES  A.  BAYAEU. 


latter  place  for  the  meeting.  The  ancient 
city  of  Ghent,  in  Southern  Netherlands 
(now  in  Belgium),  was  afterward  substi 
tuted.1  There  the  American  commission 
ers  assembled  in  the  summer  of  1814. 
These  consisted  of  John  Quincy  Adams, 
James  A.  Bayard,2  Henry  Clay,3  Jonathan 
Rnssell,  and  Albert  Gallatin.4  There  they 
were  joined*  by  the  British  com-  .  Auguste, 
missioners,  Lord  Gambier,  Henry 
Goulburn,  and  William  Adams ;  and  Chris 
topher  Hughes,  Jr.,  one  of  the  most  at 
tractive  of  men  in  social  life,  and  a  diplo 
mat  without  a  rival,  who  was  then  our 
charge  d'affaires  at  Stockholm,  was  ap 
pointed  secretary  to  the  American  com 
missioners. 

Negotiations  were  speedily  opened,  when 
a  wide  difference  in  the  views  of  the  com 
missioners  of  the  respective  nations  threat- 


181T,  in  which  office  he  remained  until  he  took  the  chair  of  President  of  the  United  States  in  1825.  In  1831  he  was  elect 
ed  a  member  of  the  National  House  of  Representatives,  which  position  he  held  by  re-election  until  his  death,  which  oc 
curred  in  the  Speaker's  Room  at  the  Capitol  on  the  22d  of  February,  1848,  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age.  His  last 


words  were,  "  This  is  the  end  of  earth."    His  remains  were  buried  on  the  family  estate  at  Quincy.    In  the  accompany 
ing  picture  are  representations  of  the  birthplace,  the  later  residence,  and  the  tomb  of  John  Quincy  Adams. 

1  Ghent  is  the  capital  of  the  province  of  East  Flanders,  in  Belgium ;  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  Scheldt  and 
Lys,  and  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  localities  in  the  ancient  Netherlands. 

2  James  A.  Bayard  was  born  in  Philadelphia  on  the  26th  of  July,  1767.    He  was  graduated  at  Princeton  in  1784,  be 
came  a  lawyer  of  eminence,  and  took  a  seat  in  Congress  in  1797,  to  which  he  had  been  elected  by  the  Federalists.    He 
held  that  position  until  1804,  when  he  was  elected  to  the  National  Senate,  in  which  he  became  a  leader.    He  was  op 
posed  to  the  War  of  1812,  but  cheerfully  acquiesced  in  the  action  of  the  majority.    After  assisting  in  the  negotiation  of 
the  treaty  of  peace  he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  became  seriously  ill.    When  he  arrived  in  England,  on  his  way  home,  he 
was  met  with  the  commission  of  minister  to  Russia,    He  declined  the  honor,  hastened  home,  and  five  days  after  his  ar 
rival  (August  6, 1815)  he  died. 

3  Henry  Clay  (see  page  211)  was  born  near  Hanover  Court-house,  in  Virginia,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1777.    He  was  edu 
cated  in  inferior  district  schools.    He  began  the  study  of  the  law  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty 
he  was  admitted  to  its  practice.    He  went  over  the  mountains  into  Kentucky,  and  settled  at  Lexington  in  1799.    With 
a  display  of  remarkable  talents,  he  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  as  a  politician,  with  vigor.    At  that 
early  period  he  worked  for  measures  for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  and  through  life  was  an  advocate  of  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  some  form.    He  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Kentucky  Legislature  in  1803,  and  was  sent  to  the  National 
Senate  in  1806.    He  entered  the  House  of  Representatives  as  a  member  in  1811,  and  almost  immediately  afterward  was 
elected  its  speaker.    He  remained  in  Congress,  as  a  member  of  one  branch  or  the  other  of  that  body  (with  the  excep 
tion  of  four  years,  when  he  was  John  Quincy  Adams's  Secretary  of  State,  and  a  brief  retirement  thereafter),  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  at  Washington  City  on  the  29th  of  June,  1852. 

4  Albert  Gallatin  was  born  on  the  29th  of  January,  1761,  in  the  city  of  Geneva,  Switzerland.    He  was  graduated  at  the 
University  of  Geneva  in  1779,  came  to  America  in  1780,  and  entered  the  military  service  in  Maine.    After  the  Revolu 
tion  he  was  a  tutor  in  Harvard  College  for  a  while,  and  finally  settled  in  Western  Pennsylvania.    He  was  a  member  of 
the  Convention  to  revise  the  Constitution  of  that  state  in  1789,  and  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature.    He  was  chosen 
a  member  of  the  National  Senate  in  1793,  but,  being  ineligible,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  other  house,  and  became 


OF    THE   WAR    OF   1812. 


1061 


Delay  in  the  Negotiations.  Sympathies  of  the  People  of  Ghent  with  the  Americans.  The  Treaty  concluded. 

ened  the  most  formidable  obstructions  to  agreement.     At  times  it  seemed  as  if  the 
ffort  to  negotiate  a  treaty  would  be  fruitless.     The  discussions  continued  several 


VIEW   OF  T1IE   CITY   OF  GHENT,  FROM   T1IE   SCHELDT. 

months.  The  leading  citizens  of  Ghent  (whose  sympathies  were  with  the  Ameri 
cans1)  took  great  interest  in  the  matter,  and  mingled  their  rejoicings  with  the  com 
missioners  when  their  work  was  ended.2  That  result  was  reached  on  the  24th  of 
December,  1814,  when  a  treaty  was  signed  by  the  respective  commissioners.3  It  was 
immediately  transmitted  to  London  by  the  hands  of  Mr.  Baker,  secretary  to  Lord 

the  Republican  leader  of  it.  Jefferson  appointed  him  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  1801,  which  office  he  held  until  1813, 
when  he  was  sent  to  St.  Petersburg  as  a  commissioner  to  treat  for  peace.  His  communications  from  Europe  on  public 
affairs  at  that  time  were  mostly  written  in  cipher,  composed  of  numbers,  of  which  (copied  from  one  of  them  in  the  State 
Department  at  Washington)  a  fac-simile  is  here  given  from  a  letter  dated  at  London,  June  13,  1814.  Each  number  rep- 


/07S.  7o  5-. 


IOQL+-  DoZ. 

resents  a  word  or  sentence,  perfectly  intelligible  to  a  person  with  a  key.  Mr.  Gallatin  assisted  in  negotiating  the  treaty 
at  Ghent.  He  remained  in  Europe,  and  from  1S16  until  1823  he  was  our  resident  minister  at  the  French  court,  and  was 
employed  in  other  diplomatic  services.  He  declined  offices  of  high  honor  at  home,  and  remained  abroad  until  1828, 
when  he  returned  to  the  United  States,  and  fixed  his  residence  in  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  engaged  in  the  busi 
ness  of  banking.  He  took  an  active  part  in  literary  pursuits,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Astoria, 
Long  Island,  on  the  12th  of  August,  1849,  he  was  President  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 

1  On  the  27th  of  October,  1814,  the  Academy  of  Sciences  and  Fine  Arts  at  Ghent  invited  the  American  commissioners 
to  attend  their  exercises,  when  they  were  all  elected  honorary  members  of  the  Academy.    A  sumptuous  dinner  was  giv 
en,  at  which  the  Intendant,  or  chief  magistrate  of  Ghent,  offered  the  following  sentiment  : 

"Our  distinguished  guests  and  fellow-members,  the  American  ministers  —  may  they  succeed  in  making  an  honorable 
peace  to  secure  the  liberty  and  independence  of  their  country."  The  band  then  played  "  Hail,  Columbia."  The  British 
commissioners  were  not  present. 

2  After  the  treaty  was  concluded  the  American  commissioners  gave  a  dinner  to  the  British  commissioners,  at  which 
Count  H.  Von  Steinhuyse,  the  Intendant  of  the  Department,  was  a  guest.    Sentiments  of  mutual  friendship  were  offered. 
A  few  days  afterward  the  Intendant  gave  an  entertainment  to  the  commissioners  of  both  nations. 

3  On  the  next  two  pages  is  a  fac-simile  of  the  last  paragraph  of  the  treaty,  with  the  signatures  of  the  respective  com 
missioners,  and  representations  of  the  seals  set  opposite  their  names.    These  were  carefully  copied  by  the  writer  from 
the  original  in  the  Department  of  State  at  Washington  City.    The  impressions  of  all  the  aeals  on  the  red  wax  were  im 
perfect,  as  the  engravings  represent  them. 


1062 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Signatures  and  Seals  to  the  Treaty  of  Peace. 


Gambler,  and  Mr.  Carroll,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  American  commissioners. 


OF   THE   WAE    OF   181?. 


1063 


Ratification  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace. 


Arrival  of  the  News  in  New  York  and  Washington. 


There  it  was  ratified  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month  by  the  Prince  Regent,  and  then 
sent  to  America  by  the  same  messen 
gers.  They  sailed  in  the  British  sloop 
of  war  Favorite  on  the  2d  of  January, 
1815.  She  arrived  at  New  York  on 
the  evening  of  Saturday,  the  llth  of 
February.  Mr.  Hughes  left  Ghent  with 
a  copy  of  the  treaty  at  the  same  time 
the  other  messengers  did,  proceeded  to 
the  Texel,  and  there  embarked  for  the 
Chesapeake  in  the  schooner  Transit. 
She  arrived  at  Annapolis  two  days  aft 
er  the  Favorite  reached  New  York, 
and  Mr.  Hughes1  was  at  Washington 
City  with  his  copy  of  the  treaty  before 
the  ratified  copy  arrived  there. 

News  of  the  arrival  of  the  Favorite 
soon  spread  over  the  city.  The  glad 
tidings  of  peace  which  she  brought 
were  wholly  unexpected,  and  produced 
the  most  intense  satisfaction.  No  one 
inquired  what  were  the  terms  of  the 
treaty;  it  was  enough  to  know  that 
peace  had  been  secured.  The  streets 

1  Mr.  Hughes  is  represented  as  a  man  of  very  attractive  personal  appearance,  exceedingly  active  in  body  and  mind, 
and  more  widely  known  personally  during  his  long  residence  in  Europe  than  almost  any  other  man.    A  writer,  in  speak- 


1064  PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 

Rejoicings  because  of  Peace.  How  the  News  was  spread  over  the  Country.  Rejoicings  in  Great  Britain. 

were  soon  filled  with  people,  and  a  placard  issued  from  one  of  the  newspaper  offices1 
and  thrown  out  of  the  window,  was  eagerly  caught  up  and  read  by  the  multitude, 
who  made  the  night  air  vocal  with  huzzas.  Cannon  thundered,  bells  rang,  and  bon 
fires  and  illuminations  lighted  up  the  city  until  after  midnight.  Expresses  were  sent 
in  various  directions  with  the  glad  news.2  The  newspapers  were  filled  on  Monday 
a  February  is,  morninga  with  shipping  advertisements  and  commercial  announcements 
of  every  kind.  Government  stocks  advanced,3  and  coin  and  merchan 
dise  rapidly  declined.4  There  was  joy  all  over  the  land,  and  especially  along  the 
whole  maritime  frontier.  Banquets  and  illuminations  marked  the  public  satisfaction 
in  towns  and  cities.5  There  were  also  great  rejoicings  in  the  Canadas  because  of  the 
deliverance  of  the  provinces  from  the  terrors  of  invasion  by  which  they  had  been  dis 
turbed  for  almost  three  years ;  and  the  British  government,  appreciating  the  loyalty 
of  the  inhabitants  of  those  provinces,  as  manifested  in  their  gallant  defense  of  their 
territory  during  the  war,  caused  a  medal  to  be  struck  in  testimony  of  its  gratitude.6 
There  was  rejoicing  also  in  Great  Britain  because  of  peace,  especially  among  the 
manufacturing  and  mercantile  classes,  for  it  promised  returning  prosperity ;  and  a 
medal  was  struck  in  commemoration  of  the  great  event,  which  bore  upon  one  side 
the  words, "  TREATY  OP  PEACE  AND  AMITY  BETWEEN  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  THE  UNITED 
STATES  OF  AMERICA,  SIGNED  AT  GHENT  DECEMBER  24, 1814,"  and  upon  the  other  a  fem- 

ing  of  him  said,  "He  is  the  best  known  man  in  the  world,  from  New  York  to  Kamtschatka,"  and  was  remarkable  for 
"saying  more  wise  things,  strange  things,  droll  things,  than  ever  tongue  uttered  or  mind  conceived."  His  personal 
popularity  made  him  a  most  skillful  diplomat.  He  obtained  a  knowledge  of  the  most  profound  state  secrets,  John 
Qniucy  Adams  said,  "by  no  improper  acts,  and  at  no  cost  of  secret  service  money,  but  by  the  art  of  making  friends  by 
his  social  qualities  wherever  he  goes." — Adams's  speech  in  Congress,  September  4, 1841.  Mr.  Hughes  was  a  native  of 
Baltimore,  and  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Colonel  Armistead,  the  gallant  defender  of  Fort  M'Henry.  He  died  in  Baltimore 
on  the  18th  of  September,  1849. 

1  It  was  issued  from  the  office  of  the  Mercantile  Advertiser,  on  a  slip  of  paper  five  by  six  inches  in  size,  and  was  posted 
and  scattered  all  over  the  city.    The  following  is  a  copy  of  one  of  these  placards,  in  the  possession  of  John  B.  Moreau, 
Esq.,  of  New  York  City : 

"  New  York,  Saturday  Evening,  9  o'clock,  February  11, 1815. 

"PEACE. 

"  The  great  and  joyful  news  of  PEACE  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  reached  this  city  this  evening  by 
the  British  sloop  of  war  Favorite,  the  Hon.  J.  U.  Mowatt,  Esq.,  commander,  in  forty-two  days  from  Plymouth. 

"Henry  Carroll,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  American  Legation  at  Ghent,  is  the  welcome  bearer  of  the  treaty,  which  was 
signed  at  Ghent  on  the  24th  December  by  the  respective  commissioners,  and  ratified  by  the  British  government  on  the 
2Sth  December.  Mr.  Baker,  late  Secretary  to  the  British  Legation  at  Washington,  has  also  arrived  in  the  sloop  of  war 
with  a  copy  of  the  treaty  ratified  by  the  British  government." 

2  Mr.  Goodhue,  an  eminent  merchant,  sent  an  express  at  his  own  expense  ($225)  to  Boston  in  thirty-six  hours,  which 
scattered  the  glad  tidings  along  the  way.    Jacob  Barker  (see  page  936)  sent  an  express  in  like  manner  to  Governor 
Tompkins  at  Albany  in  twenty-four  hours.    Mr.  Carroll,  on  his  way  to  Washington  with  a  copy  of  the  treaty,  gave  the 
first  news  of  peace  to  Philadelphia.    Hughes  had  already  gladdened  Baltimore  with  the  tidings. 

3  Six  per  cents  rose  from  76  to  86,  and  treasury  notes  from  92  to  98. 

*  Coin,  which  was  twenty-two  per  cent,  premium,  fell  to  two  per  cent,  in  the  course  of  forty-eight  hours.  Within  the 
same  time  sugar  fell  from  $26  per  cwt.  to  $12.50 ;  tea  from  $2.25  per  Ib.  to  $1 ;  tin  from  $80  a  box  to  $25.  These  are 
mentioned,  among  scores  of  articles,  as  specimens  of  the  sudden  effect  of  the  news  on  commercial  values. 

5  Philadelphia  was  the  first  to  illuminate.    It  took  place  on  Wednesday  evening,  the  15th  of  February.    Robert  Whar- 
ton,  the  mayor,  in  his  proclamation  concerning  it,  suggested  that,  as  the  religious  principles  of  the  Quakers  would  not 
permit  them  to  illuminate,  the  police  should  see  to  it  that  they  should  be  protected  "  in  their  peaceful  rights."    The 
mayor  directed  all  the  lights  to  be  extinguished  at  ten  o'clock.    On  that  occasion  brilliant  lights  were  exhibited  from 
the  top  of  a  shot-tower  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  height.    The  illumination  in  New  York  took  place  on  the  22d  of 
February.    On  the  evening  of  the  16th  of  March  a  "superb  ball,"  as  the  newspapers  of  the  day  said,  was  given  at  Wash 
ington  Hall,  the  dancing-room  of  which  was  sixty  by  eighty  feet  in  size.    The  "number  of  ladies  and  gentle'meu  was 
six  hundred."    The  room  was  so  arranged  as  to  present  the  appearance  of  a  beautiful  pavilion,  or  temple,  with  eighteen 
pillars,  on  each  of  which  was  the  name  of  a  state.    It  was  called  the  Temple  of  Concord.    On  one  side  of  the  room,  un 
der  a  canopy  composed  of  flags,  was  the  Bower  of  Peace,  surrounded  with  orange  and  lemon  trees  covered  with  fruit. 
The  Evening  Post  of  the  21st  of  March  said  of  the  scene  in  the  hall,  "  It  was  a  picture  of  female  beauty,  fashion,  and  ele 
gance  not  to  be  surpassed  in  any  city  in  the  Union."    Among  the  most  active  women  at  this  entertainment  were  those 
who  composed  the  managers  of  the  Association  for  the  Relief  of  the  Soldiers  in  the  Field,  formed  in  1814.    These  con 
sisted  of  Mrs.  General  Lewis,  Mrs.  William  Few,  Mrs.  David  Gelston,  Mrs.  Philip  Livingston,  Mrs.  Colonel  Laight,  Mrs. 
Thomas  Morris,  Mrs.  Marinus  Willet,  Mrs.  William  Ross,  Mrs.  Nathan  Sanford,  Mrs.  Daniel  Smith,  Mrs.  L.  Bradish,  Miss 
M.  Bleecker,  Miss  H.  Lewis,  and  Miss  H.  E.  G.  Bradish. 

6  The  device  on  one  side  of  the  medal  is  emblematic  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.    On  one  side  of  a  river  and 
lake  (St.  Lawrence  and  the  Lakes)  is  the  eagle,  representing  the  sovereignty  of  the  republic,  threatening  to  fly  over  into 
Canada,  whose  emblem  is  the  beaver.    There  the  British  lion  couchant  is  seen,  emblematic  of  the  protecting  sovereignty 
of  Great  Britain.    The  device  on  the  other  side  explains  itself.    The  medal  was  made  by  Thomas  Wyon"  Jr.,  a  young 
engraver,  then  only  twenty-three  years  of  age.    He  died  in  1S1T,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  when  he  was  at  the  head 
of  his  profession.    Copies  of  the  three  medals  here  mentioned  are  in  the  rare  numismatic  collection  of  Chas.  I.  Bnshnell, 
Esq.,  of  New  York,  to  whose  courtesy  I  am  indebted  for  the  privilege  of  having  two  of  them  engraved  for  this  work. 


OF  THE   WAR   OF   1812. 


1065 


Medals  and  Pictures  in  Commemoration  of  Peace. 


Ratification  of  the  Treaty  by  the  United  States  Senate. 


MEDAL   OF   GBATITUDE. 


inine  figure  standing  on  the  segment  of  a  globe,  bearing  the  cornucopia  of  plenty, 
and  holding  in  one  hand  the  olive-branch  of  peace.  Partly  encircling  the  figure  were 
the  words,  "  ON  THE  EARTH  PEACE,  GOOD-WILL  TO  MEN."  Another  medal  commemo 
rative  of  the  treaty  was  struck,  on  one  side  of  which  was  a  feminine  figure  standing 
upon  a  shell  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean,  with  the  olive-branch  in  one  hand  and  rays 
of  light  emanating  from  the  other.  Partly  inclosing  the  figure  were  the  words, 

"  PEACE  SPREADS  HER  INFLUENCE  O5ER  THE  ATLANTIC  SHORE."      On  the  Other  side  WaS 

a  dove  surrounded  with  light,  and  descending  toward  a  wreath  of  palm  leaves  in 


closing  the  words  "  CONCORD  BETWEEN  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  AMERICA."  A  fine  alle 
gorical  picture  was  painted  and  engraved  in  this  country  commemorative  of  the  war 
and  the  treaty  of  peace,  a  copy  of  which  is  given  on  the  next  page.1 

The  treaty  of  peace  was  ratified  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  on  the  17th  of  February,  1815,  and  it  was  promulgated  the  next  day  by  proc 
lamation  of  President  Madison.  It  did  not,  as  the  text  of  the  treaty  given  in  the 
Appendix  shows,  secure  to  the  Americans  that  immunity  from  Search  and  Impress 
ment  for  which  they  went  to  war,  and  for  this  reason  it  was  pointed  to  exultingly  by 
the  Opposition  as  a  proof  of  the  wisdom  of  their  prophecies,  the  patriotism  of  their 

1  This  picture,  entitled  The  Peace  of  Ghent,  1814,  and  Triumph  of  America,  was  drawn  by  William  Planton  and  en 
graved  by  Chataiguier.  It  was  published  by  P.  Price,  Jr.,  Philadelphia.  The  design  is  thus  described:  "Minerva  rep 
resents  the  wisdom  of  the  United  States,  Mercury  their  commerce,  Hercules  their  force.  Minerva,  dictates  their  condi 
tions  of  peace,  which  Mercury  presents  to  Britannia,  and  Hercules  forces  her  to  accept  them.  On  the  shield  of  Minerva, 
are  the  names  of  those  who  signed  the  treaty ;  on  the  obelisk,  those  of  the  braves.  On  the  other  side  America  passes  in 
triumph  through  the  arch  on  her  way  to  the  Temple  of  Peace.  She  is  attended  by  Victory,  and  followed  by  a  numerous 
traiii.  Several  trophies  are  seen,  and  in  the  background  are  the  ruins  of  the  Capitol."  Below  the  picture,  in  a  circle 
composed  of  links,  on  each  of  which  is  the  name  of  a  state,  is  the  following  inscription :  "  Under  the  presidency  of  Mad 
ison.  Monroe,  Secretary  of  State." 


1066 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Allegorical  Picture  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace  and  Triumph  of  America. 


course,  and  the  truth  of  their  declarations  that  the  war  was  a  failure — "  waged  to  no 


OF   THE   WAR    OF    1812.  1067 

Effects  of  the  Treaty.  Position  of  the  Republic  at  the  Close  of  the  War.  Readjustment  of  National  Affairs. 

end."1  It  by  no  means  secured  all  that  the  Administration  hoped  for ;  yet,  in  addi 
tion  to  the  boon  of  peace,  it  gave  to  the  Americans  advantages  to  be  derived  from  a 
final  settlement  of  boundaries  and  the  exclusive  right  to  the  navigation  of  the  Missis 
sippi  River,  while  it  took  from  them  the  important  privilege,  which  the  mariners  of 
New  England  had  always  enjoyed,  of  catching  and  curing  fish  on  the  shores  of  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.2  It  also  secured,  in  the  interest  of  our  common  humanity,  the 
co-operation  of  the  two  nations  in  efforts  to  suppress  the  inhuman  and  un-Christian 
traffic  in  slaves. 

But  far  more  important  to  this  country  and  the  world  than  the  security  of  inci 
dental  advantages  was  the  establishment,  by  the  war,  of  the  positive  and  permanent 
independence  of  the  United  States,  and  with  it  a  guarantee  to  the  posterities,  of  the 
perpetuation  and  groAvth  of  free  institutions.  Great  Britain  had  been  taught,  by  the 
lessons  of  the  wrar,  that  the  young  republic,  the  offspring  of  her  oppressions,3  growing 
more  lusty  every  hour,  would  no  longer  tolerate  an  insult,  or  suffer  its  sovereignty  to 
be  questioned  without  resenting  the  offense ;  and  she  was  compelled  to  sign  a  bond, 
as  it  were,  to  keep  the  peace,  in  the  form  of  an  acknowledgment  that  she  had,  in  that 
republic,  a  formidable  rival  for  the  supremacy  of  the  seas,  which  she  was  bound  to 
respect.  Her  aristocracy,  as  a  rule,  and  the  public  writers  in  their  interest,  remained, 
as  before,  the  bitter  enemies  of  the  Republic.  They  condemned  the  treaty  because  it 
yielded  too  much  to  what  they  were  pleased  to  call  the  "  insolent  Yankees,"4  and 
omitted  no  opportunity  to  disparage  and  libel  the  American  people  and  the  American 
Republic.  It  was,  perhaps,  a  natural  exhibition  of  the  weakness  and  selfishness  of  hu 
man  nature.  That  Republic,  with  its  free  institutions  and  equality  in  acknowledged 
citizenship,  was  and  is  a  perpetual  menace  against  the  existence  of  privileged  classes, 
and  a  silent  but  potential  champion  of  the  rights  of  man  enunciated  in  its  prime  po 
litical  creed,  that  "  all  men  are  created  equal."  Hence  it  is  that  the  privileged  class 
es  of  the  Old  World  are  its  natural  enemies,  and  are  willing  to  disparage  its  institu 
tions  and  people  in  the  estimation  of  the  toiling  millions  who  are  struggling  for  the 
light  and  air  of  a  better  human  existence. 

When  the  treaty  of  peace  was  ratified,  the  government  of  the  United  States  took 
measures  immediately  for  the  adjustment  of  national  affairs  in  accordance  with  the 
new  order  of  things.  An  appropriation  was  made  for  rebuilding  the  public  edifices.5 
Plans  were  considered  for  the  maintenance  of  the  public  credit  and  the  extinguish 
ment  of  the  national  debt,  then  amounting,  in  round  numbers,  to  $120,000,000.  The 

1  The  Opposition  newspapers  contained  some  well-pointed  epigrams,  keen  satires,  and  genuine  wit,  aimed  at  the 
friends  of  the  war,  and  in  illustration  of  the  shortcomings  of  the  treaty;  and  there  was  also  an  abundance  of  coarse 
abuse  poured  out,  through  the  same  channels,  upon  the  Administration.    The  usually  dignified  Eveimy;  Post  had  some 
severe  criticisms,  and  justified  the  following  stanza  in  its  New  Year's  Address,  printed  a  few  weeks  before: 

"  Your  commerce  is  wantonly'lost, 

Your  treasures  are  wasted  and  gone ; 
You've  fought  to  no  end,  but  with  millions  of  cost, 
And  for  rivers  of  blood  you've  nothing  to  boast 

But  credit  and  nation  undone." 

2  The  treaty  provided  for  the  appointment  of  commissioners,  and  such  were  the  final  results  of  their  labors. 

3  Half  a  century  before  (1TG5),  when  Charles  Townshend,  in  an  eloquent  speech  in  the  British  House  of  Commons, 
spoke  of  the  "ungrateful  Americans"  as  "children  planted  by  our  care,"  Colonel  Barre,  in  an  indignant  reply,  exclaim 
ed,  "They  planted  by  your  care!    No!  your  oppression  planted  them  in  America  ;  they  fled  from  your  tyranny  to  a 
then  uncultivated  and  inhospitable  wilderness,  exposed  to  all  the  hardships  to  which  hnman  nature  is  liable." 

*  The  London  Public  Advertiser,  at  that  period,  furnished  many  illustrations  of  the  feeling  against  the  treaty.  The 
following  will  suffice : 

"  AlWEKTISEMEN'TS  EXTRAORDINARY. 

"Wanted.— The  spirit  which  animated  the  conduct  of  Elizabeth,  Oliver,  and  William, 

"Lost.—  All  idea  of  national  dignity  and  honor. 

"Found  —That  every  insignificant  state  may  insult  THAT  which  used  to  call  herself  MISTKMS  or  THE  SEAS. 

s  The  value  of  the  public  buildings  destroyed  was  estimated  as  follows:  The  Capitol,  original  cost,  alterations,  etc., 
$787  163  28-  President's  house,  including  all  costs,  $334,334;  public  offices,  Treasury,  State,  War,  and  Navy,  $9,613.82; 
makin^  a  total  of  $1  915  111  The  walls  of  the  Capitol  and  of  the  President's  house  (see  pages  933  and  934)  remained 
Ptron"°and  only  needed 'repairs.  It  was  estimated  that  $460,000  would  restore  them  to  their  condition  before  the  fire. 
No  estimate  was  made  of  the  value  of  the  public  library  that  was  burned.  The  estimated  cost  of  rebuilding  the  navy 
yard  was  $62,370.  The  value  of  property  destroyed  at  that  establishment  was  estimated  at  $669,174.04,  of  which  $417,745. 
51  was  movable  property.  See  page  934. 


1068 


PICTORIAL    FIELD-BOOK 


Reduction  of  the  Army. 


The  Navy. 


Privateers. 


Captives  released. 


Dartmoor  Prisoners. 


army  was  placed  on  a  peace  footing,  and  was  reduced  to  10,000  men,  by  which  reduc 
tion  about  1800  officers  were  compelled  to  leave  the  service.  The  navy  was  left 
where  it  stood,  with  an  additional  appropriation,  for  its  gradual  increase,  of  $200,000 
annually  for  three  years.  The  national  vessels  and  privateers  were  drawn  from  the 
ocean  as  speedily  as  possible,1  and  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  both  parties  were  released 
as  quickly  as  proper  arrangements  could  be  made  for  their  enlargement. 

In  connection  with  the  release  of  captives,  a  circumstance  occurred  at  a  depot  for 
prisoners  in  England  which  caused  great  exasperation  on  the  part  of  the  American 
people.  That  depot  was  situated  on  Dartmoor,  a  desolate  region  in  Devonshire, 
where  it  was  constructed  in  1809  for  the  confinement  of  French  prisoners  of  war.  It 
comprised  thirty  acres,  inclosed  within  double  walls,  with  seven  distinct  prison- 
houses,  with  inclosures.  At  the  time  of  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  there 
were  about  six  thousand  American  prisoners  there,  including  twenty-five  hundred 
impressed  American  seamen,  who  had  refused  to  fight  in  the  British  Navy  against 
their  countrymen,  and  were  there  when  the  war  broke  out  in  1812.  Some  had  been 
there  ten  or  eleven  years.  The  place  was  in  charge  of  Captain  T.  G.  Shortland,  with 
a  military  guard.  That  officer  was  charged  with  much  unfeeling  conduct  toward 
the  prisoners,  accounts  of  which  reached  America,  from  time  to  time,  and  produced 
great  irritation  in  the  public  mind. 

There  was  much  delay  in  the  release  of  the  Dartmoor  prisoners.  It  was  nearly 
three  months  after  the  treaty  of  peace  had  been  signed  before  they  were  permitted 
a  March  20,  to  know  the  fact.  From  that  timea  they  were  in  daily  expectation  of  re- 

1815-  lease.  Delay  caused  uneasiness  and  impatience,  and  there  was  evidently 
a  disposition  to  attempt  an  escape.  Symptoms  of  insubordination  appeared  on  the 
4th  of  April,  when  the  prisoners  demanded  bread  instead  of  hard  biscuit,  and  refused 
to  receive  the  latter.  On  the  evening  of  the  6th,b  so  reluctantly  did  the  pris 
oners  obey  orders  to  retire  to  their  quarters,  that,  when  some  of  them,  with 


1  April. 


BAKTMOOU  PRISON  IN   1815.2 


1  The  whole  number  of  British  vessels  of  every  class  captured  by  Americans  during  the  war  was  estimated  at  1T50. 
An  official  British  return  stated  that,  during  the  same  time,  British  ships  had  captured  and  destroyed  1683  American 
vessels  of  every  class,  manned  by  upward  of  18,000  seamen.    See  page  100T. 

2  This  is  a  careful  copy  of  an  engraving  attached  to  a  Journal  of  a  Young  Man  of  Massachusetts,  late  a  Surgeon  on 
board  an  American  Privateer,  who  was  a  prisoner  there  at  the  time  of  the  massacre,  and  an  eye-witness  of  much  of 


OF   THE  WAR   OF   1812.  1Q69 


Sad  Event  at  the  Dartmoor  Prisons.  Prosperity  of  the  Republic.  Its  Relations  to  the  Nations. 

the  appearance  of  mutinous  intentions,  not  only  refused  to  retire,  but  passed  beyond 
the  prescribed  limits  of  their  confinement,  they  were  fired  upon,  by  orders  of  Captain 
Shortland,  for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  all.  This  firing  was  followed  up  by  the 
soldiers  without  the  shadow  of  an  excuse,  according  to  an  impartial  report  made  by 
a  commission  appointed  to  investigate  the  matter.1  Five  prisoners  were  killed  and 
thirty-three  were  wounded.  The  act  of  the  soldiers  was  regarded  by  the  Americans 
as  a  wanton  massacre ;  and  when  the  British  authorities  pronounced  the  act  "justifi 
able  homicide,"  the  hottest  indignation  was  excited.  But  Time,  the  great  healer,  has 
interposed  its  balm,  and  the  event  appears  in  history  as  one  of  the  inevitable  cruel 
ties  of  ever-cruel  war. 

At  the  close  of  the  SECOND  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE,  the  events  of  which  are  re 
corded  in  this  volume,  our  Republic  had  achieved,  as  we  have  observed,  the  most  im 
portant  of  all  its  triumphs,  and  was  still  wealthy  with  the  fruits  of  a  wonderful  prog 
ress  in  the  space  of  twenty-five  years  since  its  nativity.2  It  then  started  afresh  upon 
a  grand  career  of  prosperity,  with  marvelous  resources  developed  and  undeveloped — 
known  and  unknown.  The  rulers  and  privileged  classes  in  other  lands  persisted  in 
calling  it  an  experiment,  and  were  ever  prophesying  the  failure  of  the  republican  prin 
ciple  in  government,  of  which  it  was  a  notable  example.  Recent  events  have  silenced 
all  cavil,  and  dispelled  all  doubts  on  that  point. 

Fifty  years  after  the  close  of  its  last  struggle  for  independence,  our  Republic 
emerged*  from  the  fiery  furnace  of  a  Civil  War  unparalleled  in  proportions 
and  operations  hitherto,  purified  and  strengthened  by  the  ordeal.     The  most 
skeptical  observer  of  that  trial  and  its  results  can  no  longer  consider  our  Govern 
ment  an  experiment.     It  is  a  demonstration.     Its  history  is  an  affirmative  answer 
to  the  question  whether  republican  institiitions  have  elements  of  vitality  and  power 
sufficient  for  the  demands  of  every  exigency  of  national  life.     Henceforth  it  will 
stand  before  the  nations  a  trusted  oracle  for  the  guidance  and  encouragement  of  all 
aspirants  in  other  lands  for  the  privileges  of  free  thought  and  action. 

what  he  recorded.  The  following  is  a  description  of  the  picture:  A.  Surgeon's  House;  B.  Captain  Shortland's  Quar 
ters  ;  C.  Hospital ;  D.  Barracks ;  E.  Cachot,  or  Black-hole  ;  F,  F,  F.  Guard-houses ;  G,  G.  Store-houses.  The  Arabic 
numerals  refer  to  the  numbers  of  the  prisons  as  they  were  alluded  to  in  narratives  and  official  documents.  The  out 
ward  of  the  two  encircling  walls  of  stone  (of  which  the  prisons  were  built)  was  a  mile  in  circumference.  The  inner  wall 
was  used  as  a  military  walk  for  the  sentinels.  Within  this  wall  were  iron  palisades,  ten  feet  in  height.  The  guard  was 
composed  of  a  Itytle  more  than  two  thousand  well-disciplined  militia,  and  two  companies  of  Royal  Artillery.  The  pic 
ture  not  only  gives  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  post,  but  the  position  of  the  guards  at  the  time  they  fired,  and  of  the  killed 
where  they  fell. 

1  The  American  commissioners  to  negotiate  the  treaty  of  peace,  then  in  London,  appointed  the  late  Charles  King, 
president  of  Columbia  College  (then  a  young  man,  who  was  on  a  visit  to  England),  a  commissioner  on  the  part  of  the 
Americans,  and  the  British  authorities  appointed  Francis  Seymour  Larpent  to  act  with  him. 

2  John  Bristed,  in  his  admirable  work  on  The  Resources  of  the  United  States,  published  in  ISIS,  gives  the  following  sum 
mary  of  the  real  and  personal  capital,  and  the  income  of  the  people  of  the  Republic,  at  about  the  time  of  the  close  of  the 

lReal  Property.— Public  lands,  500,000,000  acres,  at  $2  an  acre,  $1,000,000,000  ;  cultivated  lands,  300,000,000  acres,  at  $10 
an  acre  $3,000,'oOO,000  ;  dwelling-houses  of  all  kinds,  $1,000,000,000.  Total  of  real  property,  $5,000,000,000. 

Personal  Property.— Capital  to  the  holders  of  government  stocks,  who  were  American  citizens,  $100,000,000;  banking 
stocks  $100,000,000 ;  slaves,  1,500,000,  at  $150  each,  $225,000,000 ;  shipping  of  all  kinds,  $225,000,000 ;  money,  farming 
stock  and  utensils,  manufactures,  household  furniture  and  plate,  carriages,  and  every  other  species  of  personal  proper 
ty  not  above  enumerated,  $1,550,000,000.  Total  of  personal  property,  $2,200,000,000.  Grand  total  of  American  capital, 
in  real 'and  personal  property,  $7,200,000,000. 


APPENDIX, 


TREATY  OF  PEACE  AND  AMITY 

BETWEEN  HIS  BRITANNIC  MAJESTY  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

His  Britannic  Majesty  and  the  United  States  of  America,  desirous  of  terminating  the  war  which  has  unhappily  sub 
sisted  between  the  two  countries,  and  of  restoring,  upon  principles  of  perfect  reciprocity,  peace,  friendship,  and  gooc 
understanding  between  them,  have  for  that  purpose  appointed  their  respective  Plenipotentiaries — that  is  to  say:  His 
Britannic  Majesty,  on  his  part,  has  appointd  the  Right  Honorable  James  Lord  Gambier,  late  Admiral  of  the  White, 
now  Admiral  of  the  Red  squadron  of  His  Majesty's  Fleet,  Henry  Goulburn,  Esq.,  a  member  of  the  Imperial  Parliament, 
and  Under  Secretary  of  State,  and  William  Adams,  Esq.,  Doctor  of  Civil  Laws  ;  and  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  thereof,  has  appointed  John  Quincy  Adams,  James  A.  Bayard,  Henry 
Clay,  Jonathan  Russell,  and  Albert  Gallatin,  citizens  of  the  United  States — who,  after  a  reciprocal  communication  of 
their  respective  full  powers,  have  agreed  upon  the  following  Articles  : 

ARTICLE  THE  FIBST. 

There  shall  be  a  firm  and  universal  peace  between  His  Britannic  Majesty  and  the  United  States,  and  between  their 
respective  countries,  territories,  cities,  towns,  and  people,  of  every  degree,  without  exception  of  places  or  persons.  All 
hostilities,  both  by  sea  and  land,  shall  cease  as  soon  as  this  treaty  shall  have  been  ratified  by  both  parties,  as  hereinafter 
mentioned.  All  territory,  places,  and  possessions  whatsoever,  taken  by  either  party  from  the  other  during  the  war,  or 
which  may  be  taken  after  the  signing  of  this  treaty,  excepting  only  the  islands  hereinafter  mentioned,  shall  be  restored 
without  delay,  and  without  causing  any  destruction  or  carrying  away  any  of  the  artillery  or  other  public  property  orig 
inally  captured  in  said  forts  or  places,  and  which  shall  remain  therein  upon  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  this 
treaty,  or  any  slaves  or  other  private  property.  And  all  archives,  records,  deeds,  and  papers,  either  of  a  public  nature  or 
belonging  to  private  persons,  which  in  the  course  of  the  war  may  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  officers  of  either 
party,  shall  be,  as  far  as  may  be  practicable,  forthwith  restored  and  delivered  to  the  proper  authorities  and  persons  to 
whom  they  respectively  belong.  Such  of  the  islands  in  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  as  are  claimed  by  both  parties  shall 
remain  in  the  possession  of  the  party  in  whose  occupation  they  may  be  at  the  time  of  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications 
of  this  treaty  until  the  decision  respecting  the  title  to  the  said  islands  shall  have  been  made  in  conformity  with  the  fourth 
article  of  this  treaty.  No  disposition  made  by  this  treaty  as  to  such  possession  of  the  islands  and  territories  claimed  by 
both  parties  shall  in  any  manner  whatever  be  construed  to  affect  the  right  of  either. 

ARTICLE  THE  SECOND. 

Immediately  after  the  ratifications  of  this  treaty  by  both  parties,  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  orders  shall  be  sent  to  the 
armies,  squadrons,  officers,  subjects,  and  citizens  of  the  two  powers  to  cease  from  all  hostilities.  And  to  prevent  all 
causes  of  complaint  which  might  arise  on  account  of  the  prizes  which  may  be  taken  at  sea  after  the  said  ratifications 
of  this  treaty,  it  is  reciprocally  agreed  that  all  vessels  and  effects  which  may  be  taken  after  the  space  of  twelve  days 
from  the  said  ratifications,  upon  all  parts  of  the  coast  of  North  America,  from  the  latitude  of  twenty-three  degrees  north 
to  the  latitude  of  fifty  degrees  north,  and  as  far  eastward  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  as  the  thirty-sixth  degree  of  west  longitude 
from  the  meridian  of  Greenwich,  shall  be  restored  on  each  side ;  that  the  time  shall  be  thirty  days  in  all  other  parts  of 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  north  of  the  equinoctial  line  or  equator,  and  the  same  time  for  the  British  and  Irish  Channels,  for 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  all  parts  of  the  West  Indies ;  forty  days  for  the  North  Seas,  for  the  Baltic,  and  for  all  parts  of  the 
Mediterranean ;  sixty  days  for  the  Atlantic  Ocean  south  of  the  equator  as  far  as  the  latitude  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  : 
ninety  days  for  every  part  of  the  world  south  of  the  equator;  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  days  for  all  other  parts  of 
the  world,  without  exception. 

ARTICLE  THE  TRIED. 

All  prisoners  of  war  taken  on  either  side,  as  well  by  land  as  by  sea,  shall  be  restored  as  soon  as  practicable  after  the 
ratifications  of  this  treaty,  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  on  their  paying  the  debts  which  they  may  have  contracted  during 
their  captivity.  The  two  contracting  parties  respectively  engage  to  discharge,  in  specie,  the  advances  which  may  have 
been  made  by  the  other  for  the  sustenance  and  maintenance  of  such  prisoners. 

ARTICLE  THE  FOTJBTII. 

Whereas  it  was  stipulated  by  the  second  article  in  the  treaty  of  peace  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three, 
between  His  Britannic  Majesty  and  the  United  States  of  America,  that  the  boundary  of  the  United  States  should  compre 
hend  all  islands  within  twenty  leagues  of  any  part  of  the  shores  of  the  United  States,  and  lying  between  lines  to  be 
drawn  due  east  from  the  points  where  the  aforesaid  boundaries,  between  Nova  Scotia  on  the  one  part  and  East  Florida 
on  the  other,  shall  respectively  touch  the  Bay  of  Fnndy  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  excepting  such  islands  as  now  are  or 
heretofore  have  been  within  the  limits  of  Nova  Scotia  ;  and  whereas  the  several  islands  in  the  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy, 
which  is  part  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  the  island  of  Grand  Menan,  in  the  said  Bay  of  Fundy,  are  claimed  by  the  United 
States  as  being  comprehended  within  their  aforesaid  boundaries,  which  said  islands  are  claimed  as  belonging  to  His 
Britannic  Majesty,  as  having  been  at  the  time  of  and  previous  to  the  aforesaid  treaty  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  eighty-three  within  the  limits  of  the  province  of  Nova  Scotia :  In  order,  therefore,  finally  to  decide  upon  these  claims, 
it  is  agreed  that  they  shall  be  referred  to  two  Commissioners,  to  be  appointed  in  the  following  manner,  viz. :  One 


10^2  APPENDIX. 

Commissioner  shall  be  appointed  by  His  Britannic  Majesty,  and  one  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  thereof;  and  the  said  two  Commissioners  so  appointed  shall  be  sworn  impartially 
to  examine  and  decide  upon  the  said  claims  according  to  such  evidence  as  shall  be  laid  before  them  on  the  part  of  His 
Britannic  Majesty  and  of  the  United  States  respectively.  The  said  Commissioners  shall  meet  at  St.  Andrew's,  in  the 
Province  of  New  Brunswick,  and  shall  have  power  to  adjourn  to  such  other  place  or  places  as  they  shall  think  fit.  The 
said  Commissioners  shall,  by  a  declaration  or  report  under  their  hands  and  seals,  decide  to  which  of  the  two  contracting 
parties  the  several  islands  aforesaid  do  respectively  belong,  in  conformity  with  the  true  intent  of  the  said  treaty  of 
peace  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three.  And  if  the  said  Commissioners  shall  agree  in  their  decision, 
both  parties  shall  consider  such  decision  as  final  and  conclusive.  It  is  farther  agreed,  that  in  the  event  of  the  two  Com 
missioners  differing  upon  all  or  any  of  the  matters  so  referred  to  them,  or  in  the  event  of  both  or  either  of  the  said 
Commissioners  refusing  or  declining,  or  willfully  omitting  to  act  as  such,  they  shall  make,  jointly  or  separately,  a  report 
or  reports,  as  well  to  the  government  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  as  to  that  of  the  United  States,  stating  in  detail  the  points 
on  which  they  differ,  and  the  grounds  upon  which  their  respective  opinions  have  been  formed,  or  the  grounds  upon 
which  they,  or  either  of  them,  have  so  refused,  declined,  or  omitted  to  act.  And  His  Britannic  Majesty  and  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  hereby  agree  to  refer  the  report  or  reports  of  the  said  Commissioners  to  some  friendly  sover 
eign  or  state,  to  be  then  named  for  that  purpose,  and  who  shall  be  requested  to  decide  on  the  differences  which  may  be 
stated  in  the  said  report  or  reports,  or  upon  the  report  of  one  Commissioner,  together  with  the  grounds  upon  which  the 
other  Commissioner  shall  have  refused,  declined,  or  omitted  to  act,  as  the  case  may  be.  And  if  the  Commissioner  so 
refusing,  declining,  or  omitting  to  act  shall  also  willfully  omit  to  state  the  grounds  upon  which  he  has  so  done,  in  such 
manner  that  the  said  statement  may  be  referred  to  such  friendly  sovereign  or  state,  together  with  the  report  of  such 
other  Commissioner,  then  such  sovereign  or  state  shall  decide  ex  parte  upon  the  said  report  alone.  And  His  Britannic 
Majesty  and  the  Government  of  the  United  States  engage  to  consider  the  decision  of  such  friendly  sovereign  or  state 
to  be  final  and  conclusive  on  all  the  matters  so  referred. 

ABTIOLE  THE  FIFTH. 

Whereas  neither  that  point  of  the  highlands  lying  due  north  from  the  source  of  the  River  St.  Croix,  and  designated 
in  the  former  treaty  of  peace  between  the  two  powers  as  the  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia,  nor  the  northwestern- 
most  head  of  Connecticut  River  has  yet  been  ascertained ;  and  whereas  that  part  of  the  boundary-line  between  the 
dominions  of  the  two  powers  which  extends  from  the  source  of  the  River  St.  Croix  directly  north  to  the  above-men 
tioned  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia,  thence  along  the  said  highlands  which  divide  those  rivers  that  empty  themselves 
into  the  River  St.  Lawrence  from  those  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  northwesternmost  head  of  Connecticut 
River,  thence  down  along  the  middle  of  that  river  to  the  forty-fifth  degree  of  north  latitude,  thence  by  a  line  due  west 
on  said  latitude  until  it  strikes  the  River  Iroquois  or  Cataragny,  has  not  yet  been  surveyed,  it  is  agreed  that  for  these 
several  purposes  two  Commissioners  shall  be  appointed,  sworn,  and  authorized  to  act  exactly  in  the  manner  directed 
with  respect  to  those  mentioned  in  the  next  preceding  article,  unless  otherwise  specified  in  the  present  article.  The 
said  Commissioners  shall  meet  at  St.  Andrew's,  in  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick,  and  shall  have  power  to  adjourn 
to  such  other  place  or  places  as  they  shall  think  fit.  The  said  Commissioners  shall  have  power  to  ascertain  and  deter 
mine  the  points  above  mentioned,  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  the  said  treaty  of  peace  of  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  eighty-three,  and  shall  cause  the  boundary  aforesaid,  from  the  source  of  the  River  St.  Croix  to  the  River 
Iroquois  or  Cataraguy,  to  be  surveyed  and  marked,  according  to  the  said  provisions.  The  said  Commissioners  shall 
make  a  map  of  the  said  boundary,  and  annex  to  it  a  declaration,  under  their  hands  and  seals,  certifying  it  to  be  the  true 
map  of  the  said  boundary,  and  particularizing  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  the  northwest  angle  of  Nova  Scotia,  of  the 
uorthwesternmost  head  of  Connecticut  River,  and  of  such  other  points  of  the  said  boundary  as  they  may  deem  proper. 
And  both  parties  agree  to  consider  such  map  and  declaration  as  finally  and  conclusively  fixing  the  said  boundary.  And 
in  the  event  of  the  said  two  Commissioners  differing,  or  both  or  either  of  them  refusing,  declining,  or  willfully  omitting 
to  act,  such  reports,  declarations,  or  statements  shall  be  made  by  them,  or  either  of  them,  and  such  reference  to  a  friendly 
sovereign  or  state  shall  be  made,  in  all  respects,  as  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  article  is  contained,  and  in  as  full  a 
manner  as  if  the  same  was  herein  repeated. 

ARTICLE  THE  SIXTH. 

Whereas  by  the  former  treaty  of  peace  that  portion  of  the  boundary  of  the  United  States  from  the  point  where  the 
forty-fifth  degree  of  north  latitude  strikes  the  River  Iroquois  or  Cataraguy  to  Lake  Superior  was  declared  to  be  "along 
the  middle  of  said  river  into  Lake  Ontario,  through  the  middle  of  said  lake  until  it  strikes  the  communication  by  water 
between  that  lake  and  Lake  Erie,  thence  along  the  middle  of  said  communication  into  Lake  Erie,  through  the  middle  of 
said  lake  until  it  arrives  at  the  water  communication  into  Lake  Huron,  thence  through  the"  middle  of  said  lake  to  the 
water  communication  between  that  lake  and  Lake  Superior ;"  and  whereas  doubts  have  arisen  what  was  the  middle  of 
the  said  river,  lakes,  and  water  communications,  and  whether  certain  islands  lying  in  the  same  were  within  the  domin 
ions  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  or  of  the  United  States:  In  order,  therefore,  finally  to  decide  these  doubts,  they  shall  be 
referred  to  two  Commissioners,  to  be  appointed,  sworn,  and  authorized  to  act  exactly  in  the  manner  directed  with  re 
spect  to  those  mentioned  in  the  next  preceding  article,  unless  otherwise  specified  in  this  present  article.  The  said 
Commissioners  shall  meet,  in  the  first  instance,  at  Albany,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  shall  have  power  to  adjourn 
to  such  other  place  or  places  as  they  shall  think  fit.  The  said  Commissioners  shall,  by  a  report  or  declaration  under 
their  hands  and  seals,  designate  the  boundary  through  the  said  river,  lakes,  and  water  communications,  and  decide  to 
which  of  the  two  contracting  parties  the  several  islands  lying  within  the  said  river,  lakes,  and  water  communications 
do  respectively  belong,  in  conformity  with  the  true  intent  of  the  said  treaty  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty- 
three.  And  both  parties  agree  to  consider  such  designation  and  decision  as  final  and  conclusive.  And  in  the  event  of 
the  said  two  Commissioners  differing,  or  both  or  either  of  them  refusing,  declining,  or  willfully  omitting  to  act,  such 
reports,  declarations,  or  statements  shall  be  made  by  them,  or  either  of  them,  and  such  reference  to  a  friendly  sovereign 
or  state  shall  be  made,  in  all  respects,  as  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  article  is  contained,  and  in  as  full  a  manner  as 
if  the  same  was  herein  repeated. 

AKTIOXE  THE  SEVENTH. 

It  is  farther  agreed  that  the  said  two  last-mentioned  Commissioners,  after  they  shall  have  executed  the  duties  as 
signed  to  them  in  the  preceding  article,  shall  be,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized,  upon  their  oaths,  impartially  to  fix  and 
determine,  according  to  the  true  intent  of  the  said  treaty  of  peace  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three,  that 
part  of  the  boundary  between  the  dominions  of  the  two  powers  which  extends  from  the  water  communication  between 
Lake  Huron  and  Lake  Superior  to  the  most  northwestern  point  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  to  decide  to  which  of  the  two 
parties  the  several  islands  lying  in  the  lakes,  water  communications,  and  rivers  forming  the  said  boundary  do  respect 
ively  belong,  in  conformity  with  the  true  intent  of  the  said  treaty  of  peace  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty- 
three,  and  to  cause  such  parts  of  the  said  boundary  as  require  it  to  be  surveyed  and  marked.  The  said  Commissioners 
shall,  by  a  report  or  declaration  under  their  hands  and  seals,  designate  the  boundary  aforesaid,  state  their  decision  on  the 


APPENDIX.  1073 

points  thus  referred  to  them,  and  particularize  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  the  most  northwestern  point  of  the  Lake  of 
the  Woods,  and  of  such  other  parts  of  the  said  boundary  as  they  may  deem  proper.  And  both  parties  agree  to  consider 
such  designation  and  decision  as  final  and  conclusive.  And  in  the  event  of  the  said  two  Commissioners  differing,  or 
both  or  either  of  them  refusing,  declining,  or  willfully  omitting  to  act,  such  reports,  declarations,  or  statements  shall 
be  made  by  them,  or  either  of  them,  and  such  reference  to  a  friendly  sovereign  or  state  shall  be  made,  in  all  respects, 
as  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  article  is  contained,  and  in  as  full  a  manner  as  if  the  same  >was  herein  repeated. 

AETICLE  THE  EIGHTH. 

The  several  boards  of  two  Commissioners  mentioned  in  the  four  preceding  articles  shall  respectively  have  power  to 
appoint  a  secretary,  and  to  employ  such  surveyors,  or  other  persons,  as  they  shall  judge  necessary.  Duplicates  of  all 
their  respective  reports,  declarations,  statements,  and  decisions,  and  of  their  accounts,  and  of  the  journal  of  their  pro 
ceedings,  shall  be  delivered  by  them  to  the  agents  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  and  to  the  agents  of  the  United  States,  who 
may  be  respectively  appointed  and  authorized  to  manage  the  business  on  behalf  of  their  respective  governments.  The 
said  Commissioners  shall  be  respectively  paid  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  agreed  between  the  two  contracting  parties, 
such  agreement  being  to  be  settled  at  the  time  of  the  exchange  of  the  ratification  of  this  treaty.  And  all  other  ex 
penses  attending  the  said  Commissioners  shall  be  defrayed  equally  by  the  two  parties.  And  in  the  case  of  death,  sick 
ness,  resignation,  or  necessary  absence,  the  place  of  every  such  Commissioner  respectively  shall  be  supplied  in  the  same 
manner  as  such  Commissioner  was  first  appointed,  and  the  new  Commissioner  shall  take  the  same  oath  or  affirmatlpn, 
and  do  the  same  duties.  It  is  farther  agreed  between  the  two  contracting  parties  that  in  case  any  of  the  islands  men 
tioned  in  any  of  the  preceding  articles  which  were  in  the  possession  of  one  oi  the  parties  prior  to  the  commencement  of 
the  present  war  between  the  two  countries  should,  by  the  decision  of  any  of  the  boards  of  Commissioners  aforesaid,  or  of 
the  sovereign  or  state  so  referred  to,  as  in  the  four  next  preceding  articles  contained,  fall  within  the  dominions  of  the 
other  party,  all  grants  of  land  made  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  war  by  the  party  having  had  such  possession 
shall  be  as  valid  as  if  such  island  or  islands  had  by  such  decision  or  decisions  been  adjudged  to  be  within  the  domin 
ions  of  the  party  having  had  such  possession. 

ARTICLE  THE  NINTH. 

The  United  States  of  America  engage  to  put  an  end,  immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty,  to  hostili 
ties  with  all  the  tribes  or  nations  of  Indians  with  whom  they  may  be  at  war  at  the  time  of  such  ratification,  and  forth 
with  to  restore  to  such  tribes  or  nations  respectively  all  the  possessions,  rights,  and  privileges  which  they  may  have 
enjoyed  or  been  entitled  to  in  1811,  previous  to  such  hostilities :  Provided  always,  that  such  tribes  or  nations  shall  agree 
to  desist  from  all  hostilities  against  the  United  States  of  America,  their  citizens  and  subjects,  upon  the  ratification  of 
the  present  treaty  being  notified  to  such  tribes  or  nations,  and  shall  so  desist  accordingly.  And  His  Britannic  Majesty 
engages,  on  his  part,  to  put  an  end,  immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty,  to  hostilities  with  all  the 
tribes  or  nations  of  Indians  with  whom  he  may  be  at  war  at  the  time  of  such  ratification,  and  forthwith  to  restore  to 
such  tribes  or  nations  respectively  all  the  possessions,  rights,  and  privileges  which  they  may  have  enjoyed  or  been  en 
titled  to  in  1S11,  previous  to  such  hostilities :  Provided  always,  that  such  tribes  or  nations  shall  agree  to  desist  from  all 
hostilities  against  His  Britannic  Majesty  and  his  subjects  upon  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty  being  notified  to 
such  tribes  or  nations,  and  shall  so  desist  accordingly. 

ARTICLE  THE  TENTH. 

Whereas  the  traffic  in  slaves  is  irreconcilable  with  the  principles  of  humanity  and  justice,  and  whereas  both  His 
Majesty  and  the  United  States  are  desirous  of  continuing  their  efforts  to  promote  its  entire  abolition,  it  is  hereby  agreed 
that  both  the  contracting  parties  shall  use  their  best  endeavors  to  accomplish  so  desirable  an  object, 

AETICLE  THE  ELEVENTH. 

This  treaty,  when  the  same  shall  have  been  ratified  on  both  sides,  without  alteration  by  either  of  the  contracting 
parties,  and  the  ratifications  mutually  exchanged,  shall  be  binding  on  both  parties,  and  the  ratifications  shall  be  ex 
changed  at  Washington  in  the  space  of  four  months  from  this  day,  or  sooner  if  practicable. 

In  faith  whereof,  we,  the  respective  plenipotentiaries,  have  signed  this  treaty,  and  have  hereunto  affixed  our  seals. 

Done  in  triplicate,  at  Ghent,  the  twenty-fourth  (24th)  day  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fourteen. 

[L.S.]  GAMBIER. 

[L.S.]  HENBT  GOTTLBITRN. 

[L.S.]  WILLIAM  ADAMS. 

[L.S.]  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 

[L.S.]  J.  A.  BAYAKD. 

[L.S.]  H.  CLAY. 

[L.S.]  JONATHAN  RUSSELL. 

[L.S.]  ALBERT  GALLATIN. 


3  Y 


INDEX. 


Academy,  Military,  West  Point,  235. 

ADAIR,  JOHN,  130 ;  sketch  of,  544, 1041, 1045. 

Adams  and  Liberty,  origin  of,  9T. 

ADAMS,  JOHN,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  England,  19,  24; 
elected  Vice-President,  33 ;  diners  from  Jefferson,  68 ;  his 
opinions  on  government,  70 ;  proposed  as  second  Presi- 


own  party,  106;  traits  of  character  of,  106;  dismisses  Pick 
ering  and  M'Henry  from  his  cabinet,  108. 

ADAMS,  JOHN  QCINCY,  becomes  a  Democrat,  1C1 ;  votes  for 
the  embargo,  162,  783,  780 ;  sketch  of,  1059 ;  peace  com 
missioner,  1060. 

ADAMS,  WILLIAM  E.,  776. 

Adena,  visit  to,  568 ;  description  of,  569. 

Administration,  war  against,  151. 

Africa,  Northern,  march  across,  125. 

Affairs,  Civil,  in  1813,  783. 

AKIN,  LEMUEL,  Captain,  913. 

Alabama,  General  Coffee  in,  759. 

Albany,  reception  of  the  first  captured  flag  there,  376, 

ALBERT,  PHILIP,  761. 

Alexandria,  plundering  of,  940. 

Algiers,  Dey  of,  tribute  to,  91 ;  he  is  humbled,  118. 

Algiers,  difficulties  with,  89;  lets  corsairs  loose  on  United 
States  commerce,  89 ;  pride  and  avarice  of  the  dey,  90 ; 
captives,  release  of,  91. 

Allegiance,  attempt  to  seduce  the  soldiers  from  their,  658. 

ALLEN,  WILLIAM  HENRY,  commander  of  the  Aryus,  714; 
death  of,  716 ;  monument  to,  716 ;  sketch  of,  716. 

ALLEN,  HOBATIO,  engineer,  213. 

ALMY,  THOMAS  C.,  sketch  of,  529. 

Amelia,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1007. 

American  Seamen,  British  impressment  of,  85, 142, 144,  247. 

American  Commerce,  effects  of  difficulties  with  Algiers,  89 ; 
effect  of  Milan  decree  on,  154. 

Americans,  their  indignation  against  the  French  Directory, 
96 ;  their  prowess  respected,  699. 

American  Ships,  seizure  of,  153. 

American  Waters,  British  cruisers  in,  154 ;  British  vessels 
ordered  to  leave,  159. 

American  Harbors,  preparations  to  defend,  159. 

American  Privateering,  effects  of,  994 ;  effect  on  British  com 
merce,  1006. 

America,  the  prosperity  of  her  commerce,  130 ;  the  only 
neutral  power,  152. 

Amherstburrj,  vicinity  of,  299 ;  Harrison's  army  at,  547. 

ANDERSON,  ALEXANDER,  engraver,  785. 

ANDERSON,  ROBERT,  680. 

ANGUS,  SAMUEL,  Lieutenant,  428. 

Annapolis,  Convention  at,  26  ;  naval  monument  at,  124. 

APPLING,  DANIEL,  sketch  of,  800. 

ARCHER,  SAMUEL  B.,  sketch  of,  602. 

Argiis  goes  to  France,  715 ;  her  destruction  of  property 
there,  715;  her  combat  with  the  Pelican,  715;  surrender 
of,  716. 

Ariel,  the  pilot  of  the,  538. 

ARMISTEAD,  GEORGE,  General,  955 ;  honors  to,  960 ;  sketch 
of,  960. 

Armistice,  1812,  247 ;  effects  of,  383. 

ARMSTRONG,  JOHN,  American  minister  to  France,  162;  Sec 
retary  of  War,  472  ;  interferes  with  Harrison's  plans,  475 ; 
his  treatment  of  Harrison,  563  ;  his  interview  with  Wil 
kinson,  630 ;  visits  the  frontier,  632 ;  at  Sackett's  Harbor, 
638 ;  sketch  of,  1011. 

ARMSTRONG,  ROBERT,  Lieutenant,  death  of,  7i5. 

Army  (British)  in  Canada,  234;  indications  of  advance  of, 

Army  (United  States),  augmentation  of,  217;  volunteers  for, 
321-  difficulties  of  transportation  of,  339;  divisions  in 
Northwest,  340;  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  383;  officers 
killed  and  wounded  of,  395;  measures  for  strengthening 
the,  467  ;  character  of  the  chief  leaders  of,  655 ;  provision 
for  the  increase  of,  787;  reduction  of,  1068. 

ARSDALE,  JOHN  VAN,  17. 

ARTOIS,  COUNT  D',  60. 

Asp,  capture  of,  714. 

Assembly,  National,  of  France,  60. 

AUSTILL,  JEREMIAH,  761;  fights  with  Dale,  iiO;  sketch  of, 
771. 

Auttose,  battle  of,  768. 


BABIE,  FRANCIS,  Colonel,  262. 

BACKUS,  ELECTUS,  sketch  of,  611. 

Bacon  Tree,  911. 

BAILEY,  DIXON,  755. 

BAINBRIDGE,  W.,  Commodore,  goes  to  Algiers,  117:  com 
mands  the  squadron,  458 ;  sketch  of,  459 ;  honors  to,  462  ; 
medal  to,  463 ;  a  search  for,  722. 

BALL,  Colonel,  his  fight  with  Indians,  500. 

Baltimore,  riot  in,  243 ;  menaced  by  the  British,  944 ;  prep 
arations  for  the  defense  of,  948;  fortifications  at,  941); 
Battle  Monument  in,  961 ;  a  visit  to,  961. 

BANCROFT,  GEORGE,  oration  by,  540. 

Banrjor,  British  march  on,  900 ;  destruction  of  vessels,  901  • 
plundering  at,  901 ;  journey  to,  911. 

Banking  Capital  of  United  States,  65. 

Barataria  Ban,  outlaws  at,  101S. 

llarbary  Coast,  abandonment  of,  119. 

Barbary  Powers,  tribute  to  the,  116 ;  they  are  humbled,  125. 

BARING,  ALEXANDEB,  164 ;  his  Inquiry,  and  its  effect,  169. 

BARKER,  JACOB,  sketch  of,  938.      » 

BARLOW,  JOEL,  94 ;  sent  minister  to  France,  225 ;  action  on 
Milan  and  Berlin  decrees,  245;  residence  of,  942. 

BARNEY,  JOSHUA,  Commodore,  flotilla  of,  920;  destruction 
of,  9-21;  gallant  defense  of  Washington,  930;  wounded 
and  taken  prisoner,  931 ;  sketch  of,  931 ;  in  the  Chesa 
peake,  982. 

BARRIE,  ROBERT,  commander  of  the  Harmony,  898. 

BARRON,  JAMES,  Commodore,  in  Mediterranean,  124;  com 
mands  the  Chesapeake,  156, 157 ;  sketch  of,  159  ;  hia  pun 
ishment,  159 ;  daughter  of,  688 ;  duel  of,  942. 

BARRON,  JOSEPH,  mission  of,  191. 

BARRY,  JOHN,  commander  of  frigate  United  States,  101. 

Batavia,  Veterans  of  the  War  of  1812  there,  570. 

Battery,  proposed  revolving,  974. 

Battle,  first  of  the  war,  264. 

Baton  Rouye,  738. 

Hostile,  destruction  of,  61. 

BAYARD,  JAMES  A.,  783,  786;  peace  commissioner,  1060; 
sketch  of,  1060. 

BAYLIES,  HODHAH,  1016. 

Bayonne  Decree,  170. 

BEALL,  REAZIN,  sketch  of,  343. 

BEASLEY,  DANIEL,  Major,  752. 

Beaver  Dams,  flight  of  the  British  to,  600;  expedition 
against,  620 ;  battle  of,  620 ;  a  visit  to  the  battle-ground 
of,  683. 

BECKWITII,  GENERAL  SIR  SIDNEY,  676 ;  head-quarters  of,  683. 

Beekmantown,  skirmish  at,  861,  862;  ride  through,  881. 

BELKNAP,  WILLIAM  GOLDSMITH,  Major,  sketch  of,  838. 

BELDCIIE,  1037. 

Belvidere,  chase  of  the,  435.      • 

BENEDICT,  J.  B.,  Colonel,  ordered  to  guard  the  frontier,  367. 

BENTON,  THOMAS  H.,  742. 

BERESFORD,  J.  P.,  captain  of  the  Poictiers,  451. 

BERKELEY,  BISHOP,  34. 

Berlin  Decree,  issue  of,  150,  152 ;  revocation  of,  179 ;  unre- 
pealed,  225. 

BIDDLE,  JAMES  S.,  U.  S.  N.,  453 ;  captain  of  Hornet,  990 ;  hon 
ors  to,  991 ;  sketch  of,  991 ;  medal  to,  991. 

BIDDLE,  THOMAS,  Captain,  wounded,  823. 

BIGELOW,  THOMAS,  1016. 

Big  Sandy  Creek,  Woolsey  at,  799 ;  British  in  pursuit,  799  ; 
battle  at,  800;  the  British  defeated,  800. 

BINCIIAM,  A.  B.,  commander  of  the  Little  Belt,  184. 

BIRD,  JAMES,  execution  of,  543. 

BISSELL,  D.,  appointed  brigadier  general,  792 ;  victory  at 
Lyon's  Creek,  845, 857. 

BIBSIIOPP,  CECIL,  428 ;  death  of,  628. 

BLACK  HOOF,  Shawuoese  chief,  545. 

Black  Rock,  residence  of  Peter  B.  Porter,  426 ;  attacked  by 
the  British,  426;  expedition  against,  627;  repulse  of  the 
British,  627 ;  the  British  at,  635 ;  bad  conduct  of  the  mili 
tia  at,  636 ;  battle  near,  636 ;  Americans  repulsed,  637 ; 
destruction  of,  657 :  British  attack,  830. 

Bladensburg,  battle-line  formed  near,  924;  the  field  of  ac 
tion,  926;  arrangements  for  battle  near,  927;  dueling- 
ground  of,  928 ;  battle  of,  930 ;  defeat  of,  937 ;  visit  to  bat 
tle-ground  of,  941. 

BLAKE,  GENERAL,  much  censured,  902. 

BLAKELEY,  JOHNSTON,  Captain,  commander  of  the  Wasp, 
979 ;  sketch  of,  980. 

BLENNERHASSETT,  HARMAN,  his  home,  136. 


1076 


INDEX. 


BI.IBB,  GEORGE,  1016. 

Blockade  of  the  European  coast,  151 ;  paper,  151 ;  proclama 
tion  of,  1000. 

Block-house  erected  in  1812,  GOT. 

BLONDIN  at  Niagara,  828. 

Bloody  Run,  tight  of,  301 ;  origin  of  the  name,  301. 

BLOOMFIELD,  JOSEPH,  Brigadier  General,  039. 

BLUE  JACKET,  chief  of  the  Shawnoese,  46,  47. 

BLYTUE,  SAMUEL,  commander  of  the  Boxer,  71T ;  death  and 
funeral  of,  718. 

BCERSTLER,  CHAELES  G.,  sketch  of,  620 ;  his  command  cap 
tured,  621. 

BONAPARTE,  NAPOLEON,  victories  in  Italy,  93  ;  victories  of, 
on  the  Danube,  95;  made  first  consul,  100;  makes  friend 
of  George  III.,  113  ;  his  achievements,  112  ;  his  influence 
in  Europe,  112 ;  his  insolence  toward  the  English,  126 ; 
declared  consul  for  life,  126 ;  proclaimed  emperor,  128 ; 
Berlin  Decree,  129 ;  gives  England  a  naval  rival,  133  ;  sells 
Louisiana,  133 ;  seizes  Hanover,  151 ;  adheres  to  Conti 
nental  System,  152  ;  Milan  Decree,  154 ;  in  Spain,  170  ; 
Armstrong  letter,  178 ;  seizes  American  vessels,  179 ;  his 
march  toward  Moscow,  233  ;  in  Spain,  465 ;  invades  Rus 
sia,  470  ;  disasters  in  Russia,  471 ;  humbled,  786 ;  abdi 
cates  the  throne,  854 ;  retires  to  Elba,  855. 

BOONE,  DANIEL,  grave  of,  1056. 

Jjorgne,  Lake,  British  prepare  to  fight  at,  1025. 

Borodino,  battle  of,  465. 

notion,  reception  of  Hull,  445;  expected  attack,  891 ;  alarm 
in,  892;  preparations  for  defense,  892;  journey  to,  908; 
privateers  from,  997 ;  the  centre  of  illicit  trade,  1008 ; 
bankers  of,  1010. 

BOSWELL,  WILLIAM  E.,  Colonel,  in  command  of  the  boats, 
487. 

BOUCUETTE,  JOSEPH,  his  account  of  Sackett's  Harbor,  C14. 

Bowyer,  Fort,  attack  on,  1021. 

BOYD,  JOHN  P.,  Colonel,  194. 

BOYLE,  JAMES  A.,  Captain,  795. 

BRADY,  HUGH,  Colonel,  sketch  of,  822. 

Brantford,  town  of,  420 ;  departure  for,  625. 

BRANT,  JOHN,  sketch  of,  401 ;  tomb  of  the  family  of,  424 

BREEBE,  SAMUEL  L.,  Commodore,  statement  of,  867. 

.British  officials,  interference  of,  51 ;  hostile  intentions  of, 
52 ;  alliance  with  Indians,  52 ;  humbled,  55 ;  holding  pos 
session  of  Western  military  posts,  59 ;  government,  dis 
courtesy  of,  63 ;  Orders  in  Council,  84;  armed  neutrality, 
84 ;  interference  of,  89 ;  outrages  of,  on  American  flag, 
102;  merchants,  their  jealousy,  138;  their  perfidy  defend 
ed  by  English  writers,  139  ;  cruisers,  depredations  of,  140, 
141 ;  refuse  to  listen  to  remonstrance,  145 ;  ministry, 
change  of,  149 ;  cruisers  in  American  waters,  154 ;  ships, 
deserters  from,  155 ;  their  surrender  refused,  156-158 ;  ves 
sels  ordered  to  leave  American  waters,  159 ;  government, 
reparation  demanded  of,  160 ;  provinces,  enlistments  in, 
245 ;  government,  haughty  assumption  of,  247 ;  letters  of 
marque  and  reprisal,  248  ;  officers  in  Canada,  259  ;  their 
employment  of  Indians,  271 ;  force  of,  279 ;  defeat  of, 
at  Maguaga,  280 ;  commanders  purchase  scalps,  310 ; 
ashamed  to  call  Indians  their  allies,  359;  vessels,  seizure 
of,  on  Lake  Ontario,  367 ;  their  violation  of  neutrality, 
370 ;  squadron  at  Halifax,  436 ;  Indians  cross  the  Mau- 
mee,  483 ;  effects  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie  on  the,  536  ; 
they  fly  to  Beaver  Dams  and  Burlington  Heights,  600 ; 
they  destroy  their  own  property,  601 ;  at  La  Colle,  repulse 
of,  640  ;  number  and  position  of,  650 ;  they  resolve  on  vig 
orous  war,  667 ;  strengthen  their  blockading  force,  675 ; 
at  La  Colle,  790 ;  battle  of  the  Chippewa,  810  ;  at  Lundy's 
Lane,  816 ;  their  line  of  Uattle,  818 ;  repulsed  at  Otter 
Creek,  856 ;  at  Champlain,  859 ;  Beekmautown,  their  loss 
at,  863;  lose  command  of  Lake  Champlain,  874:  officers, 

graves  of,  879  ;  capture  Eastport,  890  ;  leave  Penobscot 
ay,  903,  904;  move  on  Washington,  923;  advance  on 
Bladensburg,  925 ;  they  want  an  excuse  to  burn  Wash 
ington,  932 ;  enter  Washington  and  destroy  public  build 
ings,  933;  their  barbarities  condemned  by  their  country 
men,  934;  invasion,  original  object  of,  936;  retreat  from 
Washington,  937  ;  appear  before  Fort  Washington,  939  ; 
in  Chesapeake  Bay.  944,  946 ;  repulse  of,  at  Baltimore, 
946;  land  at  North  Point,  950;  fleet  of,  approaches  Balti 
more,  954, 958,  959 ;  repulsed  at  Fort  Bowyer,  1021 ;  arrive 
at  New  Orleans,  1025 ;  defeated  there,  1049. 

BROADNAX,  JOHN,  776. 

BROCK,  General,  energy  and  vigilance  of,  273,  274;  before 
the  Canadian  Legislature,  275;  influence  of,  275;  procla 
mation  of,  275;  proceeds  to  Fort  Maiden,  283  ;  pecuniary 
aid  for,  283 ;  knighted,  292 ;  offers  amnesty  to  Indians, 
284 ;  at  Fort  George,  397 ;  hastens  toward  Queeuston, 
398;  attacks  Wool,  390;  death  of,  398;  funeral  honors  to, 
405, 406 ;  his  monument,  414 ;  the  place  where  he  fell,  416. 

Brockville  and  its  vicinity,  576. 

BROKE,  PHILIP  BOWES  VERB,  captain  of  the  Shannon,  705; 
gallantry  of,  707 ;  sketch  of,  709 ;  honors  to,  710. 

BRONSON,  ALVIN,  his  captivity  and  release,  797. 

BROOKS,  JOHN,  Lieutenant,  sketch  of,  5'25. 

BROUGHAM,  HENRY,  M.P.,  169. 

BROUSE,  PETER,  survivor  of  the  battle  of  Chrysler's  Farm, 
666. 

Brown,  Fort,  Ruins  of,  875. 

BEOWN,  JACOB,  General,  607 ;  his  position,  608 ;  assumes 


command  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  60S;  a  visit  to  the  widow 
of,  617 ;  his  residence  at  Brownsville,  618 ;  carries  flotilla 
past  Prescott  in  the  night,  650 ;  invades  Canada,  651 ;  be 
comes  general-in-chief,  792  ;  moves  toward  Niagara,  793 ; 
expects  the  co-operation  of  Chauncey,  813  ;  advances  to 
Fort  George,  814  ;  falls  back  to  Chippewa,  815 ;  wounded, 
823  ;  indignation  of,  829  ;  orders  the  army  to  Lake  Erie, 
829  ;  resumes  command  of  the  army,  836 ;  determines  to 
make  a  sortie,  837 ;  honors  awarded  to,  841 ;  the  freedom 
of  the  city  of  New  York  conferred  on,  841 ;  medal  award 
ed  by  Congress,  841. 

BEOWN,  RicuAED,  Captain,  762. 

BEOWN,  SAMUEL  R.,  532. 

BROWNE,  BENJAMIN  F.,  survivor  of  Dartmoor  Prison,  908. 

BRUSH,  Captain,  escort  sent  for,  285. 

BRYANT,  WILLIAM  CULLEN,  writes  on  the  Embargo,  164 ;  his 
ode,  232. 

BUCK-ONG-A-HELAB,  chief  of  the  Delawares,  46, 47. 

BUDD,  GEORGE,  711. 

Buffalo  in  1812,  379  ;  heavy  force  there,  427  ;  New  York  mi 
litia  at,  635 ;  destruction  of,  637 ;  survivors  of  1812  there, 
847. 

Bunker  Hill  Monument,  visit  to,  804. 

BURHECK,  II.,  Colonel,  sketch  of,  694. 

BUEGOYNE,  SIR  JOHN,  1039. 

BUEKE,  EDMUND,  reflections  of,  on  the  French  Revolution, 
69. 

Burlington  Heights,  flight  of  the  British  to,  600  ;  expedition 
to,  628. 

Burnt  Corn  Creek,  battle  of,  749. 

BURR,  AARON,  Vice-President,  108  ;  his  duel  with  Hamilton, 
135 ;  his  scheme  for  his  own  profit,  136 ;  deceives  Jackson 
and  Adair,  136 ;  is  suspected  of  treason,  137 ;  his  arrest 
and  trial,  137 ;  his  exile,  137  ;  acquittal  of,  162. 

BURROWS,  WILLIAM,  commander  of  the  Enterprise,  717 ; 
sketch  of,  718 ;  funeral  of,  719  ;  medal  awarded  to,  719. 

BYRON,  SIR  RICHARD,  captain  of  the  Helvidera,  435. 

Cabinet,  changes  in,  472, 1011. 

CAUOT,  GEORGE,  1016. 

Cadet's  Gray,  origin  of,  806. 

CAHOON,  REUBEN,  survivor  of  1812,  906. 

Calabee  River,  battle  at  the,  776. 

CALDWELL,  SAMUEL,  sketch  of,  552. 

Caledonia,  the  affair  of,  386,  387. 

CALHOUN,  JOHN  C.,  sketch  of,  215 ;  his  reply  to  Randolph, 
216 ;  his  report  on  the  causes  of  the  war,  226 ;  in  Com 
mittee  on  Foreign  Relations,  468. 

Campaign,  the  plan  of,  251. 

CAMPBELL,  GEORGE  W.,  of  Tennessee,  1011. 

CAMPBELL,  HUGH  G.,  Commodore,  740. 

CAMPBELL,  JAMES,  664. 

CAMPBELL,  JOHN  B.,  his  expedition  to  the  Mississiniwa, 
346;  attack  on  his  camp,  347;  distressing  retreat  to 
Greenville,  347.  • 

Canada,  people  very  unhappy  about  war,  244 ;  address  to 
the  Legislature  of,  244 ;  British  officers  in,  259 ;  impa 
tience  of  United  States  army  to  invade,  260 ;  flrst  inva 
sion  of,  262;  symptoms  of  disloyalty  in,  275;  boundary- 
line  of,  379 ;  second  attempt  to  invade,  393 ;  opposition 
to  invaders,  395 ;  third  invasion,  427, 429 ;  invasion  aban 
doned,  431 ;  arrangement  for  fourth  invasion  of,  544 ;  re 
bellion  in,  582;  an  American  steamer  seized  for  the  benefit 
of  the  rebels,  583  ;  siege  of  a  garrisoned  wind-mill,  583  ; 
fate  of  captured  patriots,  584 ;  plans  for  a  fifth  invasion 
of,  585,  803,  804;  abandoned  by  the  Americans,  846;  ex 
pedition  of  Captain  Holmes  into,  849,  857,  875. 

CANNING,  GEORGE,  151 ;  British  minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
158 ;  his  offensive  letter  to  the  American  minister,  171. 

Canoe  Fight,  the,  769,  770,  771. 

CARAMALLI,  HAMET,  alliance  with,  125. 

CARDEN,  JOHN  S.,  captain  of  the  Macedonian,  sketch  of,  455, 
456. 

Carleton  Island,  a  visit  to,  remains  of  fortifications,  659 ;  in 
teresting  relics,  660. 

Carmagnole  sung  in  New  York,  81. 

Carolina,  Northwestern,  revolt  of,  24. 

Carolina,  destruction  of  the,  1035. 

Caroline,  destruction  of  the,  380. 

CAKR,  ROBERT,  sketch  of,  640. 

Cascade  Creek,  block-house  near,  511. 

CABS,  LEWIS,  Colonel,  26->,  263,  264;  writes  energetic  letter 
to  the  government,  282 ;  crosses  the  Rouge,  285 ;  goes  to 
Washington,  292;  his  statement  of  the  surrender  of  De 
troit,  293 ;  sketch  of,  293 ;  appointed  military  governor 
of  Michigan,  559. 

CABSIN,  STEPHEN,  commander  of  the  Ticonderoga,  886 ;  re 
ceives  medal,  868 ;  sketch  of,  869. 

Castalian  Springs,  a  ride  to,  505 ;  appearance  of,  506. 

Castine,  flight  of  Americans  from,  898;  during  the  Revolu 
tion,  902  ;  new  military  works  at,  903  ;  voyage  to,  908  ; 
mementoes  of  war  at,  909 ;  remains  of  fortifications  near, 
910. 

CASTLEREAGH,  Lord,  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  233. 

Clialmette,  plantation  of,  battle  near,  1037 ;  British  repulsed, 
1038. 

CUAMPAGNY,  M.  DE,  French  minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  153, 
178, 179. 


I  N  D  E  X. 


1077 


Champlain,  Lake,  preparations  on,  789 ;  struggle  for  the 
control  of,  856  ;  battle  of,  860,  867,  870 ;  American  victory 
complete,  871 ;  end  of  the  battle  of,  873. 

CHAMPLIN,  STEPHEN,  Commodore,  sketch  of,  523,  846,  851. 

CHANDLER,  Jonx,  General,  sketch  of,  003  ;  capture  of,  004. 

CHANNING,  WILLIAM  ELLERY,  discourse  of,  232. 

CHAPMAN,  JOHN,  survivor  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  527. 

Charlestown,  navy  yard  at,  905. 

Chasseur  privateer,  cruise  of  the,  999. 

Chatham,  American  troops  at,  549 ;  visit  to,  561. 

CHAUNCEY,  ISAAC,  created  commander-in-chief  of  the  navy 
on  the  lakes,  370 ;  his  first  cruise,  371 ;  captures  three 
merchant  vessels,  372;  and  Perry,  relations  of,  514;  on 
Lake  Ontario,  585 ;  sails  for  Sackett's  Harbor,  601 ;  tries 
to  engage  Sir  James  Yeo,  643 ;  the  British  commander 
avoids  a  conflict,  643 ;  sickness  of,  815 ;  kept  from  active 
service,  884 ;  his  squadron  leaves  Sackett's  Harbor,  885 ; 
tries  to  draw  out  Yeo,  880 ;  sketch  of,  880 ;  calls  for  mili 
tia,  887. 

Chesapeake,  United  States  frigate,  watched  by  the  British 
squadron,  156 ;  she  is  boarded,  157  ;  fired  into  by  the  Leo 
pard,  157 ;  surrender  of  the,  158 ;  cruise  of  the,  701 ;  Law 
rence  in  command  of  the,  701 ;  condition  of  the,  704;  fight 
with  the  Shannon,  705 ;  capture  of  the,  707. 

Chesapeake  Bay,  blockade  of,  667 ;  British  appear  in,  920 ; 
blockade  of,  982 ;  stirring  scenes  in,  714. 

Chicago,  journey  from,  297  ;  its  name,  settlement,  and  posi 
tion,  302 ;  garrison  at,  303 ;  order  for  the  evacuation  of, 
305 ;  massacre  at,  survivors,  311 ;  block-house  at,  312  • 
great  growth  of,  312,  313. 

Chickasaws,  747. 

Chillicothe,  destruction  of,  41 ;  description  of,  567. 

Chippewa,  Fort,  doomed  to  destruction,  601. 

Chippewa,  battle  of  the,  809;  charge  of  the  Eleventh  Regi 
ment  at,  810 ;  British  position  at,  811 ;  the  Americans  fall 
back,  811 ;  sketches  of  subordinate  officers  at  the,  812. 813, 
814,  823. 

Choctaws,  747;  pacification  of  the,  752;  the  allies  of  the,  762, 
777. 

CHRISTY,  WILLIAM,  sketch  of,  483. 

Chrifsler's  Farm,  preparations  for  battle  at,  651 ;  position 
of  the  British  at,  652  ;  battle  of,  053  ;  visit  to  the  battle 
ground  of,  666. 

CHRYBTIE,  JOHN,  Colonel,  392  ;  he  takes  Wool's  place,  401. 

CHUBOH,  DANIEL  W.,  Adjutant,  encounters  the  enemy  near 
Toussaint  Island,  373  ;  sketch  of,  578. 

Cincinnati  in  1S12,  476 ;  a  visit  to,  569. 

Circleville,  567. 

CLAIHORNE,  F,  L.,  Major,  in  the  Creek  country,  750;  his 
anxiety  about  the  settlers,  752 ;  sends  Kennedy  to  Fort 
Minis,  757;  ordered  to  the  Creek  country,  769;  deter 
mines  to  penetrate  it,  771 ;  traverses  Creek  country,  772. 

Claiborne,  Fort,  construction  of,  771. 

CLARK,  ISAAC,  790. 

CLAY,  GREEN,  General,  brigade  of,  476 ;  moves  down  the 
Maumee,  485 ;  his  encounter  with  the  Indians,  487. 

CLAY,  HENRY,  appointed  to  fill  the  vacant  seat  of  General 
John  Adair,  161 ;  chosen  speaker,  210 ;  advocates  war, 
223  ;  opposition  to  J.  Quincy,  466  ;  second  time  chosen 
speaker,  783,  786 ;  tomb  of,  1055 ;  monument  to,  1056  ; 
peace  commissioner,  1060;  sketch  of,  1060. 

CLAY,  LDCRETIA  HART,  sketch  of,  1058. 

Clayton,  visit  to,  004. 

Cleveland,  Ohio  troops  welcomed  to,  342 ;  journey  to,  536. 

CLINCH,  DUNCAN  L.,  sketch  of,  917. 

CLINTON,  DE  WITT,  226 ;  mayor  of  New  York,  842. 

CLINTON,  GEORGE,  Vice-President,  169 ;  nominated  for  Vice- 
President,  225 ;  his  death  and  tomb,  226. 

COCHRANE,  SIR  ALEXANDER,  commander  of  the  British 
squadron,  920. 

O 


in  the  Potomac  and  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  689  ; 
anchors  off  Ocracoke  Inlet,  6S9  ;  on  the  coast  of  Georgia, 


Hillabee  town,  707 ;  massacre  of  its  people,  767. 
COFFEE,  JOHN,  in  Northern  Alabama,  759  ;  sketch  of,  1043. 
COLES,  J.  A.,  653. 

Colonists,  British,  supposed  republican  proclivities  of,  214. 
Columbus,  city  of,  566. 
COMRS,  LESLIE,  sufferings  of,  350 ;  commissioned  captain  of 

spies,  480 ;  sketch  of,  480 ;  his  voyage  down  the  Maumee, 

481 ;  is  attacked  by  Indians,  481. 
Comet,  privateer,  cruise  of,  998,  999. 
Commerce,  cotton  king  of,  175. 
Commissioners,  Peace,  list  of,  471. 

Committee,  report  of,  on  Foreign  Relations,  212,  213,  463. 
Confederation,  Articles  of,  19,  25 ;   ratified  by  the  several 

states,  33. 
Confiance,  capture  of  the,  869. 


arranges  the  executive  uepartm 

firm  nominations,  99 ;  action  on  the  death  of  Washing 


ton,  110;  Non-importation  Act  passed,  148;  enlarges 
army  and  navy,  167 ;  endeavors  to  find  supplies  for  the 
war,  230;  awards  vote  of  thanks  to  Elliott,  388  ;  author 
izes  retaliation,  409 ;  awards  gold  medal  to  Hull,  446 ; 
awards  gold  medal  to  Captain  Jones,  452 ;  to  Decatnr, 
458 ;  to  Bainbridge,  463 ;  silver  medals  to  his  officers,  463 ; 
plan  proposed  for  increasing  the  army,  465;  awards  gold 
medal  to  Croghau,  504;  to  Elliott,  535;  to  Perry,  535;  to 
Harrison,  557 ;  to  Lawrence,  700  ;  silver  medals  to  his  offi 
cers,  700;  to  Burrows  and  M'Call,  71!i ;  political  position 
of,  1813,  7S3 ;  finds  means  to  prosecute  the  war,  784,  787 ; 
gold  medal  awarded  to  James  Miller,  820 ;  to  Scott,  826  : 
to  Gaines,  835 ;  to  Brown,  841 ;  to  Porter  and  Ripley,  842 ; 
to  Henley  and  Cassin,  868 ;  to  Macomb,  878  ;  to  Macdon- 
ough,  878  ;  authorizes  a  floating  battery,  976 ;  gold  medal 
to  Biddle,  991 ;  to  Stewart,  9S5  ;  to  Jackson,  1052. 

Congressional  Burning-ground,  943. 

Connecticut,  governor  of,  refuses  to  comply  with  the  call  for 
troops,  243 ;  charter  of,  340 ;  blockade  of  the  coast  of, 
694 ;  local  militia  of,  094. 

Constellation  captures  L'lnsurgente,  103. 

Constitution,  L7nited  States,  ratification  of,  33  ;  amendments 
of,  59  ;  proposed  amendments  of,  1014. 

Constitution,  a,  granted  to  the  French  people,  67. 

Constitution,  frigate,  101 ;  named  "Old  Ironsides,"  437 ;  cruise 
of,  437  ;  escape  from  the  Guerriere,  438  ;  second  crui.-e 
of,  443 ;  fight  with  the  Guerriere,  443 ;  cruise  on  the  coast 
of  Brazil,  457 ;  battle  with  the  Java,  400 ;  arrival  at  Bos 
ton,  461 ;  figure-head  of  the,  905 ;  chased  into  Marble- 
head  Bay,  983 ;  battle  with  Cijane  and  Levant — she  cap 
tures  both,  984. 

Convention,  Hartford,  1013-1015 ;  sketches  of  members  of 
the,  1016. 

Convention  to  propose  making  Maine  into  a  state,  24 ;  con 
stitutional,  and  members  of,  27-33. 

Coosa  River,  cries  for  help  from  the  banks  of,  760 ;  Jackson 
at,  763. 

Council,  Orders  in,  United  States  vessels  excluded  from 
West  Indian  ports,  23;  modification  of  the,  170;  main 
tained,  179 ;  unrepealed,  225 ;  conditional  revocation  of 
the,  246. 

Council,  Grand,  of  Indians,  51. 

COVINGTON,  LEONARD,  General,  death  and  burial  of,  656. 

Covington,  Fort,  visit  to,  664 ;  veteran  soldiers  at,  665 ;  at 
tempt  to  seize,  956. 

CRAIG,  SIR  JAMES, governor  general  of  Canada,  220. 

CRANE,  WILLIAM  MONTGOMERY,  commander  of  the  Pike,  885 ; 
monument  to,  886. 

Craney  Island,  landing  of  the  British,  078 ;  a  sharp  conflict, 
079 ;  British  driven  Back,  680 ;  visit  to,  685 ;  fortifications 
on,  686. 

CRAWFORD,  W.  H.,  minister  to  France,  714. 

Crawfordsville,  198. 

CREAGH,  GKRRAHD  W.,  769. 

Credit,  public,  efforts  for  the  establishment  of,  64  ;  it  is  as 
sailed,  1(MI9. 

Creeks,  their  position,  747 ;  civil  war,  74S  ;  bravery  of  the, 
774-777 ;  defeated  at  the  battle  of  the  Horseshoe,  780 ; 
ruined,  782. 

Ci-i'fk  Country,  settlers  in,  750;  distress  in,  758;  affairs  in, 
761 ;  invaded  from  Georgia,  768-773. 

CRITTENDEN,  JOHN  J.,  sketch  of,  544. 

CROGHAN,  G.,  Major,  his  instructions,  499 ;  disobeys  orders, 
500 ;  his  report  to  Harrison,  504 ;  medal  presented  to, 
505 ;  reaches  Detroit,  857. 

CRUTCHFIELD,  STAPLETON,  Major,  680,  681,  682;  sends  dis 
patch  to  Governor  Barbour,  683;  takes  possession  of 
Hampton,  688. 

Culver's  Hill,  engagement  at,  862 ;  ride  over,  881 ;  battle 
ground  of,  882. 

Cumberland  Head,  light-house  at,  870 ;  visit  to,  882. 

CCMMINGS,  JAMES,  Colonel,  827. 

Currency,  paper,  20 ;  decimal,  adopted,  05 ;  paper,  in  France, 
74. 

CUYLER,  W.  HOWE,  sketch  of,  387. 

DACRES,  JAMES  RICHARD,  surrenders  to  Hull,  444. 

DALE,  RICHARD,  Commodore,  in  the  Mediterranean,  US; 
monument  to,  119. 

DALE,  SAMUEL,  courage  and  honor  of,  761 ;  prepares  for  act 
ive  operations,  767 ;  wins  a  victory,  770;  sketch  of,  771. 

DALLAS,  A.  J.,  sketch  of,  1011. 

DANA,  SAMUEL  W.,  162. 

DANK,  NATHAN,  1016. 

Danish  fleet  destroyed  at  Copenhagen,  113. 

Dartmoor,  prison  of,  1068 ;  outrages  on  prisoners  there,  1069. 

David  Porter,  privateer,  crnise  of,  1003. 

DAVIDSON,  JOHN,  928. 

DAVIDSON,  LUORF.TIA  MABIA,  child  poet,  grave  of,  884. 

DAVIEBS,  Major,  gallantry  of,  204;  death  of,  205;  life  and 
character  of,  207. 

DAVIS,  General,  mortally  wounded,  838. 

DAVIS,  8.  B.,  Colonel,  069. 

DAURMAN,  Captain,  270. 

Da>/ton  and  Sandusky,  country  between,  254. 

DEARBORN,  HENEY,  General,  appointed  commander-in-chief, 
249;  residence  of,  250 ;  signs  armistice,  293;  instructed  to 
make  demonstrations  on  the  frontier,  381 ;  on  Lake  On- 


1078 


tariq,  5S6 ;  at  Fort  Niagara,  597 ;  expedition  against  the 
British  at  Beaver  Dams,  620 ;  is  succeeded  by  Wilkinson, 
G29  ;  moves  into  Canada,  637  ;  end  of  expedition,  641. 

Debt  of  United  States,  1781,  20  ;  1S15, 1067. 

Decatur,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1002. 

DECATUR,  STEPHEN,  Commodore,  captures  Le  Croyable,  101 : 
gallantry  of,  121 ;  commander  of  the  United  States,  455, 
456 ;  victory  of,  457  ;  gold  medal  given  to,  458  ;  attempts 
to  run  the  blockade  of  New  York,  691 ;  finds  a  place  of 
safety,  692 ;  endeavors  to  get  to  sea,  095 ;  goes  to  sea  in 
the  President,  987 ;  sketch  of,  989 ;  duel  and  death  of,  942. 

De  Cou,  falls  of,  623. 

Decrees,  French,  proposed  revocation  of,  178. 

DE  LA  RONDE,  Colonel,  1030. 

Delaware  Bay,  patriotism  on  the  shores  of,  668 ;  blockade 
of,  667. 

Delawares,  expedition  against  the,  34G. 

Democrats,  their  tactics,  107 ;  their  confidence  in  Jefferson, 
161 ;  chief  leaders  of,  162. 

DENISON,  FREDERICK,  wounded,  895. 

DE  ROTTENBDRG,  Major  General,  590. 

DE  SALABERRY,  A.,  639. 

DESHA,  JOSEPH,  sketch  of,  552. 

Detroit  in  1812,  260 ;  sites  of  fortifications  in,  261 ;  British 
before,  282;  preparations  for  attacking,  284;  demand  for 
surrender  of,  286;  bombardment  of,  2S7,  288;  surrender 
of,  289 ;  effects  of  the  surrender,  290,  291 ;  disposal  of  the 
prisoners,  291 ;  British  occupation  of,  292 ;  a  Sunday  in, 
297 ;  besieged  by  Pontiac,  301 ;  citizens  of,  302 ;  surren 
der  of,  745;  expedition  leaves,  850. 

DITTRICK,  JAMES,  veteran  of  1812,  624. 

DOBBINS,  DANIEL,  sketch  of,  509. 

DODGE,  RICHARD,  Brigadier  General,  arrives  at  Watertown, 
New  York,  373. 

Dolphin,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1000. 

DONELSON,  A.,  Colonel,  775. 

Dorothea,  Danish  brig,  destruction  of,  240. 

DORSET,  Duke  of,  19. 

DOUGLASS,  DAVID  B.,  Lieutenant,  829,  831. 

DOWNES,  JOHN,  sketch  of,  725 ;  at  Valparaiso,  726. 

DRDMMOND,  GEOBGK  GORDON,  Lieutenant  General,  816,  SIS, 
819,  830. 

DUDLEY,  William,  486. 

Dupont,  Camp,  967. 

DYSON,  Captain,  blows  up  Fort  Washington,  939. 

EAGLE,  HENRY,  797. 

Eastport  captured  by  the  British,  1814, 890. 

ECKFOHD,  HENRY,  sketch  of,  615. 

Econochaca  in  ashes,  773. 

EIILE,  HARMON,  survivor  of  1812,  801. 

EI.DRIDGE,  JOSEPH  C.,  626. 

Election,  Presidential,  464. 

Electors,  method  of  choosing,  10S. 

Elizabethtown,  577. 

ELKSWATAWA,  Indian  prophet,  18S;  his  vision,  189;  his 
treachery,  203 :  disgrace  of,  206. 

ELLIOTT,  JESSE  D.,  Captain,  sent  to  Lake  Erie,  371,  3S5;  co 
operation  of  military  with,  3S5 ;  sketch  of,  387  ;  re-en 
forcements  under,  515 ;  strange  conduct  of,  525;  meeting 
with  Perry,  528  ;  medal  awarded  to,  535. 

ELLSWORTH,  OLIVER,  58. 

Elm  Grove,  cemetery  of,  914. 

Ehmvood,  cemetery  of,  301. 

ELY,  ALFRED,  Doctor,  800. 

Embargo,  the,  passed  in  Congress,  162  ;  effects  of,  163 ;  par 
ty  spirit  aroused  by,  163 ;  violations  of,  164,  165 ;  de 
nounced,  166  ;  infractions  of  172 ;  war  proclaimed  as  the 
alternative  to,  174;  repealed,  175;  proposed,  222;  pas 
sage  of,  223 ;  supplementary,  224  ;  opposition  to,  224 ;  a 
new  act  of,  785 ;  repealed,  786,  787. 

EMOTT,  JAMKS,  217. 

E'lMicfait,  battle  of,  774. 

England  refuses  to  be  just,  180 ;  a  regency  in,  233 ;  displays 
all  her  energy,  575. 

Enotocliopco  Creek,  battle  on,  775. 

Ensign,  British,  pulled  down,  17. 

Enterprise,  the,  cruise  of,  717 ;  her  conflict  with  the  Boxer — 
death  of  the  two  commanders,  717 ;  last  cruise  of,  720. 

Erie,  Fort,  doomed  to  destruction,  601 ;  captured  by  Amer 
icans,  805  ;  army  ordered  to,  829 ;  an  attack  on,  832,  833  ; 
battle  of,  834, 835, 836, 837,  840 ;  blown  up,  846 ;  visit  to,  847. 

Erie,  Lake,  Perry  ordered  to,  509 ;  battle  of,  522  ;  first  shot 
fired  by  Americans,  523 :  close  of  the  battle  of,  525,  526, 
527, 529  ;  sad  cftcct  of  the  battle  of,  532 ;  exultation  of  the 
Americans,  534 ;  chief  vessels  on,  542,  543. 

Erie,  village  of,  510,  512 ;  menaced,  514,  515 ;  historic  places 
at,  537. 

ERSKINE,  DAVID  MONTAGUE,  British  minister,  175, 176  ;  his 
arrangements  repudiated  by  his  government,  177 ;  makes 
arrangements  for  renewed  trade,  177;  recalled,  177 ;  bio 
graphical  sketch  of,  177. 

Essex,  cruise  of  the,  she  captures  the  Alert,  439,  440;  cap 
tures  the  Nocton,  721,  722;  sails  for  the  Pacific,  723;  ar 
rives  at  Valparaiso,  723,  724;  captures  the  Georgiana  and 
other  whalers,  725  ;  captures  the  Beringapatam,  72C ;  she 
is  crippled,  732  ;  surrender  of  the,  733. 

Europe  against  France,  72. 


EVANS,  SIR  DE  LACY,  sketch  of,  1032. 

Fair  Haven,  889 ;  fort  at,  913. 

Fallen  Timbers,  battle  of,  54. 

Fantome,  flag-ship,  670. 

Fast-day,  proclamation  of,  231, 232. 

FAULKNER,  JAMES,  sketch  of,  678. 

Federalists  and  Republicans,  72 ;  trouble  among  the,  1(16 ; 
policy  of  the,  216 ;  patriotism  of  the,  217. 

Finch,  capture  of  the,  868. 

Fire,  Greek,  613. 

FISK,  JAKEZ,  survivor  of  the  battle  of  Niagara,  843. 

Flay,  first  British,  taken,  376. 

FLAUJEAC,  GARRIGUE,  General,  1038. 

Fleet,  Jamaica  merchant,  chase  of,  436 ;  British,  ships  of, 
667 ;  first  appearance  of,  667 ;  enters  Hampton  Roads, 
676  ;  about  New  York,  691 ;  surrender  of,  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  870. 

FLEMING,  BENJAMIN,  538. 

Florida,  East,  insurrection  in,  740,  741 ;  West,  claimed  by 
the  United  States,  739. 

Flotilla,  American,  capture  of,  1026. 

FLOURNOY,  THOMAS,  sketch  of,  748. 

FLOYD,  JOHN,  Brigadier  General,  at  the  battle  of  Auttose, 
168  ;  at  Fort  Strother,  777. 

Forest  Lawn,  cemetery  of,  847  ;  soldiers'  monuments,  848. 

FORREST,  DULANEY,  520;  sketch  of,  531. 

FORSYTII,  BENJAMIN,  Major,  370 ;  expedition  of,  372  ;  opens 
jails  in  Elizabethtown,  577,  790 ;  death  of,  857. 

Fortifications,  British  frontier,  234. 

Forts,  Bowyer,  1019 ;  capture  of,  1051 ;  Brown,  865, 882 ;  Cas- 
tine,  903;  Clinton,  973  ;  Coviugton,  95G ;  Dearborn,  303, 
311 ;  Defiance,  328 ;  remains  of,  332,  333 ;  Erie,  803 ;  Fish, 
974;  George,  909;  Gratiot,  849;  Griswold,  893 ;  Jackson, 
1029 ;  Lee,  906 ;  Mackinaw,  268,  269  ;  M 'Henry,  670,  947, 
954,  955 ;  Madison,  761 ;  Moreau,  860,  882 ;  Necessity,  257 ; 
Phoenix,  913;  Pickering,  905;  Pierce,  755;  Pike,  617; 
Plattsbnrg,  861 ;  St.  Philip,  attack  on,  105J ;  Sewall,  907; 
Scott,  882 ;  Stepheuson,  497 ;  Stone  Mill,  863 ;  Strong,  892 ; 
Tompkius,  607 ;  Toronto,  587,  588 ;  Trumbtill,  696 ;  Wash 
ington,  688,  925,  939  ;  Warburton,  6SS ;  Wayne,  56  ;  Wel 
lington.  584. 

FOSTER,  AUGUSTUS  J.,  envoy  extraordinary  to  the  United 
States,  180. 

FOUOIIKT,  M.,  French  minister,  S3. 

Fox,  CHARLES  JAMES,  premier  of  England,  128, 149. 

France,  friendship  of,  59 ;  revolutionary  movements  in,  GO ; 
anarchy  in,  73 ;  paper  currency  in,  74 ;  National  Conven 
tion  established,  75;  overthrow  of  the  monarchy,  75;  re 
action,  83 ;  the  Directory  offended,  91 ;  difficulties  with 
the  United  States,  92 ;  her  acquisition  of  Spain,  93  ;  her 
arms  successful,  95 ;  preparations  for  war  with,  96 ;  a 
minister  appointed  to,  99 ;  three  envoys  sent,  100 ;  secret 
designs  of,  132, 138 ;  her  change  of  policy,  153, 163, 180. 

FRANCIS,  JOSIAH,  754. 

FRANKLIN,  BENJAMIN,  19,  27. 

FRASER,  WILLIAM,  G04. 

Fremont,  journey  to,  506. 

French  Creek,  American  camp  at,  649. 

French  Mills,  American  army  at,  655 ;  sufferings  at,  657 ; 
visit  to,  664. 

Frenchtown  threatened,  351 ;  its  suffering  inhabitants,  352  ; 
battle  and  massacre  of,  352 ;  arrival  of  re-enforcements, 
353 ;  fearful  night  at,  357 ;  in  I860,  360 ;  captured,  670. 

Frigates,  building  of,  91. 

Frolic,  surrender' of  the,  450. 

Frontier,  Northern,  close  of  hostilities  on  the,  1S14,  887. 

Fruit  Hill,  visit  to,  568. 

FULTON,  ROBERT,  suggests  a  new  system  of  naval  warfare, 
236 :  sketch  of,  242. 

Fulton  the  First,  floating  battery,  977. 

GAINES,  EDMUND  P.,  General,  546 :  demands  the  surrender 
of  Mobile,  740;  appointed  brigadier  general,  792  ;  atSack- 
ett's  Harbor,  815 ;  takes  command  of  the  army,  831 ; 
sketch  of,  831;  made  major  general,  835;  gold  medal 
awarded  to,  835;  calls  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie  a  "hand 
some  victory,"  835. 

GALLATIN,  ALBERT,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  221,  7S3,  786  ; 
peace  commissioner,  10GO ;  sketch  of,  1060. 

GALUSHA,  JONAS,  governor  of  Vermont,  639. 

Gananoqui,  spoils  taken  at,  373. 

GARDINIEB,  BARENT,  162 ;  duel  of,  164. 

GARDNER,  CHARLES  K.,  Major,  sketch  of,  804. 

GARDNER,  J.  M.,  675. 

General  Armstrong,  privateer,  cruise  and  career  of,  1001, 1004. 

GENET,  Citizen,  arrival  in  Charleston,  77 ;  reception,  79 ; 
privateers  commissioned  by,  79 ;  interview  with  Wash 
ington,  SO;  rebuked  by  Jefferson,  81 ;  attempts  to  create 
a  rebellion,  82 ;  recalled  to  France,  S3 ;  sketch  of,  S3. 

GEORGE  III.,  friendly  with  Bonaparte,  113. 

GEORGE  IV.,  Piince  Regent,  233. 

George,  Fort,  General  Brock  at,  397 ;  a  visit  to,  418 ;  expedi 
tion  against,  596;  cannonade  between  Fort  Niagara  and, 
597 ;  capture  of,  599 ;  invested  by  the  British,  622 ;  it  is 
abandoned,  632,  815. 

Georgia,  Cockburn  on  the  coast  of,  691 ;  her  troops  return 
to  their  frontier,  776. 


INDEX. 


1079 


Oeorr/iana,  prize-ship,  725. 

GEBRY,  ELBBIDGE,  nominated  for  Vice-Presidem,464;  birth 
place  of,  907  ;  monument  to,  943. 

Gerry-mander,  history  of  the,  211. 

Ghent,  treaty  of,  1060. 

GIBBS,  General,  1037 ;  death  of,  1047. 

GIBBON,  J.,  403. 

GIBSON,  Colonel,  mortally  wounded,  833. 

GLEGO,  J.  B.,  aid  to  General  Brock,  283. 

GI.EIG,  GEORGE  R.,  sketch  of,  937. 

Globe,  privateer,  cruise  of  the,  995, 1003. 

GODDARD,  CALVIN,  1016. 

GOODRIOH,  CHAUNCEY,  1016. 

Grand  River,  departure  for,  419 ;  mission-house  at,  421. 

GEATIOT,  C.,  engineer,  474. 

Great  Britain  refuses  to  send  minister  to  the  United  States, 
24 ;  attempt  to  gain  justice  from,  62 ;  strong  feeling 
against,  90 ;  triumphant,  113 ;  declares  war  against 
France,  126 ;  effects  of  the  declaration,  128  ;  makes  in 
sulting  proposition  for  tribute,  165 ;  her  emissaries  at 
work,  18S ;  acknowledged  naval  supremacy  of,  433. 

GEEGOEY,  FRANCIS  H.,  sketch  of,  884 ;  exploits  of,  885. 

GBIFFITH,  EDWARD,  Rear  Admiral,  897. 

GORDON,  Captain,  159. 

GOSBEI.IN,  GEEAED,  General,  902 ;  popularity  of,  903. 

Government  of  the  United  States,  newly  organized,  53 ;  its  pol 
icy  indicated,  58 ;  puts  forth  vigorous  efforts  for  suprem 
acy  on  the  Lakes,  370 ;  strange  apathy  of,  916  ;  calls  for 
troops  from  different  states,  918. 

Guard,  National,  formation  of,  61 ;  demoralization  of,  67. 

Guerriere,  the,  impresses  residents  of  Maine,  181,437;  fight 
with  the  Constitution,  443  ;  destruction  of,  445. 

Gun-boat,  iron-clad,  1814, 976. 

Hail  Columbia,  song,  history  of,  97. 

Halifax,  British  squadron  at,  436 ;  British  expedition  leaves, 
897. 

HALL,  A.,  Major  General,  635. 

HALL,  WILLIAM,  Colonel,  742. 

HALL,  WILLIAM,  Jr.,  in  Hartford  Convention,  1016. 

HAMILTON,  ALEXANDER,  25,  29 ;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
59 ;  protests  against  temporizing  with  the  national  hon 
or,  64;  his  financial  scheme  assailed,  65;  considers  the 
English  government  a  model  of  excellence,  65 ;  his  feud 
with  Jefferson,  71 ;  acting  general-in-chief,  98;  condemns 
secession,  134  ;  his  death,  135. 

HAMILTON,  PAUL,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  sends  cipher  al 
phabet  to  Chauncey,  370. 

Hamilton,  village  of,  420;  visit  to,  625. 

HAMLIN,  HANNIBAL,  Vice-President  of  United  States,  911. 

HAMPTOV,  W.,  General,  haughtiness  of,  030;  inglorious  re 
treat  of,  648;  bad  conduct  of,  054;  censured,  655;  disobe 
dience  of  orders,  656 ;  the  army  is  relieved  of  his  pres 
ence,  657. 

Hampton  Roads,  defenses  at,  668 ;  skirmish  in,  676 ;  Amer 
icans  at,  670 ;  landing  of  the  British  near,  681 ;  a  severe 
skirmish,  682 ;  Americans  driven  from,  683 ;  a  visit  to, 
687 ;  destruction  during  the  Civil  War,  688 ;  preparations 
to  oppose  the  British,  899 ;  the  John  Adams  at,  899  ;  Brit 
ish  arrive  at,  900 ;  outrages  at,  901 ;  loss  of  property  at, 
902 ;  visit  to,  911. 

HAMTEAMCK,  Major,  40,  56. 

HANOKS,  Lieutenant,  270. 

HAEDY,  SIB  THOMAS  M.,  commander  of  the  British  squad 
ron,  691 ;  allows  no  vessels  to  pass,  693 ;  appears  on  the 
New  England  coast,  890  ;  leaves  Eastport,  892. 

HAEMAR,  JOSEPH,  General,  41 ;  his  defeat,  43. 

Harpt/,  privateer,  cruise  of  the,  1003. 

Harrison,  Fort,  building  of,  195 ;  siege  of,  317 ;  Indians  driv 
en  from,  318. 

HARBISON,  MBS.  ANNA,  wife  of  Gen.  Harrison,  a  visit  to,  570. 

HARRISON,  WILLIAM  HENRY,  General,  joins  the  army,  50; 
governor  of  Indiana  Territory— his  wise  administration, 
187;  denounces  the  Indian  Prophet,  190 ;  concludes  treaty 
with  the  Indian  tribes,  190 ;  speech  of,  192 ;  calls  for  vol 
untary  aid,  194  ;  march  to  the  Wabash,  195,  200  ;  his  en 
campment  on  the  Tippecanoe  battle-ground,  202 ;  his 
camp  furiously  attacked.  204  ;  victor  at  Tippecanoe,  205, 
208  •  active  in  building  block-houses,  321 ;  goes  to  Ken 
tucky,  321 ;  made  brigadier  general,  322, 323;  marches  to 
ward  Piqua,  323 ;  his  influence,  324 ;  his  army  in  the  wil 
derness,  325 ;  calls  a  council  of  officers,  325,  326 ;  orders 
Jennings  to  escort  duty,  328;  his  campaign  arranged, 
329  •  makes  unrent  appeals  for  supplies,  329 ;  expedition 
ao-ainst  the  Indians,  332 ;  in  Central  Ohio,  332 ;  sufferings 
and  difficulties  of,  348  ;  his  army,  349  ;  at  Upper  Sandus- 
ky  351  •  unjustly  censured,  363 :  his  army  at  Maumee 
Rapids,  364,  473  ;  at  Cincinnati,  475  ;  precautions  of,  478  ; 
his  note  to  General  Clay,  479 ;  his  addresses,  482 ;  his  de 
fense  of  Fort  Meigs,  484 ;  his  plans  developed,  485 ;  or 
ders  a  sortie,  487 ;  "his  head-quarters,  494  ;  council  of  war, 
499  •  his  character  assailed  and  vindicated,  006 ;  visits 
Perry's  ship,  516,  543,  544;  at  Amherstburg,  547;  his  ar- 
rano-ements  for  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  552 ;  gold  medal 
awarded  to,  557;  appoints  Cass  governor  of  Michigan, 
559-  effects  of  the  victories  of,  559;  brief  outline  of  his 
career,  562;  leaves  the  army,  503;  sketch  of,  572;  tomb 
of,  573. 


HABBOWBY,  Ear!  of,  Lord  President  of  the  Council,  233. 
HART,  NATHANIEL  G.  T.,  death  and  sketch  of,  359. 
Hartfonl,  Convention  at,  1013, 1015, 1016. 
Hartley's  Point,  546. 


HEALD,  Mrs.  Captain,  great  bravery  of,  309,  310. 

HEOKEWELDER,  JOHANNA  MARIA,  37. 

HECKEWELDER,  REV.  JOHN,  pioneer,  36. 

HENLEY,  ROBERT,  commander  of  the  Eagle,  675 ;  sketch  of, 
807 ;  receives  medal  from  Congress,  868. 

HENNEB,  ALFRED,  1058. 

/HENRY,  JOHN,  his  mission  to  New  England,  220  ;  his  corre 
spondence,  221 ;  his  disclosures,  222 ;  sketch  of,  222.  > 

Hiuhflyer,  privateer,  capture  of  the,  735 ;  cruise  of  the,  996. 

Hillabee  Town,  massacre  at,  767. 

HILLHOCSE,  JAMES,  1016. 

HINDMAN,  JACOB,  802,  804,  835. 

HOLDUP,  THOMAS,  sketch  of,  328. 

Holland  issues  a  decree  like  the  Milan  Decree,'l54. 

HOLLINS,  GEOBGE  N.,  sketch  of,  619. 

HOLMES,  ANNA  B.,  914. 

HOLMES,  JEEEMIAH,  Captain,  his  expedition  into  Canada, 
849 ;  returns  to  St.  Joseph,  850 ;  nails  his  flag  to  the  mast, 
894;  reopens  fire  on  the  British,  895;  the  hero  of  Ston- 
iugton,  914. 

HOPE,  JANE  A.,  daughter  of  Commodore  Barren,  668. 

HOPKINS,  SAMUEL  G.,  his  expedition  against  the  Indians, 
335 ;  his  expedition  to  the  WTabash,  336 ;  close  of  the  mil 
itary  career  of,  337. 

Horizon,  the,  American  ship,  stranded  on  the  French  coast, 
153. 

Hornet,  the,  challenges  a  British  vessel,  459 ;  her  contest 
with  the  Peacock,  698;  her  fight  with  the  Penguin,  990; 
cruise  of,  992. 

Horsehoe,  battle  of  the,  779. 

HOUSTON,  SAMUEL,  wounded,  779 ;  sketch  of,  799. 

HOWAED,  JF.HAZIEL,  801. 

HULL,  ABEAHAM  F.,  Captain,  grave  of,  827. 

HULL,  ISAAC,  commander  of  the  Constitution,  441 ;  sketch 
of,  442 ;  his  coolness,  443 ;  his  reception  in  Boston,  444 ; 
gives  up  the  command  of  the  Constitution,  448  ;  presented 
with  a  gold  medal,  446. 

!  HULL,  WILLIAM,  his  invasion  of  Canada,  251 ;  made  briga 
dier  general,  252;  takes  command  of  Ohio  troops,  255; 
marches  toward  Detroit,  257 ;  hears  of  declaration  of  war, 
258 ;  capture  of  his  baggage,  258 ;  his  army  at  Detroit, 
259 ;  determines  to  invade  Canada,  200 ;  head-quarters  of, 
262  ;  a  reconnoissance  toward  Maiden,  263  ;  fall  of  Mack 
inaw,  272 ;  mutinous  spirit  of  his  army,  272 ;  loud  com 
plaints  against,  277 ;  disposition  to  deprive  him  of  his 
command,  282 ;  surrenders  Detroit— a  prisoner,  and  tak 
en  to  Fort  George,  291 ;  his  arrival  at  Montreal,  293 ;  cap 
tivity  of,  294 ;  pardoned  by  the  President,  295. 

HUNTEE,  GEOBGE  H.,  Major,  669. 

HUNTEE,  JAMES,  sketch  of,  502. 

Hymn,  Revolutionary,  690. 

Impressments,  arguments  against,  145. 

Independence,  Declaration  of,  26  ;  engrossed  copy  of,  saved 

by  Mrs.  Madison,  936. 
Indiana  Territory,  the,  187. 
Indians,  councils  of,  39  ;  beset  with  British  emissaries,  45 ; 

confederacy,  efforts  to  form  one,  46 ;  alliance  with  the 


reports  concerning,  257 ;  their  employment  by  the  Brit 
ish,  271;  scouts,  279;  conference  with  Brock,  283;  signs 
of  trouble  with,  304 ;  treaty  with,  306 ;  intention  to  mas 
sacre  the  whites,  307 ;  treachery  of,  308 ;  massacre  in 
Scott  County,  314 ;  at  Miami  Village,  316, 318,  319  ;  towns, 
destruction  of,  325 ;  they  are  generally  hostile,  334,  348 ; 
chief  of  the  Six  Nations,  410;  costumes  and  weapons  of, 
421,  422,  425  ;  Western,  massacre  by,  626  ;  murders  by, 
637;  hostilities  of,  752 ;  leaders  of,  754 ;  rewarded  for  mur 
der  by  the  British,  757 ;  destruction  of,  at  Talladega,  765  • 
they  sue  for  peace,  766,  781. 

Insuryente,  the,  captured  by  the  Constellation,  103. 

Insurrection  in  the  Wyoming  Valley,  24. 

Insurrection,  Whisky,  quelled,  88. 

Intrepid,  the,  122;  her  destruction,  123. 

Invasion,  effects  of,  937. 

IEVINO,  WASHINGTON,  his  prediction,  536 ;  rebuke  by,  887. 

IZARD,  GEOBGE,  Major  General,  792,  843 ;  sends  troops  to 
the  Niagara  frontier,  844;  takes  command,  845,  854,  855, 
858 ;  leaves  his  camp  at  Champlaiu,  859. 

JACKSON,  ANDREW,  commander  of  the  Tennessee  militia, 
136,  742,  743 ;  at  Natchez,  742  ;  returns  to  Nashville,  744; 

— petflniarytroubles  of,  744 ;  offers  his  services  to  the  gov 
ernment,  758;  in  the  field,  759;  marches  to  the  Coosa, 
760;  his  army  threatened  with  famine,  761,  762,  763; 
adopts  an  Indian  orphan,  763;  goes  to  the  relief  of  Tal 
ladega,  764,  766  ;  continually  in  motion,  773,  774  ;  aston 
ished  at  the  bravery  of  the  Creeks,  775 ;  at  Fort  Strother, 
775,  776,  777 ;  at  the  Horseshoe,  779,  781 ;  releases  Weath- 


1080 


INDEX. 


ersford,  782 ;  recalled  to  active  service,  1017 ;  goes  to  Mo 
bile,  1019 ;  marches  to  Pensacola,  1022  ;  goes  to  New  Or 
leans,  1023, 1024;  prepares  for  defense,  1027, 1030;  at  work 
below  New  Orleans,  1034, 1037 ;  driven  from  his  head 
quarters,  1039 ;  battle  of  New  Orleans,  1042 ;  calls  his  staff 
into  action,  1045 ;  enters  New  Orleans  with  his  army, 
1051 ;  receives  gold  medal,  1052 ;  sketch  of,  1054 ;  tomb 
of,  1055. 

JAOKSON,  CKAVEN,  775. 

JACKSON,  FRANCIS  J.,  English  minister,  177 ;  his  miscon 
duct,  178. 

JACKSON,  WILLIAM,  secretary  of  the  Convention,  26. 

Jacobin  Club,  formation  of,  67. 

Jacobins,  French,  fall  of,  86. 

Java,  wreck  and  capture  of,  460. 

JAY,  JOHN,  special  minister  to  England,  85 ;  treaty  with 
Great  Britain,  86. 

JEFFERSON,  THOMAS,  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  59  ;  re 
ception  in  New  York,  66,  68  ;  disgust  and  alarm  of,  70 ; 
feud  with  Hamilton,  71 ;  rebukes  Genet,  81,  82 ;  elected 
President,  108, 114;  foreshadows  his  policy,  115 ;  his  pop 
ularity,  115;  his  views  on  the  retrocession  of  Louisiana, 
131;  honors  Burr,  135;  dissatisfaction  at  the  acquittal  of 
Burr,  162;  signs  the  embargo,  162;  makes  provision  for 
strengthening  the  army  and  navy,  167 ;  compared  with 
New  England  disuuionists,  173. 

JESUP,  TIIOMAS  SIDNEY,  Colonel,  sketch  of,  822, 1013. 

JF.TT,  THOMAS,  776. 

John  Attains,  frigate,  capture  of,  386;  ascends  the  Penob- 
scot,  898  ;  at  Hampden,  899 ;  runs  the  blockade,  978 ;  de 
struction  of,  979. 

JOHNSON,  G.  H.  M.,  Indian  chief,  420, 421 ;  sketch  of,  422. 

JOHNSON,  KICHARD  M.,  162;  issues  address  calling  for 
mounted  volunteers,  323,  329 ;  his  proposed  campaign, 
494,495;  sketch  of,  495 ;  at  Fort  Stephenson,  497;  at  Mo 
ravian  Town,  551 ;  crosses  Detroit  River,  548 ;  great  gal 
lantry  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  556 ;  wounded  and 
conveyed  homeward,  557. 

JOHNSON,  WILLIAM,  his  exploits  among  the  Thousand  Isl 
ands,  662 ;  his  heroic  daughter,  663. 

JOHNSTON,  JOHN,  a  visit  to,  253,  316,  324. 

JONES,  JACOB,  captain  of  the  Wasp,  sketch  of,  449  ;  honors 
to— receives  gold  medal,  452. 

JONES,  THOMAS  AP  CATESBY,  1025. 

JONES,  ROGER,  812. 

Judiciary  of  United  States,  arrangement  of,  59. 

JUMONVILLE,  plantation  of,  skirmish  on,  1033. 

Kalorama,  942. 

Kemp,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1006. 

Kentucky  frontier  threatened,  45  ;•  her  wealth  and  patriot 
ism,  335 ;  sufferings  of  her  soldiers,  337, 1057. 

Kentuckmns,  war  cry  of,  360 ;  vengeance  of,  546. 

KERR,  WILLIAM  JOHN,  620. 

KEY,  FRANCIS  S.,  author  of  "  Star-spangled  Banner,"  956. 

KEY,  PHILIP  BARTON,  162. 

KING,  RUFUS,  American  minister  to  England,  143. 

Kingston,  operations  near,  372 ;  the  British  return  to,  798. 

KINZIE,  JOHN,  attacked  by  Indians,  304,  305,  306 ;  ledVes  the 
fort,  308 ;  allowed  to  return  to  his  house,  310 ;  sketch  of, 
311. 

KINZIE,  JOHN  H.,  Mrs.,  312. 

KNAGGS,  JAMES,  362,  363. 

KNOX,  HENRY,  Secretary  of  War,  59. 

La  Colle  Mitts,  repulse  of  the  British  at,  640,  665 ;  British  at, 
790 ;  battle-ground  at,  791 ;  British  troops  at,  856. 

La  Coste,  plantation  of,  battle  at,  1031. 

LAFAYETTE,  Marquis  de,  60,  61;  at  Maubeuge,  73 ;  before  the 
National  Assembly,  74 ;  imprisoned,  75. 

LAFITTE,  JEAN,  1018, 1019. 

Lakes,  Upper,  proposed  expedition  to,  789,  850. 

LA  SALLE,  Marquis  de,  60. 

LAUGHTON,  JOHN  B.,  298. 

LAVALETTE,  E.  A.  F.,  sketch  of,  872. 

Lawrence,  flag-ship,  513 ;  scenes  on  board  of,  525,  52C ;  sur 
render  of,  528. 

LAWRENCE,  JAMES,  captain  of  Hornet,  698 ;  honors  to,  700  ; 
gold  medal  to,  700;  in  command  of  the  Chesapeake,  701; 
last  official  letter  of,  702 ;  challenged  by  Broke,  703  ;  ac 
cepts,  704 ;  mortally  wounded,  706 ;  his  last  words,  706 ; 
sketch  of,  708;  respect  to  the  remains  of,  711;  monument 
to,  713. 

LAWRENOE,  WILLIAM,  1019  ;  sketch  of,  1022. 

Laws,  alien  and  sedition,  107. 

League,  contemplated  dissolution  of,  24. 

LEAVENWORTH,  HENRY,  Colonel,  809 ;  sketch  of,  816. 

Le  CroyabU,  capture  of,  101. 

LEE,  Mrs.,  hospitality  of,  418. 

LEGATE,  THOMAS  C.,  Lieutenant,  795. 

LE  READX,  BENJAMIN,  539. 

LESTER,  JOHN,  Captain,  963. 

LEWIS,  EI.ISHA,  veteran  of  1812,  674. 

LEWIS,  MORGAN,  970. 

LEWIS,  WILLIAM,  sketch  of,  359 ;  in  Long  Island  Sound,  888, 
889. 

Lewistan  Heights,  Lovett  at,  407;  view  from  Heights,  413; 
village  of,  413 ;  railway  at,  595 ;  savage  atrocities  near,  04:;. 


LITTLE  TURTLE,  Chief  of  the  Miamis,  46, 47;  counsels  peace, 
53 ;  grave  of,  315. 

Little  York,  expedition  against,  586. 

LIVERPOOL,  LORD,  151. 

LIVINGSTON,  EDWARD,  appointed  to  superintend  the  pur 
chase  of  Louisiana,  132  ;  sketch  of,  1027. 

Loans,  Government,  1008. 

LOGAN,  JOHN,  Captain,  services  and  death  of,  345. 

LONGFELLOW,  SAMUEL,  Jr.,  1016. 

Long  Island,  888. 

Long  Woods,  battle  at  the,  849. 

LORD'S  PRAYER  written  in  Indian,  423. 

Lottery,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1000. 

Louisiana,  purchase  of,  132, 133  ;  transfer  of,  134 ;  insurrec 
tionary  movement  in,  738  ;  admission  of,  740. 

Louisiana,  man-of-war,  1037. 

Louis  XVI.,  60 ;  execution  of,  76. 

LOVETT,  JOHN,  sketch  of,  407. 

LUDLOW,  AUGUSTUS  C.,  respect  for  the  remains  of,  711. 

Lundy's  Lane,  828. 

LYMAN,  DANIEL,  1016. 

LYMAN,  JOSEPH,  1016. 

Lynn  Haven,  bay  of,  669. 

Lyon's  Creek,  victory  at,  845. 

MACARTE,  M.,  1037. 

Macdonough,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1007. 

MACDONOUGU,  THOMAS,  Lieutenant,  641 ;  commander  of  the 
Saratoga,  866 ;  his  announcement  of  victory,  871 ;  his  re 
ception  of  British  captives,  872;  medal  to,  878;  sketch  of, 
878. 

Macedonian,  capture  of,  455 ;  at  New  York,  456. 

Mackinack,  expedition  against,  270. 

Mackinaw,  Americans  determine  to  capture,  849. 

Mackinaw  Island,  battle  at,  850;  blockade  of,  851 ;  surrender 
of,  271. 

MAOOMB,  ALEXANDER,  790 ;  appointed  brigadier  general, 
792,  859 ;  medal  awarded  to,  878 ;  sword  presented  to,  877 ' 
sketch  of,  877. 

MACON,  NATHANIEL,  784. 

Madison  Barracks,  616. 

Madison,  Fort,  attack  on,  319. 

MADISON,  GEORGE,  sent  to  Quebec,  sketch  of,  359. 

MADISON,  JAMES,  29 ;  leader  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  58 ;  Secretary  of  State,  151 ;  elected  President,  169 ; 
as  a  politician,  173 ;  takes  presidential  chair,  175 ;  pro 
claims  that  trade  can  be  renewed,  176;  proclaims  the 
revocation  of  the  French  Decrees,  179 ;  feeble  war  trump 
of,  211;  anxious  to  avoid  war,  212 ;  recommends  an  em 
bargo,  219 ;  his  message,  221 ;  renominated  for  the  Presi 
dency,  225 ;  his  accusatory  message,  226 ;  proclaims  war, 
228 ;  instructs  Mr.  Monroe  to  try  and  make  peace,  245 ; 
listens  to  Hull's  advice,  251 ;  re-elected,  465;  reviews  the 
troops,  924 ;  flight  of,  935. 

MADISON,  Mrs.  JAMES,  patriotism  of,  935. 

Maguaga,  battle  of,  280 ;  battle-ground  of,  281. 

Maiden,  expedition  against,  473. 

Malone,  journey  to,  664. 

MANTON,  EDWABD,  1016. 

Marblehead,  906. 

Marcus  Hook,  camp  at,  967. 

MARCY,  WILLIAM  L.,  takes  first  British  flag,  376. 

MARIE  ANTOINETTE,  Queen  of  France,  37. 

Marque  and  reprisal,  letters  of,  248. 

Marquesas  Islands,  arrival  of  the  Essex  at,  727 ;  civil  war  in, 
728. 

MARSHALL,  Secretary,  writes  to  Rufus  King,  144. 

MASON,  J.,  General,  788. 

Massachusetts,  Governor  of,  refuses  to  comply  with  requisi 
tion  for  troops,  243. 

Massacre,  Indian,  268;  of  whites,  304 ;  at  Fort  Mims,  757. 

Maumee  Rapids,  fiirht  with  Indians  at,  343  ;  fortified  camp 
at,  474 ;  British  and  Indians  cross  the,  483, 490,  491. 

MAURY,  JOHN,  727. 

M'ARTHUR,  DUNCAN,  265,  266,  267;  goes  to  relieve  Miller, 
281;  crosses  the  Rouge,  285;  fails  to  communicate  with 
Hull,  290 ;  his  raid  into  Canada,  852 ;  bravery  and  gener 
osity  of,  853. 

M'CALL,  EDWARD  RUTLEDGE,  gallantry  of,  718 ;  medal 
awarded  to,  719. 

M'DOUALL,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  849. 

M'DOUGALL,  SIR  DUNCAN,  sketch  of,  951. 

M'FARLAND  mortally  wounded,  823. 

M'FEELY,  GEORGE,  Commander,  426. 

M'GILLIVRAY,  ALEXANDER,  sketch  of,  754. 

M'GLASSIN,  Captain,  brave  exploit  of,  865. 

M'Gowan's  Pass,  works  at,  974. 

McGregor's  Mill,  skirmish  at,  550. 

M'llcnn/,  Fort,  a  visit  to,  964. 

M'lNTosH,  WILLIAM,  sketch  of,  768. 

M'KEE,  Colonel,  punishment  of,  54. 

M'KENZIE,  WILLIAM  LYON,  594. 

M'LANI:,  ALLAN,  revolutionary  veteran,  668. 

M'NAiR,  MATTHEW,  death  of,  797. 

M'NEIL,  JOHN,  Major,  809;  flank  movement  of,  810, 817, 818, 
,819  ;  sketch  of,  821. 

M'NiTT,  SAMUEL,  gallantry  of,  611 ;  sketch  of,  611. 

M'NuTT,  JONATHAN,  revolutionary  veteran,  668. 


INDEX. 


1081 


M'QuEEN,  march  of,  749. 

M'REE,  Chief  Engineer,  sketch  of,  803,  804,  835. 

MKIGS,  Governor  of  Ohio,  252 ;  collects  troops,  321. 

Meigs,  Fort,  477 :  expedition  against,  478,  482  ;  new  battery 
opened  on,  484 ;  Americans  defeated  and  made  prison 
ers,  486  ;  sortie  from,  488,  496,  498 ;  remains  of,  492 ;  visit 
to,  493. 

MELVIN,  GEORGE  W.,  sketch  of,  800. 

MEBRITT,  W.  EL,  Captain,  at  Stony  Creek,  602 ;  statement 
of,  626. 

Miami,  Fort,  devastations  around,  54 ;  built,  316 ;  massacre 
of  prisoners  at,  489 ;  remains  of,  491. 

Miamis,  expedition  against,  346. 

Michir/an,  British  occupation  of,  292. 

Michillimackinack,  267. 

Milan  Decree,  154 ;  revocation  of,  179. 

Military  Leaders,  men  to  be  chosen  as,  249. 

Militia  of  New  York,  bad  conduct  of,  402. 

MILLER,  JAMEB,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  200;  his  men,  278; 
sketch  of,  820 ;  gold  medal  awarded  to,  820  ;  triumph  of, 
839. 

Minis,  Fort,  751 ;  crowded  with  refugees,  753 ;  false  confi 
dence  of  the  commander  of,  754;  sudden  appearance  of 
Indians,  755;  massacre  in,  756;  number  of  the  slain,  757. 

MIMS,  SAMUEL,  house  of,  750. 

Mississaga,  Fort,  419. 

Mississippi  River,  events  near,  334;  British  approach,  1028  ; 
the  levee  cut,  1034 ;  effect  of,  1035. 

Mobile,  J40;  expedition  against,  741;  surrender  of,  by  the 
Spaniards,  742 ;  threatened,  759 ;  its  defenses,  1019. 

Mohaick,  village  of,  423. 

MONROE,  JAMES,  Minister  to  France,  86 ;  recalled,  92 ;  as 
sists  in  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  132, 155 ;  demands  rep 
aration  from  England,  160 ;  at  the  head  of  the  War  De 
partment,  349 ;  Secretary  of  State,  923,  926, 1012. 

MONTGOMERY,  JOHN,  General,  sketch  of,  891.    • 

MONTGOMERY,  L.  P.,  779  ;  sketch  of,  780. 

MOOERS,  BENJAMIN,  Major  General,  859 ;  in  command  at 
Beekmantown,  861 ;  sketch  of,  875 ;  grave  of,  876;  resi 
dence  of,  883. 

MOORE,  THOMAS,  poet,  561. 

Moravian  Town,  561. 

MORGAN,  DANIEL,  General,  1033. 

MORGAN,  LOTH>\VICK,  sketch  of,  848. 

Morocco,  settlement  of  difficulties  with,  120. 

MORRIS,  CHARLES,  Commodore,  sketch  of,  900 ;  monument 
to,  901. 

MORKIS,  GoirvERTiEUR,  goes  to  London — interview  with  the 
Duke  of  Leeds,  62  ;  recalled,  85. 

MORSE,  SAMUEL  F.  B.,  inventor,  213. 

MOUNTFORT,  JOHN,  sketch  of,  874. 

MULCASTER,  W.  H.,  610. 

MURAT,  JOAOHIM,  occupies  Madrid,  170. 

MURRAY,  J.,  Colonel,  C34 ;  raid  of,  642. 

MYERS,  MORDECAI,  Captain,  gallantry  of,  646 ;  sketch  of,  654. 

Nashville,  return  of  Tennessee  troops  to,  744. 

Nautilus,  capture  of,  436. 

Naval  engagements,  103. 

Naval  service,  reorganization  of,  155. 

Naval  warfare  between  France  and  the  United  States,  100. 

NAVARRE,  PETER,  sketch  of,  490. 

Navy,  British,  very  cautious  in  approaching  the  coast,  693  ; 
fleet  at  Halifax,"  234, 436. 

Navy,  United  States,  first  steps  towards  its  creation,  90 ; 
powerful  opposition  to,  90  ;  Secretary  of,  instructions  to, 
102 ;  increase  of,  103  ;  reduced,  116, 168 ;  gunboats  ridi 
culed,  168;  unsuccessful  attempt  to  increase,  218;  repulse 
British  squadron  on  Lake  Ontario,  369 ;  commanders  of, 
371-  measures  for  strengthening  the,  467;  stations  of 
men-of-war  of,  434,  435;  British  contempt  for,  433;  weak 
ness  of,  721 :  ships  of,  721 ;  neglected,  787 ;  on  Lake  On 
tario  794-  list  of  ships,  794;  new  vessels  for,  978;  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  992, 1068. 

Navy  Yard,  Charlestown,  Mass.,  905;  at  Washington,  de 
struction  of,  934. 

NEALE,  B.  J.,  Lieutenant,  678. 

Ned,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1001. 

NELSON,  LOUD,  victor  of  Trafalgar,  152. 

Neutral  nations,  tribute  exacted  from,  165. 

Neutrality  violated  by  the  British,  375. 

Newark,  Ohio,  ancient  relics  at,  564 ;  Canada,  burning  of, 
632  ;  sufferings  of  the  inhabitants  of,  633. 

New  Bedford,  889 ;  visit  to,  912. 

New  England,  politicians  of,  propose  secession,  134 ;  dis- 
unioni'sts  in,  172 ;  state  sovereignty  proposed  in,  173 ;  in 
1814,  888;  warfare  on  the  coast  of,  889;  sea-port  towns 
blockaded,  890;  visit  to,  904;  discontents  in,  1012. 

Few  Hampshire,  armed  mob  surround  Legislature  of,  24. 

New  Jersey,  Legislature  of,  243. 

\ew  London,  blockade  of,  691 ;  torpedo  off  of,  693 ;  ceme 
tery  at,  696;  harbor  of,  696;  old  court-house  of,  69 1  ; 
blockade  of,  888. 

\ew  Orleans,  United  States  frigate,  616. 

New  Orleans,  1004 ;    defenseless,  1023 ;   preparations  to  at- 

"  tack  1025;  battle  of  gun-boats  near,  1026;  American  hues 
of  defense  at,  103S;  battle  of,  1040, 1049 ;  battle-ground  of, 
visit  to,  1058. 


Newspapers,  war  of  the,  71. 

New  York,  State  Legislature  of,  support  national  govern 
ment,  243 ;  enforces  revenue  laws,  365 ;  City,  reception  of 
Hull,  440 ;  blockaded,  675 ;  funeral  solemnities  to  Law 
rence  in,  713  ;  relieved,  945  ;  great  excitement  in,  969  ; 
assisted  by  its  neighbors,  970;  fortifications  round,  974. 

Niagara,  battle  of,  824,  825. 

Niagara,  Fort,  account  of,  408 ;  bombardment  of,  426,  427, 
597 ;  surrender  of,  633 ;  massacre  at,  634. 

Niagara  Frontier,  381,  391, 512,  619;  raids  on,  626, 631 ;  deso 
lation  of,  634,  802 ;  a  visit  to,  827. 

Niagara  River,  events  at  the  mouth  of,  408,  428 ;  the  Amer 
ican  squadron  off  of,  597,  598,  804. 

Niagara,  settlement  of,  380 ;  arrival  at,  412 ;  suspension 
bridge  at,  413,  828. 

NICHOLAS,  ROBERT  CARTER,  sketch  of,  820. 

Nooaheevah,  capital  of  the  Marquesas,  728. 

NOON,  DARBY,  Captain,  ride  of,  292. 

Norfolk,  defenses  of,  668,  677;  attempt  to  seize  the  navy 
yard  at,  680 ;  a  visit  to,  684 ;  British  consul  at,  685. 

North  Send,  settlement  at,  571. 

North  Carolina,  coast  of,  Cockburn  on,  689. 

North  Point,  battle  of,  952,  953 ;  battle-ground  of,  visit  to, 
963. 

Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  941. 

O'CONNOR,  JOHN  MICHAEL,  bravery  of,  811. 

Ocracoke  Inlet,  Cockburn  off  of,  689. 

Ogdensburg,  attack  on,  374,  577,  578 ;  surrender  of  Ameri 
cans  at,  579,  581 ;  a  visit  to,  582,  584. 

Ohio,  settlement  of,  37 ;  adopts  a  State  Constitution,  130 ; 
military  preparations  in,  137;  organization  of  troops  of, 
252;  a  journey  to,  563 ;  an  early  settler  in,  573. 

OLCOTT,  MILES,  1016. 

OLIVER,  W.,  Major,  carries  news  of  re-enforcements  to  Fort 
Wayne,  314. 

Oneida,  367. 

O'NEIL,  JOHN  671;  his  sword  and  dwelling,  673. 

Onondaga,  village  of,  423. 

Ontario,  Fort,  attack  on,  795. 

Ontario,  Lake,  365 ;  active  operations  on,  379,  413;  passage 
across,  595,  642 ;  capture  of  American  vessels  on,  644 ;  the 
navy  on,  794. 

OSHORNE,  SELLECK,  sketch  of,  889. 

OSCEOLA,  grave  of,  690. 

OSGOOD,  SAMUEL,  Postmaster  General,  59. 

OSIIAWAHNAU,  Indian  Chief,  552. 

Osii'egatcliie,  Fort,  373. 

Oswego,  British  fleet  at,  606 ;  the  defense  and  defenders  of, 
795 ;  capture  of,  796 ;  survivors  of  the  war  at,  797. 

OTIS,  HARRISON  GRAY,  IOCS,  1016. 

OTIS,  JOHN,  800. 

Otter  Creek,  skirmish  at,  856. 

OVERTON,  WALTER  H.,  sketch  of,  1050. 

PACKET,  JOHN  H.,  sketch  of,  523. 

PAGE,  JAMES,  Captain,  966. 

PAINE,  THOMAS,  69;  "Rights  of  Man,"  effects  of,  71 ;  vis 
its  France,  76  ;  writes  abusive  letter  to  Washington, 
92. 

PAKENHAM,  SIR  EDWARD,  arrival  at  New  Orleans,  1035;  calls 
Council  of  War,  1038, 1041 ;  death  of,  1046. 

Paris,  excitement  in,  60. 

Paris,  town  of,  420. 

PARKEE,  SIR  PETER,  exploits  of,  945;  sketch  of,  946. 

Parliament,  British,  passes  act  in  favor  of  neutrals,  165 , 
Canadian,  house  of,  adorned  with  scalps,  591. 

PARSONS,  USHER,  sketch  of,  517  ;  address  by,  540. 

Parties,  war  and  anti-war,  148. 

PATTERSON,  DANIEL  T.,  sketch  of,  1025. 

Patterson  Park,  a  visit  to,  962. 

PAULDING,  HIRAM,  sketch  of,  869. 

Peace,  Treaty  of,  IS  ;  neglect  to  comply  with  conditions  of, 
19;  negotiated  with  Indian  tribes,  36;  secured,  57;  Party, 
organization  of,  230 ;  negotiations,  248 ;  commissioners 
to  treat  for,  471,  783  ;  party  for,  784 ;  rumors  of,  786  ;  pro 
claimed  in  the  United  States,  985  ;  Faction,  1008  ;  Treaty 
of,  1059;  commissioners  of,  1060;  Treaty  of,  concluded, 
1061;  rejoicings  for,  1064, 1065 ;  ratification  of,  1065. 

Peacock  (English),  699. 

Peacock  (U.  S.),  her  fight  with  Epervter,  981 ;  cruise  of,  992. 

PEARCE,  CROMWELL,  590. 

Peel  Island,  661. 

Pennsylvania,  Legislature  of,  supports  national  govern 
ment,  243  ;  votes  sword  to  Com.  Stewart,  986. 

Penobscot,  voyage  up  the,  910. 

Pensacola,  march  of  M'Queen  from,  749;  hostile  movements 
at,  1017 ;  reception  of  British  at,  1022 ;  Americans  in, 
1023. 

People,  exhaustion  of  the,  24. 

PERKINS,  CONSTANTINE,  775. 

PERKINS,  MARIA  T.,  keeper  of  Fort  Sewall,  907. 

PERKINS,  SIMON,  General,  sketch  of,  339,  349. 

PERRY,  O.  H.,  arrival  at  Erie,  509, 511 ;  hastens  to  Chauncey, 
512;  lack  of  men,  513;  relations  to  Chnuncey,  514;  recon- 
noissance  by,  517 ;  prepares  for  battle,  518  ;  his  final  in 
structions,  519 ;  sketch  of,  521 ;  relative  position  of  the 
two  squadrons,  522 ;  abandons  the  Lawrence,  526 ;  meet- 


1082 


INDEX. 


ing  with  Elliott,  528 ;  breaks  British  line,  529 ;  his  victory 
complete,  529,  530 ;  surrender  of  British  officers  to,  531 ; 
importance  of  his  victory,  533;  honors  awarded  to,  535; 
medal  to,  535 ;  statue  to,  539 ;  his  prisoners,  542 ;  with 
Harrison  at  Erie,  543  ;  his  squadron  in  the  Thames,  549 ; 
effect  of  the  victories  of,  559  ;  gallantry  of,  598. 

Philadelphia,  frigate,  capture  of,  120 ;  destruction  of,  121. 

Philadelphia,  reception  of  Hull,  446 ;  presents  O'Neil  with 
sword,  CT3 ;  relieved,  965 ;  public  meeting  in,  968 ;  fortifi 
cations  at,  968. 

PICKERING,  TIMOTHY,  Secretary  of  State,  143,  784. 

PICQUET,  FRANCIS,  sketch  of,  579. 

PIKK,  ZEBULON  MONTGOMERY,  pioneer,  sketch  of,  586,  587; 
death  of,  5S9 ;  last  moments  of,  591 ;  monument  to,  616. 

PINCKNEY,  CHARLES  CoTESwoRTii,  appointed  minister  to 
Prance,  92 ;  utters  the  memorable  sentence,  "  Millions 
for  defense,  uot  one  cent  for  tribute,"  95. 

PINOKNEY,  THOMAS,  British  minister,  64;  appointed  second 
in  command,  249. 

PINKNEY,  WILLIAM,  Minister  to  England,  147, 149, 155;  de 
mands  reparation  from  England,  160, 171. 

PITT,  WILLIAM,  21,  22. 

PLATT,  CHARLES  T.,  Commodore,  sketch  of,  867. 

PLATT,  ISAAC  C.,  residence  of,  863  ;  visit  to,  883. 

Plattxburt/,  position  of  the  American  works  at,  860;  British 
advance  ou,  861,  863,  864,  875  ;  victory  at,  876,  879,  8SO. 

PLAUCHE,  JEAN  B.,  Major,  10'24;  sketch  of,  1042. 

Poictiers,  frigate,  J.  B.  Beresford  captain  of,  451. 

Policy,  gun-boat,  155. 

POLLY,  JOHN,  Captain,  veteran  of  1812,  379. 

PONTIAC,  Ottawa  chief,  268,  301. 

PORTER,  DAVID,  commander  of  Essex,  721 ;  searches  for 
Baiubridge,  722,  723;  in  command  of  a  squadron,  725,  726; 
sails  for  Marquesas,  727,  728;  battle  with  the  natives,  729 ; 
at  Valparaiso,  730,  731 ;  hauls  down  his  flag,  733 ;  honors 
to,  734 ;  death  and  monument,  734. 

PORTEU,  PETER  B.,  residence  of,  426  ;  commands  New  York 
Volunteers,  427 ;  harmless  duel  with  Smyth,  432 ;  hurries 
to  Black  Rock,  627,  807,808;  sketch  of,  838 ;  receives  gold 
medal,  842. 

Portsmouth,  British  squadron  off,  891. 

POST,  JOHN  FREDERICK,  REV.,  pioneer,  36. 

Potomac  River,  Cockbnrn  in,  689. 

Powder  Mills,  Dupouts',  966. 

PREBLE,  EDWARD,  Commodore,  appointed  to  the  command 
of  the  Mediterranean  Squadron,  120;  medal  to,  123; 
sketch  of,  123. 

PRESOOTT,  WILLIAM  H.,  1016. 

Prescntt,  visit  to,  5S2. 

President,  frigate,  181 ;  on  a  cruise,  182 ;  conflict  with  Little 
Belt,  184 ;  cruise  of,  454 ;  runs  the  blockade,  737  ;  capture 
of,  9SS. 

Presque  Isk,  491 ;  the  harbor  of,  510. 

PREVOST,  SIR  GEORGE,  Governor  General  of  Canada,  245, 
273 ;  arrives  at  Prescott,  577 ;  disgraceful  retreat  of,  612, 
613 ;  allows  prisoners  to  return  on  parole,  789 ;  orders 
troops  to  Plattsburg,  864 ;  arrives  at  Isle  aux  Noix,  858 ; 
cost  of  the  expedition  of,  879. 

PRICE,  RICHARD,  69. 

Prince  de  Seufchatel,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1005. 

PRINCE  REGENT,  Manifesto  of,  469. 

Pringle  House,  674. 

Privateering  at  the  close  of  the  war,  998. 

Privateers  ordered  to  leave  American  waters,  81 ;  injury  of, 
to  British  commerce,  214  ;  commissioned,  993, 1068. 

Proclamation  concerning  British  seamen,  160 ;  of  renewed 
trade,  176. 

PROCTOR,  HENRY,  Colonel,  prepares  to  invade  the  Maumee 
Valley,  477 ;  calls  savages  to  Maiden,  478 ;  disheartened, 
4SS ;  flight  of  British  and  Indians,  489,  495 ;  before  Fort 
Stephenson,  501 ;  fears  of,  546 ;  flight  of,  553  ;  a  disgrace 
to  the  British  army,  355 ;  escape  off  555 ;  rebuked  and  de 
spised,  557;  his  punishment  considered  too  mild,  558; 
remnant  of  his  array,  558 ;  death  of,  558. 

Protest,  signers  of,  229. 

PUSHA.MATAHA,  Choctaw  chief,  762. 

Put-in-Bay,  islands  around,  516. 

PUTNAM,  RUFUS,  founds  Marietta,  36. 

Qucenston,  appearance  of  the  country,  147,  390  ;  skirmish 
near,  395;  lauding  of  Americans  at,  395;  battle  of,  404, 
412 ;  village  of,  413. 

Queenston  Heights,  landing  at  the  fort  of,  394;  capture  of, 
399  ;  battle  of,  403  •  Brock's  monument  at,  414,  415. 

QUINCY,  JOSIAH,  162;  prophecy  of,  163 ;  denounces  the  whole 
policy  of  Great  Britain  as  fallacious,  166 ;  denounces  the 
War  Party,  174 ;  reasons  for  his  course,  217 ;  opposition 
of,  228;  called  "Josiah  the  First,"  228;  denounces  the 
policy  of  the  War  Party,  465,  466. 

Railway,  the  first  traveler  on  a,  213. 

Raisin  River,  re-enforcements  and  supplies  at,  276 ;  march 
toward,  279 ;  distress  on,  342. 

RANDOLPH,  EDMUND,  27 ;  suggests  a  national  government, 
28 ;  attorney  general,  59. 

RANDOLPH,  JOHN,  one  of  the  six  secessionists,  148 ;  on  slav 
ery,  214 ;  scolds  the  Democrats,  215 ;  sketch  of,  215 ;  im 
plores  the  House  to  act  with  caution,  223,  938. 


Recovery,  Fort,  battle  of,  52. 

RED  JACKET,  Indian  chief,  sketch  of,  802. 

REGNIER,  French  minister  of  justice,  153. 

REID,  SAMUEL  C.,  captain  of  the  General  Armstrong,  1004 

sketch  of,  1005. 

RENNIE,  ROUERT,  Colonel,  1037  ;  death  of,  1048. 
Representatives,  House  of — imports  and  exports,  58 ;  secret 

session,  227. 

Republic,  an  attempt  to  destroy  the,  220 ;  prosperity  of,  1069. 
Revolutions,  French  and  American  contrasted,  81. 
REYNOLDS,  ROBERT,  veteran  British  officer,  300. 
Rhode  Island,  Governor  of,  refuses  to  comply  with  requisi 
tions  for  troops,  243. 
RIALL,  P.,  805;  re-enforced,  814 ;  capture  of,  819 ;  wounded, 

825. 

RICHARDVILLE,  Indian  chief— birthplace  of,  44. 
RICHIE,  JOHN,  823. 
Richmond,  scene  of  Burr's  trial,  137. 
RILEY,  BENNET,  848. 
RIPLEY,  ELEAZER  W.,  appointed  brigadier  general,  792,  804; 

tardiness  of,  813,  823 ;  attempts  to  abandon  Canada,  829 ; 

highly  spoken  of,  835,  837;  received  gold  medal  and  other 

testimonials,  842  ;  sketch  of,  842. 
ROBERTS,  Captain,  270. 
ROBERTSON,  FELIX,  Dr.,  1057. 
ROBERTSON,  JAMES,  General,  sketch  of,  747. 
ROBINSON,  JOHN  BEVERLY,  Canadian  chief  justice,  594. 
Rock  Island,  a  visit  to,  661. 

RODGEKS,  GEORGE  W.,  Commodore,  burial-place  of,  696. 
RODGEKS,  J.,  Commodore,  sketch  of,  185;  takes  command 

of  the  President,  181 ,  he  is  assailed,  1S6;  squadron  of,  435; 

services  to  his  country,  736;  honors  to,  737;  unsuccessful 

cruise  of,  735 ;  captures  the  Highflyer,  735. 
ROSE,  H.  G.,  special  envoy  to  the  United  States,  161. 
Ross,  General,  death  of,  952 ;  monument  where  he  fell,  964. 
Ross,  JAMES,  survivor  of  War  of  1812,  592. 
Rossie,  privateer,  cruise  of;  994. 
Rouse's  Point,  journey  to,  665. 
RUSSELL,  JONATHAN,  minister  to  England,  224,  786 ;  peace 

commissioner,  1060. 

RUSSELL,  WILLIAM,  Colonel— expedition  against  the  In 
dians,  336. 
Russia  invaded  by  Napoleon,  470 ;  proposes  to  mediate,  470 ; 

Emperor  of,  enters  Paris,  854. 

Sackett's Harbor,  370 ;  British  designs  upon,  607;  Brown  as 
sumes  command,  60S ;  an  alarm,  609 ;  chase  and  capture 
of  American  vessels  at,  610;  destruction  of  public  stores, 
611 ;  militia  assembled,  612 ;  its  defenses,  614 ;  a  visit  to, 
615 ;  blockade  of,  798 ;  the  cable  at,  801. 

Salem,  funeral  solemnities  of  Lawrence  at,  712 ;  its  harbor, 
906 ;  privateers  from,  997. 

SANDERS,  J.,  captain  of  Junon,  676. 

Sandusky,  a  visit  to,  505,  506. 

Sandy  Creek,  a  visit  to  survivors  of  the  war  there,  SOI. 

Saranac  River,  British  troops  at,  873. 

Saratoga,  flag-ship—battle  of  Lake  Champlain,  866. 

Saratoga,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1000. 

SARGENT,  WINTHROP,  38. 

Saucy  Jack,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1006. 

Sault  St.  Marie,  850. 

Schlosser,  Fort,  remains  of,  380. 

Scioto,  Valley  of,  566. 

SCOTT,  WINFIELD,  Lieutenant  General,  45;  arrives  at  Fort 
Schlosser,  393 ;  at  Lewiston,  394 ;  at  Queenston,  400 ; 
his  harangue  to  his  troops,  402 ;  at  Niagara,  404,  405 ;  his 
bold  protection  of  fellow-prisoners,  409 ;  marches  to  Sack 
ett's  Harbor,  631 ;  appointed  brigadier  general,  792  : 
moves  down  the  Niagara  River,  806;  re-enforced,  807; 
advances  to  meet  the  British,  808 ;  ordered  to  Fort  George, 
817,  818,  819 ;  wounded,  823  ;  goes  to  Washington,  8-25 ; 
medal  awarded  to,  826 ,  appointed  lieutenant  general,  826. 

Scourge,  privateer,  cruise  of,  1001. 

SCUDDER,  JOHN,  692. 

Search,  the  right  of,  asserted,  143. 

SECORD,  LAURA,  saves  British  troops,  621. 

Shadow,  privateer,  cruise  of,  996. 

Shannon,  438,  703  ;  fight  with  Chesapeake,  705. 

SHAYS,  DANIEL,  rebellion  of,  24. 

SUEAFFE,  R.  H.,  approach  of  British  under,  401,  402;  sketch 
of,  405 ;  escape  of,  590. 

SHEFFIELD,  LORD,  pamphlet  of,  23. 

SHELBURNE,  Earl  of,  21. 

SHELBY,  ISAAC,  Governor  of  Kentucky,  322 ;  his  appeal  to 
Kentucky,  334;  at  Moravian  Town,  544,  551 ;  he  is  pre 
sented  with  a  sword,  545. 

SHERBROOKE,  SIR  JOHN  COPE,  897. 

SHERMAN,  ROGER  MINOT,  1016. 

SIIIPP,  EDMUND,  Jr.,  sketch  of,  501. 

SHOLES,  STANTON,  sketch  of,  541. 

SUORTLAND,  Captain,  commandant  of  Dartmoor  Prison., 
1069. 

SHUBRICK,  WILLIAM  BRANFORD,  sketch  of,  676. 

SIDMOUTH,  LORD,  Secretary  of  State,  233. 

Signals,  method  of,  182, 183. 

SIMS,  Lieutenant,  treachery  and  cowardice  of,  392. 

SKIPWITH,  FULWAR,  740. 

Slave,  a,  his  freedom  purchased  by  his  wife,  687. 


INDEX. 


1083 


Slaves,  secret  organization  among,  690. 

SLOAN,  JAMES,  survivor  of  1812,  847. 

SMITH,  GERAED  D.,  sketch  of,  812. 

SMITII,  JOSEPH,  sketch  of,  872. 

SMITH,  MELANOTHON,  sketch  of,  861. 

SMITH,  NATHANIEL,  1016. 

SMITH,  SAMUEL,  sketch  of,  947. 

SMITH,  THOMAS  A.,  Brigadier  General,  792,  856. 

SMOOT,  BENJAMIN,  Colonel,  772. 

SMYTH,  ALEXANDER,  General,  bad  conduct  of,  389,  390 ;  suc 
ceeds  Van  Rensselaer,  410  ;  he  is  ridiculed,  411,  427;  in- 
competency  and  treachery  of,  430;  his  council  of  officers, 
431 ;  harmless  duel  with  Porter,  432. 

Societies,  Democratic,  SO,  88 ;  Washington  Benevolent,  854. 

Sodus  Bay,  the  British  at,  605,  606. 

South  Carolina — no  battle  fought  on  her  soil,  689;  secession 
of,  941. 

Spain,  62;  dislikes  purchase  of  Louisiana,  134 ;  issues  de 
cree  like  Milan  Decree,  154 ;  resists  Joseph  Bonaparte, 
170. 

SPARKS,  JARED,  LL.D.,  672. 

SPENCER,  AMBROSE,  mortally  wounded,  825. 

STANSBERKY,  TOBIAS  B.,  General,  921. 

States,  League  of,  20 ;  their  quotas  of  troops,  918. 

" Star-spangled  Banner,"  when  and  where  composed,  056. 

St.  Catherine's,  420  ;  a  visit  to,  623. 

ST.  CLAIR,  ARTHUR,  47 ;  battle  with  Indians,  48 ;  defeat  of, 
49 ;  resignation  of,  50,  851. 

St.  David's  Village,  burning  of,  815. 

St.  Joseph's,  Americans  determine  to  capture,  849. 

St.  Lawrence  (British),  886. 

St.  Lawrence,  fight  on  the,  370 ;  British  expedition  on,  374, 
576 ;  a  day  on  the,  582 ;  the  American  flotilla  descends 
the,  654;  perilous  voyage  on,  660 ;  Rapids,  passage  of  the, 
665 ;  storm  on  the,  666. 

St.  Mary's,  328. 

St.  Michael's,  defense  of,  945. 

St.  Regis  captured  by  Americans,  374, 375;  a  visit  to,  377, 378. 

Stephenson,  Fort,  to  be  attacked,  499 ;  summoned  to  surren 
der,  501 ;  besieged,  502 ;  storming  of,  503 ;  site  of,  507. 

STEUBEN,  BARON,  gold  box  of,  915. 

STEVENS,  EBENEZER,  970. 

STEWART,  CHAELES,  captain  of  Constitution,  983;  honors  to, 
985 ;  sword  and  medal  to,  986 ;  sketch  of,  986. 

STOCKTON,  THOMAS,  sketch  of,  599. 

STONE,  Colonel,  dismissed  from  the  service,  815. 

Stonington,  bombardment  of,  891 ;  British  squadron  off,  893 ; 
bombardment  of,  894,  895,  896  ;  ancient  name  of,  915. 

Stony  Creek,  Americans  at,  602,  603  ;  battle  of,  603,  604,  605 ; 
a  visit  to,  625. 

STORY,  JOSEPH,  175. 

Street's  Creek,  preparations  for  battle  at,  806. 

STRONG,  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  denounces  the  war, 
783. 

Ktrother,  Fort,  peril  of,  764,  767 ;  Jackson  at,  776. 

SWIFT,  J.  G.,  sketch  of,  638. 

SWIFT,  General,  his  report  of  New  York  fortifications,  971. 

SWIFT,  ZEPHANIAH,  1016. 

SYMMES,  JOHN  CLEVES,  36  ;  sketch  of,  573. 

Symmes's  City,  571. 

Talladega,  battle  of,  765. 

Tallapoosa,  raid  to  the,  777. 

Tallasehatche,  battle  of,  "63. 

TALLEYRAND  thinks  of  conciliation,  99. 

TAEBELL,  JOSEPH,  675. 

Tarontee,  the  affair  of,  264. 

TATTNALL,  JOSIAH,  Commodore,  sketch  of,  615;  gallantry 
of,  680. 

TAYLOR,  ROBERT  BERNARD,  sketch  of,  677. 

TAYLOR,  WILLIAM  VIGERON,  sketch  of,  520. 

TAYLOR,  Z ACIIARY,  commander  at  Fort  Harrison,  317 ;  char 
acter  and  services  of,  318 ;  sketch  of,  319. 

Teaser,  privateer,  destruction  of,  1002. 

TEOUMTIIA,  Indian  chief,  188 ;  his  craft,  189  ;  his  project  for 
a  confederation,  190;  goes  to  Vinceunes,  192 ;  alarm  of, 
193;  his  influence  against  Americans,  257;  his  conference 
with  Brock,  283 ;  his  intention  to  reduce  Fort  Wagner, 
313;  on  the  Mississiniwa,  347;  at  Fort  Maiden,  477;  his  re 
buke  of  Proctor,  489;  his  plan  for  capturing  Fort  Meigs,  498; 
his  chief  lieutenant,  551;  death  of,  555 ;  his  pistol,  560. 

Telegram,  first,  213. 

Tennessee— its  troops  prepare  for  war,  742 ;  its  troops  on 
the  Mississippi,  743,  758, 777. 

Terre  Haute,  197. 

TERRY,  SAMUEL,  862. 

Text  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  1071. 

Thames  River,  British  and  Indians  fly  toward,  547 ;  Perry's 
squadron  on  the,  548,  549 ;  battle  of  the,  553,  554 ;  a  jour 
ney  to  the,  559 ;  a  visit  to  the  battle-field,  560,  561. 

THEOBALD,  SAMUEL,  sketch  of,  556. 

THOMAS,  JOHN,  Major  General,  1041. 

THOMAS,  JOSHUA,  1016. 

Tilsit,  the  Peace  of,  153. 

TINGEY,  THOMAS,  commander  of  navy  yard,  Washington, 
D  C  934 

Tippecanoe,  battle-ground  of,  200,202;  battle  of,  205;  bat 
tle-ground  of,  in  I860,  209. 


TODD,  CHAELES  SCOTT,  aid-de-camp  to  Harrison,  sketch  of, 

547,  555,  852. 

Toledo,  description  of,  493 ;  journey  to,  508. 
TOMPKINS,  DANIEL  D.,  Governor  of  New  York,  639,  970. 
TOO-TUMA-STUBBLE,  Indian  chief,  747. 
Toronto,  a  journey  to — veteran  of  1812, 592 ;  old  fort,  remains 

of,  593. 
Torpedo,  its  use,  228,  239 ;  in  New  York  harbor,  241 ;  alarm 

of  the  British  at,  693 ;  in  the  Potomac,  940. 
TOTTEN,  JOSEPH  G.,  403. 
TOWSON,  NATHAN,  sketch  of,  809. 
Trafalgar,  battle  of,  552. 
Traffic,  illicit,  considered,  784. 
Transports,  British,  capture  of,  645. 
TRANT,  JAMES,  644. 
TREADWELL,  JOHN,  1016. 
Treasury,  United  States,  114. 
TREAT,  JOSEPH,  Captain,  sketch  of,  807. 
Treaty,  Jay's,  with  Great  Britain,  violent  opposition  to, 

87 ;  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  in  1814 

agreed  to,  150 ;  signatures  of  signers  of,  1063. 
Tripoli  blockaded,  119, 121, 122 ;  floating  mine  in  the  harbor 

of,  122 ;  its  explosion,  122 ;  peace  with,  125. 
TEOLLOPE,  Mrs.,  at  Cincinnati,  41. 
Troops,  want  of,  917. 

TROTTER,  GBORGE,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  552. 
TRUXTUN,  commander  of  Constellation,  103 ;  his  fight  with 

the  French  frigate  La  Vengeance,  104;  welcomed  at  home 

— honored  by  Congress,  105. 
TUNIS,  Bey  of,  118. 

TUPPER,  Colonel,  conduct  of,  332,  343. 
TURKEY  FOOT,  Indian  Chief,  death  of,  55. 

United  States,  19, 24 ;  difficulties  with  Great  Britain,  24 ;  bit 
ter  feeling  of,  84;  difficulties  with  France,  92;  prepares 
for  war  with  France,  98 ;  government  of  the,  102 ;  her 
thrift,  138 ;  her  foreign  relations,  140 ;  merchants  present 
memorials  to  Congress,  140, 141, 145;  her  friendly  propo 
sitions  unheeded,  ISO ;  indignation  of  the  people,  185  ; 
coast  defenses  of,  235,  236,  237 ;  at  peace  with  the  world, 
234;  power  broken,  913 ;  the  people  aroused,  320;  charges 
against  the  government  of  the,  469 ;  prepares  for  a  vigor 
ous  prosecution  of  the  war,  576 ;  Peace  Party  hails  down 
fall  of  Napoleon  with  delight,  S54;  flag  of  the,  1005. 

United  States,  frigate,  454,  455 ;  imprisoned  in  the  Thames, 
695. 

UPHAM,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  triumph  of,  839. 

Valparaiso,  the  Essex  arrives  there,  723  ;  friendliness  of  the 
Chilians,  724;  incidents  in  the  harbor  of,  731. 

VAN  DE  VENTER,  CHRISTOPHER,  sketch  of,  604,  788. 

VAN  HORNE,  THOMAS  B.,  defeat  of,  276. 

VAN  METER,  HENRY,  912. 

VAN  NESS, -JOHN  P.,  General,  920. 

VAN  RENSSELAER,  SOLOMON,  General,  transferred  from 
Queenston  to  Albany,  407  ;  sketch  of,  408 ;  letter  of,  942. 

VAN  RENSSELAER,  STEPHEN,  General,  appointed  command- 
er-in-chief,  381 ;  diplomacy  of,  3S3 ;  sketch  of,  383  ;  calls 
for  re-enforcements,  384 ;  proposal  to  invade  Canada,  384 ; 
prepares  to  attack  Queenstown,  390;  renews  the  attempt 
to  mvade  Canada,  392;  wounded,  396;  resignation  of, 
410. 

VANSITTART,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  233. 

VARNUM,  JOSEPH  B.,  Speaker  of  the  House,  210. 

VAUGHAN,  WILLIAM,  Captain,  sketch  of,  368;  fights  with  the 
Royal  George,  368,  369. 

VEAZY,  Colonel,  674. 

Victoria,  medal  of,  666. 

VILLERE,  GABRIEL,  Major,  102S ;  British  at  mansion  cf,  If.SX 

Vincennes,  return  of  the  army  to,  206. 

VINCENT,  General,  601 ;  narrow  escape  of,  604. 

Virginia,  Fort,  617. 

Virginia,  Southwestern,  sympathizes  with  revolt,  24 ;  West 
ern  frontier  of,  threatened,  45 ;  secession  of,  proposed, 
87 ;  Capes  of,  669. 

Virginians,  honor  Burr  for  his  duel  with  Hamilton,  135. 

Volunteers,  call  for,  response  to,  252 ;  a  call  for,  475. 

VROOMAN,  SOLOMON,  417.  » 

WADSWORTH,  DECIUS,  Colonel,  938. 

WADBWORTH,  ELIJAH,  General,  sketch  of,  340 ;   energy  of, 

342  400. 

WALBACH,  Adjutant  General,  653. 
WALDO,  DANIEL,  1016. 
WALES,  PRINCE  OF,  visit  of,  417. 
WALK-IN-THE- WATER,  Indian  Chief,  279. 
WALWORTH,  REUBEN  H.,  sketch  of,  873. 
Wa-pagh-ko-netta,  Indian  village,  345. 
WARD,  AARON,  640. 
WARD,  SAMUEL,  1016. 
WARREN,  JOHN  B.,  Admiral,  667, 679;  thanks  Captain  Broke, 

709. 
WARRINGTON,  LEWIS,  sketch  of,  980;    commander  of  the 

Peacock,  980. 
Washington,  city  of,  in  great  peril,  916 ;  great  want  of  troops, 

917;   preparations  to  defend,  918;   General  Winder  in 

command  at,  918  ;  removal  of  the  public  records  of,  923  : 

British  retreat  from,  937. 


1084 


INDEX. 


Washington,  Fort,  a  visit  to,  943. 

WASHINGTON,  GEORGE,  proposed  a  confederation  of  a  com 
mercial  nature,  25 ;  chosen  president  of  the  Convention, 
26 ;  elected  President,  33  ;  expression  of  indignation  of, 
49 ;  kindness  to  St.  Clair,  50 ;  appoints  his  cabinet,  51) ; 
approves  Hamilton's  financial  scheme,  65;  wisdom  and 
prudence  of,  73;  difficulties  with  France,  77;  his  procla 
mation  of  neutrality,  78 ;  his  interview  with  Genet,  80  ; 
attempt  to  intimidate,  87 ;  calm  and  faithful,  88 ;  issues 
proclamation,  88 ;  recommends  a  navy,  90 ;  attacks  on 
character  of,  92 ,  close  of  administration  of,  92 ;  appoint 
ed  commander-in-chief,  98;  death  of,  109;  action  of  Con 
gress  on  death  of,  110 ;  medal  in  honor  of,  111 ;  sketch 
of  person  and  character  of,  111 ;  picture  of,  saved  by  Mrs. 
Madison,  935. 

War,  preparations  for,  216,  231 ;  predicted,  223 ;  declaration 
of,  228 ;  action  against,  243 ;  officers  of,  250 ;  first  blood 
shed  in  the,  267 ;  survivors  of  the,  361,  416,  539 ;  prisoners 
of,  403 ;  first  shot  fired  afloat,  435 ;  vigorous  prosecution 
of,  576;  British  resolve  on,  667;  Department  of,  793 ;  Sec 
retary  of,  919  ;  end  of,  992, 1007. 

Wasp,  cruise  of  the,  449 ;  fight  with  the  Frolic,  450 ;  captures 
the  Reindeer,  979 ;  combat  with  the  Avon,  980 ;  loss  of  the, 
with  all  on  board,  980. 

Watawanuc,  ancient  name  of  Stonington,  915. 

Watertown,  N.  Y.,  arsenal  established  there,  366;  visit  to, 
617. 

WATTS,  GEOKGE,  812. 

WAYNE,  ANTHONY,  General,  appointed  commander,  50; 
visits  the  Indian  country,  51 ;  battle  of  Fort  Recovery,  52; 
expedition  down  the  Maumee,  53 ;  makes  offer  of  peace, 
53  ;  battle  of  Fallen  Timbers,  54, 198. 

Wayne,  Fort,  battle  near,  42 ;  designs  against,  313 ;  attack 
on,  314;  siege  of,  315;  built,  316;  relief,  325. 

WEATHERSFORD,  WILLIAM,  754;  deserted  by  his  warriors, 
772 ;  visits  Jackson,  781, 782  ;  sketch  of,  782. 

WEBSTER,  DANIEL,  232. 

WELLINGTON,  Duke  of,  head  of  the  English  army,  233 ;  en 
ters  Paris,  854. 

WELLS,  Captain,  death  of,  309. 

WELLS,  SAMUEL,  Colonel,  sent  to  Elk  Hart  River,  325; 
marches  for  Frenchtown,  353. 

WELLS,  LESTER,  772. 

WEST,  BENJAMIN,  1016. 

WHITE,  ROBERT,  survivor  of  the  battle  of  Niagara,  843. 

WUITLOOK,  AMBROSE,  Major,  199. 

WHITTLEBEY,  ELISHA,  sketch  of,  341,  943. 

WILDE,  SAMUEL  SUMNER,  1016. 

Wilderness,  the  army  in  the,  256 ;  transportation  in,  349.- 


WILKINSON,  JAMES,  General,  538  ;  succeeds  General  Dear 
born,  629;  his  interview  with  Armstrong,  630;  atSackett'e 
Harbor,  630  ;  concentrates  his  forces,  C38  ;  his  expedition 
leaves  Sackett's  Harbor,  646 ;  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  648, 
649  ;  holds  council  of  officers,  650,  651 ;  leaves  New  Or 
leans,  741;  considered  incompetent,  789;  crosses  the  Can 
ada  border,  790 ;  attacks  British  garrison,  791 ;  end  of 
military  career  of,  792. 

WILLIAMS,  EI.EAZAR,  the  Lost  Prince,  377, 875. 

WILLIAMS,  JONATHAN,  sketch  of,  235. 

Wilmington,  powder-mills  at,  966. 

WINCHESTER,  JAMES,  General,  arriwl  of  at  Fort  Wayne, 
326 ;  march  of  through  the  wilderness,  326 ;  at  Fort  Defi 
ance,  328 ;  his  troops  in  a  deplorable  condition,  330 ;  mis 
understandings  with  brother  officers,  331 ;  re-enforce 
ments  for,  343 ;  attempts  to  relieve  Tupper,  344 ;  sends 
troops  to  Frenchtown,  351 ;  arrival  of  relief  party  for,  352 ; 
head-quarters  of,  353;  lack  of  vigilance  of,  354;  taken 
prisoner,  356 ;  sent  to  Quebec,  359. 

Winchester,  Fort,  remains  of,  333. 

WINDER,  WILLIAM  H.,  General,  capture  of,  604,  854;  put  in 
command  in  Washington,  918 ;  sketch  of,  918,  919 ;  calls 
for  troops,  920 ;  the  forces  at  his  command,  921 ;  invites 
the  government  to  a  council,  925. 

WOOD,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  mortally  wounded,  838. 

WOOL,  JOHN  E.,  General,  wounded,  396 ;  takes  command, 
396 ;  sketch  of,  397;  sent  to  meet  the  British,  862. 

WOOLSEY,  commander  of  the  Oneida,  367 ;  prepares  for  fight 
on  Lake  Ontario,  367 ;  purchases  vessels  for  the  navy, 
371 ;  expedition  of,  798,  799. 

WORTH,  WILLIAM  JENKINS,  General,  812. 

WORTHINGTON,  THOMAS,  sketch  of,  568. 

WYLLYS,  Major,  42. 

Wyoming  Valley,  refugees  from,  625. 

Yankee,  privateer,  cruise  of,1000 ;  takes  valuable  prizes,1001. 
"Yankee  DoodU,"\vhen  played  in  derision,  369. 
YABNALL,  JOHN  J.,  sketch  of,  524. 
YEO,  SIR  JAMES,  challenges  Captain  Porter,  440 ;  commands 

British  squadron,  609 ;  sails  from  Kingston,  793 ;  conduct 

of,  796 ;  sends  troops  to  Quebec,  858 ;  does  not  venture  to 

attack  Chauncey,  886. 
York,  descent  on,  628;   battle  at,  589;   surrender  of,  590; 

abandoned  by  the  Americans,  591. 
YORK,  JOSEPH,  bravery  of,  580 ;  sketch  of,  580. 
YORK,  Mrs.  JOSEPH,  bravery  and  patriotism  of,  580. 
You,  DOMINIQUE,  1037  ;  tomb  of,  1043. 
YOUNG,  GUILFORD   DUDLEY,  gallant   exploit   of,  374,  375; 

sketch  of,  376. 


THE   END. 


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